Learning Basketball

Learning Basketball – Ben Pfeifer – Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Draft Retrospective & Season Outlook + NBA Rapidfire - San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets

Timestamps:



0:00 Background & Introduction


1:29 Oklahoma City Thunder Draft Retrospective, Analyzing Sam Presti’s past draft selections to project future Thunder draft picks


17:40 NBA Rapidfire - OKC Season Expectations: Can Oklahoma City Thunder’s busy offseason propel them to championship heights?

20:57 NBA Rapidfire - Will the added shooting catapult the Orlando Magic up the standings this year?


25:39 NBA Rapidfire - Are the San Antonio Spurs just a league pass darling this year or will they make push for the West play-in? Thinking about VJ Edgecombe going downhill off a Wembanaya screen + Handoff


30:10 NBA Rapidfire - Will the New York Knicks’ moves push them past the Celtics?

33:40 NBA Rapidfire - How much will the Detroit Pistons learn about their key core pieces?


38:23 NBA Rapidfire - Season Outlook for Brooklyn Nets: Who’s going to be on this team after this year?

Ep. 8 Learning Basketball with Charlie Cummings


Player Development Writer for Swish Theory, Covers the Golden State Warriors for Warriors Invite, 
Pro and College Consulting for Next Up BBall

Timestamps:



2:45 Appreciating Player Development

7:25 Finding a Role with Swish Theory

11:35 Tre Mann’s Breakout with Charlotte Hornets

21:35 Draft Scouting Process, Valuing Role Context in Player Evaluations


43:03 What Klay Thompson Means to Golden State

58:20 A Pet Snake Named Zaza Pachulia

1:02:48 Buddy Hield’s Hot Start to the Season


1:14:05 Steph Curry’s 2024-25 Golden State Warriors Dominating


1:31:28 Breaking down an ATO BLOB for Buddy Hield to run baseline P&R

Learning Basketball Ep. 7


Mark Schindler has been covering basketball for years, from general NBA thoughts with Premium Hoops to NBA Draft Scouting with Tag The Roll, now focused on the WNBA as the Creator of They’ve Got Now, a media outlet covering all things women’s basketball, WNBA draft, player development and scouting in the forms of a podcast, newsletter, and YouTube channel

Timeline:


3:00 Tips for people growing a basketball scouting analyst media brand online

9:50 What do you look for as an analyst with front office scouting in mind to write a story, break down a game, ask interview questions, scouting potential pros

34:42 Mark Schindler’s path from covering the NBA Draft to fully diving into the WNBA and appreciating similarities and differences between both basketball leagues

43:30 The WNBA’s rise and rapid growth in popularity, the development of Pick-and-Roll execution and defenses, effective team building strategy and parting thoughts on this most recent season in the W



54:47 Paolo Banchero’s unconscious 50pt BANGER, 37pt First Half ties T Mac for most points in a half, and how the Magic can survive without him for a few weeks

Antonio Dias, newly announced Scouting Associate with the Mexico City Capitanes of the G League and international scout with EHoopsScouting and IDprospects joins today to break down the playstyle and potential of four exciting NBA prospects: Nolan Traore, Dwayne Aristode, Igor Milicic, Hugo Gonzalez

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction of Newly Hired Scouting Associate with Mexico City Capitanes

4:45 Background and Scouting Philosophy as an International Basketball Scout

8:40 Scouting Report on Dwayne Aristode Committing to Arizona

14:50 Scouting Report on Nolan Traore, Potential Top-5 2025 NBA Draft Pick

23:33 Scouting Report on Hugo Gonzalez, Potential 2025 1st Round NBA Draft Pick

33:00 Scouting Report on Igor Milicic potentially developing from standstill to movement shooter at Tennessee

Learning Basketball with Mat Isa, NBA Writer with Forbes, OptaAnalyst, Fansided, Sportscasting and Podcast co-host of The Media Pass with @AlexHoops

Timestamps:


2:00 What goes into an NBA team’s Media Day?

