On The Nba Beat

Following a brutal season the New York Knicks would much rather you forgot, the team jumped out to a solid 22-22 start this campaign. Unfortunately, the team subsequently experienced a bitter downturn in which it fired its second-year head coach Derek Fisher. And the struggles continue. On both sides of the ball, however, No. 4 overall pick Kristaps Porzingis has shown early signs of brilliance at a mere 20 years old. Plus, there are other promising developments, such as the continued improvement of Lance Thomas. To discuss these complex Knicks, Seth Rosenthal, SB Nation editor as well as the editor for SBN’s Knicks site Posting and Toasting, stopped by. Seth didn’t sugarcoat things, providing the good, the bad and the ugly. The highlights can be found below:Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a summer of roster upheaval, highlighted by the departure of LaMarcus Aldridge, the Portland Trail Blazers have been finding their way on the fly. Since falling to the Warriors by 20 on Jan. 8, they’ve caught fire, winning 15 of 18 games, including a blowout of those same Warriors. The knowledgeable Dane Carbaugh hangs with the guys to explain Portland’s scorching play, C.J. McCollum’s emergence, Damian Lillard’s excellence and so much more. Located in the City of Roses, Carbaugh has worked for SB Nation and Sporting News, among other outlets. He’s a skilled NBA video analyst for Vox, Blazer’s Edge, Hardwood Paroxysm and FloHoops. The Renaissance man, whose videos appear here also has his own podcast with Yu Miyagawa called “Between Me and Yu,” which can be found on iTunes.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following the interview with Doug Branson earlier in the week, Aaron and Loren continue the discussion about the surging Charlotte Hornets who have outperformed expectations and won nine of their last 12 games. They further discuss how the team has shown such a drastic increase in both 3-point attempts and percentage, but also look into the factors that have led to them having the largest disparity between home and road winning percentages among projected playoff teams.In the second segment, the co-hosts look into some of the biggest deals that went down before last week’s trade deadline. All of the big names stayed put, but smaller moves like Channing Frye to Cleveland and Jeff Green to the Clippers could have an impact on how the rest of the season and the playoffs play out for those teams. (Editor’s note: we discuss a trade sending Donatas Motiejunas to the Detroit Pistons. Since recording, that trade has been voided because of the Motiejunas’ back issues mentioned in the episode.)Learn more about your ad

