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Speaker 1: What is up, fellows, sik goes, I am Dan Valley

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coming at you with yet another twenty twenty four two

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thousand and twenty five NBA season look ahead. We're onto

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the Portland Trailblazers, which means I have the distinct pleasure

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as always to speak with Tara Bowen Biggs. She is

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the co host of Though We Have a Take podcast.

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You can find them on Twitter. The link to that

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will be in the podcast and YouTube description. You can

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find Tara on Twitter at tc bbiggs. That's at tc bbiggs.

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That will also be on screen for those watching on YouTube.

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It will also be in the podcast and YouTube description.

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And I don't know why I mentioned that on Twitter

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without sending it her handle at We have a Take

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spelled exactly as it sounds. We get in all things Blazers.

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She brings great perspective always. I really enjoy talking with her.

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One of my favorite people too, just in general. I

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think you'll particularly enjoy the discussion that we had on

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ton of It and Clinging Shade and sharp and the

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whole thing. Really so she's great. Check it out, Go

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check out her podcast, We Have a Take. And that's

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about it for me. If you have not done so already,

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just subscribe, like comment, help yagle, love us back on YouTube,

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ratings and reviews, help us out a ton on Apple

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and Spotify. Those can go a long way. So if

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you've not done so, I don't care if you're using

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those platforms or not. Maybe head over there show us

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some love. You can check out our merch too if

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you're looking to support the show in some way. All

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our content remains free. But if you would like to

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support the work that Grant and I do and put

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in the link to our store where you can check

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out the Sickle collection that is in the podcast and

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YouTube description as well, and join our discord. Come continue

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the discussion there. Grant and I are popping in and

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out all the time, and there are a bunch of

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people having other discussions in there, so go check that out.

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The link is in the podcast and YouTube description. All

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the links in the podcast YouTube descript Let's get to

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talking lots and lots of Portland Trailblazers with Tara Bowen Biggs. Tara,

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welcome back another year of the Blazers. Look ahead. I

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was talking to you before this. This is year five

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or six for you, like you've been doing this for

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ast long. I actually it has to be year six

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because I've never talked to anyone else about the Blazers,

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I don't think, And we've been doing this for six

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years now. These look ahead. So thank you for coming

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back so freaking often. How the heck are you?

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Speaker 2: I'm great. I look forward to this every year. I'm

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so excited when I get that little DM from you,

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I'm like, yes, he still wants to know what I

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think about the Blazers. And this has been such a

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different off season than any other off season I've experienced

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that it really gave me a chance to be like, Okay,

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what what did happen? Because you know, usually, like we

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were talking a little bit about this before, usually it's

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like there's some rumor, there's people calling for trades. There's

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like Dame, there's Damon CJ's. It's all hanging over us,

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like we're two days out, I think from when you're

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anniversary of the actual Dame trade. And this summer was

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just quiet, relaxing. We got our draft pick, we made

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one small move all in the same day, and then

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everybody just went to the beach. It's lovely.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I was telling you too, it's like a different

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change of pace where we don't have Yeah, there are

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people on the team where they don't feel like long

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term mainstays, but this is not We don't have to

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reflect on a Damian Lillard trade. We don't have to

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talk about Damian Lillar rumors. We want have to talk

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about CJ McCollum rumors that reflect on a CJ trade.

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It's a different type of Blazers look ahead for the

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first time in like a half decade. That's incredible.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's amazing. And honestly, last year, like I could

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barely even talk about Damian Lillard and like it was

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too it was too raw most of the season to

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even look and see what was going on with him,

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what was how the team was doing. I pretty much

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just avoided any Damian Lillard talk whatsoever. And I feel

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like another thing that happened this summer as I came around,

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like Okay, I'm ready to check back him with Amian,

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see how he's doing, and you know, be his uh,

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you know, be his fan again. But it took a

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little while.

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Speaker 1: I get that, especially when someone spent so long with

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that franchise and the way he left, and just also

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the preamble to how he left where it was like

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years kind of in the making. Is this going to happen?

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But this Blazers team, I was telling you, I'm struggling

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to wrap my head around them, like I I don't. Actually,

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I actually like a lot of who they have, what

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they've done. I don't necessarily understand what it's all going

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to amount to. But I think what contributes to that

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is last year they weren't quite on the Grizzlies level

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of like the injuries, but just the stop and start availability,

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losing sharp for an extended period of time, like Scoot

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Henderson starts the year injured. When you look back, though,

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do you have any like big takeaways from last year

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that still kind of stick with you as we lead

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into this season.

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Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Yeah. So when the Blazers drafted Scoot and

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traded Damien, we you know, we were two years away

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from two years away away from what I don't know,

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but away from I I take that to being like

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away from knowing like what direction and who's going to

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make up the future of of the of the team.

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And now we're one year away from two years away.

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Speaker 1: That's about it. The vocal of NBA teams. I loved

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how you phrased that when we were talking in the DMS. Yeah, yeah, no,

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we uh.

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Speaker 2: I mean this year was supposed to be about, like,

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you know, seeing what what Shaden had, could he build

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on those little glimpses of what we saw his rookie season,

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And it was supposed to be about finding out just

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how good Scoot was. And both of those questions weren't

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really answered. We have, you know, some I slightly better

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idea of what might happen, but nothing you know, concrete

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that we can be like, oh for sure, we saw

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we saw this, we saw this.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: The other thing is like when are the Vets gonna

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get traded?

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Speaker 1: You know?

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Speaker 2: So? Uh, we we didn't learn a lot, that doesn't

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we Well, we also got ourselves in good condition for

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what the next three years at least are going to

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be like as the Blazers continue to build and try

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to like find who it is they're gonna build the

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uh you know, build the team around. Nothing like losing

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two games by sixty points. Uh, to condition you for

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what to get ready for how to survive that? Uh,

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we're learning new skills as a fan base.

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Speaker 1: What I do think makes this team interesting or it's

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interesting in the sense that it exacerbates my confusion. Is

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the Denny Ovia trade in before getting into what he does, Like,

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what did you think of the actual decisions, Like, oh,

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we're going to give up Like this was a team

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in a Blazer's position is normally kind of acting as

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a seller, and they gave up stuff to get this

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player who was young and under contract. But like, by

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the time they might be really good, his contract's going

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to be almost up and he's going to command a

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lot of money and how much are you paying all

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these other guys? Were you surprised at all that they

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went kind of the iView that as a like they

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went the buyer's route. Did that surprise you at all

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that they did something like that, especially so early in

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the offseason two?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it definitely was a surprise when when

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when it was just like simplified into the Blazers gave

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up two first round draft picks and Malcolm Brogden for

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Denny Avdia, it was like what wait, what, like we're

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giving up draft picks and stuff. So yeah, initially I

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was like, oh my gosh, what are they thinking? And

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then you know, a lot of talk from like local

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media kind of talking. At least I took it as

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sort of being like talked back, like, Okay, it's actually

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not really that bad. The draft, they had two draft

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picks and then a high second round draft pick. This season,

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they apparently like had really one person in the sites.

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They weren't really excited about anybody else, so they gave

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up one pick this year that the other future pick

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that they gave up is in the season where they

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have I think three first round draft picks, and it's

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the second best. So yes, you know, when you're a

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building team and you want a stockpile, like we all

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want to be Danny Ainge sitting on a giant pile

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of first round draft picks. But that's not where the

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Blazers are. And considering we knew that Malcolm Brogden wasn't

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gonna stay here for a long time, he came in.

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He provided some really great leadership and a stabilizing for

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at a time I think when Scoot really needed to

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like watch up close a very very experienced point guard

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do his thing. So I think it was great to

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have him around for that. But he's not a part

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of the future and so we know there's a whole

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list of vets who are eventually going to be traded,

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and they traded him for somebody who is within the

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age group of the people that the Blazers I think

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are really most focused on right now.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, Look, he's twenty three, and I actually

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I am very high on Dennia Avdya as a player.

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I think that there's more meat on the bone, so

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to speak, when you look at his playmaking. I would

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like to see the shooting come up, like he hit

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his threes last year but still doesn't take enough of them.

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He's very good defensively, and I can't wait to talk

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to you just about in general about the defensive talent

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populating this team. But have you given any thoughts or

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looked into like how you feel like his fit is

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going to be or the area that you think he's

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going to help them out the most in.

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Speaker 2: I think that it's been a really long time since

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the Blazers had like a wingy forward.

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Speaker 1: I was going forward.

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Speaker 2: I went through the list of people on the roster

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over the last year, seven or eight years who've played

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most of their minutes as a small forward, and like

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the last couple of seasons. You know, we've got Justin Maniyah.

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Have you heard of him? Okay, Justin Maniah, Josh Hart.

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You know he that you know he was, he was

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a small forward. Justice Winslow to see your little c

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j Ellabie, Tony Snell, Norman Powell, Rodney Hood Camp, Bazemore,

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Trevor Resa, you know so, Nick Stauskus, Jake Leman, Alan Crabb.

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Speaker 1: Alan Crab. I'm sorry.

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Speaker 2: I mean it's been a while, like it's been a

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while since there's somebody that I think has this much

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potential to really not just be like we need, we

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need somebody to come in and fill in, but actually

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come in and be a difference maker. So especially because

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of his defensive defensive ability and you know, the shooting

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was like last season, so let's see if he can

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bring it into this season. I'm cautiously optimistic that it

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could be. What we're looking for this year. Is fun

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basketball to watch, and I think having him on the

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team we could be trending in that direction.

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Speaker 1: I think Blazers fans are going to fall in love

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with the way that he plays the game, honestly, and

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I'm really hoping, but they do have so much talent

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on this team. I really want to just see him,

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Like he's in Washington, he would go through these spurts

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where he was turned loose because there'd be injuries or

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like last year there was some turnover and then they

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like kind of gave him more of the keys. But

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like he's never had like that full season stretch of

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like okay, like we're gonna use you, like you're kind

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of a featured player. I know there are other players

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on this team, but it does seem like they're at

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least giving up. What my read on it, what they

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gave up to get him, is that they view him

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as a core piece. And that excites me that a

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team now has him and kind of us him as

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a core piece moving forward. I really do think that

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there's so much more to plumb with his game, and

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I think just the way he can play defense, and

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like the positional spectrum that he can guard, and he's

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like kind of sneakily physical. So I think that he's

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going to be a player that fans end up falling

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in love with. There hmm.

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Speaker 2: I think one of the things that I've I've heard

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talked a lot about uh and I've talked about myself,

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you know, in the Portland fan base is so we

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have a lot of like super chill guys who just

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like they go, they play, they're really great players, but

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we're looking, you know for someone with a to come

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on with a little bit of an aggressive spirit, you know,

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like like Matis Steibel super fun to watch play because

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you never know, like what kind of havoc he's gonna

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like create when he like does some of his amazing

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defensive playmaking. But just like absolute, like very chill, and

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like Danny Avdia seems like a guy who can sometimes,

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uh you know, come in and and be that spark

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and bring that little bit of of emotion up a

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little bit when he when he comes in.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, what is your biggest storyline that you'll

254
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be kind of tracking throughout this season for the team?

255
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Uh dunks? The number of dunks?

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Speaker 2: Is that on? No? So it all kind of leads

257
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like there's the tracking the player improvement. What is you

258
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know what scoots potential, what's Shaden's potential? You know what

259
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combos work the best? Like I said earlier, when do

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the Vets get traded? I'm still wondering if they have

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a good coach, and I'm continuing to look at and

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I want to know who's going to be the coach

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at the end of the season. This is the coach's

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fourth year. At the end of this year, there's a

265
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uh play a team option. But he's got to be miserable.

266
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John Z Phillips was hired to coach Damian Lillard and

267
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he's been thrown into this completely different position. He's now like,

268
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what's his record? It's like eighty one in one hundred

269
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and sixty five, And does he I just I can't

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imagine that he's happy having to do this, And so

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I just I'm watching to like, are they getting better

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because it's just natural growth in they're a year older,

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or are they getting better because they're being put into

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situations where they're learning the game and they're applying it

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on the field and they're running plays that are recognizable

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And so yeah, one of the big things I'm tracking

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is is who's gonna be the coach at the end

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of the season.

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Speaker 1: That's a honestly, that's really thought provoking because I'm trying

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to think of the last coach who, even if they

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were a first time or had a job for three

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seasons and we were kind of left asking like, well,

283
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what is his calling card or what is his guiding principle?

284
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And you have that question with Chauncey. I guess the

285
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pushback would be how much of that is on him?

286
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Because while we view this as year two of the

287
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post Dame rebuild, like you kind of had two years

288
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beforehand of just you know, wandering through the wilderness as

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everyone calls it.

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Speaker 2: Well, and they haven't been trying. They've been trying for

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three years to get lottery picks.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's like, what are.

293
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Speaker 2: They gonna do if they get rid of him?

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Speaker 1: Lose?

295
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Speaker 2: I mean it's like it's kind of a like no

296
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lose situation, you know, on the one hand, but it's

297
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like how good is it for? Everybody's like, okay, so

298
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here's here's the thing. I think about a lot. Donovan

299
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Klington just went two national championships with one of the

300
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best coaches in college ball, and here it comes to Portland,

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a team that is not trying to win games. They're

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trying to win in other ways. And Donovan Klingon's coming

303
00:15:58,799 --> 00:16:03,480
off a two national championships and excellent coaching into this situation,

304
00:16:03,919 --> 00:16:07,000
and I know that high draft picks often go into

305
00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,840
a situation like this, but often it's like with a

306
00:16:09,919 --> 00:16:12,360
team that still like has an identity in a way

307
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they're going, and I really worry, Like I don't. I

308
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think I'm super excited about Donovan Klingen and I don't

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want him to get discouraged having come off of I mean,

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back to back national championships. Like he's a winner, he's

311
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used to winning, and he's coming to a team. I'm sorry,

312
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I'm going off on my thing that I is good

313
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that the three players who I love, these guys, love

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these guys, but the three players who the Blazers are

315
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looking hardest at building around. So let's start with Anthony

316
00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,159
Simons didn't play college ball. He did a year at IMG,

317
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and then he came in to Portland and had a

318
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couple of years where they were trying to win. And

319
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,559
now the last three years has gone, you know, two season,

320
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:59,519
three seasons has gone through. What he's been through. Scoot

321
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,639
for two not just one year on the Ignite, two

322
00:17:02,759 --> 00:17:06,440
years on the Ignite starting when he was seventeen, a

323
00:17:06,519 --> 00:17:11,519
team that does not have a winning record. No, Shayden

324
00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:16,720
didn't play in college. He attended practice, but he didn't play,

325
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and now here comes donnov and clinging into this situation,

326
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and I just I worry about that a lot, and

327
00:17:23,279 --> 00:17:25,519
people assure me that that is not something to worry about,

328
00:17:25,559 --> 00:17:28,880
but I I just I want to make sure Donovan

329
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:33,000
Klingon gets the coaching that he is used to, and

330
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I want all the other guys to benefit from it too,

331
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And I'm just waiting to see that.

332
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I don't think people think about that

333
00:17:41,079 --> 00:17:44,960
enough because everyone's so invested in I guess like the

334
00:17:45,039 --> 00:17:49,319
quantifiable and that the culture and like that impact that

335
00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:52,400
you're kind of just laying out. You can't really quantify that,

336
00:17:52,759 --> 00:17:55,559
and so but it's important, like it is. That's why

337
00:17:55,599 --> 00:17:57,480
these teams. I'm not necessarily in favor of it, Like

338
00:17:57,519 --> 00:17:59,480
you don't need to keep you Donnas Haslam for twelve

339
00:17:59,519 --> 00:18:02,039
years to take up like one of your last roster spots.

340
00:18:02,079 --> 00:18:04,400
But that's why these teams have these kind of veteran

341
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,319
guys that are actually on the roster spots because they

342
00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,160
want to set like an important tone. And I'm also

343
00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,880
wondering if that I'm this is all stream of conscious

344
00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,559
because you thought about this, which is just a great point.

345
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And I haven't. I'm guilty of it. I'm not giving

346
00:18:17,599 --> 00:18:19,920
it much thought. But where we might be criticizing, and

347
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:21,680
I'm sure I have, it's like, well, like why are

348
00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:23,920
some of these guys still on this team? Why did

349
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,200
they keep Malcolm Brogden for a full year. It's like, well,

350
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,680
that might be why so that these young players can

351
00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:31,880
come up in like the right environment. And there are

352
00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,480
people who I do wonder how to square, Like Jeremy

353
00:18:34,519 --> 00:18:36,880
Grant's actually a really good example because when you look

354
00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,680
at Malcolm Brogden, he was traded to Portland and he's

355
00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,400
not necessarily at a point in his career where he

356
00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,559
might want to play that role, like Jeremy Grant chose

357
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to stay. And I know Dame was technicy still on

358
00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:48,440
the team at the time, but like he had to

359
00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,559
be eyes fairly wide open, and so having him there

360
00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,039
and just like kind of understand, like just to have

361
00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:56,400
high character guys around you while you're losing, I would

362
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,480
think that's super important, especially if, as you note, like

363
00:18:59,519 --> 00:19:01,920
we don't really know how valuable the coach is from

364
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:02,880
that perspective too.

365
00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:07,799
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think all these guys can be great players,

366
00:19:07,799 --> 00:19:09,319
And I don't want to say that they're not like

367
00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:14,200
skilled and you know, coachable, and they've all like shown

368
00:19:14,559 --> 00:19:18,319
some improvement over their last years, but that experience of

369
00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,559
either playing overseas or with a college team where you're

370
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:27,000
playing for something yea, and then they come here somewhere

371
00:19:27,039 --> 00:19:29,079
where they're still not trying to win, and it's like

372
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,559
that's why I'm like, Okay, win the N Season tournament.

