Brief Case, Ep. 105: Two Games In Vegas, Don Clingan Gets Defensive, Kris Murray Talks Improvement

Brief Case, Ep. 105: Two Games In Vegas, Don Clingan Gets Defensive, Kris Murray Talks Improvement

[Music] this is Jabari Walker and you’re listening to the briefcase with Casey holda greetings pleasure fans and welcome to the briefcase episode 105 of the briefcase I’m your Casey holdall and the Portland Trailblazers are one in one after two games at the Las Vegas summer league first game not so great start first the Spurs on Saturday but a bounceback win with a great performance versus the 76ers on on Monday wins aren’t all that important at Summer League it’s really more about how you play and the Blazers I would say after their first quarter at the summer league have played some pretty good basketball and have played some improving basketball which I think goes a long way towards showing the growth that they’ve made already at summer league and the growth that you would hope they would continue to make as they continue out their run here in Las Vegas we’ll here from Donovan kinging after his performance versus the 76ers relef they discuss dwop wreath and what is going on with Team Australia betting on the Blazers is back which makes sense since we’re here in Las Vegas and we’ll hear from Chris Murray about his offseason and summer league on this edition of the briefcase well the Blazers sitting at 500 after two games at the Las Vegas summer league they started their run here in Las Vegas on Saturday with an 8377 loss to the Spurs a game that Portland was down by as many as 20 points rallied in the second half particularly in the fourth quarter to get themselves a chance to win that game that wasn’t the case however lasers ended up falling in that game as I mentioned 8377 Saturday night in their first game here in Las Vegas in that game Alex Brees led the Portland trbl with 16 points point three rebounds two blocks and a steal in 13 minutes R repair shook off a terrible start to finish with 13 points six rebounds five assists and two steals in 32 minutes Justin manah who I think has been one of Portland’s most consistent performers through many Camp practices and here in the first two games in Las Vegas 12 points four steals three assists two rebounds in 19 minutes and Donovan kingan struggled on the offensive end finished with just four points on one of eight shooting but had 13 rebounds five blocks assist and a steal and really at this point Donovan’s impact is going to be felt on the defensive side of the ball so not exactly surprising to see him come out and struggle a little bit offensively through the first couple games here in Las Vegas but the Blazers selected Donovan King with the seventh overall pick because of his defensive versatility and what he can do on that side of the ball and Donovan absolutely delivered on that in Portland’s second game of the summer league a thrilling 9795 Victory versus the 76ers Monday night at Thomas and macarina much better energy to start that game the Blazers had in the first game that’s what they talked a lot about after that first game was that you know the Spurs really jumped on them early and there was nothing the Portland trible to do to get back into that game granted they did make a game of it towards the end but never really got the sense of Portland was going to win that first game the 76er game however Portland was trailing by two late in the game Donovan kingan gets a block on a Jared McCain 18-footer to get the possession back to the Trailblazers while they’re down one Bryce mwan gets fouled gets a trip to the line makes two free throws the 76ers end up getting the ball back with a chance to at least tie the game if not win the game but after advancing the ball jerem McCain couldn’t get the ball past Donovan kingan who was doing everything in his power to make himself big give no angles for Jared McCain to pass the ball inbounds he wasn’t able to do that 5sec call ters end up winning that game by one and one of the main reason they were able to get that Victory is because of their late game defense particularly from Donovan kingan making two huge defensive plays in order to cement that game for the Trailblazers which is exactly what you want to see out of Donovan kingan at Summer League points don’t matter it’d be nice but they really don’t matter at this point in time in his career what you want to see from Donovan kingan is that defensive intensity the ability to defend the rim the ability to keep players out of the paint and that’s something we’ve seen over and over and over again through the first two games at summer league is just the way that he affects offensive players while he’s in the paint he might not necessarily get the block might not necessarily get the steel but he’s having an effect on the way that players are coming into the paint when he’s in there and that’s something that you know the Blazers have seen throughout the years against Great defensive centers and so far at least through two games here in Las Vegas we have seen that out of Donovan kingan which at 20 years old is a very good sign for him going forward as we talked about after the blaz has drafted kingham with a seventh overall pick is that really Portland has known they’ve needed to get better on the defensive side of the ball for a while now and they’ve tried to do it with scheme haven’t always necessarily had the Personnel but in this draft they went out and got a player who they feel like can have an absolute impact on that side of the ball throughout his career Donovan Clingan one of those guys showing that through the first two games here in Las Vegas Bry mcowan who recently signed a two-way contract with the Trailblazers LED