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00:00:00 You are listening to Inside the Hive on the All Hornets Podcast Network,
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00:00:22 Today's show, we are going to be reacting to a tumultuous week in Charlotte Hornets basketball.
00:00:27 It was only a week ago since we last spoke.
00:00:30 A lot has happened since then, probably headlined somehow.
00:00:34 Kai Jones isn't the biggest story here.
00:00:36 Miles Bridges, there has been an update of sorts there.
00:00:39 Unfortunately, not a positive one.
00:00:41 But then mostly we're going to be trying to focus on some preseason panic meter,
00:00:46 something we did last year.
00:00:48 Talk about our panic meter on certain topics and players,
00:00:51 and if it's running from a one being very low panic, five being absolutely panicking.
00:00:57 And we've got a fun little ranking for that.
00:00:59 But before I get to that, Chase, a couple of weeks ago,
00:01:02 I challenged you to get a Mr. Beast Feastables bar for our next podcast.
00:01:09 And I believe you've delivered.
00:01:12 I have acquired this Feastables bar.
00:01:16 See, it was actually pretty funny.
00:01:18 I think this speaks to why the Hornets got partnered with Feastables for their jersey sponsorship.
00:01:24 Because this, the Crunch bar, which I imagine is very similar to the Nestle Crunch bar,
00:01:30 was the only one that they had, and there was only a couple of them left.
00:01:33 And it seemed like there was like four other flavors that they would have had in stock,
00:01:37 but they were like completely sold out, boxes were gone and everything.
00:01:40 These were almost completely demolished or depleted themselves.
00:01:44 So, see, yeah, that was one of the other ones that they had.
00:01:48 It said like D-N-U-T-Z on the little barcode thing.
00:01:51 I was like, I wonder what that is.
00:01:53 - Right, so today I went to the shop to buy milk, right?
00:01:57 And I'm in the queue to buy milk, and I get to the checkout,
00:02:02 and on the right next to the checkout, I see the freaking Feastables being advertised.
00:02:07 And I was not planning to get these for today's episode.
00:02:10 This was a Chase job.
00:02:12 Chase was going to get Feastables and tell me we're going to taste them live,
00:02:15 but now I can join you with the separate flavors.
00:02:17 So this is very exciting.
00:02:20 We're going to bring you this.
00:02:21 So before we get into our topics, we're going to go crack open here our Feastables.
00:02:26 And we're going to share some of our thoughts, this new Jersey sponsor from Mr. Beast.
00:02:32 I watched one of his videos today, by the way, the first ever Mr. Beast video I watched.
00:02:36 I want to say I'm probably not his target market.
00:02:38 I'm probably about 10 years too old.
00:02:40 But actually, you know what?
00:02:42 It was pretty good.
00:02:43 He was doing something where he flew on a plane from $1 and then flew on a plane for like $100 million, $100,000.
00:02:51 I'm not sure.
00:02:52 There was a lot of different types of plane journeys with different budgets, and I can see why people like it.
00:02:58 So anyway, I'm going to go for my Deez Nuts here.
00:03:02 Let's do it.
00:03:09 I mean, I won't lie.
00:03:10 I've already had some today, and I have some pretty strong thoughts.
00:03:13 But I'm curious to get your thoughts.
00:03:15 You're going for the crispy type.
00:03:17 What are you making this new Hornets sponsor logo?
00:03:21 All right.
00:03:22 So I think I probably should start by I'm very partial to the like Crunch Bar style candy anyway.
00:03:28 Oh, yeah.
00:03:29 It's like easily one of my favorite candy bars.
00:03:31 So this is like pretty, pretty good.
00:03:33 I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy this.
00:03:37 I mean, if it was like something as easily accessible as like when you walk into a gas station, it's just right there when you're going to buy milk, for example, then I would probably buy them pretty often.
00:03:47 But obviously, the demand seems to be pretty high.
00:03:51 So I don't know if I'll be able to go back and get more of these, but I definitely would because this is actually like very good.
00:03:56 You said you had strong thoughts, though.
00:03:58 Are they positive or not so positive?
00:04:01 How much did your bar cost you?
00:04:04 Yes, that should be mentioned.
00:04:06 I think it was like $4 or like $3.89 or something like that.
00:04:10 Mine was like $2, £2.80, which is about $4 or so.
00:04:14 And that is a one pricey piece of chocolate, considering it's like five mil thick.
00:04:22 Yeah, it's definitely a little bit on the thin side.
00:04:25 It is thin as well.
00:04:27 And it is expensive.
00:04:29 And this is a different thing, by the way.
00:04:32 Oh, yeah.
00:04:33 Look at that.
00:04:34 It's like a piece of paper.
00:04:35 Yeah, listen to people eat chocolate is probably not great podcasting.
00:04:38 This is the first time I've ever eaten on stream.
00:04:40 So we're learning here.
00:04:41 I have very strong tastes.
00:04:42 It's been like two years.
00:04:43 I feel like that's pretty good.
00:04:44 Yeah, I have strong takes about American chocolate in general, mainly that it just is terrible.
00:04:49 All of it.
00:04:50 I don't know what you guys do with your chocolate over there.
00:04:53 It is awful.
00:04:54 Hershey's Kisses, go throw it off the Niagara Falls.
00:04:57 I'm just not interested at all.
00:04:59 So this is actually better than some of the stuff you guys produce.
00:05:03 But a few things I don't like.
00:05:06 There is no like breakable seam.
00:05:09 Do you know what I mean by that?
00:05:11 Like it just breaks into random shapes.
00:05:13 I like consistency with my chocolate.
00:05:15 You know, if you're trying to share it, you want to be able to make sure you go 50/50.
00:05:19 That's not happening with this.
00:05:22 I thought I was going to have like peanut butter in the middle.
00:05:25 And it's like a gooey peanut butter Reese's.
00:05:28 And it's not.
00:05:29 I don't even know how to describe it.
00:05:31 And it was really expensive, what I thought was not very much.
00:05:34 So I thought like for me it was overpriced, Mr. Beast, I'm afraid.
00:05:38 I can see why you're getting so much money right now.
00:05:41 Because people spending like nearly three pounds on this tiny little thin piece of chocolate.
00:05:47 Then you're doing very well for yourself.
00:05:50 And like you say, it's apparently selling well.
00:05:52 Yeah, no, I mean, he's definitely making a killing off of these things.
00:05:55 Just the sales, let alone what I imagine is a pretty lucrative jersey sponsorship as well.
00:06:01 But yeah, I mean, the one other thing too is the packaging is very nice.
00:06:07 But it's like you can feel that it is very easy to break just from the outside also.
00:06:13 So it would definitely be something that you cannot have for very long without eating it.
00:06:18 Or else you are going to risk like you said, just breaking it up into a million pieces.
00:06:22 Because it doesn't come apart evenly.
00:06:24 So it does taste good.
00:06:26 You definitely got to give him that.
00:06:28 So I feel like that's the biggest thing.
00:06:30 So well, that's what everyone's tuning in for was our Mr. Feastables review.
00:06:35 We should probably get on to more basketball topics now because we are six minutes in.
00:06:41 First thing I want to say congratulations to a former podcast guest of Inside the Hive, Adam Spinella of the Game Theory podcast.
00:06:49 Adam Spinella of the Boxing One.
00:06:51 If you listen to our pre-draft show, he came on and talked to me and Chase about some draft prospects this year.
00:06:57 Adam has been hired by the Philadelphia 76ers as a scout.
00:07:01 And will now apparently be working in the same department as another former guest of ours, CJ Marcus Haney.
00:07:07 So we are just bringing you a conveyor belt of Philadelphia 76ers scouts.
00:07:13 So whoever our next guest is going to be, maybe they go on to work for the Sixers.
00:07:16 But just a quick congratulations to Adam Spinella.
00:07:20 It sucks because he was a great guest and I would like to have him back on next year.
