Pistons RON HOLLAND & Trainer CHARLES HILL Join The Show!

Pistons RON HOLLAND & Trainer CHARLES HILL Join The Show!

[Music] I think like I [Music] love dress up. Let’s step up and get it. Face up. Face up. I get to win it. It’s for my daddy and the team coming with me. Headed for the championship. Even if the road is long, legends pave the way for us. Nothing in this world can take it from us. Don’t underestimate our generation. When you see us coming for you. And when you knock me down, I’m getting back up. Cuz when I step on the floor, you know your time’s up. I’m on my way. and do show. I am joined by my co-host, King. What is the word, my brother? What’s good? What’s good, man? Let’s talk some Pistons basketball. Got a lot of great stories coming for you fans uh that’s in the comments today. First and foremost, we want to say what’s up to everybody that’s here early from Assassin to Sean to Daniel. We see all of you guys. Uh we appreciate you guys for waiting patiently. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So, we hope everybody is having a great Wednesday night so far. If you are not, you are in the right place to make that better because tonight we have a special guest for y’all. We are joined by player development coach and consultant for a handful of different NBA players including Orlando Magic’s Anthony Black and our very own Detroit Pistons Ron Holland, Mr. Charles Hill. So Charles, we appreciate you taking some time with us to chop it up, bro. Welcome to the show, man. Man, I appreciate y’all asked me to come on, man. Hey, absolutely, man. We gonna get into a lot of different things tonight. gonna have a real good discourse. King, you ready to get into it, bro? Definitely ready to get into it, man. One of the main things that goes with our show is we want to get down to the roots of every player on our our beloved Detroit Pistons, man. Uh there’s a lot of work and there’s a lot of family and there’s a lot of training. There’s a lot of influence that goes into every player you see on our team and we like to dig and try to find that thing. uh majority of the fan base that will be watching this is Pistons fans. You’d be hardressed to find one that’s not a Ron Holland fan right now simply because of the flavor that he brings. Man, uh just speak to the relationship that you have with Ron and you know possibly the family. Um what where did all of this begin for you guys? Um, uh, Ron was a sophomore in high school and, uh, I was a young young hungry coach, I guess. Uh, and pretty much I got on to do like, uh, player player development at Dunkville High School where Ron was at high school. Uh, and he was he was one of those kids that was a project. Like, not saying he was a terrible player, but he was just one that he was raw, rough around the edges. and me and him kind of just locked in in the gym and off the court me and his family kind of we started bonding. We start having like barbecues, stuff like that. We just deal with the team and me and his dad clicked, his mom clicked and from then uh that sophomore year turned into sophomore summer, turned into a junior year turned into a junior summer and it was pretty much uh we want you to be like his go-to guy to be his trainer, like his everyday trainer. And we was just building a relationship off the court. Uh but always uh going back to the court if that makes sense. So if we have bad practice, bad games, good games, it’ll be a twohour phone call after practice or twohour phone call after that game. We just run everything back and figure out why why stuff went good or why stuff went bad and sometime or it was just him just getting those frustrations out on the phone. I like all right well see you tomorrow at practice. It was just built built like that and uh and it just kept growing, you know what I mean? So, uh, we just kept kept it as he growing to the player that he is today and and our relationship still grows to today. Absolutely, man. I love how you always talk about it just not just on the court, but also off the court, just having that personal bond with him, with his family as well. I think that’s something that kind of gets missed a lot when you think about player development. And I think that’s really dope that you guys had that bond. I’m sure that carries over to off the court. So, let’s talk about you yourself though as far as like your history as far as how you got into being into player development. Like what pushed you in that direction of becoming a developmental coach? Kind of just talk about we talked about a little bit what what that really entails for you? Uh well, it started with me just wanting to uh honestly just get back to my high school because I played at from Dallas for area and I played at TCU which is 15 20 minutes from my high school. Um, and I would just just go back in between practices or days off or whatever and uh just train some of those kids and that kind of push me into the realm of coaching and then coaching. It was just second nature for me to be able to teach the game, too. That’s what’s up, bro. That’s what’s up. If y’all take a look in the background, y’all see we have a special guest with us here, courtesy of Trials, he brought Ryan Holland himself on to the stream. Ryan, what’s going on, my dog? How you feeling, bro? I’m feeling good, man. How are you? Hey, we doing great, man. Appreciate your time coming on and chopping up with us for a quick second. Can you anything you want to you want to throw out there, bro? Uh, first and foremost, I’m probably sure you’d heard it by now, but you know, the city loves you, Ryan. You know what I’m saying? Your your persona, what you bring to the table on the court. Uh, it represent everything that we’re about. You know, me and Deuce, we we are avid uh basketball fans, but but it’s refreshing to see somebody bring that type of attitude to the court. uh you know that that gritty attitude man that nononsense attitude uh it embodies what the what the whole Detroit is about. Uh there’s a lot of connections with Dallas Detroit right now on the team. Yeah. We just want to say we appreciate you. We appreciate appreciate y’all. There’s more to come though. Y’all know we not done yet. We just getting started. Man, don’t say that, bro. Don’t say that. You already know. But that’s that’s the kind of stuff we love to hear cuz like Pistons like even in the history, man, they always had like title runs, championship runs. It wasn’t a flash in the pan, you know what I’m saying? Like one season and then gone with the win. Like it was always like Eastern Conference Finals trying to push for the finals like, you know, consistently just contending. So to hear that, bro, music to our ears. They going crazy in the chat, by the way. So you already getting the love. What up, Chad? I just wanted to come say what’s up to y’all. That’s