- 7 hours ago
Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum joined Carl and Mike as they discussed the Hawks' success over the final stretch, plus whether they have had and what it takes to win the opening round against the Knicks.
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00:00good um you know i'd love to say welcome to the a but this has been a hell of a
00:03transition for you
00:04you you've really turned the the the you know the notch up got guys responding showing your
00:09leadership and i kind of want to start there because cj before you got here it was something
00:14that mike and i had talked a lot about with this team and then i heard you recently on a
00:18podcast
00:18say look you know i made i made a lot of money and uh i'm tired of moving my family
00:23around look
00:24we got to find a way to win and these young guys have really responded to the message man of
00:30whatever it is that you're preaching talk to us about that and how guys have been receptive and
00:36and the chemistry of this team because you've been in the league 13 years yeah i mean i think i
00:41think
00:41we have a great group of guys that are like-minded do things the right way and care i think
00:47the care
00:47factor means a lot especially in the nba you'd be surprised that you know how many people don't
00:53care or have that care factor be at a high level the way they're willing to be selfless willing to
00:58sacrifice willing to do whatever it takes to win i think it's a credit to the front office it's
01:02credit to the ownership and um the coaching staff that they've been able to get everybody to buy and
01:06obviously you know myself being here um gabe jack cory um the list goes on and on jk you know
01:16we've all
01:16contributed and kind of helped but i think the dna of this team was in a you know a good
01:21spot it just
01:22needs a little bit of uh you know structure a little bit of a foundational building and i think
01:26um this guy's a limit for the team because of the type of personalities and work ethic that they have
01:31here our first chance to talk to cj mccollum here on dukes and bell and as carl said loving the
01:36leadership you're bringing i mean some some big dramatic moments and now these guys learning these
01:40big dramatic moments nakil alexander walker he played in some of those in minnesota but for jalen this
01:44is fresh territory how do you guys and how does quinn snyder and you guys handle those those moments of
01:50pressure like we saw against the knicks and cleveland late in the game yeah i mean it's just a part
01:54of
01:55growth you have to go to those moments you have to struggle you have to play well you have to
01:58learn
01:59you know spacing you got to learn what you like what you don't like and you got to learn how
02:03to
02:03win those types of games and unfortunately a lot of it is on the fly you can't really simulate you
02:09know a road environment you can't simulate the states you can't simulate you know what's what's going
02:14to occur in those moments but the more reps you get the better you are and i think you know
02:18for us it's
02:18just about sticking to the principle um understanding of our game plan what we want to accomplish as a
02:23team and how we're going to be successful then it's about going and doing the work i think that's
02:27the key consistently um doing the work watching the film understanding game plan discipline night in
02:35night out and we have a a really good understanding of what's acceptable and what's not from our coaching
02:41staff and our players and i think that's what we've been able to build on well let's talk about
02:45coach quinn and cj mccullum joining us here on dukes and bell hawks game one saturday at the
02:50garden guys you'll listen right here on sports radio 92.9 the game because today you jumped in
02:55the scrum and were like let's talk about the development of cj mccullum and i thought it was
02:58cool right because he's joking man i know but you know what it's loose i mean we need that i
03:04think like
03:05everybody's all tense and weren't like there's nothing to worry about many people didn't even expect our
03:10squad to be here so with you doing that i think it just speaks to like hey we're going to
03:14have a
03:14good time we're going to go about this the right way but let's talk about coach quinn man what tell
03:18me what your thoughts are you've been around the league a long time and i know you've been very
03:22receptive to the things he's trying to preach and get across to this team oh i think he's done a
03:27tremendous job of continuing to build that foundation uh popping on the pillars of what it takes to be
03:33successful and just really focusing on the day-to-day work um we had a goal we had an idea
03:38of what we
03:38wanted to accomplish and how we would get to where we are but it really just started with
03:41winning the day winning each day understand what's uh what has to happen for us to be successful
03:48understand how we have to approach the game and understand what our team dna is going to look
03:53like from offensive and defensive standpoint have to defend at a high level that's non-negotiable
03:58have to play with pace that's non-negotiable when you do those things and you share the ball
04:03success is bound to occur especially when you do things the right way and i think quinn has built
04:09the right type of structure around us he's built the right type of freedom and he's empowered us
04:13while holding us accountable for our actions for our play and for the things that we said we wanted
04:18we said we wanted to play in the playoffs we said we wanted to be this type of team and
04:21he held us
04:22to a standard that allowed us to achieve those goals cj mccollum's here on dukes and bell guys and
04:27a veteran went to the conference finals in the west with dame yeah back in the day with the blazers
04:31and i would imagine the next part of the maturation process cj for guys like jalen and nikhil is who's
04:37taking that shot you know so how do you figure that out is it the hot hand is it is
04:41the open look i
04:42mean is it a bit of both well the game always tells you what's what's supposed to happen and i
04:46think
04:47that's the cool part about each game you know everybody um gets caught up into who's taking the
04:52shot but i think it's more about spacing it's more about matchups it's more about the flow of the game
04:56and if it's jalen it's jalen if it's nikhil if it's me it's me but it's more so about understanding
05:02spots on the floor where does jalen like the ball where does nikhil like the ball um what type of
05:07action are we running into into this potential player this potential opportunity and then as long
05:13as we're getting to one of our spots i mean we can live with the results and i think that's
05:16the
05:17that's the place that we're in today is you know understand the matchup understand the spacing
05:21understand you know each player's you know strength and where they prefer to have it at and then
05:25whoever has it we can live with that result is nikhil the most improved player in the nba i mean
05:30he's turned into a 40 percent high volume three-point shooter this season playing with you um and you
05:36know again in minnesota he was great but he played his role right and it was a guy averaging eight
05:41points
05:41and he gets to atlanta and all of a sudden you see so much more from him i have him
05:45as the most
05:46improved player do you yeah i think he's the most improved i'm not sure who else is in the
05:51the standings but based on the growth based on the opportunity based on where he's at in his career
05:55and his ability to kind of have like you said before have an opportunity it's one thing to take
05:59advantage of it is another and i think he's done that while still working hard on the other side
06:03of the ball while still developing while still learning and growing and exploring and working
06:08at a level that allows this type of success to occur i think is a testament to him as a
06:12person and as a
06:13player you want to stay here man you're loving the vibe i do love the vibes man i like the
06:19area my
06:20my wife is happy my kids are happy so um you know obviously those things are up to me to
06:25understand
06:26the business of it but i i don't i don't intend to move my family anytime soon yeah well look
06:31the way
06:32things have gone we certainly would love to see you stick around but we got business to attend to
06:36tell me from your perspective what is the concern or what should concern hawks fans as we watch this
06:42series because look everybody's got weaknesses tendencies things that are going to happen in a series
06:47what is it that we have to do in your opinion cj to to win this series we're playing as
06:54a really
06:55good team less home court advantage their experience a lot of those guys been playing
06:58together since they were 17 18 years old you know haven't gone to villanova together so
07:02they understand the moment they understand how to execute in the moment and i think
07:06you know for us as a young team it's understanding possessions understanding the flow of the game
07:11understanding that in a heavyweight fight you're going to get hit and the key is to not get
07:15knocked down and not get knocked out and if you get knocked down you got to get back up and
07:19i think
07:19we're in a position where um there's no pressure as you said before um this is a young team hasn't
07:25played in the playoffs a lot together and for us it's about taking advantage of those moments and
07:29those learning opportunities but also understanding that we're here for a reason we built a resume that
07:34was suitable to to not play into playing we've competed at a high level against good teams we've
07:38protected home court and i think we'll have more of the same and and for us it's just about getting
07:43greedy
07:43right um right a series is a series for a reason this is a team that rebounds at a high
07:48level they're
07:49great in the half court um and they know how to get to the free throw line so but for
07:54us it's about
07:54making sure we provide second chance opportunities making sure we get out and run and making sure
07:58we defend at a high level the way that we have the last month and a half a lot of
08:02our audience hit us
08:03up on the text line saying loving hearing cj and hoping he does stick around they make that work
08:07you played all over the nba i mean the garden is the mecca and those fans are nuts i mean
08:11is that is
08:12that one of or what is the most intimidating if you feel it's intimidating but a crazy atmosphere
08:16to play it in the league i don't think it's intimidating man i think it's just like
08:21it's a really cool opportunity and the history of the arena i've been to playoff games there i've
08:27watched i went to nix miami in 2023 after i got a surgery on my hand and just sat as
08:31a fan and
08:33it's it's peak basketball right you have entertainment and basketball kind of intersecting right
08:37obviously you have the the celebrity road you have the organ playing you have the music
08:41i mean the hot dogs the popcorn is the good popcorn and it's it's broadway maybe but i think for
08:47us as
08:48competitors it's fun you relish the opportunity to play on the main stage you know play against a
08:53quality opponent who has championship hopes and aspirations and there's nothing better than beating
08:58somebody on their home floor so i think for us it's just about having fun with it embracing the
09:02moment and embracing the opportunity but also understanding that at the end of the day
