October 24, 2024 • 19 mins
Bill Schoening, the voice of the San Antonio Spurs, joins the show to preview the 2024-25 NBA season with Craig and Cam. They discuss Wemby's ceiling for his sophomore season in the association, the additions of Chris Paul and Stefon Castle, and his predictions for the NBA Finals. Plus, his favorite and least favorite spots to travel too during the season.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bill Schoening also when high school could throw that speedball
past you too, when he wasn't playing first base, big
left handed hitting first baseman now was Yes, and now
his voice of the San Antonio Spurs. He's here to
tell you on the eve of their opener, how the
man from France is going to get it done this year. Yes,
he's going to tell us all about City Sissoko.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Right. Well, Ceed, he actually had a pretty good game
last preseason game. But CEEDI is not the freshman that we're.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Going to talk about. I would have matched.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It's probably Victor Webbinyam the last year. He's an Adam's
choice for the Rookie of the Year. You know, it's
opening night, Craig, and I know how you feel about
opening night in football.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Basketball, baseball season.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's you know, the most wonderful time of the year
is Christmas, right, but this is right up there with it.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Yeah, no doubt about it, all right, So apropos of
getting everybody caught up with you.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
You know, you remember when when you were when you.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Were going to a private Catholic school in Philadelphia, and
Sister Benedictas was you know, was making you making sure.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
That which he was, which he was the leading thing there. Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
The when we were in school and you were up
the growing up in Philadelphia and I was in North Carolina.
We had those compositions we had to write, uh what
I did on my summer vacation? So, so what did
you do with your summer vacation? Because you get your
entire summer off and in the case of the spurs
of late most of the spring as well.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
So I mean, you know, what, what all? What all
did you do this year?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Well, first of all, there was a six month off
season this year, Craig, So I am the opposite of you.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
You are the hardest working man of shopen this.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I am the opposite. Okay, but I am back at
work today. I am we we aim tonight. I did
a lot of things this offseason. I did some college
baseball uts A and also Texas State.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
And then I did a lot of travel starting in June.
So we went to Canada. Have you been to Lake
Louise and Alberta?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
No, but everybody, my son Andy just just went there
and said it was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Beautiful, beautiful. Yeah, you need to take Lynd up there
at some point in time.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But traveled, you know, did the East coast thing, So
went all over the place, really hit national parks on
up upstate New York or upstate Washington rather and saw
your old friend Dave Cody from KYD.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
He's living up there in Bellingham, Washington.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Now, so I got to see him get caught up
and then get ready for the season, you know. So
obviously now we've had the five preseason games and the
regular season openers today.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Okay, before we get to Victor h I gotta ask
you because I saw the graphic this morning.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
I'm sure you're well aware of it.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
They had this, They had this extensive graphic that shows
what NBA teams were at where they were record wise percentage,
things like that the season before Chris Paul arrived on
their roster, and then the exponential winning percentage and all
(02:50):
that sort of stuff going up. Now, obviously Chris is
a little longer in the tooth. Nevertheless, the numbers don't lie.
So what's it been like with him being a part
of this group and the vibe you get from him
and how he affects the team and how he's folded
into the team.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, first of all, he's really a NonStop talker. He's amazing.
He just yap, yap, yap all the time, all the time,
talking to his teammates.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And he says that the number one thing about defense
is communication. So when he is out on the floor
of practicing, shoot around all the time talking talking to
him to his teammates, and Pop loves that. And of
course pops out an opening night or on media day
that he despised Chris Paul for nineteen years and now
he's going to get to work with him.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
And I think one of the reasons.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Why he brought him in was to have a coach
on the floor and have these young guys learn from
a guy like that. Also, Harrison Barnes is another veteran
player that the Spurs required during the offseason, and he's
a real steady player of course, the former Maverick. So
I think those two veteran players will help these young
guys along. You mentioned Victor wember Yama, he of course
is the centerpiece, but they've got some other really good
young players. And I'm really impressed Craig with Steph Castle,
(03:55):
the rookie from the Yukon He was the fourth pick
in the draft. Really solid defensive player real sick. He's
about six y five. He's listed to two ten. I
think he's about two fifteen to twenty really, and he's
very aggressive offensively.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
He's been to the free throw line.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I think during the preseason five games he got to
the line twenty four times and very very aggressive. And
I think the more and more we see him, the
more and more comfortable he's going to get.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I think he's really going to contribute this season.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
By the way, did Chris Paul try to sell anybody
on State Farms bungling their price their price bundle thing
or something like that on your No, I.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Haven't seen anybody from State Farm the whole time I've
been here.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, we're buddy, Yeah, where's our man? Where's Jake from
State Farm? Anyway? All right, we're visiting with Bill Shone
talking about this how I don't know if different is
the right word.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Evolved maybe is a better word.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
