Why Portland Trail Blazers fans should prepare for more losing — and be OK with it: Oregonian Sports

The Blazers’ current roster is not good enough to win next year, and the front office appears ready to go all in on its youth movement. So is losing next year the best path? The answer is almost undoubtedly yes, but will fans put up with it? And what moves does general manager Joe Cronin need to make to set the franchise up for long-term success and could it mean trading a fan favorite?

Bill Oram and Brenna Greene from KOIN discuss the fallout of another losing season, while looking to the future of a roster built around Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe.

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you know my friend’s band recorded this
uh this music this theme song I did not
yeah it’s true Hy Stack Rock local
Portland Band theme music for The
Oregonian Sports podcast I am Bill Oram
joined by Brena Green from coin 6
Channel
6 Brena how are
you I’m good just you know getting a
second to breathe how are you
you uh similar um you have certainly
been going we all have I mean been busy
spring the most recent thing um that we
have we’ve been dealing with uh you and
I were both at Blazers exit interviews
on Monday for those who don’t know kind
of some of the inw workings of the NBA
once the season ends teams bring their
players in and they sit down with each
player and they do what’s called an exit
interview where they say hey we want you
to work on your your jumper in the
offseason we want you to shed some we
want you to get stronger and then the
players come out of those meetings they
come sit in a little room with us and we
ask them all the questions that uh you
really really want to know and that was
on Monday Brena you and I were there um
I came out of there with some questions
that I wrote In The
Oregonian um I am wondering if you came
out of there with any pressing questions
for the Portland Trailblazers 21 and 61
this year as they enter this offseason
I
just there is no doubt in my mind that
the best thing for the
Trailblazers is for them to not play
well next
year and for their over for the overall
team that is in their best interest for
the organization is to not field a good
team next
year the Domino effects of that are
going to be absolutely fascinating to
watch because
that is another year of this is going to
cause some some chaos I think so yeah
I’m I’m very interested to see my
biggest question is just what exactly
does tanking for another year mean for
the people associated with this
organization so the the three questions
I wrote down um and and had in my column
on on Monday evening Tuesday morning are
all kind of on that same theme because I
agree with you you know you have you are
in a full reset and you are in Talent
acquisition mode you do not have the
Surefire front-facing star of the future
yet you know it you might you know
Shaden sharp might be that guy scoot
Henderson might still be that guy they
are young we don’t know but obviously
none of them are you know a Victor
wanyama no nobody is but like a player
that you know you are ready to rock with
and so you know how do you acquire
Talent is through the draft and so the
three questions I had um and we can kind
of Riff on these I think are were how
bad are they willing to be next year and
really do they have the stomach to be as
bad as they should because another 21
and 61 season you know puts you kind of
in the mix for the top of that that
really good draft there’s some really
good players in that draft you know
Cooper flag Ace Bailey and no there’s no
guarantee you get those players but you
are right now A young team it’s it’s
it’s imperative that you stay young and
play like a young team so that you can
get players on the timeline of your
players of Tomorrow who you know help
you get over the hump in five years or
whatever it is so how bad are they
willing to be and are they on the same
page with chony bips I mean Brena you
were there when you listen to Chanty
bips talk about what needs to happen and
then you listen to Joe Cronin talk about
Joe Cronin the GM talk about um
development you know being in
development mode not skipping steps the
fact that they’re not going to be ready
to win in a big way until you know their
young players meaning Shaden and Scoot
and you know a handful of the other
young guys um are really ready to
compete you know those don’t sound like
the same thing so is there a an actual
Schism between the two or is that just
standard coach is coach to win chony BS
is an ultra competitive guy and so the
way he says it is going to sound
different than the front office or do
you which one is it is it is it really a
divide or is it just messaging
I think it’s
a I think it’s a divide but I think it’s
a divide not for the reasons that
would necessarily jump out to somebody
who wasn’t in the know of everything
that is on the line next year chony
wants to play well next year because
Chanty wants to keep his
job and you know you can say what you
want about how things have gone the
first three years there’s a lot of
situations that were completely out of
his control that led to this
rebuild um
and but he might be a casualty of it in
fact I would be surprised if he wasn’t a
casualty of it if it ends up being the
same situation next year and you know I
think I think we can all agree that
Chanty has been great to work with and
you know is a standup
individual
but I I guess just what do you do when
you have this coach who came in who had
completely I mean what a different
situation he came into than the
situation he’s in now it’s night and day
and you
know I if they have another tanking
season I would be surprised if he wasn’t
out and like I said I don’t think that’s
really his
fault um but you know when you have
three straight tanking
Seasons I mean I guess it would it would
technically be four right if you count
the year where they kind of gave it all
up at the end yep
um then it becomes a situation of
messaging and needing fresh blood around
there probably even though all the
players love Chanty like I really do
think you know what I gleaned from those
X interviews is that they do really like
