Speaker 1: The NBA Draft is a week away, and the seventy
Speaker 1: sixers aren't the only team in the organization that will
Speaker 1: be affected. We're meeting every day to kind of hammer
Speaker 1: out our board. It's very much a year round process
Speaker 1: that this month and this week particularly is kind of
Speaker 1: that whole process coming together. Matt Lily, general manager of
Speaker 1: the Delaware Blue Coats, talks about the draft and its
Speaker 1: impact on the GI League. We'll also hear from sharpshooter
Speaker 1: Dylan Windler following this recent visit to the training complex.
Speaker 1: It is trying to get that shot down muscle memory,
Speaker 1: the same as that shot every time, but then when
Speaker 1: it comes to game and I just shot selection and
Speaker 1: good shot selection shoot out with Complins. It is the
Speaker 1: latest draft season edition of the broadcast. Hello at seventy sixers,
Speaker 1: odd people, and how are you doing? Brian Seltzer saying
Speaker 1: what's up? As we get closer and closer to the draft,
Speaker 1: and I check in with another draft edition of our podcast.
Speaker 1: We're going to talk with Matt Lily, he runs the
Speaker 1: Delaware Blue Coats, will speak about his role in the
Speaker 1: seventy sixers draft preparations, and we'll also talk with Dylan Windler.
Speaker 1: He is a four year senior out of Belmont trying
Speaker 1: to become just the second player ever from that Tennessee
Speaker 1: based institution to make an NBA roster, and he'll recap
Speaker 1: his visit with these seventy sixers before we get started.
Speaker 1: Want to remind you, like we usually do, to subscribe
Speaker 1: to our pod if you are not yet a subscriber already.
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, SoundCloud, tune in all
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Speaker 1: network and that should take you to where you need
Speaker 1: to go. The gym at the seventy six ers training
Speaker 1: complex and Camden has been a busy active gym in
Speaker 1: recent weeks. Really ever since the Memorial Day weekend, the
Speaker 1: seventy sixers have been hosting pre draft prospect workouts with
Speaker 1: six players each feels like just about every other day.
Speaker 1: It was really neat on Saturday over the weekend to
Speaker 1: have Philip Booth and Eric Pascalin from Villanova to bring
Speaker 1: a local flavor to the competition on the court, but
Speaker 1: there have been prospects of varying degrees of experience skill
Speaker 1: sets being rolled in and out as they go through
Speaker 1: the pre draft circuits over the last i'd say fourteen
Speaker 1: to twenty days. A guy who seems interesting is Dylan Windler,
Speaker 1: at least to me. He is a native of Indianapolis
Speaker 1: who was one of the best high school players in
Speaker 1: recent history to come out of that area, such a
Speaker 1: hotbed for basketball, and he spent four years at Belmont
Speaker 1: with the Bruins in Tennessee and had an outstanding career,
Speaker 1: one in which he got better and better as the
Speaker 1: seasons went along. As a senior, he averaged just over
Speaker 1: twenty one points per game and roughly eleven rebounds. He
Speaker 1: shot a very impressive forty three percent from the field
Speaker 1: while knocking down one hundred three pointers. And after a
Speaker 1: stop with the seventy six ers recently I spoke with
Speaker 1: Dylan win laure about how's workout with It was a
Speaker 1: lot of fun. Um. They started us off with some
Speaker 1: shots on the move, uh, you know, really got us going,
Speaker 1: and then we topped right into one on one, three
Speaker 1: on three. We played for you know, thirty forty minutes.
Speaker 1: It was a super fast paced and very competitive, so
Speaker 1: it was a really good workout. Of role. You put
Speaker 1: in four really solid growth years at Belmont, improved by
Speaker 1: the season being a four year player. What advantages do
Speaker 1: you think that that gives you coming into the draft.
