Episode 079 - Take Two with Brady Jennings

Paul returns for the first podcast in months and talks to Brady Jennings about everything from the historical ramifications of the 2015-16 NBA season, to pessimism in politics, to the start of the 2016 MLB season.

Episode 078 - San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, and Serial Season 2

Chris and Paul discuss the early season success of the San Antonio Spurs and their record-setting defense, then transition to the Toronto Raptors and how they’ve managed to keep making ground in a competitive Eastern Conference, despite injuries to their starting frontcourt. For their pop culture segment, they get into the return of the Serial podcast, and season 2’s new focus and the inherent biases in dealing with a contemporary case.

Episode 077 - Warriors/Pacers, Jerry Colangelo to the 76ers, and Timberwolves, Jazz, Hornets

Chris and Paul begin by previewing Tuesday’s Warriors/Pacers game, the Jerry Colangelo hire in Philadelphia, and then a bit on the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, and the surprising Charlotte Hornets. As usual, they end on pop culture talk, as Chris continues catching up on The Leftovers and Paul describes his latest Netflix binge series.

Episode 076 - Kobe's Retirement, Lakers, Pacers, and Wizards

Chris and Paul discuss Kobe Bryant’s announcement that he will be retiring at the season’s end, including the concept of finality among great NBA players and which current superstars will age well as they enter the twilight of their careers. After about 10 minutes they transition to the Los Angeles Lakers and how the franchise stands, post-Kobe, and then the strong recent play of the Indiana Pacers and, alternately, the struggling Washington Wizards. They end with some TV talk on The Leftovers, Master of None, and Jessica Jones, and some slight video game musings.

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 073 - Tier-ing Up the West

Chris and Paul take on the Western Conference and break down all 15 teams into tiers based on their projected finish in 2015-16.

Episode 072 - Tier-ing Through the Eastern Conference

Chris and Paul return after a temporary hiatus to preview the Eastern Conference by separating its teams into tiers. They get into their title contender, candidates for the second-best team in the conference, why Paul was wrong about this Boston Celtics roster, and which playoff hopefuls are a couple of breaks away and which teams need a drastic change.

Episode 071 - Memphis, Movies, and Media with Jonah Jordan

With Chris on vacation this week, Paul is joined by Jonah Jordan (of Grizzly Bear Blues and the University of Memphis’ Daily Helmsman) to discuss his history with the Memphis Grizzlies and their 2015-16 season outlook. Topics include Mike Conley’s future with the team and anxiety over Marc Gasol’s free agency experience, two-way players at the two-guard position, young Grizzlies, Skal Labissiere and the 2016 draft class, and a couple of NBA teams with rookie head coaches from the collegiate levels, in the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder, before Jonah gives his bottom-5 teams next season and a bold prediction in the Western Conference playoff picture. They then discuss recent movies and the approaching Star Wars release, plus Narcos, BoJack Horseman, and Rick and Morty on television, and then get sidetracked by some Markieff Morris breaking news/tweets, Grantland fallout, and a breakdown of the Memphis media landscape.

Episode 070 - Bottom-Five Teams and Mr. Robot

Chris and Paul continue their contract-extension conversation from last week’s podcast by discussing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s new deal with the Charlotte Hornets, and then transition to their potential bottom-five teams in the 2015-16 season. They end by previewing the season finale of the debut season of USA’s Mr. Robot, and briefly talk about Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty and Paul’s foray back into the world of “Serial” with the “Undisclosed” podcast.

Episode 069 - Class of 2012 Extensions

Chris and Paul delve into the NBA’s extension-eligible candidates from the 2012 draft class and predict which players will/should receive extensions by the October 31st deadline, and then finish by discussing random movies and TV shows, including Trainwreck, True Detective, Mr. Robot, and Straight Outta Compton.

Episode 068 - Team Building

Chris and Paul discuss NBA team building by highlighting general managers who have adopted interesting strategies and tactics to rebuild their rosters into perennial playoff contenders, and the teams that are on the cusp of escaping the lottery. They then transition to pop culture talk and cover Focus, BoJack Horseman, Bill Simmons signing with HBO, and how out of touch we are with the current rap beef.

Episode 067 - Summer League & Emmy Impressions

Chris and Paul delve into the various NBA Summer Leagues and the young players who have stood out this summer, then discuss some leftover free agency news and trades, and go through the Emmy categories to narrow down their rooting interests.

Episode 066: NBA Free Agency Fallout

Chris and Paul catch up on all the chaos of the NBA offseason by beginning with the DeAndre Jordan hostage situation and subsequent social media response, then touch on Greg Monroe’s signing with the Milwaukee Bucks, the San Antonio Super Spurs, the Boston Celtics’ asset acquisitions, and other assorted free agent signings.

Episode 065 - 2015 NBA Draft Edition

Chris and Paul decide to record the podcast in the midst of the chaos that was the first 20+ picks of Thursday night's NBA Draft.  Re-live the Draft with them as they react to the Knicks fans booing the Kristaps Porzingis pick, how the Willy Cauley-Stein pick is the cap on the most Sacramento Kings week ever, Justise Winslow slipping to the Miami Heat, the surprising fit of Devon Booker and the Suns, and of course, the pure shock of Danny Ainge selecting Terry Rozier at pick 16.

Worth a click:

 

Karl-Anthony Towns vs. Jahlil Okafor: One Man's Opinion (Zach Harper, A Wolf Among Wolves)

A History of NBA Stars Calling George Karl a Snake (Tom Ziller, SBNation)

#Knickstaps: Coming to Terms With Phil, the Porzingis Pick, and the Future of the Knicks (Jason Concepcion, Grantland)

2016 NBA Mock Draft (Ricky O'Donnell, SBNation)

Lou Williams' Potential Future and Potential Fit With the Brooklyn Nets (Paul Mitchell, Brooklyn's Finest)

What the Nicolas Batum Trade Means for the Blazers Offseason (Chris St. Jean, Hoops Habit)

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 062 - The Conference Finals Round and Draft Lottery

Chris and Paul delve into the Conference Finals and the Draft Lottery results, before wrapping up with some talk on TV, books, and movies.

Episode 061 - The Atlanta Hawks and the Conference Finals

In Episode 61, Paul welcomes Brady Jennings (of True Hoop’s Brooklyn’s Finest) on to talk about the Atlanta Hawks and the NBA playoffs, the Atlanta Braves, and to find out what he’s watching.

Episode 060 - First-Round Playoff Update

In Episode 60, Chris and Paul recap the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs and revisit some predictions by beginning with the completed series and ending on active teams.

Episode 059 - 2015 Playoff Preview

Chris and Paul spend the first 1:31:00 previewing the 2015 NBA Playoffs, going chronologically through the series starting with Saturday’s opening tip-off (Washington/Toronto), and then wrap up by talking some Game of Thrones (with slight spoilers) and Daredevil.

Episode 058 - Title Contenders

With just about a week left to the 2014-15 NBA season, Chris and Paul spend two hours going through the championship contending teams and identify their best- and worst-case scenarios entering the playoffs.