Portland with 20 points two assists and two rebounds in 20 minutes 15 points five rebounds two assists two steals for Justin manah who had a great dunk in that game as well and again Justin looking very good through the first couple games here in Las Vegas 10 points seven rebounds four assists for Kendy Chandler who got the start versus the 76ers Monday night Chris Murray who we’re going to hear from here in a moment 12 points six rebounds three assists two Steals and one block in 32 minutes yman work for Chris Murray which is what we’ve come to expect out of him and then Donovan kingan eight points 11 rebounds five assists three blocks in 24 minutes Donovan’s effect on that game goes far beyond the box score if you watched that game on NBA TV particularly in the fourth quarter you saw him make all kinds of plays affecting plays that might not have showed up on the box score but that absolutely led to the victory for the Trailblazers he also had the first I would say real great highlight for the Trailblazers at Summer League a poster dunk on a Demona who then got one back on him on the next possession but then Justus manah got one as well on The Possession after that play before Donovan was frustrated because he got called for a foul decided he was basically going to put his head down get to the rim and finish strong which he absolutely did first time we’ve really seen Donovan kind of put the ball on the floor around the three-point line and get to the rim at least with the Trailblazers that is so all around a great bounceback game for the Trailblazers a great game for the Trailblazers in general it was close they executed late in order to get the win they made plays on the defensive side of the ball all the kind of things you want to see from this young trer team and definitely what you want to see out Donovan kingan in his fledgling days as an NBA Pro so let’s go ahead and hear from Donovan kingan after Portland’s Victory versus 76ers Monday night in their second game at the Las Vegas summer league well Donovan uh how would you feel like the team performed tonight and how do you feel like you performed tonight particularly in contrast to the first game yeah I mean I feel like the team looked really good tonight the way that you know we took took care of the ball much better um you know a lot much sharper passes um you it wasn’t really tur the ball over you know we knocking down shots you know making those extra passes making those great reads you know it’s something about today you know we started playing from the jump you know last game I feel like you know they punched Us in the face early and we weren’t able you know we took us a while to bounce back um you know but today we were able to you know just start from the jump and keep it going falling up on last game asked you what were you were happy about you said nothing what were you happy about with your own game tonight uh I I feel like I protected the rim you know at a high level um you know a couple less illegal screens today I know I had one and as soon as I set the screen I knew it was illegal but you know I I feel like you know fouls I had a couple less fouls today um you know I great reads on the offensive end I feel like you had a couple good passes that you know to my open teammates cut into the basket um you know and I was just trying to be the best defender how my team win on the subject of the passes five assists tonight is the playmaking something you were kind of hoping to show while you were out here this week yeah I mean that’s one of the biggest things that I feel like you know something that people really can’t real you know don’t realize something that you know I could do at a high level is you know playm and pass the ball um you know I feel like I could see things before they happen and you know I I could just make certain reads on defenses and you know I just really just try to make the right pass you want that dunk on Bona what you say again you want that you really want that dunk yeah I mean I need I needed a I needed a dunk to just you know get my energy up get my confidence up and um you know I feel like that was it an inbounds pass you had definitely helped the outcome of this game or that inbounds violation that you had just just how much pride did you take in that moment a lot um you know I feel like we’ve been working on that and practice in Camp you know all last week you know just working on those late game situations and you know I feel like you know the coaches never called them even though I feel like I had a couple 5sec violations um in practice but they never called them but I got one today when it mattered kind the same idea the block too at at late in the game um how comfortable are you switching out onto the perimeter and defending yeah I mean I feel like you know it’s really just trying to play the best defense possible for the team you know just trying to you know the coaches I feel like are trying trying to you know Force those mid-range shots and you know force people to get you know just inside the three-point line and you know my job is to protect that paint and protect that Rim you mentioned that dunk gave you some energy you you looked noticeably like you were little little Gass last game this game you look like you a lot fresher do you think just kind of getting that first game out of the way allowed you to kind of yeah I feel like I had you know all right um yeah I feel like you I was you know this that first game I was a little nervous um I I know if I was nervous like I you was just that first game the Jitters um you know but today I changed my mindset coming into this game just had a stronger mindset just realized I had to dominate my opponent help my team win and