September 29, 2025 • 43 mins
Hour 2 starts as always with the Campus Corner and What Did We Learn. We then move on to a great interview with Hornets HC, Charles Lee. We finish the hour by asking if Dan Morgan should officially be on the hot seat, and if not, who should be?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome back, folks.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
This is the Western Walker Show from the Hornets training
camp at Queen's College.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
We are in Curry Arena.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Started to empty out here now the festivities have kind
of slowed down. Actually there's nothing going on right now.
A lot of clean up, but other than that, pretty
lively in here. Earlier as it is the one o'clock
hour and it is the campus KNA.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
And before we get started with what did we learn?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Juju Watkins to miss the twenty twenty five twenty six
season and she continues to rest and rehab that knee.
I was a little bit surprised by this because I
thought for sure that she was going to come back
this year. I got mixed feelings on it. I know
that you know, she wants to be healthy and all that.
For the WNBA, I just wish that maybe would have
we would have got to see to see her play
(01:00):
one more time and for her to come back with
her team because this team is very devoid of talent.
They lost a ton of the great women from their
team last year. Kiki Aria, Fin, Raya Marshall and a
host of others are gone from that team.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
But what did you think about that news?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Well, I mean she has the injury, I don't know
how soon she was going to be able to come
back anyway.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, because it happened during the tournament. So now that
I recollect yeah, it was a late need.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I actually don't think this is really sitting out Jamar
Chase style.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
No, And now that I think about it, because I
wasn't before, it was a late yeah, you need to.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
And I remember at the time we knew she probably
will miss every single game the upcoming season. But the
point that I did want to make too, is if
she were to sit out because of some Jamar Cha
situation where I might be healthy enough, but I'm just
gonna take my talents to the WNBA, I'll just be
ready at that point. The money doesn't necessarily make sense
(01:56):
in women's basketball like it would for NFL decisions, NBA
decision in usc with Juju Watkins being as big of
a star in women's basketball as.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Man all but what.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Twenty players at fifteen in the WNBA, And there were
a lot of stars that were born this year in
the w which was awesome to see, especially once Caitlyn
Clark comes back. But Juju coming back in I don't
know I guess a calendar year from now, when she'll
be healthy enough and rare enough to go. That will
be awesome to see her on the court because she
is a crazy talent. But yeah, I think it's all
(02:29):
about the injury at standpoint, not when to rush things.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, no doubt about it. So happy recovery to ju
Do and we will see you soon. All right, let's
get to it, folks. Let's drop that thing. What did
we learn?
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Good morning, class?
Speaker 4 (02:44):
I don't like disorder in my room.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I'm in charge of this class. I'm the warrior Chief.
I'm the merciless god of anything that stirs in my universe.
Who kind of school is this? Anyway? All right, let's
get to it.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Two things can be true about Florida State, because that
was the big upset of the weekend. As Virginia took
care of business. First, I got to ask, what's so
excited about that?
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Okay? All right?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
She doesn't necessarily care about UVA football because of their history.
She has been preconditioned to not care about them. She
was all in after one drive. She says, great, I
don't want to care Walker, but now I care. Now
I care about Chandler. Now I care about Chandler Morris
completing every single pass. Now I'm all in. After they
beat Florida State, Great, Oh they're ranked. So she's mad
(03:32):
at me letting her know about that game because now
she's all in and she cares a time.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
All right, no doubt about a forty six thirty eight.
They get the win in over time. And you talk
about some controversial calls, there doubt I should say, when
you have the catch in the back of the end
zone that was not to be the acc officials this
weekend it was a little bit of a mixed back
because a lot of people were kind of giving them
kudos for the fact that the replays they were able
(04:00):
to get right. But then they had some calls that
they kind of missed. And we're gonna get to that one.
But Deuce Robinson in the back of the end zone
bibbled the ball.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I thought maybe there was.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
A chance he had it right at the last minute,
but the replay showed that's what I'm saying, bibbling that thing.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, and I know you're talking about controversial, maybe substituting
close calls. It was definitely close, but to me it
was still clear. Dude didn't have possession and he didn't
get the foot down. Oh I'm glad that they took
the time to go review it, because in that moment,
with that significance hanging in the balance, you have to
make sure you get the call right. I think unequivocally
(04:35):
they did. I thought the broadcasting crew nailed it. I
thought the officiating crew. I forget who the rules ANALYSTI
is that comes in, I forget his name for that
specific game. But everybody said this is not a catch,
and I completely agreed with it. So I'm glad that
they got it right. And my man just couldn't hold
on to it. That's a tough look. It's really frustrating
for them. But I think they got the call right.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And so as far as the two things, it can
be true.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I know that a lot of us were waiting for
the bottom to fall out on FSU, And I said,
I think that that Alabama Georgia game was gonna tell
us a lot because it was going to validate the
quality of that opening week win.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And so I.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Think Florida State is a good football team. I think
that they got caught down bad by a Virginia team
that looks like they're pretty good as they're now ranked
in the top twenty five in the country their first
time in a while. So Alabama goes on the road
they take down Georgia. Boom validation right there that Florida
State win. Alabama is legit and Florida State is too.
(05:28):
They remain in the top twenty. They've still got a
lot ahead of them. They're still number one in the
country in points per game and total yards per game.
The defense did show some cracks, and I think we'll
find out against Miami coming up this week. Were they
looking over the Wahoo's because they were excited about their
rivalry matchup. But I'm going to give all kudos to
Tony Elliott and Virginia everything they've had to overcome to
(05:49):
have a moment like that. The field storming was absolutely
just ludicrous because I mean, those fans they rush so quickly.
The main guys I were worried about was the guys
that were on the final play in the back of
the end zone, the receiver and the cornerback. But other
than that, I think that two things can be true
about Florida State. They took a tough loss, which a
lot of people in FSU fans were very upset about.
(06:11):
But I still think that this is a good football team.
And I think Alabama validated that victory that they had
by going and beating Georgia.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Well.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I think Virginia is a very dangerous football team, and
I think they're dangerous to themselves sometimes, especially with the interceptions.
But they're real wild card offensively. Man, you might be
able to score on them because their defense isn't great,
But that is a team that you're gonna experience a
little limon booty with if you're a fan of a
particular opponent that they face. They can randomize the game.
They remind me a tiny bit of the Houston Rockets
(06:39):
under James Harden, where they're just gonna throw a bunch
of threes. They're gonna throw a bunch downfield. This offense
is dangerous and I love to watch them play football,
and this is a squad that can absolutely continue to
cause some noise, like they're gonna be a tough out.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
They're already four and.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
One, so they're gonna be Bowl eligible and now it's
just second the acc Georgia tech apologies to the Demon
Deacons for experiencing that kind of loss. That's a rough one,
but Georgia Tech is ahead of them. They had a
tough showing against Wake Duke. They're a hot and cold
team as well.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
What's the ceiling for Virginia? I mean, because the last time.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They were ranked was twenty nineteen when they made the
ACC Championship and eventually got steamrolled by Clemson, but they
still were a top two team in the conference. Are
we looking at that kind of ceiling for them? Because
it seems like this scenario could play into that very
thing we saw in twenty nine.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And that's the thing now that we feel like Florida
State is as advertised that Virginia. Now, you have to
give them all the credit in the world for this win.
NC State fans look, mano, Buddy, seven eight plus win seasons,
four to nine win seasons and you've qualified for ten
Bowl games and Dave Dorn's twelve seasons there. I know
you gave up two hundred and twenty nine yards rushing
(07:51):
in a twenty three twenty one loss. I know you
thought when you were undefeated that you know, the sky
was the limit, that you were going to be coming
to Charlotte and some of those things. But sometimes man,
we just have to accept what we are in life, okay.
And for NC State, that's just a team that is
gonna range in the eight to nine wins or seven
to nine, whichever way you want to give the scale there,
because this team still has a tough schedule ahead of itself.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
They've still got to play.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Florida State. So I
think for NC State fans, I know they were upset
at the game, and I heard while I was walking
through the concourses, I gotta fire Dave Dorn and all
these things. You gotta look at the fact that Dave
doing is the winning as coach in NC State history,
and his buyout is over fifteen million dollars. And in
this nil era, if you are in NC State, you
(08:36):
cannot afford to fire a guy for fifteen million dollars.
That is gonna hurt. That money could go into a
lot of places. So NC State fans, I know that
loss hurt, and I think you just have to accept
what y'all.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Those fans don't want to hear that though.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Look so when you were gone Thursday talking to some
of the players and the people, you need it too.
For Virginia Tech. As you were getting ready to call
sidelines for that one, I had a bunch of different
categories for the ACC slate. One category was the most
potential to fumble the bag. I awarded that to Florida State.
Ding ding Ding, We have a winner. The other one
was the biggest oh god, it's really ugly now potential.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I had NC State there, ding ding Ding, We got
a winner.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Because as soon as NC State lost that game to
Virginia Tech, who had not been playing good football, everybody
was going to look at Dave Dorrant and honestly, I
understand why Virginia Tech's not a good football team right now.
And you lost that home and this is off of
the heels of a loss to the Duke Blue Devils
where eventually they separated themselves pretty nicely with the inability
(09:40):
to stop them on that long run for Duke to
put that game on ICE. So with Dave Dorrian always
on the hot seat, according to the NC State fan base, ice,
it feels like here wes last year. On top of this,
I think that's what's important is the fact that you
give us these two losses now after three and oh,
start your three and t so off of the heels
(10:01):
of that season when you were supposed to be a
maybe somewhat dark horse to represent the ACC in the
championship game and you gave us all sorts of underwhelming football.
