Ryen Russillo on NBA Playoffs, LA Screenwriting, and PFT's Poop Bet
The Toronto Raptors have officially reached a level of playoff performance that defies logic. Big Cat is out of patience for a team that has the talent to compete but seemingly forgets how to play basketball the second LeBron James enters the building. Even on a night where LeBron shot poorly, the Raptors found a way to let it slip away in overtime.
The Toronto Raptors are the softest team I've ever watched
The Raptors are the softest team I've ever watched. And having Fred VanVleet take the game-winning shot in overtime, how do you have DeRozan and Lowry and you have these guys... they shrink in every big moment. They're so soft that they made Kevin Love look like the tough guy.
While the Raptors are crumbling, PFT is facing a much more visceral crisis. The Washington Capitals took a 2-1 series lead over the Penguins, moving PFT dangerously close to a previously agreed-upon wager involving the consumption of horse poop. As the reality of the bet sets in, PFT has started looking for any legal loophole or "compromise" to avoid the inevitable, mostly by attacking the opposition's goaltending.
Matt Murray sucks and his glove hand is a liability
Murray sucks. Murray sucks on ice. His glove hand stinks. And his glove leg sucks too. I think he had a stroke. I think the left side of his body has been paralyzed.
Despite the panic, the energy around the Caps is different this year. After years of heartbreak against Pittsburgh, the vibe in the room is shifting toward genuine belief.
This feels like the year the Capitals finally get past the Penguins and win it all
Feels like this is a year. Feels good. We might be a little biased because we're all such big Caps fans here, but 2-1 [in the series] feels good.
Hot Seat/Cool Throne
Hank opened the segment by putting Gravity on the Hot Seat after a group of Flat Earthers held a conference and used a Nikon camera to "disprove" it. On the Cool Throne, Hank is fully buying into the hype in Bloomington after a major recruiting win.
Indiana basketball is back because they signed Romeo Langford
My cool throne is Indiana basketball. So they signed Romeo Langford, the number one recruit in the nation. His minister said that Romeo is like Abraham Lincoln. So, I mean, it's going to be huge.
PFT put Tom Brady on the Hot Seat after some cryptic comments about feeling valued. While the internet was buzzing over a short clip, PFT thinks there's a kernel of truth to the idea that the TB12 lifestyle might finally be clashing with the Belichick way.
Tom Brady doesn't feel valued enough by the Patriots
I actually do think, though, that Tom Brady thinks that he's not valued enough at work. ... Like anything that he does on the football field is because he's just such a weirdo... and the Belichick system values exactly what you're valued and Tom Brady probably thinks he should be valued more.
On the Cool Throne, PFT is celebrating Jeff Bezos for finally finding a way to spend his massive fortune. Forget philanthropy or employee raises; the move is apparently to just burn cash on rocket fuel until the bank account hits zero.
Jeff Bezos is building rocket ships just to liquidate his $100 billion
He figured out that the way that he's going to be able to spend money is by just building rocket ships and just going to different planets. That's the only thing that he can do to liquidate $100 billion in a lifetime, so that's what he's going to do.
Big Cat wrapped things up by looking at the Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback situation. After years of Big Ben threatening to walk away, the arrival of a rookie seems to have given him a second wind that might last half a decade.
Big Ben will play for 3-5 more years because the Steelers drafted Mason Rudolph
Big Ben says he wants to play three to five more years. He's just saying that because they drafted Mason Rudolph. 100%. But it's so fantastic that Big Ben, the guy who was contemplating retirement last year, is now like, yeah, you know what? Pencil me in for five more years.
Ryen Russillo on Hollywood and the NBA
Our friend Ryen Russillo joined the show from Malibu, though the connection was a bit spotty thanks to the "waves" and his new life as a struggling Hollywood screenwriter. Between name-dropping Vince Vaughn and complaining about LA traffic, Russillo weighed in on the Celtics-Sixers series. While the Celtics took Game 1, Russillo thinks the Sixers still have an physical advantage that Boston can't ignore.
The Celtics can't guard Joel Embiid
You're going to have to continue to get it to Embiid, who has moments in the game where he's like, enough of this crap. Like, none of you guys can guard me. I'm just going to do something stupid and get to the hoop and score.
This led to a heated debate regarding the Rookie of the Year race. PFT remains steadfast in his belief that Ben Simmons, having been in the league for a year already, shouldn't even be in the conversation compared to the Jazz's standout.
Donovan Mitchell is the Rookie of the Year and it's not even close
Donovan Mitchell is my rookie of the year, and it's not even close. [Ben Simmons] is in his second year playing in the NBA. Second year in the organization.
Russillo also discussed the coaching masterclass being put on by Brad Stevens, though he's not ready to say he'd take a coach over a generational superstar if he were building a team for the next five years.
I would take LeBron James for the next five years over Brad Stevens
I'm going to go ahead and take whatever LeBron is probably for the next three, knowing that year four and five, I would imagine at some point this dude is going to slow down. As great as Brad [Stevens] is, I still think that this is a player's league.
The conversation shifted to the impending free agency chaos. Russillo noted that while the Lakers and Sixers get all the headlines, people shouldn't be so quick to pack LeBron's bags for him just yet.
Cleveland is still a very likely scenario for LeBron James this summer
I have been probably one of the only people that still thinks Cleveland is a very likely scenario here. If anybody is telling you they know that LeBron's already decided that he's going to leave, then they may get it right, but they're guessing right now. As of now, the way I understand it is that Cleveland is very much still in play.
As for the other drama out West, the situation in San Antonio seems beyond repair. Russillo is hearing that the "Spurs Way" might have finally worn thin for their superstar forward.
Nobody around the NBA thinks Kawhi Leonard is returning to the Spurs
No one around the league thinks [Kawhi] is coming back. Nobody. And the belief is that, oh, yeah, Kawhi Spurs away, team first, not having any individual brand. They're tired of this stuff. If those are the real things and the real resentment there, then the Spurs thing does sound like it's over.
Trevor Bauer's Spin Rate and Guys on Chicks
To wrap up, Big Cat highlighted Trevor Bauer’s latest Twitter crusade against the Houston Astros' pitching staff. Bauer is convinced there is some foul play involved in their increased spin rates, but PFT has a much more geographical explanation involving the Earth's rotation and the equator.
Astros pitchers have higher spin rates because Houston is closer to the equator
There's a reason why all the NASA sites in the United States are closer to the equator because the Earth spins faster the closer you get to the equator. So it's cheaper to fly a rocket there. So I think the fact that it's in Houston and further south means the ball spins faster.
In a classic edition of Guys on Chicks, the crew discussed whether having a sugar daddy makes you a prostitute (consensus: resourceful) and why guys like playing with nipples when they have their own (consensus: better angles).
If PFT actually eats the poop, we're going to need a lot more than chocolate milk for the recovery.

