What is krack a lackin Hardlan Knox Listeners, I am Dampa Valley coming at
you once more without my fantabulous co host Adam Frommel. The Team look Ahead
train is rolling on the Portland Trailblazers are up next, and so long time
listeners of this podcast know that we have to bring back Tara bone Big to
break down everything about them, the off season, what to expect from the
regular season, some long term stuff with CJ and Dame. Great conversation as
always. Follow her on Twitter as always at tc b B i ggs.
That's at tc b B i ggs. Tara hosts two podcasts. She's a
co host of that We Have a Take podcast. That is one that I
listened to regularly. Try to listen to as much as possible anyway. They're
a breath of fresh air. They talk a lot of Blazers basketball, but
there's also stuff like finding out about Norman Palace, puppies and then SETI recently
a dramatic reading Marteth Chris's Wikipedia page. That's the ship, that's the escapism
stuff that we need. She also is a co host of the Step Back
Sisters podcast. Follow them on Twitter at step back sisters, and you can
follow We have a take at We have a take All Those are spelt exactly
as they sound before I dive into my great conversation with Tara. Just our
usual reminders, Please please, pretty please continue rating, reviewing, and subscribing
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head over to iTunes now. It takes ten seconds to do it with all
of those housekeeping notes, and please out of the way, let's get to
talking some Portland trailblazers with be Esteemed, the amazing Tara Bone Bigs. Tara,
thank you so much for coming back on the Hardwood Knox podcast. You
are now tied with Kitlyn Cooper for the second most guest appearances on Hardwood Knox.
Not a title that I think you should be proud of, but you
are high up in the standings, so once please go ahead. I am
like more than honored to be tied with Caitlyn Cooper for that title because she
is amazing. I love listening to her talk, and I love being on
your podcast, and I appreciate every time and every time you ask me to
be on. I'm like, you can ask somebody else and you're always no,
No. I love it. It's great for me, So I love
it and uh yeah, to be like in the same sentence with Caitlyn Cooper's
just awesome makes me feel great. Good way to start the day. Well,
I think most importantly before we talk more Blazers, which is why you're
here, is how have you been. I've been really good. I had
last night and experience which I just was one of my favorite things in the
world, which is to me a Twitter friend in person, and I just
I absolutely love it because like if if we don't seek out like actual,
you know, human interaction from all this stuff that we do on Twitter,
it's like, what are we even doing? And you know, for me,
like the last eighteen months, with the pandemic and everything, like so
much of my social life has happened on Twitter, and now that people are
moving about the country, it just thrills me to like get to like look
in the eyes of somebody that I've been chatting with, having conversations with on
Twitter. So I'm in a really great mood today because I got to meet
somebody that I had never met before, although I feel like I've known him
for a long time, and then you got to deliver a threat on his
behalf. Oh that's better. Yes, yes, I was Snotty Drippn.
So I did not meet him into Mecula. Everybody wanted to know if I
met him in Temecula. And it's so funny because of course, every time
you think about Toe Mecula, you think about Snotty Drippn and that major drama,
the staying power of that entire situation. It really is so no met
up in you know, came to Portland and you know said it on Twitter
and I just pounced and I was like, let's meet up. And you
know, I can't wait Dan until the day where I get to meet you
and I get to like come to your city and meet you in person.
It's just it's just so much fun. Like for me, basketball is kind
of like the mechanism by which I like establish relationships like all across the world,
and it's the coolest thing. And like I said, if like I'm
not following up on that, then like what am I even doing? Right?
Yes, I do hope we get to meet in person at some point,
hoping the world will be less on fire at that at that time as
well. The second question I had though, is which have you prepared a
dramatic reading for us to offer this podcast today. Oh I could if you
would like one. I think you're you're referring to my dramatic reading of Marquise
Chris's Wikipedia page, which so I have this thing for people who clearly have
somebody who loves them who curate their Wikipedia page, because every once in a
while you'll find a Wikipedia page that is just so obviously written by somebody,
especially like with that basketball fans who aren't just like listing the stats and like
they went to high school here and then they went to you know, college
here, and here's their stats. So I love it when somebody like puts
in all these little details. And when Marquise Chris was invited to training camp,
I went to his Widia page and just like, oh, it was
I don't know who it was written by it, but there was a lot
of really wonderful references to his mom and some of the things that he'd overcome,
like learning how to not Let's see what was I can't remember what the
phrase was, but it was like no not unnecessarily fouling, and I was
like, oh my gosh, that is the best thing ever. So I
did do a dramatic reading of it on my podcast, and I so appreciate
that you listened and that you appreciated it as much as I did. That
made me smile. I was coming at it. I saw it. So
that's how you promoted the podcast we Haven't Take podcast. I plugged it in
the intro. Everyone go follow them, check them out. They are a
breath of fresh air. Trust me. But I had listened to a few
days after because because you promoted as we have this dramatic reading of Marky's Chriss's
Wikipedia page, and I'm like, holy shit, like I need to see
this, and I'm just like my grin is going like ear to ear the
entire time I'm listening to this, because I could picture you saying it and
reading it and then to take him about like, oh, his mom might
have written this. Just absolutely spectacular. That's the type of content that we
need more of in my opinion. You know, we definitely got weird this
season, and we felt like this if we were ever going to get weird,
this was the off season to get weird. So, like one of
my other favorite podcasts that we did this off season was what if Free Agency
was run like The Bachelor? And we had so much fun with that like
figuring out like what the rules would be and like who would be the Bachelor.
So the setup is that like every free agent like invite, Like for
every free agent, each team who is interested in them sends a representative and
then they have to talk to then they have to fight it out and they
have to do like mud wrestling and you know, play embarrassing games, and
then they get to like take them on a quase like you know dates in
order to like discuss like what their position would be. So we had a
lot of fun with the what if NBA free agency was more like the Bachelor?
And now like in my brain, like I'm like, why is that
not happening? That is the type of creative ingenuity that you can expect it
to. We have a take podcast, So go check Tara out over there.
As you said, you got weird this offseason, and the Blazers didn't
get so weird this offseason. When you move, you know, we had
talked just after they hired Chauncey Billups and so now we have actual encourt moves
to look at what was as we headed closer to the regular season. What
are you thinking about from the offseason, anything that stands out in particular,
any of the moves that you like, disliked, just anything at all from
this offseason relating to the Blazers that you're still thinking about. So this off
season was, in my mind, the Blazers got better, at least the
concept of the things that they did. I do think they got better.
And there was so much chatter about, you know, bringing in the big
third star and you know what Damian was going to do, and da da
da, and you know, obviously Ben Simmons is not in Portland, and
any other star whose name was was brought up. But I think that the
moves that they made that especially improve the bench, I think they're going to
make the Blazers better. And one of the things that I'm trying to do
is like temper my expectations because I love the idea of what Larry Nance could
bring you the second in it or just to the Blazers. I love what
but I also was super excited about the concept of Mario Hazzonia. So I'm
trying to temper my expectations. But I just I feel like they have made
some moves that will solidify the bench because it used to be like when the
bench came on, we just all sort of held our breath and we're like,
if everybody's hitting and scoring, then it's not going to be a problem
tonight. But if people's shots are not falling, then it's going to be
real rough night. Every time Damien or CJ sits down. If it makes
you feel any better, we have actual evidence, unlike Mario Hazzonia, that
Larry Nance Jr. Is good when he's healthy, So I feel like you
can get more excited about that. I thought that was We had actually talked
about Larry Nas Junior when we came on the podcast last time when we were
talking about Blazers training can Er. I think it's a great fit bordering on
Earth and all the things that you just said, I would just agree with.
