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Jamie Goldberg on transition from soccer to basketball

Jamie Goldberg, Oregonian reporter, covered soccer in Portland for six years and recently joined the Trail Blazers’ beat.

Portland Trail Blazers v Sacramento Kings Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Jamie Goldberg of the Oregonian makes her first appearance on the Women’s Hoops And Talks Podcast. Fresh off of six years covering the Thorns and Timbers, Goldberg is the newest NBA and Trail Blazers reporter for the Oregonian. We talk to her about what it has been like making the transition from soccer to basketball, her first impressions of the team and its players, and what she is looking forward to covering on her new beat.

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Highlights

00:30 Have she and Jamie Hudson worked out what we are supposed to call them?

1:00 Icebreaker: What is your self-care strategy after a tough game?

3:45 Introducing Jamie and how she became a sports writer.

5:30 What has the transition from soccer to basketball been like? What did she do to prepare?

7:00 What was the end of the soccer season like, and what was it like knowing you were going to move right into something new?

12:30 Early impressions of the team. Damian Lillard has lived up to his reputation. League mandated press time in the NBA is much more liberal than with MLS. Easier to tell stories when you have access to the players.

14:00 Follow-up story on Coach Yim.

15:00 What are some of the ways that covering the leagues are different? Pace is different when there are so many games. In soccer, each game carries so much weight. Even though sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, in the NBA the sheer volume of games means you have to move on quickly.

17:15 You’ve spent a lot of time covering teams with huge supporters groups, the Timbers Army and the Riveters. How is the world of Blazers fans different?

20:20 What was it like covering championship runs and when can we expect a Blazers championship?

22:30 She has done stories so far on Kent Bazemore, Anthony Tolliver and Skal Labissiere who have all been great to work with.

24:45 Basketball things that she has seen that she thinks the team can build on. They are probably going to be one of the best offensive teams in the league. They need a rim protector, it seems like Stotts isn’t ready to give Labissiere much of that role yet.

27:20 For fans who watch soccer, what would you tell them to watch in the NBA? The speed and the spectacle are very fun.

29:15 Does she have any additions to the 2020 Trail Blazers 50th Anniversary Playlist?

Get social

Follow Blazer’s Edge on Twitter @blazersedge, WHAT Pod @HoopsAndTalks, Tara @tcbbiggs, and Cassidy @CassidyGemmet. This week’s guest: @jamiebgoldberg

Email us at hoopsandtalks@gmail.com

Join the Women’s Hoops And Talks Facebook group to talk about Trail Blazers with others who identify as women who love basketball.

Music used in the episode: “Happy Alley” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

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