Jacked Ramsays: A Portland Trail Blazers Podcast

Join host Danny Marang for a Jacked Ramsays After Dark following the Trail Blazers 111-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

While down by 17 at one point the Blazers closed the gap in the 4th quarter behind Anfernee Simons, Keon Johnson, Josh Hart, Jerami Grant and Jusuf Nurkic.

While it wasn't enough, the fight they displayed served as a reminder of what Chauncey Billups has said he wants to see in his players - fight.

Now they embark on a season long 6 game road trip that starts with a back-to-back in Phoenix.

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Join hosts Danny Marang and Brandon Sprague as they sit down with Trail Blazers TV Analyst Lamar Hurd to discuss - well everything that’s going on with the Portland Trail Blazers and their 5-1 start to the regular season!

What has the overall feel been from the team to start the year? What’s noticeably different about the day to day coverage of the team? How does being at practice impact how you cover the team?

Shaedon Sharpe was a mystery on draft night - what have you learned about him on and off the floor?

The demise of Damian Lillard was greatly exaggerated. How has Lillard looked so far - what changes have you noticed ins his game and/or approach?

Jerami Grant is the biggest name this franchise has added in a long time and yet even though his impact is felt night in, night out - he largely remains in the shadows - what’s your impression of Grant been so far?

How Anfernee Simons and Lillard worked together on both sides of the floor were/are big questions coming into the year- how well do you think they’ve handled it? What observations have you made early on?

Josh Hart is absolutely insane in the best of ways - what does he mean to this team?

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Join hosts Danny Marang and Brandon Sprague for the weekly Jacked Ramsay Mail Bag where they take on all of your questions wrapping up the second week of the season!

Going 5-1 in the first 6 games of the season give the Trail Blazers more wiggle room than anyone anticipated to start the season - does it make you adjust your expectations at all for the season?

If yes, what exactly causes those changes to take place? An individual player like Shaedon Sharpe or Anfernee Simons growing into a star sooner than expected? The team’s mostly consistent defensive effort and production? The fact that they re 5-1 despite not playing their best version of themselves?

Is Shaedon Sharpe HIM/Next (insert other memeable title here)? What have you seen that makes you believe/not believe? What are the next steps in his development and what do you expect it to look like?

Do the Blazers have a real problem with turnovers and transition play? How much of their issues have to do with the newness of it all and how much of it falls on the players?

Tap in for the latest Jacked Ramsays now!

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Join host Danny Marang for a rapid reaction to Friday night’s game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets that saw the Blazers improve to 5-1 on the season, winning 125-111.

The Blazers were lifted by 30 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds from Anfernee Simons, 27 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks from Jusuf Nurkic and 14 points, 2 assists and tremendously highlight reel dunks from rookie Shaedon Sharpe in his starting debut slotting in for the injured Damian Lillard.

Stellar performances for Simons and Nurkic are not new, both have had better nights in their careers - both on the box score and in impact. Tonight was about a thunderous arrival of Sharpe - felt repeatedly through each ferocious dunk thrown down by the Canadian rookie. The crowd rose to a crescendo in a sequence that saw Sharpe get loose on a fast break and hammer down a right handed tomahawk with Jalen Green trailing him, then immediately after that Keon Johnson forced a turnover and threw a lob into the atmosphere for Sharpe to go get and go get he did. When he brought it down on the rim Moda Center exploded into a playoff like roar - signaling the official arrival of the Sharpe dressed man.

Tap in to the latest episode where Marang dives into the in’s and out’s of the night and what’s coming up next!

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Join host Danny Marang for a rapid reaction to Wednesday night’s game that saw the Portland Trail Blazers 4-game unbeaten streak come to an end against the visiting Miami Heat, 119-98.

The headline outside of the loss was Damian Lillard asking out in the 3rd quarter and visibly limping. The team reported that he wouldn’t finish the game due to a right calf strain. After the game, media gathered around Lillard and he said had this been a playoff game he would’ve been out there. He tried to get back out on the floor but the training staff stopped him and they evaluated him further with some recovery work and tested his strength.

Lillard seemed more irritated about the injury than concerned about anything lingering. He did say he’ll likely miss Friday’s game against the Houston Rockets and that as a winnable game he wasn’t too concerned about it. Particularly noting that missing that game would afford him nearly a week off with the upcoming 4-day break for the Blazers starting Saturday.

