Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast Network
Speaker 1: search seventy sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to Coach Check, the official podcast of the Delaware Bluecoats,
Speaker 1: the NBA G League affiliate of the Philadelphia seventy Sixers.
Speaker 1: It's coat Check NBA G League Bubble style and coat
Speaker 1: Check is presented by our friends at Chris Gianna Care.
Speaker 1: I'm Matt Murphy. Thanks for tuning in as always, and
Speaker 1: all of our interviews from the G League Bubble available
Speaker 1: on the seventy Sixers podcast Network, so be sure to
Speaker 1: subscribe there if you're not already subscribed. Tuesday's interviews from
Speaker 1: the Delaware Blue Coats straight from Florida, and we've got
Speaker 1: a loaded episode today featuring seventy six Ers two way
Speaker 1: contract player ray Jon Tucker as well as our Bubble
Speaker 1: correspondent from the basketball operations side. Blue Coats assistant coach
Speaker 1: Xavier Silas checks in and we talk about the hot
Speaker 1: start to the Delaware Blue Coats season. Entering the Wednesday
Speaker 1: night matchup on the twenty fourth against the Raptors nine five,
Speaker 1: the Blue Coats tied for the best record in the
Speaker 1: G League at seven and one. The last team to
Speaker 1: lose a game, the Delaware Blue Coats after a seven
Speaker 1: and oh start. Paul Reid was the first NBA G
Speaker 1: League Player of the Week for the twenty twenty one season.
Speaker 1: He's dominating double double in the first seven games, averaging
Speaker 1: about twenty one and twelve. So let's get to it.
Speaker 1: Rayjon Tucker of the Philadelphia seventy Sixers and Delaware Blue
Speaker 1: Coats up first, followed by Bubble correspondent Xavier Silas pleased
Speaker 1: to be joined by seventy six Ers two way contract
Speaker 1: player Rayjon Tucker here in the G League bubble with
Speaker 1: the Delaware Blue Coats. In terms of your career before
Speaker 1: this season, you excelled in the G League with the
Speaker 1: Wisconsin Heard. You received an NBA call up, which is
Speaker 1: always a huge deal last season with the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 1: What was that experience like when you got called up
Speaker 1: and then you were in the NBA. You know, it
Speaker 1: was great. You know, it happened right before Christmas, I
Speaker 1: want to say, like Christmas eve, so it was probably
Speaker 1: the best Christmas present I ever got. So this faris
Speaker 1: was great. You know, just being around a lot of
Speaker 1: pro guys who you know how the same goals and
Speaker 1: aspirations that you did growing up, and you know Mike
Speaker 1: Conley watching him growing up. So it was definitely a
Speaker 1: great experience for me, just you know, be able to
Speaker 1: do what I love at the level. Pretty clean uniforms
Speaker 1: as well, right, I saw some of your Instagram posts
Speaker 1: with the jazz clean unis. Oh man, Yeah, the uniforms
Speaker 1: are tough, especially like the throwback purple Mountain ones. Um.
Speaker 1: Then uh, we had the city addition uniforms that was
Speaker 1: kind of like from the orange to the to like
Speaker 1: the red to the black light though. Yeah, they definitely
Speaker 1: have some and you were in the bubble with Utah.
Speaker 1: Now you're in the bubble with the Delaware Bluecoats G
Speaker 1: League Edition. So how has it been going so far?
Speaker 1: Your second experience at a single site for a season.
Speaker 1: I feel I feel like a vetting here, so I
Speaker 1: kind of know how to kind of operate, keep myself dizzy,
Speaker 1: just you know, mentally and physically, especially with how everything
Speaker 1: went last year with the you know, the game's back
Speaker 1: to back to back, just you know, making sure your
Speaker 1: body is right and then on the same time, you
Speaker 1: know you don't have those same you know, outlets to
Speaker 1: you know, clear your mental when you can get away
Speaker 1: from basketball when you're on the outside. But then here
Speaker 1: you gotta gotta find the ways, you know to kind
Speaker 1: of you know, sit back, relax, you know, taking mind
Speaker 1: off basketball. As far as like other people that are around,
Speaker 1: it's it's got that au atmosphere where you're seeing other players,
Speaker 1: other coaches. Who are some of the people that you
Speaker 1: knew coming in that you've seen around and talked to
Speaker 1: in here. Uh, it's been a it's been quite a
Speaker 1: few people. Cameronals who played with me when I heard
Speaker 1: last year, Jeremiah Martin who I know from just playing
Speaker 1: him in college. Man, I could go on and on
Speaker 1: with the name Jones, Jesfin Robinson, who's on the team,
Speaker 1: Like if b Sampho's on the team, U to a
Speaker 1: lot of guys, you know, basketball world is kind of small.
Speaker 1: Once you know one person can kind of get familiar
Speaker 1: with a lot of people more on the way. But first,
Speaker 1: Christianna Care as doctors, nurses, and caregivers, and as neighbors
Speaker 1: and friends, Christianna Care is a partner in everyone's journey
Speaker 1: to greater health and well being. Why do they do it?
Speaker 1: For the love of health. Visit Christianacare dot org. As
Speaker 1: far as your upbringing, you're a Charlotte, North Carolina native,
Speaker 1: and I've seen you do interviews where you talk about
Speaker 1: kind of being there. Do you have one brother or
Speaker 1: multiple siblings? Oh? Yeah, I have multiple siblings. My dad
Speaker 1: has some on his side, but I grew up with
Speaker 1: with one younger brother. So what was that like. I
Speaker 1: know you've said you would be in the house kind
Speaker 1: of watching, watching over your siblings when you were growing up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so my mom worked like two or three jobs while
Speaker 1: I was younger with my yeah, first left. So, um,
Speaker 1: you know, the normal kid life for me wasn't the
Speaker 1: normal kid life. I was really inside making sure my
Speaker 1: little brother was straight while my mom was gone taking
Speaker 1: care of the house, making sure he had food to eat. Um.
Speaker 1: On top of me, you know, just staying true to
Speaker 1: you know, doing my school work, you know, athletics because
Speaker 1: at the time playing football. Um, so it was really
Speaker 1: more so me, you know, growing up faster than most
Speaker 1: kids did, just because I had to take on a
Speaker 1: lot of responsibilities at a young age. I think your
Speaker 1: mom has you covered here in the bubble with some
Speaker 1: care packages. What are some of the essentials. Some of
Speaker 1: the essentials. She gotta send Harrobot dummy bears, she gotta
Speaker 1: send those. Uh, she gotta send the Picho rings. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, she gotta she gotta send what else she's saying,
Speaker 1: the chocolates. She sent me some pictures. Uh, just you know,
Speaker 1: just snacks, you know, chips, um starburs, just a little
Speaker 1: bit of everything that she knows that I like to eat,
Speaker 1: oh when I'm just chilling in, not really doing anything.
Speaker 1: So you're a candy guy, Yeah, I am, but I'm
Speaker 1: not in a sense like I eat candy when I
Speaker 1: like really craved. But other than that, it was sit
Speaker 1: there for a long time. That's why she sent it
Speaker 1: because you know it at last. Okay, before we get
Speaker 1: into a couple questions at the Buzzer, which are just
Speaker 1: about anything, and they're kind of just some of your
Speaker 1: favorites off the court, favorite things to do. I've got
Speaker 1: to ask about your high school dunk contest that's kind
Speaker 1: of viral on YouTube that you were a part of.
Speaker 1: For those who don't know, who did you compete against,
Speaker 1: Where was it, What were some of the details around
Speaker 1: that pretty famous high school dunk contest? Okay, yeah, it
Speaker 1: was Me, Donovan, Mitchell, Dave Jones, Prince Alie. So it
Speaker 1: was us. It was the guy from Team Fly Brothers, Chuck.
Speaker 1: He kind of put it together. It was a Family
Speaker 1: and Assurance dunk contest, and I think that year they
Speaker 1: they had in Indianapolis, UM, so that was pretty fun.
Speaker 1: Darry Jones won Me and Darry Jones was the last
Speaker 1: two and he won for sure. I think I think
Speaker 1: he had jumped over like four people or something like
Speaker 1: that then. So that was the first I ever lost
Speaker 1: a dunk contest. I highly encourage anyone to go check
Speaker 1: out the highlights from that on YouTube. All right, let's
Speaker 1: hit a couple questions at the buzzer. When you wake
Speaker 1: up in the morning, what's the first app that you
Speaker 1: open on your phone? The first app that I opened?
Speaker 1: The first app that opened is does a text question
Speaker 1: in an app? A count? Sure? When I wake Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's probably the first app I opened. UM, text my mom,
Speaker 1: text you know my brothers that you know I kind
Speaker 1: of grew up with. Um. And why I say brothers,
Speaker 1: I mean like friends and family that I kind of
Speaker 1: grew up with. Text them see how they're doing. So
Speaker 1: that's probably the first app I really opened up. If
Speaker 1: we're not talking about the message and apps, definitely Instagram
Speaker 1: for sure. How about your favorite TV show or some
Speaker 1: of your favorite shows to watch? Uh, some of my
Speaker 1: favorite shows to watch. I kind of watched old shows,
Speaker 1: like I was watching Victorious the other day, Sweet Life,
Speaker 1: Zach and Cody, Um, I watched anime. I watched a
Speaker 1: little bit of everything for It just depends on my
Speaker 1: mood and what I feel like watching at the time.
