← The Ryen Russillo Show
The Ryen Russillo Show
Chris Paul Sent Home! Giannis & Anthony Davis Trade Futures w/ Chris Mannix, Plus Vanderbilt HC Clark Lea
01:58:12
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- [00:00]
Ryan Rosillo
Hey barstool listeners. You can find every episode of the Ryan Rossillo show on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.
- [00:09]
Clark Lee
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- [00:32]
Chris Mannix
With deals this good, everyone wants to be a student. Join for just $4.99 a month.
- [00:36]
Ryan Rosillo
Savings may vary.
- [00:37]
Chris Mannix
Eligibility and member terms apply.
- [00:51]
Ryan Rosillo
The Ryan Rosillo show is presented by DraftKings loaded show for you today. Run through an hour of NBA stuff, including this Chris Paul News. But we, I mean we've got everything from Tatum to trademark. It's a buying into the new EAs. And then we have Clark Lee, the head coach of Vanderbilt. We talked to him before we saw the rankings come out last night. But really the bigger question is just how do you turn around a vanity team from 2 and 10 to 10 and 2? He's been terrific. So that was a lot of fun life advice including live entertainment. One touchdown can change everything. The crowd, the momentum, the game itself. It never gets old. Look, every Drake May touchdown feels like one touchdown on the march to history. That's what it feels like every single time. Fade deep, doesn't matter. Imagine when he has just stud wide receivers. Imagine when he ages. Feel that same rush with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL where every touchdown could bring you closer to cashing in. With DraftKings Sportsbook, all the actions in your hands. First touchdown, anytime TD Live bets, every play, every snap you every game matters. Missouri listeners listen up. DraftKings sportsbook is now live in the Show Me state. Here's the best part. New customers bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you get $200 in bonus bets instantly. When your team hits the end zone, you could hit the Payout. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Use the code Ryan. That's code Ryan R Yen. Bet five bucks and get $200 in bonus bets. If your bet wins in partnership with DraftKings, the Crown is yours.
- [02:25]
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- [02:58]
Limited time offer Quarterway into the NBA season, a lot to get caught up on and fired up to. Talk to Chris Mannix from SI and also the open floor. The SI NBA show podcast comes out multiple times a week, so make sure you check that one out. Good to see you. What's up?
- [03:13]
Chris Mannix
What's happening? Ryan?
- [03:15]
Ryan Rosillo
Nothing. You know, look, last couple nights locked in and going through a bunch of different things. I think I want to start in the east because we have this collection of teams where normally I come up with a list of like, all right, which teams, if hey, this team's holding up the trophy, the end, which are the non surprise teams. And then when does it start to get weird and you feel like you're reaching if you kept it to just the east, like, who could come out of the East? I gotta be honest with you, like, this is the most open mind I probably ever had, at least in recent memory that I can think of. Because, you know, look, I like Detroit a lot. This Miami story is incredible. Toronto's exceeded expectations. I really like Orlando still. Cleveland, the Knicks, Boston, I mean, you just keep going on and on. Where are you with this conference?
- [04:01]
Chris Mannix
Yeah, you got to go six, maybe seven deep if you want to. Then we can engage on Boston in a minute and kind of what they could look like by the end of the season. But.
- [04:13]
Six teams at the top of the conference, I think it all come out of it. I really like what I've seen lately from Orlando. Like they were my pick. Trendy pick to make the conference finals at the start of the season. Got off to that rocky start, but they've started to put some things together and start to look more like the team that we thought they'd be at the start of the season. The Cavs have been kind of a mystery. You know, I'm. I'm wondering if better health and more time on the floor for Darius Garland is going to get them back to being the team they were at the end of last season. They were my pick to start the year to come out, if for no other reason they had the Chemistry, the continuity going in. But I mean, you can't rule any of these teams out. Like the Knicks lost in Boston, but they've been pretty good. You know, the Raptors I don't know about yet. Defensively, do they have enough to get it done in the postseason? Miami does this Noah LaRoche, 3 seconds or less offense that they're running, does that work in the postseason? I'm not so sure, but I love.
- [05:16]
Ryan Rosillo
That you call it three seconds or less. You know, I mean, like we've moved on as if seven was too slow.
- [05:21]
Chris Mannix
Doesn't.
- [05:21]
Ryan Rosillo
That's how they play though.
- [05:22]
Chris Mannix
Yeah, it feels that way. They're, they're, they're just running and gunning. So, I mean, I think it's fun to watch and it was hilarious watching them just boat race the Clippers the other night. But, you know, when the game slows down, it becomes a possession game. And the playoffs does still work the same way. The problem is there's nobody up there that really scares you. I mean, the Pistons have been great. They've won a ton of close games. I was looking this up the other day in the context of the Mavericks, who have played the most, you know, clutch games this season and have lost a whole bunch of them. The team right behind them was the Detroit Pistons. They've won a whole bunch of them. So the Pistons have, have been in a lot of competitive games and pulled them out, but, you know, do they have enough three point shooting to, to win in the playoffs? Duncan Robinson's really. They're only consistent three point shooting threat or the most consistent guy. So I think you can go six, seven deep with teams that can, that can win this entire conference.
- [06:16]
Ryan Rosillo
If we start with Miami. Let me throw you some pace numbers because I was looking at it again this morning because it's absurd, so. And that Clippers game was like the epitome of everything that is right and wrong with both teams. And it felt like the Clippers, you know, you can get into the road trip and the travel and all that kind of stuff, but it's not like they've been good this year. But it was so alarming to see how out of it the Clippers were when Miami goes on what I think it was like a 32 to 4 run and it looks like Wiggins is five years younger. You know, it's, it's this perfect thing or perfect's extreme, but it's like if you're not ready and the Clippers feel like with whatever they're trying to run out There, like, the most not ready team. Like, if you're not ready, this is going to get ugly quick. And that's exactly what happened. And I was looking at the pace stuff again, historically for Miami. We know they're number one this year. Here's their last few seasons in pace. 28th, 29th, 29th, 28th, 29th, 27th. When they went to the finals. 23rd, 27th. I mean, just goes on and on. The best number I could come up with in the last 15 years is 16th. That's the best pace they've had in, like, 15 years here. So I think there's probably a.
- [07:31]
Chris Mannix
You have to go back to, like, I think that 16th was, like, one of the LeBron years in the early 2010. Like, yeah, there was a long time ago.
- [07:38]
Ryan Rosillo
Right. And LeBron wasn't exactly somebody you know. This is kind of like an aside on LeBron, like, whenever he would get younger players. I remember when the Lakers had that first offseason with him. It's like, oh, they're going to run the floor. They're going to be athletic, they're going to get out. It's like, LeBron doesn't want to do that. Like, he's the smartest guy out there. He just wants to dissect everything you're doing. So emphasizing pace with LeBron, especially peak LeBron didn't even really make any sense. So they've changed this whole thing around. And I think it. I think it speaks to, like, a bigger thing on what the regular season is now is that maybe the Pacers were a taste of this last year because they were so good. From January 1st on, you can make debates about, like, what they went through in the east, but still, look, they got through the East. They get to game seven with okc.
- [08:19]
Is there a shift, at least, in, like, correcting a talent deficiency with a style advantage? Which is just. It feels like it goes against everything that I've ever believed about in this league. But it seems like Miami is more style than talent when you're going to start matching them up against other playoff teams.
- [08:39]
Chris Mannix
Well, I don't think it's a trend to try to change the style because the talent changes. Right? I mean, how many times do we go into a season, preseason training camp and hear a coaching staff say, you know what? We're going to play fast. I'm going to play fast. Like, the greatest, you know? You know, a team is not good when the coaching staff says, we're going to play fast, because that's always a way to Kind of, you know, change the, change things up. I think what Miami did is different. Miami has talent there. Maybe not championship level talent, but they've got good talent down there. In the aftermath of the Butler trade, you know, Sposh decided this team was not going to be able to play this kind of pick and roll heavy style that made them successful with Butler there. So what he goes out and does is, is I think the most remarkable coaching job this year, which is to, you know, go, go get Noah LaRoche. Talk to Noah LaRoche, who at that point was at like rock bottom. Remember, he got canned, part of the Taylor Jenkins stuff at the end of last season. People were kind of down on him in Memphis. Spolster goes out, talks to Noah LaRoche, has him work with him on this new offense. And it's, it's worked out incredibly well. It's. It's maximized the talents of some of the guys on the roster. I mean, look at what Jaime Hawkes Jr. Was last year. Like, he looked like he took three steps back in his second year. Now he's back to being that kind of, you know, top sixth man at least, and maybe a lot better top to bottom in Miami. These guys just have embraced the way that they're playing and are really successful. So I, I don't know that it's a new thing that a team changing a team will change its style because its personnel has shifted. I just think Miami has done it so much better than anybody else and taken it to an extreme that no other team has gone to.
- [10:34]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, the other things too, like if you look at touches, they're fifth in the league. Touches per game, time of possession, their last, which is a good thing, you know, dribbles per possession, they're 28th. They're just, you know, I've always, like, maybe it's the early years and, you know, I don't. I know you started kind of with the Celtics too, and it's just beginning for me. Like, Doc was just so influential in the way he talked about basketball. Also, he was willing to talk to you about basketball too, when, you know, you're, especially me, like being in my 20s and it wasn't like there was a ton of guys talking to me. But there's just truth to this sport of.
- [11:10]
Why would you not push it to at least look like, why would you not push to see if you have some sort of advantage or cross match and scrambling and try to pick you up in transition. I've always felt like there are free points out There if you're just willing to push it and look and, you know, there's just a lot of players that are not comfortable doing that. They want, want to bring it up. They also want the ball, they also want the stats. I promise. I'm not talking specifically about Harden in this matchup here where they were like, hey, buddy, we're going to give you the rest of the night off running around here, but I think you can at least look for these advantages and not necessarily have to be the fastest team and feel like you've got to get a shot off immediately. I just think teams historically have ignored these opportunities. And then when you throw in Miami, like a made free throw, hey, no problem. Like, we're still going to attack. We are going to be relentless. And I, I credit SPO entirely. It's like, it's like Belichick deciding, I'm going to run the air raid and bring in this brand new offensive coordinator because I think this gives us some sort of schematic advantage and we need to look different.
- [12:18]
Chris Mannix
It. It is the best coaching job done this season. Now, it doesn't guarantee he's going to win coach of the year because there's a lot of elements that goes into coach of the year. I think player development goes into coach of the year, and that's where somebody like J.B. bickerstaff, I think, is going to justifiably get a lot of credit. But it's the greatest coaching adjustment that I've seen this year and that I Frankly seen in 10, 15, 20 years. Whatever you want to look at it to, to make this sharp pivot when it comes to other teams doing it. Like, I do think it takes a certain level of gravitas to do it. Like, you have to have the full buy in of everybody in that locker room because if you get even one guy that doesn't want to play this way, it blows the whole thing up. They don't have that. Everybody seems to be all in on it, from Bam Adebayo on all down to Jaime Hawkins. And I think it also takes a level of job security, right? Like, because, like, if this goes south, then this very easily could have gone the other direction. Like, they could have missed a bunch of shots early. Teams could have adjusted. Um, their defense could have suffered even more. All of a sudden, the front office is looking at you going, this was your idea. This was how you're going to make us competitive this year. That doesn't happen in Miami. So I think it is somewhat unique to, to Spoelstra and the Miami Heat. But it's, it's really a remarkable adjustment that they've made.
- [13:48]
Ryan Rosillo
And I'm glad SPO said it because I felt the same way after watching that series of Cleveland last year. Like it was humiliating, you know, it was so bad. And look, Hero's only been back a handful of games. They've missed. Bam for a handful. Like I feel like Bam will fit into all this stuff. There's probably some kind of question of like defensively, how does Hero match up, but the Hero should be able to play fast and buy in all this stuff and get shots. His shot creation is so spectacular that you know, he's not, he's not this MVP caliber on ball guy that's like, look, I mean when the Lakers play slow and decide to just hand it over to Luka and not do the like, why would you give them a hard time? Because it's still in that possession, points for possession Luca stuff. It's still going to be your best look, even if it's going to be slower than maybe every coach would want. You mentioned Detroit because I spent some time on the YouTube specific stuff of this. I like them better probably because the high end talent of AADE and a Duran that, you know, I don't think anyone in Miami right now is as good as, as Kade. I mean Duran. Bam's like a different conversation altogether. There's probably more I would, I would like just because of Bam's track record there. But Detroit feels like it has more staying power to me, even with the shooting being pretty abysmal, which is kind of shocking how great the clutch record is and the overall record. But there's just more that I can see working in the playoffs. And again, I might be just defaulting to going all right. If they have two of the best three players in a series, which I think they would have against some of these other teams, then I'm still going to like them.
- [15:18]
Chris Mannix
Yeah.
- [15:20]
So the positives are, you know, the talent level at the top with Cade, who is a legit top 10 guy. I thought it was a top 10 guy coming at this season. He's to me Clearly a top 10 guy right now. The steps that Duran has taken to not just become kind of Stephen Adams 2.0, but a much better version, a much more reliable version for them. The shooting stuff though, you know, I mentioned Duncan Robinson earlier. Like he is their most reliable perimeter shooter, 40 +% three point shooter. But they are scoring so many points in the paint, like they're what, around 60 points in the paint on average. They had that game against Brooklyn where they scored 80 in the paint. Like they're, they're just beating you down on the inside. And that's great and it's working for them right now. But in a half court game in the postseason, do they need one more perimeter shooter? Do they need one more reliable guy that they know is going to knock down shots? They don't really have that right now. They've got decent shooters. I don't think they're, I don't think a lot of these guys are terrible, but really, Robinson is the one guy they can lean on from the outside. I wonder if that's something they're going to look into over these next couple of months, see if they can get one more guy. Because they're just, to me, one floor spacer away from not just being like the consensus team to come out of the Eastern Conference, but a team that I think could compete against whoever comes out of the Western Conference. I think they're that good with some of their top end talent.
