← The Ryen Russillo Show
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- [00:00]
Ryan Rosillo
Hey Priscilla listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. At Bumble, we're all about helping you find someone who vibes with the real you this year. Meet real people on Bumble who actually want you for you. Whether you're looking for big soul shaking, love or fun casual dates on Bumble, clear and honest intentions lead to better matches. When you say what you're looking for up front, you you get more aligned in meaningful connections. With features like photo and ID verification, you feel more confident the person you're talking to is real. Start your year off with real connections on Bumble. Download Bumble Today, The Ryan Rosillo show presented by DraftKings. Get your brackets out. Even Brennan's going to join us and we're going to try to do some work for you and build you a final Four. We're going to talk about upsets, the easiest path for the one seeds. The way the committee looked at different conferences, we're going to do the 512 stuff as well and both land, I think, on the same national championship pick. The Lakers have momentum. They are the three seed and you may not like it, but who do you like behind them? A deep dive over the past few days of some NBA hoops and we've got life Advice. Every week, one NBA star rises above the rest. Now DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, is raising the stakes of King of the Court. Just got a major upgrade. 2 million in bonus bets every week. Double the previous prize pool. Opt in Use your token. Make a pregame $5 bet or more on the player you think will lead Tuesday night in points, rebounds and assists. If your pick finishes on top, you'll share a piece of $2 million in bonus bets. Same throne, bigger crown, 2 million reasons to play Download DraftKings Sportsbook Use the code Ryan for your shot at a share of $2 million in bonus bets. With the code Ryan Ryen and in partnership with DraftKings Sportsbook, the crown is yours. Gambling Problem Call 1-800- gambler or 1-800- my reset New York Call 877-8-Hopeny or text hopeny Connecticut Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas.
- [02:15]
Eamon Brennan
Wager tax pass through may apply in
- [02:16]
Ryan Rosillo
Illinois, 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontario, restrictions apply. One token per customer token expires at the start of the final NBA game each day. When offered bet placed on days PRA stat leader receives equal share of 2 million non withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. Additional wagering restrictions apply. Terms at sportsbook draftkings.com promos the brackets are out so let's help you fill them out and we're going to check in again. Just had them on recently. Eamon Brennan his substack buzzer Check it out. Subscribe Bubble watch I was all over it the last couple days. Far more educated. Look, I I think it's kind of a national holiday not only for the brackets to come out but then for everybody to get upset. But we knew this bubble was incredibly weak. So before we get to like some Final Four picks and some of the thoughts that I had because I was pretty locked in, I was watching way more college hoops this past week than NBA. I love the conference tournaments, but I don't know, it's kind of nice sometimes and it feels like, hey, it looks like the committee got it right.
- [03:14]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, that was kind of the thing really the last few weeks, but especially leading into the selection show, you know, after VCU won in the A10 title game, that was kind of the last bubble team that might miss. And you kind of thought like, oh, you know, they're close enough to the bubble that a VC I think they should be in over, you know, the Auburns and Oklahoma's and Texas of the world, whatever. But if they lost, would the committee just say, eh, they're a bubble team, we'll just slide in, you know, Dayton instead. And that removed kind of that potential scenario for people to get upset about. And then by the time you got to the selection show, there was so much consensus around the bubble and so many of these bubble teams. We talked about it for a couple weeks now, the gap between the very best teams in the country. If you look at efficiency ratings and Evan Miyakawa on his site, Evan Mia put this out a couple weeks ago. If you look at just historical efficiency ratings, the gap between the number one seeds and the bubble this year is as wide as it's ever been. And so that's a function of a larger conversation about the sport and how talent and resources are kind of constantly filtering upwards now with nil and the biggest, most resourced programs in the country kind of being able to pluck guys from every which place lower in the totem pole. But it also just produced kind of a night of watching. I saw a couple people commenting like there's not a whole lot to talk about with this bracket. Where's the outrage it's kind of like, eh, it's kind of nice. Honestly, in my experience writing about this stuff for a long time, people kind of stopped caring like an hour after the selection show anyway, like, oh yeah, team didn't get in. Okay, whatever. You get angry about it for half an hour and then everyone starts putting their bracket together. So it was kind of nice to just like immediately turn to the most exciting month in. In sports, at least in my view.
- [04:56]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, that used to be the thing. Maybe it was because we had less, but it would just be. You'd watch selection show on cbs, then you go right to ESPN and then you have the four coaches and it was usually for major programs would come on and then complain. Right. And as much as I love Dicky V, like he would. That was the whole Fowler thing like over 20 years ago. I've even interviewed Fowler about it. I think it was an 02 maybe because I just remember like Vital was just so mad that different teams. And then finally Fowler's like, who. Who are you replacing them with, man? Like, we have a. We have a defined number of teams that are going to be in this. So yeah, we didn't really have much of it, of that stuff. But I mean, back to your other point. Not only the nil part of it, it imagines like if you have a pulse that can make a couple threes and you're at a mid major, then a Power 5 school is just going to say, hey, come to us now. Where I imagine the movement upwards, it has a lot to do with that as well too because they're just stripping these teams of anybody that shows any talent whatsoever last couple years.
- [05:55]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, and I mean we have it, it goes in multiple directions. You know, like a guy like Penn TJ Power had 44 points in the Ivy League title game. He started off at Duke and he's kind of gradually worked his way back in the sport as things have not worked out at the high major level. So like multiple levels can, can benefit anecdotally from the nil stuff, but it does feel like, yeah, I mean the combination of the very top teams, your Arizonas, your Dukes, you know, et cetera, Florida being able to not only recruit all the best guys and you've got this crazy freshman class coming in and Duke's got a handful of them and in Arizona obviously as well, but you can combine that with the international guys that those programs have a better chance of recruiting and having a pulse on because they have the resources to go scout the Adriatic League. Right. They can Keep in touch with players and their agents. There's just more capacity for different kinds of staffs at the very high level of sport to do that, plus the money. And so, yeah, the team sort of even, I think your more mediocre high mid major programs are having a tougher time. And you throw in, I think, too, a guy like Todd golden at Florida, incredibly smart coach and has kind of pushed the game in different directions. Right. Like going super big in college basketball. I think you look two, three years ago, it was like, oh, college basketball's all pace and space. Now it's finally cut up to the NBA. You know, the tempo's faster, guys are shooting more threes, it's more efficient. That's still true. But, you know, you look at the top programs in the country now, and the rim pressure on both ends of the floor is the common denominator among all of them. It's just like Michigan, super dominant on both ends of the floor. Offensive rebounding, rim protection, scoring easy buckets. Duke, same deal. Arizona, same deal. Florida to, like, the extreme. So all that stuff kind of combines to a level where, yeah, it just feels like things are getting pressured upward, you know, in one direction and really separating what, you know, historically, really, really high level elite teams in terms of their efficiency metrics from even like the 30th best team in the country. And then you go down to like the 150th, and it's just wider than it's ever been.
- [08:00]
Ryan Rosillo
All right, so if we're trying to figure out the Final Four part of this, and we know that last year with 4:1 seeds in, like, we're usually. I don't know if you call it lucky or not lucky, but I think a lot of it's what we said. Like, everybody loves Cinderella until the Final four shows up and you go like, oh, wait, this team's favored by 11 against this team. Like, I just want North Carolina and Arizona or whatever. I mean, pick whatever blue bloods that you want to plug in. There is. You're trying to map out your Final Four pass. Like, are you. Is. I mean, is there any way to ignore what we saw last year and realizing that we have four one seeds that all fit those profiles of these massive efficiency ratings historically? Because, I mean, it was Titus and I were talking about just last week that I didn't know until I was doing a little bit of research on it. But if you look at the Ken Palm stuff, like the differential and where the ratings are for these one seeds, it kind of matches what it was last year. Even if there's probably two of the teams that I think last year's teams were better than this year's.
- [08:54]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, I mean, I think that's true. I think, you know, like, you think about a team like Duke and they've got a little, you know, some injury stuff and availability of Caleb Foster is a big, like, once you get to the Sweet 16, Elite 8 might show up. You know, they've been hammering pretty good teams generally, but they maybe quite haven't been at the level that they were at full strength. So maybe that throws a little bit of uncertainty just into their overall prospectus. But I mean, I think another thing to consider too is like the two seeds. This is the strongest batch of two seeds ever. You know, there's like a, you know, Will Warren, my colleague at Bask interview where I do the podcast, wrote about just like all the seed lines and kind of where they rank historically. And you know, this is a plus 31 adjusted efficiency margin per Ken Palm average number two seed line. And I think that checks out. You know, I have my doubts about UConn. I have my doubts about Purdue deep into the tournament. But Iowa State for most of the year is a team that you look at and say, why can't they win the national title? Great guard, play, elite defense. Jefferson is probably a pro mom. Solovich is the best shooter in the country. Like that's a national title contender right up in the mix with some of the, you know, with the Dukes and the Michigan's and the Arizonas and Florida. And Houston is kind of in that mix as well. And Houston is not what they were last year. You know, they had a lot easier time with jwon Roberts last year, you know, getting easy buckets and not needing to just hammer the offensive glass. And their offense gets a little stagnant. But the difference is this year is they've got Kingston Flemings, who is a lottery pick guard who can bail you out of a lot of possessions, particularly when it gets tight down the stretch in NCAA tournament games. And so I think that kind of sprinkles a little bit of NBA level talent over their usual formula of really good defense, play like crazy hard and, and, and rebound the ball. So I think the two seeds, you know, last year's one seeds were amazing. The two seeds were pretty good, but not like kind of in the mix with them. And I think there's a little bit more parity this year because like we talked about, everything is getting pulled upward. And so the, you know, the Houstons of the world or the Iowa State to the world or whatever can benefit from that as well. So that. That introduces a little uncertainty where, you know, do. I don't know if UConn is the team to take down Duke in the elite eight, but Kansas might be. You know, St. John's might be on the four and five line. And so there's. There's good enough teams at some of these slightly lower seed lines that it might not be quite as the, you know, as much of a walkthrough as it felt like at points last season.
- [11:24]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm glad you brought up Iowa State, because watching Big east tournament games and then watching Big 12 tournament games was incredibly jarring. It reminded me when the SEC was awesome in football, where you watch like Tennessee and even Mississippi State or something, and you would just go like, all right, now I'm going to watch Purdue against Nebraska. But now I can't. I can't say that anymore because the Big Tens run the last couple years, it was. From a basketball standpoint, it was really jarring. And, um, Silovich. And look, I even like TCU and they're Big 12. I was like watching them going, dude, I kind of like this team. I like what they run, I like punch, I like their size. Maybe I like their guards as much. But I don't know if. If this is as simple as the committee is looking at it going, yeah, you're absolutely right. That's why Iowa State's a 2. Considering some of the non conference losses, Michigan State, Duke, Houston, having Kansas as a 4 and having St. John's as a 5 in there as well, The Big east was. Now that I've watched a bunch of it, it's like this league is. It's not the Big 12. It's not the Big Ten. It's not even the ACC, which was obviously a top heavy league this year. But do you think that reflected that? Like, if BYU is a six and St. John's is a five, the committee's saying, hey, we just don't like these Big east teams.
- [12:46]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, look, I mean, I think Rick Patino talks about it today. I think there was a little bit of St. John's you know, like, hey, we're what? We're a five seed. We've lost, you know, whatever one game since January, and we just won the Big east title and beat UConn for the second time. And underlying metrics wise, St. John's hasn't really kind of been at that elite level all season. Maybe five's a Little low for them. But I think Pitino kind of said like, eh, yeah, I mean we got to get the biggies better because we'd have a lot more, you know, quality wins. And the Big east was a three team league this year. And I think Even, you know, UConn, despite the excellent season that it's had, is not UConn of two years ago or three years ago. Right. Like they're a very good team with some clear flaws and a weird, from
- [13:33]
Ryan Rosillo
a talent standpoint even like I'm, I can't believe there are two. I can't believe they had this good of a season.
