October 20, 2024 • 51 mins
Monday’s episode offers a complete 2024-25 season preview featuring Craig Ackerman, the Rockets’ TV play-by-play voice for Space City Home Network. In a conversation with our Ben DuBose, discussion topics include whether postseason expectations are realistic; if Jalen Green and/or Alperen Sengun are ready to take an All-Star leap; behind-the-scenes intel on Ime Udoka, training camp, and Houston’s recently completed preseason; and much more.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Cheers, Rockets fans, Welcome to The Logger Line, an exclusive
podcast from the home of the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety.
The Logger Line, It's proudly served to you by car
Box Clutch City Lagger. It is God, Oh Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Red Nation.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Get Ready, Ready, get Ready The lagger Line.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
It starts now.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome aboard, Welcome back to another new episode of the
logger Line. Again, serve to you courtesy of Clutch City
Lagger of Carback Brewing. I'm Ben Dubo's your host, editor
of USA Today's Rocket Squire and contributor to Sports Talk
seven ninety, official Flag show radio station of your Houston Rockets.
(00:53):
You can follow me on Twitter, slash x at Ben
Dubo's my usual co host and producer of Palo Alves.
Couldn't make tonight's show, but I am thrilled to have
an awesome guest. Nonetheless, it's Craig Ackerman, played by play
voice of the Rockets on Space City Home Network and
at CA Underscore Rockets on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Craig, thanks for taking the time.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
I know you will be on the call Wednesday night
when the regular season opens at home versus Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
So let's start there.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
This is maybe the first time in four or five
years the Rockets will open the season with potentially a
realistic goal of advancing the postseason play. Does that add
to the excitement, the anticipation, and all that good stuff
as we get closer to Wednesday night?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Well, first of all, hello, how you doing Ben? Thanks
for having me on again. I appreciate it. Yeah, you know,
I mean every season, I think, at least for me personally,
regardless of circumstances and where the team may or may
not sit going into any given season, I'm always excited
to get that the season, the regular season underway. But yeah,
I do think that when the team has something to
(01:51):
play for makes it a little tad bit more exciting
because we're very interested to see, you know, how this
season ultimately shakes out. So yeah, I think this year,
especially since you know, the rebuild is now three four
years in and the vast majority of those initial building
(02:14):
blocks have grown and matured and the team improved dramatically
a season ago. Yeah, I think there is a lot
more excitement going into this particular season open, the most
we've had going into a season opener and in quite
some time.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So ever, since training camp opened on the first of
this month. All of us in media have gotten some access,
but those of you on the broadcast teams. By the way,
this is part three of our fur part Meet the
Broadcaster series. We've had Vanessa Richardson to Matt Thomas on
a few weeks ago. We hope to have Ryan Hollins
on the next.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Week or two.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So we're trying to pick all of your brain, sort
of peel back the curtain a little bit on your jobs.
Since the first we've all gotten some access at the
new training center, the new practice I know those of
you on the broadcast teams have gotten a little bit more.
So I'm curious what you've seen behind the scenes. Has
anyone or anything particularly surprised you with this group relative
(03:12):
to when we last saw them in April.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, this is this is a team that is pretty
darn focused. And first of all, the new practice facility
is just as you've seen personally. It's just it's amazing,
and I know that everybody associated with the organization is
thrilled to have it and have it available and to
be used by this team. And when they had their
(03:37):
grand opening in the unveiling, I think the best line
of all of it was from Rockets Tom rafell Stone
when he talked about, you know, you could play basketball anywhere,
all you need is a couple of hoops. But at
this level, it's about trying to be better around the margins.
In this facility gives us an opportunity to attempt to
be better at the margins, and I think he's one
hundred percent right with that. So congratulations to any and
(03:59):
all people that were involved in putting that facility together,
starting with the Petita family. Their their focus and their
investment in that is is tremendous and everybody appreciates it.
