00:00:00
Speaker 1: We are excited to get a chance now to talk Hornets with our next guest. He is back for another season of bringing the sunshine, baby sunshine, Sam Farber, uh, talking about those one and Oh, one Hornets, Sam Farber radio play by play voice of the Hornets is now going to join us every Thursday at eight 25.
00:00:20
Speaker 2: Sammy, what's going on, man? How you feeling today?
00:00:24
Speaker 3: I'll let the sun shine in. You know, it's a little bit of a late arrival coming back here to the Queen City, but it always feels good to be on the plane on a win and always good to be waking up with Mac and Bone. Plus, special guests I've already heard this morning. We had Coach O on the show. You had Charles Barkley. You got Shaq Prescience. You got it all.
00:00:45
Speaker 2: They've all been here, all the luminaries.
00:00:47
Speaker 4: Sam, we know the current state of the Nets and where they are in the East, and it is the first game.
00:00:53
Speaker 3: Of the year.
00:00:54
Speaker 4: But as we talked about on the critically reviewed pregame show last night that you're a part of, how big is a win like that to get things started, considering how jammed up we think this Eastern Conference will be in this season?
00:01:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, and in large part because everyone's trying now. I mean, Brooklyn lost. I think I counted up. I think they lost 25 of their last 30 games last year, and I think they're disappointed they didn't lose more. Teams weren't trying actively to lose, and that's not going to happen. this time around. So, you know, I'm looking at the box score, and Brooklyn, their star players at least, played well. Julius Randle put 30 on the board. Michael Porter Jr. got hot, as he tends to do. You can make a strong argument that just from a counting stats standpoint, the top two players for Brooklyn outperformed the top two players for Charlotte, even with Nas Reed and Brandon Miller having, you know, pretty strong games, 20 and 10 for a debut, not bad at all for Nas Reed, I'd say. But it's the collective that shine through here for Charlotte, the depth of the roster, the depth of talent and players relying on each other, leaning on each other. You know, Charlotte, you know, again, counting stats wise, they might've lost the top two versus the top two to Brooklyn, but top 10, it wasn't close. The only thing that made it close was turnover. So again, I think every win is important. We learned that last year. No matter what the situation is, for 82 games, it always seems to come down to one or two, deciding whether or not you're going to make the playoffs or have to fight your way through the play-in. This is one the Hornets now have in their back pocket.
00:02:28
Speaker 4: It is.
00:02:29
Speaker 1: They needed to get it, but I don't think it's crazy that it wasn't easy. You're missing two of your three best offensive players. You're missing a leader and a role player in Grant Williams.
00:02:39
Speaker 2: And you're right.
00:02:39
Speaker 1: It was the balance and the depth of the Hornets that showed over the Randall and Porter show for the Nets. Let's talk about some of those guys that contributed to the five guys storing 17 points or more. I love the fact that it was some of the new guys that Jeff Peterson just acquired. You mentioned Nas Reid's game. I mean, Grayson Allen scoring off the bench was so big, too, with 21 points. What did you think of Nas and Grayson for a couple of starters here to talk about?
00:03:10
Speaker 2: What did you think?
00:03:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, Nas just solid as a rock, kind of as expected. If you take the numbers that he had the last couple years in Minnesota and you extrapolate them over starters' minutes, this is kind of what you were hoping for. And he shows proof of concept there on night one. Plus, his playmaking, I think, has been vastly underrated. He had a career-high seven assists last night. And, you know, it wasn't like he was doing something totally out of the ordinary. It didn't feel that way as we watched him distribute the ball. He just looked very natural in practice. Charles Lee's offense and clearly a defensive presence just his size that they upgrade there in terms of physicality it's noticeable so great great start for him and then Grayson Allen we talked to him after the game on the post game show and he was like man this was fun like Musa is a monster and you've got Brandon Miller that it requires all this attention I mean he's just basically allowed to roam and operate and do what he wants to do and get to his spots and knock down wide-open threes. What could be better for one of the all-time great three-point shooters out of Duke?
