Can COBY be Coby? | Remembering the DILLY Era | Training Camp BEGINS

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Everyone talks about how challenging it is to raise kids, but what about protecting them? Outlet covers, kitchen cabinet locks, baby gates, where do you even start? Well protecting your home in auto is a great place to start. Progressive offers customize coverage options so you can be sure you have the right coverage. Here basically the baby gates of insurance. Get a quote at Progressive.com. Progressive casualty insurance company affiliates and other insurers, not available in all states. It's not just electric, it's Toyota Electric and during Toyota's easy toy sales event, going electric is easier than ever. Right now, save instantly on a new Toyota EV with special incentive programs for first time EV buyers and prior EV owners. Choose the sleek, busy, the adventurous, busy, woodland, or the sporty CHR.

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2:05We got more Hornets Media Day coverage for you. It's our favorite time of year. Well, outside of the actual basketball where we get to just have a whole week's worth of content. That's at least how I view it. I like having something to go back to because you won't let us finish who wore it best. I need something to fall back on. Hornets Media Day allows me to have something to fall back on. Oh, no, I get it. I mean, we're going, we're going to get to it. I promise. I just look, we've got quotes. We've got player interviews. I think that's, that's more important. I do have a quick observation about media day. I think it was one of the first media days in a while where I was more excited to hear from the players than I was to really hear from Jeff Peterson or Charles Lee. I know offense to either Jeff Peterson or Charles Lee. It's just I was super interested to hear what, well, I mean that some of those injury updates for Con and Brandon, but even beyond that, like what they've been up to, what they're working on, Nas Reed.

3:06That was super interesting. Kobe, why we'll get to him in a minute. I just feel like, you know, I think I've, I think I've heard a lot from Charles Lee and I've heard a lot from Jeff Peterson and I was ready to hear from the players. Good point. You have, it's not that you feel like you've heard from them a lot. You have heard from them quite a bit after the moves that were made. Jeff Peterson did host media availability following the Lamella ball trade and he's given us. I don't know how much substance about the Lamella ball trade. He's given us a decent amount of quotes to work with though in terms of sustainability. It's been a buzz word like we've heard a decent amount from the GM. We've heard a little bit from Charles Lee, Nas Reed, we haven't heard from yet. And that's because he had a crazy offseason to deal with, but this was the first time that we've really had a chance to listen to Nas. Kobe, we had the charity press conference. I was there. It we're all standing in the real hot weather. That didn't last very long. We had a longer chance to speak with him here.

4:08He also had an interview with the Kyle Bailey show that's airing today. So you're right. I think that's a good point. Usually it's Jeff Peterson and Charles Lee that they're going to give us the good stuff. Totally right. I was more excited to hear about the comments or listen to the comments from the players as well. And by the way, to me, that's a good sign and I hope it continues because more of the discussion, more of the leadership needs to come from the player side. That's a sign of a maturing basketball team that is ready to take accountability and get to the playoffs. I just think of media days across the league. I don't know that that Lakers fans are more interested in hearing from JJ Reddick than they are from Luca Donchage, Philadelphia. I don't think you're more interested in hearing from Nick Nurse than you are Joel and Pete and LeBron James. So like yeah, or Tyrese Maxie, like yes, I want the players to be more exciting than the general manager or the head coach. So let's start with Kobe White today then because we got to Nazari, Brandon Miller,

5:11Conn Canipple, the injury updates surrounding the hamstrings of Con and Grant, which happened at the same time, Brandon Miller with a positive injury update. Kobe White, I feel like was the real player of consequence that we did not get to yesterday. And I thought he did have some interesting things to say because he is taking over the starting point guard role after Lamello gets traded in Minnesota. And he drew upon a couple of experiences that he had in Chicago, being the lead dog, being a guy that started a bunch of games. And he had his role, I think yo-yoed a little bit in Chicago, depending on what personnel was up there on the roster. But he did draw upon Demar D'Arosan taking over in those clutch moments and saying some of the stuff like I learned a lot from a vet that I'm able to use here in Charlotte as a guy that you needs to deliver and got to have its situations. Talked a little about how he needs to work on facilitating that was kind of a theme for him. And I need to be Kobe White. That's been a big buzz word or a big buzz phrase.