Speaker 1: I think just a little bit more experience. You know,
Speaker 1: I've played a couple more years than a lot of
Speaker 1: these guys, um, so just having that experience under my
Speaker 1: belt definitely helps me. I've played in you know, one
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty one hundred and sixty games in college,
Speaker 1: So just having that experience for sure. Where do you
Speaker 1: think you took your game the most in terms of
Speaker 1: areas that you expanded your skill set the last four years?
Speaker 1: So you're just you know, handling the rock and you know,
Speaker 1: being able to come off picking rolls, be more versatile
Speaker 1: and offense, and being more than just a shooter, you know,
Speaker 1: moving with and without the ball, and you know, just
Speaker 1: trying to be a better defender. I'm going to ask
Speaker 1: you about that notion of being more than a shooter
Speaker 1: in a couple of seconds. But the shot is the shot.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of things that people focus on. How
Speaker 1: did you grow your shot over the course of her
Speaker 1: four seasons, Because if you look at it from an
Speaker 1: efficiency standpoint, the numbers went up. I would just say,
Speaker 1: obviously a lot of repetitions in the off season, just
Speaker 1: trying to get that shot down muscle memory. Um, just
Speaker 1: coming to have the same as that shot every time.
Speaker 1: But then when it comes to game night, just shot selection,
Speaker 1: good shot selection, and you know, um, you know, shooting
Speaker 1: it with confidence. Are there NBA shooters you admire guys?
Speaker 1: You try to pattern model your game after Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I like to watch Gordon Heard a lot. Um, I'll
Speaker 1: like to take some stuff from James Harden. Obviously he's
Speaker 1: just who we're starting. You can't do it all things
Speaker 1: he does, but just the way he moves a little
Speaker 1: bit is very intrigue games. I try to model my
Speaker 1: game a little bit after that. Sure, you've talked about
Speaker 1: it a lot, but tell me about your journey to Belmont.
Speaker 1: You're a terrific player coming out of Indianapolis, one of
Speaker 1: the best breeding grounds for basketball in the country in Belmont.
Speaker 1: How did you land there? Yeah, so for me, it
Speaker 1: was a different journey. I played golf in the summer
Speaker 1: my first two years of high school, so I didn't
Speaker 1: play much AU. I only played one year AU my
Speaker 1: last year of high school, so um, I was wasn't
Speaker 1: recruited very hard. I didn't get an offer till my
Speaker 1: senior year, and I got a lot of mid major
Speaker 1: offers late. So I visited Belmont. You know, I loved
Speaker 1: everything about it, love the coaching staff, love the team.
Speaker 1: They had a winning tradition, and you know, I loved
Speaker 1: everything about it. So I committed there, and you know,
Speaker 1: I never looked back, and I think there was a
Speaker 1: great decision for me. Is there anything that you can
Speaker 1: apply from playing golf to basketball or vice versus? There
Speaker 1: any overlap whatsoever? Yeah, I think, um, just the mental
Speaker 1: aspect of it, you know, moving on to the next shot.
Speaker 1: And you know, golf is definitely a mentally tasting sport
Speaker 1: and you've got to be able to you know, be
Speaker 1: mentally strong and just move on to the next shot.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of same thing with basketball. You know,
Speaker 1: when you miss a few shots, she's gotta be able
Speaker 1: to move on the next shot. Bellmint obviously has just
Speaker 1: one player in its history that made it to the NBA.
Speaker 1: To be the second to go from that school to
Speaker 1: the pros in the NBA, What would that mean to you? No,
Speaker 1: you'd mee the world for me for sure, just being
Speaker 1: able to represent all my university, you know the obviously
Speaker 1: they've had a great basketball program for a long time
Speaker 1: with coach Burr, So just being able to represent them
Speaker 1: and just all mid majors across the nation would be
Speaker 1: really good feeling. As you said a couple of minutes ago,
Speaker 1: you feel like you're more than just a shooter. What
Speaker 1: are some of the other areas of your game that
Speaker 1: you have the most pride in? Uh, Like I said,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get better with the ball coming off
Speaker 1: the screens. I try to move really well without the ball.
Speaker 1: Just stay moving on offense, all aspects, and then you know,
Speaker 1: one thing I'm trying to prove on his own the defensive.
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to grind it out every day, trying
Speaker 1: to become more versat I'll be able to switch screens
Speaker 1: and guard multiple positions. So that's something I'm working on.
Speaker 1: You know, I gotta get stronger, but you know I'm
Speaker 1: getting there for sure. What are your expectations for draft night?
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not trying to set too many expectations
Speaker 1: because i know draft night can be hectic, So I'm
Speaker 1: just trying to stay positive to what i can in
Speaker 1: these workouts and let that you know, play itself out
Speaker 1: and just try to do everything that I can to
Speaker 1: put myself in the best position. All right, Dylan, thanks
Speaker 1: so much, appreciate it. Dylan Windler, an exceptionally efficient player
Speaker 1: out of Belmont, spent four years at the Tennessee based school,
Speaker 1: put up some great numbers his final two seasons, both
Speaker 1: offensively and defensively. He paid a recent stop to the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers at the training complex for a pre
Speaker 1: draft workout. We're going to speak with Matt Lily, general
Speaker 1: manager of the Delaware Bluecoats, coming up, but first I
Speaker 1: wanted to issue this reminder. If you're a person who
Speaker 1: is ages five to seventeen, you very well maybe listening
Speaker 1: to this podcast, or if you are a parents of
Speaker 1: a child ages five to seventeen. Seventy six Ers basketball
Speaker 1: camps are starting soon, as in within the next week
Speaker 1: and a half at some locations throughout the Delaware Valley.
Speaker 1: Registration is open go to seventy six Ers Camps dot com.
Speaker 1: Seventy six Ers Camps presented by Rothmann Orthopedics, empowered by
Speaker 1: EESF has been an institution in the area for over
Speaker 1: thirty years and It's hosted over one hundred and ten
Speaker 1: thousand campers, some of whom have gone on to become pros,
Speaker 1: both men and women, Others who just have had a
Speaker 1: great summer spending time around seventy sixers players and highly
Speaker 1: qualified camp instructors. Campers from over forty states fifty countries
Speaker 1: have gone to seventy six Ers basketball Camps. It is
Speaker 1: designed to meet the needs and skills for players of
Speaker 1: all levels. It's seventy six Ers Camps dot Com to
Speaker 1: enroll now for day and overnight camps, which get underway
Speaker 1: in just a few short days. As we mentioned, just
Speaker 1: a few short days until the NBA Draft next Thursday,
Speaker 1: June twentieth, Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Someone who's been an
Speaker 1: integral part behind the scenes for the seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: in preparing the organization for this year's draft Matt Lily.
Speaker 1: He's had his eye, of course, on prospects who can
Speaker 1: help at the NBA level, but as general manager of
Speaker 1: the Delaware Bluecoats, he's also checking out guys who could
Speaker 1: fit with his team in Wilmington come the fall, and
Speaker 1: he's also working with a front office and helping assemble
Speaker 1: this year's summer league roster as well. So if that
Speaker 1: is the context, it was the reason why I wanted
Speaker 1: to sit down with Matt Lily on this episode of
Speaker 1: the podcast. Matt, how are you holding up? We are
Speaker 1: getting close? Yeah, it is like you said, it's hard
Speaker 1: to believe that we're you're sitting here so close to
Speaker 1: the draft, but where you know, I'm holding up okay,
Speaker 1: and we're excited about Thursday night. What's the tone like
Speaker 1: inside an NBA front office right around now? Um? Tone,
Speaker 1: it's I think we feel pretty good about about where
Speaker 1: we are. I think at at times this process gets
Speaker 1: a little bit hectic, where um, you know, there are
Speaker 1: dozens and dozens of players that that you're trying to
Speaker 1: sort through and kind of put put together some sort
Speaker 1: of priority or ranking. But I think we feel good
Speaker 1: about about the work that that Vince Rosman and Mark
Speaker 1: Eversley in the whole scouting department has um has put in,
Speaker 1: you know, really the whole year round to put us
Speaker 1: here in position to have a pretty good feel for
Speaker 1: kind of where we have guys and and have a
Speaker 1: plan for what we're hoping to do Thursday night. My
Speaker 1: first inclination whether I'm tweeting about something or writing about something.
Speaker 1: This time of year when the draft workouts start to
Speaker 1: pick up, is to caption something like business is picking
Speaker 1: up at the training complex. There's more pre draft work outs.
Speaker 1: But is that really true? To me? It seems like
Speaker 1: certainly the more public facing stuff is like the workouts
Speaker 1: are things that we as members of the media we
Speaker 1: get to see. But is it really true or is
Speaker 1: this an ongoing, year round process that's now at a
Speaker 1: culmination point. I think some of both. I think it
Speaker 1: definitely is a year round thing where we've got to
Speaker 1: we have a whole team of scouts that are that
Speaker 1: are on the road across across the whole world really
Speaker 1: um that are constantly UM watching guys. We've got some
Speaker 1: video guys here that that are based here at the
Speaker 1: facility that are that are constantly turning through players and
Speaker 1: film and collecting intel. So it is it is certainly
Speaker 1: a year round process. But um, I think this definitely
Speaker 1: is the culmination this month of June where we've got
Speaker 1: you know, six guys coming in every day to work
Speaker 1: workout and get a firsthand look at We've got our
Speaker 1: scouting meetings going on where the scouts that are that
Speaker 1: are scattered all over or now here in Camden, and
Speaker 1: we're we're meeting every day to kind of hammer out
Speaker 1: our board. So um, like I said, it's it's it's
Speaker 1: some of both. It's very much a year around process.
Speaker 1: But this month and this week particularly is is kind
Speaker 1: of that whole process coming together. Looking back over the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks, probably fifty ish or soap prospects
Speaker 1: all said and done, are going to be passing through
Speaker 1: the doors here at the seventy six ers training complex.
Speaker 1: From your experience of being with the team for parts
Speaker 1: of four or five seasons, now what what do you
Speaker 1: think the biggest value is to these workouts, And maybe
Speaker 1: not even a workout, just the fact that you get
Speaker 1: a guy in your own building, on your own campus. Sure,
Speaker 1: there are some guys where we may have a limited
Speaker 1: sample size of film or video or live exposures that
Speaker 1: this becomes important to be able to actually see them
Speaker 1: on the court and see them play. But for the
Speaker 1: most part, we've seen so much of most of these
Speaker 1: guys that more than anything, we want to get them
Speaker 1: in the building and get a touch point with our
Speaker 1: coaches on the floor working with them and sit them
Speaker 1: down and talk to them face to face to get
Speaker 1: to know them a little bit as people. So for
Speaker 1: the guys that we're familiar with to get to this
Speaker 1: point to be in our building, more than anything, we
Speaker 1: just want that that touch point to have them, like
Speaker 1: you said, on campus here and see what we're about.
Speaker 1: How valuable is being able to interface with some of
Speaker 1: the player development coaches working with these guys on the court,
Speaker 1: even someone like Brett Brown, who I assume that we
Speaker 1: saw him the other day pop in for a workout
Speaker 1: and observe guys. Just how does that add to the
Speaker 1: scouting and talent evaluation process where during a year, if
Speaker 1: you're on the road that sort of thing, there's not
Speaker 1: that type of dialogue or back and forth. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think it's it's good for us to see the guys
Speaker 1: and how they respond to coaching, and we're able to
Speaker 1: kind of put in some of the basic concepts that
Speaker 1: that we employ here with with the sixers, um to
Speaker 1: some you know, some defensive stuff, some offensive concepts to
Speaker 1: see how they pick those up and how they respond
Speaker 1: to kind of into respond to coaching and what basically
Speaker 1: is alive practice setting where or we've got some drill
Speaker 1: work that we put them through, um, and our coaches.
Speaker 1: They're not out there, um, you know, running the thing.
Speaker 1: They're actually coaching and and trying to teach. So I
Speaker 1: think there is definitely some value there and getting getting
Speaker 1: the players on the floor with our coaches where we're
Speaker 1: trying to teach them and seeing how they respond firsthand.
Speaker 1: The objective of any draft in any year, of course,
Speaker 1: is to add talent to the pipeline to better position
Speaker 1: to franchise, to win and go after that ultimate prize,
Speaker 1: an NBA title. On the very primary level, that concerns
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia seventy six ers, but there is another part
Speaker 1: of that, which is the groundwork being laid in the
Speaker 1: G League level with the Delaware Blue Coats. That is
Speaker 1: your purview. Does that change how you look at these
Speaker 1: workouts if you're wearing the lens of general manager of
Speaker 1: the Delaware Blue Coats versus what Elton Brand is looking
Speaker 1: for as general manager of the Philadelphia seventy six Ers.
Speaker 1: Not really, honestly, I think from top to bottom, really
Speaker 1: we're just looking for good players and for some guys
Speaker 1: that's going to warn consider a consideration as a first
Speaker 1: round pick. Potentially it's some guys the second round pick.
Speaker 1: For some guys it's going undrafted and going maybe the
Speaker 1: summer league route. So it's there's a spectrum, um, but
Speaker 1: but really it's all the same work that that our
Speaker 1: whole our whole group here is putting in where we're
Speaker 1: trying to identify talent and identify people that we'd like
Speaker 1: to have in our program in one way or another.
Speaker 1: Um and ultimately how how that happens, Whether it's like
Speaker 1: I said, first round picks that can round pick whatever,
Speaker 1: that's that's kind of what we figure out on the
Speaker 1: back end. But more than anything, we're just here looking
Speaker 1: at all these players through the same lands and and
Speaker 1: you know, trying to identify some guys that can help us.
Speaker 1: It's interesting. So the criteria regardless of where a guy
Speaker 1: falls is essentially the same, Like there is a blueprint
Speaker 1: for the type of player the Philadelphia seventy six ers
Speaker 1: one in the organizations absolutely top down, what have you
Speaker 1: learned about putting together a roster, whether it's helping for
Speaker 1: the summer league or looking ahead to the G League
Speaker 1: season in the fall. Um, I've definitely learned a lot
Speaker 1: of been now in the G League for a few years,
Speaker 1: now and um now helping out with the summer league
Speaker 1: roster here, UM there, they are a unique challenges I think,
Speaker 1: particularly in the G League, where um, you know, there's
Speaker 1: there's different mechanisms for us to acquire guys, and inevitably
Speaker 1: there's some amount of turnover that happens to our league
Speaker 1: at the very least with the two way guys going
Speaker 1: back and forth and then call ups, injuries, buyouts, you know,
Speaker 1: the things that happened. So we try to put the
Speaker 1: rosters together and together with versatility in mind, knowing that
Speaker 1: these changes are going to happen, and even in summer league,
Speaker 1: there's going to be you're probably not going to have
Speaker 1: the same group game to game. So I think versatility
Speaker 1: is something that we put a premium on when we're
Speaker 1: putting all of these all of these things together. I
Speaker 1: feel like a common saying in professional sports is for
Speaker 1: an athlete who is out, whether it's on the court
Speaker 1: or the field or whatever it is, it's like you're yes,
Speaker 1: playing for the team that you wear the uniform for,
Speaker 1: but there's also other sets of eyes from around the
Speaker 1: league who are keeping an eye on you. For me,
Speaker 1: summer league seems like that is really the case, you
Speaker 1: have guys who could be in flux after summer League
Speaker 1: where maybe something pops and it sticks in your brain,
Speaker 1: and when you're trying to put that team together for
Speaker 1: the following year, you might think back on what you
Speaker 1: saw at summer League. Yeah, absolutely, I think, Um, from
Speaker 1: a G league perspective, for sure, Um, there are a
Speaker 1: ton of guys that are are coming to the summer
Speaker 1: league trying to find their next opportunity, and and best
Speaker 1: case scenario, obviously that next opportunity is MBA. But um,
Speaker 1: a lot of guys come to summer league impressed at
Speaker 1: the level where they find themselves in a G League
Speaker 1: team and and hope to kind of parlay that into
Speaker 1: an NBA opportunity down the road. I'm sure that after
Speaker 1: enough time, you can look at a prospect and say, hey,
Speaker 1: this guy has this type potential in the NBA. Can
Speaker 1: the same be said for now? When you look at
Speaker 1: a guy, if he comes into GYM, you're like, man,
Speaker 1: that guy would be a great type of player to
Speaker 1: fit in the G league atmosphere and environment. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think they're whether it's NBA or G league. I
Speaker 1: think there there are certain things that that stand out
Speaker 1: right away. Um, you know, in a workout like this,
Speaker 1: you can see a guy's physical profile that that maybe, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, has them suited to potentially step in into
Speaker 1: an NBA game. A certain skill may stand out, whether
Speaker 1: it's shooting or defending or passing. So there are definitely
Speaker 1: things you can kind of pick out of these workout
Speaker 1: settings to identify as potential roster guys, whether that's Sixers
Speaker 1: or Blue Coats. I'm totally going to give you license
Speaker 1: and authority to correct me if you think I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: But in the time that you've been with the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers organization, I feel like the G League itself
Speaker 1: has been on a very interesting timeline where there's been expansion,
Speaker 1: there's been upgrades and facilities, of course in Wilmington with
Speaker 1: the Blue Coats, but also around the rest of the
Speaker 1: G League. Have you found, whether it's in talking with
Speaker 1: some of your players or in conversations with agents when
Speaker 1: you mentioned the opportunity of playing in the G League,
Speaker 1: is there a difference in how that's perceived nowadays compared
Speaker 1: to even four years ago. I think one, I started
Speaker 1: in here in Delaware in twenty fifteen. I started in
Speaker 1: the G League twenty and twelve. So I've been I've
Speaker 1: been around long enough to kind of see how far
Speaker 1: this league is come and how much it's grown. I
Speaker 1: think just the quality of life, honestly of a G
Speaker 1: League player is is far and away the best it's
Speaker 1: ever been. Um. I think when you look at our housing,
Speaker 1: our facilities. We just opened up seventy six Ers field
Speaker 1: House this year, and then just the opportunity you see
Speaker 1: call ups, call ups continue to rise and rise and
Speaker 1: rise every year, and now with the implement and implementation
Speaker 1: of two way contracts, I think the G League is
Speaker 1: probably as a peeling of an option to a player
Speaker 1: as it's ever been. For you guys, specifically last year,
Speaker 1: it was a crazy year between the start of the
Speaker 1: season and so much of the schedule being frontloaded with
Speaker 1: road games, then seventy six Ers field House open. Specific
Speaker 1: to the Blue Coats, how did you find the fieldhouse
Speaker 1: changed the game for you guys and the way you operate? Um? Well, first,
Speaker 1: it definitely wasn't challenged to start on the road like that,
Speaker 1: but we managed to get through it. But the Fieldhouse
Speaker 1: changed everything for us. It was a place that we
Speaker 1: could really call home for the first time is a
Speaker 1: world class facility honestly that we use for practices and
Speaker 1: we have our officer there. Obviously we play all of
Speaker 1: our games, our home games there, but it's just an
Speaker 1: unbelievable space between the training room and the weight room,
Speaker 1: the locker room, which it's just a great place for
Speaker 1: us and our players to call home and go to
Speaker 1: work too every day with NION Development and Improvement. Another
Speaker 1: thing that's happened during your time with the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers is that the general state of the team itself
Speaker 1: is totally different. Where the NBA might have been the
Speaker 1: setting for young guys coming in to get their professional
Speaker 1: reps before, but over the last two years, that's a
Speaker 1: completely different deal. If you found that even the ascent
Speaker 1: of the team at the NBA level, that that's you know,
Speaker 1: stoked excitement for guys who are are part of the
Speaker 1: blue coach knowing that they are that close to, like
Speaker 1: let's say, forty some miles or forty five minute drive
Speaker 1: away from an NBA team that's reached this level. Look,
Speaker 1: it's winning is fun, and it's it's fun to be
Speaker 1: a part of a winning program, no matter or kind
Speaker 1: of what what role you have or or where you fall,
Speaker 1: whether it's um you're on the Sixers roster, two way Guy,
Speaker 1: Blue Coach roster, or even any of the staff associated
Speaker 1: with either club. I think winning is fun into um
Speaker 1: to be around a successful program like we haven't been
Speaker 1: for the for the first few years. I think is
Speaker 1: is just an enjoyable experience for all of us. As
Speaker 1: we start to wrap this up on it, to just
Speaker 1: touch upon and close the book on a few things
Speaker 1: and storylines from the Blue Coach season last year, first year,
Speaker 1: a few also first year for your head coach Connor Johnson,
Speaker 1: who was a part of Brett Brown's staff for several seasons.
Speaker 1: How did that help the synergy that existed just in
Speaker 1: general and the fact that I shouldn't discount this that
Speaker 1: you worked with Elton under Elton for his year as
Speaker 1: general manager of the Blue Yeah, I think, um, with
Speaker 1: Elton and myself and and and Connor, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: we've we've been familiar with each other for for a
Speaker 1: few years now, having having worked in this organization in
Speaker 1: different roles. So UM, I think for for me and
Speaker 1: Connor specifically as two relatively young guys to kind of
Speaker 1: step into these these roles that and opportunities that we
Speaker 1: were really excited about. Um, you know, we had a
Speaker 1: we always have a bunch of ideas that we're throwing
Speaker 1: off of each other, and um, we're able to kind
Speaker 1: of implement during the seasons as the first time kind
Speaker 1: of run running our own team. UM, So we were
Speaker 1: both kind of really excited going into last year and
Speaker 1: and UM, you know, I think it helped our partnership
Speaker 1: a lot, just knowing how committed we were to kind
Speaker 1: of building a successful program. What did you learn about,
Speaker 1: say You're Smith last year? UM, A lot. He's a
Speaker 1: great kid. We really enjoyed, um having him down in
Speaker 1: Delaware for for his assignments. UM, if I had to
Speaker 1: pick one thing, it's just that he just lives and
Speaker 1: breathes basketball. His his his work habits are are unbelievable.
Speaker 1: And to see kind of the the drive that he
Speaker 1: had to come off of injury and and and get
Speaker 1: back into into plane shape, UM, it was really impressive.
Speaker 1: Impressive and honestly being a young guy coming down, UM,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think all of our team in
Speaker 1: Delaware was was at least a couple of years older
Speaker 1: than him. So to come down and and even have
Speaker 1: have those guys take note of how hard he was
Speaker 1: attacking his his rehab and his his his return to
Speaker 1: play was, you know, was impressive. See I can't help
Speaker 1: with notice that you started to smile when you're thinking
Speaker 1: about zay Or Smith. And it's funny because I talked
Speaker 1: to a few guys on the Bluecoat's roster and they
Speaker 1: said that his sense of humor is a very underrated aspect.
Speaker 1: That was personality because when we talked to him in
Speaker 1: the media, it's very business like, yes sir, no, sir.
Speaker 1: He's extremely buttoned up in a very polite way. But
Speaker 1: people talk about his sense of humor. Is he's a
Speaker 1: funny kid man. It's it's um. It's not the it's
Speaker 1: not the overt over, the over the top joking around.
Speaker 1: It's the hill just hit you with these little one
Speaker 1: liners every once in a while that that make you
Speaker 1: think and make you make you crack a smile. Of course,
Speaker 1: lasting impressions U are one thing, but it's something to
Speaker 1: build upon as well. But how do you think Shake
Speaker 1: Milton wrapped up the year last year? I think Shakes
Speaker 1: Shake's progression over the course of last season was one of,
Speaker 1: if not our biggest success last year. UM, just to
Speaker 1: see him handle multiple roles for us. Sometimes he was
Speaker 1: off the ball, sometimes he was on the ball. UM.
Speaker 1: And and to really kind of take a leadership role
Speaker 1: of the team in Delaware, which is hard when you're
Speaker 1: not there all the time. You know, he's he's spending
Speaker 1: time in Philly with the Sixers, UM, then coming down
Speaker 1: to Delaware where he's our guy. UM. So I have
Speaker 1: a I have a lot of respect for it, for
Speaker 1: Shake and what he was able to do last year. UM.
Speaker 1: And honestly, as as a basketball player, I think his
Speaker 1: future is very, very bright. He got down there for
Speaker 1: a couple of games, but it seemed like one overarching
Speaker 1: theme was, UM, guys got better last year. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: we could talk about a Shake Milton, We could talk
Speaker 1: about Hayward high Smith, Maryland man man out of Maryland
Speaker 1: who got his two eight contracts, someone like a Norvelle
Speaker 1: Pell doing what he did. Guys seem to get better. No,
Speaker 1: we had a relatively young group, but I think we
Speaker 1: had a We had a group of guys that um
Speaker 1: were hungry to get better, and a coach and staff
Speaker 1: that was committed to helping them do that. So some
Speaker 1: of the names you mentioned Norville Pell significantly better at
Speaker 1: the end of the year than than the beginning of
Speaker 1: the year. I think he finished second or third, and
Speaker 1: defensive Player of the year, second or third, and most
Speaker 1: improved player Matt Farrell, the guy that got a lot
Speaker 1: better over the course of the season, especially his three
Speaker 1: point shooting UM Jared Browner, and the guy that ended
Speaker 1: up number two all time in single season made threes
Speaker 1: last year. So I think there are definitely a bunch
Speaker 1: of instances for guys we can point two over the
Speaker 1: over last season, and I think that's a big credit
Speaker 1: to our guys for being being hungry and being willing
Speaker 1: to put the work in, and to our coaching staff
Speaker 1: for being right there in the gym with them. Good
Speaker 1: stuff for Matt Lily, general manager for the dell Or
Speaker 1: Blue Coats, which, by the way, premium tickets for some
Speaker 1: home games on Sandy Out six or dot com backs.
Speaker 1: Lets Blue Coats go there and check out the dates
Speaker 1: and the details. Matt. Best of luck in this pre
Speaker 1: draft season and beyond the perfect things Brian. Matt Lily
Speaker 1: heading this season at number two as general manager of
Speaker 1: the Delaware Bluecoats and as we mentioned just then, six
Speaker 1: premium home dates have been announced for the two thousand,
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty Deller Bluecoats schedule and go to a sixers
Speaker 1: dot com slash bluecoats for all the latest information. Big
Speaker 1: thanks to Matt Lily for taking the time to chat.
Speaker 1: Thanks to Dylan Windler as well. Thank you as always
Speaker 1: for listening of a couple more episodes. I do believe
Speaker 1: at least one early next week, getting you set for
Speaker 1: Draft Night two nineteen as the seventy six ers look
Speaker 1: ahead with five picks in hand on June of twenty
Speaker 1: and talk to you that you see