AshtonDaTrainer, Cade Cunningham’s Trainer, Discusses The Offseason For The Detroit Pistons Star

AshtonDaTrainer, Cade Cunningham’s Trainer, Discusses The Offseason For The Detroit Pistons Star

on today’s episode of lock Pistons podcast we are joined finally by my guy Ashton trainer for K CUNY and we’ll get into all that going to be incredibly fun episode on today’s episode of the laon Pistons podcast you are locked on Pistons your daily Detroit Pistons podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day What’s the de welcome back to another episode of the lockdown p podcast per usual I’m your host cah Hill you can find me over on Twitter @ cah Hill I want to thank you guys for Mak locked on Pistons your first listen of every single day fre AV all your podcast platforms please hit that subscribe button to the YouTube channel or leave us a festar review whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on that’s another great way to support the podcast I’ll let you guys in behind the curent this is take two this is take two of our intro we started off the last one and I didn’t have his mic on so like we went we went for like a minute and 45 and the mic wasn’t even on so we had to start over but let’s start over man ashon thank you for com on bro appreciate you coming all the way out here we’ve been trying to get together for a minute now but you know we finally got it going so I appreciate you coming out here and getting on the Pod I appreciate you for having me man like I said I’m proud of you keep grinding you know um keep going a long way man this is I love this I love this podcast I watch it every day appreciate it man like I said when I fly I have it on I think like I told you before this right right right I feel like I seen every episode like so look the last take he mentioned that I was like man that might be a little bit more of a grind than than me actually making the episode to make sure you’re watching every day five days a week but I appreciate that at ton bro I appreciate it so this is gonna be a fun episode I think you guys are really gonna enjoy it we’re gonna be talking about everything I I’m assuming that you guys are probably thinking about that you guys want us to talk about but where where I really want to start first is so you mentioned this to me before we started recording that not a lot of people even really know I guess that you’re a Kate’s cousin that this is like a family thing so go ahead and get into it and let us know that you know let us know how you got into training how you got into training not just Kade but his older brother Canon and you know all the other people you train so what got you into training and doing all this well so I used to play basketball I mean obviously a kid playing basketball everybody Liv that dream want to go to the NBA and stuff but I didn’t like to work out I’m G keep it real so that go that’s a lot to say like you know I want to say while they sleepy working I put that in Canon and kade’s head while they was you know I’m only a couple years old than Canon but as they was grow gr up I was just telling him you know I went to school with a kid named Avery Bradley I’m sure you know Bradley is he was one of my best friend yeah yeah yeah one of my best friends and we was the same level you know what I’m saying and I would be into the girls at a young age whatever and you know go kick it and you know have fun he would even tell me that he was in the gym bro right he’ll just be in the gym working out so then the next time I seen him he was just way better than me so I was just like man that’s why I came with the saying while they sleep we working obviously he made it to the NBA Blas Blas but yeah man so I ended up training Canon which is K’s older brother uh I wanted him to go overseas he was extremely talented bro he’s supposed to be in the league too I’m telling you now uh I just feel like he just didn’t had a passion for it he didn’t really love it for real uh but he was extremely talented so Canon had told me one day I sh I’m done you know he all the ground we did I’m done just let me retire in peace I’m calling him every day every day every day oh no no no no please no no no that man K was trying to chill for real he was trying to chill bro so I’m like I’m like all right man it’s all good so I asked him again he got mad he said let me retire in peace he said it like that like whoa okay big dog d That’s what I said well come on K he was fifth grade time he had a big old head you know he he was slow but he he was big and I’m like okay Canon 610 this kid is gonna be at least 66 me get him in the gym ain’t no way I’m letting him you know quit so I got him in the gym we just went and grinding since D bro so what I know you mentioned that you while we were walking up to the house actually you talking about some other people that you’ve been training I know we know that you obviously trained Kade are there other people in his class or around his class maybe in the league or maybe outside the league in high school anyone else that you’re training or is it more just focused on Cade right now as of right now it’s mainly just been focusing on Cade this is this is I mean it’s the lifestyle now so now he he’s the one I’ve been focusing on but like I I said I’ve been training like four years before I trained in K other NBA players the list is long bro it’s extremely long we did see you on the I forget whose Instagram story it was but I remember you put on your Instagram that someone was working on they’re like yeah that’s ason the trainer that’s Cage’s trainer yeah who do you do you know who that was I have no idea man I have I have no idea can’t even thinking think but that was pretty cool it was pretty cool to hear your name mentioned in that for real no for sure for sure bro like like I said I trained man moodier Avery Bradley I can go on and on and on and a lot of guys that’s on the Pistons like a lot of people don’t know eighth grade of Isaiah Stewart eighth grade had him running the point I did I had no clue he running the point and uh Evan Moy brother Isaiah Moy on the same team I had them running the point just rebound go did you did you coach like a or anything did you get into any of that stuff yeah I ain’t gonna lie I was coaching a I can’t coach I can’t coach bro I like it’s ridiculous I you get too crazy out there yeah you get ejected a few times uh N I really just get on my players I don’t even think about the refs I don’t use the timeouts at the right time they go on a 180 run I’m just you just chilling yeah I’m like Y come so yeah but I just tell him yeah I just want to run they was no ex and those right right I can’t coach fair enough fair enough so you’re saying Pistons fans would be whining you out of there they’d be asking you to get out of there I can’t coach for nothing bro telling y’all right now all right so we’re gonna talk about like I said we’re gonna talk about a lot of things but let’s stay on the training aspect of it so obviously me and you talk all the time but just for everyone that obviously doesn’t know I know Kade and you guys have been working relentlessly so just give everyone a peek behind the curtains