How Donovan Clingan & the Portland Trail Blazers Can Improve After Lackluster 1st Summer League Game



How Donovan Clingan & the Portland Trail Blazers Can Improve After Lackluster 1st Summer League Game

in today’s show early Impressions from the Blazers first Summer League game plus Portland adds a new assistant coach welcome lockon Blazers let’s get into [Music] it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what up world it’s your past first point guard and Trailblazers reporter Richmond you’re listening to another episode of lockon blazers part of lockon podcast network available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube thanks for making the show your first listen coming at you each and every weekday Monday through Friday so make it a part of your daily routine make your first listen tell your friends to do the same it’s lock on Blazers your team every day in today’s show we’re going to talk about the Blazers first Summer League game a loss to the San Antonio Spurs our Focus will be on the roster guys particularly the the main roster Trio of Donovan Clingan who we got our first glimpse of plus second Chris Murray and second year Ryan ruper getting back into summer league and we’ll talk about what we saw First Impressions from those three and we’ll also talk a little bit about the two-way guys Bryce McGowan’s get making his Blazers summer league debut and uh Justin maniah getting in on the action as well and we’ll close the show talking about Ronnie Burell who joins the Blazers coaching staff with a little bit of experience in the player Dev world for likely what is it behind the bench roll on Chanty bps’s staff that’s Today’s Show let’s get into it Blazers open up their summer league on Saturday evening and they lose and they look pretty bad in the first half the games don’t matter the box score doesn’t matter this like what what matters in these I think like the rosiest explanation of the Summer League games is it’s like they truly are meaningless you would rather play well than play poorly you would rather have the team look good than look bad but in the grand scheme the big picture it doesn’t really matter the Blazers roster is full no one playing for a spot on this roster there may be playing for a final two-way spot but I don’t think we saw anyone who played on Saturday night who’s in the running for that final two-way spot like they the the I think this was a pretty bumpy start to to summer league and I will say that the Spurs had played in the California classic so they had played three games prior to this and they just looked way more organized particularly on defense just more organized um really got after it they they they beat they kind of they kind of beat the snot out of the Blazers and then Portland made a a late comeback to make it look closer than it ever actually was but like I don’t care about the box score in fact I am not going to mention box score stats in this one I want to talk about the game in depth but um I think what you see like the The Form and Function is more important than the the statistical outputs of it sometimes you can’t avoid it when talking about this stuff but I think it’s easy to talk big picture and and the minutia without getting caught up in numbers that don’t matter let’s start with Donovan kingan he’s the big one here right he was figuratively literally seventh pick in the NBA draft a giant person 72280 um and this was our first look at him you know I mentioned in the on Friday show uh thanks for shout out to my everyday appreciate appreciate you listening everyday wherever you get Podcast and also on YouTube but like that I don’t I didn’t care about Donan kingan shooting there was like you know there’s 12 other things particularly on the defensive side of the ball that I want to see him be good at first uh my theory with young players in the NBA is make your strength strong than worry about other stuff I think everyone we talk about basketball what can’t this guy do what can he add I don’t care I don’t care about what Donovan clayon can add I want to see what his you know he’s supposed to be a gigantic rim protector let’s see him be a gigantic rim protector and then move out from there and I will say of the positives of this game for Donovan kingan him being really big was a positive and I mean that unironically and my tongue is out of my cheek like him just like understanding that he’s very big was a positive early in the game he had two contests where he didn’t leave the floor he just rotated over got his hands up crowded someone’s feet and was like I’m gigantic one of them credited with a block the other one not credited with a block but you know same thing he deterred the shot just cuz he was big and in the way and I think that was the strength of his game in game one but the first shot attempt he took was a three-pointer and it was kind of an antsy three-pointer and by ansy I mean like it was you know three minutes into the game roughly and he hadn’t got a real they tried to throw him one pass in the post but he got fouled on the post catch but he hadn’t really had like a true offensive touch because he didn’t even catch that they like blew the whistle dead before he got into his hands it’s like he had a true offensive touch the Blazer playing without even like a close to a quality point guard so it’s like it felt