Blazer's Edge

The pre-season is winding down, so we asked, what have we learned about the Portland Trail Blazers? Tara and Cassidy of Women’s Hoops and Talks discuss Marion Hezonja passing, Kent Bazemore bouncing, Skal Labissiere playing, and CJ McCollum missing free throws.  While we are starting to get more familiar with the new-look team, some questions still remain: when will Pau Gasol play? Is Zach Collins locked into the starting lineup? Who is setting screens for Damian Lillard and McCollum?  Along the way, we touch on the throw-back game in the Memorial Coliseum, Tara’s visit to the Staples Center, and whether Portland was holding Meyers Leonard back? All of this and more on the latest episode. Highlights 1:30 Icebreaker: If you could have one Blazer come visit you and keep you company while you are sick, who would it be?  4:00 Preseason opener in the Memorial Coliseum. Blazers have really developed a brand of wholesome fun.  8:30 A journey into the belly of the best, the Staples Center. 11:45 What have we learned

Amanda Smith wears many hats. She is broadcast assistant for the Utah Jazz, radio analyst for Utah Utes Women’s Basketball team and host of How She Did It a web series and podcast highlighting women in sports media. We asked Amanda what it is like to keep stats during a game, how she got started doing analysis, and what is her favorite part of covering a game. Then we talk about the Utah Jazz and their upcoming season. Who is their team leader? Do they consider themselves rivals with the Portland Trail Blazers? What happened to the Jazz in the playoffs last season? Then we explain some of the things that we loved about Ed Davis and wonder, is Damian Lillard the coolest person ever? All this and more on the latest Women's Hoops and Talks podcast. Highlights: 1:00 If you could watch any two players of any era play 1 vs 1, who would it be? Donovan Mitchell vs Dwyane Wade in his prime, Arvydas Sabonis vs Shaquille O’Neal in their primes, Shaq vs Charles Barkley from last week (or Robin Lopez vs Brook Lopez, any

Trail Blazers' beat reporter Casey Holdahl joined the weekly podcast to talk about Kent Bazemore’s shorts, Anthony Tolliver’s opportunities and Mario Hezonja’s nasty streak. We react to the fast and furious pace of Fan Fest, wonder when we will learn how tall everyone is and speculate about what Skal Labissiere could do if he just gets a shot? Also, public radio pledge drives, hipster beanies, and who will be the biggest trash talker on the team this year? All this and more on the latest podcast.  5:45 Fan Fest recap. 7:30 An explanation (sort of) of Fan Fests MVP Kent Bazemore’s short situation.12:30 Might the new players feel like they have something to prove on the defensive end?15:00 When are we going to find out how tall everyone is?19:30 The case of charismatic Anthony Tolliver who has a lot to give, possibly more than people are realizing. He may play more than people are expecting. 21:45 How are the players starting to group, either in their workouts or off the court? Are there combos forming on the

Media day is here and we’re certifying our heights with the league office and getting down to business. Blazers Outsider Joe Simons and Blazers Edge editor Steve Dewald joined the podcast to do a round table about what we are optimistic about and what we are worried about in the upcoming season.  A lot of new players means a lot of opportunities for guys to take a big leap, or struggle to find their place. Will Damian Lillard be an MVP  finalist? Will Hassan Whiteside fit right in? How much will Lillard miss Coach Vanterpool? How will Collins and Hood do what it took Aminu and Harkless years to figure out? Highlights 1:45 Highlights from other teams media days as we’re waiting for Portland’s to start? Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant did not disappoint and Moe Harkless will always be a Blazer.9:00 Looking forward to Trail Blazers Media day. What are going to be the hottest topics? How much weight did Zach Collins gain, how tall is everyone really? 10:00 Certifying our heights. 12:00 If you could ask a question

Our friend Brit Robotista joined the WHAT Podcast to answer some CBA questions and give us a preview of the Houston Rockets. First we walk through the intrigue behind the Nene contract and find out why it is making Houston fans mad. Then we dive into what it will be like when Russell Westbrook reunites with his old friend James Harden (and Thabo Sefolosha too!) What does the basketball look like? Who is the leader? Do the Rockets have any fun? We have questions and she has answers. 1:00 Damian Lillard recently asked for Netflix suggestions which got us thinking, if you could recommend a show to a specific player what show would you choose and who is watching? 5:45 What was the deal with Nene’s contract? Rockets attempted to use the likely/unlikely bonus provision in the NBA CBA to attempt to create a $10M trade exception13:30 But NBA used an existing part of the CBA (Article 6) as well as additional powers temporarily granted to them by the NBPA to change the structure of the contract to have the majority of

