The Brief Case, Episode 81 | Portland Trail Blazers | February 29

The Brief Case, Episode 81 | Portland Trail Blazers | February 29

I know it’s a part of the NBA but uh it’s definitely tough you know um people going out in and out of you know the lineup and things like that especially with the young team that we have we need we need everything that we can get and

Uh you know a lot of people going out it’s tough but I mean it’s it’s a part of it so we got to stay together I think we got a a good group of guys good mentalities and uh I think you just got to shift your focus uh it got to be

Progression and getting better I think everybody has to to have that on their mindset rather than it’s not always going to come out and wins but as long as we’re getting better every game then uh I think that’s a win for us hey Rip City this is matis thy and

It’s time to open the briefcase with Casey holdall greetings Blazer fans and welcome to the briefcase episode 81 of the briefcase I’m your host Casey holdall and that was Jeremy Grant discussing the Trailblazers injuries and staying motivated as losses pile up for this team as we get into the last two

Months of the Season obviously as as we talked about a lot this year this season really more about development than wins and losses for the Trailblazers though when you lose nin straight when you have so many players who out with injuries it’s difficult to feel like you’re making progress or you’re getting better

At things so I feel like Jeremy’s comments there a good indication that there are still things that team is working on there are still goals that they have it’s just you have to do those more internally when you’re losing as many games as the Blazers have recently

Portland went winless in the month of February and have lost nine straight seven of those at the Moto Center and the Blazers now head out for three games a back-to-back in Memphis followed by their second game of the season in Minneapolis versus the Timberwolves before returning home to play six

Straight we recap Tuesday’s loss to the heat discussed yet another injury checking on how the Trailblazers have fared versus the spread lately and here for one of the newest Trailblazers Delano Banton on this edition of the briefcase Blazers wrapped up one of their longest home stands of the season

With a 10696 loss to the Miami Heat Tuesday night at modus Center Blazers scored the first eight points and led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter and 10 p in the intermission which gave one the indication the blers had a pretty good chance of getting

Their only win in the month of February in their last try but unfortunately DeAndre at sprained his right hand late in the first half of Tuesday’s game after collision with Kevin Love he would not return to the game after posting a double double in the first half players

Would go on to be outscored by 20 in the second half to Come Away with a 10-point loss much of that probably due to the fact that DeAndre Aton wasn’t able to come back and play he was doing a great job against bam ababio definitely winning that matchup of centers DeAndre

Aen with quite a bit more size and Bam outut of bio and it showed if DeAndre had been able to play in the second half I think the Blazers end up winning that game but that obviously wasn’t the case XR came back negative so that’s good

News I believe he did have more imaging on that wrist according to sha heiken more imaging was done and DeAndre Aton is now listed as day-to-day not sure entirely what his status is going to be going forward for that three-game road trip but if I had to guess I’d say he

Probably misses at least one of those games perhaps even more than that we’ll have to wait and see when they release the injury report on Thursday afternoon I don’t believe the team is going to practice rce on Thursday I believe they’re leaving early for Memphis so we

Won’t know what his status or the status of anyone else on the team is for this upcoming road trip until Thursday afternoon even though they weren’t able to get a wi versus the Heat a fairly good performance for the Trailblazers in that one particularly in terms of some individual performances 26 points four

Assists for Anthony Simons after a dreadful shooting night versus the Hornets one night before Jeremy Grant 24 points seven rebounds six assists and three steals in 40 minutes as well but nominal game for Jeremy Grant there tanii Kamara having one of his better games of his rookie season 17 points on

50% shooting from the field and two of two shooting from three to go with 10 rebounds three assists in 32 minutes and as I mentioned DeAndre Aton only playing 18 minutes did not play in the second half 12 points 10 rebounds two assists and two steals a very nice net for

DeAndre would have been a great night for DeAndre if he able to play in that second half hopefully that injury is nothing too awful serious it did keep him out of the second half of that game so that is some cause for concern but as I mentioned x-rays came back negative I

Believe he had more imaging probably an MRI on that hand team isn’t saying that it’s a sprain as of right now so again pretty good news the fact that the Blazers are basically playing for development right now would lead me to believe they’re probably not going to

