Peeps in Plaid

Ripcity, are you listening?! The peeps in plaid, Christian and Austin, chat about the Trail Blazers defensive woes, some less than impressive media dynamics from Blazers player leadership, and the unfortunate loss of Jusuf Nurkic due to his fractured wrist. The duo also take some time to expand on the blockbuster James Harden to Brooklyn trade. All this and more in season 3 episode 4!

Ripcity are you listening?! 🎧 👂 Christian and Austin bring you a post-Christmas catch up. The pair discuss recent trade rumors surrounding James Harden expanding his request to include Portland, whether losing CJ would be worth the former MVP, as well as reviewing the first two games of the season. Will the Trail Blazers make an even bigger move, after what was already a summer of musical chairs? Will one of these moves include coach Stotts? As always, please follow, like, and subscribe @PeepsInPlaid. (Apologies for the lack of timeline this week, as time was constrained pre-Lakers game 12/28/20)

#RipCity are you listening?! Christian and Austin are joined by previous guests, Matt Eldredge (expert friend and blazers fan) and Keith Feltner-Smith (also, expert friend and host of @TrailCasters). Both guests and hosts discuss off-season moves, provide their Eastern and Western Conference top ten seeds, and make some bold predictions. Check out @TrailCasters on Twitter as well, and follow their host @RipCityKeith. Please also follow @PeepsInPlaid on Twitter and Instagram. Music was provided by Ziggy Zay! New tunes coming next week👀 TIMELINE: :35 – Introducing our TWO guests: Keith Feltner-Smith and Matt Eldredge

1:50 – News around the league – Wizards, Rockets, Nets & Clippers drama and trades

18:20 – Don’t worry, we finally get to some news from your PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

21:37 – Play-in tournament description

22:33 – Christian’s Eastern Conference Rankings 1-10

25:57 – Keith’s Eastern Conference Rankings 1-10

28:35 – Matt’s Eastern Conference Rankings 1-10

31:45 – Austin’s Eastern Conference Rankings 1-10

35:52 – Austin’s Bobcat love bleeds through, and we discuss the underestimation of the Blazers

38:38 – Christian’s Western Conference Rankings 1-10

43:38 – Keith’s Western Conference Rankings 1-10

46:02 – THE TRAIL BLAZERS LOVE BEGINS

48:42 – Matt’s Western Conference Rankings 1-10

54:36 – Austin’s Western Conference Rankings 1-10

56:37 – Terrible can of worms regarding Blazers injuries gets cracked open. Wood being knocked on perpetually.

1:05:05 – Blazers schedule discussion

1:07:08 – Locks for the season. THE BLAZERS LOVE CONTINUES, YOU’RE NOT GONNA WANT TO MISS THIS!

1:12:55 – Thank you to our guests Matt and Keith, we close out the episode.

RipCity are you listening?! Cohosts Christian Gmelin and Austin Kaphammer are BACK in their season 3 debut to discuss more 2020 craziness, as well as the acquisition of Robert Covington, Derrick Jones Jr, and Enes Kanter. Other moves around the league are also touched on, while the hopes for a top seeding Blazers in the west soar. Christian also provides an amended intro to cover Olshey and the Blazers 11/23/20 press conference and Wenyen Gabriel moving on to the Pelicans. Peeps in Plaid is coming with another exciting episode soon, so stay tuned.

The Blazers finished the last 5 games 4-1 to go 6-2 in the seeding games and just barely make it to the play in with the 8 seed! Damian Lillard is setting records and tying his career high of 61 to somehow squeak out wins and will his team to the play-in against the Memphis Grizzlies! Tara Bowen-Biggs joins us as we discuss how stressful and intense that final game against the Brooklyn Nets was, how we feel about the Blazers chances going forward, how this team struggles despite Dame's dominance, we also discuss the hall of fame, 100 Percent Trent and more! What questions do you have? Comment and hit us up on Twitter!