And I also when I think he brings this some more lineup optionality for
them if they want to go a little bit different when Nurk isn't on the
floor, but you still want to play game and CJ together. So I'm
where I'm at, And if is if he's healthy, I think he ends
up being like a really big addition for the Blazers where no, this wasn't
the off season where they got a star, but Larry is really good.
And based off how they defended with use of Nurkis on the court for much
of last season, now for you able to bridge the minutes without Nurkich a
little bit better with the one of the primary front court players. I do
think, you know, there's there's nowhere to go but up basically for this
defense relative to last season. But I think Larry Knights Junior makes way more
of an impact than people are talking about, just because it wasn't one of
the moves that was like, you know, kaboom or like that. It
wasn't the star that everyone thought the Blazers needed to acquire. Yeah, and
two things about Larry nance one on offense and one on defense. One of
the things that I and this is why I kind of likened him to the
Mario Hasonia experience, is because you know, we were presented with the potential
for Mario to be a facilitator, because that's you know, he likes to
you know, somebody said along the way that he was gonna, you know,
he'd like to have the ball in his hands in order, you know,
to facilitate and create that he could do that sometimes for others. And
but one of the things I really like about Larry Nansen and why I'm excited
about him on offense is he's talked a lot about how he loves soccer and
he's a soccer player, and to me, one of the things that I
enjoy watching about guys who are really really into soccer is basketball is about executing
a series of plays in you know, an order that makes sense, and
being able to call the plays and you know, figure out what you want
to do were during the middle of the game, and soccer, you know,
because there's you don't have timeouts, you just have to go, go,
go, go. You're creating as you go along. And from like
the highlights that I've watched of Larry, he seems like the kind of guy
who's just really great at like creating as he goes along. He can also
execute plays, but he has sort of that like center center midfielder like vibe
to him where he's like can pull out things that you weren't expecting because he
could he's looking at the at the whole court and the you know the totality
of the game in addition to like knowing what the plays are and everything.
So I'm excited about his potential as a facilitator because last year and you know,
he's it's not like he's you know, out has outrageous like assists numbers,
but you watch him and you know he has little a variety of different
types of paths to give other people the opportunity to score. And last season
with Mellow and Cantor as you know, the two forwards on the on the
bench unit, that's when I started to understand the difference between passing because you
don't have a shot and actually facilitating. And I think that there might be
more ef you know there they want Anthony Simon's to take more of a role
in facilitating that offense, but I think having other guys who also do the
same thing is going to be better for everybody on the bench. So that's
like offensively and then just defensively in combination with Cody Zeller. You know,
if if like again, if the bench can just not just let points be
scored on them for their shifts, and it just seems like so much more
likely that we have, you know, center, big guys who can do
that off the bench right now, Yeah, I offense, he would excite
me there too, but for what they do on defense, like he gives
you just protection on the perimeter and also just he's not the best rim protector.
But if they wanted to run a line up with him as a bigger
guy, he does. He's just so good at anticipating when he's even sort
of pulled outside the paint on defense. And I think if they're a lineups
with him and Covington together, and maybe it's not you know, when Dame
sits or it's bench heavy units, maybe they're not the best offensive team,
which would make sense if you don't have to Dame the lineup. But it
feels like now they're just more built, like they can have some really stingy,
bench heavy defensive units. It looks like they did do other stuff aside
from Larry Nance Junior. They have guys like Patterson and Dennis Smith Junior on
training camp deal as they signed, as you mentioned, Cody Zeller, Ben
McLamore, Tony Snell. And so I'm just curious as to who you thought
was the best edition of that bunch of the non Larry Nance Division or who
you expect to have the biggest impact or play the biggest role out of all
of them. Well, I think it'll the person who's gonna have the biggest
impact of those the rest of them you mentioned is Cody Zeller because he's the
only backup center unless they decide to sign Marquis Chris. But like, Cody
Zeller is the only tall, you know, the very tall backup center,
so I think he's gonna make a big impact. But I'm really curious to
see if Tony Snell or Ben McLamore really finds a spot and really excels here
in Portland, because I think there is potential for one of them to work
their way into into the regular lineup. I mean it's kind of hard to
figure out. I mean, like the whole it's kind of hard to figure
out who's not gonna play, except for you know, the rookies or whatever.
But I kind of feel like either one of Ben McLamore or Tony Snell
is really gonna have a good, good year. But I just in terms
of just who's gonna have the biggest and most obvious it's good, I think
Cody Zeller. Yeah, he is the only backup five, so you're right
there, and he's been like a plus minus Darling for years when he's healthy,
which has been not so much. I'm still very tantalized by Tony Snell,
or maybe the idea of Tony Snell where it's like, Okay, someone
who can hold up individually on defense, not against the toughest assignments, and
he hits threes at a high clip. I think he's probably gonna need to
be a little bit more willing to on cork jump shots in Portland's off sense
if if he wants to stay on the floor there. Otherwise, I think
someone like Ben McLamore not as good defensively when you play with Dame and CJ
and they're gonna or even Larry has June Now and Nerk if he's passing out
on the short role, whatever lineup you're in, like you need to make
those decisions when you're open, and that's never He'll knock down those shots,
but he seems very reluctant to take them. You know, I know,
you know how much I loved Alpha Rukaminu while he was on the Blazers,
and I've I've been watching Tony Snell drives because I was like, I wonder
what his handle is like, and there was there were some moments where I
was like, uh, well, you know me, I love chaos,
and so he just reminded me a little bit of Alpha Rukaminu, and I
think it could be really fun. And like that's why I said, like,
I think one of those guys is really going to find the their place
here, Like they might find like a role that fits their style and that
is complimentary to what the Blazers need. And I kind of have. I
kind of think Tony Snell is going to be my new like favorite player that
I just like go crazy for whenever he comes in. And I'm really excited
about partly because of the potential for chaos and you know, just his you
know his zero zero zero zero zero game in seventeen minutes, which was incredible
that anybody could pull off that amazing feet also no turnovers, not only no
points, now assists snow fouls, also no turnovers, I will say.
So, I just think that he has the potential for just entertainment value and
for me just like enjoying who he is and cheering form. I think Tony
Snell is going to be my new Alfar Rukami, new type player to watch.
So we hit the off season, I think it is most expected nothing
happens with Damiani Allard. If I said anything, I would say his comments
after the wedding have been just almost encouraging, like sort of a one eighty
from where we were at entering the off season when everything was just a little
bit fresh. Does that give you confidence at least that nothing will happen in
the middle of the season because of how drastic a move that would be,
And but how do you feel about the Dame situation? Also beyond just this
season though, so as far as Damian Allard is concerned, I feel confident
that he's going to be here at least through this season. The thing about
watching Damian the Lord all of these years and just not just his basketball but
everything else that he does. Damien is a storyteller. You know, he's
a rapper. He writes lyrics, he tells stories. Even if you follow,
you know, his social media accounts. You know, I'll keep going
back to that year where he posted that hilarious video of what he did in
the off season that you know, that had like the guys hitting him with
the pool noodles and doing all these crazy things. He did that because oh
it was so funny. He was dressed in a cape and goggles and they
were hitting him with pool noodles and they were having him do all these like
super ridicules things, And that was his offseason workout video. But he was
telling a story. He was being funny. He was like, you all
are like complaining because I'm not doing what I was supposed to be doing.
