Transcript of Part 2: The 76ers Fell Apart, Embiid’s Next Five Years, and Week 12 NFL Picks With Chris Ryan and Joe House

It's part two of the Special Thursday pod. Joel Embiid in the Sixers. What's going on there? Million Dollar Picks. All next. We're also brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network. If you missed part one of this podcast, I did an NBA six-pack and we talked to Peter Schrager for a long, long time, and it is already up, and you can watch it as well on the Bill Simmons YouTube channel, where we put clips and videos of all the stuff we do here. We also have a Ringer Movies YouTube channel. We put the rewatchables, where we did the replacements on Monday. I was surprised how many people were excited in my life that we did this. A lot of people love that movie. There you go. Coming up on this podcast, Chris Ryan, my longtime Grantland/Winger colleague, my frequent co-host on the Rewatchables and a diehard Philadelphia fan. We're going to talk about this Joe L. B. & 6ers situation because it's getting really grim, and it's worth two segments. We had them with Joe House, who stuck around and did Million Dollar Picks with me after. I like Week 12. We're going to talk about that.

Tried to figure out a way to squeeze Drake May into the podcast somehow, which we did a Million Dollar Picks. Can't wait for you to listen. First, our friends from Pearl Jam.

All right, taping this early Thursday afternoon.

Joe House is here because we're going to be doing a million dollar pics a little bit later. Chris Ryan is here of The Ringer. We've worked together 13 years, diehard Philadelphia fan. Chris, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask you what it's like to be a Philadelphia 76ers fan right now.

You know what? It's actually not as bad as you think because it was a head-on collision. It was dead on impact. It's 2-12. Yeah, they could probably scratch and claw their way out of this. But to me, this season, they had a end of the season vibe in the second half against Memphis on Wednesday.

House, did you watch it? I couldn't look away. I watched the entire game. I think I watched every single minute of it.

I was going back and forth, but it wasn't encouraging. I still want to know I don't know why Embiid is playing. I still would like to know why he's playing.

Yeah, CR, walk us through this. What's the upside of not... All right, they fuck up. He plays the Olympics. They don't talk him out of that. That was a mistake. They fuck up. They give him a giant extension before the season started.

They didn't fuck up, Bill. Come on. They have to fucking give Joel Embiid a giant extension.

I think they fucked up that he obviously wasn't healthy.

Yeah, but he hasn't been healthy his entire career. He's not been a 100% I feel perfect athlete the entire time.

So you were fired up when they gave him an extension?

I think that it's the price of doing business. I think like...

That's what Steve Ballmer found out with Kawhi. I mean, I don't know what we're talking about. Well, whatever. They put themselves behind the eight ball at the extension. Yeah. But then why throw him out there when he's obviously not healthy? Explain this to us.

I can't explain it to you because this has been a hallmark of the entire Beat experience where I think as fans, especially this generation of fans of the Sixers, are completely okay with, Hey, we're going to have to take some losses to make some gains. That's the whole point of the process was that this was going to be this teardown to the studs and that we're going to then build up with homegrown talent and bringing in free agents from acquiring guys through trade to help that homegrown talent get to a title. We're exactly in the same place we were when Doug Collins left, which is basically a second-round basketball team, and we're aging now. We have changed the the character of the team to where Joel Embiid is 30. He looks like he's 38. He might even look like he's 47, frankly. The guys that they have around them are largely veterans who are there on not necessarily mercenary contracts, but certainly are there to win titles or get deep into the playoffs.

But then you have this whole other fun Sixers team where it's like McCain and Maxi and Yaba Selle.

That's just the thing. If there was a 2-12 McCain and Maxi team, I think he would have been like, Oh, yeah, this is weird and sucks, and we're pretty much out of it. But who knows? We're feisty, and McCain's great. But instead, with George, who's now hyper extended his knee and is back out again, and Embiid doing the daily and not even daily, hourly updates on maybe I will, maybe I won't. I'm never going to be 100%. I won't play back to backs, but I will if it's rolling for me. And I should be out, but I'm going to come back in. If they had just been like, Joel Embiid tweaked something at the end of the Olympics, he's out for the first six weeks. I just think it's a completely different scenario.

You agree with that, Haas?

Of course, it is. This is, to me, the singular most baffling aspect of this entire deal. I thought that the Sixers, in terms of team building, had a pretty successful summer. They put all their chips in the middle.

We know you thought that because you took the over of 50 and a half wins. Remember that?

I stand by it. It wasn't wrong in in the context of the information that was available. It was a simple idea. I do think it was then desirable for them to try and finish among the top four teams in the East. Desirable. Understanding, of course, that you're not going to get a full season out of Mbappie or a full season out of Paul George. You hope for most of a full season out of Maxi, and that you can weather the storm enough to get around 50 wins and finish in the top four in the East, because all things being equal would be better to have home court in the first round than not. But having said all that, the thing that's baffling to me still doesn't have an answer is what's with the drama, mama? What are we talking about?

Just shut up.

You did a great job in the summer. You built the best team you could build. There is a closing window on Embiid. We all agree that Joel Embiid ain't going to be playing professional basketball for another mother effing decade. So you go all in and there's something happened. Something either at the Olympics, after the Olympics, something happened.

Or before the Olympics.

Yeah. So we got to shut him down. Okay, shut him down. Shut him down and shut him up. That's it. There's nothing else to say. Why are we talking? Who benefits from the goddamn Daily Soap Obers? Who is the store?

You go to the why are we talking thing? It's literally why are we talking? Because all this stuff leaked out from that hour long meeting where we come to find out the least surprising piece of information, CR, in recent Sixers history, which is that Joel Embiid, the other players were upset about his accountability, showing up late to meetings, his practice habits. It was like, yeah, I'm not surprised by one aspect of this, were you?

No, but I think that this is all about how it's getting framed. If you change over two-thirds of your roster almost every season, you're not going to be able to control the culture of locker room. If you bring in new faces who maybe don't have the same allegiances or the same relationships with guys in that locker room, they might just have more incentive to say something to their agent who says something to Shams, whatever happened. Honestly, it feels like that literal part of Maxi calling out Embiid seems like it was blown out of proportion. Because they're buddies, right? Yeah, they are buddies. It sounds like, at least from Embiid's side of things, he was like, that was 30 seconds of a 30-minute meeting. One person being like, You got to show up on time, more than him being like, you're right, I got to be better. Why Joe Ellen and Beat is 30 and not showing up to shit on time, and that has become so detrimental to the team that it's getting out into an ESPN report and that other guys on the team clearly don't look at him as the alpha leader of the locker room and are okay with letting those details out of the locker room.

That's a whole other conversation. But yeah, the communication part of this has been awful from top to bottom.

Well, and then you have comparing his work ethic and ability to stay in shape versus some of the other best players in the league. That's where it really jumps out. And that's been the thing we've said on this podcast over and over again. He's competing against people like Giannis and Tatum, like LeBron in year 22. These guys that this is their life is to stay in shape and be ready for seasons and not make excuses about stuff. I think House and I are a little older than CR. We've seen a lot of centers hit this point, and it usually doesn't end well. And that was the case I made before the season. As you get older, as you start carrying more weight, as you have some injuries and some injury history, Not a lot of evidence. We saw it happen. You had Andrew Bynum that year. I think he was an All-Star in 2012, and two years later, he was out of the league. When you're talking about these big 7'2, 7'3 bodies with extra weight, house, that's where my mind went to. Some of the we've watched where it ends fast.

Yeah, but the only thing that cuts against that is that it seemed like for the very first time in his career, it finally came out of his mouth that I think I should show up to the season in shape. I think this will be the season that I will choose. And there was a logic thread to it. He just surrounded himself with the upper of upper echelon, a highest performing, highest successful NBA players.

Usually, there's a bump from that.

Right. The Olympic bump was somehow lost because he did get that experience. He was with all of those bright minds and very successful players with their own successful regimens. He did say afterwards, I am going to be the skinny guy.

It's going to be skinny and be- I want to be like Tim Duncan. I want to have a thinner body.

We haven't seen skinny and beat. The Tim Duncan part that he needed to internalize, probably, was just not saying anything. You know what I mean? They needed probably to put a cap on the narration and the interfacing with the press about what his intentions are and where he is. It's honestly like it's weird. Zero ball stuff for him to be out there right now. It's really unfortunate because what happens to him when he's not feeling great is his game becomes repulsive. It honestly becomes fucking nauseating to watch play. There's some guys who are like, Oh, look at him. He's gutting it out. You know what I mean? This is not Philip Rivers on a broken leg.