him um but yeah like
I so I think chony wants to play well
because Chanty wants to keep his
job
however the organization as a whole does
not want them to play well and that is a
going to be a really interesting push
and pull to follow next
year very coach a coach can only you
know his his team can only be as good as
his players are and so you know chony
can you know want to you know be
competing and win in a big way but you
know the players they have are not ready
and if anything they have too many
players who are kind of who make them
almost too good you know when Malcolm
brogon was playing in they in December
you know it was they were almost too
good right he he made them better than
they should have been even going into a
week draft and so you’re kind of in a
weird in between with the roster
construction right now so before I get
to that I do want to touch on the chony
thing because the question of you know
what do you do with chony because he’s
done act I think actually an okay job in
terms of the development piece of it um
I think he been a good face of the team
you know I know fans you know are are
are ready to move on largely from what I
hear um yeah but it’s a it would be a
weird time to hire a new coach um
because you don’t yet know what you are
um if you were going to hire a new coach
you’d hire somebody you know like what
the Thunder did with Mark dagnal and
you’d hire like somebody who um you know
is a development minded coach you know
has maybe you know come up through the
coaching ranks and really understands
you know chony was brought in to be a
winner because that’s what chony has
been in his career he’s been a you know
a winner who probably was really well
suited to coach grown-ups um but what do
you do with him now I mean he’s got a
year left on his contract um he’s been a
good soldier and this and I think we
touched on this last week so I don’t
want to I don’t want to belabor it but
you know you’re in a position where you
know why would he want to come into next
season as a lame duck but if you’re the
Blazers you really haven’t seen enough
to extend him or to pick up that option
for the following year so you know but
chony seems like he wants to come back
even though what he says doesn’t seem to
line up with the vision franchise’s
Vision Joe Cronin was unequivocal that
chony is still their guy for next year
so I think this will all come to a head
at some point unless the Blazers just
really double down on chony BS as a
coach and say we believe in him we’re
picking up that option you know we’re
going to work with him on a on a
contract extension you know we we hired
him to be to coach a winning team and we
think we’re on our way to becoming a
winning team but it’s going to take some
time and I just really think that would
not fly with the fan base because I
don’t think chony has really you know
chony has has has won over his locker
room but for whatever reason chony has
not won over the fan base and I think it
largely just has to do with results um
you know there’s obviously going to be
some who have you know there’s issues
you know in his past but you know for
the most part I think you know the the
on court product and the results has
made it easy for him to kind of be the
scapegoat um you know some is fair some
isn’t but um but speaking about the
roster and maybe them being a little too
good you know Malcolm
Brogden is not a guy you should expect
to be on the Blazers roster next year no
um Jeremy Grant is going into the second
year of a 5-year contract 30 years old
um really going to be interesting to see
what they do with him you know he feels
like a
mercenary I just don’t know what the
market for him is going to be yep but
also as he gets older and the contract
theoretically gets more appealing how
appealing is he going to be as a player
with multiple years left on that deal so
you’re in sort of with all of your
players who are under contract and your
veteran players who aren’t really part
of your future you are trying to find
The Sweet Spot of when to make a move
when you can maximize their
return in a way where they’re goingon to
have the highest value so not trading
Malcolm brogon at the trade deadline is
potentially fine if you believe that
come July after the free agent Market
has dried up then you can really like
start going around to teams who you know
are missing a piece and Malcolm Brogden
is now available you know do they have
more they’re willing to give up so but
thinking of that sliding scale of you
know when is The Sweet Spot to trade a
guy brings me to maybe the Blazer’s best
player probably yes the Blazer’s best
player Anthony Simons and Anthony Simons
is set to make I think $26 million each
in the next two years he’s 24 years old
Blazer’s scoring leader average a career
high in points he’s entering the prime
of his career he’s another guy who says
he wants to win right now but like let’s
even put that aside because everybody
wants to win you know and not everybody
gets to win um
I think this is the summer that the
Blazers need to get serious about trying
trying to trade ay Simons for a variety
of reasons you’ve got you’ve got the The
Log Jam at guard yeah aunt is not only
older than um Shaden sharp and and Scoot
Henderson he’s on a totally different
contract timeline right so he’s got two
years left on his deal he’ll be up for a
he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in
two years where you know he could he
could grow into a player who’s making
4550 million a year by then and you’re
still going to have scoot Henderson and
Shaden sharp who in theory should be the
better should be the faces of the team
should be your your franchise players by
then in theory and they’re still gonna
be on rookie contracts you’re gonna have
Anthony Simons making you know a whole
lot of money you know commanding a whole
lot of shots and you know he’s obviously
a ball dominant player um not a Defender
I think that when we’re talking about
sweet spot this feels like the sweet
spot where there will be a market for
Anthony Simons because he is 24 because
if you take on his contract which is
actually really attractive um by today’s
standards you know when the salary Cap’s
going to be like $140
