‘The Hoop Collective’: Episodes of Brian Windhorst’s NBA podcast

“The Hoop Collective” podcast, hosted by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, releases episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the NBA season. Windhorst and his guests break down what’s happening on and off the court, evaluating the trends you need to know and examining the latest news from across the NBA.

Quick links:
Schedule | Standings | Stats | Transactions

‘The Hoop Collective’ episodes

Brian is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to discuss the surging Los Angeles Lakers, including Luka Doncic’s recent run of success and a weakness in his game that keeps occurring. They move on to an important stretch for the Cleveland Cavaliers, which playoff seeding matchups to watch ahead of the end of the regular season and explore a cause for concern for the Houston Rockets.

Topics:

6:50: Luka and the Lakers still on an epic run
22:12: Luka’s technical foul issues continue
41:05: Interesting stretch from the Cavaliers
48:08: Playoff seeding battles around the NBA
54:13: Concerns for the struggling Rockets?

MacMahon on Doncic’s technical fouls: “People with the Mavericks knew just based on who was in town, ‘Hey, Luka’s going to be volatile tonight.'”

“He goes at refs in particular when he’s venting because he’s really frustrated with other things. (He’s) sometimes frustrated with things within the franchise. A lot of times it’s stuff in his personal life. You can sympathize with that and say, ‘Hey, like it’s really the one thing that’s holding you back.'”

“And again, it’s not just, ‘Hey, he gets technical fouls.’ It’s, ‘Hey, he’s not getting back on defense because he’s so engaged in the referees.’ It’s it’s that kind of stuff.”

MacMahon on LeBron James’ current and future: “The shock is a 41-year-old is still so damn athletic, but (also) they’ve got a clearly defined pecking order now.

“LeBron’s thriving in that role. And if you’d have told me in late February, ‘Hey, LeBron might actually be back in LA,’ which (Windhorst) always tried to leave wiggle room and I never wanted to hear it, I’ll listen now. They’re enjoying each other, the chemistry has done a 180.”

Bontemps on the Rockets’ outlook this season: “The reality of the situation is the Rockets are not good enough this year, right?

“They have a bright future, but they’re not good enough. So to me, the most important thing from this season is to figure out the combination of Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson, and Alperen Sengun. How do those guys fit together? What is the the maximum ceiling you think of that group? And how much growth can you see from those guys?”

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to react to the Houston Rockets continuing to struggle in clutch time and talk through whether their issues on offense could prevent them from competing with the elite teams in the Western Conference.

Plus, the Los Angeles Lakers have been streaking and LeBron James has adapted his play to fit the team — what can this mean for playoff hopes in L.A.?

Topics:

1:15: Lakers win in the clutch over rockets
6:52: How can Rockets compete at top of West?
18:10: Streaking Lakers deserve attention
23:06: Anthony Edwards injury update
30:02: Boston rattling off wins with Tatum back
31:25: Who is the favorite in the Eastern conference?
38:57: Is something brewing down in Atlanta?
43:19: Big atmosphere for Wemby in LA
44:34: Players to watch in March Madness

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to talk about a major win for the Los Angeles Lakers and how Luka Doncic is stepping forward as the leader in LA.

Next, they discuss the Oklahoma City Thunder’s big win over the Minnesota Timberwolves and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fighting to keep his 2o-point game streak alive. Then, the guys break down some very confident quotes from Victor Wembanyama and how he continues to back them up. Finally, an interesting schedule situation for the Atlanta Hawks and reaction to the Big 12 Tournament.

Topics:

1:08: SGA preserves his 20-point streak
3:28: Epic win for Lakers over the Nuggets
13:46: Tight playoff races in Western Conference
27:25: OKC overcomes SGA off night to beat Wolves
40:10: Wemby confident on wanting MVP
50:03: Unique schedule with streaking Hawks
1:00:39: Bontemps’ time at the Big 12 Tournament

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN’s Vince Goodwill and Anthony Slater to talk the biggest questions that will decide the fate of the season for the New York Knicks before reacting to Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra apologizing to “absolutely no one” about the path to Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point game.

