Ep. 30 Learning Basketball with Mirin Fader 



Mirin Fader is a New York Times Best-Selling author of "Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA Champion" and just published her new book "Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon”



Mirin is a sports writer with The Ringer, formerly of Bleacher Report and the Orange County Register.



Today, we learn about Mirin's writing process with the challenges in a good lead that hooks the reader before diving into her NYT Best-Selling book "Giannis", focusing on the motivations that led Giannis to development, legendary work ethic, and greatness.

Timestamps




0:00 Introduction & Background


2:20 Book Author Lifestyle & Challenge of Writing Opening Hook Leads


4:48 Feeling and Process of adding the storybook ending of Giannis winning the championship as an Epilogue to a book already on its way to New York Times Best-Seller

6:57 The 2015 Inaugural NBA Africa game where Hakeem & Mutumbo play with rising international players like Giannis & How Hakeem paved the way for the world as Basketball’s first international superstar


9:27 Giannis’ inspirations of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony to facing them as peers


14:00 What Family means to Giannis as a motivational factor in his life and work ethic


17:45 Development in Greece and Important People who helped the Antetokoumnpo family along the way, from Coach Spiros Velliniatis finding and convincing Giannis and brothers to try basketball with the Filathlitikos team, teammate Rahman Rana being like a brother, to Tzikas the owner of the Kivotos Cafe making a small yet giant gesture of providing an apple or fruit smoothie to the brothers every time they walked to practice


20:18 Other motivational factors for the Rise of Giannis - how nourishment could have made him a higher draft pick to scout, the fear of loss coming from nothing, playing emotionless, what defined his drive and work ethic

Ep. 29 with Dante Marchitelli

Dante Marchitelli is an Orlando Magic Host and Sideline Reporter for Bally sports
 and is a Host of Magic Insiders on 969 The Game and The Pod Squad with the Orlando Magic

Today we dive down Orlando Magic history: Dante's journey into Basketball Media, lessons learned working with David Steele and Jeff Turner calling Magic games, Magic player personalities off the court like Hedo Turkoglu, honor Pat Williams' legacy, the process of current front office led by Jeff Weltman, the authentic energy of head coach Jamahl Mosley, the value of Goga Bitadze, the team's heart and soul in Jalen Suggs, and the leaps made this year of Orlando's big wing stars Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction & Background


7:00 Difference in goals between sideline reporting, play-by-play, and studio show and lessons learned from working with David Steele & Jeff Turner
, the popularity of Is This Anything? the best recurring bit in basketball host media

15:20 Origin of The Thanksgiving Postgame Turkey Leg, kudos to Paul Kennedy

18:20 Which Magic Players’ Personalities shined off the court?
21:39 Hedo Turkoglu, Glue Guy of the 2009 Finals Magic team, and Stan Van Gundy’s Magic pioneering modern spacing around Dwight Howard & Shoutout to Magic Players like Dwight Howard, Paolo Banchero, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope giving back to the community

27:27 Honoring Pat Williams Legacy as the Orlando Magic’s Pied Piper

33:27 The Process of Orlando Magic front office Jeff Weltman, John Hammond, Anthony Parker targeting team-first people who bring two-way impact in their roster building


39:24 Head Coach Jamahl Mosley’s authenticity, impact, energy, communication style, and the impact he brings to the team’s culture: The Magic Standard


46:45 Goga Bitadze’s defense, screening, value and growth with this team


54:48 Jalen Suggs point guard development and impact: “The Heart and Soul. The lifeblood of this team.”


