The Kyle Bailey Show: Will Palaszczuk

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's talk about that, among other things with Will Polachik,
voice of Charlotte FC WFNZ host reporter. He's back with
us for a Thursday conversation. Will, what do you think
of that Brandon Miller tied for second in terms of
breakout candidate for twenty twenty five twenty six.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'll go.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Wow, all right, that's top, world class analysis right there.
We'll try to get the line cleared up. Seven oh four, five,
seven ninety six to ten. Will await what he has
to say right there. But again, Charles Lee coming up
at five o'clock. I will ask him how he plans
to manage the five spot, which is I think the
really big sticking point for a lot of Hornets fans
in terms of their optimism or belief in this season?

(00:37):
Do they have enough at the five spot? With Mussa Diabat,
Mason Plumley and Ryan Kalchbrenner, is he back, We're going
to try it again. All right, let's go with Mulligan here,
Willie P what do you think about Brandon Miller as
a breakout candidate?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Appreciate it, Kyle, Sorry about that.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
I'm driving through the rolling hills of southern Indiana presently,
so hopefully, hopefully the connects is state. But I'm actually
interested in both of those things. He brought up on
the lead in the McNeely thing is incredibly interesting because
of how I think we got to see in the
summer league just how much of a triple level score
he is. He can shoot from the outside, he can

(01:13):
definitely take it off the bounce, and also his driving ability,
I think is something that we looked at and maybe
he didn't necessarily see as much of in the latter
part of his Virginia career. But the Miller part's also
equally fascinating, just because of the fact that, you know,
he obviously had that season cut short a year ago,
and people thought that that might have curbed a little
bit of his development, But I think he comes back

(01:34):
a lot stronger. You worry about whether not the shooting
motions affected by that risk or not, But I think
people look at his work ethic and look also at
his leadership, think about the way that he was kind
of carrying this group from a vocal standpoint last year
when things weren't exactly going all that swimming league, and
I think you're very much looking at him potentially making
a very very big jump in year three, provided he's

(01:54):
able to stay healthy and not misbeat with not shooting
a percentage as well.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Okay, I mean, what do you think about the five spot?
Then we'll get onto other things because we have plenty
of time to talk corners. But it seems to me
that a lot of people look at this and say,
you know, that's the reason that they can't fully get
behind this team maybe making a charge toward the playoffs
is that they don't think they have enough Between Musa
Plumbley and Ryan Kalchbrenter.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
It definitely makes me nervous. I think that Kaulk printers
maybe more developmental than we might have initially thought. Although
again the initial reviews at a training camp are very
very I would say they're very very complementary his way.
So maybe he has taken a jump since Summer League.
Again he looked again, a looked a bit more project
like in Summer League. That's not exactly the most fair

(02:37):
comparison because I think obviously when the when the competition
jumps up, you obviously see maybe a little bit.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Of a different side to him.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
I think plumb Lee is going to play what they
wanted Todz Gibson to do a little bit more, but
maybe on a larger scale, because it does seem like
he command more minutes than TOAs could a year ago.
And while Diabate I think is a very nice player,
I still feel like he is more under sized against
some of the bigger NBA centers. You know, your Joe
l Embiid's, your Nikola Jokic's. I think that those kind

(03:07):
of players potentially could eat him up. I think he's
a great, you know, developmental offensive player, and I think
he's also great in certain spaces on some nights when
you'd want to start him. I just don't know if
he's good enough to be an every night starter in
the NBA. And I think Charles Lee is going to
mix in match. I think he's been very aut of
and about the fact that, hey, you know, they might
be a different guy in there, dependent on what the

(03:28):
opposition brings out there to the table. So I think
it's still a work in progress. I don't think that
they're one hundred percent clear at what they want to
do with that position as of yet from a contending standpoint,
but I think they're at least trying to piecemeil it
together while they developed the other parts of this team,
like you mentioned with Konkin Nipple, and obviously some of
the newer veterans that they've gotten around there, like Collin Sexton.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
Will Plochik with us here for a Thursday conversation. Let's
talk Panthers Cowboys here for a moment. You and I
will be back together in the press box on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
You know, on.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Paper, this looks like a game that could be shootout.
Dallas has a very good offense and a very bad defense.
Looks like Carolina is getting healthy on offense. The run
game finally came alive, so I think on paper again,
it adds up to a bit of a shootout. Do
you think that's what we get? And how can Carolina
take advantage?