Rush anyone back let alone a guy like DeAndre Aon who’s already missed some time this season and has probably been Portland’s best player since the calendar turned over to 2024 so they’re going to be very careful with that injury whatever the severity of it is hopefully he’s able to get back out

There soon but again I think at this point in time particularly where the bers are at in this point in the season with so many players out as well I wouldn’t all be surprised if perhaps they’re going to play that very safe with DeAndre as I assume they’re playing

It very safe with both Malcolm Brogden and Scoot Henderson as well and since we’re on the topic and since it’s defined very much a Portland season this year let’s go ahead and talk about injuries here Malcolm brogon the team did give an update of sorts a few days

Ago team says that he was re-evaluated for his elbow tendonitis and is making good progress in his recovery brogon will continue to ramp up with an anticipated return to a action anticipated return to action would lead me to believe that he is going to play again at some point in time this season

There’s still a month and a half of the season to go hopefully that tendus is not too awful bad but once again Malcolm Brogden a veteran player a guy who I know they’re going to be very careful with they obviously don’t want Malcolm to get injured either for himself or for

The Trailblazers it would be bad for everybody involved particularly when you’re in a season right now where wins and losses again don’t really matter a whole lot for this team so I imagine they’re going to play that really slow with Malcolm Brogden I’d be a bit Uris

To be played on this upcoming three- game Road Trip perhaps when the team comes back for this extended home stand but we’ll have to wait and see on that one kind of same idea with scoot Henderson he’s missed the last three games due to a left adductor strain

There’s been no official update though chony BS did know that scoot isn’t doing much if anything on the court as of right now I believe he did have an MRI MRI came back clean so that’s good news there but particularly with all of those core muscle injuries the team has had as

Of late I’m sure they’re going to play that very careful if for no other reason too then obviously scoot is a rookie and they’re very much invested in his future so they don’t want to do anything that’s going to result in him making that injury any worse and having to undergo

Surgery like so many other players on this team have had to undergo up to including Shaden sharp just a few weeks ago once again we won’t know scoot’s official status for Friday’s game the first of two games versus the Grizzlies though prior to Tuesday’s game chony bip

Said that scoot really wasn’t doing much on the court which would lead me to believe that it’s probably fairly unlikely that he plays in Friday’s game versus the Grizzlies in Memphis which also obviously puts Saturday’s game in Memphis in Jeopardy so I would guess maybe best case scenario we see scoot

Henderson and this is just a pure guess on my part in the third game of that road trip versus the Timberwolves but even then I wouldn’t be so certain about that I guess what I’m saying is I’d be a bit surprised if he played in either of

The two games in Memphis maybe he plays in the game in Minnesota but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t play in any of those games I just think it’s probably fairly unlikely at this point if he hasn’t been doing much on the

Court as of late that he is going to go out there and play in two games back-to-back games versus the Grizzlies I would actually just guarantee that he’s not going to play in back-to-back games that seems very unlikely to me at this point they’re going to go very slow

With that injury they’re going to make sure he’s completely squared away before they put him back out there and I imagine that’s probably going to take a little bit more time than we’re going to have on this road trip and while it sounds like DeAndre and the Blazers

Avoided the worst with that right hand injury if I had to guess I’d say he probably misses at least one game on this trip which would be a shame for a host of reasons first and foremost as I mentioned he’s been Portland’s best player in 2024 after a slow start to his

Career in Portland OR at least just an uneven start because of injuries I’ve really liked what we’ve seen out of DeAndre as of late he’s been dialed in a double double machine a guy who’s doing it very efficiently would love to see him be able to get back out there

Sometime soon not sure if we’re going to see that just yet again I’m sure they’re going to take all the time that they feel like they need and probably even a little then some until DeAndre gets back out there the fact that the X-ray and the MRI seemingly came back clean I’m

Assuming the MRI got done by the way too I haven’t actually heard anything official about that but it does stand a reason they had more imaging chy bips did mention there would be more imaging done on that wrist as well and then other time there’s any more imaging

Other than an x-ray you can usually assume that that means an MRI we’ll have to wait and see on that but again I’d be a little surprised if DeAndre played in the first game versus the Grizzlies maybe he gets back out there for the second game if not perhaps he plays

