I love Russillo. He's having none of this shit. Do we think Larry Nance offsets Murray? Then again, their small guards trading possessions game was SO redundant and clogged.
@@jordan12118 mazzula is incredible and smart basketball people have seen that from the beginning. Bill has recently jumped on the bandwagon and wanted it to seem as though now he’s his biggest fan but it doesn’t work like that!
@@RobertRobinson-od6eq Celtics super-fans painting NBA narratives for years. It is fine if they have a bias but at least be accurate. Anyways, the bottom line, they are wrong about most things. I know Bill Simmons is past his prime but I was really surprised at Russilo. Just down right inaccurate about so many teams. Missing basic analysis . Sorry, are you new to this shit?
Depends on your definition of the word "suck". Cuz imo raps will be a perennial playoff team starting next season probably. Barnes is already an all star, probably takes the jump to all nba next season. Quickley is an above average pg like fvv. Maybe doesn't reach prime fvv level but can def get very close. RJ is a solid second option scorer. Dick looks good. Also gradey is improving his shooting and off ball action, should be a decent 3 and D guy by next season. As long as poe remains as the big or we get an equivalent level big replacement, raps will win plenty of regular season games...starting next season. This season is an obvious wash to develop the youth and tank for flag.
Best analysis by far! Respectful show. On the same level with Hoop Collective! Thank you for your work Gents! Highly appreciated! Honoured to listen to You!
100% agree with Rusillo regarding Embiid. Much as i love Maxey, he can't be the only one with the right attitude and availability. Also, I prefer FIBA rules as well.
I was hoping it would turn into a Superfans sketch. “I think they can get 85 wins.” “There are only 82 games in the season.” “Mazzulla will find a way!”
Russillo calling out Embiid not wanting the ball in those Knicks games is why he is the realest. People will try to argue with you about this when it was clear as day. He was shook. He is just not that guy.
On the raptors, the number is probably around 29.5 cause Scottie got injured and they blatantly tanked for a good month. Basically sat everyone. If they played with a full roster they’re at least a 30 win team.
@@peterbrown8362 son, I know more about this sport than you ever will. I've forgotten more about ball than you will ever know. Typical Canadian cluelessness when it comes to basketball, lol...
@@dearmas9068 you, bill, ryen and house havent got a single clue about the raps. We dont really expect yall to watch or know anything about them anyway so its fine. Im not saying theyre some good team btw they'll still be bad but there was some context that was needed to why the line as 29.5 wins.
@@MLDoomsday no. We do. I know more than you about your own team, and they definitely do. Sorry, son. Your squad is bad. Barnes is a low impact stat stuffer. You're going to stay bad. And your fanbase deserves this.
the idea that pat riley has done right by jimmy when the heat are trotting out caleb martin, max strus, duncan robinson, etc. as their difference makers while a team like the celtics has derrick white, jrue holiday, and porzingis is......... also, jimmy gets credit bc we've literally seen him go head-to-head with your guy and outplay him with far less help
Mazulla was the scapegoat for Smart. Smart made it impossible for Mazulla to coach the way he wanted to and he was in the way of the Jays taking over as the leaders. Smart was playing crunch time minutes over Derick White, if Mazulla wanted to play Dwhite then Smart would have had a melt down. I was tough on Mazulla at times but in my opinion the most important part of being an NBA coach is getting your players to buy in and play both sides of the court and Mazulla did that, going 16-3 in a playoff run.
I wouldn’t go that far - Mazzulla was in over his head with or without Smart and it is his job to get ALL the players to buy in - but everything you said about Smart is accurate He also didn’t have the personnel to run the system he wanted which is a big reason it looked so bad last year. Please don’t act like going 16-3 was impressive though. Boston is good but that was the easiest title in NBA history. They shouldn’t have lost a single game honestly.
@@michaelahurt Yes but in the grand scheme of things Holiday was Smart's replacement not KP. Also I would say Denver's championship last year was easier. They never faced any legitimate talent. All sub 50 win teams.
28:25 Morey hate? He had a Rockets team into three de facto championship series in several years, having to run through prime Warriors. In 2018 they win it all if CP doesn't pull a hammie. Can't ask for better than that. And Philly has quite a health curse: Fultz, Simmons, and Embiid himself. More realistic is Masai Ujiri. He had one of the best runs in history, picking up Kawhi and Marc Gasol for a Finals win. But. But but.
Simmons was an astute and entertaining blogger and did a great job combining his passions of sports and movies. He jumped the shark once his ego surpassed his wit (not a high bar, he is the Seth McFarlane of sports content) and he started commenting on things he is not educated on. Russillo and Simmons could not name 7 Raptors players yet are guaranteeing an under. Easiest bet in Vegas is Raptors over.
I'd say Jimmy Butler actually wasn't rewarded at all for taking the Heat to 2 finals. People dont consider him a top 10 or 15 player and he's not get a max extension. Imagine any other player in the league taking their team to the NBA finals twice and getting this little respect.
I think that raptors line is at 29.5 cuz they were tanking since their pick was top 6 protected and they sat their guys a bunch to try to get it up there.
also poetl literally said in an interview they don't care about winning games this season. Just want to focus on development lol. I think raps will be tanking for flag this season as many teams will be.
I said the same thing about the Raptors as soon as I saw those IQ and Barnes’ deals. RJ maybe his contract has aged a little better but those other deals are kinda weird.
Cam Thomas hate is unnecessary and I love you Ryen. Shot a higher % than Mikal last year. As someone who watched all 82 games and went to a dozen of them in person CT is not the problem. Horrible coaching all year long, our half court offense looked like 8th graders out there so both Mikal and CT turned it into iso ball and CT happens to be a better iso player
Maxey is the clutch guy just as Murray is the clutch guy for the Nuggets. Yes Embiid is not the clutch guy at all but they’re well covered. Not injured best roster in the East
The way they speak about The Raptors proves they don’t actually watch any of these teams. They looked at their record last year with 25 games and just assumed they’d be worse. Not knowing that Scottie, RJ, Quickly AND Jakob didn’t play for HALF THE SEASON.