Then, they discuss the latest updates on Steph Curry’s injury, including how the Golden State Warriors are approaching it with caution.

Topics:

1:46: Concern level with state of the Knicks?
18:25: Spoelstra apologizes to “absolutely no one”
25:44: What is the plan with the Pelicans?
32:36: Mitchell Robinson & NY Playoff Concerns
35:20: Steph injury continues to linger
40:54: Believing in the Magic hot streak?
50:18: State of Celtics with Tatum’s return

Goodwill on Mitchell Robinson’s offensive rebounding ability and problems at the free-throw line: “It’s a double-edged sword, right? Because the Knicks are one of those teams that love to offensive rebound and kick it out and spray. That’s one of Mike Brown’s tenants. Spray back outside and get open shots. We know that a lot of times [it’s the best time to get three-point shots is because the defense is in scramble mode. The problem is if Mitchell Robinson gets an offensive rebound before he even kicks it out, they’re going to foul him and foul him hard because he’s getting the ball out of his hands.”

Windhorst on the New Orleans Pelicans, who are 9-5 in their past 14 games: “I was with the Pelicans last week in L.A. I talked to some of their people, and basically, here’s the deal: When Zion [Williamson] and Dejounte Murray got healthy, there was an organizational question like, ‘What are we doing here?’ And the mandate that came from the top is ‘We are trying to win.’ They don’t control their draft pick. And they had watched Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen start for 40-something games. And it resulted in non-winning basketball, particularly on the defensive end.”

Brian is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to cover the epic Denver Nuggets-Oklahoma City Thunder game on Monday, including whether it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s best regular season game of his career and if the performance locked up the MVP for him this season. They move on to discuss the Nuggets’ recent form before talking about Kawhi Leonard’s impressive season. They close on the playoff race in the East and MacMahon naming his Clutch Player of the Month for February.

The crew also got together to do an emergency podcast after the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo scored 83 points — the second highest point total in a game in NBA history — on Tuesday night. That podcast can be found here.

Topics:

1:32: Best regular season game of Gilgeous-Alexander’s career?
8:48: Did Gilgeous-Alexander just win the MVP?
13:38: Limping Nuggets a concern at all?
16:36: Thoughts on the Intuit Dome atmosphere
19:02: Is this the best season of Kawhi’s career?
25:15: Tough road trip for Knicks a concern?
31:14: Interesting playoff battles in the East
40:11: Clutch Player of the Month returns

Bontemps on this season’s MVP race: “I think if Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) stays above 65 games, I do think the race is pretty close to over with the one caveat that if the Spurs can get ahead of the Thunder (in the standings), then I think there’s a real chance that Victor (Wembanyama) can make it a real two-horse race because he’ll have the narrative behind him. And obviously he’s got some unbelievable stats to go with it.”

Bontemps on the Knicks’ playoff outlook: “I know the Knicks beat the Celtics last year in the playoffs but that was an incredibly weird series and I don’t feel like it would repeat that way many times given the Knicks had two 20-point comebacks in the first two games of that series on the road.

“It’s hard right now if you’re a Knicks fan to sit here and feel confident that the Knicks are going to be able to make the kind of playoff run that they have been expecting to since they fired Tom Thibodeau (last season), and especially since (owner) James Dolan went on the radio two months ago and said, ‘We have to make the finals and we should win them.'”

MacMahon on Adebayo’s 83-point performance (from the bonus podcast): “He’s jacking up 3s while being triple teamed. I mean, it honestly was just awful, hideous, disgusting basketball down the stretch that I admit I was cracking up laughing while watching. But I never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to hear about ‘Heat Culture’ and professionalism and all that crap again because that was the most blatant stat chasing I’ve ever seen.”