Latest Bill Simmons podcast. - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

jthig32 · 12-30-2009, 06:38 PM

Bill Simmons posted a really good basketball podcast today. He does a three man podcast with Marc Stein and Ric Bucher a few times a year, and the most recent one was just posted.

It's in two parts. You can get it from iTunes under "The BS Report" or download here.

If you just want to listen to the part where they talk Mavs, it starts at the 29 minute mark of the fist file and goes for about fifteen minutes. It's very positive, with some gushing on Dirk and Simmons calls Marion the "best defender in the league".

I highly recommend listening to the whole thing, but the Mavs stuff is especially good.

As far as talking points, I was really intrigued to hear that Stein things our biggest need is another big man. To me that means that he thinks we're a somewhat minor piece away from being a true contender. Because adding a true difference making big man seems somewhat unlikely.

badfish22 · 12-30-2009, 07:37 PM

Great, cant wait to listen. Thanks for the post.

rmacomic · 12-30-2009, 07:48 PM

Nice to hear some props from espn guys.

Dim499 · 12-30-2009, 10:47 PM

By the way, don't think I forgot that Ric Bucher has been one of the premiere Dirk-haters among the media for many years. I will never fully trust this guy's opinion and I wish Simmons would have Stein on on his own or with some other guy!

Bayliss · 12-31-2009, 12:34 AM

Yeah, all Bucher could say was: Dirk shouldn't be MVP because he has a guy like Kidd on his team.

So? Kobe has Pau Gasol on his team. Should Kobe not get the award? Nash has Amare on his team. Should he not get the award? Melo has Chauncey. Should he not be in consideration?

Bucher is such a douche.

jthig32 · 12-31-2009, 01:07 AM

That particular opinion of Bucher's didn't make a whole lot of sense. Equating Kidd's importance to Kobe's is ridiculous.

However, Bucher's great on those podcasts. In fact I think he brings a lot more than Stein most of the time, which is strange because I find Stein's writing to be much more interesting.

Plus, Buch's reason for not giving Dirk the MVP wasn't nearly as bad as Stein giving the MVP to Gasol in his mid-season awards. That's just stupid.

Dirkadirkastan · 12-31-2009, 01:17 AM

I've always thought the MVP should go to a player on a team at the top of the league. However, you generally need at least two really good players for your team to be at the top of the league. (Dirk and the Mavs are the top challengers to that notion.) So it's not clear what situation Bucher's ideal MVP would be in.

dirno2000 · 12-31-2009, 01:34 AM

Yea, Bucher's never given Dirk the credit he deserves. It's comical that he tries to discount Dirk's MVP candidacy this year by saying he's he's playing with Kidd....as if we just signed Kidd this off-season. Then he goes on to say that Gasaol shouldn't be consider for MVP (he's right there but for the wrong reason) because he plays with Kobe while ignoring the fact that Kobe wasn't a legit MVP candidate until the Pao trade.

Other than that it's great stuff. Would have been ever better without the three of them talking over each other. There were a couple of instances where I wanted to hear someone elaborate on a point but it didn't happen because someone else wanted to go in a different direction.

Simmons backing Marion for Defensive POY is further proof that he actually watches games. I don't expect him to be on the first or second team but Dallas has gone from a middle of the road defensive team to top five. Along with Damp's improved defense, Marion is the number one reason for the improvement.

sike · 12-31-2009, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirno2000

Yea, Bucher's never given Dirk the credit he deserves. It's comical that he tries to discount Dirk's MVP candidacy this year by saying he's he's playing with Kidd....as if we just signed Kidd this off-season.

Bucher is a moron half the time. Simmons is solid...but takes odd stances at times. Stein is so good...he seems to be the best all around hoops guy in the national media.

sike · 12-31-2009, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthig32

Stein giving the MVP to Gasol in his mid-season awards. That's just stupid.

Gasol just isn't a good enough player to EVER be seriously considered for the MVP...imaginary mid season award or the real thing.

CadBane · 12-31-2009, 12:34 PM

Lolz, Dirk has KIDD so he shouldn't win MVP. No disrespect to Kidd, I love him...but the other MVP candidates have Pau (not to mention Artest, Bynum and Odom), Billups, Amare, Vince Carter and Mo Williams as teammates. The only guy you can argue is substantially less important than Kidd is Mo.

jthig32 · 12-31-2009, 12:38 PM

I would say Vince Carter is substantially less important than Kidd and Mo Williams (by a large, large margin), but the point is valid.

mavErika · 12-31-2009, 01:12 PM

I found it funny how Bucher was killing Simmons for not having a podcast scheduled earlier this season, so they couldn't elaborate on some Simmons predictions and early-season overreactions he would have made and which would have already proven to be wrong by now. Because I remember in the pre-season podcast with those three guys one of Simmons' closing statements was that he predicts that either the Mavs or the Suns will be really, really good this year. I'm not sure what the reactions of Bucher and Stein were, but I suppose Bucher was not taking him seriously and Stein was proud on the Mavs-part of the statement, but didn't agree to not look even more like a homer. Funny also, because Simmons didn't seem to remember either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthig32

That particular opinion of Bucher's didn't make a whole lot of sense. Equating Kidd's importance to Kobe's is ridiculous.

However, Bucher's great on those podcasts. In fact I think he brings a lot more than Stein most of the time, which is strange because I find Stein's writing to be much more interesting.

Plus, Buch's reason for not giving Dirk the MVP wasn't nearly as bad as Stein giving the MVP to Gasol in his mid-season awards. That's just stupid.

I agree, he's hating on Dirk and the Mavs a little bit, but he's still very entertaining to listen to.
Btw, although some points get lost in cacophony with these three guys, it's still great to have M.Stein being one of them, as Simons seems to see him first and foremost as a Dirk + Mavs-fan, so they're alsways talking Mavs a lot.
Still have part2 ahead of me...

StackAttack · 12-31-2009, 02:17 PM

A lot of really interesting things were said, both about the Mavs and the rest of the league. Just bought Simmons' book (if anyone's interested, it's like seventeen dollars cheaper on Amazon than the rest of the world), can't wait to read it. I was kind of surprised to hear that Chris Bosh specifically DOESN'T want to come to Dallas - first time I'd heard anything but the exact opposite.

mac222b · 01-01-2010, 05:08 AM

i believe Bosh himself made some comments awhile back about not wanting to come back to Dallas.

Hitman · 01-01-2010, 12:16 PM

It is good to hear people who really watch the league.

Simmons' book is great, if you enjoy the sports guy style writing. He definitely knows the league.

tcat075 · 01-01-2010, 08:16 PM

good listen, thanks jthig.