00:04:15
Speaker 4: Thank you for saying that last part there. Sam, what is the— Did you pay him to drop that in? No, no, no.
00:04:21
Speaker 2: It's not like his Lowe's threes or his Dr. Pepper dunks. Oh, how many Dr.
00:04:23
Speaker 1: Pepper dunks?
00:04:24
Speaker 2: It's not a bone Duke reference. How about Musa with six Dr. Pepper dunks, baby? I love it.
00:04:29
Speaker 4: Sam, what was your assessment of Brandon Miller's performance last night? 17 early, only one after that. What changed in the second half where his scoring slowed down like it did?
00:04:39
Speaker 3: Well, he was clearly the focal point of Brooklyn's defense. Even in the first half, they were throwing two at him any time he touched the ball. So this is going to be kind of the scouting report for a while here, I think, on Charlotte, particularly with Kobe and Con out. Teams are going to test him. They're going to say, let's see if we can get the ball out of his hands. In the first half, he did an excellent job getting to his spots despite the pressure. He got really, really hot there at the end of the first quarter and into the second. 17 points and a half, that was awesome. And then in the second half, he was smart enough to recognize, like, hey, if I'm getting all this attention, I can go ahead and let other people operate. And so, you know, it wasn't his strongest three-point shooting night. They're not all going to be that way. But he has proven over the course of his career that if you play it out over an 82-game season, he's going to make 36%, 37%, 38% of his threes at high volume. He's going to be north of 20 more nights than he's not. And to win a game where you didn't shoot as efficiently as you normally would hope to, where you did turn the ball over 20 times, and the opposition's two best players had a really good stat line, that's a big win. That's something that most teams in the NBA are not able to do. If they don't play their A game and the other team's best players have really good games, you normally count that one as a loss, especially on the road. So I give Brandon Miller a ton of credit for working through a tough first shooting day and finding ways– to be a big time contributor towards the season opening win.
00:06:05
Speaker 1: I'm glad you said that. Cause that's what I was saying. Or I, that's what I saw too. Like when Brandon hit those 17 points in like the first 15 minutes of the game, it felt like the nets then realize, okay, we got to make sure this dude doesn't beat us, make the other guys beat us. Every time Brandon came off a ball screen, like you're saying they were blitzing it, they were doubling him. I like, and I know Sam, maybe I'm, maybe I'm sunshiny like you.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: Like I, I want it.
00:06:31
Speaker 1: Like I tend to look at it like, okay, it's not ideal. Brandon scored one point after that, you know, point early in the second quarter, but I tend to look at it like, Hey, without two of our three best offensive players, We still had a bunch of other dudes that could step up and say, OK, you're going to take Brandon away.
00:06:49
Speaker 2: We can score like.
00:06:50
Speaker 1: Dennis Schroeder attacking the rack over and over again as they blanketed the shooters. Like to me, they yes, we're going to keep watching Brandon because of the new contract. But but you have to point out the positives, too, that this team is deep enough with Kobe and Khan out to still have four other guys to step up and get buckets.
00:07:08
Speaker 3: Totally agree. And not every team is Brooklyn where they've got clearly two really, really elite scorers in Porter and Randall, and then a couple other guys who are experienced, but they play a lot of young guys. They've got seven first-round picks. in the last two years. They didn't play them all, but they're playing significant minutes with these guys. And so you would assume that a veteran like a Dennis Schroeder or a Grayson Allen or a Royce O'Neal or an Oz Reed will know how to operate against those younger players and take advantage of the matchups. But also, it's the attention you have to focus on Brandon Miller. Listen, Dennis Schroeder is spectacular. I am in love with our new point guard here. For Charlotte, his change of speed, his understanding of spacing and timing and how to change speeds out there, he's been brilliant. But I'm under no illusion that it's just how quick he is. There clearly were some lanes that he's able to take advantage of because the opposition doesn't want to leave Brandon Miller alone or doesn't want to leave Grayson Allen alone or doesn't want to leave Nas Reed alone. And so that's where the team aspect of this comes into play. And again, I'll go back to it. If we're just using counting steps, just using points, Julius Randle, Michael Porter Jr. played well enough for Brooklyn to win that game. It's the fact that the Hornets weren't necessarily better 1-2, which they can be on a lot of nights and will be on a lot of nights, but 1-10, it wasn't close. The only thing that made it close was the turnovers.