But this is a this is a group that's this
is a determined, focused group. A year ago, as Emay
has talked about multiple times, already was about a lot
(04:22):
of teaching, a lot of instilling principles, a lot of
making sure that everybody knew what this new staff's expectation
was for them, and all of that has already been
That groundwork has already been laid because the Rockets have
a ton of continuity. So everybody on this team, for
the most part, outside of a couple of guys here
and there, know exactly what is expected of them and
(04:45):
what they're going to what they need to accomplish, and
so they kind of hit the ground running in training camp. Again,
a lot of energy, a lot of focus, a lot
of excitement is is what I've seen.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Look, obviously practice is one thing, but then we've seen
it translated so far into the games, and it took
three of their four preseason games in many in many areas.
They I think they translated that stuff to the preseason
game floor. And then again ultimately we'll see how this
thing looks when things, you know, they start to play
for things that count starting this week. But yeah, this
(05:17):
this is a group that I think is confident, especially
with the young players. When they took that leap forward
last year, I think it helped them immensely with their
both their individual confidence and their confidence in their group.
And I think that's the kind of team that you're
going to see for the vast majority of the season.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
One thing that's really surprised me, at least relative to
my expectations a couple of months ago. Reed Shepherd already
has a fairly high place in the hierarchy, it feels like,
and when he was drafted at number three, I know
that's a high slot. But there were a lot of
people that said, well, we don't know how strong this
draft classes, YadA, YadA. Obviously he had a very good
(05:56):
run at summer leave. You know, they had offseason workouts. Holiday,
who was the backup point guard to Fred van Fleet
last year, had a very solid season and he was
someone as the year progressed, making close to forty percent
on threes. Trusted veteran defender Ima Udoka really liked him.
They brought him back.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
I wasn't sure if.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Reed would walk in and be guaranteed rotation minutes. I
think he's also potentially in competition with Cam Whitmore a
little bit who had a strong rookie season. And yet
through the preseason and through what we've seen at training camp,
it feels like Reid is clearly the backup to Fred.
It feels like maybe he's the fourth guy off the bench.
I mean, the only guys that are arguably more important
(06:36):
than Red. It feels like our men Thompson, Tarry Eason,
Steven Adams, although Stephen a little bit minutes limited at
his age and coming off with knee surgery, are you
surprised at all with just how quickly that Reed has
sort of established his place. Because I'll be honest, behind
the scenes, ever since they sort of slipped the switch
in mid twenty twenty three to phase two of the rebuild,
(07:00):
I've been told rookies are no longer going to be
guaranteed minutes. They're going to have to earn it. They're
trying to win now. They understand that most rookies are
not contributors to winning, and so behind the scenes, they've
sort of laid the groundwork for the expectation being, hey,
they may not play a lot early on, even if
they're a highly drafted prospect, they're going to have to
(07:21):
earn it. If they play a lot in the G
League year one, so be it. It's about the long
term with development, and in the short term they're trying
to win games under emy Udoka. Yet they clearly believe
that Reed is going to help them, starting with Wednesday's
opener against Charlotte with winning. Now, are you surprised with
just how quickly Emao Judoka seems to be trusting him
with very real minutes?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Uh, I guess again, because he's a rookie. And as
for the reasons you describe where they are currently at
in terms of what their expectations are for the season.
Maybe a little bit surprised, but for the most part, no,
I mean, this is the guy they wanted it in
the draft. This is the player that they are very
high on him. He plays with a lot of maturity
and a lot of poise. He defends, and that's pretty
(08:05):
much rule number one. If you're going to see a
lot of playing time with this team this season, you
need to defend. If you don't defend, then you're not
going to see as much time and so and look,
they need somebody to help spell some of the minutes
of Fred Vanvliet. We know how important thread is. We
saw that already in the preseason, despite the fact he
really wasn't looking to do a whole lot scoring wise,
(08:29):
of the fact he didn't have a great offensive preseason,
outside of the fact that he was an incredible table setter.
But we already saw the effect that this team is
just fastly better with Fred on the floor. But they
would prefer that he not played thirty seven minutes a game.
They want him as fresh as possible as the season
goes along, because their expectation is to be playing again
(08:49):
some really meaningful games late in the season and hopefully
beyond that in terms of either play in or playoffs,
and so they want him, you know, to be as
fresh as possible, and they just like the way that
Read approaches the game. Again, a very high basketball a cue.
