NBA Nerd Night

Phil and Joel are back, and joined by ESPN's Kirk Goldsberry to check in on the first round of the playoffs and catch up on the wild ending to the OKC-Portland series. They also look ahead to a few of the second round matchups.

Buy Kirk's upcoming book, Sprawlball. (https://www.amazon.com/SprawlBall-Visual-Tour-New-Era/dp/1328767515)

NBA Nerd Night on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/nbanerdnight)

From a wine cellar in northeast Italy, Joel sits down with friend and NBA fan Mattia Bianchini to chat about the playoffs and the state of Mattia's Knicks.

NBA Nerd Night will be back with regularly scheduled programming this week.

Phil and Joel are joined by ESPN's Kirk Goldsberry -- ahead of the release of his first book, Sprawlball (link below) -- for a wide ranging discussion on where the NBA is today, and where it's heading.

Topics include: the evolution of play style, the importance of chemistry and relationship building in a winning organization, how rules can impact the future of how the game is played, how to determine what the NBA league office values, the disruption of Curry & Harden, the Spurs success, and the Celtics struggles. Also covered: the origins of NBA Nerd Night.

Pre-order Sprawlball (https://www.amazon.com/SprawlBall-Visual-Tour-New-Era/dp/1328767515)

Kirk on Twitter (https://twitter.com/kirkgoldsberry)

Phil and Joel check in mid-week to take questions from listeners.

Phil and Joel are joined by friend of the program, Sopan Deb of The New York Times, to discuss the Celtics rollercoaster season and the tight race for Coach of the Year.

Sopan on Twitter (https://twitter.com/SopanDeb)

NBA Nerd Night on Twitter (https://twitter.com/nbanerdnight)

Phil and Joel take a look at the mid-tier teams from this season and rank their futures -- from a basketball perspective only. Top tier to follow.

Phil and Joel are live from Los Angeles to discuss the Lakers' collapse, and for Joel to put Phil on notice for his preseason take. They also discuss the Clippers surprising surge and another edition of "Did this dude just did this?"

Phil and Joel discuss big picture questions facing a few contending teams as they gear up for the stretch run. Then, they are joined by Mirin Fader, a Writer at Large for Bleacher Report and B/R Mag to discuss her latest profile on Marcus Smart and her experience covering the Ball family in Lithuania (51:35).

 

Mirin on Twitter (https://twitter.com/MirinFader)

Mirin's work on B/R (https://bleacherreport.com/users/8071860)

Phil and Joel take a look at teams in the bottom of the lottery (New York, Cleveland, Phoenix, Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago, Memphis) and rank them based on who's in the best shape moving forward -- from a basketball perspective only. Middle and top tiers to follow.

Phil and Joel are joined by friend and Bucks fan, Ray Kluender, to discuss Milwaukee's season to date, their chances this year, and what they should do about the future. They also discuss the few big trades this in Eastern Conference. Phil also shares a quick story for "Did this dude just did this?"