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Last night, inside the Linndale Basketball team facility…

Pio Reina: OK, Allnite. Lead things off. Your take on our guards, ball security, and shooting.

Air Allnite: Pugh, Baymakhanov, and Audinys need the most work. No worries about Colenbrander.
Shooting wise, Masuecos, Onrubia and Gubatanga need a bit of tweaking. Ball security is a work in progress. As far as quantity, this is the best bunch of shooters we’ve had come through here all at once.

PR: Marshall, wings and defense.

Marshall Richards: We have the talent. Gubatanga, Hairigyan and Kenet vow to join the two-way club. Defensively, we should be solid. Two anchors defensively and Hairigyan wants to be the third.

PR: Byron?

Byron Helm: We’re thin up front. We have some quality pieces, so I’m not too worried. Another big body would be nice. The best thing we can do is roll with what we have and develop them. I anticipate you want to protect Furka and Gareca. We can do that.

Roberto Gurgone: Apologies for the interruption, gentlemen. I just got you another guard. Should provide added depth. I’m putting his scouting report and film on screen now.

AA: This kid is raw, but interesting. He’s not up to the standard yet.

PR: He reminds me of me.

RG: Coach Reina?

PR: Allnite, I don’t want to hear about what he can’t do. His defense plays right now. We’ll protect him. Thanks, Roberto. Any chance we can get a rebounder and a scorer?

RG: I’m always looking, but I think we have what we need. You guys carry on; I’ll see myself out.

PR: Let’s talk Dallas.

BH: Furka and Gareca.
MR: Onrubia at the small.

AA: Colenbrander and Baymakhanov in the backcourt.

PR: That makes the second unit tonight of Audinys, Payelle, Gubatanga, Hairigyan, and Masuecos. Kenet and Billings serve as thirds at power forward and center.

AA: Why Audinys and not Pugh at point?

PR: Who are your consistent scorers on the second unit? That’s been a sore spot for a while. Get him up to speed on offense and maybe he can change that narrative.

MR: At the same time, any improvements Audinys can make could change the calculus at other spots on the floor.

PR: Where do you see the battle, Marshall?

MR: Shooting guard. It becomes more of a mix or match. Payelle doesn’t bring the offense Baymakhanov does, Audinys is more complete defensively but isn’t as offensively balanced as Payelle. Neither can touch Payelle on defense. The problem is there is a very real scenario that leaves Pugh all the way out. I could see Payelle or Audinys as the backup point.

AA: So what you’re saying is even if I win, I lose. One of my guys just doesn’t get the floor.

PR: It’s a matchup issue, Air. We ride with whoever has the skills we need that night. And the standard rule is…

AA: If they can’t defend, they don’t play.

BH: Tonight’s second unit ought to be loaded for bear defensively.

PR: We’ll see. We’re going 2-3 zone tonight. Trying to protect Gareca a bit.

BH: You’re not fooling me; you’re looking to see how the shot blocking is coming along!

PR: It’s a useful skill to have!

AA: It's getting late. We should probably wrap this up and go grab a bite to eat.

MR: I'm having dinner with the broadcast boys. Byron, you down?

BH: Nope. Take Air; he just loves those guys. I got a few things to do still.

PR: Tell Happy and the rest I'll see them Tuesday. Byron, go home. We're done here. We can pick it up tomorrow.

BH: Fine. See you tomorrow.

Jimmy Buckitts: Coach Reina, that was not the start you were looking for in that first quarter.

Pio Reina: It was not a good start at all, but I wanted to give the team a chance to find their sea legs. Give Dallas some credit; their home opener, and they were amped up in the first quarter. The first 6 minutes of the game were brutal for us.

JB: What did you take away from the first quarter?

PR: I didn’t like our effort on the boards. Too many fouls. We’re better than that, but I give credit to Dallas for attacking. We also didn’t take care of the basketball. I didn’t worry about the shooting so much. We didn’t do a good job of controlling what we can control. And losing Furka hurt us.