I think he fell down, what, eight times last night? He's just flopping around. He wears all of his emotions on his face, good and bad. This last night against Memphis was the all-time worst-case version of that.

This is not a together team. It's not being coached in a way that seems like the coach wants to be there. Maybe he does, but this is not the nick Nurse that I thought the Sixers were getting. It's not the nick Nurse that coached last year. He seems super pissed about whatever the situation is. He seems disgruntled in every press conference. He seems supremely annoyed with the press corps. Then on top of that, you've got- Welcome to Philly. Yeah, but honestly, man, though, every city is hard on a team that has expectations, though. The The thing that I think is so jarring about this is that I almost wonder if it would be worse if they were four and seven, you know what I mean? Because it would be like, why you're not quite playing up to expectations. This is a disaster.

I was looking at their schedule. They lose every game by 10 to 20 points. I think they've had one close loss. Every other loss is a blowout.

Yeah, their net differential is fourth worst of the NBA.

That game yesterday, which they fought back at the end because Memphis isn't good and also fell asleep. But even that game, they're down 20 in the fourth quarter.

They also got their asses kicked by Luke Cunard and Aldama, and they didn't have Ja or Edy last night. It's not like you can be like, Oh, well, we got taken out by three all NBA guys. It's like, no, you lost to the B team grizzlies in a half-a-full gym.

Well, the alarming thing about Embiid, like what you said earlier about why so much talking, why telling us why you're feeling better, you're going to lose the weight. To me, it's like me and CR, one of our favorite movies, The Town. It's the Blake Lively character being like, Dougie, I quit drinking, Shine an eye, I'm going to get an apartment. It's going to be great. It's like, I don't know if I trust this. Not to compare a beat to Blake Lively in the town, but I guess I just did. It's like, That all sounds good. But can I see it for a year? Can I see Skinny & Beat? Can I see you play some back-to-back? I just feel like the ship He sailed. What was crazy about last night, the body language, the team just doesn't seem together at all. The bench seemed like they were really trying to cheer baskets and stand up and do the good chemistry thing, but on the court, it was a mess. I noticed this last year with Embiid during the next series, and I remember talking about it on the pod. House, I think you and I talked about it.

He's just really slow to the ball now in rebounds and shot block stuff. I don't know whether his knees are just like, he's carrying too much weight. They're shot. He can't move quickly anymore. It doesn't have quick burst stuff. We also saw that in the Olympics, which is why I think they were so hesitant to play him in certain situations. He gets killed on the offensive boards now. There's guys flying around. If you put him in a pick and roll and he has to run out to a shooter, he can't. And over and over again, you watch, it's not just that they're losing. The offense that these teams are getting combined with the offensive rebounds that they can get, I think is the most alarming thing to me. He can still get his points. I feel like he can always get to 25 or 30, but the other side of the ball is the alarming part to me.

But honestly, dude, on paper, with all due respect, house, they're not the Wizards. They shouldn't be 2 and 12. Paul George and Tyrese Maxi, I know they've missed time each, but there have been stretches of time over the last five seasons with the Sixers where the Sixers have been able to weather three weeks, five weeks without a need and stay in the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference.

It's literally why I had them winning 50 games.

This is like a mutiny.

They've been able to roll with it.

Well, house, they played Brooklyn on Friday night at home. They play the Clippers on Sunday at Home, the revenge of James Harden. I almost think they're better off not playing at Home. Then they play the Houston Pitfalls on Wednesday, which is just a nightmare game. Talk about a team that plays hard and has athletes is relentless. That's a team I don't want to play. Then they're at Detroit on November 30. It does nick Ners make it out of the month for you?

Oh, of course.

I mean, there wouldn't have to be. Of course, really?

What's the thesis for getting rid of nick Ners? How is that going to help? He's not the one- Well, under the Rob Polinka law, if things are going wrong, it's got to be somebody else's fault.

Who else are you going to blame? They can't get rid of George.

It's not a blame. There's nothing to blame. It's November. The season that matters starts in March. Their forecasted win total right now is 38.5..

Is that on Fandil?

Yes, it is. You can bet that right this second. Oh, my God.

That was 42.5, two days ago.

Well, it's 38.5.

Right now. They dropped four wins.

But I'm telling you, they're only a couple of slots out of the 10 seed. They're dead last in the Eastern Conference right now as we're taping, but only a handful of spots away. They right now have the seventh best to make the playoffs. It's minus 2:15 for the Sixers to make the payoff.

Oh, shit. Those odds weren't even on Fandil like three hours ago when I was taping. So CR- The people demand it.

We have to fucking short these guys.

No, to make the playoffs, though. Much better odds to make them to miss.

Yeah, but they're not... I don't think they're going to be in the top six. So- Agreed. Basically, the cutoff would be the 10 seed CR. You have to finish above five teams. So I'm going to list some teams. You'll finish ahead of Washington no matter what happens. You have too much talent. That's happening. Sorry, house.

Way to go out on a limb.

You'll finish ahead of Toronto because I don't think Toronto even necessarily wants to be good. So that's the second one. I think you'll finish ahead of Charlotte.

I do, too.

So there's three. Then it starts getting a little gamey. You have Chicago. You catch Chicago on the right night, and they can score with anybody. They look Okay, you'd have to pass Detroit and Brooklyn. You'd have to pass two of those three. Detroit right now is seven and nine, and they're in these games, and Kate is playing better than anyone on the Sixers. Can you get to a 10 seed?

I think you can get to a 10 seed. I think that that's going to be so far below the expectations of the franchise at this point, that it's going to still be seen as an abject failure. I I don't think that this team had Miami heat expectations this season where it's like, what they do is basically use the regular season as an experiment. Whether all these storms and Spoh is making guys from G-Leaguers into all-stars, and it's just They're going to scrape and claw their way into the playoffs, and then nobody wants to play them. I think this is a team that was really hoping to have some home court advantage in the playoffs, and also probably to be so safe in that, that they could rest guys down the stretch and make sure Embiid was healthy.

Now, it's the opposite.

Now, it's the opposite. I think now what happened with that meeting coming out, becoming public, is the problem is that everything seems like a reaction to something else. Losing to Memphis, which sucked anyway, is now a failure of the meeting to galvanize the team. Instead of it just being like, You lost on the road to Memphis. What a shitty start of the season. But hopefully, everybody starts to get it It's now like, That meeting didn't work. Embiid looked miserable. He immediately comes out after the Memphis game and says, Whoever leaked that is a real piece of shit. Presumably, somebody in the locker room did that. That's what is happening in that locker room. George goes out. George does a podcast about the all-hands meeting, the team meeting.

Oh, he did that? I missed that part.

He did? Apparently. Yeah, I haven't listened to it yet. I just saw House was just showing me the the thumbnail from it.

Definitely good to get podcast content out of it.

My recommendation would be for Joel Embiid to go out and not play for four to six weeks and get as healthy as he can because him being like, I'm going to try and drag my body through 35 minutes against Memphis is not helping him. No.

They need to win 34 games. So just send him packing and make sure he gets in shape. I thought he looked so miserable last night when the halftime hit and he just walked off and he was like a tennis player. We could take a break. We're going to keep talking about Philly, but I have a take that I'm so excited to throw at house that I've been saving for the podcast. That's next. Before we get back to talking about Joel Embiid a little bit more, guys, I love the NBA Cup. You know what makes the NBA Cup even better? A Ringer profit boost token on FanDuel. I told FanDuel, we wanted to celebrate the NBA Cup, give out some profit boost. We created the 30 on 30 Ringer PBT. You can boost any 30-point score 30 on 30 special bet on this Friday's NBA Cup. Say, for instance, CR, You can take Kam Thomas against your Philadelphia 76ers. Just like Kam Thomas cook, right? Are you a 30-point scorer bet guy? It's pretty fun.

I haven't been, but I'm willing to jump in, especially with the profit boost.

Yeah. On Fridays, it pops up, and they'll give you four choices. Then you got to do the matchups in your head.

Will they give us Kam Thomas?

They'll give us Kam Thomas. It'll probably be plus 140 plus. Last week on Friday, I gave out three, including Grady Dick was plus 750 against Detroit. I was very excited about it. He didn't get it, but it was a fun thing to monitor during the game. But just pick your 30-point score, ride, and there you go. You can maybe take Joel Embiid if he ends up playing one of these games. Cee, are you an NBA Cup guy?

I am an NBA Cup guy. I love the- You love the courts? Different courts, sure. Just visually stimulating. I love tournament basketball, so the group stages or whatever, but I love the knockouts.

I like the concept of guys trying when they're down eight with 10 seconds left. It's super fun. And by the way, very good for the 30 on 30 as well. Hope you like the Ringer Profit boost. We'll be doing it each Friday during the NBA Cup. Just look for 30 on 30 in the FanDuel Sportsbook app. All right, here we go, House. Cr, feel free to weigh in as well. Are we sure nick Ners is good? Can I just walk through? I'm willing to say, yes, he's good, but can we just walked through it. He takes over a Toronto team that went 59 and 23 in 2019. They went 58 and 24. They went on that Kawhi shot last second. Sorry, Chris. Le LeBron's in the West. It's the first year LeBron leaves. They play the Warriors in the finals. Katie's hurt, doesn't come back to game five, immediately blows out as Achilles. Clay Thompson gets hurt, same game. They get this miracle Kawhi performance, and they squeeze it out. We're like, nick Ners is a good coach, and I think he probably is a decent to good coach. Next year, 53 wins. Next year, 27 wins.

48, 41 gets fired from there, goes to Philly the year after, has that really weird Knicks series, and then looks completely miserable this year. I wonder if there's only four or five good coaches, period. I thought maybe he was one of them, but I think what we're learning is he probably wasn't. How's your thoughts?

I think what you're speaking to, and I think is a fair criticism of him, is his ability to rally, his ability to get guys on the same page with a common cause, because the story Story about why Toronto fell apart had to do with a defensive scheme where they had a whole bunch of guys. They didn't have one tall guy on that team, on that roster. They all had to go baseline to baseline, side to side, full out defensive pressure extended way out to the three-point line. At some point, they all got effing tired of it. They went to Coach nick Nurse and said, God damn it, Coach nick Nurse, this is exhausting. We can't expend all of this energy playing all this defense in this way. It fell on deaf ears, and they were like, Hey, guess what, nick Nurse?

Fuck you. That's it. Then goes to Philly, not like last year. I was thinking about that Toronto team because it's such a weird outlier. They had great defense. They have Kawhi, who's actually healthy. They have Marc Gasol, rim protection. They have Kyle Lowry, they have Siakam, they have Ananobio, that didn't have them in the playoff that They had Danny Green, they had Wings, they had Abaka. But really, they had Kawhi, who we left that playoff thinking this is the best player in the world. We've seen coaches that have great situations like that. I just wonder, when they hired him, CR, and we talked about it, I was like, wow, you got nick Ners.

That guy's a fucking great coach. Yeah, because it was like, is he... Or we're going to lose him to the bucks. There was a whole like, nick Ners is the hottest free agent candidate.

nick Ners' sweepstakes.

Yeah.

Not sure there'd be a sweepstake. I guess that's my point.

I don't really know. I don't really know would Eric Spolstra just do a better job here. Probably not. What can a coach do when the main issue seems to be effort?

Well, the big issue is it doesn't seem like he can 100% connect with Embiid, as we've seen basically from all of Embiid's resume this season.

Yeah, but I think everybody gets a little piece of blame pie.

Embiid I'm talking about how Jimmy- Are you want to go blame pie? Are we doing an ESPN gimmick? I like this.

Embiid deserves a slice. Darryl deserves a slice. Paul George deserves a slice. Nick Ners deserves a slice. Embiid can't stop saying stupid shit. That's A huge problem, but that's probably more of a fan problem, I would imagine, than it is a player problem. I just think that this looks like a team that hates each other. Honestly, I was trying to rack my brains. You can look up. It's like, who's 2-12 and makes the playoffs? It's not that many teams.

Six out of 92.

I look at that. But it's now that the playoffs have been expanded. But more than that, you just don't really see teams that clearly dislike each other this much doing anything.

There are teams- Do they really dislike each other?

It doesn't seem like a happy team, I think is a very fair point. They don't seem happy playing basketball together.

Right. I don't think any of the guys, nobody on that team, except for Jared McCain, is playing in the plus. They're not playing in... Wow, we never expected that. But Jared McCain, him and Connect, are the two big success stories of the draft so far, it seems like. It's not like... George looks terrible even when he's not being dragged off the court. Maxie's obviously hurt. Drummond looks old.

There's no signs that Drummond might have been a bad signing. No signs that Kyle Lowry might not have it anymore. But here's the thing, CR. They crushed the McCain pick. They get Caleb Barton at a huge discount. He was the only guy who was flying around. I actually thought he was really good last night. Yaba Selleh was a really good site. They added three guys to the rotation that are awesome guys, and it hasn't mattered at all.

It doesn't matter if the whole thing runs through Embiid. The whole entire thing runs through Embiid, especially if Paul George is going to be this passive. That's one thing that's been sad is that because he got hurt in the preseason and because he's re-injured himself. There's been no opportunity to be like, Hey, man, Paul, we're going to need you to carry us for the first 20 games of the season. You're going to have to go out and get 25 a night. You're going to have to be the lead scorer. You're going to have to take the best player on the opposing team on defense He's just completely come. The terrifying thing is like, this is why the Clippers let him go. They probably saw this coming.

I covered this in part one. It's like buying the used car from somebody who's really eager to sell it to you. It's probably a red It's such a good point.

But, Bill, have you ever had a Celtic season in recent memory? We did.

We had the second Kyrie season. You could see it. The whole season, it's like it's off. This is off. But I talked about this when I did the power poll a couple of weeks ago about when The concept of sacrifice when you're putting together a big three. When people always point to the '08 Celtics, where it was like those guys were at the point of their career where they're ready to give something up. This time around, you'd have to have Embiid What's he given up and does he want to get in shape? You have Paul George, who's probably the most likely candidate to be like, Yeah, I don't care if I score all the time. I just want to win a title. Then you have Maxi, who's trying to prove he's a great player. He doesn't want to sacrifice anything. He shouldn't want to. He's a young player who's trying to prove that he's one of the best guards in the league. That alone made me nervous. But then the Embiid conditioning and then the chemistry is, I think the variables even House couldn't have expected as he went over 50 and a half wins.

I'm going to cross that off house for you.

I will take that L. It's literally why it's called gambling. But it was exactly what Chris Ryan just described. It was Paul George holding down the fort through the first 20 games. The Paul George had Maxi in the East, building a little something.

With McCain. Yeah.

Right. A little something, but he showed up dead, and he was hurt within days of us doing the Over Under podcast. And maybe Maybe he's not... I mean, after last night's injury, maybe he's still not restored to full health.

Well, hopefully he can still podcast.

The thing I was going to say, the thing I was asking you about the historical precedence, or if you have this experience where it's been a very long time with the Sixers since a season started. I remember the first car I ever had was a 91 Ford Tempo. Used 91 Ford Tempo. The transmission blew out on the drive home from the dealership. It was just like, Well, that is definitive. This is a lemon. Let's take it back to the lot. Clearly, there's got to be some 12-hour grace period. This wasn't like, Oh, I'm driving it for a while and it shutters a little bit when you make lefts. No, there was no warning signs. This thing died as soon as it left the season opening gate. It almost feels a little liberating. After all these years of coming up short, it's like, Oh, there's something rotten here. Maybe this beginning is the beginning of a new chapter.

We have to-New chapter? You just signed a beat to an extension, and Paul George has a four-year deal. What new chapter are we looking at?

I like this.

You're going to 2029 for the new chapter. What are you going to? Are you going to hybridate like a bear for three years?

I was talking about me. I was talking about my post-Sixer's life.

Yeah, maybe you'll have more time now to concentrate on other things.

No, it's Isn't there a pathway or it'll be fun to root for 39 wins? Isn't that going to become the new? The 10 seed. Okay, we understand. We take...

There's another piece of this house.

This is bad luck. Let's be honest.

They have their pick, but it's top six protected. So you can't even root for like, let's just bottom out.

Honestly, it would be really fun to root for McCain, Maxi, and the role players. It would be fine.

They're too good to bottom out. Yeah.

Mccain is honestly worth watching the Sixers for, even if you also have to watch guys rolling around on the ground in agony.