and what goes into I know you guys are working it seems like at least from my point of view even harder this this summer what goes into like training this summer with Kate after the season he just had um It’s a Grind we I tell my family before I leave to go for the summer I just tell them hey they they say good luck because it’s real physical it’s physical it’s very very physical I’m only but what I told you think I’m 51 I was GNA say no no no no nah bro n bro I’m five I’m 5’9 and you were standing next to me you were probably a little couple inches tall of me so I say about six foot 61 what is that are you not six foot 6’1 maybe I’m smaller than I thought I think I’m about five 10 and a half 5 11 I might be Tiner than I think I joke with K and Canon all the time about me being six foot you’re not six foot bro appreciate that no yeah yeah they they gonna mess with that Kade Kade Cannon you feel me six foot 61 I appreciate that but yeah going into training bro it’s very very physical I do a lot of guarding obviously K 6768 he’s physical physical guard sometimes I get Elbo you know I go home with scars and scratches on my face on you can see know I got some scratches say but it’s a grind bro um when Canon they get to play in oneone sometimes in the post sometimes it’s a little scary like oh start fighting ready like get the blows hey hey okay yeah it get a little physical man I think it’s just a big brother little brother thing and sometimes I just play the middleman and just you know play the good guy you know bad guy type of deal but me and Canon we really you know we tell Kade what’s real you feel me right um but it’s very physical bro it’s very very physical when Kade I think he did his ex’s meeting he said that after what he say after the finals yeah he said that after finals he was going to train up until the finals then after the finals they were going to take a little break but it seems like that may not have been what happened because after the finals you we were texting and you were like we still working I’m like what happened to the break that was cap and then when he said that I was like that’s cap and I ain’t gonna lie I’m the trainer guys I feel like this is too soon too early but that’s his mindset and I think it played a lot of it played a part when he was growing up was me you know telling him get out the bed let’s go to the gym but now you know this just a mindset bro this is his lifestyle now but sometimes I just like I think we doing too much we need to slow down take a break I don’t think he enjoys taking break no yeah I was gonna the next thing I wanted to ask you was because I so I had Canon on last summer obviously and he mentioned you know we started talking a little bit about like how I felt like maybe there was being too much pressure put on him and he immediately stopped me was like nope we want that pressure Kade wants that pressure he wants all the pressure possible I I want to segue that into like how you’re talking about how he trains maybe too much maybe he trains too hard um we were talking and did you say you guys are doing like two two a days you guys are working out twice three times a day what what’s a what’s a daily workout look like for Kade right now wake up we have a chef over the summer eat breakfast like a little small breakfast nothing crazy pean and jelly something he does yeah I was gonna say he he’ be going crazy with the love that bro sometimes he’ll eat that um I’m not I’m vegan over the summer I I follow that you know they Footsteps in the vegan route when I go back home to Texas we all about barbecue I ain’t doing nothing of that I I couldn’t do no vegan I couldn’t do it but yeah I just I know that’s just my way of supporting K by doing it you know just seeing how to grind is and passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has 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unbelievable bro I’m coming straight off the couch you feel me right right and I’m doing his workouts and I’m like yo I can’t he does not let me you about to get in some crazy shapes in yeah I take I try to take advantage of the summer because I mean he kills me bro in that weight room kill me but sometime I’ll be ready to cry in the waight room for real I’m like I can’t it’s I can’t do it but I I’ll let you in a little story so I’ll let you in a little story so we can relate a little bit with that so my boy my boy he went to he played football at Northern Michigan University so when he would come back now I’m 6 this is only a few years ago he was in college still so when he’d come back uh so I played basketball my whole life played football a little bit but either way he’d come back and he’s doing football workouts so me and him would go workout crunch I remember one day he had me doing some workouts bro had me picking up like some heavy weight I swear to God they make fun of me till this day because I want to do like a bench press it was like dumbbells and he had like I forget how much he had but I wanted to do this and this arm went up and this one was like I was about to die right there it was about to fall my chest it’s about to be over with but I know that feeling bro like for example like we doing like pull-ups him Canon Kade and Canon they they do it easy just just be just doing I’m kind of overweight right now and I I can’t do that so they go get the band K would go get the band and you put your legs in easier it’s still hard right and he right behind me making sure I do every rep you know what I’m saying how many reps you get in 10 12 more than that probably like 10 yeah let’s say yeah and sometimes I can’t finish all 10 he he helping me pushing me up just we can quit I’m not the NBA player yeah I’m trying to get down no no finish that oh he got a deep voice too so it’s like what the hell yeah sh the room up I’m like all right I got you fair enough fair enough so K beginning in some crazy workouts it seems fair enough um so staying on the workout Parts I think one thing everyone wants to and like I said me and you’ve talked about this a lot but I I’m sure fans want to know I guess we can talk about Kate’s season a little bit too after Kate’s season obviously a disappointing season with the Pistons we don’t need to get into that but him individually I thought had a great season what after the rookie season or not rookie this past season what is there anything specific that you guys are working on right now like I know like you’re working on you know in the summer you’re working on everything like everything’s getting touched but is there anything that like after this season you’re like okay this is area that we have to get at we have to get this area this has to improve is there is there anything like that yeah uh ball Hy um finishing at The Rim through Conta of course I mean we’re not expecting cuse I’ve been saying that right since his rookie year we not expect I do want to say this for your to to give you props you and Kade and and just kade’s whole team props you guys are very self-aware and I think that’s big time for players developments the people they surround themselves with and the player themselves being self-aware because I like you said