The Boxscore Geeks Show

We talk the NBA Playoffs. Namely:

Milwaukee vs. Boston - ho-hum

Toronto vs. Philadelphia - a barnburner thanks to stars. We recorded this before Kawhi went Nova in game 5.

Denver vs. Portland - an amazing chance for Denver. Luckily, so far, they've delivered.

Golden State vs. Houston - It all comes down to health.

We talk Chris Yeh's Mental Samurai run too.

Finally, we spend a lot of time, a little under half the show on Game of Thrones. What can we say, we're fans!

Direct download: bsg-242.mp3
Category:NBA -- posted at: 2:47pm EDT

We talk the NBA Playoffs:

Toronto leading the 76ers and why Kawhi is great. Of course, the Raptors fell in shocking fashion after we were done recording.

We talk the Bucks falling into a 0-1 hole to the Celtics and why that might make sense. Of course, we note we're in small sample theater right now.

We talk the Nuggets odds against the Blazers. We also talk a little about their great end to Spurs series.

We talk the Warriors/Rockets series. We also have two fun tangents. Dre compares Kevin Durant to Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Smith, and Adam Sandler.

We also discuss the Rockets argument about the NBA's foul calling. We agree with the Rockets tactics, despite not liking it.

We "shout out" Forbes for screwing over Dr. Dave Berri while continuing to use a bastardization of his work despite firing him over using it for the WNBA.

We talk episode three of Game of Thrones season 8. Full spoiler warning!

Direct download: bsg-241.mp3
Category:NBA -- posted at: 3:22pm EDT

We're back! We talk:

A hilarious bad take from Darren Rovell and why sports are weird.

Every NBA playoff series, every last one. We focus a little harder on the Utah Jazz vs. Houston Rockets series, going out of our way to say Jae Crowder is done. He started the game that night 5-5 after we finished recording.

We talk the WNBA paying players and how people forget the NBA's history in their WNBA criticisms.

We talk a little Game of Thrones. Spoiler warning.

Direct download: bsg-240.mp3
Category:NBA -- posted at: 11:22am EDT

We're happy to have special guest Dr. Jonathan Weiler, who is a professor of global studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. He's also co-author of the amazing book "Prius or Pickup?: How the Answers to Four Simple Questions Explain America's Great Divide", and co-host of the great "Agony of Defeat" podcast. As the playoffs loom we talk ... politics. At least one thing from 4/15 made Brian, our Warriors fan, happy.

1. We talk Jonathan's book "Prius or Pickup", particularly how it relates to the US, politics, and racism. Don't worry, we sprinkle in a little sports ala Donovan Mitchell hate.

2. We couldn't avoid at least touching on the NCAA scandals, namely the Felicity Huffman/Lori Loughlin pay to play admissions one, as well as Zion Williamson's injury. Jonathan is actually less optimistic than us that anything changes.

3. We talk the Knicks and if there's room for optimism. Certainly, if the draft Zion, get Durant and Irving there will be.

4. We talk a little about the baseball Hall of Fame. Dre confuses Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz ... enjoy!

You'll have to wait to the end to see why Ed Davis is in the title!

Direct download: bsg-239.mp3
Category:NBA -- posted at: 9:24am EDT

We talk:

The reality TV show "Mental Samurai", as well as "The Chris Yeh Podcast", which has behind the scenes info on it. Tune in April 30th on Fox at 9pm for Chris' appearance on the show.

We recap the Lakers season. We recorded this the day before Magic stepped down!

We return to Babylon 5 briefly, which somehow ends with a trip down memory lane for the Lakers and Jerry West!

We talk Chris' book Blitzscaling (co-written by Reid Hoffman), as well as some criticisms Brian found researching it.

Tune in!

Direct download: bsg-238.mp3
Category:NBA -- posted at: 4:41pm EDT

We talk:

Even more of the WWE style of fandom between Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. Really, Kevin Durant is Roman Reigns and a Face Push just isn't going to work.

We talk about Jokic and the stupidity of fouls. And how maybe dunks vs. floaters impact ref perception.

Trae Young got a game winner recently. But he had 12 points on 19 shots. So can we really say that's a "Game winner"? We equate it to Bill James "B.S. Win" stat.

Just a fun jab - how many talented young bigs have the Lakers let walk?

Chris Bosh and Manu Ginobili both got their jerseys retired. We've espoused our Manu love before, so we give Chris Bosh some attention.

More TV Talk - a Mental Samurai checkin and Babylon 5? 

We talk some March Madness and how even Coach K realizes they might be taking the grift too far.

We discuss John Oliver's WWE segment and how tame it actually is.

Tune in!

Direct download: bsg-237.mp3
Category:NBA -- posted at: 9:19am EDT

We talk:

  • Harden vs. Giannis for the MVP
  • The Nuggets and the Warriors and their race to the top of the West. Also, why the logic behind Durant being more or less valuable than Curry being silly.
  • Ja Morant and why people scout and interview incorrectly.

We spend a lot of time bashing the outdated hardnosed coaching model thanks to Tom Izzo's March Madness antics. Thanks to Coach Nick at bballbreakdown for bringing this subject up.

We talk the new reality TV show Mental Samurai and how Dre is already digging into the stats.

Tune in!

Direct download: bsg-236.mp3
Category:NBA -- posted at: 1:38pm EDT

First, we have a sponsor! Sunshower is the place to go if you're looking for the ultimate cloud-based solution support. Go to sunshower.io/nerdnumbers and check em out!

Lots to discuss. We talk:

How the NBA should copy baseball's award structures. Shout out to iceman for the suggestion!

About a major college pay scandal that only marginally involves the NCAA.

How Giannis is cementing his MVP status and if the Bucks can win it all.

How the Clippers did fine in the Tobias Harris trade and will be a playoff threat?

How the Warriors are fine, they're fine, ok?

How the NBA might have some biased refs, and how that might be completely allowed.

Some conspiracy theories about how LeBron and the Pelicans "last second breakdowns" might have been planned.

We talk a great Todd Whitehead article on the Hot Hand and Klay Thompson. Spoiler alert, Dre didn't realize it had a second-half past an ad, so his opinion changes halfway through the show. Give it a full listen.

We also relate that to movie grosses, Captain Marvel, and a weird argument Dre got into with the creator of Deadpool!

Tune in!

Direct download: bsg-235.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:29am EDT

We talk:

  • Some of the silliness around the social media era and "scandals" like the Steve Kerr lipread.
  • Why the narratives around the Lakers bad season are wrong, just like we did last week.
  • Why James Dolan is a worse owner than a comically bad movie villain.
  • Why the NBA is incentivizing teams to tank, or more accurately, incentivizing teams to "shut it down."
Direct download: bsg-234.mp3
Category:NBA -- posted at: 5:46pm EDT

We talk:

  • An amazing observation from commenter westchesterbruin - The Knicks have a knack for acquiring the NBA's Least Valuable Player.
  • Andrew Bogut signing with the Warriors and why it's an odd method of player acquisition.
  • Eric Bledsoe's completely reasonable contract.
  • Maybe the zone defense is good? Dre likes it because of confirmation bias.
  • Dre poses two post ideas to Brian:
    • The Lakers woes aren't Bron's fault. A point Andrew Sutton agrees with.
    • How baseball and basketball are different, looking at Manny Machado and Bryce Harper's recent paydays.

Tune in!

Direct download: bsg-233.mp3
Category:NBA -- posted at: 12:45pm EDT