House, do we need to convene the theory committee? Should I send them to Philly to watch what the Sixers might look like if they have to shove and beat for three weeks and all of a sudden that team is playing small ball and take it off?

I don't know because we had a pretty good sample size that last season. He only played 39 games, and they were bad. They were bad in the games that he didn't play.

How much better would you guys feel about this team, or would we even be doing this segment if they had won three more games? Still bad, but just a slow start.

I think the two games this week warranted this segment because it wasn't just this segment. It wasn't just the Memphis game last night, which was riveting. The Miami game was unbelievable.

I mean, that was- They got to blow the F out.

Yeah. Rassila texted me. He was I'm not saying a hate watch pod of Sixers games would do well, but I do think it would get an audience. I think he's right. I think you could basically take the Philly special and just make it like a venting session after every Sixer game. It rarely happens in basketball because it's the most naked sport. In football, they have helmets on. They might not show some of the sidelines. In basketball, you know when guys are unhappy. You know when guys are mailing in a play or a sequence You can watch the reactions on the bench. You can watch how the bench reacts. You can see the coach in the postgame press conference. There's like 40 checkpoints where you're like, This doesn't look right. And they're hitting all of them. I can't think of a single one they're not hitting other than that. Mccain seems super happy to be in the NBA. He's like, Hey, guys. He's like a puppy running around. It's like when we got Murf and he was just running around the back here. I hope that a consequence of all this is not Maxie losing that joy because that's the other thing.

I don't think that's going to happen.

Me either. Over the last couple of seasons, I think that that's been really important for Sixers fans is to see somebody who plays with so much unbridled pleasure because it sometimes doesn't feel that way for beat. Honestly, to me, as much as the health stuff is obviously pretty disturbing with him and the way he's talked about conserving his body for the playoffs and what it's going to take, and he's never 100% and all that, he has said multiple things things about basically saying, The amount that I've given to this city, because of how much I've done for this team, because of the amount I've given to the city, it's ridiculous that this is the discourse on me. This is getting dark. You know what I mean? I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know even what... Darryl, this would be the team that Darryl had always dreamed of, right?

It's like you take a lead- The on-paper team.

And you get the on paper- Three stars. Yeah, shooting and veterans who know what their role is and a really astute coach. If that doesn't work, I don't really know what the plan is here.

House, they can't even trade Embiid until the summer if they wanted to. I don't think they do.

But they're stuck with that contract. By the way, they're also trying to build a new arena. Keep that in mind with Embiid trades.

It's weird because LeBron did that whole thing this week about how social media is too negative and the whole discussion and apparatus around basketball has become negative. I feel like it hasn't really been that different. I think the only thing that probably has been added the last couple of years are these player podcasts where the players are, especially the ex-players, they're like pro-wrestlers. It's like McFoley talking about how the undertaker was a giant pussy. Not that he did that, but just like these crates. The NBA is turning into that where guys are just lobbing. Like, Amand Schumper had a whole thing the other day about how LeBron ruined basketball when he teamed up with Wade and Bosch. It was like, Were you on LeBron's championship team in 2016? What are you doing? But these pods are just crazy. I do wonder if that's a sad layer. I actually think people, compared to how this would have been received in the 1990s have been pretty reasonable about this and B thing with some of the stuff he said. We've talked about a lot on this pod. There's been so many red flags. I thought the Olympics was a red flag, that no back to back was a red flag.

But CR, it feels like something has shifted now with the city and Embiid, where it went from, You are our favorite son. We would defend you. And Philly's like this in a lot of ways, where it's like, You're our guy. Fuck everybody else. And that's what it is. And it feels like that's been lost, which I think is significant.

Yeah, I would say it's probably... I mean, to the extent that I can tell from Los Angeles, I would say that the fan base seems split 50/50 between Joel, True Believers. He's just hurt. You guys are aren't being sympathetic to, I'm over it. I can't take their quotes.

You can't do it anymore.

I can't take the, I'm not going to let myself feel anything because he's just going to hurt his knee or get Bell's palsy or whatever, the litany of things that have happened to him over the course of his career. Then you go back to the origin story of his whole thing where it's a little bit of a miracle that he's playing. When he was drafted, it was like, If we ever get to see Embiid, he could be the best player in this draft if we ever get to see him. We did. He has never really, really been 100%. He's also had some really bad luck with injuries, with running into faults or whatever and all that stuff that was not really a muscle damage thing. But to your point earlier about the Patrick Ewing's of the world that just go downhill really fast, there's just too many knee injuries now.

You know what else there is? There's YouTube, and you can go back and you can watch him six years ago, seven years ago, and you can watch how he moves and watch him now, and he almost doesn't look like the same guy. That's the thing that is undeniable. We have, unlike 20 years ago, where we didn't have the ability to just queue up whatever video we wanted. Now we can. You can go back and you can watch him in Kansas in 2014, even. You can watch him in the Sixers, even during that regular season when he just seemed like this fucking crazy, unstable offensive force. How The thing that's crazy to me is he's still able to get to 30 points. That's how skilled and how well-crafted his game- Shot the lights out last night. From 15 to 18 feet, it's going in 98% of the time. He's figured how to do that and have enough of going downhill, lurching into people. He can still get his points, but I think the rebounding in the defense was falling apart. What else have you seen?

Well, what I've seen is he shouldn't be on the basketball court. I would like him take off. I think it would be good for him, for the team, for the franchise, for him to just drop out. Come back after the new year. Get yourself right. Get yourself, give yourself the best chance. And you can, after the new year, play the games at NBA speed, getting yourself back up into it. But really, all of this dialog is November dialog. It doesn't matter for shit.

Just be ready in April.

That's it. Unless it's so poisons where you might get to come April, and the bar is so low, you really the bar is so low. You just have to get to the play in. Where does this- In the Eastern conference.

Cr, where does this go for you? Most disappointing Philly teams. Any sport?

Extraordinary high.

What was that eagles's team when you had Asamah and all those guys? There was the dream team.

Yeah, that was dream team. Yeah, that was that sucked. But that was like, pride comes before the fall. There was just way too much hubris about that team. Yeah. And as soon as it started going- Which is a little like this team. Yeah, maybe you're right. I thought that this team was really wisely assembled. It seemed like Eric Gordon and Caleb Martin, Drummond was Embiid's best backup that he's ever had. It just seemed like this was a very, very expertly, wisely assembled team. To have this be quite the opposite. It's been the opposite, yeah. Yeah. Not only that, but it would be one thing if they were just physically not there to have it clearly be a culture problem within the locker room and a huge amount of distrust and a huge amount of... Forget what the Philly fans think about Embiid. This was repudiation of him from within the team. Whether it was a towel guy who told somebody who told somebody, who told Shams, that article came out very soon after the meeting and it had quotes. So someone wanted to get a point across and embarrass him, and it worked.

Very somewhere to that Celtic team, which was such a disappointing team, coming the Eastern Finals, getting Hayward back. Year 2, Kyrie, it seemed like he was going to sign, and it fell off from the get-go, but it had a couple of similarities. One was the circus around Kyrie, game to game, which he's since then admitted. He was like, Yeah, I was in a really rough spot in Boston that second year. You could feel it. There was an emotional roller coaster that the players were on, the team was on, even the fans were on watching it. Like, What are we getting today? What version of him? You have that, but you also had people People at different points of their career that were the wrong points for the team. Jalen Brown talked about that recently. He was on that team, or Tatum talked about it. He wanted to prove that he could do this. It's like, now you're actually going to be standing in the corner for a lot of these plays. You're going to be the number four guy. So the Sixers have a little of that, too. As you get older, you start seeing the signs of where it's not working.

I don't know if the Lakers are going to be good or not, but the way Connect fit in just with what they needed. I don't think that team is going to be able to get stops. But Reddick's got AD playing well. You can see like, Okay, this makes sense. And you watch different basketball teams. All right, Houston. These guys make sense. There's an identity. Maybe it's not perfect. Then I watch Philly and I'm like, Wow, I don't know what this is.

Yeah, it's also with that Lakers team, the thing that impresses me the most is just how they immediately came into the season with an identity and sense of purpose where you could have had the last few years of LeBron's career been a victory lap, and it could just been a showcase. Even the Bronnie thing in retrospect now has become a footnote to this season where everybody's like, This is going to be such a huge distraction. It doesn't seem to matter. They handled it perfectly. Reddick obviously commands that locker room to some extent, which is incredible given the personalities. It's the exact opposite with the Sixers.