me and you text a lot you brought I didn’t bring it up you brought up I was going to bring this up as a question but you kind of brought up just now I was going to say if there was something I thought he should be working on this sumwhere was the you know finishing at the the rim through contact this is something me and you’ve talked about you’ve texted me and we’ve talked about that as well so I I just want to give that to all Pistons fans and you can keep going that Kade is very self-aware you guys are very self-aware it’s not one of those things where you know if a player sees something he has to improve on they’re you know a little you know hesitant to really address it like you it seems like to me from the conversation we’ve had you guys are very self aware and there’s any kind of weakness or anything that can be approved on you’re going to go after that for sure most definitely like I said we tell him what’s real he tell us what’s real you know um sometimes I catch him watching highlights of himself and I’m like you you want to see how you got them buckets and he just he just saying no I should have took care of the ball at this point you know he just he holds himself accountable and that’s the beautiful thing about Kade uh obviously yeah we want to take care of that ball better uh limited the turnovers um getting in better shape we want to be at 100 as far as shape wise um yeah man like you said pretty much everything everything is his weakness you know shooting of course we want to work on deeper range over the summer that’s what we’ve been working on sometimes he might have to pull Clos to half court this year you know it was a lot of double teams he faced um so we just trying to prepare for everything so you mentioned uh so go back to a little bit to the finishing around the rim me and you had texted uh a few weeks ago about this is is explosiveness something you guys are working on because it is go ahead go ahead go ahead go ahead go ahead oh yeah yeah yeah for sure uh and that’s something that he brought up too he wanted to work on that he used to put it between the legs in high school yeah I I’ve seen the CL I’ve seen the close he just want to get back he want to get back to that uh he had a crazy windmill against I think Portland at the beginning of the year on The Fast Break he had a crazy windmill oh yeah yeah I was like whoa you feeling good Okay cool so but yeah today matter of fact we worked out this morning he put it behind the back wall in in the facility o back dunk I said oh wow here we go here we go what goes into that what goes into like how so like for example again this is stuff we’ve talked about but I’ve had a lot of listeners ask me um so like the file drawing stuff we we we get K gets disrespected incredibly by the refs what goes into as a trainer and what you guys are working on how do you guys work on creating calls or getting free throws like I feel like from the outside perspective I’m not obviously not in the NBA or anything I didn’t play play D1 basketball or anything but from the outside looking at someone who’s watched basketball analyzes it a lot of it’s subjective like the refs have to they want to play ball too they have to play ball they have to want to blow the whistle so how do you guys go about it in the offseason is there anything you guys identified that he could do better at to try to draw a CS what how does it how do you guys address that I mean I always was like I’m not an actor he’s not actor nobody took acting classes and so I never was just like don’t fake it and yell and all that just focus on finishing so while I’m training like I said sometime I just grab him with two hands finish through me you know uh I get myself I’m a little strong but so anyway I’m bad and stuff but whatever but yeah sometime I just hit him on the arm you know stuff like that I’m not really saying hey I need you to scream scream just scream I know that goes He that plays a part but that’s just not how I train I’m just like yo just focus on finishing it I’mma fou you as hard as I can sometimes I’m gonna grab you that’s not even a basketball play and just finish through me right and that’s pretty much how we’ve been of doing it you know sometimes Canon will foul him just a little bit we don’t go out there and try to tackle him and stuff like that that’s just insane right right right but uh it is gonna have to come to a point where he gonna have to start yelling sometime ah he gon have to start doing all that but he figuring it out he’s definitely so my thing is I feel like there’s a lot of people that feel like oh he needs to draw contact more he needs to go into the b i I personally don’t feel like he shies away from contact I don’t think he’s like going away from contact I feel like he is getting followed a lot of times he’s just not getting the call do you guys feel like when you guys went back and watched this past season and Cade watches does he feel like that or you guys do you guys feel like he shy from contact or do you think that’s it’s more so just the refs aren’t you know giving them respect he deserves uh it’s it’s a Detroit versus everybody thing right right I mean it’s obvious uh he doesn’t give he doesn’t make a lot of excuses and we don’t make a lot of excuses for him especially not to him like I’ll talk to you know Outsiders and stuff like that and be like yo sometimes I think it’s not fair but I never tell him that Canon never tells him that um but yeah bro I I definitely think it’s a Detroit versus everybody thing and like I said I didn’t know anything about that about Detroit versus everybody until we got here and now I see what what y’all mean at first I thought it was a cocky thing but I mean I think it there’s a little bit of that too I think there some Cockiness plays into it yeah maybe so especially like there’s other cities that try like taking it like I I forget what city it was maybe it was Orlando or something but they do like insert City vers everybody and everyone just is like don’t take our [ __ ] you know what what you doing whatever but yeah I think it’s just a respect thing I think we just got to gain respect from the NBA um it’s no it’s no big deal it’s not an excuse or anything we just got to get that respect by winning games and right you know and things like that but we’ll be fine fair enough so is there anything else you want to hit on with the training wise or anything anything specific that you think fans would like to know about something kade’s working on actually there is something you said pulling up closer to half court you you think is K going to be trying to extend his rign this year most definitely most definitely that’s what we’ve been working on extending the range we just like I said we just trying to prepare for any type of scout report you know what I’m saying I know they’re gonna try to push him back sometimes but we just trying to be prepared that’s all it doesn’t really just being prepared so anything happen so so from my perspective from someone who who watched Kate every single game and watched every Piston game I’m you guys know I’m incredibly high on Kate I think Kate can be a superstar I think he can be amazing