million and you have him for two
guaranteed
Years to you know sell him on what
you’re doing and hopefully work out a
long-term thing if he ends up being a
fit this feels like the moment that the
Blazers really have to explore that and
if the Market’s not back you don’t feel
bad or isn’t isn’t great you don’t feel
bad about bringing him back he’s a
wonderful player and while you’re losing
he’s a I don’t mean to say he’s a great
guy to go put up empty numbers but like
he’s kind of a great guy to go put up
empty numbers
and but I I think that you have to start
getting serious about trading Anthony
Simons what what do you think about that
and how do you
think you know Anthony Simons is a
homegrown player they drafted him they
found him at 18 years old and and
drafted him in the first round and
developed him and you know
he’s a at least offensively you know is
is an All-Star caliber guard um how
would fans react and but and then okay I
have a B A Part B to that question would
going all in on the young guys make it
easier for fans to go all in on the
young guys right because when you have
guys like ant and brogen and Jeremy
you’re kind of doing this Balancing Act
of like wait those guys are good enough
for us to be good yep so would kind of
just going all in on those young guys
you know keeping some guard rails up
like having some adults in the room
maybe make it easier for fans to start
to buy in with this
team I could see that and just being
more accepting of of the L’s right
now um just because yeah it definitely
does feel like this team has one foot in
one place and the other foot in another
place and they are trying to do this
balancing act that just isn’t realistic
in the NBA it’s just it’s just not and
that made sense when you had Damen
Lillard none of your none of none of
your higher paid veteran guys you know
are are of that caliber so I think
you’re making a great Point yeah um I
think another thing about Anthony
speaking of having one foot in one place
and one foot in another um the thing
that is
consistently I think confusing for that
organization about anony is nobody knows
nobody knows if he should be the
starting point guard or the starting
shooting
guard whereas like Scoot and Shaden have
clearly defined roles in that whereas
Anthony can play a little bit of both
and so it’s like nobody knows where to
start him in that mix and then it
becomes okay so who’s going to the bench
out of those three and it’s just yeah
that that is really um difficult where
you have two guys who are very clearly
defined and what their position is and
then Anthony is kind of a a tweener and
can do either which is a very valuable
by the way a very valuable asset for
another team just not probably valuable
for this squad in particular he’ be he’d
be an incredible look at any of these
teams that are in the the 5 through 10
in the west you know imagine if if if
Anthony Simons was the the fifth starter
or the Sixth Man on one of those teams I
mean you know you know the Lakers you
know are consistently in search of you
know additional you know help outside of
LeBron and Anthony Davis the Warriors
you know are going to go through a
little bit of a of a identity crisis
this summer um as Klay Thompson I mean
you know was I think over 10 in in play
lost last night which you know I mean
you know unfortunately for Klay um Lake
o weo Legend is you know you know the
writing is kind of on the wall for him
at this stage in his career what do the
Warriors do what does Minnesota do after
this play in playf playoff run you know
where how close are they are they you
know an additional you know scoring
guard away I think there’s going to be a
big market for Anthony Simons if the
Blazers go down that path because he’s
not the first option on a championship
team right I don’t think anybody would
argue that he’s probably not a second or
third option on championship team no I
don’t think but if but if he’s your
first guy off the bench and you you know
he is a you know he is you know an a
better version of Eric Gordon in his
prime and so I just think there’s going
to be a big a big market for him and
that the Blazers need to capitalize on
that as they line up their assets um you
know to correspond with this timeline
they’ve created by by going so heavily
into the draft the last two years also
going into a year when they have four
more draft picks they’re going to have
two lottery picks and then and then they
have two second round picks so they
they’re going to bring in a lot of young
players again next year you know even if
they end up doing something different
with those second rounders you’re gonna
have two lottery picks this year this is
not a draft where you’re packaging those
together for a player or you know the
dra this draft those draft picks are
basically as valuable as you make them
with the player you
select yeah which is a whole other
discussion by the way that we will have
a lot over the next few months I have a
feeling with the uh ambiguity of this
draft um yeah it’s it’s no WNBA draft
shout out cam Brink no no it’s not um it
is uh it is
definitely as uh the words of Joe Rin an
exciting opportunity
um because nobody knows what the heck’s
going to happen
um yeah I I mean I think you’re totally
right in the fact that they need to make
that exploration and fans just have to
get comfy with that and and know that we
could be saying goodbye to a few people
this this uh this off season and that’s
what it is and I mean you know I think
the other thing that was that was really
difficult about this team in particular
is that Dame had such a strangle hold on
who they signed last off season and the
moves they made last off season that it
totally put them behind the aall in
terms of this year because what are you
going to do not resign Jeremy
Grant what does that look like
especially you know like are you just
not going to do it and then then you’re
like okay well you know Dame’s not back
we’re not I mean you know you go to you
go to summer league and there’s a press
conference for Jeremy Grant matis thel
and that’s it that’s all the Blazers got
right now in this that that’s coming to
them you know so I I do think and the