Here you go Damon's story and Portland is not over. And it would be
very uncharacteristic from what I've observed of him, were he to just leave in
the middle of the season or just leave before he's seen it through. That
doesn't necessarily mean I think he's gonna stay here for the entire length of his
contract if things don't go the way that he wants them to go. But
to me, to me, his story is not over in Portland, and
he's going to see it out. And I think the more interesting question about
Damian Lillard, now that we've all talked all summer long about whether or not
he was going to ask for a trade and everybody wanted him the blah blah
blah blah, I think the more interesting thing is without coach Stots, we're
gonna learn a lot more about Damian Lillard because coach Stott was his only NBA
coach. They were together for nine years, and for the last few years
things have looked very similar. They've played the same type of basketball, and
we're going to find out really quick how much of that was Stots, how
much of it was Damian Lillard, what of it was both. So I'm
super curious, Like, half of a season is not nearly enough time to
decide whether or not things are gonna, you know, how things are gonna
go with when he has a new coach. So I'm super curious to see
how how or if the game is going to change so that we can figure
out how much of their So like, the characteristics of a Blazer's team for
the last several years are really easy to name. They don't move them ball
very much, they don't run around very much, they don't get assists,
they don't take corner threes, and they don't dunk like all of those things.
They were like on the bottom of the league in terms of how often
they did those things way up there in isolation, right, So I'm super
curious to see how many of the how much of the way they play was
predicated on what worked for Damian Lillard and how much of it was on stots
And I'm just really curious to see art We've heard a lot about there's going
to be more ball movement. Okay, so does that just mean they're gonna
have more movement than than they did, or does that mean they're gonna go
up in like in relation to all of the rest of the teams. Are
they gonna have more cutting? Are they gonna shoot corner threes? They have
some really great They went out and got some really great corner three shooters,
Norman Powell as an elite corner three shooter and some of the other guys that
they've got too, So are they gonna actually use that corner three? So
I'm I'm just super curious to see, now that we know Damien is here
for this season and we have a new coach in place, how how the
look of the team is going to change. Yeah, I'd be very curious
too, And I get wanting to have some offensive variants, but they like
you look at what Damian Lillard does, and I'm more ashured to see,
like you mentioned it, what can get going off the ball more? Because
I don't ever I know he can I know Damen can do stuff off the
ball. I don't ever want the ball out of that guy's hands. It's
like when people when people are talking about how Ross and Lebron are going to
fit with the Lakers, but if Lebron plays off the ball a little bit
more, and in my mind, the answer is never less of Lebron James.
That's never the answer to this. But I'm fascinating to see how they're
gonna be run, and I agree with on every point you hit. I
would not have. I guess it's not even confidence. I don't have a
feel for what would happen beyond this season, especially after how he entered the
offseason with Damian Lillard. But there's like a sub zero percent chance in my
mind that this ends poorly during the regular season because he would have to reach
James Harden levels of agitation or I guess do we call it the Ben Simmons
now and he's just not going to do that, and so next offseason whatever.
I think this season's big to want to keep him in Portland long term,
but it always felt like a long shot anything would happen this summer,
and I think, if you're a Blazer, if you're the Blazer's organization,
if you're the fans knowing even if he was just on the roster and wasn't
saying you know whatever, it was at media to day where he was just
like, this is the type of person I am, and I have to
recognize it, Like I basically that he endorsed that he wanted to be there,
that he wanted to win in Portland. Even if he hadn't said that,
you have to feel I would think super confident at least have him for
another season, and the fact that the roster improved and the West is wide
open and we'll get to that at the end. Obviously I wouldn't predict the
Blazers to win a title, but this is a very anything can happen type
year at least that's what it feels like. And so I'm with you on
every point. I just don't have, and I don't think anybody does,
the feel for what would happen beyond this season with him because of you know,
I would see the time left on his contract normally and be like,
no, you have another year after two years of Dame there's at least,
but just because of what happened at the start, of this offseason. I'm
like, all right, well, I won't make any predictions beyond this year,
but I think I would be flabbergasted if Damian Lillard did not finish the
year on the Portland Trouble Blazer roster. I also just don't I'm not nadvocate
of making those moves mid season. That just seems like a very tough decision
for everyone involved. To make Damian Lillard the Blazers YadA, YadA YadA.
Things would have to go so far off the rails for that to happen,
and it just it just makes no sense to me. And I just I'm
confident that he is here and it's here for a while because, like I
said, like he wants to do it his way, and this is his
way. His way is not leaving. His way is hanging on and clinging
as long as he possibly can and bringing all of his guys along with it.
I think. And this is like just from observation, and it maybe
it reflects more like what I was thinking. But you know, going back
to when you know, the Blazers were doing well and then Nurkics went down
broke his leg, and then the next season that happened after that was just
kind of like waiting time, wait for Nurkis to get back. And I
was thinking, as soon as gets back, they're just gonna pick ride up
and they're just gonna charge full speed ahead and that it would just be like
really easy. And I think they came back and they like went back to
like they all came back, and I think it looked like they didn't they
didn't try to continue. They were I don't want to say I don't they
that they just figured everything was going to go back to normal, because I
don't know what was in their heads, but it looked to me like they
figured they were going to get Nurkics back and everything was going to be great,
and they just it wasn't. As obviously it took a while to reintegrate
him back in there, and so I think they were caught off guard that
it was harder than they thought it was going to because they remembered how it
felt, they remembered what it was like, they remembered how good they were
when he was just really clicking, and so they're like, all we gotta
do is wait for him to get back, and everything's gonna be great,
and you know, for various reasons, injuries, things like that, it
didn't happen, and so I think at the end of the year, I
think they were what I heard in Damien's remarks at the end of the year,
what was different about them. It's usually he just blames himself for everything.
He just like it was on me, you know, it was on
me, And I felt in his remarks at the end of the season he
kind of was looking around the whole organization and we were like we all kind
of like let each other down. That's what it sounded like to me,
which was different. And so I think getting a new coach in there,
you know when there's when there's new players come in every year, but a
new coach is really going to have to make them all stand up and pay
attention and figure out what's going on. And I think it's going to be
a really good thing for them. We've talked a lot about CJ McCollum in
the past and this offseason, entering it, you were more open to the
idea of the Blazers moving CJ McCollum than I'd ever heard you say before.
And I'm wondering if that's the off season's over, and I think there are
two elements to this is where do you sort of land on that issue now?
But the second layer is, assuming there's even a star market, whether
it's Ben Simmons straight up or something or another player that you think would really
help the Blazers, do you still feel that same way knowing that then this
move is all of a sudden made in the middle of the year. Because
I mentioned with Damian Lillard, I don't think it's an easy decision to be
like, we need to pivot into this rebuild now in the middle of the
season. If your team, like the Blazers, I also don't think it's
an easy decision to be like, people look at these rosters and yeah,
sometimes it's a no brainer with the Nuts and James Harden. But now,
if you were to make a deal the player that you're acquiring, you didn't
get a training camp with him. Your practice time isn't going to be like
super extensive during the middle of the year. It's a culture change for you.
And now it's just it's also more upheaval in this case because of how
long Damon CJ have been together, Like this is you know, Jannis Chris
Middleton Clay Steph type shit, where they've just been together for so long that
that's just such a substantial change. And while from the talent callous business perspective,
I could sit here and go, Yeah, if you have the opportunity
to get a player who's a better fit or can make more of an impact
than CJ McCollum, we absolutely do it. It's just so much easier for
me to say to do that during the off season than it would be in
the middle of a regular season, where I would argue the conclusion of it
is mission critical to what happens with Damian Lillard moving forward. Yes, I
feel like I'm more open to the possibility that CJ may bee traded than I
have been in the past, and partly because of CJ himself. I've listened
to him talk enough about how he understands the too business and that he's prepared
for it, and he hears people talk about trading him all the time and
it doesn't, you know, hurt his feelings or anything like that. So
part of it was just like hearing from CJ that he's like, I understand
like people think, you know, people want love this team and they want
to get better, and you know, he's a big fan of the Browns
and he's had conversations about trading his friends who were on the Browns. He's
like, I get it, I understand, but again, I feel like
things would either have to really completely fall off the rails, like it's not
working with the coach at all, and the team is just all standing around
looking at there like like what are we doing? You know, I think
things that have to get real bad or something like suddenly Anthony Simons is everything
that Neil Olshay said that he was going to be when he drafted it and
said, this is the best athlete I've ever drafted in my entire lifetime.