6:14They want me to be me. I need to be Kobe White out there. I don't need to be anybody else. And that includes Lamello. I think he is working on creating plays for others and being a go to score, finding the right balance of when it's time to set the table for a teammate because he does have so many talented teammates. He was a fuse of in his praise of everybody on the roster. So it is, I feel like Kobe White is coming into the season as a much more discerning basketball player and really needs to be cerebral on handling the rock, when to pass, when to take over himself, when to pressure the rim. I'm really interested in how all of that's going to unfold for Kobe in such a big way at the start of the season. Yeah, what I liked about Kobe's media day appearance is that he was not afraid to say, yeah, this is going to be different. This is a different situation than it was last season when I played for the Hornets. And it's a different situation than I really have been in the NBA, getting the keys, having this responsibility for an offense like this.

7:18I think is going to be huge for Kobe White and he feels it. And I think that's good that he feels it. I want him to feel pressure. I don't want him to come in and say, no, this is, I'm just going to do what I've always done. And this is fine. No, I, because to me, that kind of pressure and accountability that he's putting on himself is just going to see through into the rest of the team. You want everyone to feel like that. Again, I mean, I just, I'm going to say the same thing that I just said. I think it's the sign of a maturing basketball team that is finally ready to get serious about making the postseason when you, when you hear things like you heard from Kobe White, you know, he's detailing his work with assistant Lamar Skeeter and trying to find his, you know, his role on this team and it being different while at the same time still being aggressive. I think that's going to kind of be the balancing act that he has all season long and honestly had some of that last season. I remember Charles Lee talking about like, hey, we don't, we don't want to lose the

8:20Kobe White that we traded for the guy that can get to the rim at will, the guy that can pull up and get his own shot, separate himself, knock down three points shots from all over the floor. You don't want to lose that guy in the midst of saying, hey, you're now in command, let, you know, last season was second, second string offense. Now he's going to be in charge of the whole thing. So yeah, it's, it's going to be really interesting to see how he handles all of that. I still am curious as to how the off season played out for Kobe and his party. Did it happen the exact way they thought it was going to happen? How much of an advanced notice did they get that the Hornets were shopping, Lamello ball, that they were going to trade them and once they traded them, they were going to offer a decent chunk of change to Kobe to be the starting point guard. Because you're right. Kobe discussed how this was going to be a unique opportunity, how this was going to be different than any other opportunity that he's had to this point and that he might have in front of him to sign with a different team.

9:23He discussed wanting to come back to Charlotte, but I think what's most interesting to me about those comments is why wouldn't you want to come back to Charlotte? If you're going to have the red carpet rolled out for you to be the starting guy on a team with all of this shooting, you didn't have grace and Alan and Royce O'Neill quite yet, but you had Nas Reed coming back. You knew that you were going to have Khan and Brandon. You knew that you were going to have Musa. Everything was pretty much the same and at least at that point, you still had miles which wasn't going to hurt Kobe White, but now you have somebody in Nas that's going to help you and grace and Alan and Royce O'Neill. That's going to help you. So, it did feel like he wanted to come back for a different role than he's ever had, okay, were you going to sign a smaller deal to come off of the bench, which was the similar role that you had last year with the Hornets and that you've had before with Chicago? They did put the ball in your hands quite a bit and asked you to make a play in Chicago,

10:24but yeah, like I'd not that I think he's lying by any means. I just am curious as to what he really means by different role. What is the unique thing about this role that you have in Charlotte compared to what else was on the table and what else has been there for you in years past? Well, I'm not speaking for him. I will say the unique thing for him with Charlotte this coming season compared to even opportunities that he had to start games in Chicago is that he has a lot of weapons around him. Like I mean, shot the shot and even spoke to this like then not only just the amount of shot making that he has, but the amount of versatile and unique shot making that he has around him. Conniple, Brandon Miller, Nas Reed. It's a lot of mouths to feed. I mean, I think it's going to be a balancing act for him to make sure and then the coaching staff to a certain extent as well as they're calling plays from the sidelines, but like making sure that everyone feels involved while at the same time making sure that he is involved offensively.