- [16:48]
Ryan Rosillo
You mentioned Toronto's defense. You know, look, it's, it's been really good so far. They're a deep team that I, I love their adjustment. You know, some of the stuff they've done with Scotty Barnes where it's not like, hey, Scotty, like, figure it all out. Like, this is a, this is going to kind of feed into the Orlando part of it. But like, you just brought it up with Jaime High because who's not at the level of Scotty Barnes or Palo Ben Caro. All right, so like, we can just get that house cleaning out of the way.
- [17:18]
The fact that, I mean, was so good two years ago, him being as bad as he was last year, it still is like, well, there's no way he just sucks now and can't play, right? He's a connector. He makes great decisions. You know, granted, some of the knock on him draft wise was like, look, he's older. He's not a crazy athlete. He's not going to shoot it that well. And then from the jump it's like, oh, I guess he's a better shooter now. So to me, it makes more sense that he looks far more like his rookie year than the disastrous second year. And there's stuff with Scotty Barnes where you look at last year, it's like, oh, man. You know, first of all, I don't understand when anybody, like gets too on the case of any of these teams to give them the full rookie extension. It's like, he's clearly going to be your franchise guy. Maybe he's not perfect. That's why I applaud what Houston did with Jalen Green, because they're like, we know this guy isn't perfect, so we're not giving you the full boat in this whole thing. But, you know, it's happening to Paolo now, too. It's like, man, you're paying that guy a ton of money. It's like, well, no shit. They're paying this guy a ton of money. He's the number one overall pick. @ least Orlando was making the playoffs. But now to see Scotty Barnes at this level and reminding us all why you liked him so much, it's like, you know, it's not like he got worse. Last year. They had a ton of injuries. He was tasked with solving almost every single possession. And now that he has more help and they're more creative in the way that they use him and the numbers back up all this stuff, I think it's a reminder of why we should never turn the page on somebody like that and why, I'll be honest, I can't stand even with this Orlando run, this reexamination of who Paolo is. And it's not just fans, it's not just media. I'm actually shocked how many front office people that I'll talk to that know I love Ben Caro that are like, hey, you know, like, starting to. Starting to wonder about the guy a little bit. I mean, it's happened a few times. I'm like, you guys are down on Bankero, and I think the efficiency stuff turns some decision makers off on.
- [19:04]
Chris Mannix
Him. Yeah, start with.
- [19:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Toronto. I threw a lot at you in that.
- [19:09]
Chris Mannix
One. Yeah. When I talk to people in Toronto, they're quick to remind me that they weren't really as bad last year as their record indicates. There were a ton of injuries. They made the Ingram trade. Ingram doesn't play for them. Had things broken right, they would have had a better record and they would have looked. It wouldn't have looked this surprising that they've been this good coming into this year. That being said.
- [19:31]
Ryan Rosillo
Like. And just real quick on the defensive thing, they were number two in defense and basically a.500 team after the All Star break. And that's with all the injuries. So go.
- [19:39]
Chris Mannix
Ahead. Yeah, they were better than what their records seem to suggest. The, you know, Barnes numbers are basically the same. The efficiency numbers are what's. They've leaped up. They've gotten back to what they were a couple of years ago when he was an all star and that's bad. A big impact, but I think a big part of it is like the Ingram impact there is real. Like it's, you know, RJ Barrett has been really good, quickly has been really good. I love Jamal Sheed coming off the bench. He's been a presence for them on both ends. But having a guy that can just get them a bucket in the half court, a guy that can't for the life of them buy a bucket from three point range but can, but could shoot like 50% from inside the three point line, that is just such a valuable piece for them to have that they didn't have last year. Like they could do a lot of things last year. They could beat you in transition, they could, you know, muck it up a little bit in the half court, but if they needed someone to get you a shot or get you a bucket, they just didn't have it. Scotty Barnes wasn't that guy. Probably is never going to be that guy. RJ Barrett isn't going to be that guy. Quickly is not going to be that guy on down. Brandon Ingram is that guy. Like he's not Tatum, but he's Tatum esque in how he can get you a bucket in the half court. Having that I think has had a trickle down effect. Now the defensive stuff, like they've got defenders on the bench, like the bench is, is a bunch of guys that, that are dogs, they can get after you defensively. My question is going to be when they get deeper into the season and it's the playoffs, like how do they mix these guys together? Like you want to play quickly, you want to play Barrett, you want to play, you know, all these guys that are not necessarily plus defenders but you got to get some of those plus defenders in the game. If they can figure out that balance. Ryan, like then I'm ready to buy in on the Raptors because I do think they have enough offensively to be pretty dangerous in the.
- [21:24]
Ryan Rosillo
Postseason. Yeah, Shed and Walter have been really like completely different guys after the rookie year. So the second season numbers for them. It's like rotationally watching them the other night and yeah sure there's always going to be a few quickly possessions where I'm like what are you doing? But they have the outlet. They have the outlet for good or bad. It's like, hey Ingram, solve this for us. If they don't like, you know, what Scotty's looking at. But I just, I just love some of the stuff that they're doing with Scotty where it's like we're not just tasking you with, hey, you're the best player, you have the ball, figure it out. Because then I almost feel like, you know, you just got four players watching him, maybe a fifth guy standing in the corner. It's just really hard to survive like that, especially when you're not surrounded by shooting all over the place. So they've been deep, the defense has held up and a good carry over there. So give me your Orlando thing because I. Look, we're just talking here, so it wasn't like the best question ever. But I want to hear your thoughts on Orlando as this Bane thing has been, been terrific lately. But it's funny even when Orlando's winning, because I'm with you, I had him in the Eastern Conference finals. I love how they've held up defensively. I figured like that's their five, like even when they were struggling and all the guys were healthy, I'm like, this is the five guys. They can run out like there's no way this team is going to be bad. And now even with success, it just leads unfortunately to like a negative underlying storyline of what's it going to look like when Paolo comes back with a high.
- [22:42]
Chris Mannix
Usage? Yeah, I'm with you that I'm not looking at a Paolo conundrum. Like I think he'll figure it out with this group. I was shocked. We talked about the style of play, the pace of play with Miami a few minutes ago. That's one thing I was shocked at how Orlando decided to try to become this like faster paced team. Like I thought when they acquired Desmond Bain that they would just plug Bane in as a perimeter score shock creator in the half court and lean heavily on this grinded out 1990s style defense that can win 95, 91 types of games in the playoffs. Like I, I thought that was just kind of the way they were going to go. They, they flipped the script a little bit and decided to play the possession game more and decided to modernize their offense a little bit more. And I think there was an adjustment there. They, they don't have the natural point guard, you know, out there. Jalen Suggs is a good player. I wouldn't call him a natural one. You know, Bane is a playmaker. He's certainly not a natural one. So I think there was a learning curve trying to figure out how to play not just with Desmond Bane, but how to play in this sort of new system that they were, they were trying to create out there. And I think over the last eight or nine games, you've seen them kind of get it a little bit. I don't have the pace numbers over the last 10, but I would argue it's probably come back to earth a little bit. Bane has been much more comfortable, look much more comfortable anyway with the way in this lineup. But I think when Paolo gets back, he'll figure it out too. I still like their ability to grind you down to the nub in the postseason defensively and with Bain there, I think they've got enough shock creation to beat you in the fourth quarter of games, which they didn't have last.
- [24:30]
Ryan Rosillo
Year. Yeah, they also started off the season too. You know, I don't know how many games and it was, I mean, I could probably pull it all up here, but they were, they were like bottom third defensively. I'm like, even if Orlando sucks and is the biggest disappointment in the east, that team's not going to be bad on.
- [24:47]
Chris Mannix
Defense. But did you connect that to, did you like. I connected some of that to the pace they were trying to play. Like, I, you know, they were, they were picking it up a little bit more. They were trying to run a little bit more, play the possession game a little bit more. And that's not something they've been over the last couple of years. They have been a. I mean, I don't know what the pace numbers for the last two years, but I. They're probably bottom five in the league. Their offense was terrible overall, but I thought them changing their offensive identity early on was, you know, had a, a trickle down effect, everything.
- [25:15]
Ryan Rosillo
Else.
- [25:17]
I also think part of the Paolo thing too is that if you want to say he, he's a like ball hog, you know, doesn't, doesn't move the ball or whatever. And I, look, I've brought this up before, I've just never talked with you about it. Is that when I watched him in college, that was not who he was. He was a really willing teammate. So you want to tell me, like, Jalen Green has a hard time playing with others? I would say yeah. Even though there was that one little stretch there where I felt like he was figuring it out a couple years ago. I don't think Paolo did that because that's how he was wired. I think he did it out of necessity because they had all these injuries and maybe he got some bad habits. And look, I don't like the Paolo. Dribble, dribble, dribble, turnaround, 17 footer. You know, I think he, he takes some really tough shots, but I don't know that it's because he doesn't want to get other guys involved, because I like his playmaking, especially at that size. Like, I don't think he's cade necessarily, but it's something that we're seeing with Jalen Johnson. Like, having these enormous guys that initiate your offense who then can also finish is a massive advantage because you're going to get these looks, they're going to see the floor a little bit better. If you get anyone one on one, they're just going to ride the defender right to the hoop. So I'm. I resist any Ben Caro criticism, and I just think he's. He's too good and he's too smart, and I think he. This is another thing. We're talking about a guy putting up huge numbers for a team that was actually in the playoffs, too. So it wasn't like they were going 20 and 62, and it's like, oh, hey, look, I got my 30, and I'm going to get a max extension, and I don't care about the rest of the stuff. So we are aligned on that one. I'm just surprised how many people that I really respect a ton.
- [27:01]
I don't know. They're not as high on him as I guess you and I are.
- [27:07]
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- [27:39]
And there's a lot of times when I think about our growth as a species, there's some stuff that I get really frustrated with, like, how come we're so good at this and so bad at this? I was having a big shack the other day, and I thought, I think we solve burgers, though. I think this is something we always deserved. And maybe we were even ahead of schedule for Shake Shack to create something like this for only $9.99. Yeah, that was the thought that I had the other day. Biting into one. If you've been waiting to see what all the hype's about today's, the day. Go to shake shack and order the big shack. Sounds familiar. May different.
- [28:17]
Let's stay with the front office stuff here. You just did a feature on the Dallas Mavericks.
- [28:23]
Ads back. Nice win by the way in Denver. Although Denver, Denver continues to to lose bodies here. Gordon's been out, Brown's been out. They lost Murray in that game when Dallas came back and won it. But is this a team that's going to blow this up or are they going to think if, hey, if we just get things right here we could actually be kind of a, a scary team at the bottom of the.
- [28:47]
Chris Mannix
West? Well to, to hear Mavericks people tell it. Well they'll tell you two things. One is that they do believe that if they can get all their bodies back, beginning with Kyrie Irving, extending to Derek Lively, you know, PJ Washington steps on a basketball, he's been out like they've got a whole bunch of, of injuries they're dealing with. Now if they can get all those guys back, they're going to go on a run like they, they believe there's a run in them and they've pointed to some of those statistics that we've talked about where they've played. I think it was, it's right now 17 games that are defined as clutch. Five points in the last five minutes. They've only won six of those games and a lot of that has been become because at the end of them they just haven't had a guy that can create shots like Ryan Nembar did a great game against Denver. He's a two way guy. D' Angelo Russell has not been the answer. They don't have a point guard that can create offense for them but they're going to get one back at some point, you know, during this season and they believe that when they get him back, him being Kyrie and they get some of these other guys back into the mix. This, you know, fever dream that Nico Harrison had about a defensive minded team that you know, could grind out wins could still come to fruition. The other part of it is that I, I keep getting told is that they say look, they don't want to deal Kyrie Irving. Like they think Cooper Flag needs to play next to a, a elite point guard to, to develop him the right.
- [30:19]
Ryan Rosillo
Way. That's not, that's not d' Angelo.
- [30:22]
Chris Mannix
Russell. It's not d' Angelo Russell. It's not, it's not that guy.
- [30:26]
They, they look at, at nad trade and like whatever, wherever you trade ad, let's say you find a deal with them, Chicago, I think Atlanta could be interesting spot for him. What you're going to get back and what you still have is not enough to do this kind of Washington Wizards like freefall. Like you're just not going to sink like a stone to the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Not with Cooper Flag and a bunch of other competitive guys around them. So they're not sure they see the upside in blowing this thing up, at least not during the course of the season. That being said, they have internally and externally discussed or gauged the market on what an Anthony Davis trade could look like because Davis has what, one fully guaranteed year left in his contract. He's got a player option on the back end of that for like 60 something million dollars. He's not a long term guy in Dallas. They're going to go into a rebuild at some point. So they have looked at the market for Anthony Davis and teams that I've talked to out there are, you know, watching how Davis responds over the next few weeks. He doesn't have really any trade value right now until he plays like 10, 15 games coming off this calf injury. But if he does and if he looks like the Anthony Davis of yesteryear, I think there will be a robust trade market out there for him. Was think a lot of teams, especially ones in the Eastern Conference are looking at Anthony Davis and going all right, that guy could be a difference maker. Like Chicago, you put Anthony Davis on the Bulls. You know, a team that can't defend, can't score much either these days, but can't defend, that's a big difference maker. Like Atlanta, swap out Davis for Porzingis contract and some other stuff. Like what kind of difference does that make with Atlanta? Like I think there are a lot of teams in the east that would look at Davis as a, a needle mover there. So look, I think I, and I wrote this week, I think Dallas this month is going to be pretty revealing for them. Like if they can find a way to get.500 within sight, scratch their way towards a close to.500 record and they see a Kyrie return happening sometime in January before the All Star break, that could, could motivate them to keep this team together and, and see what they can do for the rest of the season. But if it goes the other way and they're still way below.500 but Davis is still out there playing, that's what I think the Davis talk is really going to ramp.
- [32:51]
Ryan Rosillo
Up. Okay.