00:07:24 And because he got hired, Matthew Penny got hired, CJ got hired.
00:07:28 Chase, I'm running out of draft people to invite.
00:07:31 Everyone keeps getting hired. This is not ideal.
00:07:34 Yeah, that's the downside to being really good at your job in the way that Adam Spinella is,
00:07:41 is that eventually you get swiped up by an NBA team and cannot share that gift with the public anymore.
00:07:46 It's obviously a huge loss for the sphere, but more than worth it because that is an amazing opportunity for Adam and his family.
00:07:54 So huge congrats to the former guest of the show.
00:07:56 It takes real talent to be mediocre like me and you, right?
00:08:00 Exactly.
00:08:01 We manage to stay under the radar, never hired by team.
00:08:05 You know, that's where the real skill is. Anyone can just go work for a team.
00:08:09 Right. Being average is a lot harder than it seems.
00:08:12 And you and I, I think we demonstrate that fully every day.
00:08:17 Yeah. So congrats, Adam. Let's move on to our first topic.
00:08:22 Since we last spoke, Chase, Kai Jones has been waived.
00:08:27 Gordon Hayward's picked up an injury. Bryce McGowan's re-sprained his left ankle.
00:08:31 Miles Bridges has had a second arrest warrant issued.
00:08:34 He's then turned himself in, then been bailed and practiced with the team.
00:08:38 And the Hornets managed to blow two fourth quarter leads in preseason and then finally won their first preseason game since 2021.
00:08:46 Phew. Wow. A lot has happened this week.
00:08:51 I know guys have covered already on the Podcaster Network about the Kai Jones stuff, but this is the first time we've really had a show since some more details come out about the Miles Bridges situation.
00:09:01 And that's what we're going to start with here. I'm going to give a kind of a quick recap.
00:09:06 I imagine most people listening to this will know all the details now, but I'll try and give a quick recap.
00:09:12 It basically came out that there was a court order saying that Miles Bridges had breached the terms of his plea, no contest plea,
00:09:22 and that there was an incident at his ex-partner's house where there were pool or billiard balls or pool balls thrown.
00:09:31 I've seen pilliard and pool balls reported. I don't know why there's such inconsistent reporting about the type of table sport ball,
00:09:40 but there is and that just makes about everything else seems to be inconsistent with this.
00:09:45 That kind of makes sense, I guess. But long story short, there was also another warrant out from January this year,
00:09:53 which apparently hadn't been served and there is a lack of uncertainty as to why.
00:09:57 The whole situation is very, very confusing. Look, we're not going to get into speculating about what has happened.
00:10:04 We don't have facts at the minute and that would be unfair for us to do.
00:10:09 But what we do want to talk about is the impact that this could have on the Charlotte Hornets.
00:10:14 And this is I think there's three possible outcomes here, Chase.
00:10:18 And tell me if you think this is right or if there's anything else. One, absolutely nothing happens at all.
00:10:24 Miles Bridges fills out his 10 game suspension, which he's still currently got.
00:10:28 And then he comes back and joins the team. Two, he's suspended for an additional amount of games on top of those 10 games already for this latest breach.
00:10:38 And then three, that because this is still going to be probably tied up in the courts once until this 10 game suspension is over
00:10:48 and then the NBA will have to do their own investigation, I think, after this is done.
00:10:54 Basically, there's a clause in the CBA where the commissioner of the NBA can place any player on administrative leave
00:11:00 while they're on the investigation for domestic violence or they're dealing with charges.
00:11:05 So that is another option is that he's just placed on paid administrative leave and then is unavailable until the NBA completes its own investigation.
00:11:16 Can you see any other outcome other than any of those three right there?
00:11:20 I mean, I guess the only other outcome that is possible technically would be that he just gets waived.
00:11:27 But it seems that that is kind of beyond the realm of possibilities from just a basketball perspective at this point,
00:11:34 because he's already been re-signed to another contract following the events that transpired last year.
00:11:40 So at that point, your bed's already kind of made in a certain way.
00:11:46 But I mean, it seems at this point that it's just kind of we haven't gotten any announcement from the Hornets, the NBA or Clutch Sports Group, Miles' representation.
00:11:57 So there's been no follow up to anything that's happened other than like news stations reporting on it and whatnot.
00:12:03 So we really have no idea where this stands from a league perspective right now.
00:12:07 It seems like it's going to be more towards the first thing you said, which is kind of nothing really happens until he goes to court on November 10th, I believe,
00:12:17 is for this recent situation that has transpired would be his court date.
00:12:23 So that's a little over a month from now or a little under a month from now. I'm sorry.
00:12:27 And I can't imagine that we're going to get much more clarity between now and then.
00:12:31 And even after that, we might not get much more in terms of like when he's going to be available or if his availability is going to change after that 10 game suspension is up.
00:12:40 So it seems like we're just, again, in a massive gray area, just kind of waiting to see what happens in a situation that we really don't have a precedent for to be able to look back at and be like,
00:12:54 OK, so this last time this is what happened. So it's just kind of a hard thing for Hornets fans, media, anybody that follows the team to go off of right now.
00:13:05 It seemed like all the good we talked last week about good vibes.
00:13:09 Yes, we did. We're talking about how there's good vibes around the team right now.
00:13:15 Ty Jones waved injuries, Miles Bridges second warrant.
00:13:21 Is it fair to say that, like for me, I think the last week has sapped a lot of those good vibes away.
00:13:26 And now the fan base is back in this mode of being like, oh, like, are we just going to have another injury season with off court drama?
00:13:34 And is anything really going to change? It kind of feels a little bit like that.
00:13:38 You know, if you ignore the performances in the preseason games, which I think have been largely better, you know, better than they have in previous years.
00:13:47 But the vibes are not great around the team right now. I mean, Miles Bridges and the team, I think the team did release a very brief statement to some media, but not on their website,
00:13:59 which basically said the standard like we're aware of recent reports, we're gathering more information, blah, something of that nature.
00:14:07 I probably should read it accurately, but I mean, you can probably make it up in your head. It's three lines and you can tell what they're going to say.
00:14:14 So but you're right. There's not been any real mention on it.
00:14:19 I will say that if Miles Bridges is missing for more time and like that's where my head I just don't see a way that he can, unless this is all like all the report was false.
00:14:29 I didn't see a world where Miles Bridges doesn't miss more time.
00:14:32 I mean, you read in the CBA, one of the circumstances that impacts suspensions is an NBA player's priors. Miles Bridges literally has a prior.
00:14:43 This is the reason he's suspended in the first place. So if there's a breach again, then I don't understand how there is not more of a suspension.
00:14:51 Otherwise, it's the NBA's way of basically saying, well, yeah, you breached the rules and you basically rebroke the law, but it's fine.
00:14:58 And I just don't see them doing that. I see them, if anything, maybe going down even harder because it's second time and you should know your lesson.
00:15:07 So if that happens. I've been bullish on this horn. It's over 30.5 and I still would be even if you told me right now, Miles Bridges up the full year, I'd be bullish on the over.
00:15:20 I would drop that win total down pretty considerably. I think I'd like 39 is my guess.
00:15:26 I would maybe drop that down to like 36, 35, something in that range. Would would you feel a similar impact there?
00:15:33 Yeah, I mean, it's definitely worth a couple of wins.
00:15:37 I mean, last year, I don't think is fully indicative like you're not going to go from, you know, 40 or low or low 40s wins to high 20s or anything like that.
00:15:46 But I mean, it's definitely worth, you know, if you say you were pegging them at 43 wins, I think it's probably worth dropping it to like 40 or 41, at least from a slightly above 500 to slightly below.
00:15:57 Just because losing a player that you penciled in for a starter for most or at least a high end rotation player for all but those 10 games is a huge void to fill that you really can't do until at the earliest the trade deadline.
00:16:12 When someone with a relative skill level comes maybe comes available.