To have these two seasons back to back, now, I
think there's a possibility.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
And one thing I will say is that I think
it was very unfortunate timing for NC State playing against
Virginia Tech, because when I talked to those guys, I
wasn't sure how much I could buy into it, But
they were saying how they felt like they had new life,
They felt like there was plenty ahead of them, and
they had that big team meeting where they say, hey,
if you don't want to be here, then get out,
but if you want to be here State, and I
think those guys it galvanized that crew. And I think
(10:39):
that they played like a Kyron Drones played as good
as I've seen him play in a while.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
He was spectacular in this game.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Then you talk about Terry and Stewart, I hold my lord,
fifteen carries one.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Hundred and seventy four yards in this game.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Offensive line, th n C State had only given up
four sacks coming into this game, and Virginia Tech hit
them up for five.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Those bad boys.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
They played with passion, they played with spirit, and you
could say the NC State might have looked over them
just a little bit, but the passion and the way
that Virginia Tech played, I wouldn't be surprised if this
is a team that makes a little bit of a
late run, because they are still in the mix as
well in the ACC because the games that they lost
were non conference games. And of course, as my Demon
Deacons come to Lane Stadium, they start to get their
(11:23):
things together just as we come in there. All right,
So let's talk about the folks as we close out
this campus Connor. The Demon Deacons fought and then the
refs came into play and coaching ultimately lost the game. Now,
Georgia Tech riley from seventeen down in the third quarter,
they were down twenty to three, and then on a
play when Wake Force had a chance to be able
(11:43):
to run the clock out, there was an offside there
that was pretty blake, and so that led to Robbie
Ashford throwing what he thought was a free play on
that third down, and it wasn't meant to be. An
apenity would have been five yards, check was out of timeouts.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
And Wake could have kneeled the game.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
And it was just so funny because my mom called
me after the Florida State game and she said, why
can't we get one of these types of wins? When
are we going to get something like that? And I'm
sitting there and I said, Man, this is a weird game.
Wake is playing really well. I said, I feel like
we really got a shot this thing, especially once they
went up fourteen. I said, this is a weird game,
I said, because Wake is just doing stuff. And Robbie
(12:24):
Ashford I had to take my hat off to him.
He was phenomenal the entire game.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
In that game.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Now, the last interception he had to make a desperation play, okay,
but other than that, he threw the ball.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
He was great. Man directing the offense.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
He played hurt, but yeah, man acc spokesperson confirmed late
Saturday that a penalty should have been called out for
the play, which does absolutely nothing for the Old Deeks
because it.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Went down as a loss in the column.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah two minute reports, one of the most overrated things
in sports is basically the two minute report.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Here.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Oh yeah, my bad, we got that call wrong. Oh,
so we're gonna switch the win loss record around, right?
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Can we do that?
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Nope? And Nora should they but they missed the call.
This was the controversial one. The Florida State Virginia one
was not controversial. My man didn't have the reception. They
got the call right, They got the call wrong here
and it eventually directly led to a loss for Wake
Forest and it directly has an effect on the season
this year within the conference. Georgia Tech who in that
(13:21):
category segment that we had on Thursday, I had Georgia
Tech as the team in the ACC with the best
situation because they have the easiest schedule lined up. They
don't have to play Miami, they don't have to play
Florida State. The best teams they have to play are
a couple of these like middle of the road fifty
to fifty programs and that's it. And they had already
gotten over the Clemson hurdle at the beginning of the
(13:41):
season and they almost lost to Wake Forest, which would
have been a huge downer for them. It just would
have been, but they dodge it. They overlooked Wake Forest,
I think completely, which I wasn't so sure was capable
under Brent Key. They do such a good job of
preparing for every single game. They have that record against
ranked opponents seven to one. I didn't think that that
was a real issue with them having the let down.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, because waken had an extra week to prepare for
that one, and that's something I overlooked and Georgia Tech
seemed to almost do it and they got some help
with the officials.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
I think that probably is the perfect mix of we
got the scare and we got the win. Now, we
won't do that down in Atlanta, but it's unfortunately a
loss for wake Forest and with that misscall, and it
was absolutely that a miss call flown quickly.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
You had some strong thoughts about the wake Fores game
the way that it ended U.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Yeah, I believe you guys got screwed. There's no doubt
about that.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Now.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
I think the reason why it ended up happening is
because what was best for the conference, what was best
for the conference was that Georgia Tech found a way
to win. So, call me a conspiracy theorist, I think
that certainly is part of the reason why they sort
of let that one go. But yeah, you guys had them, man,
I'll give credit where credits due. I am not a
Robbie Ashford guy by any.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Strength of the time.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
But he looked good the other day and gave.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Him a chance, no doubt about it. Man.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
When when we come back, we're gonna have our interview
with Charles Lee. We're gonna give you some insight from
the Hornets head coach.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
On Sports Radio ninety two seven w f n Z.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
It's Western Walker Live from Hornets Media Day hosted by
Queen's at University, not Queenlan, not just yet, it's still Queens.
We're on the court taking a look ahead at the
Hornets season, and who better to talk more about it
than the head coach of the Hornets, mister Charles Lee.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Coach, thanks so much for joining us. How are you doing, man,
I'm doing phenomenal. Thank you guys for having me. You
might have to give me a breakdown of this whole
merger with Queens, and I don't fully understand.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
They don't know.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
We had Grant Leonard on Okay, great, he talked about
we're gonna benefit financially.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
That's about all I got.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
That's about That's about it. We were joking because that
we know they're gonna change their name in a couple
of years and now so we threw out Queenlan. It
doesn't sound great, it sounds like a little dangerous, but
we did throw that out there. I don't know what
they're gonna change it to, but we don't have information.
They don't have information. It's a money move.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
No, it's crazy.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
But I can't wait to see, like what happens with
all the sports teams, what's the main camp all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
What we did line was that nothing will happen to
the sports team.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I mean for a couple of years.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
We can't get sidetracked.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Sidetrack say one thing about Queens. D Yes you can.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
They have been absolutely phenomenal to the Hornets this whole
LAS season. So I do have to send a shout
out to Queens and thank them for letting us use
their facilities for the whole LAS season.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Little known fact, so I do color for Queens all
season long. Nos Man Trey Man's brother plays on this team.
Very cool. They look exactly like by the way. So anyways,
you gotta soob track. We need to focus. We need
to focus on the season. My bad. I want to
dive right into the roster construction. Really interesting to me, like,
you guys signed all the guards man, and then when
you signed all the guards you found more to sign.
(16:48):
And I do think it's a very rare build of
a roster compared to all the other teams in the NBA.
Can you take us through the process you're talking with
Jeff Peterson. You guys are trying to figure out how
you want to build your roster. I know you guys
have talked about speeds, eat speed, you were towards the
bottom of the NBA and a bunch of different transition metrics.
Do you guys come together at the end of the
season and say, this is how we're gonna get faster
by signing all of these ball handlers that move the
(17:10):
ball real quickly. Like, what's the mindset when constructing the
roster the way you set it up with all of
these backcourt players.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Yeah, I would say the biggest thing that we look
at first and foremost is do they embody what we
want in a hornet in terms of their work ethic,
their character, how they go about their daily business. And
then the second piece is how does it fit to
our playing style? And so you know, you hit on
a bunch of things in terms of wanting to play faster,
wanted to be able to get more playmakers. I think
(17:36):
that last year we just felt like there was a void,
especially when we had injuries, in terms of guys that
can touch the pain and create some open shots for
us and make sure our shot quality is good and
if they can't, for the rest of the guys can
they also create for themselves. And so I think that
we really did that in terms of going out and
either signing guys or acquiring guys in trades, or even
identifying the right type of guards in the draft too
(17:58):
that I think are going to help either the floor
for us or they're also going to be creators and
playmakers and help us play a little bit faster, which
we're really excited about.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Coach, what has excited you most about this particular offseason?
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah, I would just say the work ethic of this group.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
You know, when I came in last year, coming off
of the finals with the Celtics, I was kind of
in and out. I feel like the players were a
little in and out. There was just like, oh, coaches,
still in the playoffs, what do we do?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Who's leading us? We didn't have spectrum this year.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I thought there was just more clarity, and there was
more consistency and like a higher level of commitment to
the work. And Jeff touched on it during media day.
We had a ton of guys in market the whole
off season, which I think just helps you number one,
on the court, get better from your skills and your craft,
but also off the court. These guys, they would sit
in the gym after workouts and they're chopping it up
(18:46):
talking about I think basketball or life or whatever's going
on or expectations of the season, and so it was
a joy to see. And so I would say the
thing that excites me the most is just the commitment
to the work that I've seen from these guys.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Coach lots of off season chatter about me.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
We've played several sound bites this offseason and a lot
of them talking about negative aspects of his game, et cetera.
But what has been this coaching staffs message to LaMelo
this offseason?
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Yeah, want him number one to focus on the off
the court in terms of like the weave room. I
think that was a big emphasis for him. How do
we keep you a little bit healthier. Some of healthier
has to deal with his routines and his habits on
a professional level, but also us taking advantage of like
added time in the weight room, and I think that
(19:30):
he's put on some lean muscle mass. I think those
guys have done a really good job of laying out
a more detailed plan for him and then on top
of it offensively, How can he continue to be mellow
but also recognize these moments during the game of like, Okay,
we've had turnover, bad shot, turnover, the other team's gone
six to zero. How do we now kind of like
(19:51):
rectify that situation or how do we like learn from
it and then move forward. And I think that if
he can get better in those moments, he's phenomenal, Like
he can create for himself and for his team. And
that's what we're excited about having him back and having
him healthy this year.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Despite Brandon Miller giving us the wrap up signal, like,
we still have a few questions Brandon Child for a second,
We're gonna talk to Brandon.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
She's taking this whole paced thing a little bit too fast. Yeah,
exactly right.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Coaching is working. At least it's working, Coach.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I've watched the Bucks film room session that you did
with them a couple of years ago quite a bit.
Just found it interesting to see what you wanted to
work on with those specific players. I do want to
talk about the process you have here. Even as high
up as an associate head coach with Milwaukee, you still
had individual player responsibilities. Do you have a similar setup
working with Mike Budenholzer for almost ten years? Do you
apply that here in Charlotte in a lot of the
(20:38):
same ways. What's that process look like?
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Yeah, when it comes to player development, I definitely have
a little bit of the mindset of Bud in terms
of how important it is to an organization, to your
whole life cycle. I think that, especially where the financial
constraints are nowadays, if you can hit on some guys
and you can help them get better, you got to
be able to. And then the other part is I also,
I think took from Bud nobody's done growing. I would
(21:02):
say that we are all lifelong learners and we can
all improve. I got to see in Atlanta Kyle Korver
at that point of his career and Al Horford and
Paul Miller, like they all got better and so like,
I don't want to hear this guy stuck in his
ways and he can't get any But no, he can.