How how much evolution has this Spurs roster and team
undergone since last season?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, I think it's a whole different year. You know,
last year was Victor's first year. They were kind of
unsettled in the beginning of the year. They tried some
different things in the beginning, and now they're much more sat.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
They have a whole year under their.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Belt, not just Victor but some of the other young guys,
and this offseason was.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Very, very important for them.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
They had open gym throughout the entire summer and then
a lot of guys participated in that. The coaches were
involved as well. That the shooting coach, Jimmy Barron, worked
with a lot of guys during the offseason, so they've
been working really hard. I think that's one of the
reasons why there's certain optimism, especially from Victor, because he
saw not only himself putting in the work for all
of his teammates as well this summer.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
By the way, Cameron Parker, producer, you know as our
resident NBA Honk he is as an he's an NBA savant,
So I invited him invited in the joining the conversation here.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Good to see you, Bill, I'm good to hear from you.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
As Wenby begins his second season, what do you think
realistically can be his ceiling this year?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
You know, last year he averaged twenty one and a
half points in ten rebounds and three and a half blocks,
which were obviously very very good numbers. You would expect
those numbers to increase, but also he's got more help
this year, so there might be more people helping him
out offensively, especially the Spurs really need to improve Cameron
this year in three point shooting. They did not shoot
the ball very well from three point range last year,
so that'll be very very important offensively. Defensively, I think
(06:09):
the step they need to take is get better at
field goal percentage defense. There were in the bottom third
and points allowed and field goal percentage defense, so they've
got to take that step defensively. I think Chris Paul
helps in that regard because of his communication skills.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
And of course he's got Wemby back there.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
But as I just mentioned to Craig Steph Castle, he's
not gonna start, he's going to come off the bench,
but he's really a good defensive player. They got another
young guard his third year from Notre Dame who's taking
some positive steps this season.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
That's Blake Wesley.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
He's lightning quick, more of a defensive player than an
offensive player, but he's learned how to discribute the ball.
Things have slowed down for him quite a bit, so
I would expect Blake Wesley maybe to work his way
into the mix and that second team on especially when
they try to mix it up defensively and try to
force some turnovers.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Jeremy Sohan, the former Baylor Bear with the multi colored hair.
They had to rely on it. He got a lot
of minutes last year. Does his role change now with
this roster being remade.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I think he's basically the power forward on this team.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Craig, He's going to be relied on to provide energy, defense,
run the floor. He's a really pesty defensive player. I
think he can improve in that area, and I think
he's gonna get better. But he's still young. He's twenty
one years of age. You mentioned the fact that he
played at bail Or. He played at Baylor one year,
so they draft him knowing that his upside was going
to be down the line, and I think he's starting
to come into his own a little bit, very aggressive player.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yeah, yeah, one year, and he he took it to
Texas both times that he played in the games.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
In those as.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
We visit with Bill Bill Schoening here. Now, Bill, if
if you were to name someone who whom you have
not yet named, that you think has a chance either
to have a breakout season or the folks just don't
know that much about and they're going to learn quite
a bit about this guy during the year.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Who might that be.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Julian Champenni is the guy that I would pick right now.
He's the starting shooting guard. He'll probably be back to
the bench once Devinvesselle gets helfy. Devin Misseell had offseason
foot surgery and he is almost ready. He's gonna be
re evaluated November first. I think they're anticipating him being
ready to go right after that, but he's not going
to start the season. So Champagney shot forty two percent
(08:11):
from three point range during the preseason. He looked very,
very comfortable. He's one of those guys who put a
lot of work in. He's only twenty three years of age.
He's long, He's about six eight and two ten. He's
a willing defender with long arms. He could be a
real three and D guy, I think in the future
for the Spurs.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So keep rying on.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Julian Champagne from Brooklyn, New York, and went to Saint John's.
He's a former Saint John's is the Red storm now
no longer the red men.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Right, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
In Champagne, you just you put the eye before the
e between the end, right, just like Champagne, except with
an eye before the e.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yeah, Jim Pagney, Yeah the way it looks.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
Yeah, absolutely, Bill.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Looking at the Western Conference, I mean absolutely loaded from
from top even the bottom. But looking at the top
in terms of your playoff contenders. Obviously at Dallas winning
the West this past season, defeating Minnesota, who made some
big changes, getting Julius Randall, sent Karl Anthony Tallons to
New York the thunder of back. They had Alex Caruso
and Isaiah Hartenstein who will be out for I think
(09:06):
about six weeks. But and of course you still have
Nikola jokicch who I think is the best player in
the NBA. Who do you see coming out of the
West this season.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I really like Oklahoma City for a number of reasons.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I think Mark Dagnault's a really good young coach, but
he's got a lot of different players he can work
with here. He's got a lot of depth. And I
think that Jalen Williams, the way he came on last
year really surprised some folks. He really took a step forward.