23/24 Raptors with Barnes 22-38 23/24 Raptors with Quickley 12-26 23/24 Raptors with Barrett 11-21 (and that's with Barrett playing much better than he has ever really done in NY, which is unlikely to continue) They were on pace to barely get above 30 wins team even before the trades (with a better team), and their late-season tank brought them to 25, but it's not like there's any evidence that they would've won many of those games with their core guys. The reason RJ and Quickley only played half a season for them was because they gave up a better player for them, and Scottie still played 60 games. This team is awful and it's absurd how Toronto fans don't seem to realize it. It's like there's this weird Masai-cult thing going on, which is blinding hem to how bad his restructuring of this roster has been going back to the trade deadline two years ago.
@@Andrew034 problem is the raptors always have players that fans like in a vacuum (siakam, anunoby, barnes now), but the team's been less than the sum of its parts since the covid year, tbh. ppl were acting like nick nurse was god's gift to coaching, but they were mediocre two years after kawhi left. sixers got eliminated in the 2nd round like they always do. and to your point, masai's incredible job positioning them to pick up someone like kawhi, and then making the kawhi trade and winning a chip has given him a lot of cover for poor roster construction
Im a raps fan and think the roster is absolutely dogshit. Fans act like masais jesus and i dont understand how he’s completely wiped of all criticism whenever someone brings up the chip. Crazy
@@Andrew034 Interesting false narrative, casual. Funny how you forgot to add a stat when Barnes, Quickley and RJ were all playing together. You decided to isolate the stats to your favor. You're pathetic
@@sama2086 I mean, he could barely jump. His knee was shot. He had to keep getting his knee drained. Obviously he wasn't going to be able to perform well in 4th quarters. He even said as much to Maxey he could only go so long.
@@sama2086down the stretch you don’t want to force feed the ball into a double teamed big that is at 50%. Man I get he’s had bad performances but Tobias Harris weighed down this team’s depth for years. Crazy to me that Embiid took the full brunt of the blame with a 180 million dollar player getting 0 points per game
I wasn’t locked into the Magic last year but Franz scored 34 in Orlando vs Cleveland in the playoffs and I was in the building. I bought his jersey after the game. Was he really that bad?
the sixers bit is funny if you sub out embiid and the sixers for tatum and the celtics (until last season). celtics consistently lost to teams with less talent than them, you had tatum and brown talking about individual goals and how they were shifting focus, etc...bc that's what players do. anyway, nothing the sixers do will matter until embiid either gets through an entire season and postseason healthy or they win a championship, so the points aren't invalid. just funny watching two celtics guys (who have rooted for the most talented team in the league since kd left the warriors, but have 1 whole championship in that span) talk about underachieving and misplaced focus
Doesn’t matter how many games lamelo plays. He’s not a winning player. If the hornets sniff 35 wins it will be due to Brandon Miller making a big sophomore leap. Which is possible.
@@themagicman225 and the lie detector test determined that was false. Lamelo played 51 and 75 games his first two years and the Hornets went 33-39 and 43-39 as play in teams. And then Lamelo played 36 and 22 the next two seasons and they went 27-55 and 21-61. kinda crazy the Hornets Wins and losses directly correlate to how much Lamelo plays.
Masai, who decided to zag on what should've been an obvious firesale and gave up a first-rounder for Poeltl, didn't trade Van Vleet and let him walk, waited a year to long on the OG and Siakam trades getting back 50 cents on the dollar for them? That Masai? Good luck.
Yeah, that dumbass Masai only won a chip and drafted a ROY in the past 5 seasons. I guess he’s also to blame for discovering no names like Vanvleet and Siakim and turning them into all stars. What an embarrassment.
@@Andrew034That sane Masai build a chip team w/o lottery picks. That same Masai had Raps the 2nd winningest franchise not name Golden State Warriors for 7 straight yrs. That same Masai drafted SB who many laughed at & now show that his decision making & bb iq is better than many of your favorite players. That same Masai refused to mortgage Raps present & future & many of you all will be having eggs on your faces in 2 yrs when the new CBA catch up to you all favourite teams.# hater.
BS. He said DeRozan is better than Kawai? GTFO. Zero chance he said that. He probably said who knows if Kawhi will even play and you heard what you wanted to
The raptors segment was hilarious . Good question though who was in competition with them to pay quickly all that money 😂😂😂 and scottie Barnes Iso to win the game is a nightmare 😂😂😂😂 not to mention the cam Thomas shot chucking is so true 😂😂😂😂
You know nithkng about IQ. Masai is one of the best president in the league in asessong talent. After all hd started in the business as a scout sleeping all over the floor in Europe. Ryen & Simkons are haters & have been talking down on Nasai since Kaehi trade. IQ's contract is 5yr/ 162.5 M which works out to be 32.5M a yr all same $ for the 5 yrs. This contract will look like a steal in 2 yrs. Raps cap space & flexibility is better than most teams under the new CBA. I can't wait for many of you to look silly in the next couple of yrs. Scottie Barnes is 1 if the most versatile player in the league w/ a high bb IQ. Both things cannot be taught. Masai build a chip team w/ not 1 lottery player. He didn't have to spend big $$ like Celtics to do so. He knows after the next 2 yrs many of these top heavy teams will have to shed salary & won't be potent.
Quickley's contract is flat, which means it doesn't get increasingly more expensive. In 5 years, he might be one of the cheapest starting point guards in the NBA. The Raptors believe he can still develop more. The only way his contract will be bad is if he literally forgets how to shoot 3s and refuses to play a lick of defense. By all accounts, he worked really hard this summer and I'd bet he'll take a jump this season. As for Scottie Barnes, have you bothered to watch him at all recently? His trainer, Brian Macon, is a handles coach and Scottie has been in the lab since February working on his skills bag. You could see it in the most recent Raptors/Celtics game. He was creating off the dribble and pulling up from midrange and nailing beautiful looking jumpers. Improvement and hard work is real, and to ignore it is showing a serious lack of foresight.
