The Trail: Season 2, Chapter 4: Hungry to Grow | Portland Trail Blazers Docuseries
After 18 games you know we’ve been through a ton already not everything in the NBA not everything in life is about winning between up a lefty up more so in life it’s about the process Malcolm has become our leader usually it’s about a 2-year turnaround for an NBA team to get
A g-league affiliate we’ve done it in 6 months hopefully that time where I’ve been out watching the game is help me when I go back for us to get that much better there have been guys who have stepped to the Forefront they’ve shown they’re ready to find their footing my
Best players will get the most shots but they also have a responsibility to make other players better the kitchen remodel projects the product is what’s behind me should helps the guys be that much better we’ve taken huge steps to putting the Trailblazers on the right path you
Got a lot of guys here that are wanting to prove who they can be in the league and we’re going to do it together I’m Rodney bips this is take number one my name is Aaron Fentress my name is Casey holdall my name is Lamar herd I work for The Oregonian oregonlive.com and I cover the Trailblazers I am the Trailblazers Insider for the Portland Trailblazers I have covered the team for
Going on 20 years now I have been covering the Trailblazers for eight seasons now I’m the television analyst It’s been an interesting start for the Trailblazers 2023 24 season obviously when you have so much turnover really allows a team to kind of reset the deck really change the way that they view themselves and the way that they play and the way that they approach games and
The way they approach a season using your will and your desire to be great as a way to drive your performance as far as how the team has played this year the thing that jumps out the most is that they definitely play hard there’s been so many games where I’ve had my game
Story written Blazers got blown out and I look up and they’re down five like dang I got right about a comeback oh know they might win so I’ve been very impressed with their result they don’t quit the first few months of this season were unpredictable with the new group of
Players it was also exciting there’s new story lines there are new players to follow and there was a new defensive scheme that arose out of nowhere young guys getting after it right away picking up full court H you up against that sideline it’s been a roller coaster and
It hadn’t been easy you know and our guys are taking it in stride we’re going to compete we’re going to be extremely hard to play against and we’re going to be Uber prepared for whatever our opponent brings at us and and we’ve been able to do that a lot you know once we
Get healthy and continue to make strides with our older guys leading our young guys you’re going to continue to see the super competitive team team that puts out a exciting product every single night you know and hopes to win some of these games especially the close ones people expected that you’re going to
Have some struggles when you bring in so many new faces and a lot of young faces I like the joke that there’s two guys in rotation that can’t buy alcohol can’t get in the club you know and whenever you have that situation you’re going to have some growing pains especially when
You factor in the injuries Anthony Simon your best player misses 18 games and so there’s just a lot of pieces that have to come together and a lot of Youth a lot of inexperience and that’s tough to do in a league where we all know that
Veterans win and when you have a lot of young players you’re going to have some struggles maybe different than years past where they were rebuilding or or kind of restarting or or just taking a different direction it seems like there’s a much better Foundation now that maybe there was when they’ve done
This before you already had some players that you felt confident about so you already had Anthony Simons a guy who who you know is going to be part of your future you already had a guy in Shane sharp who after his rookie season you felt pretty confident that you knew at
Least what kind of a player he could become and I think you also had a few vets in guys like Jeremy Grant I have seen this team respond tremendously to coach Bops in terms of attacking hitting first now they have had their struggles particularly in first quarters of games
This season but there’s always been a response for the most part an Awakening that takes place throughout a game and a lot of times that comes after coach Bops has had a chance to talk to the team redirect some strategy it hasn’t always resulted in a successful basket or a
Successful stop or a win at the end of the day but it has resulted in a certain mentality that the team has walked into each game with and that they respond with when they are the ones that get hit First we beening a new school and looking alive biting these new rules and chasing the light to technical of the ideas and brighten your day to explainity it’s been really fun to see Anthony’s growth as a player stepping out of the shadow of Damian buard other opposing teams they’re just now
Realizing like boy this guy’s really something special I think we’re seeing a guy who’s settling into not only his game but to himself he doesn’t have to defer to anyone he’s learned from some greats now he can go out there and Implement what he knows the injury made him take a step
Back this season but now that he’s back out there it’s been really exciting the opportunity to cement himself as one of the cornerstones of this franchise now that he is back in the lineup Sky living For you know he’s the longest tender Blazer 6 years now he’s just 24 years of age so something we I think have to remind ourselves about an Simons again going right back to the rack laid it in he makes the contact and gets the call Stepping to the line and
Chance at a three-point [Applause] play by far the most important part of this season is seeing that growth from Ant having him Mentor this team both on and off the court to see ant’s growth as a person and as a leader has been maybe just as gratifying you know to to see
Him kind of step out of his his comfort zone you know cuz he he’s a quiet guy by nature and you know for him to to kind of push himself to to be more vocal and Anthony as a guy who who’s actually played for Chanty the entire time that he’s been