JB: How bad was the loss of Furka, and how did that affect things?

PR: We missed his ability to defend the perimeter and interior, his rebounding, and his shot blocking.

JB: Is there an update on his condition?

PR: He was kept out for precautionary reasons bu is full go for Tuesday.

JB: The bench rotations were shorter than usually tonight.

PR: Don’t read anything into that. There’s nothing there.

JB: Walt Colenbrander was big tonight.

PR: Walt was huge for us tonight. Onrubia was big when needed. Hairigyan and Gareca showed up on the boards, but we’re going to need them both to be better. I’m sure they will be.

JB: What were your takeaways for the night?

PR: We’re not as bad as we shot the ball tonight. We’re not as good as we shot from outside. Our defense and rebounding have to be better, and we have absolutely got to take better care of the basketball, and make free throws.

JB: Thank you for your time, coach, and congratulations on the win.

PR: Thanks, Jimmy.

JB: We’ll throw it back to the studio with Happy and the crew.

Happy Ourer: Thanks, Jimmy. Joshua, what did you see out there tonight?

Joshua Doe: I saw a team that, on defense, wasn’t used to playing zone. Offensively, it seemed that the only player able to get in rhythm was Colenbrander. Credit to the Dallas defense for that. Dallas made the game ugly, and kept it close. That gave them a chance. Linndale has a lot to clean up.

Sam Dunkley: We saw this last season. This team has a knack for playing under expectations; they need to start playing up to them. I expect to see them do exactly that moving forward.

HO: And what do you see moving forward to the home opener?

JD: A loss.

SD: I see it the way Joshua does. Linndale is going to need a complete team effort, and I just don’t see the team getting that at the moment.

JD: Happy, depth is a good thing to have, but Great Lakes has some serious horses. I don’t know that Linndale has the talent to matchup with their big guns. Can the depth hold it’s own? Absolutely. Will they? That’s an entirely different question.

HO: We’re out of time, folks! We’ll see you Tuesday night at the home opener!

Happy Ourer: Welcome to the Coach Pio Reina show! I’m your host Happy Ourer. You’re listening to the flagship station on the Linndale Basketball Network, WINO radio, and we’re with Coach Pio Reina. Good to see you, coach. Do you want to get right to it and talk about Tuesday night?

Pio Reina: Tough night. We knew it would be. Defensively, we held them under 40% shooting. That’s a solid job, normally. The problem was the 43% they shot from outside. We can’t allow that from anyone. We outrebounded them overall and we beat them on the offensive boards. That was good to see. I didn’t like that we did such a poor job taking care of the basketball.

HO: What does the team take away from a loss like the one Tuesday?

PR: That we have to take better care of the basketball. That, and I want them to take away from this lost the most is that this group of guys can be an elite defense.

HO: Talk about Saturday’s win. What did you like and what wasn’t so good?

PR: The three point shooting was there. Walt Colenbrander was incredible, and the rebounding was solid. I was not pleased with the defense, the ball security, or free throw shooting.

HO: Coach, I know the last few seasons one of the problems you wanted to address was bench production.

PR: The bench is fluid. Our bench changes based on our need for training minutes and the opponent. An example was the early injury that rendered Ladislav Furka unavailable Saturday. He only played 8 minutes and that changed everything. We expect when things get settled, Furka will be a big part of the bench.

HO: Who else can we expect to see on the second unit once things get settled?

PR: Well, Happy, again I’m going to point out the fluidity of the bench. It will depend on what we need to accomplish in that moment. We’d like to see guys earn their spot and push for more playing time. One name I’ll give you is Hugo Gareca. He’s the most skilled offensive big man we’ve had come through Linndale, and once he forces his way into the starting lineup we expect him there for a long time.

HO: When that happens, who moves out of the starting lineup?

PR: We can do a number of things. One of the things I’d like to do is move Masuecos out of the paint full time and adjust the lineup to what we need that night. He’s an incredible rebounder, an incredible perimeter defender and incredible post defender. We could move Hairigyan to small forward at times. People forget Masuecos is naturally a small forward; we could play him there. We’ve entertained the idea of him on the second unit with Payelle and Furka. That would make it very difficult for opponents to find offense from their bench. We have plenty of options.

