Charlotte Hornets primed to break through in 2026; Carolina Hurricanes kick off preseason
We’re gonna talk about the Charlotte Hornets, baby. And we’re and he mentioned in that update, Carolina Hurricanes had their preseason opener. We’re going to have Mike Manoscal go on in about 10 15 minutes. We’re going to break down that opener, kind of set up the season ahead. But right now, we’re going to talk about the Hornets. That’s right. They don’t get a lot of coverage around here. And I’m here to change that. And I’m about to make a bold proclamation. And people are going to take notice about the Hornets this year. I think the Hornets are going to make the playoffs this year. I think this is the year that they break through, Alex. So, so to clarify, are you saying they’re going to make the play and then make the playoffs or just straight up be a top six? Whichever way? Whichever way. So, not I I don’t think if they if they I’m saying if they make the play and they’re going to get into the playoffs, they will win and and and find their way in. Okay. And there’s a lot of reason for optimism. So, and it’s a very optimistic show today, so we’re staying on theme. this summer in July, I was boots on the ground. Uh, you know, I was doing my due diligence as a as a Hornets fan and as a sports media member here in North Carolina. I was doing my due diligence. I hopped on a plane and I went to Las Vegas and I went to NBA Summer League because I have a lot of belief in this young group that the Charlotte Hornets have brought in. And people around here know the the big addition, Khan Caniple, fourth overall draft pick out of Duke. He had a great season last year. Uh but he was a little bit overshadowed because he was playing alongside the consensus number one overall pick, Cooper Flag, the favorite to win the rookie of the year in the NBA this year. But Keniple is a special player. We know he’s a fantastic shooter. He was a 40 plus% three-point shooter at Duke. Uh but the big thing is he was a 91.4% 4% free throw shooter last season in college. Uh and that is the big indicator typically for for prospects if their shooting is going to extend into the next level. He’s got it. And then in summer league, you know, he was dealing with some injuries. Uh but eventually came in and that was a a summer league team that was riddled with injuries as well. He came in and led them to a summer league title, which the Hornets have have never even come close to winning. and they went undefeated in the summer league and and effectively cruised to a summer league championship, which is probably the biggest accomplishment that the team as a whole, not just summer league, has ever had. So, and he wins summer league MVP on top of that. Now, the guy that would have won summer league MVP uh had he been in all the games, Liam McNeely, who they drafted at 29th overall this year uh in a trade where they sent away Mark Williams. Uh McNeely was was mocked higher than this. He was a good shooter. He dealt with some injuries in his college season at Yukon that kind of uh you know hitched his stats and his his draft stock a bit but was considered a lottery prospect by by many and he fell to 29 and he was excellent in the first two summer league games before he was held out for the rest. Uh it was some sort of knee injury I believe. Uh but he was awesome. He can shoot it. Uh he can you know get gritty on defense. Um, and he’s a bit of a connective player kind of like Canipple. And that and that’s the big thing with Kenibble too is he’s a great shooter. But what we really saw in summer league and where he can make his impact is that he’s a great connective tissue that’s going to make it all work. He moves the ball. He can rebound really well uh for a player of his size. Uh, and he just makes it flow all together. So those two draft picks I’m big on the two first rounders, but they also had two second rounders this year. They drafted uh Cion James from Duke who’s not as likely to get big minutes with the Hornets this year, but could be a good depth piece. Excellent defender, very strong guy. If you’ve ever seen Scion James and and people who watched college basketball around here and watch Duke know that’s a big guy. He’s strong football player. Yeah, exactly. He’s a he’s a big guy. So that’s not somebody that you can easily brush off and blow by. But the second round pick that I’m really excited to see is Ryan Kulk Brener. And the real balln knowowers and the college basketball fans around here know that this guy is a beast in the paint. Over seven feet tall, big guy, four time Big East defensive player of the year. And that’s going to bring a level of rim protection that the Hornets have not seen. And he actually in one of those summer league games, he had a game-sealing block. I believe it was at the around the elbow. Uh I forget who it was against too. I think it was the third or fourth game of summer league. Uh but at the buzzer, he goes up, gets a block, seals the win. Now, he’s not going to be a guy that’s going to be super dynamic and he probably is not going to start right away. Uh he’s a little bit slow and if it’s going to be pick and roll, it’s basically drop coverage for him every time. He can’t extend out great to the perimeter and he is a bit slow, but that’s just another good piece. Uh and if I was going to say there was a deficiency at any position for the Hornets, it probably is at center. It’s likely that they’re going to be starting