00:16:16 That's only if that happens or until next summer, which at that point, the season's already over.
00:16:21 So it'd be very tough to recover from that. But with that being said, there's still like a good team that's a play in caliber.
00:16:29 I guess it would probably be rather than play off caliber with miles, but it definitely hurts.
00:16:35 And that is, you know, we're yet again, we're in pretty much the exact same situation as like last summer where it's kind of like, this is a very important part of the team that is continuously having these like very serious situations arise.
00:16:50 And then we don't know what's going to happen, basically, until it happens, which is not the easiest place to be in as a follower of the of the team, I'm sure.
00:16:59 It's just the distraction, right? And that's what really is a distraction for the team, the coaches, everybody.
00:17:06 I mean, that's why I was shocked that they had him back in the training facility. I think the same day he got bailed.
00:17:12 Like, what do you think everyone is talking about at that practice at the training camp?
00:17:17 Like, maybe they're like super professional. It's just like when they come in, it's business.
00:17:20 But like, there has to be a lot of people going around the room, going, "Miles is here, Miles, really? What's going on?"
00:17:25 Like, that's got to be there. And when you're coaching, you're trying to get people ready to play games.
00:17:30 You're trying to get people ready to win and having that distraction there, the uncertainty lingering over the team, that other players going, "Well, what's my role going to be if Miles maybe isn't here?"
00:17:39 Like, the whole thing is just distraction. And I will say one thing.
00:17:43 There was a brief period of time when Miles Bridges changed his Twitter profile picture to Johnny Depp, who, for those who may not, I believe Johnny Depp got cleared of some domestic violence charges to his ex-partner in a big high-profile court case.
00:17:59 I mean, talk about just like, you're already a distraction. Irrelevant if this is true, not true. Just like, don't go doing that.
00:18:09 Why don't you draw more attention to it? It's so infuriating, people. And he changed it back.
00:18:14 And I can guarantee you, business manager, his agent, someone's calling Miles up going, "Miles, what are you doing, man?
00:18:20 Like, this is a terrible, terrible move from you in every aspect. No one wins from you doing this."
00:18:26 And he changed it back and, you know, it didn't really get picked up.
00:18:29 But that was something I noticed and something other people noticed. And it's just a weird move.
00:18:35 This isn't a joke. Do you know what I mean? This is real life. This is serious.
00:18:39 So irrelevant of this, if it's like, it is all made up or it isn't, you don't go like sub-tweeting it online with funny profile picture changes.
00:18:48 Like, you've got to give it more respect than that.
00:18:52 Yeah, it's just, it sucks to have to deal with situations that are this serious of an off-court perspective when 29 other teams around the league, for the most part, are just having their preseason, you know, figuring out who's going to be in the rotation, deciding who's going to make the roster.
00:19:10 And then the Hornets are having to deal with stuff like this for the second year in a row. So, not great.
00:19:16 No, we have to touch on it. You can't do a Hornets podcast and not touch on it. It's impossible, right?
00:19:23 It bleeds into everything that this team does. I mean, like on the court, this team now looks a little, we talked about the depth that was in like the wing going into the season.
00:19:34 But now you've got Bryce McGowan, who I think is going to be out multiple weeks.
00:19:38 You've got James Bucknight, who's out for a month. You've got Miles Bridges, who's going to be out.
00:19:43 We already knew to start the season. You've got three wing options. I mean, all of a sudden, this Hornets team is actually looking pretty thin on the wing.
00:19:50 Gordon Hayward already has an injury. Hopefully, that's something that's going to keep him off the court.
00:19:55 But there is definitely some concern, I think, that this team, Miles Bridges was going to be that like sixth man, potentially, off the bench.
00:20:03 You don't worry so much about your lack of point guard when you've got Brandon Miller and maybe Miles Bridges as the ball handlers in the second unit.
00:20:10 Well, that's not going to happen now, you think, for a little period of time.
00:20:14 So on the court, it definitely hurts his depth and it definitely hurts how this team's been put together.
00:20:19 And this team has now been waiting for Miles Bridges to get back on the court for too long.
00:20:23 And if that's further delayed, I can't imagine the new ownership are going to have much patience for this situation.
00:20:29 Any more on the Miles Bridges update?
00:20:35 As we get more news, we will update. But it seems everyone seems very laissez faire, just leaving it as it is at the minute, not really talking about it, practicing away.
00:20:47 I don't know if there's much more to say right now. We have to wait till we get some sort of outcome.
00:20:52 Yeah, I don't think there is much more to say. I think we've gotten through all of it so far.
00:20:57 OK, let's move on to part two, our preseason panic meter.
00:21:04 This is where we talk about various topics and we're going to give them the rating between one and five and have a little bit of fun with the rating system here.
00:21:13 Rather than saying I'm a one out of five, I'm a five out of five, we're going to assign former Hornet draft picks to the different ratings.
00:21:20 So if you are five out of five panicked, we're saying that you're an Adam Morrison level panic, high draft pick, complete bust.
00:21:29 If you're four out of five panic, we're going to say you're in the Cody Zeller zone.
00:21:33 You get high draft pick, you are fine, but like there are some real concerns there and you look back and now and you go, God, I wish we got better value at the time.
00:21:42 Three out of five, perfectly respectable for where they are. PJ Washington, current member of the team.
00:21:49 Late lottery pick, a perfectly solid end of rotation, end of starter or high upside bench player.
00:21:57 Then four out of five, we've got Baron Davis. Great player. Picked up high, did really well.
00:22:05 Definitely not the absolute pinnacle that you're reaching, but very good.
00:22:09 Five out of five, it has to be the one and only Kemba Walker. Picked late lottery, made all NBA third team, legend in Charlotte, carried that team for many years.
00:22:21 So when we say we're a Kemba Walker, that means we're not concerned at all.
00:22:25 We're really happy with what we're seeing. If we're seeing Adam Morrison, then like Adam Morrison, you can see on the stream here, if you're watching on YouTube, we are just about ready to cry ourselves to sleep at night.
00:22:35 So are you ready to get going here with our panic meter, Chase?
00:22:39 I'm ready. Let's do it.
00:22:41 Okay. First up, our topic on the panic meter. Where are you at for preseason panic meter on the Hornets backup ball handler situation?
00:22:53 So right now I'm at a four, my Cody Zeller level of the panic meter here.
00:22:59 But, and this is only really a four for me because playmaking can be supplemented by non-point guards in the right environment, the right setting.
00:23:08 But unfortunately, the Hornets don't have that either. They don't have very many secondary ball handlers at other positions.
00:23:14 They don't have big men that are capable of running offense at the high elbows or frequent DHL partners or doing anything other than finishing off the role really.
00:23:23 And more, and then we'll talk more about that later also.
00:23:27 But on top of the issues with the point guard, obviously Lamello is a great guard.
00:23:33 He's one of the league's best passers and Terry Rozier, I think has improved a lot as the, like the secondary initiator, especially since his first couple of seasons in Charlotte.
00:23:41 But after that, like there's really not a single player capable of handling point guard duties on the 15 man roster, which is an important distinction.
00:23:49 Cause right now, Tao Maladon is only on a two way contract.
00:23:52 If you want him available for every single game this season, like right off the bat, you would have to sign him.
00:23:58 And I right now, I feel like you might as well just roll with the 15 man roster you have now and utilize that two way slot since you've already signed him to that.
00:24:08 But that is going to be a huge issue for a team that's trying to compete down the stretch.
00:24:12 If that 15 man roster is still full and his availability runs out because then you just can't use him and you'd have to replace someone that is on the roster.
00:24:20 You'd have to release someone that's on the roster to replace their spot with Tao.
00:24:24 So it's just, it's only a four because it could be fixed.
00:24:29 If maybe Cody Martin gets healthy, Brandon Miller is a high level playmaker.
