First Week Of Training Camp, Shaedon, Hansen And Recapping Fan Fest On The Brief Case, Episode 171

What’s up, guys? This is Rob Will and you’re listening to the briefcase with Casey Holdall. Greetings, Blazer fans, and welcome to the briefcase presented by Spiritmount Casino. Episode 171 of The Briefcase presented by Spiritmount Casino. I am your host, Casey Holdall, and it has been a very good week of training camp, very good first week of training camp for your Portland Trailblazers. It seems like everything is running fairly well down in Swallatin. work is getting done being done efficiently. We’ll talk a little bit about training camp so far at the practices in Twallatin. We’ll discuss Shaden Sharp and Hansen, both players playing very well during training camp. And we’ll talk about Drew Holiday getting the scrimmage winner and Shaden Sharp winning MVP once again at the Toyota FanFest on this edition of the briefcase presented by Spear Mount Casino. Well, while it can be a little bit difficult to figure out exactly how successful a training camp is, which is actually why I wrote a story about asking players and coaches about what actually does make for a successful training camp. By all accounts, things are going very well down in Talton as a team prepares for the 202526 season. First week of practices squared away. Team feels like they they’ve really gotten stuff accomplished. They they focus mostly on defense to start and now they’ve started to put in more of their offense. It’s going to be somewhat of a different offense this season. more motion is kind of what the the topline explanation of what the differences are from an offensive perspective this season. Defense just building upon what they’ve already been doing. They’ve, as I mentioned multiple times, they’ve been getting better and better and better, more consistent as a defensive team the last three seasons, finishing 16th last year in defensive efficiency. I believe maybe in the last half of the season, they were maybe second in defensive efficiency. So, they’re already they’re they’re just building off of the good things they’ve already been doing on that side of the ball, but they’re also introducing some new offensive concepts, as I mentioned, a bit more motion it sounds like, this year. A bit more cutting, bit more moving without the ball. And seems like it it’s working pretty well. Um, you know, I’ve gotten to watch a few practices down in Swallatin, and while I can’t pass along too much of any specifics, what I can say is that it’s looked very efficient, very clean. It it seems like they’re really getting things accomplished. You can actually I’ve actually noticed improvement from day to day already which at training camp I think is basically all you can really ask for is is the team making progress. Are they improving? A and to my eyes it absolutely feels like they have made improvements through this first week of training camp. I think that’s been great to see. Again defensively really a I’ve and we’ve shown some videos and we’ve had some behind the scenes videos that I if you haven’t watched them yet I would absolutely suggest you do. uh Chanty Phillips running the first practice, then assistant coach Nate Bjorkrren kind of taking the reigns and doing the second practice. I mean, all the coaches work every practice, but kind of being in charge of maybe some of the again some of the topline issues they’re trying to get to on a day-to-day basis. I feel like you you can get a real good sense of how the team is playing and again the intensity that they’re bringing to to training camp. I feel like, you know, I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’ve seen some some pretty good training camps and some training camps where you’re like, boy, this doesn’t really feel like it’s running super well or, you know, maybe just a a little bit loose. It’s a very This training camp has been very tight. Like every, again, I I would say efficient is kind of one of the things I’ve noticed the most. They’re only going once a day. They’re not doing two a days, which I I think most of the league has kind of transitioned out of the idea of doing two a days. It used to be that, you know, most guys didn’t play during the summer. So, the first week of training camp was just like getting guys back into game shape. Nowadays, basically, everyone’s, if they’re not playing regularly during the summer, they’re at least working out regularly during the summer. A lot of guys are coming back at least a month before training camp starts to to get in runs and get into shape. So, the the days of two a days at training camp probably mostly going away because again, I don’t think it’s really necessary. It used to be one of the practices was for calisthenics or to get in shape. The other one was to kind of work on concepts and theories and scheme. Now you can kind of do both of them at