The guy really defends and plays with a ton of poise. Now,
(09:10):
I think there are going to be some bumps on
the road, as there are with any and every rookie,
barring an exception here and there, for every rookie that
comes into the league, So there are going to be
some moments that it will be a bit rocky for him,
But I think they already have a ton of trust
in him and uh and hopefully he can continue to
play well enough where he will continue to see a
(09:32):
lot of minutes and his role will continue to grow.
But yes, they're very excited about him and his prospects,
not only this season but obviously into the future as well. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Absolutely, the shooting potential, even though he hasn't shot that well.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Let rightly, he didn't shoot the one of the preseason
the league either, which is one thing that you were
you were really thinking you were going to get from him.
But again, beyond that, again, I don't think anybody is
worried about his ability or his ability to shoot the ball,
because he's proven that. But his heat. He plays with
poise as a high basketball IQ, and the guide defends
(10:07):
and that's why they really like the guy, and they're
not worried about whether or not how well he does
or does not shoot, because he's already proven that if
his threes aren't dropping, he does have the ability to
get to his mid ranch shot, which is, at least
from what we've seen in a very small sample size,
pretty much automatic for him.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah, it feels like watching Chris Paul a few years ago.
Obviously a much smaller scale of that. Since three is
just a rookie, you don't want to thrust that expectation
on him, but his.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Ability to get to that shot certainly, And I brought
that up during one of the preseason games. Was not
comparing him to Chris Paul, was just his ability to
get to those spots on the floor. Did remind me
how Chris Paul is able to get to those spots
on the floor whenever he wants to.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, and obviously they have a tremendous amount of data
on his shooting. The threes are going to come around.
That's just small sample sized theater. At this point, between
the preseason and in Summer League, he just had so
much attention paid to as basically the primary creator for
a team that after Reid and Cam, and I think
Cam only played two or three games, didn't have a
whole lot in the way of established NBA talent. So
(11:11):
he's going to get looks when he's playing alongside NBA
players in a way that he did not at Summer League.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
I think one of the.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Ways that this really intrigues me is sort of the
blend of Reed's profile with ima Udoka, because I really
did not realize until after the All Star Break class
season just how progressive imy Udoka was.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
As a coach on the offensive end of the floor.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
When he took the job in mid twenty twenty three,
I think a lot of people respected him for what
he did defensively in Boston. I think a lot of
people also remember I May as a defensive minded role
player during his time in the league. I did not
realize just how much he was going to emphasize the
three point shot because until the All Star Break last year,
(11:54):
I went and looked up the stats. Craig they ranked
fifteenth in three point in temps per game. They basically
prioritiz half court offerens Fred VanVleet all for in Shongoon,
limiting turnovers, breaking some of those bad habits. And then
at the Al Star Break they had that week off
to sort of rest, to install some more layers to
the offense. And ever since the All Star Break, it's
continued into the preseason. You hear them talking about wanting
(12:16):
to play with more pace, put up more threes. Over
the final two months last year, they were second in
the NBA. Only e May's old team in Boston averaged
more threes per game than the Rockets. The Celtic for
number one at forty two per game, and the Rockets
were number two at forty per game, And obviously read
being potentially a dynamic three point shooter feeds into that
even more. After the San Antonio preseason valley the other night,
(12:38):
when Emay was talking to us postgame, you could tell,
you know, he had a a sort of an air
of disgust in his voice when he talked about the
first quarter and the Rockets only putting up seven three
point shots. So I'm not going to say that, Imo
Udoka is you know, new age Mike d'An TONI, but
he's a little closer to MDA than I would have thought.
With e May going then to the job. May we
(13:00):
just didn't know you made that well because he had
only been a head coach for one year in Boston
before taking the job here. But I guess you know,
just that sort of surprised you in any way. And
when did you realize just how much they were going
to emphasize, you know, the math advantage that your former
broadcast Colleaguett Bullard would always talk about on the broadcast.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Well, the Rockets, especially under Mike d'An tony, took that
to just a level of the league hadn't seen it. Frankly,
it changed. I mean Mike originally in many respects changed
the sport when he was in Phoenix, and then when
he came to the Rockets, and their philosophy married with
his philosophy was like literally kind of like the perfect synergy.