00:24:33 We talked about Miles Bridges being a secondary playmaker. If he ends up being available for most of the season, that would help too.
00:24:40 But that's just asking a lot of like growth from players that aren't supposed to be like high level playmakers to begin with.
00:24:47 And you're only tasking them, tasking them with that because you have to.
00:24:51 And you didn't have to is the problem.
00:24:54 And I think we're way too far beyond the point of being able to fix that.
00:24:58 So it's just going to be tough to do anything other than like, I guess, run Edmund Sumner or Frank Nielakina, I guess, as your third guard right now,
00:25:07 which is not inspiring for a team trying to compete for a top eight seed in the Eastern Conference.
00:25:14 Yeah, it's definitely not. I mean, Steve Clifford is going to go with Frank Nielakina, it seems, to start the season.
00:25:21 Who I was saying the first two games really struggled running unit.
00:25:25 And I think in the Oklahoma City game, he did look better. Level of competition there was the best.
00:25:31 He was playing the backup backups of the OKC. But look, it's progress.
00:25:35 He's not played with the ball in his hand now for a few years.
00:25:38 Maybe it'll take a little bit of time for him to get back up to speed having the ball.
00:25:43 I have to say, one thing I noticed about Frank Nielakina, my gosh, he is the slowest first step.
00:25:47 Like I think there's guys I play with who have a quicker first step than Frank Nielakina.
00:25:52 He's obviously got a lot of talent in other areas on the defensive end,
00:25:56 but speed and burst is definitely not one of the things that he's blessed with.
00:26:01 At the minute, myself, I think I'm going straight into the deep end.
00:26:08 I'm at the Morrison level of panic. I'm pretty concerned.
00:26:13 I'm crying about this backup point guard situation at the minute.
00:26:16 Like you say, I think as soon as you get one injury in that backcourt,
00:26:21 there's going to be real challenges in terms of getting this team into their stuff, creating.
00:26:27 I think at the minute, you can see already that Steve Clifford has actually been,
00:26:31 in the last couple of games, staggering Lamella Ball, taking him out early
00:26:34 and then putting him back in with the bench unit.
00:26:36 So that those kind of Lamella bench unit without Lamella minutes are kind of kept to a minimum.
00:26:44 And that's something that they're going to have to do.
00:26:46 And that's going to then have that knock on impact on the starting unit
00:26:50 because they're not going to be able to play with each other as long.
00:26:53 And like we said, the hope here is that Nilekina or Sumner,
00:26:57 one of them comes out of training camp or Maladon, who's been injured, unfortunately.
00:27:01 And it's unclear how much of training camp Maladon got to do.
00:27:04 He missed all preseason, but it's hard to know if he was healthy in training camp or not.
00:27:08 We've not really got that update.
00:27:10 But no one really seems to have taken a stranglehold clearly on that spot
00:27:15 in the eyes of, I think, most people watching.
00:27:18 From what Steve Clifford has seen, he seems pretty confident it's going to be Frank Nilekina.
00:27:22 But I just think you're pinning a lot on Frank Nilekina,
00:27:26 basically proving he can be a backup point guard in the NBA
00:27:30 when the last seven seasons have suggested that that's not really what his skill set is.
00:27:36 Right. And Steve Clifford said after their preseason game or before maybe,
00:27:41 he views Frank Nilekina as one of the best defenders in the league
00:27:44 and that there aren't that many guys that can defend on the ball in the way that he can,
00:27:48 which I can see why he forms that opinion.
00:27:51 I don't disagree or I don't agree with it necessarily.
00:27:54 I would disagree pretty strongly with him being one of the elite defenders in the NBA.
00:27:59 But if he got that opinion from watching film over the last year or two, that was as a wing.
00:28:06 Frank Nilekina was not playing a guard with Dallas especially,
00:28:11 but really ever since his first or second season,
00:28:15 he has been pretty exclusively defending twos and threes.
00:28:18 I believe he logged one or two percent of his total minutes last year at power forward with Dallas.
00:28:23 He is just not a point guard in the sense of offensively at least.
00:28:30 He can certainly defend those players, but I feel like this is going to be a huge thing throughout the year.
00:28:36 Defense is not the problem with this team anymore combined with what they have for a coach
00:28:41 and the bigs that they have and the wings and for having Frank Nilekina.
00:28:45 They don't need to supplement their lineup with defense.
00:28:49 They need playmakers and scorers, especially in the second unit.
00:28:53 They were the 30th ranked offense last year.
00:28:55 They weren't that much higher on defense on the season,
00:28:57 but they did finish in the top 10 from February onward.
00:29:00 There was no point in the season where their offense was anything higher than 25th.
00:29:04 I think that's what needs to be the focus here.
00:29:08 Frank Nilekina is not going to provide that for you.
00:29:11 I don't know if you're getting it with Edmund Sumner either,
00:29:15 but I think you at least would have a better chance.
00:29:17 I see why Steve Clifford feels the way that he does at least.
00:29:21 I would still keep an eye out on camp cuts around the league.
00:29:25 There is a clear backup spot here and there's a lot of rosters who need to cut and wave guys.
00:29:31 OKC, San Antonio, I think have got at least two or three guaranteed guys
00:29:37 and guaranteed contracts they need to wave.
00:29:42 There's a real role and opportunity.
00:29:44 Frank Nilekina would arguably be in the second unit as the backup wing right now,
00:29:49 next to Brandon Miller, I think, especially with these injuries with Martin, Buck Knight, etc.
00:29:54 We talked about McGowan's.
00:29:56 I still think there's a role for Frank Nilekina on the team.
00:29:59 Like you said, it's just not a point guard.
00:30:01 I would still keep an eye out for that.
00:30:03 I hope they do.
00:30:05 I hope they make a move because one injury to Rozier or LaMella Ball
00:30:09 and I have real questions about this offense just getting off the runway.
00:30:15 When LaMella Ball is at the game, this team plays slow.
00:30:18 That is definitely a concern.
00:30:20 I'm full Adam Morrison, five out of five level of panic for the when it's back on point guard.
00:30:26 But hopefully Nilekina can grow into the role.
00:30:30 Should we go on to the next one here?
00:30:32 Let's roll.
00:30:33 Let's go with our center depth.
00:30:35 Obviously, Kai Jones, we've not had that much.
00:30:37 Last time we spoke, Kai Jones had requested his own trade.
00:30:39 Well, sorry, Kai.
00:30:40 You didn't get traded, but you did get waved.
00:30:42 So you now can go sign any way you want.
00:30:44 Apparently, he was happy about that.
00:30:46 Good for Kai, I guess.
00:30:49 Wherever you sign, that could be interesting.
00:30:53 Center depth.
00:30:55 I'm saying that for me right now, you've got Mark Williams, you've got Nick Richards,
00:30:59 you've got in theory PJ Washington and maybe JT Thor who could maybe do it.
00:31:06 I'm saying that I'm a PJ Washington.
00:31:09 So I'm going to say that I'm three out of five.
00:31:11 One, because PJ Washington is actually maybe the answer to why I'm a three out of five here.
00:31:16 And also because I think just having a small ball center in PJ and JT Thor is not a terrible spot to be in.
00:31:24 Nick has shown to be a pretty available guy.
00:31:29 He came back after his ankle injury last year.
00:31:32 Mark Williams even played with that thumb injury that he got early in the season.
00:31:36 So I feel pretty good about those two.
00:31:38 They're both young guys.
00:31:39 They're not guys who have necessarily knee issues or anything like that going forward or foot issues.
00:31:45 They generally stayed pretty healthy.
00:31:48 So I'm a three out of five.
00:31:50 I'm a PJ Washington for the center depth.
00:31:53 But again, I would not rule out the looking to add here.
00:31:56 I think I wrote earlier in the week, PeaceForAllHornets.com, about them adding a potentially adding James Nardy.
00:32:04 That is something that technically they can do.
