TrueHoop

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector: * Compare Jalen Green to young LeBron James. * Question the 76ers’ position in the Ben Simmons’ mental health drama. * Wonder if the Nikola Jokic/Markieff Morris dustup is an early sign that the NBA’s permissive new brand of refereeing has a downside. RECENT BRING IT IN EPISODES: * MONDAY November 8, 2021 Did the Celtics’ defense do a...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott and David Thorpe talk about truth seeking in media and assess the latest batch of young players. * Did the Celtics’ defense do anything wrong to allow Luka’s crazy game-winner? * Recent articles about a decade or two of bad behavior from Robert Sarver and Neil Olshey make clear how rare it is for journalists to share bad news about powerbrokers. * Now...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector talk early season trends. * How much does the new Wilson ball impact the players’ shooting? David thinks it’s “great big stew” of so many changes at once. * LeBron is out, the Lakers lost to the Thunder, but Jarod isn’t hitting the panic button. What’s up with the Lakers? * David and Jarod give some love to Jaren Jackson, Jr. RECENT BR...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott and David Thorpe have what might be the best-organized BRING IT IN of all time, with starters, main courses, and dessert. Really, if you’ve never listened before, this is a good place to start. Some topics: * LeBron (36) outraces Jalen Green (19) for a dunk. He is almost double his age. How can this happen? David explains. * Henry discusses his latest...

Joakim Noah was the star of Thursday night, so Friday TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector kicked off BRING IT IN with some of David’s favorite memories of him as a Florida college player. Also: * David’s not counting out the Lakers yet, but without Horton-Tucker, David is concerned. * The new foul rules are decreasing the number of fouls taken. David says this better for game flow, but the pl...

Today, after maybe being a little harsh in talking about the weather, I—Henry—note that you should subscribe to TrueHoop because David is a real basketball professional working in media—rather than a real media professional working in basketball. It started with this Tweet, from friend of the show Chad Ford. Yup! Before the draft. when everybody thought Mobley and Barnes were the third-, fourth-,...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector giddily and wildly overreact to the first few nights of games. * David is betting Daryl Morey has a good trade up his sleeve to handle the Ben Simmons mess. * Jarod gets very enthusiastic about rookie Evan Mobley, who David called a unicorn a months ago. * David says there’s a limit to how much better a team can get in the postseason,...

Today on BRING IT IN TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott and David Thorpe chop up some preseason data and note that the Warriors took a ton of 3s, and hit a ton of 3s … and barely had a top ten preseason offense. Now that Giannis has a title from owning the paint, more teams with top talent seem, perhaps, to be OK shooting 30ish 3s a game instead of 40ish or more. It’s an interesting early signal. And, Henry,...

On Friday’s BRING IT IN TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector talk Kyrie, why the Bucks can repeat, Rudy Gobert and much more. * Judy loves David’s Fireside Chat show Raising Winners, but she thinks there’s one piece of terrible advice he keeps giving her. * Hearing Kyrie Irving talk about his current situation makes David feel queasy * Jarod is glued into Memphis’s progress this season. RECENT...

Preseason essentially means nothing, but it’s still fun to see that the Bulls’ new backcourt is killing it, that very big man Boban Marjanovic is leading the league in points per minute, and that Mo Bamba appears to have turned over a new leaf. Also, the Lakers remain old, the Heat are interesting, and Jarod crushes the dreams of swim parents everywhere. RECENT BRING IT IN EPISODES: * FRIDAY Octob...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector talk about the state of the NBA this preseason. * Celebrating 75 years of the NBA, who would complete the NBA 50 team? David thinks Jokic already belongs on the list. * The distraction that is Kyrie Irving’s vaccine refusal. Maybe they don’t need him. * The high stakes game of chicken Ben Simmons is playing. RECENT BRING IT IN EPISODES...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott and David Thorpe dig deep into the Ben Simmons situation—What is the real problem? Is this limbo period harmful to the rest of the 76ers’ roster? How good are the 76ers without Ben Simmons? What is the solution? But all that came after a speed round of: * What did we learn from the Nets’ crushing the Lakers in the preseason’s first game? * The Pacers’...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector discuss personal choices about vaccination intersecting with public health. * The side effects of “dumb jock” syndrome. * Is Bradley Beal’s case for refusing vaccination compelling? * David disapproves of one of the NBA’s new foul rules changes. He thinks it’s important to punish defensive players who jump when they’re not supposed to....

