Blazer Focused

Neil Olshey, the architect of the Portland Trail Blazers for the past decade, was fired Friday.

On the latest episode of the Blazer Focused podcast, beat writer Aaron Fentress is joined by Joe Freeman and Andrew Theen to break down the latest dramatic news in Rip City, which came about a month after news first broke about an investigation into Olshey's workplace conduct.

They discussed:

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A longtime Portland reporter who covered the Trail Blazers for decades has a new biography about one of the franchise’s most popular players.

On this week’s episode of the Blazer Focused podcast, Aaron Fentress chats with longtime Portland journalist Kerry Eggers. Fentress talked to Eggers about his biography, “Jerome Kersey: Overcoming the Odds” and much more.

They discussed:

·     How Jerome became such a good rebounder

·     His upbringing and college career

·     The reporting process

·     What kept Jerome in Portland

·     Thoughts on the current squad

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The Blazers are accustomed to tough starts to the season during the Lillard era, but this season is unlikely any other because of the coaching change, Dame's struggles and other factors.

On the latest episode of Blazer Focused, podcasts editor Andrew Theen is joined by Mike Acker, a freelance contributor to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

They discussed:

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Craig Birnbach has an NCAA championship ring.

Now he wants some bigger hardware [kidding, sorta].

On the latest episode of the Blazer Focused podcast, Aaron Fentress is joined by one of the newest members of the Trail Blazers broadcasting team. Craig Birnbach is no stranger to anyone who has been around the NBA or sports media in the past decade and change. Birnbach worked at KATU-TV as a sports broadcaster for 12 years and has now joined the Trail Blazers broadcasting team.

On this episode, Aaron and Craig discussed:

·     Craig’s career path, and basketball bonafides

·     The state of the Blazers right now

·     Ant and Nas

·     Pumping the breaks on the concern wagon

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The Portland Trail Blazers have been up front so far that the season would likely include some up and downs as the team adjusted to a new coach, a new defensive system and tweaks on the offensive side.

That’s been true to form.

On this week’s episode of the Blazer Focused podcast, Aaron Fentress and Andrew Theen discuss the first four games of the season and snap takeaways from the 2-2 split.

Here are some highlights from this week’s show:

- Dame’s struggles and CJ’s brilliance

- Anfernee breaking out, Nassir’s strong start

- Nurk’s up and down start

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The NBA season kicks off Oct. 20 and there is drama galore: Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving, more super teams.

On the latest episode of Blazer Focused, Aaron Fentress is joined by colleague Aron Yohannes (a Milwaukee Bucks superfan) to discuss the storylines ahead.

They discussed the Blazers' ceiling with a new coach and some new pieces and storylines across the Association.

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The Portland Trail Blazers held their media day this week, and all the talking points were strong. This is a team focused on defense, where roles will be accepted and leaders will be held responsible.

On the latest episode of Blazer Focused, beat writer Aaron Fentress is joined by Joe Freeman to discuss what to make of media day, training camp and the storylines to come.

They hit on Larry Nance Jr., accountability, Dame's strongest statements yet that he's still all in on Rip City, CJ's maturity and understanding of the business vis a vis trade talk and much more.

[Disclaimer: We had a technical error. You'll hear Fentress coming through Freeman's track when there's cross-talk. Apologies for the error, but the conversation is great!]

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Basketball time is nearly here!

On the latest episode of the Blazer Focused podcast, Aaron Fentress and Andrew Theen discuss some of the key storylines surrounding the team as it approaches training camp, the first preseason game and media day.

They discussed Norman Powell, Jusuf Nurkic, the offensive adjustments, taking better threes and that pesky defense.

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