Deni Avdija Is Leading the Trail Blazers Early Season Push | Tiago Splitter’s Path to NBA Head Coach

Deni Avdija Is Leading the Trail Blazers Early Season Push | Tiago Splitter’s Path to NBA Head Coach

In today’s show, Joe Freeman of the Oregonian Oregon Live joins the program and we check in with the Blazers after 22 games. Where they are, where they’re going, and so much more. Welcome to Locked on Blazers. Let’s get into it. You are Locked on Trailblazers, your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast, part of the Locked On. Your team every day. What’s up world? It’s your past first point guard and trailblazers reporter Mike Richmond. You’re listening to another episode of Locks on Blazers, part of the locked on podcast network, available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube. Thanks for making this show your first listen. Coming at you each and every weekday, Monday through Friday. So make it a part of your daily routine. Make your first listen. Tell your friends to do the same as Lockdown Blazers, your team every day. Today’s show, returning guest, my friend and yours, beat writer for the Oregonian Oregon Live, handsome Joe Freeman. Joe, how you doing, Michael? I’m fantastic. How are you doing? I’m doing okay. I’m doing okay. I’m uh I’m I’m going to make it through this podcast and then anything could happen. Um the Blazer 19, excuse me, 19. The Blazers are nine and 13 through 22 games. I I feel like record-wise about where you thought where you’d think they would be. They’re tied for ninth in the West. I think 10th according to the tiebreakers, but tied for ninth in the West kind of where you thought they would be through 22 games. How they’ve got here has a little bit been a little bit different. That’s what I want to talk about today. Kind of a little temperature check on on where this team is. What do you make of the first 22 games? Like big picture, where where is this team? Uh big picture, I think, like you said, record-wise, they’re probably about where we, you know, predicted they would be at all of our Tuesday night basketball overunders. I think we’re right right in the middle or right about where they thought uh we all thought they’d be. But I think talentwise and abilitywise, they’re probably a little better than we thought. They’ve just been absolutely destroyed by injuries. A as everybody who’s listening to this podcast knows 10 different guys have missed a combined 103 games this year. It’s just absurd. Now that does factor in Damen Lillard which kind of doesn’t count. But even so nine and whatever the math would be otherwise it’s still a lot of games especially when you’re you know factoring in that they played you know four games without their starting back court. Uh I don’t know. I think it’s something like 12 games without any point guard at all, maybe more than that. Uh 16 games now without both Matise and Blake Wesley who are, you know, quietly important pieces of the the style of play that they wanted to use. And so, I mean, I think if this team is healthy or even halfway more healthy, you know, they’re they’re better than we all expected. I’ve been really impressed with how they’ve responded to adversity all year. I mean, for the love of humanity, their coach was arrested by federal agents after the opening after opening night and they went on and and won the that next day and they’ve earned some impressive wins along the way over some of the best teams in the league. They’re still the only team to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder. Uh, and I think last night, you know, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in what was, I think ahead of time, a 9 and a half point spread. They were underdogs and they kind of handled them throughout. And so, you know, it was a team that had lost three in a row, was playing on the second game of a backto-back. I think they had lost eight of their previous 10. They were reeling and and kind of headed seemingly toward a toward a bad spot. Instead, they rebound with an impressive win. So, um, I know we’re going to get into Thiago’s splitter later in the pod, but in many ways, they’re kind of mimicking the the persona and demeanor of their interim head coach. And, um, you know, how many teams, let me ask you this, how many teams in the league would be where the Blazers are at? Not not that they’re anywhere special, but but staying afloat kind of with all these injuries, 10 guys, 103 games. That’s pretty ridiculous. Yeah. I mean, I I do think um they’ve had their having their best player play, like having Denny play has just kept them afloat because basically um when he’s on the court, they’re good and when he’s not on the court, they are not good. Um that’s kind of the simple math for the Blazers this year. And so he’s he’s really been the reason that they’ve been that spot. But, you know, you look at other teams that have been beat up. Memphis is right in that same sort of space with a bunch of injuries. Um but I think Memphis was a team that won 48 games last year, right? They’re they’re like a team that we think is better. I think not only are the Blazers kind of staying afloat with with the injuries, they were also perceived they’re basically performing at the exact