Game Theory Podcast

In this episode, MGrads comes on the podcast and chats about James Harden's insane scoring run, on the media coverage surrounding rookies and Luka Doncic, on the new AAU and recruiting calendar changes, on the NBA's best fighters, and on Tre Jones and Duke. 

Yeah, MGrads and I really jumped around a lot. 

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In this episode, Cole Zwicker joins and we do a split podcast. The first half is on the NBA, with us discussing the Clint Capela injury to start. Can James Harden possibly keep up this pace? Then we move to Robin Lopez. Should the Bulls hang on to him for a trade, or buy him out? We make the case that a trade between the Bulls and the Rockets could make a lot of sense, and also run through the other potential options for the Rockets to replace Capela over this stretch. 

Then, we move on to Chicago in full, where Jim Boylen got more money, including more guaranteed money next season. We, uh....riff on that. 

Finally, we move on and chat about the NBA Draft and some college prospect. Cam Reddish finally broke out again for Duke. Why that's important. Then, we run the gamut on Aric Holman, Terrence Davis, Tyrese Haliburton, Chuma Okeke, Rayshaun ammonds, Nic Claxton, Isaiah Roby, Jalen Pickett, and the weird Kevin Porter suspension. 

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In this episode, Sam is joined by Dieter Kurtenbach, where the two of them break down their midseason picks for MVP, All-NBA, DPOY, 6MOY, ROY, Most Improved and COY. 

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In this episode, I chat with Cole Zwicker about the Tom Thibodeau era ending in Minnesota, the Fred Hoiberg/Ryan Saunders of it all, and what we think of the Timberbulls being no more.

Next, we chat about Ben Simmons, and whether or not Ben needs to shoot to be a success in Philadelphia. 

Then, we move onto some news-y stuff, like Patrick McCaw's contract being waived in Cleveland and Chandler Parsons being waived in Memphis. 

Finally, we move on to draft stuff. Jordan Poole has broken out in a big way. What do we think of the Brandon Clarke archetype of player? Then, we talk about Jaxson Hayes, someone who we both like, but that Cole likes a considerable amount more than I do. 

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This is a two-part year-end episode. In the first 40 minutes of the episode, Rob Dauster and I talk about UCLA and Steve Alford being fired. It's a realistic assessment of what he accomplished, didn't accomplish, where the job sits in the hierarchy of college jobs, and who are the realistic candidates to replace Alford as the UCLA head coach? 

Then, I spend an hour and 20 minutes with Cole Zwicker, where we jump around. First, a realistic assessment of where UCLA's prospects are from an NBA Draft perspective (hint: not good). Then, a discussion of the Patrick McCaw contract. Then, we discuss Dennis Smith Jr., and his role on the Dallas Mavericks. Why we're both a bit higher on Smith than most seem to be, and an interesting assessment of his trade value if the team decides to go that direction. Then, we have a theoretical discussion about big men in the NBA Draft. Finally, we talk about NBA Draft Risers for the last hour of the podcast. Who are the guys who have really helped themselves in the 2018 calendar year as it refers to the 2019 Draft? It includes Jarrett Culver, Ja Morant, Ty Jerome, Admiral Schofield, Grant Williams, Jaxson Hayes, and many more. 

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In this episode, Dieter Kurtenbach joins the show and we break down all angles of the Pelicans-Anthony Davis situation. Given that Davis is making public comments about it, LeBron and Giannis are publicly courting him, and the Pelicans have fallen to 15-20, the time is right to start looking at this seriously. What should the Pelicans do to try to keep him? What should they be looking for in a trade? Who matches up best with what the Pelicans need when this potentially comes to fruition in the summer? 

Then, we move on and talk about the Warriors. Specifically, this is a two-star team right now that needs its other two stars to step up. Do we believe in Klay Thompson and Draymond Green right now? 

Then, we move on to the Celtics and Sixers, and proceed to freak out a bit about both. 

Finally, in the things we like section, Dieter talks about D.J. Wilson hours before the Bucks' sophomore went off for his first career double-double, and I talk about the unique path the Pacers have taken to building a team. 

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Making a triumphant return to the podcast, Cole Zwicker joins to chat about a few interesting player development and evaluation topics. 