one of the areas I thought that really helped him improve this year and it’s clear as day in the numbers is his pull-up three-point shooting he started to hit a lot more of his pull-up three kind of like how he did at Oklahoma State um was it Oklahoma State yeah yeah okay just want to make sure um so he started hitting a lot more of his pull-up threes if he like you mentioned they like to double a lot with him if he’s able to extend his range I think that opens up a lot of stuff for him but I think that I think he’s on that progression that’s something that we’ve talked about on the podcast last he’s kind of on that progression the first two years you know I I he dealt with that injury to a shin um and the three-point numbers weren’t where I’m assuming you guys would have liked it at but this past year was a big jump from what it was the first two years and he was shooting a lot better off the dribble is that something that he believes can get even better his off the dribble three-point shooting definitely and I’m sorry been working on that as well uh know back at Oklahoma State days step back threes you know two combo moves into the three so so we’ve been working on that I’m trying to bring you know bring that back he has that he has it um but yeah you’ll be seeing a lot of that too this episode is sponsored by betterhelp give online therapy a try betterhelp.com in NBA and get on your way to being your 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hp.com lockin MBA to get 10% off your first month with better help yeah I can’t wait for that he started he I’m not GNA lie Kate if K happens to see any of this there was there was a stretch after the allstar break where he started to I thought before the allstar break he was still shooting a lot of threes and hitting him but I thought after the All-Star break you started to see a little bit more self-created threes where he was trying to take those step backs he was taking a little crossover into a yank step back A Yank back uh tween between the legs back I he started to do a lot of stuff self-created wise three and it looked really good so I think he can take a next step I think he could be even even better um but to go back to what you mentioned got going to come with Team success the ref’s respect and everybody’s respect so let’s let’s get into this topic that you guys just K just signed this extension first of all congratulations I told you guys congratulations uh incredible moment incredible you know moment in your guys’ lives and cage life all that hard work like I I I can’t imagine how that all feels so congratulations to all you guys but extension’s been signed you guys I keep it real with you you keep it real we keep it real you feel me I said on the last podcast look once you sign that extension there’s there’s pressure there’s gonna be a lot of pressure now on Kade do you does Kade feel that pressure now after signing the extension do you guys feel that pressure do you guys feel like that pressure is always just there the pressure always been there since he was a baby I’m not gonna say baby I feel you I feel I call him a baby when it’s seventh grade you know since he was in seventh grade or what not um and that was just you know climbing the rankings and then when he became the number one player in the country that was pressure in high school you know so now becoming the number one pick that’s more pressure so he’s used to it the Ascension doesn’t have nothing to do with more pressure or not it’s the same pressure nothing’s changed um like I said he puts a lot on himself about the season that just happened um and sometimes I I say it to myself in my head like I said I let him I let him V out and I let him speak his mind I think he puts too much pressure on himself you know but I kind of like it I kind of like that you know well he want it feels like he wants to be great and that’s things that’s something you want in a franchise player someone who want not someone that just you know I’m good at basketball so I play basketball because I’m good at it someone that wants to be great at the game and is willing to do everything possible to do that definitely wants to be great bro like I said we we working out way too much right now yeah I feel like actually we are are you guys gonna take a break at some point or is this something you feel like cage GNA want to be just rampant throughout the summer the smallest break that we have is really going to Vegas and I don’t even think that’s a break I think he’s going to be working out with the team and working out with the summer league team and stuff like that but that’s the smallest break I feel like we’re going to take um we need to lighten up on some workouts you know we don’t want to burn him out over the summer he doesn’t need to take his break you know he he needs to get with his family his daughter and relax you know and enjoy this extension that he signed because that’s all God you know God put him in position to you know take care his daughter forever right right so I do want him to you know spend time with his daughter and his parents and go from there right days no yeah I I completely feel it I feel it so with the with the extension that wasn’t the only thing the Pistons did this summer they have done quite a few moves obviously they brought in tran langon they’ve brought in JB bicker staff as the new head coach um they’ve brought in some veterans they’ve brought in former piston Tobias Harris they’ve brought in Tim Hardway Jr they’ve brought in um some brought back someone fonio they’ve made a lot of signings to include or to address spacing and that’s something that tran mentioned at his introductory press conference that he really felt like the team needed spacing um I felt like Kade needed spacing all summer or all year now that it seems like this team has addressed spacing do you think that can open do you think that will open up some things for Kade do you think that will make it a lot a little easier for Kade this summer or this upcoming season most definitely most definitely I remember um I remember try I knew he was going to address that um I think he had said that he wanted to take pressure off of K and don’t want him to do too much and by doing that was just him going to grab some Shooters and Tim Hardway Malik Beasley uh Tobias hairs hell Even Stu you know Stu is he every year he got better y got better um so we’re gonna be fine we can we’ll talk about 6 but we’re gonna be fine hey six seed it ain’t never go nowhere yep cool it never went nowhere I have confidence in these guys I want to take the time and tell y’all that I have confidence in these guys we are GNA do our thing this year I’m telling you man this is it’s not a game listen listen listen man you got you you got you got you gotta you gotta chill man you gotta chill dog if they get to 16 seed that’d be fantastic that’d be fantastic I just don’t know I don’t know if I I don’t know if that’s possible but who knows you know we’ll see what happens we’ll see what happens who knows hey yeah you know I have a tweet no yeah trust me everyone knows trust me you don’t need to tell nobody bro I think we was two on one bro I