Can the Season be Saved? | Trail Daddy: A Trail Blazers Podcast Hosted by Dave Deckard
[Music] hey this is Sean romis Fromm I’m the host of vox’s Daily News podcast today explained you know since like late September we have done probably close to a dozen shows on this impeachment inquiry from the sort of early rumors of a whistleblower complaint to Nancy Pelosi launching the formal impeachment inquiry to The Whistleblower complaint coming out and the so-called transcript coming out to the Republican counternarrative to the White House Stonewall we’ve done it all but it all felt like it was leading up to this moment of televised impeachment hearings and the event of that event was the testimony of Gordon Sunland and we wanted to make sure we made an episode that properly showcased and explained the significance the historic significance of that testimony and we did it and we want you to hear it it’s available in our feeds right now today explained the episode is titled impeachment TV Mr sonland Goes to Washington it’s a must listen I wouldn’t say so if it weren’t go check it out and enjoy it [Music] thanks hey what’s up Blazer fans welcome to the Blazers Edge podcast I am Tera bone bigs joined as always by Blazers Outsider Danny mering Danny how you holding up oh boy it’s been a an interesting day that’s for sure it’s been a week huh yeah it’s been that’s definitely that’s yeah that’s are currently 5 and 12 they’ve lost four in a row as you said before we hopped on they’ve won two games in the month of November and this is the week of Thanksgiving so things are not going the uh way that was represented on media day doesn’t appear that the Blazers are lasered in on a championship at this point not going to ever say that they are completely out but we’re at a point in the season where a lot of people have a lot of questions so where do we start that’s a good question where where do we start and I think the idea is what is this team right now and my thought is I’ve seen some people who I I think a b are more sympathetic to how you view every season Tera and that’s hope Beyond hope and always look on the bright side and always believe that this team with Damen Lillard and Neila and Terry St that core that foundation will always find a way but as much as I I admire that it’s not something that I have the basketball gods are cruel and for all of those runs that the Blazers made they they didn’t have crippling injuries they they didn’t have a roster that was imbalanced and waiting on trades they weren’t trying to work in entirely new rosters there was things that you could count on uh CJ having a a bad start to a season and coming to the fold okay you had consistency with Dame and even aminu and heartless and nkic that you could count on um deame rolling ankle missing a couple games CJ steps up to the four as we’ve seen even in the last two games that Damen L was out TJ played marvelously um Usef nkit being added to a team was it what they were like 31 and 26 but guess what that team was halfway into a season had guys they were familiar with and were five games above 500 and they closed it out down the stretch this is a team that lost its starting power forward on the first week of the Season came into the season without their starting center you had front Court debt issues to begin with before any of these injuries the guy that you brought in to be the stop Gap at the four and five never stepped foot on the floor of the Blazers and the hope for reinforcements is not legally available until December 15 of of reinforcements that that can legitimately make a difference and at that point in time how many games will the Blazers have played well December 26 or December 12th is game 26 six 26 games more than a quarter of the season is gone and at that point in time playing 500 ball or slightly above above 500 ball is going to get you to 37 38 wins on the season that’s that’s a hell of a hill to climb and I think it it it forces at least me to reorient and reevaluate what expectations are for this season so I think that uh yes I think this is a good time to re-evaluate expectations got a couple things to Just note I think you’ve somewhat simplified my attitude um about Hope on this team because just you know having hope doesn’t mean I have unrealistic expectations I’m not saying just you I’m saying that that that I’ve seen people who were even beyond what you have I think I think it’s more sympathetic to to to what you believe as far as having hope and always hoping for the good things and and really believing this team will figure things out I’m I’m not saying you you have unrealistic expectations I I think there’s some people out there that that do well so one thing to think about uh you know going back to last year when Yousef nurkic went down when when Yousef nkit went down that was it I thought it was over I thought that’s it the season is over next season is lost and we’ll just write it out as best we can and like the Blazers always do they outperformed our expectations like they always do I come into every season with very low expectation and this was the decision this this was the season for some reason I decided I was going to have high expectations I am never having high expectations again I want to tell everybody I promise I will never have high expectations again because the one year that I came in with high expectations everything seems to have fallen off rails now that having been said every time that we think that the Blazers are done they are not done so I don’t think even you would say unequivocally slam the door shut at this point we we’ve seen everything we need to see to know what’s going to happen with this team I think even you realize that you know as much as you may want them to make a decision right now from what we know about this organization is they’re going to hang on longer they’re going to watch Damen they’re gonna you know keep playing Daman even if he appears to be not 100% they’re going to keep doing that because they have so much faith in Damian’s ability to uh to take this team yeah ex exactly and I’m not saying it’s over yet I’m not saying abandon this team I’m not saying abandon hope my thought is you’ve got x amount of games left in the season and basically a time period I think a a similar parallel to draw right now is the Golden State Warriors were their expectations coming into the season that they would still be a team that was going to compete for a title yes their belief was that if they got Klay Thompson back in February that a core of Steph clay Dre and possibly D’Angelo Russell or whoever they they moved him for would be enough that they could buy themselves through the regular season and load for bear come playoffs with either D’Angelo Russell and those guys or whatever they got for D’Angelo Russell and with the injuries they experienced granted they’re more severe um and obviously more impactful but they’ve completely changed course have they not they have but I would like to point out that the Golden State Warriors have unlike the Blazers do not appear to have been planning for the future in the same way that the Blazers have yeah and again like I said it’s not a perfect parallel but it is the not just the Blazers I’ve heard numerous organizations across Sports who say we can’t just pivot well sometimes you have to and I’m not saying the Blazers have to right now but they are getting dangerously close to having to um with unless something drastic changes and let’s let’s paint the picture this way you had quite little literally the best version of Damen Lillard for the first what 12 games of the season is there any argument to that no he was in the MVP conversation he was scoring 60 points he was blowing everybody away and what did that do for the Blazers record it did not help them that much and when you’re getting that and there’s no I don’t want to say hope but there’s no there’s no thing to point to in the immediacy that they can do you have to at least consider the possibilities that the expectations the priority for this season are going to need to change it’s it’s not a small tweak it’s not well if we get DNE back to that level and we get CJ back to that level and we get uh Carmelo Anthony playing like he was four years ago and we get like you’re you’re asking too much realistically and now it’s not to say it’s impossible but in in my career and this is something we’ve talked about aot a lot off there in my experience in my career as life it’s you don’t plan for the the outliers you you plan for what you can control and when things get out of your control you have to be able to adopt you have to be able to or adapt and you have to be able to change and operate a bit on the Fly uh I mean just working in business if you have a project and something gets seriously derailed or you have you experience a significant setback you have to step back and reeval evaluate you may have a timeline that you want something but in reality that timeline may need to move and it’s the same thing I think in in in professional sports so the Blazers did just do one thing on the fly in adding Carmelo Anthony yes and that was you know you called that you know an absolute desperation move um but on the other hand you did just say teams need to be able to do that so they did it then they went out got Carmelo Anthony um what were your expectations for him as a basketball player coming in and how has he met or not met them so far uh my expectations were very low and he’s sound like a jerk he’s met those he’s been inefficient so spec specifically like what were you thinking that you would that the Blazers would get out of him when he was on the floor a volume shooter who can’t play defense okay and and that’s really what they’ve gotten and every there’s there’s two conflicting thoughts here and that there’s this there’s a group of people that I’ve seen that are like what did you expect them to do it take it’s going to take him a while but at the same time also like this is a results oriented League you don’t get a while and who’s to say you get 15 games into it and you’re still not getting anything well well then what’s what’s the what’s the excuse then and that’s kind of where I I get with how you manage this whole situation um I I don’t think it’s it’s worth it for the Blazers so you thought that the Blazers were gonna get a volume shooter who can’t play defense and what you’re seeing out on the court is a volume shooter who can’t play defense is that correct yeah I mean he he went over eight from from the three-point line last night or last game correct right did did he go 0 for8 every game has he been a poor shooter every game what are his how is he doing so far his last in his three games he’s averaging 13 points on 34% from the field and 31 % from three and how is Kent basemore doing as bad maybe maybe worse but again we’re comparing a two guard to a guy who’s playing the four and and again I said this the other night um I think Kent basemore is is likely my candidate for most disappointing player of the season so far and everybody that thought and even I bought into this a little bit I I believe that baz was a good change um his performance has been subpar at best uh that that energy stuff that we saw in the first couple games of the season I I feel like even that subsided and it’s a it’s a bummer because I think nir little has been the guy that’s been called upon to bring that when basore was a guy I think we all looked at to bring that but again that’s that’s kind of the things I wanted to point out earlier does basemore playing better do you think that gets him a few more wins um I don’t know where you’re going with that I want I want to keep talking about Carmelo actually I shouldn’t have brought basemore up just yet because I want to keep talking about Carmelo no I’m G to tie it back to carelo I I don’t think that the impact that these guys have or don’t have is going to improve their their their chances in the immediacy yeah and that’s kind of like my expectations for for Melo were so low uhuh now could would you like to know what I thought of Carmelo when he was coming and what I see yes and that’s what I was going to get to oh good excellent I anticipated that so I did not have big expectations for him in the Box Score I actually I’m I’m actually kind of happy with that what he’s come up with in the Box Score because I didn’t really think that he would be able to I thought it was just gonna he’d go out and it would just be like brick after brick after brick but he proved me wrong on that but that’s not what I see what I see when he goes out on the court is I see a professional who’s played basketball for 16 years who knows the game and and the thing that was telling to me on that and I wrote about that in in my column today is that he’s a guy who can reach and grab a pass no matter how bad it is and to me it’s little things like that that I think this team can use right now and no he’s not impacting the Box scorer in a huge way and he’s taking a lot of shots and I got to think that part of the reason he’s taking a lot of shots is because he just got here and they need to get him used to what it’s like playing in the system but I also think that he brings some little things that can be useful especially to all the young players who are playing alongside him or sitting on the bench and watching him and then coming in after him I think that he has things to give and I’m not saying that he’s mentoring this always is like oh does that mean he’s a mentor no I don’t think he’s a mentor or a coach but I think he’s a guy who knows this game who’s been around for a really long time and does have things that he can that can be both useful for the team and also can be observed by the younger players who are just coming up so that’s what I see when I see Carmelo on the floor my my counter to that is at what cost and we talked about this when they signed him when we’re talking about they don’t have Pal Gasol sitting there anymore well he is still sitting there well he’s not taking up a roster spot no that’s true but I think a lot of the frustration with the organization right now because things are going so bad is there and this isn’t solely directed at Carmelo some of the other guys too it’s at Anthony Tolliver it’s at Mario honia it’s at Kent basemore is that they see these guys that are underperforming and they want to see the young guys get a chance and the more time Carmelo Anthony’s on the floor that’s time that’s cutting into scal minutes that’s time that’s cutting into Sears minutes and trying to balance those things and understand what the goals of the organization are and what Terry SAU is being told of the goals and and what is expected of him and what is expected of those players I think that’s difficult thing for fans to really truly grasp right now well I want to know if you see what I see when he is on the floor do you see a guy who looks like he knows how to play basketball certainly and that’s the thing I I don’t think Carmelo Anthony is an idiot I I don’t think he’s um incapable of being on the floor I just don’t think the things that he gives to this team Merit him getting 25 minutes a night and 15 shots like and if that were the case don’t you think another team would have signed him beforehand well I just don’t think that’s going to continue I could be wrong we will wait and find out I’d be really curious I wish I had looked beforehand like when they do add players in the middle of the year do they tend to get more shots right away because you know how often you know he’ll drop they’ll draw a play for a player you know just to get them involved in the game you know is that a tech tactic or a technique for when somebody is added to the team late like especially a guy who’s been around for a while and like maybe repetition is what’s going to get him up to speed fastest i i i my answer that would be I think it depends let’s look at Rodney Hood he didn’t want to he came from a situation in Cleveland he just wanted to get the hell out of he didn’t want to ruffle any feathers and we heard Kent basemore when he got to this team here this season he texted Damon CJ said hey I know this is your guys’s team I don’t want to ruffle any feathers I don’t want to get in the way I just want to ride the wave you think car is trying to is going to ruffle feathers I don’t know if it’s necessarily ruffling feathers but I’m talking about the difference between a guy who’s been a 17-year alpha uhuh and a role player and what is Carmelo Anthony being called upon to do this with this team is he called upon to be an alpha and take that many shots a night or is he called upon to be a role player and space the floor for Damon CJ and I think those are the those are the things that you’re trying to to Jus toose on top of each other and and and and justify how effective that signing is not not you the proverbial you right right well I mean I but like I mean I had a different kind of low expectations um I mean you had low expectations because you thought that he wasn’t going to be a great player I had low expectations in terms of I didn’t really think that he was going to be expected to do that much do you think that he was brought into to do a lot you said that you you think that he was brought into space the floor for Damon CJ which makes sense to me I and I understand that and I guess if when he came on and they didn’t give him as many shots they could have just let the Mystique of well it’s Carmelo he’s probably going to get the shot so I should guard him anyway and thus the floor gets spread or was it like let’s give him the ball so that he can show that he can make those shots and then like people will for real be guarding him like I don’t think I’ve seen we haven’t seen we’ve only seen three games of him um but what I’ve seen so far doesn’t seem to be the type of performance where people would not guard him and I think the the the people who are are very much in the favor are in favor of Carmelo Anthony being on this team the argument was he’s better than x in Ser honia toer whoever else and again we’re talking about reputation and things of that nature the that idea I understand I I get it but those same people are also frustrated or mad about the fact that nir Little’s not getting on the floor in favor of Anthony Tober and for sure want to talk about these young guys kind and it’s kind of my point of like you have to understand what the goals are for each individual player what management is saying though that the roles of these players yes Terry ston is the coach but if you think he’s making moves independently of everything all the time you’re crazy and that’s not just Terry stots that’s around the NBA do you mean that like that Terry sat’s coaching is completely separate from what the front office is doing yes and that and and that’s not that’s not a reality right like there are you’re saying there’s a connection between the two like 100% um I don’t want to get into pfic specifics because that’s not what I’m trying to do but if you look around the league there are guys who sign with teams whether in the off season or as a free agent or as a buyou because the role on the team that has been given to them is coming from management now it’s being consulted on with the coaching staff but the basketball president operation or presid of basketball operations or the general manager whatever the title may be is making the decision on player Personnel that’s his job and it’s the coach’s job to fit those desires needs wants and make it work and so there are times when guys are getting x amount of minutes because an agent and a g M work that out and it has to happen that’s when the GM walks to a coach and says I don’t care how you have to do it it has to be done because I guarantee this my relationship my trust with this agent is on the line and those kind of deals are made probably more often than people are are are aware of and so those are the kind of things that Terry stots has to to to Wrangle with the other part of it is and I’ve heard plenty of people say this about Terry stots uh is that Terry St is playing he feels like he’s coaching for his job every night and I’m not talking about this season I’m talking about in general because his previous coaching appointments were so shortlived as a head coach that he feels like every game could be his last still this far into his tenure yes wait so you’re saying that people are saying this you say that you think this like what where does this come from this is the first time I’ve heard this it’s it’s been expressed to me from people who would who were in a position to know these things that that Terry STS is coaching every game like it’s the most important game because his previous coaching since were so he feels like feels like it could be his last yeah wow he’s a lot of years in to be still feeling like that but think about how fleeting it is for a coach in any professional sport in North America how quickly they can get a hook do you remember the road trip two years ago again it was Chicago and Cleveland where we heard that if he had dropped the game I believe it was Chicago that he was going to be fired think about that in retrospect and about where this team got to last year whether or not you well no matter what the the the the circumstances were like that’s how that’s how volatile things can get sometimes and so you can at least you can at least understand where that idea is coming from okay so but does it make does it make sense for us to think that Terry STS could be on the hot seat when it this year with what everything that’s going on with the injuries with the new roster you think about I mean I’m I’m guessing you don’t think that he’s on the hot seat no I do not believe Terry St is on the hot seat uh I think because of the injuries and here’s the thing is I think trying to bring in somebody else would just be like a million times harder yes and the relationship he has obviously with Damen Lillard that means a lot um but I mean it it’s one of those things it’s a very very difficult knife you know Balancing Act you you’re just kind of walking on that blade and you’re just trying not to lean too far one way or the other um this is kind of like goes to the original point of you know coming the season why I I didn’t like the whole idea of the championship expectations when there are still so many things in flux so let’s walk through some of the arguments that people are putting out there about why Terry thoughts should be on the hot seat because like I said like when I look at it it’s like he has a team that is injured of all new players so that would have been like you know the year that Lamarcus left and they completely turned over the team and they get you know 15 games into it and everyone’s like no you’re out of here um say that again I want to make sure I got every bit of that okay so my question is you know let’s let’s go through some of the arguments that people are making about Terrys being on the hot seat because in my opinion with so much change having taken as well as taken place as well as all the injuries going on you know losing him at this point or you know firing him at this point would have been like firing him after they changed over the entire team when Lamarcus left and they were like 15 games in and they were like oh no this isn’t working anymore yes I I I think that that a pretty safe bet and the thing is like when you fire a coach you’re trying to inspire something or make organizational change or ins yeah I do too now if you were like planning on dealing Dame and CJ and starting over with like Aunt Zach and and and nir sure I I I could see it in that instance maybe but so what are the arguments about uh is it just like the Blazers are losing they got to do something or you know you’ve talked before about you know people saying that X player should be playing instead of Y let’s talk through some of that so I think a lot of it has to do with rotations uh Anthony to being on the floor over n little Carmelo Anthony being on the floor over ner little um either those guys on the floor over scaller uh those are the most common one the other one I get is the um the Playbook the the sets that they run the the motion offense flow offense and things of that nature and I’ve seen plenty of people say you know I see the same plays every now I’m like okay let’s kind of go through these line by line This offense that isn’t very good again that’s me being sarcastic has been a good to Great offense through multiple variations of Terry St Le’s team here correct right and remember when he first came in it did take like a year or a little more yeah start making sense I it’s was built on continuity yes and it’s not an easy system to learn and that’s the other part like I’ve seen people like they run the same place and you heard CJ talk about the other night and we’ve talked about it a billion they have a massive Playbook and they have counters that run out of those plays but right now in this instance with how gutted they are what what is your best bet if you’re really trying to win games and you haven’t pivoted to develop and resting Damon CG when you have opportunities you’re going to put the ball in their hands excuse me I did not meet my mic fast enough Gaz thank you and so you’re going to put the ball in those guys’ hands and it’s up to it’s incumbent upon the other players in this instance a guy like Carmelo Anthony who Molly he doesn’t have a reputation as a knockdown three-point shooter is probably a better three-point shooter than missier little yes I don’t know yet I I mean I I would like not on series that his shot doesn’t work and it needs development but I mean I’m talking like if you’re and if you’re not what I just said what I just said about Carmelo is that hopefully his reputation precedes him enough exactly so that people treat him as somebody who um could shoot threes even if he may be on the decline and nasier may be on the rise exactly and that’s that’s that’s my point if you’re talking about trying to win games right now everybody wants to to micromanage all the little things and this is something I’ve heard from from Terry stots from Greg papovich from Doc Rivers from the best coaches in the league you can’t micromanage you can’t do every single thing in the moment you have to play the long game and I don’t like then that’s part of the reason why I don’t want Carmelo an on the team I I don’t think the long game matters because I don’t think with the way things are right now they can win enough games to justify continue giving him minutes I I would rather if we’re talking about the long game as far as like the continuity of this franchise I think missier little is more important going forward whether as an active player on this team or if you want to trade him as an asset okay I don’t I don’t disagree with that but like mess your little can’t play 48 minutes and scall of VCA can’t play 48 minutes so would you would you rather have honia play over Carmelo and that’s where I kind of like h i mean again what what what is the real gain in the immediacy if if if Carmelo helps you win two more games and you still don’t win 40 games in the season is that worth it would you rather would you rather given those minutes to mayy oh God maybe honia and maybe he figures it out and I’m not saying he will that he should or that he could or this that or the other what’s the more likely scenario going forward that honia has a finds a way to be slightly more impactful and it’s somebody that the Blazers can resign on a minimum contract next year as a 10th 11th man or that Carmelo Anthony helps pull this team up by its bootstraps man your whole most likely going forward scenarios are never as fun as the scenarios that I want to play out I hate your more most likely going forward scenario they are so no fun that’s why that that’s that that informs the way that I look at things is I because I used to years ago I used to look at the mro all yeah that’s true too but I also used to look at the micro so much more until I until I started talking to more people in the league and around teams and I’m not saying that I have this exclusive access this that or the other I’ve just been around people who know significantly more about the game than I do and I trust what they’ve done because their record speaks for it that’s what I that’s what I’m trying to get to when I when I look at these things and it’s just one of those things where like I I don’t agree with it but okay if if that’s what you you think is right let’s see how this plays out and and I think that that’s that benefit of the doubt has kept me from saying some really stupid things not all of them but it’s get some really stupid things well I have to say that the people that I mostly interact with who are talking about the Blazers now are very into the younger players and a lot of people have been like you know what when like like I was when nerk went down and then on top of that when Collins went down realistically trying to you know trying to ask this team to you know keep going at a high winning percentage is just unrealistic IC and by the time everybody gets back Dame will be just like gutted because you will have had to carry the team so far so I’m seeing a lot of people including myself get excited about the possibility of these young players and again the Blazers planned on the fact that they needed to have players coming up beside Damian we’ve talked about that a million times so um you know that I just love it every single time scal steps out on the floor I’m starting to feel the same way about little we’re