1:00:00 Franz Wagner & Paolo Banchero’s leaps to All-Star impact and All-NBA moments and Orlando Magic season expectations the rest of the way once everyone’s available


Ep. 28 with Matt Powers

Matt covers the NBA/WNBA draft, is an Editor/Co-Founder of Swish Theory, and formerly was a contributor at The Stepien



Today we learn about The Modern Wave of Skilled Bigs entering the NBA, Scouting Zach Edey and Matt’s #1 prospects in the 2024 NBA Draft, Scouting Cooper Flagg as our #1 prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft, debate Asa Newell vs Derik Queen as a top lottery pick, discuss Thomas Sorber impressions after Matt saw him live, and finish with a 2025 Big Man Only NBA Draft where we pick our favorite big prospects this cycle

Timestamps


0:00 Introduction, Background, Scouting Process
5:36 The Modern Wave of Skilled Bigs


13:27 Zach Edey #1 on Matt Powers’ 2024 Big Board, what’s Edey’s ceiling and floor as an NBA Player?

31:55 Cooper Flagg Scouting Report and #1 on our 2025 Big Board
52:14 Asa Newell vs Derik Queen


1:11:05 Thomas Sorber Scouting Impressions - Matt seeing live at MSG against St Johns + Ryan seeing his tape vs UConn


1:16:07 The 2025 Big Man Only NBA Draft

Derik Queen

Asa Newell
Collin Murray-Boyles

Khaman Maluach

Thomas Sorber

Johni Broome

Noah Penda

Danny Wolf

Eric Dixon

Ep. 27 with Lucas Kaplan

Lucas is an NBA Writer with Nets Daily and Swish Theory, formerly at SIS_Hoops


He covers the Brooklyn Nets, the NY Liberty, and the NBA Draft



He Cohosts The Backcourt Podcast with Sarah Kustok

Today we learn about the difference-making strengths of the WNBA Champion NY Liberty, Scoot Henderson's coming out party 39pt Career-High game and development, ask and answer the question "What are the Brooklyn Nets doing?", and ponder the Best Landing Spots for the Duke and Rutgers NBA Draft prospects projected to be selected in the 1st Round.

Timestamps


0:00 Introduction & Background


5:35 Celebrating the WNBA Champion NY Liberty

24:36 Sabrina Ionescu Combo Guard skills as a Scoring Creator


37:30 Scoot Henderson’s Coming Out Party

50:45 What are the Brooklyn Nets doing?


1:05:51 NBA Draft Preview from Brooklyn Nets Perspective & Favorite Landing Spots for Kasparas + Duke & Rutgers Prospects Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach, Kon Knueppel


Ep. 26 with Zach Welch


Zach Welch is a Basketball Scout & Analyst with Pro Insight



We draft our Top-10 “Scoring Creators” at the NBPA Top-100 Camp, targeting the most consistent offensive engine prospects.

We also provide our Scouting thoughts on Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis as a potential Top-5 2025 NBA Draft Pick, along with detailing Zach’s Scouting Process for Evaluating Potential Future Pros




Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction & Basketball Background


5:07 Zach’s Scouting Process Watching Film, In Person, Evaluating Future Pros


11:30 Scouting Kasparas Jakučionis

19:35 Defining a “Scoring Creator” Offensive Engine, a primary initiator with decision making feel who runs the offense and has the ability to score but is looking for the best decision for the team every play (h/t Evan Zaucha on processing feel)


23:04 The 2024 NBPA Top-100 Scoring Creator Draft - Targeting Offensive Engines from the Camp + shoutout to Chris Cenac Jr. and Davis Fogle off the top


24:30 #1 Pick - Brayden Burries


27:30 #2 Pick - Meleek Thomas


33:32 #3 Pick - Kingston Flemings


36:35 #4 Pick - Acaden Lewis


41:07 #5 Pick - Jaylen Petty


46:35 #6 Pick - Deron Rippey Jr.


52:42 #7 Pick - Dante Allen


58:13 #8 Pick - Shon Abaev

1:03:29 #9 Pick - Davion Hannah


1:06:48 #10 Pick - Kaden Magwood


1:12:38 Shoutout to the next best available offensive engines a the NBPA Top-100 Camp:



Kiyan Anthony

Darius Adams


Derek Dixon


Nyk Lewis


Jordan Smith Jr.