Versus the Timberwolves and then if not in that one obviously we’re looking at that home stand maybe they give him a little more time at that point just to get that hand right before they put him back out there we’ll have to wait and see on that one but once again another

Injury that I imagine is going to take another starter out of the lineup for the Trailblazers at least for some period of time and finally circling back to Shaden sharp still a month away at absolute best after undergoing that lower abdominal surgery just prior to All-Star break they’ve already talked a

Lot about how shade wants to get back out there I know the team wants to get Shaden back out there obviously getting a chance to see shayen develop this year was going to be one of the biggest and most important things in Portland this season really haven’t gotten a chance to

See that because of injuries he had a pretty good start to the season then he started to have some injuries with that adductor that core muscle injury slowed him down a bit in and out of the lineup ended up having to undergo surgery so if

He’s able to come back be nice to see him back out there I think the team has also realized too that after having a number of players with that injury they probably learned a few things about how that Rehabilitation goes and maybe what the best practices are for that

Rehabilitation so at this point I imagine that they would like to see shanen get back out there before the end of the season whether or not that happens yet to be determined but we do know that that probably won’t happen if it’s going to happen at least for

Another month or so moving on with about a month and a half to go in the 2023 24 season the bers sitting 29th in offensive rating at 108.1 Point scored for 100 possessions the only team that is worse is the Memphis Grizzlies who as I mentioned the bers will face in

Back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday in Memphis so the 30th offense versus the 29th offense Friday and Saturday in Memphis go ahead and get those tickets now those two teams that really do scrap and fight hard so I imagine that’s going to be a good interesting series both those teams to

Having a hard time getting wins this year so I imagine both would be very motivated in both of those games even if it might be a little more buned from an offensive perspective and then on the other side of the ball the bers are 22nd in defensive rating at 117.1 points

Allowed per 100 possessions which is basically unchange from the last time we checked in last week the Blazers are behind the Mavericks in 21st and H of the Raptors in 23rd when it comes to defensive rating and finally the difference between Portland’s offensive rating and their defensive rating is

Their net rating and at minus 9 the Blazers sit at 28th that have only the Wizards and hornets in net rating this season and just for posterity since we’re at the end of the month the blazes are 27th in offensive rating 25th in defensive rating and 30th in net rating

In the month of February a month that saw the Blazers go 0 and N though the Wizards ended up going 0 and 11 in February I’m not sure if they have another game in February if they’re going to squeeze one in on a leap day

But if not the NBA will have two teams that went winless in the month of February I also believe that that’s maybe the first time the Blazers have ever gone winless in a full month I believe I might have heard that somewhere those are the kind of stat

Milestones that you generally don’t want to surpass so I’m not going to look too much into that but I believe that might have been the first time that Blazers did not log in in the full month of the Season obviously you know you got short months October April and you could also

Claim too that February is also a short month because of the All-Star break but long story short no WIS in February would have been nice to get a couple would have been nice to get one just wasn’t the case and it’s disappointing as it is to lose nin trades that Blazers

Have it’s almost worse that they’ve also failed to cover in seven consecutive cont test since the All-Star break the bges were eight point underdogs to the nuggets and lost by 15 three and a half Point favorites to the Hornets and lost by 13 which by the way the Blazers are

Now one in five in games this season in which are the favorite so Las Vegas please I’m begging you don’t make the Blazers favorites anymore this season when you look at the rest of their schedule they probably won’t be anyways but I’m just going to ahead and put in

My ass nonetheless and they were seven-point dogs to the Heat and lost by 10 Tuesday night Portland hasn’t covered since they were 15-point underdogs to the nuggets on February 4th fourth in a game that they ended up losing by nine in Denver so not only did the Blazers go

0 and9 in February they went 2 and S versus the spread in February as well good teams win great teams cover fortunately the turle Blazers aren’t doing either right now and as for their season projection the Blazers at this point need to go 14- n in order to hit

The over on the 28.5 win projection the Las Vegas set for the team this season and at this point especially with the number of injuries they’re currently dealing with it seems incredibly unlikely that the Blazers are going to hit that over of 9 wins obviously Anything Could Happen they could go on

Run they could catch fire but they really haven’t done that this season and at this point with as many players as they have out and at some point in time assuming that they’re really going to lean into development going 14 and N or getting 14 more wins when they only have