all. Hey man, y’all drop some fire emojis, man. Drop some skeletons for the bad boys. Drop whatever for Ryan, man. Giving us a little bit of his time, popping on with the with the fam. Y’all make sure y’all drop him some love, man. For sure. So, I appreciate you for coming on, Ryan. For sure. So, let’s let’s keep going, man. Let’s keep talking about, you know, things that really involve things that you do, Charles, for not just Ryan, but for other NBA players. Um, let’s go back to June 26, 2024, draft night. Okay, talk about that for a second. Right. So, I’mma be honest, man. I didn’t think Trejun was going to go with Ryan cuz like we always talk about having spacers. We didn’t have a lot of spacing here, you know, before before the season. We did not have shooters at all. And that really was made it difficult for guys like Kay to be able to work. So, and Jaden to be able to work. So, I thought he might go in the direction of like a Don Connect or, you know, somebody like Ryan’s teammate Mattis, who I think Ryan’s a better player, but that’s just that’s just my opinion. But for you guys though, what was the sentiment when the Pistons did take him at five? Like, was he were y’all expecting him to go F5? Expecting him to go higher or lower? Like, what were y’all what were y’all thinking? Uh, it was it was a it was a lot going on that night. I don’t I don’t know if y’all have have the the opportunity to be in the draft room or like in that building during draft night, but it’s it seems like it’s a lot going on. It’s a lot of Okay. things moving at one time. So, we were like when you first walk in the building, I’m asking my question like where you think he’s going talking to agents, talking to just people that that may know some uh right we here he won’t go below this. But I’m like I’m in some I heard a number that was like 19 or something. Whoa. Damn. Cuz here uh what what pick did the Lakers have at seven? Was that 17? I think it was 16 or 17. 16 17. It was something. It was something like right in that area. I’m like, damn, that’s kind of low. Yeah. And uh but I end up talking to another trainer that I I know very well and he told me what he was hearing. It was higher, but it was still kind of low. It was probably like 9 10 11 something like that. But I was like, man, something got to move. Like somebody got to make a trade or something. I’m thinking I’m thinking the worst like not the worst but like all of the all the scenarios. Yeah. Uh but then it end up draft end up happening. We had no clue that he was going to Detroit. We thought from that in the building we thought Detroit was going to trade the pick to who? I don’t know. We thought they I think it was Memphis or somebody we thought they was going to trade with but we we weren’t we weren’t sure. So when uh I’m not at the table too by the way. his family’s at the table. But from what mom told me, they had having a conversation right after four pick, right after the number four pick and and mom is sitting there. She was like, “You got you about to go to Detroit as a joke.” And they like, “No, I’m not going to Detroit.” Right. And it like with the fifth pick, Ron like, “Oh shit.” It was one of those like it was surprising. It was surprising because Detroit picked him and like you said, it wasn’t per say the fit. So, we didn’t know like what to expect, right? But, uh, now looking at it, it was the perfect fit. He was like the puzzle piece that you could just whatever team you have in Detroit, he can just fit right in because of the culture, because of the type of tough toughness and the grit he brings. Exactly. He It was He embodies everything about Detroit. So, it was a perfect fit for him. Go ahead, K. Just a quick cookie before we uh go to the next topic. uh coming to a team in Detroit. When you heard Detroit and you think about where Detroit just came from last season, 14 win season, they call Ryan’s name, he’s coming to Detroit. Fast forward to today. Do you look at that and say, “Wow, look how much this team turned around.” you know, how much not only, you know, uh, players like Ron himself impacted that, but to see a team turn around that quickly, uh, and be able to move forward and now now everything is on the up and up to where we’re looking for them to be a perennial playoff team and a a soon uh, uh, competitor for for NBA Finals. What did you guys What was your thoughts that night compared to now? Uh that I can that night is like, “Oh [ __ ] he going to Detroit.” Like, but but to be completely honest, cuz you go through because you know where Detroit just came from. You know why Detroit had the number five pick, right? That’s in all honesty. But days later, like probably a week or so later, um because y’all know just as well as I do, Detroit didn’t have a coach that night, right? Uh, and Tra had got hired the night before or something like like something wild like a week before or something like that. So, it was like, okay, you gotta kind of let the pieces fall now. But once the pieces start to fall and Traan brought in JB, I’m And you can ask Ron. I broke down the roster. Not the roster, but the uh the schedule from last year. I looked at all of the scores. I’m like, “Bro, y’all weren’t y’all won 24 or 14 games or whatever it was. Y’all wasn’t a 14 game, right?” Because I I like I said, I went through probably 10 to 15 games. They lost by 10 points a list or nine points a list. Like telling him I’m like, “Y’all have a chance to be good because he’s bringing in pieces for the guy which is K. He’s bringing in pieces like Tobias, like Tim, like Beasley that can do a job.” I’m like, “Bro,” I said, “This is gonna be sound crazy.” I said, “Y’all gonna have to win a lot of late win a lot of games in the late times. So y’all have a like a lot of close games.” Yeah. y’all gonna have a chance to be good this year. So, you gota and I’m giving him that rookie talk. You might play, you might not play. Like, I’m giving my like all at one in one spill. I’m like, bro, y’all only lost like y’all lost like 15 games within the points of nine. And then if you go to like the 15 point, it’s like a little bit more. Those are winnable games. You might have, you know what I’m saying? So, he’s breaking it down. I’m like, said, “Bro, y’all might have a chance to win 48.” I put out a tweet. I I honestly put out a tweet. I said I got Detroit winning 35 games this year and I I shortcuted y’all. I I apologize, bro. No. 35 from 14 was like a huge jump, bro. Bro, man, I wish you could have been here like August September of last year and just could have heard how many people was like, “Man, if we get 25, that’s a win.” Yeah. And I’m like, “What?” Just like that. Like, you can’t define success by one bad season. You know what I’m saying? You can’t define it by by 14 games. So people was calling me crazy, bro, because I