The Blazers Balcony

In this edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers’ successful January, whether they've shaken their reputation as a team that doesn't beat good competition, the Kristaps Porzingis trade, star players demanding trades and the implications in Portland, details of next week’s live podcast, play rou...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report, recorded from Phoenix, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the the Trail Blazers’ struggles against good teams and whether they've turned the corner after beating Utah on the road, the Jake Layman/Moe Harkless/small forward situation, Joe reveals his All-Star starters ballot, play a round of Walton or Oden and finish by answering listener questi...

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss Jusuf Nurkic's first triple-double and his recent play, whether Damian Lillard is a "lock" for the 2019 All-Star Game, Jake Layman and what happens if/when Moe Harkless returns to the lineup, Blazers feasting on bad teams, play a round of "Walton or Oden" and answer listener questio...

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss he Blazers’ recent hot streak, whether the team and this season have been kind of boring, whether the Blazers are playing down to their opponents, but still winning, Moe Harkless’ continuing knee trouble, the Jake Layman/Nik Stauskas rotation situation and then play a round of "Walton or Oden" bef...

On the first 2019 edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss Jusuf Nurkić’s strong play as of late and whether we are seeing Nurkic Fever 2.0, both Seth Curry and Moe Harkless stepping up their respective games, play yet another round of Walton or Oden, give an update on the one-sided Nurkić three-point attempt wager and finish off as always by answering listener...

In the last 2018 edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discusses whether the Trail Blazers are “hot” again and if so, whether it will last, the supporting cast and how they determine how much success this team has, whether fans romanticize Ed Davis, play another round of Walton or Oden and finish by answering listener questions Christmas movies, approaching players...

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl debate which team is the "real" Trail Blazers, how worried should fans be, the recent lackluster play of the bench, Jake Layman’s career night, play another round of Walton or Oden and answer listener questions about the 2007 NBA Draft, the rotation, Moe Harkless, our favorite cold weather city, lineup ch...

In the 150th edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl give their thoughts on what has gone wrong with the Blazers’ defense, whether the current version of Jusuf Nurkic is better than the “Nurkic Fever” version, Zach Collins’ recent foul trouble, whether Damian Lillard should be an MVP candidate, play yet another round of "Walton or Oden" and finish by answeri...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report, recorded on the road in New York City, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss how the Trail Blazers have played so far on their six-game trip, the up and down play of the bench, the team’s chemistry and cohesiveness, which was on display during one incredible possession versus Washington, Moe Harkless’ injury, the Jusuf Nurkic three-pointer attempt bet,...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl consider the good and bad from the first 10 games of the season, Portland's depth and why it's been a strength, whether CJ McCollum is in a slump or in transition, give a quick Moe Harkless injury "update," the defense and whether it's as bad as it has looked or as good as the statistic say, play a...

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...

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 "W...

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...

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,&qu...

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...

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 C...

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-ter...

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’ positi...

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 podca...

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...

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 b...

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, playo...

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 Nurki...

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 m...