Rip City Report

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss, at length, Damian Lillard becoming the leading scorer in franchise history, being intentional about recognizing good things while they're happening, the reaction from the fans in Oklahoma City, falling to 2-2 on the road trip after losing Monday night to the Thunder, the final two games on the six-game trip, the opportunity for a reset once the team returns to Portland and getting duped by Nurkic's fake cousin. 

In this edition of The Blazers Balcony, recorded in San Antonio, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers winning four of their last five in response to losing eight of 10, Damian Lillard tying his three-point record yet again and how close he is to surpassing Clyde Drexler for the most points in franchise history, the team coming together in order to hold each other accountable, Brooke's "All-Respect Team" and the six-game road trip that starts with the Spurs. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Portland getting through one of the toughest parts of their schedule, the play of Anfernee Simons and his growth in leadership, Jerami Grant playing at an All-Star level and the intangibles that he brings to the locker room and how a rough stretch showed the changes that Jody Allen, Joe Cronin, Chauncey Billups and Damian Lillard have made to the team's culture this season.

On this edition of the Blazers Balcony, recorded from the team hotel in Cleveland,  Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the team's mindset after a three-game losing streak, what they noticed at Tuesday's practice, the times when good team chemistry is the most useful and spending the Thanksgiving holiday in New York City. Brooke and Casey also talk about the ebbs and flows of their personal relationship and gift giving. 

On this edition of the Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Portland sitting at first in the Western Conference nearly a month into the season, owning a Top 10 defense through 14 games, grinding out a win versus the Spurs, Jerami Grant the unstoppable and the origins of his "Margiela Madman" nickname and the next two games at Moda Center before the team heads out for another extended road trip. 

On the latest edition of The Blazers Balcony, recorded on location in Charlotte, NC, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the first half of Portland's first extended road trip of the season, both Jerami Grant and Josh Hart converting buzzer-beating game-winners, whether the team is on the verge of something special, players sacrificing for the greater good and how the change in team culture is being felt on both the business and basketball sides of the organization. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Halloween costumes, the oddity of having four-straight days off during the NBA season, injury updates on Damian Lillard, Josh Hart and Gary Payton II, Shaedon Sharpe delivering in his first game as a starter and Portland's upcoming six-game road trip. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers' 4-0 start, the Bracket Challenge Oregon coast controversy, Ball People, being "the best team in the NBA right now," over-performing national expectations, Anfernee Simons' ridiculous third-quarter versus the Nuggets and why he's the right kind of person to play along side Damian Lillard, Lillard's letting go of some of his late-game responsibilities, winning Player of the Week, cinnamon rolls at Moda Center and whether Portland can remain undefeated for at least a little while longer. 

Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers' opening night victory versus the Kings in Sacramento, drinking wine in Santa Barbara, Justise Winslow and the small ball lineup that helped lead the Blazers to victory, whether Chauncey Billups changed things up or was protecting his hand, Shaedon Sharpe's NBA regular season debut and the upcoming home opener Friday night versus the Suns. 

In this 2022-23 Season Preview of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl look back at Portland's so-so preseason and the injury updates for Gary Payton II and Olivier Sarr before making a few predictions about how the team might and a number of individual players might fare this season. 

Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl look back on the first three games of Portland's 2022 preseason, the return of Damian Lillard, the addition of Jerami Grant, Shaedon Sharpe's impressive performance versus Maccabi, the continued ascent of Keon Johnson, training camp cuts, the team now having two two-way contracts to award (or not), the state of the competition at small forward and what the Trail Blazers might look for in their last two preseason games. 

Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl, both in Santa Barbara for training camp, discuss Portland's first few days of practices, the wholesome vibes at media day and training camp, seeing what Jerami Grant provides, the completion at small forward, learning about what Shaedon Sharpe can do and the first preseason game on Monday versus the Clippers in Seattle. 

Brooke and Casey discuss what they're looking forward to at Portland's 2022 training camp, thoughts on media day, potential starting lineups once the season starts, Gary Payton II undergoing surgery and Fan Fest on this final 2022 offseason edition of The Blazers Balcony. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers' upcoming training camp in Santa Barbara, the benefits of analog calendars, hotel training, making friends in elevators, lobster versus crab, changes made to both the structure and the staffing at the practice facility, Jusuf Nurkic's performance at EuroBasket 2022, the recent training camp signings, invitation paradox, Benihana birthdays and the Rip City Rally, which starts September 12 in McMinnville. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers' recently released 2022-23 regular season schedule, specifically the number of back-to-backs, the amount of miles traveled,  extended road trips and their favorite and least favorite parts of the schedule. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl recap Portland's Summer League Championship in Las Vegas, good vibes coming out of the desert at just the right time, begging for a Summer League Championship ring, the maturity of Trendon Watford, the revelatory play of Jabari Walker and how his performance at Summer League might transfer to the regular season and the departure of our friend and co-worker Amara Baptist. Other topics include Brooke chugging pickle juice, hair twirling and Walnut.

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl recap the trade for Jerami Grant, signing of Gary Payton II, re-signing Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons and Drew Eubanks, Damian Lillard's max extension and the injury to rookie Shaedon Sharpe. 

On this week's edition (parts of which were outdated by time it was posted due to breaking free agency news), Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the NBA moratorium, keeping quiet during free agency, the free agents on Portland's roster (at least at the time of recording), the tools the Blazers have with which to sign free agents, the press conference introducing Shaedon Sharpe and Jabari Walker and the recently released preseason schedule. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, presented by SoleSavy, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers drafting Shaedon Sharpe with the 7th overall pick and Jabari Walker with the 57th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, how new additions to the front office helped the decision to draft Sharpe, the reported trade bringing Jerami Grant to Portland, some of the rumored trades that did not happen and whether those are still possible and what might be next in terms of improving the roster. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, presented by SoleSavy, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Portland's final pre-draft workouts of 2022, nearly a month worth of workouts at the practice facility in preparation for Thursday's draft, the players who worked out in Portland who are expected to be selected in the first round and their predictions on how the draft might shake out for the Trail Blazers.