press conference is barely about Jeremy
Grant matis thel by the way because
you’re in the middle of of of the of the
Lillard uh
standoff they were they were absolutely
an afterthought apologies to them um but
you know like so so so that’s another
thing is that they didn’t really have
the opportunity to explore that sort of
stuff last summer because they just
needed to hold on to what they had right
they they didn’t have an opportunity to
be like all right let’s shop this person
let’s shop that person because there was
one person who took priority and that
was that and they needed to see what
happened with that in order for all the
other dominal to fall so now that
situation is taken care
of and yeah this summer is they there’s
going to have to be uh some some looking
into the mirror to say the least
and figuring out how this looks because
the trade deadline also the trade
deadline this year was also bad for
having that
moment so I don’t you know it’s just
hard it’s hard this is this is a this is
a tough spot for an organization
generally like especially you know the
Blazers are not a free agent destination
right so you have to really hope that
you draft well and you get the right
people in and it’s just not there’s no
way they’re going to be able to build
this team through free
agency
so
once they didn’t want to come when you
had when you had when you had when you
had a guy when you had a Hall of Fame
centerpiece yep
so you know this isn’t a situation where
there’s like oh there’s multiple routes
it’s pretty clear what the route is
and and you know I talking somebody go
ahead I was just going to
say my favorite quip well one of my
favorite quips of the all the X
interviews was matis saying he talked
you he was talking to Anthony about all
the injuries that they had there and
Anthony was like it’s because we don’t
have any sun here yeah we don’t have any
sun here so everybody gets injured and
I’m like oh that’s an interesting little
antidote also if that’s if I mean like
imagine if that’s the that’s the the the
read on Portland around the league don’t
go to Portland there’s no vitamin D
there you need you need to have a UV bed
in your in your
house maybe that’s the kind of air
mattress DeAndre Aton was sleeping on it
was one like in a in a
UV tanning bed a mattress
um
uh I had a what was a thought I had that
I was gonna I was going to touch on
there but I mean yeah I mean you make
great points and there is one path and I
think you know that’s you know where the
Blazers are and you know the problem
that the Blazers face is that they the
fan base has been through a lot in the
last five years oh go because each of
the last three years they’ve ended up
tanking and the first two years they
attempted to tank kind of on the Fly
they were like they’re quiet tanking
right um you know it’s like players got
hurt and became like hey let’s let’s get
a let’s get a pick here and then be
ready to go next year and they did that
for two years and then they go into this
year kind of in the in between where
it’s like if this roster had had Damen
Lillard well you wouldn’t have had
Malcolm Brogden and DeAndre Aon but you
know Jeremy Grant and you know you’re
bringing you know scoot Henderson it’s
like you would at least feel like you
had something um right now they’re just
at the beginning so while it feels like
the third year of a rebuild like it
really is the first year of a rebuild Y
and that’s and that’s hard to stomach
when you’ve watched your team not try
after February for multiple years um
so it’s it’s you know it’s super
challenging um and I you know I don’t
know I don’t know if interest will be
higher next year I don’t know if it can
be higher next year um but I do think
that by being honest about what you’re
doing and where you are and and handing
the reins over to you know Scoot and
Shaden and whoever else you’re able to
bring in in the draft I mean hopefully
you draft well it’s not a good draft you
know it could be the worst draft ever
depending on who you listen to but that
doesn’t mean there’s not going to be
Talent there doesn’t mean that you you
know can’t find a future Allstar so you
know I mean you know plenty of players
have become AllStars from the second
round you know from the middle and late
first round so that’s the charge going
into this offseason you have a lot of
picks you know can you put them to use
can you make one of those really Pop um
okay so
Blazers forever doomed uh topic
two uh I’m kidding they’re not forever
it’s a reset it’s a reset it’s a rebuild
building there is no sunshine Brena that
is that might be the name of like a new
podcast or a sub podcast there is no
sunshine in Portland it’s never sunny in
Portland do you think that that would
get me
sued I don’t think it would I don’t
think it would get you sued um but I
mean I will say
I sky on the other side it does happen
here it is spectacular we are recording
this on Wednesday and I’m in my basement
of all places and I see the sun like
streaking through the lights I’m like
come to me come to me it’s beautiful day
beautiful day in Portland because all
days are beautiful in Portland take that
Anthony Simons I hope you enjoy your
career
in
Minnesota and hey you want to know what
another
thing that’s all the NCAA Women’s teams
think of Portland too that were here it
was beautiful the whole week they were
here but if you want to know the truth
ask the Oregon State women because they
all they all left
so that’s why they left
okay um so let’s transition over to the
soccer side uh speaking of teams that
have been through it lately um the
thorns in the kind of their what I
consider their first major move since
the the the sale from Merritt pson to
the Bethal family um the Thorns uh are
making a coaching change they did make a
coaching change on
Tuesday um what did you make of
them replacing Mike Norris with one of
his assistants and moving Mike Norris to
technical director which feels like a
soft firing like it’s it you like you
see people like get promoted out of
their jobs and really then like a year
later it’s like oh mutually agreed to
part ways or it’s gotten a job somewhere
else like I don’t know is Mike Norris
gonna be expected to actually come into