00:08:29
Speaker 2: Sam, how about this nugget of information?
00:08:31
Speaker 4: Now, I know that the Hornets are tied for first right now with the Wizards and the Hawks, but as we sit here in Mac, October 22nd, The Panthers and the Hornets are both in first place.
00:08:44
Speaker 2: Oh, man. What a day to be alive. Oh, my God.
00:08:48
Speaker 3: Green City wearing the crown.
00:08:50
Speaker 4: Damn straight, baby. We get some walkouts right now. We get some walkouts right now.
00:08:55
Speaker 2: Oh, man. Stop the season. We're both in first.
00:08:57
Speaker 1: It feels good. All we do is win, win, win, Boney. No matter what I say.
00:09:00
Speaker 2: Hell yes, sir. Hell yeah. All right, Sammy. Well, so it's a big, as we wrap this.
00:09:06
Speaker 1: Up, we know that Sammy is going to go into ticket selling mode, Boney. So I'm going to lob this up to you. It's like Billy Mays. Like you're Musa, and you're going to dunk this thing home. If you want to check out the new look bugs, and everybody's still getting to know them, right, without LaMelo and all that sort of stuff, there's still so many ballers on this team. You're going to have three chances coming up over the weekend through Monday. Hit everybody with the info they need, Sam, for this homestand coming up.
00:09:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, enormous weekend. It starts off tomorrow night, Friday night, home opener for Charlotte. taking on the Atlanta Hawks, one of the teams that they're going to have to chase down if they want to make it into the playoffs next year. And in addition to being all the fanfare that comes with opening night and a home opening night, Petey Pablo will be the halftime show. And you don't have to take your shirt off. We're going to give one to you. Free shirt for everyone in attendance. Petey Pablo at halftime. It's going to be awesome. Then on Saturday night, two of a back-to-back. It's the new look Miami Heat with Giannis Antetokounmpo in town. And then you're right, three games in four days. It'll be the Washington Wizards, who themselves, new look, two all-stars on that roster now, and Trey Young and Anthony Davis. Plus, hopefully he's playing by then, the newly number one overall pick, A.J. DeVanta. So it's going to be a great weekend of Hornets basketball. The headliner, clearly, Brandon Miller and the Bugs. as Buzz City tries to keep this unbeaten run going to start the season. And home court advantage has been absolutely enormous. It was all through the end of last season. Hopefully that continues starting tomorrow night. And tickets are available at Hornets.com.
00:10:51
Speaker 2: We're calling him Willie Pablo for a couple of days. Here's the problem.
00:10:54
Speaker 3: Hey, guys.
00:10:54
Speaker 1: Willie Pablo's got to call FC that night.
00:10:57
Speaker 2: They're out in Portland.
00:10:58
Speaker 1: So I don't think he can get there, take his shirt off, and spin it around like a dang helicopter and shed some tears. It's very sad.
00:11:06
Speaker 3: He did not bring that up on the post-game show last night. I did not hear that he had a prior commitment there.
00:11:11
Speaker 2: Very sad. Yeah, there was a lot of emotions.
00:11:13
Speaker 3: Maybe he's going to try and call the game from our studio.
00:11:17
Speaker 1: He gets very emotional over Petey Pablo. He had to make a choice, Bone and Sam. He had to choose the mayor, Brant Bronico, over Petey Pablo. And that was one of the hardest choices. It's like choosing between your two children for you and I, Sam.
00:11:29
Speaker 2: All right, brother.
00:11:29
Speaker 1: Well, hey, it's good to have you back on the airwaves. Good start to the season. And appreciate you, Sam.
00:11:35
Speaker 2: Be good, man. Thanks for coming on.
00:11:36
Speaker 3: Appreciate you guys as well. We'll see everyone at the Hive this weekend.
