📝 The Week That Was (April 28-May 2, 2025)

A roundup of what I wrote, read, watched, etc. over the past week.

In this space on Saturdays, I do a weekly round-up of sorts: Sifting through what I wrote that you might have missed during the week, what I’ve been reading and watching myself, and some other fun things that have been going on. Let me know what you think about the format in the comments (or email me!¹), and if there are running sections you’d like to see on a regular basis.

What I did this week

Here are the things I wrote or podcasted about during the previous week, sorted in descending order by quality, popularity and/or current relevance.

• 🏀 Gregg Popovich Built the NBA’s Best Modern Defense. Then He Built One of Its Best Offenses. - In honor of the news that Pop was stepping down as the Spurs’ head coach, I looked at how he evolved with the game, guiding San Antonio from a defensive juggernaut to an offensive machine.
  

• ⚾ Baseball Bytes: Aaron Judge Is an All-Timer in Our Midst - Judge is tracking for a run of prime seasons that only legends have matched. Why don’t we always think of him on that level? Plus, Ken Griffey Jr. made his Cincinnati debut 25 years ago, and a look at the likely playoff teams by division.

• 🏀 These NBA Playoffs Still Belong to the Thunder, Celtics and Cavs - As fun as it is to think about other teams winning it all this year, let’s get real: The top trio steamrolled Round 1, and my model says they remain overwhelmingly likely to win it all.

• 🏀 2025 NBA playoffs: What a championship says for these teams - Relatedly, my ESPN column looked at each realistic championship contender, and what the prevailing media narrative or lesson would be if they managed to win the 2025 championship.

• 🏀🏒🏈⚾ What’s a Home Playoff Game Worth Now? - After the pandemic, how did the effect of home advantage in the postseason change in the NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB?

• 🏁 Chase Elliott is NASCAR’s steadiest driver, but at what cost? - At NASCAR.com, I wrote about the fascinating case of the sport’s most popular driver, who has morphed in recent years from a consistent winner to a steady driver with a lower ceiling but a much higher floor.

  • 🏁🎧 The Chase Elliott Eras Tour - This week on Podracing,

    Tyler
    and I broke down a surprisingly clean race at Talladega; we then did a deep dive through Chase Elliott’s winless streak, which is a lot better than it looks on paper. And finally, we made our picks for the one-and-done contest.

• 🏒 A Brief History of Toronto Maple Leaf Playoff Choke Jobs - The Leafs did their best to potentially blow a 3-0 lead against Ottawa in Round 1, so I looked at when and how the once-proud franchise gained its reputation for postseason failure.

• 🏀 Who Are the Unsung Heroes of the 2025 NBA Playoffs (So Far)? - Not every playoff standout is a superstar: Using Estimated RAPTOR WAR, I spotlighted players like Ty Jerome, Max Strus and Alex Caruso — hidden gems who drive team success without eye-popping box-score stats.

  

Some interesting things I read/watched this week

A collection of articles (with a heavy focus on my fellow Substackers), videos and other media that I enjoyed and/or found thought-provoking over the past week. I don’t always 100% agree with what’s linked here… but that’s also sort of the point.

• 🎧 House of Strauss: Mike Pesca by

  Ethan Strauss
  and
  Mike Pesca

• 🏈 Separating Skill From Results: An Analysis of QB Skill in the NFL by

  Robbie Marriage

• 🏈 "Diminishing Skills" (1993) by

  Michael Weinreb

• 🏀 How To Build A CBB Roster In 2025 by

  Evan Miyakawa

• 🏀 OKC and the Playoff Experience Paradox by

  Michael Hendricks

• 🏀 Luka Dončić’s declining athleticism is already clear to the eye — and in the numbers by

  Ben Wylie

• 🏀 Jalen Brunson is Always Right on Time. by

  grace

• 🏀 My Favorite Defenders From The 24/25 Season by

  Marc Campbell

• 🏀 Grades for the 2025 men's basketball coaching carousel by

  Will Warren

• 🏀 Scottie's epic forgotten dunk by

  Jack M Silverstein

• ⚾️ Sarah Is Baseball and The Rarity Score by

  Doug Glanville

• ⚾️ "I'm Running for Excitement" (1985) by

  Michael Weinreb

• ⚾️ Ball Night '95: The Last Forfeit in Baseball History by

  Paul Jackson

• 🏒 Which Goalies Can You Trust These Stanley Cup Playoffs? by

  Edward Egros

• 🏁▶️ The Greatest Intro in Sports History by David Land

• 🎵 Have There Been Any Standards Released in the Last 25 Years? by

  Chris Dalla Riva

• 🎵▶️ The Most "American" Songs Of All Time, According To Chart Data by Bandsplaining

• 💸▶️ WTF Happened In 1971? by How History Works

Neil’s Substack Throwback of the Week:

Old YouTube Game of the Week

April 17, 2007 - Mets vs Phillies

(Note: I was prompted to find some 2007 Phillies content after listening to Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins on the latter two’s 6-1-1 Podcast.)

Music to Play Us Out

“We Built This City” - Starship

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Filed under: Weekly Round-up

1. I’m at neil[dot]paine[at]gmail[dot]com.