@@daryl_s They are just haters & it is sad that some so called Raptors fans are in agreement w/ their terrible takes. Many of them just want to tank for lottery picks as if Flagg, etal will take us to top 6 seed next season. Did they see a supposedly generational talent named Wemby on the Spurs last season? Even him could not help Spurs win more gms & doubt they will be in playin picture this season.
To be fair to Toronto Quickley - Barrett - Barnes - Poeltl was +11.5 Of course that was in 234 minutes on wildly unsustainable shooting variance and in the other 205 minutes BBQ played together they were -6 Also Poeltl is like shockingly important for them.
Strange number of raptors fans in the comments, and im assuming theyre raptors fans because there would be no other reason to think theyre not going to be terrible.
Russillo is right, Tatum did not get enough credit for all he did to help the Celtics win a title, outside of just scoring. Not getting the MVP was evidence of that, even though JB was awesome!
Oh man, these guys don't know a thing about the Raptors. They're better this year than they were last year. Nobody thinks they're going to win the East. But these guys clearly haven't watched Scottie Barnes since his sophomore slump. They clearly don't understand Quickley's contract, his trajectory and his fit with Scottie. They haven't noticed Gradey Dick's massive improvement this offseason. They don't understand the context of Bruce Brown's contract. And they ignore the fact that the Raptors still have 5 picks in the next 2 drafts. This is a team on the rise, with a clear plan and direction, and they've been smart buying assets on the rise. And yet they give Washington flowers while diminishing Masai Ujiri? I'll take the over on the Raptors this season. They'll win at least 32 games. I think Bill Simmons is just mad they beat the Celtics and ruined their perfect preseason.
Nah it’s just that the only people who watch Barnes and see LeBron James are Raptors fans. Everyone else sees Aaron Gordon and can’t wait until he can go be a third option on a good team
@michaelahurt That kind of makes sense. I mean, the people who know the most about a subject are the ones who study it the most. I suppose that makes Raptors fans the most qualified. Sort of like they have a PhD in Scottienomics while you guys who see Aaron Gordon quit school in the third grade to pursue your lifelong dream of digging septic holes for Dunning-Kruger Inc.
@@daryl_s Local fans are irrational and constantly overrate (or underrated) their own players. They are way too close and can't be objective. It's not just Raptors fans -- go look at how Knicks fans talked about Porzingis or Lakers fans talked about Talen Horton-Tucker. I remember Pistons fans talking themselves into Rodney Stuckey and Austin Daye being All-Stars. Lol. Raptors fans are the _LEAST_ qualified because they have no frame of reference. They have a PhD -- Pathological Hope & Delusion
Wow, look at the men nodding when he said, "Why hasn't it always been about the titles?" They didn't spot why that was a silly comment. It's been about titles every year. That's not different. What is different is their opinion about what is required to give them a shot. Most of Embiid's playoff injury history involved injuries that happened in the playoffs. Last year was different. And so we're seeing them react to that.
You guys are really harsh on Toronto imo. Quickley is a valid bet by their FO. He is good and dedicated. If he can improve his handles and get better at attacking the rim, this contract is good. Barrett was the „throw in“ and his contract too high. He s from Toronto though and still pretty young. Also very mature person. By the time the Raptors become decent again, they can re-sign him on better deal. The Toronto segment was sloppy imo. … felt a bit, like the media punching bag has moved from NY to Toronto now and there s always a team that gets it from talking heads
Thank you Russillo. Anyone who actually watches the Magic knows how good Banchero is. The Magic are a terrible offensive team with a bunch of average players. Mosley is doing miracles with this team and it's all based on great team defense. You cannot compare Paolo Banchero with anyone else in the league because there's no other star in the NBA playing with so many offensively limited players. This year will probably be a bit better since they actually have a couple of guys who can shoot threes but the talent level on this team is still below average league wise.
Always love these, and the addition of Ryen only makes it better. Here's hoping my man Jimmy Butler stays healthy this year and shoves it in everyone's face
32 minute mark Russillo lifts up the cap and moves back the non existent hair, was he thinking about his old Jeep Wrangler (TJ) with its new coil suspension that was introduced in 1997? One could only speculate...
When Scottie Barnes makes All-NBA third team this season, finishes top-five in triple-doubles and posts a box-plus-minus of 6.5, yall are going to act surprised. But don't be, because you're hearing it now.
The first two are plausible but a 6.5 BPM is essentially saying he’ll be a top 10 player. For reference Kevin Durant was 4 last year. This will likely be an adjustment year for him. He’s never been a #1 option. Even in high school. It’s extremely unlikely he just slides right into that role with no problems. That’s not how this works.
If you genuinely want to know whay happened to mikal in his second season look at the type of shots hes taking its very different from the first season and from his shot diet prior to his career. Beyond the fact hes taking more shots
@@sama2086 biggest thing is where he takes his shots from and how the shots are being generate. I actually think with brunson and other ball handlers around him that he will return to form as the nets guy from the first season. Unless he isn't assertive enough to tell the other players to give him the ball
The nets section might've been the worst thing I've ever heard. Mikal Bridges averaged 15.6 points on 53% TS post All-Star break, but it was Cam Thomas' fault? Just say you don't watch Cam Thomas rather than whatever that was I just listened to
Hornets are an easy over. I can’t wait for them to eat crow. I think part of Bill’s thing with LaMelo is that he always torches the Celtics so he doesn’t like him.
