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We always figured that it was something akin to cruel and unusual punishment to subject guests to our garbage show, so we’ve always just left the interviewing to the expert around here.
But some opportunities are too good to pass up. Some shining stars are just too big to ignore. Sometimes, you just have to shoot your shot.
Such is the case this week as Washington State Cougars assistant basketball coach John Andrzejek steps into the Podcast Vs. Everyone studio for our first extended interview.
If you’re a regular listener to the show, you know that we are totally nerds and love our analytics. Well, it just so happens that Andrzejek is the head nerd on Kyle Smith’s staff, having been hired to be the team’s director of analytics before being elevated to a full-time assistant coach.
There’s a ton of information on Andrzejek and his background in this story from last April, but if a click is one move too many for you, just know this: He’s really, really smart, and he really, really knows his hoops, and if you’ve ever wanted an inside look at some of the unique aspects of Smith’s program, that’s exactly what you get here as Andrzejek was generous enough to give us more than an hour of his time to let us nerd out with him.
What resulted is our longest episode ever. But we think it’s worth your time! And if you usually hate our show — good news, Andrzejek does most of the talking!
Show rundown:
- Interview: We started by talking about the current situation with COVID-19 (how is it impacting the team?), then revisited the momentous win over Colorado (did they change the game plan? How did they cope with the sudden end to the season?), before nerding out a bit by exploring how they turned the program around and the role that analytics plays in what they do. How to they use analytics to scout? What kinds of tools might be coming in the future that could revolutionize analytics in college basketball? And a whole bunch more.
- WSU stuff (1:16:00ish): There actually were a couple of WSU-related items in the news — Gardner Minshew is the new presumptive starter in Jacksonville, and Andre Dillard has thoughts about Mike Leach. We have our own thoughts about those things!
Fair warning, we do use naughty words from time. You’ll probably hate it. We don’t care.
(But if you do like it, please leave us a five-star review — it helps other people find the podcast.)
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