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. 

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. 

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? 

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

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

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. 

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. 

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.