- [32:55]
I think you're going to agree with me on this though, but you Know the Anthony Davis, like, hey, trade value, well, it's low right now. It's like, let's see him play for a month. It's like, so what? Like he plays for a month and now he's like a different guy. He's exactly who he's been for years and he's an incredibly talented guy who still somehow doesn't want to play center. He was playing center based on necessity. Now because of some of the injuries, which again, makes all the sense of the world. He's just not a power forward anymore. So I don't know if you have to like pretend, you know, the Lakers used to kind of like massage that a little bit and pretend like, yeah, sure, you're a power forward, buddy, whatever you say. And then, you know, you'd look at some of the closing groups and you just go, well, this, this doesn't make any.
- [33:38]
Chris Mannix
Sense. He clings to that. He clings to that Dwight Howard championship season like it's proof for life that he should be a power forward. Like, they win a championship with Dwight, it's like, hey, and they had another big there. I'm blanking right now. But like the. I played power forward during that Javale. Yeah, I played power forward there and that's proof that I should be a power forward.
- [34:00]
Ryan Rosillo
Forever. Yeah, I, I'm going to go back and look at it real quick just because I, and I know this is annoying, but I think I remember looking at, yeah, Dwight's minutes. I have it. So Dwight played 19 minutes a game against Portland. He played in two games against Houston for a total of 16 actual minutes, 20 minutes a game against Denver, the finals. He played. That's why he played 12 minutes a game in the finals against the Miami Heat. Now granted, the Heat didn't have any size to deal with whatsoever, but whenever he says that and then it's brought up by other people because he has said it so many times, the numbers are like pretty fluky on that. It's like you had this rotational, like, yeah, we'll throw Dwight out there for a few minutes anyway. I just don't understand why I keep seeing so many quotes acting like Anthony Davis being healthy for a month completely changes his trade value. When he's still like, as much as I could sell you on the positives of all of this, there's a financial part of it. Usually I would make my player option joke and be like, yeah, 63 million in two years. He's probably going to pick that up. Maybe he opts out of it to just Extend longer to lesser number, whether it's with Dallas again or ends up being somewhere else. The mistake that I probably make too often, though, is a guy like Davis or I want to get to jaw here at some point, or like anybody that feels like damaged goods, and I'm like, well, if I was a gm, I would never want to get in the business of this player or this player. Then you start, like, listing all these players and you go, yeah, that's not really how it works, though, man. You could just write off a bunch of dudes. But if you're Chicago, even though they're so inactive that we could sit there and pretend like maybe they'd feel stale enough that they would want to do something and throw a couple picks in there, bring them home and go, hey, look at this. They're just not a very proactive team. This is where some teams feel like, hey, we're close. And if for a playoff series, we have him and he's healthy. It's kind of like what the Clippers have been hanging onto for all these years with the Kawhi, in theory. Like, I think Kawhi, despite how bad everything's looked, like, I think he's kind of looked awesome lately. Awesome. So you see that. You're like, what if I can get that for just six weeks? So I shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that every single GM shouldn't be in the market for a player that's damaged goods. But specific to Davis somehow being this, this penny stock that's all over the place, I. I think it's pretty established what kind of business you're getting into if you bring him.
- [36:26]
Chris Mannix
In. Yeah, it, it is. Which is why I, I isolated just to the Eastern Conference. And this is, this goes back to like, the Bain trade, right? Like, if, if Orlando was in the West, 0 chance they do the Desmond Bain trade. Like, no chance. Like, because giving up that many assets for that player isn't going to get you over the top in a conference with Oklahoma City, Denver, the Lakers, everybody else, that's. That's really damn good. But because they're in the east, they were. And look, contracts were coming up like they had to do something. Like they decided to roll the dice and give up a lot of assets for, for Desmond Bain. It's. To me, it's the same sort of mindset with Anthony Davis. Yes, he is a flawed player in the sense that you never know when something on his muscular structure is going to pull. It's going to cost him six weeks. But if you can somehow bubble wrap him and get him to the playoffs and get him healthy enough to. To be a 30 minute per game, 35 minute per game type of guy. You can beat everybody in the Eastern Conference. Like, again, I keep going back to Atlanta because I'm really talking myself into this, like with the Atlanta Hawks, like the, like, it's just, it's fascinating to me, like if they could find their way to. To get their hands on an Anthony Davis like AD in a lineup with Jalen Johnson, with Dyson Daniels, with all the guys they've got out there at Atlanta, that to me is the, the favorite to win the east right away. Then figure out the Trae Young stuff a little bit later on the Bulls, I don't think he makes them the favorite, but he cleans up a defense that right now is ranked in the bottom third and has forever been.
- [38:05]
Ryan Rosillo
Bad. You know, it's a layup line against the Bulls, you know, but it's just. It's.
- [38:10]
Chris Mannix
Bad. Yeah, it's. It's bad. So he cleans that up and puts them right there in the mix. I just think Eastern Conference teams have to look at things a lot differently than Western Conference teams because a player like Davis is enough to get you over the top. You still might get killed in the finals by Oklahoma City or Denver, whoever comes out of the west, but if you have a shot to get to the finals and it's a high risk type of shot, I think you got to take.
- [38:34]
Ryan Rosillo
It. Where are you with Atlanta and Trey? Speaking of guys like, I go, you know, would you want to get into business? Look, the numbers, I did them the other night. I'm looking for them here. Actually, I have them. I just found.
- [38:47]
Chris Mannix
Him. Can I talk you into this Anthony Davis to Atlanta stuff? Can I. Can I get you onto this.
- [38:53]
Ryan Rosillo
Train? Because what am I giving up? Because I'm not giving up more than. Well, I'm not giving you the Pelicans pick.
- [38:58]
Chris Mannix
That's. No, no, no, no, no, no. But they've got some draft capital. They can deal.
- [39:03]
And look, that Pozingus contract doesn't get you all the way there, but it gets you a big chunk of the way.
- [39:07]
Ryan Rosillo
There.
- [39:09]
Okay. If who I'm giving a Przingis and a lesser pick. Done. Yeah, I mean, of course, but that's not gonna. The price with Dallas here is completely impacted by the Luca transaction too. Like, there has to be a. This isn't ever going to be a dump, you know, it's not going to be a dump. Even if they're Afraid of what the financial commitment is for a guy that's likely going to keep getting hurt all the time. So.
- [39:34]
You know, I. I personally thought the Przingis thing to Atlanta was a little overrated, like the way people talked it up in the off season, because I. He's a guy you can't really depend on. The idea of Porzingis is far more valuable than the.
- [39:45]
Chris Mannix
Reality. And I don't think he fit next to those guys the way he fit. I never thought he fit the way next to Trey the way he did Tatum and Brown and that.
- [39:53]
Ryan Rosillo
Group. But if we've learned anything about this, it's like, if you can find somebody that at one time felt like a stretch five, who can then protect the.
- [40:02]
Chris Mannix
Rim.
- [40:02]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Like the way teams will talk themselves in and be like, are you sure that's what that guy is? And then I don't even. Like, I'm not even being critical about it. It's just. Yeah, but if, you know. And that's really what the Przingis thing was, is if we can just keep him healthy and we have this stretch five option that's pulling their center away, it opens up all these different things for us. But, you know, the tray sample, there were two and three with them, probably one in three with him because he got hurt seven minutes into that Nets game that they ended up winning, but they were probably going to beat the Nets anyway. I'm not going to put a lot of stock into him not shooting it well in a handful of games here, that would be completely unfair. But with Trey defensively historically versus where they're at. The last times I looked at the numbers without him, they're sixth on defense.
- [40:53]
I don't know if there's a. A trade there, but if they think internally, hey, we're not going to give him the extension that he thinks he's going to get as the face of this franchise. It would be pretty fascinating to see them go. You know, we actually just kind of need to figure this all out in the flat because I love that team right now. I love watching the.
- [41:11]
Chris Mannix
Hawks. They are menacing defensively with that group. The length, the athleticism, you know, being able to play Alexander Walker alongside Daniels, you know, with some of the guys they have backstopping them, I mean, they're. They can be as tough as any team in the league defensively and offensively. I. I mean, Jalen Johnson, I think we both agree, was on his way to being a star last year for the injuries. Like, he was great. And this Trey injury has Unlocked or at least allowed him to showcase a lot of the playmaking skills that people in Atlanta thought that he had. Like, he has taken over some of a lot of those playmaking responsibilities and been really, really good at it. I don't know what the trade is for Trey right now, but if and when he comes back, I think his role has to be different.
- [42:09]
You know, offensively, he can't just be the hub anymore. Like, you've got to seed some of those playmaking responsibilities, keep them in the, Keep the ball in the hands of Jalen Johnson, and there's going to be stretches where this team might be better with Trey Young off the floor because they're so good defensively. Like, I think they're going to have to, you know, realign once he's back in the lineup to, to. To be a different team than the one that they have been all throughout Trey's career and what they were before he went out with this.
- [42:37]
Ryan Rosillo
Injury.
- [42:39]
Yeah, I, I was always impressed that like, even with the Trey's dominance, like his numbers being so dominant with the ball, that they still found a way. Like whenever I would look at touches, you know, like, Luke is always at the top sga, Giannis is always off the charts. Right. But then Trey would have a, a huge number. But then they still found a way in that office to get Jalen Johnson a ton of touches while they were still playing together. So. But I, I just would want to see Jalen being able to initiate some of this stuff because he had a play the other night. You know, they were trying to come back against Detroit and you could see that he was, he was frustrated, but it was just him kind of understanding, like, I'm the best player on this team. I need to get us this bucket. Like, he seems to have the makeup too of somebody task with all of this. But even to the Trey Young fan and anyone that's that still believes in this long term, I'd concede that in a playoff series, like Trey's not going to be afraid of any situation and that he's going to save you offensively on some possessions that get really stuck because of his shot making. Even though, you know, there's probably a conversation that he's generally been pretty average from three now, like for three seasons combined there. If you look at some of those numbers, if you.
- [43:48]
Chris Mannix
Were. Let me ask you this. If you were going to swap Trey for Kawhi, who would say no to.
- [43:53]
Ryan Rosillo
That? Oh, my God.
- [43:57]
James.
- [43:57]
Chris Mannix
Harden. I think for the Clippers, it's more about like when you trade Kawhi, you're embracing the suck, right? Like, you're just, you're in on, you know, retooling, rebooting this team. Maybe Harden's the next guy to go after that. The Trey stuff would theoretically, I mean, you change things up, but, I mean, think his contract is less than.
- [44:19]
Kawhi. So it would be more about that if you're the, you know, the Hawks, you, I think, would jump at that because you get another, you know, versatile defender who could also get you a bucket at the, in the.
- [44:30]
Ryan Rosillo
Playoffs.
- [44:32]
Let's talk a little bit about Giannis. Do you, do you put anything into this social media cleansing? Was that.
- [44:38]
Chris Mannix
Real?
- [44:40]
I guess it's real.
- [44:43]
Strange time to do.
- [44:44]
Ryan Rosillo
It.
- [44:46]
After the Wizards game. I think it was the perfect time to do.
- [44:49]
Chris Mannix
It. Yeah. I mean, I guess, yeah, strange time, I guess, for Bucks fans, but yeah, losing to the Wizards, you're.
- [44:54]
Ryan Rosillo
Right. You're right. I'm just being a.
- [44:55]
Chris Mannix
Smartass.
- [44:57]
I don't know. I mean, it. It's clearly frustrating, you know, if you just listen to his interviews after games, like, the way this team is playing is frustrating.
- [45:07]
You know, we talked about possessions with Miami. The Bucks are getting killed in the possession game. Like every Doc Rivers post game press conference. He's grabbing the stat sheet. He's pointing to the number of shots the other teams are getting, the number of free throw attempts the other teams are getting. He's not even complaining about the whistle. He's just saying we're not getting enough shots up. We're spotting teams. I think they spotted the Wizards 18 shots in that game, which is a huge number. And you're not going to beat even a team like Washington spotting that many shots. They don't offensive rebound. They're not very good defensively on rebounding. They're just a very mediocre team. They're a weirdly constructed roster with like Torian Princess out. They've got like some. A bunch of small guys and a bunch of big guys and not a lot really in between. And, you know, as great as Giannis has been and he's like the ultimate two point scoring machine, like he leads the league and field goals made and two point field goals made. He just can't. He can't carry them. And I think that that realization, if it didn't dawn on him in training camp and early in the season, it's probably dawning on him right now that this team at sub.500 is not going to be saved by a couple of guys coming back from injury. It's just this is what this team is right now in the. In the Eastern.
- [46:20]
Ryan Rosillo
Conference. Not that this was new, watching them against the Wizards, but, you know, seeing him have the ball 35ft away from the hoop, and it's like, figure it out, man. And he does. Like, he's. He still can. He's. He's incredible. He turns 31 this week.
- [46:40]
I don't know how anyone could not be exhausted from even him, like, a super human being. Not just have, like, we're going to do this for 60 more games. Like, it's just so. I have no idea. I mean, I watched that game enough of it, and that it wasn't necessarily, like, anything frustrating because he's so competitive and he's so intense throughout the entire game. But, like, even these plays that worked, it's like, back to the basket, 35ft. They don't want to set a screen because they don't want to bring a ton of traffic over to them. And so then it's like, all right, you're just going to have to find a way to dribble and step through the entire five guys on the Wizards, because everyone's going to collapse on you. And then he scores. You know, maybe he gets the. And one. And then as he's about to take a spot at the free throw line, like, you're just looking at him going, there's no way. Even he can't keep doing this all year long. And I said it before the season started, because when you were at the combine, there was rumblings it was a really topical thing at the combine of the future of Giannis and all this stuff. And I'm thinking to myself, if this many people are talking about it, and there were a lot of different versions of it, too, so it wasn't that thing, that rule I'll have where it's like, well, if everybody's talking about this, but it's always the same thing all the time. Is everybody just kind of repeating the same thing that they heard at the beginning of this? But it just felt like whether it was the agent's going to be in charge of this, or if it were to happen, Giannis is going to have more input. I understand why this ownership group and Horst would not ever want to be like, hey, we were proactive about this, but if you let this get to the point where it's ugly, if you have any inclination that he's going to make it ugly at some point, then that pricing, like, I still think he's somebody at this point you would go, hey, we can do a normal old school trade where we actually like some of the players coming back here as opposed to now. We're screwed and we have no outs and we just have to give in to the.