like watching him that Clingan was like well I’m I don’t know where I’m going to score I don’t know where I’m going to get my shots in this offense so if I get like a clean look at the top of the key I’m firing and clearly he had the green light to do so and he missed badly and it’s like his first shot attempt 72280 is like a for a guy who shot nine three-pointers in college as a three in summer league that’s bad that’s a bad that’s a bad Omen like it just it if you are long time listen in the show again shout out to my every dayers you know that like even though I was like yeah I think kingan is like a fine pick at seven what I had consistently said through the draft process was that I am not 100% sure what he does on offense like how he’s going to be effective I think he could be a passer but like his own offense how does he score he’s not a direct postup guy like he’s not don’t confuse him with Zach e that’s the other dude um but like I don’t I don’t I don’t really I don’t during The Scouting process it was hard for me to see clearly like oh this is how Donovan King is going to score this is how he’s going to be um this is how he’s going to be impactful on offense that kind of came together and when he shoots that three early on it’s [Music] like he didn’t have a good offensive day I think he missed some shots that he can um that he can make but he also just like he clearly doesn’t have like Elite touch in that area and Elite feel the Blazers are playing with no one who’s even close to a point guard it remains incredibly silly that they didn’t have scoot Henderson play one game much less two like the I I haven’t um I pardon me if I missed this please email me lockon Blazers spot gmail.com I haven’t seen like a formal explanation from anyone as to why scoot isn’t playing the obvious is like the Blazers don’t think it’s valuable they’d rather have him work on like personal skill work whatever whatever I don’t buy any injury concerned stuff you can get hurt playing basketball at any time whether you play it in a pickup game in Los Angeles or in uh or in a a more organized game in in Las Vegas on television it’s like I don’t buy I don’t buy that and if you’re worried about guys getting hurt you’re in the wrong business basketball um so like probably just didn’t they don’t see like specifically summer league as valuable but man is Donovan kinging in a bad spot um one of my notes I’ll show here’s the notebook uh real life one of my not one of my notes from this game is like uh this this is the early second quarter no one can pass nobody nobody they Tred to throw him lobs terrible lobs they they they couldn’t get him on on uh screen of rolls they couldn’t find him in the pocket they couldn’t find him at The Rim they couldn’t find him on seals they just turn the ball over it’s like brutal so some of kingan’s like he doesn’t look good on offense is cuz he’s in like the worst possible ecosystem for someone with his skill set a center without range who needs like a good setup man to get him and like and to maximize what he does well on offense he just doesn’t have that he doesn’t have a secondary guy who can do that he doesn’t have anybody so like I think kingan didn’t play well on offense and he’s also in a bad ecosystem on defense I thought he was pretty good um I said I wasn’t going to mention the box score but I I’ll I’ll say one number he he blocked five shots according to the box score I think that sort of overstates his his overall defensive impact but I do think in general what he was very good at as being big two of those blocks were kind of in um semi-transparency he looks good in those situations he wasn’t like swatting everything in halfcourt settings and like and and and all that but I thought in general like there’s there wasn’t any reason to worry about his defense I don’t think it was like you looked at him and like Elite Rudy goar I was like yeah he looks he looks like he has some like that’s where he’s going to be impactful was like very clear like that is the side of the the court where he’s going to be good um I hate the three-point shooting there’s no reason to do it and then one of the changes I like from the Blazers as they came out in the second half and they gave him two high post touches one at the elbow nothing came of it but he got a touch got to make a read and and made it play and then they ran like um delay action and I don’t say that to uh to like give you twoo many terms or show off my knowledge of NBA playbooks but like you’re going to hear like Lamar herd say that on the broadcast and you’re going to hear other people talk about it delay is um it’s a bunch of different looks but the action starts with the center at the top of the key and then two guys in the corner two guys on the wings and you can run a kajillion different things from there and they ran and early in the third quarter like the second thir third play in my in my notebook it’s says the third play uh but the notebook is not always 100% correct but very early in the third quarter they ran delay action like give him the ball at the top of the key and let him make reads make plays and like do stuff I also thought his screening got better throughout the game I thought early in the game he wasn’t making great contact on screens he had a couple in the second half particularly in the third quarter where he set like