the office in this new job I have
questions but go ahead Brena let me know
what you think about this this s Ro well
you know I uh I believe
this will
be their fourth head coach in as many
years am I correct on that I want to I
want to make sure I’m right on this but
I’m almost positive it is um was ran was
ran a first year coach I believe so um
so you know let’s see here I’m pulling
up the Wikipedia just to make sure I’m
right yeah that makes that sounds
right
yep
so we now have four head coaches or wait
yeah four head coaches in as many
seasons which honestly man it’s
impressive actually what they’ve been
able to do with that amount of
um like lack of continuity okay it
actually is pretty impressive that they
made this you know I mean they made the
semis last year under a first year head
coach and they won it the year before um
it’s just
I just feel like roster is yeah the
organization is just like it I hope it’s
heading in a New Direction because it
just kind of feels a little cursed right
now it’s like you know all the things
that were going
on during you know Ran’s year and
everything like you
just some of them were out of were was
stuff that was you know didn’t happen
under her and she’s just trying to
manage and then you finally get through
that and you get hit with oh yeah I’m
dating one of the players and you’re
like oh my God yeah what is going on and
then it kind of just felt like they just
well you had the train you you had the
trainer um giving unprescribed uh
treatments and you know so there have
there have been a lot of things and
obviously going back husband right
totally so it’s like oh my gosh it’s
just just like like it just feels like
it it’s just a revolving situation
around there and you know I can see why
this didn’t work out for a lot of
reasons I mean I it kind of always felt
like a a weird hire to me personally and
that this is no shade on Mike
whatsoever I I really enjoyed he was he
was a good person to be around the times
that I around yeah yeah um but it did
kind of feel like a wa you could
probably go get like a number of coaches
and you decide to just go get the guy
that’s already on staff in an assistant
role like it was such an interesting
moment right because it was only like a
month or two after the Yates report the
the the franchise was just deeply
embroiled in Scandal um scand one
scandal after another and I think
there’s kind of two arguments you know
like you know you’re you’re I mean I
think the fact that you’re replacing a a
woman head coach with with with with a
man I thought was sort of surprising but
also in that exact
moment the one thing that you could say
that the Thorns needed was some level of
stability and so by promoting from
within it’s a familiar face it’s a
familiar voice um and that is really
really valuable in tumultuous times but
it also doesn’t um doesn’t do you many
favors down the road sometimes long term
yeah and and and listen I you know I
don’t know TCT tactically enough to say
you know why the Thorns aren’t winning
but you know you’re talking about you
know semis last year the nwsl
championship the year before that you
know a consistent history of winning and
being in being there at the end of the
year and you pull up the nwsl table
right now do you know where the Thorns
are Rena last last place and I we’re not
used to that and now they are winless in
their first four matches with one draw
you know a you know a goal differential
of of minus four which is the second
worst in the league behind Houston which
has even one managed to win a game and
so it’s early right like there’s a lot
of time to turn this around they have a
lot of really great players like as we
know Sophia Smith is you know a you know
an absolute legend in the making so I
would expect the Thorns are going to
turn this around and ultimately have a
really positive season but the one thing
that you can say is you know this this
is like Thorns 2.0 you know I you know
friend of the program Chris rifer um who
hosts the excellent Maiden soccer soccer
madeen Portland podcast Maiden soccer
soccer madeen port podcast with Ryan
Clark you know you know one of his
observations I saw on social media was
like it’s almost surprising to see you
know a a franchise you know struggling
and and making quick decisive action to
like turn it around and that you know
the um subtext being that has not been
the way the the the thorns and Timbers
are run under Meritt Paulson and those
front offices where you know last year
like Gio you know was just kind of kind
of straggling along for weeks and weeks
and weeks weeks when it became pretty
clear they needed to make a coaching
change so you know there is a way of
looking at this through the prism of you
know is this what you know life looks
like for the Thorns are they are they
you know you know Karina LeBlanc you
know Remains the GM but you do have new
ownership you know owners you know the
Bethal did not buy the Thorns to watch
them languish in last place so you know
making quick you know moves to try to
turn this around is is probably smart
now you know we’ll see over time like
you know how many how many moves are
they going to make like I mean we don’t
want to have ownership that is is is
overly reactionary but um you know I
think it’s probably an encouraging sign
you know early in their ownership in
this you know Thorns 2.0 um
era yeah I mean
uh I mean both these soccer teams right
now it’s a rough
situation which is not normal for
whatever reason the Thorns have always
kind of been able to overcome it and
that speaks a lot to the players that
they have on their roster
and that speaks a lot to uh us women who
have to overcome a lot of trauma to go
out there and do things because I think
we’re more conditioned to it just to be
completely Frank um I would identify
with that um that I’m just probably I
just probably have more of
a resolve than other people being a
female in sports because
I’ve gotten better at just knowing that
I don’t have a choice and I’ve got to
get through it so um I would imagine
that a lot of those players feel
similarly but uh I just also want to say
uh the Timbers right now also not doing
well they have not won a game since
let’s see March uh the beginning of