Sam Presty's done a marvelous job as a general manager
at Oklahoma City building this thing. So I think that
OKAC is going to be right up there with Dallas Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
You know, look at Dallas now, they've.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Got Lay Thompson for goodness sake to add to Kyrie
Hrvan and Luca Dntrid. So that's going to be a
very very formatile offensive unit when you look at what
they've done.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
But okay, see, I think might be the team to
beat in the West.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
All right, So it's funny because Cam just beating me
to the punch because every year we do this before
the start of the year, I ask you for your
thoughts on who are the teams to beat in both
the Eastern Conference in the West Conference. So you just
outlined okay, seeing, which by the way, makes Cameron happy
because he's a Thunder fan.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
So so there's that. No, But what about the East.
Your thoughts on the East, Well.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
It's often and everybody else right now. I mean that
they're clearly the class of the Eastern Conference. There's a
lot of different teams that might be able to contend
and give them a push. The Knicks obviously are one.
But you know it's funny with the Knicks getting Karl
Anthony Towns.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I think that's good.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
But I think we're really good to miss Devincenzo and Randall.
I really do, because those guys could have Randall can
score and Devincenzo is a tough defensive player and a
really good glue guy to have on the roster. So
Minnesota is one of those teams I think is going
to be in the mix as well.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Okay, all right. Favorite NBA city to visit.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Well, Philly, of course, because it's my hometown. I get
to see the family and see some friends. But I
really dig LA. When we stay in Santa Monica, Craig,
now we say at LA we stay at LA Live
sometimes that's cool.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
You know the Grammy Awards museums right there, so that's
pretty nice. But I like the beach. I like Anamonica.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
So this year we've got like the Clippers and the
Lakers a couple of days apart, so we're gonna have
like about four or five days out of the coast.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
So I might or might not make it to the
arena for the game.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Okay, most I'm not gonna I'm not gonna have you
trash in NBA city. But but but least desirable to
visit for any number. He could be broadcast location, could
be a hotel, could be a dearth of fine restaurants.
If if there's a if there's a an NBA city
(11:30):
that you had to excisee from the list, which one
would it be?
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Wow, that's tough because I've got a lot of friends.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I just I just gave a lot of flowers to
the thunder And now I'm gonna say that Oklahoma City
is by least favor I'll tell you why, and it's not.
I like Oklahoma to day, I really do. And Craig,
you've been there many times. We've been over to Bricktown Ballpark.
You and I have shared a drink with Charles Barkley
in Oklahoma City.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
In the Red Diano Lounge. You have to scurve an hotel.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
That's exactly right. And he picked up the tab for
that entire night. I had no idea.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Yeah, I'll drop.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
I think it was.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I don't know how much money space my thap was
one fifty. I thought I was ready to pay it. No, sure,
because you introduced him to a good looking one from
San Antonio from the and he used to say, no,
they shipped you in from Houston. You're not from San Antonio.
Players one of the coach's girlfriends. But anyway, long story short, Okay,
see only because they don't have a lot of restaurants
(12:23):
and there's not an awful lot to do.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
But I still like that city. It's still a good town.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
But it's thirty out of thirty for me.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
What player or team are you most excited to see
in person this upcoming season?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
The team tonight.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I'm really looking forward to seeing Klay Thompson play for
the Mavericks. I'm anxious to see exactly how they're going
to work this, you know, with Luca and Kyrie shandling,
their sharing the ball handling responsibilities. You know, they can't
forget about Thompson because he's sixth all time and three
pointers made in the NBA. Uh, And he probably has
a little something to prove this year. You know, Golden
State did not have a great year last year, and
I'm sure he wants to make an impression on his
(12:58):
new fans. He's thirty four years old now, though I'm
looking at numbers, and he put up some decent numbers
last year, but not real typical play Thomps and numbers.
He averaged eighteen points. But he's thirty four years of
age now, in his twelfth year. I think he's going
to be an important contributor to the.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Match of the season.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Best position broadcast position in the NBA, and worst Toronto.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
We're in the front row or the second row.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
There's only about four or five arenas now, Craig, where
we're on the floor, so most of the places were upstairs.
The worst location is Boston. They've got us in a
tunnel just above the tunnel, kind of catty corner. It's
very difficult to call the game from that angle. Usually
you're on the side, not behind the basket, so from
that perspective it's a little difficult. You know, it's kind
of the corner and not behind the basket. But you're
(13:42):
low too, which is kind of weird. You know, I
prefer being a little higher. If you're going to be
off the floor, you might as well be higher up
where you can see everything. It reminds me a little bit, Craig,
you've done a football game at Syracuse in fact, we
did just together where you're so low at the Carrier
Dome it's hard to sing inside the ten yard line.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, and let me tell you there's Syracuse is a
prize compared to what it used to be called FedEx
Field and DC. Trust me on that low and in
the end zone, not good. Yeah, that's h that's why.
