Episode 056 - Steve Nash's Retirement & The Race for the Seventh/Eighth Seeds

Chris and Paul discuss Steve Nash’s retirement for the first ten minutes of the podcast, and then break down the field for the Western and Eastern Conference’s last couple of playoff spots.

The Give and Go: Stretch Run

Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports

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: We are now effectively at the stretch run of the season, without any more All-Star breaks or trade deadlines to distract us. So as we hunker down for the last 30 games or so remaining in the 2014-15 season, which team(s) are you looking forward to monitoring? Conversely, which team(s) are you down on, either after any trade deadline (in)activity or because of their style of play?

Trade Deadline Fallout

Mark D. Smith/USA TODAY Sports

Remember on the podcast when Chris and I predicted that the NBA’s trade deadline would be weak and underwhelming? That was fun. Never before have I been so glad to be so wrong, as the transactions flew at such a frenzied pace Thursday afternoon that even the Woj-cyborg showed signs of short-circuiting.

Good lord.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 19, 2015

In total, 37 players were involved in trades on Thursday alone and about a dozen draft picks changed hands. Here’s my best account of rationalizing and breaking down each trade in the chronological order in which they broke, in the hours leading up to Thursday’s 3pm (EST) trade deadline - outside of that last half hour to 20-minute stretch that closed out the activity, when my head might have momentarily exploded. Most of the information has been referenced from SBNation’s concise trade listings, and I’ve used the always clutch Pro Sports Transactions for any future draft picks that were moved.

Episode 050 - Crowd-Sourcing the Second Half

Chris and Paul celebrate their 50th episode with a three-part podcast that features some NBA news, a crowd-sourcing project where they check in with fans of a few different franchises, and a couple of classic clips from old episodes.

Episode 044 - Observations After Three Weeks and Rookie Expectations

Episode 043 - The Return of Basketball

Chris and Paul finally have basketball to talk about, and discuss some observations from the opening two nights of the NBA season.

2014-15 NBA Season Preview: Future Bets

First of all, let me admit that I am probably a horrible gambler, and the reason I’m writing this post is because the last $10 in my SportsBetting.ag account is tied up in NFL future bets. If I suddenly stop writing about NBA lines or gambling again after the NFL season ends in late-December, that will probably mean that I’ve won my ‘over’ bets on the Chargers (8 wins) and the Patriots (11), and you should be happy for me.

Since I can’t yet bet on these preseason props, I’ll write about them instead. All bets are found in the ‘Future Props’ section on www.sportsbetting.ag, as are the odds and payouts, and these are wagers I would be making if I had the funds with which to make them. This method is much cheaper. I hope to make this a regular feature on the blog, and as always, feedback and counter-arguments are appreciated.

Episode 042 - Title Contending Teams and MVP/Playoff Picks

In the final podcast before the start of the 2014-15 NBA season, Chris and Paul finish up their season previews by discussing their five title contenders. They finish by breaking down each conference's playoff teams and possible MVP candidates, but also cover the value of the mid-range jump shot, Byron Scott's disdain for 3's and analytics, and if the Milwaukee Bucks can scrap the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.

2014-15 NBA Season Preview: Jabari Parker

Photo by David Dow via Getty Images

“The coach took it from there, trading on what he had learned from working with the top players in the world as coach of the U.S. Olympic team. ‘The great ones -- Durant, Lebron, Kobe, Carmelo -- don’t have positions,’ Krzyzewski said.  Jabari nodded.  ‘You’re a great player.  And at Duke you will be a player without a position.’”

            -- Feature on SI.com by Jeff Benedict

The one thing everyone agrees on when discussing Jabari Parker is that he will score.  And the one thing nobody agrees on is what position he’s going to play in the NBA.  We can partially blame Coach K for that and this quote reeks of the ‘Face of Team USA Basketball’ that Adrian Wojnarowski portrayed recently.  Jabari had the versatility to play four positions at the college level because of his size, skills, and underrated athleticism.  Coach K took advantage of that and used Jabari to plug any and all holes he had on a thin Duke roster.  Coach K may have sold it to Jabari and his family as the grooming of a superstar, but I’m not so sure it was in Jabari’s best interest for him to have played so many minutes doing things that he will never be asked to do in the NBA.  

Episode 031 - NBA Draft Recap

Chris and Paul recap the entire 2014 NBA Draft.

#2 - Milwaukee Bucks

Mary Langenfeld/USA TODAY Sports

What I'd Do:

Jabari Parker - Duke

6’8” (7’ wingspan), 241 lbs., 03/15/1995

Oh, Milwaukee. So their 2013 offseason plan didn’t really pay off as they intended. Instead of supplementing a young core of bigs, their free agency and trade additions alternated between injury and ineffectiveness, leading to the worst record in the league (!) and this second overall pick. The then-NBA record sale of $550 million (!!) to the Lasry/Edens group in April gives the franchise some long-term stability in Milwaukee and has already brought energy (and attractive daughters) to a fanbase that had to listen to relocation rumors throughout the sale process. The fanbase exists and can ratchet up their rabid-ness when given talented teams but this current roster is far from talented.

After Larry Sanders’s chaotic season (no NBA player needs a publicist more), Giannis Antetokounmpo might be their only true “prospect” or building block, which at the least allows them to draft the best player available at number two. It should be tough to end up with a Darko Milicic or Hasheem Thabeet or Evan Turner in this draft, and picking second might even alleviate some pressure and tough decisions.