Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers Podcast Network.
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Speaker 1: NBA G League Clubble. Welcome into coat Check, the official
Speaker 1: podcast of the Delaware Bluecoats, the NBA G League affiliate
Speaker 1: of the Philadelphia seventy Sixers. Coat Check is presented by
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Speaker 1: Matt Murphy. Thanks for tuning in to Coach Check. If
Speaker 1: you want to get all of our interviews from right
Speaker 1: here in the G League Bubble in your podcast rotation,
Speaker 1: please subscribe to the seventy Sixers Podcast Network a great
Speaker 1: mix of different seventy sixers shows on there. Tuesdays are
Speaker 1: still the day for us moving forward, and we will
Speaker 1: go every Tuesday. Also, be on the lookout for a
Speaker 1: new segment of coach Check with a recurring guest from
Speaker 1: here in the Bubble. That surprise is coming on the
Speaker 1: very next episode. On this episode, a really insightful conversation
Speaker 1: with the coach running the show in the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one season, third year Bluecoats head coach Connor Johnson. We
Speaker 1: won't waste any more time. Here is Coach Johnson. Please
Speaker 1: to be joined by Bluecoats head coach Connor Johnson. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to coach check. Coach. What have you been up
Speaker 1: to the last few weeks prior to the NBAG League bubble?
Speaker 1: I know it's been some quarantine time, so how have
Speaker 1: you been keeping yourself busy? Yeah, we've had a lot
Speaker 1: of time to prepare and get ready for our first
Speaker 1: week of practice down here. So the coaching staff has
Speaker 1: been doing communicating in a lot of different ways, our
Speaker 1: staff here in Delaware and also working with the sixer
Speaker 1: coaches and kind of making sure that we're still aligned
Speaker 1: and kind of in tune with what they're doing. So
Speaker 1: the communication has been useful and helpful and it allows
Speaker 1: us to kind of lay the groundwork for what we
Speaker 1: want with the G League. There's often talk up goals
Speaker 1: for the season, and maybe they're magnified in a shortened
Speaker 1: bubble season. What are some of your goals the goals
Speaker 1: of your staff for the team This season. Well, our
Speaker 1: overall goal has always been and remains even with the
Speaker 1: shortened season, to help helped develop future seventy six ers.
Speaker 1: And so the most obvious example are the two ways
Speaker 1: we have on our team now Paul and Jeon Tucker,
Speaker 1: Paul Reid and Rajeon Tucker, and so in addition to
Speaker 1: the entire roster, helping those guys be able to step
Speaker 1: into the bigger roles at the professional at the NBA
Speaker 1: level and then when they go back up. So that's
Speaker 1: always been the goal. And then for us as a team,
Speaker 1: we want to be one of the best defensive teams
Speaker 1: we can be. We were, We made a lot of
Speaker 1: progress last season and we hope to kind of continue
Speaker 1: to build on that with this new group. How about
Speaker 1: when it comes to training camp, So as we record this,
Speaker 1: it's coming off the first practice and people are obviously
Speaker 1: going to listen at different times, but the training camp
Speaker 1: period leading up to the first game, which is February eleventh,
Speaker 1: what are some of the goals with that? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think this is a very unique circumstance because not only
Speaker 1: this are in season, but the guys are coming to
Speaker 1: their first practice not having played any basketball for at
Speaker 1: least ten days, but even greater than that. Their last
Speaker 1: organized five on five game maybe many months ago. So
Speaker 1: one thing we keep in the back of our minds
Speaker 1: we go all through this is that we want to
Speaker 1: build them up in a smart way where we're not
Speaker 1: putting them at unnecessary risk, and yet we are improving
Speaker 1: their cardiovascular fitness their ability to play. So that's kind
Speaker 1: of the balance we have of we want to push
Speaker 1: them hard, we want to make sure that they're developing
Speaker 1: within our system. We want to make sure that they're
Speaker 1: getting better and getting in shape. But it's a kind
Speaker 1: of fine line between too much and too little, and
Speaker 1: that coming off our first practice, I thought we did
Speaker 1: a nice job of balancing getting them as much as
Speaker 1: they need without being overly aggressive. And that's the case
Speaker 1: for all eighteen teams. Well, I guess if you exclude
Speaker 1: the G League Ignite team who's been playing together for
Speaker 1: a few months now. But speaking of the schedule, they
Speaker 1: are on your schedule, but overall, it's in your third
Speaker 1: season a much different look. It's fifteen regular season games,
Speaker 1: five back to backs, obviously no travel involved, but some
Speaker 1: quick turnarounds, all at a single site campus. So how
Speaker 1: are you approaching this year's game schedule given how different
Speaker 1: it is, Yeah, I think I think you're right on
Speaker 1: the density of games is greater than it's ever been.
Speaker 1: I think we're lucky to have a deep roster that
Speaker 1: allows us hopefully to be able to be our players
Speaker 1: to be fresh and ready to play the five games
Speaker 1: and seven days or whatever sort of numbers will have
Speaker 1: in the middle of our stretch. The smart ramp up,
Speaker 1: I think is still important and making sure that we
Speaker 1: head into our first back to back in eight days
Speaker 1: or whatever it is, that we are as the best
Speaker 1: shape we can be without being over extended. And all
Speaker 1: that kind of comes together to say that this thing
Speaker 1: is a lot more a lot more similar to the
Speaker 1: Summer League, I think than a normal G League season,
Speaker 1: because in the summer league that there's not a lot
Speaker 1: of practice. There's there's five or six days of quality
Speaker 1: practices that you can have sometimes double sessions, which we've
Speaker 1: chosen not to do here in the bubble, and then
Speaker 1: you just play, and there's not a lot of time
Speaker 1: to practice and make adjustments during practice. Most of it
Speaker 1: has to be done in between games or during the games,
Speaker 1: and so that's been I've been fortunate to be a
Speaker 1: part of the six or Summer League staff for a
Speaker 1: decent amount of years now, and that's another framework that
Speaker 1: I think it's been useful in planning for how we
Speaker 1: want to attack our time here in the bubble. Yeah,
Speaker 1: going off that your experience as the Sixers Summer League
Speaker 1: head coach, what did you learn that you're going to
Speaker 1: bring into this bubble situation from that you mentioned two
Speaker 1: days versus not having them. Is there anything else that
Speaker 1: you learned during that time that you're bringing in now. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think we did a good job prioritizing certain aspects
Speaker 1: of our offense and defensive scheme and instead of trying
Speaker 1: to be fairly good at a lot of things, becoming
Speaker 1: really good at a few. And that's something we did
Speaker 1: in the Summer League. I think it paid off for
Speaker 1: those players there. I think it gave them a sense
Speaker 1: of identity of how we want to play and what
Speaker 1: we're really going to value and instead of just choosing
Speaker 1: things left and right, we know these three things are
Speaker 1: things we're going to keep coming back to you and
Speaker 1: we're going to keep working on and keep getting better at.
Speaker 1: And we've embraced a similar philosophy here where we have
Speaker 1: three parts to our offense that are going to be critical,
Speaker 1: and we got three things on defense we got to
Speaker 1: do every time. And even from our first day and
Speaker 1: the meetings we've had with our players before, I think
Speaker 1: we've made some progress and that's starting to sync in
Speaker 1: and it simplifies their mind where now they're talented players
Speaker 1: who can go out and play more on the way.
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Speaker 1: Let's talk about the roster a little bit before closing
Speaker 1: with a question that I really want to know the
Speaker 1: answer too. But before we get to that, this roster
Speaker 1: for the Bluecoats in the twenty twenty one G League
Speaker 1: season a lot of NBA experience. Nine of twelve have
Speaker 1: played in the NBA. Two of those that haven't our rookies,
Speaker 1: So it's pretty much the whole roster with NBA experience
Speaker 1: trying to get back. And that's something that you've talked
Speaker 1: about in the preseason and others. What are some of
Speaker 1: the things that you talk to these guys about that
Speaker 1: are traits that transfer over to the next level that
Speaker 1: you're going to be looking for, Right I think the
Speaker 1: kind of hit it on the head right there. What
Speaker 1: we're doing is trying to give them reinforce the values
Speaker 1: that are then attractive to the teams that look at them.
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of these guys have kind
Speaker 1: of been right on the line between NBA long term
Speaker 1: NBA success and then coming back to the Julie, And
Speaker 1: in the way that this is set up, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be a lot of eyes on our games more so
Speaker 1: than than normal. It's not like we're going to be
Speaker 1: in some gym somewhere across the country. Every NBA team
Speaker 1: is going to be sending scouts here down to watch.
Speaker 1: And with the current status of the NBA, I think
Speaker 1: that there's a higher likelihood of anyone in this bubble
Speaker 1: getting called up, And so for us, it's the get.
Speaker 1: There's not going to be a tremendous amount of change
Speaker 1: in their games in this next two months, especially with
Speaker 1: the experience these guys had, but we just want to
Speaker 1: kind of refine them a bit and have them play
Speaker 1: in a way that is something that NBA teams want
Speaker 1: for the guy that's going to come in for a
Speaker 1: ten day contract or kind of at the end of
Speaker 1: their roster and be able to work that up. And
Speaker 1: that's that's kind of getting more detailed about how hard
Speaker 1: we want them to play, what that means, and how
Speaker 1: they can show that each time. And then part of
Speaker 1: it is we got to get this group to play together,
Speaker 1: because no one he's gonna look no one's gonna play well,
Speaker 1: no one's gonna really look good to the scouts and
Speaker 1: the world that they're trying to impress if they're all
Speaker 1: doing it on their own. And that's been a theme
Speaker 1: that we've really hit with these guys. Yeah, and to
Speaker 1: your point about more eyeballs being on it, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of players wanted to be here and realize
Speaker 1: that as well. So it seems like the competition is
Speaker 1: going to be very high and I want to get
Speaker 1: to that next. But if people wanted the true G
Speaker 1: League bubble experience, that was my fault. Somebody was rolling
Speaker 1: something on a cart outside of my hotel room in
Speaker 1: the background. But the two way players for the Sixers
Speaker 1: quickly for our Sixers fans that are listening Ray Jean
Speaker 1: Tucker most recently, and Paul Reid as well, what excites
Speaker 1: you about their games and getting to coach them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean to start with Paul. I think Paul's made
Speaker 1: a lot of progress in the last couple of months
Speaker 1: working with coach Dwayne Jones down with the Sixers and
Speaker 1: his development of coming in and then getting kind of
Speaker 1: thrown to the fire fairly early in a Denver Nuggets
Speaker 1: game when the Sixers didn't have a lot of players.
Speaker 1: I think was a really good opportunity for him to
Speaker 1: kind of see where he was and see what it
Speaker 1: needs to work on. He's a long, athletic big that
Speaker 1: can make plays in a lot of different ways. I
Speaker 1: think we got to really work with him on just
Speaker 1: continuing to understand how he can play within the Sixers system,
Speaker 1: something that we'll be running down here and I think
Speaker 1: will be easy for him to kind of find his
Speaker 1: groove in that respect. And then Rayjeon Tucker, who the
Speaker 1: Sixers have signed more recently, we're familiar with in the
Speaker 1: GI League. We played him last year as he came
Speaker 1: in as a G League player before his NBA career started.
Speaker 1: And what team what team did he play for? Again,
Speaker 1: he played for the Wisconsin her as did many current Bluecoats,
Speaker 1: and joining Frank Mason and Jamario Jones as well. I
Speaker 1: just thought that was funny having been coached by a
Speaker 1: former member of your staff, Chase Buford. Last season they
Speaker 1: had a lot of success in Rajeon was a big
Speaker 1: part of that early in the season. Yeah, and he's
Speaker 1: built like looks like he could be a linebacker any
Speaker 1: day now, but strong and physical athletic. Showed that he
Speaker 1: could really shoot it last season. And for him, he's
Speaker 1: kind of bounced around a few MBA programs already, and
Speaker 1: the goals, as we talk about fairly directly with him,
Speaker 1: as we wanted to stick. We wanted to get to
Speaker 1: on these places and become a long term member of
Speaker 1: a team, and the Sixers could be a great fit
Speaker 1: for that because the way that coach Rivers values defense
Speaker 1: and what he can bring from his offensive versatility as
Speaker 1: a score who can play off the ball and shoot
Speaker 1: and make good decisions. So I talked about competition. When
Speaker 1: these competitive games arrive in what will be not very
Speaker 1: long from now, what can fans out there expect in
Speaker 1: terms of the Bluecoat style of play with this roster well,
Speaker 1: As I said, we'll try to be as similar to
Speaker 1: the Sixers as we can, and so hopefully they see
Speaker 1: the Sixers have had so much success to start their season.
Speaker 1: If they can see any semblance of that, I'm going
Speaker 1: to consider it a real success. But we're gonna the
Speaker 1: defense is gonna be our priority. We have a lot
Speaker 1: of talented offensive players, and to tie it together by
Speaker 1: getting stops being able to play in transition, play with
Speaker 1: an advantage because of our defense will be helpful. And
Speaker 1: we're going to play in a system where all five
Speaker 1: guys are have a responsibility each possession, and that will
Speaker 1: be kind of the key to our success. One more coach,
Speaker 1: and it's a question I've been dying to know the
Speaker 1: answer too. I should have asked a follow up. Matt
Speaker 1: Lily was on the last episode. He talked about how
Speaker 1: you guys have been playing chess during quarantine on your phones.
Speaker 1: Who usually comes out victorious between you and Blue Coach
Speaker 1: general manager Matt Lily in your games of chess, It's
Speaker 1: great you know some things. Nothing's really sacred, I guess
Speaker 1: when you start to get on our podcast. Just happy
Speaker 1: to share anything you know. We have a lot of
Speaker 1: with it. It's been it's been great for us as
Speaker 1: something to do and keep our minds stimulated about stuff
Speaker 1: outside basketball. We look forward to playing as opposed to
Speaker 1: playing in our houses back in Philadelphia and Delaware. Out
Speaker 1: here on the they got the little Alligator Lake thing
Speaker 1: that maybe that'll be a nicer backdrop for a live game.
Speaker 1: But I'd say it's fairly even. I wouldn't want to.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't want to go too far in one direction
Speaker 1: because neither of you has a right now because you
Speaker 1: get upset and keep your rankings. I mean, we got
Speaker 1: like pretty pretty strong statistics. But yeah, it's pretty fair.
Speaker 1: It's pretty close. Glad to know that's a that's something
Speaker 1: that comes up more than one. It's great, good stuff,
Speaker 1: good stuff. Um, thanks a lot, coach, Thanks for the time.
Speaker 1: We'll be following along all season in the G League
Speaker 1: bubble and good luck to you in the team. Great
Speaker 1: thank you. Thanks again to Bluecoats head coach Connor Johnson
Speaker 1: Matt Murphy. Until next time, take it or leave it
Speaker 1: at the coach check