The basketball story from the night was the endless barrage of live ball turnovers that led to the game being busted wide open by the Heat in the 3rd quarter. Lillard and Anfernee Simons both lost their handles and fired errant passes - a staple of the the team to start the season that Miami feasted on to the tune of transition dunks and wide open three pointers.

Portland has a day off before taking on the Rockets, a young and athletic team that poses challenges but is very much the most “beatable” team on calendar to start the season. Tap in and find out what’s coming next on the latest Jacked Ramsays!

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Join host Danny Marang for a rapid reaction to the Portland Trail Blazers 135-110 win led by Anfernee Simons’ nuclear third quarter 22 points and Damian Lillard’s 31 point night against Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon’s Denver Nuggets.

Segment 1: Turns Out, One of the Best Shooters in the NBA Can Still Shoot the Ball after 3 Poor Outings

What? You didn’t think EYE was going to victory lap this one? You know me better than that by now, or at least you should. Yes, the guy who’s been one of the purest shooters in the league over the last two years found his jumper after a sub-par dare I say bad 3 shooting games? Well Anfernee Simons got hot and didn’t cool off for an entire quarter - to the tune of 22 points, 6-7 from distance and 8-9 from the field and half of Portland’s 44 points in the period.

Segment 2: Is the Defense, for REAL for real?

While a sluggish start marred the Blazers for the 4th straight game they again clawed their way back into the game with defensive intensity for more than a couple minutes. Turnovers were forced, fast breaks were had and slowly but surely Portland whittled away at a Nugget lead going into the half. Then in the third quarter the dam broke behind Simons’ salve AND the Blazers held Denver to just 25 in the period. We’ve seen the offensive fireworks before, but not backed by sustained defense.

That’s 4 games in a row. This might be a thing.

Segment 3: The Blazers finally clean up the sloppy stuff!

The Blazers have had a real issue heading into tonight’s game being loose with the ball - 22 of their 52 total turnovers have came about as a “bad pass.” Lillard being the chief offender with 11 such turnovers. You know the type, lazy and or air-mailed passes that end up igniting an opponent’s break or stifling a possession. After a few errant passes in the first half the Blazers tightened things up and even started flexing a bit - with Simons whipping a behind the back pass to Nurkic and rifling two one-handed passes, one to Josh Hart for a dunk the other to Lillard for a wing three.

You started to see what the offense COULD be when it fires on all cylinders and then some.

Tap in for the post game wrap up show and don’t forget to subscribe!

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Join hosts Danny Marang and Brandon Sprague as they dive into the last 2 games for the Portland Trail Blazers against the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers that saw the Blazers step in and close out both teams in exciting fashion.

After that - it’s a Mail Bag edition where the fellas answer as many of your questions as possible!

The Anfernee Simons Block:

Should there be a concern about Anfernee Simons’ slow start or is this similar to Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum having a slow start the the season? If not, is there a game marker when it could/should become a problem?

We’re y’all surprised when Chauncey subbed Ant back into the game for Justise late in the 4th qtr? I was. All’s well that ends well or should we still be concerned with these rotations?

The Shaedon Sharpe Block:

Is/Should Shaedon Sharpe be looked at as the Blazers 6th man? I know it’s super early, but with what we’ve seen from Sharpe so far, what do the Blazers have here? Do they legit have a dude who you could see becoming an all-star within the next few seasons? Nassir and Shaedon seem like a tandem that should share 100% of their minutes on court together. Ummm.. analysis?

The You Can’t Trade Josh Hart Block:

This is way too early, but: can they even afford to trade Josh Hart? He simultaneously seems like their best trade chip but also the emotional/grit heart of the team. What’s the move this year, apart from obvious roster balance issues?

The Odds & Ends Block:

With the Blazers having another game with high turnovers, how do they fix the issue?

What do think is the biggest improvement made by Chauncey from his 1st year into his 2nd year?

Is this start for real?! I mean, how far into this season do we need to go before we recalibrate what we think this team is capable of?

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Join hosts Danny Marang and Brand Sprague on this live show of Jacked Ramsays where they’ll hit on:

Blazers get 1st win against the Sacramento Kings! The Blazers find a way to win without Damian Lillard at his best and Anfernee Simons having a very “normal” night. 

