The Kyle Bailey Show: Nick Carboni

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We have Nick Carboni on hold, don't start rattling people off,
all right, we have to get to the Leader of
the w C and See Wrecking Crew. Nick Carboni, sports
director Sports anchor, back with us for his weekly conversation.
What's going on, Nick, I'm good.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I usually try to listen well, since you know, starting
at three, of course, but at least a little bit
before I come on, so I can offer some sort
of musings about what you guys are talking about. But
I got nothing on this one. That's okay.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Now, That's that's why I gave you the name, you know,
Leader of the w C and See Wrecking Crew. That'll do,
and then we can move on. It's good to have
you back, man. Let's get the ugliness out of the way.
And it's not all ugly, because the Hornets did sweep
it back to back this past weekend over the Bulls
and the Raptors, two teams with winning records, but then
they followed that up by doing the thing that we
were all very aware that they might just do last night,

(00:47):
and that's a big letdown against a really bad NETS
team and they still found a way to blow it.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Nick. Yeah, I mean, listen, the two teams in this
market right now are just putting everybody on a roller coaster,
sometimes with a seatbelt, sometimes without one, and just saying
like like, let's go, like you're going for this ride
whether you like it or not. Last night was a
classic case of that win to beat a Raptors team

(01:13):
that was red hot, come down from seventeen points behind,
do a lot of it without LaMelo and Brandon Miller,
and then on Monday night go lose to a Brooklyn
Nets team that had won three games. You lost to
a Pelicans team to hand them their first win of
the year. But listen without LaMelo Ball doing LaMelo Ball things,

(01:33):
and without Brandon Miller on the floor again last night,
and he was a late scratch, Like it's gonna be
hard for this team to beat anybody, especially I think
Ball and Bridges combined for twenty points last night, so
you know, still should have won the game. But you know,
they go as he goes and as Brandon Miller goes,

(01:53):
and CON's doing his best. God bless him, man, I mean,
I think he's probably wearing thin on him right now,
the losing the way they're losing. I think last night
Rod Boone had a couple of great quotes from him
about you know, kind of what's going on right now,
so we're going to see I mean, this is the
this is the point where at every year, Kyle, where
it's like you're going into the holidays with a lot
of bad feelings and you're not leaving with much better ones.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yeah, I want to move on. They'll play again. They
got a bunch of these No I want to talk football.
I'm just they're frustrating. But they'll play again and maybe
they'll make us happy next time. Let's talk about the
winning team on Sunday. What was the most surprising part
of Carolina's upset win over the Rams to you?

Speaker 2 (02:31):
Obviously the defense. I mean we went into that game thinking, Okay,
the offense is primed for a bounce back, because that's exactly.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
What they do.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
We know they're going to run the ball more, we
know it's going to be cold and rainy, like they
can kind of muddy up the game a little bit.
The defense without Trayvon Merrig, without j C. Horn, without
Christian Rose Boom, Trevin Wallace, just coming back against that offense,
that quarterback, those receivers. Listen, they scored twenty eight points,

(03:02):
but to have three takeaways and massive ones too in
the end zone, a pick six and one to really
seal the victory, although I know Bryce made the big
third down throw to Cocher after that to really steal it.
That was the biggest surprise. I mean, Matt Stafford, we
all know he had two interceptions coming to the game.
He'd throw him like twenty eight consecutive touchdown passes without one,

(03:23):
and then to get him twice in one quarter, one
to take away a score and one to put one
on the board. That was absolutely the most surprising part
of Sunday.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
How was Bryce's performance vindicating? Was it affirming? Was it
just another death of point, like, because you know, there's
this constant referendum on Bryce week to week. He's good,
he's great, He's bad, He's he's a flop, he was
a bust. They never should have taken him. What do
we think about him now?

Speaker 2 (03:49):
I like two things he said. I think it's a
data point as they kind of explore the possibility of
a fifty year option and extension, although obviously option is
probably the more likely Centario. But I also think it's affirming,
like that's who he can be. Four, one hundred and
forty eight against Atlanta. Good. You go to Mercedes then
Stadium once a year, you want to do that, go

(04:10):
for it. The horrible interception at San Francisco when they're
threatening to score, like, let's clean that up. But we've
seen him be better than that, especially late in last
season and hopefully late in this season. I think, you know,
a good two hundred plus efficient fifteen for twenty three touchdowns.

(04:31):
I don't expect two of the three to be on
fourth down every game, but that's great. Take care of
the football like that and lean on the run game
to set things up like that affirms what this guy
can be going forward, and you can win with that
in Carolina.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
What the thing about the passing game is that it's
been there a couple of times. It's also disappeared. How
much of what we're watching right now is Dave Canalis
also growing up? And I'll throw in there what I
thought was his worst performance to date as a play
caller and a game planner at San Francisco. You know,
we had Luke praising him earlier in the year, saying, man,
this guy can call plays. Jake Delom told a great

(05:06):
story about that on the station. I think you've had
him on recently, you know, but there's is are we
just watching Dave grow up too? Is that what's happening?

