The Kyle Bailey Show: Charles Lee

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sports Radio ninety two to seven wfn Z, back on
a Thursday, getting close to the weekend. Man, football's back tonight,
but so is basketball. Hornets preseason game number two in
Oklahoma City. Yes, it is that time of year. Quite frankly,
it's the best time in the sports calendar. Hornets basketball
getting geared back up and again preseason game number two

(00:20):
tonight right here on the flagship station Sports Radio ninety
two to seven wfn Z Sunshine. Sammy Farber on the
call as always, and we always look forward to that.
But right now is promise. We welcome in and welcome
back for the start of his weekly conversation, the head
coach of yours, Charlotte Hornets. We got Charles Lee joining
us from Oklahoma City. Charles Lee, it's good to talk
to you again, my man. How you been.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm doing phenomenal. It's always great to catch up with you. Kyle.
Just got done with shoot around, So now walking back
to the hotel to keep preparing for tonight's game and
hopefully get a workout in.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Oh, I love it, I love it all right. So,
how was shoot around today? Coming off the first one
and just you know, continuing to start to build here
in the beginning of the season. How was shoot around?
How are the guys looking and feeling right now?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Shoot around was very productive, you know. I think we
had a couple of really good days of practice to
be able to tighten up some things, continue to build
a foundation and implement some new offensive plays, implement some
different teaching points defensively, and then also just see where
we can improve as we go and play. Okay, see again,
So a little bit longer of a shoot around at

(01:21):
this time of year than we would usually do. Well,
we have to take full advantage of the extra time
that we have right now.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Okay, So I want to talk about preseason in Charleston
two for a second, because you were at North Charleston
Colisee in this past weekend. I got a lot of
friends there. I used to live and work there. I
did morning radio in Charleston, and one of the last
things I did before I took this job was I
was doing some play by play for the Citadel men's
basketball So you guys, yeah, yeah, yeah, So this ties
together nicely. I love the low Country, I love Chuck Town.

(01:50):
What was that experience like for you guys, and what
did your team take away from it.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yeah, beautiful city. We had an unbelievable experience. I think
the Citadel very accommodating, toying that we needed. The spaces
were perfect to be able to have a really productive,
intense competitive training camp. The food scene unreal, which is
why I have to work out so much today. But
I definitely.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
Preach best foody, best food city in America, best food
city in America.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
If you ask me, I'm with you. I thought it
was really good. So we were able to build I
think a little bit more camaraderie. There were some smaller
groups of dinners that went out, there are some big
groups of dinners that were able to go out and
just I think contain a bond because as we get
into this season, we all know that the adversity hits,
and the teams that are able to embrace the adversity

(02:40):
and have a really tight knit group are able to
usually come through those things.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
All right, So I want to jump to something that
was sent to me. I hadn't seen this until our
buddy Rod Boone posted it. One of your guys sent
it to me. The annual NBA dot Com GM survey
is out and the results are really interesting. Here, we
got a couple of things to talk about. In the
which player is likely to have a breakout season in
twenty twenty five twenty six, Brandon Miller is tied with

(03:05):
Oscar Thompson and Victor Wim Bayama for second overall. I'm
sure we'd all love him to be first, but obviously
it's great to see that kind of recognition and that
much of the league expects your guy, Brandon Miller to
have a big breakout year. Obviously, he was hurt last year.
What have we seen so far? What are you expecting
from Brandon?

Speaker 2 (03:21):
I'm expecting Brandon to have a really good year. I've
seen how hard he has worked during his rehab period.
Not only has he worked on his game, but he's
worked on like himself, the person, the leader. I think
that we just see a more mature, a more focused,
a more intentional basketball player and leader. He's done a

(03:44):
great job of continuing to stay engaged even as he
was hurt, and the basketball player on the court, as
we saw last game, he's like just scratching the surface
for what he can do. He's going to be a
really good two way player in this league. He had
the defensive mindset and the intangibles to really be disruptive

(04:04):
and guard one on one and go vertical at the rim,
and he took a charge last game. Just impacting Winning
is always on his mind, and I think it carries
over to defense, but also offensively. He's willing to do
whatever the team needs him to do in terms of
being a playmaker for himself. But he's passing the ball
really well, and you know, we're challenging him even to

(04:27):
crash the glass a little bit more. Can you help
us get a couple more possessions? And I'm just really
excited for him to unleash the total package of what
he's worked on on the court. But then also, like
I said, the leadership piece is going to be huge
for our team this year.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
LaMelo ball then obviously going hard to believe going into
year six. I know we've talked a lot about his
offseason workouts and things like that. Recently he's spent a
lot of time injured, but when he's been out there,
he's been fantastic. What's the next evolution of LaMelo or
is that even the right way to put it. Is
there an evolution or is it more about keeping him
out there? And fine tuning things.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Everyone's in an involving human being, Kyle, you and me both,
So yes, he's evolving. And I think that we saw
this summer he put a lot of time into the
weight room. I think that between his mindstead of wanting
to get stronger, wanting to be more durable with the
plan that was put in place by our performance staff,
he's added some lean muscle to him and I think