you know I just went in there with a whole lot of confidence so there you go some great stuff from Donovan kingan there he was not very happy as you would probably expect after the first game much more jovial after the second game though was still a guy who you can tell like he really wants to do everything just right and you know that’s something you love to see out of your young players mistakes are going to get made and so those are the kind of things too where you got to kind of roll the punches a little bit but you love a young player not being satisfied unless he’s doing his absolute best and I think that’s one of the reasons why they were so excited to get Donovan kingan in the first place is just because of his mentality the way he approached the game competitive nature and the way that he’s always pushing himself to get better very strong start to the Las Vegas summer league to his Portland Trail bers career for Donovan Clingan and the trbl just continue the run here in Las Vegas for at least three more games next up Tuesday first the Washington Wizards 5:30 start time on NBA TV Alexander SAR on that team as well if he plays in that game probably another good match up between him and Donovan kingan SAR really I think probably projects as more of a power forward at this point in time definitely a different style of big man the Donovan kinging so that’ll be an interesting match up if both those players end up playing on Tuesday night once again 5:30 start time NBA TV real quick we’re going to be checking in on your Portland trailers who playing internationally at the Olympics this summer and as of right now it’s just duop wreath after matis thyow was cut from the Australian national team but duop in a friendly versus Team USA on Monday just playing two minutes did not start got one rebound didn’t log any other stats duop has been starting for the Australian national team so I’m not entirely sure what’s going on there not sure if it’s maybe an injury issue not sure if there maybe changing up the rotation Team USA almost got beat by the Boomers so they were able to pull out a 9892 victory it’ll be interesting to see whether or not datat plays in Australia’s friendly versus Serbia on Wednesday if he does you kind of assume that maybe they were just resting him or maybe it was just something minor if he doesn’t then I think you kind of start to wonder what is his status going into the Olympics granted Olympics a few weeks away so if it is something injury related and I have no Intel on this whatsoever this is just me reading the tea leaves then perhaps he’s got some time there if not perhaps he’s just going to Paris and not playing a whole lot again the Australians have had success before with both matis and dwap so a little surprised that at least with matisa decid Go a different direction hopes that’s not the case with duop that we’ll have to wait to find out once again Australia playing Serbia on Wednesday I think that game is on ESPN but I think it’s also maybe in the middle of the night I think I saw maybe like 2 am. actually I don’t know when it is but it’s supposed to be on ESPN so maybe check that out as I mentioned perfect time to have the folks here in Las Vegas release some of the over unders for the upcoming NBA season some of them haven’t been released yet because of trade rumors but that’s not the case for the Trailblazers the roster is pretty much set there might be some things happening here and there but folks in Vegas obviously don’t think that’s going to be the case because they released Portland’s win total which is set at 22.5 wins this season only the Brooklyn Nets have a lower projection at 19.5 wins though the Wizards who once again the Trail Blazers play on Tuesday here in Las Vegas also have a 22.5 over under the Blazers won 21 games at 2324 so upping that just a little bit going into 2425 and while I guess it’s possible that the folks here in Vegas feel like the Trailblazers are improved I think another part of that is that there’s so many teams I think this year that are looking to this draft that I think the folks here in Las Vegas are assuming that when we get to the end of the season maybe some teams not trying as hard to get wins as they might otherwise the blazes are also, to1 to win the championship and 5001 to win the west and to win the Northwest division another line released Donathan kingan is plus500 to win rookie of the year which is the seventh best odds Z Ed is actually the current front runner at plus 600 these are the kind of things we track all year long on the briefcase and a reminder as always that anything betting on the Blazers is just for entertainment purposes I’m not giving you any betting advice I will never give you any betting advice do not take any advice from anyone on my behalf I do hope you win but I can’t give you any tips on how you should go about doing that and finally let’s go ahead and hear from Chris Murray who I talked to after Portland’s practice Sunday afternoon and I had a great conversation about what he’s been working on the offseason getting his body right going into his second season how one practices defense which is where Chris really feels like he’s going to make the most strides this season playing at a second summer league and how it’s different this time around building camaraderie and downplaying its golf game really enjoy talking to Chris really appreciate the time here’s what you have to say after practice on Sunday on the campus of UNLV all right with here with Chris Murray after practice here in Las Vegas Trailblazers 2024 Las Vegas summer league Chris just in general how would you say the runup to the summer league went for the team in terms of the practices and your preparation as