Chicago Bulls’ Matas Buzelis talks being drafted by hometown team, rookie year goals and more

Chicago Bulls’ Matas Buzelis talks being drafted by hometown team, rookie year goals and more

[Music] all right welcome into the Bulls Talk podcast presented by Toyota Let’s Go Places I’m Casey Johnson and we are pleased today to be joined by first round draft pick Modis buis how are you I’m great thank you for doing this we appreciate you taking some time it’s been a couple busy weeks since draft night the last time we spoke with you what what happened the last the last two weeks been like for you honest honestly it’s been like tornado just everything you know um coming here I mean you know it makes it easier being at home so I’m a HomeTown kid but honestly it’s been a lot but I’m ready for this so um we talked to you the night of the draft it was obviously a very emotional night for you when you look back at that night what kind of stands out what Memories do you have honestly I don’t like it’s just it was just crazy being drafted um especially to the Bulls you know being from here um um also seeing my family you know all the things we’ve been through so um I think it was just a very emotional moment but I’m very thankful you’re used to being the center of attention we know you’re part of a docu series uh that’s going to be airing on the G League’s you YouTube channel shortly uh it’s called the break presented by the general tell us what you know about that and what that experience has been like with cameras trailing you for the last nine months yeah um it’s been a great experience uh you know not many people get to be you know documented for a whole season especially my my rookie well not really rookie season but first pro season and uh I think the general uh the break by the general did a great job uh they made it really easy on me and I’m going be able to look back on all these memories you know in the in the future and do you know who it’s narrated by who it’s Nar yeah Shaq yeah that’s a pretty good get and uh I know you’re kind of a student of the game I’m the one on draft night when we were talking to you from here asked you about J.R Smith which still blows my mind but it seems like you’re kind of like a a student of the game kind of an old school yeah I’m a basketball head yeah that’s what I mean so like what is it like to have Shaq narrate this docu series The Break presented by the general it means a lot of course you know one of the best players ever you know to touch a basketball U and you know him being the guy that he is funny energetic just makes it even better so you say you’re a basketball head where do you think your love for basketball first developed cuz I know early on i’ I’ve read that you were into other things like swimming gymnastics so where did the love affair with basketball start and what kind of you know caused that first Spark for you it really started from my parents just they put me in a lot of different sports when I was younger so um you know going into like gymnastics swimming soccer all that it’s just they made me find something that I loved and basketball was the thing the you know the sport that I loved and Demetri Pi who worked works here at full package he really instilled the Love of the Game for me what what what about basketball can you put into words what it is about basketball that you love I can’t even tell you that honestly it’s just I don’t know just putting the ball in the hoop I guess you know what kind of influence you have your have your parents had on you I know that they played the game as well big influence but now you know they just try to be my parents they didn’t really play at like this high of a level but um you know they guided me uh since I was young What specifically kind of lessons did they teach you while you’re growing up in terms of the game and things like that my dad always taught me to be humble um you know keep your feet on the ground um my mom she really just she really just push me to be become better and um you know go to practices she would drive an hour to go you know uh to practice so I really thank her for that so the last two weeks you’ve mentioned been a whirlwind what what have you been doing we’re talking at The Advocate Center here you just finished up Summer League practice like what’s the experience been like kind of assimilating yourself with this franchise and coaches and teammates and things like that who have you met what have you been doing that kind of stuff I pretty much met everybody just a couple guys on the team uh who I haven’t met but um just being here embracing the culture that they built you know a winning culture uh I want to be a part of that and I want to win so just uh being here I can Embrace that what are the practice has been like leading up to Summer League intense um you know a lot of stuff with the mind just learning uh sets um conditioning all types of stuff like that shooting drills we’re pretty much doing everything out here give us a scouting report on Billy Donovan theii as a head coach since we’re used to Billy Donovan senior as the head coach but Billy Donovan the third is going to be your summer league coach to give us a scou report on him high energy um he he pushes us of course but I think the main thing is that he doesn’t sugarcoat anything he just he just is a real person you know he tells you what you’re doing wrong doesn’t matter who you are you mentioned You’ met some of the teammates on a personal level I’m I’m a little bummed for you you’re not going to be teammates with de Mar Rosen cuz one thing that stands out to me about you and the little I’ve read about you and as I’m getting to know you is that you’re a student of the history of the game and dear was exactly the same way he would cite kind of odd JR Smith that he pull like one thing from so it’s it’s kind of a bummer for those of us who’ve been around the BS world that you won’t be teammates with Demar de R rozan but where do you think like that that love of the history of the game and kind of drawing things from different people comes from for you I mean J.R Smith is not a name you hear very often yeah honestly it’s just I just watch basketball like it’s not really just J.R Smith I can name like a lot of guys who are just Killers but they’re not really recognized for it you know um it’s just me being a basketball head that’s it name name one other than J.R Smith OJ mayo okay now we’re getting