00:32:07 I don't think they will.
00:32:08 I don't think they want to, but it is a possibility.
00:32:12 And there are other, again, guys who could get cut and camp over the next week who maybe they look at and go,
00:32:17 "Yeah, we want to bring in that veteran big," because only having two traditional bigs on a Steve Clifford team,
00:32:23 you know Steve Clifford wants to have a third big in there.
00:32:28 I'm at the exact same spot in my panic meter for the exact same reason.
00:32:33 PJ Washington himself makes me significantly less worried about the lack of depth behind Mark Williams and Nick Richards.
00:32:39 So it's very fitting that he is the level that we're at on the panic meter here.
00:32:44 The only problem, though, is Steve Clifford just doesn't seem willing to do that.
00:32:49 And I don't think he's going to unless he has to.
00:32:52 But having that diversity in matchups, I think, that you can throw at people or other teams is a pretty significant strength that the Hornets could have,
00:33:01 especially if JT can play center too, because then you just get a spacing five that you can put with PJ.
00:33:07 JT is like an off-ball, roaming five with extreme length and athleticism that you can put out there as a weak side, discount Robert Williams type of role almost.
00:33:18 And then Mark and Nick, obviously, are massive drop defenders.
00:33:22 So you could really do a lot and you can match up with pretty much any team by putting any of those four at the five.
00:33:29 But it's just that, especially for Mark and Nick, if any of those guys go down, then you just have nothing behind because you don't even have a big on a two way contract right now.
00:33:40 Nathan Menzel is on an E10, so he's going to have to get waived in the preseason or given a standard contract, which does not seem likely.
00:33:48 And then he's just going to go join Greensboro as an affiliate player.
00:33:51 He won't be able to be called up and sent down as the way that a two way player can unless one of those players has moved on from.
00:33:58 But that's a whole line of transactions that you'd have to go through to get there.
00:34:02 I just don't know that they have any will.
00:34:06 I don't know if Steve Clifford, I shouldn't say they, has any willingness to tap into that matchup before he has to, which I think is probably not going to help in the long run.
00:34:17 Because at least I feel like at least you'd want to see what it looks like before you have to do it.
00:34:22 Like Nick gets wraps up four fouls and 13 minutes and then Mark needs a breather.
00:34:27 Like you kind of have then you'd be just be deciding on the fly who you're going to put at the five.
00:34:32 Maybe it's PJ, maybe it's JT, depending on the matchup.
00:34:35 I feel like you'd rather just kind of have that worked into your playbook and the sample size that you have already to be able to determine what you do.
00:34:41 But I don't know. Do you remember any instance in which PJ has played center under Steve Clifford where Nick or Mark weren't injured?
00:34:50 I don't even know if he ever has been.
00:34:53 There was at least one game last year where I know I saw it because I remember thinking, oh, my God, it's like being back in 2020.
00:35:02 But I believe it was like due to foul trouble or something.
00:35:06 It wasn't like, I'm going to do this because I think it's the best thing for the game.
00:35:11 It's like, oh, well, let's look at this because we kind of have to.
00:35:15 But yeah, I mean, the big thing for PJ Washington, if they want PJ Washington to start center, it's defensive rebounding.
00:35:22 It's not shot blocking. That's what a lot of people think. Oh, he's only 6'8". It's not that.
00:35:26 It's the fact that and if you look back at the season where he did play, you remember how bad the Charlotte Hornets were at rebounding that basketball on the defensive end when he was playing small ball five?
00:35:35 It was it was embarrassing. It was one of the biggest clear weaknesses of any single playoff team or play in team in the league.
00:35:44 And that's the thing. And PJ Washington, I think he had, what was it, 30 some points to the nine.
00:35:49 He had a really good offensive game. I know at halftime he had zero rebounds.
00:35:54 I don't know what he finished with in the end, but that's the big thing for PJ is just being able to be active in the glass.
00:36:00 And I know playing power forward, he's more out in the perimeter, so he's not going to get rebounds.
00:36:05 And if he's playing center, but we have evidence that he does struggle on the defensive end when rebounding as well.
00:36:10 So that's the biggest thing. And maybe, like I say, if you play PJ and JT Thor together at power forward and center, maybe that helps you a little bit because you've got two guys there who've got length and size.
00:36:21 Although, again, JT Thor is not exactly a monster rebounder either. He's more long and rangy rather than some guy who's going to be able to bring down 10 rebounds.
00:36:30 So definitely an area for improvement. But yeah, it could be it could be another position they look to support in through cuts or through another move elsewhere.
00:36:42 OK, next up, let's talk about Mark. No, let's talk about Brandon Miller. Brandon Miller, second overall pick.
00:36:48 We've seen three games of Brandon Miller now. The whole NBA world was panicking about Sku Henderson.
00:36:56 Should have been the pick. The Hotshot Hornets have been basically a running joke for most NBA media for most of the summer.
00:37:03 After seeing three games, Chase, very curious for you specifically here as a big Sku guy.
00:37:08 Where are you in your Brandon Miller panic meter after seeing a bit of Sku, a bit of Brandon?
00:37:13 I am a firm Campbell Walker, number one, very low panic level.
00:37:19 We have a convert. I mean, I'm perfectly willing to be extremely wrong about Brandon Miller.
00:37:25 I would be delighted to be wrong about Brandon Miller. I obviously way too early to form definitive opinions still.
00:37:32 But I mean, his mid range game specifically, I think that's what I'm going to focus on here, because that is like been easily the most impressive thing to me.
00:37:41 He got to show it a lot in college. You could probably argue that that was like or not in college, in high school, that it was probably a strength in high school as a recruit.
00:37:48 He didn't get to show it very much in college at all, because Alabama is much more of like a threes and layups type of offense.
00:37:54 But he sees the game and reads defenses so well from that, like 15 foot range that wonder that two dribble pull up.
00:38:03 He took off of that handoff from Mark where he like snake through the defense and pulled it up right from the foul line.
00:38:09 Like those pull ups, like barely hit the net. Like he is just so good at getting like the perfect amount of lift on his jumper to shoot over anybody.
00:38:18 And he remains on balance the entire time. So fundamentally sound, very good ball handler.
00:38:23 And he can get to those spots as well. Like the athleticism, I think, is still a concern with getting like all the way to the rim or with creating space from beyond the arc,
00:38:32 which he has still struggled with efficiency from three point range so far. I believe he's still below 30 percent from three in the preseason and obviously had a pretty rough go of it from deep in summer league.
00:38:42 But I mean, the second level scoring and being able to weave his way to the basket in the way that a lot of these wing scorers that are all stars or borderline all stars average 25 points of games can do.
00:38:55 Brandon Miller has done that in abundance in the first couple of games so far. So I'm very pleased with what we've seen.
00:39:03 Pretty much no complaints or any negatives that I've seen across the first couple of games, apart from like general rookie mistakes of defensive lapses or bad passes or shots or something like that.
00:39:14 Yeah, he got back cut by Aaron Wiggins. That was a rookie you got to pay attention to. Your head's got to be on the swivel a little bit more.
00:39:25 Well, how tables have turned because I'm a four out of five. I'm a Baron Davis on Brandon Miller. I have a very, very low level of concern.
00:39:35 But I think the big thing for me is for Brandon Miller to be a number two pick worthy player, like he has to be not just like a good outside shooter.
00:39:47 He needs to be an outstanding outside shooter. That was one of the big things that one of the big selling points.
00:39:52 And I still believe that's what he'll be. But now between summer league and the preseason, the three point shot has been a little bit disappointing.
00:40:02 We can say that it's OK. We're all aware it's only a small sample size. It looks great.
00:40:07 And his touch elsewhere he's shown has been fantastic. And I'd say he's probably excelled in other areas.
00:40:14 But his three point shot so far, the efficiency is not quite been there.
00:40:18 So that is the only reason that I am bumping it down just a tiny bit to a to a yeah, a Baron Davis level.