They were 12-19 when they traded OG, then went 11-20 or so until they shut their guys down. Yes, they tanked at the end, but before tanking, they were basically on pace for a 30 win season. And that's with getting games from OG and Siakam, who are better than any Raptor player on the roster now (expect for Barnes, maybe). They are going to be awful.
@@Andrew034 I think unless they shut down the team they will break 30 wins. The east is horrible it’s really not a lot of wins at all. Scottie broke his hand last season and we instantly lost 16 games in a row, if he’s healthy they will be alright.
When Russillo said, of Mazulla, "i just think if things had turned out differently you wouldn't have said anything you just said" I almost fell over. That's probably the dumbest thing anyone's ever said. You could say that about every single thing that has happened since the beginning of time. For example, if the Bulls went 0-6 in the finals, we'd be talking about Jordan differently too. What a stupid thing to say. Things turned out the way they turned out.
Hornets take was irresponsible. In the two seasons Lamelo played most the games he made the play in. In the two seasons, Lamelo played 35 games or less the Hornets sucked. The correlation seems obvious. Him and Brandon Miller about to lite the league on fire.
@@Andrew034 Brandon Miller is legit legit. Tre Mann looks like he could strive for sixth man of the year. Miles Bridges is the same Miles Bridges from those two years. Their only question mark is Mark being healthy at the C. What's the issue?
@@dearmas9068 I mean we saw them in the play in 2 years straight in Balls first 2 years. Then he got injured and played less than 40 games two years in a row. That was the issue.
I love this pod every year, you three are great together. 4.5 hours is not enough 😆
I keep going back to last yrs pod and Russillo telling House the Wizards suck while he's trying to talking himself into the over
Celtics: 00:06
Knicks: 11:00
76ers: 19:25
Raptors: 30:26
Nets: 37:55
Magic: 43:24
Heat: 50:34
Hawks: 53:34
Hornets: 58:43
Wizards: 01:05:15
Player bets: 01:10:46
Finals Picks: 01:13:00
Locks: 01:13:34
Thanks…The fact the ringer is a podcast factory and doesn’t have time stamps on their RUclips is head scratching
Thanks!
Doing the Lords work
Not all Heroes wear capes.
❤❤❤
I zoned out out and watched all 3 of these sitting at my kitchen table
Heroin or Ketamine?
Amen
It’s great content I don’t blame you
True commitment 😅
You zoned out for 3.5+ hours?? I need the name of your strain bro lol
Just saying I'm all in on the investor relations segments. Its a winner.
It's an amusing metaphor. I kinda want Simmons to come up with a game for it though.
investor relations segment pie was a PROBLEM!! also i share Clippers season tickets with the '86 celtics
Agreed lol. Funny ass gimmick
“What did he learn? He can’t get those bullshit foul calls against Senegal?” Russillo quote of the year!
"I think they can get up for Drummond" 🤣
To be fair, I remember a game where completely dominated the Celtics, when he was on the Pistons
Always the best podcast of the year. Thanks guys
54:20 Russillo’s spite under with Atlanta had me dying
"100%. Great read"
I love Russillo. He's having none of this shit. Do we think Larry Nance offsets Murray? Then again, their small guards trading possessions game was SO redundant and clogged.
Russillo one of the few people who can keep bills ego in check. Especially calling him out on his very new Mazzula love.
That was a dumb criticism. Mazulla deserves that love
@@jordan12118 mazzula is incredible and smart basketball people have seen that from the beginning. Bill has recently jumped on the bandwagon and wanted it to seem as though now he’s his biggest fan but it doesn’t work like that!
God i appreciate you 3, gentlemen. Thank you for being the smartest ball chat on the internet.
Seriously, you thought this was the smartest basketball podcast?!?
@@HKashafnot saying I agree with him but who is to you?
@@RobertRobinson-od6eq Celtics super-fans painting NBA narratives for years. It is fine if they have a bias but at least be accurate.
Anyways, the bottom line, they are wrong about most things.
I know Bill Simmons is past his prime but I was really surprised at Russilo. Just down right inaccurate about so many teams. Missing basic analysis . Sorry, are you new to this shit?
Man, these three together might be the best basketball pod going. Can we do one of these a week?
That raptors segment is an all timer 😂
Listening to people outside of Toronto talk about the roster objectively is so refreshing. We're gonna suck. For a while.
Yes we are. But I said I can live off that chip for 10 years. Half way there
Depends on your definition of the word "suck". Cuz imo raps will be a perennial playoff team starting next season probably. Barnes is already an all star, probably takes the jump to all nba next season. Quickley is an above average pg like fvv. Maybe doesn't reach prime fvv level but can def get very close. RJ is a solid second option scorer. Dick looks good. Also gradey is improving his shooting and off ball action, should be a decent 3 and D guy by next season. As long as poe remains as the big or we get an equivalent level big replacement, raps will win plenty of regular season games...starting next season. This season is an obvious wash to develop the youth and tank for flag.
Bill and Ryen missed the Lemon Pepper joke! Love it House!
So did I.
Best analysis by far! Respectful show. On the same level with Hoop Collective! Thank you for your work Gents! Highly appreciated! Honoured to listen to You!
Respectful show? Stop being a homer. They clearly torched the Raptors
100% agree with Rusillo regarding Embiid. Much as i love Maxey, he can't be the only one with the right attitude and availability. Also, I prefer FIBA rules as well.
after all these parts I need more house and russilo dynamics in the future 😂
Bill saying “I wanna like Embiid” is so hilarious because the joy he gets bagging on him (and rightfully so) is palpable
Hey it's the Boston division segment, I'm expecting to hear Bill's case on why the Celtics will get 74 wins this season
He took the under!
@@Cog1018no he didn’t, House did
He was fairly conservative actually
Gonna be a lot of high fives.
I was hoping it would turn into a Superfans sketch. “I think they can get 85 wins.” “There are only 82 games in the season.” “Mazzulla will find a way!”