373
00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:36,240
Play all of that's four game. What is it going

374
00:19:36,279 --> 00:19:38,759
to cost them? Possibly four wins? Okay, Like I can

375
00:19:38,799 --> 00:19:42,279
live with four wins. Play them just so that they

376
00:19:42,319 --> 00:19:46,480
can be in that hype scenario like last seasons. In

377
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,480
one incident tournament game that the Blazers won, they won

378
00:19:49,519 --> 00:19:52,880
the first N Season tournament game, and it was so

379
00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,119
fun for the fans because it was like the stakes

380
00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:00,960
were not high, but it didn't mean something. So let

381
00:20:01,079 --> 00:20:06,359
these players who haven't necessarily been lately on teams that

382
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:08,119
were playing something, let them at least play for the

383
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:09,119
N Season Tournament.

384
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,559
Speaker 1: Honestly, I hope a team like the Blazers, Like I

385
00:20:13,599 --> 00:20:15,680
would just love a random team to win the N

386
00:20:15,759 --> 00:20:17,799
Season Tournament because that would just be really cool. Whether

387
00:20:17,839 --> 00:20:20,720
it's the Blazers are like the Pistons or something. It

388
00:20:20,759 --> 00:20:22,759
would just be I think that'd be a great story.

389
00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:24,920
I wanted to ask you about Scoot. I have a

390
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:27,920
very difficult question here. Is he dead to you after

391
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,279
averaging point to two dunks per game as a rookie.

392
00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,960
Speaker 2: Okay, so to give everybody context here, big fan of

393
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,000
dunks at one time, I've had to side I'm out

394
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,839
on dunks. If I'm gonna lay my if I'm gonna dunk,

395
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,240
and the Blazers it's just not gonna happen.

396
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:48,640
Speaker 1: No, that is Uh.

397
00:20:48,759 --> 00:20:52,319
Speaker 2: The Blazers actually have dunked more in the last year,

398
00:20:52,519 --> 00:20:56,599
but not much. And my biggest thing with Scoot is,

399
00:20:56,799 --> 00:20:58,680
and this is something that a lot of people will

400
00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,200
talk about in these parts, as he needs to get

401
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,039
to the rim and dunking obviously is getting to the rim.

402
00:21:05,039 --> 00:21:09,079
But he were like, he's so strong and athletic and

403
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:11,720
he but he just barely gets to the rim and

404
00:21:11,759 --> 00:21:14,000
he does not finish successfully at the rim. So like

405
00:21:14,039 --> 00:21:17,200
that would be my big thing for Scoot. Whether it's

406
00:21:17,559 --> 00:21:20,920
layups or dunks, I don't care, but getting to the

407
00:21:21,079 --> 00:21:23,279
rim is really what I'm hoping to see out a

408
00:21:23,319 --> 00:21:24,119
Scoot next season.

409
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,279
Speaker 1: Is there any level of concern based off some of

410
00:21:27,279 --> 00:21:28,839
the things you So, I mean, even though so I

411
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:31,599
went back and watched a lot of his like finishes

412
00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,680
at the rim, and like, yeah, there were some like

413
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,039
the Spacic's not great, they're heavily contested, but there were

414
00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:37,960
just somewhere he's wide open and he's just kind of

415
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,720
whiffing on them. So is there any just level of

416
00:21:40,759 --> 00:21:42,839
concern about that? Or do you is there anything else

417
00:21:42,839 --> 00:21:44,400
you might be concerned about? Is it the jumper? I

418
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,359
know he shot thirty five percent from three after the

419
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,960
All Star break or whatever it was, So, but or

420
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,279
is it do you kind of chalk it up to

421
00:21:50,519 --> 00:21:52,599
starts the season injury, He's a rookie, let's move forward

422
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:53,480
and forget about it.

423
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,799
Speaker 2: A lot of that, A lot of that. I just

424
00:21:56,799 --> 00:21:58,839
think he had too much that he was trying to

425
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,519
process all at once. Again, two years with the Ignite

426
00:22:02,759 --> 00:22:07,000
was his pro experience, and he started when he was seventeen, right, So,

427
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,079
like making the lead to the NBA, there's just so

428
00:22:11,319 --> 00:22:14,279
much that he has that he was expected to do.

429
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,279
Like he went out he was our starter on night one, Like, Okay,

430
00:22:17,279 --> 00:22:19,440
here's the number three draft pick, We're gonna start him.

431
00:22:19,599 --> 00:22:22,160
He's gonna go out the first play of the game,

432
00:22:22,279 --> 00:22:25,880
Dan the uh the Blazers won the tip, it goes

433
00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,759
to matist Thibel and Matist Bible passes it to Scoot

434
00:22:28,799 --> 00:22:31,079
and it goes right through his hands straight out of bounds.

435
00:22:31,799 --> 00:22:35,400
So like that was that's where that's where we started

436
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:37,440
the year. So it was just to me, that's just

437
00:22:37,519 --> 00:22:40,440
emblematic of just like he was having to just learn

438
00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:44,759
too many things all at once, and when the when

439
00:22:44,799 --> 00:22:48,200
the coaching staff did simplify things for a little bit

440
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,240
so he didn't have to do everything. After he got

441
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:51,920
a chance to come off the bench and sit there

442
00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,440
and watch the first half and see how the people

443
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,319
that he's going to be playing against played, and then

444
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,039
go in the second half. He definitely improvements, But I

445
00:23:01,079 --> 00:23:03,200
just think it was just too much, too much all

446
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:03,640
at once.

447
00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:06,319
Speaker 1: Do you think he also could have benefited and I

448
00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:10,960
don't you know, like from not having DeAndre Ayton as

449
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,359
a big where maybe someone who's just like going to

450
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,279
be more of a threat, like to finish around the

451
00:23:15,319 --> 00:23:17,599
basket himself to help open things up or run two

452
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:18,799
man stuff with.

453
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,119
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, sure, I mean DeAndre had a tough

454
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,839
time at the beginning of the year finding his way.

455
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:27,559
But I have to say, at the end of the year,

456
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:29,759
I really liked how the two of them were playing together,

457
00:23:30,519 --> 00:23:32,599
and it just it just took him a while. I mean,

458
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,200
I cannot tell you how many times at the end

459
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:35,480
of the year I was just like, oh my god,

460
00:23:35,519 --> 00:23:37,279
where would we be without DeAndre aight, and we'd be

461
00:23:37,279 --> 00:23:40,400
losing by eighty I mean it's just like, by the

462
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,839
time the two of them started to like really feel

463
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,519
a rhythm together, I thought it looked fun. It was

464
00:23:46,519 --> 00:23:47,160
fun to watch.

465
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,960
Speaker 1: Do you have any like big takeaways from Shadon Sharp's season,

466
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,359
Given how abbreviated it was, I was.

467
00:23:55,519 --> 00:23:58,079
Speaker 2: So sad that was like I was there on Night

468
00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:00,279
one with my little Shadon Sharp jersey, just like ready

469
00:24:00,279 --> 00:24:01,799
for this to be the year of Shadon. I was like,

470
00:24:01,839 --> 00:24:07,880
come on, Shadon. I mean, we got such tantalizing glances.

471
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:12,039
He had a really great stretch in December where he

472
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:16,720
was scoring on all levels. He was, you know, moving

473
00:24:16,799 --> 00:24:19,240
the ball around, he was passing, he was doing all

474
00:24:19,319 --> 00:24:23,319
kinds of exciting things. So we I think overall in

475
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,960
the year, he's his like statistics were worse than they

476
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:32,960
were his first year. But the glimpses of potential. You know,

477
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:34,920
I don't want to get a hold ahead of I

478
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,119
don't want to speak things and not have him come true.

479
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,720
But like, maybe he could be a star. I'm not

480
00:24:40,759 --> 00:24:43,119
saying superstar, but maybe he could be a star. Maybe

481
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:44,680
someday he could be an All Star. I don't know,

482
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,279
Like we got glimpses. And the thing about Shadon is

483
00:24:47,319 --> 00:24:51,359
he is the most aesthetically pleasing player you'll see. Like

484
00:24:52,519 --> 00:24:56,079
when he dunks, it's like his toes are pointed, his

485
00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:01,680
arms are straight, his elbows are parallel, like to us gorgeous,

486
00:25:01,759 --> 00:25:04,720
And I know, like what we want is like a

487
00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,160
volume of dunks, not the beauty of dunks. But it's

488
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,640
hard not to see, like what a gorgeous player he

489
00:25:11,799 --> 00:25:16,440
is when he plays. And I think, you know, he

490
00:25:16,559 --> 00:25:19,839
and Scoo did not play much together. They still have

491
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:24,240
a lot to figure out, you know. If we could

492
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:28,400
get some shooters in, you know, maybe there's more room

493
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:32,880
for him to maneuver. But I'm still really open to

494
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,000
the possibility that Shayden could actually be somebody that this

495
00:25:36,039 --> 00:25:37,279
team could really build around.

496
00:25:38,279 --> 00:25:40,759
Speaker 1: I mean, objectively speaking, if you were to look at

497
00:25:40,799 --> 00:25:44,799
the rookie season that Scoot had, Shadon Sharp should be

498
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,400
viewed as like the like the most important cornerstone on

499
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,279
this team. I'm still very high on Scoot. I'm very

500
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:51,559
high on Shadon the thing with Shaden that I'm still

501
00:25:51,559 --> 00:25:54,400
trying to figure out, though, and it's especially I guess

502
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:56,079
it's confused me a little bit more. Since they traded

503
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,079
for Denny Avdya, you have Scoot Henderson and in theory,

504
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,440
Jeremy Grant is still there. Do you have any idea

505
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,839
or expectation for how they're ultimately planning to use him

506
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,519
on offense? Because he you said it, he showed flashes

507
00:26:08,559 --> 00:26:10,440
of so much and there are times when he's the

508
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,400
ball in his hands, I kind of wonder why he

509
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:13,680
has the ball in his hands. But then there are

510
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:15,839
also moments where it's like, Wow, he just hit a

511
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:19,200
ridiculously difficult jumper, or Wow, look at that pass he

512
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,400
just threw. Do you think that he is still going

513
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:25,559
to have the runway to explore those parts of his

514
00:26:25,599 --> 00:26:28,200
game or do you think that maybe having Scoot having

515
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:31,200
Denny Avvida might telegraph that they're trying to streamline his

516
00:26:31,319 --> 00:26:33,799
offensive role a little bit more? More to kind of like, look,

517
00:26:33,839 --> 00:26:35,359
I mean you talk about like his ability to get

518
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:37,319
to the rim even off the ball, Like do they

519
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:38,759
do they kind of envision him being more of a

520
00:26:38,799 --> 00:26:43,680
play finisher from both the interior and the perimeter. I mean, I.

521
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,359
Speaker 2: Don't know how far along they are in thinking about that.

522
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,319
I think they're still throwing spaghetti at the wall at

523
00:26:48,319 --> 00:26:52,599
this point. I think they're I mean I I as

524
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,839
much as you know, I just talked about how you know,

525
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:58,039
Scoot and DeAndre like fit better together at the end.

526
00:26:58,079 --> 00:26:59,480
I don't think they're in a place right now where

527
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,960
they're worrying overall team build and fit. They're worrying about

528
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:08,119
finding the guy. And you know, he had the ball

529
00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:10,519
in his hand a lot last year because of injuries.

530
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:12,839
And then it was like, oh, look at that. You know,

531
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,519
Anthrony was out. Anthrony played like the first quarter of

532
00:27:15,599 --> 00:27:17,599
the first game, and then he was out for like,

533
00:27:17,759 --> 00:27:20,240
I don't know, nineteen games or so with a broken hand.

534
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,799
So suddenly Shadon had to have some more ball handling responsibilities.

535
00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:28,880
But I I don't I don't know that I'm expecting

536
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,640
a lot of planned like Okay, let's let's see how

537
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,640
they gel I think it's more like who who's got

538
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,200
the ball, Who's who shows that they can be aggressive?

539
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:43,720
Who wants it more? You know, who's showing that who

540
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:45,519
wants it more? In the context of like you can't

541
00:27:45,519 --> 00:27:47,400
be a ball hog, you know what I mean? Like,

542
00:27:48,279 --> 00:27:50,759
but I think that's that's about as far along they

543
00:27:50,759 --> 00:27:52,920
are down that path as opposed to like, let's see

544
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,839
how they all fit together. I think the luxury that

545
00:27:55,839 --> 00:27:57,759
I don't think that we're quite ready yet.

546
00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,680
Speaker 1: You you're mentioning the him like because of the injuries

547
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:03,599
made me forget, like didn't he average? They played like

548
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,640
Charnshi Bill's played change rop way too much out of

549
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:06,920
the game. I guess he didn't have a choice, but

550
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,799
didn' he average like like forty minutes or something? In December?

551
00:28:09,799 --> 00:28:10,960
It was something crazy like that.

552
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,359
Speaker 2: Yeah it was in the fort it was Yeah, it

553
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:17,000
was it was forty. I was lucky enough. So he

554
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:21,359
had that great stretch in December, and then he started

555
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:23,200
to show that he had a little bit of an

556
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,279
injury and he actually uh his like one game back

557
00:28:27,319 --> 00:28:30,440
before he had very soon after that they shut him

558
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:32,960
down for the season. Was the game in Brooklyn that

559
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,960
I got to see in Brooklyn, and uh, it was

560
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,640
a total bonus that the Blazers won. My husband and

561
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:41,599
I go to an away game every year, and this

562
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:43,079
year we got to go to New York City and

563
00:28:43,119 --> 00:28:44,839
it was so freaking fun because we got to see

564
00:28:44,839 --> 00:28:46,799
the next game, which they lost. In the Brooklyn game,

565
00:28:46,799 --> 00:28:49,799
which they won, but Shaden was there and he played

566
00:28:49,799 --> 00:28:52,160
like forty one minutes. It was an overtime game, but

567
00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:55,920
I'm so glad that I got to see Shaden like

568
00:28:56,279 --> 00:28:59,599
really play out before he was then shut down. Sure

569
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,359
it was against Brooklyn, but those two teams at that

570
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,039
point were competitive, So even though it wasn't like watching

571
00:29:05,079 --> 00:29:09,079
like two teams at the top of their game battling

572
00:29:09,119 --> 00:29:12,119
it out, it was two teams that were equally matched

573
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:14,039
battling out, and it was at least fun to watch.

574
00:29:15,279 --> 00:29:19,079
Speaker 1: Is there and well, let's tangent here. What's your way?

575
00:29:19,119 --> 00:29:19,279
Speaker 2: Game?

576
00:29:19,319 --> 00:29:20,279
Speaker 1: Are you going through? This year?

577
00:29:21,319 --> 00:29:24,519
Speaker 2: I don't know. The schedule is not as exciting for

578
00:29:24,559 --> 00:29:26,759
a wake like last year. It was like it fits

579
00:29:26,799 --> 00:29:29,279
just so perfectly that they were playing New York and

580
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,359
Brooklyn back to back, and so we went for an

581
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:34,720
entire week and that was just like heaven. It was

582
00:29:34,759 --> 00:29:38,759
so much fun. This year, there isn't quite such a

583
00:29:38,759 --> 00:29:41,440
good setup they are. They're always playing like Milwaukee, like

584
00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:43,880
in January, and I don't want to do any more

585
00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:46,359
traveling in January because we had we had two bonus

586
00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,039
days in New York because of travel, which was fun

587
00:29:49,079 --> 00:29:52,160
but also not great. So I think this year we

588
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:56,160
might actually just be going back to Utah because we

589
00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:59,599
have friends there, we love going to Salt Lake, and

590
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,160
we're probably just gonna do it a small trip because

591
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:03,640
we made such a big one last year.

592
00:30:04,759 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 1: Well, let me know if Cody Williams looks like a superstar,

593
00:30:07,039 --> 00:30:11,319
if you have any so with Shayden, is there one

594
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:13,720
area of his game that you're looking to see whether

595
00:30:13,759 --> 00:30:17,200
he can prove or continue to develop Specifically? Obviously it's

596
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:19,359
like a huge encomsing thing, but if there's like one

597
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:21,599
thing that you could pick out.

598
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 2: I mean, anybody who can really do well enough shooting

599
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:31,680
threes that it provokes teams to double team them. That's

600
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,480
what I'm looking for. So I would love it if

601
00:30:34,519 --> 00:30:39,039
his three point shot improves even more. It's not terrible,

602
00:30:39,079 --> 00:30:40,759
but I think it could even get better.

603
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:42,839
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna end up being a really good shooter.

604
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:44,960
I'd probably like to see him take even more off

605
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,160
the catch, but I actually don't think that's a shade

606
00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,279
and Sharp thing. I think that gets into the team

607
00:30:49,319 --> 00:30:53,119
build thing. I'm very curious because I'm kind of fascinated

608
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,559
with him as like a primary initiator. If you can

609
00:30:55,559 --> 00:30:57,200
start like kind of cutting, if they can get him

610
00:30:57,519 --> 00:31:00,519
any semblance of spacing first and foremost. Again, that's not

611
00:31:00,559 --> 00:31:02,079
a shade and sharp thing. But if you can kind

612
00:31:02,079 --> 00:31:04,319
of cut down the turnovers in his pick and rolls,

613
00:31:05,519 --> 00:31:07,599
I'll be even more smitten with him. And I think

614
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,640
I tend to maybe it's a lack of information or

615
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,680
perspective on him, because I'm not lower on consensus than him,

616
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:14,920
but I don't get as excited about It's not just

617
00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:17,359
you and Blazers fans that are excited about him. There's

618
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,720
like all these national people that think that shade and

619
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:21,880
Sharp can be a caps locked star And I kind

620
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:23,880
of remain undecided. But he is like one of my

621
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,200
like this year, if I went through my most intriguing players,

622
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:28,920
like he might be in the top ten like of

623
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,000
the entire league of just who I'm so intrigued to

624
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,960
see his game expand because I do think I'm not sure,

625
00:31:34,079 --> 00:31:35,720
like there are players I feel most strongly about, but

626
00:31:35,759 --> 00:31:39,319
I do think that there's like real on ball playmaking

627
00:31:39,319 --> 00:31:42,400
and initiation to his game that if it pops, like

628
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:45,240
we're talking about someone who'll be contending for all NBA teams.

629
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,640
Speaker 2: To me, yeah, uh, you say intriguing, I say enticing.