15 wins on the season just does not seem very likely it’s not impossible but it’s whatever wrong before impossible is well before we wrap up this edition of the briefcase let’s go ahead and hear from Delano Banton 68 204 lb guard forward out of Nebraska who the Blazers acquired

At the trade deadline from the Boston Celtics in six games with the Trailblazers Delano Banton is averaging 8.8 points 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 17.0 minutes per game Banton still trying to find his place in the league after playing 64 games his rookie season with the Raptors 31 games his sophomore

Season but then appearing in just 24 games in his third season his first out of Toronto with the Boston Celtics now in Portland having an opportunity to show what he can do do Blazers quite thin on players at this point so I imagine Delo B’s going to play quite a

Few minutes as we enter the last month and half of the season so during the course of the interview got chance to talked to Delo about his time in Portland the differences between playing for the Boston Celtics and the Portland Trailblazers considering the different places that both those teams are at in

Terms of their competitiveness if a perfect situation exists for him how he would describe his own game growing up in Toronto basketball in Canada now and then his journey to the NBA and what his hopes are for himself and for the team team going into the last month and half

Of the Season really enjoyed talking to Delano I think you’re going to like it as well give it a listen right here with Delano Bon Delano thank you for taking some uh some time with me here so uh first off just how have your first couple weeks gone here in Portland with

The team uh so far so good um everyone accepted me with o Open Arms definitely loving the fan base them showing me a lot of love them accepting me and you know it’s been great so far just trying to you know figure out figure out a way

To piece it together and get some wins so what has it been like going from Team like the Celtics to the Blazers obviously you know they’re kind of at a different place in and where they’re at competing right now how has that been for you going from that situation to

This situation uh definitely definitely an adjustment um just feeling like just trying to find where you fit in I’m definitely playing for the Celtics not cracking the rotation as much as I wanted to or just finding myself um being in like a stay ready group trying

To find ways to you know stay ready and you know whenever my name is called make the best of the opportunity that I get um but here just kind of you know what coach Chan see just you know telling me be aggressive when I do get out there um

And you know the team kind of just putting me in positions to make plays um I feel like that’s definitely a big jump for me and in my development um coming from the Celtics not having that for when I did play more of like off ball cutter Crasher and then you know coming

In here getting the Reps getting the ball getting to play off ball screens and stuff like that so it’s definitely been a switch definitely loving it so far just you know like I said before just trying to figure out a way to put it together for 48 minutes to get a win

I know obviously like you you’re going to do whatever they ask you to do but what do you feel like would be the ideal situation for you in the NBA like what what would be a a perfect situation for Delano Bandon um I I I couldn’t even say man my time

My time in the league it’s been it’s been like a roller coaster it’s been a lot of up and downs but um one thing that I could say I’ve learned is just through the up and downs trying to stay like trying to stay the course stay

Going on you know one level instead of going up following the roller coaster with your emotions and just kind of be a professional every day so um it’s hard for me to pick a perfect situation because I don’t think it’ll ever ever be that so I just got to grind towards that

And you know hopefully the perfect picture comes but you know for now I’m just loving the process loving the grind and you know I got to stay in the moment to you know be able to be here every day and be present in what I’m doing that’s

A good point too I guess uh they in some respects yeah why concern yourself with something that you don’t need to you’re you’re in the reality you’re in now so that probably makes more sense to consider that in that regard too how would you describe the the way that you

Play or or the if you were going to describe to someone this is how Delano band plays this is what he does well what what would you say um I would say just having a feel for the game um so whatever that is just being able to make

Plays whether that’s you know make in the right read um getting an assist scoring I feel like just trying to be able to do the right thing on the court every time whether it’s a hockey assist or you know things of that regard so I think just having a feel for the game

Knowing when to cut or like when not to cut just kind of that I would say I’m definitely using my versatility so you know using my length using my height on defense try and rebound um so I kind of just think like just being able to just

Play the game I would say and just kind of figure out how to know how to play I think that’s goes a long way as well so I’ll kind of say that uh you talk about being uh in the to stay ready group and

I know that’s kind of a thing that a lot of young guys in the NBA have to deal with how do you go about always kind of having that edge to where like you’re you’re always trying to be prepared for for whatever situation they’re going to be put into uh definitely trusting in

