Speaker 1: On this episode of the Heat Check, it's time for
Speaker 1: the Rookie Report. Merry Christmases, folks, your weekly check in
Speaker 1: on the rookies and how they're doing. We got a
Speaker 1: week until Christmas, so let's talk about cling Klong, Cling Kong,
Speaker 1: the big man himself, Donovan Clinging Anthony my man, drop
Speaker 1: that motherfucking pizza should be young, all right? He dropped
Speaker 1: the Rookie Report for you in the last minute, shopping
Speaker 1: just a five to six minute update on somebody that
Speaker 1: you need to know about. Were not abandoning you on
Speaker 1: Christmas week, but we do have lots of things to do,
Speaker 1: so sorry that there wasn't a full episode so far
Speaker 1: this week. I heard, though, my Portland Trailblazers drafted Donovan Klingon.
Speaker 1: I was pretty damn happy. Not because I'm a huge
Speaker 1: Dan Hurley stand, not because I'm riding the coattails of
Speaker 1: the Yukon dynasty. No, I love Donovan Klingon. In college,
Speaker 1: he dominated college ball. When he went up against Zach Edie,
Speaker 1: it was still good, but there were a lot of
Speaker 1: questions about how he would fare in the league. Guess what,
Speaker 1: there's no questions now. He averaged seven and seven in
Speaker 1: the first seventeen games of the season, but more importantly,
Speaker 1: two point two blocks per game in just seventeen minutes
Speaker 1: domination in the paint. In his seventeenth game, Donovan Klingon
Speaker 1: pulled down nineteen rebounds in a three point win over
Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets. At that point were the top of
Speaker 1: the West. The Blazer had won four of six at
Speaker 1: that point and things looked promising. And then Donovan klin
Speaker 1: And sprained his knee, which is why Portland should never
Speaker 1: draft a big man. We need one, but it's tough.
Speaker 1: He missed the next seven games and he slowly started
Speaker 1: to get back into the lineup, and he's really only
Speaker 1: getting about half the playing time that he was getting
Speaker 1: before he got hurt. Feels like he's still in recovery.
Speaker 1: He's averaged less than a block a game since he's returned,
Speaker 1: so you know, he's not really quite healthy yet. I'm
Speaker 1: telling you, seven foot centers in Portland with knee injuries
Speaker 1: or leg injuries or foot injuries give me serious, serious PTSD.
Speaker 1: But I do not think that he has a history
Speaker 1: of knee issues. And because I've been so hurt before.
Speaker 1: From Bill Walton to Greg gotin to Sam Bouie, I'm
Speaker 1: going to be hopeful. Even still, Klingon is not gonna
Speaker 1: win Rookie of the Year. I do feel though he's
Speaker 1: gonna be a key piece on a rebuilding team. I
Speaker 1: don't look for him to be more than a ten
Speaker 1: point a game guy, but he will grab ten to
Speaker 1: fifteen rebounds. He'll protect the room like he's a marine.
Speaker 1: His season average of eight and ten with three blocks
Speaker 1: when he starts. That's a building block for a damn
Speaker 1: good team. Coach Chauncey Billups had some things to say
Speaker 1: about Donovan Klingon is what he said. He's young, he
Speaker 1: has no experience. Awesome, but he does two things right
Speaker 1: off the top. He rebounds and for his size, he
Speaker 1: does a good job of rebounding outside his area, not
Speaker 1: just the ones that come to him. And then his
Speaker 1: riom protection. I think right now the speed of some
Speaker 1: of these guys surprises him. Where he'd easily block those
Speaker 1: shots in college, they're getting over him. So the speed
Speaker 1: of the game he has to catch up. But those
Speaker 1: two things he'll be pretty elite at and he'll only
Speaker 1: get better. Who I like that. I like that very
Speaker 1: fair assessment from Chauncey billups Klingon's emergence makes both DeAndre
Speaker 1: Ayton and Time Lord I I a little bit unclear.
Speaker 1: His value increases because he makes good chips, good trade chips,
Speaker 1: more able to be let go of, not quite expendable,
Speaker 1: but almost expendable. The Blazers in two years will have
Speaker 1: Scoot Henderson at the point hopefully Shade and Sharp at
Speaker 1: the two, Danny Abdya at the three. By the way,
Speaker 1: he's only twenty three years old, Timani Kamara aka too
Speaker 1: many buckets at the four, and Cling Kong at the five.
Speaker 1: That could be could be a squad if they can
Speaker 1: stay healthy, that is, and since it's Portland, you never
Speaker 1: really quite tell. That's all the time that we have
Speaker 1: the Rookie Report on the Heat. Check tune in every
Speaker 1: week as we break down what's happening in the freshman class.
Speaker 1: Come back for an all new episode Friday. Check out
Speaker 1: the feed for past episodes and many episodes which drop
Speaker 1: unexpectedly like snow in Outawa. Five inches in an hour
Speaker 1: is a lot, even for the Canucks. Also, maybe wear
Speaker 1: some boots and not your Air Force ones when it's snowing.
Speaker 1: Do not forget to follow the Heat Check all season long.
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Speaker 1: some point, at some point, boo