So that's, you know, that's a distinct possibility maybe that they, you
know, CJ becomes redundant, redundant, redundant, because that's what's been said
about CJ this whole time, is that he's redundant to dame. And now
Norman Powell came and now CJ is more tradable than ever, and like,
now we have Norman Powell and Anthony Simon, So CJ is even more more
tradeable than ever. Is it possible to be? That? Take seems correct?
And then incorrect at the same time because it's like, yeah, in
theory, Norman Powell is just a similar size, he's gonna do more for
you on defense. But CJ McCollum's shot creation in the playoffs that is so
much more valuable, like in the than it is in the regular season.
And have two players like him in Dame one, there's not like a ton
of redundancy to their game. Every team has two, or every great team
seems have these two high level level scores. And I would argue that you
honestly need a number two like CJ in the playoffs, or maybe not need,
but he's more useful to you in a playoff series than a Norman Powell.
That's where I would stand. But I also get the theory like,
well, you just paid Norman Powell ninety million dollars, and you know how
many dudes under six four A you're actually gonna pay. But it's just I've
long pushed back against the argument that CJ is just so redundant on this roster
because I don't think that he is. I think he's and we've talked about
this like for years now. Right. The other thing is is CJ at
the beginning of last season was amazing. He came out at the beginning of
last season and everybody was like their eyes were just huge, going, Holy
smokes, look what he's doing. He added more three point shots and was
hitting him at a high rate. CJ was just out of this world at
the beginning of last season. And you know, hard to know whether or
not he's going to come back to that level, but he was making the
Blazers better a lot last season before he went down and got injured. He
struggled a little bit coming back, but still struggling. Is like still more
than twenty points a game, right, I think that the more scorers you
have, the better the Blazers. You know, went hard in on the
three guard lineup, and now how many people, how many other teams around
the league are going hard with the three guard lineup. Maybe it's time for
the fourth guard lineup. I kind of thought that the fourth guard might be
like six ten, It might be like Ben Simmons. I know, obviously
I'm joking, but yes, having guys who can create their shots is just
so valuable. And when you have them both, when you always have two
guys in at the same time and you have to guard. That's helpful.
That's that's a good thing. I've never really felt like like CJ was redundant.
He you know, he plays in a different way than Dame. You
know. He he's so fun to watch. He's sometimes sometimes CJ is the
one, like obviously Dame when he's hitting those ridiculously long shots, it like
totally gets you know, the crowd going. And you know, but sometimes
when CJ does those dance and he puts like Dirk Nowitzki in this spin cycle,
like he can really also get that energy up and get everybody. And
plus he's a little bit of a kind of a cat. You know,
he'll he'll like trash talk on the field, like Damian always keeps like such
a like blank aspect. Sometimes it's CJ is the one who's going off and
he's John and the other guys like in that way. I think, you
know, there's more ways than you know, just the part of the of
the field that they're shooting from where they compliment each other. And I love
it when like CJS like trolling players on the other team, like because Damon
never do that. Dame just looks you in the face and like hit a
three pointer. But c Jail get in your ear and you know he's in
creative Yeah, Dame, only does it like inside three minutes to play with
the game on the line. It's like when he unleashes that side. And
just to reiterate where you were saying about cj before, I should that's question.
The first it was as it was, it was twelve games into the
season. He got injured in game number thirteen. I believe he was essentially
averaging twenty eight points, five assists, shooting forty three point four percent from
three on a lot of off the dribble threes like these weren't just him upping
his three point volume on stand still, like he was hitting tough threes higher
than fifty percent on twos. He was. He was in the All Star
discussion, which to be in the guard All Star discussion in the Western Conference
is very difficult, even in a year when Klay Thompson isn't playing Like that's
just it's super hard. So I pretty much land everywhere with you. And
that's not even someone who's a Blazers fan. I just at this point I
don't and I think it matters, you know, the market, it has
to make sense for the player that's coming in. I'm just not a big
fan of that type of up people in the middle of the season is sort
of where I land. I do have questions about actual basketball for you,
though, I promise this wasn't just a trade podcast. Is there any lingering
concerns about what use of nurkids said at the end of last year about how
he needed to be more involved on offense and do you see a pathway to
that happening, or or this is an out there theory, is his path
to being more involved just actually being more available and on the court. I
am hoping for wonderfully wonderful health for Nurkis because it has been an issue for
him. It's been hard for him to stay healthy for an entire season.
I'm also hoping for time with the coach that helps him figure out how to
not foul unnecessarily. This is a quote from Marquis Chris's Wikipedia page, and
I was like, that's exactly what somebody needs to work with nurkitch on because
it was so hard to watch him get in there and play really well but
gets so many fouls that he's not on the floor and he's not available at
key parts of the game. So I think he could potentially be involved a
lot more if he's able to stay on the court because he's figured out how
to not get called for so many fouls, and that's a lot of that
is up to him, and so I'm looking forward to There's been a lot
of reporting in Portland about how well Nurkic is responding to the new coach,
and he really likes everything that the new coach has told him about what he's
going to do with him when his role. He's talked a lot about using
him on the album or using him as a facilitator, and you know,
great, as long as he can stay on the court. I think that's
awesome because everybody knows that when Nurkic is available and he is dialed in,
the team is really great. But if he gets three quick fouls, it's
real hard to know, like what the rest of the game is gonna gonna
be. Like I had this whole theory that if he sometimes when he plays
with four fouls, he actually plays better because he knows that he has to
watch out for getting that last foul. But like that doesn't mean just go
out and give four fouls. That you know what you're doing. So if
he can stay out of foul trouble, I can see, you know,
a real, you know, a real advantage to having him. And the
other thing is one of the things that the new coaches talked about and what
people have talked about is something that the Clippers really talked about a lot,
which is their drive kick swing. And I think Blazers have been doing a
lot of drive kick. They haven't done a lot of drive kick swing.
I don't think that Nurkics is going to be out there and available on the
three point line at least. I hope that's not what the plan is,
because you know, we need him more in the middle. But if he
can help them remember that and he can help them make that happen, I
think that would bode really well for the placers. Nurkis always seems to do
well when he has sort of like a clear like a leadership job. Like
he was playing so well when you could tell he and Mo Harkless were working
together a lot, and like Mo Harkless would be sort of up and down
and you would see Nurkics go over there and like you know, talk to
Mo and get in his face, and when when Nurkich has a job to
do, he really he really does it. And I just think last year
it was like Nurkis is going to be a back Just let him go back
and do his regular thing without like a solid like, no, this is
the thing we mean for you to be doing. And so I'm hoping with
the with the new coach and with the new you know potential to be more
of a facilitator, We're going to find more you know reps for you on
the elbow. I have a lot of hope, but for me, the
biggest thing is just stay outfl Yeah. And what's interesting with him when you
mentioned the foul trouble is there are Yeah, I don't know, they've seen
a lot of them, see like frustration fouls where it's like if he gets
a call that he doesn't like, maybe it's like a good contest and they
call it a foul. It feels like he's exponentially more likely to get an
offensive foul or something within the next like three or four possessions or make a
bad defensive risk. And the other thing I don't know whether you agree with
this, is that I sometimes wonder if he doesn't trust the Blazers defense behind
him because of sort of the decisions he makes, like if someone gets a
step on him, it's like he almost just wants to stop to play rather
than trust that the help is gonna come. But if you could limit it
sounds because he is so important, and we saw this last year. The
on off differential is wild because the Blazers sucked defensively for most of the year.
