Latest / Hustle Sports Fantasy Podcast / 2026-27 Fantasy Basketball Category League Cheat Sheet: 9-Cat Draft Strategy, Punts & Scarce Stats

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2026-27 Fantasy Basketball Category League Cheat Sheet: 9-Cat Draft Strategy, Punts & Scarce Stats · Hustle Sports Fantasy Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Whoa, what's going on? It's your boy T-Will.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Look, we here for another episode of Draft Prep.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: We got to get ready.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Hey, I've been talking to the points leagues all off season,
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: but this time I show my category managers some love
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: out there. To the category believers out there, this one
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: is for you. Welcome back to the believers. I'm your
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: boy T-Will from the Hustle Sports Fantasy Podcast channel, and
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: I'm tapping in today to get y'all ready for these
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: category leagues. Look, We got a lot of work to do,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: not enough time to do it. Draft right around the corner.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: But before we get into it, I got to read
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: something off to y'all. Look, Believe in Fantasy are giving
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: away NBA rookie cards from players like LaMelo Barnes, Tyler Hero, Ant-Man,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Tyrese Halliburton, and Josh Gideon Moore. To enter, make sure
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: you go to NBAFantasyBasketball.com, complete the short survey that they
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: send you to your email, and while you're there, become
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: an MVP member It's an affordable paid subscription that gives
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: you direct access to Robin Marks all season long.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: And it helps.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: And you get that access to Robin Marks on Substack.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: And it helps keep the channel going. Again, that is NBAFantasyBasketball.com. Look,
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: let's get down to the business, baby. The cheat sheet
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: episode is here. I know y'all been wondering why you
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: can consistently talk to the points players. Look, I got y'all.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: We are here to get after it. Today, we building
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: a nine category draft cheat sheet, using eight players or
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: similar types to demonstrate different ways to construct, excuse me,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: a winning roster. The nine categories, as y'all know, for
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: the category players, the points, threes, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and turnovers. Higher is
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: better in eight categories. Fewer is better in the turnover category.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: That kind of goes without saying. Head to head, nine category.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: The objective is to win at least five categories a week.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: I know y'all know that, but we got to make
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: sure everybody else know that. You don't need to dominate everything,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: but you obviously need to get five to do what?
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: To get a dub. Because that's the only reason why
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: we're here. That's to get a dub. First round, you
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: already know. This goes without saying, though. Me personally, I'm
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: in a nine category league. I'm going for a Wimby
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: and Yama. Like, over anybody else. You know he's going
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: to score. He's going to get you some playmaking. But
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the main thing is your block category, you're going to
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: have that on lock with somebody like Wimpy Yama. He
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: provide elite blocks, bro. Then you're talking, like I said, points, rebounds,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: three-point shooting here and there. But the shot blocking advantage,
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: and if you got that out of someone that's elite,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: your foundation is indestructible down there because you build it.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Something that's hard to get later on in the season.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: It's easy to find scoring three points. And I say easier,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: that's the better word. It's easier to find scoring three
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: points shooting later in the season. But shot blocking centers,
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: they don't come that often. And when you can narrow
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: down it with an elite talent like Wimby Yama, your
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: squad is going to be crazy. You get a different
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: advantage from the scoring and playmaking of Jokic. the scoring
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: of Shea, scoring and playmaking of Luka. Like those players,
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: we all know they on the same level as Saginaw.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: In the points league, it don't matter which one you get.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: But in the category league, me personally, I'm nailing down
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: those blocks because he going to get everything else. So
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: you're going to have scoring. And in them early rounds, man,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: you're going to have scoring from probably your first few picks.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: So don't like scoring going to come, especially in that
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: early part of the draft. But like I say, it's
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: easier to find it late in the season. But that's
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: who I would start off with. Next up, I would
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: come back with a Jalen Johnson type, man. And, you know, obviously,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Jalen Johnson probably gone in that first round. But you
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: still can find assists from a playmaker, playmaking abilities from
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: a front court player in later rounds than the first.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: When you look at Jalen Johnson, he's a primary playmaker.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: He's super valuable in nine categories, nine cat leagues, because
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: he provides the playmaking. He provides the rebounding. and he
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: provides the scoring. So when you attribute that to the
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: assist that you can get from somebody that's not even
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: the one, meaningful assist, like he.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Really liked that.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, if you can get your hands on a
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Jalen Johnson type before they're wearing your draft, you better
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: make it happen. And some other types I would like,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: if you can't get your hands on Jalen Johnson, Scottie Barnes, Singoon.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: They provide playmaking outside of their main ability of scoring.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: on top of helping you take care of the scoring because, remember,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: points is a category. So, look, ball handling responsibility can
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: increase turnovers, but you want the efficiency.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying?