And then they started playing that way, especially that first year,
(13:41):
you know, when they ended up winning sixty plus games,
and they literally the league changed because they realized in
order to compete with the Rockets, they had to try
to win the math game a little bit. But look again,
a lot of these the beginning of e Mays era
here a year ago was just sort of stealing principles
(14:02):
and things like that. And then as the season war long,
as you mentioned, they were able to kind of put
some more things in. Obviously they could continue to do
that because of the great continuity with this team. But look,
patient space isn't just about shooting threes. It's about utilizing
the strengths of this young group, which is the breathtaking
athletes that they have on the floor right scoring before
(14:24):
NBA half court defenses can get set, because even the
worst half court NBA defenses can be a bit problematic
to break down if you allow them to get setup.
And that's another reason why teams wanted it. Like to
play fast, but it takes advantage of their ability to
just run by people because they're just so young and
they're just so athletic. But also in the half court
(14:45):
said it allows them to play driving kick, it allows
them to play off of cutting off of Auburn Shingoon's
ability to pass from the elbows. So it just kind
of really opens every single thing up. And then again,
obviously the numbers game is that the vast majority of
players are able to shoot league average from three, which
(15:09):
is worth a heck of a lot more than what
the league average kin guy can do from the mid range.
And so you try to encourage those things. Going back
to again all the things that we talked about during
the time and when Mike dad Toni was here, and
so all that kind of marries itself. I mean, a
large part of the Rockets front office that was around
band is now still here, led going out by Rafel
and so yeah, so a lot of those principals are
(15:31):
still there, and again they don't have this is not
they don't have to install principles anymore. That the expectations
are there, and so now they can really start focusing
on some other things, which is very different now in
year two of e made than it was when we
first got the job.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah, and it feels like again the All Star break
last year was when the switch was sort of flipped.
And I think it's important to note that because one
of the questions going into this season.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
We know how Jalen.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Finished last year, perhaps the last few games that but
standing because I think by that point a lot of
people were sort of checked out. The season was over
for the Rockets and a lot of teams in terms
of playoff contention. So those games playing out the string
in April maybe not quite the same intensity as you
see in March when the Rockets had that eleven game
winning streak went thirteen and two, And so the narrative
it's out there is, Okay, the Rockets took off Jalen
(16:20):
Green specifically, but it was after all for Inch Shing
Goon got hurt. So how does all for inch Shing
Gooon get integrated alongside that March version of Jalen Green
and with that new offense that we've been talking about. However,
I think when you actually look at last season, there
was a good three weeks coming out of the All
Star break before Stingoon got hurt in which he was playing.
(16:41):
Yet they were taking more threes. They were making these
strides in terms of, you know, adapting to that system
that he may wants to run and you know taking
off the training wheels that I guess you can call
it when he had starting office tenure in Houston. So
what do you think as far as you know, reintegrating
all for inch Shin Gooon and Is there any concern
you have with sort of fitting him back with you know,
(17:03):
the way they played after the ultar break last year.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
No, I don't have any concern about it, and I
think that we've both those guys had really good preseasons. Yeah,
so it seemed to work in the preseason. Uh again,
preseason is not regular season, and you got to take
some of that with the greatest salt. But no, ultimately
I do not have any concerns whatsoever. It does seem
(17:29):
like that Jalen has become so much more comfortable, which
I think is important for his growth, being off the
ball and being more comfortable and catch and shoot situations,
which allows everything else on the offense to continue to
flow out. A Alp has always been a very unselfish
(17:51):
uh player with how he approaches the game, And so
now I have zero concerns about those two guys meshing
and ultimately everything uh mess, you know, meshing together for
the entire team. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I think in the preseason one of the most encouraging
data points was just how comfortable Jalen seemed playing off ball.
