The Bird podcast is the best Simmons' podcast I can remember, mostly because of Bird.

He's just no bull****, complete with bad grammar. I like how he emphasized loyalty when talking about Auerbach. You could tell he thought a lot of Auerbach. I also liked how he talked about the Pacers this year.

today's words of the day:

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BLUE CHIP

Dear God that Dwight Evans thing was just endless, threw in the towel in 1974.

I just skipped the charts. Wasn't so bad.

"Dewey" is one of my favorite Red Sox ever, but I never once thought of him as HOF'er. Especially not after Rice had to wait 30 years to get in. Outfielders have to pile up hits or HRs to get in, Evans' Greatest Cannon Arm Ever (NOBODY went first-to-third on him, ever) probably won't get him as many votes as it deserves (which is to say, "won't get him any votes at all").

My favorite Dwight Evans moment came after his playing days were over. You can see it in "Four Days in October", the 30-for-30 doc about the 2004 ALCS comeback. Millar is chirping with everybody, loose as a goose, when he starts to chirp up Evans. Evans is having none of it. He has his game face on, and he sternly tells Millar and another nearby teammate, "Win it. Win it."

He stressed every consonant of it. It was right out of Tom Hanks' last scene in Saving Private Ryan. It was awesome.

Roberto Clemente. That is all.

No need to go 'before my time', Guy With The Pitt Avatar--just say "Dave Parker", and I still have no recourse but to STFU.

Really enjoyed the latest Klosterman/Simmons pod.

The podcast with Bob Ryan is very good.

I always love Ric Bucher on Simmons' podcasts. Also a fan of House, but Buch always f***ing delivers.

Simmons and Buch are so knowledgable about the NBA I wished they had to mandatorily do this every 2-3 weeks.

Nice try. Level failed.

Last column was pure aids (nobody wants to read 8000 words whining about a team they don't give a **** about, especially when it's just an extended rehashing of Simmons tweets). Also ****ing cry about it, man I hate Boston fans. However, the Ryan podcast was very good (love that someone calls out Malone as overrated, especially)...and I'm super excited about Robert Horry being on the podcast. GOAT.

Can't wait to hear what casual-fanness Simmons has to say next weekend at MIT. I'll report back. Its a joke that more people would rather see him and Cuban do a BS Report than listen to Bill James.

Which of these panels are you most excited for?

Live BS Report: Cuban/Simmons (27%, 48 Votes)
Basketball Analytics (26%, 47 Votes)
Baseball Analytics (26%, 46 Votes)
Fanalytics (21%, 33 Votes)

Total Voters: 179

Edit - although to be fair, the voting is very close and small sample size

I love the casual fan logic of "Our team should have drafted every single player that slipped in the draft and ended up being good"

To be honest, it sounds like casual fan logic, but if you follow the draft and college ball, it's not that hard. I'm not even talking about random dudes being good like Marc Gasol. The JR Giddens pick was especially awful. The guy was an old rookie, didn't perform that well in college, and had behavioral issues and was a 50-something percent free throw shooter at the wing spot. I'm not saying Deandre was definitely the pick, but Giddens was certainly a bad one.

2009 is a prime example with Lawson slipping to 18 and Blair slipping to the second round. EVERYONE knew these guys would be good NBA players, except GM's drafting. Granger in 2005 also comes to mind.

And while you shouldn't expect a good player out of the late first and second round every time, the Spurs manage to do it EVER SINGLE YEAR:

James Anderson 20th
DeJuan Blair 37th
George Hill 26th
Goran Dragic 45th
Tiago Splitter 28th
Ian Mahinmi 28th
Beno Udrih 28th
Leandro Barbosa 28th
John Salmons 26th
Luis Scola 57th
Tony Parker 28th
Ginobili 58th

Pretty obvious that the Spurs are scouting the international players better than most.

They also do a good job of not drafting bad American players late in the first round. Not a lot of stiffs with 3 year guaranteed contracts in their past.

I enjoy people ripping their own teams because they always remember intricate details/grudges they've held for years, that non-fans wouldn't. If they make excuses it really blows, but I could read people ripping their favorite team's GM all day if it's reasonably thought out.

i love when simmons uses his intramural college days of playing PG as a qualification to pontificate about whether or whether or not john wall has the right make up for playing PG in the NBA.

Just ask yourself, would you want to play in a pickup game with John Wall?

lolol

I actually enjoy reading stuff like that too for the most part. For me it was more about the fact that I've heard practically every line of that column already just by following him on Twitter, combined with the fact that I sort of cringe anytime I see a Boston sports fan spending that much time whining about one of his championship teams.

Anyway, the Horry interview was A++. I hope he gets a shot on TV or as an assistant coach somewhere. I can't imagine him not being a great coach.

because I knew, if I didn't get Sully involved every few possessions, he was checking out.

These are GOOD nba players? Granted, I don't follow the nba, but I've only heard of two of those guys.

It's also possible the Spurs are excellent at player development.

many prospered elsewhere (barbosa, scola, beno, dragic... salmons).

I hesitate to call Salmons a good player, but I get why he would be listed.