- [13:38]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, well that's coaching. I mean look, the thing that doesn't get talked, well, I guess it does get talked about in college circles. But like those, you know, Donovan Clingan and the level of talent they were able to roll out three years ago and two years ago when they won back to back titles, particularly the second year was kind of crazy. And part of the reason they were so dominant in that run is not only did they have great talent, but they ran the best stuff in the country and they continue to run really, really good stuff. It's just the players aren't as dynamic and aren't as like diverse in their skill sets and so it's a little bit less impressive to watch and I think it's interesting to watch with UConn and we'll see if this, this follows in the tournament because you know, they've lost one tournament game in the last three years and they lost last year by a bucket to the national title to the team that won the national title in Florida. And I think within the program and they've talked about it, they talked about it post game after the St. John's game. They're kind of eager to get out of the Big east because in addition to the Big east not being high level through the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth teams in the league this season, it's also super physical league and St. John's is happy to play that way and foul you a gazillion times a game and force the refs to call it. And So I think UConn wants to get out of that and be able to run its stuff a little bit more flow and see if they can kind of get into a rhythm in the NCAA tournament. I'll be interested to see if it holds up. But yeah, I don't know. UConn to me was not, was not at their level of, you know, despite their seed of what they have been in you know, the title seasons and St. John's is like, really good team, great defense. Pitino is obviously a genius, but the core problem with that team that's existed all year in terms of guard play is still kind of there. And so they kind of have to muddy it up a little bit more even as they, as they play up tempo, like they really have to guard and play hard for them to get to their max outcome.
- [15:26]
Ryan Rosillo
Even though they got a big on Yukon and Yukon had a little bit of a run there in the second half. You're like wondering if the faucet is going to shut off offensively for St. John's because you've seen it before. But the physicality of, of that game, you know, part of it, you kind of love it because of the old Big east thing. But at the same time, like, then I watch Arizona later at night going, this is way more fun. Like, this is so much more fun. And I'm, I'm blown away by Arizona's depth. I mean, when you think about, depending on which night that you've watched them, if, if you weren't. And again, I'm admitting that not super locked in all season long, but depending on the night, you could have like four or five different guys be like, well, that must be their best player. And Bradley wins player of the year despite not having, like overwhelming stats. But then you see how much he settles them. There's so much about them that I like. And not to compare him to the Thunder necessarily, but like, the Thunder's whole thing here is everybody can shoot, pass and dribble, and it feels like Arizona can attack you with four or five different guys and then has the size to match up with some of the other guys as they get deeper in this tournament. You know, look, I mean, Michigan's enormous. Duke's got player of the year, Florida's huge as well. But at least like Arizona has somebody that's in the fight. And crevasse if you need another body to match up with some of those other teams. But I, I can't. Look, I'm picking, I'm picking Arizona to win the whole thing just because I'm so impressed with how many different ways they can attack you with guys that are comfortable with the ball in their hands.
- [16:56]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, for sure. I mean, Arizona has been fascinating all year because we kind of got to a point where you started to take them for granted a little bit. It's like, oh, this Michigan team might be historically good and what a job Dusty May did sort of piecing this Together. And I think if you looked at Michigan's NIL spend and like what they, you know, I don't have any like firm numbers, but it just through the grapevine, I think if, if you looked at what they spent on certain guys and the value they got, like they, they did the best job of basically any program in the portal this past season and are, and are, you know, doing a lot of analysis to try and understand the market in NIL that I don't think a lot of coaching staff have caught up with yet. Duke obviously with, with Boozer and the freshman and John Shire maturing as a coach and looking like one of the best coaches in the country now after kind of just running like the best practices playbook for his first couple seasons has been a fascinating story. But yeah, I mean Arizona has just chugged along the whole season. They started off and Coape looked like their best player. You know, the first night against Florida, this freshman, you're like, oh my God, like, I had no idea. I knew this kid was good. I had no idea it was this good. You know, Braden Burry's struggled early in the year and has been great since. Obviously Bradley was there, was their player of the year in the league. Delorso is awesome and played great in the Big 12 tournament.
- [18:05]
Ryan Rosillo
He looks like their best player for like 10 minute stretches. I mean, he's just a motherfucker too. So go ahead. He's.
- [18:10]
Eamon Brennan
He's excellent. Yeah. And, and you know, another guy is Tobia Waka who is, you know, this was talked about during the Big 12 tournament a couple ways, but looking at it early in, earlier in the year was they're starting big last season. You know, Koapik comes in like maybe he'll start next to Karchin, to Krivos and maybe not this season, but KOA Pete comes in much more dynamic player, can play away from the rim a little bit more. And so Iwaka goes to the bench and he comes in and he's the best rebounder in the country rate wise. He's number one in offensive rebound rate. It's like up by like 20, 21%. Really, really good defensively. So they throw him in and he just gobbles up everything at the rim for, for five minutes at a time, then comes back out of the game. They put Karchenkov or whomever back in and, and give you a different look. So yeah, they're, they're. I'm, I'm leaning a bit toward Arizona because of like you mentioned their depth and the different guys, they can throw at you and the fact that, you know, Bradley can have an off night, it's not a huge deal. They've got Del Orso, they've got buries, they can, you know, they can do lots of different stuff. And they are, they've been so good all year with these, you know, they lost two games. One of them was at Kansas on a Monday night, which, you know, bill self's like 41 and oh, in his last, you know, big 12 Monday night games. So just chalk that one up as an L. But otherwise they've been incredible. And they're, it's, it's hard to see them anywhere but very deep into the bracket unless, you know, they just have a brain fart at some point, which, which has happened to Tommy Lloyd in recent tournaments.
- [19:35]
Ryan Rosillo
Which region would you want to be in if you're a one seed?
- [19:40]
Eamon Brennan
I'm looking at it now. I mean, I probably. Arizona's is probably the most favorable. I mean, I'm a little bit, if I'm, if I'm any tournament team, I'm a little bit scared about seeing Arkansas because of the way they can score and because the ball is going to be in Acuff's hands so much. And we've seen it a gazillion times with guards in the tournament that are that good of just running the game. Right? It's just like this guy's going to have a 40% usage rate this game. He's going to take every shot. He's going to run the gym. And Arizona has guys, they can throw it at that. But that would, you know, he goes for 40, which he's, you know, he's done in the past, you know, a couple times this season. And you're just, you're looking at it like, ugh, you're in a fight all of a sudden. But, you know, looking up and down their potential, like Villanova, Utah State in the second round, you know, Villanova hasn't beaten a good team all year. They were the third best team in the Big east. Didn't beat either of the good teams, beat everybody else. They're kind of, they kind of are what they are. Wisconsin has beaten good teams if they got that far. But I, you know, I wouldn't be super worried about them. On the other side of the bracket, Gonzaga isn't at full strength without Braden Huff. That's a tough matchup. And Purdue, look, I like Purdue. I've liked them all year. They came in as the number one team, but they are A little limited, and they're a little bit, you know, in terms. Particularly in terms of physicality in the backcourt. That would not be. You know, if I'm Arizona, I'm looking at that like, we can probably handle these guys. They're good. They'll do lots of tricky stuff. And Matt Painter, I thought, had an incredible Big Ten title game in terms of the tactics that he used against Michigan and the way he was able to get Mara out on an island and pick and rolls and stuff. And Michigan didn't really adapt as quickly as they could have. But look, Arizona, for the reasons we discussed, you sort of look at their bracket, and it's hard to find too many teams that would keep you up at night, with the possible exception of a Darius ACUFF, you know, 50 burger that that ends your season.
- [21:30]
Ryan Rosillo
Does the lack of depth for Arkansas bother you?
- [21:33]
Eamon Brennan
A little bit. But, I mean, I think depth is a little overrated other than foul trouble, you know, and they're not a particularly aggressive team defensively is their biggest problem. You know, they just. They go up and down. They don't guard super well. Acuff defensively, I think now that we've gotten a little closer to the draft and more people are tuning in or seeing some of the things he does defensively, which aren't great, but that's kind of the whole team. The depth thing doesn't bother me because I think, you know, we have a lot of past evidence of teams that basically go six or seven deep once they get to the tournament. Even if they're a little deeper than that early in the year. A lot of coaches like to refine that, and everybody's got clear roles. Everybody comes on for their usual rotations. You can switch things around a little bit. I think if you're a team like Arizona and you have the juice to. To play different guys and match up in different situations, great. But, you know, John Calipari is more than happy to roll out six, seven guys and just kind of hope that, you know, a, everybody's healthy, which it seems, you know, to be the case, obviously. And then you just don't hack guys and they don't guard that way anyway, so it kind of doesn't matter for
- [22:37]
Ryan Rosillo
them for the tournament. Would you rather have Acuff for Kingston Flemings? Oof.
- [22:44]
Eamon Brennan
I would rather have Acuff. I think Fleming's gonna be greater.
- [22:47]
Ryan Rosillo
It's tougher after this week to pick somebody else. The week that guy just had.
- [22:50]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, I mean, he's sensational, dude. Like, he He's. And not only is he effective, but he's just like my favorite player in college basketball to watch, you know, just a classic. Like, if. If I was 10 years old being obsessed with college basketball the way I was, he'd be like, I'd have his jersey, you know what I mean? Like, I'd have his poster on my wall and I'd be begging my parents to tape on the VCR every Arkansas game that's on national television. Whatever. He's just. He's so fun to watch. He's a classic ball handling scoring guard that, you know, like, look, Cam Boozer's the best player in the country. Does Cam Boozer move me in an aesthetic way?
- [23:25]
Ceruti
No.
- [23:25]
Eamon Brennan
Like, he's just a battering ram who's super effective and that's great. But give me Darius Acuff, like, as an entertainment experience for sure.
- [23:35]
Ryan Rosillo
Boozer moved me when I sorted through his synergy possessions. Oh, it wasn't the vision. It wasn't the video. I just looked through it. I thought something was wrong. I thought I was on, like, Tim Duncan. I was like, what happened to this page here? And then I was like, oh, all this stuff is real. This episode is brought to you by Body Armor Flash iv, the official rapid rehydration drink of March Madness. Flash IV is packed with electrolytes delivering faster, longer lasting hydration without any artificial dyes, flavors, or sweeteners. Perfect for training, traveling, or just feeling the heat. I am telling you right now, ladies and gentlemen, when you start your day, get some fluids in you. It was funny. I started pulling muscles all the time. I was like, what is going on? And they were like, hey, are you drinking enough to get yourself going in the morning? I was like, you know what? You may have me on that. I started with just a straight up H2O. And then I started messing around with old body armor. And I was like, hey, I'm not pulling muscles anymore. I'm hydrated to start the day. I won't leave the house unless I've downed some of this stuff. Work hard and hydrate hard with body armor flash IV, the official rapid rehydration drink of March Madness. Grab it. 7:11. I love that you talked about Purdue, because when Purdue's right, even though clough, I was, like, shocked. He was only 24 years old. I mean, that guy was just beasting. And then you have Brandon Smith who's just running the game. So, like, when he is running the game at point guard with Painter and you're just thinking like, this is just classic Purdue. Like everything seems to have a plan. And against that front line from Michigan, which I think I want to spend some time on them here a little bit. I could see anybody falling in love with Purdue after their Big Ten week. But is there anything here, especially with Tech missing their best player on the five line here, Alabama is the four. It feels impossible that Michigan's not in the Elite Eight.