630
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,920
I mean that's just that adds just a little level

631
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,119
a little to me. The difference there between intriguing and

632
00:31:58,279 --> 00:32:02,960
enticing is because we've seen just enough to want to

633
00:32:03,079 --> 00:32:06,240
like there's intriguing is like okay, maybe.

634
00:32:06,119 --> 00:32:09,799
Speaker 1: Okay, vandalizing, Oh there we go, Yeah, there we go.

635
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:17,000
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm still excited about Shaden. And it was

636
00:32:17,039 --> 00:32:22,200
like when we heard Core and we just you could

637
00:32:22,279 --> 00:32:25,920
just feel the fan base just go not another one.

638
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,039
We were just so sad to lose him, and you know,

639
00:32:30,079 --> 00:32:31,920
for him not to be able to come back at

640
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:33,920
all and play. We were we were hoping still at

641
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,200
the end we could because because honestly, people just like

642
00:32:36,279 --> 00:32:37,400
to watch him play.

643
00:32:38,559 --> 00:32:40,799
Speaker 1: I mean, you said before I almost interrupted you when

644
00:32:40,839 --> 00:32:43,559
you and I forgot to I should have when you said, like,

645
00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,000
it's not about the you know, necessarily the aesthetics of

646
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:47,640
the dunk, like you just want more dunks. It's like, no,

647
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:49,759
I want quality over quantity, Like give me one put

648
00:32:49,759 --> 00:32:51,920
it on a poster. If he only dunks, you know,

649
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:54,839
like fifty percent less, but they're all posters. Give me

650
00:32:54,839 --> 00:32:57,359
the poster. But you were. I do find him to

651
00:32:57,359 --> 00:32:59,960
be like one of the players who was aesthetically please

652
00:33:00,319 --> 00:33:02,359
where I even think, you know, when you talk about

653
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,240
LaMelo ball or Ja Moran different styles, but LaMelo ball,

654
00:33:05,319 --> 00:33:08,599
johm ran is, these one man league past shows Shane Sharps,

655
00:33:08,599 --> 00:33:10,240
like the potential be the same thing. Like that's one

656
00:33:10,279 --> 00:33:12,319
guy that one person like I just want to watch

657
00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,000
and watch because his game is though first of all,

658
00:33:15,039 --> 00:33:16,759
you don't know what's going to happen next, might just

659
00:33:16,799 --> 00:33:19,160
explode and erupt. But it's just it is that I

660
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:22,920
can't describe. It's like aesthetically pleasing just watching that guy play.

661
00:33:23,039 --> 00:33:25,079
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I know that you can't build around a

662
00:33:25,079 --> 00:33:28,359
team a player who's just esthetically pleasing. But along with

663
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:32,279
being aesthetically pleasing, you know, he has had moments where

664
00:33:32,279 --> 00:33:35,519
it's like, oh he can do that, Oh he can pass,

665
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,599
Oh he can you know, take a couple of dribbles

666
00:33:38,599 --> 00:33:41,759
and shoot, or he can catch and shoot and you

667
00:33:41,799 --> 00:33:44,200
can come from the baseline or he can just suddenly

668
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,200
be standing there and all of a sudden he's like

669
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:50,839
above everybody else. You know, he's had some like blocks

670
00:33:51,319 --> 00:33:54,359
that are like where did that come from? You know

671
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:55,960
that he was able to do just because of his

672
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,720
speed in athleticism. So and I know you, like I said,

673
00:33:58,759 --> 00:34:00,480
you can't build a team around something just because they're

674
00:34:00,519 --> 00:34:03,079
athletic and they're uh, you know, they're they have a

675
00:34:03,079 --> 00:34:05,799
pleasing game. But it's sure would be fun if that

676
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:07,039
all panned out in Shaden.

677
00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:09,639
Speaker 1: What would we call that? If a team like just

678
00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:13,960
built their entire roster around aesthetics, like they're just going

679
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,960
off of vibes or something, I would appreciate it. You

680
00:34:17,079 --> 00:34:19,119
mentioned something before that I thought was a really good

681
00:34:19,119 --> 00:34:22,199
point about how they're not kind of focused on the

682
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:25,039
fit or like the what are these players like need

683
00:34:25,079 --> 00:34:27,000
to do or how are their roles gonna scale? They're

684
00:34:27,039 --> 00:34:29,679
just focusing on finding that guy or just dissembling talent.

685
00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:34,199
Nothing probably actualized or rather typified that more than they

686
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:38,039
drafted Donovan klingon when they have DeAndre and Robert Williams,

687
00:34:38,079 --> 00:34:40,880
if they're and even Duop breath on this team. What

688
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,039
did you think overall, like would you think of the pick?

689
00:34:43,079 --> 00:34:44,800
Do you have any overall impressions of his game?

690
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:52,320
Speaker 2: Uh? I was super excited. He's huge, like he's giant,

691
00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:55,679
and I know, okay, this is this is gonna seem

692
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,239
like a huge leap. But like, stick with me on this.

693
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:01,679
I'm not saying saying that Klingon is gonna be the

694
00:35:01,679 --> 00:35:05,119
Wemby Stopper, But if you're gonna have any hope at

695
00:35:05,119 --> 00:35:08,159
all over the next ten years, you have to have

696
00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:13,159
somebody who's huge and loves defense, and like I just

697
00:35:14,159 --> 00:35:17,159
they at least have that right now. And he seems smart.

698
00:35:17,519 --> 00:35:21,360
He seems like he's knows what he can do and

699
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:26,079
can do it really really well. I'm not particularly you know,

700
00:35:26,079 --> 00:35:29,840
there's a lot of like I've seen much consternation about

701
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,239
all of Blazer's you know, logjam at the big I

702
00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:34,480
don't think that Blazers have a log jam at anything

703
00:35:35,159 --> 00:35:37,360
to this point, Like we are we are not in

704
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:39,159
a place where we can complain because we have a

705
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:44,239
logjam of anything. I think Donovan Klingon is new to

706
00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:47,400
this league. He's gonna need like he's a huge guy

707
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,360
that's gonna take a while to like, you know, get

708
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:55,119
an NBA game shape, uh DeAndre and again finished really strong.

709
00:35:55,199 --> 00:35:56,880
I don't think there's any reason that we want to

710
00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,400
just all of a sudden throw scoot and cling it

711
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:01,800
out as our starters, but having those two come up

712
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:06,599
off the bench could be really valuable. Yeah, I'm very

713
00:36:06,639 --> 00:36:10,519
excited about that pick. And I don't know what's gonna

714
00:36:10,519 --> 00:36:13,920
happen with all of the bigs on the on the roster,

715
00:36:14,079 --> 00:36:17,800
but it's not I don't consider it a problem somebody else.

716
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:18,760
It'll work itself out.

717
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,400
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, we don't even know. I Rober Williams

718
00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:23,159
the third unless you've heard anything different, if he's going

719
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:24,880
to be ready to start the season, And so that's

720
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:27,679
something that figures it out there. I was actually when

721
00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,280
we did our pro draft reaction and even our pre

722
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:34,559
draft coverage, I was low, beyond low on Donovan Clinton.

723
00:36:35,079 --> 00:36:38,800
I didn't know why. Well, I just thought he was

724
00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,800
going to be too slow on the defensive end. So

725
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,880
then we get to summer league and I'm watching this guy.

726
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,440
And again I don't follow college basketball closely enough to

727
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,000
where anybody. First of all, no one should take anything

728
00:36:50,039 --> 00:36:53,440
I say seriously at this point regardless, But like, I

729
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,400
don't see enough college basketball to just be like, oh,

730
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:57,679
he's going to be a bus That's not what I

731
00:36:57,719 --> 00:36:59,559
was saying. I was just like, I don't understand the

732
00:36:59,599 --> 00:37:03,000
appeal we get to summer league. That dude you mentioned

733
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,639
he's huge, but he like he knows how to be

734
00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:09,000
huge and leverage being huge, and he's very smart with

735
00:37:09,039 --> 00:37:11,159
like the angles and the spacing he's using in the

736
00:37:11,159 --> 00:37:13,639
way he's directing his body. I still do have some

737
00:37:13,679 --> 00:37:16,719
of those same matchup concerns, but you also just mentioned

738
00:37:16,719 --> 00:37:19,480
something I probably haven't thought enough about. We're entering the

739
00:37:19,519 --> 00:37:21,760
age of Wenby, and it's like something like that, who

740
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:23,239
can at least be like, Okay, you know what, Wenby's

741
00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:25,159
not gonna get to the basket. At least he might

742
00:37:25,159 --> 00:37:27,800
do all this other stuff that's gonna have value. But

743
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:31,239
I really do believe I don't know if I still

744
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,639
have questions. Can he be in in more aggressive defense?

745
00:37:35,039 --> 00:37:38,719
But we've seen so many good defenses built around drop

746
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,960
coverage bigs, and if those drop coverage bigs know how

747
00:37:42,039 --> 00:37:44,679
to use spacing and angles to where if they find

748
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:46,880
a team where that's not always gonna work against, and

749
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:50,039
he can give you stretches, You're going to be fine.

750
00:37:50,079 --> 00:37:53,960
And so I'm very interested to see how he fares

751
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,519
against certain other like if he's going up against bigs

752
00:37:56,519 --> 00:37:58,639
that will pull him out of the paint. Specifically, can't

753
00:37:58,639 --> 00:38:00,960
say Minnesota anymore because Karl the Towns isn't there, but

754
00:38:01,039 --> 00:38:03,639
like the Knicks or Boston. Trying to think of a

755
00:38:03,639 --> 00:38:05,719
team in the New Orleans right now who just doesn't

756
00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:08,079
really have a center. So I'm very intrigued how he

757
00:38:08,119 --> 00:38:10,480
holds up against those types of teams, or maybe those

758
00:38:10,519 --> 00:38:13,360
really athletic teams that are playing at warp speed. But

759
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,920
I came away thinking, like, this guy can be the

760
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,320
base of an exceptional defense, and I don't know that

761
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:22,599
I have. And I swear I'm not just blowing smoke

762
00:38:22,639 --> 00:38:25,360
because you're on the podcast and I'm afraid of upsetting you.

763
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:29,159
I like, I don't think I've ever flipped on a

764
00:38:29,199 --> 00:38:31,480
player that quickly. He didn't play an NBA game yet,

765
00:38:31,519 --> 00:38:34,320
and I've already kind of flipped my entire perception of him.

766
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:36,360
Speaker 2: Well, isn't that why we just love to talk about

767
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:38,519
these things, because we can have like the hottest and

768
00:38:38,559 --> 00:38:40,639
the coldest stakes all of this in and you know,

769
00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:43,079
on one player within you know, a month of each other.

770
00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:47,199
Speaker 1: Right, So I guess my only concern would be you

771
00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:48,840
mentioned that it's not you don't view the big man

772
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:50,920
glutt as a problem, and I think for the Blazers'

773
00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:54,400
overall aims, I don't either, but I'll make jokes about

774
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,280
it because I have to. Like it's I'm going to

775
00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:59,360
but that is allowed, right. I just don't I would

776
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:01,800
worry that, And I understand there's something you mentioned about

777
00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,199
him getting into NBA shape, making sure you're not bringing

778
00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:06,800
him along too quickly. I just don't want us or

779
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:08,599
the Blazers, excuse me, to get to a point where,

780
00:39:08,679 --> 00:39:10,880
especially if Chauncey Billups feels like his job is kind

781
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,119
of on the line, that you're not gonna play Donovan

782
00:39:13,159 --> 00:39:16,719
Klingon enough because you have a healthy DeAndre Ayton and

783
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:18,920
a healthy Rob Williams in front of him, and those two,

784
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:23,159
if we're you know, like historically speaking, those two are

785
00:39:23,199 --> 00:39:26,360
gonna be more valuable to winning games than Donovan Klingon

786
00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:28,480
will be just because he's a rookie. Maybe maybe it

787
00:39:28,519 --> 00:39:31,239
doesn't turn out that way. That would be my one concern,

788
00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:34,480
As you said, though these things often do work themselves

789
00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:37,199
out and you have a very injury prone big in

790
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,239
RW three, So maybe it does wind up working itself

791
00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:42,599
out and Donovan Klingon plays a bunch or maybe it's

792
00:39:42,599 --> 00:39:45,199
one of those things where and this is something I'm

793
00:39:45,199 --> 00:39:46,800
guilty of all the time, I don't figure it out.

794
00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:48,519
Enough is yeah, he doesn't play enough to start, but

795
00:39:48,679 --> 00:39:51,920
post trade deadline, Donovan Klingon's averaging twenty five minutes a

796
00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:52,599
game or something.

797
00:39:53,199 --> 00:39:56,880
Speaker 2: M h, yeah, I mean DeAndre Ayton Robert Williams can play,

798
00:39:58,119 --> 00:40:00,559
you know, all the minutes in the four in season

799
00:40:00,639 --> 00:40:08,760
tournament games and then uh, but so here's here's my

800
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:12,559
dream about clinging the last I don't know how many

801
00:40:12,639 --> 00:40:16,159
years it's been the Rim. It's just been a red

802
00:40:16,199 --> 00:40:21,039
carpet to the rim, like come, please attack the rim,

803
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:24,679
go for it, and like it's been like it's been

804
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:27,719
since like Nurkic's like height, where like when he was

805
00:40:27,719 --> 00:40:30,440
playing his very very best before the leg injury, he

806
00:40:30,599 --> 00:40:32,719
was like a rim deterrent. People were like, m maybe

807
00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:35,000
I'm not going to go to the Rim. But the

808
00:40:35,039 --> 00:40:37,639
whole rest of the time, it's just been like, please

809
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:39,639
come check out, see what's going on at the rim.

810
00:40:39,639 --> 00:40:43,039
We'd love to have you. And if if Donovan Klingon

811
00:40:43,079 --> 00:40:47,039
can play fifteen to twenty two minutes and during that

812
00:40:47,119 --> 00:40:49,719
time people aren't just like waltzing up to the rim

813
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:51,800
to do whatever they want, I will be so happy.

814
00:40:53,039 --> 00:40:56,199
Speaker 1: Who takes more threason next year, Donovan Clinging or DeAndre Ayton.

815
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:03,840
Speaker 2: Sweet DeAndre Ayton. That man, he between sixteen and twenty

816
00:41:04,159 --> 00:41:08,119
sixteen feet and the three point line. He has them.

817
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:13,320
He's so good, and it's like it's like I know

818
00:41:14,639 --> 00:41:17,199
he's so he's so good at that mid range game,

819
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:20,719
it's outrageous. So every time he takes another step and

820
00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,159
he's on the three, I'm like, let it fly, like

821
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:26,800
I don't care because he is so good at that rep,

822
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,119
you know, right up into the three point line. He

823
00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:31,679
is so good that I think someday it could so

824
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:34,199
I don't care if he takes three points. So I'm

825
00:41:34,199 --> 00:41:36,639
thinking he's probably gonna take more three pointers at Donovan Clangen.

826
00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:38,320
But I don't know. You always when you get at

827
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:40,119
a new rook here, when it's like, oh, look at

828
00:41:40,199 --> 00:41:42,039
him in the gym shooting all these three pointers, and

829
00:41:42,079 --> 00:41:43,360
of course they all go in because he's in the

830
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:47,079
gym shooting three pointers. But I think I would hope

831
00:41:47,559 --> 00:41:51,760
that he is more concentrated on what is most likely

832
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,119
going to be asked of him, and we can let

833
00:41:54,199 --> 00:41:56,639
DeAndre eight and shoot threes, you know, especially in those

834
00:41:56,719 --> 00:41:58,960
nd season tournament games when we need to rack up

835
00:41:58,960 --> 00:41:59,360
the scores.

836
00:41:59,519 --> 00:42:00,880
Speaker 1: So what if you made of you mentioned you had

837
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:02,519
a very strong close to the season, you thought he

838
00:42:02,519 --> 00:42:04,280
played really well with scood. What did you make of

839
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:08,519
the year? One of the DeAndre and experience, likes, dislike, concerned, strengths, whatever,

840
00:42:08,519 --> 00:42:09,440
wherever you want to take it.

841
00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:12,880
Speaker 2: I mean, if they had brought him in to partner

842
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,280
up with Damian Lillard and that was supposed to be

843
00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:17,800
the final piece that was going to win Damien a championship,

844
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:20,960
I might have had one opinion. But this was we're

845
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:25,559
saying goodbye to Damian Lord, We're redoing everything. I was

846
00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:31,679
completely fine with DeAndre Aiden's first year in Portland. You know,

847
00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:35,800
he spent so much time in Arizona, in high school,

848
00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:40,400
in college, in the pros. He came to a whole

849
00:42:40,679 --> 00:42:44,800
different place, a whole different kind of expectations that he

850
00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:47,159
wasn't used to. He didn't know, like am I supposed

851
00:42:47,199 --> 00:42:48,920
to be the man, am I not supposed to be

852
00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:52,400
the man, Like it took him a while to get comfortable.

853
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:56,079
There's all kinds of also hilarious anecdotal stories about his

854
00:42:56,599 --> 00:43:02,920
integration into Portland. But I really think that he's settled

855
00:43:03,079 --> 00:43:07,000
into like the fact that you know, he's he's an

856
00:43:07,079 --> 00:43:11,239
experienced vet, he's got young point guard that he needs

857
00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:15,039
to learn how to work with. He always seems like

858
00:43:15,159 --> 00:43:18,360
super delighted when like real team play would happen, like

859
00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:20,519
if there was good passing, if there's good stuff going on,

860
00:43:20,599 --> 00:43:22,519
and it just it seemed like by the end of

861
00:43:22,559 --> 00:43:26,199
the year, he was he was very comfortable and like

862
00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:28,679
he wasn't being asked to like be the number one

863
00:43:28,719 --> 00:43:31,639
pick anymore. Like I feel like his whole entire life

864
00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:33,519
was like that he was going to be the number

865
00:43:33,559 --> 00:43:35,440
one pick, and then he was the number one pick,

866
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:37,400
and he had all the expectations of being the number

867
00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:39,880
one pick. When he came to Portland, he just became

868
00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:43,519
a center, and I think by the end of the

869
00:43:43,599 --> 00:43:46,440
year he was comfortable with who he was and I

870
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,559
actually thoroughly enjoyed it. And you know, it was different

871
00:43:49,599 --> 00:43:52,039
than other center experiences we've had. We had the Hussan

872
00:43:52,079 --> 00:43:56,440
Whiteside experience, you know, we had and and this I

873
00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:59,920
felt was more productive and it also actually was beneficial

874
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:04,159
to Scoot. And you know, Scoot not a superstar yet.