the same time because most guys are still in pretty good shape. They’re not in game shape. You don’t get in game shape till the season starts, but in much better shape to where you don’t really that the idea that we got to kind of go run laps at 12ton high school in order to to get into shape. Those days are are are pretty much done. So they are just going once a day, but they’re going very hard. Doing a lot of scrimmaging. uh doing a lot of drill work obviously to start practices but then really get into scrimmages mixing up the teams a and really kind of focusing on a lot of it being defense and you know it’s scrimmaging but a lot of it is like you’re playing games in the scrimmage so and a lot of times those games are really more about defense than they are about offense you get points for getting defensive stops not necessarily for scoring so those are kind of some of the things they’ve been working on that that I’ve seen at least and again like guys are are locked in there’s not a whole lot of having stop and correct guys at during the run of those scrimmages or during practice and that is something that has that is pretty common. So having to stop and be like hey that’s not right. This is what we’re trying to do. I mean there there’s some of that in this training camp for sure because I mean of course there is but I’ve noticed a lot less of that this year than I have in previous seasons. It seems like guys already kind of have a better grasp of what’s being asked of them. I I I think from a from again from a from an intensity perspective and from bringing the right kind of focus to a training camp, I I feel like this training camp has been much more dialed in from in that respect. It feels like guys really know what’s expected of them, really know where they’re supposed to be. When they make mistakes, they’re almost kind of correcting themselves right away before one of the coaches does it. I feel like again the coaching staff and that’s maybe kind of one of the reasons why I’ve noticed a little bit of a difference this year is you know you have Chanty Bilips obviously and Nate Dorran and Ronnie Burrell but then the rest of the coaching staff are pretty much new. You got Thiago Splitter, Andrew St. James, Quint Crawford and James Posey all new assistant coaches in the gym. And I think that that really just brings a different look to your training camp as well. And you have different again different perspectives, kind of different voices in in the huddles, different approaches to to things, new ideas, new concepts. I mean, and and guys that have a whole lot of different experience. You got Thiago Splitter, who was obviously who played in the NBA, international player, coached internationally as well, had success in France. You you have Andrew St. James who was on a very good staff in Memphis. You have Quint Crawford who who’s worked in all levels including the G- League, winning a G-League championship. And you’ve got James Posey, another former player who has really a a varied experience set of coaching. He he’s coached in the women’s game. He’s coached in college. He’s coached in the pros. So, I I think part of the reason why it feels like this training camp to me, it just felt a little bit different and in a very good way. I think part of that is because the coaching staff is a bit new. And again, I just think you you bring a different energy to to your training camp, especially when you have a lot of new coaches. You have a number of new players as well. Obviously, I think having Drew Holiday, I think, is really a tone center for your training camp. I mean, like a guy who who’s been through it all, who’s got so many years in the league coming in. And really, I mean, it’s not like he’s out there having to like tell guys what to do or or have some kind of iron fist, but I think when you have a player like Drew Holiday who is bringing a certain level of professionalism to training camp, I think it makes everyone else want to fall in line there as well. I I think obviously, you know, the addition of Hansen is has been a a great addition and gives them a different look and a different feel at that center position. Being able to have Donovan Klingan and Yang Hansen both go up against each other every single practice, I think is going to be super beneficial for both those players, both young, both finding their way in the league. Kind of different skill sets from that center position, but both enormous. I think that’s really going to have positive benefits for the Trailblers going into this season. And then, you know, you you’ve just got a couple guys who who seem like they’ve been playing really well. I think everyone’s kind of heard kind of Shaden Sharp has been a player that a lot of a lot of coaches and players h have kind of singled out a as being kind of one of the standouts of training camp and I I think that’s that’s a very