Game Theory

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21 Questions Previewing the College Basketball Season w/ Rob Dauster Nov 08, 2021

Show notes

Rob Dauster joins to run through everything you need to know about the 2021-22 college basketball season, 21 Questions style. College basketball is older than it's been in years due to the decision to grant an extra year of eligibility. Does that mean we think the quality will be better? What is your favorite preseason bet on winning the national title? Who is your national player of the Year pick? Do we buy the Gonzaga hype? ACC: This is Coach K's farewell season. Will you miss him? And do we think this Duke team has a chance to actually win the title given that they are ranked top-five in the preseason? ACC: Is the ACC kind of down this year? I have no first round prospects in the ACC right now outside of Duke. Duke is the only top-20 KenPom team at 10. Big East: Are we sure that Villanova is by far the favorite? Who is the No. 2 team in the Big East? Big Ten: The Big 10 is definitely the best league, right? Michigan, Illinois, Purdue and Ohio State look loaded. Maryland and Michigan State are talented. Big Ten: Kofi Cockburn, Trevion Williams, Hunter Dickinson, EJ Liddell, Trayce Jackson Davis, Zach Edey, even Keegan Murray to an extent. Can you remember the last time a league had this many great bigs? Big 12: Am I missing something on Kansas? Big 12: this race feels totally open to me. This is not just a Kansas walkover right? Pac-12: UCLA went to the Final Four, returned all of its top-10 rotation players, and brought in Myles Johnson and Peyton Watson? Do we think they're the Final Four team that got hot late, or more the early season team that struggled last year? Pac-12: This is a weird league. Do we buy Arizona coming back to relevance? Can Oregon's transfers coalesce? USC without Evan Mobley? Colorado is a top-40 team without McKinley Wright? Is the SEC the deepest league? It feels like the most talented, athletic league to me across the board. How weird is this Kentucky team? AAC: Houston and Memphis are considered the two best teams in the league in the preseason. Which one do you like better? Anything teams you're looking forward to seeing? MWC, A10, MVC, rest of WCC: Who is the best team in these leagues? Best mid/low-major team? Who is the most underrated team in the country? Who will win the national title? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sarver Report and other news; Breaking down the NBA's sophomore class with Matt Pennie Nov 05, 2021

Show notes

Pennie and Vecenie are here, and we chat about the second-year players across the NBA. First though, we do a little news recap including the Robert Sarver report, the Celtics team meeting, and some rookie scale options being declined. We run through Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, Pat Williams, Tyrese Haliburton, the Pistons' guys, Desmond Bane, Cole Anthony, and plenty others. On top of that, when we dive into Precious Achiuwa, I make sure to spend some time on the Raptors given that the previous 21 Questions podcast was only 20 questions because I missed one on the Raps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

21 Questions with Nekias Duncan, including the Heat, the Bulls, fouls, the Celtics, Evan Mobley, Zion, and plenty more Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

Nekias Duncan from The Dunker Spot and Basketball News is here to dive into what we've seen from the NBA thus far. Questions on the Bulls, the Heat, Evan Mobley, the Celtics, Zion and plenty more. Full list below: Is the Miami Heat the best team in the NBA? I think they're the best, most complete team I've seen this year. We definitely trust Jimmy, Bam and Kyle at this point. But do we think that this Tyler Herro two-week star turn is real? The Chicago Bulls are the other team I've probably enjoyed watching most this year in the East. Do you believe in the Bulls yet, and how much does the Pat Williams injury hurt them? DeMar DeRozan: closer to the Hall of Fame than we think? My case: by the end of the year, DeRozan will likely be right around No. 55 all-time in scoring. At the end of next year if he averages 20 points per night, he'll be around No. 43. All of the top-48 scorers all time are in the HOF? Boston might be a mess. What the hell is happening with the Celtics on both ends of the floor, where they don't look good in any regard? What do you think of foul calls league-wide? Are you a fan of fewer fouls being called on shots? Is there room for improvement? Speaking of the fouling thing, do we think the narrative that some players have been affected by the new interpretation of the rules is true? For example, do we believe that James Harden is more just working his way back into shape, or do we think he's actually playing at a less elite level due to officiating? Who is your favorite league pass team so far? You don't really watch a ton of college basketball, but you've now seen this rookie class for a couple of weeks. How excited are you about Evan Mobley literally transforming Cleveland's defense? The Hawks are taking more midrange jumpers than any other team in the NBA, and fewer above-the-break 3s than any team other than Phoenix or Chicago. How worried are we about the Nate McMillan era in its first full season? Up until last night against Toronto, the Knicks have been running some sweet, sweet halfcourt offense. They were literally first in the NBA in points per possession out of halfcourt, per Synergy, at 1.033. Do we trust this to hold up? Toronto is 5-3 after a road win against the Knicks. Do we trust Toronto's weird mix of guys between 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-10 who can sort of, kind of shoot to continue generating efficient halfcourt offense by running and taking 3s? Draymond Green has looked incredible to start the season. Are we sure he shouldn't have made the NBA 75? Portland's defense is statistically fine but it feels a bit noisy based off of shot quality being strong for opposition. Do we think they can actually turn it around or is this the end of this core's run? The Pacers finally got a second win last night, and Caris LeVert helped them look much better. But do we think the Pacers are the most likely team to shake things up a bit pre-deadline? How worried are you about the entirety of the Zion Williamson situation? If you were ranking players on the Lakers in terms of importance, how high would Austin Reaves rank? In other words, how worried are you about the way the depth veteran signings have played outside of Carmelo? The Jazz are averaging the second-fewest passes per possession right now. Two years ago, they were in the top-third of the league. Despite very little personnel change overall, do you think this style of play is more sustainable for them as they try to move toward playoff success? The Wizards are winning with depth. Kyle Kuzma has been good. KCP has been good. Spencer Dinwiddie and Montrezl Harrell have given them more offensive firepower. Are we at the point where we buy the Wizards as a playoff team? Small sample size theatre: which top-10 defense do we buy most so far: Minnesota, Chicago, or Dallas? The all-important No. 1 question comes last: Have you accepted Aleksej Pokusevski as the basketball lord and savior? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NBA Rookie Report One Week into their Careers with Matt Pennie Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Matt Pennie joins Sam to break down the first week we've seen from the NBA's rookies so far. Special attention to Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Green, Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, Chris Duarte, Josh Giddey and Davion Mitchell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NBA's first week through the eyes of its title contenders with Tony Jones Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