Musa Diabate who’s a little bit undersized, but he’s a gritty high motor player. As a guy who’s willing to to dog up and get those boards, he has that dog in him, as they say. Uh he he is a a bluecollar player. I he’s at 6’9. So again, small for an NBA center. Uh but if he has to start at the five, I feel confident that just the level of effort, it’s not something that we have seen a ton for the Hornets uh in the last years just because they’ve been out of it so much. So to see competitors like that, that’s how you build the culture. You need competitors that are like Amusa Dybate. So those are the draft picks that they brought in. But it was a really active off season for the Hornets. It wasn’t just the draft. They traded for Colin Ston. That was a big move. traded for Colin Ston who averaged 18 points a game is a veteran of a few years now in college. He’s a dynamic scorer. I don’t know if it’s going to be him or Canipple that’s starting immediately. I would like to think at the beginning it’s probably going to be Colin Ston just because he has that NBA experience. Uh but if Conanipple establishes himself, he may find himself in that starting spot midway through the season or if there’s an injury. It is it is the Hornets after all. So, we have to bake in a few injuries. I feel like that’s been the biggest problem with I feel like you guys have had talent for quite some time, actually. Maybe not like elite talent, but you’ve had talent to make the playoffs or at least the playin more consistently, but I feel like injuries have been a lot of the derailment for the Hornets. We’ll we’ll touch fully on that injury point here in a second, but you know, Colin Ston, good player, dynamic scoreer. Uh they traded for Pat Conan, another bench guard, signed Spencer Denwitty, another veteran guard. they actually brought in a ton of guards this off seasonason even though I think maybe a bit more of a need at at big, but there have also been issues with those injuries and finding, you know, backup ball handlers in the past. Uh, so it’s good that you have another veteran in Spencer Denwitty who said he’s excited to be a part of this team as well. Uh, and they brought back Mason Plumbley is some big depth as well as far as subtractions go. Mark Williams was shipped out in that trade that got the draft pick that allowed them to take uh Liam McNeely to trade him to the Suns. Uh it was never going to work out, I don’t think, with Mark Williams after the whole botched Lakers trade last year. That was a whole It was a mess. They almost traded for Dalton Connect and then the Lakers rescended it because he they said he failed the physical, but Mark Williams had played the night before the trade. So clearly he could play. So I don’t know that that whole thing is still shrouded in mystery and a bit of an eyebrow raise for me, but the Lakers get what they want, right? uh sent out Ysef Nerkach uh and waved Josh Aakogi and Daquin Jeff. So you drop those players and you bring in all the additions that I mentioned. I think that’s a big net positive as well, but we’ve mentioned it already. It all depends on health. It all depends on if they can avoid that injury bug. Brandon Miller had a season ending injury midway through the season last year. There’s a lot of people who think he is the future of this team instead of LaMelo Ball. He has a lot of potential. Great athlete, great shooter, electric player. Uh, and he’s got a great attitude as well. I love Brandon Miller. He’s awesome. Grant Williams had a season ending injury like 10 or 15 games into the year last year. And I think that is a a huge return that’s getting overlooked because he really brings that veteran presence and that hustle that you need. And he’s a great leader. He’s from Charlotte. He’s someone the fans can get behind. He’s not the most like electrifying player. he’s not going to make highlight plays, but to me, Grant Williams is a really big winning player. I think that’s one that gets overlooked. Uh, and Trey man missed a vast majority of last year as well and was resigned and brought back another backup ball handling guard, uh, who’s quite good, but the story it always is with the Hornets. So, how many games is LaMelo going to play? He’s never played a full 82. The most games he played in a game was 75 games. Now, people have questions about whether LaMelo is a winning player, but when he played 75 games in 2021-22, the Hornets went 43 and 39 and they went to the playin. And I believe most of the time in the East, if you go 43 and 39, you might even get that 16. You might not even be in the playin. So, if LaMelo can stay on the court, I am of the belief that he can be a winning player. It depends on he’s he’s never really had much of a healthy cast around him unless you count the cast around his ankle. Oh, so if LaMelo can stay on the court and all these additions hit, I think Khan Canipple obviously is is the keystone, right? If he comes and he’s comfortable on that NBA floor and he’s already been on the floor in Charlotte, by the way, they won the ACC championship there and he played a majority of that without Cooper Flag and he looked fantastic. So Kanipple, this young group they’re bringing in along with growth from the pieces they have. The Hornets I think are primed, especially with the coaching of Charles Lee, who I love as the boss on the bench for the Hornets. They are primed to break through. I think they’re finally going to make the playoffs. It might be