11:24I think it's going to be a great challenge. It's one of those like good problems to have, making sure that everyone is taking care of in that way and getting into a rhythm and you know, it would be easier for him if Brandon Miller were already a super mature playmaker or if Conniple were that or if Nas Reed came in and was that, but you don't really have that. You know, I think it is going to be a little bit of a committee job in the playmaking department. And so, you know, I think that's that's going to put more pressure on Kobe to find others. Whereas I think if you were in a situation where you had one of these super wings that was already really good at making plays for others, he could look for himself a little bit more. That is a unique challenge for him, but I'll say like that guy was looking to start. Like I mean, I don't he's not. Yeah. I mean, Charlotte if Lamello is still here, he wanted to starting opportunity and he got it here in Charlotte. Yeah. And I should probably clean up a little of what I said too because he did say I'm excited to see what this year holds. This is a different opportunity.

12:25I'm in a unique situation, a unique opportunity. And you know, it's definitely one of the main reasons why I did want to come back here because I knew it would make me a better player. He does go on to say I knew I was going to have a different role in a different light. And I would love to have a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. I think I'm ready for it at this point in my career. So I guess the real question I had was just what makes it, what did make it so unique? Like it just, it feels like he's played it on a much smaller scale. Perhaps it's the volume in what is asked of him as to what is the real difference in this role this year compared to last. And I'm with you. I wonder if he comes back if Lamello Ball is on the roster. I think there's probably a good reason as to why the Kobe White deal was announced a day after the Lamello Ball trade was officially announced. Look, we can say, oh, Kobe has to be Kobe's not a one to one replacement of Lamello, just like we do with Nas Reed. But the simple fact is that the lineups last season with Lamello, Con and Brandon had

13:26an offensive rating of over 130. Like if we run the numbers halfway through the season and the lineups with Con, Brandon and Kobe are like 100, you know, what I'm saying, like far away from 130. Yeah, we, you know, we're going to, we're going to talk about it. So there, there is a pressure to keep one of the most, one of the best offenses in second half of the season, keep that train rolling into the first half of this season. Let's move on. Coming up next on the locked on horn spot cast. Another point guard comes and goes in the middle of the night. There was Reggie Jackson a long time ago, there was Luke Red now, now we can discuss Rob Dillingham. How would you describe the Dilly era that comes up next? L.O.H. Everyone talks about how challenging it is to raise kids, but what about protecting them? Outlet covers kitchen cabinet locks, baby gates. Pretty even start well protecting your home and auto is a great place to start progressive

14:28offers customized coverage options so you can be sure you have the right coverage there basically the baby gates of insurance. Get a quote at progressive.com progressive casualty insurance company affiliates and other insurers not available in all states. This episode is brought to you by Square, the system powering so many of the places we already know and love whether you're running a packed game day spot, a local restaurant or a growing business square gives sellers the tools to run their business without making things more complicated square brings payments inventory payroll invoices customer insights and more together in one connected system. So whether you're a one location business or growing into multiple locations, Square gives you the tools to sell, manage and grow without needing an IT team to figure it all out, which is a beautiful thing. Go to Square, if you're starting a business or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell managing grow without slowing down.

15:29Right now you can get up to $200 off square hardware at square.com slash go slash mb. That's squ a r e square dot com slash go geo slash NBA, run your business smarter with square get started today more locked on Hornets. I think it was pretty obvious when Richard Walker, a legend around these parts asked Jeff Peterson about the rob dillingham acquisition. Hey, why'd you go get them? Jeff Peterson, instead of answering the question said at the end of his comment, quote, we wish him the best. Before the news was announced that they would wave rob dillingham. So he said we wish him the best and then the news, the move to wave him was officially announced like hours later.

16:30I think you could probably guess that he was going to get waved with the roster crunch that we've documented on this pot a million times. You might be able to guess that he was going to be waved. It wasn't a foregone conclusion, but it was all put a foregone conclusion after he wished rob dillingham the best. What's going on with the guys they're trading for and then waving here, Doug? Hi, I mean, Jeff Peterson, we talked about this. I think Jeff Peterson likes to make trades. I think honestly it was about they acquired second round picks for it with DFS, Dorian Finney Smith, and they didn't want to eat $13 million and it looks like instead. And you know, I said there would be no map. I'm sorry if I have these numbers somewhat incorrect, but like they didn't want to eat 13ish million dollars. Now they eat $7 million and they don't have to deal with any contractual issues for dillingham next season or anything like that. It's just, it's just you just eat $7 million and then it's over. So it's about, hey, we got some second round picks. We want to try to reduce, you know, the amount of money that we're going to have to pay over