00:40:26 So, yeah, overall, I've been really impressed with what we've seen from from Miller.
00:40:31 Like, I know you keep hearing that he doesn't get sped up, but that's just so true when you watch him play.
00:40:36 Like, he looks so comfortable in the NBA game already.
00:40:41 I know it's only preseason, but you can just tell he has got a fantastic feel for the game.
00:40:47 And I can see why, like, so many people would love to play with a guy like that.
00:40:52 Passes it, shoots it, makes the right play. And when we talk about ball handling in that second unit,
00:40:58 honestly, I think Brandon Miller might be the point guard.
00:41:02 They won't do it early on because they'll want to ease him into it.
00:41:05 But if we're if he's still coming off the bench by February, March, that second unit is being run through Brandon Miller.
00:41:12 I think not Frank Nillikina and one of the wings who is maybe back by that point.
00:41:19 I just think he's that good, Chase. I think it's interesting.
00:41:23 Like, if you cast your mind back to Lamella Ball, when we saw him as a as a rookie, once we'd seen two or three games,
00:41:31 where is your excitement level compared to like Brandon Miller versus Lamella Ball at a similar point in time?
00:41:38 I know it's hard to do that, but.
00:41:42 See, I think Lamella, just given the flair and creativity that he plays with, was probably a little higher.
00:41:50 And maybe just like the general like media hype train that surrounded him.
00:41:55 I mean, I also had him ranked higher as the number one player in that class.
00:41:59 So I would probably be pretty solidly Lamella there. But that's nothing against Brandon Miller.
00:42:04 I mean, like he has been super good so far. Lamella was like the thing.
00:42:08 Like, I think this was like the second preseason game he threw that like three quarter court underhand assist
00:42:16 that went over the entire defense to Malik Monk for like some crazy dunk.
00:42:21 And it was just like, OK, this is this guy does not play basketball in the way that most other people play the game.
00:42:28 And Brandon Miller doesn't have that same level of uniqueness to him.
00:42:32 But boy, do we need like an all star wing scorer in the city of Charlotte, because like when was the last time that this team had a guy on the wing that we think projects to be like as good as Brandon Miller at that size as like a shooter and playmaker?
00:42:49 That at this stage in their career, like you're going to be getting him for his prime years.
00:42:54 And he's already this like smooth, patient, like confident. He seems like he has requisite toughness on defense to be like a competitive wing player.
00:43:04 He can defend. Yes, he very much can. I talked about this in the pre-draft process.
00:43:09 I said like, I think he's one of the most underrated defenders in the draft. I think he's a really good defender.
00:43:15 He challenged absolutely everything. He can switch. He was an interior presence, even at size 6'9", but also like long enough on the outside.
00:43:23 We saw that chase down block I think he had in maybe the first preseason game.
00:43:28 When was the last Hornets wing you saw do a chase down transition block like that?
00:43:33 Like that is a, those skills are reserved normally for like some of the very best wings in the game.
00:43:40 I'm thinking back, I'm thinking Paul George, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Gerald Wallace, probably a guy who Charlotte Hornets or Bobcats fans will know.
00:43:50 You know, those chase down blocks from behind where you catch people, you have the motor, you read the game to know what time you have the length, you have all these things.
00:43:59 And he has that and he's shown a little bit of athleticism. We all saw the dunk, right?
00:44:03 Which could have been the highlight of the year. I jumped up so hard when that happened and like threw my hands down that I thought I rebroke my little finger,
00:44:13 which I broke playing basketball earlier this year because I like hit into my metal belt buckle and I was like celebrating slash absolutely.
00:44:20 And then I wasn't even sure if it counted or not. I was so confused. I mean, that dunk was absolutely mega.
00:44:27 And, you know, we saw it a little bit in summer league. He had that massive dunk in summer league too.
00:44:31 So I think he's looked really good to me. Really. I'm going to bump it up to Kemba Walker.
00:44:38 I don't want to be anywhere else than all in on Brandon Miller. So I'm bumping it up to Kemba Walker.
00:44:45 Baron Davis, you're good, but I'm bumping it up. I think Brandon Miller has less holes in his game now than the Mellow did as a rookie.
00:44:52 I'm not saying he's going to be better, but I think he's a better all round player.
00:44:56 And I think from a coach's point of view, he will make less mistakes than the Mellow Ball will do.
00:45:01 I think that's always like guaranteed, but probably won't be able to maybe take over the game as much as LeBellah Ball can do.
00:45:07 Even as someone who really liked LeMello at the time, especially now, I think I probably agree with that.
00:45:14 Like, I don't think the gap in playmaking is as big as the gap where Brandon Miller is now defensively to where LeMello is defensively or in terms of a shot selection or anything like that.
00:45:26 So I actually think I would agree with that. And I mean, that is the exact type of player that's going to fit well in a Steve Clifford grand team.
00:45:34 So I'm very excited to see him get going. Would not be surprised at all if he's playing like huge, like starter level minutes, basically, but even off the bench, even after like two weeks of the season.
00:45:46 Wouldn't surprise me at all if he's a starter by the deadline.
00:45:49 Nope.
00:45:51 Okay, next up. Panic meter, preseason injuries. We talked how a week ago we were like, oh, the injuries aren't so bad.
00:45:59 So all the guys who are hurt are just guys who are like on the fringe of the rotation.
00:46:04 Things have changed. Gordon Hayward has a foot injury, but he is back pre-practice today and he's back to be available for later this week.
00:46:12 As everything goes to plan. Bryce McGowan, we don't have a timeline yet, but I'm telling you he's in a boot and he's going to be out multiple weeks.
00:46:18 I can almost guarantee it.
00:46:20 That ankle sprain in the Thunder game, that looked like it hurt when he stepped on Nick's foot.
00:46:24 His ankle bent like very close to like a 90 degree angle. On a restrained ankle. Exactly.
00:46:30 Yeah, that's that's going to take a while. He immediately like waved his hand to the bench.
00:46:34 Like, yeah, I need a trainer to like sub me out. Yeah.
00:46:37 Yeah, that did not look great.
00:46:40 So, yeah. Where are you at? Where are you at with injuries right now? How concerned are you a week on?
00:46:47 I mean, it seems like we just like spoke all of this bad luck into existence because I mean, I got to be at like a four by now because the Gordon Hayward thing specifically doesn't really worry me.
00:46:58 Obviously, the fact that it's like a labeled injury means that it's possible that it's something significant ish or that's not something that he's just resting, basically.
00:47:07 But part of me, a lot bigger part of me believes that it's just like veteran rest for the preseason.
00:47:13 I believe you have you can only list players as out for rest like once or twice or something like that.
00:47:19 So maybe that's why just in case they wanted to keep him out for the rest of the preseason, they were just like, oh, because I think it's right foot discomfort is the official listing that he has, which is always a scary listing to me.
00:47:30 Right. I'm like, well, what does that mean? Like, and my head always goes straight to, oh, no, there's a lingering stress fracture, which has been getting now he's ramped up and playing every day.
00:47:42 There's an injury. But from what I understand, the people I didn't see this in that first game that apparently after one of the plays, he kind of came up a little bit gimpy and it did actually happen in a play.
00:47:52 So it was I think that's good news that it's not just that as soon as he's ramped up, he's got foot pain.
00:47:58 Something actually happened, which which, you know, hurt it. But we don't have any detail exactly on what that was.
00:48:06 Yeah, and I think for now, we can at least be relatively optimistic because Steve Clifford is all but certainly said that he's going to play Thursday.
00:48:14 He didn't say definitively, but lean strongly towards him going to play against Boston later in the week.
00:48:22 So should be good. Get another preseason game in there. And then if he plays that game, we can assume that he's going to be available opening night as well.
00:48:30 But I mean, for Cody Martin, that one, that's where the panic meter rises up. Bryce McGowan's obviously is going to be out for what we'd imagine is like a couple of weeks.