Speaker 1: We are excited to get a chance now to talk Hornets with our next guest. He is back for another season of bringing the sunshine, baby sunshine, Sam Farber, uh, talking about those one and Oh, one Hornets, Sam Farber radio play by play voice of the Hornets is now going to join us every Thursday at eight 25.
00:00:20
Speaker 2: Sammy, what's going on, man? How you feeling today?
00:00:24
Speaker 3: I'll let the sun shine in. You know, it's a little bit of a late arrival coming back here to the Queen City, but it always feels good to be on the plane on a win and always good to be waking up with Mac and Bone. Plus, special guests I've already heard this morning. We had Coach O on the show. You had Charles Barkley. You got Shaq Prescience. You got it all.
00:00:45
Speaker 2: They've all been here, all the luminaries.
00:00:47
Speaker 4: Sam, we know the current state of the Nets and where they are in the East, and it is the first game.
00:00:53
Speaker 3: Of the year.
00:00:54
Speaker 4: But as we talked about on the critically reviewed pregame show last night that you're a part of, how big is a win like that to get things started, considering how jammed up we think this Eastern Conference will be in this season?
00:01:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, and in large part because everyone's trying now. I mean, Brooklyn lost. I think I counted up. I think they lost 25 of their last 30 games last year, and I think they're disappointed they didn't lose more. Teams weren't trying actively to lose, and that's not going to happen. this time around. So, you know, I'm looking at the box score, and Brooklyn, their star players at least, played well. Julius Randle put 30 on the board. Michael Porter Jr. got hot, as he tends to do. You can make a strong argument that just from a counting stats standpoint, the top two players for Brooklyn outperformed the top two players for Charlotte, even with Nas Reed and Brandon Miller having, you know, pretty strong games, 20 and 10 for a debut, not bad at all for Nas Reed, I'd say. But it's the collective that shine through here for Charlotte, the depth of the roster, the depth of talent and players relying on each other, leaning on each other. You know, Charlotte, you know, again, counting stats wise, they might've lost the top two versus the top two to Brooklyn, but top 10, it wasn't close. The only thing that made it close was turnover. So again, I think every win is important. We learned that last year. No matter what the situation is, for 82 games, it always seems to come down to one or two, deciding whether or not you're going to make the playoffs or have to fight your way through the play-in. This is one the Hornets now have in their back pocket.
00:02:28
Speaker 4: It is.
00:02:29
Speaker 1: They needed to get it, but I don't think it's crazy that it wasn't easy. You're missing two of your three best offensive players. You're missing a leader and a role player in Grant Williams.
00:02:39
Speaker 2: And you're right.
00:02:39
Speaker 1: It was the balance and the depth of the Hornets that showed over the Randall and Porter show for the Nets. Let's talk about some of those guys that contributed to the five guys storing 17 points or more. I love the fact that it was some of the new guys that Jeff Peterson just acquired. You mentioned Nas Reid's game. I mean, Grayson Allen scoring off the bench was so big, too, with 21 points. What did you think of Nas and Grayson for a couple of starters here to talk about?
00:03:10
Speaker 2: What did you think?
00:03:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, Nas just solid as a rock, kind of as expected. If you take the numbers that he had the last couple years in Minnesota and you extrapolate them over starters' minutes, this is kind of what you were hoping for. And he shows proof of concept there on night one. Plus, his playmaking, I think, has been vastly underrated. He had a career-high seven assists last night. And, you know, it wasn't like he was doing something totally out of the ordinary. It didn't feel that way as we watched him distribute the ball. He just looked very natural in practice. Charles Lee's offense and clearly a defensive presence just his size that they upgrade there in terms of physicality it's noticeable so great great start for him and then Grayson Allen we talked to him after the game on the post game show and he was like man this was fun like Musa is a monster and you've got Brandon Miller that it requires all this attention I mean he's just basically allowed to roam and operate and do what he wants to do and get to his spots and knock down wide-open threes. What could be better for one of the all-time great three-point shooters out of Duke?