said, so I said 35 and we talked about this all for months and now we had the same number. King said 40 and I thought he was like like I’m I’m with you, bro, but I I don’t know. That’s kind of deep in that’s kind of on the deep end. But they surpassed both of those. Insane. Go ahead, K. Go ahead, bro. No, no, that’s this is what I was going to say. I I put that tweet out, man. I mean, before the season even started, 40 games, you know, I know what type of coach bigger staff is. I watch Cleveland closely. and he was exactly what the Pistons needed. When you got a young team like that and just like you said yourself, uh a team where they’re losing games by three, five points, you know, uh learning how to close out games, bigger staff was the perfect coach to bring that identity. Um and what the Pistons needed to to start learning how to get over the top, you know, what they did in the draft and free agency was was special. It was important, man. Um, and the reason why I posed that question to you is because I know as a trainer, especially having that relationship with Ryan, uh, you know, it’s almost like on draft night, you almost feel like a parent almost, you know, it’s almost like this is my my child I raised. You know what I’m saying? So, you hearing these crazy numbers like 19 and this type of stuff and you know, yeah, it kind of hit different. So, no, for sure. Yeah, 100%. It’s crazy, bro. Like, man, I wish I know I said it already, but I wish you could have been here last last year because people thought we were losing our minds, bro. But, you know, N was be honest because I didn’t watch a lot of games, but I knew Kade and I knew Ash and so I I peaked in on a lot of them. And then I seen the K. I remember y’all remember the interview K like we’re not Yeah. 14 wins bad. Like, we’re not that bad. And people thought he was like kind of tweaking. But, but in all honesty, y’all weren’t 14 wins bad. Like, it was losing games late. it. And to be honest, it was still you seen a little bit of of that, a little bit of it this year, but you seen a huge jump in how they handle games late because of the the the vets that they brought in because you can go to toas Harris, because you got a Malik Beasley, because you got a Tim Hardway that can kind of calm everybody down and like, you know what I’m saying, can settle everybody in and we can get K the ball when we need to. He can make a shot or he can make a play whenever we need to. 100%, bro. 100%. It felt like it was just a lot of deja vu late in games. You know what I’m saying? Like they were playing well in the beginning for the first 40 40 44 minutes, but then late in the games then we get tight. It would kind of felt like the confidence just wasn’t there cuz they didn’t have like you said the vets around to kind of pull guys together. We saw them do that all year long. Hey, just chill out. When unfortunately when Jaden got hurt, Tobias coming over, hey, we we good. You know, our boy is out, but we still got a game to finish and they won the game. You know what I mean? So like just having that presence there like you said, bro, was so important. Go ahead, Kane. No, no, no. Um I like I said I I totally agree with that man. The veterans pulled together they like I said when you have guys like to Tobias Harris grabbing the young guys on the team say hey we f to go get suited for the playoffs. You know what I’m saying? Getting them ready mentally for the playoffs. This is all business. And and then when you look at a player and Ron himself, you know, who we, you know, didn’t get as many minutes that we probably would love as fans uh during the playoffs, but to have that experience and sit there and watch that and see what it actually takes in that grind in the playoffs, man, because we played New York probably the best right now out of all the teams they face so far. So, uh, that experience is going to be huge for him. I can’t wait to see them next year. So, like talking about Ryan, I’m not gonna lie, bro. I I mean I was really impressed with we talked about it already a little bit, but I was really impressed about what he showed us just just because he was a lot more polished than I thought he was going to be just coming, you know what I mean, coming into the league. And I knew he could play, I knew he could hoop, but the IQ part and the feel for the game was just ahead of schedule to me for a first year guy. I mean, like, does he have room for improvement? Of course, you know, all these guys do. But what stood out to me was that, and we always talk about this on the show, he always found a way to be impactful, to make an impact, you know what I mean? When his shot not falling, don’t matter. You know what I mean? Like, and you don’t always see that from young guys. Like sometimes a lot of young guys, they got to see one go in or they got to had a basketball in their hands and make a play to get into that rhythm. But Ron’s impact goes beyond that. And that was what really stood out to me right away when I watched him play. For sure. You know what? I I agree with that. It’s like I said, you look at it at from the beginning of the season, uh, Ron coming in, you seen him, he was, you know, non nononsense player, you know, whether he had to handle things himself or whether it was a teammate getting into a spat, he stepped up to the plate, you know what I’m saying? and out of a rookie, you don’t really see that too often. But then, you know, uh you know, a quick cookie for you guys in the the comments before the show, I asked the question and Charles was telling us that uh he has a background with also a guy in Marcus Smart, uh which makes a lot of sense when you look at Ron Holland and his playing style. So for if a lot of us we’ve been wondering like where where did Ron get this defensive prowess from this toughness and everything else. Bingo. You have it right here sitting on our show. Yeah. So talk about it bro. You you had some stories or at least one or two stories you wanted to share regarding Michael Smart and some other guys. Uh I got a few. I can say a whole lot but uh come on. Come on. So the first one is uh the first one is that me and Marcus we like I said we played together in high school. I told y’all before the pod started, we played AU together in uh in high school. And uh he was the same way. Feisty. I mean, you go back and watch him. Feisty. He star he star stuff. He finished stuff. He He’s going to make an impact on the game, whether he’s scoring, whether I mean, he’s the same guy. He’s just I mean, obviously in high school, he had a little bit more um responsibility with the basketball and making plays for for us and other people, but Right. But he was a splitting image as far as mentality wise as Ron. Like I used to tell him before he got drafted. I’m like, “Bro, you remind me so much of Marcus, bro. Like