Hornets.com’s 1-on-1: Hornets TV analyst Gil McGregor
Gil McGregor
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February 28, 2007
Hornets.com sat down with television analyst Gil McGregor recently, to find out McGregor’s observations on the surging Hornets. McGregor teams with play-by-play man Bob Licht to call 65 Hornets games each regular season for Cox Sports Television.
McGregor is an original member of the Hornets broadcast team and now in his 19th season behind the microphone. The former Wake Forest basketball standout played one season in the NBA, in 1971-72, before continuing his pro playing career in Belgium, France and Italy.
Q: It was a quiet NBA trade-deadline day for nearly the entire league, as well as for the Hornets. Why do you think the Hornets refrained from making any deals?
A: I think the reason the Hornets didn’t make any moves was because there were no significant deals to be made. They weren’t going to do anything earth-shattering, so there was no need to make a move just for the sake of making one.
We have a ‘move’ that we’re going to make, hopefully soon, and that’s bringing Peja Stojakovic back. Peja coming back will change the dynamics of this team tremendously. Now that we’ve gotten Chris Paul, David West and Bobby Jackson back on the floor, if we can work Peja in, we don’t need to make a move, because we’ll have the team that we thought we’d have at the beginning of the season.
If those guys (Paul, West and Jackson) had NOT come back, maybe we would’ve been forced to (make a trade) out of necessity, but since everyone is getting healthy, there is no reason to make a change unless it is going to tremendously upgrade the team.
Q: The Hornets have played significantly better since mid-January overall, but still seem to be struggling on the road, even against opponents with poor records. What is the solution to the Hornets’ problems away from home?
A: This is just my personal opinion, but sometimes I think we are lulled into relying on our strength as an offensive team, and allow that to take away from the necessity of playing great defense. When this team focuses on defense, we shut people down and score a lot (as a result). If they can just become consistent enough to put defense at the forefront, and make that become our calling card and have offense be a byproduct of that, then I think we can stay more consistent. Hopefully that will happen, now that the (lineup of) players who are on the floor is more consistent and the rotation has been more consistent.
Our bench play is also part of why we are up and down. We need our bench to find some personality that fits how they’re going to play every night, whether it’s scrappiness, or pushing people around, or making shots. I think we’re inconsistent off the bench right now.
Q: The Hornets open March with five straight tough opponents and seven road tilts of their first nine outings. Could this be a ‘make-or-break’ stretch for the Hornets?
A: At this point, because of our record and the fact that there are several teams very close to each other in the standings, EVERY game is make or break right now. I think if we start looking ahead too much, it’s going to be too difficult. We’re the type of team that needs to look at one game at a time. You can’t look at one game as being any more important than any other.
Q: Which Hornets players’ performances do you think will be most crucial during the final two months of the regular season?
A: I don’t think we can be successful if there is any slippage from Tyson Chandler. He’s been phenomenal, and he has to stay phenomenal, because we need everything he’s brought, particularly offensively. We’ve gotten (offense) from him that we weren’t projecting to get.
I think Devin Brown is a quiet key. He has to play defense and score for us if there is a lull (from other perimeter players). We’re not getting great shooting out of Rasual Butler right now, and Jannero Pargo has been kind of up and down. And even Bobby Jackson had some struggles offensively, although he’s been getting back into a groove lately. So Devin has to be that other person in the backcourt along with Chris Paul who has to stay consistent for us.
But everyone has contributed so far – we’ve seen David West step up, and we were carried by Desmond Mason for so many games. Everyone is important, but I say Tyson and Devin, as two names you might not immediately put out there, are very important for us to stay successful.
Q: Right now it is uncertain when Peja Stojakovic will return to the lineup. What impact do you think he would make if he can come back with a few weeks left in the regular season?
A: You have a couple things to look at in working him back into the lineup. How many minutes does he play? Does he have to start, or can he come off the bench? If he does start, who then goes to the bench? Do you put him at the two position, and bring Devin off the bench? Or do you play him at the three and bring Desmond off the bench?
There are a lot of possibilities there, but the coaching staff will have to work that out. I’m of the opinion that you may bring Peja off the bench until his back gets really, really healthy. I don’t think Peja would have a problem with (coming off the bench), and he may even ASK to do that. If you have Peja coming in off the bench, along with Bobby Jackson and Jannero, you’re looking at a bench that’s pretty dangerous. It will cause other teams to have to worry about matchups.
Q: From your perspective as a former NBA frontcourt player, what have you seen from Hilton Armstrong and Cedric Simmons that has been encouraging?
A: They both have pretty good basketball IQs. You have to understand that the system this team is playing… Coach Scott has said it is evolving away from the Princeton system or passing game. But it’s still a lot for both of those (rookies) to pick up.
I was a player who wanted to learn while PLAYING. It’s hard to learn while watching like Hilton and Cedric have.
But I believe we’re fortunate to have both of those young guys, and under the tutelage of older players like Marc Jackson, they will be very valuable to us. It may be more next season that it happens, but I know why we drafted them. I still think they will pay the dividends that we thought they would when they were drafted, but we may not see that in points, rebounds or minutes this season.