They came in this season-We'll see what happens when they have a couple of tough games in a row. Sure.

The schedule has been pretty easy. The Sixers came into the season unprepared, which I don't know who's the responsibility. That is ultimately a question.

But to be fair, how could they prepare? They couldn't have Joel Embiid and Paul George healthy in preseason.

Then they were unprepared for the eventuality that these guys weren't going to be ready and that they should maybe tell the fan base, tell the team, this is what the first six weeks of the season are going to be like. Don't look at the record.

It's tough, though, when you're cock in a championship from July on and victory lap in the whole summer. It's tough to just pivot. That was why it was so shocking when they did the back-to-back stuff. House, what was your most disappointing team? Other than the last 35 years of Bullets Wizard teams. What are you talking about? Did you have a high expectations team?

I can't pick one. Honestly, no. The Nationals, it took them a little while, but they won the World Series in 2019, and it was a new franchise here in 2005. They were like, Oh, that team with Jasonworth, that should have been the one. Not really. The OV getting over the Penguins, getting past Crosby, finally. That was going to be this real disappointing career. But he got his one, and we'll see what the story is with this knee injury. He may yet get Gresky's goal.

It's getting close.

Yeah, he is very close. He was on the pair.

How's his most disappointing team is the Wizards not being able to be Kelly O'Linnick in a game seven. That's the one that keeps him up at night.

You can't say Washington, anything having to do with the basketball team because they haven't won 50 games since 1978. There is no one most disappointing when you're in that a street.

We had a couple of really awful Red Sox teams that were super disappointing. There was a Carl Everett season. There was the chicken and beer season. But you know early when it's happening, and that would be my fear with this Sixers.

I think for you, for the Red Sox the last couple of seasons, haven't you been ever since Muki, you're basically- Yeah, but I didn't have expectations.

I think in this case, they were talking about the Sixers as a possible 60-win team and a two-seed and all that stuff.

I was thinking about the conversation you had with Waz and Van last week. I think it was. I think sometimes basketball moves on before NBA fans are ready for it to happen. I think that the sad truth here is that this might not happen for this team or at least for Embiid's version of this team. You just look around, and I feel this way often once the NBA Finals comes around, I'll watch after the Sixers have been eliminated in the second round or the first round, and I'll be like, This is a different sport. The Sixers are not close to this. Now that he is very clearly on the downside of his career and in a physical decline, it's really hard to look around and watch the way some of these other teams are playing and moving and be like, Oh, yeah, I feel like this is a month long break away from the Sixers. It's not. It's not. It's like, This is probably not going to happen for this guy, and it's really sad.

Well, there was one play yesterday when Jaron Jackson fell down with his legs out and Embiid was dribbling toward him. And I was just like, this is going to be... You talked about the car crash at the beginning. I was like, oh, this is going to be something horrible is about to happen. And Embiid, of course, tripped over him, but he got up. But that's another piece of watching these games where there's three times a game where you feel like something horrible happened to him, or maybe that was it, or it just feels like he's carrying the weight in his world. It's both not that fun to watch and incredibly riveting to watch with the expectations that this team had. Ciar, what December movie are you the most excited about that you've either seen or you want to see?

The December movie I'm probably most excited to see is honestly the Bob Dylan movie, Complete Unkown. I can't wait to see what the hell they do with this. But yeah, I'm mostly caught up at this point. Gladiator 2 was the one I was looking forward to the most.

Gladiator 2, Denzel is having quite the press tour.

He's loving life.

Fifteen years, he was drinking two bottles of wine a day, and, Oh, I might have tried heroine.

Somebody's got to get Denzel his own player pod.

Cr, am I going to like Gladiator 2?

You'll like it.

Okay, good.

I do not think it matches the first one. Fine. I can live with House hasn't much disclaimer yet. Do you want to talk about Landman for a minute? Can you cheer me up?

That was the other reason you came on. House hasn't seen it, but he could just not. Landman, Taylor Sheridan, first two episodes up. Billy Bob Thornton as the lead. Jon Ham playing a seemingly evil, rich oil guy, married to Demi Moore, even though I think she's probably eight years older than him, whatever.

She also has had one line in two episodes so far, even though she's in a bunch of scenes.

I think the line was, Are you paying me in cash? Billy Bob Thornton's daughter, for some reason, is comfortable with her body?

I think it's more just like- And comfortable talking to Billy Bob Thornton about sex in ways that, I promise you, fathers and daughters don't discuss.

There's that. Then who's our guy who, spoiler alert, got blown up at the end of the first episode?

Pania, Michael Panja.

Michael Panja. They did the red herring of, Here's the name actor. He's going to be part of the cast. But then if you looked in the credits, it was like, what was that other show where they killed Kyle Chandler in the first episode?

Kingstown, Mayor of Kingstown. Yeah.

This is, CR, if we ever create one of these shows, we're just killing off somebody famous in the first episode because that's what you do. But I liked it. We enter a world and Billy Bob Thornton is just Chef Billy Bob.

Yeah, it's basically how, if I have to pitch it, it's Billy Bob Thornton driving around West Texas from crisis to crisis. He's basically like the Michael Clayton of this oil company. Every time something goes wrong, he's got to call John Ham, who's somewhere where he's like, Hold on, I got to get to look at it.

I'm at a polo match. Yeah.

He's like, I'm at a TCU track meet or a polo match. They have an awesome conversation where he's just like, I'm your fucking boss. Don't yell at me. He's like, All right, well, we got to stop this leak. Then it's great.

It's a lot of John Ham on a cell phone. It looks like there's a couple of A couple of people who look like they all film their scenes in one day, possibly. Jon Ham's a candidate. Well, Ali Larder. Ali Larder, Varsity Blues, Whipped Cream Sunday Fame, and then Hero's Fame. Everybody loves her, and she just comes and goes every seven years. Now she's in, and all of her scenes are on FaceTime. I don't know, does she not have legs anymore, CR?

What's going on here? It's unbelievable because it's like, did she get paid a million dollars to stand in a pool and be on FaceTime? Or does she have an incredible character arc coming? This is just the setup for the character.

Or she couldn't do the first two episodes because she had a pre-planned Flaming Vacation. She's been in Cabo for the first two episodes. Can you do your scenes on FaceTime? She's like, I can. Taylor Sheridan breaks all the rules. That's why he makes the big bucks. Do actors have to be in the same location when they shoot scenes? No, apparently not. But what's the point of this show, CR?

I think it's just supposed to be about the cynical world of oil production. I mean, you want to know what the point of why would anybody like this?

Or you want to be- No, I think ultimately, when we leave season one, what's Taylor Sheridan trying to tell us, or is he just like, oil, actors, things blowing up. It's going to be Yellowstone with oil.

I think he's trying to tell us about what happens to characters when they dedicate their life to something that is very morally complicated. In the same way, Yellowstone is about everything it costs to keep a ranch like that going. This is about, Hey, without this stuff, the world stops running the way we want it to, but what we have to do to get it out of the ground and everything is pretty complicated.

Obviously not enough of an important theme to get House to watch an episode. I'll tell you that much. Where is it? Where do I find it? It's on Paramount+. It's on Paramount+.

I have to pay for that.

If it was Taylor Sheridan's Massage Parlor, House would have already seen the first episode. No, episode. The massage parlor industry.

I'm watching sports. I'm here for the- Yeah, that's true.

It is football basketball season. I'm really happy for Ollie Larder. I'm happy for Billy Bob Thornton, who seems to have more hair every time we see him. He was completely bald 30 years ago. Now, it's like a Michael Landon type of thing on the top.

How he drinks Michelob Ultra the entire show.

Yeah.

I love it. The balls.

That's fantastic. He has a scene where his got fucked up. So he went to the doctor and he didn't have time for surgery. And the guy's like, We got to get a hand specialist in. Billy Bob's like, I'll just cut the pinkie off. Let's save the time. And just carves his pinkie off because he's a tough motherfucker. What's his name on this show?

Billy Bob. His name is Tommy Norris.

Tommy Norris is a tough motherfucker. I really had a good time. I loved it. My wife fell asleep seven different times. It was great. It was a perfect experience.

You didn't wake her for the daughter scenes to be like, get a fucking load of this?

I have a question I want to ask, but I can't ask it on the pod, so I'll wait.

You want to ask it during the break?

