Podcast Week - BSG, Ted Lasso (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-creativity-education-and-leadership-podcast/id1567287356), and Star Wars CCG ()https://www.patreon.com/jeffmay), oh my!

State of the Western Conference, Including Highlights for

• The Grizzlies
• The Kings
• The Mavericks

Deep Dive on the Denver Nuggets. Boring answer - Jamal Murray doesn’t look 100%

We skip March Madness Bracket talk but highly suggest:

https://twitter.com/DataStrictly and https://twitter.com/TyWillinganz if you want good advice

We discuss why the NCAA is a bad farm system, how the top draft picks aren’t NCAA players, and how players like Zion hurt themselves going to school.

We end Rookie of the Year and why Walker Kessler, currently ranked 4th at NBA dot coms Rookie of the Year race, is ranked 4th, behind two players we say are terrible.

Zach Edey is Brian’s potential Rookie of the Year for next year IF a team has the fortitude to play him.

Some shout-outs to high school basketball squads. Oakland High Basketball - Boys and Girls! And DePere’s Basketball Squad. 

Dre and Brian return to talk:

The current state of the Warriors, and what's gone wrong and what's gone right?

The Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo and some of the frustrating realities about how the NBA is really a big grift for billionaires.

We check in early on the Mavericks/Nets trade. We question if the Nets are making mistakes or if Ben Simmons is more injured than we thought, a running theme.

We also check in a few times on the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard a few times.

Enjoy!

Holy cow, we go over every major trade at the NBA Trade Deadline including:

• Kyrie Irving for Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith
• D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt to the Lakers
• Kevin Durant to the Suns!
• Josh Hart and Matisse Thybulle for the Knicks and Blazers, in another four-team trade
• Gary Payton and James Wiseman in a four-team trade with the Warriors
• Mason Plumlee to the Clippers

Dre and Brian return to talk:

The Nuggets Finals hopes!

How parity has "Returned to the NBA" and top draft picks have vanished from the top.

Why the trade market may not solve all teams woes.

Why defense remains a hard concept, and what even is defense?

Tune in!

• Find Dave on Twitter and Instagram as @wagesofwins
• FIne Dre on Twitter and Instragram as @nerdnumbers.
• You can check out nerdnumbers.substack.com for show notes, articles, and more! 

On this show, we discuss:

• Why a lot of people do science wrong.
• WNBA and NBA players being underpaid, even adjusting for league revenue.
• How the WNBA and NBA are like different weight classes in boxing.
• What Donovan Mitchell's numbers look like and why he's an MVP candidate.
• Dave Berri, Forbes, and the NBA and how Dave disagreed with them on how WNBA players were paid.
• We also compare writing to golf and gymnastics.

We talk Dre's post on NBA Award Trophies

Why Luka Doncic is the obvious MVP.

Some surprise NBA players like Lauri Markannen and Donovan Mitchell.

Dr. Jonathan Weiler (@jonweiler) joins the show! Dr. Weiler is a professor at UNC Chapel Hill, specializing in economics and politics. He also has a great Substack - jonathanweiler.substack.com. He also has the fantastic podcast "The Agony of Defeat" with Matt Andrews. He joins us to talk:

• Kyrie Irving and the deafening silence in the NBA about antisemitism.
• The New York Knicks and why the look bad and good at the same time, from someone that remembers when they were great.
• The 2022 Midterms and a ton of politics. Don't worry, we get a fair number of sports numbers in.

We're back to talk:

• The start of the NBA season. Featured teams are the Nuggets, the Warriors, the Grizzlies, the Mavericks, the Pelicans, the Cavaliers, and the Jazz.
• Is tanking a good strategy, and is Victor Wembanyama worth it?
• Dre was wrong about Russell Westbrook :(
• More chess controversy and why cheating is chess is a lot like Steph Curry's shot!

Tune in!

Recorded 10-4-2022

We're back to talk:

Small Sample Size Theater. Overreacting to preseason games! Including James Wiseman, Ben Simmons, Michael Porter Jr., and more!

Tyler Herro's massive contract and if it's worth it (spoiler, it's not)

Aaron Judge's Home Run Record and a brief history lesson.

A whole lot more on the Hans Niemann / Magnus Carlsen chess scandal.

We're back we talk:

(0:54) - A little warm-up talking about Brian's Warriors

(14:29) - Rob Sarver's Suspension and Fine

(32:37) - Robert William's Injury

(47:49) - Hans Niemann and Magnus Carlsen's Chess Drama

Shameless self-promotion, I just did a podcast with Jeff May on Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link. Check it out here - https://nerdnumbers.substack.com/p/shut-up-nerd-episode-1-zelda-2.

Also, I'm aiming to stream every Tuesday (next one on September 27th) at twitch.tv/rixtergt at 10pm EST playing a vintage NES game. Next up? Megaman 4! The other Tuesdays? Brian and I will record the Boxscore Geeks Show at twitch.tv/nerdnumbers