fair assessment. I think Shaden’s offense is has I mean it’s always been pretty good. It really seems like his shot is dialed in. Um his ability to get to his spots, his mid-range game, his three-point shot, which I know he kind of he he didn’t shoot as well from three last year as I think anyone would have hoped. And I’m part of me wonders kind of how much of that it was a shoulder injury. Now granted, I don’t I don’t think that was a shooting shoulder, but still it’s going to have an effect. Um part of that might have been just been kind of the three-pointers that he was taking or getting. I mean, saving taking is probably not the right word. A guy like Shaden sometimes has to get set up. So maybe he just wasn’t taking the right kind of three-pointers last year. But the shots that I’ve seen Shaden shooting throughout training camp and then as we’re going to talk about here in a second at FanFest look really clean, really smart. Like I I I think Shaden has earned the praise that he’s been receiving from his teammates and coaches because it it looks like he is he’s coming into camp after a really solid off season of work. And I I think he’s I think he’s really getting primed to take that next step. And and I think you know there there’s parts of Shaden’s game and personality that you know still are works in progress. But I I I think that I think you’re really seeing something out of Shaden and I and I think it it really is cause for for optimism going into this next season. I think Donovan Klingan has looked great. Um as you guys probably saw maybe at media day and at FanFest has really slimmed down, really able to get up and down the floor a bit better than than he was last season. Um confident, playing with an edge, too. kind of, you know, Donovan is a is a great guy and is a very friendly guy and is great to talk to, but I’ve noticed like a just a little bit of an edge from from Donovan this year, which I think is absolutely what you want to see. I mean, he’s he’s one of those guys anyways. That was kind of his thing at Yukon was, you know, he was the guy who, you know, was going to get pissed off about stuff. And I I think that Donovan does a really good as a just an arch competitor does a great job of of always wanting to go out there and win and always wanting to play great team basketball and to take everything seriously and not to to necessarily let your guard down and be like, well, it’s training camp, it’s practice, you know, really a a level of focus and intensity for from Donovan that I think you you accustomed to seeing. But I think particularly now a as the vet in in that kind of position as the starter going into the the season. I I think that you know he’s he’s kind of taking on that role a little bit and I think that’s been great to see. Drew’s obviously looked great. Denny’s looked really good. I I feel like Tummani Tammani I every time I see Tammani it’s like he he’s taking another step in his progression. I he looks so confident out there offensively. Uh just still an absolute demon on the defensive end as well. I think Tammani this year really going to have a breakout. I mean, and Denny already kind of had his breakout last year. I mean, breakout’s probably not the right words. I think everyone knew Denny was already a pretty good player, but I I think what we saw out of him in Portland last year was definitely in excess of kind of what we saw for the first few seasons out of him in Washington. And and I’m expecting another jump as well. And I’m going to go ahead and throw in Hansen there as well. I feel like Hansen has really played well throughout training camp. A and the thing I would say about Hansen is kind of the same thing I I said at summer league and particularly the games. And one of the the things that I was hoping to see and that I did see is that there’s never been a time that I’ve been watching where it looked like Hansen didn’t belong out there. You know, as a as a 20-year-old, as a 72 center, as someone who’s learning the language, as someone who whose professional basketball has been played in China thus far, you know, I think there’s a lot of things there to say like, well, yeah, maybe that worked there or there, but how’s it going to look here? And to my eyes, it’s there’s never been a time where I was like, “Oh boy, he he’s really struggling out there. Uh, this might be going too fast for him or this might be a little too physical for him.” That that has not been my read on on the way that I’ve seen Hansen play at all. He’s done a great job of taking coaching. It really seems like his understanding is getting there. Shout out to Hansen, too, for for trying out just a little bit of his English during his media session a few days ago. Um, he’s already trying out much more of his English than I’ve tried out of my Mandarin. So, uh, shout out to to Hansen for that. Also, shout out to Chris, the