875
00:44:04,159 --> 00:44:06,679
But I think from seeing the progress that they made together,

876
00:44:06,719 --> 00:44:09,840
I think I think it ended up being unbalanced. I

877
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:11,239
think it was a positive experience.

878
00:44:12,039 --> 00:44:14,480
Speaker 1: Do you think that factored into his because I do

879
00:44:14,559 --> 00:44:17,360
think he is. It's not even a thought. It's just

880
00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:19,880
the fact that he's better when he has someone who

881
00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:21,760
can set him up. And it's where we always wanted

882
00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:24,119
DeAndre and to play with more force. But even like

883
00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:26,639
the zero dribble or one dribble like looks that you

884
00:44:26,679 --> 00:44:28,480
wish were closer to the basket and they're not, Like,

885
00:44:28,559 --> 00:44:30,480
that's still where he's going to be at his best.

886
00:44:30,679 --> 00:44:33,400
Do you think that having Scoot like and now Scoot

887
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:35,719
getting into a groove to close the year, did that

888
00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:38,480
then actually help you think, like facilitate how well he played,

889
00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:41,079
because his numbers over the last like twenty seven or

890
00:44:41,079 --> 00:44:43,920
thirty games or something like pretty outrageously good.

891
00:44:44,119 --> 00:44:46,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm telling you, I cannot tell you how many

892
00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:48,960
times I was like, thank God, we have deandret and

893
00:44:49,079 --> 00:44:53,920
on this team, right now because nobody could score, and

894
00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:57,800
and he wasn't like I didn't feel like he ever

895
00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:00,320
was like, well, I'm DeAndre eight, and I'm just gonna

896
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:01,880
get in there and get all the buckets that I can.

897
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:04,440
I felt like he really felt like he was participating

898
00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:07,360
as part of the team and trying to make the

899
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:09,440
team be as good as they could be in the

900
00:45:09,519 --> 00:45:14,360
situation that they were in. So again, it's one of

901
00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:16,519
those things where, like I know, I was saying that

902
00:45:16,559 --> 00:45:20,639
I'm not really worried about fit, but it did show

903
00:45:20,679 --> 00:45:23,880
that the relationship between the point guard and the center,

904
00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:27,599
which is like so critical, could be worked on and

905
00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:31,880
improved and on, Like I said, unbalanced, better for both

906
00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:33,800
of them, beneficial to both of them.

907
00:45:34,440 --> 00:45:36,800
Speaker 1: You did mention I'm calling back to it, I think

908
00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:38,360
a third time now. You said the big man rotation

909
00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:40,599
as a tendency to figure itself out. We did see

910
00:45:40,599 --> 00:45:42,559
a little bit before the RW three injury. It was

911
00:45:42,679 --> 00:45:44,480
very It wasn't a ton like we saw r W

912
00:45:44,559 --> 00:45:46,719
three and DeAndre and play together. Do you think just

913
00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:49,280
knowing that they have so many and I think people

914
00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:51,880
kind of just throw duop breath to the corner. It's

915
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:54,119
like that's duop breath. It's like that guy spaces the

916
00:45:54,159 --> 00:45:56,239
floor on the front line, and this team needs floor spacing.

917
00:45:56,519 --> 00:45:59,360
Do you think we see like that they will go

918
00:45:59,519 --> 00:46:02,480
to more dual big setups or do you think kind

919
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:04,159
of you mentioned the what did you say before the

920
00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:07,360
having a wingy guy like Avia plus Grant and if

921
00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:09,360
Sharp is healthy and you have Thible and you have

922
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:11,559
Timanti Kamara, do you think that the way the roster

923
00:46:11,679 --> 00:46:13,400
is built as of now makes that a little bit

924
00:46:13,679 --> 00:46:15,599
that there's not as much of an incentive to try that.

925
00:46:16,559 --> 00:46:21,880
Speaker 2: I mean, I they if if the Blazers plan as

926
00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:24,960
I think it is, but again I don't know, uh,

927
00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:28,280
but if their plan is to move on from the

928
00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:31,000
Vets before the trade deadline, I mean they have to

929
00:46:31,119 --> 00:46:35,320
like show the remind people that they're there. And you know,

930
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:37,079
Robert Williams is going to need to get a few

931
00:46:37,159 --> 00:46:41,000
reps in. Like I think everybody knows what Robert Williams

932
00:46:41,119 --> 00:46:43,440
is and what he can bring to a team, and

933
00:46:43,559 --> 00:46:45,480
I think what he is and what he can bring

934
00:46:45,559 --> 00:46:47,400
to the team is just not what the Blazers need

935
00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:50,960
right now. But I do think that they're they're going

936
00:46:51,039 --> 00:46:55,199
to get him in there and playing because otherwise, like

937
00:46:55,199 --> 00:46:57,159
people are going to be like, well, could he play

938
00:46:57,239 --> 00:47:01,280
or not? So I think they'll play him for play

939
00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:04,719
him for that reason. I'm trying to remember what the

940
00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:06,960
what the question, what the whole.

941
00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 1: Question, whether they'll play two bigs at once, Like they'll

942
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:10,639
try that out.

943
00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:14,679
Speaker 2: Oh sure, yeah, I mean there's no downside.

944
00:47:16,119 --> 00:47:19,599
Speaker 1: I hope I'll try. I hope if they do it

945
00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:22,079
that they kind of spread out the love where it's

946
00:47:22,079 --> 00:47:24,519
like it's not just trying DeAndre and Robert Williams like

947
00:47:24,519 --> 00:47:26,079
they did last year. Like I want to see Clinging

948
00:47:26,559 --> 00:47:28,480
and r W three on the court together because I

949
00:47:28,519 --> 00:47:31,000
know you said maybe the Blazers don't need what r

950
00:47:31,119 --> 00:47:33,079
W three provides right now, but that would be a

951
00:47:33,239 --> 00:47:37,280
nasty defensive combination because r W three is like he's

952
00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:39,760
a filthy guy on defense. If you have Clinging at

953
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:42,159
the rim and kind of r W three mucking up

954
00:47:42,199 --> 00:47:45,239
stuff from the corners, I just I want to see it,

955
00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:47,519
and I'm hoping. I'm hoping r W three is healthy

956
00:47:47,519 --> 00:47:49,079
because I don't ever want guys to be injured, but

957
00:47:49,119 --> 00:47:51,719
I would love to see that dual big setup from Portland.

958
00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:52,880
Mm hmm.

959
00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:55,519
Speaker 2: I think it could be fun. And you probably must

960
00:47:55,519 --> 00:47:59,880
have like taken a psychic look at my lineups that

961
00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:01,960
you're I know you're gonna ask about like.

962
00:48:02,039 --> 00:48:03,920
Speaker 1: All big spoilet.

963
00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:07,119
Speaker 2: Okay, I want to say one thing about wap Wreath.

964
00:48:08,079 --> 00:48:10,840
So wap Wreath was so last year was filled with

965
00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:13,960
pleasant surprises, and wap Wreath was one of those pleasant

966
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:17,480
surprises like in a in a year where no one's

967
00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:20,760
trying to win. Uh, you're looking for pleasant surprises and

968
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:23,880
wap Wreath. He was originally a remixer. I can't remember

969
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:25,079
if he was on a two way or if he

970
00:48:25,159 --> 00:48:28,760
was like a straight up remixer G League team, but

971
00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:30,800
he played one team with the G League and in

972
00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:33,559
twenty seven minutes score forty seven points, and people were like,

973
00:48:33,639 --> 00:48:35,559
he is not meant for the G League. Get him

974
00:48:35,599 --> 00:48:37,920
on the team. And so he came and he played,

975
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:43,199
and he's wonderful. Uh. He's like a big who does

976
00:48:43,280 --> 00:48:46,119
spaces like he can legitimately shoot the three, like he

977
00:48:46,239 --> 00:48:49,400
is a three point shooting big, which is like so

978
00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:52,880
exciting and which makes it so odd that I would say,

979
00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:58,239
and he's gonna be somebody else's awesome piece because he's older.

980
00:48:58,559 --> 00:49:01,280
You know, he's like twenty, like he's I think he

981
00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:04,280
could be around to represent like what it would be

982
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:06,280
like if the team was going to have a three

983
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:10,400
point shooting center. But I think I don't think the

984
00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:14,440
Blazers are like planning to keep him around to be

985
00:49:14,519 --> 00:49:16,760
their three point shooting center. And I think that he

986
00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:19,400
could be a really great useful addition for a team

987
00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:22,920
that is more contending who might need somebody to be

988
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:25,599
able to slot in and play that role sometimes not

989
00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:28,480
like as probably you know, the sixth man off the

990
00:49:28,519 --> 00:49:31,199
bench or anything, but like as somebody that could slot

991
00:49:31,199 --> 00:49:33,039
in and legitimately play that role.

992
00:49:34,559 --> 00:49:37,880
Speaker 1: I that's I think that's a series of great points.

993
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:40,639
I also do believe it's important, like I'm a big

994
00:49:40,679 --> 00:49:43,960
believer now in streamlining the development of your most important players,

995
00:49:44,239 --> 00:49:46,360
and when we look at Scoot and Shade and specifically

996
00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:48,679
if you want those guys who attack off the dribble,

997
00:49:49,159 --> 00:49:51,039
opening up the floor is a really good thing. And

998
00:49:51,079 --> 00:49:53,840
if you have Duoperath who's like, you're only big that

999
00:49:53,880 --> 00:49:56,199
you can count on stretching the floor right now, I

1000
00:49:56,199 --> 00:49:58,320
think that winds up helping them in ways where it's

1001
00:49:58,519 --> 00:50:01,280
forget about winning basketball game, forget about efficiency. But it's

1002
00:50:01,280 --> 00:50:02,960
like if you really want to see what these guys

1003
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:06,480
can do in a better environment or a more sensible environment,

1004
00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:10,679
like Dwoprie could maybe help you unlock some of those

1005
00:50:10,719 --> 00:50:11,559
types of lineups.

1006
00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:16,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, and what I've learned over the last two three

1007
00:50:16,519 --> 00:50:19,000
years is that's really valuable up until the trade ten

1008
00:50:23,159 --> 00:50:25,079
because it does it like gives you like, oh okay,

1009
00:50:25,119 --> 00:50:27,159
so if Shandon could did actually have a little bit

1010
00:50:27,159 --> 00:50:30,719
of room, Let's look at this. So yeah, I'll say

1011
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:34,159
you can see I've become so jaded over the last

1012
00:50:34,159 --> 00:50:35,400
three years. It's very sad.

1013
00:50:35,880 --> 00:50:39,840
Speaker 1: They've scarred you. They made anymore, they made you not

1014
00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:46,679
root for Dugs anymore. Though messed up. I was wondering

1015
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:49,599
looking at kind of the other I guess non core

1016
00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:53,599
guys on the roster Dolano, Banton, Timanic, Kamara, Chris Murray,

1017
00:50:53,960 --> 00:50:58,400
Jabbari Uh why not Jabari Walker? Not Jabari Parker Jabari Parker.

1018
00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:00,760
My notes, I apologize, We're already talked about Wreath and then,

1019
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:03,360
of course repair. Are there just one or two guys

1020
00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:05,599
from that list that you find the most Should we

1021
00:51:05,679 --> 00:51:09,599
use the word tantilizing or intriguing or ent? We want

1022
00:51:09,599 --> 00:51:10,039
to go it?

1023
00:51:10,239 --> 00:51:12,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to talk about Jabari Walker because I'm

1024
00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:15,280
a huge fan of Javarie Walker. I love Jabari Walker,

1025
00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:18,920
and I think he's somebody who is most likely to

1026
00:51:18,920 --> 00:51:21,519
be squeezed out of the rotation at least until the

1027
00:51:21,559 --> 00:51:23,960
second half of the season, you know, because we have

1028
00:51:24,199 --> 00:51:27,440
so many bigs. I think Jabari is the one that is,

1029
00:51:27,960 --> 00:51:30,639
like I said, not going to get as much rotation

1030
00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:33,360
minutes as I think he deserves. I think he is

1031
00:51:33,400 --> 00:51:36,719
a I think he's going to be a really good

1032
00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:39,480
NBA player for a long time. He's a role player,

1033
00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:43,840
He's a fantastic defender. He brings great energy in off

1034
00:51:43,880 --> 00:51:48,280
the bench, but with all of the people who need

1035
00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:51,800
to show that they can play, and I just think

1036
00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:54,920
that he's going to be ten or eleven for a while,

1037
00:51:55,400 --> 00:51:57,119
which I think is a real bummer because it's just

1038
00:51:57,159 --> 00:51:59,679
a pleasure to watch him play. And he has a

1039
00:51:59,719 --> 00:52:03,480
skill set that the Blazers desperately need, and that's a

1040
00:52:03,599 --> 00:52:05,920
defending or a defensive rebounds.

1041
00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:08,519
Speaker 1: Yeah, what is he Does he even do anything else

1042
00:52:08,519 --> 00:52:11,519
though that stands out to you, aside from provide that.

1043
00:52:13,599 --> 00:52:17,760
Speaker 2: He's he's very good at, like intangible things like helping

1044
00:52:17,800 --> 00:52:20,239
everybody on the court with him be aware of what's

1045
00:52:20,280 --> 00:52:22,440
going on. He's a very good talker on the court.

1046
00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:27,159
He's a very good pointer. He's really good at yeah,

1047
00:52:27,199 --> 00:52:30,159
like letting his teammates know what's what's going on. Things

1048
00:52:30,199 --> 00:52:34,840
feel organized when Jabari comes in, uh so kind of

1049
00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:36,960
some of the And that's why I think he's going

1050
00:52:37,039 --> 00:52:39,159
to be a really good NBA player because of those

1051
00:52:39,239 --> 00:52:43,199
types of skills. His shooting is okay, it's not great,

1052
00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:47,079
it could definitely be a lot better. You know, he

1053
00:52:47,119 --> 00:52:50,159
gets a lot of putbacks and second chance points for

1054
00:52:50,239 --> 00:52:53,480
the Blazers. He does a lot of clean up, so

1055
00:52:53,559 --> 00:52:56,079
he's not you know, somebody you're gonna put the ball

1056
00:52:56,119 --> 00:52:59,280
in his hands and be like, oh score. But he's

1057
00:52:59,320 --> 00:53:05,840
somebody that could really likely help either you know again

1058
00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:10,280
second chance point or just on defense, direct people around

1059
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:11,639
so things are are covered.

1060
00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:15,039
Speaker 1: Okay, I really like from that list, I think I'm

1061
00:53:15,079 --> 00:53:20,440
most fascinated by, or tantalized to buy excuse me, Tomani Kamara,

1062
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:23,800
who can defend it feels like literally anyone. And it's

1063
00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:26,519
like his three point percentage was just high enough last year.

1064
00:53:26,599 --> 00:53:28,840
I was like, okay, and he can do some stuff.

1065
00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:30,920
And then like, if you're like in the open lane,

1066
00:53:31,719 --> 00:53:34,280
I am. I don't know how good he'll look on

1067
00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:37,360
offense necessarily with this team specifically, but I think he's

1068
00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:39,480
going to be a dude. And he might be a

1069
00:53:39,559 --> 00:53:41,679
dude for the Blazers because you're just looking at what

1070
00:53:41,719 --> 00:53:43,519
he Maybe they have too much defense and he's not

1071
00:53:43,559 --> 00:53:47,079
a dude for the Blazers, but he is ferocious on that,

1072
00:53:47,199 --> 00:53:52,119
like he's he's ferociously versatile, or even ferociously capable how

1073
00:53:52,159 --> 00:53:54,719
I might phrase it, like I'm just you look at

1074
00:53:54,840 --> 00:53:57,679
not just the level I mean, like he defended basically

1075
00:53:57,719 --> 00:54:00,760
just stars all the time, but up and down theditional spectrum.

1076
00:54:00,760 --> 00:54:03,400
I even a lot more than I would have expected,

1077
00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:06,880
like point of attack, like smaller going up against smaller

1078
00:54:06,880 --> 00:54:08,840
players than I would have ever assumed.

1079
00:54:10,360 --> 00:54:14,079
Speaker 2: Timani is another one of those pleasant surprises. I don't

1080
00:54:14,119 --> 00:54:17,599
think anybody when we heard how upset Phoenix was that

1081
00:54:17,639 --> 00:54:21,559
they lost him as part of the trade deal that

1082
00:54:21,679 --> 00:54:24,760
moved Demian Lillard, we were like, oh, well this is interesting,

1083
00:54:25,920 --> 00:54:29,920
and yeah, he is fun. He's super tenacious, and he's

1084
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:33,320
that guy who like is not cool as a cucumber.

1085
00:54:33,639 --> 00:54:36,599
He will be like up in somebody's shorts and he

1086
00:54:36,639 --> 00:54:39,400
will you know, he will be all over them. He

1087
00:54:39,559 --> 00:54:41,920
loved Like if you look at all the you know,

1088
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:43,679
the guys that he guarded, he got it all the

1089
00:54:43,679 --> 00:54:46,280
best players, Like that was his job was to go

1090
00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:49,840
guard the best player. And he did it like like

1091
00:54:50,159 --> 00:54:52,920
he was hungry to do it, and he wanted to

1092
00:54:52,920 --> 00:54:54,920
do it, and he very quickly, like he worked himself

1093
00:54:54,920 --> 00:54:57,039
into his starting position very quickly. I think he got

1094
00:54:57,079 --> 00:55:00,719
it over Matisse. It turned out that he really didn't

1095
00:55:00,760 --> 00:55:03,760
have the offense, and so he ended up going back

1096
00:55:03,760 --> 00:55:06,159
to the bench. Neither of them particularly have an offense,

1097
00:55:07,079 --> 00:55:09,320
so he I don't I can't remember at the very

1098
00:55:09,360 --> 00:55:10,960
end of the season, who knows what was happening, but

1099
00:55:12,519 --> 00:55:14,960
I can't remember what happened after he went to the bench.