level we thought many thought they would be when fully healthy. So, um, point taken there. As as a brief aside, it seems to me, and you’re around the team much more often than I am. Chelsea Bilips does not come up. It’s almost like it didn’t happen. Do you get like have you ever gotten a sense that that is like a thing that people are thinking about and is like part of the day-to-day with the Portland Trailblazers? Not at all. I think you’re you’re spot on. I I don’t r I rarely hear his name brought up if ever. Uh I mean I certainly aren’t walking around going, “Hey, how you guys you guys you guys talking to Chanty?” Um I mean quite frankly the players and the organization the people within the organization have been asked to not not contact and and and you know communicate with Chanty. So that could be part of it. Um, also like you know it’s the NBA man. We talked about these guys getting hurt. It’s always How many times have you heard next man up this year from someone on the Blazers roster in kind of a a sadistic warped way? That’s what it is from that standpoint. I mean, it is a much, you know, more serious situation with with, you know, potential jail time involved and and, you know, corruption and so on and so forth, conspiracy, but, um, it’s it it it it is strange. It’s I wouldn’t say it’s striking, but it’s strange that you just kind of never never hear about him. But, yeah, no, I I rarely hear about him at all. And I think some of that speaks to to how the team has responded to Thiago. Um, and you know, going back just looking in in the micro of of how they were able to respond uh against the Cavaliers, you know, Thiago does kind of tell it how it is sometimes. You know, as a former player, he has that respect much like Chanty did. And he’s not been bashful about calling guys out for lack of days effort or poor play. Um, and and he’s been pretty honest at assessing some of his players and what he thinks individually they need to do uh to improve. And I think we saw that after after the debacle in Toronto, you know, he was he was kind of pissed, it seemed to me. And uh yeah, they had a furious fourth quarter comeback, but I don’t know what if they played that well second and third quarters, maybe they would have have needed it. and he kind of said, you know, we’re looking at a one possession, two possession games that that goes over the course of 120 plus over the course of a game, not just in the fourth quarter. And so, um, you know, he kind of called him out saying they needed to bring it for 48 minutes. 48 minutes a fight or whatever he said. And, uh, then he kind of had a long film review session in the hotel in Cleveland, um, in which he kind of called him out for not doing the little things. And it sounded like uh my take on that was each and every player in that room saw video of them not performing up to his standard. And they responded pretty well from the jump. I mean, Cleveland was was redot at the beginning. I think they made their first eight or nine shots or something crazy like that. But the Blazers didn’t fold. They didn’t welt wilt and then they kind of became the the more aggressive team and the more uh demonstrative team and and and they kind of took over from there. It was a pretty pretty solid win. I thought and a and a nice response for for a young team that’s playing uh short-handed. Yeah. And also Carolina legend Caleb Love hit four threes and uh as predicted yesterday on the podcast, uh the Blazers will never lose a game, which Caleb Love comes off the bench and hits four threes. I I said it yesterday, I’ll say it again, they’ll if he hits four threes off the bench, they will never lose. I think one of the biggest things with this season has been Denny Aia. Uh I want to ask you about that after the break. We will do that. Join us in the second segment because Denny has taken a leap and I want to ask Joe about that leap. Join us there, won’t you? First, I want to tell you that this show is brought to you by Door Dash. 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Get snacks, drinks, gear, whatever gets you through the NBA season delivered right to your door. Door Dash in your bag all season long. All right, still chatting here with Joe Freeman of the Oregonian Oregon Live. So, I I think the big story of this year thus far is that Denny Obia has ascended. Um I know you weren’t around the team as often last year. Um so you you you know he’s he you you can appreciate a good basketball player. you’re not confused about it, but maybe like the direct comparison, but what has stood out to you most about Denny just sort of stepping into, I don’t know, borderline superstar status. That word’s a little bit fraught, but like a true NBA star. Well, to add a little context to what you’re talking about, he’s one of uh four players in the league right now who are averaging uh at least 25.7, seven rebounds, and six assists. and the others are are MVPs or MVP quality players are Luca Donuch, Giannis and Nicolic. And so that speaks to the level that he is performing at right now. Um what I’ve been struck most by is his um his versatility first and foremost, his uh ability to do so much in so many different ways. But just over the last uh you know two to three weeks as the team