And I saw that location talking about because Chuck cooper'steen
was broadcasting from it obviously during the NBA Finals, and
it reminded me, and this will you know, warm your heart.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
It reminded me of what I had to do a Texas.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Game at Madison Square guard against Villanova. And it was
a position just like that in the corner. And so
while it was difficult to see anything down at the
far end, one thing we could see was the huge
fight that broke out amongst fans on the baseline there
and the Haymakers being thrown.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
I thought, eh, well they're from Philly.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
They came up for the game, you know, so it's
it was that kind of thing, all right.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Now. One other things, Yes.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
The first time ever violence has been associated with the
Philadelphia fan.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yeah, Y's just absolutely amazing. All right, I've got to
ask you one other thing. I thought about you a
couple of nights go because you didn't end up graduating
from a specific university. You went to the American Academy
of Broadcasting, where they teach you to sound like God
if I remember.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So the closest thing I would say for you to
a quote unquote alma mater maybe Texas, but I like,
I also think of you as Sam Houston. And here's
Sam that's Bowl eligible for the first time they're gonna
get to go to a bowl game. How excited were
you to see that happen.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I was very, very pumped and very excited. Six years
of my life I was at Sam Houston State.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
So I guess that really is kind of my.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Alma mater because most of the students go there for
four years. I was there for six. It didn't really attend.
I learned a lot in Huntsville, that's for sure. But
I'm really happy about that because you know that school
has grown just like Texas State. You know, I was
on that campus the other day. It's forty thousand students
there in so Marcus. It's crazy. I think there's almost
twenty thousand now. It's Sam in Huntsville, and they've got
good facilities, they've got a really good football coach in Keeler,
(16:00):
and I think that you know, it's a team. You know,
it's it's interesting you look at these teams that are
coming up and there's so much talent in the state
of Texas.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Craig as, you know, in.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Football, you're going to see good football at all levels,
even at that level, the FCS level.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
And now and now that they've gone to FBS, it's
really cool that they're going to wind up in a ball.
By the way, do you still tell people that you
did a six.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Year stretch in Huntsville? The way you describe your time there.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Downs FBS used to be FCS yees six years in
Huntsville mostly on the outside, although I did spend some
time on the inside because Craig as you know, I
had to cover the prison system as a newsman, So
you know, Cameron, that meant death Row interviews at nine
am on Wednesdays. So you know, I'm still the only
guy that I know that's a sportscaster that did a
one on one with Henry Lee Lucas. Yeah, you know,
(16:44):
not too guys can say that they sat down with
a serial killer. But you know, Craig, that cost me
a dollar fifty because he needed a pack of pale
meals and an orange soda before he could talk to me.
So but I got paid by AP for that interview
fifty dollars, so I cleared forty eight to fifty.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
I remember how many actual executions did you personally witness.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I witnessed six of them.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I covered twenty nine of them, so I was actually
at the prison for twenty nine.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Which I would actually watch six people breathe their last Yes, yeah, yeah,
Now that that will shape your outlook on.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
The world, won't it? Will? You know?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
It was It makes you think about a lot of
different things because you're in the in the chamber there
and the family of the victim is on one side,
the family of the guy that's getting executed is on
the other side. And it was just a really weird
I was so happy to get news, full time out
of news, full time sports when Tom dor hired me
a Kalbja and often in nineteen eighty nine, no more prisons,
(17:42):
no more, no more going in to interview death row
in these.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
All right, Well, who do you have for you a
pregame interview tonight.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I am probably going to track down Harrison Barnes, who
played in Dallas and you know, of course as one
of the news firsts. It's a new season, so and
HB has always been one my favorite opposing players, and
now of course he's.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
He's with the good guys. Yeah, he was a tar heel,
so that makes him a good guy to you.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Right, Sorry, of course you like him from way back when.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Hey, I appreciate you doing this. Listen, have fun, ton
I have fun this season. We'll check back in as
we go along anytime. Greg, We'll see thanks.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
All right.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
That's Bill Shooning. We're all part of the iHeart family.
And Bill, of course the voice of the San Antonio Spurs.
Bill and I did ten football and nine basketball seasons
together and hosted a show together on this station for
four years before he left in the fall of nineteen No,
(18:41):
two thousand and one.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Two thousand one is what he left. So, yeah, we've
known each other. We knew each other when he was
doing Sam Houston and I was doing North Texas. We'll
go back to the eighties. That's how long we known
each Did you cover any executions in North Texas.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Nope, nope, nope, they didn't have him up there. That's
LUs one. That's LUs one down there in Hunt's bills
on hand for that.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
He was there.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
He had a you know, he had a stand up
act where he did part of that where he did
like death row standings and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Really, yeah, it was pretty good to get.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, all right, So we have more coming up inconceivable
next on Sports Radio AM thirteen Under the Zone.