- [48:36]
Chris Mannix
Guy. Which I, I don't think that can happen in season. Do you like, I don't. Is. I know we're only in December.
- [48:44]
Ryan Rosillo
But the structure of.
- [48:46]
Chris Mannix
It. Well, a d. Any deal, any Giannis deal. I don't think that happens in season. I don't, I, I.
- [48:51]
Ryan Rosillo
Don'T. Look, no, the betting, the. You're right. I mean, with their approach to it, I don't think they even want to do.
- [48:56]
Chris Mannix
It. No, they do, but like in the off season, this can reach kind of a natural breaking point because that's when he's entering the final year of his deal. He doesn't have to issue a trade demand. He can just say, look, I'm not going to sign an extension which has the exact same, you know, weight as a trade demand. Then it doesn't get ugly. I've always believed that that was how this was going to play out and that would certainly free the Hawks or the Bucks to, to be real patient with it and to, to see what the landscape looks like to play teams off each other, to do all the things that the, the Mavericks didn't do, you know, last year. So I think that's, that's the most likely scenario with all this like Giannis with the social media stuff. That certainly ratchets up the, the atmosphere a little bit and will lead to some questions over the next few days as the Bucks get back. But I can't fathom this team doing a Giannis deal mid season. Even if this team continues to look like, you know, a bottom half of the Eastern Conference bracket team, even if they look like a play in type of team. I just think there's too much at stake for the franchise to try to push through a deal before the deadline. You've got to play the Knicks against the Rockets against somebody else and, and see what, what the max offer you can get. And there just isn't the time to do that during a regular season.
- [50:20]
Ryan Rosillo
Schedule. The benefit they have though, is because he is so special. You think like.
- [50:27]
You know, this is not going to have the structure of some of these other deals where it's like, hey, we'll trade you filler for a bunch of picks. Two are probably going to suck and then we'll see what happens. I think real contending teams that are disappointed this summer would go, hey, we can, we can trade maybe our number two or number three guy in this kind of deal. And you know, that's the thing that I'd be holding on.
- [50:48]
Chris Mannix
To. Like there's. Yeah, there. I mean, look, San Antonio is always going to be in the mix and if you could extract Stefan Castle and a whole bunch of draft capital from them, that's something you can hang your hat on. I know that the Rockets have been, you know, when the Rockets did that Jalen Green deal, which they, they would. The Durant deal, I could call it the jail and Green deals. But when they did, when they did the Durant deal, like they could have done that deal many times the season before if they had raised their offer. But like to Raphael Stone's credit, like they were pretty disciplined on what they were going to offer and that was because they wanted to have the assets to be able to do something like a Giannis deal or to be in the mix for another top tier player if the right opportunity came along. So there, I don't know what I mean does like alperence and goon interesting the, the Milwaukee Bucks and draft capital in a Giannis deal. But the point is like there's, there's just a lot of teams out there that can do what you're, you're talking about to give you a castle, to give you a sengon. I don't know what the Knicks are looking at as a towns, I guess, but like there's teams that can do those types of deals and give you real stuff. It's just, I just look at it as being so difficult to do in the timeframe of a trade. It's going to take some.
- [52:08]
Ryan Rosillo
Time. Yeah, you're right. And they'll probably like, kind of hold that hope of like, hey, you know, we shot it a little bit better and whatever. I'm kind of, I'm. I'm lying to myself right now.
- [52:18]
Chris Mannix
Because it just was funny like, and.
- [52:20]
Ryan Rosillo
It'S.
- [52:22]
Kuzma. We got a new system here with Kuzma. So I like Shingoon so much. I just don't know timeline wise because then if it doesn't work, it's like, okay, you got old overnight and then getting away from, you know, Shingoon picking him over Jalen Green. The Reed shepherd stuff has been a lot better with the opportunities. You know, a man is untouchable. So yeah, in some of these trades it's kind of funny because you'll see like fan bases, like I'll see stuff with the spurs and it's like, hey, I like Keldon Johnson, too. Like, I probably like Keldon Johnson far longer and more than I should have for a bunch of different years, but I still kind of like him. I think you're going to have to give up one of the other guards if you were wanting to do any kind of Giannis.
- [53:04]
Chris Mannix
Deal.
- [53:07]
It's not going to be Dylan Harper, that's for sure. Yeah.
- [53:09]
Ryan Rosillo
Right. You can't keep Harper Castle. I don't know if they would want Fox anyway. Is there anything worth asking you about Jaw? Because now he's like, he's kind of in. He's, he's super supportive. You know, look, to his credit, I'm looking for anything that feels like a positive. And the, the thing that sucks for Memphis, too, being hitched to the Jaw deal and this is like this. And then I have one other Tatum question that we'll be done. But.
- [53:32]
Memphis has done, I think, over the years, such a really good job in just having an eye for talent and guys that fit in. And whether it's Wells, whether it's Vince Williams, you know, Scotty Pippen Jr. You know, hasn't really even played. This Edie thing has been terrific this season, especially if you're playing against Sacramento. They don't have any centers.
- [53:55]
The structure around it is something they deserve a lot of credit for, but none of it matters. But look, at least the jaw part of it, whether it's real or fake. I don't even give a shit if it's fake. He is very engaged in a positive way for a guy that's had kind of a disastrous start to this.
- [54:11]
Chris Mannix
Season. Yeah, there's been positives coming out over the last couple of weeks about ja. I mean, can they reincorporate him? Yeah, I think they can. Um, every Grizzlies game, though, that I watch, I become less convinced. Convinced that this coach knows what he's doing. Really. Like, I, I, I think he's very bad. I I and I think his system, this platoon system where, like, use for an example this, the spurs game, I watched some of that last night. That was a coaching loss. Like the spurs didn't have it. I didn't think the spurs looked very good last night, but when.
- [54:52]
At times when it looked like that the Grizzlies could pull away, they subbed guys out like they were just. They kept pulling guys out of this game that were having a positive impact on the game because they want to do this whole platoon thing and keep guys limited to certain amount of minutes. They're Running like these Vince Williams pick and rolls. Like, I don't know what that's all about. Like, they're. They're playing like. I think Olivia Prosper got like, two stretches, like, in both halves in this game. Like, I don't understand the substitution patterns that.
- [55:27]
Isolo is running out there at Memphis. And I think when Ja comes back, this is still going to be a problem for him. Like, unless they're going to change the system to play Ja the kind of minutes that he wants to and not pull him out of games the way they're pulling everybody else out of games, the way they're pulling Ja out of games. We're going to be right back where we started with this, butting heads. I don't like this coaching style, Ryan. I don't like it at all. I don't think it's going to be successful. I don't think the splatoon stuff works. I think when you got good players, you play good players as long as you can. With some caveats. I think this is all, like, as good as the vibes might be right now with the Grizzlies playing better against some bad teams. I think when he comes back, if it's the same structure and the same system, it's going to be the same result, man, it's not going to change one bit for John Moran, this.
- [56:14]
Ryan Rosillo
Team.
- [56:16]
Even if I love the idea of, hey, I want to try something different, I want to see, like, the sustainability, freshness. Like, are we getting more impactful minutes and lesser minutes? No player is going to like this. No star player is going to like this because you're going to go, wait, so I'm playing, like, less.
- [56:34]
Chris Mannix
Shots. Like, Zach Eady wants to leave games when he's playing like Wilt Chamberlain. Like, I mean, no.
- [56:40]
Ryan Rosillo
It'S. There was one sub. There was one sub out where it was like four for four guys late in last night's game where I felt like, hey, didn't they just have like, four pretty good possessions? And.
- [56:51]
Chris Mannix
Now. Yes.
- [56:52]
Ryan Rosillo
Yes. Right? So I know. I watched the fourth quarter last night and I. I was like, God, this is. And look, no player. No player's gonna go, hey, you know, my scoring and assists were down, but I was fresher.
- [57:04]
Like, these guys don't want to do it. They're like, where's my 25 a game? Like, the Jaren Jackson stuff is awful and I love them.
- [57:14]
So, yeah, it's going to be a problem all over again. All right, Two quick things. Tatum, do you think he's coming Back this.
- [57:20]
Chris Mannix
Year. I don't know. I mean, when I talk to people in Boston, like the phrase of some sort of, like, we're going to do the right thing with Jason Tatum, I'm like, well, what does that mean? Like, they don't get any more than that.
- [57:35]
Look, he's targeting it. People around him tell me he's pushing for it. He wants to come back this year.
- [57:45]
And I thought that, look, the Celtics are a lot better than I thought they were going to be. Their offense is a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Defensively, they're not great. But for a team that plays Nimus, Kida and nobody else on that back line and doesn't have anybody else being middle of the pack is pretty.
- [58:05]
Ryan Rosillo
Good. Keita's unbelievable, by the.
- [58:07]
Chris Mannix
Way. And he's the only guy, he's the only guy that they have. Like, they're playing like Josh Minot these minutes as kind of a backup center for spurts. You know, Sam Houser's playing power forward out there. Brown's playing above. Like, Jordan Walsh is playing center. Jordan Walsh is defending Karl Towns last night, and they're still finding ways to play enough defense to win some of these games. I'm not ruling it out. I, I, I'm not ruling it out this. And I'm shocked that I'm even feeling this way because when I sat down with Tatum back in the preseason, was making those media rounds because of whatever, you know, drug thing he was peddling at that point, he, I, I, I just chalked it up to a guy that really wants to play and maybe he feels better than he thought he was going to. But ultimately they're going to get to mid season. He's not going to be medically cleared. They'll say, you know what, we're under.500. Forget about it. We got our first round draft pick. Let's focus on 20, 26, 27. But the fact that they're this competitive and the fact that every time I watch a new Tatum video, he's doing something better. Like the most recent one that was out there. Like, he looks like he's doing everything he would do in a game. Like, and you talk to people in his camp like, it's not just, you know, optical illusions out there or selective editing. Like, he is looking like that in workouts, in scrimmages, or in, in, in just the, whatever he's able to do out there with the three on threes and, and whatnot.
- [59:29]
You can't rule it out at this Point. I'll tell you, like, they're, they're like a Tatum return and one backup big man from me, thinking that team can win the east. Really, like, everybody has leveled up on that team. Like, Brown leveled up. You kind of knew that was coming. Pritchard leveled up. Didn't think he didn't play well against the Knicks, but like, he, you know, leveled up against the Cavaliers big time in that game. So I, you know, Derrick White, Ben, Derek White, they've. They've got the horses there. They've got the pieces that if Tatum comes back and they could find like a Daniel Gafford type like somebody like that to give them something to backstop that front line, they can, they can beat any of these teams in the Eastern Conference with, with that.
- [60:16]
Ryan Rosillo
Group.
- [60:18]
I almost didn't show up to work today with this Chris Paul news.
- [60:21]
Chris Mannix
Overnight. I thought we were going to lead with that. So very sad for you. I get.
- [60:25]
Clark Lee
It.
- [60:25]
Ryan Rosillo
Yes. I just didn't want to start with it and then disrupt my emotions the rest of the way. Look, I wouldn't say it looked awesome this year.
- [60:35]
Chris Mannix
But. You wouldn't.
- [60:35]
Ryan Rosillo
You. No, it wasn't.
- [60:37]
Chris Mannix
Great. Think. Does this. Can I just say one thing? Does this put into, like, there's a lot going on with this story. A lot going on with this story.
- [60:49]
Does this put into context at all his decision to abruptly announce his retirement out of nowhere, like, 15 games or whatever it was, into the.
- [60:57]
Ryan Rosillo
Season? Well, I think it's okay for me to say it now, but I knew he was going to retire this.
- [61:02]
Chris Mannix
Summer. Well, everybody did. Like, I mean, he was. No. Assumed. I didn't know, but.
- [61:07]
Ryan Rosillo
Assume. All right. Well, I, I didn't hear from him. Like, we can joke around about how much I like him and everything, and he came to the show. It's not like we're texting all the time. Okay. So it's, it's not that I heard it from him. All right, so maybe you, you're talking not necessarily the secret of it, but that, hey, I'm announcing this is going to happen. I don't, I don't quite. I, like, I understand it from a basketball standpoint, but if you get into some of their roster stuff and that they were at 14, and then you can only be below that, what, for two weeks? So then what exactly is the point? And I've seen it kind of play out today. It's like, why wouldn't you want to just celebrate, like, one of the two best players in the entire history of the franchise and have him be a part of this thing at the very end. I don't. I don't know. I. As of this morning, I mean, I started my day with it. I'm lucky I'm even here. I don't know. I'm sure we're all going to find out some different versions of this whole thing. I would say, like, well, here we go again. I can't help myself.
- [62:04]
When Harden bitched about the young guys.
- [62:09]
I was like, honestly, I feel like the older guys are like, the younger guys are out there fighting for their NBA lives. And you have an issue with these guys, like, playing with. With all of this effort and everything. So I don't have any idea as of. As of this taping because it was like, literally, I think we all found out 90 minutes ago. So I don't know what the story is.
- [62:31]
Chris Mannix
Yet. I just.
- [62:34]
The announcement was strange and it coming like, right after the Clippers had basically decided he wasn't going to be in the rotation or he was not going to play as big a role.