has played without a point guard, it’s kind of from his standpoint been like, “Oh well, I guess I have to do this now.” And we’ve seen this forward, this point guard in a forward’s body really develop his playmaking and his facilitating. And you know, he’s gone stretches where I think it was, if it wasn’t in Toronto, it might have been the previous game where he barely scored in the in the first half. He just focused on distributing. I think he had like double digit assists or pretty close to it in in that first half at Toronto. And, you know, he’s really just sort of expanded that aspect of his game. And I think when you think about Denny, certainly at the beginning of this season in years past, you kind of think about his turbo moniker and you think about a a runaway freight train just bulldozing his way all over the court. Um, but he does that, but he does it a lot more composed now. And I think he still does commit too many turnovers. It’s it’s a faction of his style and and kind of how the Blazers play a little bit and also just just where he’s at in his career. But what he’s done with Drew Holiday and Blake Wesley and uh whoever the other point guard is I’m forgetting about right now who’s Scoot Scoot Henderson who’s not playing is is pretty impressive. I I mean for him to be able to do that and keep this team afloat um is is remarkable. And I think and we were talking about this briefly at basketball uh our basketball game the other night, Michael, is you know I think big picture this stretch sucks for Blazers fans. Excuse me. Small picture, this stretch sucks for Blazers fans. It’s hard to watch sometimes. They’ve been in so many close games. They’ve fumbled away multiple winnable games uh with late game, you know, foibless. But big picture what Denny has done over this last two to three weeks the what he has shown in his ability to expand his game uh and what he can bring you know from a versatility playmaking facilitating standpoint I think is going to prove dividends and be a bigger deal down the road. Uh the Blazers have a better handle on who they have as a player. And you know, talking to people inside the front office and the coaching staff before the season, the way this works is everything’s a big guess. These these uh scouts and these coaches, they have they assemble this talent and they bank on XYZ 1 2 3 4 5 six players and they say, “I’ve got all this talent. They’re young. I’m hoping one two of them pop.” and and we saw Denny Pop late last year and the Blazers were wondering who was going to take that next step this year and kind of emerge as the star and I think very clearly that’s Denny Avdia. He is becoming what I don’t think anybody can dispute right now as an all-star caliber player. Yeah, I mean I I the All-Star team’s so weird this year because it’s not East West and but it might the voting still might be East West and then it’s going to be the interact like I’m not even 100% sure how it’s going to work, but he’s been Allstar good. He’s been allstar good. Like he is he is I would be surprised at this point if he does not make the All-Star team. He’s been that good and I think he has some of those sort of momentum building for him. Um I I think you mentioned it like his ability just to sort of do what they need him to do has been really impressive. But but but another like I think some of this the the sort of silver lining here is that he doesn’t get this offensive load with if everybody’s healthy. So they’ve they’ve sort of had to put more on his plate. Um something that I was in favor of but they wouldn’t have naturally. Um I wonder um and this is just obviously I’m asking for a guess here is how much does how much of this sticks like Denny is capable of so much but how much when they’re healthy is do they want Denny as operating as their full-time point guard all this like and how much does do they want to scale him back a little bit so he can you know like it like do they want him to do less in a perfect world or do they say like this rocks like how can we get maximize this version of Denny? I think in a perfect world for this season, they want to lean on their depth and and we haven’t seen Scoot Henderson at all. And so, let’s not forget that he was he was a high lottery pick. He was uh build as the the future point guard of the franchise. And so, we still need to see what this kid has this year and what what many people internally were predicting to be a breakout year for him. And then, of course, we have a future Hall of Famer, Drew Holiday. And and when you go to the Blazers uh struggles in in clutch situations, I think they’ve played in 14 clutch time games so far this year and they’re what five and six and eight. They won their they won their sixth game last night. Most of those wins came with Drew running the show. And I think they would have much more success in those situations if Drew hadn’t missed the last two, three weeks or however long that’s been. And so, you know, this season, I think they want more depth. They want to lean on the 10-man, you know, rotation they’ve used and their speed and pressure and all that. And so, I don’t think they would lean on Denny quite as much because, you know, especially with what Drew brings, you know, it’s kind of an