The Association NBA Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Association
The Association is a podcast hosted by Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier that provides news and analysis from the world of the National Basketball Association.
The content carousel continues to spin, friends! Take a listen to how we figured the best 15 players of the 2000's and 1990's respectively. Spoiler alert: they were not the same.
We turn to a decade in front office transactions for this week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier come together to run down the transactions they think were the lowest of the low over the past 10 years in the National Basketball Association. Tommy even throws in the Kawhi trade, guy is not pulling punches!
Well, we went ahead and dished out some hypothetical awards! Give it a listen, Tommy's got an especially spicy take on 6th Man of the Year.
Well, there is no basketball. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier had a quick conversation about what took place last Wednesday when the NBA decided to halt play for the foreseeable future. We also give a little insight into how we expect to continue with some NBA basketball related content without actual NBA basketball taking place in the weeks to come.
We recorded this before the league suspended the season FYI, so if you want to find out what we think about that you are out of luck. Sorry! But if you want some piping hot takes on Kenny Atkinson's firing and the Lebron-Giannis MVP race, this podcast is for you. Wash your hands!
The Trade Deadline has passed, and Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier are here to break down the teams they think made the most of the window, and who left something to be desired.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier discuss the loss of Kobe Bryant, rosters that may change (or should seriously consider it) before the Feb. 6 trade deadline, and the complete All Star 2020 rosters.
In a decade-closing episode, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier dish out New Year's Resolutions for some of the NBA's players, coaches, and executives to heed heading into 2020.
We interrupt your regularly scheduled 2019-20 NBA season discussion for a trip in the Nostalgia Jalopy. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier thrown on their sepia-toned shades for this look back at the decade that was in the NBA. Awards from the conventional to completely made-up are dished out, and many a reminiscence is had.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier discuss early season trends in the 2019-2020 NBA season, including the Los Angeles Lakers' hot start.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier finally get to talk about NBA basketball with stakes, no more of that preseason, preview bullshit (although that was fun too, right?). Behold, as they shine up or shit on teams with great and terrible starts to the 2019-2020 NBA season. A discussion is also had at the top regarding the 25-game suspension of John Collins for violating the league PED policy, and what the latest in a string of suspensions may mean for a league that has never had any significant issue with Performance Enhancing Drugs.
The sixth, and final, division preview is finally here. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier discussed the Southwest Division's varying levels of competitive basketball teams, and went over some rookie extension deals as well.
When Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier say they're going to do every division, they do ever damn divison. Even the Eastern Conference's Central Division, which features the Conference favorite, a team whose best player's quadriceps exploded, and various levels of purgatory disguised as basketball teams. If you need to skip one, this might be the one. But please listen.
This time we talked about the Northwest. Possibly the NBA's most interesting division? It's up there, title contenders, Trailblazer disagreement, paying Chris Paul $44 million, all the good stuff.
In one of our more...downtrodden episodes, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier preview the Southeast Division ahead of the 2019-20 NBA season. Brevity is not usually a strong suit, but there really was no other choice for this one.
The preview train keeps a-rolling with Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier's latest division spotlight, this time in the heavyweight Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
The Association NBA Podcast has returned for the 2019-20 NBA season! The preview train has departed the station as Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier embark upon a new season of podcast pandemonium...or just bad puns! Our preview season begins with the Atlantic Division, home to the NBA Champion Toronto Raptors. We discuss the Raptors' outlook in a post-Board Man world, as well as the new looks of the Celtics and Nets, the opportunity for Philadelphia to compete for a championship, and the...continued existence of the New York Knicks...
Several All-NBA players with new homes later (and even more first round draft pick trades), Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier discuss where the league sits after a historic free agency period of the past two weeks. Topics include: the Russell Westbrook-Chris Paul trade and Houston's potential with the Harden-Westbrook pairing, the legacy of this off season for player empowerment and this era of team building, possible issues for the next collective bargaining round, Denver's chances to maintain their place in the loaded Western Conference, and the Lakers' successes in filling out their roster.
NBA Christmas in July is almost here, and Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier are...the podcasting elves...to...Adam Silver's Santa Clause...if Santa Clause looked the other way every time there was collusion. So much has happened in the past month in the NBA, and we give you a look into what intrigued us, what's to come, and what it will all mean for the 2020 NBA season. Topics include Toronto's victory in the 2019 NBA finals, the Los Angeles Lakers' roster/asset clearing trade for Anthony Davis and what it means for their next move, and possibilities for the best players and most exciting teams in the free agency period before us.