via the playin, but this is the year for the Hornets to break through and finally give the fans something to cheer for after not making the playoffs since 2016. This is the year. [Music] I’m Alex Gibson with three things you need to know right now from 999 the fan. The Detroit Lions defeated the Baltimore Ravens last night 3830 on Monday Night Football. A pivotal moment occurred late in the fourth quarter when with the Ravens trailing 28-24, Eric Henry fumbled the ball near the 21 yd line and the Lions went on to win the game. In their preseason opener, the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 last night. Tampa Bay took an early lead, but the Cane showed signs of life late in the game when Logan Stanovven scored on a power play inside the final 5 minutes, cutting the deficit to one. NC State head basketball coach Will Wade stepped to the podium yesterday afternoon just minutes before his first practice for the 202526 season. Wade said his team is already better than he expected and he expects people will have to take NC State seriously quickly. Find these stories and more onports.com. Last night, the Carolina Hurricanes got things underway for the preseason ahead of the 202526 season. And we will talk to the man who is the voice of the Carolina Hurricanes when you listen to the preseason games here on 999 the fan. And we’ll be on your television as well on FanDuel Sports Network. The big rig, Mike Maniscalo joins us this morning on the Easter Automotive Group Hotline. Mike, how are you doing this morning? I’m doing well, Max. And uh thanks for having me on. Oh yeah, absolutely. Anytime. So, I first things first, we’ll we’ll we’ll we’ll ease into it here. It was the first game uh with the new road uniforms out there on the ice, the stadium series inspired. What uh what did you think about the the set on the ice? I thought they uh I thought they looked pretty clean out there. Yeah, it looked sharp. I I liked it from my vantage point. So, uh I think that it’s one of those things where, you know, when you get change, there’s always going to be some folks who are a little resistant to it, but it’s a really clean looking uniform. And as you pointed that out, and I think it’s going to be something where uh the more and more uh Canes fans see it, the more they’re going to like it. And I think the players enjoy wearing them, too, because a long time ago, a very smart person once told me, “If you you look good, you play good.” So, uh that’s that’s going to hopefully be something that’s a harbinger for the Canes, even though they didn’t get the results they wanted. Yes, of course. Hopefully, we’ll lead to some some road wins. Probably not likely to see those uniforms, uh at the Lenovo Center too many times during the regular season, but uh you never know. All right, let’s let’s get down to the brass tax of of the game itself. So, one of the big questions heading into this year is about that second line center spot. Uh and then some of the one of the few uh NHL regulars that was actually on the ice last night was Logan Stankovven. He was centering Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake. Uh and Stankovven, he looked pretty comfortable out there at center. He had the power play goal there uh late in the third and he said as much after the game that he was comfortable positionally playing center uh you know for the Canes. Uh do you think he has the prospect to kind of lock down that second line center spot early on in camp or is it more of just kind of a trial and error and see where things go? Well, I think it’s a little bit more of a trial. um because you do have a few established players, one of them being Yes. Berry coach in the Emmy who’s played that position and it looks like, you know, he’ll get a shot at it. But Logan Stanovven’s played center pretty much his entire career until he gets to the National Hockey League and the AHL when Dallas moved him out to the wing. And you know, a lot of times that’s one of the things to do, especially with a smaller player. You put him out on the wing. There’s not as much responsibility that comes with playing in that spot as with center. But the way that Logan Stan Sankovven is built, and when I say built, it’s his mentality, it’s his process, how he goes about his job, he’s somebody who’s fully capable of handling the switch to moving to the middle. Now, now that he knows what it’s like to play in the NHL, he has that year under his belt. He has two playoff runs under his belt as well. So, he knows what what has to be done playing center. And you know the one thing today too, Max, if you look around, it’s not the way that the game used to be where, you know, centers 100% have to do this every single shift. Uh you see much more fluid offenses that are out there today where guys are kind of weaving around more. And yeah, it’s great to have a center who, you know, can fit that traditional bill, but I think that Sankovven is going to be a player if uh the Canes want him to play there, he’ll dedicate himself to getting better to get there. And I liked what I saw out of him last night. He he told me before the game his big area of concern is in the faceoff circle and as the game moved on he got better at it. So uh that’s just one of the things about a player like Logan Stankov that stands out to me. So we’ll see. Um I I don’t know if he has written in ink yet that he’ll be the 2C, but they’re going to give him a couple more cracks at it this preseason and see if he can handle it. Yeah, I mean he definitely looked good out there and I thought particularly uh he he looked really nice uh in his connection with Jackson Blake. I thought both of them were really buzzing last night. Uh, as far as Jackson Blake goes, you know, what are the expectations for his year two? Are we going to see another step? He already had a a great rookie season, 17 goals and 17 assists. Uh, would have liked to see him maybe establish himself a little bit more in the playoffs, but what kind of growth are we expecting for Jackson Blake here in year two? Well, I think for me, you kind of hit on the key and we’ll have to wait 82 regular season games. It’s to see how he develops now that he knows what NHL playoff hockey is like and and how he’ll fit in that. But, uh, Marty Shottenheimimer, the legendary NFL coach, said something about rookies who had a very good year coming into their second season. We all raise the bar for their expectations. You the organization does it, the coaching staff, so do the players. But uh the line that stuck out to me was what Seanimer said is if you have somebody who comes off of that good rookie year, if they can just duplicate what they did as a rookie, they’re doing well in that second season. So I I mean, do I expect to see, you know, more production out of Jackson Blake? Absolutely. I mean, I think that this is somebody who if we want to set a bar, we should expect 20 goals, he should be in in that category. But for me, it it’s just little things that, you know, the coaching staff will point to and what Rod Brendan will talk about. It’s things that maybe we don’t notice away from the puck. Is he getting better playing away from uh where the action is, getting himself in the spots where he needs to get to to help be more productive offensively, but also getting back defensively. That was the thing that stood out to me last year for him, Max, is, you know, you look at the way he’s built and you’re wondering, okay, how is he going to handle the grind of the NHL? And more importantly, how is he going to handle playing defense? And he he didn’t show any signs that he couldn’t do it. In fact, he actually kind of stood out. He doesn’t lose 50/50 battles either because of his competitiveness and his smarts and you know that hockey IQ is something that serves him well. So I I think that we’re going to see Jackson Blake. I think he’ll be just fine. I I don’t want fans to freak out if he goes 17 and 17 again. I think that that would actually be a good season for him. But uh I think that it’s the the little things away from the puck and then you know much like this entire team they’re going to be judged by what they do in the postseason and we got a long way to go till we get there. Yeah, I think 17 and 17 would be good. And and to your point about just the way he gets after the puck, I always like to say they’re kind of building the team out of Seth Jarvis’s. Like Jackson Blake and and Logan Stankovven to me are two players who are very similar in the way that they are just attacking the puck and making sure to go get that retrieval much like a Seth Jarvis despite kind of being, you know, smaller guys and more slight. They’re able to to win those battles and and go get the puck. And that’s that’s kind of created that that chaos and that strong fore that the team is known for. So, they know how to pick their spots and and and get the players that fit the system. But, uh, you know, pursuant to, uh, Jackson Blake, uh, I think a lot of it is probably going to depend on his usage, right? Like with the new additions, Nikolai Eers, especially uh, and we’re trying, we’re seeing this experiment with Logan Stankov at second line center. Uh, what kind of usage do you think he’s going to see? Uh obviously they they’ve been no stranger to shuffling the lines around before. Uh but you know just how much ice time are we really going to see from from Jackson Blake? Uh and and is that top line that Eer’s Aaho Jarvis is that what we expect to see kind of as the top unit going into this season? All right, let me give you the coach answer. Just because we’re seeing that in preeason or in a practice doesn’t mean that’s what we’re going to see. So then I’ll give you my answer. I think that’s what we’re going to see. that’s going to be the the top line coming out of camp uh at least written on paper and Jackson Blake’s going to be in that second line with Logan Stanovven and Andre Fetchnikov. That looks like how it’s going to be set up for this team. But what the Hurricanes have is a big advantage that a lot of teams and I know folks sometimes get frustrated like you know just keep a line together. where the Hurricanes have a strength is they can move players up and down the lineup to get matchups and create matchup problems for the opposition. So, I mean there there will be I’m sure a game where you see Jackson Blake playing with Sebastian Aaho and if it’s Nick Eers or Seth Jarvis or you’ll see him, you know, getting a chance playing with Yesper Code Canam and Taylor Hall. uh the way that this team is built right now, I don’t really look at it and say, “Well, these guys have to play together and this is the, you know, the the second line because if we know who the top line will be, but if things are going right, you know, the Canes are going to roll over and and Jackson Blake is going to get his minutes. He’s going to be a guy who he’s going to get power play time. Uh he he’s either