This week on Talking Buckets, Elijah and Tiger recap what went wrong for the teams that were eliminated in the Play-In tournament, give their original predictions on what would happen in each first round playoff series, and reassess those thoughts based on the impressions they've gathered from watching each team play at least two games! (Note: This episode was recorded just after 76ers/Raptors game 4, not accounting for anything beyond that)

00:38 - Why the Charlotte Hornets lost

04:25 - Why the Cleveland Cavaliers lost

09:50 - Why the San Antonio Spurs lost

14:49 - Why the Los Angeles Clippers lost

20:02 - Phoenix vs New Orleans impressions (Suns lead 2-1 as of recording)

24:16 - Memphis vs Minnesota impressions (Grizzlies lead 2-1 as of recording)

28:47 - Golden State vs Denver impressions (Warriors lead 3-0 as of recording)

34:03 - Dallas vs Utah impressions (Mavericks lead 2-1 as of recording)

40:47 - Miami vs Atlanta impressions (Heat lead 2-1 as of recording)

44:31 - Boston vs Brooklyn impressions (Celtics lead 2-0 as of recording)

49:20 - Milwaukee vs Chicago impressions (Bucks lead 2-1 as of recording)

53:02 - Philadelphia vs Toronto impressions (76ers lead 3-1 as of recording)

Talking Buckets is back after an extended hiatus...and just in time for the playoffs! But first, Tiger and Elijah talk about the Play-In tournament, as well beginning a mini series called Why They Lost. We'll go through each of the 10 teams that missed the Play-In, examining how their season went and what their future looks like. More teams will get their own segment as they're eliminated from title contention. We'll be back on a much more consistent basis for the rest of the season with our studies at BCIT wrapping up, so stick around for the best basketball content on this side of the Pacific North West!

00:38 - Welcome back!

02:15 - Why the Orlando Magic lost

05:48 - Why the Detroit Pistons lost

09:27 - Why the Indiana Pacers lost

12:49 - Why the Washington Wizards lost

15:27 - Why the New York Knicks lost

20:26 - Why the Houston Rockets lost

25:36 - Why the Oklahoma City Thunder lost

29:20 - Why the Portland Trail Blazers lost

33:06 - Why the Sacramento Kings lost

37:20 - Why the Los Angeles Lakers lost

45:39 - Western Conference Play-In Tournament Predictions

48:23 - Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament Predictions

This week on Talking Buckets, Tiger and Elijah break down both NBA conferences based on how realistic each playoff team's chances are of making it to the Finals or winning it all! Other topics discussed during these team-by-team breakdowns include a debate on if LeBron will leave the Lakers once his contract expires in 2023, and returning to an Anthony Davis trade idea Elijah proposed in December that is now gaining traction with sports journalists such as Stephen A. Smith!

00:38 - Eastern Conference championship hopes analysis (LeBron discussion near end of this segment)

18:16 - Western Conference championship hopes analysis (AD discussion near end of this segment)

In a special bonus episode for this week on Talking Buckets, Elijah and Tiger react to the rest of the trade deadline and pre-All Star Weekend announcements! We give predictions for All-Star Saturday night, poke fun at Harden and Simmons following their blockbuster trade, and tear the Kings apart of trading Haliburton away, among other topics.

00:38 - All-Star Saturday Night competition predictions

09:42 - Who wins Team LeBron vs Team Durant?

12:42 - Ben Simmons and James Harden trade reactions

21:45 - Why did the Mavericks trade Kristaps Porzingis?

24:55 - How much will Bradley Beal's wrist surgery affect his impending free agency?

27:23 - Tiger rationally explains why the Kings/Pacers trade was fair

29:00 - Elijah rips apart the Kings for trading away Haliburton for an outside shot at the playoffs

On this episode of Talking Buckets, Elijah and Tiger react to the NBA All Star reserve selections (Before Dejounte Murray and LaMelo Ball were announced as injury replacements), analyze early trade deadline moves, and debate about how various teams should be handling drama with their star players!

00:38 - NBA All-Star Reserve Reactions (Pre Murray/Ball announcement)

12:19 - Cavaliers acquire Caris LeVert

16:23 - Harden/Simmons trade rumors

25:00 - Westbrook being benched in crunch time reaction

29:45 - Julius Randle rocky relationship with Knicks

35:20 - Thoughts on Bucks title chances

This week on Talking Buckets, Elijah and Tiger talk about our biggest surprises and disappointments at the halfway mark of the NBA season, make starting lineup predictions for the All Star game, debate what the weirdest arena shenanigan was over the last two weeks, and more!

00:38 - 1/2 season NBA team surprises/disappointments

09:51 - 1/2 season NBA player surprises/disappointments

20:00 - All Star starting lineup predictions

29:10 - Which of Kyrie and Klay have been more impressive since returning to action?

34:53 - Recap of Raptors/Kings/Grizzlies arena shenanigans

40:00 - Why aren't the Bulls being taken as seriously as other Eastern Conference contenders?

44:31 - Sunday pick'em

This week on Talking Buckets, Elijah and Tiger dissect the first batch of NBA All Star vote rankings! These votes are mostly accumulated on Twitter, so we debate which players are too high or low, while also discussing who we think should also be thrown into the mix.

00:38 - West Frontcourt

16:05 - West Guards

30:32 - East Frontcourt

40:17 - East Guards

Happy holidays! Talking Buckets host Elijah visited Chicago for a week and a half and got to see the Bulls defeat the Lakers! He returns alongside Tiger to discuss his thoughts on the game, and discuss other topics like feel-good NBA holiday stories and how to make a mid-season tournament entertaining for all audiences.

10:12 - Elijah's thoughts on attending his first NBA game

20:43 - How bad do we feel for LeBron's situation on a scale of 1-10?

30:38 - Thoughts on Brooklyn caving in to let Kyrie return to the Nets

34:13 - Tiger's ideas for creating an exciting mid-season NBA tournament worth playing for

41:14 - New Year's Eve pick'em game