- [62:49]
Sending a guy home at like 3 o' clock in the morning is wild on so many levels. But it made me wonder, like, when he announced that he was retiring, did he see something like this coming? Like, did he see like, oh, yeah, right. You know what I mean? Like, did he see like, the Clippers being like, you know what, it's not really working out. Maybe we're just gonna send you home, ultimately wave you, cut you. And maybe he didn't want that. And I'm. This is all just speculation because I'm with you. This is all very new. And I woke up to a bunch of texts about the. The Post and then conversations with different Clippers people, and here we are. But it just, it put into context to me, like, it made me wonder, like, did he see this type of Clipper move coming and move to maybe stave it off by announcing that he was going to retire and like, you don't send the guy that's going to retire home. Like, does that, does that trigger anything in you there? Because that. That's what I. And that I'm not the only one that thought this. I got this text for a few people, though, during the. The last five or six hours that we've been. The story's been out there. Just strange. It was a strange time to announce that it was going to be the end for him. I know he was going back to Charlotte and all that stuff, but I didn't really buy into that. And now it made me wonder, like, did he, did he sense any of this was coming, that the Clippers thing was not going to work out in some.
- [64:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Way? Apparently, Lou Williams said he heard from people in the Clippers organization. This is the story that came out while we were taping that Chris Paul was very critical of the players, coaches in front office, and the front office has had enough of his criticism. So I call that leadership, by the.
- [64:33]
Chris Mannix
Way. I, I don't, I can't. This, this so much the story, like, it's gonna all be, it's gonna all tumble out there. But what Lou Williams says there kind of tracks with what I've been hearing out there as the reasons for why this was, this was happening or this happened at this point. Because otherwise, like, look, if he's being a good guy and a good soldier, like, who cares if he's on the bench? Like, you know, you can, like he played a little bit that Miami game, made some shots in the third quarter when the game was like a 40 point.
- [65:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Game. But hey, look, I thought he was getting better, but that might just be.
- [65:09]
Chris Mannix
My. That's just you. That's just you. That's just you. That's, that's, that's just when your team is, is rock bottom defensively, you're not, not solving the problem by more Chris Paul minutes. It's like, I, I, I'd heard some of that. It's like the, with Lou Williams, your thumb. He's, he's mentioning, I've heard some of that because again, like, if he was just like the mentor, the leader, like, you're not really hearing that about Brook Lopez, who's kind of in and out of the lineup, you know, right now. So I'm, I, I will, I'm, it's going to be, there's going to be a lot, I think, that comes out in the next two or three days about why this went down and why the Clippers felt it had to happen when it.
- [65:44]
Ryan Rosillo
Did.
- [65:46]
Check out Chris Mannix work. He's got a great piece up on kind of the Dallas pivot or the two options, I guess I should.
- [65:52]
Chris Mannix
Say on SI.com probably something on Chris Paul later today. I'm guessing, I'm guessing, I'm guessing this is, this is a story that's going to be evolving. I'm sorry, I'm, this, this might not be a great be a fan of Chris Paul week. I don't, I don't.
- [66:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Know. It's okay. We'll bounce back. Bounce back. He's beyond the.
- [66:09]
Chris Mannix
Knicks. Yeah, that's what, like I asked not to delay too long, but I asked. So the Knicks did have interest in him last year. Obviously they talked to him. Leon Rose, obviously the connection, he's a big city guy. I think with the Knicks problem is like.
- [66:23]
You'D have to probably trade for him. And.
- [66:29]
I'm looking at some of this. Actually came up with a couple people I.
- [66:32]
Ryan Rosillo
Was. There's something about the apron which again, I, you know, I'm sorry that I just stopped trying to study all this stuff because. But I was reading something this morning where it's like if they keep him on the roster longer than the prorated version, that's.
- [66:44]
Chris Mannix
Waived. Oh yeah. I'm not even talking about like the Clippers have their own financial. And like you can't trade him until December 15th anyway. So you got like two weeks before you could actually trade them. But like if you're the Knicks, if you're going to do a deal, you're talking probably Jordan Clarkson or Landry Shannon. I don't think they want to do that. Like I don't. I wouldn't they want to deal either one of those guys as much as I think if he was just out there, that's definitely in play if Chris Paul wants to sign somewhere else. But as far as the trade goes, I don't think they're looking to part with the guys they have to part with to get.
- [67:14]
Ryan Rosillo
Him. Yeah, instant accountability if you sign them. That's how I see it.
- [67:18]
Chris Mannix
So.
- [67:19]
Ryan Rosillo
Wow.
- [67:22]
Hey, thanks man. And I know you get a busy week ahead, so good luck with everything. All.
- [67:25]
Chris Mannix
Right. Appreciate it, man.
- [67:29]
Golf season is in full swing.
- [67:30]
Ryan Rosillo
And getting out there to work on your game is bound to make any day even better. And if you're looking to improve your drive, Chevy Equinox EV is the smartest choice you can make. Bold athletic styling, a commanding presence, award winning tech and impressive range, all with an affordable msrp. Chevy Equinox EV will put a smile on your face no matter how your scorecard shakes out. It is one of the best stories in college football, really, the last couple years. Clark Lee, the head coach of Vanderbilt, joins us now. And honestly, the timing couldn't be better with the news in the recruiting world as well, which we'll get to. But let's just start with what the resume says. This Vandy job, it scares other coaches off. I know your connection to it is lot deeper than Most, but from 2 and 10 to 10 and 2 and 5 seasons, how did you do.
- [68:17]
Clark Lee
This?
- [68:19]
Well, that we need about six hours to kind of go through all of it, I'll tell you, it's been heavy, heavy lift and a slug fest. But this is about a belief in a place. You know, obviously I went here. It's more just the bones of it. Being in Nashville, being the SEC, being a, top, you know, 20 academic institution. There's a lot to like about that starting point. I know a little bit more about the history and the lack of investment here and the lack of care here. And so the chance to meet with our leadership, going through the interview process, chance to Dearmire and Candice Lee and hear their vision for what this could be, matching up to my vision, you know, you get to a point in life where it's, it's more professional, less personal. So the fact that this small mater actually has less to do with why I'm here than my desire to win and, and, and knowing that, you know, you can't be too picky when it comes to get an opportunity to be a head coach. This has been a dream for me since I got into coaching. So. So the starting point five years ago, it was bleak. You know, we had a lot that we had to undo here before we could start building up. It was like tearing everything down to the studs. And we were kind of right before the. The trend of, you know, like, turning the roster over in totality right when you get the job. So I really wanted to be good for everyone that was here. I really wanted to provide an experience for these guys that, that allowed them to engage with a program that was healthy and that they were inspired to be a part of. And it took me some time to realize that some of those people just weren't meant for the mission. And as year one gave way to year two, we, we made improvement. And as year two gave way to year three, we, we had some setbacks. And the third year, there was a big pivot for me, a big pivot for our department where we said, you know, we're going to have to embrace this portal. We're going to have to embrace and set up a system for nil. We did that. And, and so last year we were able to break through and get to post season. This year, obviously, we've had a, a remarkable run, but all of it has been planned with intention, and.
- [70:33]
We'Ve had a vision for this for a long time. To see it come to fruition is great, and now it's going to be about sustaining.
- [70:39]
Ryan Rosillo
It.
- [70:41]
I imagine all the years and all these great coaches you've been associated with as an assistant and leading to this point of going, okay, I'm sure like a lot of guys in your profession, you're thinking of what is it going to be like when I'm a head coach, what am I looking for? You know, some guys can wait a little too long for the perfect opportunity. Then you start thinking, okay, you know, what, am I being a little too picky about this whole thing? But what was some of the advice that you got from people about the decision to take over a program that has been a challenge in the toughest conference in.
- [71:09]
Clark Lee
America? Well, there were more people that told me not to do it than there were that celebrated me doing it. So if that tells you anything, I think, you know, just the, the, the, the, this place has never known how to take care of itself. And it's especially this program. I think it's, it's been one that now winning football in the SEC is really challenging, so you have to be really motivated to get behind it. But I think in some ways, you know, that that actually is what creates the opportunity. And I needed to know there was alignment, envision. I needed to know that again, it was important to our chancellor and our athletics director that this program was going to be successful. And there was, that There was also patience. Like, you know, Candace had a real understanding of where this thing was even more than I did. I was very naive coming in thinking I was one or two good speeches away from getting it turned. You know, she, she was able to see around the corner for me and, and, and help me navigate what was a couple of really lean years there. In the first three, one thing that happened here is our best players ended up transferring to.
- [72:22]
Conference opponents. So we lost a tackle to Alabama, we lost a running back to Kentucky in the first two years on the job. And as it turns out, that's not a formula to build something that's going to be successful. That running back was Ray Davis, who's an NFL player now, who's a great, great dude, great player. He's a thousand yard rusher for, for us in 2022. And so all that to say, you know, Candace in 23, when we had to set back, she came down and, and never was judgmental, never put pressure on me, never said, you better fix this or else. I think she was so connected to the spirit of what we were building, to the foundation of culture, that we had established the environment. She believed in it and, and just wanted to be a support and you know, in this era in college football, to have that level of leadership, that level of toughness is unheard of, and I'm just grateful for that. But, you know, a lot of people were in the process of going through interviewing and then accepting the job. A lot of people were trying to.
- [73:30]
Help me by seeing the cracks in the cup here. I don't blame them for that. And in fact, if anything, I think my experience in those first few years validated their concern.
- [73:41]
This, for me, has just been. There's been an unrelenting belief in what's possible. The opportunity of the fact that we have good bones here that hasn't been successful. You know, I just. I'm. I'm just naive enough to think that I can get it done. I learned really quickly that I can, but I. I can't do it on my own. So I've. I've surrounded myself with really good people that kind of formed the engine that have helped this program reach this.
- [74:03]
Ryan Rosillo
Point. How much has Diego Pavia exceeded your expectations about what he would bring to this program and do at the quarterback.
- [74:09]
Clark Lee
Position?
- [74:12]
Well, I don't know that I ever put limitations on what he could do. I watched him when he was at New Mexico State. I was kind of enthralled by his ability, his creativity, his playmaking. When I got to know him personally, I understood more about why he was so special, what made him tick, the chip on the shoulder.
- [74:35]
The humility and process that. The quiet connections he builds. You kind of recognize that the threads there, the strands that. That make him so dynamic. But what he's done since coming here is. Is worked hard and developed, you know, and anytime you have someone developing to the level he has, obviously you have to give him credit for that. That's about him putting the work in. But I think you also have to credit Tim Beck and Garrett Altman, who have worked really hard coaching him. I think Robert Steiner is a part of that team where, you know, he's helped him in the weight room develop physically so that he can play his style of football and be durable in the sec. And it's been his development that's allowed him to kind of exceed maybe what were external expectations. But for me, I don't, you know, I don't ever tend to put limitations on people just because I don't want limitations put on me. And the fact that Diego is a Heisman, you know, front runner and, And. And in our minds, should win the award. It's not shocking just because.
- [75:47]
Once you get to know him, you understand that there is a. A. An incredible belief in himself, a confidence, and, you know, he doesn't mind telling you what his goals and aspirations are. Too many people whisper their beliefs, but he'll. He'll make statements and he'll back him up with play. That's what he does. And he's been instrumental to our success too. Now, I think the story of Vanderbilt goes way beyond one player, but man, is that a compelling part of, you know, the makeup of our.
- [76:14]
Ryan Rosillo
Team.
- [76:16]
What impresses me the most and it's look, I. It's him, right? That kind of drives.
- [76:23]
This engine. But looking back to the Bama win last year, they come in the number one team in the country. It's like, oh yeah, that Pavia guy, he's fun. And then I see a Bama defense as confused as I can ever remember seeing them. And a little bit of the eye candy. Some of this stuff that you do at the mesh point of okay, is everybody in tandem and then you watch it happen over and over again and it's like, hey, this is a mental test for the opponent here to try to stay disciplined the entire time. And then you wonder like, will anyone figure out what they're doing? And they may know what the concepts are, but like even this Tennessee game, it's just like, here we go again. Everybody thinks they may be able to close on him and then they can't. And then he's gone again. And then just when you think you have figured him out, then he's going to hit you with a throw. I'm just so impressed with the combination of this and the sustainability. And we're talking about your offense now. You know, depending on which efficiency ranking you want to look at. I mean, a power four yards per play, you are number one and you've kept this thing going. How have you been able to get this kind of buy in? Well, I granted the results help, but the buy in to this thing that just feels so crisp and confusing for defenses most.
- [77:38]
Clark Lee
Weeks. So, you know, this was kind of my evolution in the role was about seeing the fact that in 23 our systems weren't actually supporting the. The vision for success. And I always knew we needed to be able to control the game offensively. I think point limitation is a huge part of the strategy here, especially as we're getting the program off the ground. And so point limitations about weaponizing the clock and it's about keeping the opposing offense off the field. So to control the game on offense, it's about time of possession, conversion down success and finishing drives with touchdowns. Well, that's what we do. And, and when I kind of went to the analytics to find candidates who had proven track record doing these things. You know, Tim Beck wasn't on the list just because he didn't have the sample size. But we ran his, his two years at New Mexico State through the kind of, through the metrics we had set, and he performed really well. And so I saw it in that process, I saw the creativity. It's not gimmicky. There's a real personnel grouping challenge, formational challenge. A real skill for designing plays that fit the strengths of the players that need the ball to win at New Mexico State is about finding the matchups and again, being creative in the way you, you support your playmakers on the field. Well, that, that is true of Vanderbilt too. And so our starting point a year ago was, you know, we, we needed to be an outlier on the, on the schedule. We needed to be the team that was the hardest to prepare for. And, and even from 24 to 25, we've evolved as we've strengthened. So a year ago, it felt a little bit like, you know, we, we had to, we had to use the window dressing. We had to, you know, be, be super creative in presentation to try to create the space. I, I think we were 125th in the country last year in yards before contact in the run game. The, the last I checked, I'm, I'm like probably a month. This is probably not true anymore, but just gives you perspective. The last I checked was probably about a month ago we were number one in the country in that statistic. So now this isn't just about, you know, being difficult in presentation. It's about being a physical football team, being able to move people at the point of attack, being able to create space in the pocket. So that what you see now is that we, we have kind of like multiple abilities to, to attack a defense. Part of that is methodical. Part of that is condensed formations and motions and ops and elements. But part of it is weaponizing tempo and spreading the field out and finding ways to design our playmakers open on the perimeter. And Diego's done a great job playing point guard for that offense. So I, I give Tim Beck a ton of credit. I think he's, he's, again, he's a authentic and genuine person, but he is a really creative play designer and a really skilled play caller. And that, that has made a huge. When you start talking about being number one.