interpreter, for doing a great job, um, helping us understand kind of and get the point across of what Hanson’s trying to say and vice versa. Uh, I I just feel like Hansen’s played really well and and it’s just made me more more optimistic about the opportunity he’s going to have this year to play it. I mean again Chanty Bilp saying at media day they expects Hansen to play. Chanty is not a guy who is necessarily going to give out a lot of praise to rookies unless they earn it. Uh he is not a guy who is going to make statements about playing time unless guys earn it. And the fact that he after, you know, even seeing offseason workouts was like, “Yeah, I would expect Hansen to play this year.” Like, and then kind of from again from what little I’ve seen at training camp, that that would absolutely be my read as well is that he is going to play. He I mean, he is playing the backup center minutes when they’re having scrimmages. As I mentioned, you know, he’s on one side, Donovan’s on the other side. Um, so you assume that that going into the season, you know, I think Rob is obviously still a a a wild card there. I think, you know, I don’t I don’t believe that Rob has been cleared for full contact yet. And if that happens before the start of the season, then I think, you know, you probably have a conversation to have there or at least potentially another another player to factor into that. But as of right now, it seems like that Hansen is the backup center, which would mean that he was going to be playing significant minutes in the NBA this season, his rookie season as a 20-year-old. So, we’ll again, we’ll see how that goes. Um, but I I would absolutely say that that Hansen’s looked really good. I think his shot has looked great. I think as we saw at FanFest, which we’re going to talk about here in a second, um his ability to put the ball on the floor, get to the rim, finish with either hand, uh you know, it’s not exactly, you know, it’s not the quickest thing you’ve ever seen in the world, but you know, for a 72 dude, like some pretty some pretty fluid moves, really understands how to use his body, understands, you know, that he doesn’t have to do it necessarily with speed, that he can do it with, you know, footwork. And, you know, Donovan had mentioned, you know, that Hansen had really good footwork. that that would absolutely be my read on the situation as well. Um so, you know, again, really just a a very positive training camp so far for the Trailblazers. I I think you know, the Tamias is really no one that’s looked bad. Um and a lot of guys who have looked pretty good and and again, guys who seem like they’re they’re picking up right where they left off after a pretty successful end to last season. Now granted, wasn’t necessarily successful in terms of, you know, always getting wins and getting into the playin, but at least from the the brand of basketball, the way that they were playing, I think what they how they finished the season, definitely feels like they’ve been able to continue that at training camp. And, you know, again, I just think that’s that that’s a really good thing for this team going forward. And you know, you you lament that Scoot’s not out there because if you also had Scoot Henderson, I think that that gives you another guy who you’d feel real strongly about. Um, you know, Dame is obviously at practice, not going through practices as he goes through his rehab, but at least having the guy in the building, that’s always a great thing. Um, so again, just a real a real positive training camp for the Portland Trailblazers so far. And, you know, their weekend to it. And the the preseason starts on Wednesday versus uh the Warriors down in San Francisco. I will be at that game. So, uh, check out trailblazer.com. Actually, that game is going to be on television as well. It’s going to be on Ku 2.2, Blazer Vision, and 16:20 a.m. So, a chance to watch some preseason games as well, which should be pretty fun. Um, I’m really looking forward to it. Again, that I feel like they they’ve done a a really nice job doing what they need to do so far at training camp. I know they’re going to do that for the next couple days. They’ll have practices. I I don’t know if they’re going on Sunday. Um though I practice I would assume on Monday and Tuesday before flying out Tuesday afternoon to San Francisco to play on Wednesday night in San Francisco versus the Golden State Warriors. So uh a few more practices before that first preseason game, but all indications are that the Portland Trailblazers 2025 training camp has gone very well thus far. Well, hopefully you’re able to make it out to the Toyota FanFest on Saturday at Mo Center, but if not, black did best gray in the inner squad scrimmage. 