During the break, yeah, whenever we're together, I have a question.

All right, CR. I'll see you tomorrow because We're taping a rewatchables, and it's a movie from the 1980s, and that's all I'm going to say. But we're both very excited about it. Been circling for a while. Thanks, CR.

See you, Chris Ryan.

Taking a break. Now it's time for a special part of today's episode brought to you by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV, where you can find Joe House on the Ringer Sunday pregame show that we do on Sunday mornings. It is a very fun show, and it's right on there on YouTube TV. House, we passed the halfway point in the season. Nfl Sunday ticket now only $89. Oh, yeah. For the stretch run. This is when it matters.

Yeah, get it now.

Bundle NFL Sunday ticket and YouTube TV together, which I would highly recommend. You can watch every game every Sunday. I wish I had known this last year, but now I love YouTube TV. It's great. You know what YouTube TV does from your house? It tapes the challenge. Just puts it in my library because I always forget. And then all of a sudden, it's like, Oh, it's the challenge. And I just zoomed through. It's great. It also allows you to thank yourself this holiday season. Nfl Sunday ticket for $89. Offer ends December second. Local national games on YouTube TV. Nfl Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Terms of embargo apply. As you know, House, YouTube TV has crowned me their CMO, their Chief Multiview Officer, to help pick the top four games of the week that you should watch with Multiview. It's the early games this week. Minnesota, Chicago has to be on there, I think. Nice little NFC North battle.

Classic NFC North divisional rivalry.

Lions, Colts. I want to see Richardson. It's a home game for the Colts. Me, too. The Lions are a really fun Multiview team because their offense is good. That's on there. Then I think we throw both of our favorite teams in here. New England at Miami. Then Washington hosting Dallas. Hopefully, we'll get two wins. We should parlor those together.

Oh, I like that.

Yes, let's do it. Let's do it. That's our multi-view choice. Thanks again to our friends at NFL Sunday Ticket, YouTube TV for sponsoring this part of today's episode, Don't miss a moment of the action when you bundle NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. Again, how much is it house?

Eighty-nine bucks.

That's it. You can sign up at youtube. Com/bs and get it. Offer ends December second, local national games on YouTube TV. Nfl Sunday Ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Terms and embargoes apply. Device and content restrictions apply. All right, Million Dollar Picks, Week 12. I'm not happy with how we did last week, considering we love the Broncos and Chargers, both those hit. We really like the Colts and the Jets and somehow did the wrong bet. We did a bet with the Colts plus three and a half with Richardson's rushing, and then he had the ball a ton rushing and somehow didn't hit the 38 and a half. Then we had the Chiefs in a tease, Chiefs up to plus eight, and Chiefs plus three and a half, another tease. That game was a one-score game, and they didn't win. I have no regrets about putting the Chiefs in the tease. No, you can't. I do regret listening to you on the Browns.

That was a mistake.

That was a drunk house. That was a mistake. We don't want to talk about it. We're moving on. So week 12, there's three games I like and a parlay I like. Which one do you want to hit first? The or the three games?

Let's save the parlay for last. Parlay is like dessert, right? It's like the nice Sunday at the end because we're taking all these nice parts and put them together.

All right, so Schrager and I, in part one of the podcast, talked about this packers-liners game. Packers are minus one and a half at home. They almost beat the Niners last year in the playoffs and really could have. They've been a team that we all like from a talent standpoint that has not really totally put it together again. But what we have always seen, primarily with the right around Thanksgiving time, somebody starts making a jump. Some people would think that's going to be the Niners, and I just don't see it. I think it's been a year from hell. I didn't like the way McAfree looked last week at all. Kittle's banged up. Their defense isn't the same. From a narrative standpoint, house, I could see this being a game where the packers take care of business. We officially realized it's not the Niners' year, and we start thinking about this packers team as a possible. All right, maybe they'll give the Lions a good game in the playoff's game. What don't you like about that narrative theory?

That the packers don't look like a team to me that can take care of business. They are messing around, playing around, effing around with their food every week. I think it is because Jordan Love is not 100% healthy. We haven't had that real Jordan Love breakout game that became hallmark of that packers team the second half of last season. That also coincided with Aaron Jones, ripping off a bunch of honey yard. So they had the back. It is Jacob's. But we haven't seen that two-headed monster. They get vertical with Jordan Love because he's got all the time to get to those receivers. The receiver core is still great. The receiving core is still great. And Jacobs will get his yards sometimes in certain circumstances substances, but we haven't really seen the full rep of that.

Can I give you the game where we did see it? Because it was a while ago.

Let's hear it.

Week 6, Arizona, love through four TDs. They beat Arizona 34 to 13. We chalked it up to like, Wow, it's Arizona. Arizona has been really good since that game. Since then, yeah. Now I look back to that week 6, and I think, That was a pretty good win. Because then after that, they play Houston, they win by 2. They play at Jacksonville, they win by three. Kind of a stupid game. They play home against Detroit. They lose by 10. But Detroit's the best team in the league.

Much worse than that.

Then they play last week against Chicago, and it was a play with your food game against a team that had a new offensive coordinator. I thought the bears played really well in that game, but they did get it done at the end. I guess my theory is they're a little undervalued. I I think San Francisco is still a little overvalued because I think people keep waiting for the real San Francisco to show up, and I'm not sure it's there. And maybe this is the week. I think they should be favored by two and a half or three. I feel like I'm getting a free point or point and a half.

So the crazy thing is the line was two and a half earlier this week, but I think that was a hedge because the reports of Purdy, Purdy was doing limited practice and he's got a sore shoulder. There was some speculation about whether or not he was going to play in this game. The fact that it's moved down to one and a half seems like some money has come in on the Niners that suggests that Purdy is going to play. If that's the case- Injured George Kittle, who said he's going to try to play. Yeah.

Well, that It makes me nervous.

What do we think about Bosa?

Juan Jennings, Bosa, a little compromised.

Bosa, it seems like it might be game time decision, whether he plays or not.

Then in Lambo against a team that feels like they should have beaten him last has something to prove. I like this spot for the packers. I'm in on this bet.

I'm going to let you do it. We're not going to have a disagreement.

But you're afraid that you're still a little afraid of the Niners.

Yeah, because they have all that talent. We haven't seen McAfree yet.

But that's my point is, I don't think McAfree is healthy. He may not be. It's like you saying, We haven't seen Embiid yet. It's like, I don't know if we're seeing Embiid for a while. To me, McAfree doesn't look like McAfree yet.

I I think that's fair. I'm worried about seeing him this week.

Packers minus one-a-half. I'm marking that down. Cardinals, Seahawks. Cardinals are getting one-a-a-half in Seattle. There's some weather stuff maybe with this game that makes me a little nervous with Kyler Murray and bad weather. In general, the Seahawks going from seeming like their season was over last week, they get the huge drive from Gino against the Niners, which is another bad sign with the Niners that they gave up that long Gino drive. Now they're playing the Cardinals at home this week, and they have a chance to really reinsert themselves in this race. We have Seattle bets from before the season. I think I might even have them to win the NFC West, which could be still alive if they win this game. I'm a Cardinals believer. I think they're good. They really won me over the last few weeks. The thing I like about this house is you have Seattle's defense, 27th against the run, and Arizona with this physical pounding running game they have with James Connor. I just feel like they can run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. Even if you're going to like Seattle in this game, then maybe it's an Arizona first bet, Seattle for the game, plus 800 type thing.

But I think Arizona can beat them. I think this is another narrative game to me where we come out of and go, Arizona, I think they're for real. At the same time, Seattle's ability to throw the ball and run the ball and come from behind, which they did last week, scares me a little. So where do you stand?

It's a 50-50 game. We talked this on East Coast Bias. Raheem Palmer and I were heads up. I preferred Arizona, and the dream is on Seattle. My issue with Seattle is that is the least trustworthy offensive line in football. Each of the times that I've tried to come up with a basis for Seattle taking advantage of somebody, it's born out of the idea that they can establish the run. They sometimes can and sometimes can and most of the time can't. Part of the reason to prefer Seattle would be the return of D. K. Metcath. And really, Smith and Jigba has been incredible, both from a fantasy perspective, but most importantly, from a chemistry perspective with Gino. So the question for Arizona is, can they put pressure on Gino? Because the spits are crazy with Gino when he has time. And that really was the thing that Seattle was able to take advantage of down the stretch against the Niners, no Bosa. And Gino got really comfortable with the lanes he could run in and the lanes he could see to throw the ball in. I don't really have a strong feel. I express a preference for Arizona, but I certainly could see Seattle.