Here he has I think a level of understanding of what chony wants that allows him to be another coach on the floor and in the locker Room That’s we the whole season I’m P out feel good to be a good team great team keep it rolling always tell him as a leader just say what you see we give him a lot of freedom and I’m saying with that freedom a it’s your responsibility to make other players
Better my best players will get the most shots but they also have have a responsibility to make other players Better Grant’s presence as a 29-year-old vet who’s been around the league and played with a lot of great players future Hall of Famers is huge for this team people wondered at the time when they resigned him and if that made any sense you know I hate to say it but to
Have an adult in the room is huge you know to have someone who’s been around to help guide these young cats I can’t imagine where they would be without him we talk about these games where they’ve had these dramatic comebacks well part of that has been Grant getting hot and
Not quitting and leading by example and so if you’re 21 20 on this team you’re looking at Jeremy Grant he hasn’t quit you know he’s getting paid he’s out there fighting then you have to as well you know given the rewards of the big contract we’ve seen no let down at
All from him he’s been another terrific quiet leader for this ball Club has a real presence on both ends of the floor you know here he is his 10th year in the league and he continues to improve Jeremy’s a great leader defensively because of the things that he’s seen as
The best defender on our team last year he’s pouring into our rookies now you add the leadership and the offense Jeremy’s been outstanding for us this year north of 40% from three-point range he’s averag 22 points those are both career highs for him the team is saying
JG you’re one of our top options and when anthon’s out the game you’re our go-to guy he has responded to that he had to work to this point he paid his dues and this is his time to shine Grant’s been a real star for the Blazers this year one of the top two
Go-to guys on the ball Club he has handled that just beautifully and again he’s just he’s so quiet he’s poised very thoughtful guy I think our players really gravitate to that kind of attitude huge get for them to bring him back and it’s been great to see him rise and step into that
Role particularly with a lot of young players learning how they’re supposed to play Under Chanty bips you had a guy in Jeremy Grant who just wants team to be successful wants his teammates to be successful and is willing to do whatever that takes in order to see those goals
Realized Jeremy’s a safe space he’s somebody who everybody feels like they can go to no matter what the situ situation is and feel okay about it while also understanding whatever the reality of the situation is TE might be up 20 JG is still calm and cool he’s
Pumping up everybody else te might be down 20 he’s not panicking but he’s also understanding of the element of intensity that needs to pick up so there’s always this calm consistent presence with Jeremy and people are able to read his moods they really feel that because they know he doesn’t waste words
And he’s a very good player so it helps when somebody that has his ability can also communicate the way that he does in such a a calm and smooth manner it really connects you never have to doubt where he’s coming from and where his
Heart is I I think that allows you to to be an influence in the locker room that is really rare in professional sports and that is really helpful particularly for a young team for guys who are trying to find their way it really does a good
Job and it really helps in in allowing the team to get through tough times while also learning and growing and becoming the players and the people that they hope to be Someday can I have a chicken for salad thank you my name is hi Foreman I’m the ex I chef and director of nutrition at the Trailblazers so I have worked in a lot of kitchens and because of that I was able to use my knowledge of what works
And what doesn’t work to be able to fully completely design this kitchen to be an allart Style Kitchen we wanted to make sure that we’re able to utilize all of those local products in the best way possible and to us that means cooking the food after somebody’s ordered it as
Opposed to before but it wouldn’t have happened without management and ownership jod really believed in this so it was stressful right because everybody believed in it coach believes in it and it’s just a really important part of this building this tiny corner of this building is super important and again
It’s just a place that people gather so the five 6 months from start to finish was really hard but because of all the great people that we had working on this project it it turned out Incredible all right let’s see coffee tables oh my gosh obviously this is essentially the same packet that we’ve looked at previously so far we’ve updated the floor plan hie came into this project with such a strong vision for what she wanted that it was great to just be able
To take that from her and run she’s always been informative with lots of feedback and really helped us bring that Vision to life together awesome yeah cuz they’ll be like embossed with the Blazers logo for some of them the vision of the remodel was really driven a lot
By hie and what she envisioned for her space all right so this is the space so we’re currently standing in the future dining room so we’re going to have some bar seats cold service hot service it’s actually crazy how much hasn’t changed from the strong we’re going to have have a lot of
Communal tables chairs really the opportunity for everybody to you know just sit communally and enjoy a meal her vision was really the idea of a much more kind of hospitality experience versus what they had had previously which was just a lot more separated the back of house versus front of house
Experience so that was a huge driver in the design direction for the project I drew the sketch they call it a napkin sketch on January 31st of this year the product is what’s behind [Applause] me we’ll do the risotto beans crispy Farm everyone in the kitchen is incredible they are working tirelessly on their feet all day always have a great attitude always willing to jump in and do anything working on a kitchen is always a little different than like a