The minutes that Usuf Nurkics was on the court, they were an above
average defensive team. He's so important to what they do defensively that I hope
this season, you know, Roco is still there. I don't know if
he'll play a ton of minutes with Larry Nance Junior. That would be interesting
to watch. I guess, like, can you trust the guys behind you
more? Can the coach get the guys moving behind you more that you don't
feel this need to like if someone does get by you because you're not right
by the basket, that you need to try and reach in or just give
one of those tiki tack fouls. Because again, he's just he's pivotable to
their defense. Still, even with the changes that they've made this offseason,
so One more thing about Yusef Nurkicch is that he's not great at finishing at
the rim and one of those little flip up shots and having guys that he
has confidence that he could dish it off to, or having him be somehow
clear, you know, helping it goes. It sounds backwards, but helping
clear the lane for some of these younger athletic guys that we have who like
to come in and dunk, I don't know if he's you know, in
the lane and then he steps out to give them the space. But rather
than trying to have him force making shots close to the rim, which he's
just not great at, Like it's just for some reason he's just not great
at it, figure out ways that he can creatively make opportunities for the other
guys who are who do like who do finish in the rim, to have
a chance to do I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's
another issue with him that I think we could turn into a positive squod potentially.
It's time for the question I've asked you. I think every single podcast
appearance you've made on this show since Anthony Simons went nuclear in his rookie season
against the Sacramento Kings to close out the year. Do you see him actually
getting a bigger role this year or is there a chance that now that you
have Norm in addition to CJ and Dame, that that's almost a now in
the coffin for his chance to play like a major role for this team.
Well, the Blazers keep saying that this is going to be Anthony Simon's this
year, and then they have like five guards on the roster and invited to
training camp, so it's like, it's hard to know. I think Anthony
every like we forget sometimes how young he was when he got to the team
and the fact that he didn't have college playing experience since he came right from
high school. So they've been I like how they've brought him a lot along
very gently, and every year he does look bigger and stronger, and I
do think that he has potential this year to step in and taking on a
much bigger role, Like according to the traditional Blazer's timeline, this is the
year that he's going to get a lot of playing time, and it's kind
of his to lose, you know, that's just the way that they bring
people along. So yeah, if he's not in there. It's because he
you know, he lost it out to somebody else, not necessarily because somebody
else took it from him. That makes sense. No, that makes a
hundred. I'm totally with you, and I think I just haven't seen and
you watch him way more than I do, but I just haven't seen enough
growth as a decision maker when he's not shooting, like to get keep the
ball moving, or to actually set up teammates rather than you mentioned that this
podcast, rather than just passing just to pass. There's like a difference between
passing guys open or actually finding open players and the other thing. If he's
not going to be like that secondary playmaker, there needs to be more levels
than his off the dribble, shooting better, finishing around the rim something,
and I do my guests would be that it's harder for him to get there,
Like the pressure on him might be like there should be zero pressure because
of all the guards they have with Norm, Damon CJ. But it's like
those guys are gonna eat up so many minutes. I guess maybe Norm playing
the three will help. I just I'm not out on Anthony Simons. I
might be out on the idea, the initial idea of Anthony Simmons. Yeah,
I think that with the the second unit, if they can do you
know, maybe the first unit continues to do the isolation like they've always done
because it's always really really worked well. And maybe that second unit is the
one where we see more of the ball movement from the than we have in
the past, because before it was he you know, he threw it to
mellow who most likely was going to take a shot, or he threw it
to and as cantor who most likely who was going to take a shot.
And maybe if he has more people who are moving the ball around, I
would love to see Anthony Simons as somebody who is passing it into somebody moving
and then getting the ball back to take his shot. I would love to
see more plays like that because I think he's so good at catch and shoot
that, you know, if he's bringing the ball up, setting up the
play, giving it off to somebody else and then running into the spot like
CJ does, I think that would be a really awesome role for Anthony.
So rather than just like having him be like isolate, bringing up either to
your own shot or passes somebody else to get their shot to having him start
start plays that may end up with the ball back in his hands with a
catch and shoot. I think that would be exciting someone else who's generating a
lot of buzz around plays with training camp right now. Maybe it's in part
because he's healthy, which has been very rare for him. This yere little
What does And I don't think that I've seen enough of him over the course
of his career to have a feel for what he's a a player. What
does he do? You see him playing a role this year if he's healthy.
What does he bring to the team if he's healthy. I think that
Nas has a chance to earn some serious play time this season. And I
also have not seen really enough of him to know what we've got, but
I think that he has potential. He is not afraid of attacking the rim,
and having somebody else who's not afraid of attacking the rim, I think
is really important because you know, we have Dame, we have norm,
but I think we need more and you're just you just mentioned that, you
know, you don't see Anthony Simon's doing that very much. Nas is not
afraid to do that, and I think if he can consistently do that when
he gets in and threatened that way, I think that will give him a
chance to play. I'm hoping he stays healthy because I would look and I
think he really would help. He's another guy that I think could help them
defensively too, in the scheme of what they would be trying to do when
you look at the positional spectrum he might cover and he's just from reading the
story, I think I don't want to forget his name from the athletic Jonathan
Quick, I think his names wrote it about what Monsieur Little went through with
COVID's like, yeah, yeah, Jason Quick. Sorry that that stuff always
hits obviously, but just that knowing he's dealt with the injuries, just hasn't
had a chance to play much. I'm hoping that he gets to stay healthy
and we get to get just a real extensive look at him this year.
Yeah, I have I have high hopes for him. I think he's exciting
and he's one of those players that you know, we haven't been able to
see much, but his injuries are his injuries were like kind of different injuries.
He had COVID and he had a concussion. I think it was the
other one. So it's you know, it's kind of an an odd combination
that really is like we really know nothing, you know, because it wasn't
like he had like a limb where we can be like, oh, I
understand, you know, he broke his arm or his leg, and so
we kind of know how players come back from that. This is like,
I don't know how players come back, especially if they had such a terrible
case of COVID, Like is he still having effects of it? I don't
know. He seems like he's playing really well and everybody's really excited about what
they're seeing in playing camp. So you know, in the Blazer trajectory,
he's at the point where, not like Anthony, where it's like his to
lose nas is that he has a real chance to show that he deserves to
be on the court. We I guess you already got into this a little
bit, but let me just bring it up again. Portland was twenty ninth
and points a loud per one hundred possessions, so almost quite literally, there's
nowhere for them to go put up. But do you anticipate based off something
that we've already discussed obviously them being much better or is there one area of
the game where they struggled on defense and they struggled in all places on defense
last year, that you do expect them to be noticeably better. And I
mean, I think the obvious places are the when Nurkish was out, Cantor
had to start and as a result, Robert Covington had to play defense for
two So every time Robert Commington only has to play defense for Robert Covington,
that's a really good thing. And we've seen that, you know, with
their starting lineup. And then the other thing is just with the bench.
I think the bench is gonna have gonna be much more solid on defense,
and that's going to improve things. I have a joke with my friends who
are Kings fans that both the Kings, the Kings and the Blazers are aiming
for twenty. Like if you could just get to twenty. I think that,
you know, with the offense that they have, just get to twenty
and stay there and be consistent with it, not just like zero, you
know, twenty nine and then go, you know, rock it up to
like ten for the last fifteen games or whatever. Just get to twenty and
be happy with that. Your offense can carry the rest of the way.
I'm probably with you there. I'm curious to it, and I don't know
what Chauncy Billips is going to be like as a coach, but I'm I'm
wondering if they might implement a more and I haven't seen seen anything about this
coming out of training camp, whether they might install a more aggressive style,
where like, can they playmate on defense more, force some more turnovers and
maybe their offense doesn't need it, but like if you can just change,
if you could, if you can change the flow of the game by getting
out and transition more, just forcing more turnovers, and maybe that helps you
cover up some other weaknesses on defense. I honestly, I I'm not the
person to ask about that, but that's sort of the area I'm looking at
because when I look at this team, I saw so many holes last year.
