15 in 60 Mailbag! (Western Conference 11.14.21)

OKC and New Orleans gave us our only really good game of the day, but there were plenty of portents elsewhere.Two potential road favorites failed to show up in Milwaukee and Los Angeles, while Boston was unperturbed in Game 1 against Miami.On day one, the higher seeds served notice that upsets may not be so easy to come by in the first round. Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.

Is there a reason to think this year’s Denver/Lakers series will go better for LA than last year’s?What strengths and weaknesses do the playoff newcomers from Orlando bring to challenge the Cavs?The Suns are favored in this series, should they be? What specific matchup problems do they cause for the Wolves?Luka vs Kawhi is perhaps the best matchup of the first round.Plus, the news that Jontay Porter is banned from the NBA and Zion Williamson will be out weeks with his hamstring issue. Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.

A fascinating final day of action unfolds, with huge games between Orlando and Milwaukee, Phoenix and Minnesota, and LA and New Orleans overshadowed by….Cleveland and Charlotte? Why JB Bickerstaff’s closing lineup will go down in tanking lore.Plus, the Knicks’ fascinating decision (which they may not even have considered) of whether to win against Chicago, the Bulls’ curious decision to go for it against New York, and whether the Lakers should actually consider losing the 7 vs 8 game to avoid the Nuggets. Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.

It’s time to take stock of how we did on our preseason over/under picks and analyze what went right and what went wrong for our preseason predictions, and also see who will be crowned the over/under king this season. Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.

It’s time for Dunc’d On’s final picks for the league’s major awards. Find out who we picked for all of the major awards, including MVP, All-NBA, ROY, COY, and 6MOY.  Plus, our picks for sophomore of the year, Executive of the Year, and Not Executive of the Year. Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.

It’s time for the most thorough evaluation of NBA defense you are going to find. We pick our official positionless All-Defensive Teams, sure, but we really have some fun picking the best defenders at each position 1-5.Then it’s time for Worst-Team All-Defense, as we select the weakest defenders at each position and the No-Defense Player of the Year.Plus, Nate has his picks for the defenders who most improved and declined this year, and a few categories including:Best post defenderBest getting over screensBest rim protectorBest iso defendersMost disruptiveDoes the most with the leastDoes the least with the mostBetter than you thinkWorse than you think Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.

BOS: Is the Porzingis postup a panacea for their late game ills?ATL: What do we make of the sans Trae stretch by Dejounte Murray?BRK: Is Lonnie Walker a solid third scoring guard going forward?DET & WAS played a huge double tank game.IND: Should you put your center on Siakam or Turner?CHA: The final word on Miles Bridges this season Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.

In what is annually one of the more controversial episodes, it’s time to look at which teams are best set up for the future by examining the best young cores of players 25 and under. It’s a banner year for teams which have been winning with young players–how do they all stack up? Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.

NOP:  Did the Orlando Magic EXPOSE the way to beat the Pels in the playoffs?GSW: The Warriors really struggle against athleticismHOU: Amen Thompson and Jalen Green have led the Rox to 8 straight winsSAS and MEM: The Spurs wanted to beat the Grizz to get the Raps’ pick, but a Taylor Jenkins end-of-game play won it.DEN: The Nuggets have a great fastball, and teams have seen it a lot since they’ve been so healthyPOR: How has Kris Murray’s turn as a starter been going? Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.

Nate and Danny have a big disagreement at number 1, and then struggle to order the rest of the big stars at the position. Where do Steph, Dame, Shai, Brunson, the Tyreses, De’Aaron, Kyrie, Ja, and all the rest of the league’s playmakers slot in? Where do we draw the line between a good number 1 and a great number 2? Four more episodes with Nate & Danny per week are available exclusively on Dunc’d On Prime, plus it’s the only place to hear John Hollinger & Nate as well! DuncdOn.SupportingCast.FMPlus, subscribe on YouTube to see our hilarious faces and, more importantly, see the key moments from the pod each week.