Jerami Grant debuts and shows exactly what the Blazers have been missing at the wing position since the departure of LaMarcus Aldridge while Josh Hart fills the gaps left by Wes Matthews and his bull dog mentality

Jusut Nurkic continues to disappoint, providing very little vallue on either end of the floor. Coach Chauncey Billups makes his first big move as a head coach, opting to sit Nurkic and deploying the small ball closing lineup featuring Lillard, Simons, Har, Grant and Justise Winslow

Shaedon Sharpe makes his NBA debut and looks like he belongs in the rotation immediately. Calm and collected, Billups went back to the rookie for a 2nd shift in the 2nd half.

Danny and Brandon go back to Monday and revisit highlights from Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin’s interview- and dissect what was and what wasn’t said.

Then it’s looking ahead to Blazers-Suns as the Blazers open up Moda Center to the Suns fresh off a 20-point come from behind victory over Luka Doncic and the Mavs, perhaps staving up at least some of the putrid tast of what lingers following last years Game 7 humiliation.

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On a special episode on the eve of Opening Night in the NBA, hosts Danny Marang and Brandon Sprague are joined by Portland Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin for an exclusive interview.

With breaking news of an unexpected extension for 4th year forward Nassir Little, Cronin is asked how the deal came together- his relationship with Little and what it means for the organization going forward.

From there it’s time to dig into the product on the floor- Cronin was asked about where the team is now, setting the tone and what the evaluation process looks like on this team through the first 20 games and here’s a snippet of what he had to say:

“Our perspective is just, we’re building here. We have a goal that we’re trying to achieve - we’re trying to, play Chauncey’s brand of ball which for us you know, will involve some patience for us and some rewiring for some players and just stylistically these guys figuring out how to play together.I think it’s easy for some guys to be able to say this but I do think we mean this... We’re not fixated on outcomes right now - I mean, we want to win and we’re very competitive - just as people and our roster is as well, but we want to see growth and we want to see us winning ball games the right way. So our goal is to be patient. I’ve said a lot publicly that we have a ways to go still and we all know that - but at the same time we like where we are. I’m just probably a more of positive than a negative person by nature and I’m looking at the positives that we’ve seen and there’s a lot of them.”

From there it’s time to dig into the product on the floor- particularly how the Blazers have looked during the preseason so far the reactions around the fanbase. Cronin was asked about how he gauges the preseason, how much he takes into account practice & development behind the scenes vs what happens on the floor.

“Generally speaking I try not to put too much weight into preseason, specifically around wins and losses because teams might clear their bench at given times and all of that, but I’d be lying to you if I said that I wasn’t paying attention to the quality of play during those preseason games there were certain things I wanted to see.”“I wanted to see us defend at a higher level. See us be productive offensively and play with some pace and there were some certain games where that didn’t happen. And I definitely discount it to an extent that yes, it was a preseason game and yes this group hasn’t played together a lot and it’s going to take some time to figure their stuff out. But - I think it’s just natural when you’re watching and you see things that aren’t necessarily clicking, can be alarming and you wonder, is it this game or is this how we are? How far away are we from where we want to be?”

Questions about how and what choices were made to run and build a team around Damian Lillard at the same time as developing around “the rails of Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little and other younger players,” the development of Shaedon Sharpe, and knowing where players abilities and coaching desires might not always line up and how to manage that.

Be sure to subscribe to the show to make sure you don’t miss any episodes this season!

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Join hosts Danny Marang and Brandon Sprauge with special guest Sean Highkin as they take a look at where the Blazers sit before heading into Game 1 of the regular season.

What's broken? What works?

What were the biggest issues coming out of preseason and why are they so glaring? There's plenty to point to, the offense never got going, the defense is a mess while turnovers and fouling are prevalent. Where do you even start?

The defense is getting the early cleansing and it starts with Jusuf Nurkic. Brought back and paid, Nurkic has yet to put together a single stretch of effectiveness on the defensive end. Outplayed in every match up, racking up fouls while reverting the less than glamourous flip shots - the Blazers haven't been able to get much out of Bosnian, let alone the Beast. With porous defense above the free throw line, why does it matter if Nurkic isn't playing his part? Together the guys dive into the WHY it matters so much that Nurkic be a problem solver.

From there they'll take on listener questions!

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