Rip City Report

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report, recorded on the road in Miami, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the NBA’s increased pace of play and scoring, what that might mean for the league and Trail Blazers, the exceptional play of Portland's bench, Zach Collins making fans miss Ed Davis a little less, NBA hecklers, play a round of "Walton or Oden" and finish up by answering listener questions Collins, Moe Harkless, Universal Studios, the Blazers’ use of their Twin Towers lineup, the podcast theme song and more.

In this edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl discuss Thursday's regular season home opener versus LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, the passing of team owner Paul Allen and his influence on the team and the Pacific Northwest, the best and worst case scenarios for Portland this season, play a quick round of "Walton of Oden" and answer listener questions about Paul Allen, potential changes to ownership, what would constitute a successful season, endless and ridiculous Damian Lillard trade "rumors" and more. 

In the 2018-19 Season Preview edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl give their thoughts on how the Blazers stack up in the Western Conference, what the team needs to take the next step, Moe Harkless’ health, whether Jake Layman be a factor, answer a host of "Walton or Oden’s" from listeners, play a round of "Over/Under" and finish up by answering listener questions about Jake Layman, the big-man rotation, Jusuf Nurkic’s ceiling, the Blazers’ going small and much more.

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl take another look at the player rotation and what the bench unit might look like, whether Nik Stauskas might be in line for a larger role than originally thought, give update on Moe Harkless’ health, break down the news that CJ McCollum had a PRP injection in his right knee, play a round of "Walton or Oden," a round of over/under, a round of Blazers Jeopardy and finish by answering listener questions about fan enthusiasm, Damian Lillard’s impact on Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic’s three-point shooting, attending a preseason game, our favorite road cities, Meyers Leonard’s role and much more.

In the first 2018 training camp edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the first three days of training camp, the schematic and personnel changes on the way for the Blazers, Moe Harkless’ knee, what they're expecting in the first preseason game, play a round of "Walton or Oden" and finish up by answering listener questions about Anfernee Simons, Evan Turner’s expanded role, our “bold predictions,” the lack of a veteran sage on the roster, board games, mustaches and more.

n this edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl give their thoughts on the upcoming season and where is this team heading, training camp battles, especially in the second unit, and answer listener questions about their Jusuf Nurkic lunch bet, advice about starting a podcast, Seth Curry’s health, Jimmy Butler trade rumors and more.

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl take a look at the good and bad of the Blazers’ offseason, what was learned at summer league, the decision to not re-sign Ed Davis, Damian Lillard’s happiness and finish up by answering listener questions about the Blazers’ guard rotation, backup bigs, Anfernee Simons, Zach Collins, the NBA’s playoff format, the traded player exception and more.

In this edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl analyze the Blazers’ 2018 draft, breakdown picking Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr., discuss the impact that the draft has on free agency and the roster, Portland's failed attempts at making a trade for a veteran, but failed, betting on long-term talent rather than short-term fit and finish off by answering listener questions about potential trade targets, free agency, the trade exception, whether the Blazers are wasting Damian Lillard’s prime, the G-League and much more.

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl preview the upcoming NBA Draft, discuss the relative lack of interest in the draft this year, whether the Trail Blazers will try to trade their first round pick, likely targets if they keep the pick and finish buy answering questions about the draft, free agency, a hypothetical trade with Philadelphia, Zach Collins’ position, Wade Baldwin’s effect on the draft, the Dame 5’s, the World Cup and much more.

On the last edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss their thoughts on the NBA playoffs, predraft workouts, whether the team is looking at versatility and 3-and-D players, the prospect of trading the pick and finish by answering listener questions about the NBA draft, free agency, Chandler Hutchinson, John Wick 3, Jusuf Nurkic’s free agency, CJ McCollum’s podcast, NBA review, retiring Brandon Roy’s No. 7 and more.

In this season wrap-up edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl discuss the sweep against the New Orleans Pelicans, what type of changes do the Blazers need to make, how they'll remember the season, look at exit interviews and some of Neil Olshey’s comments, play a round of Walton or Oden and answer listener questions about blowing the team up, the Blazers’ crop of free agents, summer plans, Portland beer, social media, surprises, Ed Davis and Jusuf Nurkic and much more.