heavy full body screens one of the times he said a heavy full body screen was wide open and whoever was in the game whether it was Kendrick Davis I think it was it might have been tur quavian Smith at the time but it was like whoever it was was just like did not look for the roll man and he rolled had a little space defense came they ended up kicking out to a three that they missed and um and then he had another one where they just he he didn’t get open but it was like a solid screen and gave him gave his it gave the roller or gave the ball handler space and he had some time I think he could be a good screen Setter they didn’t run any dribble handoff stuff with him um maybe they’ll get into that but they we didn’t really see much um you know he he ran a couple handoffs but I’m talking like very clearly the set is designed to get you know Donovan in a dho they didn’t run that type of stuff um he just he he I thought on offense he looked far away in a way that was very believable and I thought in defense he looks solid I would say in general this was not a very good debut and here’s my number one concern with it offense I’m not worried about he stopped shooting threes in the second half that felt better that felt like a good choice by both him and the coaching staff um on defense I think he showed that he can be something a little bit like something special on that end although like uh I thought early in theame game the Spurs got whatever they wanted in at The Rim particularly in transition and it is what it is but I think defense was generally positive offense was very much negative but the number one concern I had was his rebounding four or five times he got beat by a Spurs player when he was trying to finish possession and grab a defensive rebound and the Spurs player just moved around him and got an offensive board that was 100% my concern um I’m not going to read the box score to you but I know he had big rebounding numbers in the Box Score go watch the game that’s why you got to watch the game the box score is a lie go watch the game getting beat by smaller guys to the ball on the glass is a bad sign the way clinging is going to be dominant is be good at the things you’re good at be have your strengths be strong I’ll say it again have your strengths be strong his strengths are going to be protecting the rim he was pretty good at it and cleaning the defensive glass finishing possessions that’s why he’s going to be the best version of himself everything else builds from those strengths being strong grab every available defensive rebound cuz you’re gigantic you’re going to be biggest player on the floor nearly every time you play grab the every defensive rebound and block shots he block shots in this game he did he like he deterred shots um I don’t think they were afraid to drive at him but like that comes with a little bit more reputation and this is like in summer league no one’s Afraid of Anything they’re trying to get everyone’s trying to get a paycheck baby no reason for fear um so like but getting beat by guys who are faster and I think I think it was a couple reasons one just quickness right is like the ball out rebound out of your area clinging doesn’t react fast enough he had a great offensive rebound where he chased it down in the corner it’s like he could do that but on the defensive rebounds it’s like he didn’t get a body on everybody so he’s not not a heavy box out guy the NBA everyone sucks at boxing out it is it is amazing how little boxing out you see in the league except for like the guys who are truly a lead at it but he’s not getting a body on people right away he can learn that and he’s just going up with his hands up like I’m big I’m going to go up with my hands up you’re not if you’re playing with really good athletes who are quick they’re going to find a way to get around and get to the ball quicker he’s got to be for me the biggest improvement from game one to game two that I’d like to see from dominan clinging is no nobody small beats him to an offensive rebound when it’s just like a stand to put your hands up race because it shouldn’t be a stand to put your hands up race it should be a throw your 280 pound hips into somebody and use your frame and make sure you get boards if you box out and miss a rebound fine but don’t don’t miss a rebound because you just thought you could be big I thought rebounding for me my number one concern with kingan was Defensive rebounding offense he’ll get there or maybe he won’t cuz maybe he’ll never be good on that end and that’s like what he will be but like on defense you saw the promise of what he can grow into and um if his strengths get strong then we can worry about the other stuff um let’s all agree let’s all agree we’re going to do it right here we’re going to do it right here as the close of the segment we’re not going to talk about Donovan kinging shooting three-pointers until 2025 okay good good I’m glad we all agree I’m glad we all agree let’s talk Chris Murray and Ryan ruper in the second segment join join me there won’t you first though I want to tell you that Today’s Show is brought to you by FanDuel it’s America’s number one sports book and even in the summertime they’re giving you reason to get in on the action so whether you’re watching the WNBA whether you’re watching Major League Baseball every single single freaking