immeasurable uh ability that he brings in so many ways. you can measure his stats and what he does and I think that that speaks for itself, but there’s a lot of little things behind the scenes that we don’t see with with him, you know, telling Chanty Bilips back in training camp regarding Scoot, I got him. I’m going to get this kid right with him going to Robert Williams III and urging him to be, you know, more vocal and to be a better leader. Um, and and variety of things like that. You know, we always talk about, oh, what does a leader mean? And what what does what does Drew go on to this team? There are tangible things that he brings, but there’s a whole bunch of intangible things he brings, too, despite how cliche it sounds. And so, we we saw it a lot early in the season. Drew Drew had a huge impact on the games that they won and particularly the important notable games they won. And so, um, do you ever want to put that much on one player over the course of 82 games? I think there’s an argument to be said you don’t. I think you just want to assemble as much talent as you can and and figure it out from there. Yeah, I I think the shift will be not so much this season. I agree with you. It’s it’s the decision-making they move forward with saying like Denny Aia is capable of being a ball in your hand playmaking do everything forward that is kind of like the mold of dudes who win titles. Um not like to say the Blazer at that level, but that’s like the sort of flavor of player that has won championships in the league over the last little bit. Um I guess like Nichol is a weird one. He also similar, but he’s just is just a different guy. Um, so it’s like the decisions they make going forward about who who do they add, who they trade away, blah blah blah blah. Building around and with Denny, understanding how good he can be with this level of ask. But yeah, I I think the perfect world for Denny is that he just has like his teammates are better, right? Like um I I think the Cleveland game is a pretty good example of that. The reason why it worked so well is because other guys were making shots. It wasn’t just Denny get into the paint, make a play, blah blah blah. It was like, you know, they they were able to swing and trust the pass and everybody’s making threes. Tummani has has I’ll ask you about him in a moment, but like, you know, Caleb Love’s making threes, Jeremy Grant’s making threes. You’re you’re getting more production and and Denny was still awesome. Like he had like 27 and eight or something like that. Like he still had a freaking LeBron game. Um but he didn’t have to do as much. Um and he’s just like so good at getting fouled. Um uh he seems like he would be really really brutal to guard because he’s so so fast and so physical and also he is a little bit crafty in his willingness to draw fouls. Um a little bit crazy too. I mean some of the things he does are just a little nuts that most people wouldn’t do. Um we’ve also seen him expand his game. You know down on the low block he he had that big shot in the lane that little you know kind of took his man on the block and went middle and had the had the little shot in the lane. I think he could do that a lot more than he does. Um, we’ve seen him just loop around guys, you know, on the perime on the perimeter and dart in for dunks and stuff like that. He’s doing that more. Um, and and I think he’s shooting more confidently now from long range than he has, too. And so, you know, we forget because of how well he played last year and how exceptional he’s been this season. He’s still pretty young and he’s still relatively inexperienced. And you know, as as you’ve seen, as as I’ve seen over the last amount of years that I don’t want to admit that I’ve been doing this, guys get better. I mean, that’s just what happens. And so once they start to figure it out, and once he figures it out in particular, I just I really believe, you know, he he is an all-star. And I think, you know, going back to big picture, what this run means for him and and everything. I just don’t think there’s any question that you pay this man when the time comes up. He’s established. He’s gonna get a ton of money. He’s gonna get a ton of money. And you know what? That’s okay. He’s arguably, and I don’t think it’s even arguable at this point, that he’s the best contract in the NBA. And so, you know, eventually you got to pay the man if he wants if he’s happy with being here. You pay him what he deserves and and you go from there. Yeah. It seemed like at one point that that Denny Obi was going to get a raise to like $30 million. And now Denny is going to get a max contract. Like he might get 60 million annually, like because that’s in 2028, that’s how big a max deal is. like it’s it um my man is going to get a hefty raise in in 2028 um because he just like he’s playing like one of the I don’t know 10 or 15 best players in the NBA like he’s been he’s been really really good. Um Tumi Kamar kind of struggled early this season. He’s kind of found it. Um what have you made of his sort of last handful of games and and and have you noticed anything different about him other than just maybe the ball has gone in? Yeah, it was funny after I think he was he was he 0 for seven in that last game