said and they laughed at me bro everybody retweets it today I’m like oh I want to delete it so bad but hey man there was you’re not the only one there was a tweet where I think I tweeted like after the three games they were two in one and I was like are the Pistons actually good then and then that’s I still get get hit with that in the DMS people take screenshots I still get hit with it so you’re not the only one no sure man we’ll we’ll be I honestly feel like we’ll be fine I don’t want to put a number next to it man 60 man I’m go put I’m putting a number to All right so I believe that now ashon I just want to let you know something before we move on okay when Canon came on last summer do you remember one of the one of the first things Canon said he looked at the camera he’s like yeah Ashton a little crazy with it he’s we be having to tell Ashton to calm down but hey 6C if it happens if it happens it happens man I think obviously everyone would be ecstatic about that um and I guess anything’s on the table man anything’s on the table especially if Cade takes a takes a leap it if he takes a leap who knows what happen so for sure most definitely and I mean I’m a positive person at the end of the day Righttime I can talk crazy um but you know I think even with them losing on that losing streak the good it’s hard to say the good but I’m G say it anyway the good out of it was I feel like it made everybody on that team mentally stronger and that’s something that they don’t want to experience ever again you know uh so that was the good that came out of that and I’m excited for next year man every player that we sign I’m texting K got him like he doesn’t know you know I’m excited I’m extremely excited man I know half the team man I know what they’re capable of I see how hard they work I went to the gym today Tech was in the gym you know assar was in the gym assar got bigger oh yeah I was just gonna say assar did get uh Tran just came out and said he was cleared full on for or for full basketball activities which obviously great uh his health issue was obviously something bigger than basketball so we’re happy to know that he’s cool and everything he’s able you know everything is great good with him but yeah he is back on the basketball court so you said he’s like like he’s huge bro like I I was telling him like know how big are you how big you gonna get you know that today he’s trying to get he’s trying to get big big um I don’t I don’t really know his the plan they have for him um but I just know that he was he was huge he was at the what the the the PPC the yeah yep y he’s at the pr facility y yeah he was he’s big bro I was shocked I was shocked so everyone knows that I’m hu I’m I’m very big on assar I I I was I wanted him at the time of the draft he’s been my guy since then um with the additions of these you know the Malik Beasley the bi harrises the uh bringing back Simon thj all of that drafting Ron Holland um there seems to be like and it’s what what day it July 12th so at this point who knows if any trades happen or anything but at this point seems like a little balance of veterans and some young guys um how do you do you think that’s a we’ve talked about this a little bit last year do you think that’s good to have a balance of veterans and young guys you don’t want do you think it’s you know a little hard to go all in one direction either way most definitely it’s always good to have veterans on the squad um especially the guys that that can still play um this is a young group you know so they need mentors you know they obviously made it to the highest level but they still need mentors they need to see how the vet work you know uh beside you know besides practice how they work outside of practice are they the last ones in the gym and I feel like any young team needs to see that from the Vets um so yeah definitely a mix of the youngs and vets is is always a good thing so looking forward to the season what what what is something that what is something that you’re looking forward to watching I let’s me move Cade from it let’s me move Kade from the equation because obviously everyone’s looking forward to Kade if there was one thing that you’re looking forward to most you is there can you think of one thing wins wins most definitely wins sure I’m looking for high 30s 40 okay now so so let let me let me I just want I just want to do this for you they won 14 games last year okay all right so we’re getting you on record you’re now I want you to know you’re I want you to know you’re on camera we’re on text you’re so you think you think high 30s is possible definely okay where do you think where do you think they get the most improvement from um just the Vets the Vets um like I said the Vets is I think that plays a a big part um yeah that plays a big part so I’m G say I’m gonna go with the Vets okay fair enough so let’s go back to the extension just a little bit so Cade signs his extension fiveyear extension so at this point we’re at we’re we’re it’s July 12 2024 what’s the what’s the progression of this team you think what are you what do you think the projection or the progression of this team is year over year over year so you think high 30s is there a time limit for you not just for you individually is there a time where you’re thinking okay playoffs this year is it is it this year is it next year are you thinking like this is you know we’re gonna be in the playoffs this year I I I really I truly truly believe in the Pistons every one that’s on the team um so six seed six seeds six seed okay he want to hit that again we we get here we going to get the six se fair man fair I’m get a shirt with six se y’all better be ready not going get no shirt with no six se baby you’re so if you show up at a game with six seed on it I need a picture I need a picture of six seed on the chest come on man come on man ain’t no way bro man come on man 6C but at the lowest playing at leite right sure I’m expecting play in this next season from 14 to play in whatever you know so like I said it’s because I watch how hard they work they all a great man I love every single one of them everybody that’s on that roster um I have a relationship with a lot of those guys on the team outside of the Pistons you know what I’m saying just as like I said I used to coach steuart so I know him uh jenkings that we just got for uh you know in the draft that’s on the summer league team he used to come to my Pro run passer you know they all Dallas kids Ron Holland I used to train him eighth grade you Ron and Kade went to high school together or like were they were they they were around the same era weren’t they uh no I wouldn’t say there’s a isn’t there a picture of them where they’re at like a open gym or something he Cav like in 12th grade and Ron was like a ninth or something he was uh I think K let me see to correct that K was going into his junior year and Ron was seventh grade seventh grade what was it like a pickup run or something or no that was that’s what a lot of people saying that was just right after we trained we all trained together oh okay was a training session that I ran uh and even at that time I was looking at Ron I was like he