somewhere yeah another USC guy uh and do you just spend a lot of time like watching old clips and things like that I just watch people who get Buckets U but also defensively guys on the defensive end like Andre kolinko [Music] um Jaden McDaniels a lot of guys I can name but I don’t know I just I watch everybody to be honest uh Andre kolinko is a name you don’t hear very often either what do you like about his game I think the versatility of course but how he can block shots and uh time blocks really well yeah let’s talk a little bit about that because one thing that looks jumps out about you when you watch film is kind of your impact as a two-way player I mean defensively where do you think you get kind of your instincts from and how much pride you take at that end I I had my I already had instincts on defense but it was mainly just watching film for me and seeing like what position I have to be in and you know how far I got to be from the paint to go block a shot and uh how different guys finish in the paint but it’s just I already had the instincts and the length of course the athleticism but it’s just about you know watching the film and seeing like how you can time them how you can you no block the shot how important is it to you to be a two-way player at this next level very important I know like my rookie year I’m not going to have any plays around for me so I have to go like go out there and play defense and be an energy guy and make shots open shots what are some of your goals uh on the in the short term for yourself at Summer League out in Vegas shortterm goals yeah I mean like well first we’re going to talk shortterm so summer League’s in front of you then we’re going to get into longterm like rookie year and things like that but for summer league what what are you kind of looking to accomplish or or get done out there I want to win so I’m trying I’m trying to win every time I step on court I’m trying to win so we’re trying to win summer league what about you personally on a personal level I’m just trying to win impact winning yeah what about rookie season do you have goals for your rookie season trying to win okay that’s it no personal goals at all of course get better as a player you know but I think the main thing I want to win championships you know that’s me so got you I want to get back to the draft night a little bit one more time because it was obviously as I mentioned an emotional night for you yeah when you look back at I I like I love how our tus kind of gave you a hard time and said like are you still crying called you but you me your brother was crying openly are you guys an emotional family or is that just kind of just the just the overwhelmingness of that moment we’re not an emotional family we’re a supportive family so when somebody you know gets to their goal achieves their dreams you know we all we all get a little emotional but I think that was like the biggest you know moment for me so everybody everybody started crying even the even the people that were sitting up top were I saw another uh quote where you said uh before the draft you said you knew your younger brother was going to cry too so like that was not a surprise to you yeah I already knew that um why why do you think you know at the start of the Season there were some people that that said you might be a top five pick um you fell to 11 obviously you’re in a great situation but why do you think there was a draft drop have you spent any mental energy on that N I know a player I am so I work extremely hard I don’t think anybody in the draft Works harder than me so um I mean it doesn’t matter right now it’s zero to zero doesn’t matter what you get picked you’re going to go out there and play against them there there there are some people that use stuff like that as as motivation are you like one of those type of players that for sure yeah definitely so like in what way will you use that just going to work even harder prove everybody wrong there’s also a a perception out you that you’re a trash talker is this a accurate perception pretty accurate yeah pretty accurate but I try to limit I try to limit it cuz you know all the technical files they give out but I can I’m like sneaky with it you know I I find this hard to believe you’re pretty you seem pretty mild mannered and kind of gentlemanly right now but when I’m on the court there’s no games it’s it’s dead serious for me I’m off the court though I’m you know a happy person smiling all the time but when I’m on the court I’m I want to kill you like I was going to say so like a switch just slips or something yeah yeah cuz I mean you seem pretty chill and kind of laidback right now but on on the court the competition starts and it just yeah something happens yeah all right what’s the best stress shock you’ve ever dropped that you can say on the podcast all of mine I can’t even I can’t even say it the the mine are really like explicit I can’t even say m on camera so not not fit for the bull Talk podcast no no like I mean I don’t really say anything like nice to anybody have your coaches ever talked you about this do they like this do your teammates like this what does Ron how think about this me Ron we always go at it like in practice so he he’s used to I’m used to like him talking also but um in practice I don’t do it as much I be like trying to focus you know work on my game uh figure out everything like that I got to do but when it’s time when it’s game time I mean yeah I tend to do it I usually don’t even start it like somebody always starts it with me oh sure somebody else’s fault yeah I don’t I never really start it h unless it’s something like on a personal level all right I’m going to be monitoring this your rookie year okay just so you know that’s fine all right I like it um you also uh you obviously shot the ball very well in high school you didn’t shoot it as well on the g-league level at least from three do you attribute that maybe to just a jump in physicality and conditioning or what what do you attribute that to it was a big step you know going from high school to g-league I think the main thing was that it was the conditioning and the physicality of the game and just being stronger also being in the weight room you know building those legs to uh to have the endurance you know during the game I think that was a main thing for me but I’m really not worried about that honestly I work hard so I know I can shoot the ball so is conditioning