Your work trusting in your routine you know early in early early on in the league or like young guys in the league just that’s probably the hardest thing to do is find a routine and you know stick to it whether you know it is the

Ups and downs or like one game you play 20 minutes the next game you don’t play so sticking to that same routine would definitely help you get through your day um I would say that definitely helps me and you know trusting in the work that I

Put in I feel like you know every day we work hard and you know we grinded our whole life for this whether you’re in the rotation or not just when you get in the game just know that what you have done to get to this point is obviously

Something so um just trust in the work that you put in and be confident yeah I know you started putting that work in at a young age when you were growing up in uh in Toronto in Rexdale what was it like as a young man in Canada playing

Basketball or just like what what was your upbringing like um my upbringing was good U definitely for growing up in Rex though just very Community like thing uh everyone was just you know I lived in a complex housing so all my neighbors were like family to me I still

Talk to them and everybody that I grew up with I knew like literally since I was very very young so it was definitely good um basketball wise I feel like well maybe it’s different now but when I grew up was more outside playing I never

Really had like me in the gym by myself ever until I got to I went to prep school in the states when I was probably like s 16 17 so there was no like oneon-one training I never had that but like there would always be like runs and

Like pickup and stuff so like I used to go from like pickup here to pick up here so kind of just like that just trying to find ways to play whenever I can yeah and that’s a that’s kind of one of the things I wanted to ask you about is that

You know the Raptors came to Toronto I believe like four or five years before you were born and so I’m curious kind of what was the state of basketball like or or at least in from your perspective like where was basketball at then particularly compared to where it is now

Where it seems like it’s really started to grow a lot in Canada uh definitely felt like back then you had to you know cross the border in order to get seen definitely now like you know a lot of talent coming out High School guys you know a lot more and just with social

Media a lot of people are noticed more so you know there’s a lot more Scouts and stuff going over to Canada to see the kids play like even in high school and stuff like that they’ll have like division one Scouts and coaches there so you know it took a big jump from where

It was like when I was there and like there’s a lot more like um so when I was there was just high school basketball or like it was the first year that they were like implementing the prep scene into um high school but I left the

Following year to go to the States but um yeah so through that year it was kind of like just them testing it but like yeah like now it’s big like it started off with like Jamal Murray like th maker and those guys I believe they were all

On one team and like they kind of just attracted everyone and then now like they put it so like there’s like prep schools in Canada so like all the best schools will have like a prep team throughout wherever and then so coaches will watch that a lot of coaches so it

Got a lot better but I felt like I had to go to the states and it took it was really good for me and I thought that everyone should do that cuz right when I got to the states like 2 days later I got my first offer oh wow yeah so it was

Literally like I got there the next day was like orientation then we we went to the gym but the next day was like they do pickup runs I guess in prep schools and like during pickup all the like skouts just come watch you play during pickup so it’s like the first time they

Ever watched me play I got an offer and I was happy man I’m like hey I should have did this earlier like you felt like I was doing something but for sure yeah yeah I bet you’re you’re probably you know away from home maybe a little home

But yeah if you’re one running all a sudden you’re getting offers is like hey this is this this was a right move and I know that I know obviously that’s kind of what shanen did too you know he he came to the states to to play as well

And I wonder do you feel like maybe it’s getting to the point Canada now where maybe some guys will will start staying now and maybe doing it now that it’s getting built out a little bit more oh yeah yeah no guy guys have stayed um like previous uh kids who came up they

Were like number one in the country like Elijah fiser I think he played High School all throughout um his high school career and then ended up going division one after that but they’ll definitely find you like you know Talent is talent and I feel like the NBA the NBA or like

College does a really good job of like picking talent and finding Talent where wherever you are in the world like it’s crazy it’s one thing I definitely realized through through my time but um yeah how would you describe uh kind of your basketball Journey so obviously from from Toronto to as you mentioned

You go to prep school in in New England uh Western Kentucky Nebraska drafted by the Raptors kind of how How would how would you sum up that that experience for you getting to this point where you’re at now in the NBA uh I’ll definitely say it’s a crazy experience

But I wouldn’t trade it for nothing um just the amount of work that it it takes um the amount hours you put into the gym just trying to get to your goal whether you find yourself out of rotations um you know my first stop at Western