Bill Schoening also when high school could throw that speedball
past you too, when he wasn't playing first base, big
left handed hitting first baseman now was Yes, and now
his voice of the San Antonio Spurs. He's here to
tell you on the eve of their opener, how the
man from France is going to get it done this year. Yes,
he's going to tell us all about City Sissoko.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Right. Well, Ceed, he actually had a pretty good game
last preseason game. But CEEDI is not the freshman that we're.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Going to talk about. I would have matched.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It's probably Victor Webbinyam the last year. He's an Adam's
choice for the Rookie of the Year. You know, it's
opening night, Craig, and I know how you feel about
opening night in football.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Basketball, baseball season.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's you know, the most wonderful time of the year
is Christmas, right, but this is right up there with it.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Yeah, no doubt about it, all right, So apropos of
getting everybody caught up with you.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
You know, you remember when when you were when you.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Were going to a private Catholic school in Philadelphia, and
Sister Benedictas was you know, was making you making sure.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
That which he was, which he was the leading thing there. Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
The when we were in school and you were up
the growing up in Philadelphia and I was in North Carolina.
We had those compositions we had to write, uh what
I did on my summer vacation? So, so what did
you do with your summer vacation? Because you get your
entire summer off and in the case of the spurs
of late most of the spring as well.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
So I mean, you know, what, what all? What all
did you do this year?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Well, first of all, there was a six month off
season this year, Craig, So I am the opposite of you.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
You are the hardest working man of shopen this.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I am the opposite. Okay, but I am back at
work today. I am we we aim tonight. I did
a lot of things this offseason. I did some college
baseball uts A and also Texas State.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
And then I did a lot of travel starting in June.
So we went to Canada. Have you been to Lake
Louise and Alberta?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
No, but everybody, my son Andy just just went there
and said it was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Beautiful, beautiful. Yeah, you need to take Lynd up there
at some point in time.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But traveled, you know, did the East coast thing, So
went all over the place, really hit national parks on
up upstate New York or upstate Washington rather and saw
your old friend Dave Cody from KYD.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
He's living up there in Bellingham, Washington.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Now, so I got to see him get caught up
and then get ready for the season, you know. So
obviously now we've had the five preseason games and the
regular season openers today.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Okay, before we get to Victor h I gotta ask
you because I saw the graphic this morning.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
I'm sure you're well aware of it.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
They had this, They had this extensive graphic that shows
what NBA teams were at where they were record wise percentage,
things like that the season before Chris Paul arrived on
their roster, and then the exponential winning percentage and all
(02:50):
that sort of stuff going up. Now, obviously Chris is
a little longer in the tooth. Nevertheless, the numbers don't lie.
So what's it been like with him being a part
of this group and the vibe you get from him
and how he affects the team and how he's folded
into the team.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, first of all, he's really a NonStop talker. He's amazing.
He just yap, yap, yap all the time, all the time,
talking to his teammates.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And he says that the number one thing about defense
is communication. So when he is out on the floor
of practicing, shoot around all the time talking talking to
him to his teammates, and Pop loves that. And of
course pops out an opening night or on media day
that he despised Chris Paul for nineteen years and now
he's going to get to work with him.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
And I think one of the reasons.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Why he brought him in was to have a coach
on the floor and have these young guys learn from
a guy like that. Also, Harrison Barnes is another veteran
player that the Spurs required during the offseason, and he's
a real steady player of course, the former Maverick. So
I think those two veteran players will help these young
guys along. You mentioned Victor wember Yama, he of course
is the centerpiece, but they've got some other really good
young players. And I'm really impressed Craig with Steph Castle,
(03:55):
the rookie from the Yukon He was the fourth pick
in the draft. Really solid defensive player real sick. He's
about six y five. He's listed to two ten. I
think he's about two fifteen to twenty really, and he's
very aggressive offensively.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
He's been to the free throw line.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I think during the preseason five games he got to
the line twenty four times and very very aggressive. And
I think the more and more we see him, the
more and more comfortable he's going to get.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I think he's really going to contribute this season.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
By the way, did Chris Paul try to sell anybody
on State Farms bungling their price their price bundle thing
or something like that on your No, I.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Haven't seen anybody from State Farm the whole time I've
been here.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, we're buddy, Yeah, where's our man? Where's Jake from
State Farm? Anyway? All right, we're visiting with Bill Shone
talking about this how I don't know if different is
the right word.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Evolved maybe is a better word.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
How how much evolution has this Spurs roster and team
undergone since last season?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, I think it's a whole different year. You know,
