Rip City Report

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl give their thoughts on the team 20 games into the season, starting a three-game trip with losses to the Kings and Warriors, Portland's seeming inability to win games on the road, the differences in their statistics between road and home games, a home-heavy schedule in December and spending another Thanksgiving on the road. 

On the latest edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl look back on Portland's 1-3 road trip and look forward to the 4-game homestand, besting the Raptors after an embarrassing performance versus the Nuggets, a better atmosphere at Moda Center, players making a point to be "joyful" in games, what Chauncey Billups is learning and whether changes to the starting lineup and/or end of game rotations are on the horizon. Other topics include dropping F-bombs on broadcast, Damian Lillard's approach to parenting and profanity, spending another Thanksgiving on the road, trying to figure out what table to sit at, Tony Snell's birthday party, Brooke's C-section and final farewells to Chris McGowan. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the first 10 games of Portland's season,  being winless on the road going into a four-game trip, the play of the bench, Greg Brown minutes, whether it's too early to start Sixth Man and Most Improved campaigns for Anfernee Simons, Chauncey Billups and the referees, whether Damian Lillard's slump has been busted and Jusuf Nurkic taking his time. Other topics include breakfast in Philadelphia, accidentally stalking Dame's wife, Brooke's 30th birthday party, the Nike employee store, whether Casey needs to assist Brooke when it comes to sneaker shopping for her son Theo and wearing Sambas. 

On the latest edition of the Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers' up and down first week, an "embarrassing" performance versus the Clippers, Damian Lillard's early-season shooting struggles, Norman Powell's injury (he's been upgraded to questionable) and Brooke's thoughts on returning to the road. 

On the 2021-22 Season Preview edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the start of the season, which begins with the home opener versus the Kings on Wednesday, a season of change, what to make of preseason, training camp legs, a motivated Jusuf Nurkic, a difficult early-season schedule, Larry Nance Jr.'s on-court chatter and finish by making some season predictions. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Portland's first two preseason games and what they'd like to see in the final two,  the battle for the 14th roster spot, whether Portland's injuries are serious or a product of preseason and the addition of Neil Everett to the broadcast team and that means for others on staff. Brooke and Casey also talk mock squabbles, debating animal testing, big wins for Brooke’s Cougars, the Birthday Industrial Complex, the smell of hot dogs, taking the bus or the Maserati, Nurk truck and Brooke going “casual."

On the latest edition of the Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Portland's first preseason contest, the play of Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons as backup point guard, Cody Zeller's broken nose and players playing through injuries, a new look for Norman Powell, Larry Nance Jr. getting recognized by NBA GMs and dive bar dogs. 

On the first edition of the 2021-22 season Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss media day, Chauncey Billups putting an address on it, Damian Lillard putting the offseason behind him, the enthusiasm around the team at the start of the season and takeaways from the first few days of training camp. 

In this edition of The Blazers Balcony, recorded live Thursday night at Walker Stadium in southeast Portland, Brooke Olzendam, Casey Holdahl and special guest Amara Baptist discuss Portland's coaching search, assistant coaches, Damian Lillard played for Team USA, the NBA conference finals, Brooke's love of pickle juice, Cougs and Beavs, throwing out the first pitch and running on the beach. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers being eliminated in the first round in six games by the Denver Nuggets, not being ready for the offseason, the team and Terry Stotts mutually parting ways after nine seasons, their relationships with the coaching staff, Neil Olshey's press conference, the search for a new head coach, the give and take when it comes to player input and the reports that the team is moving to Root Sports. 

On the latest 2021 Playoff Edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers evening the series versus the Nuggets at 2-2 by winning Game 4 in convincing fashion, the play of Norman Powell and Jusuf Nurkic, Nurk vs. Perk, matching Nikola Jokic's minutes, CJ McCollum doing what needs to be done, the return of fans to Moda Center and expectations for Game 5. Brooke and Casey also touch on topics such as fry size, horse pools, random capitalization and the influence of Brooke's pregame interviews.

Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers win in Game 1 in Denver, the loss two nights later in Game 2, Brooke's feelings about the game, the capacity at Moda Center being increased to 8,000 for Games 3 and 4, the importance of managing emotions, the contentious nature of Game 2, whether the NBA should bring back fighting, Palace In The Palace and the power of mayonnaise influencing (shoutout to Best Foods). 

On this playoff preview edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the first round 'yoffs matchup between the three-seed Nuggets and six-seed Trail Blazers, "hoteling," showing up in Denver a few days early, changing up versus staying the same in the postseason and the vibe in Portland before breaking down the matchups position by position and giving their predictions for which team will advance. 

On the first 2021 Playoffs edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss an unpredictable end to the regular season, Portland drawing Denver in the three-six matchup, the Trail Blazers making the postseason eight-straight times, the matchup with the Nuggets, assuming the worst and an initial preview of the series. Also included are a bunch of shoutouts, doodle doodle bam, Jody Allen's jackets, foldable pizza, mystery popcorn and Brooke's first round prediction. 

On this last week of the regular season edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl look back at the Trail Blazers' win versus the Jazz on Wednesday, their loss to the Suns in Phoenix on Tuesday, their finale versus the Nuggets on Sunday, seeding in the playoffs versus seeding in the play-in and sticking it out with posts on social media. 

On this week's edition of the Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers returning from a six-game road trip with a 5-1 record, the return of fans to the Moda Center for Friday's game versus the Lakers, high definition makeup, birthday wishes from mayonnaise producers, Carmelo Anthony moving into 10th all-time in scoring, complaints about jinxes, Brooke fully vaxxed and definitions of cool. 

On this week's edition, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Portland ending a five-game losing streak with two blowout victories, morale boosters and busters, Damian Lillard challenging himself to be better and why motivation drawn from negativity in sports seems to be so much more effective than motivation drawn from positivity. 

On the latest edition of the Blazers Balcony podcast, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers losing close games and if that's a product of playing better or something else, so-so vibes, whether it's important to "round into form" before the playoffs, the layout of Indianapolis, an update on Brooke's challenge that Casey make a new friend and  lucrative sponsorship opportunities. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the current state of the Trail Blazers with 19 games to play, being too old for new technology, the Blazers getting "put away" by the better teams in the league and the frustration that has produced, young players wanting to play rather than "paying dues," Enes Kanter setting new records in rebounding before the start of Ramadan, Brooke saying sorry, the additions of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and TJ Leaf and remaining stoic in front of tv cameras. 

Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the trade sending Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood to Toronto/Tampa in exchange for Normal Powell, first impressions of "The General," and the return of Jusuf Nurkic. Brooke and Casey also answer listener questions about open roster spots and the buyout market, the job Terry Stotts does managing the team on and off the court, whether Damian Lillard should play fewer minutes, who got the best of the trade with Toronto and the logistically issues when it comes to in-season trades.