seeing Gary Trent out there so got some questions about them my first one is can we really call scal that young anymore because he has been in the league for several years he has the league s and I GL you ask this because I I had this this discussion about Andrew Wiggins the other day Wiggins is having a a very good season yes yeah for sure okay he’s still only 24 Tera but he’s been in the league for six years yeah okay Scout was like a year and four months older than Zach how do we look at Zach still developing as a kid right as far as being in the NBA Scout’s just been around still a little bit longer yeah but he came to the game later ex exactly and that’s why I try to kind of like and you know how I how much I love scal I I I love I wanted the players to draft the kid I I love him I I think he has pratal ability the same way that Yousef nkit does he I mean when he catches on the short roll and is able to either find a guy on a cut or kick out for a three or pull up from mid-range or step through and dunk on somebody and then go to the other end and block a shot and rebound and get things out and transition like that’s just natural ability and you hope to God it comes together for him but he is still a kid and he should factor into the Blazers development plans absolutely 100% And I’m not saying he’s going to be a future Allstar but he’s still far too young to be like oh you know we can move on from him that’s why the Blazer stuck for so long with no Avon well I am loving what I have seen out of scowl we’ve talked before about his screens um one thing that I’ve noticed him doing is paying very careful attention to like how long he’s in the paint and stepping out and touching players and like you know keeping track of all of that really well he’s a champion pointer when it comes to defense he’s the one who’s calling out and pointing about everybody where everybody should be now that Myers is there what things terara loves yes um but he also has a mid-range shot and he’s one of the few people who can actually get to the hoop these days like nobody for the life of them can get to the hoop it seems like but he’s able to snake in there uh somehow you know you said you don’t you know anticipate him being an All-Star and I I really don’t either but how do you see his ceiling and like if he was to stay with the Trailblazers you know for the next couple of years what do you think that might look like I mean Peak he’s a starter in this league likely scenario he’s a very gifted uh more offensively oriented first big Off the Bench I don’t I don’t think that’s a stretch of any imagination to see that as being success everybody wants to look at a guy and if he’s not an All-Star he’s a bust I I I think Scout I mean his shooting touch alone merits development I mean contrast how effective he is on the floor and what he means to the Blazers offense with Hassan wh side and this isn’t to to crap on Hassan whes side they’re just two vastly different players when scow sets a screen number one it’s a better screen number two his options are exponentially more than Whiteside when Whiteside pops is anybody going with him no when scal pops you might have to think about it because he’s shown at least a pension for knocking down that shot either at the three-point line or at the mid-range the other part is when he catches on the roll he’s rolling harder or he’s catching in that mid post High post area where he acts as a baby Yousef nerkish now the pass isn’t as good the uh timing isn’t as great but you see the raw ability and the possibility of that I’ve seen him doing some of the exact plays that Yousef would run um I you hold your breath and you pray and you hope but you and but you could like see it like develop in his eyes and go okay I’m gonna bounce past this between those two guys and Dame is gonna scoop it up and you can just you can just see the whole thing playing out um one of the things I also love about him and you know you might not like it as much is that he is like so even killed oh he’s him and Anthony Simons have zero he dunked on the Bucks like there was no tomorrow and and just calmly went back up to the other end and got on the I loved it I mean we like guys with the we’ve we’ve we’ve discussed liking guys with a little fire so we’re going to talk about Nas little have those guys they have a NOS little they have a Usef ner they you don’t feel like scal needs I don’t think he needs to be that guy and not everybody needs to be that guy and when the Blazers are healthy I think they have a fair amount of those guys now would I like one more of those guys in the starting lineup on the wing as a Defender yes there’s no doubt about that but I don’t think that scall necessarily has to have that when when we were critical of nurkin his early days here in in Portland it was because we saw it I think every now and then we wanted more of it it wasn’t we need him to be this guy he was already that guy yeah I was like why can’t you be like that all the time it was a bit of a jerk in in the Good Sense we just wanted to see that more of the time and like we look at Anthony Simons and if he’s truly going to be the guy to replace Damen Lillard don’t you want a guy who kind of emulates his style who’s just just flatlined all the time just Stone Cold killer I mean that seems like a pretty damn good transition from one guy to another yeah need that from those guys so it sounds like you’re thinking of scall ceiling as you know the uh backing up youf nurkic and giving solid minutes off the bench I look back Center you know want and this maybe will help people change people’s opinions on how I view Zach I see him as the offensive version of Zach interesting like he has a lot of tools where he can impact the game a lot of different ways but I think the defensive stuff is going to be harder on and I think Zach has a lot of different defensive tools and he can do a lot of different things block shots cover out on the perimeter be that weak side help guy be that kind of glue guy that unlocks the defensive potential I look at scowl much the same way in the offensive side when he’s on the floor he unlocks what the Blazers can do offensively and you talk about CJ McCullum having to limit the Playbook I think when you’ve got Scout on the floor you can open the Playbook because of his physical profile because of his natural gifts because of his shooting touch and so those are the kind of things when I look at Players those are the things that I like the intrinsic abilities that you can work on and develop you’re not asking on Whiteside all of a sudden become a prolific short roll passer at age 30 in the NBA I I don’t think that’s a fair thing to do nor is it to put him in those positions hey I’m Spencer Hall I’m Holly Anderson I’m Ryan Nanny I’m Jason Kirk and we’re the hosts of the shutdown full cast your Avengers of college football podcast it says here in the script I’m too Riff on what that means and basically what I mean is it’s all already spoiled every Tuesday we talk about everything from cooking disasters to pro wrestling to unfashionable pants we worn in Middle School we also do talk about college football every now and then like mascot fights announcers fleeing the booth early and unfashionable pants that coaches wear now if you want to take college football exactly as seriously as it should be taken subscribe for free on Apple podcasts or in your favorite podcast app so one thing that scowl also shares with Zach is uh getting the propensity to get into foul trouble so what’s one thing that you would like to see him working on I guess like in the short term uh to try to draw fewer fouls it’s the same thing with Zach it’s hand placement it being less egregious with that hand placement you’ve got to be aware of where your hands are you’ve got to be sneaky if you get wide on guys and have your arms out wide you’re you’re opening yourself up especially when you have a wingspan like those guys that’s a lot of arm to tie up for James Harden you know so it’s one of those things where it’s like you got to be a little bit tighter in your movements Um verticality Zack picked that up very quick and the rest continued to stick it to him Zack his first year he brought his arms down after that he arms are straight up and down he cleaned it up but you’re saying he still respect yeah he cleaned it up a ton because he was a just rough P offender with bringing the arms down because he’s so used to college and and that not being called it gets called scal he’s so damn long just keep the arm arms up man just just keep him up and Myers and Robin Lopez those guys are great at that just being damn big yeah like I I don’t need scow to chase after everything I I I need him to be that that backline and being smart about things and that’s why kind of going back to how these guys are viewed in in rotations and people getting mad at Terry STS for not playing scall and situations the volatility right now scal is legitimately the the only big that they have on the active roster if he goes out in the early minutes and picks up three fouls and you’re in a close game situation in the end of the game and you need a big are you going to call on the guy who could maybe give you the higher ceiling and Scout or are you going to call on Anthony Tolliver who’s been in the league for 12 years and doesn’t make mistakes defensively you’re you’re going to go with toer if the directive as a coach is still that you need to put yourself in the best position to win every single night and until that directive changes I think that’s the way things are going to skew so why would Tolliver start over scowl to go back to my you know repeated somewhat joking but now actually looking more reasonable um argument that scowl might get no Avon Le minut it’s like why why start Tolliver over scowl again I think it’s about volatility it’s about getting off to a