last year was Victor's first year. They were kind of
unsettled in the beginning of the year. They tried some
different things in the beginning, and now they're much more sat.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
They have a whole year under their.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Belt, not just Victor but some of the other young guys,
and this offseason was.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Very, very important for them.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
They had open gym throughout the entire summer and then
a lot of guys participated in that. The coaches were
involved as well. That the shooting coach, Jimmy Barron, worked
with a lot of guys during the offseason, so they've
been working really hard. I think that's one of the
reasons why there's certain optimism, especially from Victor, because he
saw not only himself putting in the work for all
of his teammates as well this summer.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
By the way, Cameron Parker, producer, you know as our
resident NBA Honk he is as an he's an NBA savant,
So I invited him invited in the joining the conversation here.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Good to see you, Bill, I'm good to hear from you.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
As Wenby begins his second season, what do you think
realistically can be his ceiling this year?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
You know, last year he averaged twenty one and a
half points in ten rebounds and three and a half blocks,
which were obviously very very good numbers. You would expect
those numbers to increase, but also he's got more help
this year, so there might be more people helping him
out offensively, especially the Spurs really need to improve Cameron
this year in three point shooting. They did not shoot
the ball very well from three point range last year,
so that'll be very very important offensively. Defensively, I think
(06:09):
the step they need to take is get better at
field goal percentage defense. There were in the bottom third
and points allowed and field goal percentage defense, so they've
got to take that step defensively. I think Chris Paul
helps in that regard because of his communication skills.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
And of course he's got Wemby back there.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
But as I just mentioned to Craig Steph Castle, he's
not gonna start, he's going to come off the bench,
but he's really a good defensive player. They got another
young guard his third year from Notre Dame who's taking
some positive steps this season.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
That's Blake Wesley.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
He's lightning quick, more of a defensive player than an
offensive player, but he's learned how to discribute the ball.
Things have slowed down for him quite a bit, so
I would expect Blake Wesley maybe to work his way
into the mix and that second team on especially when
they try to mix it up defensively and try to
force some turnovers.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Jeremy Sohan, the former Baylor Bear with the multi colored hair.
They had to rely on it. He got a lot
of minutes last year. Does his role change now with
this roster being remade.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I think he's basically the power forward on this team.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Craig, He's going to be relied on to provide energy, defense,
run the floor. He's a really pesty defensive player. I
think he can improve in that area, and I think
he's gonna get better. But he's still young. He's twenty
one years of age. You mentioned the fact that he
played at bail Or. He played at Baylor one year,
so they draft him knowing that his upside was going
to be down the line, and I think he's starting
to come into his own a little bit, very aggressive player.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yeah, yeah, one year, and he he took it to
Texas both times that he played in the games.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
In those as.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
We visit with Bill Bill Schoening here. Now, Bill, if
if you were to name someone who whom you have
not yet named, that you think has a chance either
to have a breakout season or the folks just don't
know that much about and they're going to learn quite
a bit about this guy during the year.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Who might that be.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Julian Champenni is the guy that I would pick right now.
He's the starting shooting guard. He'll probably be back to
the bench once Devinvesselle gets helfy. Devin Misseell had offseason
foot surgery and he is almost ready. He's gonna be
re evaluated November first. I think they're anticipating him being
ready to go right after that, but he's not going
to start the season. So Champagney shot forty two percent
(08:11):
from three point range during the preseason. He looked very,
very comfortable. He's one of those guys who put a
lot of work in. He's only twenty three years of age.
He's long, He's about six eight and two ten. He's
a willing defender with long arms. He could be a
real three and D guy, I think in the future
for the Spurs.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So keep rying on.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Julian Champagne from Brooklyn, New York, and went to Saint John's.
He's a former Saint John's is the Red storm now
no longer the red men.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Right, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
In Champagne, you just you put the eye before the
e between the end, right, just like Champagne, except with
an eye before the e.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yeah, Jim Pagney, Yeah the way it looks.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
Yeah, absolutely, Bill.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Looking at the Western Conference, I mean absolutely loaded from
from top even the bottom. But looking at the top
in terms of your playoff contenders. Obviously at Dallas winning
the West this past season, defeating Minnesota, who made some
big changes, getting Julius Randall, sent Karl Anthony Tallons to
New York the thunder of back. They had Alex Caruso
and Isaiah Hartenstein who will be out for I think
(09:06):
about six weeks. But and of course you still have
Nikola jokicch who I think is the best player in
the NBA. Who do you see coming out of the
West this season.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I really like Oklahoma City for a number of reasons.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I think Mark Dagnault's a really good young coach, but
he's got a lot of different players he can work
with here. He's got a lot of depth. And I
think that Jalen Williams, the way he came on last
year really surprised some folks. He really took a step forward.
