In Episode 23, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia return to the pod as American sports begin to start back up, including: How seriously baseball is taking COVID in light of the Juan Soto positive test How exciting the shortened season and 16-team playoff has the potential to be The difference between the NBA and MLB's approach to a "bubble" A fantasy draft of the best starting pitchers in baseball for 2020
In Episode 22, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia discuss the landscape of the NBA as we approach the All-Star break, including: Reflections on the death of Kobe Bryant, and how it's affected the players and the league as a whole How the playoff races look different in each conference, and who most needs to turn it up in the second half of the regular season Fantasy draft of all All-Star bench players, which results in 2 vastly different teams
In the 21st episode, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia discuss: The Astros controversy: Are we overreacting or underreacting to this scandal? Will players involved be barred from the Hall of Fame? Should the Mets part ways with Carlos Beltran? The Bucks' dominance: Why are we not talking more about the Bucks? Are they the clear title favorite? How do they stack up with the LA teams? And we fantasy draft the 2016 NBA Draft Class, with some perhaps surprising results.
In Episode 20, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia focus on 3 teams through the first 3 games of the season. What have we seen from the Knicks and rookie RJ Barrett? How far can Kyrie carry the cross-town Nets? Will the Warriors really be this bad all season? We then fantasy draft our breakout candidates for this season. Who will be most improved when the year is done?
In Episode 19, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia are back to talking NBA. How do we feel about the new G League one-free throw rule? We then fantasy draft our favorite over/under picks for team win totals this upcoming NBA season. What are the best bets? Which teams are over- or underrated?
In Episode 18, Rondale Williams of Pro Football Focus joins the show to discuss everything about analytics in football: Why has the field developed so much slower than in baseball and basketball? What are teams doing to get an edge? How big is the gap between the most and least advanced teams? We then touch on the recent NFL news: Andrew Luck's shocking retirement - is this a trend that will continue? Ezekiel Elliott's holdout: why is he doing it, and should the Cowboys be willing to pay him? Finally, we do a fantasy draft of the best NFL assets over the next 5 years to build a team around.
Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia discuss the reported shopping of Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard, whether or not the Mets should try to contend next year, what to expect from their owners, and more, before fantasy drafting the worst owners in sports.
Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia sit down to analyze the end of a Thunder era. (1:50): How will the Rockets fit on the court this year, with Russell Westbrook in the fold instead of Chris Paul? How much better do they get, if at all? (22:12): From the Thunder's perspective, why they both had to and should'nt have done this deal, and what the franchise looks like going forward. (34:00): We fantasy draft all of the players to play for OKC based on their Thunder tenures, in celebration of their amazing 10-year run.
In the 15th episode, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia dive extra deep into the week's sports news. (0:21): Thoughts on the MLB Home Run Derby, including why Pete Alonso deserves credit while we still appreciate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (4:56): A look at the Paul George trade from the perspective of multiple teams, and how some did well but others did better. (15:20): A deep-dive fantasy draft of the top 10 teams for next season in the Western Conference, where we agree and disagree and why.
Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia discuss a crazy NBA free agency, focusing on: (1:20): The new-look Philadelphia 76ers - are they better or worse than last year? How do all of their new pieces fit together? (14:36): The Warriors' signings and why they do/don't make sense - are they better next year? Are they better down the road? Both or neither? (24:15): It really happened - KD and Kyrie to the Nets. Why did they choose Brooklyn? How good can we expect them to be? (35:46): The Knicks pivoted with short-term deals - what went into this decision and should we really judge the Porzingis trade differently? (42:37): We fantasy draft the 2019 free agent class based on the next 3 years, injuries and age included.
In episode 13, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia sit down live in New York City to discuss the crazy week of NBA basketball. (0:47): Appreciating the Raptors' title run, why they don't have an asterisk, and how refreshing it is to see a team really go for it. (7:30): How Klay and KD's injury's flip the NBA landscape on its head, from free agency through the next few seasons. Should the Warriors still max them both this offseason? (24:53): Fantasy drafting (and thereby evaluating) the non-Zion prospects in the upcoming draft.
In Episode 12, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia deep-dive the juicy situations of two of the best players in the NBA: (1:34): Anthony Davis is on the cusp of being traded, and the suitors/assets on the table are starting to come into focus. Which assets should David Griffin value? And should the Knicks put all their chips in? (21:56): Meanwhile, Kevin Durant suffered a brutal and depressing Achilles tear. Will it have as big an effect on free agency as everyone suspects? And how can we project his future value now? What do we think is the best move for him under the new circumstances? (42:25): Finally, in honor of back-to-back Finals MVP KD, we draft the best players to have never won the award.
Derek Reifer, RJ Garcia, and Eric Hauser discuss Game 3 of the NBA Finals, including thoughts for the series going forward considering how the Warriors' injuries are piling up (1:10), touch on the Nets' trade for cap space to worry Knicks fans (27:35), and fantasy draft the best defenders in the NBA (31:16).
In the 10th episode, Derek Reifer is back to talk to RJ Garcia about Game 1 of the Finals and whether or not their series projections have changed, the strategy and implications of the Knicks trading back from the 3rd pick in the draft (15:38), and touch on the Rockets’ front office turmoil (27:43), before fantasy drafting best 25-&-under players (32:25).
In the special 9th episode, RJ Garcia and guest star Eric Hauser deep dive the Warriors/Raptors matchup, discuss the NBA Finals from the perspective of heroes and villains, and fantasy draft the best villains in the NBA.
In episode 8, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia touch on the recent drama in the New York Jets’ front office, discuss the Warriors’ dominance without Kevin Durant and whether it will continue, and fantasy draft current NBA backcourts.
Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia have an emergency pod to discuss Ben Simmons’ divisiveness, versatility, and potential ceiling, before choosing starting 5s from the remaining players in the NBA postseason.
Derek Reifer, RJ Garcia, and Sean Fener discuss how the NFL Draft has changed over the years, recap the biggest moves from this weekend’s Draft and the biggest storylines moving forward, and fantasy draft one NFL player from each round of their respective Drafts. The word draft is used a lot.
Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia check in on each of the first round playoff series, discuss what did and didn’t go as they expected, and how their future outlooks have changed. They then draft teams from a pool of all of the Celtics players to ever don the green.
In the 4th episode, Derek Reifer and RJ Garcia give some quick thoughts on the Playoffs, disagree on who’s the MVP, and fantasy draft historical MVP seasons.