Kentucky I you know I didn’t play that much as much as I wanted to and then transferring having to sit out at Nebraska so it’s kind of it’s it’s up and down but it’s when you look back at it it’s the process and time flies man

Like looking at it I remember when I was transferring from Western Kentucky going to Nebraska I’m like I don’t know what I’m going to do for a year like I I just want to play you know and then like now it’s like I’m in my third year in the

League and it’s your time flies so and there’s one thing I realized is just kind of stay in the moment like I was saying before and like obviously you think about your future and you work hard and you grind and you know what you’re grinding for but you don’t want

To lose sight of what you’re doing today like you know and that’s one thing that I kind of through coaches and through like having mentorship through the NBA I kind of realize I’m just talking to older vets just making them make me realize like yo like take take in what

You have today cuz like you know 2 years from now you’re going to be like yo like even like now was like y I got drafted to the rappers and when I tell people that make I had a great time you know so it’s like time flies to kind of just

Trying to stick with it stay in the moment and you know be present yeah wouldn’t being an NBA player really seem like a reality for you it was always a dream like but a reality I would say probably my last year of high school or like I don’t know it’s it cuz it’s

Always a dream so like even during college it’s like yo you want to go to the NBA so bad even if you have a chance but I remember when I went to Western Kentucky we also had Charles Bassie who’s on the Spurs now yeah so all I

Remember before I committed like I was that was like one of my things I’m like I know if I’m in a position where people could see me then I could like you know so I just took that advantage and then Charles committed and then I committed

After and then I remember we had pro day and there was like um every every coach every like Scout everyone was there to see Charles I remember I had a good day I really I had a really good day that day you know I took advantage of that so

After that I remember um like two three three days later like people kept hitting me up like a bunch of people like saying yo this that they’re talking about you like you know so I’m like all I didn’t even I didn’t even felt like I

Did it was cuz it was more so like it was kind of like a open run thing like where you get the offers from the gym but it’s like you don’t feel like you’re do cuz it’s like pickup practice it’s like you know so I like all right like

You know I just got to whatever and then the season came I didn’t really um I played up to the first half I remember I had a really good game against Wisconsin but we had a senior point guard who never played the first half of the

Season when I got there as a freshman so when he came back I went to the bench and then he started and then I didn’t play after that but yeah I transferred after that and then got to meet Fred hyberg who’s another great mentor that I

That I got to meet and he definitely help helped me get to them being and know what I have to do to get here well that’s a that’s a really good point too is that sometimes you know those opportunities come you don’t expect them or like you can even like try to set

Things up to where you feel like you’re going to accomplish something but you really have to be ready those Stay Ready moments when maybe the opportunity just presents itself a little bit Yeah facts so yeah but shout out to Fred hyberg too that’s myy that’s great that’s my guy uh

Last one here for you thank you so much by the way for the time too um just uh going forward the rest of the season next couple months kind of what are your hopes for for the team and for yourself um man just you know kind of just trying

To push what coach shanti’s been pushing to us um you know just working on the things that we need to work on as a unit um you know just staying not slapping ourselves in the face we know it’s been a tough tough little road for us tough

Month I should say tough February so I’m just kind of knowing what we need to do and just figuring out ways to piece it together man I feel like one thing I can say is like when winning I would say like winning always looks different um

You know we have a lot of talented guys on our team so it could be da it could be Jeremy it could be scoop it could be Ant that have their night that day and then I would say when you’re losing it it stays consistent like shot margins

Turnovers rebounding um so kind of just trying to win the margins uh definitely just figuring out ways to do that definitely with a young group too like just trying to figure out ways to make the game easier for ourselves um so that’s definitely shot margins that’s um you know free throws attempted turnovers

Transition offensive rebounds so you know when you break down the game like that and you look at it from that perspective if you lose all six important shot you know um of the spectrum six important margins like there’s chance of you winning goes very down so know kind of stuff like that

Just preaching that um you know 25 Point quarters you get two of those you know your chance goes up winning like 60% or something like that so kind of just like the little things that like maybe from the analytic standpoint I would say or like but just trying to find ways to win