Peeps in Plaid | @PeepsInPlaid | https://www.twitter.com/peepsinplaid

Christian Gmelin | @ChristianGmelon | https://www.twitter.com/christiangmelon

Austin Kaphammer | @AKaphammer | https://www.twitter.com/akaphammer

And you can find this episode’s guest:

Tara Bowen-Biggs | @tcbbiggs | https://twitter.com/tcbbiggs

Huge thank you to Tara for joining us especially late and after a mentally taxing game! And to our musical contributors, Ziggy Zay and Mashonibeats for the intro and outro music. Check out Ziggy wherever you stream your music and Mashoni on Soundcloud!

Episode Timeline:

:26 – The Blazers win, and welcome Tara!

1:50 – Reviewing Blazers-Nets, and the stress that came with watching it.

4:47 – Are we worried about these close games?

6:09 – Could you imagine if this was the last game of the season?

7:02 – Dame is garnering ALL the attention.

17:24 – What were the Blazers chances going into the seeding games?

18:54 – The Nets are mirroring the Clippers last year, and the Blazers should have beaten them more easily.

20:25 – CJ has a broken back??? Tara's research comes to the rescue as we try to understand.

24:20 – Christian predicted all 5 final games correctly, we summarize those games.

25:35 – Christian retells the tragedy of failing to secure $61 Dames.

27:15 – How do we feel going into the Grizzlies Play-in and potential Lakers Playoff games?

31:51 – Has Zach Collins been overhyped? Can he continue to improve and impress?

39:45 – For the Blazers, the best defense is THE BEST offense.

40:30 – Let's talk Hall of Fame! Do the Blazers have hall of famers on their team? Tara describes her experience at the Naismith Hall of Fame.

47:25 – Brief discussion on Dame and the haters/Skip Bayless. S/O @GoldnerPDX

49:05 – Damian Lillard cares, and he leads, and he is involved... and we are lucky to have him.

52:40 – Christian explains his gripe with the Hall of Fame by dropping a bomb of sadness.

58:00 – Discussing the WNBA, Seattle Storm and Brittney Griner.

101:21 – #100PercentTrent is a perfect nickname for a guy who give it his all every play.

The NBA Bubble in Orlando is heating up! After defeating the Houston Rockets, the Trail Blazers made it to a game and a half behind the Grizzlies, but by the time this episode got pushed out the Grizzlies lost to the Jazz making it just 1 game!  We discuss the three games the Blazers have played in the bubble, which players have been showing up *cough* Gary Trent Jr., how tight the 8-13 seeded teams are, what the heck is a Power Forward and more! What questions do you have? Comment and hit us up on Twitter!

Peeps in Plaid | @PeepsInPlaid | https://www.twitter.com/peepsinplaid

Christian Gmelin | @ChristianGmelon | https://www.twitter.com/christiangmelon

Austin Kaphammer | @AKaphammer | https://www.twitter.com/akaphammer

Huge thank you to our musical contributors, Ziggy Zay and Mashonibeats for the intro and outro music. Check out Ziggy wherever you stream your music and Mashoni on Soundcloud!

Episode Timeline:

:34 – Summary of NBA restart thus far.

1:16 – Reviewing Blazers-Rockets.

3:41 – Do the Blazers play position-less basketball, or do they have a more traditional play style?

8:00 – Let’s talk about the young guys. Fun fact Gary Trent Jr. (100 Percent Trent) is amazing.

14:11– What the heck is a power forward? How has it changed recently?

16:52– Gary Trent Jr.: 2nd most confident Portland Trail Blazer.

19:52 – Let’s talk Hassan Whiteside. How is he playing and what is his role? And are Centers to the NBA what Linemen are to the NFL?

25:30 – Reviewing Blazers-Grizzlies.

27:30 – The great power forward debate continues as we discuss big men shooting 3s.

33:47 – Dame time against the Celtics and which players does he play better against?

34:50 – Reviewing Blazers-Celtics.