against OKC. It was it was something like that at the last home game and I Yeah, I think he started 0 for seven and finished like two for 11 or something like that. Yeah, it was one of those games and he had had a brutal run and I was just kind of like so what’s up with the jumper, man? You know, after the game and he was like, the jumper’s great. I’m a great shooter, you know, and I think it’s like, yeah, that’s I was like, I agree, but I just haven’t we haven’t seen that lately. Um I think some of it’s confidence and you know how it is when the ball goes in, it’s easier to easier to make them for some reason. Um he’s not a versatile offensive player. It it’s just it’s the long and short of it. I have seen him and he did it last night. He had a nice right-handed drive and in a finish while he got fouled at the rim. We haven’t seen any of that much at all lately. Um, and so he’s he just he just doesn’t bring much beyond, you know, that three and D component, which is a very important trait. So if he’s not making the threes, then, you know, you sort of think of, boy, he’s he’s not very effective. What do we have going on here? Um, and so with him, so much of what he does on offense is so dependent on that. And the last three games, he’s 14 for 26 from long range. And so, you know, he’s back to being great. And so, you know, I think we’re going to see some of that eb and flow. I would like to see him expand his ball handling a little bit. I think he’s capable of doing that. He’s athletic enough. He’s skilled enough to do it. I just don’t think the confidence is there. Um that was a good sign, the right-handed drive last night. But um beyond him making making shots, I don’t see anything, you know, glaringly or alarmingly wrong there with him. I think it’s just part of the season. I would like him to bring that defensive intensity that he’s relied on so much against in some of the less high-profile games. You know, he’s always asked to guard the best player on each opposing team, and that takes a lot out of you. Um, but, you know, he rises to these moments against these incredible teams. It’s sometimes I want him to rise to the moments in in the dull games, too. Yeah. Like shut down AJ Green the same way he shut down Shay Gil. No, I they were pretty good against the Bucks or whatever. Sorry to apologies AJ Green. You did get locked up, buddy. Um, okay. Last week, um, actually, let’s take a break and I will ask you about this to close the show. Join us in that third segment, won’t you? First, I want to tell you that today’s show is also brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sundays move fast. It’s a lot of games, things are popping, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time with FanDuel. You can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Uh live betting is best when the game starts to shift. A receiver gets hot, defense tightens up, or the momentum flips after a big turnover. FanDuel lets you jump into the moment. There’s live spreads and money lines that adjust instantly. There’s player props that update live as the game unfolds and guys get hot. You can bet next touchdown score, drive results, totals, and more. You if you’re watching the game, it adds another layer to your viewing experience and you can have that layer update live with you right there when you’re playing on FanDuel. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. Still a pass versus point guard. Still Mike Richmond. still listen to Lockdown Blazer. Still here with Shoot First Shooting Guard Joe Freeman. There’s debate about all these claims. Much much debate. Oh my Listen, check the check the tapes. Check the tapes. I’m I’m a willing passer. Um point guards got to score. I learned it from Gary Payton, you know, like you got point guards got to score. He averaged 20 points a game for a reason. Um, uh, you last week you wrote you wrote a profile of Thiago Splitter’s journey, kind of how he got here and what he’s been like taking over for the Blazers as the, uh, what they what they are calling for legal reasons the acting head coach. Um, but like what’s what can you tell us about how Splitter became kind of a hot name? It seems like he he he became a pretty hot name as in the in the sort of NBA hiring circles this summer. How how did he land in that spot? Well, let’s back up a little bit. You know, once he retired from his uh playing career, he had a he had a a hip injury that sort of forced him to reply. And then he he kind of took a year or two there to to figure out what he wanted to do. And he kind of landed with good buddy Seawn Marx, who is the general manager of of the S, excuse me, the Brooklyn Nets, who he knew from his San Antonio days. and he kind of landed there as an unpaid intern where he kind of tried to figure out, do do I want to be in the front office? Do I want to be a coach? And he kind of very quickly decided, no, I want to coach. And he ended up kind of doing some player development stuff. And then a year later landed on Kenny Atkinson’s staff and navigated himself there for years. then landed with the Houston uh Rockets under Eime Yodoka, Portland, Portland legend Eime Udoka, who was a head coach there and uh knew Thiago from his days in San Antonio. It’s funny how