1100
00:55:16,159 --> 00:55:20,039
But yeah, he's somebody that we're very excited about. And

1101
00:55:20,119 --> 00:55:23,079
he's in, you know, pretty much in that age range,

1102
00:55:23,280 --> 00:55:26,199
and you know, he could be somebody that the Blazers

1103
00:55:26,239 --> 00:55:28,519
want to really hang on to. And I would not

1104
00:55:28,559 --> 00:55:30,559
be surprised if he was somebody who ended up sticking

1105
00:55:30,559 --> 00:55:31,679
around the team for a long time.

1106
00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:34,199
Speaker 1: Anybody else on that list that you wanted to talk

1107
00:55:34,199 --> 00:55:36,320
about or that stood out to you, well.

1108
00:55:36,159 --> 00:55:40,119
Speaker 2: I mean, I love Thelano, Banton just because I love

1109
00:55:40,199 --> 00:55:42,920
tall point guards. It is such a luxury to have

1110
00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:45,079
a tall point guard. I mean, after all of those

1111
00:55:45,159 --> 00:55:48,039
years of Damon and CJ, like having a tall point

1112
00:55:48,039 --> 00:55:50,039
guard who can like see everything that was going. I

1113
00:55:50,039 --> 00:55:53,559
was like, oh, I get it, I get it. But again,

1114
00:55:53,639 --> 00:55:58,440
it's a luxury, not a necessity. Let's see who else

1115
00:55:58,480 --> 00:56:00,239
is on there that I haven't said anything about.

1116
00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:04,599
Speaker 1: I still remain Ryan Repair is a guy that I

1117
00:56:04,639 --> 00:56:06,880
really like and he like. I watch him and it

1118
00:56:06,920 --> 00:56:09,039
feels like, well, he could be really good at basketball

1119
00:56:09,039 --> 00:56:10,880
if he kind of figures out how to play basketball.

1120
00:56:10,880 --> 00:56:12,760
It's like a lot of times I come away with thinking,

1121
00:56:12,880 --> 00:56:15,280
but he just feels like he has a bunch of

1122
00:56:15,320 --> 00:56:18,800
tools that will he ever put them together, and I

1123
00:56:18,840 --> 00:56:20,639
think it go a long way if he could be

1124
00:56:20,639 --> 00:56:23,559
a little bit more complimentary, like handle the accessory work

1125
00:56:23,599 --> 00:56:26,920
on offense. But I still I watch him play and

1126
00:56:27,000 --> 00:56:29,559
I I don't know, I'm like just enthralled by it

1127
00:56:29,559 --> 00:56:32,559
feels like he could be like subtly disruptive on the

1128
00:56:32,559 --> 00:56:34,840
defensive end, and if you could put together some semblance

1129
00:56:34,880 --> 00:56:38,320
of just like offensive consistency again and that tertiary just

1130
00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:41,360
like never really on the ball capacity. I don't know

1131
00:56:41,360 --> 00:56:43,239
where that opportunity is gonna come from on this team,

1132
00:56:43,239 --> 00:56:45,039
given how many players they have, but I still just

1133
00:56:45,079 --> 00:56:47,639
have his name circled as that could be like someone

1134
00:56:47,639 --> 00:56:48,760
who sticks in the NBA.

1135
00:56:49,639 --> 00:56:56,079
Speaker 2: Yeah, Ryan Repair is a fan favorite, especially with the remix,

1136
00:56:56,480 --> 00:57:00,239
So we're expecting, Like so last year for people to know,

1137
00:57:00,360 --> 00:57:02,239
was the first year that the Blazers had a G

1138
00:57:02,360 --> 00:57:05,800
League team, And on our podcast on the we have

1139
00:57:05,840 --> 00:57:08,199
a Take podcast, we give out awards every year, and

1140
00:57:08,199 --> 00:57:10,559
we had a new award this year called most Valuable Blazer,

1141
00:57:10,639 --> 00:57:12,760
and we actually gave most Valuable Blazer to the Rip

1142
00:57:12,760 --> 00:57:17,119
City Remix because it was a fun to finally have

1143
00:57:17,159 --> 00:57:20,519
a G League team. But it kept these guys playing

1144
00:57:20,679 --> 00:57:23,800
and engaged and active and like they could And it's

1145
00:57:23,840 --> 00:57:26,679
like located actually in Portland, you know, a few miles

1146
00:57:26,679 --> 00:57:30,639
away from the from the Motor Center where they play,

1147
00:57:31,159 --> 00:57:34,119
so like they can go back and forth and they

1148
00:57:34,159 --> 00:57:36,800
can get reps in and they can keep playing and

1149
00:57:36,880 --> 00:57:39,079
keep improving rather than just sitting on the bench and

1150
00:57:39,119 --> 00:57:42,639
watching all the time. So we're I'm expecting that Ryan

1151
00:57:43,079 --> 00:57:47,239
and Chris will probably still play quite a bit with

1152
00:57:47,320 --> 00:57:49,920
the remix next year. It might be kind of a

1153
00:57:49,960 --> 00:57:53,239
bummer for Chris Murray since he spent two three years

1154
00:57:53,280 --> 00:57:55,599
in college before he got out, so he may be

1155
00:57:55,679 --> 00:58:00,280
wishing that he had more like NBA minutes. But the

1156
00:58:00,320 --> 00:58:04,719
remix gives them a chance to, you know, keep up

1157
00:58:04,960 --> 00:58:10,480
and if they're needed when and if injuries strike, when

1158
00:58:10,519 --> 00:58:14,480
and if people start having to sit, they are right

1159
00:58:14,519 --> 00:58:16,960
there and they've been playing this whole time in games

1160
00:58:17,159 --> 00:58:19,000
that you know they're trying to win.

1161
00:58:20,679 --> 00:58:23,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, Chris Murray kind of impressed me too with how

1162
00:58:23,519 --> 00:58:26,960
he was defensively last year, and it's the rare and

1163
00:58:27,440 --> 00:58:29,719
young relatives on the rookie. He's not necessarily young, but

1164
00:58:29,719 --> 00:58:31,440
it's rare that a team where it's, oh, if that

1165
00:58:31,480 --> 00:58:34,320
guy can hang defensively, he won't get minutes as a

1166
00:58:34,320 --> 00:58:36,559
youngster because we kind of have enough people who can

1167
00:58:36,639 --> 00:58:38,840
do that. And it was when he was coming out

1168
00:58:38,840 --> 00:58:40,079
of college, I didn't know enough about him, but I

1169
00:58:40,119 --> 00:58:42,320
thought he was builled as like more plug and play

1170
00:58:42,360 --> 00:58:44,440
on offense, and it was kind of it felt flipped

1171
00:58:44,440 --> 00:58:45,840
based off what I saw. For it was like, Oh,

1172
00:58:45,880 --> 00:58:48,159
he's plug and play on defense, and I don't know

1173
00:58:48,199 --> 00:58:50,000
what he's going to be on offense. Maybe I just

1174
00:58:50,280 --> 00:58:53,039
maybe I like I thought by Osmosis he would just

1175
00:58:53,079 --> 00:58:55,480
have what Keegan Murray does as an offensive player, and

1176
00:58:55,519 --> 00:58:58,119
so my expectations were too high.

1177
00:58:58,159 --> 00:59:01,599
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, it's really where rare for the Blazers to

1178
00:59:01,679 --> 00:59:04,840
have that many defenders on the team. I mean, let's

1179
00:59:05,239 --> 00:59:08,800
let's be honest about that. It's been a long time

1180
00:59:09,320 --> 00:59:13,760
since the Blazers had, you know, players that like had

1181
00:59:14,239 --> 00:59:17,440
multiple players with defensive chops. Now they have many of them,

1182
00:59:18,400 --> 00:59:20,320
and so sometimes it's hard to play them because it's

1183
00:59:20,320 --> 00:59:24,440
like who's gonna shoot? And I'll also kind of go

1184
00:59:24,519 --> 00:59:26,800
back to what I was saying about the coach Chauncey.

1185
00:59:27,719 --> 00:59:29,880
It seems like a lot of these young players that

1186
00:59:29,920 --> 00:59:33,320
they brought in who play a lot of defense are

1187
00:59:33,400 --> 00:59:35,920
the types of players that he is hoping to have

1188
00:59:35,960 --> 00:59:39,440
on the roster and having having to coach. And despite whatever,

1189
00:59:39,480 --> 00:59:42,039
I mean, I don't know anything, right, I don't know anything.

1190
00:59:42,480 --> 00:59:44,760
But one of the things that we really seem is

1191
00:59:44,760 --> 00:59:47,920
that the players really do like him, like they like

1192
00:59:48,079 --> 00:59:50,440
playing for him, and that they listen to him and

1193
00:59:50,480 --> 00:59:53,119
they appreciate his experience. So I don't want to like

1194
00:59:53,159 --> 00:59:54,679
everybody to take away that, like I think that like

1195
00:59:54,719 --> 00:59:57,159
he's like the worst coach in the whole world, or

1196
00:59:57,199 --> 01:00:00,639
that like nobody likes him, because clearly the player like him,

1197
01:00:00,679 --> 01:00:06,199
and he does like represent defense. And so if the

1198
01:00:06,239 --> 01:00:08,920
Blazers are truly trying to build a new team in

1199
01:00:08,960 --> 01:00:11,320
the future that plays more defense than they have in

1200
01:00:11,400 --> 01:00:17,159
say the last ten years, those pieces are are starting

1201
01:00:17,159 --> 01:00:19,719
to I'm not gonna say, fall into place, but they're

1202
01:00:19,760 --> 01:00:22,360
floating around and maybe we can grab some of them

1203
01:00:23,519 --> 01:00:25,840
and put them on the team and have them be successful.

1204
01:00:26,360 --> 01:00:29,039
Speaker 1: Well, I almost wonder this team feels like it could

1205
01:00:29,039 --> 01:00:32,559
be under the radar good defensively, where if you told

1206
01:00:32,559 --> 01:00:34,599
me that they were fifteenth or sixteenth in points alot

1207
01:00:34,599 --> 01:00:37,360
of per possession, I'd be like, I believe it, Honestly.

1208
01:00:37,440 --> 01:00:40,920
The reason to not predict it to me is just, well,

1209
01:00:40,960 --> 01:00:42,719
are they going to steer out of it if they're

1210
01:00:42,760 --> 01:00:46,159
too good defensively by post trade down them, by maybe

1211
01:00:46,159 --> 01:00:48,400
not trading some guys. But it's you know, like Deanny,

1212
01:00:48,400 --> 01:00:50,079
you're under contract, like we know what we haven't, like

1213
01:00:50,079 --> 01:00:51,639
you're not gonna play as much because we want to

1214
01:00:51,679 --> 01:00:55,639
get minutes for repair or murray, because like you look

1215
01:00:55,639 --> 01:00:59,480
at the individual talent and it's like it's not really redundant.

1216
01:00:59,519 --> 01:01:02,599
It's even shaite and sharp. I thought showed flashes defensively

1217
01:01:02,760 --> 01:01:04,599
last year too, And so you just have a bunch

1218
01:01:04,639 --> 01:01:08,079
of dudes who are either good already good defenders, or

1219
01:01:08,199 --> 01:01:10,639
might be really good defenders. And so it feels like

1220
01:01:10,719 --> 01:01:14,159
this team could maybe surprise people at least in terms

1221
01:01:14,159 --> 01:01:15,800
of where they end up in the let's call it

1222
01:01:15,840 --> 01:01:18,400
the pre trade deadline defensive rankings.

1223
01:01:19,519 --> 01:01:24,119
Speaker 2: So I think that we're not gonna worry about Whoop's

1224
01:01:24,119 --> 01:01:27,239
too good at anything. But I would also say that

1225
01:01:27,440 --> 01:01:29,960
the Blazers are not like they were not the worst

1226
01:01:29,960 --> 01:01:33,199
defensive team last year, so it's just that they don't

1227
01:01:33,199 --> 01:01:37,000
have an offense to match it. I actually went through

1228
01:01:37,320 --> 01:01:39,440
and looked at all the things that the Blazers were

1229
01:01:39,519 --> 01:01:42,119
like the worst at, like thirtieth, because it's like, Okay,

1230
01:01:42,159 --> 01:01:44,880
if any of these things can get better next season,

1231
01:01:45,159 --> 01:01:47,960
that's a win. And let me let me read you

1232
01:01:48,000 --> 01:01:50,559
lament my list. I know it's a we might be

1233
01:01:50,639 --> 01:01:52,559
running out of time, and it's a fairly long list,

1234
01:01:52,800 --> 01:01:55,800
but the things that these are like the like when

1235
01:01:55,840 --> 01:02:00,440
you like sort and the Blazers are thirtieth three point shooting,

1236
01:02:01,199 --> 01:02:10,599
two point shooting, rebounds, assists, transition shots, shots between zero

1237
01:02:10,639 --> 01:02:13,599
and three feet and three feet and ten feet. So

1238
01:02:13,639 --> 01:02:16,599
these are all things that they are absolutely the worst at.

1239
01:02:16,599 --> 01:02:18,719
When I went and looked at their defensive rating, they're

1240
01:02:18,719 --> 01:02:21,000
not the worst. They're not even like in the bottomle

1241
01:02:21,039 --> 01:02:23,079
like three, which is where they are and everything else.

1242
01:02:23,719 --> 01:02:25,199
Speaker 1: I think for part of the year they were and

1243
01:02:25,400 --> 01:02:27,039
I'm not saying this talking and together, they were like

1244
01:02:27,119 --> 01:02:29,559
kind of close to not in the bottom ten for

1245
01:02:29,639 --> 01:02:31,159
a good part of the year, I think, until they

1246
01:02:31,480 --> 01:02:34,119
sort of steered into okay, like this season is over

1247
01:02:34,199 --> 01:02:34,800
for us.

1248
01:02:35,119 --> 01:02:37,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's just that they don't have the offense

1249
01:02:38,079 --> 01:02:40,239
to match, and we're so used to having a team

1250
01:02:40,280 --> 01:02:46,400
that is so offensively powerful offensively that now when they

1251
01:02:46,440 --> 01:02:48,800
have a defense, it's like they don't have anything close

1252
01:02:49,280 --> 01:02:52,480
to make up the deficit. You know, I say this

1253
01:02:52,519 --> 01:02:54,920
about a team that lost twice by sixty points, so

1254
01:02:56,079 --> 01:02:58,480
you can check me on this any time. But they

1255
01:02:58,519 --> 01:03:02,000
were not the worst at defense. They were the worst

1256
01:03:02,000 --> 01:03:05,119
at defensive rebounds, but not the worst at defense.

1257
01:03:05,360 --> 01:03:07,159
Speaker 1: I think when you are dependent on at least a

1258
01:03:07,159 --> 01:03:10,559
good number of young guys and you're not caps lock

1259
01:03:10,679 --> 01:03:14,920
terrible on defense, that's actually a good sign. I agree

1260
01:03:14,960 --> 01:03:17,480
with you on the offense, I don't they're not built

1261
01:03:17,480 --> 01:03:19,480
that you could stop me if you disagree here. But

1262
01:03:19,519 --> 01:03:21,320
they're not built to get better at three point shooting

1263
01:03:21,400 --> 01:03:22,840
right now. I don't know where that's like. You might

1264
01:03:22,840 --> 01:03:25,239
see some players improve, but on the roster this does

1265
01:03:25,239 --> 01:03:26,880
not look like a good three point shooting team.

1266
01:03:27,599 --> 01:03:30,039
Speaker 2: So I feel really bad that I don't know that

1267
01:03:30,079 --> 01:03:32,360
we've even said Anthony Simon's name yet.

1268
01:03:33,800 --> 01:03:36,400
Speaker 1: Because he said I think at the beginning, don't worry.

1269
01:03:36,199 --> 01:03:38,880
Speaker 2: I mentioned him, And I just want to make sure

1270
01:03:38,960 --> 01:03:42,280
that for any front officers who are listening, No, just kidding,

1271
01:03:43,320 --> 01:03:47,039
I want to make sure that, like we acknowledge the

1272
01:03:47,119 --> 01:03:50,159
fact that Anthony is a fantastic shooter, and he is

1273
01:03:50,239 --> 01:03:53,480
a great three point shooter. He's just doesn't have a

1274
01:03:53,519 --> 01:03:56,119
lot of friends on the team who are also great

1275
01:03:56,159 --> 01:03:58,639
three point shooters. So yes, I agree with you that, like,

1276
01:03:58,679 --> 01:04:01,559
this team is not built. They're trying to go three

1277
01:04:01,599 --> 01:04:04,360
and D, and right now they're the D part is

1278
01:04:05,079 --> 01:04:07,719
we're doing good there, you know, we're we're doing good

1279
01:04:07,719 --> 01:04:09,400
and it's been a long time since they've been doing

1280
01:04:09,400 --> 01:04:13,599
good there. The three point part is probably easier to

1281
01:04:13,639 --> 01:04:16,280
fill in I guess than the deep part maybe is

1282
01:04:16,320 --> 01:04:18,639
what people say. So anyway, I just want to make

1283
01:04:18,679 --> 01:04:21,519
sure that I acknowledge that Anthony Simons is an excellent tutor.

1284
01:04:22,920 --> 01:04:25,400
Speaker 1: Are they at least built? And I ended up looking

1285
01:04:25,400 --> 01:04:28,559
this up like in preparation of the podcast Tara. They

1286
01:04:28,639 --> 01:04:31,360
have not ranked in the top half the league in

1287
01:04:31,480 --> 01:04:35,480
fast break frequency since like two thousand and four. And

1288
01:04:35,519 --> 01:04:38,320
they're just consistently It's not just like, oh, they've had

1289
01:04:38,320 --> 01:04:40,599
a few seasons where they were close, like no, you

1290
01:04:40,679 --> 01:04:44,199
go back. It's like twenty seventh, twenty eighth, twenty ninth, thirtieth,

1291
01:04:44,480 --> 01:04:49,679
twenty sixth. Is this team? And I would argue yes,

1292
01:04:49,719 --> 01:04:52,239
like could they play with a little bit more urgent?