In the latest Playoff Edition of the Rip City Report, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl banter about a host of topics, including how thoroughly outplayed, outworked and outcoached the Blazers have been against the Pelicans, the stunning reality of going down 0-3 in the series, the Trail Blazers' state of mind going into an elimination game, Damian Lillard being very un-Damian Lillard-like, the Pelicans’ top four players have been outstanding, play a round of Walton or Oden and answer listener questions about blowing the team up, CJ McCollum’s status with the organization, whether the 13-game winning streak — or this series — is the bigger anomaly, player fatigue, Portland sunshine, expectations moving forward and more.

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss what went wrong in Portland's Game 1 loss to New Orleans, whether Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum’s struggles were all about missing shots, the Jrue Holiday problem, needing more out of Jusuf Nurkic, play a round of Walton or Oden and finish by answering listener questions about Evan Turner, Wade Baldwin, playoff officiating, the Blazers we’d invite to a poker party, adjustments, double-teaming Anthony Davis and much more.

In this playoff preview edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl breakdown the Blazers-Pelicans best-of-seven series, consider how the Blazers will handle Anthony Davis, who the X-factors are in the series, look at the position-by-position matchups, play a round of “Walton or Oden,” and answer listener questions about Jusuf Nurkic, the Blazers as a favorite, the rotation, Wade Baldwin, Moe Harkless, “Playoff Rondo,” a cage-style fight between a Pelican and a Trail Blazer and much, much more.

In this edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl give a quick overview of the insane number of playoff seeding possibilities involving the Blazers (which changed after recording due to errors in the NBA's playoff scenarios table), look at the Blazers’ recent struggles, consider whether the Moe Harkless injury or the suddenly shaky play of the Blazers’ supporting cast is more of an issue, give which teams they think would be the preferred first-round opponent, play a round of Walton or Oden and finish by answering listener questions about whether the “sky is falling,” Tough Luck, Moe Harkless, the San Antonio home court edge, the Blazers’ shooting slump, re-signing Jusuf Nurkic and much, much more.

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl discuss what they learn about the Blazers during the 13-game winning streak, the recent play of Portland's supporting cast, what do they expect from the Blazers moving forward, thoughts on the Rockets, play a round of "Walton or Oden," and finish off by answering listener questions about Moe Harkless’ standout play, our reading habits, the rotation, whether the Blazers are built for a seven-game series against the Warriors or Rockets, Damian Lillard’s All-NBA chances, Jusuf Nurkic’s dunking and more.

In this edition of the Rip City Report, recorded live at Tough Luck in Northeast Portland, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian/OregonLive.com and Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com discuss Portland's 10-game win streak, the improved play of Jusuf Nurkić, the quicker-than-expected development of Zach Collins, the playoff race and finish by answering questions from the live audience about favorite playoff memories, best and worst personalities on previous teams, Terry Stotts' Coach of the Year credentials and more!

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers’ play during their extended winning streak, Damian Lillard’s performance this season and whether he’s a legitimate MVP candidate, whether the Blazers are “for real” and what that even means, play an extended round of Walton or Oden and finish by answering listener questions about Zach Collins, “Wear In The World,” Al-Farouq Aminu in the starting lineup, where Lillard ranks in franchise history, small ball and more. And a reminder for those who live in the Portland area to come to the live recording at Tough Luck on Tuesday, March 13.

In this edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers' Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers' recent run, Damian Lillard's historic February play, whether the Blazers have finally turned the proverbial corner, plat an extended round of Walton or Oden and answer listener questions about Zach Collins, Jusuf Nurkic, our favorite international players, Moe Harkless' consistency, Chis Kaman and more.

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss Damian Lillard’s All-Star performance, whether the “Lillard is overlooked” narrative continues to persist and if so, should it, the stretch run of the NBA season, play a round of "Walton or Oden" and finish up as always by answering listener questions about Brandon Rush, Moe Harkless’ starting role, Portland’s snowpocalypse, driving faux pas, good playoff matchups, bad contracts, writing fatigue and much, much more.