all this uh always goes back to San Antonio uh and and the great Greg Papovic. But uh you know, he he had developed this reputation as as grooming big men. He did so within Sin. I I can never pronounce his name. Alpron Shenon. Thank you. And then he had done that with Jared Allen before that in Brooklyn. And you know, I think in talking to people, I didn’t put this in the story, but he didn’t want to have this reputation as being this big man coach. I I think a lot of times big men get that reputation. We’ve seen it time and time over the years from uh rest in peace Kim Hughes with the Blazers and Maurice Lucas and so on and so forth. I think this guy wants to be a head coach. And so he kind of decided uh that he wanted to explore head coaching opportunities. And another Portland legend, David Khan, former uh Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oregonian uh writer who who uh you know moved on and is now uh co-owner and CEO of Paris Basketball. Uh Thiago kind of landed on his radar after he lost his coach to the NBA to the Memphis Grizzlies. Paris had had a very successful season and and I think they won a Paris championship. Don’t quote me on that the year before, but they were very good. Um and uh you know, Thiago David Khan reached out to a player who didn’t want to give up his career that was on his radar and the player said you should look at Thiago Splitter. Uh so he looked at Thiago Splitter and decided that uh you know he he he wanted to bring him aboard and he was not the only um excuse me I’m I’m now I’m skipping ahead. Let’s stay where we are. So they they brought him to Paris. He uh he coached them to one of their most successful seasons. Uh they won the Paris League. They did very well in the Euro League Championships. I want to say they got to the quarters or something like that. Um they had a good run. They had the MVP of the league. He started generating interest from NBA circles. Doug Christie went over to visit him. Chanty Bilips went over to visit him. Uh Steve Kerr had a conversation with him at at David Khan’s urging. And uh he kind of became this hot commodity in part because of the style of basketball that they ran in Paris, which we’ve all seen unfold this year with the Blazers. It’s that fast pace, that fullcourt pressure, that run run push the pace style. that’s how they played in Paris. And so teams looking to do that and looking to adopt some of that, that combined with his championship pedigree with with the Spurs made him made him a hot a hot coaching commodity this year. He uh Chanty went out to Paris, spent about a week out there watching him practice, watching him coach, um you know, dining with him and decided, you know, he wanted to bring him aboard to change the the Blazers DNA. Uh how much do you think uh to Elo’s success in Memphis changed the perception of Splitter, right? Because like he was I think I from what I understand the Grizzlies paid a lot of money to get Elo on the staff. They said he’s the guy. Let’s go give him a bunch of money and then eventually fired Taylor Jenkins and promoted him yada yada yada. Like is was there just a perception that Paris basketball was this incubator for really good basketball minds? Like or or or do you think those are independent decisions to some extent? I think as of now they’re isolated independent decisions. I I don’t think Paris is this some budding, you know, international uh star program or star club or whatever. I think he established what they wanted to do and then gave it a little bit of a, you know, a reputation or or or gave it some legitimacy. So when Thiago came in and took it to the next level or maintained their success, I I think it it was natural to to to not denigrate what they what he had done, what he had accomplished because of that. I you know pivoting a little bit from that does it is revealing about Thiago in that I think there was this perception when the Blazers brought him aboard that he was this offensive guru who had this huge belief in running and playing fast and he had this deeply embedded philosophy. The truth of the matter is when David Khan hired him, there was one hurdle and it was, “Hey, Thiago, we want to keep playing the style we play. We’ve establish this and we want to continue to do it. Are you okay sort of molding your coaching to suit our style?” And I think in a reflection of of what an egoless person he is and leader he is, which is reflective of his leadership style, he was kind of like, “Sure, why not?” Uh, he wanted the opportunity to run a team. Um, even though it wasn’t in the NBA, I think he thought it would would land him back in the league with more respect and and more legitimacy for what he had accomplished. And so, he was like, “Sure.” And I think it also, you know, expanded his coaching repertoire a little bit. And as he pointed out to me, he’s taken a little bit from every coach that he’s coached with along the way. You know, Pop taught him a lot about interpersonal communication with players. And Kenny Atkinson likes to play fast, kind of like they do a little bit now, and he learned that from them. Eay a little bit more slow, a little bit more defensive minded, and he took some principles from him along the way, too. He also uh on the speed