Speaking of Kevin's, I also loved this quote about Kevin Love - "he gets all his own rebounds."
Love the takes on the 76ers with the Tyrese optimism and praise, and then just being over Joel.
My whole perspective on Mazzula changed when I saw him with Pep Guardiola hanging out before a playoff game last year.
I still enjoy House from DC. Please keep including him
Russilo taking the under on Brooklyn was truly hilarious
I'm never more productive than when I'm listening to these guys talk ball😂😂😂
Luv this group. Remember when it was jalen with the baseball bat and Zack's sneaky picks?
Bill coming around on Joe Mazz is crazy to me
House trying to be subtle with those sideburns
the "Are we sure he's good" bit has launched a copyright infringement lawsuit against the "investor relations" bit
Russillo calling out Embiid not wanting the ball in those Knicks games is why he is the realest. People will try to argue with you about this when it was clear as day. He was shook. He is just not that guy.
On the raptors, the number is probably around 29.5 cause Scottie got injured and they blatantly tanked for a good month. Basically sat everyone. If they played with a full roster they’re at least a 30 win team.
Lol. K...
@@dearmas9068 LOL. Learn things.
@@peterbrown8362 son, I know more about this sport than you ever will. I've forgotten more about ball than you will ever know.
Typical Canadian cluelessness when it comes to basketball, lol...
@@dearmas9068 you, bill, ryen and house havent got a single clue about the raps. We dont really expect yall to watch or know anything about them anyway so its fine. Im not saying theyre some good team btw they'll still be bad but there was some context that was needed to why the line as 29.5 wins.
@@MLDoomsday no. We do. I know more than you about your own team, and they definitely do.
Sorry, son. Your squad is bad. Barnes is a low impact stat stuffer. You're going to stay bad.
And your fanbase deserves this.
Thanks
the idea that pat riley has done right by jimmy when the heat are trotting out caleb martin, max strus, duncan robinson, etc. as their difference makers while a team like the celtics has derrick white, jrue holiday, and porzingis is.........
also, jimmy gets credit bc we've literally seen him go head-to-head with your guy and outplay him with far less help
Mazulla was the scapegoat for Smart. Smart made it impossible for Mazulla to coach the way he wanted to and he was in the way of the Jays taking over as the leaders. Smart was playing crunch time minutes over Derick White, if Mazulla wanted to play Dwhite then Smart would have had a melt down. I was tough on Mazulla at times but in my opinion the most important part of being an NBA coach is getting your players to buy in and play both sides of the court and Mazulla did that, going 16-3 in a playoff run.
yup. Smart is a great player but he has major flaws. It was sad to see him go but I'm glad we got Holiday for him
I wouldn’t go that far - Mazzulla was in over his head with or without Smart and it is his job to get ALL the players to buy in - but everything you said about Smart is accurate
He also didn’t have the personnel to run the system he wanted which is a big reason it looked so bad last year.
Please don’t act like going 16-3 was impressive though. Boston is good but that was the easiest title in NBA history. They shouldn’t have lost a single game honestly.
@@kelvinlee7351 You didn’t trade Smart for Holiday bud. You traded Smart for KP.
@@michaelahurt Yes but in the grand scheme of things Holiday was Smart's replacement not KP.
Also I would say Denver's championship last year was easier. They never faced any legitimate talent. All sub 50 win teams.
28:25 Morey hate? He had a Rockets team into three de facto championship series in several years, having to run through prime Warriors. In 2018 they win it all if CP doesn't pull a hammie. Can't ask for better than that. And Philly has quite a health curse: Fultz, Simmons, and Embiid himself. More realistic is Masai Ujiri. He had one of the best runs in history, picking up Kawhi and Marc Gasol for a Finals win. But. But but.
Simmons was an astute and entertaining blogger and did a great job combining his passions of sports and movies. He jumped the shark once his ego surpassed his wit (not a high bar, he is the Seth McFarlane of sports content) and he started commenting on things he is not educated on. Russillo and Simmons could not name 7 Raptors players yet are guaranteeing an under. Easiest bet in Vegas is Raptors over.
I'd say Jimmy Butler actually wasn't rewarded at all for taking the Heat to 2 finals. People dont consider him a top 10 or 15 player and he's not get a max extension. Imagine any other player in the league taking their team to the NBA finals twice and getting this little respect.
He didn’t get the extension due to his ages Pat Riley doesn’t like extending aging stars
@@jimmyconway6172he is a part time player. Crazy good in the playoffs
Crazy to not have chapters on this video to show the teams
I think that raptors line is at 29.5 cuz they were tanking since their pick was top 6 protected and they sat their guys a bunch to try to get it up there.
Don't come in with logic, just let them eat their words
also poetl literally said in an interview they don't care about winning games this season. Just want to focus on development lol. I think raps will be tanking for flag this season as many teams will be.
Nicest Ryen has ever been about the Knicks. Best pods of the year bar none
Ryens cam Thomas bit has me crying 😂😂
The Knicks had a negative net rating with Hartenstein off the floor last year.
In 2 years we will look back at the Knicks overpaying OG and losing Heart because of it as the first domino of their downfall.
Bill is absolutely terrified of the Knicks
Bridges is an Andre Iguodala type and super smart, really low mistake player that can scratch his toes standing up straight.
Denver would kill for x was my fave bit
I said the same thing about the Raptors as soon as I saw those IQ and Barnes’ deals. RJ maybe his contract has aged a little better but those other deals are kinda weird.
Cam Thomas hate is unnecessary and I love you Ryen. Shot a higher % than Mikal last year. As someone who watched all 82 games and went to a dozen of them in person CT is not the problem. Horrible coaching all year long, our half court offense looked like 8th graders out there so both Mikal and CT turned it into iso ball and CT happens to be a better iso player
There are 29 other coaches who’d dominate with this Celtics team lol what’s more likely the coaching is better or they added Jrue and KP?