- [25:35]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, no, look, I think the thing with Michigan and the Purdue game exposed a little bit of this is if you can, if you can get Mara away from the rim and you can stretch them out a little bit, which Purdue was able to do in ball screens because of the way Trey Kaufman Wren plays in the short role and the things that they can throw at you, they're pretty, you know, Purdue is pretty unique in that way. And TKR has got that little like shove shot from the, you know, from the 15ft and in that basically nobody else takes or attempts these days. So they're a unique challenge. But yeah, Michigan is. They're purpose built to not get upset. You know, that they are designed to so thoroughly dominate the rim at both ends of the floor that they have a really high floor kind of no matter what. Like they haven't needed to make threes really all season. You know, that. That was the thing about the Duke game when they played Duke late in the season here in D.C. that really stuck out is for the first time I had Michigan fans in my life being like, oh, well, we didn't shoot it well. And it's like, yeah, but you guys don't need to shoot it well. You can shoot 22% from three and still win by 20 because you have 40 layups in the game or whatever. And that's the thing about Michigan that that makes them, you know, kind of impossible to see getting upset, particularly in that region. And you're right, like, Texas Tech is missing JT Toppin. They've been really good without him, impressively so. You know, BYU is obviously taking a dip without Richie Saunders. Those are the two big injuries and Caleb Wilson at North Carolina that's hurt these teams noticeably. And we thought the same thing would happen with Tech. I think their ceiling's limited without Toppin, but Christian Andersen's been so good that they've been able to kind of sustain. It's hard to imagine them though, against Michigan unless Anderson just goes crazy, you know, in terms of ball screen efficiency, keeping up with them. And Alabama is the same. Alabama's like the anti Michigan in a lot of ways. You know, they will shoot a ton of threes. They'll get up and down the floor, but they are the ultimate variance team. And if they go 18 of 35 from 3 or above, you know, you're in for a difficult game because they'll shoot them from 25ft and that's that, you know, they'll just shoot over the top of Michigan as much as they can. But Michigan will get dunks and layups and offensive rebounds and put backs, and they'll kind of block everything at the rim or, you know, dissuade it in the first place. And so, yeah, that's the thing with Michigan, and it's kind of the thing with Florida as well, is just like, we're so big, we're so physical at the rim. We prevent easy shots. You don't get layups. We can extend our guys on the perimeter because our interior guys can, you know, still affect shots 8, 9ft away from the rim. So there's really nowhere for you to go. And it gives them a super high floor where even if they have a crazy night or they get nervous and, you know, start turning the ball over, they're kind of probably going to be okay.
- [28:22]
Ryan Rosillo
If it chalks out here, where Illinois gets past Penn and then the winner of North Carolina, vcu, granted, with Caleb out here, and then on the other side, if you get the 7 10, St. Mary's A&M, the winner of Houston, Idaho. Do you like Illinois's chances against Houston?
- [28:42]
Eamon Brennan
In theory?
- [28:42]
Ryan Rosillo
Maybe the wrong way to ask it,
- [28:43]
Eamon Brennan
but yeah, in theory I do, because I think Illinois might be a better team than Houston. You know, like, they. They have more, certainly more offensive weapons and they have, you know, they're bigger and they do a lot of things really, really well. But I think, you know, the Michigan game at Champaign a few weeks ago, for myself and I think for. For Illinois fans I talked to kind of has it kind of put me off them a little bit because it's just like they just didn't. They just weren't at the level. And that's probably fine in. In the first couple rounds of the tournament here, but I think that's the sneaking suspicion for Illinois fans is they're just like, just a tier below. And I don't really know how to quantify that because numerically, you look at them like this is the best defensive team Brad Underwood has had, at least in a very long time. They have every sort of piece. Offensively, Wagler has been incredible all year. Although, you know, in the Michigan game in particular, you know, got bullied by a 23 year old grown man and Yaxel Lindenberg was like picking him up full court and you're just like, all right, come on, dude, this guy's like barely 18. Can you leave this kid alone, please? So there, there's a little bit of that with them where, where he's so young and, and still kind of like he kind of can look like Bambi a little bit sometimes, despite how good he is. Where good teams, like a veteran team like Houston will really get into him. So that, but I just, you know, I don't know. I don't have a good way to quantify it. It's just kind of a vibe with Illinois where I feel like would I, would I bet any significant amount of money to, to them beating Houston, even if I think they're maybe better? No. And I don't. I really can't tell you why other than I just. That's how I feel. Yeah.
- [30:20]
Ryan Rosillo
When you look at the. I'm glad you brought up the two seeds here too, but like, if I'm, if I'm going through it and I'm thinking about the number ones, I'd rather be duke staring at UConn on the other side of this than Houston, than Iowa State and even Purdue. And when the east gets brought up, I think a lot of it becomes like, oh, well, look at the names. Okay, well, yeah, you're right. It's Duke, it's St. John's it's Kansas. I mean, if you want to start growing historically you could go like Louisville, Michigan State's your three seed. UCLA has been on a bit of a run here and then Yukon on the other side of it, but again, just kind of dropping in. It was like, I think you're just putting together like teams that have been awesome over decades as opposed to like, who are they right now? And Michigan State's like an interesting one because I think there was a time there when you're looking at them against ranked teams and you're going, all right, so you're going to beat everybody, but then you're not going to beat these teams. But then they get Illinois, they get Purdue, and then they lose to a UCLA team that again has been. Been finishing strong here. So is Michigan State potentially overlooked as we. They have a better seed than so many of these other teams?
- [31:25]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, I don't know if they're overlooked. I mean, I think the, I think two of the panelists on the ESPN show last night, as I was kind of casually had it on in the background picked them to go to the Final Four, which feels like a very. Well, it's Tom Izzo and it's Michigan State, so why not? Kind of feeling to me, I mean, look, I like this Michigan State team. They are also one of the low variance teams that grab a ton of rebounds and guard really well. So they give themselves a floor in every game. And Jeremy Fears, you know, I think it's a bit of a bummer because most of the discussion about him when he has popped up in discussion in college basketball this year has been about like, is he a dirty player? Is he kicking guys? Is he tripping guys? Because there have been a number of incidents that look pretty sketchy. It's overshadowed how insanely good he's been. I mean, he's got the. He's got a 53% assist rate. Like they. If you took Jeremy Fears off this team, Michigan State would not score the ball ever. Like, they, they. Everything runs through, like, ever. They have nobody else who can create a shot. You know, Cohen Carr is the best dunker in college basketball, but on offense, he kind of stands like he can't shoot and he's the guy that the teams play off of and he's there for his athleticism and his defense and the occasional fast break dunk, which just, you know, or a lob dunk, which kind of blows your mind. But in terms of like a possession by possession usefulness on the offensive end, like, it, you know, he's. He's several levels below what a lot of other teams at Michigan State's sort of tier in the sport or what other three seeds have available to them. So they're kind of a weird one in that I do feel like there's a. There's a limiter on, okay, you've got one guy who creates shots for everybody else and that's how the offense gets it done. And then we guard like crazy on the other end. I feel like there's a ceiling there. But like, I look at them against a team like Louisville, which doesn't guard anybody and just likes to get up and down and shoot a bunch of threes and hasn't beaten any good teams really all season. And I feel like that's the kind of game that Michigan State will be looking at and be like, we are going to punk these guys. You know, they are not ready for the intensity of what this game is going to be. But beyond that, you start to get into, you know, I mean, look, I'm not Super High on UConn, UCLA had a nice finish to the season. UCF is a tricky team that, that could maybe, you know, get into the, to the Elite Eight or the Sweet sixteen. But I can see why people might want to pick Michigan State at least deep into the field, if not, if not beating Duke. I don't think they have the, the minerals for, for a Duke win, but they are, they are a low variance team with one incredibly good guard. So, you know, who knows?
- [34:01]
Ryan Rosillo
I can't help but think, did Mick Cronin, pissing everyone off, rally this team because it was a Michigan State game, right? Because, I mean, it made no sense. He threw his own player out. Then he admitted that it was a mistake. But then after player yelled at the reporter, said, don't raise your voice. Like, the dude couldn't have been like, less raised. His engineer is like, right in there. You're perfect. Heaven sent. But I'm just, I don't. I mean, just when you like, all right, I can't do it with Mick Cronin anymore. You're like, this guy's a culture setter, man.
- [34:35]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, I think. I honestly, I wonder. I kind of have joked about this, but I kind of wonder how much truth there is to it. Him doing all of that, but then apologizing and like, apologizing to the player, admitting he got it wrong, apologizing to the media.
- [34:50]
Ryan Rosillo
And the kid had transferred from Michigan State.
- [34:52]
Eamon Brennan
Right, right, right.
- [34:53]
Ceruti
And.
- [34:53]
Eamon Brennan
And he was like, so I don't know, he was like. His intent was like, I thought he made a dirty play, so I was mad at him in the moment. You know what I mean? Like, I thought he was trying to hurt somebody and he just clearly lost his head in the moment. But then I think coming back out and apologizing, and surely he did it like, in front of the team too, because if you're going to do it in the media, obviously you're going to go back to your locker room and be like, guys, look, I had a long think, I sat down, I had a whiskey or whatever on Sunday night, and I realized I've completely lost my mind. I need a deep breath and I need to be less mean to you and to the rest of the world. And I honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the team was like, okay, sweet. Thank you, coach. Like, that's awesome. We'll lock in. Because that's what they've done. They've been great. And it's coincided. Really, too. I mean, if you want to dig into it, is like, it's coincided with Donovan Dent becoming The guard that UCLA thought it was getting when they pulled him out of New Mexico, you know, he has his flaws, particularly in that he's a, you know, 6 foot 2 ball, dominant point guard who can't shoot, and so everything has to get at the rim. But his assist numbers in the past, you know, in their run, really, since the Michigan State game when they've beaten Illinois, beat Nebraska, obviously beat Michigan State in the tournament, have been elite. And so he's had a little bit of an injury concern at the Big Ten tournament, but I think he's going to be fine. And so that's, that's really what to watch with them, because if he continues to play the way he's been playing, they've shown they can beat just about anybody.
- [36:26]
Ryan Rosillo
Five 12s. We've got Wisconsin, High Point, St. John's northern Iowa, we've got Vandy McNeese, and then Texas Tech and Akron. Do you have one you like?
- [36:38]
Eamon Brennan
You know, it's interesting because this is, as we mentioned earlier, the gap between the 5 seeds and the 12 seeds is historically large in terms of efficiency numbers. Like, we've never had a 512 set of games that are less likely to be upsets, even though that's the one that everyone picks every year, and rightly so, because there's always one. You know, I took Vanderbilt to go to the Final Four at the beginning of the year just kind of as a fun lark because, like, you get asked to do your preseason predictions and they ask for the Final Four, and it's always kind of inherently silly to me. It's just like, well, what seed are they going to be? Like, who are they going to be? Who are they going to play? Like, we have no idea. You just throwing names out. But I threw Vanderbilt. I was just kind of like, I think this team's going to be better than, than people expect. And they have been. So I, I won't pick them, even though I'm a little bit, I'm a little bit worried about them.
- [37:27]
Ryan Rosillo
We were kind of looking for a 12, maybe.
- [37:29]
Eamon Brennan
No, I, I'm talking, yeah, I'm saying like a 12 to like a, a 5. I can see getting upset. You know what I'm saying?
- [37:36]
Ryan Rosillo
So
- [37:39]
Eamon Brennan
I don't know, let's go with High Point just because I think they're pretty good and Wisconsin is just so up and down, like, has beaten the best teams in the country, has had some questionable performances. I'll just throw a High Point in there.