Definitely um you know trying to you know Mark make a mark with the team um you know for this sum summer and going into next season definitely I love the vibe here definitely you know could see myself being here would want to be here and you know everyone’s here pushes you

Everyone wants to work everyone’s working hard and I definitely feel like with the coaching staff they they they like go above and beyond to make sure players get what they need and have what they need and um you know they’re always there to work they’re extra extra

Encouraging to work and you know they’re they’re they’re a great group of guys to help you know coach and Mentor young guys I believe to cuz you know a lot of us are very young aside from like JG who’s you know pushing a little bit of

Age but but you know I feel like yeah man it’s a great group um of staff to help Mentor the kids the kids that are here guys that the guys that are here I should say sorry but um yeah like you know talented very talented young group

Of guys who have like you know a bright future in the league so I would say yeah man it’s going to be good it’s going to be fun and I feel like just trying to come up with wins to you know go go end the season on a pos positive no end you

Know winning helps everyone’s day to day you know you’ll feel better you walk into the gym you’ll feel better about yourself so definitely just try and get some wins really good stuff there from Delano really enjoyed talking to him a very bright young man a guy who you know

There’s so many great players out there that sometimes it’s really just a matter about finding your place finding the right Niche on your team it’s yet to be seen whether or not that’s going to be in Portland for Delano but I think there’s a good chance of that having a

Ball handler with size is something we haven’t had in Portland in some time I think maybe since Evan Turner and then before that probably Nicholas patum so to have a guy in Delano Banton at 68 who’s got great size the ability to hand the ball not the three-point shooter you

Would hope he would be at that guard position which is a hard thing to do these days in the NBA if you’re not able to hit that three-point shot with some regularity sometimes it is hard to stay on the court but with his size and with

His ability to get to the basket as he learns more of Portland’s offense I think you’re going to maybe see the best out of Delano Banton I think he’s got a pretty good chance of sticking with this team particularly he’s able to put his best foot forward in these last 20-some

Games for the Trail Blazers in the last month and a half of the season and that’s going to do it for this edition of the briefcase thank you so much for joining me as always be back later on this week with new additions check out the Blazers balcony and section 113 as

Well go to trailblazers.com podcast for more information on how to subscribe to the briefcase to the Blazers balcony and to section 113 as I mentioned Trailblazers hitting the road for games on Friday and Saturday versus the Grizzlies Sunday off Monday versus the Timberwolves in Minneapolis before heading back home to play six straight

But until then I’m Casey holdall thank you once again for joining me on the briefcase like subscribe where we every get your podcasts and go Blazers

0:00 – 0:39 Jerami Grant on shifting focus
0:39 – 1:48 Introduction
1:49 – 4:44 Loss to the Heat, Deandre Ayton injury
4:45 – 9:30 Recapping Portland’s current injuries
9:31 – 11:24 Offensive, Defensive and Net Rating updates
11:25 – 12:53 The Blazers fail to cover in seven-straight and the season over/under
12:54 – 26:50 Dalano Banton interview regarding his first few weeks in Portland, the difference between playing for his former team and his current team, whether a “perfect situation” exists, how he would describe his style of play, growing up in Toronto, the state of basketball in Canada when he was growing up compared to where it’s at today, his journey from Rexdale to New England to Western Kentucky to Nebraska and what his hopes are for himself and the Blazers in the last month and a half of the season.
26:50 – 28:49 Outro

𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠 » http://www.instagram.com/trailblazers
𝗧𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 » http://www.twitter.com/trailblazers
𝗧𝗜𝗞𝗧𝗢𝗞 » https://www.tiktok.com/@trailblazers
𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 » http://www.facebook.com/trailblazers

🖥️ Visit our website for the latest news, videos, podcasts, photos and more: http://www.trailblazers.com
🎙️ Listen to Trail Blazers podcasts: http://www.trailblazers.com/podcasts
📺 Watch Trail Blazers games on Root Sports https://northwest.rootsports.com/trail-blazers
🏀 Subscribe to NBA League Pass: https://rip.city/LeaguePass
📲 Download the Trail Blazers mobile app: https://www.nba.com/blazers/app
🎟️ Buy game tickets: https://www.nba.com/blazers/single-game-tickets?utm_source=youtube
👕 Rip City Clothing : https://ripcityclothing.com/