going to be put on that first or second power play unit right now looking more like the second power play unit just the way that the the Canes are built. and Nick Eer’s coming in and it looks like he’s going to take that spot, but he’ll get his minutes. I don’t think that there’s any worry that, you know, there’s going to be less usage of him. If anything, Max, I think there’s going to be more. I think more is going to be called upon Blake this year to give him, especially out of the gate, to give him that chance to get his game going the way that it can. Right. I I So, we’ve touched a bit on the forwards here. I uh as far as the defenseman go, I’m sure, you know, myself included, there are a lot of fans who are curious how they’re going to deploy that, but it’s hard to tell based on just uh you know, Jacob Slav and Jaylen Chadfield are unlikely to play in the preseason. The only NHL regular uh or future NHL regular, I suppose, uh that we saw out there last night was uh Alexander Nikeshan. He looked pretty comfortable out there. So, I’ll save you from having to to speak on on Rod’s behalf for how they’re going to deploy uh the backhand. And I’ll just uh I’ll just finish up with this. Mike Manaskcalo here joining us on the Heer Automotive Group hotline this morning on Next Up breaking down the Kane’s preseason opener and helping set up the season ahead. Uh we’ll finish up here by just asking uh was there anyone you saw out there in the preseason opener last night that might be a little bit under the radar, but somebody to watch going forward? Uh there were two guys uh who stood out uh defensively in the the younger uh player category. one guy who is probably more of a depth piece for the the team and they’re they’re all on defense. I think that Charles Alexis LGO is a guy who especially as a right shot D. Max, keep your eye on him. Uh he he absolutely had a great prospect tournament and he looked apart, you know, a few things last night that are looking like a guy when you play against different competition, you know, a step up. a few things that I’m sure that he would like to clean up, but he’s a guy who has all of the parts and jumps in the play, makes really really good reads for his age. Uh Dominic Fenori the same way. Uh the way that he can move the puck and he gets involved in the play. Uh this is a guy who, you know, it’s it’s you look at the canes and how they’re built, there’s just no room uh for defenseman really to move up unless and you know, you never want to talk about injuries, but now they have him. The other guy who I like last night was Gavin Bay Ruther. Uh here’s somebody who has played, you know, a long time in the National Hockey League and he has had a couple of opportunities, but you know, nothing really panned out. And last year he had to go to the Swiss League after playing in in Columbus the year before, but he came in and he’s going to be one of these guys who if the organization has to to dip down uh to Chicago, I think he could be there up front. I really like Kevin Leank’s game as he got more comfortable uh for Carolina. You know, here’s a guy coming spent basically his his whole career with uh San Jose. He’s also a guy who comes from Columbus and you’re sitting there going, “Okay, what can you get out of Kevin Le Bank?” This is a guy who’s got some offensive upside in the National Hockey League. And he scored a beautiful goal. Uh it got waved off because the puck came over the blue line by half an inch uh and probably less than that on what would have been an amazing play from Tyson Jo to keep it in. But those are the the four guys who kind of stood out. when you say under the radar that I don’t know if anybody’s expecting to be a part of the Canes at least this season or for the full season. Those were guys who I think pretty much they they acquitted themselves pretty well for a preseason game and that’s the other thing too you know Max it’s a preseason game and it’s the first preseason game and we can try to read into these things but uh it it it looks like preseason hockey and that’s not a knock. It’s just one of those things where it’s the first time you get a group like that together. And you know, some guys are trying to figure out where they need to be because they’re not really used to playing the system. But, you know, from from my perch last night, those were guys who were real pleasant surprises for me, right? And that Lebank goal was was a sweet one. It’s a shame. Uh it’s a shame it ended up getting called back for a challenge in the preseason. What are we doing with all that? I know. You should not be allowed to challenge in the preseason. We need we need to write some kind of law that is universal, not a rule for the NHL. An actual law that you can’t challenge in the preseason to jail. Challenge in preseason straight to jail. Mike Maniscalo joining us this morning. Appreciate it, man. Uh be good and hopefully I’ll be seeing you plenty of times over there at the Lenovo Center this season. Well, I’m quite sure of it, Max. Thanks a lot. Appreciate the time.
Max Goren & Alex Gibson discuss the offseason moves made by the Charlotte Hornets, and whether the additions through the draft, trades and free agency are enough to break a 10-year playoff drought. Also, they welcome in Mike Maniscalco to recap the Carolina Hurricanes’ preseason opener and try to answer some questions will have about the lineup this season.
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