Dream said that in his model, these teams are dead even. Interesting. It really does feel like a 50-50 game.

I just want to point out Seattle's last five of their last seven. Sure. It came within one San Francisco stop, with that being six to seven. I'm happy to be wrong on this, and if so, lose some money. But I like this Arizona team. I think they know who they are, and they can run the ball, and I think they'll be able to pressure Gino and make a couple of mistakes. I just think they're better.

It's just a defense for Arizona. That's all. They've been on the right side of variants, a bunch of games that they've won by one or two points.

21st past defense, and Seattle is second with the pass. As you mentioned, Smith Najibba has been a revelation last week. He was awesome in that last game. They were going over and over again. I'm going to mark the Cardinals down.

That's fine.

Ravens Chargers. My first sense, think I was, I really like the Chargers. The more I staring at it, and the more I staring at it, I keep coming back to this question. Are the Ravens really going to go seven and five? That's going to be their record after week 12. They're going to be seven and five?

I don't want to do this because we had a conversation. The very beginning of the season, we were looking at teams after week one and said, Here's the list of teams. We were looking for some... There were some giant lines out there. We were like, Are the Ravens really going to go 0-2? Are the Ravens going to lose to the Raiders? The mother ever. They did it. They did it. Those sons of bitches. I don't want that to be the rationale.

Well, can I give you this? They have four losses. They He lost to Kansas City on the. Isiah likely stepped on 6 inches of the line game. They blew that Vegas game when they're up 10 in the fourth quarter. That's the weirdest result of the year. I would put it against any other game. They dropped the game-winning interception in Cleveland. The fucking guy dropped it. And Jameis ends up going down and getting it, but he just threw them an interception. They didn't catch it. And the Pittsburgh game was stupid. I mean, I loved it because I had Pittsburgh, but missed multiple field goals. It was just one of those games.

It's what happens. That's what happens in those games.

And then I look at the Chargers, who I think are a really good team. As a home team, I get it. I had them last week, but I feel like the Ravens can just run on them and move the ball. You think about how easily Burrow was able to just move the ball in the second half against the Chargers. Why wouldn't Baltimore be able to do that?

That's the thing to me. I don't think the Chargers are a really good team. I I think they are really- Maybe I should say a really good surprise team. Exactly. Perfect. Perfect way to put it because it is incredible. They tried their goddamnness to charger the F out of that game, but hard ball, and then whatever's going on inside the locker room with those guys. They just did enough to not charger the outcome of that game. But I thought that what we saw in the second half when Cincinnati... I mean, it really was a game where whoever has to ball at of this game is going to win this ever game. And they could not, under any circumstances, slow down that Cincinnati offense, slow down Joe Burrow. I really think that, which one's the younger? Which is the- I thought Jim was older.

Jim's older, I think.

Jim is the charger coach, right?

Yeah. Oh, my God. House. Really?

No, I think John's older. That's why you're confusing me. I'm pretty sure John's older.

I'm confusing. You thought Jim Harbaugh was maybe not the charger's coach. That was a good bit. John Harbaugh, older brother. I think it's John. John Harbaugh is older.

Good call. There we go. He tried to make fun of me because I don't know which is which. Big Brother, Little Brother. I like it. It's a rematch of the Super Bowl. Big Brother had his way.

You're saying if you coached against either of your Black Sheep brothers, it's a guaranteed win? Just back house with any money line?

Not only that, but I would be looking for an opportunity to put my nuts on their forehead. Absolutely positive. We might have to have both of the house brothers on at some point, just so people know they exist. I can assure you they're available.

Would Dick house ever come on or would we have to put it on a seven-second delay?

Definitely with delay. Yes, for sure.

Well, Baltimore- I love the Ravens.

We can cut to the chase.

Yeah, because they have the 30-second pass defense. But what we saw from the chargers last week, their receivers, they're okay. They're really getting... They're eking out the most they can get out of it. But there's still some moments where like, Oh, yeah, That's right. You're Josh Palmer.

Oh, yeah, that's right. You're Justin Herbert. Remember? For a quarter and a half? Yeah, right. We know who you are, buddy. We know all... You've got the great-Oh, wow. I don't want to talk to you. You're making the nerds.

He's mad now. Don't make the nerds mad.

I actually like him. I think he's terrific. All the reports, he's a golf guy. I'm into Justin Herbert.

I like that shot they had before the game of him, Harba pounding his pads and just yelling at him. I'm into him.

I'm into Herbert. But he'll disappear for a quarter in a heartbeat. Let there be no doubt.

I just can't get past the Ravens going seven and five. Seems crazy to me. I think they're going to be able to move the ball up and down. The Chargers, Mac didn't play last week. The Chargers defense doesn't seem as crazy as it was five, six weeks ago to me.

I agree.

All right. That's our third one. I like the rate. Then I really want to work the Broncos into something. The Broncos, that line is now up to six and a half in Vegas. No way.

No, can't do that. That's way too many points.

Well, we're going to put them in a parlay. Thank God.

That's a relief.

Vegas' offense. This is really something. Amir Abdullah was trending as a roster trend in fantasy league this week because he has a chance to be the running I was like, Amir Abdullah, it feels like he's been around a while. He's 31?

Wow.

I would have guessed 25. He's almost Zeke Elliott's age. He's going to be the running back. Their quarterback situations, the debacle. They have no receivers. It's just Brock Bauer's over and over again, which I'm pretty sure Sean Payton is aware of Brock Bauer's. I don't know how the Raiders... Denver's defense, it's first yards per play, second sacks, third hits. Vegas can't block. I I get that it's in Vegas, and you also have Denver coming off a big win last week, but I just don't see how... I think Vegas might be done. They might be a short for the rest of the year until we get to some weird Christmas situation. So Broncos with the Chiefs in Carolina, they're favorite by ten and a half. Chiefs coming off a loss. Carolina's defense, 32nd against the run and 31st on first downs. Just feels like the Chiefs will move the ball and do Chief stuff. Chiefs down to minus two and a half, Bronco's money line, and then your team, the Washington Commanders, a. K. The C-words.

Yeah.

Fevered by 10 and a half against the Cowboys. Can we just have them win by three? Can we have Casey win by three, Washington wins by three, and the Broncos win? That is plus 103 on FanDuel, and I would like to do it.

I love it. That's a dessert parlay. Three nice ingredients pulled together to make beautiful harmony in our mouths, if it was a... What are you doing for your dessert? Are you a pumpkin pie guy for Thanksgiving dessert? What are you putting in your mouth for that?

I love pumpkin pie, but I also really love pecan pie. Oh, great. What I like to do is get a slice of each and then eat both and even mix the bites.

Let me recommend that you add one more because this is all. Have you had sweet potato pie?

Sweet potato pie is great. Magnificent. Yeah, I would totally add that. So you're going a Ménage a pie.

Yeah. Forget it, man. We can do this in proper Thanksgiving style. That sounds great. I want to give out all of my thanks to those beautiful pies.

So sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie.

And pecan pie.

And pecan pie all together.

I want to F-bomb that one.

Call that one the Joe house is asleep on the couch pie, because that's what would happen about 14 minutes after.

That's a full pie That's what that is. We're getting the pies ready. Everybody's getting the ingredients. Everybody's going to the store this weekend to pull it together. We'll be going to the store this weekend with all the extra money in our pockets from that delicious pie parlay, baby.

Yeah, that's our... We'll make that the pie parlay. I was thinking, I watch the Sopranos every night before I go to bed because my wife's asleep. I finished season 4, 5, 6, 7, and then I was like, You know what? I'm going to stay with these guys. I circled back, started with one. Pine Barons was on last night.

Oh, my God.

Which is the legendary Sopranos. You can't really go to bed after you watch them. No, I was so fired. It takes hours. I was like, I'll watch 20 minutes. I ended up watching the whole thing. But they're in the car and Chris finds the ketchup packets, and he gives them the ketchup packets, and there's relish. Pauley Walnets is the funniest character of all time. I think he's funny in any comedy. And he's eating the ketchup, and he's like, Mix it with the relish. Mix it with the relish, with the ketchup packets and the relish packets. And that's what made me think of the pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, pecan pie is the Pauley Walnets, mix it with the relish dessert extravaganza. Mix it with the relish, Christie.