He had some catch and shoots. We saw the New
Orleans game in particular, which was probably the closest thing
to address rehearsal. He had really nice footwork, He attacked
drives when he had a big switched on to him,
and he took advantage of the mismatch, and I thought
(18:23):
it was very encouraging that it wasn't the formula for
March after Shinoon went down. When a lot of those
games when he had that incredible march, it felt like
things ran disproportionately through Jalen. And of course you're going
to feed the hot hand, that's smart coaching, but at
the end of the day, you want to know can
he thrive in other settings, And it felt like to
(18:45):
me that he did that.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
You seem more calm, more poised, more on balance, was
taking better shots. Obviously, he is an absolutely a plus
level athlete, and that's always be in case since he
steppedoot in the league. That's never a question. But for him,
it was always about quality of shot taking, finishing consistency.
(19:11):
You know, the same thing could be said on a
smaller level for Jabari, which is the case for a
lot of young players, like they were so much better
at all them than they were on the road, but
just a level of consistency that this team needs to
be successful and I think he certainly has demonstrated that
so far from what we've seen from this group in
the preseason.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I think it's reasonable to expect this group to be
a top ten defense.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Is that fair? I mean they pretty much were last year. Yeah,
they pretty much were last year. And I think, and
now you asked, unless something crazy goes wrong, they will
continue as long as spread van bleetchs running the offense,
turn ball security will continue to be a priority, which
is one big reason why one main reason why they
improved last year defensively is they just stopped turn the
(19:57):
ball over and they not giving up free opportunity. He's
on grim runs and transition opportunities. So they improved so
much in those two areas just because they stopped turning
the ball over. So as long as Fred is healthy,
that's the presumption, right that they will continue to have
a priority in terms of their ball security. So that
should be there. And then Tarry Easti is back at
healthy and you're adding Steven Adams, and then you have
(20:19):
a Men Thompson in a year or two, and this
guy is going to make multiple all defensive teams, and
obviously Dlinky defend, and Fred can defend and reach Shepherd
can defend. I mean, even Reid is defensively seems to
be in the very much in the mold. It is
kind of cool I think that he's on the same
team with Fred because you've got two smaller point guard
(20:39):
right who both play defense so well with their hands
and so, Yes, I think the expectation is that this
group is going to be one of the best defenses
in the league this season. Again, and I don't see
any reason why, unless they have significant injuries to multiple players,
why they wouldn't be one of the better defense. This
(21:00):
isn't the league this year.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Yeah, I would agree, And so the question is can
they also get to a top ten or at least
top fifteen offensive level, because I think that's what you
need to be a playoff team, especially in a loaded
Western conference. You can't give up on offense what you're
getting on defense. I think for a lot of last
year they were around ten on defense, but around twenty
(21:21):
on offense, and so that evens out.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Very existing at the offensive end, especially on the road.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, So what is the key to getting the offense
to an average or above average level?
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Is it individually.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Someone like Jrealen and or Shingoon taking the next step
to consistently be an All Star?
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Is it the collective? You know?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
One thing that encourages me is that with Tarry Easton
and Steven Adams being added to the rotation, they're very deep.
They rebound the ball very well, especially the offensive glass.
We saw in the preseason the game they lost in Utah,
which they led for the majority of the time that
the rotation players played, but they were minus fifteen for
the game as a whole in rebounding. The three games
they won, they were an average if I think, plus fourteen,
(22:05):
So that could be a key. Do you look at
it more in terms of them needing an individual star
to breakout? Is it more about the collective crashing the
glass to pace the depth? What is it that they
need to get that offense to a top ten or
at least top fifteen level.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Well offensive rebounding, I guess we'll start there. That is
going to be one of the key principals for this
team this season, Like as in, all five guys on
the floor going to crash the offensive glass. They believe
that they can continue to have one of the best
transition defensive groups in the league and also be one
(22:40):
of the elite offensive rebounding teams in the league, So
they're going to be sending everyone to the offensive glass.
I don't think that necessarily has Obviously, second chance opportunities
are big, but I don't think that per se has
much to do with them becoming a better and more
consistent offense. Obviously can get more cracks at it. Hopefully
that leads to right addition opportunities, but that that is
(23:02):
going to be one of their key principles this season.