First, we chat about the Suns. The Suns had won four straight games at the time of this recording, and seemed tailor made for a long-form breakdown to start by Cole and I given the sheer number of young players on the roster. 

Then, we move into The Rookie Class. How insane has Luka been? What do we think of Jaren Jackson, Wendell Carter, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Miles Bridges, Marvin Bagley, and more. 

Then, we chat about the draft class. Where are we on the draft class? Is it as bad as everyone says? What do we think of Romeo Langford, Quentin Grimes, Cam Reddish and R.J. Barrett, and some of the elite players? 

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In this episode, I chat with Dieter Kurtenbach about the NBA and life and technology apparently. 

1:30-11:00: Could Skip Bayless beat Tom Brady or LeBron in an eight-mile race? 11:00-24:10: LOL Trevor Ariza, what happened? Breakdown of the madness of Friday's non-trade, in addition to the trade that eventually happened sending him to the Wizards for Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers' contract.  24:10-30:15: Spencer Dinwiddie Extension makes sense for everyone 30:15: 32:10: Intro to the Nuggets section 32:10-33:10: POLICY GENIUS AD 33:10-42:20: Nuggets section in full. Just how good are they? Are they legit the No. 2 team in the West? Do we buy the defense now? 42:20-44:15: ROBINHOOD AD 44:15-57:35: The 76ers have depth issues. What can they do to fix the depth issues? Also, why the Markelle Fultz situation just continues to be a bummer all around. 57:35-59:05: HIMS AD 59:05-1:11:20: Dieter goes on a rant about technology in today's day and age, spawned by Malika Andrews' piece on the Bucks and Bulls teaching their players spacing and the gamification of practice. I think that's about the best way to describe it.  1:11:20-1:16:50: I like Emmanuel Mudiay! He's good, and why the developmental system in the NBA is kind of a little fucked right now. 1:16:50 to end: we chat about Little Drummer Girl and Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p>

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In this episode of the podcast, Dieter Kurtenbach makes his triumphant return from his sojourn to South America. 

1:30-7:20 -- STEPHEN CURRY MOON LANDING 7:20-12:00 -- Dieter goes to Uruguay and Argentina, and likely avoids needing to be subpoenaed.  12:00-26:05 -- THE BULLS ARE A TRAIN WRECK AND DIETER GREW UP A BULLS FAN. DISCUSS THE MESS 26:05-34:00 -- THE CELTICS HAVE WON SEVEN IN A ROW AND KIND OF FIGURED THINGS OUT DESPITE INJURY 34:00-36:15 -- RXBar ad read 36:15-50:30 -- The Lakers! They're good! The defense is good now. Kyle Kuzma has taken a leap. SHould they trade Brandon Ingram?  50:30-52:45 -- Simple Contacts ad read 52:45-1:04:00 -- The Thunder are who we thought they were! They're super good! 1:04:00-1:12:40 -- The Top-12 Rookies in the 2018 Rookie Class have all been pretty good! That's weird.  1:12:40-End -- Allonzo Trier signs deal, end of podcast. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p>

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In this episode, Michael Pina from over at Vice Sports joins the show to talk about a lot of different teams. First, we chat about the Raptors, the best team in the NBA currently. Kawhi's adjustment to Toronto, Lowry's adjustment to the DeMar trade and having Kawhi, and some of the other incredible players we've seen step up, including Pascal Siakam. 

Then we chat about the Spurs, and their problems. What should the Spurs do? Why is their defense so bad? Why is their shot distribution so bad? Where do they go from here this season? Should they consider tacitly losing some games and moving off some spare pieces?

Then we talk Wolves. Why has the Wolves defense been so good since the Jimmy Butler trade? Should Robert Covington be the defensive player of the year in the league so far? What is happening with Karl Towns? Have I finally given up a bit on Andrew Wiggins?

Finally, we move to the Pacers. Despite the Victor Oladipo injury, the Pacers are holding steady and stable. Why? How good has Domantas Sabonis been? What's going on with Myles Turner? Finally, how depth has really helped them this season. 

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In this episode, Ricky O'Donnell joins the podcast to chat about Fred Hoiberg getting fired by the Chicago Bulls. What do we make of the Hoiberg era? How did the Bulls front office undercut the scheme? Do we have faith in the Bulls getting out of this long-term bad run with John Paxson and Gar Forman involved? Was this really their fault and not Hoiberg's? 