It's outrageous.

I'm going to lose my foot.

Before we go, before we move on, you don't have any interest in this Philadelphia LA Rams game? Because folks are... I've seen some arguments on both sides that people are really arguing, be careful. It's a be careful situation. Especially Jalen hurts these nuts. You don't want to be in situation.

It doesn't look happy to me.

To me, I had it marked down as a stay away. Okay, fine.

Because I thought the Pats absolutely could have beaten the Rams last week, and they did some of the dumbest shit. We blitzed the whole game. There were stats afterwards after Sal and I did the pod that they single-covered Cupp and Nakuha basically all game, which Guess how that turned out? Terrible. Mayo just couldn't have been less aggressive in the worst possible situations. And yet the pats had the ball with a chance to win the game. I just didn't think the Rams looked that good.

I'm with you. But I don't trust the Eagles. We keep waiting for it. Well, that's it. Especially, Jalen hurts these nuts. It's not been as accurate. He is running great. His legs look great. But here's the test and why I understand why people are advocating in favor of the Rams.

They're home dogs, first of all. They're plus two and a half.

The Eagle secondary deserves the plottets that's receiving from the draft of those two rookies. They've been playing very well. But this is an entirely different class of offense, if this offense really gets going, that the Eagles are up against. I just wanted to make sure we talked through it, didn't have a conviction on it.

The case is, they went straightforward last week because they knew they had the Pats game, knowing this Eagles game was coming. Mcvay against FanDio. This is a kitchen sink game. That's one of the reasons I like the Ravens. I think the Ravens, it's a kitchen sink game. Love it. Because you're seven and five, you're out of the AFC North. Now you might be like a six seed. You need the game.

Because the six seed is going to get either Buffalo or the Chiefs in the first round of the epic playoffs.

You want no part of that.

I'm going to have mercy.

The Rams need every game because they're in a dog fight with all those NFC West teams. Can't lose any more games. I do wonder if... That's why it's a stay away, though, because I could talk myself into each side. There was one other game I really liked. You're going to make fun of me. The pats are plus 310 in Miami.

I'm not making fun of you. I think it's funny. I think that line's crazy. I understand it, but man, I'm not betting against Jake May. Let me have Jake May in a That's fine. Is it seven or seven and a half?

Yeah. I was wondering, is there... I mean, they're so stupidly coached that I almost feel like you should take the money line and just- Wait, which team? Well, both teams. But you can get May for 200 plus yards, the pats to win the game, and Drake may Two passing touch downs is 6 to 1. Drake May, one passing TD, 200 yards passing, Pats win the game is plus 411, which doesn't really buy you that much value from the plus 310. I just didn't know if there was some Jake may with the pats bet that we wanted to think about.

I'll let you think about it. I know that I'll just play the side on the pats. I'm not laying those points with the Dolphins. It's crazy.

You're not laying the seven. Do you like the seven with the pats? Or do you like the plus 310 fuck it bet?

No, I prefer the points.

The plus seven?

Yeah, I prefer the plus seven.

All right. All right, it's time. Million dollar picks. Week 12 heading into Thanksgiving, house's favorite day of the air. Is anything even close to Thanksgiving for you?

No, nothing rivals it.

I have a lot of people in my life who love Thanksgiving, including me, including nephew Kyle. You're number one. You love it the most. I've seen you be worried that you might have to be driven to the hospital because you ate too much. You passed out multiple times. You drink too much, you eat too much. If you die from over eating, over drinking, it will be on Thanksgiving.

Everybody will understand.

They'll be like, house died. Was it Thanksgiving? It was. Millionaire Picks, week 12. We lost $355,000 last week, and it was really because of the chiefs because they didn't cover a couple of teases. I'm fine with it. Did you say it was the fifth time 124 games that the Chiefs have lost by more than eight points. It's fine. We were on the wrong side of a historic event. We were still up $413,000 for the Season house, and we're going to put 200K on the following bets. The Baltimore Ravens minus three on the road against the LA chargers. Are the Ravens going to go seven and five? I don't think so. Can they throw all over the place with the chargers? I do think so. Is there a Big Brother getting revenge on his little brother. House, you're a big brother.

I mean, it's not even getting revenge. It's just taking advantage of what's rightfully yours. That's it. You were first. It's your little brother. It's exactly right.

Yeah, you were first, and that's it. That's all. Chargers Chargers, great win last week. Some holes, some things that we saw we didn't love. I just think the Ravens, they're not going seven and five. It's too ridiculous. They've already had four dumb losses. They're not going to have five. Ravens minus three. That's our first one. Cardinals, plus one and a half in Seattle. Seattle, a great somewhat lucky win against a banged up Niners team that last week to save their season. I think the Cardinals run the ball all over the Seahawks. I like their defense. I think they lose that game in week six to the packers. And since then, I like the way they look, house. I think they're going to win the division. We're both in.

Yeah, Cardinal is coming off the bye week. And if you look at the last 10 games of the Seahawks at home. Their against the spread numbers are not very good at home. The 12th man might need to step it up a little bit.

12th man in trouble. Maybe roommates with Joel Embiid. Packers at home, minus one and a half against the Niners. Almost beat them last year in the playoffs. Couldn't do it. Catching a Niners team at a really nice time. I think this is a shell of the Niners team we think it is.

You're on your own on this one.

You're on your own with this one. You're not against it, but you're letting me do a guitar solo. That's it. I believe in the talent on this packers team. They killed Arizona in week six. I think they're due for another really good game. Fans are going to be fired up. Atmosphere is going to be great. Weather won't be awesome. I like the spot. Packers minus one and a half. So put 200K on all three of those. And then we have a little parlay for you. Bring in the Chiefs in Carolina down to minus two and a half. Bring in your Washington Seawards against the The carcass of Dallas Cowboys down to two and a half at home. And then the Denver Broncos, a team that did us really nicely last week that we've won some money on this year that we really appreciate. Bo Nix, making a run in Offensive Player of the Year with your guy, Jaden Daniels. Fine. We're going to take the Bronco's Money Line in Vegas against a terrible Vegas team. You put those three together, Broncos Money Line, Chiefs minus two and a half, Washington minus two and a half, plus 103.

Good. 200 200K on that?

200k on that. Yes, sir. It is the pie parlay, after all.

Then last but not least, because it's Thanksgiving and house is feeling generous, he's allowing me to do a Drake May parlay because I love Drake May. He's playing in Miami.

This is a Drake May podcast. He doesn't need a player pie. This is it.

Well, the line's too high. This Pats team might be deficient in certain areas. They might be poorly coached. Maybe. They might make them mistakes every week, but they almost beat the Rams last week. I think it's worth a flyer. Pats plus seven and a half.

Good. Like the extra hook. That's a nice one.

Drake May, 200 plus passing yards. Drake May, over 26.5 rushing yards. That's two scrambles. Roll There's a lot of them out. Yeah, there.

Maybe in the first half.

Drake May, one passing breakdown. Just one. Okay. Plus 341, we are putting 50K on that.

50k. Good number. That's right.

Good number. It's a little sprinkling.

The The Drake May's full facial.

Well, it's the Drake May, almost like the pie parlay you talked about earlier. Pecan pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie. That's Drake May 200 plus yards, over 26 and a half rushing yards, one plus passing touch downs. Hop on the Jake May bandwagon right now. Those are the Million Dollar Picks for Week 12. House, happy weekend before Thanksgiving. Great to see you. And we'll see you on the Ringer Sunday pregame show on Sunday on YouTube TV and FanDuel TV before of the action. Thanks for being on.

Can't wait. Thanks, buddy.

All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks to Steve Cerruti and Kyle Creighton, as always. Thanks to Joe House and Chris Ryan. Don't forget Ringer Sunday pregame. That show is going on on YouTube TV and Fandil TV on Sunday. Maybe I'll even pop on for a second. Who knows? Don't forget about a new rewatch was coming on Monday. It is a movie from the 1980s. I'll give you some hints over the weekend on the rewatch. Well, it's Twitter feed. Enjoy the weekend. I will see you on Sunday. I don't have Must be 21 plus in President Slec States for Kansas, an affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus in President DC. Gambling problem? Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help. Com. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg. Org/chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp. Org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma. Org, or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support, Massachusetts, or call 1877-8 Hope, NY, or text Hope, NY in New.