Cameron Ward

Caleb Holt

Eric Chatfield

Jalen Reece

Courtland Muldrew


Jerry Easter


Tyler Jackson

Shoutout to the Camp’s top Scoring Creator Prospects:

Brayden Burries
 Meleek Thomas
 Kingston Flemings
 Acaden Lewis
 Jaylen Petty
 Deron Rippey Jr.
 Dante Allen
 Shon Abaev Davion Hannah
 Kaden Magwood
 Chris Cenac 
Davis Fogle Kiyan Anthony Darius Adams
 Derek Dixon
 Nyk Lewis
 Jordan Smith Jr. Cameron Ward Caleb Holt Eric Chatfield Jalen Reece Courtland Muldrew 
Jerry Easter 
Tyler Jackson


Ep. 25 Learning Basketball with Brian McCormick (from Poland!) Victor Wembanyama The Generational Prospect, Fake Fundamentals, Developing Playmakers at Every Position, Basketball Book Author Writing Process

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction & Background & Coaching Philosophy

20:20 Communication Skills when Players might not understand

26:30 Fake Fundamentals - disproving basketball concepts & phrases that may not be always true

39:15 Playmakers 3v3 League - Every player at every position should develop Playmaking skills

1:04:10 The Evolution of 180 Shooter Concept - Creating better shots for players' development as shooters can improve production as much as changing technique, Shooting in groups so every player gets reps no matter the position

1:17:24 Generational Prospects: Was Victor Wembanyama The Greatest Basketball Prospect Ever?

Ep. 24 with Eric Weiss @EricWeiss_SA

Director of Learning @ Luceo Sports

Former Draft & Development Consultant @ Sports Aptitude and Head of NBA Scouting @ Draft Express

Co-Creator of CrowdScout with William Huang, a new helpful tool for finding, sharing, and breaking down NBA Film clips


Timeline: 


0:00 Introduction & Background


1:00 Creating the Crowdscout App for NBA Film Editing and Sharing


5:00 Tracking Player Development after the Draft, the full pipeline from high school through their pro career, not just up to the draft, in the Finding a Role Series with Swish Theory

12:55 Lessons learned working at Draft Express with Jonathan Givony & Mike Schmitz


15:20 NBA Draft Scouting Process - what does Eric look for in player traits that will translate to the NBA level


29:00 Being able to evaluate different contexts for a player + Scouting Liam McNeeley’s different contexts between Montverde and UConn


32:30 Prioritizing good basketball players who impact the game in many ways over hoping for potential stars + Scouting Cooper Flagg being a scalable winning two-way player 


42:25 The Luka - Trae Trade and Scouting the 2018 NBA Draft with Jaren Jackson Jr.


52:00 Creating systems that score a lot of points because the system creates matchup advantages that are advantageous for a narrow skill set


53:00 “Positionless sports” - How other sports like football have also become positionless in the aspect of more players needing to be able to do more things and handle more roles than before: mobility, versatility, awareness, processing


1:02:45 Creating entire lineups of quick-processing 5-out two-way versatility, creating as many possible matchup advantages as possible like the Boston Celtics

Learning Basketball – @AlexHoops – OKC Thunder, Franz Wagner, Amen Thompson, Scottie Barnes

Alex of @AlexHoops on YouTube/Twitter is a cohost of The Media Pass podcast with Mat Issa

Timeline:



0:00 Introduction & Background

1:06 Creative Process Watching Film & Editing YouTube Videos
9:41 Michael Jordan vs. Jackie Moon


11:06 Media Pass Podcast with Mat Isa

15:40 Film Breakdown: Touch Miami, Double Drag, Horns, Ghost Screen – How OKC Thunder are making NBA Teams look clueless, Isaiah Hartenstein’s strong screening unlocking DHOs for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

34:58 Scottie Barnes Video Breakdown - Scottie Barnes is about to shock the NBA

48:50 Franz Wagner Video Breakdown - How Franz Wagner is making the Magic elite


1:05:32 Amen Thompson Video Breakdown - Are we sure Amen Thompson needs a jump shot