Foul Trouble

We're almost 2 months in to the NBA season and boy, oh boy do we have thoughts. Jiedel wants us to crown Jokic as the GOAT once and for all. But he also thinks it's time for Embiid TO GO. Patrick goes IN on the Lakers and the Pacers. Plus, Rashad McCants wins Worst Take AGAIN. Stick around for Hot Streak/Shooting Slump!

It's the final part of our Positional Rankings series! Who do you think we have at number one? Does his name with Bikola Brokic? You'll just have to listen to find out. We also talk about Dalton Knecht's wild 37 pt night, the abysmal situation in Philadelphia, and crown the best and worst takes of the week (Shaq appears in both categories this time around). Stick around for a little Hot Streak/Sho...

Who are the 10 best Power Forwards in the league? We're breaking it down today on the pod! Is Lebron still Top 5? How high has Paolo climbed this season? We dig into all of that and more. Stick around for a little Best Take/Worst Take, where we crown the best and worst takes of the week. And then a little Hot Streak/Shooting Slump, where we catch up on our W's and L's in real life. PLUS! Producer...

The ranking grind continues! This week on the pod we're breaking down the Top 10 Small Forwards in the league. It's all a bit tricky these days...some players we traditionally think of as 3's play in different roles than they used to...it's all a little blurry. But when it comes down to the traditional definition of a Small Forward, there's a pretty clear Top 3. Or so we think! We also get into a...

We talked point guards last week, and we’re moving right along to shooting guards today on the pod! Who you got at #1? Ant? Donovan Mitchell? Booker? What about Kyrie? James and Patrick try their best to agree on a definitive ranking. Then we get into a little Best Take/Worst Take featuring Barack Obama, Joe Mazzulla, and the Miami Heat organization. Stick around for a quick Hot Streak/Shooting Sl...

The NBA is back! We quickly chat about the opening night dubs for the Celtics and the Lakers before ranking our Top 10 Point Guards in the league. The Top 4 were pretty much locked, but 5-10 were up for debate. Who did we miss? Let us know in the comments! We also round things out with a little Best Take/Worst Take – where we nominate the best and worst takes from NBA media this week – and close t...

The 2024-25 season starts up next week and that means it's time to make some predictions! Is it finally Luka's year to snag MVP? How on earth do we predict a ROTY with this draft class? Who'll be the first coach to get fired this year? Who's winning the chip? We dig into all of this and more on today's ep, and we bring back everybody's favorite segment: Best Take/Worst Take!

Last week we tackled the East, this week we're digging into the West. We couldn't quite agree on a cohesive ranking, so we each kind of built our own lists. James' outrageous Lakers bias is on full display today, and Patrick does his best to hear him out. We all agree that OKC will likely come out on top this year, but the cluster of teams vying for the 2-5 seeds is where things get a little trick...

On this week's ep, we're sorting the Eastern conference teams into tiers. Tier 1 pretty clearly belongs to one team and one team only. And then things start to get a little tricky. Does the KAT trade cement the Knicks as the clear 2 seed? Does the PG trade do the same thing for Philly? Are Dame and Giannis finally going to see some real success? Just how bad are the Nets going to be? We break it d...

As much as we love the NBA, there are a few things we'd like to change...the salary cap situation is incredibly murky for starters. And the Stepian rule doesn't really make sense anymore. Can we fix the BS charging calls too? What is this feet-planting garbage? After we pitch our rule changes, we get into the biggest draft of the off-season, in which we each pick an ALL-TIME STARTING LINE-UP of pl...

James is out of town this week so we have Travis Fukumoto and Johnny Carmack from the Bucketsquad crew subbing in. We're playing a new segment we like to call 2 Truths and a Lie! Each person pitches three NBA takes, and the other two guys have to spot the lie. Then, we draft our top three Fast Food Chains in another installment of Starting 5. Get into it!

We're deep in the dog days of the offseason and craving basketball like crazy. Looking ahead to next season, we each made a list of team we think will rise, and teams that we think will fall. The Spurs are going to be better...but HOW MUCH? The Clippers are going to be worse...but HOW BAD? Then, we bring in our Producer Max to draft Animated Movies. Stick around for Hot Streak/Shooting Slump too!