The crew interviews Doug Branson, host of Hive Talk Live, on the state of the upstart Charlotte Hornets. He expounds on the various factors that have led the team to overachieve this campaign after self-destructing near the end of last season. Chief among these are the play of Charlotte’s most valuable players, Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum, the invaluable contributions of glue guy Marvin Williams, remarkable bench play and the team’s 3-point shooting makeover. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spend some of your All-Star break with your favorite fellas as they discuss the Miami Heat and All-Star Saturday night. The co-hosts revisit interviewee Josh Baumgard’s thoughts on Hassan Whiteside’s impact and future with the Heat, the team’s handling of Dwyane Wade’s usage, and the degree to which Chris Bosh’s injury matters.Next, Joshua and Loren guide you through the most exciting NBA All-Star Saturday night in recent memory. On a busy basketball weekend that featured Timberwolves domination, a retooled Skills Competition featuring big men and thrilling three-point and dunk contests, On the NBA Beat has you covered.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Josh Baumgard of Slice Miami doesn’t believe the Heat are the contenders theyexpected to be, he does shed light on their many strengths and what’scurrently holding them back. Also on the docket, the impending freeagency of enigmatic big man Hassan Whiteside, as well as JustiseWinslow’s rookie campaign, Chris Bosh’s value and many other fascinatingHeat topics.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly two weeks ago, the best team in the Eastern Conference fired its head coach. Conrad Kaczmarek, former editor of SB Nation’s Fear the Sword, makes an appearance to discuss the state of those Cleveland Cavaliers. Although they still boast the conference’s best record and are showcasing electric offense under newly named lead man Tyronn Lue, minor weaknesses are discussed. Also, Conrad explores the instrumental play of Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson as well as LeBron James’ impact on personnel decisions.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s banter episode, Aaron and Loren revisit the discussion of the Orlando Magic’s tale of two seasons and what this rough stretch might mean in context of the development of their young core. Aaron also shares his strong opinion about Blake Griffin’s broken hand, and finally, following the announcement of the All-Star reserves, the duo opines about who they think are the best players left off of the team.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a promising 19-13 start under new head coach Scott Skiles, the Orlando Magic have fallen on very hard times this calendar year, dropping 11 of 12 contests. A stagnant offense has especially plagued this incredibly young team. Amid such horrible January struggles, Zach Oliver of SB Nation’s Orlando Pinstriped Post drops by to help explain the Magic’s current woes as well as to provide insight on the team’s wealth of young talent.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen in as Loren and Joshua play a little two-man game. First on the docket is the team that interview guest Holly MacKenzie so eloquently covers, the Toronto Raptors. The fellas discuss the All-Star merits of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Toronto’s status as a contender and the North’s suddenly stout defense. Next, the duo share their thoughts on the shocking ousting of Cavaliers head coach David Blatt. Finally, Joshua, a Clippers fan, and Loren, a Rockets enthusiast, expound on the teams’ most recent swap of the talented yet enigmatic Josh Smith.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toronto will be hosting the NBA’s All-Star Weekend this season, and the timing could not be better. Just a tad more than 20 years since NBA basketball came to Toronto, the Raptors find themselves in second place in a competitive Eastern Conference. DeMar DeRozan is playing the most efficient basketball of his career, while his BFF, Kyle Lowry, is similarly turning in an All-Star-caliber season. We have the pleasure of being joined by the talented Holly MacKenzie, who expertly explains why life is so good in Toronto these days. Holly writes for Raptors.com, among many other outlets.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Midway through the NBA season, Loren and Aaron take theopportunity to handicap the league’s various awards, including Best Hair ofcourse. In the opening segment, they reflect on the state of the Suns andNuggets – the most recent team interviews – as well as what’s on the horizonfor those two.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Denver Nuggets have had their fair share of struggles so far this season, with a new head coach, a bottom-tier defense and numerous injuries to key players. We were joined this episode by Justin Faudree, a lifelong Denver Nuggets fan and periodic contributor to ESPN TrueHoop’s Roundball Mining. He takes us through all the reasons why this team has gotten off to such a poor start this season, with only one win so far against a winning team. Despite that, he is still optimistic for the future and believes that with a young core of Mudiay, Jokic and Nurkic, there are good times ahead.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A season that began with so much promise appears headed downhill and fast for the Phoenix Suns. In a span of nine days, starting in late December, the Suns fell to the 76ers, lost Eric Bledsoe for the season, fired their top two assistants, surrendered 142 points to the Kings and scored just 77 points in a loss to the Lakers. With Bledsoe out for the season, Markieff Morris clearly wanting out of town and Tyson Chandler not fitting in, things are likely to get worse before they get better. Andrew Lynch, NBA coordinator at Fox Sports, helps us sort it all out. Some of the highlights of our talk can be found below:Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following Loren’s interview with Red’s Army’s John Karalis earlier in the week, the boys are back together serving up Beantown basketball banter. Among the appetizing topics on the menu are Jared Sullinger’s beastly rebounding, Marcus Smart’s return from injury, and the Celtics’ chances of representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. Speaking of the East, what is this parity madness? Are Eastern teams really as good as the Western Conference squads all of a sudden? In the final segment of the episode, our co-hosts make sense of this surprising dynamic and discuss its importance to the league. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny Ainge and the youthful Boston Celtics are a fascinating study in team-building. On this week’s exhilarating interview episode, Loren is solo with Red’s Army’s John Karalis for a discussion of the Leprechauns’ current and future. Are they contenders or pretenders in the East? Among a number of topics, John explores in great detail the emergence of Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas’ adjustment to his starting role, team synergy and Brad Stevens’ superb coaching. Delectable sound bites can be found below:Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although the Memphis Grizzlies find themselves better than .500, they’ve struggled to beat the league’s upper-echelon teams. Grizzlies radio play-by-play announcer Eric Hasseltine joins the show to discuss Memphis’ early struggles, caused primarily by uncharacteristically poor defense and a lack of perimeter shooting. With Zach Randolph really showing his age and Mike Conley Jr. starting slow, Eric believes Marc Gasol needs to consistently be aggressive for this team to succeed. Many other fascinating topics are discussed, including Mario Chalmers’ impact, many other topics and these juicy bites below:Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, longtime NBA referee Bill Kennedy publicly announced that he was gay three days after Rajon Rondo was suspended for twice directing a homophobic slur at Kennedy. Before closing out with some Wizards discussion, this episode primarily focuses on how the Kings point guard badly mishandled the Kennedy incident. The hosts contend that, although the incident was ugly and regrettable, once Rondo used the derogatory term, he had a chance to make things right but instead took on a series of disappointing missteps: 1.) On at least a few occasions, the 29-year-old veteran denied to investigators that he even used the term, which was later confirmed by independent audiologists hired by the NBA. 2.) One day before releasing an apology statement on Dec. 16, Rondo fired off two ill-conceived tweets that were effectively non-apologies (3) According to reports, as of press time, Rondo has yet to personally apologize to Kennedy outside of the statement he released.      Learn more about you

Despite the offseason departure of Paul Pierce, the Washington Wizards and their young core were widely expected to turn in another quality season. Well, things haven’t quite gone that way. SB Nation NBA editor Mike Prada was gracious enough to stop by to discuss what’s holding this young team back, such as a porous defense and an onslaught of key injuries. Here are some of the highlights:  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the heels of the Lakers-focused interview with ReyMoralde, the guys delve further into how Los Angeles can best develop itshighly touted young players and how important it will be for the Lakers to re-signJordan Clarkson. In the final segment, the A-A-Ron Block, the MinnesotaTimberwolves are used as a prime example of a team that has fairly seamlesslyintegrated young talent, an area where Byron Scott has struggled thus far. Agingveterans, such as Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince, have taken on a diminishedbut important role both on the off the court, whereas Kobe Bryant’s shot-happyways appear to be stunting the growth of promising players like D’AngeloRussell and Julius Randle. In recent games, Scott has started to give Russellmore freedom to make mistakes and grow…and your hosts certainly hope thatcontinues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices