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Mac & Bone Show - Jermaine Bucknor Interview · Mac & Bone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let's focus on the Charlotte Hornets opening their season tonight,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: and let's do so with Jermaine Buckner, assistant coach for
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: your Charlotte Hornets, joining us here on Game Day Morning. Coach,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: what's going on? How you doing?
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Morning, folks. How you guys doing today? I'm great.
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: What's up, Coach? Doing good.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Appreciate you getting up early here on game day and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: chatting with us. I just want to kind of cut
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: to the chase. I want to get this question out
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: of the way because we're hyped up for the start
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: of the season, but as you can imagine, a lot
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of fans are still thinking about the fact, man, for
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the first time in years, LaMelo's not on this team.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: What do you think about– and I know you were
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: missing a ton of guys in the preseason and still
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: are to start the season– But when you look at
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: this team and how they're constructed, I would think you
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: guys think this is still a hell of an offense,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: even without LaMelo.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, obviously LaMelo is an incredible player. He
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: was in Charlotte for many, many years. I can understand
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: what you said about the fans having a connection to
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: him and whatnot. And I have a great appreciation for
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: LaMelo and all that he did. While he was here.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: In regards to the guys that we have now, I'm
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: really excited about heading into the regular season. Obviously, we
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: missed a couple guys, like you said, during the preseason.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: And Khan and Kobe, Grayson missed a couple games. But
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: I think we got a heck of a lot of
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: shooting on the floor. We got a lot of intelligence.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: We got guys that enjoy sharing the ball and guys
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: that enjoy playing together. So I'm extremely excited about the
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: offense this year.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: In comparison to teams you've been around, the depth of
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: this team, where does it compare to teams you've coached before?
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like I said, we have a ton of shooting
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: on the floor. Depth is so important. If you want
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: to make the playoffs and you want to make a
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: playoff run, you want to play in the postseason, you
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: have to have depth to your roster, right? You've got
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: to have a group of guys that are willing to
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: buy in from top to bottom. Like five, six guys
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: is not going to do it. And you've seen that
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: in the previous years in the NBA. So, I mean,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: I came from the Boston Celtics, right, which was one
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: of the deepest rosters in the league the year that
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: we won the championship. And we saw how important that was, especially,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: you know, you got to take into consideration injuries that
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: come into play and guys having to sit out games.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: And when you got guys sitting out, you need the
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: next man to step up. and bring that level of
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: intensity and that level of focus that was left behind
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: by that injury or whatever that guy is dealing with
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: to have to sit out the game. So that is
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: extremely important. And for our roster, we're trying to build
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: a roster filled with depth.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think you've got it. I think there's
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: a good chance it shows tonight, you know, with three
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: important guys out, that depth that you have. Coach Jermaine
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Buckner is with us, Hornets assistant in Brooklyn, getting ready
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: for tonight's season opener. Coach, we've got to talk about
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Brandon Miller. I mean, he's the guy that should be
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: buying everybody dinner over there now after that big contract
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: that he got. From a coach's perspective, now that he's
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: healthy and we've fed, he told– our guys, Wes and
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Walker on our station, what he was going through and
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: how bad the pain was last year. And I don't
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: think we realized it. What do you think if he's
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: a healthy Brandon Miller, as he matures as a player,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: what are the next steps for him? What are the
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: steps of growth you think we're about to see from him?
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, congratulations to Brandon. We're really excited to have
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: him in the contract. Brandon's an incredible talent as we
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: all know. And as he, as he continues to grow
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: and get older and, His leadership, I think that is
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: going to be one of the main things for him
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: to focus on. He's got an incredible amount of talent.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: It's unbelievable what that kid can do with the basketball,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: with his athleticism. As he begins to grow, we need
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: to see him. And I know he wants this for
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: himself to be a better leader, to be a more
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: vocal leader, to lead by example. And he's done a
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: great job of that so far throughout the course of
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: this offseason and heading into this preseason.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: From where camp started and what was going on over
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: the summer, Where have Christian Anderson and Steinbach individually improved
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: the most the last couple months?
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Oh, man. Yeah, it's been really fun to watch them grow.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: Their level of intelligence, you know, you could see it
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: already as soon as they came in. They want to listen.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: They want to grow. They want to learn each and
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: every single day. But what I've been most impressed with
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: them about is just their level of development that's taken
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: place just in the past couple months. And you could
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: tell when they first got to us, as it is for, like,
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: many rookies that come to the league, the game is
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: just moving so fast, right? Like, you're coming into a
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: league where the athleticism is higher, the speed is faster,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: the physicality is just more. And they've adapted so quickly
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: over the course of the summer. And it's been really
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: cool to see them throughout the course of the preseason
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: getting into real NBA games and figuring that out throughout
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: the course of the game. And practice as well. They
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: bring the intensity to practice every single day.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Coach, we're talking with Jermaine Buckner, assistant coach for the Hornets.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about Coach Lee now. And I think you
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: guys as a staff, I think, did an amazing job
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: last year. So I don't want to make you think
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: as I'm asking about the head coach, I'm neglecting the
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: staff entirely. I just thought this team was so well
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: coached last year. But I want to give Coach Lee
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: a little bit of love. This may score you some
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: points with him too, Coach. What are the things that
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: you see him do in practice or behind the scenes
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: that when talking with the team strategy or motivation, like
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: what are the things that we may not see that
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: make him such a good basketball coach?
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, honestly, man, like you're never going to disrespect me by,
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: by gassing up coach. He, he, no, honestly, he's one
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: of the most incredible people I've ever been around. And
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: I mean that like on and off the court, like
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: he's just a, first of all, he's just a good
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: human being, a good man. And I truly do admire him. And,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: The staff that he's put together, we get along better
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: than any staff that I've ever been a part of.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: He knows exactly what he needs around him, and he's
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: put that together. In regards to him as an individual,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: one of the most intelligent coaches that I've been a
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: part of, been around. Basketball-wise, he knows his stuff. His adjustments,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: his ability to adjust on the fly, his open-mindedness to
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: different concepts and different ideas. The way that he is
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: able to communicate with his players and hear them out,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: hear their suggestions, and then allow them to feel confident
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: in what they're doing, I think is extremely important for
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: our team. He demands a level of respect from not
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: only his players, but the staff and the people around him.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: And we all do love and respect him. So, I mean,
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: he's done an incredible job over the past few years.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: I'm truly honored to be a part of the staff,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: and I think each and every single one of our
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: assistant coaches would say the same thing.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: That's awesome. That is awesome. All right, well, hey, we
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: wish you guys the best of luck. We're excited here
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: at WFNZ that y'all are getting back to it. Good
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: luck tonight and the full season, Coach. We appreciate you.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Appreciate y'all. Thanks for the reach out.