GNA be a pro just because how hard he worked and it was just the mentality that he had you see I just want to let you know I you know what’s gonna happen after that state you know what’s what they’re gonna say happen do you be so I know you be active a little bit on social media do you do you know that LeBron meme where he’s like the Le the LeBron meane when he’s like I knew that was gonna happen yeah just lying right just lying I supposed to know that some grade you know business B going to be tweeting you saying saying they’re gonna take that little clip they’re gonna be tweeting at you c i yeah that’s yeah because I no but I believe it though you’re a trainer you be you can spot Talent like that for real yeah yeah yeah yeah I mean when I was training Kade the the job was to get him division one that it good luck after that right I didn’t expect that no one pick no one play in the country we just grinded it was some days when we be in the gym and he wasn’t ranked high enough and he like man I just I did my thing in these tournaments and I’m not so I started doubting myself as a trainer he doubed himself as a player and then it just used to be hard times through that you know that come up so um yeah man so so how much go back to the training just a little bit where does K train here in Detroit or does he does does he go somewhere is there is does he have like a own like his uh like a specialized gym he want he trains in is or is he just all over the place he just finds a gym wherever he tries to find a quiet place um to train at with less distractions he just want to grind he just want to work he wants to go to a gym that’s just quiet where he could just work um so we we are in California we train in California um Detroit so we just do California and Detroit we’ll be back and forth a lot um last year it was Miami um but yeah I think we just switches it up switch as as of right now we just switch it up his agency does have a gym now okay in California so we taking advantage of that this summer so I I I fans would be mad at me if I didn’t say this at least there was a video of Kad and Brandon Ingram working out together is it so do they normally work out together is it was it just a random occurrence or what what was that like a pickup run what what was that a man they they both represented by EXL uh so yeah they just both was in the gym at the same time nothing crazy it didn’t you know it wasn’t yeah I’m sure that Kade runs guys Kade runs into all kinds of people working out it’s nothing it’s just everyone blew that one out of proportion obviously so yeah he was in there training with his guy and K was in there training with his guy so uh yeah it was he just happened to be there at the same time we were there fair enough fair enough so Kade this upcoming season who is is there a player that you are most looking forward to seeing Kate play with this season R Holland how do you think they could play together um I think they gonna get at it uh they both Dallas kids well let me not say both Dallas kids I’m we’re from Arlington K is from Arlington so we need to just start saying Arlington we just say Dallas because a lot of people know where where Dallas is at right it’s time to put Arlington on the I’m start saying Arlington Texas now but I can’t wait to see them go at it man to see them on the court together from that picture that seventh grade and he was a sophomore from them being on the same NBA team it’s gonna be Sur Real so I just can’t see I can’t wait to see them play together so JB bercker staff new head coach of the Pistons um he mentioned that he wanted to get Kade to being a one of the best two-way players in the NBA defense and offense do you think that’s something that Kate can do most definitely Kate is a really good Defender he he is a really good Defender I don’t think a lot of people know that um but for for for Coach to say that that was huge for him to be a two one of the best two-way players in the league that was huge you know and I want coach to push him to push him push him push him and K wants the same you know um a lot of the guys even last year coaching staff they pushed them you know nothing you know nothing no shade in nobody but this coaching staff they’re gonna do the same and we’ll see what happen man right but I’m excited for bigger staff man I’m excited for tran tran I was there yesterday I talked to him and he’s a smooth guy man no he a smooth guy no he is he is you know who he remind me of who Canon can you see that or yeah I can see that I can see that not maybe not no looks I’m just saying this how they no no they’re they’re they’re chill but also both both of them are very transparent like they are going to say what they’re like I feel like a lot of people especially with interviews they don’t really say what they’re feeling they try to hide around the bush and stuff they just give PC answers QB QB speak whatever tran tran has been very transparent with everything he says and at the interviews I’ve been at the Press I’ve been at he’s been very transparent that’s probably one of my I I was saying this on the podcast he’s one of my like favorite interviews that I’ve I’ve seen people um I’ve seen answer questions over the last few years because he doesn’t you know a lot of times I felt like over the last few years when people would answer questions they’re thinking for a minute like okay I don’t really want to say an answer but let me just you ask him a question he’s forthcoming he wants to answer the question he’s transparent I think he’s very relatable I think fans are gonna love him he is man he’s a dog he is a dog Alaskan assassin man did you know that he played at Duke I did I did know so I didn’t know I don’t know nothing about K basketball for real so I was saying his first name wrong for like the first two episodes right had no clue that he was like some baller at Duke went back I was like oh my God he was a killer yeah he I did know he played at Duke obviously I was I don’t remember watching him actually for Duke I think I was too young um but I know my dad had told me that he played a Duke and I watch his highlights he was catching Smo he shoot the ball but man going back to trer man he he’s a dog and it’s I I don’t know him that well I mean I just met him you know but I can see I I’m good at reading people right right I see a dog in him man I mean look at the moves he making like we we’re going in the right direction it’s going to be a process it is but I feel very very confident in the direction that we’re going yeah and to speak to trason real quick we haven’t had an episode since the last bit of news uh with the cap space but to give an update and everybody and just to we’re g trans take that into a different conversation that so the Pistons have been very flexible with their with their cap space they’ve been very smart with it um Tran mentioned Michael Blackstone that he brought in to help him with the cap space so as of right now they’ve obviously signed resigned Simone they brought in Malik Beasley they brought in thj they’ brought in Tobias um and it’s not really known yet how they’re signing these guys because they’re keeping that flexibility open