• 11 months ago
Transcript
00:00 Because there are still things that we have to take out of this, right?
00:04 These are important things and nothing is more important than Cody Martin returning to basketball after a full season off and a little bit on top of that.
00:15 Who knew when we were going to see Cody Martin?
00:18 What was your reaction seeing, you know, Cody Martin being made questionable and coming back?
00:22 Hey man, first of all, when he was made questionable, I was like, he's obviously going to play. There's no way they would have upgraded him if he was going to, you know, go to questionable and then sit out.
00:34 It would have been the all-time let down for the fan base after a year of him missing basketball.
00:41 But I mean, his legs look good, man.
00:43 Like, obviously he has that highlight dunk, which is a good boost probably for him.
00:47 Everybody on the team, like seeing him do that in traffic.
00:50 He has a nice block too and some pretty good high effort rebounds in traffic as well, which all of that takes confidence that you're going to be able to like out-jump guys and you're not going to land on someone's foot and tweak your knee in the slightest bit and have to come out of the game.
01:04 Like, I've been impressed with how athletic he looks.
01:06 He looks really confident too.
01:08 Very happy for him in that regard so far.
01:10 What was your immediate reaction to Cody Martin's return, James?
01:14 Relief.
01:16 I didn't know if we were going to see Cody Martin play basketball again.
01:20 I hoped we did, but the team never ever came and said, you know, he will be back this season.
01:28 That was never something that was said.
01:29 It was a lot of, he's ramping up, you know, we have to take it easy.
01:32 We have to be careful.
01:33 They were clearly trying to manage expectations.
01:35 And look, it's clear when you see him on the bench with his knee wrap and everything like that, he's not 100% healthy.
01:41 But I have to say, he's not playing like he's having to play hurt.
01:45 The last time he came back, he came back from that, I think, seven game stretch last season in January.
01:51 And he just didn't look right.
01:53 He didn't look right on the court.
01:54 He looked like he was limited.
01:57 That is a different Cody Martin we're seeing now.
01:59 It's only been four games, five by the time he looks like this.
02:01 And hopefully I'm not jinxing anything, but he looks to be bouncy.
02:05 Like, he's had some chase down blocks.
02:06 He's had to got up for that big dunk of his left, jumping off his left knee.
02:11 It looks like the same old Cody Martin.
02:14 It's like he's never gone away.
02:15 It's kind of a bit like a time machine.
02:17 And it's just bizarre to see because we've not seen it so long.
02:21 And again, those plays jump out so much from Cody Martin when he's taking charges, getting steals,
02:26 because there's just no one else on this roster who does the things that he does, which is extremely worrying.
02:34 But I mean, for the time he's been on the court, he's been on the court, I think, 88 minutes.
02:38 He has a plus 2.9 net rating, which, considering those are four games, the Hornets have lost all of them.
02:45 And they've not been especially close.
02:46 That's pretty impressive.
02:47 And I think that's just what you can kind of come to expect with Cody Martin.
02:51 This team is like, he already looks like this team's best, like, bench rotation wing player.
02:57 And he's played literally four games coming off a very, very serious knee injury.
03:01 So I've been really positively surprised.
03:05 We said the same thing about Miles Bridges, and we're going to get onto that.
03:07 When he first came back, he looked sprightly and looked better than ever.
03:11 I have to say, I think the same thing with Cody at the moment as well.
03:16 Yeah, I mean, he has been pretty much the exact type of two-way role player the Hornets have needed in the rotation all year,
03:23 but especially just since he's went down, like, 4 for 9 from 3 in the first four games,
03:28 shooting like mid 40s percent overall from the field, seven steals in two blocks in four games.
03:34 Like, does all the little things, is the epitome of like a hustle player.
03:39 Just every single thing that was missing when he went down has returned right off the bat when he got back,
03:46 which is extremely positive to see.
03:48 Like, the only thing that I haven't, you know, seen as much from is the playmaking production.
03:53 But like, if you want him to be perfect right away after missing all that time in the last two seasons,
03:59 then that would be a tall ask.
04:00 But I mean, over time, I wouldn't be surprised if that comes back as well,
04:04 just given the lack of point guard depth on this team and the general dearth of playmaking
04:09 when the mellow ball is out.
04:10 But right now, I mean...
04:11 - His usage is up at 17%, which would be a career high for him.
04:16 Because, like, Steve Clifford has been so desperate to get this guy back and has obviously had to be extremely careful
04:22 with the medical team.
04:23 But they're putting the ball in his hands.
04:24 Like you say, he's not got the assist numbers yet, but I think that's going to come.
04:28 And, you know, currently Bryce McGowan has been starting while Haywood has been out.
04:33 And I kind of think they'll maybe just keep Cody coming off the bench for now,
04:38 just not to overstretch him and to try and be really careful of him.
04:42 It would be a little bit, I think, reactionary.
04:45 But at the same time, it also wouldn't surprise me if at some point Cody Martin does become that starting player while Gordon
04:51 as Haywood is out.
04:52 If he's feeling great physically, yeah, it wouldn't shock me.
04:57 - Yeah, if we get through a week here and he's still playing the same minutes load as what he has now,
05:02 or if not, playing an even heavier minutes load, like, at a certain point,
05:07 you just have to start your, you know, five best players or at least your best five-man lineup.
05:12 And you'd have to imagine that once the sample size get there,
05:15 Cody Martin is going to be a part of that best five-man lineup, especially when Lamella was out.
05:19 So, I mean, overall, extremely impressed by Cody Martin, very happy for him that he was able to come back with so much confidence
05:27 and be able to just be himself, like, right away.
05:30 It's been great to see.
05:31 - I just hope he can stay healthy the rest of the season.
05:34 And hopefully next year when there should be more meaningful basketball back,
05:40 you go into next year knowing what you've got in him,
05:42 knowing that you can count on him in the rotation next season and not more question mark of,
05:46 "Well, is he going to be here or not?" Because the Hornets need to know, right?
05:49 They need to know either way. So that's positive to see.

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