17:32the next couple of seasons and they do that with these series of moves. I guess the question that people are asking in the discord chat on the sick, overgate and across social media is like, am I supposed to be mad about this? Am I supposed to be angry that they didn't take advantage of of, you know, well, first it was buddy, he old and then was Ryan Nimhard and then dillingham. All of these names coming across the wire and through the Hornets organization, but just barely, am I supposed to be upset that the Hornets weren't able to find a way to take advantage of the skill sets of the players that that they were using here to move money around? Yeah. No, you should not be upset about saving money. No, you're fine. And not taking a chance on Rob Dillingham. Rob Dilling, one, if you just want to talk about the talent of Rob Dillingham specifically, he was a smaller player. He had some pretty ridiculous shooting numbers in college, but they were so ridiculous. You were a little worried that they wouldn't be sustainable, especially at his very, very,

18:33very slight frame. So it's difficult to figure out exactly what he does well on an NBA court right now, consistently. Like Dean Oliver, Dean Elidix of ESPN, discuss that very thing. It's tough to figure out what it is that he helps you do to help you win basketball games. And that's why a couple of teams have already decided to move off of them. At first, it was Minnesota who really could have used him right away as a second off ball creator, on ball creator in times that Mike Conley was getting older. And you wanted to set Anthony Edwards up for some off ball screen opportunities, Dillingham, too much of a liability defensively and offensively wasn't doing enough. So then Chicago, understandably, takes a chance on him. I think that's how they acquired Rob Dillingham was through the Iodosunmute trade. So great, doesn't work out. Charlotte, they bring them home. All right. Rob Dillingham actually shout out to the crib. He's from Hickory. That's basically where I'm from. I'm from Claremont, North Carolina, even smaller than Hickory, North Carolina.

19:36I played his brother, by the way, in middle school. I played Denzel Dillingham, shout out to Denzel at Jacobs Fork. And I was a real slow kid in seventh grade, specifically. He was older than I was. I had the task of guarding Denzel Dillingham who was good at playing at Lenore Rine. That's right. I came to the sideline and got frustrated and said, Coach asked me, okay, hey, you need to stay in front of him. I said, I can't coach. I'm slow as bleep. And I got yelled at by the coach. I was really angry at myself. So that's a true story. Trying to cover Denzel Dillingham. At least you were honest. That's what I mean. I was. You're like, Kobe White, you recognize the situation and you spoke about it plainly. Yeah. I got a little faster in high school. Still not fast by any, by any stretch of the imagination. All that to say, even the hometown team can't find a use for Rob Dillingham. The talent, I just, there are so many other teams giving up on him. This is not some back breaking move for Charlotte.

20:38It's a money saving move. You're right. I think they valued the three seconds and they found other ways to, you know, penny pinch and this is the way that they decided to do it. Yeah. You do not have to be at all excited about however many millions of dollars they were able to get off the books. Maybe that impacts something down the road. You do not, I don't advocate ever being happy about that or the cash considerations. That's nothing to be excited about. But don't be angry that they weren't able to utilize Rob Dillingham some way. Be thrilled that they don't draft that kind of player anymore. That's the kind of player who is exceptional at basketball. You don't get to where Dillingham got without being exceptional at basketball. But there is a chasm between exceptional at basketball and exceptional at modern NBA basketball, like where all these things are trending. And for so long, the hornet I felt like just kept drafting the same prototype over and over and it's like this guy doesn't, this guy doesn't work anymore.

21:39This guy washes out more than they make it. And so, you know, I'm just happy they don't draft that guy anymore. And in terms of, should you be frustrated that like this didn't turn out to be a bigger move, you know, that it wasn't some kind of complicated flip for a subonus? Yeah. I think if you want to be a little bit frustrated by that, I think that's fair enough because I think we're still all waiting for the big serious move that this team makes to say, hey, we're going to acquire all star talent. But it's pretty clear that the hornets for this season are just betting on depth and betting on the development of Conk and Iple and Brandon Miller and betting on Nasrid, flowering in this new starting role, betting on Kobe White. They're just comfortable with what they have and we'll see how it all works out and we'll see how successful they are. And if they get into a position where maybe they are, somebody that is a threat in the

22:42playoffs closer to the trade deadline, maybe then they look at making a move to deal with their five position, which I think is still relative to the rest of the league a little weak. We'll see about all of that. So you can be a little frustrated, I think. I'll allow that. But I wouldn't be angry about the fact that Buddy Heald and Ryan Nimhardt, because like best case scenario for Nimhard, best case scenario for Buddy Heald was that like Conk was going to miss some time, Brandon was going to miss some time, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore and they already, I think, knew that. And then for Nimhardt and Dylan Am, I think you were still looking at guys that were just barely going to crack the rotation. So yeah, I mean, would they play? I mean, I know you might need to back a point guard. They just traded for one and then a shooter. They, okay, you want to develop and third string point guard. Well, they just drafted one and Christian Anderson. They're going to invest more in the first round draft pick, the top 20 overall selection compared to the guy that's been in the league a couple of years and we have a pretty good feeling on where that's headed.