I'm not sure how much better you get with Larry Nance and you know,
a healthy nas having a full year of normal Powell, maybe you can
just get orbitganically a lot better in those set positions. But if you can't
a way to cover that up, especially when you know you're not really experts
and not fouling anyway, like if Nurkicch is gonna foul a ton or if
you're gonna commit a bunch of thousand any like, maybe trying to play a
more aggressive style that allows you to do that. I have zero idea,
but I'm very curious to see if they look noticeably different on that end of
the floor this year. Yeah, I do know that at a training camp,
the word is that they're not going to be doing drop coverage anymore.
So that's a big change. And I don't know how if they're going to
start the year like that, if they're going to be able to maintain it,
if they're gonna are they going to be able to like maintain any of
these new things that they're that they're implementing. So I just I think a
big thing is going to be Robert Covington being able to be Robert coving To
not having to be both, you know, fill both defensive spots. What
do you view is the biggest weakness of this team right now when you're looking
at their roster backup center, I mean, if Nurkitch gets in foul trouble,
so then you know, I think Cody's totally capable of playing starter minutes
if he has to, because Nurkis has gotten in early foul trouble. But
what if one of those guys gets injured and there's just are they gonna like
just run a small ball lineup? What are they going to do? I
just really wish that they had a backup center. And I know that Marcus
Chris isn't big, but he's got more, He's got some experience in that
role. So but I don't think I don't know who they're going to choose
out of training camp. It's really weird. They have like four real NBA,
like very experienced NBA players fighting for that last spot, which I think
is like kind of weird, but we'll see. Yeah, who, So
they've Patrick Patterson, Dennis Smith, Marky's Chris. Who's the other one I'm
missing somebody obvious. I can't remember. Uh Patrick was say Patrick? Quinn
Cook? Oh? Okay, yeah, so yeah, I did not say
Quinn Cook. Well, yeah, so there, I'd be curious. I
might feel it's funny that I had mentioned there how it feels like they have
more, maybe not more, but like there's measurable talent behind their starters with
their main six guys. But there's also like a lot of questions there too,
And so I look at the backup center roll and I'm like, if
you view it as just Cody's Eller and nurk its, then yes, if
maybe you're willing to play smaller and there's like NaN's in there or does not
get some minutes there, or is like row Coote, like maybe it's all
three of them are like two of them are playing together and they're switching it
up. I don't know if that makes me feel a lot better, but
I'm wondering when you look at their roster, if it's Patrick Patterson who doesn't
make it, or if Marky's Chris doesn't get that roster spot, like you're
gonna be playing small at points just because you don't have any other alternative.
Yeah, yeah, there apparently we're gonna see, uh, we're gonna be
se some of that, and uh, you know it was it was also
you know, earlier on in the summer when there was a lot more talk
about potential big trades happening, they were like, Oh, they're loading up
on guards because CJ is gonna be gone and they're gonna have to figure out
who's going to take that role. So you know, I don't know.
I don't know, but I I just they just need another tall person,
like really tall person, you know what, possibly Greg Brown. I mean
Greg Brown is still I think only six nine. So yeah, I don't
know. I just wish they had another, like I said, another tall
person. They gotta be high. They gave up stuff for to draft Greg
Brown too, so maybe they really like him. That was I remember going
over our off seat, like I was doing report cards and I was going
over to the Blazers and I was like, oh, they they might be
higher on Greg Brown than I think anyone s would have realized. But yeah,
I'd be with you on the backup center role. Who is This can
change throughout the season. And I'm not even trying to, you know,
force you into talking more about Damian Lillard. Who do you just look at
on this roster as the player most likely to be traded this year? I
mean to try to look at it, you know, realistically, I was
looking at players who have contracts that are reasonable to be traded. So Robert
Covington, you know, he's in the last year of his he's making almost
thirteen million. Yusef Nurkics also in the last year of his contract with twelve.
I don't think they can trade Larry for a while, but I think
it's going to be one of those, you know, it's somebody who makes
more than three million dollars and less than thirty million dollars. Let's just say,
I would say Robert Covington, because soon enough we're going to start hearing
that, well, you can't let him walk away for nothing. So and
I think, you know, a Robert Covington salur that is a that's a
reasonable one because it's like, if it turns out that they start playing and
there is like one obvious weakness, that's not like bring in a third star,
but like, oh no, somebody's injured. We really do need this
role filled. I think Robert Covington or possibly use of Nurkich. I'm really
worried about use of n I'm excited for the potential of use of Nurkics being
in a contract year, but I'm also worried that if he leaves or even
gets traded in the middle of the season, that he's just going to absolutely
go scorched earth if he leaves. So I'm really nervous about use of Nurkis
this year, and I think it's potential that because like how much money he's
with Clutch, how much money is he going to want next year, and
arger the Blazer is going to be able to afford it. So I think
by the middle of the season they'll have a good idea about whether or not
they're going to have to try to trade use of Nurkis to make sure that
they get a player in return who can help out the team rather than just
watch him walk away because they can't afford to resign him. Because I don't
know how they're going to afford to resign him. That's a I didn't give
a lot of thought to Nurkich. I guess I'm just like, I don't
want to say I'm biased against Biggs at this point, but that is a
fantastic point you bring up about nurks contract year represented by Clutch, So that's
a name that I think will pop up. I think you mentioned Roko.
I think he's probably the play aside from Dame, that other teams would be
most interested in. If I am, And just in case you were wondering
whether or not I took your opinion seriously, if you ever doubt it.
You had told me on the last podcast that you think Robert Covington was better
individually as a defender last year than I gave him credit for. So I
went back and watch some stuff like a few a few days of weeks after
that, and I'm looking at what's happening on the court. Robert Covington was
just way overtaxed last year because there wasn't enough talent around him, And so
you were just right, and I was too hard on him because I wasn't
looking at the surrounding parts closer enough. Hashtag national analyst choppering in for one
Blazers game at a time and trying to draw opinions from that. What a
dumb mass. That's very long hashtag. So I do take her. I
do value your opinion in case there was any doubt there. If I'm the
Blazers, this is going to be offbeat. I might look at trading Norman
Powell this year if you want to keep the Dame CJ thing together. Because
and go with me for just a second here, what Philly, I don't
think trays Ben simm Is before December fifteenth, when all these got most of
these guys that signed contracts and the off season can be dealt if they're really
painted into a corner like they might have to accept a package where they're not
using Ben Simmons to get another star. And I know people have looked at
that, Okay, well the CJ for Ben framework, and offensively CJ would
make more sense for them. Norman Powell can do things for you on defense.
He's cheaper to where the Blazers then do include other stuff like maybe you're
that's where the deal you're getting Roco, that's the deal we're getting Larry Nance,
and then Picks, and it feels like maybe there's another situation. Maybe
it's not necessarily Ben Simmons, but they can push their chips all in without
actually giving up CJ. And I don't know that that's been talked about enough
because I do feel like people are reticent to be like, well, they
just traded for this dude. But if you put Norman Powell with Picks,
and even if you have to attach one of the other min end salaries you
referenced, if it's a for a certain team, it could be Narkis,
it could be Nance, it could be Roco, because you know Nance and
Roco are more plug and play. Maybe I don't know who the player is,
but I'm saying maybe that's a scenario that's on the table. That's also
my way saying that I honestly don't expect anything seizemic to happen with this roster
this year. Although the nerkage thing I didn't give enough thoughts too. That
was you you like hit that. I like, now, I'm gonna be
thinking about that for days now. That just never even crossed my mind.