There's something in his game that we can kind of
dissect and figure out how he can get better in
that regard. But then the next piece is I actually
(21:24):
hand over a lot of trust and responsibility to Zach Peterson,
who's our director of player development, and he does a
great job of kind of connecting all the groups making
this a holistic plan for these guys to get better.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
He's getting a sidetracked again because you know, we're sick
os here. We love playing memory lane basketball. I want
to talk about Pero antich style badly with the Hawks
because of that five out. We got to focus though. Okay,
you brought up you were responsible for Grayson Allen in
a lot of ways at Milwaukee, Like I heard a
lot of what you were talking about, working with him,
expanding his game, looking to improve P and R, working
(21:58):
on those res, increasing volume and field goal pers at
the RIM, I hear a lot of that, and I
think a lot of that applies to Brandon and you
guys have discussed about the discuss Brandon Miller being a
pillar of this organization. No secret second overall, pick all
the ability in the world am I right on some
of the things that he needs to continue to work
at with the comparisons with Grayson Allen and how are
you looking to expand Brandon's game overall as he enters
(22:18):
his third year.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Yeah, it's gonna be fun to watch him in year
three this year because I do think that Number one,
he's put on some muscle mass as well, he understands
the importance of getting to the basket getting fouled a
little bit more. I think having a little bit more
variety in terms of how he finishes too, Like you
can't just dunk on everybody, or you're not just gonna
(22:39):
be able to right hand finish on everybody. And so
I think this whole offseason him and Josh Longsa have
done a great job of adding more variety to his
paint finishing and then also just being able to play
through contact. I think that last year it was a
great learning lesson for him and Mellow in terms of
we had so many out at certain points of the
year that I know they're usually the focal point, but
(23:00):
now they're even more the focal point, and it's like
we're putting the toughest, most physical guy. We're just gonna
take these guys out of the game, and that helped
him grow and helped him recognize the importance of being
able to play through contact without foul calls. And also
he got to see a lot of different coverages. So
I think from a pick and roll standpoint, now he's
got more of like an experience of how do I
go against the blitz or how do I go against
(23:22):
center field? And what's my shot profile look like? Because
I do think the shot profile stuff is stuff that
he addressed last season, and so I think this year,
with another year of player development and added awareness, he'll
be even better coach.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
A lot of people talk about the guards that were
bought in, but everybody wants to know about the center position.
What's the update on that? How do you feel about
that as we sit here today.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I love it. I think that we have a good
group of versatile bigs. I think that we also got
the elder statesman in Plumbley. We got the kind of
middle of the road in terms of Musa and where
he is in his development. And then we also got
the young, kind of old guy in Calbrenner, who's obviously
on some time in college. But each one brings something
different to our team. I think overall, though they're all
(24:06):
three like really physical, really competitive, I think that Musa
allows us to switch a little bit more while the
other two are probably more center field bigs, but they're
basketball like you. Their fearlessness to want to just go
block shots and be active around the rim is really
going to help us. And I think that all three
bigs also bring an element of offense to us too.
Moosa's right now is offensive, rebounding, and I think being
(24:27):
a great connector plumbly the bid I've seen and always
followed of his career. I think that he can finish
around the basketball. Also, he's a really good passer, and
so how can he help kind of facilitate and connect
our team? And then kulk Renner, I think eventually gets
to this place where he's all of a sudden stretching
us to three. So I'm excited about that group of
bigs because I think that each one is going to
bring add something a little bit different to our group.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Coach lots of buzz building for Kanka Nipple. We're seeing
people saying that he's going to be an Olympian in
twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
All kinds of stuff, coach, But what.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Are realistic expectations for Con in this rookie year.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Well, I would say realallistic is he could be an Olympian.
The dude is he is such a competitor, he's such
a winner. He's willing to do whatever it takes for
the team to be successful. We got to watch him
lead our group to a summerleague championship this year after
get his head banged on the floor and stitches over
his eye, Like most guys would be like, Okay, I'm
done in summer league, and he's like, no, I want
(25:20):
to be out there. I want to win, I want
to compete. So I love everything that he brings to
our team from that standpoint, and then also like just
the skill set too offensively high basketball IQ. He was
telling me during the pre draft process or dinner he
just started playing pick and roll really like last year,
and so to know that he's still in the beginning
(25:41):
phases of that, but he's still making good passes and
reads and him and come on, Mala walk, We're throwing
lobs the whole time. It's just so exciting to see
this guy play and I look forward to his continued growth.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Coach, you bring up Collin section all the time. Anytime
we asked you to specifically name a player that's impressed you,
it's always him. I want to go back to the
because I remember when we did the show and we
acquired him. We're throwing a parade. Oh there was a
second round pick. Cool, we had to give up a
second round pick. That's fine. Oh wait, no, we got
one and we got Colin Sexton. This makes a ton
of sense. What was that like when you were let
(26:14):
in on the information that there was a chance to
land him, Like, were you a part of that, Like, Hey,
that's a guy, like we've played against him before, I
want him on the team. How did the process of
landing Colin sext and all take place when you were
in on it or maybe when you were let known
about that process?
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Yeah, I would say most things around here are usually
some type of like partnership between Jeff and I, and
the lines of communication are always kind of going back
and forth. So once I heard that that was a possibility,
I definitely raved about the player, the person from AFAR.
I thought that he just really helped elevate our group
and that's what we need. We need somebod who's going
(26:48):
to take I think we set a foundation or a
baseline last year, and now we got to take it
up a step, take it up a notch. And he
does that every time he comes into the gym. He
elevates it. The competitiveness, the skill set, everything about him
just is like this dog and like we all know
and in the game of in the game of basketball,
the game of anybody, the person's got a little bit
more dog, a little bit more crazy to him. It's
(27:10):
going to help the whole group. And so it's exciting
to have that guy in the trenches with you.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Last thing for me before we get you out of here,
what's your philosophy out of starting five? Because at Steve Clifford,
for example, would always say, put out your best five
defensive five as your starting unit. Do you have a
philosophy like that? Is it fluid? What would you say
your philosophy.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Is, Yeah, I would say I definitely try to just
put the best five that fit together. I think that
we understand who who play the guys in the starting
lineup are that are like consistent and who you want
to play through, and then it's just finding the right
pieces around that you know, how does it help you defensively?
Is there somebody out there that can guard better or
something like that. And then offensively, are they going to
(27:48):
help the ball move or do we have too many
ball stoppers on the floor. So I really try to
think about who are the guys that are definitely the starters,
and then after that, what are the great complimentary pieces
around it.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee at Queen's for Hornets
Media Day, helping us break down the upcoming season ahead.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Good luck.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
We're excited to see everything unfold and we appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Oh yeah, man, thank you, guys, appreciate it. Coach, thanks
the time.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
All right, that was a great interview with Hornet's head
coach Charles Lee Walker. Did you have any major takeaways
from what he told us?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Going back to Brandon Miller talking about his development, I'm
really excited to see how he'll expand his game. He
mentioned getting stronger with him and LaMelo talked about there's
more of a commitment in the weight room from Lamello
this season. You know, it's always muscle watch in the
off season. Did you feel like you noticed anything different
with Brandon?
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Yeah, I was a little bit Mellow and Brandon to
see if you did feel like that they put on
a little bit more And yeah, I mean, I guess
I would have to maybe look at Brandon from his
rookie until now, but he definitely looked like a guy
that's been in the weight room. And so then Mellow too.
Mello looked a little bit more solid. He looked like
he had a little bit more mass. If I would
have maybe guessed to make because I'm pretty good at
it when I tell you people, I can guess how
(28:59):
much weight they've Carnival Worker, he looked like he's maybe
about I'd say maybe five or six pounds, Okay, something
like that.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
That's not bad.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Yeah, it's hard to build muscle, so looking at them
getting stronger. Talking with Jeff Peterson just during his media availability,
I asked about the identity of this team. I was
looking more for a strategic x's and o's identity, but
he mentioned competitiveness and physicality as much as that it's
a blanket statement for all of these teams. I do
think they practiced what they preached and trying to find
(29:30):
those guys, and it all started with Colin Sexton. Every
time we bring up who stands out, who's the most impressive,
they always bring up Colin. And there's Charles Lee again
saying he's running practice in a different way. He's challenging LaMelo.
Which is the interesting part, right, how much of it
was pointed bringing Colin Sexton here to get the best
out of LaMelo every single day for the next year
(29:51):
because he's only under contract for one season. But I'm
not surprised at all to hear that Colin Sexton is
such a Charles Lee favorite.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
And then one of the things I took was asking
him about the bigs, and he seems a lot more
comfortable about it than the rest of the Charlotte area
is about the bigs right now.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
But it seems like he likes what he has there.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Every time he mentions the bigs, he goes Mason Plumbley first,
Musa Diabate, second, Ryan Kulkbrenner third.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I wonder if that's how the rotation.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah, that's what I'm just gonna say too, letting us
in on what it's gonna look like human nature. Just
you're gonna list from the top down. And I do
wonder if that's what he's doing every time we ask
about the centers, he tells us about the experience.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Mason Plumley has cool. That's great. Mussa the diabat he's
talked about being a change of pace guy. He did
say Moos is going to play a lot more this year,
which I don't know how much to read into that. Duh,
we already knew it. You don't have many other options
to play a bunch at five, But I wonder if
that is some kind of opening door for he'll start,
(30:49):
So try to make sense of that. But I do
think if I had to guess, Mayson Plumley's gonna open
up as the starter and just me personally, if I
had to put money down on FanDuel for the sick prop,
that would be who plays the most at five for
the Hornets this year. I think Talent's gonna win out.
I'm just one of those guys at trust Mussa. He's
the guy that I've attached myself to this year at
(31:10):
eye test advanced metric test. I know that there are
limitations to his game, but west every time he's on
the floor, the Hornets are better, and at some point
we just give into that. At some point we don't
need to have all of this rocket scientists or science
around us. Well, you know, he's not as tall, like
they're just better every time he plays on the court.
So I guess let's just lean into that a little
bit more. I would bet Musa plays the most amount
(31:33):
of minutes at that center spot.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Yeah, and it sounds like you know, he called Calkbrenner
basically a young og because he's a rookie but he's older.
I'd probably get a little bit of time in Greensboro.
I would imagine this year as well for his development.