front was influenced by Steve Nash and Mike Danton during their time in Brooklyn. And you know, Steve Nash brought Mike Danton in and kind of they they talked about the 7 seconds or less philosophy and shooting quick on the clock and all that. So, he’s got a lot of influences, but um you know, to answer your question way back 12 minutes ago, I think, you know, if anything, Thiago helped continue the legitim legitimizing that club because he kept it going. I think their point guard is now gone, though. I don’t think he plays for Paris. Yeah, TJ Schwarz, he he left. Um, shout out to uh one of my most dedicated listeners who owns a TJ Schwarz bobblehead. Um, there you go. You know, you know who you are. So, you know, I don’t know how Paris is doing now or even when that season goes, if they’re playing or not, but um, you know, losing your MVP certainly hurts your chances. And it’s not a very, you know, uh, rich club. They’re they’re kind of a barebones club. And so to do what they did on the budget that they had, I think was pretty remarkable. Yeah. And they didn’t draft uh Johnny Flynn. He got one of those right. Rubio was good. He did. Rubio was good. That’s true. He’s I I think he’s a little bit worse than Steph Curry. I’ll have to check in on where both of their careers went. But yeah, he also drafted Carolina legend Ty Lawson in that draft. Three point guards. Uh none none of them Steph Curry, David Khan, uh or Portland legend. Um I I wonder and and like so did Splitter after playing this style that was kind of the adopted style. Did he say yes this is the right way to play? Like did it did that inform him to say yeah this is actually the right way to play because when he came here it’s very clear like he said and one of the things I like about him as a coach he has very clear philosophy. He says the speed will generate good looks like we will get good shots by playing fast. Did he just sort of say did he see it and coach it and buy into the styles say yes this works. I’m bringing it to the league with me. That’s a good question. My guess is a lot of the answer to that question is yes. But I think with a caveat that a lot of it depends on personnel. I mean, you’re not running this style with some of those Nate McMillan teams. Although, you surely could have run one when when Rudy and Sergio played here. In fact, one might argue they should have. Um, but they should have just run flex offense like a like a like a cool college team from the early four flat. A lot of four flat for By. Oh, wait. That is what they ran. Um, no. I I I a lot of it depends on personnel and and so when you have the right personnel I think Thiago would say yes I do believe in this style. Um and and so you know when they came to when he came to the Blazers part of the reason Chanty brought him and St. Andrews along was to overhaul the offense. Uh in fact the chief reasons why because of their personnel. They were young. I should say they are they are young. They were deep before all the injuries and they can’t they can’t play in the half court. They just don’t have that not enough shooting. Yeah. Right. Right. And so when they’re looking at what they needed to do in this season where they finally decided to chase wins instead of lottery ping pong balls, this was the style that they felt they needed to to adopt. And so that sent Chanty to Paris that brought Thiago to Portland and that fueled the DNA that we now see with this team. And as we saw before they got hurt, I you it can succeed and we’ve seen it in in other on other teams, you know, the last couple of seasons, too. I mean, you and I talked to multiple coaches about it during the preseason, uh, you know, about the the trend in the league and where it’s heading. And so, it’s a copycat league as as we all know. You know, in eight years there’ll be a plotting league probably. You know, it just you always go against the grain, but you always go with what your personnel uh dictates. And so, um, you know, I think between Papovic and Atkinson and and Nash and Danton and and what happened, uh, in Paris, I I do believe that Thiago loves this style and believes in this style. And let’s not forget that he was a star on the beautiful game team that kind of set the revolution for this style in motion, the the the world champion uh, San Antonio Spurs. Was it 2014? I want to say off the top of my head, you’re the encyclopedia on that one. But yeah, for they lost in 13. LeBron famously blocked splitter at the rim. They won in 14. Yeah. So, I mean, they kind of, you know, put this this revolution in motion to some degree. And so, he saw, you know, how dynamic and successful it can be and and that that I think that shapes a person when they become a coach down the road. Yeah. I I I you know, I I think my like early read on him is that the X’s no stuff is sharp. Um, if I had criticisms of him, I I don’t think he’s always a great game manager. Sometimes I think he takes too many timeouts. Sometimes I think he sits on them. That stuff is just like he was thrown into the big chair, right? Like it just it’s it’s a learning curve. Um, I think he has the temperament as to be on the sidelines. And you mentioned that a bunch is that he’s just he’s he’s really intense. He’s not he’s not um uh