HO: You spoke briefly of Ladislav Furka. Tell us a bit more about him and another recent addition to the team, Antoine Payelle.

PR: We like Furka’s defense and rebounding a lot. We expect him to anchor the defense on the second unit. His defense is starting caliber right now. He has a good base for what we’re asking from him. Payelle is another one who’s defense is very strong. We’re excited to see the both of them grow and improve.

HO: With Payelle listed as a shooting guard, how does his arrival affect relative newcomer Bakytzhan Baymakhanov?

PR: It doesn’t. Baymakhanov is a skilled offensive weapon. There are things where Payelle can’t touch him, and there are things where the reverse is true. There’s also the possibility that the two share the court. They complement each other very well.

HO: Coach, we thank you for your time and look forward to talking with you next week and watching the team. Looks like a tough week ahead, going on the road at High Point and coming home to Twotone Touloose.

PR: Happy, every week is a tough week in this league. That's how I like it.

HO: Good luck coach, and we'll see you next week with another 2 wins, right?

PR: I'm sure our opponents will have something to say about that.

Last edited by Speedtraps at 10/28/2025 10:59:48 AM

HO: Happy Ourer with you today on the Pio Reina Show, but Pio isn’t with us today. We do have with us today beat reporter for The Basketball Times and sideline reporter during Linndale telecasts Jimmy Buckitts. Welcome to the show, Jimmy!

JB: Thank you, Happy! Glad to be here!

HO: Let’s talk about Saturday night. What happened?

JB: Happy, if you told me that a Pio Reina coached team would hold you under 40% shooting and outrebounded you, I’d tell you that you lost that game. The only thing that would make me change my mind would be turnovers and ball security. Linndale turned the ball over 17 times and High Point got 11 steals on top of that. That, and there was no answer for Luther Alaniz.

HO: That tracks with what Pio said at the post game press conference.

JB: You can’t win if you’re just giving the ball away, and that’s what has been happening early on. In the opener against Dallas, 12 turnovers. Against Great Lakes, 16 turnovers and 11 steals for Great Lakes. More of the same this past Saturday. Right now, this team is a turnover machine. They are a league worst 15 turnovers a game. That can’t continue.

HO: Who are the culprits?

JB: You have 5 guys combining for 11 of those 15 turnovers a game. Honorijus Audinys is notable. He’s at 2 a game in only 12 minutes a game. I understand why they want to find ways to get him on the court and put the ball in his hands, but if he’s going to just give it away like that you’ve got to find a different way. He’s clearly not a backup point guard.

HO: Who else is on this list?

JB: The worst offender is Bakytzhan Baymakhanov, at 2.7 a game. Then there’s Antoine Payelle. He had 5 in the lost against Great Lakes, but he’s such a strong defender that you might have to live with the turnovers from him as he works to improve that. Rounding out the list are Prudence Masuecos and Juan Onrubia.

HO: Onrubia being on that list is a shock.

JB: I think in his case it’s a bit of him trying to do too much. He’s scoring more this season, his rebounding numbers are up, he’s off to a good start from behind the 3-point line, and he’s a pretty good defender. I just wonder if he thinks he has to be the guy that saves the team.

HO: Masuecos isn’t a surprise.

JB: He’s had his struggles with turnovers, but you know Masuecos is going to go out there and do two things at a really high level. You know he’s going to rebound and he’s going to defend. Pio Reina trusts him to do those two things, and let’s be honest about it, he’s the best all around defender on the team as well as the best rebounder. The team can’t afford to sit him.

HO: So how does Pio fix the problem?

JB: I’d start by installing Chandler Pugh at backup point guard. I know there are some things that the team wanted him to work on, and I understand he’s been working diligently on those things, but he’s just better than Audinys at taking care of the basketball.