37:47 – Big-Market fans and their delusional superstition.

38:34 – What’s next for the Blazers? We predict wins and losses.

40:58 – Devin Booker, his game winner and his age.

42:45 – Reviewing the rules on the 8-9 seed playoff

46:47 – Trevor Ariza, we miss you. Please come back Trevor. Apply for an exception… please.

The NBA is back! Austin and Christian are stoked and you better be! What the heck is going on? What is it going to take for the Blazers to make the playoffs? We explain, while also discussing the recent scrimmage games, which players will not be playing in the NBA bubble, which teams have a real shot at the championship and more! What questions do you have? Comment and hit us up on Twitter! 

Peeps in Plaid | @PeepsInPlaid | https://www.twitter.com/peepsinplaid 

Christian Gmelin | @ChristianGmelon | https://www.twitter.com/christiangmelon 

Austin Kaphammer | @AKaphammer | https://www.twitter.com/akaphammer 

Huge thank you to our musical contributors, Ziggy Zay and Mashonibeats for the intro and outro music. Check out Ziggy wherever you stream your music and Mashoni on Soundcloud! 

Episode Timeline: 

:56 – Season restart explanation

2:12 – Reviewing Blazers scrimmage games

10:25 – Blazers rotation discussion and things we’d like to see them do as the regular season restarts

17:00 – Which players will be missing time or skipping the NBA restart altogether

26:40 – Past NBA playoff discussion and other random thoughts and stats across the league

31:05 – Is Jusuf Nurkic an aggressive guy? We look at his background

33:45 – Basketball Players as NFL Tight Ends

37:12 – Tiers of contention: Who is for real in the NBA restart?

47:51 – Why the Blazers will struggle in the years to come

We don't know for how long, but we recorded just before it became official! Christian gives an introduction updating the status of Cornavirus in the sports world, even more updates have occurred since recording, as the MLB and NHL are suspending operations and Duke has official decided not to participate in the NCAA March Madness Tournament, likely signaling the suspension/cancellation of the 2020 tournament. Christian also argues against the idea of skipping the regular season and starting the playoffs whenever the NBA resumes.

The Blazers have gone 3-3 in their last 6 games and are still 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies as the push for the playoffs continues. 

We discuss Coronavirus just minutes before news broke of the suspended season, Nurk's return from injury, our newest tradition "Printed in Plaid" and more!

The NBA All-Star break has passed and the Trail Blazers are 1-3 since, losing the season series and potential tie-break to the New Orleans Pelicans.

With Damian Lillard on the bench how can the Blazers turn things around to finish strong and take the 8th seed? We discuss this, the Elam ending that we saw in the All-Star game, questions from the listeners. and more! What questions do you have? Comment and hit us up on Twitter!

Peeps in Plaid | @PeepsInPlaid | https://www.twitter.com/peepsinplaid

Christian Gmelin | @ChristianGmelon | https://www.twitter.com/christiangmelon

Austin Kaphammer | @AKaphammer | https://www.twitter.com/akaphammer

Huge thank you to our musical contributors, Ziggy Zay and Mashonibeats for the intro and outro music. Check out Ziggy wherever you stream your music and Mashoni on Soundcloud!

Episode Timeline:

:35 – Quick summary of the last couple weeks

1:44 – Recapping recent games

2:10 – Lindsey makes a brief entrance and it freezes Austin’s computer… recap continues

12:20 – Looking back at the All-Star break, and should the Elam ending be implemented in the NBA?

19:10 – Listener questions: Starting with @tomasoranski – potential draft prospects. Ya, we don’t watch much college ball…

24:20 – Listener question: @thehalloflame – where is Anfernee?

27:45 – Listener question: @HamzaCh02917112 – Nurk’s injury and effect upon return (we may not have properly addressed the question so we’ll definitely talk more Nurk next week)

30:15 – Listener question: @RandallPinkFlo4 – Does CJ elevate the players around him like Dame does?