- [37:51]
Ryan Rosillo
Rap looked like Steph Curry out there. That was. Yeah, that Was like an all time half. All right, well, let's close on this. And as silly as it is, at least we have the bracket in front of us here. If we were workshopping, you know, you're just sitting there whiteboarding it out, like, where are you leaning? And I'm, I'm with you on like the bracket stuff. Like if I had to do one, it's better to win the office pool by going chalk. Historically, I don't think there's much debate there, but it's just not very much fun. You know, it's like meeting somebody and it's like, hey, you know what, do you like sports? Be like, yeah, I'm a Cowboys, Lakers, Yankees and Duke basketball fan. You're like, all right, awesome. So if you're like, yeah, I've got, I've got the 41 seeds. If you were getting creative here, how do you think you, you know, look, this isn't your final work. Let's give us a first draft version of what you think your final four may be.
- [38:42]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah, you know, if I was getting creative, I would, I would look at Virginia as a potential final four team because like you're really worried about Iowa State and you're hoping Michigan gets knocked off somewhere else in the bracket, which I don't think is going to happen. But in terms of size and rim protection and the ability to throw multiple bigs at a team like Michigan, Virginia is, is that team. You know, they've got Uganda and Yenso coming off the bench who's the best shot blocker in the country and like he's a luxury for them a little bit of the way Toby o' Walk is for Arizona. You know, they just bring him on for five six minute stretches and have absolutely no fall off on their backline because their, their starting center Grunlow is, is that good as well. And they've got an elite sort of all ACC guy and ties to Ritter. So I'm in. Virginia doesn't have too many flaws and they're, they're a team that they can somehow get past an Iowa State team that we talked about earlier. I really like elsewhere in the bracket to get a little bit creative with it and non one seeds, I mean mentioned Vanderbilt maybe Vanderbilt, they've played really well like particularly early in the year in neutral court formats. For whatever reason, they just like ran everybody out of the gym. I think now that they're out of the SEC churn a little bit, they could get back to some of that. And we've seen them beat Florida you know, they just did it on a neutral floor and they beat them handily. So there's a. You know, there's proof there. I don't really like anyone in the east besides Duke. I can't get there with UConn. You know, UConn is the kind of team, I don't think it's going to happen, but because they've had so many games where they've let bad teams hang around, they're. They're the type. Pardon me, they're the type of team that you could see getting upset earlier than they should based on their. Their talent and their level. Maybe Kansas, you know, like, Darren Peterson just goes nuts, and they are Kansas now. Like we talked the last time I was on, we were talking about the weirdness with. With Darren Peterson. That's kind of gone away. You know, he's been doing more interviews. He's been talking about how he had, like, these crazy full body cramps, and that was what the problem was. And he seems, like super well integrated with the rest of Kansas now in terms of tactically, on the offensive end, it isn't just okay when Darren's in the game, he takes 40% of our shots and everybody kind of stands around. So that's an interesting thing to develop because we, you know, Kansas is a four seed. They lost a bunch of games, but they haven't really been whole except for the last, you know, seven, eight games of the season. And so maybe they're. They're better than their numbers and their seed and their seed look, and then I'm sticking with Arizona. That's not fun. But the West Regional, I. Arizona is probably my title team. And, you know, like we, like we said at the top of the hit, like, I just. It's really hard to see them even being in too much of a close game until they get to the second weekend at the very least.
- [41:24]
Ryan Rosillo
Sounds like we're both going with Arizona, too.
- [41:26]
Eamon Brennan
I think we might be.
- [41:27]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Make sure that you check out Eamon Brennan's substack buzzer by Eamon Brennan. And he's been pumping out the content every single day. And we appreciate it, man. Enjoy the tournament.
- [41:40]
Eamon Brennan
Thank you.
- [41:42]
Ryan Rosillo
Reese's is teaming up with basketball titans to build their brackets, brackets that will inevitably bust. But this year, those busts can score you a Reese's. So pick along with the pros and just know whenever you bust, at least you can win a Reese's. Will your bracket survive or will it bust for a Reese's? Get your brackets in early and let's See who's the last one standing and the first to get a Reese's because even busted brackets happen. For Reese's Turn your busted bracket into a shot at Reese's and more. Post your busted bracket tag at Reese's on Instagram X or TikTok and use the hashtag for Reese's sweeps for a chance to score free Reese's and a shot to enjoy those Reese's at Men's or Women's Final Four and Championship games. No purchase necessary. Open only to legal residents of the 48 US NDC 18 years or older. Void in Alaska, Hawaii and where prohibited by law. Starts 3-19-26 ends March 27, 2026. Includes daily entry period. See official rules at every bracket bust for Reese's.com pages Official rules for how to Enterprise Detail Odds and restrictions Sponsor the Hershey Company this episode is brought to you by Body Armor Flash iv, the official rapid rehydration drink of March Madness. Flash IV is packed with electrolytes delivering faster, longer lasting hydration without any artificial dyes, flavors or sweeteners. Perfect for training, traveling or just feeling the heat. I know what you're saying, oh, Rosilla's going to talk about lifting again. Maybe another day. But I'm telling you right now, when I travel, when I'm up in the air, when I'm making a connection through an airport and then you get done, you're like, I'm exhausted. My body feels tight. What is going on? It's all changed. I mean, look, the flights still take as long as they take, but if you're not downing some of this stuff and getting yourself recharged, getting the fluids, getting the water levels up, getting that IV going, then you're just doing it wrong. You're going to land wherever you are, whatever time zone it is, whatever part of the world that is your destination, you're going to feel better with some body armor sitting right next to you and you don't have to buy the seat. Work hard and hydrate hard with Body Armor Flash iv, the official rapid rehydration drink of March Madness. Grab it at 7:11. This segment is presented by Microsoft. Are you ready for Lakers week? The momentum is going to happen. We are in it. They are winning games. They're the three seed in the West. And I'll admit, throughout the year, every time I'd watch a Lakers game and the graphic comes up, I'd always be like, man, that record feels so much better than how I feel about the team. I've talked about the record against teams that are 500 or better that's below 500. It's not necessarily like an eliminator, the absurd clutch record where they're winning, like, 80% of their games. I was like, is there something that's actually a little misleading about that? Sure, they can argue about injuries, but so can almost every other team other than maybe Minnesota. So if you look at where they're at right now in the three seed in the west, because this is going to start if they keep playing like this, and we'll see what happens with Houston the next couple of games here, but they keep playing like this, then it starts turning into, like, all right, are they a contender in the West? Like, I'll just. I'll say this first and foremost. I think Oklahoma City and San Antonio are so much better than every other team in the NBA, including the East. I'd be shocked if the spurs are not playing the Thunder in the Western Conference finals. But because we have a three next to the Lakers, then it kind of changes a little bit of, like, hey, if they're a three seed, like, seeding can be really misleading at times and how you'll feel about a team like, hey, we were the two seed. Hey, we were the three seed. Okay, but what were the rest of the records like? Because if you look at three through seven in the west, they're separated by only three games in the last column. But even if you're still a little lukewarm on the Lakers, who behind them in the west that they could be playing in the first round, who do you actually like right now? Go through these three teams and, sorry, in advance to Phoenix, Denver, who they beat overtime, and it was a terrific win by the Lakers because they're up big. They blow the lead. You know, look, blow the lead, Denver comes back and you're like, all right, Denver's gonna pull this off maybe right the ship here a little bit. And then the Lakers end up winning in overtime. Denver's 18 and 17 since January 1st. Offense is fourth, defense is 22nd. They have the eighth most clutch losses in the NBA this season. They're 17 and 18 as a clutch team, where normally they're terrific in the clutch because you just trust their execution as much as any team in the league. If you look at 2-1-1 against these good teams, they lost against OKC. They lost to Detroit, they lost in overtime to the Knicks. They lost to Cleveland, they lost to the Clippers. There's a Golden State loss in there. They lost to OKC in Overtime. When SGA didn't even play in the overtime, they lost in Minnesota. They had that awful Knicks game where they lost by 39 points. I know Murray left with the ankle injury, but still. Cause I don't know that this Knicks team team is like wowing us right now. Then they lose OKC again and LA in overtime. That's 11 losses against good team since February 1st. Like at some point the switch has to go on for me to trust that you could actually get through the West. And right now I do not trust them. Yes, they did beat the Lakers earlier during the stretch and they beat Boston. You could argue Boston's ending a road trip in there. It felt like a pretty good win at that time. And then they beat San Antonio, but Wembanyama did not play in that game. So Denver is a team that I, I can't like, I can't do it right now with them. Granted, Houston's right behind the Lakers in the seating. The Lakers are going to play Houston twice this week, both in Houston. It's Monday and then it's Wednesday. You'd imagine that they probably just split them. But if the Lakers win both of those, considering who Houston has been 4 and 4 in their last eight, they're 22nd on an offense since January 1st. There's eight teams worse than Houston on offense since January 1st. All of those teams are tanking or should be tanking. Minnesota. What the fuck Was that yesterday? OKC is using their 28th different starting lineup against the most stable five man lineup that we have in the NBA with the Timberwolves. Talked about that with Finch. It's an overwhelming number. How many minutes that you've had their five guys play together, Right? So it's Gobert, it's Randall, it's McDaniels. He actually did play yesterday. You may have missed it. Divincenzo. And then ant, they're up 53, 47 at the half. At OKC, SGA has four points with zero free throw attempts at the half. OKC shooting 32%. So you're like, wait, how are you? How are you not up 20 in this spot? It's because Minnesota refuses to take the game seriously against the same opponent or superior opponents. This is the second time in a week where they start the game with this lazy ball maintenance. I don't even know if that's really a term, but just incredibly casual handoffs. Hey, here you go, man. Let's see if you'll get open and SGA and all these other dudes. Granted, SGA is not even close to being their best defensive player. But whether it's Wallace, whether it's Dort, whether it's Caruso getting in there, every single guy in the perimeter, if there's a big that's extended out, they get their hands in there, they'll get physical with you. You have to play to match the intensity when you have the ball against okc. And the Timberwolves didn't do it against the Clippers when they turned it over five straight possessions, seven times in the first quarter. They turned it over 25 times. Yesterday, Ant got stripped by Wallace just bringing the ball up. He had another turnover in transition. Randall drives in the paint, he gets tied up. Rudy had a stretch in the third quarter where there was a lob. That SGA kind of gets in there. It's a bad lobby. There's another block on Rudy where it was a foul on sga. Then there's two other plays or Rudy, it's like, are you seven one or not? So even if I wanted to, like, have his side on a bad lob or a foul that wasn't called, it's still like, man, this is why no one passes to you. We've covered all this stuff again. Ant started the game with five turnovers against five field goal makes. I never seen him get stripped one on one, bringing the ball up like he did against Wallace. And then he had another turnover in transition, too. So it's like even you're getting a game where OKC is gifting it to you here. All right. SGA is a complete non factor. We know that. Their depth and the double bigs. And then they decide like, hey, let's do some non SGA minutes to start the fourth quarter, and let's not have any of the bigs out there and then see what happens. And they gain eight points on the lead. So it's like whatever OKC does, it seems to just work. But it's incredibly frustrating to watch a Timberwolves team based on the expectations of making a two straight Western Conference finals. And then I see this week, you weren't ready against the Clippers, you weren't ready against the