Welcome to my world and worrying about use of nerkicch and clutch sports. I
didn't. I'm so glad you brought that up because I didn't say Norman Powell
because I knew that he had just signed this this big, gigantic five year
and I like, they have to wait a little while before they can be
traded, but they can definitely be traded before the trade deadline. So I'm
really glad you brought that up, and I think you make an excellent point.
I've actually thought about that, and I thought it was like two out
there to like speak, So I'm glad. I'm glad that you brought it
up, because that's the other thing, is bringing This is my conspiracy theory
brain, bringing in all these guys for a training camp and even those guys
that they brought on for summer League to take like long looks at. Should
they need to package up multiple players in order to trade for Ben Simmons,
They're going to have to fill some roster spots, you know, because it'll
take in order to get you know, if not CJ, they're going to
have to like, you know, package multiple players together in order to reach
that threshold. And then they'll have some holes. And if there's some guys
that they've taken a look at that they know that should this thing happen,
they could bring in because they're already familiar with the team, they've already been
through training camp. I don't know, that's my my conspiracy brain thinking,
But you know, I don't think it's impossible at all. Yeah, And
look, maybe it's not even a big one, Like it's just every all
sorts of shit develops during the season. It could just be that I look
at that Norman Powell number and I'm like, it's not five and nineties seems
like so much. But if he's still playing well in the middle of the
year, that deal is from a team perspective, I want all players to
get paid all the money WRO. I always want to make that clear.
But from a team perspective, that deels fine. And so if you're the
Blazers and you don't want to go nuclear, but like you still want to
make sort of a semi significant move, So I'm just I'm looking at him.
But like I said, I'm gonna be thinking about use of nurkic Is
future for days now because I don't know how I didn't give that any consideration.
These are cookie cutter questions that I ask on all of our look aheads,
but they're some of my I enjoy asking them the most. What do
you think is going to be this team's go to crunch time lineup? And
I know they're like most teams, they are built to change it up based
on the matchup. But if you had to predict like they're most used,
or what you think is going to be their most effective go to lineup down
the stretch of close games, what would it be? I mean, I
think it'll most likely to be the starting lineup, with the caveat that if
use of Nurkic is in foul trouble or fouled out or sometimes CJ sometimes struggles
with hitting those late free throws. So I think it might be possible that
they have, you know, some like a shooter in there, like Anthony
might be in there, like if they just need somebody who can shoot that
they know that if they can and who can as also. It's just weird,
like it always surprises me. I'm like, see Jay, like he's
such a good free throw shooter, but sometimes in those crunch time and it's
I don't know, I haven't looked at it recently on what they say.
Yeah, I don't know. To say that CJ wouldn't be in is a
little ridiculous. I'm I'm hearing that now, But I pretty much think it's
going to be the starting lineup. It used to be like Mellow would be
on because they would want a shooter. So I think there's a possibility that
if they want a shooter, then somebody else will be in there. Look,
this is I've looked up the CJ free throw stuff from last season.
He only took one free throw in the clocks last year and he made it.
But maybe the fact that he only took one free throw is is kind
of the problem or no, I'm looking at a different filter for it.
Hold on, let me unfilter this very quickly. No, you'll find out
how wrong I am. No, No, you're right. One of three
from the foul line and crunch time last year. That is not It's only
three free throws. But that's not great, Bob. He doesn't get to
the line very much, just in general. And yeah, so I think
they have four givens where to me it's Rowco, Norm, CJ, and
Dame. But now that you mentioned like the shooting all of it, I
get to me you can't. Yeah, I think it's for guaranteed one just
because you can fucks and fiddle. I guess with the center spot, the
other guy to pull if you need more shooting would probably be Roko. And
I just think he's too valuable to your defense to even entertain the idea of
not closing with him. Yeah, he gets those deflections, he gets those
steals. What I'm hoping for, hoping for is more transition, you know,
because Roco gets all those steals, but they were they just I feel
like they had a hard time converting on them last last season. Is there
a quirky lineup that if you were the head coach, you would roll out
just to see, just to see what would happen. Absolutely, I always
love the young player lineups. Like in the past, they had a lineup
that I used to call the pink Shoe Shift because it was one time they
had all three wore pink shoes and it was Gary Trent, Ben Simmon or
Ben Ben Simmons. Sorry, Anthony Simons, it was Gary Trent junior,
Anthony Simons and Na's little. I love when the young guys get run.
But of course Gary has moved on and so that's not gonna happen. I
absolutely want to see Greg Brown in the game because I want to see if
we're going to get another in game East Bay dunk. I don't know if
you saw that at Summer League. I did not. He did an in
game underneath the legs between the legs dunk, like Greg Brown is serious when
it comes, and I want that. I want all the Greg Brown and
it's that I can get. I hope I get them, because the Blazers
are gonna blowout situation and they're gonna throw out Greg Brown to just do something
fun. But I really want to see the game. You have talked about
in the past though that when players reached the big league club for the Blazers,
they kind of forget how to dunk. Exhibit it absolutely would. Oh
yeah, okay last year. Last season, the Blazers had a total of
one hundred and eighty three dunks dead last. Rudy Gobert had two hundred and
thirty one, and the Blazers combine for one hundred and eighty three. So
I yes, that is absolutely what happens with the former coach. This is
where I have an open where I'm keeping an open mind. Maybe this coach
will be like, dunk all you want, let's get it. Like my
if my all my dreams came true, this team would totally turn into like
they would just turn on the dunking because they have, you know, dunk
championships. They had two Slam Dunk Championships last year and absolutely came in dead
last in dunks. Like that's not right. So my dream is that they're
just unleashing dunks all over the place, start throwing alley ups. And maybe
that's another thing that Nurkics does. Maybe he's throwing alley ups from the elbow.
How fun would that be? So yeah, my dream is that they'll
just unleash the dunks all over everybody's head. But that's a dream. That's
why they need to give the last roster spot to either Dennis Smith or Marky's
Chris, just to have that extra bounce so that they can get Tara more
dunks that needs to go into the to the calculus. I don't know.
I come into every season with such high hopes on that, but you know,
maybe, like I said, new coach, new new styles, Hey
goes go out there and just I don't know if it's because it's too crowded.
Why why do you think a team would not dunk when they have good
dunkers on it? I'm sure a lot of it is just like when you're
in the half court, the way that their offense goes is not really conducive
to getting those, so you would have to rely on forcing turnovers on defense,
which they did not do, or just getting out in transition a bunch.
Okay, they also did not do. That would be my theory.
But it was funny when you mentioned it, just because like Derek Jones Junior
goes from this like he's still electric, but like he would try to dunk
every other possession when he was in Miami, and then you just go into
Portland and he's just like he felt just so like muted on offense. Well,
this is what he did in the past. So maybe there's something going
on there. We'll see if the coaching change warps that or you know,
changes that. Let's see the coaching change changes that. As I use back
to back saying words. So but yeah, it's I never even thought about
that until you mentioned you were talking about Derek Jones Junior, I think in
the middle of last year with me, and that made me think, like,
yeah, the Blazers are just jinxing all these good dunkers. I know,
I know, and I just hope that maybe it's just you know,
new style for you know, forcing more, like you said, forcing more
tinier is allowing more for transition. One of the things that Blazer fans have
been talking about for a long time is somebody who can throw alley oops.
You know, we miss Andre Miller and his beautiful He was such a great
alley thrower, and everyone's like, Dame should be able to throw alley oops.
And I'm like, if Dame is out there, the ball is going
in like he's not throwing it to somebody else so that they can throw it
in, like when Dame is like, you know, shooting from out there,
just shoot it like there's no reason for Dame to throw an alley.
So I have like I would love it if like Nurkics was good at it,
or maybe Larryan's junior will be got up, maybe Cody Zeller will be
up, maybe he'll be out there and you know, see opportunities for it.