it’s ridiculous.” And even more crazy, I can tell y’all this. Even more crazy, one day we leaving a workout and um I’m driving, leaving the gym, and Marcus called me. Marcus hardly ever calls me, but he called me one day. I’m in the car. I’m like, he like, “What’s up, bro?” I’m like, “What’s good?” Leaving the gym, yada yada. He like, “Man, I think you one of them kids you work is my cousin.” I’m like, “Who?” He said, “Holland.” He couldn’t get the name right. I’m like, nah. It’s the only one that I could think of that might be your cousin. Like, Ron? Yeah. Like, yeah, I think that’s him. And then after that, it was kind of like, all right, I don’t think too much of it. Fast forward to this year, they played each other in U Memphis. Marcus Marcus hit a couple like grenades on like got the ball and Marcus had to score. Oh [ __ ] run ending up calling me after the game like man he was giving me this he telling me this like while he was playing but bringing me up like you know who I taught him this like he’s just talking noise but uh but they are actually they’re actually related I didn’t know that that’s wild maybe like two years ago um they are actually related and they and I think Ron end up finding out this year when Ron was uh when Marcus came down when they was in Washington man so they end up finding out and linking up this year small world Ain’t nothing like jeans. Ain’t nothing like genetics, man. That’s wild. Sheesh. It does make sense though when you watch them play. It does makes It does make sense, bro. They do have a lot of the same characteristics. They both play with a lot of fire. A lot of fire. But that’s something that you want on your team all the time. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, speaking of jeans or or speaking of teaching, um sometimes when Sensei teaches the student, the student the student takes a step forward. You know, I think Ron had a message for you. if you can pull that up. Yeah. So, yeah, let’s go ahead and get into that, man. Um, so I was going to say this for the end of the show, but since we already kind of getting into it, I might as well get into it now. So, Charles, I have a special delivery for you. Okay. Um, a message from Ryan. So, I can probably figure you probably figure out what it was. So, a couple days ago when I when I made the my team made the story about our show, um he wanted me he hit me in the DM and he was like, “Hey, man, make sure you send this message to him.” And I quote, he said, “Tell him I said he can’ting guard me.” I knew he was. So, I’m I’mma go out on a limb, a flimsy limb, and say that you you’ve heard that before. Oh, of course. But I’m I’mma go ahead and say this one. I’ve probably guarded him the most from the time he was 14 to right now. I’ve guarded him the most. So, I know exactly what he can and can’t do. And then two, I had he didn’t tell y’all this. I I had to stop playing him once when he’s in high school. No, he ain’t tell me that part. He was in the workout. I was in that mid post. Hit him with one. He like kind of stopped. He was like like, “Man, we done.” That was it. Hey, I ain’t going after that. has been tough on me cuz he he he been in he really been like locked in the gym. Yeah. So it’s like he when I see him now it’s like I hope you in shape and he’ll catch me out guards at the end of the workout or something. What’s the uh what’s the height difference between y’all? Cuz around about 66, right? I’m only 6’1. 6’2. You six? Okay. Okay. So if if you if you needed to in the game of ones to like five, could you could you get them right now today? Yeah, absolutely. Ooh. Ooh, that’s spicy. Okay, Ron, you heard him. Ron, two things. You’re not going to get me on camera saying, “No, I’m not I’m losing that. Not today. We’re not doing that.” And like I said, the other one is I know I know his game better than anybody. So, if it’s time for me to strap up, I might It might take a It might take a long time. Okay. It might take a long because I’mma be fouling. We gonna have to check up a couple. Of course. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know, man. I think I might I’mma make sure I win. I’m I might Magic Johnson at the Rico runs. Hey. Yeah. Hey. Hey. Look, at some point in time, I ain’t saying today or tomorrow. I think that might need to happen. You know what I mean? Just a just a quick, you know, I’m okay. Okay. Y’all heard it here. That’s why that’s why I knew what you were going to say because he called me the other day before I flew out here. He was like, “I hope you getting in shape because you know it’s about that time.” I’m like, “What?” I’m like, “What you talking about?” Like, “It’s offseason. You got to play one.” Right, right, right, right, right, right. Could we go? No, we really go at it when we play once. Okay. Okay. Y’all heard him, chat. At some point, hopefully maybe we can get some footage or something like that. You know what I’m saying? Or at least get No cameras. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. That’s right. Right. I’m going just shoot you a taste. I got him. Okay. Okay. Right. I will look for that. We’ll look for that for show. Speaking. All right. So, let’s go ahead. Go ahead. No, I was just saying speaking of smoke, you know, and smoke, you know, we see where we where he he gets a lot of this from. You know what I’m saying? We also had an opportunity uh to meet Pops, man. Our dude, man. Uh I you would have thought he was a Detroiter, you know, the first time we met him. Uh I mean, like I said, there’s a lot of connection with with Dallas and Detroit. um the the attitudes, the the swagger uh that you know, not only Ron brings, but you can see it in in Pops, too. Man, we just appreciate who he is. You know what I’m saying? And who you are and uh what y’all bring to the table, man. Because like I said, it it’s it’s a breath of fresh air. We haven’t had a squad like this in a long time here in Detroit. All of our teams right now are pretty pretty much gritty, you know, and that gritty attitude, man. Ron’s going to be here for a long time. He’s going to be a champion. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. You see the puzzle pieces coming, man. It’s all cyclical. It’s all cyclical. You can see it coming again. No, for sure. It sticks out for sure. Real quick, man. Um, in addition to I’m not sure if you know, but in addition to creating content around the team and things like that, I am also a musician. Um, a few months back, I dropped a Pistons anthem called Dog Pound. Shout out to JD and Z. Um, and I’ve I’ve seen Ryan like during the season, throughout the season kind of refer to himself as Dog Pound Jr., which I thought was hilarious. I think Ste gave him that nickname. Oh, Ste gave him Junior. Oh, okay. Shout out to Z. That does make sense though. That does that does make sense. So, yeah, definitely did that. So, like from your point of view, bro, like what’s it been like seeing Ryan embraced by his teammates so quickly, you know what I mean? Even though he’s one of the newest addition to the team, the way they embraced him from day one, you saw it. It was just a chemistry that they had. Like, what was from your point of view, what was it like kind of seeing that how they kind of embraced him like that? Uh, I thought it was amazing, honestly. Uh, cuz I I you know, the type of player that he is, sometimes you might rub people the wrong way, but when you come in ready to work, right, that kind of negates everything that you do on the floor because that what you do on the floor is solely to win. Um, and they seen [ __ ] he come he comes in ready to work. He comes in work on the shop. He comes in watches film. He he’ll call and ask questions to the vets. Like I’ve been on the in the room with him like he’ll say uh here what you think I need to do if I need to do this this. I’m like better call the bias or call one of the vets and he’ll call me like hey man I’m thinking about doing this this and that. What you think? And they’ll tell you. So it’s like little stuff like that. Just being appreciative of the people in front of you but also doing the work to. So I think he did both of those at an amazing rate this year. Uh, but like I said, staying staying true to the vest and ask doing doing things that’s asked of him and then also asking questions when he need to ask questions and then like I said staying down and doing the work but in the season it was sometimes they like hey coach LeBron can’t be in the gym like we need to get him off his feet. You know what I’m saying? He’s playing a lot of minutes but he’s he wants to be in the gym and working on his craft. So that’s I think that’s why he’s been uh everybody kind of took heed to him early like real early from from players to to staff. Yeah. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. And I I just love his competitive fire. But I know he he had mentioned before um I think he was in his uncle’s family. They’re real competitive. Like extremely competitive. And that’s kind of like from day one on the basketball court. That’s what he saw and that’s what he knew as basketball. So it just makes sense that he carries that with him on his sleeve. Okay. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely, man. Like I said, I I how do I say this, man? Um, talk about it as a trainer, right? When is that point where you said, I think we got something special here where I just know he he can make it to the league where, you know, you you just seen that that one thing that just said, man, I think this is it. I think he’s he can he can really go to the league and do something. Uh his junior year going into his like that junior summer going into his senior year like before we played games. Um me and him honestly had like a real heartto-he heart conversation. It was stuff going on off the court but mixed in with some on the court stuff like the how can I say some like bad days in the gym. Yeah. Because of some offc court stuff kind of like getting clouded in high school and me had really had a hard time. I’m like, “Bro, what what do you want to do with it? Like, is it like a thing that you just want to like just having fun with or is it something you want to change your life with or what is it?” And and I’m very transparent with not only him, but every kid that I encounter. Like, don’t tell me the thing that the the textbook, I want to be the best ever. Like, don’t tell me the generic. Don’t give me that answer. I don’t want to hear I want to hear your your your real answer. Like, [ __ ] I want I want to be one of the best defenders in the NBA. I want to be this. Okay. like well if that’s if that’s the goal then these are the steps that we have to take to get to that goal right and it started like I said that summer where and I’m not saying he wasn’t working but the work start to change you can see the shift in his game and I was getting fond like bro what you doing with Ron I don’t know what you doing with him but you can start to see him level off and kind of find himself in and because he played four or five a lot I don’t know if y’all know that he played four five a lot the five okay pretty much into his senior year but we played out he played played out on the wing a little bit, but to where he was the ball in his hands, he’s making decisions his senior, that’s when he kind of like skyrocketed as until we can see those NBA like movements if if that’s a thing. Like we can see he’s a strong straight line driver. We can see he can play a better rim. We can see he can guard uh now because he’s started at the four five, we can see he can guard the four five and then he can come out and guard the one, two, three if he as well. like uh putting those little things together and obviously our co we had a hell of a coaching staff and we all just kind of said like bro we got some we got something over here like not not only with Ron but some other players but namely Ron was like he he does this at a very very high level. He doesn’t shoot it well like doesn’t at that time he really shot it well. He had amazing touch around the rim, finished well, finished well through contact, shot free throws, but he like did everything at a pace where he was like, “Okay, he got flaws in his game, but it’s obviously things that you can build on and create from from the from the ground level and build it up.” Uh, but like I said, that junior year going into his senior year, it was like, “All right, let’s lock in. We two days plus practice, plus film, plus rehab, like all all of the little things.” Yeah, that’s when it was like, let’s go. That’s dope, man. I I appreciate you mentioning um him playing the four and five cuz that was one of the things we noticed is that he’s a good rebounder already, especially at that position. And one thing I love King knows, I love I love versatile guys who can grab and go. And what I mean by being able to board and push, you know what I mean? Just not having to find an outlet. And we got a lot of guys who can do that between K, Jaden when he’s healthy, um Ryan, Assar, we got a lot of guys who can do that. So, it makes sense that he crashes a glass the way he does and and sticks his nose in there and gets on the boards because that’s what he’s used to doing. And also the versatility piece too you mentioned as far as him being able to also play the one through three. It was a lot of times I would see him guarding speedy guards on the perimeter like Daryus Garland, Pritchard, you know, all those guys, Trey Young, and it’s like he’s staying the front and even though he’s got a huge height advantage, you know what I mean? Like the Jada McDaniels type of guy who can who’s tall but can still shift and move. You know what I’m saying? Like so 94 feet. You said what? And don’t mind picking up 94 feet. Yeah, man. Man. Yeah. At all. At all. That’s tiring after a while mentally and physically on your body. So yeah, I just love I love it, man. He’s he’s very very versatile and that’s why he’s been so impactful already in my opinion. Just he can do a lot of different things. Absolutely. Yeah. I you know, speaking on the the transition to the city, um you know, you guys only got to see a smidg of how the city come and show out for the team. Um, but just that transition to the city, you know, um, I know Detroiters, they show a lot of love to the athletes, but you personally, have you had a, you know, a smooth transition, you know, being here in Detroit going back and forth? Uh, do you feel any love from the fans here in Detroit? Um, and and in Michigan at in general? Yeah. Uh, personally, I’m I’m not gonna sit here in the front. I don’t I don’t get like fan love like the players do, but I do get recognized guys like yet. Go ahead. They gonna know your face now. Uhhuh. I do get like recognition from guys like you that see me walking around in in the building that like I’m I’m in the shadows for the most part. You know what I mean? So when I’ve been to a handful of games. I don’t know if y’all have seen me at a game, but I’ve been to probably 20 home games this year. Yep. But I come in the game, I sit in my spot, and I’m out the door. I shake hands with who I who I know and then I’m faded to the background. So, but I do get I do get a DM from a from a deuce every now and then. Um, real. It’s been it’s been it’s been cool, man. It’s been cool, honestly. Uh, I think more of my job is not necessarily having a like a relationship on the phone with front office, but being able to say, “Hey, I’m in town. if there’s anything that I can do while I’m here with Ryan or when he’s in Dallas in the summer. Is there anything that you need me echoing to him in our workouts? That’s kind of like the the the part I play when I’m in town. I’m watching film with him. I may get I may talk to uh JJ Jack uh for 30 40 not 30 40 minutes, but for a good little minute just to talk about just update with Ron, what he’s doing well, what he’s improving on, what he needs to work on. Uh Jr. I talked to J.R. Holden a lot. I suit them a text like, “Hey bro, I’m in town. If anything I need to do, I’m coming in.” Like I that’s pretty more so my role. Just making sure uh those guys know I’m here to help Ron and them with Ron as much as I can. You was at the facility today, right? Mhm. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Getting work in. For sure. For sure. For sure. Yeah. That’s dope, man. That’s dope. I I could definitely get the vibe that you super lowkey with it. You know what I’m saying? Like you got like the move move and silence. Yeah. Yeah. I like it. I like it. I ain’t mad at it. I um I want to transition to um just as far as all this these these Texans that’s been coming over to Detroit, man. Invading the Dallas P. I’m dead. It’s quiet, bro. But yeah, got Ron. Yeah. Dink. Yes. There might have been one more before this year, but I’m not sure. Okay. Those four, y’all. He just chat. He just put me I didn’t realize my my dog Dennis Jenkins was also from Texas and y’all know I’ve been talking about him all year since summer league. So that’s that’s super dope. So that’s four players that’s currently that’s currently from that area. So I know Kate and Ryan they have history um you know playing the open runs and things like that. We we’ve talked about that. We’ve shown a few different graphics about that. You know Ryan was saying draft night he knows K done open runs with him when he was a freshman when K was a senior. So they got a good connection. And then you see guys here, the the pictures here with with Ryan and Kade and AB, Ashton and Jaylen. Shout out to them boys. But yeah, so like just kind of talk about uh that connection between them just being in the same area. Have you noticed like a symmetry between those guys like just having that hometown connection and that just that comfortability knowing that they naturally have some things in common just being from the same area? I think uh I think D kind of pulled him in. Uh Kade, I call him Deuce. But uh I think Kade kind of brought him in like right after draft night. Like it was like, “Oh, we all run.” Because like you said from prior history being playing together in high school, open runs and working out stuff like that. I think he kind of just took him under his wing like early, but prior to um weird connection. Like I said, I mentioned this before the before the pod. Um Ashley and Kay used to work at used to work out early. I don’t I can’t remember what what year Kade graduated, but this was before co before he went to uh Mount Vern. Okay. Okay. Um so Kate Kade and Ashley used to do a lot of their workouts in Dun in the Dunville area. The same place where I’ve run with the high school, but they used to do the workouts at the middle school. Crazy. Um fast forward, they working out there for a few years for not a few years, for a long time. And then fast forward, uh run sophomore year, I get hired at the middle school where they used to work out. That’s wild. Um, uh, like I said, I’m the head co the head coach at the middle school and head of player development at the high school. So, I’m doing most of my workouts with I end up doing most of my workouts with Ron in that same gym that Kate and Ashton end up doing their workouts. And then fast forward to 2025 and they both playing with the Detroit, my bad, the Dallas Pistons. My bad. My bad, man. So, so the chat, we don’t we don’t have a lot of Cowboys fans here, so I don’t know how the chat is going to take to the Dallas Pistons thing, but we going to let it rock tonight. I’m not a Cowboys fan at all. Okay, good. I’m a Cowboys fan. I’m not a football fan. I don’t even want to put that out there. Okay. All right. Bet. Yeah, we we Gucci then. We Gucci cuz we do not have a lot of Cowboys fans here. So, we we good. Trust me, I know, man. K, you had an offseason question, didn’t you? Um, yeah. during the off seasonason, you know, we obviously we just had a a nice lengthy season. Is there something uh that you would point out and say, you know, this is probably where I mean, I know you want to give all the keys or whatever, but where where we can go forward and improve uh this summer when it comes to Ron and his game and getting prepared for next season? Obviously, um his shooting that’s not not like a secret, but it’s something that was like it got better gradually through the season. I know if you look at the early part of the season, he’s shooting like probably low teens, high teens, early I mean high 20s. And as you like if you cut that part out and go from January