The takes on the 76ers and Lakers will be remembered. 6ers win the finals.
Maxey is the clutch guy just as Murray is the clutch guy for the Nuggets. Yes Embiid is not the clutch guy at all but they’re well covered. Not injured best roster in the East
The way they speak about The Raptors proves they don’t actually watch any of these teams. They looked at their record last year with 25 games and just assumed they’d be worse. Not knowing that Scottie, RJ, Quickly AND Jakob didn’t play for HALF THE SEASON.
23/24 Raptors with Barnes 22-38
23/24 Raptors with Quickley 12-26
23/24 Raptors with Barrett 11-21 (and that's with Barrett playing much better than he has ever really done in NY, which is unlikely to continue)
They were on pace to barely get above 30 wins team even before the trades (with a better team), and their late-season tank brought them to 25, but it's not like there's any evidence that they would've won many of those games with their core guys.
The reason RJ and Quickley only played half a season for them was because they gave up a better player for them, and Scottie still played 60 games.
This team is awful and it's absurd how Toronto fans don't seem to realize it. It's like there's this weird Masai-cult thing going on, which is blinding hem to how bad his restructuring of this roster has been going back to the trade deadline two years ago.
@@Andrew034 problem is the raptors always have players that fans like in a vacuum (siakam, anunoby, barnes now), but the team's been less than the sum of its parts since the covid year, tbh. ppl were acting like nick nurse was god's gift to coaching, but they were mediocre two years after kawhi left. sixers got eliminated in the 2nd round like they always do. and to your point, masai's incredible job positioning them to pick up someone like kawhi, and then making the kawhi trade and winning a chip has given him a lot of cover for poor roster construction
@@Andrew034 Yes, the roster sucks. But they went 2-17 in their final 19 in an obvious tank job.
Im a raps fan and think the roster is absolutely dogshit. Fans act like masais jesus and i dont understand how he’s completely wiped of all criticism whenever someone brings up the chip. Crazy
@@Andrew034 Interesting false narrative, casual. Funny how you forgot to add a stat when Barnes, Quickley and RJ were all playing together. You decided to isolate the stats to your favor. You're pathetic
Cam Thomas be pulling that bit huh lol
"Embiid wanted no part of the ball in the Knicks series" How the hell did he manage to average 33 PPG then?
I think he's referring to the down the stretch/ in the crunch moments. His 4th quarter stats in that series were bad
@@sama2086 I mean, he could barely jump. His knee was shot. He had to keep getting his knee drained. Obviously he wasn't going to be able to perform well in 4th quarters. He even said as much to Maxey he could only go so long.
@@sama2086down the stretch you don’t want to force feed the ball into a double teamed big that is at 50%. Man I get he’s had bad performances but Tobias Harris weighed down this team’s depth for years. Crazy to me that Embiid took the full brunt of the blame with a 180 million dollar player getting 0 points per game
Free throws
@@NickMachado how does an 80+% ft shooter get fts without the ball?
Tom Kite is on the phone and he wants his binoculars back
I wasn’t locked into the Magic last year but Franz scored 34 in Orlando vs Cleveland in the playoffs and I was in the building. I bought his jersey after the game. Was he really that bad?
the sixers bit is funny if you sub out embiid and the sixers for tatum and the celtics (until last season). celtics consistently lost to teams with less talent than them, you had tatum and brown talking about individual goals and how they were shifting focus, etc...bc that's what players do. anyway, nothing the sixers do will matter until embiid either gets through an entire season and postseason healthy or they win a championship, so the points aren't invalid. just funny watching two celtics guys (who have rooted for the most talented team in the league since kd left the warriors, but have 1 whole championship in that span) talk about underachieving and misplaced focus
I think Charlotte will be the 10 seed and win 35 games.
I also belive charlotte is gonna be a play in team this year given if lamelo can play at least 80% of the season
Doesn’t matter how many games lamelo plays. He’s not a winning player. If the hornets sniff 35 wins it will be due to Brandon Miller making a big sophomore leap. Which is possible.
@@themagicman225oops
If LaMelo is healthy they are winning 41 games. Him and Brandon Miller are the new splash brothers for real.
@@themagicman225 and the lie detector test determined that was false. Lamelo played 51 and 75 games his first two years and the Hornets went 33-39 and 43-39 as play in teams. And then Lamelo played 36 and 22 the next two seasons and they went 27-55 and 21-61. kinda crazy the Hornets Wins and losses directly correlate to how much Lamelo plays.
why would you bring back those two guys? Were they supposed to let quickley walk?
Bill's gonna keep on saying "Porzingis in February" until it happens. I'll take the over/under on February, Bill: under.
In Masai we trust. Btw Bill, the Raptors got better when they added Kahwii. Remember when you said the opposite?
Masai, who decided to zag on what should've been an obvious firesale and gave up a first-rounder for Poeltl, didn't trade Van Vleet and let him walk, waited a year to long on the OG and Siakam trades getting back 50 cents on the dollar for them? That Masai? Good luck.
Nah man. Raps are REALLY bad. Barnes is an overrated, low-impact, stat stuffer.
...and Raps fans DESERVE this.
Yeah, that dumbass Masai only won a chip and drafted a ROY in the past 5 seasons. I guess he’s also to blame for discovering no names like Vanvleet and Siakim and turning them into all stars. What an embarrassment.
@@Andrew034That sane Masai build a chip team w/o lottery picks. That same Masai had Raps the 2nd winningest franchise not name Golden State Warriors for 7 straight yrs. That same Masai drafted SB who many laughed at & now show that his decision making & bb iq is better than many of your favorite players. That same Masai refused to mortgage Raps present & future & many of you all will be having eggs on your faces in 2 yrs when the new CBA catch up to you all favourite teams.# hater.
BS. He said DeRozan is better than Kawai? GTFO. Zero chance he said that.