But like I said, that was my one of my
main takeaways as well. So when we come back, folks,
we are going to get back to talking about the
(31:55):
Carolina Panthers as we close out the one o'clock hour
that the lost in New England officially put Morgan on
the clock as well. On Sports Radio ninety two seven WFNZ,
Welcome back God, we are at the bottom of the
one o'clock hour here, man, And I feel like Walker
(32:16):
that we've you know, been getting a little bit of
a reprieve because I was walking in here fully expecting
for it just to be World War three with Panthers
fans and everything we've got going. But the Hornets media
day has definitely softened it up.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
I think tomorrow it'll be back to business, and for sure.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I think they'll let out all of the takes that
they wanted to give us today tomorrow because they weren't
able to because of all of the Hornets content that
we've had today.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
So. We talked about it at the beginning of the broadcast. Okay,
we'll have some time to vent about the Panthers. And
then when it's come over and say, y'all ready for
tray Man at twelve twenty, like, sure, well, look, we
got to get some Panthers co in just a moment,
just to open up the show. Then we take a
break and yeah, Unfortunately for those people that might not
want to hear about the Panthers anymore, well that this
(33:05):
is this is not the segment for you, because it's
time to dive in and fix them.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Can we fix them? Well, I can try to. We
can try to. I would love I would love to try.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
All right, two off seasons now for Dan Morgan, two drafts,
two free agency classes that have yielded not many stars,
if any. If you want to talk about it in
those instances, because when you look at east side of
the ball, the guys that are the best players are
the guys that were already here beforehand. And then when
you look offensively at the guys that have been brought in,
(33:34):
I mean, there are some solid players over there, but
nothing that you would write home about. And so now
when you look at this team, and we talked about
how New England they went out this off season and
they made a lot of moves and to help their
young quarterback out. And so they go out which we
hadn't even mentioned yet, that old baby maker came out
there and had one hundred yards old baby the Carolina Panthers,
(33:57):
Mr Stefan Diggs. Which it was hilarious hearing Chris Myers
during the broadcast bring up the fact that he and
Cardi B were expecting together. I thought that that was
quite hilarious. But this is the team to go out.
They signed Stefan Dick, They signed Mac Hollins, you know,
which isn't a name that's gonna blow people away, but
this guy's still been a solid contributor. Kay Shawn Blutey
(34:18):
is a guy that was once regarded when he was
in college as a first round talent, but revamp the
entire offensive line. You draft an offensive tackle with your
first pick, and Will Campbell it looks like a guy
that seems to be a hit there. And the list
goes on and on as far as what they did.
I mean, they totally went around and revamped this team.
And nobody's saying that New England's going to be a
Super Bowl contender. But when you look at two franchises
(34:41):
in similar positions with young quarterbacks that they're trying to
build around and trying to revamp each side of the ball,
I mean, it's like, Wow, did you really think it
was that big of a gap between New England and
the Carolina Panthers to where they would beat them like that?
And I think that's the biggest thing for you as
a Panthers fan where you feel heartened about what happened yesterday,
(35:02):
because this was a team that I'm sure Panthers fans
felt like if we were to lose to the Patriots,
it was going to be a close on twenty four
to twenty one, something along those lines, something where it
goes down to the wire. But for this thing, for
you to just get out classed by the New England Patriots,
a team that's also building up their franchise, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
I think that's the part that hurts the most.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
So do you feel like that yesterday was the most
glaring example that Dan Morgan needs to now be put
on the clock.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Well, I don't know if I would single out Dan,
but here's how I feel about that loss. Whoever you
want to single out, you got some evidence to point too.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I really think everybody got a case. Everybody does.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
If you want to point to Bryce Young, Bryce Young
has not been the solution. I think people have described
it that way, and he's not to blame solely for
all the Panthers struggles, but he also hasn't necessarily been
the brightest spot to uplift us out of all the
problems that we have around us, and we got a
lot of problems. Dave can Alison the coaching specifically yesterday
that was as frustrated at coaching I've been through the
(36:04):
first even four games this year with Dave and Dan Morgan.
If you want a point at him, yeah, we do
have some injuries. The injuries are going to affect the
way that your favorite football team performs at the same time,
there's not a lot of stars that you can point to.
I get that they didn't have as much cap space
as New England did. For instance, New England did make
(36:24):
a lot of moves, including the one that you wanted
to make, trying to sign Milton Williams, who had a
nice day getting in the backfield and has had a
nice year, one of the top pass rushers from the
interior all year long. So you can go back and
double and you can question again, Okay, should Dan just
have given Milton three four million dollars more a year?
(36:44):
They had a bottom line, they stuck to it. But
Milton has made a big difference with what New England
wants to do. So it's do you just want to
pay a little bit more so to get some of
those stars to make a real big difference here.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
That's something I think you can question.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
I think any you want to blame, you got evidence
to point two man, And that's what's so frustrating.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
It really is.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Again, t mac who has been unquestionably one of the
best players offensively, has a big drop. He's a rookie,
has a big drop offensive lineman. Taylor Moten, my guy,
he was allowing pressures. Now he's one of the highest
graded pro football focused players, just like he always is.
But I thought early in this game he allowed some
pressures to Harold Landry, who was very good. Perhaps somebody
(37:27):
we should have talked about a little bit more so
as being a difference maker up there in New England. Man,
you can point to anybody except maybe Brady Christensen, who
didn't play all that much, and when he did he
graded out really well.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
You can't blame him by the fault.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
But Brady, Brady, you're the one man. You are the
one that says it ain't my fault, it's everybody else's.
And I think i'd probably agree with Bagel Guy, says Dad.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Morgan spent five picks in rounds one through four of
his first two drafts on damn skilled players on a
rebuilding two and fifteen team. If I were to point
to a decision right now made by Damn that I
kind of did not like the most of any you know,
and it's not hindsight twenty twenty, because if you guys
(38:08):
were listening to the show, you knew that.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
But I wanted them to draft Lad.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
McConkie instead of Exavier leaguet, and I feel like that
that would make a world of difference in your offense.
I've said that either you need to have speed, and
we know speed kills. You've either got to have the
type of speed that you can take the top off
the defense and really present a lot of issues, or
you need guys that can consistently get open. And so
(38:31):
if you have a Ladd McConkie to go along with
what you have here in Carolina, let's just say, you know,
and who knows football soil situational, you never know how
things would have turned out had this or that happened.
But let's just say today you have Lad McConkie next
to tet Ro and McMillan. I mean, could you think
of a better pairing that's like, you know wine, I
know you're wine and bacon guy. When you went out
(38:51):
to California, was one time talk about the pairings that
would have been a great pairing. And then if you
added Jalen Coker, Oh my goodness, you talk a difference
you would see in Bryce Young because you have guys
that are winning like that. I don't know if you
could hit me snap on the phone, but you have
on this show right now through the microphone. But you
have guys that would be winning instantly, and that's what
(39:13):
you guys have to see out there with Bryce mean,
you've got to have guys that are winning inside of
those two seconds that he means to get the ball off.
And if you have that, the offense looks completely different.
And so I think that would be one that I
would look at. Do you have a move that's glaring
to you where you were like, man, you know I
hate that Dan did that one that kind of hurt us.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Well, okay, so what do you think the most important
responsibility is for a GM of an NFL or an
NBA team. A lot of people would point to what
do you do with your first round picks? Do you
hit on them? If you do, then you're already ahead
of the eight ball. And if that's the case, then
you missed out on Xavier Lely get to this point,
who has not performed well when he was healthy and
(39:52):
right now he's not healthy. In fact, we did just
get some information excel is day to day. According to
Dave Canalis, Jalen Kocher is weak to week. He's eligible
to return this week if they activate him. With that
twenty one day window. I don't know. I'm not getting
the vibes that he's going to be activated week or two.
It feels like that and Excel could be ready to
(40:13):
suit up. I would probably bet that he does suit
up this upcoming game. Dave Canal has talked about Jimmy
Horn is going to see some action. We'll see what
happens to you. David Moore got hurt on the very
first play, and that's a position. They're suffering a lot
of injuries, including getting Adam thielein on.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Up out of here.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
But to your point, if you look at first round
picks being the biggest responsibility that these gms have to
take care of, I think you had to miss when
trading up to go get Excel because you wanted that
faith year option, and that is a class that wide
receiver position, you had a lot of depth. Ricky Pearsall
was drafted ahead of Excel to be fair, But if
you're going to trade up, could could you swindle a
(40:53):
little more to go get go after Pearsall? But no,
cool Lad McConkie was right there to be had if
you wanted him and you didn't select him. Now he's
having a rough go of it with the charges right now,
by the way, like it's all Keenan Allen, it's all
Quentin Johnson shout out to him. But Laant McConkie still
has shown a lot more than what EXL has. So yeah,
I mean, Wes, I don't disagree because if you go
(41:14):
to free agency, I can't point to a ton of
stuff and say that's what I would have done over
what they decided to do. They tried to get depth
that was solid. They could have gone after Milton Williams
and paid for the Star at a position that matters,
but they had a tipping point and they decided, nope,
we're not gonna pay him as much as New England
because they have all the money in the world. So
(41:35):
let's try to get depth upfront, Let's try to get
depth on the back end and go sign Trey von Merrick.
And so I understand the process. At the end of
the day, it's got to work for you. And right now, Wes,
when they lose, it looks terrible. And that's on everybody.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Trust level right now. One through ten for me, I
would say, is about a four. What about you?
Speaker 3 (41:55):
That sounds right to me? Yeah, I was thinking about
fifty to fifty, like we're gonna go five. I was
thinking out of ten because yeah, well so t Mac
is a hit. Yeah, Tack the eighth overall selection. You
got to hit on your top ten selections. It looks
like you did that. I think Jalen Kocher, if we're
gonna give him credit, that's an undrafted guy that yeah
(42:16):
they cut first, but they got him. They brought him
into the building.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
They wanted him.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
He looks like a hit, so that's something that matters.
I like bringing in Rico Daddle, who they apparently they
like using too.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (42:26):
I do think real quickly, there's a little too much
being made about Cuba Hubbard's lack of carries in this game,
in my opinion, because he was banged up. I think
they wanted to be a little careful with Cuba in
this game against the Patriots. He's clearly the better player.
A healthy Cuba, I think does deserve more carries than Rico.
I don't think that Rico would have gotten as many
had Cuba not had the cap injury. I could be wrong,
but that's just my take on it. But yeah, you
(42:48):
have some talent. You're not completely devoid of talent, but yeah,
not enough to not get blown out by New England apparently.
