Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images

Marc and I are back, finally, talking about the NBA. We recorded this on Friday, a day removed from the Heat advancing to the Finals. We discuss the two Conference Finals series that ended, Mike Brown going to the Lakers, what to expect from Dallas/Miami, and more.

There is not as much J.J. Barea talk as you might expect.

David Sherman/Getty Images

We tried something a little different this week. Sir Julian Guy-McCarvill III constructed a challenge whereby each of us podcasters picked one of three dudes at each position/role to build a team. It was weird, but fun. Enjoy!

After the jump, view our teams and vote for mine!

David Kahn Challenge Rosters

As the regular season winds down, we take a look back at who’s been surprisingly good/bad, where we went wrong with our preseason predictions, and… yeah… we talk about the MVP thing. To be a bit different, we forced ourselves to argue for candidates we wouldn’t actually vote for.

The cast of characters: James Herbert, Julian Guy-McCarvilll, and John Bennett. Eric Wagman was there in spirit.

Marc and I are back with more Shammpoddery. He’s just returned from a basketball-less business trip to L.A., so I catch him up on what he’s missed in the NBA.

Topics include, but are not limited to: The Miami Heat, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Memphis Grizzlies’ facial hair, the Miami Heat, HDNet, hamburgers, the Atlanta Hawks, the Miami Heat, Tony Allen’s sanity, the Miami Heat, and the Miami Heat.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Podcast-enhancing material:

Krolik on LeBron being disappointing in the regular season
Ziller on the Heat not forcing turnovers
Dean Oliver on dribbling
Gallo’s awesome defense
Andre Iguodala’s awesome defense

Notes: Spencer Hawes is boring, I think Marc owes the city of Atlanta an apology, we probably swore too much, and it runs just over an hour.

We’re still not on iTunes. This is entirely our fault. This situation will be rectified.

Bill Kostroun / AP Photo

Can’t believe I had to miss this podcast. Julian, Wagman, and John held it down, though. They went through each of the big deadilne deals, starting with the one that has Deron Williams all smiley in the picture above.

The runtime is 29:08.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Spoilers: Wagman absolutely rips into Robert Sarver… and if you thought he was done with the Kings last week, you were wrong. Somehow.

P.S. I would have argued against the franchise tag idea if I was there. Dammit.

Two podcasts!

It feels like a billion years since we recorded Episode 19 of The OTN Podcast. It was really Thursday, but only two actual NBA games have been played since then, so it’s not THAT out of date.

In that one, we cover the Lakers, Blazers, some other Western teams, and what we’re looking forward to after the All-Star break. Wagman ripped into Tyreke Evans and Julian shared his favourite Corey Maggette nickname. The runtime is 23:43.

Click here to listen to Episode 19 of the Outside the NBA Podcast.

Now, Pod Shammpod – Marc and I recorded this yesterday and it might be the last podcast recorded before the Carmelo saga ended. We had a discussion about NBA fandom inspired by this Shoals piece on Derrick Rose and meandered our way to Saturday’s dunk contest and the upcoming trade deadline. The runtime is 50:15.

Click here to listen to Episode 2 of Pod Shammpod.

In the first episode (recorded Wednesday afternoon), we discuss how we got into basketball, how we follow the NBA now, and the in-arena experience. Eventually we get to talking about point guard defense and the struggggling Gilbert Arenas. There’s some Bulls/Celtics/Lakers talk, too. The runtime is 50:50.

Oh, and it’s NSFW because we swear a little.

Click here to listen to the podcast. (We’ll get this on iTunes as soon as possible.)

Recommended reading:

Does point guard defense matter? – Ethan Sherwood Strauss, HoopSpeak.com

Garrett W. Ellwood / Getty Images

We’re baaack and Sir Eric Wagman’s hosting this one.

We discuss LeBron and karma, the Carmelo saga, and a bunch of Western Conference teams.

Click here to listen.

Recommended reading material:

Ethan Sherwood Strauss and Kelly Dwyer on LeBron and his headline-grabbing tweet.
Holly MacKenzie – Thoughts on Kobe, growing up and getting older
Jeremy of Roundball Mining Company – Should I be mad at Carmelo Anthony?

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

First podcast in almost a month!

Click here to listen.

Some topics: the dunk contest field, bagpipes, DeAndre Jordan, Hedo Turkoglu, the most disappointing players of the season, and the O.J. Mayo/Tony Allen fight.

Supplementary material after the jump…

Bethlehem Shoals on the dunk contest [and Shoals and Eric Freeman on other interesting things because that's how The Works works.]

John Hollinger’s All-Disappointment Team [Insider]

Matt Moore’s Bourré alternatives for players to avoid trouble

Chris Graythen / Getty Images

We’re back. Here’s an outline of the episode:

• The Hornets being sold to the NBA
• Statgasm – Julian at his ranting best, wanting to launch Linas Kleiza into space
• James giving some love to Patty Mills and Pooh Jeter
• Wednesday’s Knicks/Raptors game – Bargnani/Amar’e/Felton
• BLAKE GRIFFIN!
• Andre Miller’s cheapshot
• Wednesday’s Heat/Jazz game – we’re feeling better about Miami’s offense
• Wednesday’s Clippers/Lakers game – we enjoy the Clippers
• Derek Fisher, Ron Artest, and Snoop Dogg
• Wednesday’s Suns/Grizz game – holy crap, Rudy Gay
• Predictions on last night’s games – we obviously know nothing about anything.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Relevant links after the jump.

Falling in love with the Clippers, all over again – Kelly Dwyer

Being Ron Artest – Rick Reilly