Thunder. You're not matching their intensity. And just as a side on J.D. mcDaniels, he played 16 invisible minutes yesterday. I don't. It seems like as soon as he's not getting touches, and maybe that's just on everybody. Kind of the old rule of get the big man a couple touches early. So he's engaged. Because Jaden McDaniel's life should be simple. On offense, all the attention is on Ant. Everything the Timberwolves are running in their half court possessions is trying to find a way to get Dort off of Ant and then start the offense. And then you have like Randall's been struggling shooting, but he was actually getting it going a little bit yesterday. And Jaden stepping out of bounds twice, getting cooked on defense, just, you know, I imagine, I know he had foul trouble in the first quarter, but he, he's a really frustrating player because even if it's like, all right, look, you're not going to touch the ball, you're not going to create off the dribble, I don't even know that he necessarily could be able to do that, but he should be. With all the attention on Ant or even Randall and their playmaking ability, there should be just easy drives for him. Two dribbles, his size, his touch. And it's almost like he checks himself out of the game mentally. And then Finch did it officially by taking him out of the game. So you've got all of these issues there. Those are the three teams that I'm supposed to take serious right now. I think I like Houston least out of all these teams. So look, Minnesota's always turned the basketball over. They've turned it over a lot the last two years. But yesterday was, was gross. So I wanted to start looking at some night lineup stuff that I was doing on NBA's stat page this morning because I'm wondering as I look at like the best five man lineups, which I think is an important thing to think about, like we can caught up in seating, certainly matchups will matter because even if Minnesota's matched up with the Lakers in the first round, it's kind of hard to ignore like how overwhelming it felt. The size difference and it's Ayton solve all of that now. You know, I mean, at least there's a body to throw out there. And Ayton was terrific in the overtime, I thought defensively against Jokic. Like I watched the possessions again, one for four against him. Poor Ayton though. I know, like I actually felt bad for him. He blocks Jokic in overtime and then the ball is just kind of like there and he easily could have grabbed it and then he doesn't. It's like head in his hands. It's like he just blocked the best player in the world in overtime. Stayed down. It was terrific. And there's, it's like if you had a wife. I don't. But if you had a wife and you made her breakfast in bed and she just like gave her a root beer. She's like, there's, there was no juice. You're like, ah, you know, he did everything right. Yet there's still some part of it where it's like, how could you not grab that? So you know, look, that's something to think about if it's Minnesota and LA in the first round here. But looking at some of these five man lineups, we, we know that like Minnesota's a plus 10 with their five guys. Detroit's a plus 13 with their five guys. The Knicks are plus 3.7 in over 400 minutes with the five guys. And it's like that might be alarming. The Brooklyn nets are plus two points in 307 minutes with their five best players. Joman doesn't play anymore. Charlotte is plus 28 net rating with their five best players. And these are the lineups of like legitimate minutes. Hundreds and hundreds of minutes played by these five guys. Right? So Charlotte's is really easy. Diabate, Bridges, Miller, Caniple and LaMelo Ball plus 28. Their offense is 134.7 which is the best of any of the 25 offenses sorted by minutes most minutes behind only Denver, which is 136.7. So you're kind of like, well you know, does Denver, if it's those five guys, are they still so unstoppable with those five that that's what you need to look at for the playoffs? Because then it spin it back to the Lakers and you're going, all right, there are, they have this momentum. I've just dogged all the teams behind them. You know, Phoenix is an injury thing on top of everything else. But again they're only three games behind the Lakers in the seventh spot. But then I look at the Lakers five man units, 226 minutes played with LeBron, Luca, Reeves, Ayton and Smart and it's a negative 5.5 on the season. All right, what if we sort it from January 1st, you know, kind of do the Pacers thing from last year. It's like, you know, sometimes you just got to wake up and realize like these teams are completely different. Well, since January 1st it's negative 4.8. She's like, so that's the group that's going to be run out there that I'm going to pick against other teams in the west now because they have this momentum if you do it month by month. In February it was a dominant group, plus 17. But then back in March it's like negative nine points. So I'm like, what am I supposed to do with this now? I would say Smart hitting threes completely changes who they are. The he is open all the time because defensively you could just see it with other teams. It's two to Luca. Sometimes it's two to Reeves. LeBron's still going to take a ton of attention. I don't know what Marcus Smart's uncontested shot rate is right now. It's probably never been higher his entire career. Even playing with great players in Boston, he is wide open all the time. And that is one of the things that defenses are going to just go into games saying, we can live with that. If he gets hot, it's. It changes everything for them because there's so much of it that's been, you know, really good. When I looked at the five man lineups and went back to last year, I was like, is there anything from last year that warned us about teams that were going to be great in the playoffs or disappointing in the playoffs? I mean, there's a Boston one in here. We're with Porzingis the most Porzingis played lineup, which is all the regulars and Porzingis, basically that was an even lineup, which is horrifying. A net zero with Horford. They were plus 17. Didn't really matter. Porzingis was terrible in the playoffs and look, they ended up losing the Knicks. They were going to lose the Knicks even if Tatum was healthy, I feel pretty certain of that. OKC had a Hartenstein lineup with no chat that was plus 16. The Pacers had two different lineups. One was with Turner, Siakam, Nismith, Nemhart, halliburton, that was plus 11. And then if you replaced Niecemith with Matheran, it was plus 12 and like established like hundreds of minutes. Like, that's a really good number. The Lakers had an awesome lineup with Luca, but it only played like I think a hundred minutes. But it had RUI and DFS in there and that number. So some of these numbers can be like a little like, hey, you know. But usually what you'd like to see is who are your established five and is that lineup with 200, 300 minutes, has that shown that that's a pretty awesome number? Because I've had even like marginal teams tell me, hey, you know, when we have our five out there, like, look at our net rating or whatever, and you're just kind of like eye roll. But if you're talking about teams like getting out of their conference and getting through multiple rounds in the playoffs or just even, you know, playing in an eastern or Western conference finals, it's like, can I see something there? And even if the Lakers thing doesn't necessarily shout at me right now, that there is this five man group that is, is really scary and I'm not even trying to compare it to the Thunder or the Spurs. I'm comparing to everybody else. The problem is I'm comparing it to all these teams behind him, that even if I have to look at the Lakers differently in a positive way, I'm looking at the rest of the teams behind him negatively. Microsoft Copilot. The AI assistant that actually helps you get stuff done. Copilot works across Microsoft 365 Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook. Turning chaos into productivity. Need a presentation? Copilot builds it. Need a summary of a meeting? You definitely zoned out in. Copilot's got you. Let copilot do the heavy lifting. You just take the credit. Learn more@Microsoft.com M365 copilot.
- [57:51]
Ceruti
You want details?
- [57:52]
Kyle
Bye.
- [57:53]
Ryan Rosillo
I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.
- [57:56]
Eamon Brennan
What's up?
- [57:58]
Ceruti
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.
- [58:00]
Ryan Rosillo
I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible.
- [58:09]
Kyle
Let me tell you what's required.
- [58:10]
Ryan Rosillo
Life Advice lifeadvice rrmail.com We've got Ceruti. We've got Kyle. Who? Kyle. Floor is yours. Your scepter.
- [58:19]
Kyle
No, I don't want to do it anymore. I was.
- [58:22]
Ryan Rosillo
Are you talking.
- [58:22]
Kyle
Are you talking about the text this week?
- [58:24]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [58:26]
Kyle
All right. You know, certain times of the, of the night and the weekend, things feel like bigger deals than they are. And then you get a little bit. You get a little bit further back and they don't seem like such a big deal anymore. Anyway, it was a big, big Saturday for me. Was at a local bar in town. The owner was like a retired Johnny's guy, but since I'd been coming in, he was getting a little closer and closer. And I came in on the Big east tournament title game and brought him a hat that I got from the crate in St. John's game. And I was really excited and I figured Ryan has even been hitting me with some texts on Johnny's game days. And I was like, I think we are coming to this crescendo moment. And I facetime you guys. I step out for a smoke. I think it was after the win.
- [59:08]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know.
- [59:09]
Kyle
Again, it's a Little foggy. I step out for a smoke and I'm like, I'm gonna call my guys. It was just me alone out front. For some reason, no one else was around. So I was like, I'm gonna call my guys. And nobody answered. And then I sent you guys a little what for? In the texts, and that's it. And now. And then Sunday morning, I went to do a regular adult sort of kid's birthday party, do adult activities, and I was just like, man, I really don't care as much as I did. And I think we're still gonna have to talk about this, because I was like, I'm gonna hash this out with you Monday. The juices were flowing on Saturday, and
- [59:40]
Ryan Rosillo
I just, just needed my guys. It was a nice win. It was dominant. You know, there was that little glimmer of, of Yukon hope in there for a moment, but wasn't it responded nice. After an embarrassing, embarrassing night in Hartford. I don't have I FaceTime. I think I FaceTimed the group 10 minutes after that because I felt bad. I was on the phone with my father.
- [60:03]
Ceruti
Yeah, all right.
- [60:04]
Ryan Rosillo
That's a no 1. That's a good line.
- [60:06]
Ceruti
Yeah, I thought Ryan's was a mistake, so I didn't pick it up. But the Kyle one, I, the Kyle one I felt bad about because I, I was, I, I was in. I was trying to put my daughter to sleep. She's have, she's just not, you know, she goes to the big girl bed. She just likes to get out all the time. It's a problem. We bought her this, like, panda squishy light thing so she can kind of like do that, but she gets out of bed all the time. So I, I try to figure that out, and I get back and I see the, the missed FaceTime and the text, and I was like, oh, no, I, I missed. And, and here's the thing. My w. She, I let her watch the game. It was kind of blood anyway, so it didn't really matter. So I, I, I feel like my excuse is valid for Ryan. I just, I just straight up didn't pick up. I figured it was a mistake.
- [60:43]
Kyle
I just, you know, my Saturday night brain thought you guys looked at that and went, jesus Christ.
- [60:47]
Ryan Rosillo
And I was, no, I would have loved it.
- [60:49]
Kyle
That was my Saturday night brain. But, you know, Sunday, I was like, of course not, man.
- [60:53]
Ryan Rosillo
What's wrong with you?
- [60:54]
Kyle
It's like, why did you commit to talking about this on life anyway?
- [60:58]
Ryan Rosillo
No, my dad and I, every now and then we're like, if there's a big, Big east game, we'll, we'll watch it together and we'll just be on the phone.
- [61:05]
Kyle
Speakerphone.
- [61:05]
Ryan Rosillo
Hell yeah, dude, speakerphone. But then usually within the first five minutes, he starts pitching that like Derrick White and Tatum didn't play in a game. And I'm just like, yep, I know, I know, man. You know, I get it, buddy.
- [61:20]
Kyle
All right, so we have to lace out.
- [61:22]
Ryan Rosillo
They don't lace him up the way they used to. And so because that game was a blowout, like there was a lot of other discussions, a lot of other topics. We hit a million seconds segments. And so then, then when I got off the phone, I saw the missed call and I called immediately and I felt bad because I was like, ah, you know. But again, Ceruti's more of a Yukon guy though, so.
- [61:45]
Ceruti
You know, I'm not a Yukon. No, I mean, you know, my wife went to UConn. I, I grew up kind of a UConn fan, but I didn't go there. So I don't really like claim UConn as a thing. And I'll, you know, she's witnessed a ton of national championships. I like you guys being happy. So I was kind of like secret.
- [61:58]
Kyle
Yeah, I figured he would pick up for that reason.
- [62:00]
Ryan Rosillo
But. Yeah, I almost Wore A tank. St. John's tank today, but nice. Well, we had to do the barstool draft thing, so I was like, all right, you know, maybe we don't wear a tank top. Although it would have fit in on that. I don't know. We probably would have got more airtime for sure.
- [62:15]
Ceruti
Yeah, I don't know when that's coming
- [62:16]
Ryan Rosillo
out, but we, we got hosed a
- [62:18]
Ceruti
little bit in that, in that draft.
- [62:20]
Ryan Rosillo
That's a tough, it's a tough spot.