23:44So Buddy Heald, we've already got a lot of Buddy Healds. We got Grayson Allen. We got all the shooters all across the board. I talked about it being trade depth for Buddy Heald, who was getting barely 17 minutes of pop when he did play last season. Like I, I understand that the names are tantalizing, Buddy Healds made a lot of shots in the NBA. Rob Dillingham was a top 10 pick. Those are tantalizing names once upon a time. I don't think that's necessarily true anymore. Also, I'm, I'm, this is a long standing rant on this show going back to the cup check era and I'm sure if I dug a little deeper into the show era, I would find some of this stuff too because I think it had a lot to do with the other folks in the building, but like I'm, I don't care about, I don't care about the fact that he's from Hickory. Honestly, I don't, I don't, I just, I, to me that small town BS, I'm sorry to clear my story. Just chill a little bit. No, I'm sorry. Okay. No, I'm sorry. No, this needs to be a real organization. I would go through the training camp rosters of the pickups that they would make during

24:47the cup check era and it would be like local guy, local guy from Charlotte went to high school and she was like, enough. Can you go and find some NBA players? I don't care if they're from Charlotte or Kalamazoo. Just find some real NBA players to put on this roster and challenge the veterans in training camp instead of feeling like, oh, we got to go get the local guy. I don't care. And I'm glad that Jeff Peterson doesn't care. I either shout out trevon parks at Hickory high that played at Johnson C Smith. Where's Michael is, IE from we're excited about him. You got you got not if looked that up. You got not as re talking about a, IE is, you know, this incredible guy is is like him. I know. Oh my god. Yeah, they love him. Where's he from? Even Charlotte, even North Carolina. Also crib butler. I got family to needapolis right now. I went out of the limb. I'm a little bit of a crib. All right. Yeah. Um and I was a little bit of a little bit demanding to pull the Nevada guys offotechnical

25:48pitch, coming up next to the lock down horn just class. My point stands anywhere. No technically, it Does it my hometown still get some love? Training camp begins. Maybe we talk about MichNY. Franken can't will get to it coming up next. Because switching your home and auto insurance is better than cutting down on the things you love. Like those iced lattes that help you get ready to face the day. So switch your home and auto to progressive and see if you can save and keep sipping away. Get your quote today at progressive.com. Progressive casualty insurance company affiliates another insurers not available in all states. Before we do, I'm going to tell you that this episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Feeling better can mean something different to everyone. Maybe it means handling everyday stress and healthier ways, being more present with the people who matter or simply getting better at something that's been weighing on you.

26:53BetterHelp focuses on global, emotional well-being, connecting people with a therapist who really gets them with thousands of therapists and millions of members in over 100 countries. So if you could wake up tomorrow and be better at one thing, what would it be? Think beyond the obvious answer and consider what would genuinely make a difference in your day to day life. Better is a feeling defined by you and for BetterHelp, it's a better help therapist who really gets you. It's a focus on global, emotional well-being with thousands of therapists and millions of members in over 100 countries. It's progress. Sign up and get 10th percent off at BetterHelp.com. Slash Lockdown NBA. That's BetterHelp H-E-L-P. BetterHelp.com. Slash. Lockdown NBA. More Lockdown Hornets ahead. You know, I think we did kind of stumble into a little bit of a segment here with you bringing up Michael Ajay because they do love him over there. If you listen to Nas Reed, Grant Williams, he, Grant Williams actually talked about this

27:57when he had a sit down interview with us announcing the WFNZ partnership. So Grant and Cian sat in studio with us on Wes and Walker and we talked about the rookies. He raved about Michael Ajay there and he was brought up a couple of separate times at Hornets Media Day by some of the other power forwards. How much they love him, man. Right. Look, in terms of lottery tickets that could turn into something, we saw Ajay and Summerleague doing all the connective kind of grimy nasty stuff that you want from a role player who buddy, like Ajay just might be a lottery ticket you hit on, not in the way that Mousa hits where Mousa's not a hit. Mousa becomes essential to what your identity became last year. We want to be an offensive rebounding team. Okay. Is it a lottery ticket hit? He's essential to what it is that we do. I'm not sure that you could have that twice in what Michael Ajay could provide, but maybe could crack the rotation. Maybe you have an injury.