We're coming to you live from the Bucketsquad studio with a fun new thought exercise: which NFL Teams are equivalent to which NBA Teams? Do the Lakers have a comparable squad in the NFL? What about the Miami Heat? We suggest some cross-sport comparisons and talk them through. Then, it's time for the UNITED STATES DRAFT. We each pick our top 5 states and offend as many flyover states as possible in...

We are back in person coming to you live from the Bucketsquad studio! This week we're doing a little Washed Watch. Who's had some concerning declines over the past few years? Who needs to bounce back in a big way to prove that they still have some juice left? James and Patrick pick their Top 3 plus some honorable mentions. Then, we bring in Johnny Carmack to draft some HOBBIES. Stick around for a...

With the start of the 2024-25 NBA season still a couple months out, we're dreaming and scheming about everything that could be. On today's episode, we pitch a few narratives to the NBA scriptwriters. What if the Giannis comes back swinging? What if LeBron takes the Lakers to the Finals to square off the Champion Celtics for one last ring? What if the Suns blow up their superteam? We have lots of d...

LEBRON & STEPH FOREVER On the heels of a dominant Gold Medal win for Team USA, we can't help but feel like LeBron & Steph still have some championship juice left in the tank. How can the Lakers retool and rebuild around their existing pieces to make a run this year? And how can the Warriors do the same with Steph? James and Patrick discuss some possible paths forward. And then it's time fo...

Patrick is out on vacation with his fiancee so we got our guy Neal Schnoor back on the pod. With Jamal Murray's recent struggles in the Olympics and the Russell Westbrook signing we figured we'd chat about the future of the Nuggets. Are we looking at a downward trajectory? And then we're back with another Starting Lineup, where James, Neal, and Max draft their favorite appetizers. Any guesses on w...

We're back! We chat about the successes (and memes) of the Men's Basketball team in the 2024 Paris Olympics before diving into our brand new segment: STARTING FIVE. We each draft our top 5 picks of a specific category, and this week we're starting off with summer activities. Beach hangs, pool parties, grilling out...they're all on the table! Who picked the best starting 5? Let us know what you thi...

We’re 2 weeks out from the Olympics so today we’re breaking down all things Olympic Basketball! The way that this version of group play works is a bit confusing and involves point differentials so we’re breaking down how it all works. We’re pretty high on the USA squad, but we’re also seeing some exciting stuff from Australia, Canada, and France. Plus, Germany has a lot to prove after winning the...

DeRozan got traded to the Kings so we decided to do a little California NBA special. First, we evaluate the trade and offer up a few minutes of NBA therapy for Bulls fans. Is it a good fit? James and Patrick disagree. Moving down to SoCal...what are four trades the Lakers could make to become championship favorites next season? And how do we rank the 4 Cali teams after this big move from the Kings...

Free Agency is wrapping up and we have lots of thoughts! The Sixers snagged PG but does it really mean anything? OKC got a huge W by snagging Hartenstein, and the Spurs are going to get some real veteran leadership in CP3. The Celtics also managed to keep their whole squad together in an underrated W. The Nuggets, Clippers, Lakers, and Bucks all did a whole lot of nothing. Stick around for Hot Str...

A lot has happened since Monday so we brought our good buddy Neal back to break it down. The NBA Draft is in the books and there were definitely some winners and losers. We break down our thoughts on a few highlights, including Dalton Knecht to the Lakers, Stephon Castle to the Spurs, Rob Dillingham to the Wolves, AJ Johnson to the Bucks, Devin Carter to OKC, and more. There’s also been some Free...

We rounded up all of the vilest, most out-of-pocket takes from NBA talking heads this season, plus a pretty gnarly crop of our own wrong takes, and now they must compete head-to-head in a March Madness style bracket. Only the worst take will survive! What was the worst take of the year? Let us know in the comments! 

IT'S ALMOST DRAFTIN' TIME James and Patrick are joined by 2HYPE producer and college basketball expert Neal Schnoor to draft their top 13 prospects in this year's NBA lottery. It's a weak year for sure, but there are still plenty of talented players to choose from, many of which will be able to help NBA teams right away. Where will UConn studs Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan make the most impac...

The Finals are over just like that! We can't help but feel like these Finals were a bit lackluster, and honestly that this year's playoffs were similarly underwhelming. But we can't deny that this Celtics team is special, deserves the chip, and they'll likely be in the same position next year.  What are the takeaways from this series? And who's going to be a real threat in the East next year? What...