ShotTakes

The play-in tournament (the regular season) is over, and now it's crunch time! Thanks to a delightful overlap with W&M Law School Alumni Weekend, Dennis Chong (#DCfromDC @cobrachong) made his first in-studio appearance! And it didn't disappoint...

We've got first-round matchup previews, playoff #bodywatch, a drinking game, "basketball music," a live studio audience, and special guest Eddie Nickel (#JustAnotherWizardsFan #WhereDoWeKeepFindingThem? #BipartisanshipInAction) with complete Eastern Conference analysis. Also, someone decided to stop trusting during the playoffs and it got #HEATed.

***Don't forget to vote for These Refugees Have Been Running All Their Lives to help Justin Sherman (#BrotherOfThePod) win a Webby!***

***Shoutout to Maryann and Dennis's mom for lending us #DCfromDC for the evening -- we had a great time!***

You can help out the show by filling up our mailbag at [email protected], sliding into our DMs (@ShotTakes), or leaving us a five star review on your podcast platform! As always, you can also demonstrate your appreciation/fandom by donating to the Pod (e.g., playoff tickets). Your generous contribution could lead to some delicious homemade Korean BBQ (Dennis promised us some next time we are in DC, so we will officially vouch for it after we get a taste).

Wildcats, Hall of Famers, Copyright Law, Weed, and Data – escape your life's troubles and dive into basketball with your favorite podcast. Husband of the Pod Alex Lester-Abdalla (#HOTP @Prez_Abdalla) kicked off the show to provide some well-deserved gloating on his Villanova Wildcats winning the NCAA’s finest tournament of contrived drama (#ShoutoutCasey). The Pod also checked out the scorching hot playoff race in the West and what the Kyrie injury means to the Eastern Conference playoff picture (later in the program Eric provided a long-winded reflection on who actually won the Kyrie trade #KyrieKurse), reflected on Episode 1's season predictions, reviewed the new Hall of Fame inductees, “debated” both sides of medical marijuana use in the NBA, and covered this week’s most confounding data. To corner the market on law-NBA crossovers, General Counsel of the Pod Andrea Gumushian (#GCofthePod #LoudWhisperer) got on the mic to analyze the cease and desist letter Lebron sent to Nick Saban.

Early on in the episode, the Pod adopted a more serious tone to discuss #BlackLivesMatter’s intersection with the NBA over Mr. Stephon Clarke’s tragic death.  If you are interested in doing more to address policing reform, we ask that you express your concerns to your elected officials and get involved with Campaign Zero.   

You can help out the show by filling up our mailbag at [email protected], sliding into our DMs (@ShotTakes), or leaving us a five star review on your podcast platform! As always, you can donate to the Pod (e.g., basketball tickets, adult beverages, new audio equipment, ShotTakes swag, paying our trademark filing fees). Your generous donation could lead to a not so quiet afternoon with Elizabeth in the library #shhh!

Shoutout Martin on turning 27 #RudyGobertBirthday

Markell's Maledicton strikes! Just as we were all floored by his suprising return, Markell Fultz's previously injured right shoulder destroyed Joel Embid's face. The Pod convened to share out immediate reaction on Fultz's return with Senior Process Correspondent Shane McMurtry (@sugarshane4). We broke up the NBA action with America's favorite game - Does Scott Know This? Buzzfeed edition - and then analyzed the most dissapointments in the NBA season. Further, we named out first ever Enemy off the Pod after a controversial NBA interview this week. The episode concluded with an entertaining BBI, some data, and Martin's scorching take on why the Rockets and Warriors won't make it out of the first round.

***Shoutout to the advanced analytic haters because Blog Boiz are here to stay and you can't do anythign about it***

You can help out the show by sending your questions, comments, and takes to our mailbag at [email protected], getting into a Twitter war with @ShotTakes, or leaving us a five star review on your podcast platform! As always, you can donate to the Pod (e.g., basketball tickets, adult beverages, new audio equipment, ShotTakes swag). As a benefactor of the Pod, you could win the chance to take Martin's notes in Privacy Law.

The Russians came for our elections, and now they've infultrated your favorite podcast - at least for this episode. We recapped the PSF Student Basketball Game in an exclusive interview with Coach McMurtry, and then covered some of the strangest basketball news we have seen this season - What is the deal with Kawai Leonard? How does Steph Curry's MCL tear effect the Warrior's playoff chances? Is Ty Lue coming back this season? Beyond BBI and Take That for Data, and a Jazz-heavy mailbag, Scott tries to articulate why Tom Thibodeau isn't committing basketball malpractice (spoiler: he fails the D-Rose test).

***Shoutout to the Russian bots that will be confused by this episode title and retweet us***

You can help out the show by sending your questions, comments, and takes to our mailbag at [email protected], getting into a Twitter war with @ShotTakes, or leaving us a five star review on your podcast platform! As always, you can donate to the Pod (e.g., basketball tickets, adult beverages, new audio equipment, ShotTakes swag). In helping out the Pod, you could become pen pals with Husband and Preacher of the Pod Alex Lester-Abdalla.