March last time they won a home game was
at the end of February so let’s see what
they do over these next couple of games
going um you know going on the road you
know I think you’re still integrating
Rodriguez you have you know yeah you
have a new system Phil Neville I think
on the net has been a positive you know
the Timbers I think at one point were
leading the league in scoring they
currently you know there there’s a
handful of teams that have scored more
than them um you know they’ve had some
good ties you know they’ they’ve they
had some good draws so like yeah I do
we’ll see I mean I think I mean again
the tal the talent is there the top
level Talent is there for them so I
think that um
you know it’s really just a question of
putting it all together and sing
together some victories it’s going to be
such a shame if they can’t put it
together because avander is becoming the
player that we were promised when he
came
here so I’m G to be very disappointed if
they aren’t able to put it together
around him to say the least yeah I think
the biggest thing with both those teams
is just the fact it is early it is early
there’s plenty of time for things to get
better and what we know historically
about certainly the Thorns is that it
probably will and with the Timbers you
know sort of a new new era New Era with
Phil Neville uh High Talent level so
we’ll we’ll have to wait and see um it
is also early Brena in
2024 we’re about a third of the way
through the uh the year of 202024 which
we considers to be still early and um
that means that we are in the spring and
spring means Spring football and Oregon
will have its spring game next next
Saturday the
27th and Oregon State this upcoming
Saturday April
20th which is very exciting and the
thing here so let me let me just say so
so you know Spring football it’s you
know it’s a little bit wonky you know a
lot of questions about you who’s going
to be where blah you know but there are
some themes with Oregon state that I
think you know are worth exploring I
mean obviously with Oregon it’s you know
are they National Championship ready is
Dylan Gabriel going to step right into
the shoes of Bo Nicks you know how good
is is Jordan James um how do you replace
Troy Franklin is the offensive line GNA
be as good as last year and the answer
at Oregon probably is yes like Oregon’s
gonna be really stinking good even in
the Big 10 maybe not National
Championship good in the end but really
stinking good um Oregon State though the
Beavers um lose Damen Martinez to the
transfer portal last week questions at
quarterback got absolutely hammered by
the transfer portal a first year head
coach who frankly hired a lot of his
buddies on his coaching staff
um I feel like I don’t know I’m kind of
interested in the Oregon State spring
game and you know I I’m curious to see
the quarterbacks um yeah honestly it’s
kind of curious to see who stands out
because going into next year you’re not
thinking really that much about the
Beavers given all the talent they lost
like it’s not like it’s not like oh
they’ve got you know a you know an
All-American wide receiver that you you
can count on coming back I mean they
lost all those guys so I’m kind of
curious to maybe learn some names on
Saturday yeah I mean I think that if you
would have asked us two weeks ago our
answer would be different because you be
like Oh I’m curious about Damen Martinez
well tot goodbye which by the way did
you um did you see his top five
schools I think I saw that he was going
to visit Texas in Texas A&M and that
might be all I saw he came out with his
his his final give me one second he came
out with his final uh his final five
yesterday and I’m not going to lie I was
a little underwhelmed I totally missed
it tell me um Miami Mississippi State
Kentucky Tennessee
Arizona I would agree that it’s
underwhelming Miami has been um has is
one that he’s been linked to
um kind of since he entered the portal
obviously Mario Chrystal ball there
Arizona surprising I’m trying to think
of a connection to Brent Brennan and his
staff there yeah
um
Kentucky you know okay um Tennessee’s
been better and you said Old Miss was
the other one Mississippi State
Mississippi State um yeah that’s an
interesting list I mean they lost their
quarterback last year and yeah
I would I mean I yeah I mean it’s
interesting um you know I would you know
maybe I’m putting too much value on this
maybe most schools have their their lead
running backs at this point but I would
think that if Damen Martinez is in the
portal you know all the Blue Bloods
would be moving moving around the deck
chairs to to clear a spot for him he’s
just that good yeah
so I don’t know if he’s a victim of a
victim I I don’t know if he’s a victim
of going into the transfer portal too
late
like maybe this spring round isn’t as
good or if maybe we just all have put
higher value on him than what he
actually is I’d really surprised by that
um but yeah anyways just a side note
that yeah okay I’m I’m glad that I’m not
the only one they kind of looked at that
top five and was like yeah like I mean
you know obviously they’re all better
than what this Oregon State team is
projected to be and in a better spot
yeah um they have a conference they have
conferences they have conference that’s
that’s a start um but you know yeah like
you said Miami’s
been me uh Missippi State not exactly a
team that’s on the come up right now um
Kentucky they had a few good years a few
years ago we’ll see Tennessee yeah okay
and Arizona is just like I don’t I don’t
even
really I don’t really understand that
one either so big transition year for um
for Arizona so yeah that’s a um it’s a
curious list well well and who there has
the the most nil uh opportunities to
offer right like that’s the kind of
thing that we have to wonder about in
this day and age and you know obviously
that was an issue at Oregon State you
know I mean a little bit of back and
forth and confusion over that but
clearly Damen Martinez was not happy
with his situation at Oregon State um
let’s talk about quarterbacks just
because we always talk about
quarterbacks and quarterback matters
like it’s a very important position um y
Oregon State
