The Hoop Talk Podcast with Jalon Dixon and Ryan Leshko

Whenever you turn on the TV or the Radio or check out some of the most prominent NBA podcasts, a good majority of them all like to do one thing: Talk about the top players in the NBA.

You know what I am talking about. Constant talk about what LeBron James does on a nightly basis, how the Brooklyn Nets look with their new big three or even talk about the Utah Jazz who are the NBA darling right now as the hottest team in basketball.

But what about the teams that may not be having the same level of success? What about the teams that have some great players, but they are stuck in a situation where their individual play in undermined by their teams' in ability to win games? Don't worry, we've got you covered!

On this edition of the Hoop Talk Podcast, Jay and Ryan take a look at the bottom of the Eastern and Western Conferences and select six players that are flying under the radar because their team is not preforming well in the standings.

Guys like Zach LaVine of the Bulls, Julius Randle of the Knicks and Jerami Grant of the Pistons definitely come to mind, but their are so many other guys playing out of their mind this season! Will your team have a representative in our NBA UnSung Hoopers segment? Could your favorite player end up on our list? Stay Tuned till the end to find out!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip

The start of a BRAND NEW SERIES and our first College Basketball series on the Hoop Talk Podcast! Very exciting and a brand new chapter for HTP, but that also means that we have to start out with a banger! This series is called "The Race to March Madness" where we breakdown 10 of the most prominent conferences in College Basketball.

In this series we will be looking at the Top-7 teams in each conference and also choose a Sleeper team that College Basketball fans should be on the look out for as a potential low-seed threat come March Madness tournament time if they get in.

On this edition of the Hoop Talk Podcast, we continue this series with the Big Ten. Everyone knows how deep the SEC and the Big 12 go in terms of conference competition, but the Big Ten truly does take the cake this season.

11 Teams with double digit wins. Six teams above .500 in conference play. NCAA Player of the Year candidates in Luka Garza of Iowa and Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois. With Michigan at the top of the standings currently, the rest of the conference is fleshed out with big time threats like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue and even our home Maryland Terrapins who are trying to play their way back into the mix. The Big Ten is no joke and the battle for who the best in the conference may be one that can really only be determined by who makes it furthest in the NCAA Tournament!

Who are the threats coming out of the Big Ten? Which team most likely has the Big Ten player of the year? Who is a team at the bottom of the Big Ten that could sneak into the NCAA tournament?

We answer all these questions and more! Stay Tuned!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip

The start of a BRAND NEW SERIES and our first College Basketball series on the Hoop Talk Podcast! Very exciting and a brand new chapter for HTP, but that also means that we have to start out with a banger! This series is called "The Race to March Madness" where we breakdown 10 of the most prominent conferences in College Basketball.

In this series we will be looking at the Top-7 teams in each conference and also choose a Sleeper team that College Basketball fans should be on the look out for as a potential low-seed threat come March Madness tournament time if they get in.

On this edition of the Hoop Talk Podcast, we continue this series with the Big12. Of the Power 5 Conferences, the Big 12 may arguably be the most competitive alongside the dog fight going on in the Big Ten.

The Baylor Bears remain undefeated at 17-0 as the biggest threat in the country to the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Oklahoma State Cowboys are trotting out the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, that being Cade Cunningham. And with the decline of Kansas this season, teams like West Virginia, Texas Tech and Texas have risen to battle for second place behind Baylor.

Who are the threats coming out of the Big 12? Which team most likely has the Big12 player of the year? Who is a team at the bottom of the Big 12 that could sneak into the NCAA tournament?

We answer all these questions and more! Stay Tuned!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip

With the effects of Covid-19 hurting businesses like the NBA financially, discussions across NBA organizations and media have begin to zero in on the idea of adding two more expansion teams to the league.

Here on the HTP, we love the idea of the NBA expanding and making each conference have an even 16 teams. But what are pros? What are the cons? Where would they go? We Discuss!

On this edition of the Hoop Talk Podcast, Jay and Ryan name their city of choice (excluding Seattle and Las Vegas cause they are easy options) for an expansion team and explain some of the pros and cons of expanding the league.

Also, to close out the podcast the guys do an interesting exercise where they each draft the Starting Five for their own expansion team, but here is the catch: They only can pick players selected in the 2019 and 2020 Draft Classes!

Definitely a fun one and we would definitely love to hear in the comment section who you believe drafted the better Starting Five. Stay Tuned!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip

More Women's College Basketball on the Hoop Talk Podcast?! Yes you read the title correctly!

After analyzing some of our UnSung Hoopers from Women's College Basketball last week, we got to thinking: Why not bring even more Women's Hoops to the podcast? So that is exactly what we did!

On this edition of the Hoop Talk Podcast, Jay and Ryan take a look at some of the best teams, players and storylines in Women's College Basketball as they continue through Conference play.

Whether it be Louisville at the top of the standings, our home team in the Maryland Terrapins or even a standout player in the Pac-12 *wink* *wink*, we get into all of this and more as we breakdown the AP Top-25 Poll for Women's Basketball on the Road to March Madness! Stay Tuned!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip

You know we love College Basketball here on the Hoop Talk Podcast and NCAA Basketball is smack dab in the middle of Conference play!

The Blue Bloods: Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky are struggling leaving teams like Gonzaga, Baylor and dare I say Alabama are all thriving in the background. Conference tournaments are about a month away and we are starting to learn a lot more about who truly is a contender for the NCAA Men's College Basketball Championship!

On this edition of the Hoop Talk Podcast, Jay and Ryan take a look across the country at teams on the rise, teams desperately need to bounce back and even highlight a few underrated players that may play a huge factor in how NCAA Tournament seeding plays out.

Stay Tuned for more college basketball content here on the HTP!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip

January 26, 2020: The day we lost both a great basketball player and an even better person in Kobe "Bean" Bryant. To this day it still does not feel real, yet here we are a year later reflecting and reminiscing on the great moments Bryant gave us throughout his playing career and beyond.

On this edition of the Hoop Talk Podcast, Jay and Ryan commemorate the life of Kobe Bryant by sharing our "Where were you when..." stories of the day the news broke, favorite Kobe moments and discuss where the lies in the G.O.A.T Debate.

Also with talking about Kobe Bryant, it is only right to talk about the reigning defending champion Los Angeles Lakers led by the star duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The guys discuss what has stood out about the team so far and debate on the odds that the Lakers can repeat as champions based on how they have played so far.

Definitely a great episode today talking everything Lakers Past & Present!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip

YOU KNEW WE WERE GOING TO BE BACK WITH ANOTHER ONE!

The Maryland Sports Junkies are back with a long awaited follow-up episode looking at some of the progress or even regression of some of the local hoops teams looking to make a run at the NCAA tournament.

On this edition of the Hoop Talk Podcast, the fellas take a look at the most prominent college teams in the Maryland area: Towson Tigers and the Maryland Terrapins, but this time we are doing it with a twist.

This time we are talking about both the Men's AND the Women's squads for both programs! And to make things even better, we brought on our good friend and local sports writer Brooks Warren to bring on his expertise and talk some Maryland Hoops!

Stay Tuned for fun, emotional and rant filled podcast filled with hilarious moments and hot takes!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip

We are almost 20 games into this Covid-racked season and things are slowly starting to take shape as each game becomes more important. The new trio in Brooklyn have gotten a few games under their belts. Ja Morant is back for the Grizzlies while Markelle Fultz is out in Orlando. Luka Doncic looks like an MVP candidate thus far? Someone on the podcast thinks not!

On this edition of the Hoop Talk Podcast, Jay and Ryan discuss these and many there big storylines circulating around the NBA. It has been a fun season so far and things are starting to heat up! Stay tuned for all the NBA coverage as HTP takes a look across the league!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip

Here on the Hoop Talk Podcast, we have discussed all kinds of topics in the world of Basketball. We have discussed NBA storylines, the NBA Draft, the WNBA, Men's College Hoops and even the TBT Tournament.

But now we would like to expand our horizons even further by bringing in a new topic: Women's College Hoops! On this edition of the HTP, Jay and Ryan highlight some of their favorite Lady Hoopers in the NCAA so far this season? Who do you think will make the cut? Stay Tuned to find out!

Music Sample from: Impossible Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26UIYCRg1o

Original Song from: The Boondocks Intro Theme song by Asheru- Judo Flip