Speaker 1: You said Victorious as the first Victorious as the first
Speaker 1: shows only one on one all that. I like the
Speaker 1: old like the old stuff, Scooby Dude, Tom and Jay,
Speaker 1: like anything I can get my hands. I believe you're
Speaker 1: a bit of a video game guy. What's your favorite
Speaker 1: video game to play? It just depends, like if my
Speaker 1: cousin hits me, Like, my cousin is a big two
Speaker 1: K guys, so we'll be on two keke. But then
Speaker 1: and my brother he's a big war zone probably duty guys.
Speaker 1: So it just depends on who texts me first talk
Speaker 1: about they want to play the game. That's that's what
Speaker 1: I get on last one. Pregame ritual or routine. What
Speaker 1: does your game day look like to get ready? For
Speaker 1: a basketball game. Uh so wake up, you know, listen
Speaker 1: to my music. Um, you know it got a variety
Speaker 1: of little dirt uh pm me jb uh taal league. Um,
Speaker 1: I want to say NBA young boy, j Cole g Herbo.
Speaker 1: So I have my little flows going on to a
Speaker 1: little different vibes, and every now and then I gotta
Speaker 1: take my pre game nap. You gotta get the free
Speaker 1: game nap being so I'll be a little energized by
Speaker 1: time the game comes. And then for the most part,
Speaker 1: that's it. Like everything else, I just you know, clear
Speaker 1: my mind and get ready to do what I do. Awesome,
Speaker 1: great stuff. Appreciate you letting us in a little bit
Speaker 1: and allowing Sixers in Blue Coats fans to learn a
Speaker 1: little bit more about you. That's Ray Jean Tucker, seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers two way contract player. A quick message from
Speaker 1: our friends at Nemours. Nomour's Sports Medicine believes that highly
Speaker 1: personalized one on one physical therapy for young athletes is
Speaker 1: paramount to a speedy and complete recovery. Learn more at
Speaker 1: Nemours dot org slash pt. Please to be rejoined by
Speaker 1: our Bluecoats Bubble Correspondent Assistant coach for the Bluecoats, Xavier Silas,
Speaker 1: and things are rolling to start for the Bluecoats since
Speaker 1: you last heard from us. They're the team that everyone
Speaker 1: is looking at as we record this on top of
Speaker 1: the standings heading into a tough back to back on
Speaker 1: Sunday and Monday, but we're recording this prior to those games.
Speaker 1: So as of write this second, the Blue Coats six
Speaker 1: and zero and the only unbeaten team in the G
Speaker 1: League Bubble X. That sounds pretty good to keep saying
Speaker 1: over the last couple of days. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean,
Speaker 1: to be able to show consistency is the biggest thing.
Speaker 1: We've been able to show consistency on the offensive end
Speaker 1: and the defensive end, and we've kind of figured out
Speaker 1: our identity and I think that that's half the battle.
Speaker 1: Once you know who you are, you can start getting
Speaker 1: better at it. And it's really showing here in the Bubble,
Speaker 1: the G League Bubble at Disney World. If you haven't
Speaker 1: been paying attention, you should because the games have been
Speaker 1: fun to watch. The competition level is very high amongst
Speaker 1: these teams. There's some very talented teams and there's some
Speaker 1: very talented teams coming up on the Bluecoat schedule as well,
Speaker 1: but individually, as part of this team effort that's finding
Speaker 1: their identity. Sixers fans have been locked in on the
Speaker 1: two way contract players Paul Reid and ray Jean Tucker,
Speaker 1: both averaging more than eighteen points per game if you
Speaker 1: factor in Tucker and Paul's over twenty points per game
Speaker 1: over twelve rebounds as well. So what have you seen
Speaker 1: from the two way guys so far? Yeah, they've shown
Speaker 1: tremendous leadership. You know, they are doing a really good
Speaker 1: job again stand aggressive and kind of getting in the
Speaker 1: groove and and a lot of teams are doing that,
Speaker 1: but I think we're doing just a little bit better
Speaker 1: job of just kind of understanding our role and flourishing
Speaker 1: in our roles. And so that's what's changing the game
Speaker 1: for us, and we're going to continue to try to
Speaker 1: do that. Those guys have been great, though. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think Reid there's a case to be made that Paul
Speaker 1: Reid has been the standout player of the bubble so far.
Speaker 1: I think so, you know, with him being Player of
Speaker 1: the Week last week and he continued to do the
Speaker 1: pretty much the same thing this week. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't know if they're going to try to spread that
Speaker 1: award around, but it could go to him again. And
Speaker 1: he's just, you know, a big reason to why we
Speaker 1: win these games, you know, the things that he's been
Speaker 1: doing and on the boards and even getting better defensively,
Speaker 1: and and so he's a he's really fun to watch
Speaker 1: and Tuck as well. Tuck is doing a great job
Speaker 1: on being aggressive and being a leader with his voice,
Speaker 1: which is huge talking. You know, those intangible things are
Speaker 1: going to help him at the next level. Yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 1: I mean his Paul Reid's stats are virtually the same
Speaker 1: as they were when he wanted and the team keeps winning,
Speaker 1: so he might have another chance at it to bring
Speaker 1: home Player of the Week. We will certainly see, And
Speaker 1: by the time this episode comes out, we'll probably already know.
Speaker 1: But I mentioned the Bubble. You're our co Bubble correspondent
Speaker 1: with me. Let's just quickly touch on a few things
Speaker 1: before we wrap up for this week. Wearing bluecoat stuff
Speaker 1: around campus, I've had people kind of look at me
Speaker 1: and talk to me and say, hey, you guys are
Speaker 1: playing really well. So back to that AAU tournament feel.
Speaker 1: There is a vibe when you're the best team that
Speaker 1: people are looking at our group around here and saying, hey,
Speaker 1: they're doing their thing. They're really the team to watch
Speaker 1: right now, right, Yeah, you know, you have a certain
Speaker 1: level of pride wearing some bluecoat stuff around here now
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, and and it goes both ways,
Speaker 1: you know, And and a lot of people are congratulating
Speaker 1: us and all that stuff. And so what we have
Speaker 1: to do as a team and as an organization is
Speaker 1: just stay consistent and stay humble and really focus on
Speaker 1: the next game, which is easy to do here. So
Speaker 1: we play so many games, so we're always in pregame
Speaker 1: mode here. You kind of run into different people and
Speaker 1: your career as a player and now a coach, who
Speaker 1: have you run into the most here or some of
Speaker 1: the people that you have run into, or maybe someone
Speaker 1: that was just random that you didn't expect to see.
Speaker 1: Who are some of the people that you've had conversations
Speaker 1: with so far outside of the Blue Coats camp. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know coach Ellis tie Ellis is here um and
Speaker 1: and I played for him in Northern Arizona. You know,
Speaker 1: Josh Gray is here who backcourt mates in Northern Arizona
Speaker 1: as well, and we played a lot of games, and
Speaker 1: he gave me a lot of buckets and I gave
Speaker 1: him a lot of assists. And we played him in
Speaker 1: the first game the Blue Coats played. Josh Gray. He's
Speaker 1: with Fort Wayne this year. And I didn't realize until
Speaker 1: after the fact when you said hello to him a
Speaker 1: few days later. You said, yeah, I was roommates with
Speaker 1: him on the road, and I was like, you were
Speaker 1: just scouting against him to kick off the G League season.
Speaker 1: Some weird stuff him, you know Kenyon Berry. We played
Speaker 1: against um uh that that I was. I was really
Speaker 1: close to when I played in Iowa. But the funniest
Speaker 1: thing is is this last game, Jeremiah Martin and Justin
Speaker 1: Robinson were both on my team when I coached in Portsmouth.
Speaker 1: So in Portsmouth I made it to the championship game
Speaker 1: and it was with those two guards. So we were
Speaker 1: a pretty good team. And Jesse Jesse Govan was our
Speaker 1: big man. So and he's with G League. I knight
Speaker 1: right with G League. I knight Um. You know jackenan Ghant.
Speaker 1: It was also with the mad Ants. He was on
Speaker 1: that team. And so it's just a lot of like
Speaker 1: guys I played with, guys I coached you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's crazy here. Yeah. And my story is um so
Speaker 1: Norvell Pell, longtime Blue Coat fan favorite. He was with
Speaker 1: the Brooklyn Nets and then he's now back in the
Speaker 1: G League. So once he cleared quarantine. I had my
Speaker 1: head down the other day and somebody just screamed Blue
Speaker 1: Coats at me, and I look up and it's Norvelle Pell.
Speaker 1: So that was that was a cool moment for me.
Speaker 1: And there's people all around and we're gonna see if
Speaker 1: the Blue Coats can keep this going. But they are
Speaker 1: certainly rolling right now. So all good vibes, that's the plan.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Philadelphia's seventy six ers two way player
Speaker 1: Ray Jean Tucker and Blue Coats assistant coach Xavier Silas.
Speaker 1: I'm Matt Murphy until next time, Take it or leave
Speaker 1: it at the coat check.