With the Blazers off to a hot start, Tara called on Dan Favale, national writer for Bleacher Report and host of Hardwood Knocks podcast, to give us some national perspective. What can we take away from the wins? Does the defense look sustainable? But first, we learn more about growing up a Knicks fan, attending his first game at Madison Square Garden, first jersey, and how he got his high school newspaper to publish stories about Kevin Garnett. All this and more!

1:00 Icebreaker: What is the best Halloween candy?

4:30 Getting to know Dan. From Knicks fan to NBA writer.

8:00 Patrick Ewing Knicks and hating Michael Jordan. Glenn Rice 4Ever

10:00 Early Knicks game experience.

12:30 Current work being a national NBA writer.

17:00 Hardwood Knocks podcast and how listening to local coverage gives unique and special insight.

20:30 “Why your favorite team isn’t going to win the championship this season.”

25:00 Connectivity and the Portland Trail Blazers

26:00 Dan starts by summing up his assessment of the Blazers so far this year, “Holy crap”.

29:00 Accountability needs connectivity to work

33:00 Dunking.

36:30 Players that have stood out: Josh Hart’s rebounding, Jerami Grant pressure on the basket, overall they have a lot of depth and versatility.

38:00 Will they be able to keep up the defense?

39:00 Brief interlude to trash the Lakers

42:30 What can we learn about the team they have played?

45:40 Some of the upcoming opponents: Pelicans,

48:41 There really don’t seem like there are any teams that the Blazers can’t challenge

49:30 Nets

53:00 What is up with the Jazz?

1:00:00 Grizzlies

1:02:00 Outro. Find Dan @danfavale and @hardwoodknocks

Music used in the episode: "Happy Alley" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License