day or you’re watching Summer League for the next week FanDuel is giv every customer a reason to get in on the action hooking up all customers that’s new and returning with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com start making the most out of your summer FanDuel an official sports betting partner of Major League [Music] Baseball oh right so we talked Donovan kingan for the most part I think for a rookie big man in a setting where he didn’t have much offensive help don’t worry about it did he look good no is there reason to hell no oh0 for two um it just doesn’t matter it just it just doesn’t matter you have your strengths be strong be better in games two and three you’ll forget you’ll forget about game one like that’s it’s it’s it is a very simple fix players bought two other roster players though on on this team Chris secondy year players Chris Murray and Ryan ruper Chris Murray I got excited about I really did I I mentioned that the thing I want to see from him is like aggression and um like like an assertiveness sort of shot confidence looking for for your shot and being aggressive chasing it and getting a little Rim pressure well those those are the two notes I had on Friday show that those are the two top two things I wanted to see from from Chris Murray don’t turn down any good shots and be aggressive looking for your own shot be selfish looking for your own shot his first two touches hard left-hand Drive scores them both let’s go I’m getting excited I’m marking it down Chris Murray’s going to lead the show Chris Murray’s going to make a case that they can trade everybody because they got a bunch of young wings that can play and then he didn’t do anything took four shots in the first four minutes took five shots the remainder of the game Chris Murray disappeared he disappeared and I think that’s the worrisome thing right it’s like right away you can when when it’s like hey here are the boxes you need to check be aggressive go get go you know go go uh go make your plays and he he gets to his left hand hard left-and drive the first one a physical hard left-and drive in finishes you you love to see it um second one he just you you know just quicker to to where he needed to go to two drives second two times he drove um they were they weren’t as um they just were in a crowd they drove in he drove into crowds right and and I don’t I’m not worried about that I think in general like if you’re going to pick someone on this particular roster To Dribble To Dribble too much into the paint you want to be Chris Murray because you want him to sort of learn that fluidity of counter moves and all the and sort of and you know when it’s not just strong left-and Drive does he have other moves does he have a pull-up game does he have some sort of in between action can he you know can he pull the brakes on a drive and make it pass like all of the little moves right all all of the little little counter moves that come when you’re first like I’m going to get to my Str strong hand and go gets cut off or the help Defender comes or whatever it might be and he gets you know those you know first first four minutes he’s he’s getting into the paint like and and those second two drives he makes two his first two buckets second two drives they’re just in a crowd it’s like that is that’s a lot of bodies in there and the Spurs like I said they were um they just look more organized they were more locked in I thought City Soo was freaking really good in this game uh you know my guy Harrison barn or excuse me Harrison Ingram speaking of that Spurs just real quick uh side note to the side note Harrison Barnes Harrison Ingram the the Spurs have two Harrison on one roster both Carolina Lum or Carolina matriculates um never has an NBA team had more Harrisons who attended the University of North Carolina on its roster historic roster for the for the Spurs um but like my biggest worry with Chris Murray was that he just didn’t do anything after asserted opening minutes you have it on the top of your mind top of your brain I’m going to do these things when they take it when they take it away when they take it away your drives aren’t as clean it’s just floating around it’s like I just didn’t notice number 10 enough I didn’t notice him enough I don’t think he was awful like I but he just he just this is the setting for Chris Murray to be a star or at least like a high volume High usage player the NBA he’s never going to be that he’s never going to be a primary Creator he’s never going to be all these things but if Chris Murray is going to like take a leap and be a be a like a high level contributor in year two he needs to be able to be like at least um loud at Summer League like watching Stefan Castle he did not shoot very well from him two he shot a lot of bricks on mid-range pull-ups but he was really good at with his Pace I thought his Pace was really good and it’s like he he ended up you look at the you look at the box score you say like he did not have an efficient night but you watch that game you said he was in control that dude was in control of the game that’s he he was excellent as the best player on the floor type of game I don’t think marur needs to be that because he’s not like a point guard right he’s not going to run a kajillion pick and rolls but just a little more assertive through out don’t end up in the