On the latest Blazers’ Edge Podcast we take a deeper look at the 2020 schedule. We ask if it is a good thing that they are on the road so much to start the season, discuss when Nurkic might be worked back into the lineup and give our projected win totals for the season.  Then we talk about what was a busy week for the league, voting on tougher punishment for tampering and clarifying the rules of “gathering”. Finally Dan says which song he would add to the 2020 Trail Blazers Playlist. 3:30 Jusuf Nurkic is back in town! 5:00 Trail Blazers 2020 Season Schedule. Check out Analyzing the Trail Blazers’ 2019-20 schedule by Eric Griffith for context. 8:30 Off to a tough start that will be good test and a chance to learn a lot about themselves. 11:15 Twelve of teams are traveling in the pre-season or during the season, do the Blazers gain any advantage from this? 17:00 Is there a part of the schedule that looks like a good time to start working Nurkic back into the lineup? 20:00 Penciling in projected wins. Dan: abo

On their own this week for the WHAT Podcast, Tara and Cassidy discuss the Trail Blazers’ upcoming season. With lots of roster turnover there are plenty of questions about what the team will look like. How will rebounds be distributed among the team? How about assists? How will CJ McCollum’s game evolve? How much will he drive to the basket? Will he get to the line? They we introduce the 2020 Season Trail Blazers’ playlist. These are our picks for songs that capture our feelings about the upcoming season. Cassidy’s picks reflect the nostalgia of the 50th season, with one song representing each decade. Tara chose songs that reminded her of specific players. Highlights 1:00 Icebreaker: At what point in the Growing Up Rip City video did you start crying? 7:45 After a pretty long drought with no triple doubles, Blazer players picked up four last season. How many will they put up this year, and who will get them? 11:00 How many offensive rebounds will opponents get? 17:00 How many times will CJ drive to the hoop

Travis Demers, the Portland Trail Blazers’ new radio play-by-play announcer, joined the podcast to talk about securing his dream job. How did he do it? Where did he learn his craft? He explains why he loves radio and how he plans to keep getting better. He shares highlights from some of the games he called last season and reveals if he his working on any catch phrases. Then Tara and Dan discuss which Blazers (and former Blazers) showed up on the Sports Illustrated Top 100 players. Where does Nurkic rank among all of the centers in the league? Is number 32 really reflective of CJ McCollum’s true skills and ability? And finally, Lillard cracks the top ten. Will being ranked one spot below Paul George add more fuel to the fire? Follow us on Twitter @blazersedge, @DMarang, @tcbbiggs, @travisdemers Subscribe to the podcast:Apple: apple.co/2Mu8YX9Google: http://bit.ly/2KMRa7lStitcher: http://bit.ly/33OEBA3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NBC Sports Northwest Trail Blazers’ reporter Jamie Hudson jumped on the Hoops and Talks podcast to play “Would You Rather”, the debating game that no one needs but everyone loves. We talk about taking away the three-point line, CJ McCollum’s assist numbers next season and Zach Collins in a headband (fingers crossed!). We try to decide if we would rather watch the best offense in the league or the best defense. Hudson tells a heartwarming story about Wesley Matthews and we tell her about Will Barton fist-bumping a baby. Finally, we don’t get emotional at all over the question, would you rather Damian Lillard win MVP or Coach Stotts win Coach of the Year? Play along and let us know how you would answer the questions. 00:45 Would you rather bring back “ninja-style” headbands or short shorts?3:30 Who is the most likely Trail Blazer to rock one of these headbands if and when the NBA allows them again?6:30 Report on the Bill Walton bike ride as experienced by Hudson. 9:30 Would you rather . . . be a starter for th