00:48:39 And then Tao Maledon and Leaky Black, two of your three two way players who would be playing at like the end of these games right now in garbage time in the preseason,
00:48:47 getting to like prove themselves and maybe graduate off of that two way contract or at least show that they can play in the case of emergency.
00:48:54 Just kind of popped up on the injury report one day before the preseason opener against Miami.
00:49:00 Didn't travel with the team on the road games and have not been ruled available for any of the games since.
00:49:06 So it's just a lot of like small parts that add up to being pretty significant, especially now that Bryce McGowan's has been re injured again.
00:49:17 Is that the time last week we were like, OK, he'll maybe miss this first game and almost certainly be back for the second one.
00:49:23 And that did happen. We were right about that. He looked pretty much fine up until he got hurt again.
00:49:29 But now it's just going to be a much longer time off period for him.
00:49:34 Who's the backup shooting guard on this team?
00:49:37 Nick Smith or maybe Edmund Sumner, I guess. But to me, I would I would choose Nick Smith, I think.
00:49:45 Yeah, it's you're scraping the bottom of the barrel here and that's what happens when you don't use your MLE or your BAE and only sign non-guaranteed players as free agents.
00:49:57 So I don't know. This is just kind of the situation that they put themselves in here.
00:50:01 The second unit backcourt to start the year could very possibly be Frank Millechina and one of Nick Smith Jr. or Edmund Sumner, which is less than ideal, we would say.
00:50:14 I don't know what is this preseason chase. I don't know if I'm the only person suffering this, but whenever anybody has any form of physical contact with another player or falls on the ground, I have a chill go through my entire body.
00:50:29 Because this last year I've just become programmed, even longer than a year, with Gordon Hayward and the Mellor Ball, last three years, that someone's just going to get hurt.
00:50:39 The Hornets have been cursed with serious injuries at the start of the season before. Nick Batum did it in one of the first games of the season. Michael Gilchrist.
00:50:48 I don't know if I can do this for 82 games, Chase, watching like every time anyone hits the ground, I'm like, oh, my God, he's out. He's done. He's done for the year.
00:50:58 I'm thinking about who's going to who. They're going to have to try and sign off the scrap heap.
00:51:02 I just think I need to get back on the bike. I'm just having PTSD from injuries from the last three years. This isn't healthy. I need to eat some more.
00:51:12 No, this is just life as a Hornets fan. I think you just, we just got to adjust. This is just what happens, it seems.
00:51:19 So it's, it's, I don't know how significant it can get, really, like, unless it happens, another significant player in the rotation gets injured.
00:51:29 But I mean, it's about as like dire of a situation you can get in terms of like regular season depth for your non rotation players as it can be without because like pretty much everybody that's not in the rotation right now is injured.
00:51:42 Yeah, that's pretty much it. Nick Smith, like, that's pretty like everybody else is playing already. Like, so if someone gets injured, like, there are like three guys that can come in.
00:51:52 Like, it's a very short list that we're running here. I'm hopeful they can get a couple back before this Thursday game.
00:51:58 Like maybe a Maladon would be nice to have him back. You'll be able to see him at least a little bit in preseason because I still think he's got a chance to potentially stake a claim for that role.
00:52:09 I think he's the one reading the tea leaves who might be maybe closest to being back apart from Gordon Hayward, that is.
00:52:17 But, but yeah, we'll have to have to see there. But yeah, with preseason injuries, I'm in the Zella zone. I'm a four out of five again.
00:52:25 They can't afford for any more people to get hurt because they're already down to guys who never thought would be in the rotation potentially being there on night one with a one position.
00:52:35 That's probably just about doable, but yeah, we can't have any more. So no more injuries, please. Touching wood here.
00:52:43 Okay, last couple more to go. Do you want to do Lamella, Ball, or Mark Williams next?
00:52:49 Hmm. Well, we'll save the best for last, quite literally. We'll leave Lamella for the end and we'll touch on Mark here first.
00:52:57 Okay, Mark Williams. I'm Kemba Walker right now. I am one out of five. I'm not panicked at all.
00:53:05 He obviously has got strapping on that right thumb. He had to get surgery on that in the offseason.
00:53:11 But he's looked, I just think he's looked really good, especially defensively, even more so.
00:53:16 Maybe offensively, like he's not been looking for the ball as much as he maybe was at the end of last year.
00:53:21 But that's because he's playing with much more talented players now in the starting unit.
00:53:25 And I love the chemistry that him and Lamella Ball have been showing already in the pick and roll.
00:53:30 I know that's something Steve Clifford talked about a lot during training camp.
00:53:34 And there's now been five, six plays I can count off my head where either Lamella or Mark have been able to get baskets.
00:53:42 And I'm really liking some of the synergy that I'm seeing there. So defensively, he's been everywhere, blocking everything.
00:53:49 I'm the least worried that I can be for Mark Williams. I think he's going to have a fantastic year.
00:53:56 I'm with you. I'm Kemba Walker for this one as well. Very low. One on the panic meter here.
00:54:02 The ability that he has to contain the ball as like a drop coverage big in ball screens and also like step up to the level
00:54:10 and like not necessarily like guard in space, but at least like shuffle his feet and stay in front of people.
00:54:16 It changed the direction of ball handlers and rollers. It's so impressive.
00:54:21 And it's like, this is where the all defense potential I think comes from.
00:54:26 He is like a perfect middle ground between someone like Nick Claxton, who's more of a mobile perimeter, lanky big,
00:54:35 and then someone like Rudy Gobert, who's more anchor, paint bound.
00:54:39 He can do a little bit of both can be very scheme malleable. I would imagine that this is something that they tap into.
00:54:48 Maybe if they get like really like into the weeds with injuries and like foul trouble here.
00:54:53 I think that if they play zone, I think Mark would be like really, really good at that.
00:54:59 Like in the way that PJ was like a couple of years ago, but just by turning PJ into a guy that's like seven to he's can fit into like any type of defense.
00:55:08 He can, you can rely on him to be your anchor.
00:55:11 I just think that there's like so many ways that he's going to be successful this year.
00:55:16 Like there's almost no type of coverage that you can't put him in and rely on.
00:55:21 And this honestly goes for Nick too.
00:55:23 And so in a lot of regards, which has been pretty impressive about their center rotation this year, but Mark is just so versatile and so good.
00:55:31 He's like replacement level at pretty much everything you would ask of like a role playing center.
00:55:35 And there's only room to go up from there really.
00:55:38 So it's, it's all signs are pointing towards Mark Williams having an extremely effective season, being a great fit with Lamello and all the other players on the roster as well.
00:55:48 So really excited to watch Mark.
00:55:50 You think about bigs who get played off the court in the playoffs, which does happen.
00:55:55 It is because they're normally, they're very good at doing a specific thing and the team can no longer do that particular defensive play style or whatever it is because the other team is picking at it.
00:56:08 Right.
00:56:09 You use a great point you've made.
00:56:11 I've never thought about it before.
00:56:12 You are right.
00:56:13 Mark Williams can be versatile defensively.
00:56:17 He can play the Walker Kester role.
00:56:19 He can play the Clapstone role.
00:56:20 I got asked it to the day. Would you rather have Walker Kester or Mark Williams?
00:56:25 And I know this is probably the, you know, only people who cover the Hornets maybe give the sound.
00:56:32 So I would rather have Mark Williams.
00:56:34 I think I would too.
00:56:35 I like Walker Kester a lot, but I think I, yeah, I think I agree with you.
00:56:39 I think he is much more mobile.
00:56:43 He is, again, he's a little bit younger than Walker Kester too.
00:56:48 And I just think he's got a better offensive game all around.
00:56:50 Like he's a better free throw shooter.
00:56:52 I think he has better footwork, scoring.