backgrounds Blazers had such a stinky second quarter the things got away from them and they came they came charging back in the fourth but like they only had they they the really offense really just just disappeared in the second quarter I almost gave you a box score number there that was almost that was a real mistake um Murray doesn’t like Murray just needs to he needs to remember what he was trying to do in those clearly trying to do in those opening minutes and translate that to 40 minutes of basketball or what however much he’s going to play he’s play like you know three quarters of every game about a half hour he we need to feel Chris Murray I want I want Chris Murray to be like I want to be mad that Chris Murray took too many shots in game two that’s that’s the biggest it’s like wow Chris Murray was chucking um that that’s I would much rather have that experience to be like did he play in the second half did he get hurt or did he play you know um I think he had a late three-pointer but it’s like I would have liked to see a lot more of them Ryan ruper had about as bad a first half as you could have as you would have been worried about he just he was just losing the ball driving into traffic he was making horrendous passes both horrendous passes that are like too ambitious and just like also just a normal run-ofthe-mill bad pass where there isn’t there he’s not threading the needle and trying to throw a pass through a couple Defenders just his decision- making was not his awareness and decision making Awareness on drives and decision making pass shoot decision making just really really really tough in the first half that was not I was um I was hoping for a little more positives from ruper I thought he turned around a little bit in the second half I don’t think he was like I wouldn’t give him the capital G good second half but I think he was decent um he had he had a a transition bucket finished with his left hand hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter but like I my um you know ruper is obviously like a Pro right he’s he’s he’s a 20-year-old who’s drafted the second round like you know it’s like it’s not like oh my God he can’t play um I feel much different about Murray like he’s a little bit older he’s he’s I believe he’s turned 24 already he’s played three years in college like it’s like he needs to be able to be pretty good in this setting ruper is not the same thing like ruper doesn’t need to be like excellent in this setting but um he does seem like he’s still just like the sharpness of his game he has a lot of physical tools and he has shot the ball well in the NBA level not like or at the NBA level he hasn’t shot like he’s not like a lights out shooter but he’s like shot it better than you than I would have thought um but it’s all the other parts of his game it’s like how does he score inside the arc how does he create for others and himself off the dribble you know he mentioned in prior to this uh pre this run of uh in summer league that he wanted to be um he wanted to be more of like a Creator and on ball guy and like he certainly got some opportunities early in this game and they were all bad and then the he he didn’t he didn’t get the same type of reps in the in the second half as like on as an on ball guy but he he made better he was he just like simpler he just made the game simpler and sometimes that’s it it’s like I thought I was going to do more doing more is too much I’m going to do less and try to be more impactful doing a little bit less um I think what ruper needs to do early in games just make it simple right he’s a catch and shoot guy in the league what if he takes a couple catch and shoot shots and then tries to get into his stuff like him just catch slash get into the paint it’s like he dribbled it off his knee he dribbled it into a crowd he threw the ball away getting caught in the here like it’s just he he threw the ball away triying to throw it um back out to the to the top of the key from the wing it’s like chill just chill maybe get maybe get some simple shots like take a jumper simple shots and then and then see what you can do from there and build out um Murray and ruper were pretty underwhelming uh cling was pretty underwhelming the blazes weren’t very good but here’s the truth it doesn’t really matter one game in summer league doesn’t matter this week as a whole playing well is better than playing poorly but one game doesn’t really Define you if they were rocked in this game one game wouldn’t really Define them I would say that the there are clear things to work on with kingan I just don’t know that the Blazers brought enough offensive players to help him on offense but be an elite rebounder be an elite defensive rebounder with Murray just be more assertive fail more be more assertive and with ruper simplify it and then build simplify and then build that that would be my my like sort of basic coachi keys to this one those are my um UNS unsponsored no mo auto dealership sponsors those keys to the game shout out to lar herd but like they can get better and and if you improve from game one to game four you can have a successful summer league like the the results of these games truly don’t matter okay let’s talk Blazers new assistant coach they got one that’s we’ll do to close the show Welcome to the squad Ronnie barell join me in that third