NBA Podcast: Early risers and fallers in the West

Welcome to the latest edition of "Pound the Rock," an NBA podcast hosted by Joseph Casciaro and Joe Wolfond.

Find the show on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Topics for this episode include:

• The biggest surprises and disappointments among Western Conference teams so far
• How have the Jazz surged to the top of the conference, and how sustainable is their success?
• Lauri Markkanen: star 7-foot wing
• How long will the front office let Utah ride this out?
• What's going wrong in Minnesota? (Spoiler: everything)
• Is there any cause for optimism? (Uh ... Jaden McDaniels?)
• The Blazers look legit
• Is this the best wing rotation and defensive infrastructure Portland's had in the Lillard era?
• The Pelicans are running into some familiar stumbling blocks
• Why is New Orleans still shooting so few 3-pointers? Why is DeVonte Graham still in the rotation? Whatever happened to Point Zion?
• The Warriors' youth movement isn't progressing as hoped, and it's jeopardizing their title defense
• Should we be encouraged by the dominance of Golden State's starters, or concerned about the sorry state of the bench?
• Why the Thunder are the most pleasantly surprising 4-7 team in the league
• Just how impressive has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander been?
• Is Poku finally happening?