3:28 Mat Isa’s career path and advice to people trying to break into basketball sports media

12:52 What inspires ideas for stories and questions for interviews with players and coaches around the basketball?

16:10 What goes into your scouting process as an analyst and NBA writer?

18:40 Going viral on Magic Twitter - is Paolo’s tough midrange shotmaking a sustainable scoring method in the playoffs?

27:40 NBA Rapidfire Denver Nuggets - Are the young players good enough to contribute to a contender?

32:49 NBA Rapidfire Portland Trailblazers - Who is vital to the young core? Which prospects are they building around?

39:24 NBA Rapidfire Golden State Warriors - Do the Warriors still have their fast ball?

43:34 NBA Rapidfire Miami Heat - How good is this team? Low playoff seeds with Deep playoff runs

Timestamps


0:18 Es Baraheni Introduction & Background

3:16 Happy Vinsanity Day from Learning Basketball! Celebrating Vince Carter's Hall of Fame Legacy and Impact on Basketball in Toronto

10:52 The Purple Raptors Jerseys are back! No more Orange Juice Magic jerseys, Nike

13:30 Scottie Barnes star ceiling as a downhill force point-forward, Success with Double Drag/77 Shadow Actions, Could Post-Ups be Barnes' next development focus?

19:09 Gradey Dick - more than a standstill shooter, a relocating motion shooter with gravity

22:37 Jakob Poeltl trade candidate or longterm playmaking hub piece in Toronto?

27:58 Toronto Raptors Season Expectations - Lottery Bound or Sneaking into the Play-in?

30:03 2025 NBA Draft Pick Targets who could fit well in Toronto

32:12 Most Important Role Player - Davion Mitchell? Ochai Agbaji? Chris Boucher? Bruce Brown? Jonathan Mogbo rookie expectations

35:10 Flex/Flow actions and other plays Darko likes to run

37:35 NBA Rapidfire - Washington Wizards, Most exciting prospect?

40:08 NBA Rapidfire - Charlotte Hornets, How dynamic can LaMelo and Miller be?

43:04 NBA Rapidfire - Utah Jazz, 2nd best player on the team?

0:17 Introduction and background of Mirin Fader, NYT best-selling author, one of the Best American Sports Writer, work with The Ringer and formerly Bleacher Report

2:30 - Humility & Versatility, how do you pick which athletes to write about?

4:15 Transitioning from playing experience in college hoops at Lewis & Clark college as a 5'0" PG to writing and reporting on basketball

5:00 Telling complete stories by reporting over 200+ interviews for two books (486 in total!)

6:58 Personal story of how Mirin's Giannis book saved my sanity in a highly stressful moment

9:45 How the Giannis book idea originated from an interview with his brother Alex

12:20 Giannis book summary: themes of family, hope, perseverance to fun stories like Stealing Westbrook's Scowls, "Yo Mama" jokes, and ice cubes

15:05 Hakeem Olajuwon's unique two-way impact and accomplishments on the court: A turnover forcing tough-shot hitting machine; only player ever to win MVP, DPOY, and the NBA Championship in the same season; still 1st All-Time Blocks and Top-10 Steals as a Center; A QUADRUPLE DOUBLE

17:05 The Artist on the court, What should Hakeem's legacy as a basketball player be?

18:45 Yommy "Basket" Sangodeyi, Nigerian Basketball Star and the original inspiration for The Dream Shake

20:10 How did the Range of experience between almost going pro in Handball and playing a multitude of other sports like Soccer as a kid develop Hakeem Olajuwon as an athlete and eventually a basketball player?

22:00 On the importance of Mentoring, Rapid Skill Acquisition and Coachability

23:55 Coach OBJ's impact building basketball community in Nigeria and coaching both Hakeem Olajuwon and Masai Ujiri

25:36 The impact of Islam on Hakeem's life, Founding The Islamic Da’Wag Center, and how returning to his religion of Islam helped anchor his life path in a time of feeling lost

27:37 Hakeem Dominating NBA games while Fasting during Ramadan and normalizing the religious practice in a time when many Americans didn't know much about it

30:50 Hakeem's Impact in Houston - Full Circle Moment from 3 straight Final Fours with Phi Slama Jama and playing with Clyde Drexler at University of Houston to winning an NBA Championship with Clyde Drexler a decade later

32:50 Always Learning, attending university in Jordan to learn Arabic after retiring from the NBA

33:30 What was Rudy Tomjanovich's impact on Hakeem as an innovator of the 4-out/1-in offense with modern concepts of 3pt spacing?