00:04:15
Speaker 4: Thank you for saying that last part there. Sam, what is the— Did you pay him to drop that in? No, no, no.
00:04:21
Speaker 2: It's not like his Lowe's threes or his Dr. Pepper dunks. Oh, how many Dr.
00:04:23
Speaker 1: Pepper dunks?
00:04:24
Speaker 2: It's not a bone Duke reference. How about Musa with six Dr. Pepper dunks, baby? I love it.
00:04:29
Speaker 4: Sam, what was your assessment of Brandon Miller's performance last night? 17 early, only one after that. What changed in the second half where his scoring slowed down like it did?
00:04:39
Speaker 3: Well, he was clearly the focal point of Brooklyn's defense. Even in the first half, they were throwing two at him any time he touched the ball. So this is going to be kind of the scouting report for a while here, I think, on Charlotte, particularly with Kobe and Con out. Teams are going to test him. They're going to say, let's see if we can get the ball out of his hands. In the first half, he did an excellent job getting to his spots despite the pressure. He got really, really hot there at the end of the first quarter and into the second. 17 points and a half, that was awesome. And then in the second half, he was smart enough to recognize, like, hey, if I'm getting all this attention, I can go ahead and let other people operate. And so, you know, it wasn't his strongest three-point shooting night. They're not all going to be that way. But he has proven over the course of his career that if you play it out over an 82-game season, he's going to make 36%, 37%, 38% of his threes at high volume. He's going to be north of 20 more nights than he's not. And to win a game where you didn't shoot as efficiently as you normally would hope to, where you did turn the ball over 20 times, and the opposition's two best players had a really good stat line, that's a big win. That's something that most teams in the NBA are not able to do. If they don't play their A game and the other team's best players have really good games, you normally count that one as a loss, especially on the road. So I give Brandon Miller a ton of credit for working through a tough first shooting day and finding ways– to be a big time contributor towards the season opening win.
00:06:05
Speaker 1: I'm glad you said that. Cause that's what I was saying. Or I, that's what I saw too. Like when Brandon hit those 17 points in like the first 15 minutes of the game, it felt like the nets then realize, okay, we got to make sure this dude doesn't beat us, make the other guys beat us. Every time Brandon came off a ball screen, like you're saying they were blitzing it, they were doubling him. I like, and I know Sam, maybe I'm, maybe I'm sunshiny like you.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: Like I, I want it.
00:06:31
Speaker 1: Like I tend to look at it like, okay, it's not ideal. Brandon scored one point after that, you know, point early in the second quarter, but I tend to look at it like, Hey, without two of our three best offensive players, We still had a bunch of other dudes that could step up and say, OK, you're going to take Brandon away.
00:06:49
Speaker 2: We can score like.
00:06:50
Speaker 1: Dennis Schroeder attacking the rack over and over again as they blanketed the shooters. Like to me, they yes, we're going to keep watching Brandon because of the new contract. But but you have to point out the positives, too, that this team is deep enough with Kobe and Khan out to still have four other guys to step up and get buckets.
00:07:08
Speaker 3: Totally agree. And not every team is Brooklyn where they've got clearly two really, really elite scorers in Porter and Randall, and then a couple other guys who are experienced, but they play a lot of young guys. They've got seven first-round picks. in the last two years. They didn't play them all, but they're playing significant minutes with these guys. And so you would assume that a veteran like a Dennis Schroeder or a Grayson Allen or a Royce O'Neal or an Oz Reed will know how to operate against those younger players and take advantage of the matchups. But also, it's the attention you have to focus on Brandon Miller. Listen, Dennis Schroeder is spectacular. I am in love with our new point guard here. For Charlotte, his change of speed, his understanding of spacing and timing and how to change speeds out there, he's been brilliant. But I'm under no illusion that it's just how quick he is. There clearly were some lanes that he's able to take advantage of because the opposition doesn't want to leave Brandon Miller alone or doesn't want to leave Grayson Allen alone or doesn't want to leave Nas Reed alone. And so that's where the team aspect of this comes into play. And again, I'll go back to it. If we're just using counting steps, just using points, Julius Randle, Michael Porter Jr. played well enough for Brooklyn to win that game. It's the fact that the Hornets weren't necessarily better 1-2, which they can be on a lot of nights and will be on a lot of nights, but 1-10, it wasn't close. The only thing that made it close was the turnovers.