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Absolutely? I mean he had one year of calling plays,
like all he could do over a decade plus in
Seattle under Pete Carroll was coach his position and kind
of formulate an idea of how he wanted to do it.
Then he had one year to do it and and
one year, Like you talk about data points, like there's
all sorts of things that go into how you're calling

(05:34):
plays that one year, that one time, that one game,
that one series. So like he's got to get a
lot you know. Ron Rivera used to say, I don't
know if he who he stole from, but like ten
thousand snaps, right or something like that for a quarterback,
Like you've got to get a lot of work in
to really get in your bag as a play caller.

(05:55):
But I think he found the recipe. And you know,
he and Bryce Young like when they both put it
together at the same time, it can be that good.
So hopefully, you know, they've got the confidence. I think
they've got the recipe that they need. Finally, coming out
of Thanksgiving, week coincidentally, and now they can hopefully carry
that over the next four games.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
How nervous are you, Like, I know, you cover this
thing like you're not as emotionally invested as a lifelong fan,
but like levels of nervousness about the Saints game coming
out of the bye because they've lost to them once already,
and this team has found a way to flop in
some pretty advantageous spots already.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
You know, I don't feel that nervous about them yet,
and maybe that'll come, you know, as the game approaches.
The thing that makes me the most nervous about it,
to be honest, is where the game is, and you know,
the history there and the just the atmosphere in general,
and obviously New Orleans is going to try to play
spoiler and they did a good job of it three

(06:52):
or four weeks ago here in Charlotte. But you know,
I really do think that the other day told the Panther,
affirmed it as you said for them, like if we
do this, we can win games. And they're gonna get J. C. Hornback,
and they're gonna get Trayvon Merrick back, and we'll see
about Rose Boom and Cuba. Clearly is back, So I'm

(07:14):
really not that nervous about it. I should have been
way more nervous about it the first time, though, and
I was up in the press box thinking, like, no way, man,
no way, they're losing to that team. But you know,
I really think they found it on Sunday. Now they've
just got to carry it through the rest of.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
The month, does it. I heard Mack and Bone talking
about the Pro Bowl voting earlier today. I'm trying to
figure out how much of the league still doesn't seem
to know all that much, or fans don't know all
that much about Derek Brown. I mean, you know what
I mean, Like he's he's on the page, but like,
I think, this dude is the best defensive tackle in football,
had a hand in two of the three turnovers the

(07:48):
other day, has been a monster throughout the course of
the season. But then you have like, you know, the
Pro Bowl voting, which is, you know, not that big
a deal. But also like PFF apparently has him as
the twentieth best defensive tackle in football. They had him
as a fifty grade on Sunday. And I know these
things don't matter as much as winning ultimately does, but
like what are we doing here?

Speaker 2 (08:06):
Nick? Yeah, And I like PFF. I enjoy a lot
of their content, but that doesn't make any sense to me.
I don't know how you explain that when you just
sit there and watch the game. Yeah, for all to
talk about Matthew Stafford and Puka Nakua and DeVante Adams
and who the Panthers didn't have, maybe we forgot to
realize that the best player pound for pound on the
football field, as usual, more often than not, was wearing

(08:30):
number ninety five for the Carolina Panthers. And he proved it.
He made two massive plays. I know one was off
his head, but man, he pushed and pushed and he
got up there to deflect that ball. And then obviously
when when his team needed in the most, because like
that is a scenario in which Matt Stafford is pretty good, like, okay,
I've got time, We're in the red zone, let's do this,

(08:52):
and Derek Brown gets through, chases him down, gets a
hand on the football and makes the play of the season.
So yeah, I think, and with that position, it's easy
to forget. You know. There there's you see four sacks,
which is a career high, by the way, and you're saying, Okay,
that's not the sexiest that line, But if you understands football,
you know how much of a game wrecord he can

(09:12):
be and often is. And this year, like coming off
the injury last year and not playing like he is,
he has elevated himself. Even from the record setting season
he had in twenty three.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
Last thing will come full circle with the Hornets. Any
idea what Tom kank Nipple is going to be on
Jimmy Fallon tonight.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
You're an NBC guy, Well, I'm on an eleven twenty
so I think like ten minutes after that, How cool
is that though the Hornet's got a guy? Well, I'm
not on Fallon. I'm just on the news.

Speaker 1 (09:41):
But then Fallon, it's all the TV.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
It's all the same, Yeah, exactly, But yeah, how cool
is it that the Hornets have a rookie that that
the tonight show is like, yeah, we'll have him on.
So I think it's you know, he's I hope he
smiles because man, I don't think he was too happy
last night. But yeah, that's the spot in a very
down season so far, is like this guy could be

(10:06):
I don't know if he's a one, but like he
could be one. A to Brandon Miller, I think that's
the hope in Charlotte, and he's proven right now that
he's a future All Star for sure. Love it.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
Thank you, buddy, always appreciate your time. We'll see you soon.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
You got it, guys,