good start you may get a great quarter from Scout where he had one the other night where he came in the game what he have like 11 points in the quarter but you could also get Scout to pick up three fouls in the first two minutes much like Zach did in year two and I I and if you’re if you’re worried about getting off to good starts and you and your margin of air is so thin you want to narrow that volatility Gap I’m sorry I’m laughing because the Blazers have gotten off to a lot of really good starts this year how’s that going for him okay but again but who’s been starting those situations has it been civer yeah I think that’s why you have to look at those things but it doesn’t work out in the end well we’ll see what happens I would argue that what happens in between is a bigger problem and that and that’s again looking at the bench yeah and that’s where I think having Scout on the bench is actually a better thing again because you’re hoping that lightning strikes there because you’re looking at that starting lineup and going my Baseline is going to be here if we can just get these things from the bench we might have a puncher’s chance but that’s the volatility of having so many young guys and having so many inconsistent performers well and I wonder too about whether or not STS likes playing scowl alongside anony I mean do you think that they might be thinking that way in the future of like let’s go ahead and get these guys playing together I think the other part of it is is that when you have Scout alongside Anthony you’re giving Anthony a little bit better screen setting you’re giving him more options to work with um and again more space a little bit more space and in the last couple in the last week ant’s been playing with a BM ankle and as much as we were as everybody’s talking about Dame’s back you can see ants a little little limited um things he he’ll make a play to make you just go what the the takeoff on Robin Lopez against the bucks from the dotted line on the layup was definitely a play was like oh okay uh but you can see still he kind of Grimes every now and then he’s not quite 100% looking like he’s trusting it but I think what you said there is a great point I think allowing ant to have more options and maybe have more success because let let’s be honest right now who who is is the is the player the Blazers looking at or counting on to deliver with the bench right now is it anybody other than Anthony Simons right no it’s it’s Anthony I would think I’m 100% in agreement with you um so with that I think it’s it’s a very good point that put him in him in his best a position because having Tolliver out there again the Baseline is is there but is to as good a screen Setter is he as multifaceted offensively no toiv is a good screen set so I yeah I don’t I’m not as down on Tolliver is I hear it seems to me that toer does a lot of things correctly again another guy who’s been around like Carl Melo who like understands how the game is played I I think the guy that is catching the most unfair amount of flack this season is Anthony toer okay when we talked about his signing what what did we say I yeah and it was between the tossup was between either him or Pal as the last guy to get minutes in the rotation when we when I when I did that piece on like building out the rotation tler was the guy that I was like well it’s a coin toss she’s been elevated from that 12th 13th man to a starter a starter yeah yeah like so to sit there and beat him up and play and and and lay so much blame At His Feet I think is criminally unfair okay he’s he’s a guy who and this is this I keep saying to Joe every time he sees something he’s like man he really does this well his Baseline is higher than most role players but it doesn’t move yeah like like the only thing that that is inconsistent with him is his shooting and he’s got a a decade long platform of showing he’s a consistent shooter I think he just started out slow and that’s gotten better too and he also you know that I don’t know if you can even count on your hands the amount of times I’ve ever complained about the refs but he doesn’t get charges called he gets himself set and he’s good at that but he doesn’t get those calls he he probably gets them 50-50 but again that’s that’s knowing where guys are trying to get to having a high basketball like you um defensively how many times do you see him not vertical when he’s challenging a shot how many times do you see him reach in you don’t see it he knows guys he’s played these guys so many times uh look what he did to Giannis oh my God that was great and that was on an outlet pass from Gary Trent Jr or was it Gary Trent or was it NZ I can’t remember but it was what it was I’m pretty sure it was Gary Trent Jr um they were both fighting a little bit um on within the half court line and he forced a turnover got the ball and threw an outlet pass to a charging Anthony Tolliver and it was amazing the very best play of the entire week though was definitely Nas grabbing the ball out of giannis’s hands so let’s talk about Nas little for a little bit that was my favorite thing by far I I love ner little and when I saw him get actual in-game action in the NBA the first thing that came to mind was Gerald Wallace and you you you know me I’m not I’m prone to Hyperbole and things but player comparisons okay correct me if I’m wrong when I when I do player comparisons do I go do I just throw out names no you don’t gener you don’t generally say like he’s LeBron James you usually try to find an accurate one that will actually tell the story and that then when I watch theer little I see a lot of Gerald Wallace and it’s not just the hair or the athleticism it’s his Reckless abandon it’s his desire to be to not just to be you in a head-to-head match up but to beat you mentally and physically to wear you out that I will outwork you mentally physically emotionally I will not back down I’m every time you think you have me beat I’m going to run it right back down your throat and that’s just something guys have it it’s the same way guys like CJ McCullum and JJ reck and Kyle corver and Reggie Miller Ray Rip Hamilton Ray Allen those guys can run you ragged for four quarters they it’s it’s not about an they just love doing that they just they know that they can just run circles around you and they have the innate ability they have an internal engine that allows them to run miles and it’s just miserable for an opponent for guys like nir and Gerald Wallace theirs is a Brute Force punch in the face that just doesn’t stop the thing that came to my mind was working with principal long the other day he said what’s a what’s a gift for a movie that makes you think of the Blazers and I didn’t think of the Blazers I thought of nir little and he’s the Monty Python Knight who was just like I’ll gum you to death like he just he doesn’t know any better and I don’t mean that in a bad way he doesn’t know how to back down and that’s just that’s just something that’s ingrained in him and watching him get on the floor has been easily one of my favorite things this season yeah I love it every time he gets on the floor and that’s one one of those one of those things like where I said you know a lot of people that I talk to are disappointed in the Blazers record but and you know sad that they’re not winning but are really enjoying watching some of these young players now when I watch Nas little so I stood up in the 300s like way the heck up there and the first couple of times that I saw him I was like who does he remind me of who does he remind me of and I think because of his body type I he kind of reminds me of what what I think the Blazers thought that biggie was going to be in terms of just like a guy who can you know use his uh backside as well as his long arms who can throw his body around who is Relentless at getting um like you’re saying Relentless at getting rebounds and it’s just Second Chance effort BLS and I think that’s what they thought that they were going to get with biggie which didn’t seem to uh pan out here but um what I mean just the fact that he stuck with that ball and ripped it out of giannis’s hands it has been so long it feels like it feels like an eternity in between times Blazers are able to win the ball underneath the basket like that and that’s and that’s the thing that youf nage brings that’s been missing that this is mine there’s nobody else is taking this from me I will physically impose my will on you God I miss him so much and and that’s you I think not just Blazer fans I think people fans of teens in general they miss out on those things until they’re gone and when something comes back and reminds them of that they IM immediately lock on to it it’s why guys like Ed Davis and Joel prisilla are renowned and still revered because they they brought that physicality they brought that attitude they brought that I’m not going to back down why even in his short time in Portland Gerald Wallace had such an impact beyond the fact that you know he was traded for what would be Timmy Lillard yeah um but I I love what Nas’s been able to give this team he had his first double double the other night and I was thrilled for the young man I mean because he plays with so much enthusiasm it’s contagious it’s I I think it genuinely impacts a team outside of the box score more than a lot of other things have this season I I think guys see his effort and it it if a guy’s tired or it’s been a long shift or they’re having a rough night and they see him just selling out like I okay I gotta I gotta lock back in I gotta I gotta get my mind right and that’s human for everybody who thinks that every player gives 100% every single possession every play there like five guys who do I think the little is one of those guys who who does and that’s that’s just that’s just the reality of it what do you see as his ceiling after you know the end of the year