so they could potentially still have $19 million in c space left they could potentially have 13 or they could have nine I believe that’s the the summarization I’ve seen so far so with that I want to ask you or just talk about this team as of July 12th this team may not be finished yet they’re keeping flexibility open there’s possible upgrades that could still happen is there any spots in the roster you feel like okay we could add another we could have another person in the room here just as a maybe as a veteran or someone to help out here is there is there anything you any players in the open market that you feel you see because a free agency market is a few guys left that are like there’s some hoopers yeah not for sure so is there anyone that like you feel like could maybe help the team out I don’t really have any names or positions to go with it um I’mma I’mma always say vets vets you can’t you can’t go wrong with that you know need more vets like I said I don’t have a name to go with it or a position but you can never go wrong with vets even if sometimes you need a vet that’s also gonna be on the bench right like Jos Gibson he did a wonderful job I was yeah he was great he was great in his time here he did a wonderful job man I was just I was checking him out like I’m in obviously in the stands watching and he every time a player come out he first one up dapping everybody up he’s talking to him while they’s sitting on the bench and those are the type of guys that we need on the team you know um and that’s why I’m always say vets I figured you were going to say vets you and Canon you guys have been very you guys have been very adamant by having vets vets vets in the locker room for the young guys and especially with a young team like this you do need some guys to control them this is the way to go this is how you do it this is how you get better this how you need to handle yourself etc etc so I I definitely expected you to say that um so let’s let’s wrap it up a little bit with Cade what’s what’s one area of his game that you’re really looking forward to seeing improve this year I want to see the step back threes Oklahoma State step back threes like I said earlier the combo moves that he did in Oklahoma State I want to see him jumping at the do you think he can so you think he can get he’s gonna get real bouncy this year oh yeah most definitely man most definitely I I I don’t know we cussing I am not gonna but anyway uh forget the foul okay I want to see him going on somebody you want see just go through K got it you think do K got that him be just yamming on people he got it he got it he just so smooth where he just around the real he likes time out time out we gotta address something on the podcast bro his rookie season the reverse dunk on who was it John Collins I need you I need you to settle the debate right here was he pointing at you guys in the SS or was he pointing at John Collins don’t don’t bail him out here i’ respected a whole hell of a lot more if he was pointing at colins like there you go boy you point at you guys for real yeah he point at us man he point to me we should have just left it like under we should have just left it as a mystery bro I it would have been I’m just gonna lie to myself and say he was pointing it because everyone got mad at like some people got mad for poting I thought it was I thought it was I can’t swear in the podcast it was I thought it was goed but then everyone was like n he was pointing at his guys out there I was like was he was he really or is that like a an excuse there or right right do you guys be so do you how many games do you be going to uh for me um I live in Dallas still so I I just come on a long road uh Like Home Road Street every time they got home games like you know six seven in a row whatever I’ll come during that time uh this year I might get a little place out here so I can be around a little bit more but I was at a lot of road games this season um but next season man I don’t hear no booze I need y’all standing with us man through the through the bad ugly all that no more boo man no more s the team none of that so so let me let me ask you something let me ask ain’t gonna do that anyway it’s six se season baby so so at the 2728 game Mark of the loser you didn’t have any like you didn’t feel a little boo coming you didn’t feel any boo in your chest or anything uh nah no I didn’t I didn’t I mean well I guess frustrated no yeah yeah but we didn’t really bring up like during that streak you brought you brought up I mean a little bit how you thought maybe it could be good for them well for Kade during that streak I thought a lot of people Pistons fans I I don’t know how active I know you’re a little active on social media but um there were Pistons fans that were like well you know if Kade was really him he would step up and drop 40 he would come up and drop he he know he’d go off and lead us to a victory and end this streak during that streak I think you really saw Kade have like switch that hit that button and it’s like I gotta do something I got go and we saw 40o game 40o game there was one game I forget which one it was he missed one shot in the second half like scored 27 in the second half and missed one shot or something or he may have been even 100% I forget which game it was 100% it was on his way to a 40-point game that second half I think he either missed one shot or none at all but we really saw him tap into a bag that I don’t think not that he hasn’t been great he’s been great but he tapped into a I gotta I have to be the reason why we do this I have to get us out of this is that something that I guess is that something that Kade wants to do because there’s been a lot of talk about you know even pre-draft or at the draft time some people were like oh well he know he kind of like likes to facilitate and get his teammates involved then he’ll finish it and then I during that losing trick we did see him go take a you know take more of a I gotta get this I gotta get us out of this so is that something that he wants to tap into is that something he doesn’t really he wants to get his teammates involved more that and that’s the thing as far as with that losing streak uh it was a lot of figuring out moments you know like okay do I need to attack the game this way um and do I need to do I need to get 40 you know what I’m saying for us to to win the game uh but it was just like I said it was a lot of learning experience that went through it that’s why I said the good came that was the good that came out of this I don’t want to see that no more they don’t want to see that yeah yeah but you know you g you got to go through bad things before you become successful right right right right I I’m not saying I’m successful but man y’all don’t know struggle man I think you made it pretty far bro I think I think you pretty success I call you pretty damn successful man I appreciate it bro I appreciate you but yeah he uh he wants to get it he’s unselfish you know he’s not a selfish player he wants to get his teammates involved he like he want to see his guys perform well he want to see his guys on the bench he’s one of the main guys jumping up