- [62:21]
Kyle
You have to write one pick after
- [62:23]
Ryan Rosillo
us, maybe two, a nine seed or worse to see how they got. And we won. We had to be one of the last picks. If you go that late, I don't know. But in. And also the randomness of competitiveness, who knows? Okay, a couple emails here. I think I may just read this one because it's 67260 NBA comp. Daniel Tice. Dude, we have huge listeners. Was it a family get together a few weeks ago? Ended up watching basketball. My 90 year old grandmother Nicks are playing. I asked my grandmother, she could name five current basketball players and we didn't get past LeBron. That's a pretty good one though. Yeah, she's watching the game. Did somebody see that? Tweet where it was like, hey, over a couple years we have a actor named LeBron. Was it Michael B. James? We may have ourselves a debate.
- [63:08]
Ceruti
LeBron B. James.
- [63:10]
Ryan Rosillo
LeBron, yeah. So Michael B. Jordan. LeBron. No, Michael B. James. Yeah, Michael B. Jordan. I could have delivered that a little bit better, but I thought that was, I thought that was clever enough. Yeah, it was clever enough that I, you know, plays into it. First take, happy.
- [63:26]
Ceruti
Happy for Michael B. Jordan.
- [63:27]
Ryan Rosillo
You know, I love Michael B. Jordan. He has my MVP trophy from the flag football game though. It's a Super Bowl.
- [63:34]
Kyle
Think he still has it or do
- [63:36]
Ryan Rosillo
you think he remembers that?
- [63:37]
Kyle
Do you think he moved once and was like this?
- [63:40]
Ryan Rosillo
I saw him at the Soho House and I debated going up to him be like, hey, you still got my MVP trophy. I didn't.
- [63:46]
Ceruti
There's zero chance you knew it.
- [63:47]
Kyle
Good move by you.
- [63:55]
Ryan Rosillo
Who knows? Maybe it was the wrong move.
- [63:58]
Ceruti
Yeah, you should have, you should have tweeted out last night like, you know, this is the best, you know, this finally beats that. The MVP trophy from the flag football game. Finally. You finally topped that accomplishment.
- [64:08]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, finally. Took you long enough.
- [64:10]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [64:10]
Ryan Rosillo
Oh man. Was happy for him. I like, I think everybody likes him, you know? Yeah. All right, moving on. Shame at face. So she's watched the game, pretty into it, making comments about different players, etc, then suddenly there's a quick cutaway to Landry shaman on the bench. He lets out the loudest shriek I'd ever heard from her and goes, eek. Look at that guy. He doesn't even look like a basketball player. At this point I start dying of laughter. She has no idea why. I spent the next few minutes explaining the concept of shamit face to her. There's now a 90 year old lady walking the earth with shamit face in her lexicon. I hope you are proud. I gotta be honest, it kind of is starting to suck. Like I brought it up years ago because I was just like, if he looked people as a nice. Yeah, yeah, he had a stretch where he was bawling and by the way, he's back to it. And the irony of ironies is just last week I worked out with his trainer and, and I'm like, man, he is cooking. And he's like, look, his shoulders are healthy. He's like, you have no. Like his shoulders were messed up. He's like, he's healthy and he's playing awesome hoops again. I was watching the game last night. I, I think Brown went with him over bridges. Unless there's something I'm missing from last night's game against the warriors, where, man, the warriors, just every time you're like, there's no way they have a chance in this game. They've done an awesome job of being competitive, the Warriors. And then it's like, okay, now we're running Guy Santos under a minute ISO side, like, go, go, cook, buddy, Even though he's been terrific. So that was a little Knicks warriors for you. So I could have mistakenly, of taping this morning, forgotten a Bridges fact. But the point is, Shamet has been terrific, and I was like, if he looked like Michael B. Jordan, I think he'd make more money, honestly. Granted, he has been hurt for a little bit here. So I kind of feel guilty about it because, like, we may get sham it on the pot because of the relationship with the trainer. So I kind of have to be like, hey, so I don't even know how the. I'm gonna ask that question, but I have to either. You definitely.
- [66:11]
Ceruti
You definitely do. Would that be more awkward than having, like, DeMarcus cousins on?
- [66:18]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, I knew the cousins thing was going to go bad, but I knew that I also wasn't going to not ask him about totally different vibes.
- [66:25]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [66:25]
Ryan Rosillo
Right.
- [66:26]
Ceruti
I think.
- [66:26]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah.
- [66:26]
Ceruti
It seems like a more. A little more, you know, I don't know.
- [66:28]
Ryan Rosillo
I expected cousins not have a good time before the thing started.
- [66:31]
Eamon Brennan
Right.
- [66:32]
Ryan Rosillo
So I don't know what you say. Like, you just go to sham it and you say, like, hey, there's, like, the chance that you could have been, like, in a Lord of the Rings thing, and you just look a little different.
- [66:42]
Ceruti
He's like an elven.
- [66:43]
Ryan Rosillo
I gotta stop talking about this. Yeah. Okay. Because then it's gonna get. I mean, his trainer probably already knows. His trainer couldn't be a nicer guy. Too long. Sinewy Jack.
- [66:55]
Kyle
That is cool that that guy's grandma knows now. Two NBA players and one of them is Lander Sham.
- [67:02]
Ryan Rosillo
But, like, I do think. I think there's. We're such visual people. We.
- [67:05]
Kyle
Yeah, the context really helps if Alex
- [67:08]
Ryan Rosillo
Caruso looked different, like, other than a. What's going on with this guy? Does he have a rash? Why is he. He's already balding. Like, I'm going to draft a guy in the first round who's already fucking balding. I can't do that. You know, like, you just. You start to think, like. And then it's like, hey, Caruso's awesome. So. Yeah. Be careful. All right. I think we've covered it.
- [67:32]
Ceruti
Yep.
- [67:32]
Ryan Rosillo
I think we've covered all of that. Do we need more or no? I don't think we need anything.
- [67:38]
Kyle
We should just get to the next one.
- [67:39]
Ceruti
Probably.
- [67:40]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, probably should.
- [67:41]
Kyle
Already got Caruso.
- [67:45]
Ryan Rosillo
We got time for engineer. My engineer said that I shouldn't read this email, but I'm going to read it. 51118525 years old Jim Stats A heart condition keeps me from maxing out more of a high rep guy, low weight guy. All right, fair NBA comp. My friends have affectionately compared me to George Niang during pickup. Well I that's one of the best compliments because Niang come out there and dime you up all day, post you up. He'll hit threes, he'll make the right rotations. Everyone could use a little bit more knee I got married to my now wife about a month and a half ago after dating for two years. She had some issues with her parents over the last few years. Essentially she's been growing and changing as a person while our parents have stayed the same. They live in a different state in the US so I can imagine seeing their daughter, their daughter change with each visit could be quite jarring. This will be helpful context for later, but my wife is wrapping up school. We're currently living off of my income alone. I'm paid well but not killing it by any stretch of the imagination and we're saving to be able to buy a house in a few years. Anyway, this past weekend we were driving out to dinner with one of my wife's cousins that lives in the state when she gets a call from her dad. We'll call him Tony. This isn't uncommon as Tony will call her off and check in. My wife usually has these calls play over the car speaker so I can join in. This time Tony leads with hey, I know you guys pay for YouTube TV since you watch a lot of sports. We were wondering if you could add us to your account so I can use it as well. End quote. At first I thought this was fine. I was expecting some sort of offer to split the cost. It became apparent as the conversation went on this was not the case. Tony mentions that paying almost 90amonth was getting too steep for him to keep paying, especially with all the other subscriptions he pays for and that'll save him a ton of money if he's able to just jump on my subscription again. Zero mention of splitting the bill. My mother in law, let's call her Denise, chimes in and says, quote tell them it's because we're still Paying for her phone bill and Netflix. All right, while true, the phone bill is cheaper with my wife on their plan and the Netflix sub was a Christmas gift requested by my wife. It was practically the only gift she got from her mom for Christmas. The combined cost for both of those services per month is not even close to the 80 odd dollars I would pay per month. Denise grew up in hard circumstances but will often use the quote I do X for you, you should do X for me manipulation tactic on our kids. It happened several times during wedding planning and drove my wife up the wall. Anyway, I mentioned that I was planning on reducing to just the cheaper sports plan because it's all I use is just for sports. To which my father in law asked me to get the news and sports package since he wants to watch the news on my sub. So now he's making demands and has made no offer to pay. All he said is that it'd be nice to have some money back in his pocket which I know damn well will just be spent on Amazon. Oh Jesus.
- [70:34]
Kyle
This is pocket watching everyone's pocket, watching
- [70:36]
Ryan Rosillo
each other in this family. This is nuts. Both my wife and I are silently seething at this point in the car. He always offers to pay for things, so the fact that he didn't makes me think they're really just wanting us to pay 90 bucks or whatever a month for my in laws to have TV for free.
- [70:53]
Eamon Brennan
This is.
- [70:53]
Ryan Rosillo
Is this not an insane thing to ask your new son in law? Like don't get me wrong, I like my in laws, but this feels like an insane overreach if they were in financial hardship. I mean we're willing to do this as a favor, but he makes over twice my salary. I gave him a non committal answer to buy myself some time to think how I'm going to figure this out. Do I just ask him to pay his half? Particularly when I will not be touching the news stations. They did pay for half our wedding. Okay, there you go. Which has me worried they'll push back and hold that over our head for the rest of our lives as you kind of owe us for this. I do not want my married life relationship with my in laws to start on a sour note. Any advice would be appreciated.
- [71:30]
Kyle
This is like the stuff I do for my parents anyway. Like I'm trying to get them to do this stuff. Like I'm trying to like here, look, I logged into this. You don't have to watch this with commercials. It's here, it's there. Like I think when you get Older, you're looking for ways to give back. And now it sounds like he's newly married and she just finished school. So I'm thinking mid-20s. So it's, maybe you're not at that point yet where you're like trying to find ways to like pay your parents back. Especially these are your in laws. So it's a little different. But I mean, if you're counting the dollar for dollar, I mean, you just met these people a couple years ago. I mean they've, they've supported their child through everything and they probably put her through school or at some, you know, they were supporting somehow they're still paying her goddamn cell phone. So I think like doing the dollars to dollars thing isn't going to match and this is just part of kind of being a good family. I think that's what younger people usually set up to older people with stuff of this nature. Now it's a little strange that he's making requests, but there's gonna be things about your in laws that are strange. And I think you're blowing this one up a little bit. I think it's totally fine. We're talking about half the wedding. I don't know how many years of YouTube TV, by the way. You could just threaten to cancel YouTube TV. They'll give you a promo rate for three months. I just did it. So you probably.
- [72:38]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, but I mean on the wedding thing, like if you're this guy, I'd be like, I didn't realize it's a tab I gotta work off the rest of my life. Well, it's not, I thought it was because it was your daughter. He also said half the wedding, by the way, so it sounds like, hey,
- [72:51]
Kyle
that could mean 15 grand, it could mean 60 grand. I don't know what kind of wedding.
- [72:54]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, but it doesn't mean all the grand is what it could have been.
- [72:57]
Ceruti
It could have been his, his parents paid for the other half too. Right?
- [73:00]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, that's what I think I'm saying here. I, I think there's a bad. Go ahead, Surudi, because you're married as well. So I'd rather.
- [73:06]
Ceruti
No, I, I, I'm not fighting this. I'm just, I'm not really. Yeah, I, it's not cool and it's, I, I would be annoyed, but I would be annoyed like to my wife and other people.
- [73:16]
Kyle
But yeah, this is what you guys bond over and it'd be like a year of Netflix is her, like, how much did you spend on her Christmas gift versus how much I'm gonna do just for being nice. It's like, it's on the wrong foot, to say the least. This is stuff to argue with each other about.