The end is nigh loyal listeners. On the eve of the 2019 NBA Finals, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier break down the matchups to look for from the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors in their series to determine the 2019 NBA Champion.
Greetings handful of listeners! This week we talked about the future for the New Orleans Pelicans following their winning the first overall pick in the NBA Draft, and the two Conference Finals matchups after they've each played one game. Enjoy! (We talked about Game of Thrones at the end so don't listen to the last five minutes if you avoid spoilers or whatever).
After one round of NBA Playoff basketball, eight teams remain in the quest for the 2019 NBA Title. Tommy Wood, calling from France, and Sam Routhier took some time to break down the four matchups in the Eastern and Western Conferences after most have completed their first game.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier spend the penultimate regular season episode of The Association making their award picks for the year. From MVP to 6th Man of the Year and All-NBA teams, every category is debated, dissected, and determined on this week's episode.
The Association NBA Podcast takes the turn toward the worst this week, as Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier discuss all of the NBA teams who will assuredly be watching the 2018-19 playoffs from home. Teams are broken down one after another, as the reason for their poor performance this season is dissected, along with the possibilities for redemption on the path ahead.
This week's episode is a recap of the busiest Trade Deadline Day in NBA HIstory. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier use the time to take a deep breath and look at the fallout from a flurry of deals swapping players across conferences and situations, including blockbuster deals for the 76ers and Raptors atop the Eastern Conference.
This week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast comes on the heels of Anthony Davis' request that the New Orleans Pelicans trade him. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier devote the majority of the episode to a run down of New Orleans' options to trade the star, including some that have been cited as possible by media outlets and others primarily for speculative sport. The episode also touches on the future of player movement in the NBA, and structure of contracts, and the state of the Brooklyn Nets.
In the first 2019 episode of The Association NBA Podcast, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier take a lens to some problematic small market franchises and explore how it isn't the market's fault that teams can't get their acts together. Topics also include a post-mortem on last year's Blake Griffin trade to Detroit, Houston's plight with Clint Capela out, and more.
It seemed so simple...just preview the five Christmas Day games on the NBA schedule...but it turned into so much more. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier bring you another edition of The Association NBA Podcast this week, in which they try to discuss Tuesday's five NBA matchups and somewhat succeed...albeit with several detours. The Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, and many more teams receive thoughtful and perhaps all too long detours, along with all 10 teams taking part in this week's Christmas Day slate. Also included are rough outlines of how Tommy and Sam will spend their personal Christmas Days, besides forcing friends and family to watch NBA basketball.
If the length of season played can be split into a commonly used fraction, that means we're going to dish out some awards. This week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast is our Quarter Season Awards, and Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier are slinging those puppies like they're going out of style. Awards include the conventional (MVP, Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player, others) and unconventional (Most Unimproved, the Roadkill award), along with the usual breakdown of action and themes around the league.
This week Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier are giving thanks for the National Basketball Association on this week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast. Teams with surprising starts are the main focus, from the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers atop the West to Sacramento's upstart bunch and the turn around performed by LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers. Teams on the other end of the spectrum get a closer look as well, with Utah and Boston getting a close look as to why the teams are not up to snuff thus far in the NBA season.
This week's abbreviated episode of The Association NBA Podcast runs through headlines of the weekend in the National Basketball Association. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier go over the road ahead for Minnesota and Philadelphia after the Jimmy Butler trade, and how Carmelo Anthony's failure to find success in Houston may be a mere side plot of Houston's overall dismal season start.
After four restless months of waiting, the NBA regular season has arrived, and Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier dove back into the action with this week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast. Topics range from the hot starts of Detroit and Denver, to struggles in Oklahoma City, and more snapshots from around the league.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier complete their 2018-19 NBA season preview on this week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast with the Southwest Division. As things tend to be bigger in Texas, so too is this podcast, coming in just over 80 minutes. In that span, close looks are taken at Dallas, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, and San Antonio, as each team brings a different floor and ceiling for the upcoming season. Thank you for joining us through our NBA season preview, stay tuned for next week when the regular season will commence!
With the 2018-19 NBA season looming, The Association NBA Podcast winds down preview season with a look at the Central Division. From static coaching changes to largely dynamic rosters, more of the same doesn't necessarily mean similar results for the five teams that make up this division.
The preview train rolls on for The Association NBA Podcast, as Sam Routhier and Tommy Wood take a look at the Pacific Division in this week's episode.
The 2018-19 NBA Season preview continues on this week's Association NBA Podcast with a look at perhaps the weakest division in the NBA. Undeterred by mediocrity, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier cruise through the five teams encompassing the Southeast, exploring rosters, lineups, outlooks, and the potential paths to relevance that all of these teams could be following.
Back for another preview, The Association NBA Podcast sets sights this week on the stacked Northwest Division and its outlook for 2018-19. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier size up the rosters of Denver, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Portland, and Utah, and touch on interesting storylines and outlooks for the season ahead.
The Association NBA Podcast returns for a second NBA season with the first of a series of divisional previews for the 2018-19 season. In this episode, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier place the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division under close inspection; projecting each team's crunch time line up and potential ceiling for the upcoming season.
This week's episode of the Association NBA Podcast takes a look at some recent trade action during the 2018 NBA Offseason. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier dissect the Kawhi Leonard for DeMar DeRozen deal between San Antonio and Toronto, as well as the rationale for Atlanta shipping out Dennis Schroder for the privilege of waiving Carmelo's full contract and making him a free agent. Denver's recent signing of Isaiah Thomas and salary-shedding trade action are also discussed, along with the big time contracts Chicago recently shelled out to Zach LaVine and Jabari Parker.
This post-LeBron decision, pre-July 4th edition of The Association NBA Podcast features Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier going over the first big moves of the 2018 free agency period. LeBron's move to the Lakers, and the team's subsequent signings, DeMarcus Cousin's miniscule deal with Golden State, Paul George returning to Oklahoma City, and the curious spot Houston is in are among the topics discussed, among many other deals and impending decisions.
This week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast is a preview of the 2018 NBA Draft. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier speculate on who will go in the draft's first ten picks, and break down attributes of the prospects and their prospective fit within the teams currently holding the top picks. Other topics include the Kawhi Leonard trade saga and Dwight Howard's trade to Brooklyn.
This week's NBA Finals edition of The Association NBA Podcast features Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier giving their thoughts on the NBA Championship series' first two games. They also provide insight on how they thing the Cavs and Warriors will adjust heading into the next two games in Cleveland, and recap the Bryan Colangelo Twitter burner account debacle that has circulated throughout the NBA world in the past week, and discuss the remaining coaching vacancies in Toronto and Detroit.
Recorded live in Boston, Massachusetts, this week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast combines reunion and NBA analysis as Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier convene in an apartment bedroom. Topics include the Eastern and Western Conference finals results thus far, Phoenix winning the NBA Draft Lottery, and possibilities for Toronto's head coach vacancy.
This week on The Association NBA Podcast, the Conference Finals have begun! Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier discuss Boston's dominant victory over Cleveland in that series' game 1, the firing of Dwane Casey in Toronto, and preview the Western Conference Finals matchup of the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. Also discussed: Fashion at the Met Gala, foreign relations with North Korea, Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day everyone.
This week’s episode of The Association NBA Podcast reviews the action to date in 2018’s NBA Conference Semifinal matchups. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier dive into why all four matchups have been heavily one sided, and how each series has prepared Golden State, Houston, Cleveland, and Boston for their presumptive Conference Final Matchups. SPOILER ALERT There is brief mention of Avengers: infinity War in the episode’s first five minutes, just skip those if you want to be 100% spoiler free…it was a great movie though.
This week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast comes at the tail end of the first round of the 2017-18 NBA Playoffs. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier preview the first second round matchup set in stone, Golden State versus New Orleans, as well as the series that are heading to their final games. Also discussed is the future of the Miami Heat, Sam's preseason predictions, and Avengers: Infinity War (no spoilers, purely speculation).
With all eight series in the first round of the NBA Playoffs past the Game 2 mark, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier took time to look at the action so far on this week's Association NBA Podcast. Talking through five of the more competitive series so far, topics include LeBron's big Game 2 against Indiana, Utah's triumph in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, New Orleans' surprising surge in Portland, Boston's success so far against Milwaukee, and Dwyane Wade's trip through the time machine for a big game 2 in Philadelphia.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier push the pace on this week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast as they run through all eight first round playoff matchups in the 2017-18 NBA postseason. Topics include marquee first round matchups like Oklahoma City-Utah, Portland-New Orleans, and Philadelphia-Miami, with analysis of each team's key matchups and players, as well as predictions for all eight series.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier use this week's episode of The association NBA Podcast to go deep on the new era of the San Antonio Spurs, and whether the years to come will involve Kawhi Leonard or a speculative trade haul of talented youth and draft pick riches. Other topics include the Celtics' expected results without Kyrie Irving, and the week to come at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff seeding.
on this week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier (inadvertently) discuss the week in the league through the lens of the point guard position. 2017 No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz's return to Philadelphia's lineup, Trey Burke's explosion against Charlotte, Golden State sans Steph Curry, and Terry Rozier leading the shorthanded Celtics' surge are among the topics discussed.
On this week's episode of The Association NBA Podcast, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier discuss the ramifications of Ty Lue's leave of absence from Cleveland, Dwight's 30/30 night, Toronto's chances in a potential playoff series with Cleveland, and what they'd like to see out of the Eastern Conference first round playoff matchups.
After countless hours of painstaking research, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier come together on this week's episode to break down their rankings of the NBA's General Managers. Included in the episode are their reasons for each's top and bottom fives, with deep analysis and insight into the role of a GM in crafting a successful NBA franchise in today's league.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier take a look at the start of the NBA regular season home stretch on this week's The Association NBA Podcast. Topics include the fallout from Sports Illustrated's reporting on inappropriate behavior within the Dallas Mavericks front office, the playoff race in the western conference, the race to the bottom for lottery seeding, and updates on conversations between referees and players.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier take the All Star break as a signal that it’s time to provide their Midseason picks for NBA awards in the 2017-18 season thus far.
Back after a temporary hiatus, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier go over the roster overhaul that the Cleveland Cavaliers went through on trade deadline day on this week’s episode of The Association. Other topics include the buyout market, the ramifications of the Lou Williams trade, teams giving up on recent lottery picks via trade, and what’s next for Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder after their brief stints in Cleveland.
After a wild week in the NBA, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier work through the Blake Griffin to Detroit trade, as well as the fallout from injuries to DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Roberson.
On this week’s edition of The Association, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier talk through the San Antonio Spurs’ success sans Kawhi Leonard, including the rejuvenation of LaMarcus Aldridge. Other topics include the curious performance of the cellar-dwelling Atlanta Hawks, the date of the teams that make up the lower half of the Eastern Conference, a lineup shift on the Denver Nuggets, and the recent All Star Starters announcement.
Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2018 was without a doubt one of the most exciting days of the 2017-18 NBA season. With so much going on in one day of NBA action, the hosts of The Association decided it was only fitting to talk it over on an emergency edition of the podcast. Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier discuss the Clippers-Rockets quasi-brawl, the Warriors victory over the Cavaliers, Cleveland’s ideal midseason trade upgrade, and more from a whirlwind 24 hours in the NBA.
In another weekly installment of The Association NBA Podcast, Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier spend time this week on closer looks at three teams with recent success; the Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, and Minnesota Timberwolves. Along with spotlighting particular trends and players, attention is also given to some news stories from the week in the NBA, including the return of Charlotte Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford, Philadelphia 76ers rookie guard Markelle Fultz’s continues shooting for struggles, and some peripheral but important All-Star weekend hopes.
On this week’s episode, Sam Routhier and Tommy Wood reconvene to break down the past week in the NBA. Topics include the first games of Isaiah Thomas’ Cavaliers debut, the free falling Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte’s curious path forward, and a closer look at the Denver Nuggets.
In the third installment of The Association NBA Podcast, Sam Routhier and Tommy Wood explore what Isaiah Thomas’ return means for the Cleveland Cavaliers going forward, as well as the disappointing season of Jae Crowder thus far. Other topics include: Stephen Curry’s bombastic return from injury against Memphis, the Houston Rockets’ recent losing streak, the state of the Los Angeles Clippers roster and future, and the Washington Wizards’ roster construction.
Tommy Wood and Sam Routhier return to break down the NBA action from Christmas Day 2017, as well as the recent surge of the Chicago Bulls, discord between the NBPA and NBRA, and the release of Nike’s “City” uniform series.
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