do you do you get a sense that behind the scenes that intensity comes out with the guys? Yes and no. Much like you see it on the sidelines sometimes it’s a little more measured intensity. You can just see the rage bubbling, you know, inside you. It’s like the cartoon, the little red meter just inching up to the top of his head slowly turning his face red. Um outwardly he’s very stoic. He often stands with his arms crossed or with his hands on his hips until he really gets pissed and you know uh and then goes from there. But I think he’s very direct with the players. But from a former, you know, player standpoint and with his experience with pop, I think he knows how effective that can be. Um, and it carries a little more weight. But I also think he knows when to put his arm around a player. And you know, talking to Denny Obdia, you know, in that game when they beat the Thunder, their best win of the year, my man was 0 for 11. Uh, at one point it was just like, what are we doing here? At one point in the game, you know, Thiago kind of cidled up to him and and put his arm around him and said, “Hey, it’s going to be okay. You just need to relax, man. You’re you’re going to you’re going to hit shots.” And and that was one thing that that Denny kind of credited Thiago with was his communication. And I think as a former player and with the you know, the mentors Thiago has had, that is one of his strengths. He does know how to communicate with the guys, when to push their buttons and how to push their buttons. And so I think the intensity shows up in different ways like a hard to watch film session in a Cleveland hotel room after blowing a chance to beat Toronto on the road. I imagine there was some intensity in in that film session. But I don’t think he just runs around screaming at the top of his lungs. So it’s it depends on your you know how you calculate intensity, I guess. Yeah. I mean I think that the real art of coaching is that you just can’t yell that much. The season is too long. There’s there’s just too many games that you just you have to pick your spots. It there is especi Yeah. Yeah. Especially in the modern NBA where it’s a players league. I mean, you know, uh Bobby Knight’s not coaching in the NBA in 2025. He would wouldn’t last two weeks because these guys get paid as you said, Denny’s on could potentially make 60 mil a year. Uh you know, if that guy gets gets angry with his coach, that coach is gone basically. Yeah. Exactly. and and and it’s even even the best strategy is going to lose out to talent. Like it’s a players league because talent wins and that’s just sort of the nature of the sport now. Um yeah, so I think picking your spots to win and from what I understand, Chanty Bilips was not a yeller. He did not yell. Um so like the the the what people kind of appreciate about him is that he’s a straight shooter, but he wasn’t a screamer. So I was wondering sort of a different different temperament um on the sidelines for sure. So wondering what that was like behind the scenes. Um Joe wrote a whole profile. It’s linked in the episode description for this episode. However you’re listening to this, YouTube or wherever audio platforms, just go down and click on it. Support local journalism. Support Joe. Um, support Joe specifically, right? Because if you click on his article, I think he gets to buy more groceries or something like that. I think that’s I think that’s a direct Let’s go with that. Yeah, let’s go with that. Um, Joe, I always appreciate the time. Thanks so much for for stopping by. Uh, folks, if you’re looking for more of his work, it is on the internet, organlive.com. Um, and also, you know, subscribe to the paper, do what you do. Joe, thanks so much. I appreciate you. Thanks, Michael, for having me. We’ll see you again on Tuesday night. Yeah, I might even see Yeah, they don’t. Yeah, I’ll see you Tuesday night. And I’m going to pass the ball so much. I’m just going to be just diamond people up. I’m not going to take any shots. Um, you take whatever shots you want, buddy. You You do you. I’m going to play the right way. I I play the right way. I’m like a young Johnny Flynn out there. Um, dear listeners. Hey, Johnny Flynn was a great guy, you know, and during his two-month stretch with the Blazers, I really enjoyed talking with him. He was a good kid. Yeah, the Flynn and the beat end of the bench days were really um they were it was a special time for former lottery picks here in this great city. Um dear listeners, come back for more shows. Five of them next week is what we do. Wherever you get podcasts, also on YouTube, tell your friends about the podcast. I appreciate you listening. I will talk to you soon.

Joe Freeman of The Oregonian/OregonLive.com joins the show to check in on the Trail Blazers season after 22 games. We discuss Portland’s split of road games in Toronto and Cleveland, Deni Avdija’s star surge, Toumani Camara’s slump busting shooting, and Tiago Splitter’s path to become the head coach of the Trail Blazers.

Read Joe’s feature story on Splitter: https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2025/11/from-nba-champion-to-blazers-stoic-stabilizer-tiago-splitters-unexpected-coaching-journey.html

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