HO: So what do you do with Audinys and Payelle?

JB: I’d pick my spots with Payelle, and I think that’s the right thing to do. I think you have options, though. You can roll out Onrubia and Gubatanga at the 2 and 3 respectively, and bring probably Baymakhanov and Audinys off the bench. You can start Baymakhanov at the 2 and Onrubia at the 3, with Audinys and Gubatanga off the bench. You’d probably want Gubatanga at the 2 in that scenario. If Payelle is the 2, then Gubatanga has to be the 3. That’s going to be something for Pio Reina to figure out; that’s why he’s the coach and I’m just a reporter. That’s way above my pay grade.

HO: Put on your fantasy coach hat, Jimmy. What would you do?

JB: I'm not a defense guy; I'd probably try to turn every game into a track meet and let the shooters shoot and go from there.

HO: Thanks, Jimmy. We'll be back with more after a word from out sponsors...

HO: Let’s go to the frontcourt. We mentioned Juan Onrubia, who is off to a great start, and Prudence Masuecos, who is doing yeoman’s work in the middle. Talk about the other guys up front for a bit.

JB: Arout Hairigyan just needs to play. That’s all. Just let him play. He’s not off to the best start shooting the ball, but there’s no question he’s too good to bring off the bench. Let him cook. Hugo Gareca isn’t at that point yet, but he will be soon. GM Roberto Gurgone was raving about the kid when they got him last season, and he showed flashes. This season they want to bring him along much like they did last season, but they expect more from him. The goal when they got him was they wanted to be able to start him next season. They’re on track for that, and you can clearly see Byron Helm’s handiwork developing him. A Gareca/Hairigyan pairing would be fun to watch.

HO: Where does Ladislav Furka fit in?

JB: He’s going to be a longer term version of Hugo Gareca, developmentally wise. I’m not saying they’re similar players; I want to be clear about that. He was brought here with an eye on developing him into a starter by his age 24 season. Defensively, he can play right now. No doubt about that. He can rebound, he’s solid with the ball in his hands, and he’s a better shot blocker than Masuecos without question.

HO: That’s one heck of a statement, Jimmy.

JB: I think even Masuecos would concede that. Offensively, there’s a path they want Furka on, and they’re determined to get him there.

HO: What have you seen defensively from the team?

JB: Strangely enough, their lone win was the worst defensive performance of the season. Dallas shot 44% from the field in that game. Great Lakes shot 38% in their win, and High Point shot 40% if you round up. I asked Pio after the Dallas game why the change in that game; he usually disdains the 2-3 zone. He was trying to protect Gareca defensively by pairing him with Furka up front. His thinking was Furka could backstop him with his shot blocking, and Hairigyan and Masuecos would provide additional support off the bench. What happened was it did help Gareca stay in the game despite foul trouble, but Furka having to leave the game deprived the defense of that backstop they planned for. Hairigyan is a solid shot blocker in his own right, but he’s not on the level of Masuecos or Furka in that regard.

HO: So ball security is the issue?

JB: That’s a fair statement. Against High Point, 17 turnovers and High Point had 11 steals. That’s 28 possessions lost. They lost that game by 13, and you can see how that would be a huge reason. Great Lakes, 16 turnovers and 11 steals. They lost that one by 5. Even in the win, it was 12 turnovers and 6 steals. They won by 7, but this team has to do a better job with ball security. The rebounding and defense will be fine; there are 3 teams with a better points allowed in the league, and two of them reside in this conference. Take care of the basketball, and for goodness sake will someone on this team make a free throw? There is no reason this team should be as horrible at free throw shooting as they are.

HO: I know that has to be infuriating to Pio.

JB: It is. He wants his teams to defend, rebound, take care of the basketball, and control what they can control. The first two are simply effort. Don’t try for the great play when the safe play gets the same result. Make your free throws. Those are things this team can control.

HO: We’re out of time. Jimmy, thanks for being here, and thank you all for tuning in to the Pio Reina Show on the Linndale Basketball Network.