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yeah, hopefully the news comes back good on Taylor Moten
as well on that count from from Carolina. But like
you said, everybody else seems to be getting healthier. It's
great to see Jalen Cocher back as well in practice.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Whether or not he plays this week.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Or not, I think remains to be seen from a
lot of people's perspective. But at the same point in time,
I look at this and say that that Carolina feels
like they're at least trending in the right direction. I
need to see a second great game out of this
squad in order to feel a little bit better about
it going forward, because I think we all kind of
got ourselves in a frame of mine after the Atlanta

(04:48):
game that, hey, this might be something that's turning the corner,
particularly the way the defense played, and then they laid
it egg against New England. And then you come back
this past week and you're down seventy to nothing before
the chairs were even warm, and then you come back
and have that amazing come from behind victory against Miami,
and I think you take a lot of the positives
out of that, but also you kind of figure out, well,
how the heck did it get there? And a lot

(05:08):
of it was because of Bryce, and a lot of
it was because also there was some defensive inconsistencies when
it comes to things that we've seen earlier this season,
and able to really cover the tight end and cover
the boundary area. I think those are two things that
Dallas has very very adept ways of being able to exploit.
So you have to be a Simon correct wouldn't hurt
it and turn the football over from the defensive side
of the offensive side for a little bit. And we

(05:30):
need to see our first sixty minute game from Bryce
in order for them to get themselves a victory, because
I don't think that they'll be able to fall behind
the way they did against Miami and come back to
win against Dallas the way they did last week. It's
got to be a sixty minute contest. And I think
too that'll also be a nice harmainger of things to come,
because they'll need more of those kinds of efforts to
beat the teams that they're going to see in less

(05:50):
seven and half of the schedule, because the second half
of the schedule, as you know, Kyle, is much more
daunting than the opening six to seven games that they've
played so far.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
What do you think of Bryce so far? More specifically,
you know, coming out of the way things ended. I'm
not gonna you know, I'll say last year the final
five or six games of the year, right, I'm not
going to go ten. I'm gonna say the final five
or six games of the year where he looked really good,
had some great performances, and the expectation that he could
hit the ground running in twenty twenty five. It has
not been the case. It's not been all bad. It
certainly hasn't been as bad as the start of last year.

(06:20):
But the turnovers are killing them, and he's made some
really bone headed plays. But he's made some good plays
and some of the numbers are favorable. So, like, what
are we to make of the way Bryce is played
through five games?

Speaker 3 (06:30):
At its kindest, Kyle, I would call it uneven. At
its harshest, I'd call it disappointing, because I think we
all kind of thought that he could turn that corner
and be the guy that we saw in that final month,
month and a half of the season, where you know,
he wasn't the reason they lost those games to Kansas
City and Philadelphia down the stretch, and he was the
reason why they were in other contests.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
That maybe they fell short or in.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
Games that we didn't think they were gonna win last year.
After the way things started for him and the rest
of the team in twenty two twenty four, we haven't
seen that price yet for a whole sixty minutes, And
I think that's part of the reason why I think
people are still happy in trepidation about whether or not
you want to buy in on where the Carolina Panthers
are at this point, because the biggest thing that needs
to take place during this season is you have to

(07:15):
find out whether or not you can get that price
over a long stretch of time. If it's only something
that turns into an outlier, I don't think the Panthers
happen to a quarterback in the future. It's played in
simple But if you can get that price for longer
than a you know, three, four, five game stretch, and
you can get the rest of the team around and developing,
then you have your quarterback.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
But I think it really needs to come a lot
of it from him. You know.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
The wins are nice, and I think again, no one's
going to look at gift horsing them out when it
comes to wins for a football team when it comes
to their overall global development. But the most important thing
this year is you have to figure out and learn
about price.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
And what I've learned again.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
Is that the saving e consistencies we've talked about for
the first two plus years of his career are still
kind of rearing their ugly heads. And until those things
get tamped down, it's hard to have a vote of
confidence for them.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
Will Polachik, voice of Charlotte FC, WFNZ host reporter, hanging
out with us here on a Wednesday. All right, Charlotte
f C, let's talk about a team that has a
future in the postseason. We know that, and we're all
trying to get excited for what's ahead. But first got
to finish up the season with Philadelphia. And I heard
you earlier this week telling the fans, Hey, guys, I
know it wasn't great, but let's all remember they did

(08:25):
actually win this past weekend against DC United, So how
do we feel about what they just did? And of course,
looking ahead to the end of the regular season.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
Well, listen, on its surface, when you have an eleven
v nine scenario, would you have wanted to be up
more than that?

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Absolutely? Positively yes.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
I feel like if this game would had taken place
in you know, June or July, you know, in the
middle part of the season, when you probably felt all
you could throw more, you know than the kitchen sink
at the game, I feel like if Charlotte CE had
that position, you maybe see a.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Different kind of score line.