28:57I'll knock on wood. He fills in for that injured player and really provide something for you. I'm just letting you know there's a reason multiple veterans at least three have pointed to that guy and said he's an issue. Oh, look, even if they don't have a massive injury problem like they've had in years past, like injuries happen. You need guys to step in like an Ajayee and making sure that those guys are a like NBA component level basketball players and be fit the identity of your team is the secret sauce that makes competitive playoff teams go and thankfully Jeff Peterson and Charles Lee and everyone understands that. And so they bring in guys like Ajayee and they draft guys like Cian James and Leah McNeely who like you just never question their effort or their competitive spirit. And with Ajayee, you're right, man, we saw him in summer league, do it all. He was getting on the floor playing defense, yam in it. Like, I mean, it was an athletic dude and a big dude and a strong dude. I mean, they need more physicality.

29:59I was the buzzword last season. We don't have enough physicality. I think Ajayee plays with physicality and not and for a guy like not as he was undrafted to go from where he was to where he ended up in Minnesota for him to to point that guy out and say, Hey, that, I mean, he essentially said I'm paraphrasing, but like that guy reminds me of me. That's a huge, that's a huge badge of like, yeah, okay, great, badge of honor. So excited about Ajayee to see, seeing what he does because again, these particularly I think early in the season, you're going to see some of these names and they could have an impact on winning or losing, but you're seeing all of these connecting points, you know, whether it's like Charles Lee and I think both Lee and Peterson have a connection to Schroeder bringing him into the organization using those connections, but also like connecting with players who have that identity of like, I'm going to go all out. I'm rabid in terms of my competitive nature. Like all of that, I think, is going to really be the difference between the hornets having

31:03a good season and not having a good season because this is play the play the cup check queue. We don't have any all stars on this team. They're going to have to find different ways to win than just saying, Hey, Uber talented guy, Cari is through this Wednesday night. No, they're going to have to win by all 12 guys, 10 guys that play on that night, giving everything they have. And you don't have to worry about that with some of these back into the rotation players. Let's talk about the training camp roster. I think it's highly competitive. We've already discussed how tough it is going to be to make this roster. So they officially announced it. I believe a couple of days ago. So you have what is it like 20 guys that are going to go to Charleston. They're going to be practicing down at the Citadel, which is pretty cool. Already day one was today. They're out there doing it. That's right. Yeah, Brandon, after our interview with him on Wes and Walker, we were just talking before he hopped on the mic. He said that they're going to hop on a plane. It's like, damn, they're not driving. Okay, ownership.

32:04Take care of them. They're taking a PJ down there. Love it. So anyways, you're right. They got right to work right after Hornets Media Day. PJ Hall, still an interesting talent for this team. I said this line a million times last year. I think you could do a lot worse if you were looking for some kind of mousa light with maybe some shooting ability. Just a tough mobile, big PJ hall still in the mix. Want you to know that he's here. And then here we have Michael, a jai, Kyle and Boswell, both on those two way contracts. Why it fricks a forward a part of the mix as well. Fricks a part of the mix. Jarkelle Joyner for all UNC state fans out there. Joyner is going to go down and participate in training camp. So going to be competitive man. Body's flying. I think they're just going to beat the hell out of one another and I like it. I think some of the interesting battles to watch. Cian James, Leah McNeely, I think Steinbach and Cockbrenner fighting for those reserve

33:05minutes behind mousa di Abate. I'm assuming they're still going to stick with Diabate a starter. But I mean, who knows if they feel like there's a better fit with Steinbach or Cockbrenner. Maybe they go that way. I think Roy So Neal, T. John Salon, I'm pretty confident that O'Neal has that one locked up for the back up for. But we'll, until Grand Williams gets back from injury. But I think that's interesting as well. And yeah, I think there are going to be some very interesting camp battles. We also have Sam Hurley right now tweeting live the Kobe White interview that they're doing down at training camp said it definitely felt different down there. I thought we were productive today. We got a lot of stuff done and got better. It was a really good day. And we got after it a lot. I think Brandon spoke after a training camp will get some quotes from him as well and Lee spoke as well. So very cool. Yeah, I think it's going to be an interesting training camp to say the least. Just a couple of nuggets on the guys that you're a little more unfamiliar with.