has lacked stability at the quarterback
position you know obviously replacing
chance Nolan with DJ Eng um last year
and he’s now Florida State
um there’s really three guys in the mix
at Oregon State and one of them we know
very well it’s Ben it’s Ben Goldson who
um who played you know extremely well
two years ago when Oregon State won 10
games and and and beat Florida in the
Las Vegas Bowl started the Sun Bowl last
year um I think he has like four degrees
from Morgan State by now like he’s been
there so long it’s absolutely
mindblowing that he’s still on this team
but um you know this is a spring where
he’s you know competing for the starting
job with jaavan McCoy from the
University of Idaho and Jabari Johnson
who transferred from Missouri um Jabari
Johnson from Seattle Pacific Northwest
guy yeah um lots of talent javanni McCoy
was you know he was a um a Jerry Rice
award finalist I believe is a freshman
at the University of Idaho which for
those who don’t know is the FCS freshman
of the year um he was outstanding in the
Big Sky Conference Brena I watched more
Idaho football last year than I’m gonna
guess more most 2022 Jerry Rice Award
winner which is the FCS National
freshman of the year that’s what I
thought yeah want to make sure I was
right on that yep so I I guess of the
three most most familiar with Goldson
and U McCoy
um and you know my my quick two cents on
McCoy is awesome FCS quarterback very
exciting very creative really athletic
um holds on to the ball a lot um you
know is good working his way out of
trouble but also creates a lot of
turnovers um fumble prone turnover prone
I think he gets himself into a lot of
trouble too
so you know normally at Oregon State be
like I’m not entirely sure he’s a
quarterback at this level then again I
don’t know what level Oregon state is at
right now maybe he is a quarterback for
their level so I’m I’m curious to see um
kind of what what the quarterbacks look
like um you know Jabari Johnson I think
you know kind of had has maybe has the
edge of the at least of the transfers
but um what do you think of what do you
think of this of this group of
quarterbacks or do you think that Ben
Goldson 97 years old should um
should should be the presumed starter
given all that he’s committed to the
program I do not think he should be the
presume starter
um ble Branson has proven to be
a sorry Ben he’s more of a game manager
than he is a quarterback that’s what
he’s been able to kind of do at OSU
during his time there um is he has been
able to help lead them to wins but I
think that it hasn’t really been
it’s been due to his lack of mistakes
than it is a situation where uh it was
due to his playmaking
ability um and you know having somebody
who’s mistake free is great but um you
also need a little little bit Spice in
there um I mean I would be pretty
stunned if on Saturday Ben is not taking
the first snaps I mean he took the first
snaps last
year
um DJ came in and took second snaps and
then Aiden came in and take third took
took the third snaps um but you know so
I I think that we’re going to see Ben
starting which is totally fine and I
don’t think anybody should if if
somebody is like oh my gosh not again
like I I wouldn’t take a lot of I
wouldn’t I wouldn’t put a lot of stalk
in that um who knows though maybe we
won’t since it is a different different
staff this year different offensive
coordinator but I I if I were if I were
to be betting I would put Ben as the the
person who gets the first snaps there um
but I’m not sure if that really means
anything um jabari’s interesting just
because you know he didn’t play at all
his freshman year so
um you know he’s kind of an unknown in
terms of how he plays at the college
level and then you’ve got McCoy who like
you said
is a thrilling exciting
quarterback but you
know what goes up must come down and uh
sometimes there are moments where it
comes down and yes I did watch a little
bit more Idaho football last year as
well since we both have we both have our
own
connection yeah we uh we both have our
connections to that region to say the
least so um you know I was happy for
them to be to be doing well cuz there’s
been a lot of there’s been a lot of
issues down there over the however many
years I was around Idaho so I’m glad
that they are finally finally playing
well but um Idaho’s coach I would say by
the way Jason eek is so great love Jason
e great Twitter
follow shout out to Jason e great
Twitter follow fun F fun guy fun fun guy
um
they make a very very good hire in him
so good for Terry
uh there have been some other hires down
there that have not been as great under
her under her uh under her regime so
regime’s the wrong word but her era she
got she got she got the football she got
the football coach right which you and I
both know is the most important one uh
especially in a place like that um yeah
I’m
just there are so many question marks on
this team that it’s hard to really get a
feel for anything around them and so
that means you kind of come into
Saturday with zero expectations I’ll be
there I’ll be chilling hanging out um
and we’ll see we’ll see what happens I
mean you know last year was interesting
because there was some Buzz around Aiden
going into last year’s spring game and
he kind of delivered on that and it was
like oh okay like this
might legit be something
but this year it’s pretty uh I mean I I
have watched all the spring football
interviews and
um The Narrative has been that the
defense is dominating the
offense but and and and listen this is a
Trent Bray Le team talk about getting
H’s right you know like we’re gonna find
out if if Oregon State got that higher
right with Trent Bray um you know
lifelong Beaver essentially since
college but um yeah you know that you
would expect it to be a defensiv l team
but yes that offense is completely
turned over you you know you have
limited returning receiver Talent you
are trying out new quarterbacks you know
you’re presume presumptive starting
running back was your third string
running back two years ago and he was
really good as a change of pace third
running back is he you know is he ready
to be the you know is he is he good
enough to be the number one I mean I