- [80:52]
You know, in the country in efficiency ratings.
- [80:56]
That you, you have to, it's got to be the total package that you have the players to do it, but also you have the design and the play calling in the moment to, to unlock that level of.
- [81:05]
Ryan Rosillo
Potential. After the Bama win, how different was it? Like, did you, you just, you know, around campus, you know, there's just a, it felt like that was kind of the, the birth of, of Vanderbilt football, at least for us. I mean, maybe you look at it differently. You're like, hey, we were in the building. We knew we expected to be special and compete and all that kind of stuff. But there's a national awareness that comes with a victory like that. So how did you notice things just being different or how did that.
- [81:31]
Clark Lee
Feel? You started to feel the ripple out in the community. I think to your point, for us, the birth goes way back and it's like.
- [81:42]
It'S literally like having a child at times. In fact, I told this to the first team. You know.
- [81:49]
You have all these dreams and aspirations when you have your first child and, and there's nine months there where one day you think my, my first child was my son, you know, C3. And, and one day I'm like, man, this guy's going to be the president of the United States. The next day maybe he'll be a professional athlete. The next day it's like, I just want to be honest and hard working and all that kind of stuff. And then, and then one day he's born and, and now you're holding all those hopes and dreams in your hands and then he shits on you, you know, and you can't, you can't give him back and say, hey, come back to me when you know how to go to the bathroom. It's like as a parent, you realize in that moment, like, that's actually my job. I'm going to love and invest in this. And in time all those hopes and dreams will be on the back end of that love and investment. And so to, to go back, say, like, that was the first three years in this program and that was like co parenting with the team and just trying to create alignment within our team body around what, you know, what this needed to look like.
- [82:56]
When we beat Alabama last year, we were a two and two team that had started out hot two and oh, and then we lost a game at Georgia State and then lost the game at Missouri. And so there was this kind of growing skepticism around the program that we had kind of beat back there in the first two weeks that was kind of creeping back in. Well, we had a bye week and we knew that we were really close and we talked about it. And then we went out and put it all together and made it happen. At that point, you know, the.
- [83:37]
University community and the Nashville community really started to pay attention to what we were doing. And it still has taken time for people to show up and get behind it. But, like, our student section from that point forward became something that I'm really proud of. You know, they saw the work going in, and they showed up and they were investing in it, too. And that's rippled into the greater university community and now into the Nashville community. So certainly that was a big moment. I didn't really understand that at the time. It was just another game, and I think I'll learn a little more about it when I actually can take a step back and reflect on all of it. This thing goes like a whirlwind, so you're constantly in.
- [84:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Motion.
- [84:19]
I want to talk about your backstory a little bit. So you start playing baseball, and then you start playing down the street. Because I've been there. I've been to the facilities we mentioned before. Matt Bushman, both friends with him, played baseball, pitched for Bandy. So I get a bunch of looks. When I was working out, I think it was just the baseball facility, which you don't see a lot, where I was like, what's this guy doing here?
- [84:42]
Your whole deal? Like, were you just this guy down the street? And they're like, hey, there's this beast who plays baseball down the street. Let's see if he'll. He'll want to come play fullback at Vandy. I mean, how did that.
- [84:53]
Clark Lee
Happen? Well, let me be clear. There was actually no interest on Vanderbilt football's part. And me playing football, I. I was at Birmingham Southern my first year, and I thought I was going to be a major league baseball player. You know, that's. I mean, I guess every kid has aspirations, and I was a catcher, and they brought another freshman catcher in who was a better player than I was. And I also kind of started to experience what we would call now the Yips. I just. We weren't talking like that at the time, but I was having trouble receiving the ball.
- [85:28]
It just, you know, it was. It was miserable that the team wasn't. We won the NI World Series. It was a great experience, but I. I was not.
- [85:37]
Having fun playing. And so I transferred to Belmont my second year to. In hopes that, you know, I thought if you left the place, maybe you left your problems behind and they didn't travel with you. Well, as it turns out, that's not true. And so kind of my, the, the mental hurdles I was trying to clear got worse at Belmont. And that's when I finally kind of just said, hey, you know, may, maybe, maybe this isn't going to be a major league baseball career. Maybe that's not what is intended here.
- [86:10]
You know, what's the best school I can get into? And I'd like to have sport be a part of my experience because it's always been so formative for me and like just a vessel for self discovery. But it was no longer in pursuit of some kind of pro career. It was just, you know, I want to be a part of a team, I want to have a role, I want to try to work to help improve something. And, and I missed playing football. You know, football is not unless there's only a couple of positions that require fine motor skill. And so you don't get the yips, running power and kicking out the defensive end. You just run yourself into another human. That's kind of like the difference.
- [86:55]
And so I, I, Bobby Johnson had just gotten the job here and I had talked to his staff at Furman a little bit out of high school, and so I just reached out and met with them and they were interested in having someone like me that was going to work hard. And you know, I think the program was in a very similar place to where it was when I took over year as head coach. And so I was a fullback year. I earned a scholarship, which is really cool. I had a little role. I played special teams and played, you know, in some of our short yardage packages and stuff like that. And it was exactly what I needed, you know, and, and I didn't realize that it would set the course for, you know, this career and you know, a connection now to the, to the program, to the school for, for a lifetime. I just, I, I thought it was a neat experience at a really good school. I got a great education and I was, I was content with.
- [87:53]
Ryan Rosillo
That. It was, you're explaining this to me and again, we've never talked before, but I'm thinking about, okay, you know, early on, the thought in your head, I mean, you know as well as anybody, you know, coaching in the sec, every single guy that comes in to play football thinks he's playing on Sundays, you know, and that's their own kind of journey. And you can relate to that and you can relate to the team aspect of sacrificing yourself playing the fullback position, where it's not like you're getting a bunch of touchdown looks close to the goal line when you're playing. But you know the big news out of Andy today is you get Jared Curtis coming in. It's the biggest recruit in the history of the football program. A five star quarterback. He flips from Georgia. What does your background do for you in.
- [88:37]
Clark Lee
Recruiting?
- [88:40]
Well, obviously I can't comment on any recruit and so I won't do that. I will tell you that, you know, what I want in this program is people that want to play at the highest level. So if there aren't NFL aspirations in the heart of a prospect, this is not the right place for them. And that said, I mean I also recognize that there's life beyond the game. But in our program we believe better people make a better team. So this is like how you learn that we don't like live life in separate lanes. I'm not a student here and a son here and an athlete here that we live in circle and in a circle like improvement in one area is improvement in all areas. So the demands we have for our players and their behavior on campus and their investment in their education are the same demands we have for them when it comes to the football game. Better people make a better team. So when I learn how to do things that I don't always want to do, but I learned to do them at a standard, that is how you become a great pro. And, and so we believe all the things that make up being a Vanderbilt football player are things going to allow people to extend a career for a long time. In the NFL. We also believe that in pursuit of those dreams, the greatest part about football is that it is a vessel for self discovery. So we will, we will send off into the world.
- [90:06]
Young men with more awareness, more self awareness, more understanding about who they are and where they are and the opportunities that are in front of them. And in that way I think, you know, we, we, we strengthen communities. That's a core part of our mission. But the mission is winning. So we don't, we don't want guys to be well rounded necessarily. We want them to be well lopsided. We want them to, to go all in on, on this football experience. We think playing and being successful in the sec, you have to give yourself to the game. And what we know to be true is when guys give themselves to the game, first of all, it's going to be really hard, it's going to be really painful. You're going to learn to suffer well and you're going to learn that on the back end of suffering is, is the equal and opposite joy. And so you're willing to go a little further and a little longer and a little harder to. To know that the payoff is going to be worth it. And that, honestly, that is, like, the tenor of our recruiting. That is. That's the message I give on my couch, is I don't. I'm not a salesman. I don't sell. We reveal who we are, and we feel like the right people are drawn in. Keep in mind, this is a program where the players, we call our team the team of misfits. These guys have come from anywhere and everywhere. They were, in most cases, rejected by places that, you know, said they weren't good enough. I feel the same way. Me included, you know, and so we've. We've kind of come together here with. With this common thread of a misfit attitude, and we've. We've bound together to build something that we believe in. And. And that means we have to be committed to each other. We have to be committed to do hard things the right way. And. And that's been the foundation of our success to this point. And from this point forward, it's about how we level up, how we go a little further. But it's not going to be changing. We're not going to change who we are. We're not going to change our recruiting approach. We're not going to change our recruiting pitch. We're going to call people into a level of suffering and sacrifice.
- [92:17]
Call people into a team environment where you don't have to make any compromises in your personal goals, but we're going to channel those personal goals through the team mission.
- [92:28]
And we believe ultimately, that's going to deliver the best program in the.
- [92:31]
Ryan Rosillo
Country. Okay, final thought, and I'm going to give you the floor here. We are taping this just so the audience knows before the committee rankings tonight. So I imagine you are waiting patiently on those. And this is the time of year where, sure, there's a lot of campaigning, but there's also a lot on the resume that makes sense. So how are you looking at the rankings and where your program's.
- [92:51]
Clark Lee
Positioned? Well, I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed to this point because I think that we've made great statements throughout the season around how good of a team we are, how dynamic of a team we are. We've learned to win, and we've shown that we can win in different ways. And yet I think there's kind of this inherent bias in the way our programs perceived. I think that has a lot to do with the logo, even Even to the point where, you know, we go and beat Tennessee on the road and that's a really good Tennessee program, a good Tennessee team. We beat him about 21 points and I believe in the AP poll we gave up ground somehow some way, meaning we lost a spot. And so it's, it's, it doesn't seem straightforward to me right now. Here's what I'll tell you. We have a 10 and two team in the SEC. We were undefeated at home seven and oh, our two losses are on the road at Alabama, at Texas. Both games we had, they both played out differently. Both games we had opportunities to, to take the lead or when, you know, win the game in the fourth quarter, we were close. We were then striking distance. Outside of that, you know, we've, we've finished our season with three consecutive league wins, including a dominant performance at home against Kentucky and then a dominant performance performance on the road against Tennessee. So we're playing our best football here late in the season. We've got the 11th ranked strength of record in the country. There are only four teams ahead of us in the rankings that have a higher strength of schedule ranking. So we've done it against the best of the best and we have the best offense in the country with what I believe the Heisman front runner playing quarterback for us and he is a fun and dynamic player to watch. The college football world needs to embrace this team. This team deserves to be playing for a national championship. I think it's good for our game. It's the right thing to do. And if this were about blind resumes, there's no way that we wouldn't have a seat at that table. And so my hope is that they do the right thing. My hope is that they honor all those, those aspects and that they give us a chance to do exactly what we, we set out to do at January 7th. And if they're unwilling to do that, I've, I've said, you know, I'll go to Miami, I'll go to Utah, I'll go to Notre Dame and we can play on Saturday and we'll, we'll figure it out that way. I'm happy to do that. My team is ready to do that. We want a chance to win it all. And I think we've done enough to this point to earn that.
- [95:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Opportunity. It's incredibly impressive season. You're an impressive guy. Suffer well, I'm going to remember that for a long time. I kind of like that one. I don't know how many other people would be like, into it, you know, like, hey, the right people will be right. What the hell's wrong with you? But I really like it and I appreciate the time. So we'll see what happens tonight. Again, it's going to run on Wednesday. And thanks for the time today.
- [95:39]
Clark Lee
Ryan. Thank you so much. Good to be with.
- [95:41]
Ryan Rosillo
You.
- [95:45]
Before we get to life advice, the alliance marches on. Kyle, Steve with us. What do we got, Steve? Steve's frustrated.
- [95:53]
Kyle
Already. Yeah. I screwed us last week. I did. I was the only one wrong. I don't want to blame con knipple because I love him so. And we're trying to get him on the pod, so. But he just didn't. I had him over 17 and a half points. He didn't get there. And you had Aaron Holiday. Three plus threes. I went to bed because that was like a west coast.
- [96:08]
Ryan Rosillo
Game.
- [96:09]
Kyle
Yeah. And he had no threes at halftime. I was like, cool, I'll be all right. And then I woke up and he had three threes. The next morning, I was like, cool. I'm the asshole. So there you go. My.
- [96:15]
Ryan Rosillo
Bad. Don't love your rooting motivation there. I think we should all be rooting for each other, to be.
- [96:20]
Kyle
Honest. I still want to be the one wrong, but it's.
- [96:22]
Ryan Rosillo
Okay.
- [96:25]
Kyle, how are you.
- [96:25]
Kyle
Today?
- [96:26]
Steve
Good. You know, just picking guys in king of the court that aren't even playing. Haven't been playing. So I actually. I outsourced this one.
- [96:33]
Ryan Rosillo
Today. My pick. So.
- [96:34]
Steve
I'm. If it doesn't work, I'm going to be able to yell at that guy. And if it does work, then, you know, I'm going to take this alliance because.
- [96:40]
Kyle
I'm. Yeah, we did go ofer and king of the court last night. Ryan had Maxi, Kyle Wemby. I had sga.
- [96:46]
You know, hey, we've hit. We've hit three of these, so we've. We've actually three out of five. So we're doing fine at king of.
- [96:51]
Steve
The. I'll put my hand up. I should just research if a guy's injured before. Although he was. He was like second on the.
- [96:55]
Ryan Rosillo
Leaderboard. So, I mean, that's.
- [96:57]
Steve
Fine. Maybe we should pass that around a little bit, pass the.