00:56:54 Like I think you can probably score on mismatches a little bit more than Kester.
00:56:58 Kester was in a great situation last year and he took full advantage and he had a really freaking amazing year.
00:57:04 I mean, I was so impressed with Walker Kester.
00:57:06 And I think it is close.
00:57:07 I don't think it's a home run by any means, but I would still keep my Mark Williams stock before buying Walker Kester stock right now.
00:57:16 OK, last one, Lamella Ball.
00:57:20 I'll kick us off.
00:57:22 I'm saying I'm a Baron Davis.
00:57:24 I'm a, again, kind of two out of five with Lamella.
00:57:28 I think he looks healthy, which is the biggest thing, right?
00:57:31 We found out that he'd only just started doing like actually like contact in training and stuff basically in September,
00:57:38 which was a little bit later than I think maybe we heard.
00:57:41 But I think Steve Clifford said that in one of the games.
00:57:44 And he looks, I feel like he's got his burst.
00:57:46 I feel like he has confidence going into the rim.
00:57:48 He's not playing in a way that I think we saw him play last year where he was tentative more to kind of push off that ankle when he was playing with a sprain.
00:57:58 But I will say some of the poor shot selection that played him last year has remained.
00:58:03 And that's been something that, again, maybe it's just trying to get out of the system or shoot his way into form.
00:58:09 But overall, his impact on the game.
00:58:12 I mean, he makes so many mistakes, but still, you look at the full body of work and it's like, wow, you've got your fingerprints all over this game.
00:58:22 You are dictating everything both teams are doing.
00:58:26 And you kind of have to live with some of those mistakes.
00:58:28 A little bit like Russell Westbrook, different player.
00:58:31 But Westbrook came with certain things that you just have to go.
00:58:34 Yeah, he doesn't do that, but he does all these other things and he impacts the team so much.
00:58:39 I kind of feel the same way with Lamela Ball at times.
00:58:43 Yeah, that's actually a great comparison in a much different way.
00:58:46 But it's just the positives, especially in basketball, where the game is much more predicated on just scoring a lot of points rather than trying to stop your opponent from scoring a lot of points.
00:58:58 It's just the positives are always going to outweigh the negatives for Lamela.
00:59:01 And the biggest thing for me so far, too, is that confidence driving towards the rim and finishing, especially through contact.
00:59:09 His handle looks great, too.
00:59:11 I think he maybe looks a little bit shift, maybe not shiftier, but at least much more in control of his body when he's in traffic, especially the crossovers are just as quick and sharp and decisive as they always have been.
00:59:24 So the I like you said, the burst and quickness is all the way back, it seems from that ankle injury.
00:59:30 He definitely hasn't shot well and the starters have, for the most part, like completely outperformed the opposing starting lineups that they've played against both OKC, which was obviously depleted lineup and still.
00:59:42 And then Washington and Miami, which were mostly healthy.
00:59:46 They've outplayed those team starters in all of those games, like pretty much handedly.
00:59:51 But they just they haven't shot well.
00:59:53 And especially Lamello, his three has been very off so far in the preseason.
00:59:58 So I'm not that I think is obviously going to come around, but maybe the shot selection is contributing to that a little bit, too.
01:00:04 But I at least right now, the ability to withstand contact or at least the ability to seek it out and not shy away from it is a huge thing for me because he's never been like a bad finisher, like touch wise.
01:00:17 It's just the ability to finish among the trees and withstand that contact from guys that are a lot bigger than him hasn't always been there.
01:00:25 And if he's not going to get like a lot stronger, like at least being confident enough to use that touch would help a lot.
01:00:31 And it seems like he's getting there. Yeah. At the rim so far in preseason, Lamello is eight of twelve.
01:00:38 So, again, shooting a really good percentage at the rim on dribble jumpers, he is one of ten.
01:00:47 So that's where you see the inefficiency there. And we have a good track record to know that the Lamello is good off the dribble.
01:00:53 So, yeah, I'm not really concerned about that. I think that is maybe rustiness, maybe being like getting your wind back, which obviously a lot sometimes the shots can be a little bit off.
01:01:02 Again, I've said this before. If you just dial back, some of these dribble jumpers are just not good shots.
01:01:08 And I made a post about this the other day when he took a thing, a transition three with 21 seconds on the shot clock.
01:01:14 And then Sam Bassini had on his podcast, he spoke about the exact play.
01:01:19 I was literally just going to say Sam gave you a shout out with that one.
01:01:23 That was so funny when I was listening to that podcast. I was like, wait, that's the exact tweet that I saw James post like 12 hours ago.
01:01:31 But yeah, a lot of early shot clock, like and especially like the deep threes that aren't like wide open.
01:01:38 It's just like it's different if you're off the catch and nobody's in front of you and you're in transition or something.
01:01:44 But if there's any amount of difficulty, just run an offense, which he wants the ball to hit the paint before pretty much every shot,
01:01:53 like unless it's a very, very sound goal to have as a successful offense.
01:01:58 And there are just too many possessions where he just he calls his own number a little bit too early.
01:02:06 But I saw a really good quote the other day that I think is fair because I'd say that I'm probably like more.
01:02:15 I criticize Amelie Ball more now, probably more than most.
01:02:22 And he's the team's best player by far. And this is a quote. This is a quote from the England rugby player the other day.
01:02:27 We were talking about a different thing altogether, but he said, as ever, the tallest tree catches the most wind and he seems to catch a fair bit.
01:02:35 And I think that's the fail of Amelie Ball. He is the tallest tree and he does catch the most wind because he his weaknesses are really apparent and they're really clear.
01:02:43 And they're so easy to fix some of them. You know, this is a shot selection thing.
01:02:47 This isn't mechanics. This is just a decision making thing that you can spot on film that you can get from your coaches and your vets.
01:02:55 But look, I'm not worried at all. Really. Like I said, I'm a Baron Davis.
01:03:00 I'm feeling pretty good about what I've seen from the ball so far. He's going to stuff the statute this year.
01:03:05 Points, rebounds, assists. I've no doubt about that.
01:03:09 So, yeah, overall, it's been a good start.
01:03:12 And I think there's been a level of improvement up from what he played last year, despite the counting stats being up last season.
01:03:18 I think he's been better in this preseason. Agreed. Defensively, especially taking a step.
01:03:24 Yeah, we should have mentioned that. We should have mentioned the defensive stuff. Yeah, absolutely. Clearly making more effort on that.
01:03:31 And yeah, him and Mark have developed a two. You mentioned it on the offensive end.
01:03:36 I think it works defensively as well in ball screens and in handoffs and stuff.
01:03:40 He Lomelos seems to have like much more, you know, I guess aggressiveness in jumping out to help and making sure that he closes out on defenders when he gets stuck behind the screen or something like that.
01:03:52 So, I mean, that's been noticeable in the preseason. So you imagine that that's going to tick upwards a little bit more, even in the regular season.
01:03:59 And if they get lucky enough to make it to the postseason. So that that is other than the finishing is probably my favorite thing that I've seen from him so far this preseason.
01:04:08 Yeah. OK, Chase, that pretty much does it for us here.
01:04:13 Next episode is going to be out next Tuesday morning, a week from today.
01:04:20 Working on it in a minute. It's not 100 percent confirmed, but it's 90 percent there.
01:04:24 Going to have a guest we've had on before, should hopefully be Sam Purley from Hornets.com.
01:04:29 He joined us last preseason to talk about previewing the season a little bit.
01:04:33 So looking forward to having Sam on here. And by I think next season, next week is going to be the 23rd of October.
01:04:40 And that means we'll be just three days out from the Hornets first regular season game.
01:04:45 So at that point, their last preseason game will finish. That's against the Celtics.
01:04:50 And I'm just counting down to the big day. So, yeah, Chase, I will catch you next week and hopefully we'll have Sam on board as well.
01:04:57 Thanks, everybody, for listening. See you then.
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