1293
01:04:52,360 --> 01:04:54,440
Like could they why can't they get out on the break?

1294
01:04:54,519 --> 01:04:57,239
Especially if you don't believe they're a good shooting team

1295
01:04:57,559 --> 01:04:59,559
or a polished offensive team. One of the ways to

1296
01:04:59,599 --> 01:05:02,039
attend to offset that. And I know it could come

1297
01:05:02,079 --> 01:05:05,360
at the expensive defense maybe, but it's hey, go up

1298
01:05:05,400 --> 01:05:10,320
against defenses that aren't already set, like just freaking run

1299
01:05:10,519 --> 01:05:13,159
and I every time I'm watching them and I think this.

1300
01:05:13,239 --> 01:05:15,280
It was frustrating last year and it'll be frustrating as

1301
01:05:15,280 --> 01:05:17,440
hell this year, because I think they have the personnel

1302
01:05:17,480 --> 01:05:20,360
to do it. But it's like even after Live Ball,

1303
01:05:20,719 --> 01:05:23,000
like you're grabbing a run. Just go.

1304
01:05:24,320 --> 01:05:27,519
Speaker 2: Imagine how frustrating it is for Chauncey Phillips, who every

1305
01:05:27,599 --> 01:05:31,119
year says, we're gonna run more. I have no it's

1306
01:05:31,159 --> 01:05:34,119
a complete mystery. I don't know what is in the

1307
01:05:34,280 --> 01:05:37,239
water here. I don't know what's in there. Everybody breathes.

1308
01:05:37,440 --> 01:05:39,360
But like, if you go back to two thousand and four,

1309
01:05:39,760 --> 01:05:43,719
that's many iterations of this team. That is like multiple

1310
01:05:43,760 --> 01:05:47,480
superstars that we've been through in that time and still

1311
01:05:47,880 --> 01:05:51,400
like for a long time our stars were ISO players.

1312
01:05:51,639 --> 01:05:54,440
So I think that's kind of where it comes from,

1313
01:05:54,840 --> 01:05:58,360
Like when you have Brandon Roy, when you have Damian Lillard,

1314
01:05:58,440 --> 01:06:02,559
like you're not gonna force them into transition because they're

1315
01:06:02,679 --> 01:06:04,840
so good and so powerful at what they do. So

1316
01:06:04,920 --> 01:06:08,840
I think that's probably has something to do with it.

1317
01:06:08,920 --> 01:06:11,239
But Chelsea Billips is said every year at the beginning

1318
01:06:11,239 --> 01:06:13,239
of the press every press conference, we'll see what he

1319
01:06:13,280 --> 01:06:15,719
says tomorrow this year, we're gonna get out in transition,

1320
01:06:16,159 --> 01:06:18,280
And like, why they didn't do it, I have no idea.

1321
01:06:18,719 --> 01:06:20,280
I have no idea why they're not doing it.

1322
01:06:21,039 --> 01:06:22,920
Speaker 1: I'm trying to. I should have looked this up. Who

1323
01:06:22,960 --> 01:06:25,679
is the best player on the last team at ranked

1324
01:06:25,679 --> 01:06:27,159
in the time and they were tenth that year in

1325
01:06:27,199 --> 01:06:30,079
transition frequency two thousand and four, two thousand and five.

1326
01:06:30,159 --> 01:06:33,480
So the leader in minutes played on that team, Oh,

1327
01:06:33,559 --> 01:06:37,400
David Stotdamaier. Zach Randolph was second. That actually surprises me.

1328
01:06:37,480 --> 01:06:41,400
Derek Anderson, she Dale Davis. So it's actually wild that

1329
01:06:41,400 --> 01:06:45,719
that's the iteration. That's and you're right, the ISO stuff

1330
01:06:45,760 --> 01:06:48,119
is a great point. And you have a Marcus Aldridge

1331
01:06:48,119 --> 01:06:50,039
a little bit before Damian Lillard two. That's not someone

1332
01:06:50,079 --> 01:06:52,119
you're gonna build a fast paced offense around. But it's

1333
01:06:52,119 --> 01:06:55,000
also just such a long time, just two decades, that's

1334
01:06:55,079 --> 01:06:55,800
so long.

1335
01:06:56,239 --> 01:06:57,840
Speaker 2: Well, and I think that's one of the things that's

1336
01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:01,599
tantalizing about Scoot. Maybe he could show because we have

1337
01:07:01,840 --> 01:07:05,159
seen like highlights of him throwing things ahead and even

1338
01:07:05,199 --> 01:07:07,639
actually Donovan Klingon I think has had a few, but like,

1339
01:07:08,840 --> 01:07:11,760
but you know, maybe that is something that Scoot could

1340
01:07:11,760 --> 01:07:15,360
do more of, like he himself not having to get

1341
01:07:15,360 --> 01:07:18,880
out in transition, but him seeing the guys running in transition.

1342
01:07:19,719 --> 01:07:23,039
I mean, like imagine Scoot to Shandon, how many times

1343
01:07:23,039 --> 01:07:24,679
we could see that, and how wonderful it would be.

1344
01:07:24,719 --> 01:07:27,880
It would be gorgeous, and you know it would finish.

1345
01:07:28,159 --> 01:07:31,679
Shadon has had some spectacular and open court miss dunks,

1346
01:07:32,840 --> 01:07:36,840
but I think those two. But again, Scoot had so

1347
01:07:37,079 --> 01:07:40,880
much that he had to figure out last season. Maybe

1348
01:07:40,920 --> 01:07:43,039
he just had to throw that one out as a

1349
01:07:43,119 --> 01:07:44,960
thing that he was going to try to figure out.

1350
01:07:45,000 --> 01:07:47,239
And you know, in the beginning, I don't know, I

1351
01:07:47,800 --> 01:07:50,880
don't know why they they couldn't, And I feel like

1352
01:07:51,159 --> 01:07:54,000
the personnel every year gets closer and closer to a

1353
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:55,480
team that should at least be able to.

1354
01:07:56,480 --> 01:07:58,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean the point you made towards the beginning

1355
01:07:58,800 --> 01:08:01,119
of the podcast about Scoot and Shade and not playing

1356
01:08:01,119 --> 01:08:04,800
a ton together too definitely has to factor into like, like,

1357
01:08:04,840 --> 01:08:06,199
if those two are on the court, how are you

1358
01:08:06,280 --> 01:08:09,800
not out in transition more? And they were not even

1359
01:08:09,840 --> 01:08:11,320
I'm looking at their minutes now they didn't play a

1360
01:08:11,360 --> 01:08:12,679
ton together. Someone reach too much into it, but they

1361
01:08:12,679 --> 01:08:14,639
still weren't getting out in transition during those minutes. So

1362
01:08:14,920 --> 01:08:16,680
I just hope it changes because it feels like low

1363
01:08:16,680 --> 01:08:18,920
hanging fruit. I did want to ask you before we

1364
01:08:18,960 --> 01:08:21,319
get to the cookie cutter portion of the podcast. Do

1365
01:08:21,359 --> 01:08:25,159
you expect there to be mid season roster turnover this year?

1366
01:08:25,199 --> 01:08:27,840
Because there wasn't, like a bunch everyone was expecting it

1367
01:08:27,920 --> 01:08:31,239
last year and there just wasn't. So would you expect

1368
01:08:31,239 --> 01:08:33,880
it to be this year? Looking at the direction, looking

1369
01:08:33,880 --> 01:08:35,159
at the personnel on this team.

1370
01:08:35,960 --> 01:08:38,079
Speaker 2: Until you said the second half of that sentence and

1371
01:08:38,119 --> 01:08:40,479
reminded me that last year there wasn't either, I was

1372
01:08:40,520 --> 01:08:44,119
gonna be like, yes, but I saw last year they

1373
01:08:44,159 --> 01:08:47,600
didn't have a lot. They just sat a lot. But

1374
01:08:47,720 --> 01:08:51,760
I really think, I mean, the Blazers have to they

1375
01:08:51,800 --> 01:08:53,600
are not have they can do whatever they want. I

1376
01:08:53,640 --> 01:08:58,239
would think that the Blazers do need to accumulate more

1377
01:08:58,279 --> 01:09:01,840
assets and find more players that they want to see

1378
01:09:02,199 --> 01:09:04,399
what they can do. And the only way that they

1379
01:09:04,479 --> 01:09:07,760
can do that, well, they could sit everybody and get

1380
01:09:07,960 --> 01:09:10,880
you know, one more high draft picked, or they could

1381
01:09:10,920 --> 01:09:16,000
also trade some players and to get to that. There's

1382
01:09:16,039 --> 01:09:19,439
I mean, I since they did very little last year,

1383
01:09:19,680 --> 01:09:22,560
they did very little over the summer. At some point

1384
01:09:23,279 --> 01:09:25,720
something's got to give. So why not this trade season?

1385
01:09:25,760 --> 01:09:27,760
I'm say yes they will.

1386
01:09:28,359 --> 01:09:31,680
Speaker 1: This track I actually was coming back through because I

1387
01:09:31,760 --> 01:09:33,960
just use the same outline each year and right over

1388
01:09:34,000 --> 01:09:36,399
it type over it E sees me. And I said

1389
01:09:36,720 --> 01:09:38,399
in my notes to you last year that I would

1390
01:09:38,399 --> 01:09:42,600
be shocked if Jeremy Grant finishes this season on the Blazers.

1391
01:09:42,760 --> 01:09:45,039
So I don't want to use that terminology again, but

1392
01:09:45,119 --> 01:09:47,920
I would be fairly surprised if both he and Robert

1393
01:09:47,920 --> 01:09:50,560
Williams the third are still on this team, Like I

1394
01:09:50,560 --> 01:09:52,039
think one of them is at least gonna go. And

1395
01:09:52,079 --> 01:09:54,119
I almost want to say the same about Simon's but

1396
01:09:54,159 --> 01:09:57,319
as you mentioned, like that's someone who shoots and makes

1397
01:09:57,479 --> 01:09:59,680
a lot of shots from beyond the arc. They might

1398
01:09:59,760 --> 01:10:02,840
view is you know, he's coming up on his next contracts,

1399
01:10:02,840 --> 01:10:05,439
so maybe that increases urgency. I don't know where to

1400
01:10:05,520 --> 01:10:07,039
land with him because I don't I don't think he's

1401
01:10:07,039 --> 01:10:09,279
a fit long term with Scoot and Shade in. But

1402
01:10:09,319 --> 01:10:12,399
I'm also like they need players who can like hit

1403
01:10:12,720 --> 01:10:14,520
shots from the perimeter here, Like you don't want to

1404
01:10:14,520 --> 01:10:16,800
get to a point where DeAndre Eton from sixteen feet

1405
01:10:16,920 --> 01:10:18,600
is like your best perimeter offensive weapon.

1406
01:10:19,800 --> 01:10:22,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we have to you know, for so long

1407
01:10:23,079 --> 01:10:25,600
it's been the narrative that Anthony is so young and

1408
01:10:25,640 --> 01:10:29,960
he's not young anymore. He is an experienced VET, and

1409
01:10:30,119 --> 01:10:35,119
if anything, I want better for him because he you know,

1410
01:10:35,760 --> 01:10:37,760
he's been here for six or seven years. I think

1411
01:10:37,800 --> 01:10:39,840
he's going into his seventh year, and he's done everything

1412
01:10:39,840 --> 01:10:41,600
that was asked of him, and for the last three

1413
01:10:41,680 --> 01:10:44,199
years has not been on a team that has actively

1414
01:10:44,239 --> 01:10:49,640
been trying to do well get in the playoffs, let's say.

1415
01:10:50,920 --> 01:10:55,159
And I just he's a talented player, and we do

1416
01:10:55,239 --> 01:10:57,359
need to have a mix of guys who know what

1417
01:10:57,359 --> 01:11:00,479
they're doing alongside the young players who were still how

1418
01:11:00,479 --> 01:11:03,319
to navigate the league. But I just I feel for

1419
01:11:03,439 --> 01:11:06,319
Anthony in terms of, like I really wish he was

1420
01:11:06,359 --> 01:11:08,239
playing Force. I really wish he could go to a

1421
01:11:08,239 --> 01:11:12,840
competitor and go play for a team that like needs

1422
01:11:12,880 --> 01:11:15,840
his skills and is trying to their best to win.

1423
01:11:16,279 --> 01:11:21,039
So I you know, I'm I am happy with who

1424
01:11:21,039 --> 01:11:24,680
he's been. He's never complained, he's never asked for a trade.

1425
01:11:24,960 --> 01:11:26,680
You know, he seems to be a good guy who

1426
01:11:26,800 --> 01:11:30,880
the the young players like, and everybody, well not everybody,

1427
01:11:30,960 --> 01:11:33,399
but I've heard that it was a mistake that Joe

1428
01:11:33,439 --> 01:11:38,520
Cronin had to Joe cron didn't mean to not mention

1429
01:11:38,680 --> 01:11:41,119
him to press conferences in a row. When he was

1430
01:11:41,119 --> 01:11:44,199
talking about who he was building around, I was like

1431
01:11:45,760 --> 01:11:47,560
kind of a big omission there. I don't know if

1432
01:11:47,600 --> 01:11:49,720
he did it on purpose or not, but I just

1433
01:11:49,760 --> 01:11:51,359
I want what's best for Anthony.

1434
01:11:51,920 --> 01:11:54,119
Speaker 1: I've been trying to get him on the Orlando Magic

1435
01:11:54,159 --> 01:11:56,520
for like two years now, like there's a trade there

1436
01:11:56,560 --> 01:11:57,920
and it just needs to happen. I'd like to see

1437
01:11:57,960 --> 01:12:00,640
him on a good team, but you recognize if I

1438
01:12:00,640 --> 01:12:03,119
want to see a watchable Blazers offense, I do kind

1439
01:12:03,119 --> 01:12:04,560
of think he's important to that.

1440
01:12:05,239 --> 01:12:07,159
Speaker 2: I also think it makes me think I just thought

1441
01:12:07,199 --> 01:12:09,720
of this right now that like I've heard about Joe

1442
01:12:09,800 --> 01:12:12,399
Cronan is that he's not going to trade just for anything,

1443
01:12:12,840 --> 01:12:15,359
which is like kind of why I guess I understand

1444
01:12:15,439 --> 01:12:18,560
Jeremy Grant is still around, like he's not going to

1445
01:12:18,640 --> 01:12:21,319
just trade for the sake of trading him. And maybe

1446
01:12:21,319 --> 01:12:24,760
that's why, like he hasn't made a deal with Orlando,

1447
01:12:24,880 --> 01:12:28,199
because like you know, if the narrative is is that

1448
01:12:28,239 --> 01:12:31,880
Portland wants to get rid of Anthony Simon's, then Orlando

1449
01:12:31,920 --> 01:12:35,319
can come in and lowball him. And you know, I

1450
01:12:35,359 --> 01:12:38,479
don't know, maybe I think what I've heard about Joe

1451
01:12:38,520 --> 01:12:40,520
Cronan is that he's not going to make moves just

1452
01:12:40,560 --> 01:12:42,359
to make moves. He's going to make moves because they're

1453
01:12:42,399 --> 01:12:44,600
going to be better for the franchise. And that might

1454
01:12:44,640 --> 01:12:47,840
mean a lot of waiting. I don't want to wait

1455
01:12:47,880 --> 01:12:51,560
eighty seven years, but that might be why things haven't

1456
01:12:51,560 --> 01:12:52,359
happened yet.

1457
01:12:52,560 --> 01:12:54,720
Speaker 1: I think he proved your point last offseason with the

1458
01:12:54,720 --> 01:12:57,439
way that Damian Lillard trade stuff was handled too. And

1459
01:12:57,600 --> 01:12:59,560
the Blazers are also in a unique position now to

1460
01:13:00,680 --> 01:13:03,159
maybe not all the players on their team or core

1461
01:13:03,359 --> 01:13:05,840
long term players, but they have a lot of players,

1462
01:13:05,840 --> 01:13:07,880
and so if you're not really offering enough picks, like

1463
01:13:07,960 --> 01:13:09,840
that probably is more of a priority to them than

1464
01:13:09,880 --> 01:13:12,680
getting more bodies in here, because as I'm about to

1465
01:13:12,680 --> 01:13:15,000
ask you about their rotation, there's I don't want to

1466
01:13:15,079 --> 01:13:18,159
use the word stacked, but the team is like there's

1467
01:13:18,520 --> 01:13:22,479
NBA talent everywhere on it, and so that kind of

1468
01:13:22,479 --> 01:13:25,439
diminishes the value unless you're getting super high in prospects

1469
01:13:25,520 --> 01:13:28,039
of you know, kind of like, okaysee doesn't need more

1470
01:13:28,039 --> 01:13:30,760
picks as of right now. The Blazers don't need more players.

1471
01:13:31,399 --> 01:13:34,840
Speaker 2: It's weird, isn't it. I mean they when I was

1472
01:13:34,920 --> 01:13:38,399
in New York last year right before the trade deadline

1473
01:13:38,399 --> 01:13:40,840
and we saw it. Not a lot happen since then

1474
01:13:40,920 --> 01:13:44,800
in terms of turnover, despite the fact that they had

1475
01:13:44,920 --> 01:13:49,039
up and down, you know, the roster like real NBA players.

1476
01:13:49,640 --> 01:13:51,640
My friend that I was at that game with was like,

1477
01:13:52,199 --> 01:13:57,800
who are these people? They they were, you know, it

1478
01:13:57,840 --> 01:13:59,960
was It's like, Oh, it's it's a bunch of remix,

1479
01:14:00,520 --> 01:14:04,720
you know. So, yeah, it's weird that they can do both.