On this week’s Blazer’s Edge podcast Tara and Dan answer listener questions about the upcoming season: will Kevin Love be a Trail Blazer before the season is over? How will he fit in and who would the Blazers trade to bring him in? How might the perimeter defense change with the new players on the team? What do we think the big man rotation will look like? Then Tara talks to Ben Taylor (@ElGee35) of Thinking Basketball about how our brains process the massive amount of data that a basketball game produces. Then they discuss moves the Trail Blazers made this off season and what we can learn from historical comparisons of players. All of this and more on the latest Blazers Edge podcast. Follow us on Twitter @blazersedge @DMarang @tcbbiggs Subscribe to the Blazer's Edge Podcast via iTunes and now Google Play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sabreena Merchant  (@sabreenajm) joined the Women’s Hoops And Talks podcast to talk all things Los Angeles. Merchant covers both the Clippers and the Lakers for SB Nation sites clipsnation.com and silverscreenandroll.com and had plenty of insight into how fans are reacting to a variety of Hollywood-sided moves this off season. We talk coaching changes, surprise roster additions and potential opening and closing lineups. We check in on expectations for Maurice Harkless and what his role on the Clippers might be. From Paul George and Kawhi Leonard to Alex Caruso and JaVale McGee, its shaping up to be a fascinating season down south. The teams share a building and there are eerie similarities between them, but at the same time they are worlds apart. Tune in to the LA Spectacular! Spectacular! to get caught up on all the drama that unfolded this summer. 1:00 What is your favorite thing to do in LA (or would like to do)?4:00 What is the difference between the Laker fan base and the Clipper fan base? Is there a r

Blazers’ Edge Australian correspondent Adrian Bernecich joins the weekly podcast to report on the atmosphere in Melbourne during Team USA’s visit down under. Then we dive into stats from last season and try to determine which ones the Blazers will surpass, and where they may fall short. Which numbers might get higher, and which ones might be lower? Which ones are hardest to decide? Follow us on Twitter @blazersedge @DMarang @tcbbiggs @abernecich Subscribe to the podcast: Apple: apple.co/2Mu8YX9 Google: http://bit.ly/2KMRa7l Stitcher: http://bit.ly/33OEBA3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meredith Minkow of Bleacher Report joined the Women’s Hoops and Talks podcast to talk about her time working with the Timberwolves and the Lynx, why she enjoys covering college games, and what it was like shadowing Liz Cambage during WNBA All Star weekend.  We loved hearing about working out next to LeBron James, finding out Karl Anthony Townes knows her name, and why photography is so important to her.  Along the way we discuss our favorite iconic photos (hello, Brandi Chastain), learn about what TikTok is (Tara’s note: still don’t get it), and talk about how we are getting mentally prepared for the upcoming NBA season.  All of this and more on the latest WHAT podcast. Subscribe to the WHAT podcast in the Blazer's Edge podcast feed. Follow Blazer’s Edge on Twitter @blazersedge, WHAT Pod @HoopsAndTalks, Tara @tcbbiggs, and Cassidy @CassidyGemmet. This week’s guest: @murrminks Women’s Hoops And Talks (W.H.A.T.)Join the Women’s Hoops And Talks Facebook group to talk about Trail Blazers with others who iden

Jeff Seigel, writer for Blazers Edge, editor at Peach Tree Hoops and founder of Early Bird Rights joined the weekly podcast to talk about trends in NBA front offices, how the Trail Blazers' off-season moves reflected those trends, and what kind of flexibility the Blazers will have (or not) next season. We examine two common refrains that emerge during the off season when talking about player contracts: players won’t live up to big contracts and you can’t let players walk away for nothing. Are these things true? Will Trail Blazers fans regret big contract extensions signed by Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum this summer?  Will Kent Bazemore or Hassan Whiteside be traded at the deadline or will they play out the remainder of their expiring contracts in Portland? How do the Blazers make sure that they don’t let these players walk away and receive nothing in return? Join us for all of this plus talk about the new retro jerseys, Dwight Howard playing for the Lakers and what will happen to Team USA who just lost a g

Katie Heindl dropped by the Hoops and Talks podcast to discuss all things summer vacation: what makes a good NBA Summer Vacation? How important are summer friendships to the regular season? How does the summer vacation rating system work? Which players excel at relaxing during the off season? Is a beach workout a vacation or a workout? We explore the best vacations, the guys who don’t know what they are doing, and all the areas in between. We find out that the Trail Blazers are one of the best teams at summer vacationing. Between talking to fish, sitting in infinity pools, hosting UNO tournaments and teasing Raptor fans with trips to Canada’s Wonderland amusement park, the Blazers are having a great off season. Does that mean anything for the rest of the year? Maybe it does! Tune in and find out. Icebreaker: Which NBA Stars would you choose to remake The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? Subscribe to Katie's newsletter, Basketball Feelings Follow Blazer’s Edge on Twitter @blazersedge, WHAT Pod @HoopsAndTalk