4342 game scrimmage, I should say. Went down to the wire. Drew Holiday getting a floater with about 2 seconds left in order to secure the victory, which I think goes to show what kind of player Drew Holiday is. handling the ball late in a scrimmage, knowing what he needs to do in order to get a win, knows when to get to the basket, knows when to put up the shot to leave just enough time on the clock to where the other team maybe has a little bit of a chance but not really much of a chance. Um, so nice work there, Drew. Uh, the black team was comprised of Drew Holiday, Caleb Love, Marshon Bochamp, Shaden Sharp, Jeremy Grant, Chris Murray, Yang Hansen, and Dwap Rereath. The gray team was Blake Wesley, Javvante Cook, Tomani Kamara, Denny Odia, City Sissoko, Ron Repair, Donovan Klingan, and Andrew Carr. Now, you look at that and you say like, well, it seems like black had more talent, at least offensively. A a very good scrimmage throughout, though. Obviously, very close. Uh, I thought, you know, neither team really got up much. Um, both teams doing a good job of getting shots. Um, playing hard, but not playing so hard that there was too many guys falling to the floor, not too many fouls. Um, so just a a a nice little fanfest. Shaden Sharp winning MVP honors with 10 points. Had a three had two three-pointers. One off a screen from Yong Hansen. A very good screen from Yong. Obviously, Yong is a is a big body. Uh gives Shaden a chance to get around that screen. Hard to go over that screen when when you have a guy the size of Yong Hansen. And when you have a guy who’s got a strong enough dribble as Shaden does to know where to where to cut off of that screen, elevate to hit a a three-pointer. also had a very deep three-point shot, a floater, and a midi for Shaden to get to 10 points and get his second FanFest MVP. Won the FanFest MVP when he was a rookie and now won it going into his fourth season. Uh kind of fitting as well. Obviously, you know, you’ve heard so much as we’ve talked about about Shaden, how well he’s been playing at training camp for him to go out and play very similar to way that I’ve seen him play at training camp. Very good to see. Uh just fluid shot looks great. um really puts pressure on defense, can score obviously at all three levels. Um and and very attentive now on defense, doing a good job of of of doing what he needs to do on the defensive end in order to to get those minutes. Um so I thought we saw really again what you saw out of Shaden at training camp is I think or what you saw out of Shaden at FanFest very similar to what has been going on with Shaden at training camp. He’s looked great. Uh, you know, you had Drew Holidayiday saying he he’s been cooking him in practice. Shaden’s just looked really good from what I’ve seen in every spot thus far going into preseason, be it at training camp, being being kind of offseason workouts, be it at uh FanFest on Saturday. So, really nice uh opportunity there for for Shaden and a really nice game again for Hansen just to again to kind of speak to guys who have looked good in training camp turning that into into good looks at FanFest. I would absolutely say Hansen qualifies for that as well. Hansen had a had a great pump fake at the three-point line. Uh got Donovan just off his center enough to to drive. Didn’t get around Donovan. Donovan still, you know, staying in front of him, but was able to use his footwork, use his pivot in order to get kind of a nice little little sweeping hook to to score. Um also had a had a nice and one. I believe Hansen maybe even had a three-pointer as well. I think Donovan did. I can’t remember just exactly. Uh, but Hansen looked great and again didn’t look like he was winded. Didn’t look like it was too physical for him. Didn’t look like it was too fast. He looked great the entire time. I mean, again, I thought it was a real nice scrimmage. I thought Denny looked great in the scrimmage as well. Um, but I would say both Shaden and Hansen would be the two guys that I would single out as like really kind of doing the things that they’ve been doing through training camp at at FanFest, which is really what you want to see. You know, they use FanFest kind of as a practice for the team. Um, that’s why they go through the drills first and then have the scrimmage. Uh, so I thought it was a a great FanFest, great turnout. Um, you know, it’s always, you never know kind of what that’s going to look like. It’s a weekend. Obviously families are are busy. I think there’s maybe, you know, obviously college football’s going on this weekend. I believe maybe the Mariners uh might have a playoff game on Saturday as well. So, um, you just never know kind of how that’s going to go, but I thought a great turnout, really enthusiastic crowd. um cheered for everyone, cheered for everything, which I thought was great. Um and again, I I just felt like a a real good energy. I thought the players were excited. Uh both Hansen and Caleb Love I thought did a did a very good job during the dance portion of uh FanFest, which