36:17 Remembering the All-Time talent of Hakeem Olajuwon, a 2x NBA Champ sweeping Shaq, beating Ewing, dominating Admiral, showing up Kareem; Olajuwon almost had no peers in the era of Centers

Learning Basketball with Steph Noh of Sporting News

Chicago Bulls Season Preview

Scouting Process Watching Film

NBA Players Love Anime like Dragon Ball Z

Detailing Billy Donovan Sets: 5-out, Pistol, Chin, Elbow Splits

Timestamps:

2:00 NBA Players Love Anime like Dragon Ball Z

5:45 Process as an Analyst Scouting Film, Deciding Story Topics (Shoutout to Swish Theory’s depth)


7:35 Lonzo Ball’s Feel Never Fades even after 2 years of not playing, injury recovery, and his impact going forward

15:20 Can Chicago get stops? Bulls Uptempo Playstyle this upcoming season and evaluating defensive depth

20:55 Billy Donovan’s Sets like 5-Out, Pistol, Chin/Princeton, Elbow Splits

25:00 Gauging Coby White’s next steps and expected role after 2nd-place Most Improved Player season, improving as Pick-and-Roll creator


27:20 Zach Lavine’s underrated unique floating tough-shotmaking skills

28:14 Should Patrick Williams be prioritized in the Bulls’ rebuild?
31:50 Matas Buzelis Rookie Expectations and Potential and which young core prospects should Chicago be rebuilding around?

36:35 Remembering some guys: Chicago Bulls edition

Follow Steph Noh (@StephNoh) and his work at Sporting News

Timestamps

2:40 - How to decide what topics to write about as a Scout/Analyst

7:40 - Advice for those trying to break into Basketball Sports Media and NBA Draft Scouting

19:35 Reflecting on the Player Development of Jalen Suggs and Chet Holmgren since Gonzaga. What else does Suggs have to do for the Magic to extend his contract? How soon can Chet become the Thunder’s 2nd best player? Which player would you rather build around?

55:00 Atlanta Hawks Season Preview – New team identity flanking Trae Young with lengthy defensive versatility; Drafting #1 Overall Pick Zacharrie Risacher; Trading Dejounte Murray for Dyson Daniels + two 1st round picks

1:11:00 Philadelphia 76ers Season Preview – Winning the Paul George Sweepstakes; Are Maxey and George the best costar talents that Joel Embiid’s ever had as teammates? Are the Sixers the favorites in the East? Who is the most important non-star player in Philadelphia this year?



1:32:00 Who won the Towns-Randle Trade? New York Knicks & Minnesota Timberwolves Season Preview – Will the Timberwolves be just as good swapping out Towns’ shooting for Randle’s creation? Does the Knicks’ star-studded two-way balanced lineup around Jalen Brunson give them as good of a shot as any team to win it all?

1:46:10 Milwaukee Bucks Season Preview – First full offseason with Damian Lillard & Giannis Antetokoumnpo. What version of Lillard will Milwaukee have this year? Do the Bucks have enough rotation player depth to win a title?

1:58:30 Phoenix Suns Season Preview – Starting the year with all three of Beal-Booker-Durant healthy. Drafting rookie wing defenders Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro. Hiring Head Coach Mike Budenholzer. The Suns can trade buckets with any team, but is Phoenix built to get stops when it matters most?


Check out Jackson Frank's NBA coverage with Sportscasting and follow him on Twitter! @jackfrank_jjf

Follow the Host @BeyondTheRK on Twitter/Substack/YouTube and read Swish Theory at TheSwishTheory.com