Checking in with the Trail Blazers Halfway Through the Season

Your favorite Portland Trail Blazers podcast is back for another episode! Dave and Marlow 13 features slightly less Marlow, as he had a last-minute conflict and couldn’t make taping time. Rather than put it off beyond our ability to recoup, Dave winged the episode alone! But we didn’t cheat you of any content. The opposite, in fact. This week’s show is jam packed with observations about what the Blazers have done right over their first 41 games of the season, what hasn’t worked as well, and why the latter things appear to weigh more than the former at the moment.

Lots of Blazers fans have been like horses—becoming neigh-sayers among us—and they have a point. It’s all supposed to be clicking better than it is. But the demise of the team is also a tad overblown. As Dave illuminates, the Blazers are only truly bad at a couple things. Their problem isn’t horrible play, but meandering mediocrity in most areas, as is reflected in their record. And, as it turns out, that record actually makes some sense when you consider how the various aspects of Portland’s game are interrelated. It’s not as easy as doing three things well and two poorly equaling a mostly-winning record. One thing you do poorly can take the edge off of two that you do well, and all of a sudden you get things like an inspired, 50-point outing leading to a loss for lack of infrastructure around it.

We put the pieces together in this very special episode of Dave and Marlow, then look forward to how, and whether, the story might change in the coming weeks!

You can subscribe to the podcast or download this episode here, or just hit play on the embed below.

Enjoy!