- [73:31]
Ceruti
I don't even know of all the subscriptions that we have to, like, you know, the HBOs and Netflix. I don't even know which family member even has them. We just kind of.
- [73:40]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I don't know if it comes
- [73:41]
Ceruti
out clean in the wash. Yeah, I know we don't have the HBO one because it keeps asking me if I moved, so that's a bummer. But all the other ones, I'm. I honest. I know I have uttv because my buddy kind of mooches off of it a little bit. And I let it slide a little bit because he claims that it's, like, for soccer, even though it's, you know, he'll pay me, like, you know, 50 bucks a year, which is probably more than that. He's probably listening to this pod right now. So what's up? But I, you know, I just kind of let it slide. I don't know, with the. With the subscription and the fact that. That she is paying for the cell phone thing, even if it's not even. I. I think you just kind of got to take the l here. It's not that much money.
- [74:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I. I get what you're saying. And normally it's just kind of like, hey, it's not that much, but he's supporting this guy's daughter while she's studying, so there's no income coming in there. It sounds like both parties involved here are. And I don't even mean this to be, like, critical, but there's people who are just completely loose with money and don't even think about it. And that's probably not the best way to go. And there's other people that are incredibly tight about everything, and that can be, like, kind of stressful and not always the greatest. And so it sounds like, you know, if we're talking about poor people involved here, like, our guy emailing in, there's not a ton of money coming in. The whole wedding thing. Like, did you not want to do that for your daughter that I married? So my problem with this is generally I go like, it's not that big of a deal. Like, you're going to have YouTube anyway. Just have them on the sub. Avoid the hassle over just a few dollars. It's not that big of a deal. But he said that they're manipulative, that the mother will be like, if I've done this for you, you need to do like, she's keeping score. There's a fucking spreadsheet apparently in these parents heads the entire time.
- [75:19]
Kyle
But was that for planning the wedding though? Did she bring that shit up? Because like the mom wanted the wedding to go one way and she's like, well, I'm paying for half of this because I mean, that comes out.
- [75:26]
Ryan Rosillo
What email are you talking about?
- [75:28]
Kyle
Didn't she say that when she brought up the I did this for you, it's because they were planning the wedding or is it for something else?
- [75:35]
Ryan Rosillo
No, I think that was just a general.
- [75:37]
Kyle
Because that comes up when you're doing
- [75:38]
Ryan Rosillo
wedding stuff sometimes, right?
- [75:40]
Kyle
Like, well, we're paying for half the thing. Can't have azaleas. All right, you say so.
- [75:44]
Ryan Rosillo
No, no, she was saying, I do X for you, you should do X for me. Manipulation tactics on her kids. I think it was just part of the general upbringing in the entire thing here. So like, that's a ballsy thing because like on one side when you look at this and you go, okay, it's not that big of a deal. I can have you on YouTube. But like, think about what they had to do. They had to both talk, the in laws had to talk and be like, hey, why don't we just call them up, up and ask them to pay for our YouTube subscription? You know, wouldn't that be awesome? Yeah. And then, hey, we have our Netflix thing, forgetting that it was a Christmas gift. And yeah, she's still on the family plan for the phone. So if that money's coming out, we need to recoup that somehow. Like this gets really annoying.
- [76:18]
Kyle
It does.
- [76:19]
Ryan Rosillo
And it may be worth it. It may be worth it. Even though it's very new, seeing how they respond to a little defensive tactics being like, hey, hit him back.
- [76:28]
Ceruti
See what's up.
- [76:29]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, just be like, hey, look, if you want, you want me to pay for YouTube and then you're telling me which package you want, right? Like, if you want the package I don't want, then we're going to split it. Just see, throw it out in the air, see how he responds.
- [76:42]
Ceruti
Yeah, that package too is probably only like 10 bucks extra. I feel like this, it's not that much. Maybe you just say, hey, I'll pay for the base package. You just kick in for that and we're even. Try to work a deal with him. I don't know, maybe he'll respect you more for that. I. I'm just saying, coming out from a perspective of like, I don't Want to live like that. And if it's not like dire financially, I just don't, I don't want to even be in that mode.
- [77:03]
Ryan Rosillo
But he might be living like that if he gives into this is what I'm saying. Like it may be more beneficial for him the rest of the relationship if it's like, hey, you know what I may just do? Push back here once, see how it goes. Let me test.
- [77:14]
Kyle
Yeah, it is early stages. You're right. You may be. Maybe this is a set the tone moment. I forgot that he got married less than two months ago. This could be a set the tone moment.
- [77:22]
Ceruti
Does he like you? I guess is the question too. You know, if he does like you, maybe have a little bit more leeway. If he doesn't like you, maybe it doesn't really matter. Maybe this will make him respect you more. I don't know.
- [77:31]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, look at the big balls on Brad.
- [77:35]
Kyle
Or you could be like, you know, I've been really interested in Paramount, so why don't you just get the parent, like think about something you want and see how he great, how he survived. It's like, you know what I really been. What's Tulsa King all about? So maybe, yeah, I'll do this and then you go ahead and you get Paramount. I heard maybe you want to wait for the merger with hbo because that'd be great. Then we can have this and see how he responds to that.
- [77:54]
Ceruti
Or what you could do is since the mom got the Netflix thing for Christmas next Christmas you can be like, well, we didn't get you a gift because you know we're paying for your
- [78:01]
Ryan Rosillo
YouTube TV, so you're giving long card that has you just write YouTube.
- [78:05]
Ceruti
Yeah. And then the IOU that you give me.
- [78:08]
Eamon Brennan
Yeah,
- [78:11]
Ryan Rosillo
your library's all messed up. You're like, crossfire, hell's going on in here. Crossfire. Wow.
- [78:18]
Ceruti
Ncis. Yeah.
- [78:19]
Kyle
Yeah, maybe you're right because I think
- [78:21]
Ryan Rosillo
all the ICSs, I think maybe, yeah.
- [78:25]
Kyle
If you don't set the tone here, you could end up like our guy who's from last week who's supposed to be going down to Orlando pretty soon for the world championships of dance. Did you get any follow ups?
- [78:35]
Ryan Rosillo
I was going to ask a million.
- [78:36]
Kyle
I was really worried about it.
- [78:38]
Ryan Rosillo
And it was 99. Look, seriously, if we got a hundred emails on people following up on the guy in the dance thing, it was 99. You have to go. That's what being in a relationship is. But I just don't think, I don't think people are fully Understanding like what those meats are. Have you ever watched like five minutes of those on ESPN?
- [79:05]
Ceruti
Yeah, I have, unfortunately.
- [79:06]
Kyle
I think I've gotten YouTube links to like various family members. Like, hey, two o' clock or start time. Here's the link.
- [79:15]
Ceruti
All right.
- [79:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I get it. A lot of it was just like the general theme was, grow up. You're in a relationship. This is something you're supposed to do. One guy emailed in was like, hey, technically driving in a car is more dangerous. And it's like, hey, have you ever been with anybody who's afraid that has anxiety? It's just, you know. Yeah. Not a ton of talk yourself into being nervous on a flight now.
- [79:37]
Kyle
Is it kind of fun?
- [79:38]
Ryan Rosillo
Is it fun? Oh, no, it isn't. If you like really start going like
- [79:42]
Ceruti
what I have noticed.
- [79:44]
Eamon Brennan
I don't know how what this makes me.
- [79:46]
Ceruti
Because I've been flying a lot recently. I have noticed that like on landing and takeoff, I was never worried at all. Honestly. Sometimes I'm like asleep during the takeoff most of the times. And since I've. Ryan's gonna laugh at me and maybe think I'm a huge loser since I've had two kids. It's in the back of my mind.
- [80:02]
Kyle
I'm like a little jumbled up on the.
- [80:04]
Eamon Brennan
This would suck.
- [80:04]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [80:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Wow.
- [80:06]
Ceruti
Where it never like. And not even. There's not even really other parts of my life that impacts. It's just when I'm flying, it's so strange.
- [80:13]
Ryan Rosillo
I can't believe you think. I think you're. You're a loser because you care about your kids. No, no.
- [80:17]
Ceruti
It's like an odd place to think of. Like. Like it doesn't. I don't think about that really in any other part of my life other than when I'm on a plane.
- [80:24]
Kyle
I just.
- [80:24]
Ryan Rosillo
Wild man, what you can convince yourself of.
- [80:27]
Kyle
I just did a. A Breaking Bad re watch and I just finished the plane crash scene yesterday. Gotta say, I'm feeling a little different about the whole thing. Just one guy. Well, all the DHS stuff going on. I mean traffic controllers, the same people that affected by the TSA guys like. I don't know, one little slip up makes you think.
- [80:48]
Ceruti
Yeah, I gotta. I gotta say, because I was always. My wife gets a little nervous around traveling or whatever and I would always just throw her the stat. Like planes don't crash. Like planes, like they just don't crash unless like something hits them or something crazy happens. Like they don't just crash out of nowhere. This isn't like Something that happens. You just hear about the one every couple years when there are millions of fights.
- [81:04]
Kyle
Never know if you're gonna have a sully in there or.
- [81:06]
Ceruti
But I kept, I, I kept hitting that, like when those things were happening like a couple months ago, I'm like, man, this is. Maybe I'm taking the L here. Like now all of a sudden. Is it safe to fly? I don't know. But, but that's the thing. It's like planes don't just crash on purpose. Like they are. It's not something that happens. It happens like one side of a blue moon. And something really ridiculous has to happen for that to, to go down.
- [81:26]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. So that turned into. Anybody that has flight concerns probably made it worse for you.
- [81:30]
Ceruti
Sorry, guys.
- [81:31]
Ryan Rosillo
A little bit there. This episode is brought to you by Body Armor Flash iv, the official rapid rehydration drink of March Madness. Flash IV is packed with electrolytes delivering faster, longer lasting hydration without any artificial dyes, flavors, or sweeteners. Perfect for training, traveling, or just feeling the heat. I said before, I may not talk about lifting with this. Now I'm going to. You know, I'll admit in the insecure gym days, I'd be like, why do all those guys have all that water? What's that guy's dream? Why is it pink? What's he doing? Maybe I could do some of that. Here's the thing. Body armors made it easier for you. You just grab the bottles on the go. Maybe they even have it at your gym. Drinking, hydrating. And now with Flash iv, getting yourself to where your body needs to get to to feel your best. While you're putting yourself through all of these things, it's not just about being hot. It's not just about needing something to drink. It's about getting yourself ready with one of the best products out there. While you're working out, work hard and hydrate hard with Body Armor Flash iv, the official rapid rehydration drink of March Madness. Grab it at 7:11. Let's do a daycare beef, gents. What's going on? Thanks for reading this. Longtime listener Ryan's all the Way Back to the NBA Today podcast and tales from the couch. Good old days. They run this screen. No impressive gym stats, but I've run seven half marathons and currently lift, run and cycle. Shout out peloton regularly. NBA comp. Big baby. Big baby's out.
- [83:03]
Kyle
Whoa.
- [83:05]
Ryan Rosillo
Looking for you.
- [83:05]
Kyle
He is out.
- [83:07]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, yeah. Saw something.
- [83:08]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [83:10]
Ryan Rosillo
So here's the situation, and it's mostly for Steve it seems I've gotten myself into a daycare beef and I'm looking for advice on what I should do going forward. I'm a dad of two girls. One who used to go to the daycare from 2021 onwards and is now in kindergarten. And another who just started there last year will be there for another three years. Last Friday, dropping off my daughter while holding the door open for another dad. We're both black for context since everyone online is a white guy until proven otherwise, right? So black dad. Ceruti, you're our guy.