and maybe into into next year what do you see um do you do you think that Blazers get right he goes back to the bench or do you think that he’s gonna earn himself a place in the rotation he has good defensive instincts he’s still a little too aggressive he still doesn’t quite know things and that the defense is just the hardest damn thing to do in the NBA both because of the rules how the game is called and the speed of the game and how long it it takes three or four years for it to really to really pit um I I would assume unless things make a drastic change that he’s gonna be a bench guy if he if he continues with this team now that could change if the makeup of the team changes I just find it hard to believe that the lasers could run nir and nurkic and Zach at the same time with the starting lineup of Damon CJ even if Zach develops a capable floor spacing ability where he’s a a decent three-point shooter I don’t think n’s ever going to be a guy who you you can count on for that and now here’s the thing that they make catch some people off guard I would like it certainly if n l developed jump shot but if he didn’t and he became a Relentless fast break Rim running Second Chance Point monster I would be 100% okay with that because there’s a place for that in this league and I think that’s what Mo harkless could have been and if the Blazers got to a point where they had enough shooting on the floor he could be on the floor as a starter if things continue to develop for him and go the right way does that make sense yeah I just think it’s a weird thing to say that you don’t care about whether or not he develops a jump shot because like why wouldn’t he be able to do you think he does he strike you as somebody who doesn’t look like you he doesn’t no he’s got a he’s he’s got a lot of things going on mechanically that doesn’t and and that’s that’s the thing is that I think people see that and because the three-point shot is so valuable today that if you can’t shoot that you’re not valuable in the NBA and I I don’t necessarily agree with that I I think again like the mid-range shot being dead the the arguably the best player in the league right now you know you want to toss it up between Giannis LeBron or kawhai are any of them confident three-point Shooters feels like kawhai is every time it feels like they all are every time they play the Blazers but maybe that’s just CH chalk up we went what one for eight against that one again that’s the thing it’s like he doesn’t need to a guy who exactly if he hits and that’s thing like if he is able to hit like 33 35% from three that’s a godsend if he turns into an interior monster like when was the last time the Blazers had somebody on The Fast Break who you were like he is going to dunk on their whole damn team has those last game yes NZ has that ability he and the lasers and like that was my biggest thing with Mo harkless was that you look at his body you look at his build and his athleticism and when he wasn’t shooting well like Mo you can still run the floor like how many times already this season in the limited time the SE little has been on the floor have you seen him catch the the ball in the dunker spot or get a second chance put back dunk already he’s already had a few dunks of the night and we just never got that from Mo and that’s I’m saying there is certainly a place in the NBA for a player of his type even if he’s not a a consistently capable three-point shooter if the other things Elevate to another level which honestly I think is something that can happen if if you I’m I’m not saying it’s going to happen but I would not be out of the realm of possibilities for me if were a guy who’s built like that with that motor and that engine that size that enthusiasm at this age was able to turn into a Gerald Wallace type player that’s your hope when you look at him that’s where your hope that’s why he was projected as a top 10 top 12 pick it wasn’t because they thought that maybe he could develop a shot it was the other and if he can develop those things he could be that player he’s still very young but the raw tools and the intrinsic stuff like we talked about with Scout I believe is certainly there so uh a couple of guys to look forward to one more player we’ve talked about Anthony quite a bit so I kind of wasn’t going to touch on him a lot what I really want who I wanted to talk about next was Gary Trent Jr because even Gary Trent Jr’s getting uh getting time on the floor and he’s been fun to watch what are your thoughts on what Gary Trent Jr has shown so far thoughts that the other night hit his best game as a pro when he came out there in the start and again talking about shooting Gary Trent Jr coming out of high school and in college was an elite level shooter so it shouldn’t be a surprise that a guy that you didn’t question his shooting there’s very very very very very few guys in you know top level recruit college basketball history who were considered Elite level shooters that got to the NBA and couldn’t shoot so for him to finally find confidence and effectively knock down shots isn’t a surprise the questions I had about him coming in was how effective he could be defensively and I think he’s getting there passively but I think he’s feeling more comfortable he’s growing up you know in the league he’s getting more unities because of these injuries and because how short-handed and because they have to mix so many things up and I I think for particularly for a second round guy he’s right on track from what we’ve seen from second round guys that the Blazers have drafted right and probably more so yeah I mean he’s kind of he’s kind of playing the the third the third year type role that’s typical right now yeah and I think because of circumstances though probably not necessarily because he’s ready although he’s acquitting himself well exactly and the fact that he is acquitting him so so well I think that I think if you’re struggling to find positives and I know that I’m normally the negative guy I these are the things that I was kind of hinting at and looking at for this year already not necessarily Gary Trent Jr but Anthony Simons Zack Collins scow those are the things that we talked about the guys that could could contribute because when we look at this season at least for me I saw it as a transition year and so these guys being in these positions right now it sucks in the sense that the team is not doing well record wise and that guys aren’t healthy but I think in the Long Hall or over the long haul these things will be good for the team and I know that I had a few people like I’ve he I’ve seen you say some like trying to like find some positives in things and I think again like talking about expectations coming in the season I think mine were just lower so it’s easier for me to to adjust to these things right now and in that I’m not abandoning the season or I’m not saying that there’s no reason to hope for anything I just changed my perspective if you haven’t that’s fine if you’re listen to this that that’s fine I disagree but there are still things to look at in this season to be okay with while also at the same time saying this team right now is one of the five worst teams in the league yeah you look at the standings and there they are I was I was looking at it because I was like oh who who’s around the Blazers in the standings right now and it’s you know it’s like Memphis OKC the Blazers and um uh Golden State only instead of being the four teams at the top they’re the four teams at the bottom like it’s Bizarro World somebody said the other day I think it was Sam spinardi who does the Lightyear’s podcast for the Warriors it’s a rough year for team culture because at one point in time the bottom three teams in the west were the Warriors the Blazers and the Spurs who I think are the three franchise we all associate with having the best culturs in the league which I guess if we want to look on the bright side is probably why none of those teams are going to stay down there very long exactly that’s that’s that’s the positivity we’re looking for yeah you don’t have to congratulate me on coming up with something positive D who you talking to yeah I know it’s it’s more me projecting like hey look something positive you [Laughter] here is like I don’t want to get too inside baseball here but Joe and I when we’re talking about and you and I when we’re talking about this it’s I don’t want to sit here and beat this team up I don’t enjoy it I I I sure as hell no you don’t no I definitely do not but you also I think I think even you with all of your optimism and hope have changed your perception of where this team is and where they need to be and so I’ve gone back to where my perception should have been all along when I remember remember what happened to Yousef nerkish and what I thought right after that and what has been typical of me my entire Blazer fandom which is the rule is to have low expectations so you can be happy when they over Sur them expectations yeah um so with that my question to you is how far into the season do the Blazers need to go if they’re going to make a decision to go one way or the other what what is that what does that time period look like for you because they’re almost a quarter of the way into the season and while nothing is impossible for that crowd is out there the likelihood of them continuing to be not very good stays very high and by one way or another let’s be explicit here you’re talking about when the Blazers decide if they’re going to tank or not I I don’t is that what you’re saying I would tank right but I don’t think the Blazers will ever really tank I don’t think has that in him already seeing him let’s say commit to Player Development yes is the euphemism that we’re going to that we’re going to use I think honestly like with knowing in or watching the Blazers and how they’ve operated I think that’s