Rip City Report

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. 

On this edition, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers hosting presumptive first-round picks Jalen Duren, Bennedict Mathurin and Dyson Daniels for pre-draft workouts, players returning for a pre-summer league mini camp at the practice facility, a fresh batch of trade rumors, Damian Lillard's popularity in Australia and keeping your cast dry at the lake. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, presented by SoleSavy, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Game One of the NBA Finals, Portland's first pre-draft workout of 2022 at their practice facility and the upcoming workouts next week, trade rumors and what they tell us about the kind of player the Trail Blazers might be looking for and Phil Knight's offer to purchase the team despite it not being for sale. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers leaving the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery with the seventh overall pick, whether they're more or less likely to trade their pick than they were two weeks ago, Brooke's thumb surgery and recuperation and the rumors coming out of the Draft Combine. 

On this edition, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Joe Cronin's promotion from interim general manager to full on general manager, Brooke's offseason boredom, being a gamer who only plays Wordle, extreme tire damage, not getting invited to the Draft Lottery, milk pricing, fear of super glue, Nassir Little undergoing surgery on his abdomen and parking like a Goonie. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss a slow offseason so far, the first round of the playoffs, the NBA on Jeopardy, losing out on a 2022 first round pick, the importance of Portland's second round picks this year, Brooke's case for representing the team at the Draft Lottery, Anfernee Simons and Most Improved Player voting. 

On this 2021-22 season-ending edition of The Blazers Balcony, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Great Wolf Lodge, acceptable brunch attire, making up for lost time during the offseason, other Washington water parks, "Spokane pizza," the ups and (mostly) downs of Portland's now completed regular season, how much was spent on 10-day contracts, a 2021-22 edition of Remembering Some Guys, what was accomplished during the season, the play-in tournament (Go Clippers), good games, exit interviews, Brooke being included in the team photo, the relationship between Joe Cronin and Chauncey Billups and Damian Lillard's new-found understanding of the NBA salary cap. 

In the penultimate Blazers Balcony of the 2021-22 season, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss understanding your emotions at this point of the year, acceptance, inspiration from Christos, Greg Brown III's twin sister, Wunderland commercials from the late 90's, Bryan Adams, and update on where Portland sits in the standings with three games to play and why winning one more game couldn't hurt, the loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City, the trip to Six Flags, Brooke getting credit for her sneaker choices and Greg Brown III's elite shot selection. 

On this edition of The Blazers Balcony podcast, presented by SoleSavy, Brooke Olzendam and Casey Holdahl discuss Portland's last road trip of the season, Fiesta Week in San Antonio, cancelling April Fool's Day, limits to lost and found, where Portland's stands if the 2022 Draft was held today, Brooke's heckler, CJ McCollum's return to Moda Center and the response from fans in attendance, ripping off a "Family Circus" bit, spikes on the soles of her shoes, "Play on Players," Anfernee Simons winning the 2021-22 Maurice Lucas award, signing Reggie Perry to another 10-day contract, Greg Brown's goggles and Portland's proclivity for amassing steals in the last few weeks, especially rookie Keon Johnson.