Timestamps


0:18 Es Baraheni Introduction & Background

3:16 Happy Vinsanity Day from Learning Basketball! Celebrating Vince Carter's Hall of Fame Legacy and Impact on Basketball in Toronto

10:52 The Purple Raptors Jerseys are back! No more Orange Juice Magic jerseys, Nike

13:30 Scottie Barnes star ceiling as a downhill force point-forward, Success with Double Drag/77 Shadow Actions, Could Post-Ups be Barnes' next development focus?

19:09 Gradey Dick - more than a standstill shooter, a relocating motion shooter with gravity

22:37 Jakob Poeltl trade candidate or longterm playmaking hub piece in Toronto?

27:58 Toronto Raptors Season Expectations - Lottery Bound or Sneaking into the Play-in?

30:03 2025 NBA Draft Pick Targets who could fit well in Toronto

32:12 Most Important Role Player - Davion Mitchell? Ochai Agbaji? Chris Boucher? Bruce Brown? Jonathan Mogbo rookie expectations

35:10 Flex/Flow actions and other plays Darko likes to run

37:35 NBA Rapidfire - Washington Wizards, Most exciting prospect?

40:08 NBA Rapidfire - Charlotte Hornets, How dynamic can LaMelo and Miller be?

43:04 NBA Rapidfire - Utah Jazz, 2nd best player on the team?

0:17 Introduction and background of Mirin Fader, NYT best-selling author, one of the Best American Sports Writer, work with The Ringer and formerly Bleacher Report

2:30 - Humility & Versatility, how do you pick which athletes to write about?

4:15 Transitioning from playing experience in college hoops at Lewis & Clark college as a 5'0" PG to writing and reporting on basketball

5:00 Telling complete stories by reporting over 200+ interviews for two books (486 in total!)

6:58 Personal story of how Mirin's Giannis book saved my sanity in a highly stressful moment

9:45 How the Giannis book idea originated from an interview with his brother Alex

12:20 Giannis book summary: themes of family, hope, perseverance to fun stories like Stealing Westbrook's Scowls, "Yo Mama" jokes, and ice cubes

15:05 Hakeem Olajuwon's unique two-way impact and accomplishments on the court: A turnover forcing tough-shot hitting machine; only player ever to win MVP, DPOY, and the NBA Championship in the same season; still 1st All-Time Blocks and Top-10 Steals as a Center; A QUADRUPLE DOUBLE

17:05 The Artist on the court, What should Hakeem's legacy as a basketball player be?

18:45 Yommy "Basket" Sangodeyi, Nigerian Basketball Star and the original inspiration for The Dream Shake

20:10 How did the Range of experience between almost going pro in Handball and playing a multitude of other sports like Soccer as a kid develop Hakeem Olajuwon as an athlete and eventually a basketball player?

22:00 On the importance of Mentoring, Rapid Skill Acquisition and Coachability

23:55 Coach OBJ's impact building basketball community in Nigeria and coaching both Hakeem Olajuwon and Masai Ujiri

25:36 The impact of Islam on Hakeem's life, Founding The Islamic Da’Wag Center, and how returning to his religion of Islam helped anchor his life path in a time of feeling lost

27:37 Hakeem Dominating NBA games while Fasting during Ramadan and normalizing the religious practice in a time when many Americans didn't know much about it

30:50 Hakeem's Impact in Houston - Full Circle Moment from 3 straight Final Fours with Phi Slama Jama and playing with Clyde Drexler at University of Houston to winning an NBA Championship with Clyde Drexler a decade later

32:50 Always Learning, attending university in Jordan to learn Arabic after retiring from the NBA

33:30 What was Rudy Tomjanovich's impact on Hakeem as an innovator of the 4-out/1-in offense with modern concepts of 3pt spacing?

36:17 Remembering the All-Time talent of Hakeem Olajuwon, a 2x NBA Champ sweeping Shaq, beating Ewing, dominating Admiral, showing up Kareem; Olajuwon almost had no peers in the era of Centers

Learning Basketball with Steph Noh of Sporting News Lonzo Ball’s BACK

Chicago Bulls Season Preview

Scouting Process Watching Film

NBA Players Love Anime like Dragon Ball Z

Detailing Billy Donovan Sets: 5-out, Pistol, Chin, Elbow Splits

Timestamps:

2:00 NBA Players Love Anime like Dragon Ball Z

5:45 Process as an Analyst Scouting Film, Deciding Story Topics (Shoutout to Swish Theory’s depth)


7:35 Lonzo Ball’s Feel Never Fades even after 2 years of not playing, injury recovery, and his impact going forward

15:20 Can Chicago get stops? Bulls Uptempo Playstyle this upcoming season and evaluating defensive depth

20:55 Billy Donovan’s Sets like 5-Out, Pistol, Chin/Princeton, Elbow Splits

25:00 Gauging Coby White’s next steps and expected role after 2nd-place Most Improved Player season, improving as Pick-and-Roll creator


27:20 Zach Lavine’s underrated unique floating tough-shotmaking skills

28:14 Should Patrick Williams be prioritized in the Bulls’ rebuild?
31:50 Matas Buzelis Rookie Expectations and Potential and which young core prospects should Chicago be rebuilding around?

36:35 Remembering some guys: Chicago Bulls edition

Follow Steph Noh (@StephNoh) and his work at Sporting News
Follow the Host @BeyondTheRK on Twitter/Substack/YouTube and read Swish Theory at TheSwishTheory.com