So I'm all this is to say that I don't look to Damian Lord
to being the star alley thrower because if it's in his hands, just throw
it in and get three? Why would you alley? You? But to
get to the other thing is like have they given him like a traditional lob
like he played with the Marcus Robin Lopez Nurkics, Like they have us on
Whiteside for a minute, but like that's you can't you know, So I've
just like have they given him Like I think Larry NaN's junior might be the
first legitimate one he's had, And I know he's not like the best,
He's not JaVale McGee, are you know podcast favorite Javelle McGee? But like
you know, I'm with you on what you're saying, Like Dame doesn't need
to do that, but he also hasn't had like the big men who would
do that for the most part anyway. Yeah, and I don't doesn't need
to be big man name. He had Derek Jones right there that wasn't fired
more offensive innovation than I think the Blazers were ready for it at least.
So I have two lineups. I couldn't decide between them, but I would
just love to see that. I don't think they would try. You mentioned
the three guard lineup somewhere in the beginning of this podcast. Give me the
four guard lineup. I want Norm Dame, CJ and Anthony Simon's playing with
Larry Nance Junior at the five. I don't care if you give up a
trillion points. I think that I think that offense would hum. The other
one I was looking at is give me Dame and then all like the big
I'll call them position list guys. I want Dame, Tony Snell, Nas,
Larry Nance Junior, and Robert Covington on the floor. You can sub
out like one of those guys for Norman Powell because he's kind of a wing,
but I want the bigger wings who could arguably be position lists. I
don't think any of them could defend point guards in that lineup, including Damian
Lillard. So maybe that's why you want Norman Powell. But I just want
to see one of those two lineups just for a few possessions this season.
I don't know if that they'll ever try the four guard lineup, but that
just seems like a no brainer. You're already gonna play three of them to
start, throw the fourth one in. Oh. Absolutely, I'm all for
the four guard lineup. I mean they everybody else is running out the three
guard lineup, now, why not, like, you know, innovate something
else. You know what I mean too, I'm all for trying. I
just want something different. I just want something that's interesting to look at.
So I don't care. I love the idea of all these positionless guys like
figuring it out. You know that, you know, the soccer player,
when everybody gets scrambled and ends up in different parts of the field than they
have to like take on some new and creative role. Why not let's see
it. As we record this, the Blazers win total is set at forty
four point five. Would you take the over or the under on that?
And where do you sort of, you know, from your view seat of
stacking up in the what is People have argued it's a weaker Western Conference.
It's still very wild Western Conference where it feels like there are like eight teams
that are interchangeable one through eight. I will take the over, partly because
the Blazers always make the over, and also because I think the team has
a lot to prove this year. I think they're going to be on a
mission to prove some things. And so forty four and a half wins does
not prove anything, forty five doesn't prove anything. Fifty wins, fifty wins
proves something. So I think I would definitely take the over. I think
they, you know, the introduction of the new coach was rough, and
I think these guys are gonna really, really really want to play well for
him and make it, you know, a good debut for a first year
coach. I think Dame has a lot to prove. Usef Nurkich is on
a contract year, Robert Covington is on a contractor, Anthony Simons has not
had his extended yet, and I think a lot of guys have a lot
to prove, especially at that end of the year. So I think they're
gonna like they always been in the top four. I would love to see
them get home court advantage. I think that they can do it. I'm
gonna reluctantly take the over and I've been going over way too much on this
podcast. When I actually do are over under podcast, I'm gonna need to
reevaluate some of my decisions. I guess I get caught up in diving too
deep into teams and loving them apparently. But what would concern me is just
that we talk about backup center being an issue, but when you sort of
look at their four or five rotation and you're relying on Nurkicch, Larry An
Jr. And Cody Zeller all to remain healthy, there's the potential for like
some minutes to get blown up there, and so that would be my concern.
But as we've already talked about, because I don't expect expect anything huge
to happen with this roster, uh in the middle of the season, it
feels like a very you know, it feels like a very easy over for
them to clear. Like I could I don't. Maybe they don't win fifty
games, but I could see this team being a forty nine win team,
just as it is very easily in this in the current Western Conference landscape.
Yeah, I don't I don't disagree. I don't know how everybody's going to
make that over, but every team is going to make the over. But
I have picked a lot of over so I'm gonna need to go back and
we'll see who gets who gets screwed over from my my relentless optimism when I
do the single team podcast, apparently, well, that's what we love about
the beginning of the season is everybody's hopes or hopes are never higher, right,
and until we see what it actually looks like, we don't have any
reason to think it wouldn't work. I mean, I don't know. Also,
just let me say, it's incredible all the work that you've been doing
putting out all these previews, because they are all deep and they are all
so thoughtful. I am amazed at how much knowledge you have about all the
different teams that you can have like a discussion about every single team. How
do you do it? It's amazing. I appreciate the kind words, and
it's a lot easier when you can just ride the coattails of every single guest
that you bring on. So all the guests have been fantastic, including yourself,
rely on you. It's funny when you're like, you could bring on
someone else to talk about the Blazers if you want, and I'm like,
no, I would never want to talk to anybody else about the Blazers other
than Tara. Did I not ask anything about this team or a specific player,
that anything at all that you think needs to be discussed. I think
that I really covered everything that I wanted to talk about. But I really
think you need to go watch Greg Brown's in game between the Lakes East Bay
Dunk was also amazing to watch that. Watch that Summer League highlight. I'm
also going to need you to send me that video of Damian Lillard getting hit
by Pool Moodles or whatever it is. I've never seen that. Oh yeah,
I was just gonna say I wrote that in the content I found that
Damian Lillard a clip, or I revisited that Damian Lillard clip in the context
one time when I was writing an article about him being a storyteller and about
how with the in that playoff run that they made, like the first shot
against that he took way from the Way Outside over Russell Westbrook to start the
Oklahoma City series, as well as the one over Paul George to end.
It was just an example of how Damian Lillard never just does. It's always
a part of a story arc. It's just always a part of Like that's
just how who Damian Lillard is. And that's why I said, like,
you know, if I could reiterate anything, his story in Portland is not
over and he will not leave Portland until his story is over. Tara,
are you able to tell our listeners where they can follow you on social media
and or they can consume your podcast and all the great work that you put
out. Yeah, So I'm mostly on Twitter and my Twitter handle is at
tc B B I t G S, which I'm I'm just absolutely stuck with
that one because and everybody always gets it wrong. So you can also search
for Team Mom. I will often show up there if you just put in
Team Mom. And so two podcasts. One is called We Have a Take,
and I do that with my friend Cassidy Gemmittt and we talk about Blazer
stuff and go off the deep end sometimes like discuss the Blazers and why it's
like the Bachelor. We also had a below Deck episode and then on my
other podcast is The Step Back Sisterhood that I do with Janelle Moore, Amber
Vickers and Brett Robatista, and they are amazing women that everybody should check out.
And yeah, I'm gonna be following recording that later on this afternoon and
you can follow We have a Take at We Have a Take and the Step
Back Sisterhood at Step Back Sisters. So thank you so much for having me
on Dan. I've really appreciate it. I want to reiterate that that we
have a take podcast, especially is I said it already as a breath of
fresh air. You guys talk about basketball obviously, but like the you know,
where are you going to get a dramatic reading of Marquis Chris's Wikipedia page?
It's that we have a take so I enjoy you know talking. I
learned about Norman Palace puppies from that podcast as well, So you guys are
just able to mix like escapism into it. I love it. I try
to listen to it, as I don't catch every episode of midtally, but
I try to listen to do it as much as possible, so please keep
putting out that content for us, and once more, thank you again for
your time and insight. And you know by now that I will come a
call in again at some point