All right, folks, when we come back, we start the
two o'clock hour. This is Wes and Walker.
Welcome back, folks.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
This is the Western Walker Show from the Hornets training
camp at Queen's College.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
We are in Curry Arena.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Started to empty out here now the festivities have kind
of slowed down. Actually there's nothing going on right now.
A lot of clean up, but other than that, pretty
lively in here. Earlier as it is the one o'clock
hour and it is the campus KNA.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
And before we get started with what did we learn?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Juju Watkins to miss the twenty twenty five twenty six
season and she continues to rest and rehab that knee.
I was a little bit surprised by this because I
thought for sure that she was going to come back
this year. I got mixed feelings on it. I know
that you know, she wants to be healthy and all that.
For the WNBA, I just wish that maybe would have
we would have got to see to see her play
(01:00):
one more time and for her to come back with
her team because this team is very devoid of talent.
They lost a ton of the great women from their
team last year. Kiki Aria, Fin, Raya Marshall and a
host of others are gone from that team.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
But what did you think about that news?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Well, I mean she has the injury, I don't know
how soon she was going to be able to come
back anyway.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, because it happened during the tournament. So now that
I recollect yeah, it was a late need.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I actually don't think this is really sitting out Jamar
Chase style.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
No, And now that I think about it, because I
wasn't before, it was a late yeah, you need to.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
And I remember at the time we knew she probably
will miss every single game the upcoming season. But the
point that I did want to make too, is if
she were to sit out because of some Jamar Cha
situation where I might be healthy enough, but I'm just
gonna take my talents to the WNBA, I'll just be
ready at that point. The money doesn't necessarily make sense
(01:56):
in women's basketball like it would for NFL decisions, NBA
decision in usc with Juju Watkins being as big of
a star in women's basketball as.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Man all but what.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Twenty players at fifteen in the WNBA, And there were
a lot of stars that were born this year in
the w which was awesome to see, especially once Caitlyn
Clark comes back. But Juju coming back in I don't
know I guess a calendar year from now, when she'll
be healthy enough and rare enough to go. That will
be awesome to see her on the court because she
is a crazy talent. But yeah, I think it's all
(02:29):
about the injury at standpoint, not when to rush things.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, no doubt about it. So happy recovery to ju
Do and we will see you soon. All right, let's
get to it, folks. Let's drop that thing. What did
we learn?
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Good morning, class?
Speaker 4 (02:44):
I don't like disorder in my room.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I'm in charge of this class. I'm the warrior Chief.
I'm the merciless god of anything that stirs in my universe.
Who kind of school is this? Anyway? All right, let's
get to it.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Two things can be true about Florida State, because that
was the big upset of the weekend. As Virginia took
care of business. First, I got to ask, what's so
excited about that?
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Okay? All right?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
She doesn't necessarily care about UVA football because of their history.
She has been preconditioned to not care about them. She
was all in after one drive. She says, great, I
don't want to care Walker, but now I care. Now
I care about Chandler. Now I care about Chandler Morris
completing every single pass. Now I'm all in. After they
beat Florida State, Great, Oh they're ranked. So she's mad
(03:32):
at me letting her know about that game because now
she's all in and she cares a time.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
All right, no doubt about a forty six thirty eight.
They get the win in over time. And you talk
about some controversial calls, there doubt I should say, when
you have the catch in the back of the end
zone that was not to be the acc officials this
weekend it was a little bit of a mixed back
because a lot of people were kind of giving them
kudos for the fact that the replays they were able
(04:00):
to get right. But then they had some calls that
they kind of missed. And we're gonna get to that one.
But Deuce Robinson in the back of the end zone
bibbled the ball.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I thought maybe there was.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
A chance he had it right at the last minute,
but the replay showed that's what I'm saying, bibbling that thing.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, and I know you're talking about controversial, maybe substituting
close calls. It was definitely close, but to me it
was still clear. Dude didn't have possession and he didn't
get the foot down. Oh I'm glad that they took
the time to go review it, because in that moment,
with that significance hanging in the balance, you have to
make sure you get the call right. I think unequivocally
(04:35):
they did. I thought the broadcasting crew nailed it. I
thought the officiating crew. I forget who the rules ANALYSTI
is that comes in, I forget his name for that
specific game. But everybody said this is not a catch,
and I completely agreed with it. So I'm glad that
they got it right. And my man just couldn't hold
on to it. That's a tough look. It's really frustrating
for them. But I think they got the call right.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And so as far as the two things, it can
be true.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I know that a lot of us were waiting for
the bottom to fall out on FSU, And I said,
I think that that Alabama Georgia game was gonna tell
us a lot because it was going to validate the
quality of that opening week win.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And so I.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Think Florida State is a good football team. I think
that they got caught down bad by a Virginia team
that looks like they're pretty good as they're now ranked
in the top twenty five in the country their first
time in a while. So Alabama goes on the road
they take down Georgia. Boom validation right there that Florida
State win. Alabama is legit and Florida State is too.
(05:28):
They remain in the top twenty. They've still got a
lot ahead of them. They're still number one in the
country in points per game and total yards per game.
The defense did show some cracks, and I think we'll
find out against Miami coming up this week. Were they
looking over the Wahoo's because they were excited about their
rivalry matchup. But I'm going to give all kudos to
Tony Elliott and Virginia everything they've had to overcome to
(05:49):
have a moment like that. The field storming was absolutely
just ludicrous because I mean, those fans they rush so quickly.
The main guys I were worried about was the guys
that were on the final play in the back of
the end zone, the receiver and the cornerback. But other
than that, I think that two things can be true
about Florida State. They took a tough loss, which a
lot of people in FSU fans were very upset about.
(06:11):
But I still think that this is a good football team.
And I think Alabama validated that victory that they had
by going and beating Georgia.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Well.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I think Virginia is a very dangerous football team, and
I think they're dangerous to themselves sometimes, especially with the interceptions.
But they're real wild card offensively. Man, you might be
able to score on them because their defense isn't great,
But that is a team that you're gonna experience a
little limon booty with if you're a fan of a
particular opponent that they face. They can randomize the game.
They remind me a tiny bit of the Houston Rockets
(06:39):
under James Harden, where they're just gonna throw a bunch
of threes. They're gonna throw a bunch downfield. This offense
is dangerous and I love to watch them play football,
and this is a squad that can absolutely continue to
cause some noise, like they're gonna be a tough out.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
They're already four and.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
One, so they're gonna be Bowl eligible and now it's
just second the acc Georgia tech apologies to the Demon
Deacons for experiencing that kind of loss. That's a rough one,
but Georgia Tech is ahead of them. They had a
tough showing against Wake Duke. They're a hot and cold
team as well.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
What's the ceiling for Virginia? I mean, because the last time.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They were ranked was twenty nineteen when they made the
ACC Championship and eventually got steamrolled by Clemson, but they
still were a top two team in the conference. Are
we looking at that kind of ceiling for them? Because
it seems like this scenario could play into that very
thing we saw in twenty nine.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And that's the thing now that we feel like Florida
State is as advertised that Virginia. Now, you have to
give them all the credit in the world for this win.
NC State fans look, mano, Buddy, seven eight plus win seasons,
four to nine win seasons and you've qualified for ten
Bowl games and Dave Dorn's twelve seasons there. I know
you gave up two hundred and twenty nine yards rushing
(07:51):
in a twenty three twenty one loss. I know you
thought when you were undefeated that you know, the sky
was the limit, that you were going to be coming
to Charlotte and some of those things. But sometimes man,
we just have to accept what we are in life, okay.
And for NC State, that's just a team that is
gonna range in the eight to nine wins or seven
to nine, whichever way you want to give the scale there,
because this team still has a tough schedule ahead of itself.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
They've still got to play.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Florida State. So I
think for NC State fans, I know they were upset
at the game, and I heard while I was walking
through the concourses, I gotta fire Dave Dorn and all
these things. You gotta look at the fact that Dave
doing is the winning as coach in NC State history,
and his buyout is over fifteen million dollars. And in
this nil era, if you are in NC State, you
(08:36):
cannot afford to fire a guy for fifteen million dollars.
That is gonna hurt. That money could go into a
lot of places. So NC State fans, I know that
loss hurt, and I think you just have to accept
what y'all.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Those fans don't want to hear that though.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Look so when you were gone Thursday talking to some
of the players and the people, you need it too.
For Virginia Tech. As you were getting ready to call
sidelines for that one, I had a bunch of different
categories for the ACC slate. One category was the most
potential to fumble the bag. I awarded that to Florida State.
Ding ding Ding, We have a winner. The other one
was the biggest oh god, it's really ugly now potential.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I had NC State there, ding ding Ding, We got
a winner.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Because as soon as NC State lost that game to
Virginia Tech, who had not been playing good football, everybody
was going to look at Dave Dorrant and honestly, I
understand why Virginia Tech's not a good football team right now.
And you lost that home and this is off of
the heels of a loss to the Duke Blue Devils
where eventually they separated themselves pretty nicely with the inability
(09:40):
to stop them on that long run for Duke to
put that game on ICE. So with Dave Dorrian always
on the hot seat, according to the NC State fan base, ice,
it feels like here wes last year. On top of this,
I think that's what's important is the fact that you
give us these two losses now after three and oh,
start your three and t so off of the heels
(10:01):
of that season when you were supposed to be a
maybe somewhat dark horse to represent the ACC in the
championship game and you gave us all sorts of underwhelming football.