celebrating after every shot after a three a dunk anything he’s going crazy on the bench he was so excited when Flynn had that 40 y he was going crazy over yeah 50 man he was lit Flynn was chilling was like no turn up man that’s what’s up you know and that that’s the that’s the person that I want everybody and the fans to know I I wish they would know K that type of because he’s very unselfish very supportive obviously loyal he got me with him you know still to this day he can easily go to another trainer you know but he still got me tagging along with him um he’s he’s a good guy man like yesterday for example one of these days went through Detroit airport you know fans was asking for pictures he getting every picture with everybody asked for I’m like I’m kind of telling him like we gota go we gota you know gotta get out of here but he he’s a great person bro he really is right right I think that and I’ve picked up on that talking with you guys and he’s like you said I’ve picked up on that he’s on is very loyal wants to see his teammate succeed but I felt like during the losing streak and during not even just the losing streak during this past season I think what is one of the good things that came out of this season I thought Kate had a great individual season himself especially with the circumstances you don’t need to comment on it but I will the circumstances some of the spacing with the lineups you know the roster construction all that stuff and the fact that he was able to rise above that and half the season he did I think it’s even like it it the season was great itself but when you taking all of that I think it really shows how great of a season he really had one of the things I thought he really started to started to learn that I I saw him start to learn I feel like watching was like you said he wants to get his teammates involved he wants wants to be unselfish he wants to see his teammate succeed but I feel like he started to learn that there is certain gears that you need to switch into at certain times there’s times where I need to be aggressive I need to get in there I might have to take 20 25 30 shots there was a few times at the end of the season where I think he took like 26 27 shots he was getting them up there but that’s what the team needed so I think that’s something that he was picking up on this past season that yeah I need to get my teammates involved I can be a great playmaker I can make this the skip Corner pass I can make guys better but sometimes they really need me to just be me to be him and I think that’s something that he picked up on is that something that you guys have talked about or something that he’s related that he picked up on or or is that something that maybe I’m blowing out of proportion no I think you’re you’re absolutely right yeah I think you’re right he he’s the leader of the team he’s I feel like all of them are leaders you know but he knows that he’s the leader leader you know whatever so but he like I said he put a lot of lot on himself so he was just trying to figure it out for real but yeah you’re right though all right so to wrap up the pockets we’ll wrap it up here I’m gonna put you on the spot just a little bit just a little bit what predict kade’s stat line this year what do you think what do you think he’s put what do you think he’s putting up you want me to go first I’ll go first and kind of take the pressure off yeah let’s see yeah let’s see your answer so I think Kate can put up 26 I’m gonna go with 26 seven and six I think he can put up splits of like what was he 45 this year I say like 46 46 47 and then like 3o per I think he got up to 37% and like 88% from free throw line that that’s you money yeah so I think right around there like a I think that’s where he can be at and if the team is successful I think he’ll be an All-Star and my goal or I guess what I’d like to see from him I think he can get to above 65 games played I think he could be one of those guys that maybe because of Team success if they get to succeed I mean maybe maybe he gets the NBA team you feel me but I feel like at the end of the year I want I think he can be one of those players of maybe he doesn’t make the all-nba team but he’s one of those players that like that’s he’s he’s coming he’s the all NBA player like this is this so because I think all NBA has a lot to do with Team success so that’s that’s what I think’s coming for him this year the numbers that you just said I’m with you uh it’s kind of hard for me to predict his numbers just you know just to see how everything look if especially if we’re not done with the team and the roster just see so how about this how many posters he gets this year posters because you said you he’s gonna be bouncy this year he’s gonna be you know yeah how many posters you think he gets 82 games huh it’s no 82 games but I’m not gonna say 82 you know why we going to playoffs so anyway uh I’m gon say at least 20 20 20 okay yeah and I’m not expecting 82 G I’m expecting you know more games that playoffs all right 20 20 posters this year 20 posters this year we’ll see what happens yeah I got 20 in them all right bro all right we’ll wrap it up there is anything else you want to say to the fans before we wrap it up here he man I appreciate you guys you know y’all embraced us all you know in Detroit man I love Detroit um I want to put it we want we want to change Detroit up I said that once we found out that in the draft lottery that we F to turn Detroit up you know I want to be the spike Le of Detroit I want to be at the games like SP in New York you know what I’m saying I can feel it I can feel I want to have a good time I want to be positive we gonna get out of this we gonna get out of this struggle y’all just you bear with us be with us support us support the guys because they’re working hard I left the gym and Tobias Harris Tech a lot of guys that y’all think are just chilling over the summer they’re in the gym working working working trust me and I’m doing the same drills that’s that Kate is doing I’m defending I’m in the weight room and it’s hard it’s hard but yeah y’all bear with us man like I said I love Detroit thank you guys for support we gonna get to the playoffs man I I appreciate Ashton for coming on man this was a lot of fun we had we’ve been trying to get together for a minute we finally got it going I really enjoyed it I think they’re gonna love it um so I want to thank you guys Mak lock on piss since your first listen of every single day fre podcast platforms hit that subscribe button we’re on our way to 10,000 subscribers we gota be the 10th team locked on to hit 10,000 so please hit that subscribe button I’d really appreciate it um you got also leave us a five star review on what podcast platform you’re listening to this on until next time I’m coup that’s Ashton I’ll catch you guys later stay safe out there peace out

AshtonDaTrainer, trainer and cousin of Cade Cunningham, joins the show to discuss how the offseason is going for Cunningham and the development’s priorities. Also, talk about the pressure of signing a max extension and what the expectations are this season.

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