Then, we move on to something positive and chat about the Raptors, who we're super excited about! How did the Spurs not get any of their good young players in the Kawhi trade?

Finally, we chat about Ricky's takes on the NBA Draft. 

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In this episode, Chris Stone of Sporting News joins the podcast and we chat about some NBA Draft matters. Ja Morant played one of this two most critical games of his season this week, and dropped 38/9/5. What does that mean for him? Is he a potential top-10 pick? We then chat about Darius Garland's injury, and whether or not it hurts him and his stock (it doesn't). We throw Coby White and Tre Jones into the mix as well and compare and contrast the group of top point guards. 

Next, we talk about Romeo Langford and Quentin Grimes' early season performances. Both have been up and down. Where are scouts and evaluators on them? 

Next, we chat about how Duke's offense has developed over the first seven games. How has RJ Barrett changed his approach? How has Zion Williamson's leap changed things for them? 

Then we chat about Bol Bol, who I wrote about at The Athletic this week. Finally, we finish with some early season standouts who seem to have helped themselves, including Brandon Clarke, Alpha Diallo, Jaxson Hayes, and more. 

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In this episode, I chat with Dieter Kurtenbach about a variety of NBA topics.

Intro: Start to 2:20.  Bucks: 2:20.... Bucks Offense is best in NBA: 2:20-10:45 Bucks Defense is good too (and overall): 10:45-14:55 Eric Bledsoe/Bucks Supporting Cast/Depth have been great: 14:55-20:00 Giannis is MVP at the quarter-mark of the season: 20:00-24:25.  AD FOR HIMS: 24:50-27:25 ------ The Magic... The Magic are fun! -- 27:25-30:20 What is JOnathan Isaac? -- 30:20-34:50 What do the Magic do at center, and how good as Nikola Vucevic been? -- 35:20-43:35 Aaron Gordon is good, too! -- 43:35-48:45 ----- The Celtics... The Celtics don't really have an identity yet. It's 50:00-1:06:00. Not really sure where to cut, though.  ----- The West has been really good and deep. Dieter and I pick the eight playoff teams in the Western Conference through the quarter mark of the season.  1:06:30-1:14:00ish ----- Dieter likes the fact that Kawhi Leonard has signed with New Balance. Why does he like that? It's the perfect blend of function over style. I also make a lot of semi-offensive jokes about white basketball players. 1:15:50-1:21:45   I like Allonzo Trier balling out for the Knicks: 1:21:45-1:28:00 <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p>

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In this episode, Tony Jones chats about the team he covers, the Utah Jazz. We break down some of the issues that currently exist on both sides of the floor, and why we think the defense is a bit more concerning than the offense right now. Then we move to some weird potential shake-up trades, including why we think the Jazz and Wizards line up really well for a big deal in January if things keep going this same way. 

Then, we chat about some of the terrific rookies who have played this season, including Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Next, we move to the Lakers, who are quickly figuring some things out. LeBron has been ridiculous, lineups with Lonzo have been working, and why Brandon Ingram's numbers seem a bit deceiving on the surface. 

Finally, we chat about some college players. Why Tony is super high on Bol Bol, why Zion Williamson is the favorite to go No. 1, and some of the other guys who are exciting us so far. 

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In this episode, I chat with Dieter Kurtenbach about a variety of topics. First, we hit on Gordon Hayward moving out of the Celtics' starting lineup in favor of Aron Baynes. Then we talk about the Terry Rozier tweets.

Then, we move to Kemba Walker, who is a legit MVP candidate right now. Can the Hornets get him some help?

Then, we chat about the Warriors, and where they're going from here. Also, Dieter tells us about the time he wrote about Klay Thompson making 14 3s in a game was unimpressive, and about Klay's response. 

Then, we spent a bunch of time on Markelle Fultz, and the weird situation surrounding his shoulder and its potential injury. Having said that, the Fultz situation and experiment probably needed to end for the team in its rotation. 

Then, Dieter says why he likes the Clippers, and I explain why I love Luka Doncic beyond even having him at 25-1 to win Rookie of the Year. But more than that, I give my take on why I think the Trae-Luka trade made sense for both parties even with all of the information we have. 

Finally, we chat about Thanksgiving and the Crimes of Grindelwald being a disappointment. 

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