To have these two seasons back to back, now, I
think there's a possibility.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
And one thing I will say is that I think
it was very unfortunate timing for NC State playing against
Virginia Tech, because when I talked to those guys, I
wasn't sure how much I could buy into it, But
they were saying how they felt like they had new life,
They felt like there was plenty ahead of them, and
they had that big team meeting where they say, hey,
if you don't want to be here, then get out,
but if you want to be here State, and I
think those guys it galvanized that crew. And I think
(10:39):
that they played like a Kyron Drones played as good
as I've seen him play in a while.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
He was spectacular in this game.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Then you talk about Terry and Stewart, I hold my lord,
fifteen carries one.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Hundred and seventy four yards in this game.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Offensive line, th n C State had only given up
four sacks coming into this game, and Virginia Tech hit
them up for five.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Those bad boys.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
They played with passion, they played with spirit, and you
could say the NC State might have looked over them
just a little bit, but the passion and the way
that Virginia Tech played, I wouldn't be surprised if this
is a team that makes a little bit of a
late run, because they are still in the mix as
well in the ACC because the games that they lost
were non conference games. And of course, as my Demon
Deacons come to Lane Stadium, they start to get their
(11:23):
things together just as we come in there. All right,
So let's talk about the folks as we close out
this campus Connor. The Demon Deacons fought and then the
refs came into play and coaching ultimately lost the game. Now,
Georgia Tech riley from seventeen down in the third quarter,
they were down twenty to three, and then on a
play when Wake Force had a chance to be able
(11:43):
to run the clock out, there was an offside there
that was pretty blake, and so that led to Robbie
Ashford throwing what he thought was a free play on
that third down, and it wasn't meant to be. An
apenity would have been five yards, check was out of timeouts.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
And Wake could have kneeled the game.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
And it was just so funny because my mom called
me after the Florida State game and she said, why
can't we get one of these types of wins? When
are we going to get something like that? And I'm
sitting there and I said, Man, this is a weird game.
Wake is playing really well. I said, I feel like
we really got a shot this thing, especially once they
went up fourteen. I said, this is a weird game,
I said, because Wake is just doing stuff. And Robbie
(12:24):
Ashford I had to take my hat off to him.
He was phenomenal the entire game.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
In that game.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Now, the last interception he had to make a desperation play, okay,
but other than that, he threw the ball.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
He was great. Man directing the offense.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
He played hurt, but yeah, man acc spokesperson confirmed late
Saturday that a penalty should have been called out for
the play, which does absolutely nothing for the Old Deeks
because it.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Went down as a loss in the column.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah two minute reports, one of the most overrated things
in sports is basically the two minute report.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Here.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Oh yeah, my bad, we got that call wrong. Oh,
so we're gonna switch the win loss record around, right?
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Can we do that?
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Nope? And Nora should they but they missed the call.
This was the controversial one. The Florida State Virginia one
was not controversial. My man didn't have the reception. They
got the call right, They got the call wrong here
and it eventually directly led to a loss for Wake
Forest and it directly has an effect on the season
this year within the conference. Georgia Tech who in that
(13:21):
category segment that we had on Thursday, I had Georgia
Tech as the team in the ACC with the best
situation because they have the easiest schedule lined up. They
don't have to play Miami, they don't have to play
Florida State. The best teams they have to play are
a couple of these like middle of the road fifty
to fifty programs and that's it. And they had already
gotten over the Clemson hurdle at the beginning of the
(13:41):
season and they almost lost to Wake Forest, which would
have been a huge downer for them. It just would
have been, but they dodge it. They overlooked Wake Forest,
I think completely, which I wasn't so sure was capable
under Brent Key. They do such a good job of
preparing for every single game. They have that record against
ranked opponents seven to one. I didn't think that that
was a real issue with them having the let down.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, because waken had an extra week to prepare for
that one, and that's something I overlooked and Georgia Tech
seemed to almost do it and they got some help
with the officials.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
I think that probably is the perfect mix of we
got the scare and we got the win. Now, we
won't do that down in Atlanta, but it's unfortunately a
loss for wake Forest and with that misscall, and it
was absolutely that a miss call flown quickly.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
You had some strong thoughts about the wake Fores game
the way that it ended U.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Yeah, I believe you guys got screwed. There's no doubt
about that.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Now.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
I think the reason why it ended up happening is
because what was best for the conference, what was best
for the conference was that Georgia Tech found a way
to win. So, call me a conspiracy theorist, I think
that certainly is part of the reason why they sort
of let that one go. But yeah, you guys had them, man,
I'll give credit where credits due. I am not a
Robbie Ashford guy by any.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Strength of the time.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
But he looked good the other day and gave.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Him a chance, no doubt about it. Man.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
When when we come back, we're gonna have our interview
with Charles Lee. We're gonna give you some insight from
the Hornets head coach.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
On Sports Radio ninety two seven w f n Z.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
It's Western Walker Live from Hornets Media Day hosted by
Queen's at University, not Queenlan, not just yet, it's still Queens.
We're on the court taking a look ahead at the
Hornets season, and who better to talk more about it
than the head coach of the Hornets, mister Charles Lee.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Coach, thanks so much for joining us. How are you doing, man,
I'm doing phenomenal. Thank you guys for having me. You
might have to give me a breakdown of this whole
merger with Queens, and I don't fully understand.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
They don't know.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
We had Grant Leonard on Okay, great, he talked about
we're gonna benefit financially.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
That's about all I got.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
That's about That's about it. We were joking because that
we know they're gonna change their name in a couple
of years and now so we threw out Queenlan. It
doesn't sound great, it sounds like a little dangerous, but
we did throw that out there. I don't know what
they're gonna change it to, but we don't have information.
They don't have information. It's a money move.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
No, it's crazy.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
But I can't wait to see, like what happens with
all the sports teams, what's the main camp all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
What we did line was that nothing will happen to
the sports team.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I mean for a couple of years.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
We can't get sidetracked.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Sidetrack say one thing about Queens. D Yes you can.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
They have been absolutely phenomenal to the Hornets this whole
LAS season. So I do have to send a shout
out to Queens and thank them for letting us use
their facilities for the whole LAS season.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Little known fact, so I do color for Queens all
season long. Nos Man Trey Man's brother plays on this team.
Very cool. They look exactly like by the way. So anyways,
you gotta soob track. We need to focus. We need
to focus on the season. My bad. I want to
dive right into the roster construction. Really interesting to me, like,
you guys signed all the guards man, and then when
you signed all the guards you found more to sign.
(16:48):
And I do think it's a very rare build of
a roster compared to all the other teams in the NBA.
Can you take us through the process you're talking with
Jeff Peterson. You guys are trying to figure out how
you want to build your roster. I know you guys
have talked about speeds, eat speed, you were towards the
bottom of the NBA and a bunch of different transition metrics.
Do you guys come together at the end of the
season and say, this is how we're gonna get faster
by signing all of these ball handlers that move the
(17:10):
ball real quickly. Like, what's the mindset when constructing the
roster the way you set it up with all of
these backcourt players.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Yeah, I would say the biggest thing that we look
at first and foremost is do they embody what we
want in a hornet in terms of their work ethic,
their character, how they go about their daily business. And
then the second piece is how does it fit to
our playing style? And so you know, you hit on
a bunch of things in terms of wanting to play faster,
wanted to be able to get more playmakers. I think
(17:36):
that last year we just felt like there was a void,
especially when we had injuries, in terms of guys that
can touch the pain and create some open shots for
us and make sure our shot quality is good and
if they can't, for the rest of the guys can
they also create for themselves. And so I think that
we really did that in terms of going out and
either signing guys or acquiring guys in trades, or even
identifying the right type of guards in the draft too
(17:58):
that I think are going to help either the floor
for us or they're also going to be creators and
playmakers and help us play a little bit faster, which
we're really excited about.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Coach, what has excited you most about this particular offseason?
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah, I would just say the work ethic of this group.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
You know, when I came in last year, coming off
of the finals with the Celtics, I was kind of
in and out. I feel like the players were a
little in and out. There was just like, oh, coaches,
still in the playoffs, what do we do?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Who's leading us? We didn't have spectrum this year.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I thought there was just more clarity, and there was
more consistency and like a higher level of commitment to
the work. And Jeff touched on it during media day.
We had a ton of guys in market the whole
off season, which I think just helps you number one,
on the court, get better from your skills and your craft,
but also off the court. These guys, they would sit
in the gym after workouts and they're chopping it up
(18:46):
talking about I think basketball or life or whatever's going
on or expectations of the season, and so it was
a joy to see. And so I would say the
thing that excites me the most is just the commitment
to the work that I've seen from these guys.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Coach lots of off season chatter about me.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
We've played several sound bites this offseason and a lot
of them talking about negative aspects of his game, et cetera.
But what has been this coaching staffs message to LaMelo
this offseason?
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Yeah, want him number one to focus on the off
the court in terms of like the weave room. I
think that was a big emphasis for him. How do
we keep you a little bit healthier. Some of healthier
has to deal with his routines and his habits on
a professional level, but also us taking advantage of like
added time in the weight room, and I think that
(19:30):
he's put on some lean muscle mass. I think those
guys have done a really good job of laying out
a more detailed plan for him and then on top
of it offensively, How can he continue to be mellow
but also recognize these moments during the game of like, Okay,
we've had turnover, bad shot, turnover, the other team's gone
six to zero. How do we now kind of like
(19:51):
rectify that situation or how do we like learn from
it and then move forward. And I think that if
he can get better in those moments, he's phenomenal, Like
he can create for himself and for his team. And
that's what we're excited about having him back and having
him healthy this year.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Despite Brandon Miller giving us the wrap up signal, like,
we still have a few questions Brandon Child for a second,
We're gonna talk to Brandon.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
She's taking this whole paced thing a little bit too fast. Yeah,
exactly right.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Coaching is working. At least it's working, Coach.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I've watched the Bucks film room session that you did
with them a couple of years ago quite a bit.
Just found it interesting to see what you wanted to
work on with those specific players. I do want to
talk about the process you have here. Even as high
up as an associate head coach with Milwaukee, you still
had individual player responsibilities. Do you have a similar setup
working with Mike Budenholzer for almost ten years? Do you
apply that here in Charlotte in a lot of the
(20:38):
same ways. What's that process look like?
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Yeah, when it comes to player development, I definitely have
a little bit of the mindset of Bud in terms
of how important it is to an organization, to your
whole life cycle. I think that, especially where the financial
constraints are nowadays, if you can hit on some guys
and you can help them get better, you got to
be able to. And then the other part is I also,
I think took from Bud nobody's done growing. I would
(21:02):
say that we are all lifelong learners and we can
all improve. I got to see in Atlanta Kyle Korver
at that point of his career and Al Horford and
Paul Miller, like they all got better and so like,
I don't want to hear this guy stuck in his
ways and he can't get any But no, he can.