- [96:59]
Ryan Rosillo
Blame. Anyway, it happens once we release it. You know, it's a tricky, tricky every now and then, the.
- [97:04]
Kyle
Lineups. Ant went off last night, so it wouldn't have.
- [97:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Mattered. Yeah. Yeah. Ant was. Even though they were down to the pelicans, had to come back in the fourth quarter. Went to overtime with the pelicans. You See a slight difference with a veteran team, offensive possessions versus another very young team. Although Queen had some awesome moments last night and he's good. He. Yeah, he's. He's just so different, man. He's such a. He's like an odd player, but at the same time, like he got three different isos. Like he went at Jaden McDaniels in the baseline. I was like, are you seriously, like, you think you're going to be able to defend me? And he just went right through him. Then he got Nas and then he decided to go Rudy. He also had another, you know, handful of other possessions were like, what the hell are you doing? But the passing. The passing with him is a thing that completely jumps.
- [97:46]
Kyle
Out. So, you know, is he like Gen Z.
- [97:48]
Ryan Rosillo
Zebo?
- [97:52]
He's a better.
- [97:52]
Kyle
Passer. I'm working. I'm workshopping that.
- [97:55]
Ryan Rosillo
One. I like that he's a better passer. No one's ever going to give that. Like, I think Jokic and Sengun lead the NBA in post touches per game. Not post touches, but post ups. Post touches is different. It's like five. Remember, I'd always check in on that number with Al Jefferson. 20 a game. 20 true. Post ups a.
- [98:12]
Steve
Game.
- [98:14]
That's a fun name. Really nice job by you.
- [98:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Jen.
- [98:17]
Steve
Sibo. It's fun. I don't. I don't know if you would enjoy being called that, but.
- [98:22]
Clark Lee
It'S.
- [98:22]
Steve
It's. It's probably won't be a self is the.
- [98:25]
Kyle
Man. I don't. I feel like that's a. That's a.
- [98:27]
Steve
Compliment. Yeah, I know. But if you're. If you're a guy and you're like another guy who's not even that like much.
- [98:32]
Ryan Rosillo
Far. You know what I.
- [98:33]
Steve
Mean? It's not like some. Some legend from the. From the 70s. It's like the guy was still.
- [98:38]
Kyle
Around. I don't know.
- [98:38]
Ryan Rosillo
If. I don't know if dudes like.
- [98:39]
Steve
That. Anyway, I like the.
- [98:40]
Ryan Rosillo
Name. That's all I'm.
- [98:41]
Kyle
Saying.
- [98:41]
Chris Mannix
Thanks. All.
- [98:42]
Ryan Rosillo
Right. Yeah, I like it.
- [98:43]
Kyle
Too. Good.
- [98:44]
Ryan Rosillo
Alliance. Okay, here's our picks for tonight. For the alliance with DraftKings sportsbook. What did I have? I've got the.
- [98:51]
Kyle
Magic. Yeah. They're minus seven and a half against the spurs at home tonight. So you want to take the seven and a.
- [98:57]
Ryan Rosillo
Half? Yeah, I'll just lay the seven and a.
- [98:59]
Kyle
Half. Okay.
- [99:01]
Kyle, you go. I'll. I'll bring up the rear. Since I.
- [99:02]
Steve
Was. All right. This is my outsourced Knicks pick from a guy who I turned on to DraftKings. And he's been super annoying about it, sending me all his $5 wins, but. So I'm hoping this hits for me and if it doesn't, hoping that he feels pretty bad about it. But he's got. We've got Jalen Brunson under 29 and a half.
- [99:21]
Kyle
Tonight. Okay. I'm going to ride the Jalen train. I'm going to take Jalen Johnson two plus threes against the Hawk. I'm sorry. Against the Clippers tonight. Just. Basically just a bet against the Clippers. They also give up a ton of threes. He's done this in 10 of 11 games. I can't believe this line is that low. It's minus 139.
- [99:36]
Ryan Rosillo
So. Also a fun.
- [99:39]
Steve
Bet. A super fun bet. When you're watching, like, dude, he could hit the second one.
- [99:42]
Ryan Rosillo
Anytime. You're just like.
- [99:44]
Kyle
Shoot. Shoot.
- [99:44]
Ryan Rosillo
It. Shoot.
- [99:45]
Clark Lee
It.
- [99:45]
Steve
Yeah. It's kind of the best way to watch a basketball game, to just bet one guy two or more.
- [99:48]
Kyle
Threes. Yeah. Yep. Because that's one. If you get it early, you're like, I'm a man. Yeah.
- [99:55]
And then realistically, you're probably sweating that.
- [99:57]
Steve
Out. Gets one in the first quarter and it's just the game is that much.
- [99:59]
Kyle
Better. The rest. That's great. Correct. All right, that gets us 5 plus 559. It's good odds there. Love it. Let's.
- [100:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Go. Okay, check it out. All the latest lines for you on DraftKings. You want.
- [100:11]
Chris Mannix
Details?
- [100:12]
Ryan Rosillo
Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355.
- [100:15]
Chris Mannix
Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house.
- [100:20]
Ryan Rosillo
Now. The south.
- [100:20]
Chris Mannix
Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's.
- [100:28]
Steve
Possible. Let me tell you what's.
- [100:30]
Ryan Rosillo
Required. Life Advice email address is life advice rrgmail.com. we've got a few emails to read through here, but I just cannot let this go without talking about it. I don't know how many of you guys saw this online last night. Kevin Spacey song, A dance man back in the news. Um, if you Google this, you can see it anywhere on social media. He's basically doing this. It's not a one man show because he's got a band behind him, but he's obviously the attraction. And he was doing some tap dance. He was. He was crooning. And then he busts out the harmonica, which again, my harmonica rant is once again proven true that there's a lot of guys just whipping out the harmonica. And if you have the right key. You just breathe into the thing and it kind of sounds like you know what you're doing. You've learned. A couple. A couple licks would be nice. He went zero licks. And the crowd went wild because he pulled out a harmonica. It's just, just, it's. It's crowd candy. The crowd cannot help themselves from being so excited about somebody busting a harmonica. So anyway, the. I googled the story because I was like, weird. Who was like, hey, Kevin Spacey's live tonight. Let's.
- [101:42]
Steve
Go. Social Security recipients, that's who. I mean, they're. They all have ARP cards. That's the. That's the. You think.
- [101:49]
Clark Lee
So? I.
- [101:50]
Kyle
Think. I think you can't tell anybody you went either.
- [101:52]
Ryan Rosillo
Right? Because you're going to be like.
- [101:53]
Steve
What? I think they can. I think they totally.
- [101:55]
Ryan Rosillo
Can. It was in Tel Aviv and the headline said, Kevin Spacey played to a crowd of hundreds in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Hundreds. That makes a little bit more sense. It does. But still, it's just that conversation be like, hey, you know, we went to see Kevin. Like, hey, say what you want about the guy, but damn, is he versatile. That guy's got.
- [102:17]
Kyle
Range. Extra ticket to Kevin Spacey tonight solo. You.
- [102:20]
Steve
Interested? Is that solo, like one man show? Is that sort of like the Vegas residency for actors? Because there really isn't anything like that. But that's kind of what it is, right? It's like you hit a certain point and somebody convinces you to do it and you're like, all right, this could.
- [102:33]
Ryan Rosillo
Work. I watch the Roy Firestone thing once a year. It blows. You guys don't even know what I'm talking about, do.
- [102:41]
Kyle
You? I wait, I need.
- [102:42]
Steve
To. I'm thinking of the Everybody Loves Raymond episode where he goes on TV for Roy Firestone. But other than that, I don't know what you're talking.
- [102:48]
Ryan Rosillo
About. Right. Roy was, I think I do an incredible Early Days ESPN run up close. I think those interview shows are terrific, but there's more going on in that guy's head. And he would do these one man Vegas shows and they would interview people leaving the shows. And you would have thought they saw.
- [103:09]
Steve
Jesus.
- [103:10]
Ryan Rosillo
Really. Like they're coming out in the lobby going like, I knew it was going to be good. I had no idea we were going to get Muhammad Ali and Sammy Davis Jr. Impersonations at the exact same time. And then there was like motivational speeches and stuff. I think Roy's like the five Tools. Cool guy. I watch it once a year just to be.
- [103:26]
Kyle
Inspired. All.
- [103:27]
Ryan Rosillo
Right. So that's how I get myself ready.
- [103:33]
That's how I attack.
- [103:34]
Kyle
Life.
- [103:37]
I did rewatch seven last month.
- [103:38]
Ryan Rosillo
Man.
- [103:40]
Did.
- [103:41]
Kyle
You? I did, yeah. It had been like probably over 10 years. I hadn't seen it in a long.
- [103:44]
Steve
Time. Seems like the right amount of.
- [103:46]
Kyle
Time. Didn't know the ending.
- [103:47]
Steve
Tough. That seems like the right amount of time between.
- [103:50]
Ryan Rosillo
Watch.
- [103:53]
All right.
- [104:01]
Hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Mine was great. The whole family got together. My hometown of Las Vegas overall is a really good time. Being the middle of three brothers and the fourth of five kids, I'm used to a little chaos, but something happened that I seriously need your and perhaps the wider tribunal's opinion on. Everything was. Hey, psyched to hear about your Thanksgiving. Everything was going smoothly on Thanksgiving day until we tried to take a family picture with my siblings and mother. My 42 year old brother decided it'd be hilarious to stick his fingers into.
- [104:29]
What?
- [104:29]
Kyle
Wow. What a.
- [104:30]
Steve
Pause.
- [104:33]
Is it a spelling thing or are you just figuring out how to say.
- [104:36]
Ryan Rosillo
This? Well, he's missing a.
- [104:37]
Kyle
Word. I don't even know where this is gonna go. I have no.
- [104:40]
Ryan Rosillo
Idea.
- [104:47]
I think his older brother was trying to give him a prostate exam during the photos. Like that would be the.
- [104:52]
Kyle
Joke. All right, so it's dudes. Yeah. All.
- [104:54]
Ryan Rosillo
Right.
- [104:54]
Steve
Yeah. Older.
- [104:54]
Ryan Rosillo
Brother.
- [104:55]
Kyle
Yeah. You've seen guys in the NFL do that. You know, guys. A touchdown. It happens in soccer actually a lot, which is. I don't love.
- [105:00]
Steve
That. What do you see a.
- [105:02]
Kyle
Lot? You know, the old finger in the bum situation. You know, you mess with a.
- [105:07]
Clark Lee
Guy. I don't.
- [105:07]
Kyle
Know. I'm not pumped about saying. It just happens. I don't know what to tell.
- [105:11]
Ryan Rosillo
You. Okay, I'll send videos. Actually, maybe I won't after. Yeah, don't send us. But.
- [105:17]
Kyle
Thanks. I don't even Google that.
- [105:20]
Anyway.
- [105:21]
Steve
Okay. The old finger in the bum celebration. I guess I missed that.
- [105:25]
Ryan Rosillo
One.
- [105:29]
Fumble. Awesome.
- [105:34]
This went on for 15 seconds and I told him to stop multiple times. 15 seconds, dude. But he just kept going and thoroughly annoyed the crap out of me. After the picture, I was ready to just move on. But then I noticed again my 40 year old brother start recounting the story of several of my in laws who are not part of the picture. For the next little while, I noticed a lot of laughing and multiple people glancing in my direction. At this point, the momentary annoyance quickly turned into serious anger. A few minutes later, I went to sit down near him on the couch, trying to forget about it. But the in laws were still Laughing about the experience. We got some heated dudes around the holidays with family members. More jokes were sent my way and I told my brother to shut up about it. But the laughing continued. In a moment of pure desperation and maybe some time travel back to being a 12 year old, I decided to punch him in the balls. Once I did it, I immediately said, I'm sorry for punching you in the balls, end quote. And walked away. And that was the end of it. So here's the question. Did I handle this the wrong way? Was I being overly emotional at the age of 37? How should I have handled it instead? For context, I generally have a great relationship with my family and don't hold any resentment going forward. I was just actually annoyed for those five minutes and desperately wanted the embarrassment and the behavior to stop. And, well, it stopped. Let me know your.
- [106:49]
Steve
Ruling. That's kind of like the nuke. That's like dropping the nuke, right? We kind of.
- [106:54]
Ryan Rosillo
Don'T. We.
- [106:54]
Steve
Don'T. We've talked about this before. We never want to go back there to where we have to guard our balls. I guess you could say you don't. You should have to want.
- [107:00]
Ryan Rosillo
To. You.
- [107:01]
Steve
Should. You could say you shouldn't want to have to guard your ass too. But I mean, you know, one of them.
- [107:04]
Kyle
Is. Which one's.
- [107:05]
Steve
Worse? Well, one's way worse than the other one. I'll be able to get.
- [107:08]
Ryan Rosillo
Over. I'll be able to get over.
- [107:10]
Kyle
Some guys actually not that bad comparatively to what actually happened. So I think, I think you're.
- [107:14]
Ryan Rosillo
Okay. I'd.
- [107:15]
Steve
Be. I'd be able to get over some guy's like, finger in the butt joke. I guess more than like, he just actually hit me in the balls in front of it. Doesn't even matter who's around. That's really. It's been so long. I'm trying. I. I remember how bad it was, but like a full, like a guy really, like, wound.
- [107:30]
Kyle
Up. Would you rather somebody punch you in the nuts or stick their finger in your ass like that? Feels.
- [107:33]
Steve
Like. Well, he's got clothes on. There's no way it could go in.
- [107:35]
Ryan Rosillo
Right? I mean, sweatpants. What if there's some of those.
- [107:39]
Steve
Fashionable sweatpants for the family Christmas.
- [107:41]
Ryan Rosillo
Photo?
- [107:42]
Steve
Sweatpants. We can.
- [107:44]
Ryan Rosillo
Assume. I like cashmere. Who knows what's.