- [83:43]
Ceruti
Yep, there you go.
- [83:46]
Ryan Rosillo
So another dad and his son holding the door open for him. I say to the dad who I've been seeing on a regular basis for the past few years, quote, what's up boss? He pauses and I think he's just going to say hi or something light. Instead he says, quote, it's not boss, that's not my name. If you don't know my name, then don't say to me, end quote. All right, that was right by the front desk with the administrators around, not sure they heard. Dumbfounded and kind of stunned, I just kept it moving, got outside and continued to process this and just could do nothing, laugh about it. Am I a punk for not saying something back? And what should I do all the other times I'm going to see him? Ignore him, call him out. Anything else? Probably don't start with chief.
- [84:26]
Ceruti
I was going to say, you should start with chief. You should just go through the Rolodex of nicknames and just because that's, that's an insane reaction. You don't know his name? I don't know. I don't know any of the parents names there. I see them every single day. I don't know any of their names. So like, the idea that I would just know this guy's name randomly is insane. Maybe he was in a bad mood. Possibly. I wouldn't advocate for like, you know, getting into a confrontation at the check in desk at your kid's daycare. Probably not the place for it. But the subtle little like, what's up chief? What's up dude? What's up my guy? Just keep throwing those at him after a while and I mean, is he bigger than you two? I guess that's always the bigger question too, but what's he gonna do? Fight you in the daycare parking lot? Probably not. So I don't know. I feel like that's the move. Unless you guys disagree.
- [85:06]
Kyle
I'll say my black friends will stop me when I call him Bud, guy, pal. And I don't know where I picked this up, but sometimes it just feels right at the end of a sentence. Phone call. I'm like, what's up, bud? They're like, oh, really, Bud? Like, I don't know.
- [85:19]
Ryan Rosillo
It's just.
- [85:19]
Kyle
Just the black friends that really don't stand. A couple of Dominican guys will call me out, too. But, yeah, my white guys, you know,
- [85:24]
Ryan Rosillo
also, they don't even hear you're saying. Yeah, yeah, we.
- [85:28]
Kyle
Well, we were talking recently because, you know, the baseball thing. But yeah, just like, bud, guy, pal. Like, you know, they, like, we have way to write this shit down conversation. And that's just something I've.
- [85:39]
Ceruti
Yeah, this is good knowledge just to
- [85:40]
Ryan Rosillo
have, I guess, friends. Any issues there?
- [85:45]
Kyle
Yeah, I don't even want to say.
- [85:46]
Ryan Rosillo
I just don't.
- [85:47]
Kyle
I don't think I can put my finger on one.
- [85:49]
Ceruti
So you're saying is the white guy is a white. We like nicknames. Is that it just kind of like the pet. Is it all friend pet names?
- [85:55]
Kyle
Well, I think it's the same problems.
- [85:56]
Ryan Rosillo
Like.
- [85:56]
Kyle
Like bud, pal, guy. They kind of seem like they're in a certain class. I don't really know what, you know, know. It's like a red. Like, it's a.
- [86:03]
Ryan Rosillo
It's a.
- [86:04]
Kyle
It's a type of, you know, wine that's, like, different than the other types. I don't know. It's just like, boss.
- [86:09]
Ceruti
It seems like harmless. Bud, pal, guy, depending on how you say it is. Disrespectful can be disrespectful.
- [86:15]
Kyle
I don't think so, but I guess. I guess you and my buddies are a guy.
- [86:19]
Ryan Rosillo
I can say guy way worse than I can say boss. Ceruti's right.
- [86:22]
Ceruti
Right.
- [86:23]
Kyle
Okay.
- [86:23]
Ryan Rosillo
All right.
- [86:24]
Ceruti
Boss is, like, universally friendly.
- [86:25]
Kyle
Boss is somewhere in the Venn diagram. I don't know where, but it touches that group.
- [86:30]
Ceruti
We should do this, like, the quadrants.
- [86:31]
Kyle
Boss could almost seem Patriots.
- [86:35]
Ryan Rosillo
Boss, like you say.
- [86:36]
Kyle
Like, you'd almost say it to, like, a. Like, a gas station attendant in. In New Jersey or something. Like, you're. I'm gonna run in. Just fill her up.
- [86:41]
Ceruti
Boss.
- [86:42]
Kyle
You know what I mean? Like, it could seem, like.
- [86:45]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know.
- [86:45]
Ceruti
Doesn't seem remotely disrespectful to me.
- [86:49]
Kyle
I don't know. It could just seem patriot. A lot of patronizing stuff doesn't.
- [86:53]
Ceruti
As my dad, actually, my dad's a big cow guy. My dad loves pal.
- [86:56]
Kyle
I got to say, I love your.
- [86:59]
Ryan Rosillo
If your dad's an H vac, and he's saying, hey, pal, there's automatic buy in.
- [87:03]
Ceruti
Okay.
- [87:03]
Ryan Rosillo
All right. He's a good camaraderie guy, too.
- [87:05]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [87:06]
Ryan Rosillo
People. You think on the job site, different guys. But pal can be delivered a little with a little sting to it. I think Bud is tough. I think Guy is brutal. But I had a really.
- [87:15]
Kyle
Man, these are all my go tos.
- [87:17]
Ryan Rosillo
But he called everybody guy. And when he did, it was really endearing. Like, he had a way of doing it.
- [87:22]
Kyle
Cadence with it.
- [87:23]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. What's up, Guy?
- [87:24]
Ceruti
Guy.
- [87:24]
Ryan Rosillo
I mean, to the point where his nickname was Guy. Shout out to Guy.
- [87:29]
Ceruti
I usually go, my man. Just, hey, thanks, my man. What's up, my man?
- [87:32]
Ryan Rosillo
So no chief. I never use chief. I don't think. I. I'm not sure. I don't have.
- [87:37]
Ceruti
I don't think we're allowed. I don't even know how that works. Yeah.
- [87:38]
Ryan Rosillo
Can we even do it?
- [87:41]
Kyle
I got it. The one thing I would say is it sounds like this guy was having a really rough day. And maybe you don't hold it against him. That whole. Don't say shit to me. Who knows what he's going through. But that's like, that math is adding up to. He had a shit morning, and he knew he had a shit afternoon in store for him.
- [87:54]
Ryan Rosillo
And maybe a short life. Yeah.
- [87:55]
Ceruti
Could be right. That guy. Because if you're gonna. If you're gonna get that, if you're gonna escalate it to that point in your kids entrance to their daycare, like, cool. Like, all right, you had a bad day, and it's my fault now because I just, like, had a friendly, like, pretty innocuous greeting to you. No, I'm not buying that.
- [88:15]
Ryan Rosillo
You guys do. Just both did a great job here because I think the ending point of Kyle, like. Like, I'll never forget one of the first bartending jobs I had. I was not even 21. So now I'm, like, kind of seeing how things work.
- [88:30]
Ceruti
And I've.
- [88:31]
Ryan Rosillo
I've got access to this lifestyle, and everybody's so much older than me. And it's just kind of wild that I'm even in this position. And there was a lot of work there. What's. Yes. So much to learn, so many lessons. It's. It was like taking a summer course on. On just being older.
- [88:49]
Kyle
Yeah, totally.
- [88:50]
Ryan Rosillo
You're like, I gotta be here how many hours every day? And there was a guy that we worked with who was older, weathered, seen some shit.
- [88:58]
Kyle
Yeah, he's a white guy.
- [89:00]
Ryan Rosillo
And another guy came up and called him Dude. And he lost his mind and then actually said, calling a white guy dude is like calling a black guy.
- [89:12]
Kyle
No way.
- [89:13]
Ryan Rosillo
He used the word. Oh, my God. As we were setting up. And it was all like, some of the door guys were black. And people were just like. He was so unhinged that I don't even know that anybody was mad. They were just like.
- [89:29]
Kyle
It was a spectacle.
- [89:30]
Ryan Rosillo
What is wrong with that guy? And then you got. As I slowly, like, got more access to him. I'm like, something like, this guy's like, he is in a fight. Fight every single day with the world. And so this is not the same thing because, I mean, that was ridiculous.
- [89:50]
Kyle
Like, you wouldn't argue the mirror fired of dude.
- [89:53]
Ceruti
Oh, he was.
- [89:54]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he was. People were just like, what?
- [89:58]
Ceruti
Who?
- [90:00]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I mean, you want to talk about the delivery where it's like the whole, you know, just setting up and it's like, whoa, like, what? And people just look at me like, did he just say that? And then there's like the further debate of like. Like, that's also not even close. Yeah, but then it's like, I don't.
- [90:16]
Kyle
You don't argue the merits of that argument with that guy. So that's the thing. You're like, are we too far?
- [90:21]
Eamon Brennan
No.
- [90:21]
Ryan Rosillo
He stormed out. He stormed. He didn't stick around because I think he knew, like, Everyone else is just like in shock for half an hour going, it's one thing to do everything that he did, but. But then on top of that, like, that's the conclusion that you've come to in life. Yeah. And then guys were like, you have to. Next time somebody sees him, they have to call him dude. They have to call him dude. And I was like, I'm out. What It.
- [90:50]
Ceruti
I don't. What would be. You'd be like, what's up, King?
- [90:55]
Kyle
That's not my world easy.
- [90:56]
Ryan Rosillo
That's not my world easy.
- [90:58]
Ceruti
I don't know. I'm just asking.
- [91:00]
Eamon Brennan
I don't know.
- [91:00]
Ceruti
I. I don't know. I'm just asking. I don't know, because I would not do that. But.
- [91:06]
Kyle
But I gotta say, I might even. I might even be like next time. He's like, hey, I'm Kyle. Nice to meet you.
- [91:14]
Ceruti
Oh, you don't want to be. I don't want to be friendly with this guy, though.
- [91:16]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't.
- [91:17]
Ceruti
I'm not trying to be friendly with this guy.
- [91:18]
Ryan Rosillo
No, you just leave it. You just totally leave it with him. I. I think you go into it with excitement. I Can't wait. Like, if you're the emailer, you should be looking forward to the next transaction with so much anticipation. You should just be like, I can't. Like, I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to try a different nickname. I'm not going to do anything. I may, even if I'm stuck in a door shuffle, however it works. And I've got to open the door for him again. I may just give him like a smile, not like a condescending smile, but like, this is going to be fun. You know, the drop off. You got to do it all the time. Rarely do you have something to look forward to. So I hear. I think in this spot it would be. It's going to be like something to look forward to because this guy clearly has a lot of that he's carrying around for you. It's one thing that he got that mad at it, but then actually ends with, don't say shit to me if you don't know my name. Who the fuck says that at a daycare to another person?
- [92:08]
Kyle
Yeah, there's a lot of avenues you
- [92:09]
Ceruti
don't want to be friends with.
- [92:10]
Kyle
I think there's a lot of avenues
- [92:11]
Ryan Rosillo
to go, but absolutely, yeah. All right. Well done. Well done. That'll do it for the show today. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Kevin. Thanks to Tom. I'm sorry to Kyle about Saturday. We'll let you down.
- [92:25]
Eamon Brennan
Oh, man.
- [92:26]
Ceruti
We'll make you up after the first round. When do they play? Thursday or Friday?
- [92:29]
Ryan Rosillo
Friday, Friday.
- [92:31]
Kyle
Decent time, too.
- [92:32]
Ceruti
Like Northern Iowa.
- [92:34]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, real nice time. Seven o', clock. Your time for my time. Good for you. So we'll. We'll get suited up. I may even wear a tank top that day. Just around. Look out. All right, that'll do it for the show. Ryan Rosula show. Please subscribe. Barstool Sports.
- [92:57]
Ceruti
Sa.