He probably said who knows if Kawhi will even play and you heard what you wanted to
Bill, It’s the “Disease of ME”, not More. P.Riley.
The raptors segment was hilarious . Good question though who was in competition with them to pay quickly all that money 😂😂😂 and scottie Barnes Iso to win the game is a nightmare 😂😂😂😂 not to mention the cam Thomas shot chucking is so true 😂😂😂😂
You know nithkng about IQ. Masai is one of the best president in the league in asessong talent. After all hd started in the business as a scout sleeping all over the floor in Europe. Ryen & Simkons are haters & have been talking down on Nasai since Kaehi trade. IQ's contract is 5yr/ 162.5 M which works out to be 32.5M a yr all same $ for the 5 yrs. This contract will look like a steal in 2 yrs. Raps cap space & flexibility is better than most teams under the new CBA. I can't wait for many of you to look silly in the next couple of yrs. Scottie Barnes is 1 if the most versatile player in the league w/ a high bb IQ. Both things cannot be taught. Masai build a chip team w/ not 1 lottery player. He didn't have to spend big $$ like Celtics to do so. He knows after the next 2 yrs many of these top heavy teams will have to shed salary & won't be potent.
Quickley's contract is flat, which means it doesn't get increasingly more expensive. In 5 years, he might be one of the cheapest starting point guards in the NBA. The Raptors believe he can still develop more. The only way his contract will be bad is if he literally forgets how to shoot 3s and refuses to play a lick of defense. By all accounts, he worked really hard this summer and I'd bet he'll take a jump this season. As for Scottie Barnes, have you bothered to watch him at all recently? His trainer, Brian Macon, is a handles coach and Scottie has been in the lab since February working on his skills bag. You could see it in the most recent Raptors/Celtics game. He was creating off the dribble and pulling up from midrange and nailing beautiful looking jumpers. Improvement and hard work is real, and to ignore it is showing a serious lack of foresight.
@@daryl_s They are just haters & it is sad that some so called Raptors fans are in agreement w/ their terrible takes. Many of them just want to tank for lottery picks as if Flagg, etal will take us to top 6 seed next season. Did they see a supposedly generational talent named Wemby on the Spurs last season? Even him could not help Spurs win more gms & doubt they will be in playin picture this season.
Rusillo is is really into Kispert.
I’m actually not worried about the Knicks bench
To be fair to Toronto Quickley - Barrett - Barnes - Poeltl was +11.5
Of course that was in 234 minutes on wildly unsustainable shooting variance and in the other 205 minutes BBQ played together they were -6
Also Poeltl is like shockingly important for them.
Strange number of raptors fans in the comments, and im assuming theyre raptors fans because there would be no other reason to think theyre not going to be terrible.
Russillo is right, Tatum did not get enough credit for all he did to help the Celtics win a title, outside of just scoring. Not getting the MVP was evidence of that, even though JB was awesome!
Oh man, these guys don't know a thing about the Raptors. They're better this year than they were last year. Nobody thinks they're going to win the East. But these guys clearly haven't watched Scottie Barnes since his sophomore slump. They clearly don't understand Quickley's contract, his trajectory and his fit with Scottie. They haven't noticed Gradey Dick's massive improvement this offseason. They don't understand the context of Bruce Brown's contract. And they ignore the fact that the Raptors still have 5 picks in the next 2 drafts. This is a team on the rise, with a clear plan and direction, and they've been smart buying assets on the rise. And yet they give Washington flowers while diminishing Masai Ujiri? I'll take the over on the Raptors this season. They'll win at least 32 games. I think Bill Simmons is just mad they beat the Celtics and ruined their perfect preseason.
Nah it’s just that the only people who watch Barnes and see LeBron James are Raptors fans.
Everyone else sees Aaron Gordon and can’t wait until he can go be a third option on a good team
@michaelahurt That kind of makes sense. I mean, the people who know the most about a subject are the ones who study it the most. I suppose that makes Raptors fans the most qualified. Sort of like they have a PhD in Scottienomics while you guys who see Aaron Gordon quit school in the third grade to pursue your lifelong dream of digging septic holes for Dunning-Kruger Inc.
@@daryl_s Local fans are irrational and constantly overrate (or underrated) their own players. They are way too close and can't be objective.
It's not just Raptors fans -- go look at how Knicks fans talked about Porzingis or Lakers fans talked about Talen Horton-Tucker. I remember Pistons fans talking themselves into Rodney Stuckey and Austin Daye being All-Stars. Lol.
Raptors fans are the _LEAST_ qualified because they have no frame of reference. They have a PhD -- Pathological Hope & Delusion
Wow, look at the men nodding when he said, "Why hasn't it always been about the titles?" They didn't spot why that was a silly comment. It's been about titles every year. That's not different. What is different is their opinion about what is required to give them a shot. Most of Embiid's playoff injury history involved injuries that happened in the playoffs. Last year was different. And so we're seeing them react to that.
You guys are really harsh on Toronto imo.
Quickley is a valid bet by their FO. He is good and dedicated.
If he can improve his handles and get better at attacking the rim, this contract is good.
Barrett was the „throw in“ and his contract too high. He s from Toronto though and still pretty young. Also very mature person. By the time the Raptors become decent again, they can re-sign him on better deal.
The Toronto segment was sloppy imo. … felt a bit, like the media punching bag has moved from NY to Toronto now and there s always a team that gets it from talking heads
they will learn this year
I'd take that bet, they're going to suck
Canadian cope my favorite syrup flavor
Barnes and Gradey will take a major leap this season
@@JStack i m not Canadian and i m not a Raptors fan
Thank you Russillo. Anyone who actually watches the Magic knows how good Banchero is. The Magic are a terrible offensive team with a bunch of average players. Mosley is doing miracles with this team and it's all based on great team defense. You cannot compare Paolo Banchero with anyone else in the league because there's no other star in the NBA playing with so many offensively limited players. This year will probably be a bit better since they actually have a couple of guys who can shoot threes but the talent level on this team is still below average league wise.
