In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba) and Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) discuss which teams look like legitimate title contenders at the quarter-season mark of the 2019-20 NBA season. Are the Houston Rockets or Dallas Mavericks legitimate threats to either of the L.A. teams? Can Nikola Jokic shake off his slow start to…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba) and Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) discuss Carmelo Anthony winning Player of the Week, dive into the Los Angeles Lakers’ upcoming stretch and discuss whether it’s time to be worried about the Utah Jazz or San Antonio Spurs. Was Melo’s Player of the Week award undeserved compared…
The pick-and-pop has become one of the NBA’s most common plays on offense, even more so as skilled big men continue to get stretchier and the lanes are kept open for ball-handling drivers rather than lumbering rollers. With everyone frequently running this action—even going so far as to invert the look with guards and wings…
Early out of the gates, there isn’t much question that the duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis is clicking every bit as well as Los Angeles Lakers fans could have hoped. The Purple and Gold are off to a 10-2 start, perched merrily atop the Western Conference standings. They have the league’s second-best “Simple…
Scouting reports are especially vital at the highest levels of basketball. They prepare players for personnel tidbits, identify an opponent’s best or most frequent sets, and unify the team in a direction for how to attack both. Those reports will have a video and written component most times, so different learners can digest the information…
When you think of zone defense, the first thing that comes to mind might be high school or college basketball. The NBA has always been a predominantly man-to-man league, as it’s a more effective long-term antidote to the most prolific offenses on the planet. However, zone defense has crept into many coaches’ game plans during…
The second-most valuable player on an NBA contender holds a vital and often tricky role. They must be comfortable living in the shadow of the top dog while typically catering to his preferred playing style. When called upon, they must carry the team when the premier star is having an off night. Who are the…
There was a lot of talk heading into the 2019-20 NBA season that, thanks to parity, there would be a newfound interest in the sport. After half a decade of the Golden State Warriors storming / sleepwalking their way to the NBA Finals, this year is supposed to be different. Multiple all-star players changed teams…
Now that the NBA regular season has finally begun, it’s time to continue ranking each and every team’s young prospects. Just to reiterate, these rankings might seem surprising on the surface with some rather unorthodox choices at various slots, but this list’s criteria are weighted heavily toward teams with a high volume of prospects that…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba), Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) and special guest Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) of FiveThirtyEight discuss their biggest takeaways from the first few days of the 2019-20 NBA season. Can anyone stop the Los Angeles Clippers? How did James Harden and Russell Westbrook look in their first game together?…