- [107:46]
Steve
Possible? Yeah, I think I probably wouldn't have done that, but I don't know. Maybe you just open Pandora's box.
- [107:53]
Ryan Rosillo
Dude. Maybe. I think it's totally fine. You think so? Yeah, I think it's totally fine. It's all on the table after something like that. And the great thing is, I think in most scenarios, you're right. Like, you're going to hit me in the nuts, dude. Like, we have kids and you're going to do this. But how can you possibly say that after what you just did during the photo? And it sounds like our guy didn't like being looked at. The leering is what really got him down. It wasn't the physical assault. It was the leering. And maybe even some preconceived, like, did he think he was being judged? Did you not not like it enough? But that's what I don't understand. Where's this anger coming from? The.
- [108:33]
Kyle
Brother? Not only does he do this insane act, but then he goes around telling all the family members about it, and they're pumped about it, and they're looking at you like you're the loser. Like, I think you had every right to punch.
- [108:43]
Ryan Rosillo
Your. You should have punched them.
- [108:44]
Clark Lee
All.
- [108:45]
Kyle
Yeah.
- [108:46]
Steve
Face. And it could be tough to get those old folks to laugh. And if you found something that those guys think is hilarious, that's, you know, just sometimes a generational divide. It's like you guys can't even watch the same TV shows. They're like, this is stupid. Trying to explain, I think you should leave to somebody in their 60s, it's just not worth it, you know? And apparently this just hit the sweet spot, so that must be extra, extra annoying. I don't think I want to hit him in the balls.
- [109:10]
Clark Lee
Though.
- [109:13]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. All right, Mom. Doing a.
- [109:15]
Kyle
Solo. Quick aside. Really.
- [109:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Quick. Sure.
- [109:17]
Kyle
Sure. Do you know how many texts I've gotten today? And honestly, we even fooled some of our production staff about your Chris Paul text this morning or tweet this.
- [109:25]
Ryan Rosillo
Morning. I thought people thought that was real. Ryan loves when people think multiple.
- [109:30]
Kyle
People. Our DraftKings guy was like, hey, I know there's no show today, but can we still get the alliance? We have a show.
- [109:36]
Ryan Rosillo
Today.
- [109:38]
You know, I should have done that then. I shouldn't have done.
- [109:40]
Kyle
That.
- [109:42]
I literally just got a text saying, hey, saw Ryan's tweet is the. Okay, what's.
- [109:46]
Ryan Rosillo
Up? So when the Chris Paul announcement happened this morning, I sent out a tweet that says, no show today. When I gave the two alert bookends. That gets people's attention big.
- [109:56]
Kyle
Time. That's what I knew. It definitely wasn't.
- [109:58]
Ryan Rosillo
Real. Yeah. Taking a personal day. No show today. Meanwhile, we already taped half the show, so there was never a question of not doing a show. I would never.
- [110:10]
Yeah, but maybe I shouldn't have done that because I just started working here and then who knows.
- [110:16]
You know, People at barstool could have been like, wait, this guy's like, emotionally soft. Chris Paul's done with the Clippers. He's not even retiring. Like, that's. That's after the season. He's probably going to get picked up by.
- [110:26]
Steve
Somebody. You love that no contact shit. What are you talking about? You love that no contact.
- [110:30]
Ryan Rosillo
Shit. I.
- [110:30]
Steve
Do. You really.
- [110:31]
Ryan Rosillo
Do. But I don't know that I should have done it at a place that I've been at less than two months.
- [110:36]
Steve
Yeah. Unlimited pto. My contract. Dude, I don't know what you.
- [110:39]
Ryan Rosillo
Got.
- [110:41]
Did you?
- [110:41]
Kyle
Yeah. Do you.
- [110:42]
Clark Lee
Though?
- [110:43]
Steve
Yeah. Well, that's the whole thing.
- [110:44]
Kyle
Right? That's.
- [110:44]
Steve
The. I mean, that's the tightrope.
- [110:49]
Ryan Rosillo
Anyway. Well, I apologize to all those people. Well, won't they be excited when they see a pod come out today. Yeah, a good one.
- [110:55]
Kyle
Too. Fighting through, you know, It's a tough.
- [110:57]
Ryan Rosillo
One.
- [111:00]
I didn't cause you like, a headache.
- [111:02]
Kyle
Right? No, it's just funny to me that like, I. A lot of people just did not get it at.
- [111:06]
Ryan Rosillo
All.
- [111:09]
No, no, that's not their.
- [111:11]
Kyle
Fault. People care about you, dude. That's good to.
- [111:13]
Ryan Rosillo
Know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Chris Paul's not going to be the guy that gets me off the air.
- [111:23]
I do wonder what that would be like. Hey, I'm not doing the show this week.
- [111:30]
All right. I guess I don't sit there and list a bunch of different.
- [111:32]
Steve
Things. Yeah, I could list, but I.
- [111:33]
Kyle
Don'T what would bump right out the most. Yeah, not fun.
- [111:37]
Ryan Rosillo
Right? I don't think it's. Boat.
- [111:39]
Kyle
Sank. I still think you do a.
- [111:41]
Ryan Rosillo
Show. I do a show. We're going to do a show from the.
- [111:44]
Kyle
Boat. Decided get tech on that.
- [111:47]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Well, we got the Starlink. Starlink, Yeah, I was going to say, but I think somebody's using mine because I got a warning of like, how much data came down. I'm like, somebody is clearly hacked into my Starlink and they're just using it and probably canceled or froze theirs. So we get a security on that one. All right, gentlemen. 24 years old, 62205. I peaked at 300 pounds playing offensive line in college. Despite losing significant mass, can still throw 315 around to the bench. Four or five reps. Damn. 205, dude.
- [112:20]
Maybe his body, you know, his body, apparently it's kind of like agrees with the weight, right? Is used to having that. Then there's like A mental thing. It's like hey, I've done this numerous times. Perhaps you know, who knows what we're capable.
- [112:35]
Steve
Of. Doesn't even just get those mental breaks backwards yet. We don't even know. Have you, have you even tried counting.
- [112:39]
Ryan Rosillo
Backwards? Yeah. Start at 7, work your way down to 1. Also approaching a 20 minute 5k. Just to give you the full picture pickup comp is Zach Randolph. Perfect.
- [112:48]
Kyle
Timing. What a.
- [112:49]
Ryan Rosillo
Show. Yeah, what a show. Perfect show. Is there a perfect show? That's my new book. Maybe next.
- [112:57]
Kyle
Christmas.
- [112:58]
Ryan Rosillo
Smart.
- [113:01]
I'm a longtime listener have thoroughly enjoyed the travelogues Ryan's experience in the Basque country. I feel like there's nobody more qualified to help me with the situation. I don't know. Some people really didn't like that I didn't explore the foodie culture as much. So that one was kind of a split response. I felt like for some background. My parents split up a few years ago. They did some international travel together over the years. The first time since the divorce. My mom is looking to go on a trip. She's currently planning on visiting San Sebastian and crossing into France to hike the comet line. The stems were interested in the French resistance in World War II and the escape route which transported down allied airmen through the Pyrenees.
- [113:42]
I'm a bit apprehensive of my mom traveling on her own. If nothing else, need some reassurance for someone who's visited this particular region. My mom's in her early 50s, in good shape.
- [113:53]
Not been on a solo international trip. Should I feel comfortable with her visiting this area alone? I'm not familiar with the safety of this area. Although I don't want to be a cynic. We learned that even notably safe city like Tokyo has some dangerous parts. Was there anything in your experience which would concern you? I feel like it's my duty as her son to make sure she isn't going to be putting her yourself in any remotely precarious situations. Love to hear your thoughts. Also curious if there's been any talk of joining forces with wanton Don to expand your travel content. I look I love Donnie. I think he's awesome. I never will forget the Was he in Vietnam on mushrooms canoeing? Like that's when you just went oh my God. Like this guy's on another level. The stuff that he does is biz I think is terrific. My problem is the schedule doesn't really allow for me to just kind of do something like that. Would I love to be a full time travel guy?
- [114:45]
Kyle
Sure. That wasn't my Question was, would you want to go with somebody.
- [114:50]
Ryan Rosillo
Else? Probably not. I don't know how I do, but I think I get along with him fine, but I just don't know how that would work. It would probably freak me out. And then cameras and the whole.
- [115:00]
Kyle
Thing. Be authentic.
- [115:02]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. It just wouldn't feel necessarily the same. Even though a travel thing with no visual. I'm surprised anybody likes this. So.
- [115:11]
Chris Mannix
Let'S. Did.
- [115:12]
Ryan Rosillo
We. By the way, did we run those three pictures from London just forever on the YouTube.
- [115:17]
Kyle
Thing? I think there were some other ones in there, too, but we definitely ran the three, and the thumbnail was excellent. So shout out to.
- [115:22]
Steve
Tom. Yeah, it was.
- [115:23]
Clark Lee
Great.
- [115:24]
Steve
Yeah.
- [115:27]
By the way, yesterday was really.
- [115:28]
Ryan Rosillo
Nice. Oh, you listened to.
- [115:29]
Steve
It? I.
- [115:30]
Chris Mannix
Did. Finished.
- [115:30]
Steve
It. I was. I was almost. Almost done by the time we had our last show. Really? My favorite part was probably the cat facts in the beginning. I was almost gonna tweet, like, some really interesting cat facts in the first 10.
- [115:40]
Ryan Rosillo
Minutes. They loved the makeup thing.
- [115:42]
Kyle
There. The makeup thing. I thought, you know, I don't want to be careful, but it was spot.
- [115:46]
Ryan Rosillo
On.
- [115:49]
What, the.
- [115:50]
Kyle
Girls? Yeah. It just gets caked. I don't know. Like, the British makeup thing, for some reason, it's just, like, caked on. I don't get.
- [115:57]
Ryan Rosillo
It. I don't understand it either. There's this, like.
- [116:01]
Thing where the cheeks are so bright and the contour stuff with the nose is.
- [116:06]
Kyle
Like. It's almost like, very tan, too, though. Like, they're not. The eye. Like, their hands are pale white, and then their face is just really tan. It's like nobody notices.
- [116:15]
Steve
That. Kind of like, middle school where I grew up, that just. It's how it is there. Yeah. And eighth grade was a lot of.
- [116:22]
Ryan Rosillo
That. I would tell you, of all the places that I've. I've traveled, I mean, she's not going to be in a major city.
- [116:29]
Depending on where she's going to fly into.
- [116:32]
You know, to. She's going to be in and out of there. I. I found it to be. Look, I understand my experience as a male walking around, as opposed to your mom could be slightly different. I. I would have no concerns whatsoever as far as, like, international travel and somewhere you can go where you feel entirely safe. Like, my favorite thing about St. Sebastian is you were there and you were like, I could just hang out here for a really long time. Like, I've got my routine. It's not too small that it's going to get boring. It's not too big that it feels overwhelming. It you know, it's a city, but it. It's really just this. This one stretch. It's all in front of you that's cut in half by this canal of, like, the new version versus the old version. And you can walk the entire thing easily within a day. I would tell her to head over to be a Reitz, but she doesn't really love too much congestion. I was there on a really, really busy day, but be reads itself was. I'm so glad that I drove up there and did that whole thing. I don't know anything about the hiking trail.
- [117:25]
Clark Lee
So.
- [117:25]
Ryan Rosillo
Yes.
- [117:28]
Clark Lee
Athens.
- [117:28]
Ryan Rosillo
No. For your mom. San.
- [117:32]
Clark Lee
Sebastian.
- [117:33]
Ryan Rosillo
Yes. You know, Kingston, Jamaica, maybe. Not Santa pay. Yeah, I think she'd be fine. Look, I think St. Sebastian's perfect. I think it's perfect, like, base. My thing is, I. I was there, left, and then was like, you know what? I hit up a couple other places, and I'm like, I'm coming back. That's how much I liked it. So. Yeah.
- [118:00]
You guys felt left out on that.
- [118:01]
Kyle
One. That's okay. Yeah, we had a long pot today. We keep this.
- [118:04]
Ryan Rosillo
Short. Yeah, that's. That's fine. Maybe we just end with a really quick one, then.
- [118:11]
Ryan's throw pillow ad quote. Are you fucking kidding me? Do you think that's a praise for the creativity of that, or do.
- [118:21]
Steve
You think how is it written? How is it how. Any punctuation? Any punctuation in.
- [118:26]
Ryan Rosillo
There? Just a question mark, nothing else.
- [118:31]
If you haven't figured out with the ads, I know this frustrates people, but it's probably like the most affordable content podcasting, so maybe sometimes you shouldn't get too pissed off about certain things, but every now and then, we try to make the ads something that you might listen to even if you hate.
- [118:51]
Steve
Them. Also sounds like a guy who doesn't own his bedroom. Probably just renting.
- [118:55]
Ryan Rosillo
It.
- [118:56]
Kyle
Whoa.
- [119:00]
Okay.
- [119:00]
Ryan Rosillo
Damn. All right, that'll do it for the show today. Thank you to Kyle and Steve for hanging out again. Check out our NBA mailbag. NBA mailbag, rrmail.com we have a good 10 minutes that's out today on the YouTube page. So please subscribe to all the.
- [119:15]
Kyle
Stuff. Thursday morning. Thursday.
- [119:16]
Ryan Rosillo
Morning. Dropping Thursday morning. Okay, so, yeah, please subscribe to all the Stuff. You know.
- [119:22]
That'S the name of this whole deal and getting the relaunch going. So thank you again. And we'll be back with. What do we got? We got.
- [119:29]
Kyle
Booger. Booger and Von.
- [119:32]
Ryan Rosillo
Miller. Von.
- [119:33]
Kyle
Miller. And then maybe a little Lions, Cowboys talk. That's a big game there.
- [119:36]
Ryan Rosillo
Tonight. Yeah. So we're thorn. We're building out a really nice front seven for you. The next episode, the Ryan Rosillo show, part of the Barstool Network.
- [119:54]
Sa.