well yeah I mean it it’s been competitive um all all Camp so I try to bring that competitiveness into into these games and just kind of progress I mean we had we started off tough first half yesterday and then um just kind of worked our way back uh we kind of know some things at halftime turnovers were a big problem um paint touches were a big problem so just we worked on that second half and got a lot better was able to kind of condense the lead and uh give us a chance so I’m just take what we learned from yesterday into into these next few games and um confident in us and confident that everyone’s gonna have a good summer league obviously there’s only one game in but how would you say that that this summer league has been different for you from last year it’s a lot different because I’m in more of a um kind of a leadership role um with these guys like I’ve been been around for a year kind of seen a lot so far and I’m just take my experience and just kind of help me in the summer league and uh for me it’s just kind of do the things that um coaches are going to want from me run the floor crou the glass um just kind of do the little things to help us win and uh just make shots and just play Within my game and I think that’s an important part too particularly at Summer League CU I think a lot of times guys maybe feel like they’re like we’ll have to do more but it really seems like the point is to get better for the season and if that’s the point you want to do the things at Summer League that you are going to do during the season yeah I think people get caught up in stats a lot of the times and I mean that’s that’s a big thing um like you’re not like I mean Donan for example um like didn’t play well offensively yesterday but he did a lot of good things for us I he set really good screens got a lot of guys open um protected the paint for us and that that’s huge that’s what we need and like offense is obviously going to come but it’s the little things that matter and um like stats I mean a lot of the guys who play well in Sumer League sometimes may not be on an NBA roster and that’s kind of the hard thing about it but um it’s kind of the little things that you do and I kind of try to take stats out of it and just kind of what I show is kind of how I progress and my conditioning um my defense working on that I just see progress like my shot feels probably as good as it’s ever been and um just playing confident on both both ends of the ball so just kind of showing that in summer league is what I wanted to do I when people talk about offense you know you talk about working on your shot working on kind of your ball handling when you’re working on defense when you’re trying to get better defensively what are some of the things that you do to try to really emphasize that side of the ball and improve on that side of the ball yeah I think it started towards the end of last year just kind of getting out of my comfort zone um like I was someone who used to like kind of sit back so now I’m just trying to attack the ball a little bit more and um be a better on ball Defender um work my way through screen screen avigation is huge in this league especially um with I me all the screens you kind of have to fight through especially with how good the centers are now um so that’s been big for me and um just those extra efforts that uh don’t show up on the box score um is kind of what what I want to do I assume those are kind of things you guys may talk about when you’re doing film too because again like post game we ask you about your shot wins losses but when you’re doing the film study or when you’re trying to figure out ways to improve what do you look at defensively I guess yeah just my positioning um a lot of it’s just communication too um a couple laps of communication kind of can screw you up and give someone a wide open look so like communication is going to come um like we’ve been been playing together for a week so it’s it’s definitely new and um something that we’ll be working on and we’ll get better at it throughout summer league but I mean yeah that’s kind of the biggest thing in film and um I mean to like for me crashing glass is a big thing and like I crashed the glass I crashed 23 times yesterday didn’t have one ball bounc my way on on the offensive glass so sometimes it’s just the way the ball bounces and I mean we’re due for uh these games just to for it to all bounce our way and uh for us to have some good luck and part of it too is I mean I know you guys always want to win but it’s really about getting better at summer league so how do you balance knowing that like Hey we’re maybe trying to do some things we wouldn’t maybe necessarily do because we are trying to improve while also you guys are competitors you want to win and you don’t like to lose and you don’t like to get down 20 points like you did in that first game I that’s the worst feeling for me like I I always want to win like I I take losses like even when we lose in in the NBA I take these losses the same as that like it means a lot to me still and um like I want to win everything and any game we play and I think everyone does and um that’s the biggest thing is like if your team has success in summer league like you’ll have individual success too and guys will get opportunities and um everyone here has a great opportunity to kind of have every single team in the NBA look at you up close and um so the better we play the better chance these guys have it just getting better opportunities how would you say it’s gone in terms of kind of the camaraderie you’re not together for a lot of time even though you know some of the guys you know are already how does that process go of of welcoming guys in and learning how guys