34:09Why at Frick's kind of interesting six nine forward out of Marshall. How about leading the conference in two point field goal percentage last year, shooting 70.6% inside the three point arc, highly efficient. So we'll see what happens with why at Frick's, but probably going to be on the outside looking in. And again, Jarl Cal Joyner, fun score at an NC state. You're probably a little more familiar with him being in a C.C. country. Did want to touch a little more on you bringing up Steinbach versus Cawkbrenner. I do think PJ Hall is at least a little interesting, even if he's clearly the two way compared to everybody else on the roster, just based off of the resources you used to get the other guys. But Steinbach said that he expects to play more minutes at center than power forward this season. That was an interesting quote. It's something I asked Grant Williams when he sat down with us in studio and he said he had no clue. Like he could not give us a guess as to whether he would play more power forward or center. So anything interesting there for you, Doug and Steinbach thinking he probably has more

35:09minutes log at center. I think it makes sense because I think they are going to once Grant is healthy to me, that just makes the most sense is the backup for occasional small ball five and then Roy So Neal as well, mixing him in in a three four capacity. So yeah, I mean, I think if you're going, if you want Steinbach to get some run in the rotation, it's going to have to happen at the backup five position. And too, you can easily see the contrast there with your other two centers are more defensive focus and Steinbach's going to be a little bit more offensively focused. Whereas at the four position, I think you already have well stocked offensive players there. So it makes all the sense in the world and I can't wait to see how it all shakes out. Yet moose Steinbach minutes together, you're going to have to stab them to get the rebound. There's no other strategy you can deploy. Caulkbrenner probably a little harder, especially alongside Moosa.

36:13We've seen it, but I don't know how viable that is offensively. The interesting thing about Steinbach and why you use a first round draft pick on him, so high up lottery pick is to because of the versatility, which was also a buzzword at Hornets Media. They love the versatility that they have all across the board, but you have some interesting front court packages that you can utilize. I've said that I think this is going to be maybe the most fun season yet for coach Charles Lee, but also the most challenging because I think to me, we just mentioned a couple of the training camp battles. But I don't even know how much of a battle it really is. To me, the battle is going to be what are those playing groups? What are the groups that he's like confident? Like I got to get these guys together for a certain amount of minutes in a game beyond the starting unit, beyond the just like base second unit. What are those player mixes? I think we call Jeff Peterson, Chef Jeff, but I think the chef hat has to move to the

37:17guy who's going to be using the ingredients now, and that's Charles Lee. He's got a challenge ahead of him to bat. Also do balance offense and defense because there is a lot of offense on this team. Not a lot of defense. You've got to find a way to figure that out. They were so reliant on what I would call the Killer B's lineup from last year because it was the number one net rating lineup. The efficiency was through the roof. If one little thing changed, you could go Kobe for a Lamello, but for the most part, any change to that lineup, the numbers went drastically down. I wonder if that's going to be the same case here with the depth being lauded as much as it is. And you have all of these permutations that you can roll with throughout the regular season. Getting stuff like that's the fun part to watching Hornets basketball this season. Hopefully the wins come along. That'll do it for locked on Hornets. Thanks for making us your first listen. We're free and available anywhere you get your pods. That includes YouTube. Doug Branson is on his sub stack every Hornets box score dot com. Evan Hale contributing to that as well.

38:18And I'm Walker Mail, listen to me WFNZ every weekday from 12 to 3 p.m. Sports radio, 92 7 FM. Have a great rest of your day. We'll be back with you tomorrow. See you. This is a new era of wealth. A UBS financial advisor can help you with personalized advice and long term planning to move forward with confidence. Find out what's possible at UBS dot com slash new era UBS financial services is in member Finder SIPC. It's not just electric. It's Toyota electric and during Toyota's easy choice sales event going electric is easier than ever. Right now save instantly on a new Toyota EV with special incentive programs for first time EV buyers and prior EV owners. Choose the sleek busy, the adventurous busy woodland or the sporty CHR.

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