Speaker 1: Oh, Welcome into cope Check, the official podcast of the
Speaker 1: Delaware Blue Coats, the NBA G League affiliate of the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy Sixers. I'm Matt Murphy. Thanks as always for
Speaker 1: tuning in. A friendly reminder to subscribe to the seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers podcast network. The G League's Disney Bubble is on
Speaker 1: the way in February, and we'll have a bunch of
Speaker 1: interviews under the Coach Check umbrella. Every other Tuesday is
Speaker 1: our new cadence, so be on the lookout for that.
Speaker 1: Without further ado, very pleased to be joined on this
Speaker 1: episode by Blue Coach general manager Matt Lilly. Matt, welcome
Speaker 1: back to Coach Check. You've been a guest before, but
Speaker 1: it's been a little while. It feels good to have
Speaker 1: things heating up again with the Delaware Bluecoats right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. Thank thanks first of all, Murph, just for
Speaker 1: having me on. And I think coming off of what's
Speaker 1: what turned out to be the longest summer, longest offseason
Speaker 1: in the history of the league, I think we're all
Speaker 1: fired up to have things, you know, kind of in
Speaker 1: the works again and then they get back to work
Speaker 1: and that's going to be the first thing that we
Speaker 1: do touch on the off season, but a quick rundown
Speaker 1: for our listeners of what else we will talk about
Speaker 1: some of the blue Coats headlines. I mean, shake Milton
Speaker 1: right now if you're listening to this episode on time
Speaker 1: is He's a big story with the Philadelphia seventy six er.
Speaker 1: Is a former Blue Coat who played a lot of games,
Speaker 1: and we'll talk about him. We'll talk about your new
Speaker 1: assistant GM, Jamir Nelson, a hometown hero returning to the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers area, the Philadelphia area, and then we'll
Speaker 1: get to a little bit of stuff about last season
Speaker 1: and then the transition into this season with the Delaware Bluecoats,
Speaker 1: this year's roster, the G League draft as part of
Speaker 1: that roster construction, and then touch on a few quick
Speaker 1: questions in our at the Buzzer segment. But Matt, let's
Speaker 1: go with the off season. It was weird, It was long,
Speaker 1: Like you said, how was it overall for you just
Speaker 1: in general, even from a personal standpoint, from the early
Speaker 1: stages of quarantining to this point now anything in between.
Speaker 1: How was it? Yeah? I think I think the world
Speaker 1: it comes to mind is unusual. M Or I think
Speaker 1: you you're working this industry for a number of years,
Speaker 1: and there's a rhythm to how things go. It's it's
Speaker 1: cyclical where the season's always on the same calendar and
Speaker 1: we've got the same events every summer. We're going to Portsmouth,
Speaker 1: in Chicago and Vegas for Summer League. So we kind
Speaker 1: of developed this rhythm of how things go season to season.
Speaker 1: And then to have everything obviously come to come to
Speaker 1: a Halton March and then you know, things got going
Speaker 1: and at the NBA level this summer, but at the
Speaker 1: g Leaue level, we were waiting for a while and
Speaker 1: and you know, finally now have some clarity on kind
Speaker 1: of what the season's going to look like. But for us,
Speaker 1: we just tried to make the most of the time. UM,
Speaker 1: we had our our whole staff kind of intact and
Speaker 1: and and working towards this moment now that we're getting
Speaker 1: close to so UM for us, that's that's you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of extra time for for scouting and casting
Speaker 1: a wider net there than maybe we're able to in
Speaker 1: in normal off season. So I think we just tried
Speaker 1: to make the most of it, tried to be as
Speaker 1: prepared as we can for the season that that now
Speaker 1: is right around the corner. From an organizational standpoint, with
Speaker 1: the seventy six ers, the lead up to the season
Speaker 1: included Doc Rivers, a new head coach and his staff
Speaker 1: Daryl Moorey in the front office. And then you factor
Speaker 1: in the COVID nineteen pandemic and the changes that that
Speaker 1: created in the off season structure. What was the day
Speaker 1: to day or how did the day to day change
Speaker 1: of what your days were like for some of those
Speaker 1: key off season pillars for you and your staff with
Speaker 1: like the NBA Draft and things of that sort. When
Speaker 1: it was all kind of like we're doing right now
Speaker 1: virtual whether it's the combine testing or interviews or things
Speaker 1: like that, Yeah, I think, um, you just find a
Speaker 1: new workflow. You just kind of adapt to what the
Speaker 1: situation is. So for us internally, I think same for
Speaker 1: most people. It was a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: zoom meetings, a lot of a lot of virtual face
Speaker 1: to face versus versus the real thing. So I think
Speaker 1: we developed a pretty good, pretty good cadence with our
Speaker 1: group where we're meeting regularly and had a had an
Speaker 1: open dialogue about things we were doing, and I think
Speaker 1: the communication was was really good. For us over the
Speaker 1: season and then over the off season. UM, and then
Speaker 1: with Doc and Daryl coming in, you know, some some
Speaker 1: other new faces in our organization. I think it's been
Speaker 1: a bit of a feeling out process for everybody or
Speaker 1: or we're still learning each other and and get getting
Speaker 1: to know each other. But um, you know it it's
Speaker 1: a it's it's a new a new dynamic and new workflow. Um.
Speaker 1: Even even talking to players and going through the interview process,
Speaker 1: you know, it was it was all on zoom. Whereas
Speaker 1: in a normal year we're bringing guys into our facility
Speaker 1: and getting a workout, sitting down, have maybe having lunch
Speaker 1: with them, chatting with them. Um, we're all of that
Speaker 1: was gone right. We didn't have the opportunity to get
Speaker 1: guys in and have the same touch points. So just
Speaker 1: maximizing what we can do virtually. Um, just just given
Speaker 1: the parameters everyone was was working under. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: shake Milton. Huge credit to you, your staff, everybody involved. Um.
Speaker 1: He has hopefully a long career ahead of him, but
Speaker 1: the immediate right now is that he's playing very well
Speaker 1: as a huge part of the Sixers rotation. What has
Speaker 1: it been like for you to watch Shake's NBA ascent.
Speaker 1: It's awesome, honestly, and that's um. You know that there
Speaker 1: are a lot of things that we want to accomplish
Speaker 1: with our D League program. We want everyone to come
Speaker 1: in to grow and get better, and for some guys,
Speaker 1: that's that's cracking the NBA. For other guys, it's it's
Speaker 1: fine success overseas, um. But but to have a guy
Speaker 1: come through the program and turn into a bona fide
Speaker 1: rotation player for the Sixers, that's that that's bigger than everything. So, um,
Speaker 1: we're thrilled for for his success. It's been really fun
Speaker 1: for us seeing seeing him coming in as a rookie
Speaker 1: and getting his feet wet, you know, in the G
Speaker 1: League on the two way contracts, and then his ascension
Speaker 1: since then. Um, it has been a big success story
Speaker 1: for our program. It's something that you know, Connor and myself, everyone,
Speaker 1: we're all we all take a lot of pride in him.
Speaker 1: What are some of the characteristics that you see in Shake,
Speaker 1: whether it's on or off the court, that you think
Speaker 1: might contribute to the success that he's having right now. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think he's got an extreme confidence, and I mean
Speaker 1: that in the best way possible. We're you know, he
Speaker 1: feels like he belongs and he's proving it every night
Speaker 1: now that that he is he is a legitimate NBA player.
Speaker 1: So I think he's felt like that all along, um
Speaker 1: and and he was a guy that was always willing
Speaker 1: to put in the work to um you know, to
Speaker 1: to grow himself into that. So I think those are
Speaker 1: the two things, two things from a from a mental
Speaker 1: makeup standpoint, his confidence and his willingness to work that
Speaker 1: have put him in this in this situation on the court,
Speaker 1: I think there's a ton to like with his his
Speaker 1: size and his length, and his versatility is shooting obviously,
Speaker 1: I think he's he's tailor made for for the way
Speaker 1: the NBA has played today. How about going from one
Speaker 1: of your players to one of your new staff members
Speaker 1: that I talked about in the intro, Jamir Nelson. He
Speaker 1: is a scout for the seventy sixers but also your
Speaker 1: assistant GM with the Delaware Bluecoats. What has stood out
Speaker 1: to you so far about working with Jamir and really
Speaker 1: his approach because it's such a new role for him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the first thing that comes to mind is
Speaker 1: his attitude and just his his eagerness to to to
Speaker 1: be all into kind of this this transition where he's
Speaker 1: really not that far removed from from his NBA careers.
Speaker 1: Just a couple of years ago was was still playing.
Speaker 1: So UM, he's excited about this as the next phase
Speaker 1: of his life, of his life and his career. UM,
Speaker 1: and he's eager to get in and do some things
Speaker 1: and and kind of learn on the fly. UM. And
Speaker 1: he's been he's been a pleasure for me to work
Speaker 1: with so far. He helped me a lot with UM
Speaker 1: with with our draft prep and some of our other
Speaker 1: preseason work. How does the players a former players approach
Speaker 1: kind of factor into that scouting and that draft prep.
Speaker 1: I think it's it's invaluable, honestly, because myself, connor most
Speaker 1: of the the people on our staff, like you know, we
Speaker 1: we we feel like we've got a good handle on
Speaker 1: kind of what all goes into building a team. But
Speaker 1: there's a perspective from from Jamir Um and Xavier Silas
Speaker 1: as well and the coaching staff that you know, guys
Speaker 1: that have played in the NBA, that that have played
Speaker 1: at a high levels professionally, that there's a perspective that
Speaker 1: they can bring to the table. That that again, Connor myself,
Speaker 1: we just don't have as much as as much as
Speaker 1: we'd like to um, so I think there's always there's
Speaker 1: always some value there, and we're pretty collaborative, so um,
Speaker 1: I think he's brought a ton to the table in
Speaker 1: that way you bring out the assistant coach of Xavier Silas.
Speaker 1: And I just thought of this because I was scrolling
Speaker 1: the G League stats page yesterday doing some research on
Speaker 1: a player on this year's Bluecoats roster, Jared brown Ridge,
Speaker 1: who will be back and we'll talk about the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one roster in just a moment. But I was
Speaker 1: going back a few years to the three point leaders,
Speaker 1: and coach Silas is not far removed from being in
Speaker 1: the top five. I think if three pointers made, it
Speaker 1: was just a few seasons ago. I didn't realize that
Speaker 1: he made almost like two hundred threes a couple of
Speaker 1: seasons ago in the G League. Okay, x was never
Speaker 1: shy about putting him up, so if he was open,
Speaker 1: or even if he wasn't, if he got the ball,
Speaker 1: he was going to look through the rim first. So
Speaker 1: that doesn't surprise me at all to see he's up
Speaker 1: there in the rankings more on the way, but first,
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Speaker 1: All Right, so now talking about a little bit about
Speaker 1: last season before we get to this year's for you,
Speaker 1: your second full season. I guess in the in the
Speaker 1: general manager capacity, how did twenty nineteen twenty compare to
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen nineteen for you individually? Yeah, I think it
Speaker 1: is just the UM and I think this is a
Speaker 1: theme with our whole program. UM just kind of the
Speaker 1: the overall growth year to year where we're you know,
Speaker 1: for me, getting better from year one is GM to
Speaker 1: year two. UM that the players that have stayed in
Speaker 1: our in our system shake we just talked about, right,
Speaker 1: spend some time with us as an assignment guy last year. UM.
Speaker 1: Norvelle's ascension last year was was it was a good
Speaker 1: you know, a good success for us. UM. So I
Speaker 1: think just carrying everything over from year one, you know,
Speaker 1: Connor coming back as well. It was kind of our
Speaker 1: our second year going at it together, um and just
Speaker 1: trying to build on the foundation we had laid late
Speaker 1: in our first year and continuing to grow on top
Speaker 1: of that into year two. So I think across the boards,
Speaker 1: the just general growth was was the goal, and I
Speaker 1: think we feel good about about kind of what we
Speaker 1: were able to lookished before before we had to hit
Speaker 1: pause and everything, and we're excited to carry that over
Speaker 1: now into into the season. You mentioned Connor Johnson, the
Speaker 1: head coach, a couple of times, and when I spoke
Speaker 1: to him most recently on this podcast, we talked about
Speaker 1: a lot of the stats where the team ranked last
Speaker 1: year and what you guys were really proud of a
Speaker 1: lot of them, defensive statistics and holding teams under certain
Speaker 1: percentages and things like that. We won't get too into
Speaker 1: the nitty gritty there, but for you, what are some
Speaker 1: of the things that you were most proud of with
Speaker 1: that group, because when the season was ultimately canceled, you
Speaker 1: were in a playoff spot. Yeah, I think overall the
Speaker 1: team success is is is the number one thing where
Speaker 1: you know we were in position to clinch a playoff
Speaker 1: spot for the first time in franchise history. I think
Speaker 1: there are a number of different things you can you
Speaker 1: can point to for our team success. And Connor loves
Speaker 1: to call the defensive stuff and I think we're really
Speaker 1: proud of what we're able to accomplish on that end.
Speaker 1: And I think that's one of the growth areas that
Speaker 1: we that we kind of flagged coming out of our
Speaker 1: first year as we were we had a pretty good
Speaker 1: offensive group that first year, UM, and then just making
Speaker 1: it more of a priority to be defensive oriented and
Speaker 1: to be the best defensive team we can and with
Speaker 1: with Chris Camagi and Heywood and Julian some of the
Speaker 1: guys we had, like we had a lot of talent
Speaker 1: on that end, and from a coaching perspective, we made
Speaker 1: it a priority to UM, you know, to be good
Speaker 1: on that end, and I think the products we're able
Speaker 1: to put together kind of speaks for itself. UM. But again,
Speaker 1: I think there are a number of of of, you know,
Speaker 1: team successes that you can point to that that it
Speaker 1: was a very successful year for the program overall. Defend, Run,
Speaker 1: share the motto, the motto um defend comes first. It does.
Speaker 1: Moving into this year the twenty twenty one team. I
Speaker 1: know you've talked recently about the guys you got in
Speaker 1: the draft. That's timely because we're recording this just a
Speaker 1: few days after the twenty one G League Draft. Jamario
Speaker 1: Jones and Braxton Key feel free to's watch on them
Speaker 1: and then maybe just in general, what are some of
Speaker 1: the strengths of this twenty twenty one roster as a whole.
Speaker 1: I think, first of all, the talent level is something
Speaker 1: that we feel feel really good about. Where the majority
Speaker 1: of our roster are guys that have been in the
Speaker 1: NBA at some point, so we feel good about the
Speaker 1: overall talent level. We've got a lot of guys that
Speaker 1: can play. I think it's going to be um, you know,
Speaker 1: a good competitive environment to see who ends up ends
Speaker 1: up earning minutes, but um for us, I think we
Speaker 1: we love our shooting this year with with Frank and
Speaker 1: Jared and some of the guys that we have have
Speaker 1: there in the back court, and I think are overall
Speaker 1: versatility is something that we're really excited to see kind
Speaker 1: of how how some of these these pieces fit together.
Speaker 1: With with Jamario and Lamine and Julian, guys that can
Speaker 1: play multiple multiple different positions, so I think there are
Speaker 1: a lot of different lineups we can play and once
Speaker 1: we get once we once we get to work with
Speaker 1: these guys hands on down there, down there in the bubble,
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see, you know, what kinds of combinations
Speaker 1: and ideas um Connor can come up with for the group. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think the perception is that it's a very talented
Speaker 1: group and these rosters are a bit smaller. UM. Is
Speaker 1: that something like league wide, these teams, the level of
Speaker 1: competition you expect it's going to be really up there,
Speaker 1: because it seems like in this G League bubble the
Speaker 1: spots were highly coveted this year. UM. And there's some
Speaker 1: older players coming back Jeremy Lynde to name one. UM.
Speaker 1: With different roster rules in place, is that like something
Speaker 1: league wide, you expect to see very teams within nine
Speaker 1: guys or so that have played at a high level.
Speaker 1: So I think the talent is is certainly, um more
Speaker 1: saturated this year than it ever has before been before
Speaker 1: in the league where UM, I think the bar for
Speaker 1: being a G League player has never been this high. Um,
Speaker 1: it's it's extremely hard to to crack that that level
Speaker 1: this year, and there are a number of different reasons.
Speaker 1: I think. I think the international market has has been
Speaker 1: impacted just by all that's going on. Um. And then
Speaker 1: with with not all the G League teams participating this year,
Speaker 1: right there, there's you were spot to overall, so um,
Speaker 1: the pool of talent is certainly denser in our league
Speaker 1: this year. You look at a lot of rosters, um,
Speaker 1: and in a normal year, you're like, wow, that that team,
Speaker 1: that team's loaded, right, they got a lot of talent.
Speaker 1: I think that's that's just become the norm for for
Speaker 1: this season due to a number of different reasons. We're
Speaker 1: about to do just a couple more at the buzzer,
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Speaker 1: All right, let's just do a couple of quick ones,
Speaker 1: matt Um, I think you know, I'm assuming you've heard
Speaker 1: these a couple of times. They're not always the same.
Speaker 1: But if this was an ordinary G League season, what
Speaker 1: road trips do you have circled? What's your favorite road
Speaker 1: city or a couple of cities that you like to
Speaker 1: visit in the gum. There are a couple of spots
Speaker 1: to get that that that I really like. I'll go
Speaker 1: with Portland, Maine. Honor had the same answer when here
Speaker 1: it's it's it's probably for the same reason, Um, that
Speaker 1: there is a phenomenal seafood restaurant they're in Portland that
Speaker 1: um coach Peters from a couple of years ago, turn
Speaker 1: this onto where they got lobster rolls and oysters, and
Speaker 1: it's just it's it's unbelievable. So, um, it's a it's
Speaker 1: a nice city on its own. This restaurant in particular,
Speaker 1: I think is it makes it worth a trip. How
Speaker 1: about favorite hobbies? Just things that you like to do
Speaker 1: when you're not overly consumed with watching basketball or score
Speaker 1: doing your day to day job as the GM of
Speaker 1: the Bluecoats. What are some other hobbies that you have? UM,
Speaker 1: good question. It feels like these days between between work
Speaker 1: and I've got a I got a sixth six month
Speaker 1: old baby now, so between those two things, I don't
Speaker 1: I don't have a ton of times for a ton
Speaker 1: of time for hobbies anymore. UM, I don't know. I
Speaker 1: like to do a lot of stuff. I'd like to
Speaker 1: go out and eat a nice meal when there's when
Speaker 1: there's not a global pandemic. Um, I'd like to play
Speaker 1: a little poker. I've I've got I've got some hobbies
Speaker 1: that I like to get to when, um, when free
Speaker 1: time does open up. But for the most part these days,
Speaker 1: it's it's being a dad and and it's it's it's work.
Speaker 1: See you had some in there, you got to some
Speaker 1: and that's awesome. Again, congratulations to you and the family. Um,
Speaker 1: But have you ever played pickleball? No? No, I can't
Speaker 1: say because I might have to introduce you to that
Speaker 1: in the G League bubble because it was a big
Speaker 1: thing I think with the NBA officials and some other
Speaker 1: people during the NBA bubble, And from what I've heard,
Speaker 1: pickleball is going to be back for the G League
Speaker 1: bubble down there, So get ready. Maybe watch some YouTube
Speaker 1: videos or something, because if we get a chance. I've
Speaker 1: been playing a ton this year. I'll have to do
Speaker 1: some research. But I do have one thing to add
Speaker 1: since uh Coach Johnson, I watched Not Not Together. I
Speaker 1: haven't seen Coach since since March in person. But um,
Speaker 1: after Queen's gambit came came out on Netflix. We've both
Speaker 1: both from playing plenty of a chess on on our phone,
Speaker 1: so um, I think that's probably with the newest Hobbie.
Speaker 1: For me, that is awesome and that just my mind
Speaker 1: is exploding with content ideas potentially surrounding that. That's so cool.
Speaker 1: I have not finished Queen's Gambit, but I heard it
Speaker 1: it ends well, I'm only a few episodes in, so
Speaker 1: I've got to do that. Maybe I'll do that soon.
Speaker 1: So good stuff, Matt. It's always great talking with you.
Speaker 1: It was awesome to catch up. I know Blue Coats
Speaker 1: fans are excited for the season, and I think you
Speaker 1: just gave them a bunch more reasons for that to
Speaker 1: be the case. So thanks again, thanks for the time. Yea,
Speaker 1: thanks Murph. He is Delaware Bluecoats general manager Matt Lily
Speaker 1: and I'm Matt Murphy. Until next time, take it or
Speaker 1: leave it at the coach check.