We talked to Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20), former video coordinator for the Memphis Grizzlies and Assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets and for Blazer fans, he is the son of legendary Blazers broadcaster Steve “Snapper” Jones. We talked about how he thinks the game has changed, in particular the evolution of the big man and the rise and fall (and continuing relevance) of the mid range. How are teams borrowing from each other and having success in different ways?  Then we talk about the potential of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum as a duo. What are their strengths and weaknesses? How could the Blazers’ off-season moves make Lillard and McCollum better?  Finally we wrap it up by talking about how the big men can support the guards. With Meyers Leonard and Al-Farouq Aminu gone and Jusuf Nurkic out for a good portion of the season, who will be the players who set screens and help the guards get space? Not just who will be the role guy, but how will they adapt to setting multiple screens knowing they may never

On this week’s Women’s Hoops And Talks Podcast, Tara is joined by Meliza Hernadez, a Toronto-based freelance media correspondent to talk about what goes into trying to break through in the competitive media world. How scorekeeping at AAU games, planning tournaments, organizing volunteers and stepping in front of the camera are all part of her journey towards her dream of reporting on NBA events. Along the way we talk about NBA dads, investing in yourself, and what it was like in the arena when Kevin Durant went down with a ruptured achilles. (Note: on the podcast Tara referred to an episode of Road Trippin’ Podcast with LeBron James as the guest. She got the year wrong, it was actually 2017, the year the Cavalier’s lost, not 2016, the year that they won.) Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Follow Blazer’s Edge on Twitter @blazersedge, WHAT Pod @HoopsAndTalks, Tara @tcbbiggs, and Cassidy @CassidyGemmet. This week’s guest: @melizahernandez. Women’s Hoops And Talks (W.H.A.T.)Join the Women’s Hoops And Talks Facebook gr

CJ McCollum has just inked a $100 million extension with the Portland Trail Blazers and its lead to a lot of questions. Why now? Why commit so much money for so many years? Does this make him more likely to stay in Portland? Does it make him more likely to go? Then we tackle twitter questions about media perceptions, nicknames and favorite vacations before discussion the All Decade Team which was just released by nba.com. 00:00 Catching up on the corn hole tournament and Disturbed concert (Moda Center happenings)3:45 CJ McCollum has just inked a $100 million extension with the Portland Trail Blazers and its lead to a lot of questions. Why now? Why commit so much money for so many years? Does this make him more likely to stay in Portland? Does it make him more likely to go? What does it mean for Anfernee Simons? 7:00 It is consistent with what the Blazers have done in terms of locking in with their players asap.8:30 How does signing this extension help or hurt the Blazer’s flexibility in the future?12:00 How

Ashtyn Butuso (@lil_buts), co-founder and editor-in-chief Flagrant Magazine joins the WHAT podcast. The new magazine will debut this fall and we got a peek at what will be inside and what goes in to launching a new venture. Then we have a wide ranging discussion in which we report what we uncovered about the newest Trail Blazers from our exhaustive Twitter and Instagram research. Who has a long-standing love of fish? Who was once involved in a trade for Steve Blake? Does Hassan Whiteside have any tattoos? How is Anthony Tolliver working to make the word a better place? Along the way, we talk about CJ McCollum’s $100 million extension, Karl Malone hitting Brian Grant in the face, a potential Carmelo Anthony farewell tour and, finally, we open an investigation into whether Hassan Whiteside has any tattoos (drop us your tips: hoopsandtalks@gmail.com). Get Social Follow Blazer’s Edge on Twitter @blazersedge, WHAT Pod @HoopsAndTalks, Tara @tcbbiggs, and Cassidy @CassidyGemmet. This week’s guest: FlagrantMag on In

The Trail Blazers added 39 year-old center Pau Gasol to their roster this week, likely the final move before the team heads into training camp in September. What will Gasol’s role be on the team? Big man coach who can play if necessary? Regular rotation player? Then we look at what we think the starting lineup will be on opening night. Roster turnover necessitates that there will be three new starters and new rotations. What are the big picture questions that Coach Stotts will need to decide? All this and more on the latest podcast. Follow on Twitter: @blazersedge, @tcbbiggs, @dmarangSubscribe on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices