Episode 075 - Rockets' Struggles, Warriors' Dominance, and Streaking Teams

Chris and Paul begin with recent NBA news, including the Rockets' struggles and dismissal of head coach Kevin McHale, the Warriors' undefeated start to the season, and the Mavericks' recent six-game winning streak, then talk about teams they've watched, the Celtics, the rookie class, and some TV/movies/podcasts.

Episode 064 - NBA Finals Recap and Draft Preview

The NBA’s offseason is here, and before Chris and Paul get into the NBA Draft and their favorite prospects, they first begin by recapping the 2015 NBA Finals and the Golden State Warriors’ complete team victory, small-ball strategy, and LeBron James’s historical dominance. As always they end on some pop culture talk, including Daredevil Episode 3, the Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones, and some miscellaneous TV talk (Community, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, True Detective Season 2).

Episode 063 - NBA Finals Preview

Chris and Paul preview the 2015 NBA Finals and the hype and various narratives leading up to it, transition to some recent coaching hires, and then wrap up on the second episode of Netflix’s “Daredevil” and the series finale of “Mad Men”.

The Give and Go: Best Finishing Move

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

The Give and Go is a quick back and forth between Paul Mitchell and Chris St. Jean about a relevant subject in the NBA at that moment.

Paul: The MVP debate is down to a two-man race between Golden State’s Steph Curry and Houston’s James Harden with just a week left to play, but how much should voters factor in the quality of post-big shot celebratory gestures into their Most Valuable Player ballots? Is Harden’s “stir the pot” miming the league’s best finishing move this season? How does it stack up historically?

Episode 057 - NBA Awards

Chris and Paul break down the contenders for the Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Rookie of the Year awards for the first 57 minutes, and end on some Whiplash, Gone Girl, and “Community” discussions.

Chris and Paul's All-Star Starter Votes

Credit:  NBA.com

It's that time of year again.  Paul and I probably spend too much time talking about All-Stars in general and, like Zach Lowe, probably take them too seriously but it’s a great way for us to recognize great play around the league.  I find the discussion around All-Star reserves more intriguing in general and Paul and I have spoken our mind about the disappointment we have with NBA fans based on how All-Star votes have been in the past.  As the fan voting comes to a close though, Paul and I cast our votes over the weekend via Twitter (they always say you can’t complain about the process unless you partake in it, right?).  

This year, we, like the NBA, thought we would utilize the power of Twitter.  For the NBA, #NBABallot has been an overall success.  It’s become the most popular way for people to vote, it’s given voice to communities in support of their favorite player (Kyle Lowry comes to mind), and the hashtag has become a representation of something within the basketball discourse community.  Because #NBABallot means something to you (and I bet if you’re reading this blog than it does), it was a success for the NBA.  

Paul and I tried to use 140 characters and the ability to include multimedia (whether it’s a link, an image, a GIF, Vine, or YouTube video) to make our case for our NBA All-Star starters.  Here’s what we came up with:

Episode 047 - Players

Chris and Paul spend the podcast talking about NBA players, from the random ones to the MVP candidates to the guys who could probably use a trade, before finishing up on episode 11 of the Serial podcast.

Worth a click:

Kobe Bryant is Hurting the Lakers (Ian Levy, The Cauldron)

The Fundamentals: Four sophomores hitting their stride after initial delay (Rob Mahoney, SI.com)

Milwaukee’s Makeover: How the Bucks Decided to Buckle Down and Play for the Future (Zach Lowe, The Triangle/Grantland)

A Brief History of Utter Ineptitude: The Past 10 Years of the NBA’s Atlantic Division (Jason Concepcion, The Triangle/Grantland)