00:08:29
Speaker 2: Sam, how about this nugget of information?
00:08:31
Speaker 4: Now, I know that the Hornets are tied for first right now with the Wizards and the Hawks, but as we sit here in Mac, October 22nd, The Panthers and the Hornets are both in first place.
00:08:44
Speaker 2: Oh, man. What a day to be alive. Oh, my God.
00:08:48
Speaker 3: Green City wearing the crown.
00:08:50
Speaker 4: Damn straight, baby. We get some walkouts right now. We get some walkouts right now.
00:08:55
Speaker 2: Oh, man. Stop the season. We're both in first.
00:08:57
Speaker 1: It feels good. All we do is win, win, win, Boney. No matter what I say.
00:09:00
Speaker 2: Hell yes, sir. Hell yeah. All right, Sammy. Well, so it's a big, as we wrap this.
00:09:06
Speaker 1: Up, we know that Sammy is going to go into ticket selling mode, Boney. So I'm going to lob this up to you. It's like Billy Mays. Like you're Musa, and you're going to dunk this thing home. If you want to check out the new look bugs, and everybody's still getting to know them, right, without LaMelo and all that sort of stuff, there's still so many ballers on this team. You're going to have three chances coming up over the weekend through Monday. Hit everybody with the info they need, Sam, for this homestand coming up.
00:09:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, enormous weekend. It starts off tomorrow night, Friday night, home opener for Charlotte. taking on the Atlanta Hawks, one of the teams that they're going to have to chase down if they want to make it into the playoffs next year. And in addition to being all the fanfare that comes with opening night and a home opening night, Petey Pablo will be the halftime show. And you don't have to take your shirt off. We're going to give one to you. Free shirt for everyone in attendance. Petey Pablo at halftime. It's going to be awesome. Then on Saturday night, two of a back-to-back. It's the new look Miami Heat with Giannis Antetokounmpo in town. And then you're right, three games in four days. It'll be the Washington Wizards, who themselves, new look, two all-stars on that roster now, and Trey Young and Anthony Davis. Plus, hopefully he's playing by then, the newly number one overall pick, A.J. DeVanta. So it's going to be a great weekend of Hornets basketball. The headliner, clearly, Brandon Miller and the Bugs. as Buzz City tries to keep this unbeaten run going to start the season. And home court advantage has been absolutely enormous. It was all through the end of last season. Hopefully that continues starting tomorrow night. And tickets are available at Hornets.com.
00:10:51
Speaker 2: We're calling him Willie Pablo for a couple of days. Here's the problem.
00:10:54
Speaker 3: Hey, guys.
00:10:54
Speaker 1: Willie Pablo's got to call FC that night.
00:10:57
Speaker 2: They're out in Portland.
00:10:58
Speaker 1: So I don't think he can get there, take his shirt off, and spin it around like a dang helicopter and shed some tears. It's very sad.
00:11:06
Speaker 3: He did not bring that up on the post-game show last night. I did not hear that he had a prior commitment there.
00:11:11
Speaker 2: Very sad. Yeah, there was a lot of emotions.
00:11:13
Speaker 3: Maybe he's going to try and call the game from our studio.
00:11:17
Speaker 1: He gets very emotional over Petey Pablo. He had to make a choice, Bone and Sam. He had to choose the mayor, Brant Bronico, over Petey Pablo. And that was one of the hardest choices. It's like choosing between your two children for you and I, Sam.
00:11:29
Speaker 2: All right, brother.
00:11:29
Speaker 1: Well, hey, it's good to have you back on the airwaves. Good start to the season. And appreciate you, Sam.
00:11:35
Speaker 2: Be good, man. Thanks for coming on.
00:11:36
Speaker 3: Appreciate you guys as well. We'll see everyone at the Hive this weekend.