But ultimately, look to your other point, someone becoming an
All Star and or preferably All NBA level guy is
still something that the organization needs and is looking for,
because once you get to that point with either a
(23:24):
player or players, then you become a team that is
a legitimate threat to make deep playoff runs and then
ultimately can consider yourself a legitimate championship contender. That is
still a goal that is still something that needs to
happen with this team moving forward. But in terms of
(23:46):
this season and becoming better on offense, I think just collectively,
it's about shot making, particularly translate. They were a pretty
good all team last year. Their shooting splits were so wild.
I mean, they the irony was that they defended the
three so much better at Toyota Center, they shot the
three so much better at Toyota Center, and the results
(24:07):
were in their record. And then when they went on
the road, they didn't defend the threequot as well on
the road, and they certainly didn't shoot the three as
well on the road either. And so to me, it's
just comes down the consistency of shot making. You start
making more shots, particularly threes, you're going to automatically become
a more efficient offense. And if that happens, blended with
(24:29):
their ability to run the floor and to crash and
get second chance opportunities, hopefully that if they can, hopefully
they can become at minimum a league average offense. But
I think the only way that happens, it just simply
comes down to shot making. They solved a lot of
the issues last season except the consistency of shot making,
(24:50):
and so to me, that's the one big key to
their success this season. Can they consistently shoot the basketball
this year high clip to become a more efficient offense.
If they do, with their ability to defend it, they're
gonna win a lot of games.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Do you have a sense for which of those young
guys is potentially the closest to taking that leap that
might take this franchise from where it is today, which is,
you know, realistic goals of making the postseason to actually
getting to that contention level. I think the easy answer
would be either Jalen or all p because they're in
(25:27):
your four the rest of the other young core guys,
or either rookies year to year three. Perhaps Jalen and
Shingula are also and to prove it, you're contractually we'll
see what happens by Monday's extension deadline. Do you have
a sense for which of those young guys might be
closest to, you know, taking that leap to being, you know,
an all star level player that you know this team
(25:47):
can can build around.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
You know, honestly, I really don't know. Look, the first
half of last season, apprin Chingun played like an All
Star and was played like he was basically a top
thirty player in the league most of last season when
he was on the floor. The Rockets need Fred van
Fleet on the floor. He's their most important player because
he just gets things organized and settled, and he is
(26:12):
so important to their success. But last year, obviously Shengoon
I think was the closest. The month of March that
Jalen had was obviously all Star All NBA caliber with
what he was doing at both ends of the floor
and the numbers he was putting up in the ability
and his efficiency shooting the basketball. Now, Jalen's had great
(26:33):
closes to each of his seasons that he's been in
the league. I think this particular go around last March
there was something get there were just different and so
he certainly played like that. But I think ultimately the
question still remains, can they get one of it? Look
a Men Thompson, I think, as I mentioned earlier, he's
(26:53):
going to be an All NBA level defender. Can he
We've seen to make a couple of threes, Can he
at least knocked out enough. I think it's I think
it's ultimately really important for him if he's going to
step into that conversation, he's got to be able to.
He does so many things so well, but I think
to be that level of a player, you've got to
(27:15):
have some level of efficient perimeter shooting to thrust yourself
into that conversation. We'll see how that goes. But I
think that's still something that this team is needing because
if they had a clear cut guy like that, say
like Shay Gilges Alexander right then you're talking about, well,
not just a team that can they make the play
(27:36):
in or can they get into the back end the
playoff picture, then you're talking about a team that could
potentially seed much higher in the West. And they just
don't have that guy as of right now, so I
don't I won't really know. I hopefully hopefully it's multiple guys,
because then you really cook him with gas and then
you really have something to build from and with for
(27:57):
the future. But I think we'll have to wait and
see it happen again. And Shangun has shown flashes, JALENK.