09:05it's a game we've played our whole lives and i think that's that's what's you know important
09:10about these situations and that's why i'm so loose and so free like i went to lehigh university man
09:14you're telling me at a point in my career i'd be able to play in the garden for a playoff
09:19game in
09:19front of you know thousands of lehigh alums and millions of people i guess like a dream come true
09:24you know it's a it's a really cool opportunity that i think we're going to take full advantage of and
09:28going to have a lot of fun with it and in terms of the most hostile environment i still don't
09:32think
09:32many any of these places compared to the oracle like the garden is a garden right the history of
09:37it is richness the loudness like all that stuff exists but playing in the in the oracle against
09:42you know short haircut stuff and baby face play i i think those are the those are the moments that
09:51i remember most in my basketball career in terms of like being in like a hostile environment where
09:56it's so loud you can barely hear yourself think and you could be right next to you know i'll be
10:00right
10:00next to dame and we're talking i can't hear anything he's saying that's like geek loudness
10:05not like obviously there's no more oracle but those were some times where it just it got really loud
10:11and i'd say the same for okc when they had russ very very loud yeah interesting cj uh who helped
10:19you become a better pro man i talk about this all the time we got a bunch of young guys
10:22jaylen for
10:23example you need mentors you need guys to show you how to be a professional you spent all those years
10:28in portland i want to say what nine almost ten years who who showed you that who gave that to
10:34you well i i had it in my household for my brother who's still playing professionally in europe one of
10:39the greatest european players of all time but but i think just understanding what it takes to be
10:44successful consistently and that you got to win the day i think i learned that from uh mo williams
10:50earl watson darrell white um steve blake chris cayman um you know obviously i played with
11:00westy matthews i played with dame i played with marcus aldridge nicholas batum um lopez um
11:06i learned that like the work is what really matters and just seeing dame working out with dame so many
11:12so many times throughout the summer and during the season and seeing how he approached his craft you
11:18and you know how how many times la would go bump bump spin fade like over and over again just
11:26drilling and drilling and drilling and getting a better understanding of how to take care of your
11:31body how much sleep you need nutrition all the little things that allow you to have longevity i
11:36think i just you know i stole a little bit from everybody to be honest with you i try to
11:39get gyms from
11:40people even to this day where if there's a if there's a way for me to improve even you know
11:45winning
11:45within the margins you know on the other side of 30 and getting close to 35 it's really important
11:49that you do the little things well it's more that you take care of your body and i feel like
11:53as long
11:53as i can move i can play right now that's kind of that's kind of how i've approached it cj
11:58mccollum
11:58is with us guys gonna wait till saturday for knicks and the hawks you mentioned earlier quinn
12:02snyder how does he play as far as a coach obviously you've been around a lot of coaches in the
12:06league
12:06the vibe the way he teaches the way he's working with the young guys and he works with a veteran
12:10like you
12:11i mean he's very hands-on um very vocal um you know like almost mad scientist like we call him
12:17captain jack loves the game lives the game you know from film to walk through to breakdowns it's very
12:24detail-oriented and it's really important that we're continuing to pick up on those small details
12:28because those small details matter and they can swing big results but i think his approach is
12:34something that i've grown fond of i like the way he approaches the game he has a calmness but a
12:39seriousness that um is important um i think for this team for us to be you know young and not
12:47have
12:47a lot of experience you need the type of coach who's not going to skip steps not going to assume
12:51people know certain things not going to assume that we understand the severity of certain moments we
12:56have to talk through them we have to execute behind closed doors before we can execute on the big stage
13:00man we wish you nothing but the best cj we appreciate the time today it's gonna be a lot of
13:05fun man and
13:06let's go let's go get this series brother we appreciate the time thank you so much for joining
13:10us yes sir i'm looking forward to it thanks for having me cj mccullum do you guys hear what he
13:15said
13:15at the beginning of that interview you have guys that don't care you have to have guys that care
13:22there's a lot of guys in the league that make a lot of money yep but do they care do
13:27they live for it
13:28i mean the passion i mean it's you know it's funny because you you hear like us talk about it
13:31and
13:31people write about it here's a guy who's played in the league for decades telling you about it so
13:35it's big you think it's you think it would just come with it but not everybody has that kind of
13:40no passion for it to his point and a lot of guys by the way guys hitting us up going
13:43there was like
13:44five or six texts we got a bunch of guys on the two on twitter saying love this guy first
13:47time
13:47really get a chance to hear him in extended interview hope we get to keep this kind of guy
13:50you want a clubhouse or locker i should say maturity man
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