and getting stronger obviously kind of your short-term goals for for NBA you could say that yeah yeah cuz I mean your stroke is pure and obviously you shot the ball at a high level you kind of looked weird when I said your stroke is pure do you not agree that your stroke is pure no it is it is it is it I so I mean you you’re pretty confident you’re going to regain kind of your shooting form correct my shooting form always there is just no I mean your percentage is what I should say oh yeah yeah yeah I’m very confident in that you’ve talked about that g-league experience pretty glowingly and positively and even though you guys didn’t win a lot on a team level individually you think it was the right move for you yeah I’ll I’ll do it 10 times over again if I had the opportunity um I stand on what I do so I’m not I’m not going to switch up you know what I did but it’s just I mean I played against G League guys people who are guys who have been in the NBA you know we played against Kenneth fared like Lance Stevenson all those guys so I mean I got the closest the NBA um play as possible so you think that’ll really help prepare you more than if you’d gone to college right yeah yeah that’s a grown man’s League it’s not you know playing against guys who are not going to play in the NBA in the future so all those guys are NBA guys right right you talk trash in those games a little bit a little bit I try I really try to stay on the floor cuz they everyone be handing out text but as I said before I do it like I’m very sneaky the way I say I don’t yell it out loud in front of the ref so gotcha um just a couple more um I saw a quote uh that you gave to Kevin oconor who I’ve known for a long time from the ringer he you told him uh that you love the game so much you’ll play play for free yeah does our turist know that by the way hopefully he doesn’t you already signed the contract so it’s all good it’s all good no but I mean I really mean that like I’ll play basketball for free if I have to I love it that much so but but you got paid so it’s all good it’s fine what and we haven’t really touched much about this I mean you brought it up briefly but what is it like playing for this team and this franchise I mean growing up here you obviously wear the franchisees history does that just take it to a whole another level yeah um no I want to I want to come in here and impact I know you know they have what six championships so I want to add like SE I want to add seven eight nine you know that’s what I that’s what I want to do and being here and the culture that they built is is just going to make me even better player you mentioned this also on draft night that obviously since you’re 19 you grew up kind of in the D Rose era what are your some of your memories you’re pretty young but what are some of your memories of that time I think the the memory that I got was when he played against the the heat when he played against the Heat or was it the Cavs and he hit the no it was the Cavs and he hit the um the game winner yeah in the playoffs against I think Tristan Thompson was closing out that was like the that was that memory for me do you remember what happened the next game LeBron hit a corner three yeah you do know the game but what what are you but I mean you was D Rose kind of your favorite player growing up cuz he’s obviously one of the most players in franchise history I wouldn’t even say favorite player cuz I really wasn’t a fan of basketball back then but I just knew like of him and he was like a like a icon in Chicago yeah how about you say you’re a student of the history game do you go back to the the dynasty era do you ever watch any of that kind of film like MJ Pippen and those guys I got to start looking into that but yeah I mean I a little bit a little bit mhm it’s pretty good basketball you might want to check that out for sure I’m just joking um what do you like to do off the court um I honestly don’t really do much off the court to be honest I’m very I’m a very boring person like I just go to the gym go to sleep eat food basketball yeah maybe some video games no I don’t play video games at all uh-uh okay actually well the one thing that I do I probably golf that’s one thing that I do I golf a little bit but other than that I’m pretty boring all right honestly that’s all right um and what are your uh what’s kind of been the most exciting thing about being an NBA player to this point I think getting the opportunity to talk to NBA players and Veterans and seeing like what their perception is you know on the league and just you know things in life um all right we’ll see all in Vegas yes sir you excited to play oh yeah oh yeah um have they told you much about what your role is going to be out there yet or n they haven’t you just ready to for anything buckets and be a defensive Stop Get Buckets that’s kind of the theme you know there was a guy here named Jimmy buckets Jimmy Butler we might have started put calling you modest buckets bazell does that work that’s fine with me all right that works thank you for your time we really appreciate it appreciate you for this checking out the Bulls Talk podcast presented by Toyota Let’s Go Places he’s modest Bellis I’m Casey Johnson we appreciate you listening you can hit like subscribe download whatever you want to do Tony will clean that up later he’s the producer thank you for listening we appreciate it all right now that’s over I want to tell you the three keys to being a real Chicago sports fan it takes guts sacrifice and downloading the NBC Sports Chicago app when there’s highlights you can pounce on them when there’s exclusive insights you listen and take notes and you won’t get blindsided with the push alerts so download it

On the latest Bulls Talk Podcast, Matas Buzelis opens up about his whirlwind experience since being drafted by his hometown team. He shares his journey from his love for basketball (2:22) to joining the Bulls and adapting to Windy City Bulls coach Billy Donovan III (4:50). Discover his goals for the Summer League and his rookie year (7:33), why he thinks he fell to the 11th pick (9:15), and his thoughts on the jump from high school to the G-League (12:00). Matas also reflects on playing for a team he once rooted for (15:00) and reveals what excites him most about being an NBA player (17:30). Don’t miss this exclusive interview filled with insights and personal stories!

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