play and also who they are as people and navigating that in a in a short time period yeah it’s definitely tough just in a short time but we’ve had a couple we had a cookout we have a team event tonight so just get to know these guys is it’s been cool um everyone it’s kind basketball’s kind of a small world so I you kind of cross path with these guys um through pre-draft uh through college high school whatever it is and it’s it’s a really small world so some of the guys I I know a little bit before and um some of the guys on our roster have known some of the new guys have that have came in and um but yeah just Brill team chemistry and just getting familiar with each other’s game has been important and um I mean you you kind of progress in in Camp and hopefully it progresses even more uh towards the end of summer league uh you mentioned the event I know you guys were going to Top Golf and I know that you’re a you’re quite a scratch golfer as I understand do you feel like anyone can come at you no not not a scratch golfer uh I know what I’m doing um uh played a lot of golf this summer uh but no it’s fun Top Golf is always uh really fun for me and anytime I can hit a golf ball um it’s It’s cool cuz it it helps me just kind of my mind off of basketball a little bit but also kind of keeps me in that in that sport uh mentality so it’s definitely just just fun just going there to get to know the guys hang out for a few hours and um just enjoy our time together broader how would you say the offseason has gone for you and and what do you maybe looking to to do after summer league gets over yeah off season’s been good um I’ve been in Portland uh basically the whole entire offseason just working on my game um yeah I got I’ve gotten stronger upon about like 5 to 10 lbs uh of good weight um um just real confident in my body just worked on my shot a lot um worked on my finishing just a lot of different things that can just help me throughout the year um and that coach is going to want for me so um just trying to harness those skills and after summer league I want to put on about five more pounds after that and just get stronger get ready for preseason and um just kind of complete my game and uh do whatever I can to make get in the rotation this year and um help us win some games great stuff there from Chris great perspective as always you know again he’s a guy who he’s a little bit older as well so taking on a leadership role probably feels like it makes some sense for him here at Summer League I know that the team has probably approached him and said hey Chris if you could help some of these guys out we really appreciate it I know that’s something that he wanted to do and I think he’s doing a great job of it here in Las Vegas and a guy who I think we’re seeing is is someone who can just do a whole lot of different things on the court Chris has already made a lot of progress since being drafted last season I expect he’s going to continue do that this season as he takes on more and more of a role Chris too I mean like I I feel like Chris probably made as much growth last season as anyone else in the team first month or so of the season I don’t know if Chris was going to play at all as it got further and further into the year you started looking at and saying like they probably need to find Chris more minutes now so great to see Chris really working on his game staying in Portland all year long to improve his game every time that I’ve been at the practice facility this offseason Chris Murray has also been there blasting country music and getting shots up really looking forward to seeing what Chris can do this year really rooting for him he’s a great guy always willing to engage always willing to help and those are the kind of guys who it’s really easy to hope to have success and that’s going to do it for this edition of the briefcase thank you so much for joining me as always more additions here in Las Vegas as trbl continue on the NBA 2K Las Vegas summer league that’s what I think we’re supposed to call it another game on Tuesday then they wrap up their group stage play on Friday before either qualifying for the tournament which having already lost one game makes it pretty unlikely they’re going to be one of the four teams that ends up playing in the quote unquote tournament but even if they don’t make the tournament they’ll still have one more game after that probably on Saturday and Sunday but that’s a long way off in the interim please consider liking and subscribing wherever you get your podcasts or wherever you watch your YouTube podcast Che YouTube thank you so much for joining me on this edition of the briefcase we’ll talk to you later on this week I’m Casey holdall go Blazers [Music]

On this edition of The Brief Case Podcast, Portland Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl, on location with the team in Las Vegas, discusses…

• The Trail Blazers splitting their first two games at the 2024 NBA2K Las Vegas Summer League

• Differences between Portland’s first and second games in Las Vegas

• Donovan Clingan’s performance at the end of the Trail Blazers’ victory versus the 76ers Monday night

• Clingan’s comments after Monday’s win at Thomas & Mack Arena

• Duop Reath playing just two minutes in Team Australia’s loss to Team USA in a friendly Monday

• Betting On The Blazers is back with season win projections and odds on Donovan Clingan winning Rookie of the Year

• And the show ends with an interview with Trail Blazers forward Kris Murray about his offseason, what he’s looking to improve at his second Summer League, how one gets better defensively, developing chemistry in a short amount of time and his golf game

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