Sam Presty's done a marvelous job as a general manager
at Oklahoma City building this thing. So I think that
OKAC is going to be right up there with Dallas Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
You know, look at Dallas now, they've.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Got Lay Thompson for goodness sake to add to Kyrie
Hrvan and Luca Dntrid. So that's going to be a
very very formatile offensive unit when you look at what
they've done.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
But okay, see, I think might be the team to
beat in the West.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
All right, So it's funny because Cam just beating me
to the punch because every year we do this before
the start of the year, I ask you for your
thoughts on who are the teams to beat in both
the Eastern Conference in the West Conference. So you just
outlined okay, seeing, which by the way, makes Cameron happy
because he's a Thunder fan.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
So so there's that. No, But what about the East.
Your thoughts on the East, Well.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
It's often and everybody else right now. I mean that
they're clearly the class of the Eastern Conference. There's a
lot of different teams that might be able to contend
and give them a push. The Knicks obviously are one.
But you know it's funny with the Knicks getting Karl
Anthony Towns.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I think that's good.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
But I think we're really good to miss Devincenzo and Randall.
I really do, because those guys could have Randall can
score and Devincenzo is a tough defensive player and a
really good glue guy to have on the roster. So
Minnesota is one of those teams I think is going
to be in the mix as well.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Okay, all right. Favorite NBA city to visit.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Well, Philly, of course, because it's my hometown. I get
to see the family and see some friends. But I
really dig LA. When we stay in Santa Monica, Craig,
now we say at LA we stay at LA Live
sometimes that's cool.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
You know the Grammy Awards museums right there, so that's
pretty nice. But I like the beach. I like Anamonica.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
So this year we've got like the Clippers and the
Lakers a couple of days apart, so we're gonna have
like about four or five days out of the coast.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
So I might or might not make it to the
arena for the game.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Okay, most I'm not gonna I'm not gonna have you
trash in NBA city. But but but least desirable to
visit for any number. He could be broadcast location, could
be a hotel, could be a dearth of fine restaurants.
If if there's a if there's a an NBA city
(11:30):
that you had to excisee from the list, which one
would it be?
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Wow, that's tough because I've got a lot of friends.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I just I just gave a lot of flowers to
the thunder And now I'm gonna say that Oklahoma City
is by least favor I'll tell you why, and it's not.
I like Oklahoma to day, I really do. And Craig,
you've been there many times. We've been over to Bricktown Ballpark.
You and I have shared a drink with Charles Barkley
in Oklahoma City.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
In the Red Diano Lounge. You have to scurve an hotel.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
That's exactly right. And he picked up the tab for
that entire night. I had no idea.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Yeah, I'll drop.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
I think it was.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I don't know how much money space my thap was
one fifty. I thought I was ready to pay it. No, sure,
because you introduced him to a good looking one from
San Antonio from the and he used to say, no,
they shipped you in from Houston. You're not from San Antonio.
Players one of the coach's girlfriends. But anyway, long story short, Okay,
see only because they don't have a lot of restaurants
(12:23):
and there's not an awful lot to do.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
But I still like that city. It's still a good town.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
But it's thirty out of thirty for me.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
What player or team are you most excited to see
in person this upcoming season?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
The team tonight.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I'm really looking forward to seeing Klay Thompson play for
the Mavericks. I'm anxious to see exactly how they're going
to work this, you know, with Luca and Kyrie shandling,
their sharing the ball handling responsibilities. You know, they can't
forget about Thompson because he's sixth all time and three
pointers made in the NBA. Uh, And he probably has
a little something to prove this year. You know, Golden
State did not have a great year last year, and
I'm sure he wants to make an impression on his
(12:58):
new fans. He's thirty four years old now, though I'm
looking at numbers, and he put up some decent numbers
last year, but not real typical play Thomps and numbers.
He averaged eighteen points. But he's thirty four years of
age now, in his twelfth year. I think he's going
to be an important contributor to the.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Match of the season.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Best position broadcast position in the NBA, and worst Toronto.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
We're in the front row or the second row.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
There's only about four or five arenas now, Craig, where
we're on the floor, so most of the places were upstairs.
The worst location is Boston. They've got us in a
tunnel just above the tunnel, kind of catty corner. It's
very difficult to call the game from that angle. Usually
you're on the side, not behind the basket, so from
that perspective it's a little difficult. You know, it's kind
of the corner and not behind the basket. But you're
(13:42):
low too, which is kind of weird. You know, I
prefer being a little higher. If you're going to be
off the floor, you might as well be higher up
where you can see everything. It reminds me a little bit, Craig,
you've done a football game at Syracuse in fact, we
did just together where you're so low at the Carrier
Dome it's hard to sing inside the ten yard line.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, and let me tell you there's Syracuse is a
prize compared to what it used to be called FedEx
Field and DC. Trust me on that low and in
the end zone, not good. Yeah, that's h that's why.