There's something in his game that we can kind of
dissect and figure out how he can get better in
that regard. But then the next piece is I actually
(21:24):
hand over a lot of trust and responsibility to Zach Peterson,
who's our director of player development, and he does a
great job of kind of connecting all the groups making
this a holistic plan for these guys to get better.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
He's getting a sidetracked again because you know, we're sick
os here. We love playing memory lane basketball. I want
to talk about Pero antich style badly with the Hawks
because of that five out. We got to focus though. Okay,
you brought up you were responsible for Grayson Allen in
a lot of ways at Milwaukee, Like I heard a
lot of what you were talking about, working with him,
expanding his game, looking to improve P and R, working
(21:58):
on those res, increasing volume and field goal pers at
the RIM, I hear a lot of that, and I
think a lot of that applies to Brandon and you
guys have discussed about the discuss Brandon Miller being a
pillar of this organization. No secret second overall, pick all
the ability in the world am I right on some
of the things that he needs to continue to work
at with the comparisons with Grayson Allen and how are
you looking to expand Brandon's game overall as he enters
(22:18):
his third year.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Yeah, it's gonna be fun to watch him in year
three this year because I do think that Number one,
he's put on some muscle mass as well, he understands
the importance of getting to the basket getting fouled a
little bit more. I think having a little bit more
variety in terms of how he finishes too, Like you
can't just dunk on everybody, or you're not just gonna
(22:39):
be able to right hand finish on everybody. And so
I think this whole offseason him and Josh Longsa have
done a great job of adding more variety to his
paint finishing and then also just being able to play
through contact. I think that last year it was a
great learning lesson for him and Mellow in terms of
we had so many out at certain points of the
year that I know they're usually the focal point, but
(23:00):
now they're even more the focal point, and it's like
we're putting the toughest, most physical guy. We're just gonna
take these guys out of the game, and that helped
him grow and helped him recognize the importance of being
able to play through contact without foul calls. And also
he got to see a lot of different coverages. So
I think from a pick and roll standpoint, now he's
got more of like an experience of how do I
go against the blitz or how do I go against
(23:22):
center field? And what's my shot profile look like? Because
I do think the shot profile stuff is stuff that
he addressed last season, and so I think this year,
with another year of player development and added awareness, he'll
be even better coach.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
A lot of people talk about the guards that were
bought in, but everybody wants to know about the center position.
What's the update on that? How do you feel about
that as we sit here today.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I love it. I think that we have a good
group of versatile bigs. I think that we also got
the elder statesman in Plumbley. We got the kind of
middle of the road in terms of Musa and where
he is in his development. And then we also got
the young, kind of old guy in Calbrenner, who's obviously
on some time in college. But each one brings something
different to our team. I think overall, though they're all
(24:06):
three like really physical, really competitive, I think that Musa
allows us to switch a little bit more while the
other two are probably more center field bigs, but they're
basketball like you. Their fearlessness to want to just go
block shots and be active around the rim is really
going to help us. And I think that all three
bigs also bring an element of offense to us too.
Moosa's right now is offensive, rebounding, and I think being
(24:27):
a great connector plumbly the bid I've seen and always
followed of his career. I think that he can finish
around the basketball. Also, he's a really good passer, and
so how can he help kind of facilitate and connect
our team? And then kulk Renner, I think eventually gets
to this place where he's all of a sudden stretching
us to three. So I'm excited about that group of
bigs because I think that each one is going to
bring add something a little bit different to our group.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Coach lots of buzz building for Kanka Nipple. We're seeing
people saying that he's going to be an Olympian in
twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
All kinds of stuff, coach, But what.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Are realistic expectations for Con in this rookie year.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Well, I would say realallistic is he could be an Olympian.
The dude is he is such a competitor, he's such
a winner. He's willing to do whatever it takes for
the team to be successful. We got to watch him
lead our group to a summerleague championship this year after
get his head banged on the floor and stitches over
his eye, Like most guys would be like, Okay, I'm
done in summer league, and he's like, no, I want
(25:20):
to be out there. I want to win, I want
to compete. So I love everything that he brings to
our team from that standpoint, and then also like just
the skill set too offensively high basketball IQ. He was
telling me during the pre draft process or dinner he
just started playing pick and roll really like last year,
and so to know that he's still in the beginning
(25:41):
phases of that, but he's still making good passes and
reads and him and come on, Mala walk, We're throwing
lobs the whole time. It's just so exciting to see
this guy play and I look forward to his continued growth.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Coach, you bring up Collin section all the time. Anytime
we asked you to specifically name a player that's impressed you,
it's always him. I want to go back to the
because I remember when we did the show and we
acquired him. We're throwing a parade. Oh there was a
second round pick. Cool, we had to give up a
second round pick. That's fine. Oh wait, no, we got
one and we got Colin Sexton. This makes a ton
of sense. What was that like when you were let
(26:14):
in on the information that there was a chance to
land him, Like, were you a part of that, Like, Hey,
that's a guy, like we've played against him before, I
want him on the team. How did the process of
landing Colin sext and all take place when you were
in on it or maybe when you were let known
about that process?
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Yeah, I would say most things around here are usually
some type of like partnership between Jeff and I, and
the lines of communication are always kind of going back
and forth. So once I heard that that was a possibility,
I definitely raved about the player, the person from AFAR.
I thought that he just really helped elevate our group
and that's what we need. We need somebod who's going
(26:48):
to take I think we set a foundation or a
baseline last year, and now we got to take it
up a step, take it up a notch. And he
does that every time he comes into the gym. He
elevates it. The competitiveness, the skill set, everything about him
just is like this dog and like we all know
and in the game of in the game of basketball,
the game of anybody, the person's got a little bit
more dog, a little bit more crazy to him. It's
(27:10):
going to help the whole group. And so it's exciting
to have that guy in the trenches with you.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Last thing for me before we get you out of here,
what's your philosophy out of starting five? Because at Steve Clifford,
for example, would always say, put out your best five
defensive five as your starting unit. Do you have a
philosophy like that? Is it fluid? What would you say
your philosophy.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Is, Yeah, I would say I definitely try to just
put the best five that fit together. I think that
we understand who who play the guys in the starting
lineup are that are like consistent and who you want
to play through, and then it's just finding the right
pieces around that you know, how does it help you defensively?
Is there somebody out there that can guard better or
something like that. And then offensively, are they going to
(27:48):
help the ball move or do we have too many
ball stoppers on the floor. So I really try to
think about who are the guys that are definitely the starters,
and then after that, what are the great complimentary pieces
around it.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee at Queen's for Hornets
Media Day, helping us break down the upcoming season ahead.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Good luck.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
We're excited to see everything unfold and we appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Oh yeah, man, thank you, guys, appreciate it. Coach, thanks
the time.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
All right, that was a great interview with Hornet's head
coach Charles Lee Walker. Did you have any major takeaways
from what he told us?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Going back to Brandon Miller talking about his development, I'm
really excited to see how he'll expand his game. He
mentioned getting stronger with him and LaMelo talked about there's
more of a commitment in the weight room from Lamello
this season. You know, it's always muscle watch in the
off season. Did you feel like you noticed anything different
with Brandon?
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Yeah, I was a little bit Mellow and Brandon to
see if you did feel like that they put on
a little bit more And yeah, I mean, I guess
I would have to maybe look at Brandon from his
rookie until now, but he definitely looked like a guy
that's been in the weight room. And so then Mellow too.
Mello looked a little bit more solid. He looked like
he had a little bit more mass. If I would
have maybe guessed to make because I'm pretty good at
it when I tell you people, I can guess how
(28:59):
much weight they've Carnival Worker, he looked like he's maybe
about I'd say maybe five or six pounds, Okay, something
like that.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
That's not bad.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Yeah, it's hard to build muscle, so looking at them
getting stronger. Talking with Jeff Peterson just during his media availability,
I asked about the identity of this team. I was
looking more for a strategic x's and o's identity, but
he mentioned competitiveness and physicality as much as that it's
a blanket statement for all of these teams. I do
think they practiced what they preached and trying to find
(29:30):
those guys, and it all started with Colin Sexton. Every
time we bring up who stands out, who's the most impressive,
they always bring up Colin. And there's Charles Lee again
saying he's running practice in a different way. He's challenging LaMelo.
Which is the interesting part, right, how much of it
was pointed bringing Colin Sexton here to get the best
out of LaMelo every single day for the next year
(29:51):
because he's only under contract for one season. But I'm
not surprised at all to hear that Colin Sexton is
such a Charles Lee favorite.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
And then one of the things I took was asking
him about the bigs, and he seems a lot more
comfortable about it than the rest of the Charlotte area
is about the bigs right now.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
But it seems like he likes what he has there.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Every time he mentions the bigs, he goes Mason Plumbley first,
Musa Diabate, second, Ryan Kulkbrenner third.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I wonder if that's how the rotation.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah, that's what I'm just gonna say too, letting us
in on what it's gonna look like human nature. Just
you're gonna list from the top down. And I do
wonder if that's what he's doing every time we ask
about the centers, he tells us about the experience.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Mason Plumley has cool. That's great. Mussa the diabat he's
talked about being a change of pace guy. He did
say Moos is going to play a lot more this year,
which I don't know how much to read into that. Duh,
we already knew it. You don't have many other options
to play a bunch at five, But I wonder if
that is some kind of opening door for he'll start,
(30:49):
So try to make sense of that. But I do
think if I had to guess, Mayson Plumley's gonna open
up as the starter and just me personally, if I
had to put money down on FanDuel for the sick prop,
that would be who plays the most at five for
the Hornets this year. I think Talent's gonna win out.
I'm just one of those guys at trust Mussa. He's
the guy that I've attached myself to this year at
(31:10):
eye test advanced metric test. I know that there are
limitations to his game, but west every time he's on
the floor, the Hornets are better, and at some point
we just give into that. At some point we don't
need to have all of this rocket scientists or science
around us. Well, you know, he's not as tall, like
they're just better every time he plays on the court.
So I guess let's just lean into that a little
bit more. I would bet Musa plays the most amount
(31:33):
of minutes at that center spot.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Yeah, and it sounds like you know, he called Calkbrenner
basically a young og because he's a rookie but he's older.
I'd probably get a little bit of time in Greensboro.
I would imagine this year as well for his development.