Tony Jones from The Athletic is here, we run through the NBA's first week by breaking down its contenders and more. We dive in by discussing some of the weaknesses the league has shown so far. We start with Brooklyn, then go to the Lakers. Then, we move to the East and run through Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Atlanta (not Miami just because I haven't seen them yet). Then we run through Utah, Denver, Phoenix, the Clippers, the Mavs, and the hit on plenty of other teams throughout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

21 Questions with Danny Leroux, jumping around the NBA's opening games Oct 23, 2021

Show notes

Danny Leroux joins for a new style of episode jumping around the NBA to talk about the NBA's first games, including Giannis, the Mavericks, the Hawks, and plenty other topics. The goal here is to do a show where we can talk about a lot of things within an hour and have fun doing so. We spend approximately three minutes on each question, and they include: -what team disappointed you most with their opener? -What team surprised you most? -If Giannis learned how to shoot pull-ups like he showed confidence with in the opener, how drastically does that alter the MVP/best player in the world discussion? -Did the Suns make the right or wrong call not extending DeAndre Ayton? -Is Anthony Edwards the most fun player in the NBA? -Kings! I think my pick for first time all-star in the west this year is De’Aaron Fox in a wild card slot. Are you as high on Fox as I am? -Can Eric Bledsoe sustain in a Bruce Brown-like role from last year? -The Spurs were really fun against the Magic. Who is your favorite young guy on the Spurs? -How long does this three-big experiment last for the Cavaliers? -Can Will Barton bring the Nuggets jusssstttttt enough offense to keep the perimeter play afloat while Jamal Murray is out for them to sustain as a 50-win team? -Robert Williams looks great for the Celtics. Is there a chance we look back at that deal as a legitimate steal for Boston? -the pacers tossed up 3s on 53% of their shots. They lost to the Hornets in the opener, but are you more bullish on them just based on process? -Are the Blazers a six-deep team, or do we trust Simons/Little/Snell once he gets back? -are you a believer in Pokuism, the acceptance of Aleksej Pokusevski as your basketball savior? And others! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NBA Opening Night! Warriors-Lakers and Nets-Bucks breakdown; Rookie Extension Breakdown on Ayton, Jaren Jackson, Bridges, Huerter with Cole Huff Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

It's Opening Night in the NBA! I chatted with Cole Huff from The Athletic about Warriors-Lakers and Bucks-Nets. We saw tonight that continuity matters. But, are we worried about Russell Westbrook? Do we just stay the course with the Lakers? Why Anthony Davis looks awesome. What did we think of the Warriors tonight? Then, we chat about the Bucks. Jordan Nwora looks great, Jrue Holiday looks great, and Giannis looks like he's going to destroy worlds. On top of it, the Nets are also just going to take some time but Kevin Durant remains incredible. We finish on rookie extensions. We chat about the Deandre Ayton lack of extension, followed by some thoughts on Jaren Jackson Jr., Mikal Bridges, and Kevin Huerter. Finally, Marvin Bagley III's reps threw down the gauntlet on the Kings. Some thoughts on his career so far and where it goes from here. What is the best outcome? Why this has been a bad situation for everyone involved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2022 NBA Draft Preview: Guards, including Jaden Hardy, some upside returnees, and a lot more questions Oct 15, 2021

Show notes

Matt Pennie and I preview the guards in the 2022 NBA Draft Class. Including Jaden Hardy, Jaden Ivey, JD Davison, Kennedy Chandler, TyTy Washington, Nolan Hickman, Aminu Mohammed, Jean Montero, Andre Curbelo, Jordan Hall, Kadary richmond, Iverson Molinar, Kendric Davis, Max Abmas, Adam Flagler, Jahvon Quinerly and some further. We also talk about my diving into Boston sports and culture in a way that I'm almost serious about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Simmons comes to the 76ers front door unannounced; Kyrie won't play or practice until he is a full participant Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

Derek Bodner is here and we chat about the two dominant NBA storylines of the preseason that came to a head on Tuesday: Ben Simmons coming to the front door of the 76ers unannounced to return to the team, and Kyrie Irving being ruled out of all basketball activities until something changes with his vaccination status or the rules allowing him to play in home games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NBA Preseason Awards Preview: MVP race, DPOY takes, ROY, and fun superlatives with Dave DuFour Oct 09, 2021

Show notes

Dave DuFour is here to break down all of the potential awards races this year, from Kevin Durant and the narrative race for MVP; DPOY and the push for a perimeter player to win; some ROY thoughts and a sleeper to win that award; and other stuff like most likely to be traded, most interesting trade targets, and plenty more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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