segment won’t you first though want to tell you about eBay 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firsts point guard I’m still Mike Richmond and you are still Listen to Locked on Blazers Blazers a new assistant coach they had three coaching vacancies heading into the summer after uh they had one defection and then they did not re uh Steve hsel left and joined the coaching staff in Brooklyn and then uh they did not renew the contracts for Scott Brooks and also Rodney Bops so they had three coaching vacancies those are two front of the um two front of the uh bench yeah front of the bench is the word I’m looking for vacancies and then a behind the bench roll more of like a player deeper assistant as opposed to lead assistance they’ve hired the two front of the bench guys in Chris Fleming and Nate borran and they still had this behind thebench role available and and they have clearly made that H today the team hasn’t announced it but Adrien wowski announced that the Blazers have hired assistant coach Ronnie Burell who spent the last few seasons with the Brooklyn Nets who’s Ronnie Burell let’s get to know him a 20005 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro that’s UNCG stand stand up my Triad people shout out to the pedmont Burell did not make the league I drafted in 2005 uh Ronnie brell out of the league coaching uh Ryan brell spent 11 years playing playing professionally in in uh in France Germany in Poland following following going on drafted in 2005 Chris Paul also drafted in 2005 playing for the Spurs this year brell’s had a decade long career entered coaching worked his way through the ranks and is now on an NBA bench um and Chris Paul’s still playing uh this this journey began for for uh Burell he actually has an interesting interesting path he so he he you know plays plays professionally for 11 years uh then he’s comes back and he’s he’s kind of um you know out of basketball briefly and goes to Florida Atlantic and gets an NBA in in in sports management right he’s like I’m going to go I’m going to go to graduate school and I’m going to work in sports in some form or fashion and then he’s like maybe I want to like get involved in uh coaching again so he ends up like working at IMG Academy and and getting uh and like becoming a this sort of like a Player Development coach from there he gets a job as in a player Dev and video assistant role with the Brooklyn Nets in 20189 201819 um that would be the first time he would cross PA pass with Chris Fleming now a member of the Blazers coaching staff who worked for the for the Nets at the time then uh from there in 201819 what he’s like in this sort of like ancillary uh you know inter type role like it’s assistant to the video team type of Ro in Brooklyn he joins the uh Long Island Nets their g-league team as as an assistant that’s in 20 uh in 20189 or excuse me in 2019 2020 then the following year from uh from the that job he had in the g- league he gets hired to Be a Player Development coordinator um in in Chicago for 2020 2021 with the bulls on Billy Donovan staff again working with Fleming so Fleming new him from from Brooklyn they work together again in Chicago he spent a year there working working for the Bulls then he’s back into the G league in 2122 he worked for uh he’s an assistant coach for the college park Skyhawks that’s the that’s Atlanta’s g- League team and then in 2223 he gets hired as from an assistant coach in the g-league to the head coach of the Long Island Nets back to the Brooklyn Nets organization head coach of the Long Island Nets and he wins the freaking g-league coach of the year they’re they’re good they rip off a 16 game win streak at some point um they started the season 0 and four in the Showcase and they come back in the regular season it’s a split season in the G League they come back in the second half of the split season and they’re just freaking good they just off a bunch of games only lose four times like and he’s the coach of the year um a pretty impressive run for a guy getting his first head coaching gig at the at the g- league level and then from there the Nets move them onto their bench they say okay you clearly you know you’ve got some you’ve you’ve got some skills and Jack vaugh adds uh Burell to the 2324 anet’s coaching staff on on his bench and now Burell joins the Blazers as um as as an assistant I this is almost certainly you know he’s worked from 20189 he spent whatever six seasons uh this will be you know year seven of coaching at all in Player Development roles either in the g-league OR on uh NBA staffs where he’s done development stuff right like that’s his that seems to be a specialty that’s a behind the bench role that that is if there’s ever been one that’s a guy who sits behind the bench you’ll see you know working a bunch in practice and doing all of those things but this is uh this is basically the job Rodney bips had I can’t really speak to um what assistant coaches do right like I can read the resume I think g-league coach of the year is an impressive part of the resume but like here’s what I can say unequivocally the Ronnie Burell resume is much stronger than the Rodney bips resume I can’t speak to the quality of bips Rodney bips coaching I have no idea no idea I don’t honestly I’m not sure that there’s anyone in the Blazers media space who can speak specifically to