(05:20):
that it's going to help him with the rigors of
the season. It's going to help him with all the
physical defenders that are usually thrown his way. I think
that he watches the playoffs and obviously has goals and
aspirations of being in those moments. And if you want
to be there, that level rises, and so your mind
and your body have to be able to keep up
with that level and compete there, and he knows he

(05:41):
can do it, and so I think that he pushed
himself really hard with his body, and then I think
just his overall commitment to the court and consistency took
a whole other level. And so it's going to be
exciting to watch him and Brandon and Miles and our
four rookies out there. And then the vets that we
at it and who we were able to acquire. I

(06:02):
think Mello is really going to reap the benefits of
having a really good supporting cast around him.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
Charles Lee, head coach of the Hornets, with us here
for a Thursday conversation in Oklahoma City Hornets and thunder Tonight,
game two of the preseason. What does what does Colin
Sexton bring to the culture of your organization, to your team.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Energy, consistency, just a dog mentality. I love just his
winning spirit and the competitive joy that he plays with
it becomes contagious and infectious. He has already earned everyone's
respect on the team, in the organization as a staff

(06:39):
and front office, and so I think that anytime he
comes into your your team, or even just into your culture,
environment or building, he elevates the standards of competition, he
elevates the standards of competitive joy and passion. And so
we're really excited to have him, and I think that
he's given our group a really big boost.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
So we were talking evolution there a minute ago. We
know it's a long term thing, but since kan Ka
Nipple arrived, is the fourth overall pick through the Summer
League title. Now training camp and everything else. Is there
an area where you have seen the most tangible improvement
since he got to the straw at Hornets.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yes. I think that his overall comfort level defensively and
offensively gets better and better every day he's in the building.
I think that defensively he's starting to figure out angles
and physicality and concepts of how we want to play
and what we're willing to kind of sometimes live with.
And then offensively, the more he plays with all these guys,
he gets more and more comfortable about where he should

(07:36):
be on the floor. And I think that these guys
encourage him a lot of times to not only shoot,
but just to like playmake I think sometimes we all
get so focused on his shooting ability, but at the
end of the day, he's just a versatile player that
again wants to win, and he's one of a lot
of different levels in high school and in college, and
now he's trying to bring that same attitude and mentality

(07:57):
here to the Hornets, and I think that it's already.
We've seen it in a big way at Summer League,
We've seen it throughout training camp, saw it in the
last preseason game, and I know he's just going to
continue to infuse our culture with that winning mindset.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
Two quick things we'll get you out of here. Speaking
of rookies, in first Rounders and the aforementioned NBA GM survey,
Liam McNeely tied for fourth on the rankings, of which
rookie was the biggest steal in terms of where he
was selected in the draft. So he's getting some love
as well. What have you seen thus far?

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, he deserves the love that he's getting. I have
really enjoy getting to see his growth and seeing the
energy that Liam comes in with every day. He is
so grateful and excited to have an NBA opportunity. I
think he's really excited about having it here in Charlotte,
and he's mixed really well with our group. I have
seen him defensively. Coach Hurley definitely put a competitive battery

(08:53):
in that man's bout in his body because he is
looking to be physical. I think that he gets in
there and he rebound really well with his size and length,
and then offensively he shoots the ball. He can play
a little pick and roll. We've got to see some
pass aheads and he's driving and getting a piece of
the pain and kicking out to guys for threes and
so he's really like a Swiss Army knife, is how

(09:14):
I keeps kind of telling people about him and this
whole group of our rookies. They're going to be really special.
But Liam definitely deserves all the credit that he is
starting to starting to get all right.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Last thing, the five spot Musa Mason, Ryan Kulkbrenner. How
do you get the most out of these guys? What's
that rotation look like in your mind early in the season,
and you know, best case scenario, how does that group
play together, evolve together and help his team win games?

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah? I think that each one brings something different to
the table, which is what excites me. It gives us
the ability to play a lot of different ways. I
think that they're going to continue to compete throughout training camp.
We're going to get to see these guys play some
minutes in preseason games, and at that point Coach Lee's
gonna have a tough decision on his hands of which
guys are going to be able to playcause it's probab

(10:00):
gonna be too hard to play all three of them.
But I think that each one has really taken on
the identity of what we need from them in terms
of protecting the paint, but also dominating the paint offensively
with your offensive rebounding, with your ability to create spree
and assists, and then also playmate from that painted area.
And so all three bigs do that, they just all

(10:20):
do it a little bit differently. So I can't wait
to see how things continue to play out through training
camp in pre season, but each will be awarded an
opportunity to showcase what they can help add to our team.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Coach, we missed you. It's good having you back. Good
luck tonight. We'll do it again next week.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
I'm so excited to be back, Kyle, and you also
mentioned this is such a great time of the year.
I'm also rooting for our Panther boys this weekend, so
shout out to Coach Canalis and the Panthers. Let's go
get us another one.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
I love that. Hi, buddy, We'll talk to you soon,
all right.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Thank you,