And I saw that location talking about because Chuck cooper'steen
was broadcasting from it obviously during the NBA Finals, and
it reminded me, and this will you know, warm your heart.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
It reminded me of what I had to do a Texas.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Game at Madison Square guard against Villanova. And it was
a position just like that in the corner. And so
while it was difficult to see anything down at the
far end, one thing we could see was the huge
fight that broke out amongst fans on the baseline there
and the Haymakers being thrown.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
I thought, eh, well they're from Philly.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
They came up for the game, you know, so it's
it was that kind of thing, all right.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Now. One other things, Yes.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
The first time ever violence has been associated with the
Philadelphia fan.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yeah, Y's just absolutely amazing. All right, I've got to
ask you one other thing. I thought about you a
couple of nights go because you didn't end up graduating
from a specific university. You went to the American Academy
of Broadcasting, where they teach you to sound like God
if I remember.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So the closest thing I would say for you to
a quote unquote alma mater maybe Texas, but I like,
I also think of you as Sam Houston. And here's
Sam that's Bowl eligible for the first time they're gonna
get to go to a bowl game. How excited were
you to see that happen.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I was very, very pumped and very excited. Six years
of my life I was at Sam Houston State.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
So I guess that really is kind of my.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Alma mater because most of the students go there for
four years. I was there for six. It didn't really attend.
I learned a lot in Huntsville, that's for sure. But
I'm really happy about that because you know that school
has grown just like Texas State. You know, I was
on that campus the other day. It's forty thousand students
there in so Marcus. It's crazy. I think there's almost
twenty thousand now. It's Sam in Huntsville, and they've got
good facilities, they've got a really good football coach in Keeler,
(16:00):
and I think that you know, it's a team. You know,
it's it's interesting you look at these teams that are
coming up and there's so much talent in the state
of Texas.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Craig as, you know, in.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Football, you're going to see good football at all levels,
even at that level, the FCS level.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
And now and now that they've gone to FBS, it's
really cool that they're going to wind up in a ball.
By the way, do you still tell people that you
did a six.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Year stretch in Huntsville? The way you describe your time there.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Downs FBS used to be FCS yees six years in
Huntsville mostly on the outside, although I did spend some
time on the inside because Craig as you know, I
had to cover the prison system as a newsman, So
you know, Cameron, that meant death Row interviews at nine
am on Wednesdays. So you know, I'm still the only
guy that I know that's a sportscaster that did a
one on one with Henry Lee Lucas. Yeah, you know,
(16:44):
not too guys can say that they sat down with
a serial killer. But you know, Craig, that cost me
a dollar fifty because he needed a pack of pale
meals and an orange soda before he could talk to me.
So but I got paid by AP for that interview
fifty dollars, so I cleared forty eight to fifty.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
I remember how many actual executions did you personally witness.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I witnessed six of them.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I covered twenty nine of them, so I was actually
at the prison for twenty nine.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Which I would actually watch six people breathe their last Yes, yeah, yeah,
Now that that will shape your outlook on.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
The world, won't it? Will? You know?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
It was It makes you think about a lot of
different things because you're in the in the chamber there
and the family of the victim is on one side,
the family of the guy that's getting executed is on
the other side. And it was just a really weird
I was so happy to get news, full time out
of news, full time sports when Tom dor hired me
a Kalbja and often in nineteen eighty nine, no more prisons,
(17:42):
no more, no more going in to interview death row
in these.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
All right, Well, who do you have for you a
pregame interview tonight.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I am probably going to track down Harrison Barnes, who
played in Dallas and you know, of course as one
of the news firsts. It's a new season, so and
HB has always been one my favorite opposing players, and
now of course he's.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
He's with the good guys. Yeah, he was a tar heel,
so that makes him a good guy to you.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Right, Sorry, of course you like him from way back when.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Hey, I appreciate you doing this. Listen, have fun, ton
I have fun this season. We'll check back in as
we go along anytime. Greg, We'll see thanks.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
All right.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
That's Bill Shooning. We're all part of the iHeart family.
And Bill, of course the voice of the San Antonio Spurs.
Bill and I did ten football and nine basketball seasons
together and hosted a show together on this station for
four years before he left in the fall of nineteen No,
(18:41):
two thousand and one.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Two thousand one is what he left. So, yeah, we've
known each other. We knew each other when he was
doing Sam Houston and I was doing North Texas. We'll
go back to the eighties. That's how long we known
each Did you cover any executions in North Texas.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Nope, nope, nope, they didn't have him up there. That's
LUs one. That's LUs one down there in Hunt's bills
on hand for that.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
He was there.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
He had a you know, he had a stand up
act where he did part of that where he did
like death row standings and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Really, yeah, it was pretty good to get.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, all right, So we have more coming up inconceivable
next on Sports Radio AM thirteen Under the Zone.
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