to the end of the season, it’s a lot better. So, it’s something that gradually gets better. It’s not like an overnight thing. So, continue to get better at that. And then outside of that, ball handling and uh playmaking, not like so we can be on the floor at certain times in the game, being like you said, being the floor spacer, but also if I do catch this ball and it’s not time to shoot, can I put it on the floor and make the right play? Uh so being able to slow the game down for him mentally, it’s going to be like a lot of film watching. But the I think the two main things is just a lot of basic ball handling, keeping them keeping the handle tight and shooting. is keeping it pretty plain. I think le with Ron less is more. So don’t want to throw a whole lot at him in one summer. So we can break down two or three things and kind of gradually get him better and not just say, “Hey, we getting better at dribble, passing, shooting, guarding, this, this, this, and that.” And we come back and we didn’t get better at anything. I just keep it one or two things this summer, one or two things next summer. And then we gradually go. And like I said, for this summer, to keep him on the force, only his going into his second year, the one thing we can work on every day is just shooting a basketball. Uh, and I think Fred is I talked to Fred Vincent today. He’s doing an amazing job of what he’s doing with Okay. And, uh, and I just want to echo whatever he’s doing with him, that’s what my workouts will look like. And obviously, we’ll add a little bit more of a like basketball game simulation stuff that we can kind of moves we want to add in transition. We want to play better in we He’s already fast in transition, but that’s one thing I can see is have him slow down in transition when need to, not just running 100 miles an hour. Sometimes it works, but sometimes we need to kind of change pace, change speed in the uh in transition. That I think that would be the other thing. So shooting and playing with more pace in transition, not necessarily 100 miles an hour, but playing with going I would say about 60, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, with him I he can he can probably get away with going by 75 and 60. But yeah, but if we can slow him down a little bit in transition that way he he has less he’s just a rookie. If he have more less plays like that and I think like you said, we just slowly build from there. It’s funny cuz um with the the with the shooting the shooting thing is interesting to me because like it did gradually get better. It seemed like the biggest thing for me was just reps. Yeah. just just getting just getting enough opportunity in that offense, you know, cuz like but the thing that stood out to me the more than anything was even when the shot wasn’t falling, his confidence never wavered. It was games when he was like 0 for four and he’s pull I’m like hold on Ryan, hold on. But but I love that though because it’s like he’s not he’s not afraid. Yeah. Like% you know what I’m saying? He’s gonna make Go ahead. Go ahead. I’m sorry but he’s fearless. Yeah. Yeah. I can say this because this happened two years ago now. He was in the G-League. I remember he had 30. He had 30 and didn’t shoot. No, he had 30. He might have shot like 10 threes. Like, I’m shooting 10. No, he shot had 31 game and didn’t shoot any threes. Wow. All right. Wow. He called me. He like, “Next game I’m shooting 10 threes.” I’m like, “Why the hell would you do that?” He’s like, “Bro, I just had 30, no threes.” They like, “They gonna let me shoot threes, right?” Nah, you just gonna get the 30 and we’ll worry about how many threes you shoot later. Exactly. But just showing you his relentless his relentlessness. He went out there and shot like nine threes for real. Yeah. Yeah. And he’s he like I tell him all like if you got the confidence to take it, you’re going to end up making it. Exactly. As long as you got the confidence, we’ll work on we’ll work on the mechanics. We’ll work on Yeah. We’ll work on all the things we need to work on to make sure it’s going in. But don’t lose the confidence in not and don’t take it. If you stop taking it, you’re going to lose the confidence. You won’t make it. Exactly. Take it. You can make it. You take it. You I was just about to say if you could take it, you can make it. So once everything does catch up, we know the the confidence is not going to be lagging and we know that’s half the battle. So he’s going to make guys account for him regardless. You know what I’m saying? He’s going to spread the floor regardless. And once the shot catches up and the percentage rise, he’s going to be just fine for sure. You mentioned also the the the ball handling, bro. Like he handles the ball better than I thought, too. There’s times where he be Go ahead. Go ahead. My bad. I’m nitpicking, but I see spots where I’m like, “Bro, what we doing? He Yeah, I feel it. I feel it 100%. He got to Dallas on the 4th, so about 11 days ago. Okay. The first thing we did, we got to Airbnb. First thing we did, I pulled my laptop out. We on synergy for like two hours. Watch him. We watched all his buckets. But we watched him and like nitpicking that like, bro, what we doing? Like you could have did this right here. Why you moving so fast right here? Why you doing this? Like so it was one of those things. It’s like and we notice small things like I’m not gonna say I’m not gonna say it on the pod but it’s small things while he’s handling the ball. We like all right we need to make sure placement is here or here when we do this move is is here is tighter is you know what I’m saying? When I’m moving faster I got to be able to move my body this like it’s little stuff like that that we can sit and film and watch. You know what I mean? So to the person that might not know him as well as I do they like oh [ __ ] he does handle the ball is a little bit better than I thought. But I’m looking at like, [ __ ] we got some work to do, you know? As you should. As you I feel it. That’s that’s my job, though. You know? Exactly. Yeah. That’s That’s fire, man. That’s fire. Because it was a few times once again, but he’s on a break and he’s got he got wings on both side of him. I’m like, “No, Ryan.” No. Oh, Ryan. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. He should have had a game winner. That game against the Hornets. That turnover. That was That was the game winner in my opinion. That what happened happened. Oh, [ __ ] Four times before he got to the M. Oh [ __ ] Exactly, bro. Exactly. Exactly, man. Yeah, that’s that’s good stuff, bro. We appreciate you sharing that, man. I um Yeah. Anything else, Ken you wanted to hit on before before we uh before we wrap it up? I don’t want to take too much of his time tonight. Oh, no. No, that’s pretty much it, man. Like I said, that that you know, just analyzing Ron ourselves for the season. We always said, you know, looking at the shot mechanics, uh everything looks good. He just has to take those shots. You know, we love when players take shots like that confidently. Um, and eventually it’s gonna fall. Every player didn’t walk in the league with a three-point. You had players in the past, Jason Kid, Tony Parker, even even uh Marcus Smart, you know what I’m saying, walking into the league, he wasn’t the greatest shooter, man. You just have to take reps, man, and have that confidence to keep doing it. And Ron is going to be fine, man. His mechanics look great. For sure. For sure. We got one quick question for you, uh, for William McGregor. He says, “Question for Charles. Do you work with Ron’s mental game or do you stick to just physical work? We talked about it a little bit, but you can kind of just elaborate however far you want on that. Uh, I’m gonna be 100% honest. Him is more mental game than anything, especially right now in the NBA season. It’s hard for me to get to him on the floor and during the NBA season and I don’t live in Detroit. So, uh, with him, I sometimes I get phones before they get on the plane, phone calls before they get on the plane. Mhm. Because of frustration or because of XYZ. Uh, and he’s trying to figure out how to get through it. I’m like, bro, you’re just a rookie. Some of it, most of it is, you’re just a rookie. You know what I mean? Um, but even from like I said from high school, uh, the off the court the off the court thing is honestly the off me being able to have conversations with him off the court kept me in the position to be his trainer only. So like the B anybody could have took care of the basketball part of it and that’s just me being honest because we all know the same things is it’s just a matter of do you have a relationship with the guy that you’re telling for him to receive what you’re doing, right? me being part of like that coaching staff obviously allowed me to be more intimate with him off the floor talking about games and what we can get better at stuff like that but also it was an avenue for him to be a person that he can call when he need anything you know what I mean whether it was basketball or not because I trust was there yeah exactly so I to answer the question more so now than anything is more of the mental game. But all of that started from high school. Like I said before, uh being able to say, “Coach, coach tripping,” or I didn’t understand what he was saying. I’m like, “Bro, I just” and go back and break the game down. Yeah. When it’s off the court stuff, like me and my girl or my mom or my dad or my dog, whatever the case may be. It’s like, “All right, these are the And I break it down to them like this. I’m gonna give you two answers. I’m gonna give you answers that you want to hear. Then I’m gonna give you the answer that you need to hear, right? You know what I mean? And more so more times than not, I’m going say, “Hey, all right.” And you do want my real answer. He’ll look at me like, “Yeah.” And then I give him the real answer. And he’ll like more receptive to the real the real talk that we giving. You know what I mean? So that’s dope. Yes. To answer that question. Yes. More mentally, but I’ll do a lot of the physical onc court work as well. So chat, as you guys can see, a lot more goes into the development just being on the basketball court. You know, a lot of it is just the mental part and just developing a relationship. And that’s one thing that Charles has done. He’s developed a relationship not just with Ryan, but with all these guys, Anthony Black to the world, guys who are having successful NBA careers and on their way to having more successful NBA careers in the future. It always starts with the mental part. So, want to shout you off for that for sure, bro, cuz that that you can really tell a lot about a person by what players say about them when it comes to off the court, you know what I mean? So, I really really can appreciate that about you. So, appreciate you sharing that story as well, man. So, listen, man. We appreciate your time, bro, for pulling up with us tonight, man, and joining the show. For those who are just becoming acquainted with you for the first time, bro, where can we find you on social media and keep up with what you’re doing? Um, I’m on Instagram for the most part at WWT_Chill. That’s the acronym for we worked on that. Just name my training company. We worked on that Cill. It was like a little jab at my head coach. I work for him now still. Uh, again, another short story. My bad. Yeah. No. No. Come on. Yeah. No. Go ahead. Ron will be in practice doing some BS that we done worked on in the gym and he and the head coach Peavey. He like Ron what we doing? He like what? I worked on that with Hill. I’m like, “Yeah, we worked on.” So it was like more like we worked on that chill. Like we’ve done it before. So just chill out. But that’s the Instagram name. WWT chill. Okay. Okay. Definitely man. So y’all heard the man. Y’all make sure y’all go follow him. Check him out and see what he’s doing, man. see how he’s giving back to the game because that’s really what it’s all about at the end of the day. So, we appreciate you, bro. Make sure you guys go follow him. We’ll put a link in the description for all his socials as well. So, you guys can just click and go follow. But that guys is a wrap for this episode of the King and Do Show. And until next time, y’all know what it is, man. Detroit verse everybody. Peace. All the dirty work. All dog. I’mma dive on the floor. Go try to block every shot. I’m going to be physical with you the whole game. You know, Ste going to be physical with you. When you think of the Pistons, you think it’s hard work and just pretty basketball. That’s his identity you got to have when you put on that jersey. I’m not your average king. Not a good dog, a bad boy for life. I set the tone. Don’t care about I get my respect. Come in the rain and see. I don’t love you. If you retaliate, that’s on you. talking. I hear walking the top. You [Music] must come mess [Music] around. Mess around. [Music] with somebody. You better [Music] [Applause] somebody don’t want to mess around. [Music]

Ron Holland, a promising young talent, was selected by the Pistons’ with the fifth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. He spent the previous season with the NBA G League Ignite, showcasing his skills before joining the Pistons. Since his arrival, Holland has made notable contributions to the team, proving to be ahead of schedule when it comes to readiness at the NBA level.

We are joined today by Ron’s developmental coach and consultant, Charles Hill! Charles gives us a deeper look into Ron’s upbringing on and off the court, along with his evaluation of rookie season and expectations for next season.