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: You want the overall production when it comes to these
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: nine category leagues.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: Evaluate. Hey, always evaluate.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Your roster from pick one, pick two, all the way through,
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: and that's going to help you build that foundation. Player
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: three or player type three. Three-point specialist. Hey, we know
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: what this new NBA is. The three-point shot is very
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: vital to what everyone want to do. So the three-point shooting,
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: as I said earlier, is everywhere. But you want to
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: nail down the efficient three-point shooter. And somebody like Colin
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Gillespie answered that question. He made 232 threes last season
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: in 80 games. So basically, he averaged almost right under
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: three made threes a game. Over a four-game stretch in
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: a week, sometimes five I've seen, you got two out
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: of 15 threes. And remember, just because he averaged three
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: threes a game, look, some of them games he hit six, seven.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: So you can get a 15 to 20 three-pointers made
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: in a week stretch. And players like Gillespie help you
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: do that. Remember, consider the minutes. Consider the field goal percentage.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: defensive production like you do need all that other stuff
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: to help you win categories right but do not ignore
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: the three-point shooting it is vital and people like Gillespie
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: can offer you three-point shooting on top of not offering
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: you so many weaknesses to where you can't play this
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: guy he's playable and somebody to add to that doubling
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: down on the three-point shooting but from a different way
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: you talk about Desmond Bain similar players threes scoring, free
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: throw value. That's a main one. He going to get
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: the free throw volume. He going to make it at
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: a high clip. So imagine a player giving you threes
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: a game, but they ain't really doing nothing. This ain't
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Desmond Bain. Listen, Desmond Bain, similar type players are players
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: that can help you win in the category league.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: And then think about the cost, the cost of people
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: like this. You know what I'm saying?
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Bain going to cost more than Gillespie. But where
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: you get them, you're going to be middle of the draft.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: Probably late for Gillespie. So you think about Desmond Bain,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: somebody else, another type, Conker Nipple, MPJ. MPJ get buckets.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: He get them up there. And he can get close
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: to 10 rebounds. So if you can get three-point shooting
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: and 10 rebounds, it's crazy, crazy, crazy. So those are
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: names to consider when you're talking about adding three-point shooting,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: but you need a little bit more than just three-point shooting.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Desmond Bain, MPJ types, Alcon Knipple. Look, they out there.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: Don't get it twisted. Don't panic.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: Don't panic. You can get what you need in a draft,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: but you got to draft with a plan.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: On the other side of the bar, and this is
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: why I think the NBA is different, you know what
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: I'm saying? But there are guys who still get after it,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: and Dyson Daniels is one of those guys.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Stills, specialists.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Demonstrate why a nine-category rank is different from points categories.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: Because Dyson Daniels don't really need the elite scoring, but
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: he got the elite defensive work. And the elite defensive
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: work definitely strengthen a category and make you harder to beat.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: You already nailed it down with the Wimby type earlier.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: You come back, double back with a steel guy like
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: this who can score decent. Now you strong points, threes, assists.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: But Dyson Daniels answer the question when it comes to steels.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Defense.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Now, yeah, shooting ain't really his thing, but you already
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: nailed down points with everybody else I was naming. Also,
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: some similar types to consider, like Dyson Daniels, Herb Jones.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Another example of defensive value, contributing steals and blocks, Ahmed Thompson.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Those are defensive production.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Now, I know Azar and Dyson Daniels more on the
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: lower end of the offensive spectrum, but you get my point.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: They can offer you a little bit of everything, and
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: defensive production can influence fantasy wins. Hey, keep that in mind.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: Defense is always and still will be important. Identify your
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: steal source. Identify your roster construct. By the time you
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: get to somebody like Dyson, then you're probably super late
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: in the draft, so you need to identify that earlier.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: But make sure you are complementing your roster. Understand where
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: you may lack at after every round. Obviously, the first
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: two probably won't be needed for that. But after round three,
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: you need to definitely evaluate where your roster is currently
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: standing after round three. Look, balance production. I'm a balanced guy, personally. Like,
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: I want balance in every league I play in because
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: to me, that make you top to bottom.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: Hard to beat.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: OG Ananobi is balanced, non-category type guy. You talk about
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: decent scoring, threes, rebounds, steals, blocks, like whatever you need, bro.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: And it don't even tell the whole story because you
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: look at the stats, you probably feel like he just mid,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: but he really not when it come to this fantasy stuff.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: When it come to this nine category league, OG is
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: super valuable. We all remember, we nailed down the points earlier.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: We nailed down the rebounds earlier. We nailed down the
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: assists from two different players. But then you talk about
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: OG who can compliment those guys just as well. You know,
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: turnovers is where you need something fewer than more.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: So you're talking about OG, not a high turnover guy.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: So he's very efficient when it comes to this offense.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: He's very efficient. You talk about defensive production, balanced everywhere.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: And his teammate, Mikael Bridges, is a guy I would
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: look at as well. And not only the balanced play
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: of Mikael, he's Ironman.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: He don't miss any games.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: So that is very trustworthy, especially in the league today.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: You can get a guy who don't miss much games.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: I told you Collin played 80 games. You can get
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: that type of production from guys who don't miss games.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: You're going to be hard to beat.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: Jay McDaniels from Minnesota is another example of wings who
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: value extends beyond just scoring, but you're still going to
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: get decent scoring. You're going to get decent rebounding. You're
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: going to have a good defensive night. That's what it is.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: And then they get minutes. And they get minutes. So
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: don't sleep on the balance guy. I know that the
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: name ain't sexy. You know what I'm saying?
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: That ain't what the people talking about. We don't care
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: what the people talking about. We care to get a dub.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: That's what we here for. Look, percentage, percentage, percentage. Field
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: goal percentage. I'm going to be honest. Donovan Klinger, I
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: would reach on him.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: I would reach. No, I ain't. Hold on.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I ain't saying a crazy reach. I ain't saying go two,
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: three rounds above what he's supposed to do. But if
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: you can get him around earlier, I would do that.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: You talk about a player like Klingin, high field goal percentage,
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: decent scoring, high rebounding.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Yes, free throws may be, you know.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: But let's say how percentages weighed amongst, you know, the
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: nine category leagues. You know, a player shooting 90% at
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: the line, getting two free throws, Yeah, the percentage is sexy,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: but if he up against somebody who shoots 65% from
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: the line, but the 65% guy getting seven, eight free
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: throws because.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: He a big, and he can step out and shoot it.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: This is why volume matters.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Donovan Cleveland exemplified why volume matters.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: I know he ain't the guy.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: When you talk about a big and the cost on
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: where you spending to get somebody like Cleveland is amazing.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Rebounds, blocks.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: Efficient finishing in the inside, and he can knock down
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: a three, free throw shooting.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: So if you already got high volume but poor shooting,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I hope.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: You ain't got poor shooting in today's league. But if
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: you do, it is what it is. Klingin can help
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: curb some of that. He can help mitigate some of
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: that risk. You know what I'm saying?