1480
01:14:04,760 --> 01:14:08,720
They can somehow like have like a roster with players

1481
01:14:08,720 --> 01:14:12,439
who are bona fide players and still run out a

1482
01:14:12,479 --> 01:14:14,199
team of like.

1483
01:14:14,479 --> 01:14:19,199
Speaker 1: Who that's true too. That's honestly impressive. And if they

1484
01:14:19,239 --> 01:14:21,199
do that again this year without making any trades, it's

1485
01:14:21,239 --> 01:14:24,359
even more impressive because they have more players that just

1486
01:14:24,359 --> 01:14:26,359
by virtue of having Donovan klingon and maybe r W

1487
01:14:26,520 --> 01:14:29,600
three is healthy, those are gonna be recognizable real NBA players.

1488
01:14:29,600 --> 01:14:31,439
So if they end up doing that again without making

1489
01:14:31,479 --> 01:14:34,039
a move, I'll have to take my hats off to them.

1490
01:14:34,039 --> 01:14:35,840
I don't want to necessarily see that happen, but it

1491
01:14:36,079 --> 01:14:36,840
would be impressive.

1492
01:14:37,399 --> 01:14:39,479
Speaker 2: I'm doing my best to find things that I can

1493
01:14:39,520 --> 01:14:41,359
watch for and enjoy the season.

1494
01:14:42,279 --> 01:14:44,800
Speaker 1: So we've made it to the Lightning Round cookie Cutter

1495
01:14:44,800 --> 01:14:47,359
portion of the podcast. Tara, are you ready? Yes, I'm

1496
01:14:47,359 --> 01:14:50,960
ready looking at the roster. I think this is easy,

1497
01:14:51,000 --> 01:14:52,520
But I'm curious if you would have a different answer.

1498
01:14:52,720 --> 01:14:54,479
What do you view is its biggest need? Is it

1499
01:14:54,760 --> 01:14:56,560
just is it shooting that we've kind of talked a

1500
01:14:56,560 --> 01:14:57,479
lot about at this point.

1501
01:14:58,000 --> 01:15:00,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you're talking about basketball things, is yeah, it's shooting.

1502
01:15:00,800 --> 01:15:03,199
If you're talking about like intangibles, it's just like just

1503
01:15:03,279 --> 01:15:05,279
knowing what do we have with these players?

1504
01:15:05,920 --> 01:15:08,199
Speaker 1: I thought you were gonna I was waiting like better haircuts,

1505
01:15:08,279 --> 01:15:11,000
or these teams need like exotic pets or something that

1506
01:15:11,159 --> 01:15:16,359
was waiting for something like that. So the other question

1507
01:15:16,399 --> 01:15:19,199
I have is is there anything that we haven't discussed

1508
01:15:19,319 --> 01:15:21,000
about this team, whether it has to do with a

1509
01:15:21,039 --> 01:15:23,920
player or a storyline, a concept, whatever that's flying under

1510
01:15:23,920 --> 01:15:26,199
the radar that you want to talk about.

1511
01:15:27,439 --> 01:15:31,079
Speaker 2: I think we've really touched on a lot. And so yeah,

1512
01:15:31,119 --> 01:15:32,680
I can't think of anything that I was like, Oh,

1513
01:15:32,720 --> 01:15:34,199
I really wanted to talk about this that I haven't

1514
01:15:34,199 --> 01:15:35,039
already snuck.

1515
01:15:34,800 --> 01:15:38,439
Speaker 1: In love to. I actually love to hear that because

1516
01:15:38,479 --> 01:15:40,560
it means that I didn't do a terrible job of

1517
01:15:40,600 --> 01:15:44,039
building the podcast. Then so's a fantastic job say that

1518
01:15:44,279 --> 01:15:44,720
this year.

1519
01:15:45,119 --> 01:15:46,840
Speaker 2: You do great job with all of these.

1520
01:15:47,560 --> 01:15:51,560
Speaker 1: Thank you, But top full strength, you have to pick

1521
01:15:51,600 --> 01:15:55,239
ten players that will be the ones that are being played,

1522
01:15:55,319 --> 01:15:57,800
players that will play Tara. What was it? What does

1523
01:15:57,840 --> 01:15:59,640
the top ten rotation look like to you as of

1524
01:15:59,720 --> 01:16:00,000
right now?

1525
01:16:00,039 --> 01:16:05,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, Anthony Scoot Shade and I'm not gonna necessarily like

1526
01:16:05,560 --> 01:16:09,119
do these two groups of five that playing together. I'm

1527
01:16:09,119 --> 01:16:16,600
just gonna so Anthony scooted Shaden DeAndre Donovan because that's

1528
01:16:16,720 --> 01:16:23,319
five Jeremy, uh uh did I I think? Did I

1529
01:16:23,319 --> 01:16:28,840
say Donovan? I should be looking at a list. I'll

1530
01:16:28,880 --> 01:16:30,960
basically tell you who I think is probably not going

1531
01:16:31,039 --> 01:16:34,640
to be in the rotation. Like I said, I think

1532
01:16:34,680 --> 01:16:40,600
it's I think Chris Murray, rand Repair, Jabari Walker, and

1533
01:16:40,640 --> 01:16:42,800
I think he's he's the one that is going to

1534
01:16:42,840 --> 01:16:45,880
be waiting for an opportunity for like to get in there.

1535
01:16:46,199 --> 01:16:50,960
I think Matista will be right on the edge because

1536
01:16:51,000 --> 01:16:58,800
I think they you know they have uhmar oh, Yeah,

1537
01:16:58,800 --> 01:17:00,319
Adiya would be one who will be playing. So I

1538
01:17:00,399 --> 01:17:02,199
think I mentioned four that I don't think are really

1539
01:17:02,279 --> 01:17:08,359
going to be in the rotation, Rayon, Chris Jabbari, uh

1540
01:17:08,800 --> 01:17:10,279
Matista be on the edge?

1541
01:17:11,119 --> 01:17:12,199
Speaker 1: Oh do you do you think?

1542
01:17:12,560 --> 01:17:13,600
Speaker 2: I think it'll be on the edge.

1543
01:17:13,960 --> 01:17:15,439
Speaker 1: That's what I was gonna I was gonna ask which

1544
01:17:15,439 --> 01:17:16,960
big kind of falls by the wayside?

1545
01:17:17,199 --> 01:17:23,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and and then Robert Williams will play, and

1546
01:17:23,359 --> 01:17:26,319
I will love every single dunk that he gets. And

1547
01:17:26,359 --> 01:17:29,119
then he probably won't play. He'll you know, he'll either

1548
01:17:29,199 --> 01:17:32,079
be traded. Hopefully it's because he's traded, and I really

1549
01:17:32,079 --> 01:17:33,960
want what's best for him because he seems like a

1550
01:17:34,000 --> 01:17:37,399
really cool guy and at any different the Blazers were

1551
01:17:37,399 --> 01:17:40,119
in a different situation, I would love to have him

1552
01:17:40,159 --> 01:17:42,800
around because he seems like a really fun person to

1553
01:17:42,840 --> 01:17:45,359
build a team around or to you know, bey on

1554
01:17:45,520 --> 01:17:46,199
the team.

1555
01:17:46,560 --> 01:17:50,600
Speaker 1: If he could just stay healthy, he will be probably

1556
01:17:51,039 --> 01:17:53,960
in terms of big men, top seven, top ten big

1557
01:17:54,000 --> 01:17:56,119
man if he was just that's how that's how good

1558
01:17:56,119 --> 01:17:56,560
he is and.

1559
01:17:57,479 --> 01:17:59,319
Speaker 2: Is really really intriguing.

1560
01:17:59,840 --> 01:18:01,600
Speaker 1: And that's the other thing too, because he doesn't play

1561
01:18:01,600 --> 01:18:03,119
a ton even when he's healthy. But I don't know

1562
01:18:03,119 --> 01:18:05,079
if that's like one is they're worried about him getting

1563
01:18:05,079 --> 01:18:06,560
injured so he doesn't play more. Is it really a

1564
01:18:06,560 --> 01:18:09,239
stamina thing. But the only other rotation question I had

1565
01:18:09,319 --> 01:18:12,840
is do you think that they start, Like, is it

1566
01:18:12,880 --> 01:18:16,359
going to be Scoot, Avia and Shaden's starting, or do

1567
01:18:16,399 --> 01:18:18,359
you think that Anfrey Simon's will start and Sharp will

1568
01:18:18,359 --> 01:18:19,840
come off the bench? Is something else?

1569
01:18:20,439 --> 01:18:25,279
Speaker 2: I think it will be Anthony and Shaden and Avdia

1570
01:18:25,399 --> 01:18:30,199
and Grant and Ayton are starting off the bench. Yeah,

1571
01:18:30,279 --> 01:18:31,760
I think Scoot will come off the bench.

1572
01:18:32,640 --> 01:18:33,520
Speaker 1: Whoa that is?

1573
01:18:33,560 --> 01:18:34,680
Speaker 2: Are you surprised about that?

1574
01:18:35,319 --> 01:18:38,439
Speaker 1: I'm not surprised, but I really just don't. I wouldn't

1575
01:18:38,479 --> 01:18:40,199
structure it that way, and I will let you know.

1576
01:18:40,279 --> 01:18:43,359
I promise it won't be this podcast. The national media

1577
01:18:43,399 --> 01:18:46,119
is going to have a field day with that if

1578
01:18:46,159 --> 01:18:48,239
that is what they open the season with, because him

1579
01:18:48,319 --> 01:18:52,640
not starting, he was just the number? Uh was it? Three? Pick?

1580
01:18:52,760 --> 01:18:52,960
Speaker 2: Yeah?

1581
01:18:53,000 --> 01:18:56,039
Speaker 1: Pick uh? And to be in your second season and

1582
01:18:56,079 --> 01:18:59,279
you you're on a team that doesn't have another floor

1583
01:18:59,319 --> 01:19:01,640
general of the future option. Really to know I would

1584
01:19:01,640 --> 01:19:04,239
find that, I would find it. I would get it

1585
01:19:04,279 --> 01:19:07,359
from a if you're trying to win a basketball games perspective,

1586
01:19:07,640 --> 01:19:11,239
from a developmental perspective, we do get caught up too much,

1587
01:19:11,279 --> 01:19:13,159
I'm sure. And who's starting, it's about who finishes or

1588
01:19:13,199 --> 01:19:13,880
who plays more.

1589
01:19:13,920 --> 01:19:16,600
Speaker 2: But man, so you're not gonna start Anthrony?

1590
01:19:17,720 --> 01:19:22,479
Speaker 1: No, yeah, I would not start Anthrony because I'm more

1591
01:19:22,520 --> 01:19:25,239
invested in Shade and Sharp. The spacing of that lineup

1592
01:19:25,279 --> 01:19:26,640
might not be great, but I think it's a vote

1593
01:19:26,640 --> 01:19:29,760
of confidence in what we trust. Scot did enough jumpers,

1594
01:19:29,800 --> 01:19:31,640
and we trust Shade and Sharp to be a good

1595
01:19:31,720 --> 01:19:35,079
enough shooter. So, I mean, Scoot coming off the bench

1596
01:19:36,319 --> 01:19:38,039
is the logic. Just do you think it's better for

1597
01:19:38,159 --> 01:19:40,840
him to go up against second units or to play

1598
01:19:40,840 --> 01:19:42,960
within some of those core bench lineups. I mean, you

1599
01:19:42,960 --> 01:19:46,640
even mentioning how important it was like with him playing

1600
01:19:46,640 --> 01:19:48,680
with DeAndre Ayton, starting him might be a way of

1601
01:19:48,720 --> 01:19:50,800
getting him more minutes with eight mm hmmm.

1602
01:19:51,000 --> 01:19:52,920
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess if I was just thinking about,

1603
01:19:53,279 --> 01:19:56,840
like on Night one, I don't I want to put

1604
01:19:56,880 --> 01:20:02,399
out a lineup that has a promise. I mean, I

1605
01:20:02,479 --> 01:20:04,159
don't know. I just I don't. I don't want to

1606
01:20:04,159 --> 01:20:07,079
make Anthrony sit while he's on the roster.

1607
01:20:09,479 --> 01:20:12,000
Speaker 1: That's what I would just bade him. I mean, he

1608
01:20:12,000 --> 01:20:14,920
would still play. I just that's if Look again, maybe

1609
01:20:14,920 --> 01:20:16,199
it ends be in the right call.

1610
01:20:16,640 --> 01:20:19,359
Speaker 2: I mean, we all we all know how Scoop did

1611
01:20:19,439 --> 01:20:22,319
last year, and we know he did better when he

1612
01:20:22,359 --> 01:20:28,079
came off the bench, and that's just how it was.

1613
01:20:29,520 --> 01:20:33,520
Speaker 1: No, I'm not I'm not saying you're wrong. I just

1614
01:20:33,680 --> 01:20:36,760
I don't think it's the I But this again, it

1615
01:20:36,760 --> 01:20:38,880
could be me guilty of is it better for his

1616
01:20:38,920 --> 01:20:40,760
development to come off the bench? As you said, he

1617
01:20:40,840 --> 01:20:42,399
was better when he came off the bench. But I'm

1618
01:20:42,399 --> 01:20:45,119
also just like, well, if you want this guy to

1619
01:20:45,119 --> 01:20:47,039
be your corner stone in the future, like, why why

1620
01:20:47,079 --> 01:20:49,279
are you bringing him off the bench? Still? What is

1621
01:20:49,279 --> 01:20:51,319
it about him that makes you want to bring him

1622
01:20:51,319 --> 01:20:52,399
off the bench? Still?

1623
01:20:53,359 --> 01:20:55,479
Speaker 2: Well, I hope in February he's not coming off the bench,

1624
01:20:55,560 --> 01:20:58,960
but like at the beginning and where where they left

1625
01:20:59,000 --> 01:21:01,840
off at the and this I don't know. Well, I

1626
01:21:01,840 --> 01:21:03,199
don't want to say that because the end of the

1627
01:21:03,199 --> 01:21:05,199
season was mess I don't know. I just I just

1628
01:21:05,239 --> 01:21:09,079
think that he's still very young, very raw, he still

1629
01:21:09,119 --> 01:21:11,359
has a lot of stuff to process and a lot

1630
01:21:11,359 --> 01:21:13,119
of stuff to learn about what it's like to play

1631
01:21:13,319 --> 01:21:16,560
in the NBA. That I just think it's more beneficial

1632
01:21:16,640 --> 01:21:18,920
for his development right now not to go well. And

1633
01:21:18,960 --> 01:21:21,000
that's something that Chauncey has talked about too, is like

1634
01:21:21,079 --> 01:21:24,199
he really wants to not he wants to put guys

1635
01:21:24,199 --> 01:21:28,520
in where they can be successful rather than just throwing

1636
01:21:28,560 --> 01:21:31,079
them in and like see if you can, you know,

1637
01:21:31,119 --> 01:21:33,640
see how it happens. And that was something that he

1638
01:21:33,680 --> 01:21:35,600
had said last year. So maybe I got that in

1639
01:21:35,600 --> 01:21:38,359
the back of the back of my mind, but I

1640
01:21:38,399 --> 01:21:43,239
just think that, yeah, I just think that it might

1641
01:21:43,279 --> 01:21:46,039
be better beneficial. Maybe if Scoot was like twenty three

1642
01:21:46,079 --> 01:21:47,880
years old, it would be a different thing. But he's

1643
01:21:47,960 --> 01:21:50,079
like beginning his second season and he knows that he

1644
01:21:50,159 --> 01:21:53,000
has a lot to prove, and he says all the

1645
01:21:53,079 --> 01:21:57,239
right things, and I just I, I don't know. I

1646
01:21:57,319 --> 01:21:59,319
just that's what that's that's where what I think is

1647
01:21:59,359 --> 01:22:02,319
gonna happen. But I be plenty wrong, and you have

1648
01:22:02,399 --> 01:22:03,880
a lot more experience than I do.

1649
01:22:04,399 --> 01:22:06,520
Speaker 1: I defer to you on matters of the Blazers, though,

1650
01:22:06,720 --> 01:22:09,079
Well this makes this question a lot more interesting for me.

1651
01:22:09,279 --> 01:22:11,760
You're coaching the team, what is your go to It'll

1652
01:22:11,800 --> 01:22:13,640
be I know it'll change, it can be matchup dependent,

1653
01:22:13,680 --> 01:22:15,960
but what is your go to closing lineup?

1654
01:22:16,760 --> 01:22:20,960
Speaker 2: Are we playing an nd season tournament game I'm trying

1655
01:22:21,000 --> 01:22:21,319
to win?

1656
01:22:21,920 --> 01:22:23,800
Speaker 1: This is a team. That's because it's if you want

1657
01:22:23,840 --> 01:22:26,079
to approach from the perspective of or are they trying

1658
01:22:26,079 --> 01:22:30,079
to lose this? I look at as if they're trying

1659
01:22:30,079 --> 01:22:32,720
to win a close game called the mid season tournament game.

1660
01:22:32,720 --> 01:22:33,920
Maybe that's a game that they want to win.

1661
01:22:34,039 --> 01:22:40,199
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think if if they're gonna you know, I

1662
01:22:40,239 --> 01:22:46,079
think if I, if I was the coach and it

1663
01:22:46,199 --> 01:22:49,079
was a close game, I would throw in a very

1664
01:22:49,159 --> 01:22:54,279
defensive lineup with Anthony, so, you know, I think I

1665
01:22:54,319 --> 01:22:58,039
would look, you know, maybe even at Donovan. I'm not

1666
01:22:58,039 --> 01:23:00,199
sure if I would start Donovan or if I would

1667
01:23:00,199 --> 01:23:02,279
finish with Donovan over eight and yet not having seen

1668
01:23:02,359 --> 01:23:05,680
Donovan play any NBA ball, but if I really wanted

1669
01:23:05,680 --> 01:23:08,039
to like clamp down and make sure the other team

1670
01:23:08,079 --> 01:23:11,640
could not do anything, I think I would lean towards Donovan.