But like I said, that was my one of my
main takeaways as well. So when we come back, folks,
we are going to get back to talking about the
(31:55):
Carolina Panthers as we close out the one o'clock hour
that the lost in New England officially put Morgan on
the clock as well. On Sports Radio ninety two seven WFNZ,
Welcome back God, we are at the bottom of the
one o'clock hour here, man, And I feel like Walker
(32:16):
that we've you know, been getting a little bit of
a reprieve because I was walking in here fully expecting
for it just to be World War three with Panthers
fans and everything we've got going. But the Hornets media
day has definitely softened it up.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
I think tomorrow it'll be back to business, and for sure.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I think they'll let out all of the takes that
they wanted to give us today tomorrow because they weren't
able to because of all of the Hornets content that
we've had today.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
So. We talked about it at the beginning of the broadcast. Okay,
we'll have some time to vent about the Panthers. And
then when it's come over and say, y'all ready for
tray Man at twelve twenty, like, sure, well, look, we
got to get some Panthers co in just a moment,
just to open up the show. Then we take a
break and yeah, Unfortunately for those people that might not
want to hear about the Panthers anymore, well that this
(33:05):
is this is not the segment for you, because it's
time to dive in and fix them.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Can we fix them? Well, I can try to. We
can try to. I would love I would love to try.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
All right, two off seasons now for Dan Morgan, two drafts,
two free agency classes that have yielded not many stars,
if any. If you want to talk about it in
those instances, because when you look at east side of
the ball, the guys that are the best players are
the guys that were already here beforehand. And then when
you look offensively at the guys that have been brought in,
(33:34):
I mean, there are some solid players over there, but
nothing that you would write home about. And so now
when you look at this team, and we talked about
how New England they went out this off season and
they made a lot of moves and to help their
young quarterback out. And so they go out which we
hadn't even mentioned yet, that old baby maker came out
there and had one hundred yards old baby the Carolina Panthers,
(33:57):
Mr Stefan Diggs. Which it was hilarious hearing Chris Myers
during the broadcast bring up the fact that he and
Cardi B were expecting together. I thought that that was
quite hilarious. But this is the team to go out.
They signed Stefan Dick, They signed Mac Hollins, you know,
which isn't a name that's gonna blow people away, but
this guy's still been a solid contributor. Kay Shawn Blutey
(34:18):
is a guy that was once regarded when he was
in college as a first round talent, but revamp the
entire offensive line. You draft an offensive tackle with your
first pick, and Will Campbell it looks like a guy
that seems to be a hit there. And the list
goes on and on as far as what they did.
I mean, they totally went around and revamped this team.
And nobody's saying that New England's going to be a
Super Bowl contender. But when you look at two franchises
(34:41):
in similar positions with young quarterbacks that they're trying to
build around and trying to revamp each side of the ball,
I mean, it's like, Wow, did you really think it
was that big of a gap between New England and
the Carolina Panthers to where they would beat them like that?
And I think that's the biggest thing for you as
a Panthers fan where you feel heartened about what happened yesterday,
(35:02):
because this was a team that I'm sure Panthers fans
felt like if we were to lose to the Patriots,
it was going to be a close on twenty four
to twenty one, something along those lines, something where it
goes down to the wire. But for this thing, for
you to just get out classed by the New England Patriots,
a team that's also building up their franchise, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
I think that's the part that hurts the most.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
So do you feel like that yesterday was the most
glaring example that Dan Morgan needs to now be put
on the clock.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Well, I don't know if I would single out Dan,
but here's how I feel about that loss. Whoever you
want to single out, you got some evidence to point too.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I really think everybody got a case. Everybody does.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
If you want to point to Bryce Young, Bryce Young
has not been the solution. I think people have described
it that way, and he's not to blame solely for
all the Panthers struggles, but he also hasn't necessarily been
the brightest spot to uplift us out of all the
problems that we have around us, and we got a
lot of problems. Dave can Alison the coaching specifically yesterday
that was as frustrated at coaching I've been through the
(36:04):
first even four games this year with Dave and Dan Morgan.
If you want a point at him, yeah, we do
have some injuries. The injuries are going to affect the
way that your favorite football team performs at the same time,
there's not a lot of stars that you can point to.
I get that they didn't have as much cap space
as New England did. For instance, New England did make
(36:24):
a lot of moves, including the one that you wanted
to make, trying to sign Milton Williams, who had a
nice day getting in the backfield and has had a
nice year, one of the top pass rushers from the
interior all year long. So you can go back and
double and you can question again, Okay, should Dan just
have given Milton three four million dollars more a year?
(36:44):
They had a bottom line, they stuck to it. But
Milton has made a big difference with what New England
wants to do. So it's do you just want to
pay a little bit more so to get some of
those stars to make a real big difference here.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
That's something I think you can question.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
I think any you want to blame, you got evidence
to point two man, And that's what's so frustrating.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
It really is.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Again, t mac who has been unquestionably one of the
best players offensively, has a big drop. He's a rookie,
has a big drop offensive lineman. Taylor Moten, my guy,
he was allowing pressures. Now he's one of the highest
graded pro football focused players, just like he always is.
But I thought early in this game he allowed some
pressures to Harold Landry, who was very good. Perhaps somebody
(37:27):
we should have talked about a little bit more so
as being a difference maker up there in New England. Man,
you can point to anybody except maybe Brady Christensen, who
didn't play all that much, and when he did he
graded out really well.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
You can't blame him by the fault.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
But Brady, Brady, you're the one man. You are the
one that says it ain't my fault, it's everybody else's.
And I think i'd probably agree with Bagel Guy, says Dad.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Morgan spent five picks in rounds one through four of
his first two drafts on damn skilled players on a
rebuilding two and fifteen team. If I were to point
to a decision right now made by Damn that I
kind of did not like the most of any you know,
and it's not hindsight twenty twenty, because if you guys
(38:08):
were listening to the show, you knew that.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
But I wanted them to draft Lad.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
McConkie instead of Exavier leaguet, and I feel like that
that would make a world of difference in your offense.
I've said that either you need to have speed, and
we know speed kills. You've either got to have the
type of speed that you can take the top off
the defense and really present a lot of issues, or
you need guys that can consistently get open. And so
(38:31):
if you have a Ladd McConkie to go along with
what you have here in Carolina, let's just say, you know,
and who knows football soil situational, you never know how
things would have turned out had this or that happened.
But let's just say today you have Lad McConkie next
to tet Ro and McMillan. I mean, could you think
of a better pairing that's like, you know wine, I
know you're wine and bacon guy. When you went out
(38:51):
to California, was one time talk about the pairings that
would have been a great pairing. And then if you
added Jalen Coker, Oh my goodness, you talk a difference
you would see in Bryce Young because you have guys
that are winning like that. I don't know if you
could hit me snap on the phone, but you have
on this show right now through the microphone. But you
have guys that would be winning instantly, and that's what
(39:13):
you guys have to see out there with Bryce mean,
you've got to have guys that are winning inside of
those two seconds that he means to get the ball off.
And if you have that, the offense looks completely different.
And so I think that would be one that I
would look at. Do you have a move that's glaring
to you where you were like, man, you know I
hate that Dan did that one that kind of hurt us.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Well, okay, so what do you think the most important
responsibility is for a GM of an NFL or an
NBA team. A lot of people would point to what
do you do with your first round picks? Do you
hit on them? If you do, then you're already ahead
of the eight ball. And if that's the case, then
you missed out on Xavier Lely get to this point,
who has not performed well when he was healthy and
(39:52):
right now he's not healthy. In fact, we did just
get some information excel is day to day. According to
Dave Canalis, Jalen Kocher is weak to week. He's eligible
to return this week if they activate him. With that
twenty one day window. I don't know. I'm not getting
the vibes that he's going to be activated week or two.
It feels like that and Excel could be ready to
(40:13):
suit up. I would probably bet that he does suit
up this upcoming game. Dave Canal has talked about Jimmy
Horn is going to see some action. We'll see what
happens to you. David Moore got hurt on the very
first play, and that's a position. They're suffering a lot
of injuries, including getting Adam thielein on.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
Up out of here.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
But to your point, if you look at first round
picks being the biggest responsibility that these gms have to
take care of, I think you had to miss when
trading up to go get Excel because you wanted that
faith year option, and that is a class that wide
receiver position, you had a lot of depth. Ricky Pearsall
was drafted ahead of Excel to be fair, But if
you're going to trade up, could could you swindle a
(40:53):
little more to go get go after Pearsall? But no,
cool Lad McConkie was right there to be had if
you wanted him and you didn't select him. Now he's
having a rough go of it with the charges right now,
by the way, like it's all Keenan Allen, it's all
Quentin Johnson shout out to him. But Laant McConkie still
has shown a lot more than what EXL has. So yeah,
I mean, Wes, I don't disagree because if you go
(41:14):
to free agency, I can't point to a ton of
stuff and say that's what I would have done over
what they decided to do. They tried to get depth
that was solid. They could have gone after Milton Williams
and paid for the Star at a position that matters,
but they had a tipping point and they decided, nope,
we're not gonna pay him as much as New England
because they have all the money in the world. So
(41:35):
let's try to get depth upfront, Let's try to get
depth on the back end and go sign Trey von Merrick.
And so I understand the process. At the end of
the day, it's got to work for you. And right now, Wes,
when they lose, it looks terrible. And that's on everybody.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Trust level right now. One through ten for me, I
would say, is about a four. What about you?
Speaker 3 (41:55):
That sounds right to me? Yeah, I was thinking about
fifty to fifty, like we're gonna go five. I was
thinking out of ten because yeah, well so t Mac
is a hit. Yeah, Tack the eighth overall selection. You
got to hit on your top ten selections. It looks
like you did that. I think Jalen Kocher, if we're
gonna give him credit, that's an undrafted guy that yeah
(42:16):
they cut first, but they got him. They brought him
into the building.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
They wanted him.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
He looks like a hit, so that's something that matters.
I like bringing in Rico Daddle, who they apparently they
like using too.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (42:26):
I do think real quickly, there's a little too much
being made about Cuba Hubbard's lack of carries in this game,
in my opinion, because he was banged up. I think
they wanted to be a little careful with Cuba in
this game against the Patriots. He's clearly the better player.
A healthy Cuba, I think does deserve more carries than Rico.
I don't think that Rico would have gotten as many
had Cuba not had the cap injury. I could be wrong,
but that's just my take on it. But yeah, you
(42:48):
have some talent. You're not completely devoid of talent, but yeah,
not enough to not get blown out by New England apparently.
All right, folks, when we come back, we start the
two o'clock hour. This is Wes and Walker.
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