guess the point I’m trying to make is
there’s two reasons the defense could be
dominating the offense one the defense
is that good or that the offense just
isn’t any good and you know I don’t know
that we will get the answer to that
necessarily
on on Saturday it’s hard to learn a
whole lot about a team when it’s playing
itself but I do think um that answer
will come to us fairly early in the
season in
2024 I just I just looked at their wide
receiver Jimmy he had a touchdown in the
Sun Bowl that is
literally the only player that I’m like
oh yeah I recognize that name I
recognize Darius CL Clemens just because
the fact that you know obviously he went
to high school here and then went to
Michigan and then transferred yeah to
OSU um but other than that
man yeah there’s guys I mean Jeremiah
NOA Zachary card those are guys who you
know ran some routes last year like you
saw them but they weren’t they obviously
weren’t um preferred receivers and then
you know I mean Germaine Germaine Terry
the tight end was a was an option last
year as well so I mean yeah I was I was
going to go look at the tight end room
and yeah Germaine Terry’s the other the
other one that I recognized
but I’m interested I’m interested to see
you know I’m interested to see how too
Trent Bray runs things you know um you
know Trent Bray is is an
interesting guy to be the head coach I
mean he’s not a he’s not particularly
um what’s the right word I mean I just
don’t think he’s not a marketer right
like he is there to coach football and
that’s his skill and so like you haven’t
seen him a lot you haven’t heard from
him a lot you know he’s not the he’s not
the football coach who shows up at a
basketball game and rips his shirt off
and then does the wave with the student
section or you know whatever you know
there’s just not um you know I’m gonna
be curious to see how Trent Bray
personality-wise grows into this role
because as the head football coach you
become the face of the university and
you know Smith was very good at that um
Mike riy was obviously EXC at that
Jonathan Smith oh I think so I think
Jonathan Smith was a you know I mean
first of all he was I I think Jonathan
Smith was he understood that part of his
job you know he was you know he wasn’t
he wasn’t the most like he’s not Dan
Lanning okay Dan Lanning I think is
excellent with that um yes but I thought
I think Jonathan Smith did a great job
of interacting with the community you
saw him at other sporting events you saw
him you know I thought he was good in a
room you know Trent Bray’s going to have
to learn that stuff um
you know and maybe he has you know it’s
just it’s just going to be interesting
to see him grow into that role because
the one thing that you know I was
thinking about it the other day you know
I when I when Jonathan Smith first left
I wrote something about you know
prospective candidates I left Trent Bray
off the list even though I thought he
would probably be the most obvious
choice because the thing that was always
said about him and that he had said was
that he really had no interest in
becoming a head coach so I sort of took
him at his word on that and then you
know obviously it’s a different
circumstance um you know but there are
Parts about him that are not a natural
fit for this position personality wise
and so I’m going to be I’m just going to
be interested to see how he grows into
it because from a football standpoint a
football credential standpoint
absolutely deserves the opportunity is
ABS and is absolutely ready um it’s
unfortunate he wasn’t able to hold on to
a little more talent in the transfer
portal but he’s in good company at
Oregon State on
that I I think that they would all agree
that they’re in Bad Company um I yeah
the only thing that you know when when
it comes to John Smith at least and I’m
just going to come at this from my media
perspective which is you know the one
I’m going to know the most is that
Jonathan Smith I didn’t feel like he was
great
at um I don’t know he just wasn’t the
most charismatic head coach I’ve ever
been around sure and uh his press
conferences were like watching we like
watching paint dry on a wall they were
awful you mean yeah like it was like man
can you say anything
interesting and you know that’s not
going to be everyone’s experience but
part of being a head coach is giving
press conferences that are at
least interesting and are able to help
you kind of spread your reach and people
know who you are and that was um that
was not one of Jonathan Smith’s uh for
I would say I mean I would I
would I would get done watching his
press conferences and be like well I’m
glad I just watched 15 minutes of
air I would say Jonathan Smith was
helpful you know he was somebody in
different like press conferences I agree
were a little um could be a little stale
I sometimes felt like he was a little
nervous um but I also think that like
you know in the Fund Raising in the
fundraising realm from what I’ve heard
you know he was really you know um you
know helpful and and willing um he was
visible around town and around campus um
you know he was helpful to us you know
if you wanted to have a conversation not
in a press conference you know he would
he would be you know agreeable to those
sorts of things so you know there’s just
parts of doing the job that are are not
you know calling plays and recruiting
and yeah um TR bra’s never had to worry
about a lot of that stuff so it’s just
it’s just I’m interested to see where it
goes I don’t know how many times I can
say I’m interested I think I’ve said it
probably about 35 times so far but I am
interested um Brena we got to get out of
here you’ve got to go to do some hard
work for coin six I have to whip up some
column here so we’re going to get out of
here next week I think we’ll probably be
talking some Oregon Spring football
because the Ducks will be getting ready
for their Spring Showcase the following
weekend um I think we’re probably going
to cool it on the Blazers for a little
while but um always stuff to talk about
here in the mighty
Northwest so for Brena green I am Bill
Mor from Oregon life and The Oregonian
this is The Oregonian Sports podcast we
look forward to talking to you next week
thanks for listening