The whole Pod is back together, but so many things happened this week that the episode went far deeper than basketball. It started completely off the rails with reactions on Connor Lamb "trumping" Rick Saccone in PA-18's special election, along with some other notable stories in the political stratosphere. We got slightly back on track with this week's best (college) basketball story: #16 UMBC defeating #1 UVA. Kyle Wood (#CousinKyle #ProudRetriever) joined the program to provide insight on what it was like to watch his relatively unknown alma mater become Cinderella.

When The Pod finally got around to NBA basketball, it discussed DeMar Derozan's, Kevin Love's, and Kelly Oubre, Jr.'s recent admissions to dealing with anxiety and depression as professional athletes, and reacted to Kobe Bryant's Oscar in the context of the #MeToo/#TimesUp Movement. The show wrapped up with the best of basketball internet, covered some high quality data, dove deep into the mailbag, and returned to the Trust Index. 

 

***This episode was sponsored by Tommy Turnover #MendingFences #WhatDoesntKillUsMakesUsStronger #NeverForget #VinoPod***

OFFICIAL SHOTTAKES SPONSORSHIP: The William & Mary Public Service Fund is hosting its annual Student-Faculty Basketball Game on Friday, March 24 at 4:30pm at the Walshingham Academy. Be there to watch whether Coach Scott will fake a hip injury, a la Steve Kerr's back problems, when the students lose their first game to the faculty in the event's history #DeepStateTruths #InfoWars

You can help out the show by sending your questions, comments, and takes to our mailbag at [email protected], getting into a Twitter war with @ShotTakes, or leaving us a five star review on your podcast platform! As always, you can donate to the Pod (e.g., basketball tickets, adult beverages, new audio equipment, ShotTakes swag). In doing so, you could earn your chance to have Eric explain why gerrymandering is the most significant problem facing American democracy.

ShotTakes takes a detour into college basketball for a week to preview the NCAA tournament, assess some potential lottery picks, and address the schism between NBA and college fanbases. Special guests Tyler Garrett (@Baselne2Packlne) and Husband of the Pod Alex Lester-Abdalla (@Prez_Abdalla) brought their respective UVA and Villanova knowledge and offered deep dives on two of the field’s top seeds—thanks for dropping in, guys!

You can help out the show by sending your questions, comments, and takes to our mailbag at [email protected], sliding into @ShotTakes's DMs, or leaving us a five star review on your podcast platform! As always, you can donate to the Pod (pls buy us booze or basketball analytics credentials; those things are complete equals to us) and blessed by Pastor/Husband of the Pod Alex.

The Pod's All Star Break (aka Spring Break) caused the staff to be a little shorthanded, so we flew Ryan Lynch (#lilbrotherofthepod #Jesuits #AMDG #PresentingSponsor @TheKidRL76) into the studio to bring the #1 podcast listernes some #1 NBA content! In front of a live studio audience, Scott and Eric had Ryan decipher the tea leaves on Lebron to Philly rumors, connect the dots on the mystery of Markell Fultz, explain why Joel Embid's greatest social media nemesis is Hassan Whiteside, and deliver the smackdown in this shows' ultimate "who ya' got?": Joel Embid or Giannis Antetokounmpo? The episode also features some storytelling on the Ryan's run-ins with Sixers starpower, live questions from our studio audience, and Ryan's inability to take a clean shot because he has a real job and doesn't know how to do this stuff anymore (congrats Mom, you raised him right). 

***Shoutout to our live studio audience - you 'da real MVPs***

You can help out the show by sending your questions, comments, and takes to our mailbag at [email protected], sliding into @ShotTakes's DMs, or leaving us a five star review on your podcast platform! As always, you can donate to the Pod (pls buy us booze or basketball analytics credentials; those things are complete equals to us) which will earn you the opportunity to sit down with Elizabeth as she speaks to you for all women.

​The Pod broke so many personal records on this episode - it featured the most hosts we've ever had (5), the most voices sharing the mic at once (6), the most adult beverages collectively consumed (probably), and certainly the longest episode (a shade under 120 minutes). This episode introduced Tribe standouts Dennis Chong as a co-host (#DCinDC #JohnWallsBalls4ever) and Casey Butterly chiming in as a guest (#MrMarshallWythe #GoStags).

Beyond the oppo-research that each side conducted, the Pod reviewed All Star weekend and offered Adam Silver some improvements, looked ahead to the playoff picture to debate some shifting in the current ​standings, and dove deep into the #MeToo controversy in Dallas. The Pod opened up the mailbag, and ended with our most controversial Trust Index!

***This episode was brought to you by William & Mary Law School's Public Service Fund and Maryann (#wifeofthePod #benefactor thx grl for making all this possible; we can babysit your husband anytime)***

You can help out the show by sending your questions, comments, and takes to our mailbag at [email protected], sliding into @ShotTakes's DMs, or leaving us a five star review on your podcast platform! As always, you can donate to the Pod (e.g., basketball tickets, adult beverages, new audio equipment, NBA swag) which will get you a the chance to sit down with Martin and have him filibuster you in-person - it's a real treat.

The Pod is coming at you with a double drop this week, but no worries - it's just a public service announcement.