Typical building project so as a kitchen there’s a lot of things you have to consider as far as mechanical and electrical systems and then also integrating the aesthetic design into that and making sure that it all comes together the kitchen remodel project was probably one of the hardest things that
I’ve ever done how many different touches that had to happen in order for this to be what it is today they don’t get that first day that we opened was really special you know everybody here is pretty lowkey so there was no outward like oh my gosh we were
Able to see coach’s reaction you could tell by looking at their faces that they knew that it was worth the weight before and after right our new kitchen is is survive man I love it they did an amazing job on it it’s beautiful that’s become in a very
Small amount of time the heart of our facility The Practice Facility is like our home even more than the arena we’re there every day we spend hours there with the same group of people every day so the energy there is so important and I think that kitchen really helps facilitate that nutrition is arguably the most
Important thing as a you know highle athlete us having a new kitchen us having the level of chefs that we have I think it’s you know a huge Advantage for us so I always say with nutrition I think it’s one of those little things right so
You can be doing all the training but it helps the guys be that much better I was just telling Chris I you tell ni even though we are a food First Nutrition program there are other things that we do touch on right so we give the guys their collagen and beet juice
Before practice um we’ll give them customized vitamin packs every single day protein shakes post practice hey shelle she’s legit man she’s a trth out what she does just making sure that the guys know that there’s somebody there for them there we go nutrition is another one of those
Pieces where we’re just trying to give them all the tools they can so that they can perform at their Best these guys are playing hard in a lot of minutes so making sure that they have the energy to do that uh to help them stay healthy whether we’re talking about injury when we’re talking about illness I’m making sure they’re recovering it is a long season a lot of
Games I think the nutrition team’s been great they’re so like invested into our well-being they’re always checking on if you need anything let us know it’s one department so even though we have kitchen staff and we have the diatetic staff you know everybody really works together because our athletes at the end
Of the day are why we’re here we all have one goal and that’s just to get the players the best nutrition that they possibly can to perform their best yeah nutrition is really important we go on so many trips to travel the demand on your time when you fuel your body that’s
Important your body is your temple I think shad and sharp is maybe the key to this team’s growth what they’re going to be going forward I got guy who has so much talent I mean you talk about scratching the surface Shan is so early in his basketball Journey having not played in
College you know he’s really just kind of figuring out the NBA Shaden ceiling is up there as high as some of the game’s greatest I can’t imagine a world where he’s not an All-Star at some point his explosiveness is just been off the charts he’s extremely competitive
Doesn’t back down he that intriguing he moves in a way that 99% of NBA players can’t move as his understanding of the game picks up and as a hunger to get better continues to increase we have the chance to see something you just don’t see every day you never know what you’re
Going again aside from the fact that he can shoot from anywhere is developing as a playmaker he doesn’t mind getting dirty on defense one thing that stands out the most is that he will try to dunk on anybody he just doesn’t care no fear complete easy just tenacity obviously
When he attacks the rim that is U dynamite and really ignites the ball Club gets everyone fired up around him you know super super athletic super super skilled Lear I credit Shay we got this kid who kind of matured overnight he’s been able to fight through adversity a lot better but also
Just take coaching and expect more and Shay’s just really been able to take that to a whole another level I think in the second half of the season this team is going to be able to show some of the growth that they’ve made between Shaden scoot Anthony and
Jeremy really guys to watch out for in the second half of the Season you got to go through the grind with these young guys and if you stick with it and they blossom all of a sudden you have yourself a really good young Corp that’s
Gone through the wars to the up into a pretty darn good Team so if everything hits perfectly this is going to be a team be back in the playoffs in a couple years but hey again it’s the NBA anything can happen but I just believe with the young Talent they have right now there’s a good young core here that could develop into a
Really good team pretty soon it’s really been fun to have in some respects a new team to cover and you know when you have young players everything is fresh and [Applause] New and when you’re in the locker room and you know see the frustration after a tough loss or see the Elation after a comeback Victory and to see the Inplay of young guys making their way in the league together it really kind of reminds you why you got into it in the first
Place the fact that anything can happen and you some of the best athletes who’s ever walked the face of the Earth doing things on a night toight basis that maybe you’ve never seen before you get a glimpse of the talents of your young guys you know what you have and your
Veterans there have been guys who have stepped to the Forefront they’ve shown they’re ready they’re ready to find their footing prioritizing development it’s about Foundation it’s about building a structure that won’t be knocked over that can stand for a long time that can take this organization to the heights we
All want to see you Go the Blazers Lamar led by SC Henderson eventually it’s going to come to [Applause] life
In the heat of the season, this Trail Blazers team unites with rookies proving to be NBA caliber and veterans taking the responsibility to lead the way forward.
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