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: So listen, Klingin can definitely help you build that roster,
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: strengthen your roster. Shot blockers like Klingin. Rudy Gobert is
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: another one.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: Field goal percentage is going to be crazy because a
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: lot of his points are close to the rim. He
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: getting finishes, putbacks, you know, oops. Mitchell Robinson, another one.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Jalen Duran. Jalen, you know, obviously Rudy and Jalen are,
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: you know, a tier above Mitchell, but you get the point.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: They are attractive because of how they get they scoring.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: And you talk about the other skill sets that they
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: offer you, you're going to get elite rebounding. And with Gobert,
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: you're going to get elite shot blocking. So realistically, Please,
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: do not sleep on these guys. Don't sleep on the bigs.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: The bigs look like it's back, too. I'm not even
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: going to lie to you. The big man might be
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: on the way back. He might not be all the
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: way back, but he might be on the way back.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: But field goal percentage, don't sleep on the bigs when
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: it comes to that. Upside, multi-category upside. This is a guy, Matis, Buzelis, look. Middle,
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: late rounds, this is where you can find real value,
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: real value.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: And guys like Buzelis, he's shown flashes. Not even going
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: to lie to you.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: He's shown a lot of flashes, can contribute across multiple categories.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: He offers scoring upside, three-point shooting, rebounding, a little shot
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: blocking potential.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: I like that combination. Kind of like a modern-day Kirilenko.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: I ain't going to go that far yet, but I
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: can see some similarities in the game. You know what
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: I mean? And then, look, if you kind of mid
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: and rebound, he can help you with that. These later rounds,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: you can find it. Upside ain't guaranteed, as we all know.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Young players ain't always guaranteed to take off like we think.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: They usually struggle with consistency, inefficient at times. But Buzellas
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: has shown major flashes. I believe when you can get
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: an upside play like this, this is a great pick.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Alex Saw is another name I'm looking at that's worth considering.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: We're talking about defensive upside alongside along with decent scoring
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: and decent rebounding numbers. He can help you boost them
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: categories to get you at the five and not at
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: the four because we know if you add four in
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: them category leads, you about to take an L, and
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: we are here to get dubs. Look, that's the only
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: reason why we're here. But don't pay for the breakout
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: before it happens. Let's go back to what I always say.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: Never overspend. Never overspend. I don't care who it is.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Never overspend.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Now, if you reach around early, that guy may be
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: worth it.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Never overspend. So look, we breezed through that. Or at
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: least it felt like we breezed through that. Before you
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: finish drafting, ask yourself, do you know your scoring format? Remember,
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: that's the most important. You always have to know your league,
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: know your format. Non-category rankings are different. It changes, it
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: establishes the way you should draft your squad. You know, next,
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: what did your first round pick establish? Did you build
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: around that foundation? Where are your steals, assists, and blocks
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: or stocks coming from? Don't ignore scarce categories. Are you
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: overpaying for specialists? Are you overpaying for anyone? Scratch specialists,
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: are you overpaying for anyone? Draft calls matter.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: It does.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Did you consider all stock? Did you consider where you
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: was weak? Did you consider where you was strong? What
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: are you doing to improve on that? Are you ignoring turnovers?
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: Are you getting efficient players? High usage is a trade-off
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: for efficiency, but evaluate that. Do you have a plan
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: to win at least, and I would shoot for six
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: because five is too close to four, but do you
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: have a plan to win at least six categories every matchup?
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Highest ranked player ain't the best player for your roster.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: Did you draft it? What's your plan? And remember, if
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: you fail to plan, planning to fail. Look, that's been
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: a wrap on this nine category cheat sheet. Hope y'all
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: remember everything. Look, if you found this helpful, make sure
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: to go check out any episode I've done on the
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: Believe in Fantasy channel. Also check out my fantasy basketball content,
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: 2026-2027 playlist on the Hustle Sports Fantasy Podcast channel.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: I'm T. Will.