is always the the closeout of uh of FanFest. Though I I I will say too that Dame kind of cut him a break. Damen Lillard obviously kind of running that thing as someone who knows what that’s about. Didn’t let it go on too long. There’s been FanFest where it seems like things kind of started to drag out a little bit towards the end. Now, maybe it’s just because there’s only two rookies on the team this year, but I I thought it was more like Dame was like, “No, I’m not going to put these guys through too much.” You got Caleb Liv, obviously, who who is played, I think, four seasons, maybe five seasons in college, so he’s a little bit older. You got Hansen, who is, you know, just making his way here in the States. Um, you know, understands stuff, but you also don’t want to make him feel weird or whatever. They got their backpacks as well, so uh they’ll be carrying those around for the rest of the year. But long story short, I thought it was a a very fun fanfest. Um, much like uh training camp, very tight, very efficient, didn’t drag on too long, didn’t have too many stoppages and play. Well, scheduled. Things seem to move in and out well. I I hope that that fans got their autographs. Hopefully, you got some chachki if you were there as well. Uh, we didn’t stream or televise it. So, just a reminder that if you want to get first look at this team, FanFest is the place to do it, but you got to do that in person. So, uh, a very good fanfest, a nice way to cap off the first week of training camp for the Trailblazers leading into, as I mentioned before, their first preseason game on Wednesday versus the Golden State Warriors. 7:00 start time on KATU 2.2 Blazer Vision and 6:20 a.m. I’m really glad we’re we’re uh televising that. Should be interesting. Um, I I think the expectation is there’s going to be a large crowd there for Hansen as well. Um, so that’ll be be cool to see, but really more than anything, it’ll be cool just to see how well the Trailblazers look with with Drew Holiday, who gets who gets the start. I don’t know that’s really going to matter necessarily in preseason. I know a lot of the conversation for people is who’s going to start between Shaden and Jeremy. We will see uh on Wednesday. Again, I maybe won’t start either one of them just to to kind of keep that uh that mystery going. But, uh, I know that’s kind of the the the I won’t say the last piece of the puzzle, but kind of like the main part from a roster lineup perspective that people are interested in. I know obviously people have a a ton of hopes pinned on Shaden. But I also think too that it’s going to be a real bounceback season for Jeremy’s. So, um, I’m curious to see which direction Chanty goes on that one. and you will be able to watch that game as well, which if you weren’t able to go to FanFest, seeing the preseason game versus the Warriors, who I’m guessing probably the Warriors maybe like you figure at this point guys like like Steph and Dre, like how much are they going to play in preseason? So, that might give you a little bit more of a chance to kind of see the younger Blazers and see where they’re at right now rather than kind of having those guys go up against two Hall of Famers. Uh though I mean Drew Holiday on the team, Jeremy Tumani, throw Tumani on on Steph, see how that works. So uh either way, it should be a fun game. Uh if you’re in San Francisco, uh check it out at Chase Center. If not, as I mentioned, KTU2.2 Blazer Vision 6:20 a.m. 7:00 on Wednesday. And that’ll do it for this edition of the Briefcase. Thanks so much for joining me. As always, thank you so much Spirit Mountain for your support. I will talk to you later on in training camp potentially before uh we head out for the preseason game in W on Wednesday which I will be at and if not before that definitely right after that preseason game to recap it. Either way plenty more content coming from Trailblazers training camp and preseason new edition of the Blazers Balcony with Brook Olsen next week as well. We did record our first edition in a while last week. If you haven’t listened to that, go ahead and dial that up. Give it a listen. We’d really appreciate it. Thanks so much for joining me. As always, we’ll talk soon. Go Blazers. [Music] [Music]

On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses…

• Portland having, by all accounts, a great first week of their 2025 training camp

• Building off what they’ve already done on defense and installing a retooled offense

• New assistant coaches, efficiency and intensity

• The play of Shaedon Sharpe and Yang Hansen at training camp

• The 2025 Toyota Fan Fest that saw Shaedon Sharpe win MVP (again)

• Jrue Holiday, Yang Hansen, Donovan Clingan and Deni Avdija stand out at Fan Fest

• Trail Blazers begin their four-game preseason schedule Wednesday versus the Warriors in San Francisco

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