The Blazers Balcony

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl discuss what they learn about the Blazers during the 13-game winning streak, the recent play of Portland's supporting cast, what do they expect from the Blazers moving forward, thoughts on the Rockets, play a round of "Walton or Oden," and finish off by answeri...

In this edition of the Rip City Report, recorded live at Tough Luck in Northeast Portland, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian/OregonLive.com and Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com discuss Portland's 10-game win streak, the improved play of Jusuf Nurkić, the quicker-than-expected development of Zach Collins, the playoff race and finish by answering questions from the live audience about favorite play...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers’ play during their extended winning streak, Damian Lillard’s performance this season and whether he’s a legitimate MVP candidate, whether the Blazers are “for real” and what that even means, play an extended round of Walton or Oden and finish by answering listener questions about Zach Coll...

In this edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers' Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers' recent run, Damian Lillard's historic February play, whether the Blazers have finally turned the proverbial corner, plat an extended round of Walton or Oden and answer listener questions about Zach Collins, Jusuf Nurkic, our favorite intern...

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss Damian Lillard’s All-Star performance, whether the “Lillard is overlooked” narrative continues to persist and if so, should it, the stretch run of the NBA season, play a round of "Walton or Oden" and finish up as always by answering listener questions about Brandon Rush, Moe Harkless’ starting role, Portl...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers' win over the Golden State Warriors, Damian Lillard’s next-level play, the upcoming NBA All-Star game, play a round of "Walton or Oden," and finish by answering listener questions about the NBA’s secret wine society, Paul Allen’s Moda Center apartment, the year’s “Best Pictu...

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the impending trade deadline and whether the Blazers will make a deal, Portland going 0-3 on their recent road trip, Damian Lillard moving up the Blazers’ all-time scoring list, play a round of Walton or Oden and finish by answering listener questions the deadline, Ed Davis, what would happen if the Blazers...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss Damian LIllard being named a 2018 Western Conference All-Star, the meeting between Paul Allen and Lillard, the Slam Dunk contest, play a round of 'Walton or Oden' and finish by answering listener questions about potluck dinners, the Century Link shooting contest, Moe Harkless' demeanor, the u...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the never ending ups and downs of the 2017-18 season, Jusuf Nurkic’s brief benching versus the Suns, whether Damian Lillard an All-Star, play a round of "Walton or Oden" and finish up by answering listener questions the trade deadline, Moe Harkless’ struggles, Zach Collins’ strong play and whether...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report Podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss Portland's play on their recent three-game road trip, the Blazers needing Jusuf Nurkic to be a “beast,” consistently inconsistent performances, a recent improvement in ball movement, how Damian Llillard did in the first All-Star voting returns and finish by answering listener questions about New Year’s...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian/OregonLive.com and Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com discuss whether the Blazers are simply a mediocre team or if they have more to offer, whether Portland has logged a "good win" yet this season, the unknown severity of Damian Lillard’s injury, whether the inconsistent player rotation is a cause or byprod...

In the latest edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss whether it is time to be really worried about the Blazers’ struggles, especially with the schedule is about to get much more difficult, Portland's moribund offense, whether the lineup/rotations changes are having a negative impact, play a round of "Walton and Oden," and answer listener questions abou...

In the latest episode of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the Blazers’ recently-completed five-game road trip, Pat Connaughton’s emergence and whether he is the long-term answer at small forward, the latest on Al-Farouq Aminu, Moe Harkless’ struggles, play a round of Walton and Oden and finish by answering listener questions about trades, sandwiches, the Blazers’...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers’ win over the Grizzlies, the revolving door at starting power forward, the sudden surge of strong play from Shabazz Napier, Portland's still inconsistent play, Meyers Leonard having a couple good games and finish by answering listener questions about Jusuf Nurkic, the NBA’s worst hair...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss Portland's woes in close games, the decision to have CJ McCollum take the game-deciding shot vs. Memphis, Allen Crabbe’s return to the Moda Center, play a round of "Walton or Oden," and answer listener questions about Jusuf Nurkic, NBA League Pass, Greg Monroe, if it is too early to press the...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian/OregonLive.com and Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com discuss Portland’s start and how it’s been less than what they were hoping for, whether a team with so many returning players should be more consistent, Jusuf Nurkic’s big night against the Lakers and whether that’s a sign his struggles are over, Al-Farouq Aminu will miss...

On this edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the outstanding play of the Blazers’ bench through four games, Ed Davis returning to Ed Davis form, whether Evan Turner is starting to silence critics, Jusuf Nurkic struggling on offense early, play a round of "Walton or Oden" and finish by answering listener questions about Halloween, Noah Vonleh’s ret...

In the first 2017-18 road edition of the Rip City Report recorded at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian and Casey Holdahl of trailblazers.com recap Portland’s dominant season-opening win over the Suns, Pat Connaughton’s surprising and impressive play, Portland's much-maligned but steadily improving defense, Moe Harkless was a defensive beast, Portland si...

In this 2017-18 season preview edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl discuss the Western Conference and where the Trail Blazers fit in, their playoff predictions, the decision to leave a roster spot open rather than signing a 15th player, whether the Blazers finish in the top 10 in defense, introduce a "new" feature...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian/OregonLive.com and Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com discuss the Blazers’ preseason opener versus the Suns, initial impressions of Caleb Swanigan and Zach Collins, Jusuf Nurkic’s swagger, Evan Turner’s evolving role in the Blazers’ offense, play a quick round of “Buy or Sell,” and finish off by answering listener qu...

On this Training Camp edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the highlights from Media Day and the first days of camp, players impressions of rookie Caleb Swanigan, Jusuf Nurkić’s weight loss and “Bad Boy” comments, the benefits of a healthy Ed Davis, whether Terry Stotts will be more flexible this season in terms of making changes and finish by answering listener qu...

In this pre training camp edition of the Rip City Report podcast, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and the Trail Blazers’ Casey Holdahl preview Portland’s training camp, which opens next week, discuss expectations for Jusuf Nurkic, how the Blazers will go about replacing Allen Crabbe, the new red uniforms, whether this is Meyers Leonard’s breakthrough year, whether the rookies will contribute, whe...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman and Casey Holdahl discuss the Trail Blazers’ recently-released 2017-18 regular season schedule, new changes to the 82-game layout, give their thoughts on how the schedule might impact Portland's performance, reasons for optimism for the and finish by answering listener questions about the rumored Jail Blazer documentary, Carmel...

On this 109th edition of the Rip City Report podcast, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian/OregonLive.com and Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com discuss the trade sending Allen Crabbe to the Brooklyn Nets, whether the Trail Blazers are likely to make another trade this offseason, the preseason schedule the release of the new “Association” and “Icon” jerseys and finish by answering Twitter-submitted questio...

On the latest edition of the Rip City Report, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian/OregonLive.com and Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com recap Portland's run to the Las Vegas Summer League finals, the impressive play of Caleb Swanigan and whether he's in line for starter-like minutes come the regular season, Zach Collins' injury-stunted run in Las Vegas, the Carmelo Anthony trade rumor and f...