the way they kind of have to sell it right well but the thing is is it’s actually like I’m you can you can hear I’m already halfway there I’m like I like watch these young players get better give me more scow give me all the scowl you know so I I feel kind of bad about that but like because because like you said like Damen Lillard would never not win or never not believe that his team couldn’t win and I don’t I don’t you don’t want to change that right tamper with that at all exactly but I guess if you if I had to choose a date on which I think things probably hinge I mean the schedule’s just a nightmare and it just stays a nightmare so I guess rather than looking at the schedule for a date where they’ve won or lost a certain number of games I’m just going to say December 15th because that’s the day that they can actually start making trades and that’s the day where they can decide do we give up somebody who is going to keep us afloat do we try to trade for someone who’s going to be even better or do we make a move that signals that we are building for next year or so that’s kind of you wait until the I think there’s another option there I think in my opinion trade deadline to you make the determination that you’re waiting till the trade deadline so you can get your best possible offer because I think I just yeah I don’t know if that’s do you think that’s too late it may or may not be and that’s or it may be decided by then you may have to weigh your opportunity cost because if you make a move where you’re more so making that move not necessarily entirely focused on next year and the two years after that but you’re also looking more at this year I I think you have to realize that the the franchise that you’re trying to trade with is probably going to smell some of that desperation on you and that deal may not be as good December 15th as it might be at in you know February I mean if my expectations had been set correctly at the beginning of the season I would remember that Yousef nurkic wasn’t coming back until you know around the trade deadline at the earliest and at that point I wouldn’t have even known that Zack Collins was going to go down so I mean it seems to me that it’s kind of like they got to decide sooner rather than later also because the two guys who were you know touted not by the team but by other people around the team as the most you know potential with the expiring contracts basemore and Whiteside aren’t exactly the playing like I mean I don’t think their performance is going to be as indicative to their trade value as much as their actual expiring deal is I get what you’re saying okay good then I don’t have to say it no no no the fact that Whiteside has been injured and underperformed and basore is underperformed does that drop their value I think the teams that would be looking to trade for them are not necessarily looking for them as impact players but more for the salary relief side of things and the intangible or the the actual assets that would come along with them whether it be players or protected picks going forward mhm yeah but we’re but if the Blazers are going to turn that direction they’re certainly not going to want to be giving up any additional out yeah right now and that’s the thing imagine if the Blazers had made a move coming into this year and they moved an unprotected first round pick for next season or this upcoming draft how many people will be crawling up the wall right now and that’s why you you you hear so many people who are so draft Centric who are like you cannot move picks like that MH you just you you can’t do it I mean Daman Lillard was given to the Blazers because of that Kyrie Irving was gifted to the Cavaliers because because of that you you you have to treat those things like gold because you can get hit pretty hard if you don’t it’s so interesting to me the amount of criticism that the front office gets as well as the amount of acknowledgement that they have done a lot of things right both give exist Tera both yeah I mean both really do but we tend to just focus on whatever is most convenient you know what I mean it’s like all I mean all of the you know railing against the moves that happen this Summer that don’t appear to be panning out right now if the Blazers hadn’t been like i’ I’ve said it like four times already you know been preparing by having guys that are looking to be a part of the future or trading away picks so it’s like I mean it’s like they can’t win for trying on the one hand you know no matter what the front office does they are gonna have their critics that’s true but again and that’s why I I thought it was a little bit out of place to say that this season was a championship building contending type team that that’s what I I keep going back to because of so many unknowns yeah and now you can’t predict obviously the injuries or anything of that but there was going to be inconsistency in this team a lot of new guys and there’s a lot of new moving pieces and there’s there’s there were guys that you know obviously in Whit side and basore who were candidates to be moved at the deadline and so I think that the messaging kind of portrays the reaction from the fan base that we’re getting right now yeah I I also just think at at at that time like going out and saying yeah we’re going to make the playoffs wouldn’t have been enough you know because at that time the league has not been more open than it was back on media day of 2019 you know with that you know with golden state you know hampered with LeBron building new teams with Toronto losing Kawai all the things that happened in the off season I think a lot of teams thought that if if we’re g to make a move this is it if this is this is going to be the time for us to go all the way this is it so on you know with that in mind I mean of course they’re they’re out there to sell a product that’s that’s what they do so I it just doesn’t seem that outrageous to me to me those things to me it does because even a team like the Clippers and the Lakers the messaging from them wasn’t title now fan bases certainly for the organizations I don’t believe that was out there and that’s that’s where I think I differ a little bit because I don’t think you throw that Gauntlet down unless you’re a dynastic type team like you you talk you’re talking about Rings you know with a hard Z and then like if the Blazer if this was if we had fast forwarded to like this next summer and the Blazers had made all their moves and they were confident and they got hit with the injury bug and they had done that you know they had used that sort of messaging as far as championship and you were you were set in who you you’re going to battle with kind of a deal I don’t think that would have bothered me in the least bit just that that that’s a you know a blank happens you know you it sucks I think with so much up in the air coming into this season I I I was I was very confused by that move but it happened but I I think that’s they I think they’re kind of paying the toll for that as far as like the reaction that you’re getting from the fan base at least that’s my opinion right I think we’re gonna we’re gonna probably have to dis agree to disagree on that one I don’t think it’s I just don’t think it’s as big of a deal and I can see you thinking that there’s more repercussions than I can see out of it that’s me I overreact yeah it’s your Mo go it’s your it’s your stupid most likely going forward scenarios oh the those are going to be the end of me this has been really fun it’s been very nice to talk basketball and talk about like what actually is going on on the court the Blazers um do you have anything else you want to say about any any of like Carmelo or the young guys or STS being on the hot seat no honestly like I said I was going to give this team a month before I really evaluated the because of so many different things like you can’t evaluate the offense because I mean you can but it’s going to be W this is kind of crap when Damon CJ aren’t both healthy and engaged and doing well like that that’s the the end all be all right now and we Haven really talked about whites side and the fact that he has tendonosis in his hip and that’s that’s something you usually associate with like 60y olds like I don’t think that’s going away anytime soon let’s not forget Rodney Hood has got backs spasms too Damen L’s got backs spasms like they’re [Laughter] the young guys Dan they look great and they’re young this is what I saying when I was trying to like not get into the whole inside baseball thing how do you talk about a team that has so many things going against it and try to stay engaged in fully hopeful for the future while also admitting that right now they’re not a very good team like I’m saying right now they’re not really a very good team but they got to got a lot of good pieces who are going to get a lot of playing time this year and you know what that doesn’t mean they can’t pull something and you know surprise us all it does not mean that it’s again the likelihood of it and how you discuss that and I think that’s that’s something I got into on Twitter today and that’s like how you talk about things and and knowing maybe you don’t have every single piece of the puzzle to really know what’s going on I don’t have every piece you don’t have every piece of the puzzle to like to to operate on on uncertainties of of things I I think it’s it’s a little bit of a weird position to be in so many things that are that are open right now so it sounds like what you’re saying is if if fans are like wondering about things that are happening that don’t make sense it might be that we just don’t know the whole story yes very much so that’s a great way to put it like if you’re wondering why Carmelo Anthony is getting so many minutes and why he’s starting over somebody else there why he’s getting so many SS there’s probably a reason