that um what I can say is that if you’re just judging off experience coaching at the NBA level and developing young players in the NBA level Burell is exactly the type of hire you want and and a clear upgrade in terms of just onp paper resume stuff this is a really this is someone experienced in the exact world that you’re going to get and he’s he’s H he’s you know has worked with in several stops a Blazers recently hired Blazers assistant a longtime NBA assistant coaching veteran Chris Fleming so someone on the coaching staff is familiar with his work he has you know worked his way up and spent a long time in various roles with the Nets um with some with some bouncing around stops in between but like a long long time working for an NBA team he’s been successful at the g-league level and made the jump and now he’s coming over and going to be an assistant for the Blazers I don’t really know what um I think two things and I’ve said this before with other say in coaching hires I think in in very in Broad terms a coaching staff is extremely important a quality coaching staff from top to bottom and the quality of your assistance and how much your assistance can get can communicate the message to players and help them work on their skills and help them understand their system and their fit and all those things they’re fit within the system all of that is really really important but it’s mostly an unknown variable even from those like who are cover you know I was on the beat for five years it’s like even then I knew who which coaches sort of worked with who and all those things but in terms of like who why it worked like how how the sausage was made I kind of saw the I saw the ingredients but I didn’t really uh get the art of it because you just can’t get close enough to understand the art I think from the outside we’ll never really know um but I think it’s incredibly important unknown variable on paper I think the Blazers have hired you know uh Nate borran for all of his like inpersonal well-documented interpersonal struggles in in Indiana was you know an assistant on Nate Nick nurse’s bench where they were incredibly creative and won the NBA title right he’s a guy who comes from a place where they were really heavily experimental and very successful on it that that that’s that was pin’s background Fleming has coached for a long time in the league uh and and was an offensive coordinator in Brooklyn and I think one of the Blazers real needs this summer was to add more creative off offensive game plan um and more like sort of a a stronger more cohesive look on the offensive side of the ball and they hired someone who kind of fits that approach and now it’s like what do they need behind the bench what would you need to upgrade behind the bench it’s it’s institutional knowledge on what it takes for NB to develop NBA players and they added someone who’s now spent a more than a half decade developing NBA players for various franchises across the league and also has worked in the minor league ranks in the G League doing that exact same thing in theory they address some of their weaknesses how it works I don’t know all I can tell you is the mostly the resume stuff right like I can read the resume I’m pretty good at doing the research to find out the timelines but how it all fits together that is unknown but I think like I mean you could you can claim to have whatever you kind of knowledge you want of of Ronnie barell I’ll say this for what this is this seems like a good hire and I’ll leave it at that we’re going to do more of these the Blazers you’re listening to uh Monday July 15th show the Blazers play a game on Monday evening they’re back at it who they playing the Sixers at 5:30 uh B specific time if you are living somewhere else look up when it is they played the Sixers their second g-league game we will talk about that one all about that one in Tuesday’s show do me a favor tell your friends about the podcast tell them they can get it wherever they get Podcast and also on YouTube free on all platforms coming at you each and every weekday five days a week come back listen to tomorrow’s show I appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you soon [Music] n

Game 1 was rough. There’s an easy path to a better rest of the week in Las Vegas. We talk early impressions for Donovan Clingan, Kris Murray and Rayan Rupert. Plus, the Blazers hired a new assistant coach in Ronnie Burrell.

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17 comments
  1. Clingan will be much better with a starting point guard… the goal should be to tank for Flagg anyways!!!! Stress about clingan two years from now

  2. Don't usually hear a lot of the technical stuff on this program so it's interesting to hear as a person who's never played basketball. Also, LOLing at the folks who talked about trading Ayton immediately now that we have Clingan

  3. I root for Clingan to be great but I don't think he is that good nor will he be. I will be saying we shoulda took Edey till proven wrong, which I hope I am. Donovan needs a mentor he can talk to on the phone or video 3 or 4 times a week, Too bad Bill Walton died. Lots of these retired big guys always eager to give their advice and opinions to a young guy if they want it. Befriend Sabonis, Shaq or Kareem or at least try.

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