1671
01:23:14,000 --> 01:23:19,840
Wouldn't Robert Williams be fun in there, Denny and then

1672
01:23:20,760 --> 01:23:24,439
probably Matisse and Anthony.

1673
01:23:25,760 --> 01:23:28,399
Speaker 1: Oh, that's it. Seems it would be pretty good defensive

1674
01:23:28,399 --> 01:23:31,800
lineupsive lineup.

1675
01:23:31,880 --> 01:23:34,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, it would be really good defensively. I just don't

1676
01:23:34,600 --> 01:23:37,159
know if there's enough, Like if the Blazers were in

1677
01:23:37,199 --> 01:23:39,560
a hole and we're trying to like score or if

1678
01:23:39,600 --> 01:23:42,800
they were just trying to stop the other team. But

1679
01:23:42,840 --> 01:23:44,159
I think that would be a pretty that would be

1680
01:23:44,159 --> 01:23:45,920
a pretty fun one to look at to watch, or

1681
01:23:45,960 --> 01:23:48,880
maybe it would be like watching mud dry.

1682
01:23:49,239 --> 01:23:54,359
Speaker 1: But is that your funky weirdo out there lineup as well,

1683
01:23:54,439 --> 01:23:56,239
or do you have a different one for Oh no, I.

1684
01:23:56,159 --> 01:24:00,000
Speaker 2: Have I have other criteria for my funky lineups.

1685
01:24:00,680 --> 01:24:01,840
Speaker 1: Oh do you want to hear what happen?

1686
01:24:02,279 --> 01:24:05,800
Speaker 2: Okay? So my my all big plus Delano Banton lineup

1687
01:24:06,399 --> 01:24:09,560
is We've got Dolana as the point guard, tall point

1688
01:24:09,560 --> 01:24:12,560
guard six ' nine. It's so fun having a tall

1689
01:24:12,600 --> 01:24:15,520
point guard. And then I'd put Wop at the two

1690
01:24:15,760 --> 01:24:19,920
because you can really shoot. And then Robert Williams slide

1691
01:24:19,960 --> 01:24:23,039
down to the three, Donovan Klingon at the four at

1692
01:24:23,199 --> 01:24:26,000
seven to two, and then DeAndrea eight and seven feet

1693
01:24:26,039 --> 01:24:30,279
as a center. So that's my all talls plus.

1694
01:24:30,640 --> 01:24:33,399
Speaker 1: I love it. That's sicko stuff. I love it.

1695
01:24:33,680 --> 01:24:37,680
Speaker 2: I also have the lineup of all the youngest players,

1696
01:24:37,840 --> 01:24:40,479
which is actually like maybe in a couple of years

1697
01:24:40,479 --> 01:24:44,960
could be like, that's not that bad lineup, right, So

1698
01:24:45,159 --> 01:24:51,520
center Donovan clingan small forward right on repair Scoot as

1699
01:24:51,520 --> 01:24:53,840
the point guard, Shaden is the shooting guard, and then

1700
01:24:53,880 --> 01:24:55,279
Jabari is the power forward.

1701
01:24:55,960 --> 01:24:57,640
Speaker 1: Okay, that could be fun.

1702
01:24:59,640 --> 01:25:02,560
Speaker 2: Nine, you never know. And then I threw in one

1703
01:25:02,600 --> 01:25:05,279
more for fun which is more on brand, which you

1704
01:25:05,319 --> 01:25:07,920
were probably more expecting of me. Which is the best

1705
01:25:08,000 --> 01:25:13,800
dress lineup. We have Scoot as the best dress point guard,

1706
01:25:13,960 --> 01:25:17,479
followed by Dolana Banton as the best dressed shooting guard.

1707
01:25:18,000 --> 01:25:22,319
Then we have small forward Jeremy Grant. Obviously, Jabbari is

1708
01:25:22,319 --> 01:25:25,720
a power forward. He was actually most improved fits last season.

1709
01:25:26,479 --> 01:25:30,039
So we got Jabbari as the power forward, best dress,

1710
01:25:30,079 --> 01:25:33,600
and Jeremy is the small forward, best stressed, and then

1711
01:25:33,680 --> 01:25:36,199
DeAndre Ayden of course is the center. I don't think

1712
01:25:36,239 --> 01:25:39,159
Donovan Klingon is going to challenge him in that arena

1713
01:25:39,239 --> 01:25:40,479
at least right now.

1714
01:25:41,439 --> 01:25:43,880
Speaker 1: I like that. I will say, sometimes, watching Scoot, and

1715
01:25:43,880 --> 01:25:46,159
maybe it was the goggles era Scoot, I felt like

1716
01:25:46,199 --> 01:25:49,279
I was watching someone who transported out of a different

1717
01:25:49,279 --> 01:25:52,039
era of basketball, and I really like the aesthetics of

1718
01:25:52,359 --> 01:25:54,279
like how the uniform looked. I liked it.

1719
01:25:54,359 --> 01:25:57,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, we love goggles, Scoot, Yes, we love Scoot with

1720
01:25:57,439 --> 01:25:58,039
the goggles.

1721
01:25:59,079 --> 01:26:01,560
Speaker 1: So mine would be it was actually similar to your

1722
01:26:01,680 --> 01:26:03,960
closing lineup, which maybe means that I didn't go weird

1723
01:26:04,079 --> 01:26:06,680
enough on it. But give me Clinging and r W three.

1724
01:26:06,720 --> 01:26:08,479
You know, I'm kind of obsessed with that pairing. Now

1725
01:26:08,920 --> 01:26:12,680
Avdya Tumani Kamara and then Shade and Sharp will be

1726
01:26:12,720 --> 01:26:14,479
my point guard in that scenario, so you just have

1727
01:26:14,640 --> 01:26:16,920
an Avia will playmake two. I feel like that's a

1728
01:26:16,920 --> 01:26:20,079
ton of defense. And then just like if Shayton kind

1729
01:26:20,079 --> 01:26:22,159
of pops, maybe you get your shooting from him. Maybe

1730
01:26:22,199 --> 01:26:25,840
Avdy hits enough threes terrible four spacing overall, probably, but

1731
01:26:25,880 --> 01:26:27,760
I feel like they would ruin lives defensively.

1732
01:26:30,239 --> 01:26:32,119
Speaker 2: Wouldn't that be fun if the Blazers turned out to

1733
01:26:32,119 --> 01:26:33,239
be a really good defense.

1734
01:26:34,000 --> 01:26:37,159
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I root for chaos and the unexpected.

1735
01:26:37,199 --> 01:26:39,279
So the best thing ever would be if we were

1736
01:26:39,279 --> 01:26:41,960
having a discussion months from now the Blazers are like

1737
01:26:42,079 --> 01:26:45,000
ninth in defense or something wild like that. I would

1738
01:26:45,039 --> 01:26:45,399
love it.

1739
01:26:45,680 --> 01:26:47,039
Speaker 2: From your mouth to God's ears.

1740
01:26:47,399 --> 01:26:52,039
Speaker 1: So, Tara, as we record this, they're over under is

1741
01:26:52,079 --> 01:26:54,079
set at twenty two and a half, which is five

1742
01:26:54,119 --> 01:26:57,079
wins fewer than last year, even though they have more

1743
01:26:57,079 --> 01:27:00,479
talent on the roster. Would you take though the direction

1744
01:27:00,520 --> 01:27:01,960
they're headed in what we saw at the end of

1745
01:27:02,039 --> 01:27:04,000
last season. Would you take the over the under on that?

1746
01:27:04,840 --> 01:27:05,319
Speaker 2: The under?

1747
01:27:07,119 --> 01:27:09,239
Speaker 1: Wow? So are you just bet you think they're gonna

1748
01:27:09,239 --> 01:27:10,960
be Is there any team in the West you could

1749
01:27:10,960 --> 01:27:13,039
see them being better than? If you're taking me under on.

1750
01:27:12,960 --> 01:27:17,399
Speaker 2: That, any team in the West that they could be

1751
01:27:17,399 --> 01:27:23,640
better on? Better than? I mean, I think they're I mean,

1752
01:27:23,720 --> 01:27:26,039
the Blazers haven't done this for the last three years

1753
01:27:26,079 --> 01:27:26,840
to give up now.

1754
01:27:30,640 --> 01:27:32,399
Speaker 1: So it's like if they come out too good out

1755
01:27:32,439 --> 01:27:34,560
of the gate, that's when the trades start happening earlier.

1756
01:27:35,960 --> 01:27:38,800
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know. I feel bad talking about

1757
01:27:38,840 --> 01:27:40,039
the team like this, and there are a lot of

1758
01:27:40,079 --> 01:27:42,079
the reason I talk about like this is to protect

1759
01:27:42,159 --> 01:27:47,319
my own expectations and to not like, you know, we're

1760
01:27:47,600 --> 01:27:49,079
you know, worry about like are they going to be

1761
01:27:49,079 --> 01:27:50,680
too good? Like I think they have a lot of

1762
01:27:50,680 --> 01:27:52,840
really fun pieces and like you've said, they have up

1763
01:27:52,880 --> 01:27:55,600
and down the roster, or they have players that could

1764
01:27:55,640 --> 01:27:59,640
be like perfectly good. I just talk about them like

1765
01:27:59,720 --> 01:28:03,119
this because I feel like it's guarding my heart and

1766
01:28:03,159 --> 01:28:08,279
protecting myself from you know, the inevitable, because you know,

1767
01:28:08,399 --> 01:28:11,079
the front office has a plan and they announced that

1768
01:28:11,119 --> 01:28:16,119
plan very loudly when they traded Damian Lillard and so like,

1769
01:28:16,279 --> 01:28:21,119
I can either get on board and you know, ride

1770
01:28:21,159 --> 01:28:25,319
with the train that has left the station, or I

1771
01:28:25,319 --> 01:28:28,439
guess there's other options. But at this point, like, there's

1772
01:28:28,560 --> 01:28:33,479
so many tantalizing players and I've overused that word. There's

1773
01:28:33,520 --> 01:28:39,399
so many intriguing players in the upcoming draft. It seems

1774
01:28:39,520 --> 01:28:41,279
crazy to me that to go through all of this

1775
01:28:41,359 --> 01:28:45,840
effort for a fourteen percent chance at the number one.

1776
01:28:46,159 --> 01:28:49,720
But there are so many players up and down the

1777
01:28:49,880 --> 01:28:53,920
roster that again, the Blazers are trying to find that guy.

1778
01:28:54,720 --> 01:28:57,119
And I think, I mean, there's so many players in

1779
01:28:57,159 --> 01:29:01,239
the draft, in the upcoming draft that might have that potential.

1780
01:29:01,279 --> 01:29:04,239
I just don't see them giving it up. Oops, we

1781
01:29:04,319 --> 01:29:07,760
made it into the plane. I think you're made it

1782
01:29:07,760 --> 01:29:11,359
into the playoffs. I think that's a couple of years

1783
01:29:11,399 --> 01:29:11,800
from now.

1784
01:29:13,239 --> 01:29:15,319
Speaker 1: Look, so the goal is to win the NBA Cup

1785
01:29:15,600 --> 01:29:17,319
and finish with the worst record in the West. There's

1786
01:29:17,359 --> 01:29:18,039
nothing wrong with that.

1787
01:29:18,760 --> 01:29:21,840
Speaker 2: And if you win the NBA Cup, that last game

1788
01:29:21,840 --> 01:29:24,199
doesn't even count of get your against your record if

1789
01:29:24,199 --> 01:29:26,239
you're looking at it that way. God, people are gonna

1790
01:29:26,239 --> 01:29:31,119
hate listening to this. I just feel so awful. I

1791
01:29:31,199 --> 01:29:35,279
love this team. I just have accepted where the front

1792
01:29:35,319 --> 01:29:38,960
office is going, and I've just it's less painful to

1793
01:29:39,119 --> 01:29:42,560
fight against it and just like think about all of

1794
01:29:42,600 --> 01:29:46,479
the potential of the future that this direction could offer us,

1795
01:29:46,960 --> 01:29:50,399
rather than just trying to like keep going, keep going,

1796
01:29:50,439 --> 01:29:54,079
like big things had to happen, or that's what I understand.

1797
01:29:54,199 --> 01:29:56,520
Big things had to happen. The big things happen, and

1798
01:29:56,560 --> 01:29:58,640
I'm just doing my best to like be able to

1799
01:29:58,760 --> 01:30:03,399
like mentally make it through the next three to four years.

1800
01:30:03,680 --> 01:30:06,239
Speaker 1: For what it's worth, I think you're looking at it

1801
01:30:06,479 --> 01:30:09,720
from the correct advantage point, and I honestly think most

1802
01:30:09,800 --> 01:30:13,359
fans would agree with you as well. I think where

1803
01:30:13,880 --> 01:30:17,079
people might diverge is they might be frustrated that, Okay,

1804
01:30:17,079 --> 01:30:19,880
this is year two of what is a real rebuild,

1805
01:30:19,880 --> 01:30:21,880
and I think a valuable one, but it feels like

1806
01:30:21,960 --> 01:30:24,119
year three or four of kind of what are we

1807
01:30:24,199 --> 01:30:27,039
doing here? And so had they started this earlier and

1808
01:30:27,079 --> 01:30:28,840
like laid out the plan, so it's just the fact

1809
01:30:28,840 --> 01:30:31,359
that was sandwiched all together. I think that's maybe where

1810
01:30:31,359 --> 01:30:34,159
the discrepancy comes in. But that's my ten thousand foot

1811
01:30:34,239 --> 01:30:37,720
view of it. I think you're looking at it correctly, though.

1812
01:30:38,079 --> 01:30:42,000
Speaker 2: It's just it just feels so wrong to like root

1813
01:30:42,039 --> 01:30:44,600
for losses. And I don't want to root for a losses.

1814
01:30:44,640 --> 01:30:48,359
Every win I'm gonna cherish and enjoy. But I find

1815
01:30:48,399 --> 01:30:50,880
myself as I'm watching these games looking at wins as

1816
01:30:50,920 --> 01:30:53,359
something like, Okay, we're gonna score more than twenty points

1817
01:30:53,399 --> 01:30:56,159
in this quarter? Sweet, we scored twenty five, you know,

1818
01:30:56,239 --> 01:30:59,479
and like with the rosters that we've had, like those

1819
01:30:59,479 --> 01:31:02,279
are legiti things to cheer for, and we're high fiving

1820
01:31:02,319 --> 01:31:05,439
each other going way to go. You guys did better

1821
01:31:05,479 --> 01:31:07,279
than we thought. And that's just like I said, that's

1822
01:31:07,319 --> 01:31:09,079
just that's just how I have to cope with it.

1823
01:31:09,119 --> 01:31:13,119
I cannot wait for the day again where the Blazers

1824
01:31:13,319 --> 01:31:17,039
like are legitimate contenders, because it will happen. We just

1825
01:31:17,119 --> 01:31:18,720
have to ride this out.

1826
01:31:19,560 --> 01:31:21,840
Speaker 1: Tara, this was amazing as always. Thank you for giving

1827
01:31:21,880 --> 01:31:23,399
me so much of your time. Are you able just

1828
01:31:23,439 --> 01:31:26,760
to tell our listeners where they can find you and

1829
01:31:26,760 --> 01:31:28,359
and that we have a take podcast as well?

1830
01:31:29,000 --> 01:31:31,520
Speaker 2: Sure, if after everything I've said, didn't just like make

1831
01:31:31,600 --> 01:31:34,920
every Blazer listener like shut off the phone shut off

1832
01:31:34,960 --> 01:31:38,600
there they're listening devices. I you can find me on

1833
01:31:38,640 --> 01:31:42,199
Twitter at tcb bigs and you can find the We

1834
01:31:42,319 --> 01:31:45,840
have a Take pod on anywhere you get podcasts. We

1835
01:31:45,880 --> 01:31:48,680
haven't done many episodes this summer, which is another thing

1836
01:31:48,760 --> 01:31:50,840
that's great about maybe not being a contender is you

1837
01:31:50,840 --> 01:31:54,039
can take the summer off, but we have a take podcast.

1838
01:31:54,039 --> 01:31:57,119
We'll be starting up again soon, and you can also

1839
01:31:57,199 --> 01:31:59,560
follow us on Twitter at We have a Take. We

1840
01:31:59,560 --> 01:32:04,119
haven't figedigured out what other social media platforms to go

1841
01:32:04,159 --> 01:32:07,560
to because we've just been on Twitter for so long

1842
01:32:07,600 --> 01:32:10,640
and it's worked out so well for us for so long.

1843
01:32:11,359 --> 01:32:14,039
Speaker 1: My old man take is there's too many social media platforms.

1844
01:32:14,079 --> 01:32:15,359
Now it's official, there's too many.

1845
01:32:15,479 --> 01:32:17,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to just start writing handwritten letters and

1846
01:32:17,960 --> 01:32:20,279
I'll be like Dan and we have another episode out here,

1847
01:32:20,319 --> 01:32:20,600
you go.

1848
01:32:21,800 --> 01:32:25,119
Speaker 1: We'll just start corresponding via mail and get answers like

1849
01:32:25,199 --> 01:32:28,079
once every other week. You can find the links too

1850
01:32:28,079 --> 01:32:30,279
that we haven't take podcasts, as well as their Twitter

1851
01:32:30,359 --> 01:32:32,920
and Tara's Twitter will be in our podcast and YouTube description.

1852
01:32:32,960 --> 01:32:35,279
As always, I cannot thank you enough, Tara. This is

1853
01:32:35,319 --> 01:32:37,520
always a blast. You use such a fantastic job. I

1854
01:32:37,520 --> 01:32:40,640
appreciate your perspective on this team to no end, and

1855
01:32:40,640 --> 01:32:43,039
I wish you gave yourself more credit, but just wanted

1856
01:32:43,039 --> 01:32:44,960
to end on that note and say this was great

1857
01:32:44,960 --> 01:32:46,680
as always and as you know by now, I'll be

1858
01:32:46,680 --> 01:32:47,640
besting you again.

1859
01:32:47,560 --> 01:32:49,560
Speaker 2: In the future. Thank you'scrossed