Speaker 3 (08:58):
It's hard also to remember that they down three of
their significant midfield players or two disgnificant midfield players, and
then three if you count pet Bl and also the
most accomplished defenders. So I think there was a bit
of a reticence to try to take too many chances
when you were already up one nail after that second
red card was hit. So I think the most important
thing was get the result if everything else kind of

(09:19):
comes out the wash on the way through, and then
end up, you know.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
Getting back home.

Speaker 3 (09:23):
You get that result, and then you're gonna be home
for a decision day with those three players back. We'll
see what happens with pet Bl. I know that the
news from him on Instagram earlier this week wasn't great,
But I think again, Charlotte has gotten very far used
to playing with this very solid midfield, the Brandt Bronico
to bril Gianni and Ashley Westwood. I think the front
three are playing great. Zaha playing out of his mind

(09:44):
right now, and I think that's a side that I
don't think anybody wants to see in the playoffs. And
if you get this result on Saturday, if you beat Mike,
if you beat Philadelphia, then you're guaranteed home did the
vintage in the opening round of the playoffs, and as
we saw last year, there can be a lot of
topsy every things that happened in this opening round with
the best of free format the way that it worked out, Kyle,

(10:04):
if Charlotte would have gotten past Orlando, they would have
hosted the rest of the Eastern Conference postseason. If they
had gotten past Orlando, they would have hosted in the
conference semi finals against Atlanta. They would have had a
conference final home game against the eventual team that got
on on the other side of the bracket, New York
Red Bulls. They wouldn't have hosted the final, but the

(10:25):
Eastern Conference playoffs could have conceivably gone through Charlotte being
only in fifth place. So if you get the fourth
that's just another opportunity to get more potential home games
in your building. And as we know, Charlotte of CE
has done very very well at home, a club record
twelve victories and a too short of a MLS record
for most home victories in a season.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Just to elaborate on that, we all know that getting
home playoff games is big, right. It's good for the fans,
everybody likes to see it. But there's also a massive
financial winfall that really, you know, it accelerates overall organizational progress, right.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
Kyle, And I know people have kind of looked at
at what they want in terms of the they're kind
of waiting and seeing. When it comes to playoffs, I
will say this this tea, this town has started for
a winner. And I think when you start to see
that kind of bubbling up and build, people are gonna
want to.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
See that atmosphere.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
I think about that playoff atmosphere we had last year
when Charlotte played against Atlanta for a one contest. It
was a live building, it was a live atmosphere. I
remember the thundering bolt when Christian Kalina made the last
save on Duncan Maguire, when he basically saved that penalty
to win things for Charlotte. It's it's very much a
thing where I think the entire city can get behind it.

(11:34):
It's gonna want It's gonna be something that everybody wants.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
To go and see.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
And again once that schedule comes out, I feel like
people are gonna be like, Okay, now I know what
today wins the game, and we will figure out our
way to get there. And again We won't know those
things to l after Charlotte if he plays one percent,
but it is going to be something that I feel
like cat have almost a mind of its zone and
an animal of its own when you see that the

(11:58):
way that it is. Home rule splits in this league
are so so massive, and when you get a home
atmosphere in the playoffs, that's doesn't like it.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
Oh Man, all right, So you're in the Golden rolling
Hills of southern Indiana right now?

Speaker 3 (12:10):
What do you do?

Speaker 1 (12:11):
When I know you're up there to see the family
and the in laws? Like, what do you do?

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Do you?

Speaker 1 (12:14):
How do you keep you go to Indianapolis? Do you
have a favorite food haunt?

Speaker 2 (12:17):
What do you do?

Speaker 3 (12:18):
We are actually right now driving through Bloomington. We're we're
at my wife's Long Water University, Indiana University. We're actually
going to check out Kurtz Signette's Coaches show tonight because
we had a free afternoon. We had some people with
some plans earlier on that kind of I would say
ducked us a little bit, but we're now just said
you know what you know, if you want to hang

(12:39):
at us, We're gonna go down to Bloomington and restock
my wife's fan gear closet, and have some wings with
Kurtz Signetti.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
How about that.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
That's pretty awesome. Tell him, you know, Blacksburg's nice this
time of year. I'd appreciate it if you did that, buddy.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
All Right, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
If i'll see his agent there, but i'll let you.
I'll let him know that you have some buyout dollars
that might fit him as well.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
All Right, brother, have fun, be safe. We'll see when
you get back.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
Thank you, pal,