Today on BRING IT IN, we have TrueHoop Coachspeak. (This is where we let David geek out, using basketball terms that might alienate my mom. Pretty sure today’s episode has at least one “DHO.”) TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott and David Thorpe spoke with Todd Ramasar, the founder of Life Sports Agency, and the agent to the likes of Baron Davis, Pascal Siakam, Josh Primo, Thomas Bryant, and one of David’s fa...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott and David Thorpe are joined by Jarod Hector on location at Nets media day—and we wonder what Kevin Durant is saying to Kyrie Irving about vaccinations. (Also, check out this excellent story about anti-vaxxers in the NBA.) * David lists his eight contenders for the title. * If David Stern were still commissioner, don’t you think the NBA would have a tou...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector talk about what one subscriber said was a need to purify the Timberwolves franchise in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. * Jarod and David talked about how the league suffers when there’s petty or salacious scandal in the management ranks. * David on the human tragedy of Ben Simmons. He thinks it’s borderline sadistic how he’s been treate...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s Jarod Hector, David Thorpe, and Henry Abbott discuss the huge alligator patrolling David’s neighborhood, sensational “journalism,” John Wall, and: * How did David’s article about Ben Simmons trade scenarios explode on Twitter? * Who’s not vaccinated in the NBA? And why does Jarod think this is similar to condoms? * They discuss Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s belief that “OG...

Today on BRING IT IN TrueHoop’s David Thorpe asks Henry Abbott about his in-depth, multi-part TrueHoop series on Apollo Global, the NBA, and Jeffrey Epstein. (Last week there was a post about Hitler!) What the hell is going on? And then … is there possibly a way to, in this same episode, discuss potential Ben Simmons and Bradley Beal trades? RECENT BRING IT IN EPISODES: * FRIDAY September 10, 2021...

Today on a BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector discuss: * The teams that Vegas is overlooking (Suns!) and overrating (Celtics!). * Chris Webber’s career, and why his whole Michigan team should be in the Hall. * The short list of teams with a real chance at a title. RECENT BRING IT IN EPISODES: * FRIDAY September 3, 2021 Parakeets and the magical power of Klutch. * MONDAY August 3...

Today on BRING IT IN TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott, David Thorpe and Jarod Hector brought back NINE BY NINETY, where they get 90 seconds each to rapid-fire cover nine topics. At one point we discussed parakeets, and: * The magical powers of Klutch. * NBA players won’t be forced into vaccines. * Texas is loco. * How to become Kyle Lowry. * The Ben Simmons showdown. * David’s idea: Tobias Harris and Ben S...

Today on BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott and David Thorpe spoke with the co-founder and president of Overtime, Zack Weiner. He talks about creating a “superleague” for the next generation of elite basketball players, compensating players as early as 16. It’s opening this fall in Georgia. It’s a real option unlike any before, with its own school, 24 of the best players in the world, an arena d...

Today on a BRING IT IN, TrueHoop’s David Thorpe and Jarod Hector discuss: * David says the Hawks will win a title, and have decided to rename Kevin Huerter “Red Mamba” instead of Red Velvet. * Jarod and David think the MLB is better than the NBA at utilizing the minor leagues to train its major league players. * Jarod asked David to put on his “Ted Lasso” hat and address where Ben Simmons belongs....

TrueHoop kicks off a project for the new year: TrueHoop Coachspeak. This is where we get into the nitty gritty of the X’s and O’s (and learn why it’s better not to use actual X’s and O’s anymore—initials are better). The first guest of Coachspeak isRyan Pannone, David’s close friend and head coach of the Birmingham Squadron, the New Orleans Pelicans G-League affiliate. He’s coached in Israel, Germ...

Who’ll be dominating the NBA in five years? You know about Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson, and Ja Morant, but today on BRING IT IN David Thorpe has some more to throw at you.  * Devin Vassell can barely shoot but—hear David out—has a component of Kevin Durant’s game that makes his future as a scorer interesting.  * Tyrese Maxey has the chance to be a big Kyle Lowry. * The favorites in each conferenc...

Today on BRING IT IN TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott, David Thorpe, and Jarod Hector ponder: What can we learn from the summer league? Amazingly, there’s a player David loves more than Scottie Barnes. And the big takeaway is there are a ton of very talented players. They discuss: The Rockets, Evan Mobley, Luke Garza, Jonathan Kuminga, Desmond Bane, Devin Vassell, Bol Bol, TYRESE MAXEY, Obi Toppin, Payton...