Always love these, and the addition of Ryen only makes it better. Here's hoping my man Jimmy Butler stays healthy this year and shoves it in everyone's face
32 minute mark Russillo lifts up the cap and moves back the non existent hair, was he thinking about his old Jeep Wrangler (TJ) with its new coil suspension that was introduced in 1997? One could only speculate...
When Scottie Barnes makes All-NBA third team this season, finishes top-five in triple-doubles and posts a box-plus-minus of 6.5, yall are going to act surprised. But don't be, because you're hearing it now.
The first two are plausible but a 6.5 BPM is essentially saying he’ll be a top 10 player.
For reference Kevin Durant was 4 last year.
This will likely be an adjustment year for him. He’s never been a #1 option. Even in high school. It’s extremely unlikely he just slides right into that role with no problems. That’s not how this works.
@michaelahurt I know what I said. Last season, before he got hurt, his BPM was 8. Yup, 8.
More like the Atlanta Locks amirite?
After the season opener, maybe it's not the "Heat division" anymore?
California Bill doing his 180 takes on Boston are just priceless. Nobody has more bad Boston takes than the LA guy.
Anybody know where Russilo got his hat ?
If you genuinely want to know whay happened to mikal in his second season look at the type of shots hes taking its very different from the first season and from his shot diet prior to his career. Beyond the fact hes taking more shots
different in what ways
@@sama2086 biggest thing is where he takes his shots from and how the shots are being generate. I actually think with brunson and other ball handlers around him that he will return to form as the nets guy from the first season. Unless he isn't assertive enough to tell the other players to give him the ball
@@ollytropics1735he cant dribble lol he’s going to be parked in a corner
@@walterzarate4674 inaccurate
@@ollytropics1735 cant wait till you’re proven wrong
I didn't know Porzingis' age was in question 3:40
1:06:35 - Russillo calling kispert hot 😂
Big House fan
So you arent sure Mikal’s run when he was first traded was real, but Cam Thomas fucked it up? Lol
Oh yea russillo definitely does not watch the Nets lol
Joe Maz love is hyperbolic
The nets section might've been the worst thing I've ever heard. Mikal Bridges averaged 15.6 points on 53% TS post All-Star break, but it was Cam Thomas' fault? Just say you don't watch Cam Thomas rather than whatever that was I just listened to
Hornets are an easy over. I can’t wait for them to eat crow. I think part of Bill’s thing with LaMelo is that he always torches the Celtics so he doesn’t like him.
What did Russilo say at 00:40 ?
The Hornets hate is crazy.
Its not crazy. They COULD be decent, but they need to prove literally anything before they deserve to be considered.
The ads every 5 minutes is super obnoxious
Have yall even watched a Raptors game? Scottie, RJ and Quickley is one of the better young cores.
Bro in the blue hat is a goofball
In 2025-26, Paolo Banchero is an MVP candidate.
Don’t appreciate the Charlotte slander
Bang the over ✅
Raps went 25-57 with scottie RJ IQ and Poeltl missing 90% of the last 20 games of the season
They were 12-19 when they traded OG, then went 11-20 or so until they shut their guys down. Yes, they tanked at the end, but before tanking, they were basically on pace for a 30 win season. And that's with getting games from OG and Siakam, who are better than any Raptor player on the roster now (expect for Barnes, maybe). They are going to be awful.
Barnes is a low impact stat stuffer and Raps fans deserve to have a bad team.
@@Andrew034 I think unless they shut down the team they will break 30 wins. The east is horrible it’s really not a lot of wins at all. Scottie broke his hand last season and we instantly lost 16 games in a row, if he’s healthy they will be alright.
@@dearmas9068 Cavs fan? Lol idk why you’re upset
@@1800LUNATIC you couldn't possibly upset me, son.
When Russillo said, of Mazulla, "i just think if things had turned out differently you wouldn't have said anything you just said" I almost fell over. That's probably the dumbest thing anyone's ever said. You could say that about every single thing that has happened since the beginning of time. For example, if the Bulls went 0-6 in the finals, we'd be talking about Jordan differently too. What a stupid thing to say. Things turned out the way they turned out.
Are we sure Boston isn't going win every game?
Toronto gets no love lol
Deserves*
@@dearmas9068 just like your mom deserves a lot of love 😉
@@btowhidi_1713 typical Canadian response
2:33 what does Russillo say here?
From Houston 😂😂😂 referencing his accent from part 1
It took Boston a long time at beating at da door to win a championship it work last year don't mean other teams going to follow they model to win
Hornets take was irresponsible. In the two seasons Lamelo played most the games he made the play in. In the two seasons, Lamelo played 35 games or less the Hornets sucked. The correlation seems obvious. Him and Brandon Miller about to lite the league on fire.
In the two seasons Lamelo played most the games they had a reasonably competent NBA team.
@@Andrew034 Brandon Miller is legit legit. Tre Mann looks like he could strive for sixth man of the year. Miles Bridges is the same Miles Bridges from those two years. Their only question mark is Mark being healthy at the C. What's the issue?
Nah, man. The Hornets have A LOT to prove before they deserve to be considered.
They have talent, sure. Let's see it one time.
@@dearmas9068 I mean we saw them in the play in 2 years straight in Balls first 2 years. Then he got injured and played less than 40 games two years in a row. That was the issue.
I'll bet none of Curly, Larry or Moe have ever set foot in Toronto
Apparently they played a show at the Canadian national exhibition in 1962 in Toronto, had a whole Canadian tour
They live in LA. They don’t respect the rest of California let alone the arctic circle 😂
Nobody wants to step foot in Canada.
Maple Syrup Chicago is a cool city. I've had a lot of fun there.
But the Raps are horrible, and Toronto fans deserve it.