for it you may not agree with that reason arguing against that reasoning cool I zero issue with it and you shouldn’t care whether I have an issue with or not it’s it’s my own personal thing if you’re if you’re going to at least like engage with me on any social media or have questions like understand that’s that’s the way that I look at that’s the way that I frame things it’s something I learned over the last couple years is that if something doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in an organization that really has made sense like if it’s if it’s the sons for the past 10 years or the Knicks it doesn’t make sense because it doesn’t make sense God we can’t even make fun of the Suns anymore that’s what I said previously it’s amazing what happens when you get that’s what we’ve become oh oh hey tarot remind me again where did Monty Williams come from uh yeah like like you you do have to give the Blazers organization a lot of credit for how they operate with things whether or not you agree with again the micro situations that’s up for discussion but as far as like the macro things I’m not talking about player when I’m talking about culture and how why they do certain things I think they’ve gotten that pretty damn right so it sounds like looking at this year well I don’t want to put words into your mouth but it sounds like you’re not down on the team no you’re you’re thinking that the situation is stacked against the Blazers right now they’re not winning a championship they’re not they’re playing you think that they’re playing pretty bad basketball right now I I will lay this 100% out there if this is Dan the GM if I am running this team I find some way to get Damen L on board with load management if he’s if he’s still intent on playing 37 minutes a night fine so be it but damn it I’m getting you off the floor for 15 games the rest of the season uhuh I’m not gonna let you burn yourself out in a season unless something in a player movement a trade significantly Alters what is this franchise is going to do for this season I’m not going to let you do that to yourself mhm I don’t care if you hate me for it I’m not going to let you do that and who knows they could be doing that with him right now we just don’t know well watching him play against the Cavs I I don’t think that’s the situation yet I know but you know how stubborn you you got it we don’t know him at all personally but I got to think that he would be incredibly stubborn if told that this is we’re going to do this he will fight that tooth and nail and it won’t be till February where he finally admits okay I know I I I I don’t disagree one bit and I think that would be the most difficult thing to do this season beyond that I’m looking at developing the young guys putting those guys in positions and that’s why I was so vly against the Carmelo signing because I’m not saying like the some kind of freaking Oracle or anything but two weeks ago when I looked at this team I was it was yeah do I overreact certainly but I usually have a pretty good nose for how the team’s playing and those changes that can or can’t come you know with with December 15th being the the the day that they can move for assets they’re playing bad basketball two weeks ago that hasn’t changed and I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to allow that to change until that period and unless they find some sort of Magic the game getting healthy and CJ just going full Super Saiyan and hell maybe Carmelo finds the Fountain of Youth and they’re able to get I believe there’s 12 games between now and December 15 if they even if they went six and six they’re 11 and 18 that’s that’s still a bad record mhm that’s nearly 30 games in and you’re seven that’s going six and six on a real difficult schedule like and it’s not like well you know they should beat this team they should beat this team they’ve lost in a game where Damen lard scored 60 points they’ve lost to the worst team in the league in the Golden State Warriors they lost to probably second or third worst or fourth worst if you want to put the Blazers behind them since they lost to them you know a transitive property they and we were doing really good with ending on a high note I know too deep into that that’s why I wanted to tie this thing off I don’t want to think like I’m it’s all sunshine and Roses right now and everything’s going to be okay this season but there are certainly things that you can be excited for you should be excited about as far as the young guys but I think at the same time you can also recognize that that those two those two worlds are still colliding that that decision one way or the other hasn’t been made but you can understand why or can you understand why people are struggling with this oh I know I 100% in my head I’ve already flipped the switch some people haven’t some people flipped that switch the second Zach shoulder win like I I get it but I think like this whole idea that Terry stot should be on a hot seat right now because of this situation is is crazy like that I I can’t begin to wrap my head around that now if you want to not like Terry STS because you just don’t like his system you don’t like his offense fine whatever but if you’re thinking that playing scowl five more minutes a game is significantly altering this or not playing Anthony Tolliver is significantly altering the situation of this team right now I I just I have a hard time taking you seriously so it sounds like with the just the tenure that STS has with the team it’s a lot bigger than just how many minutes are those younger guys getting right now yes got it we’ve gone on a long time yeah about this so we should probably wrap it up here the Blazers three games they actually have only three games coming up this week they had four games in each of the last two weeks so um this should be I don’t know maybe a little bit of a break for them of course they have to go have Thanksgiving in the middle of it so hopefully they will all have a good one hopefully you will have a good one and everybody who is listening to this will have a good Thanksgiving I think what I feel like we covered on a number of things that we can be thankful for about this team even though things might not be going very well right now I think there’s a lot to look forward to in the future um okay well I’ll uh let’s go ahead and wrap it up uh you can find me at TCB bigs on Twitter of course subscribe to the Blazers Edge podcast feed you’ll get the Blazers Edge weekly podcast you’ll get the hoops and talks podcast on Thursdays and then I’ve been doing once a week some just little short previews with people around the league talking to them about their teams I talked to a woman um from Chicago today about the upcoming Chicago games and boy a lot of that sounded familiar while I was like got flashbacks I was like whoa but anyway they’re interesting they’re short um and I’ve been having a good time doing them so I hope people are listening and enjoying them as well so why don’t you go ahead and take us out of here Dan all right folks as always you can find me on social media dorang DM R questions comments concerns you want to yell at me or call me a jerk feel free like I said always you wouldn’t be the first uh also you can find me on every post game with Joe Simons on NBC Sports Northwest uh following every Blazers game win loss or otherwise uh ter do you guys have any what meetups coming up anytime soon we sure do we’ve got one coming up on December 3D I I thought I saw one on the schedule yeah so folks want to come watch Blazer game with us we’re g to be at the mcons on Broadway there’s probably going to be some alcohol being consumed and a lot of tater tots getting and of course misery loves company yes yes and we we agree that we’re going to be there for each other no matter what this season so come out and enjoy the game with us we might cry a little bit we might scream a little bit but it should be fun and you know what that’s why we’re sports fans right we didn’t become sports fans expecting that they were gonna win every game right we became sports fans because we’re rational people and we expect the same thing every single time yes exactly we’re the most likely going forward scenario exactly all right folks fer Tera I’m Danny thanks for listening we’ll catch you guys next week bye
On this week’s episode of the Blazer’s Edge podcast, Tara Bowen-Biggs and Danny Marang take a look at where the Blazers are and where they need to be in the coming weeks. Along the way, they discuss the development of the young guys, whether or not Coach Stotts should be on the hot seat, expectations for the team until the New Year, salvaging the season, and more!
Intro
Opening comments
Changing Expectations 2:00
How long can you hold on? 4:00
Can they save this season? 7:30
How has Carmelo Anthony looked? 9:30
Melo and the “Little” things 11:30
Frustrations with lineups young vs old 14:00
Front office dynamics in the NBA 19:00
Is Coach Stotts on the hot seat? 22:00
Chasing wins vs Development 25:00
Can we call Skal a young player? 31:00
What is Skal’s ceiling and/or likely scenario? 34:00
Do Skal or Anfernee Simons need to play w/more attitude? 35:30
How Collins and Skal unlock things on both sides of the floor 37:30
Why are we seeing Tolliver on the floor over Skal? 40:00
Playing Simons and Skal together 42:00
Tolliver and consistency 44:00
Nassir Little ripping the ball from Giannis Antetokounmpo 46:00
Little reminds us of Gerald Wallace 47:00
What can Little do to get on the floor now and going forward? 52:00
Gary Trent Jr getting minutes 56:00
Changing perception on where this team is right now 1:00:00
Did saying the word “championship” alter expectations too much? 1:05:00
At what point are you looking at the Blazers to make a pivot? 1:14:00
Closing comments
Outro
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/39832?utm_source=youtube