Green has shown flashes. I think a Men Thompson has
some of that ability in him as well. But we'll
just have to see how it ultimately shakes out. And
that's the biggest thing. That's the thing that this team
still I think that's still the biggest overlying question with
(28:18):
this group. Can they get a guy or guys to
really step up and become not just a top thirty
top thirty five level player, but can they ultimately become
a top twenty all NBA caliber player. And then if
you get somebody like that, then you're really going to
be good and you're really going to be set up
well for a long time because of the youth and
(28:38):
the talent on this team.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
So in terms of taking that next step, and you
probably have to you know, crawl before you walk, walk
before you run. You're probably not going to have the
Oklahoma City type leap because at this point you don't
have a shay Gil just Alexander to go from.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
You know, two years ago Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Was forty and forty two, and last year they were
fifty seven and twenty five with the best record in
the West.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
That's probably a.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Bit too ambitious in terms of expectations for this season.
I think what you would like to see is going
from forty one to forty one last year or something
in you know, the mid to upper forties. That gets
you solidly in the play and mix, and maybe you
get lucky and you get to up to five or
six in the Western Conference. But obviously that's difficult because
you look at the West. I mean, you were forty
one and forty one last year, but it would have
required being forty six and thirty six ten days over
(29:21):
just to be in.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
The top ten.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
And you look at this season, there's only two teams
in the West Portland and Utah that are clearly rebuilding.
So you've got ten teams in front of you've got
to pass at least one of them, and you've also
got two teams behind. You had Memphis in San Antonio,
They're at least going to be trying, So it's not
going to be easy. When you look at those ten
teams that were ahead of the Rockets last year, I
think maybe the Clippers, with the uncertain situation with Kawhi
(29:44):
Leonard losing Paul George in the offseason, that's one target
to potentially jump. Are there any teams that you look
at and be it because of age, injuries, whatever the
case may be, that are potential targets for the Rockets
to perhaps, you know, leap in the standings if they
want to make a serious post season push.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Well, like, injuries are inevitably part of every season, Memphis
was decimated by them. As long as they're healthy, I
think they're in my opinion there and as long as
they're healthy and Zach Edy can walk and chew gum
at the same time, which appears to be the case. Yea, there,
I think they I think they're without a doubt, one
of the six best teams in the regular season UH
(30:23):
in the Western Conference. Like inevitably a team is going
to fall back like Memphis did last year because of
an injury UH situation. The Lakers last year got but
the starting group that they're going to go with this year.
If memory serves, when they were on the floor together,
they were really really good can but they also had
(30:45):
incredible health from both Anthony Davis and Lebron James last year.
Is that something that's going to happen again? Maybe not
necessarily with Lebla. Lebron, even though as as he continues
to age the way he has, I think is probably
of a less of a concern of injury concerns with him.
But Anthony Davis had one of his healthiest seasons he's
ever had, and injuries have always been part of his calculus,
(31:09):
So can he ultimately stay healthy? New Orleans has a
ton of talent, but the question always remains. Like Zion
played a career high seventy games last year. Can that
be expected again moving forward, will find out. I think
the injuries will play a role in things. You know,
a lot of teams could be one injury most the
(31:29):
vast majority of teams are basically one key injury away
from not being there. And so I think those are
some of the teams that perhaps because of the injury concerns,
that might be a team that they ultimately could leap.
But again, we're gonna have to find out. The Rockets
this year. In my opinion, they are going to be
I think they're going to be significantly better this year
(31:51):
than they were last year, although I have no idea
how that's ultimately going to translate into the win column.
As you mentioned, it took forty six wins last year
just to get into the back end of the play
in race, as Sacramento and Golden State each had forty
six wins. I think with the depth and the talent
in the West, my guess, this is just a guess,
(32:13):
I think that number might be closer to forty four
this year than forty six because there's just going to
be so much competition against these groups, and so I
think the Rockets certainly have the ability to ultimately get there.
But again, and we got to hope the Rockets have Look,
the Rockets have depth to deal with injuries, but they
(32:35):
couldn't afford a catastrophic injury, say to Fred Van Bliet,
So yeah, I mean, I think again. I think long
winded answer to your question was, I think those are
some of the teams I've pointed out that ultimately you
could point to the Clippers, as you mentioned, are not
starting off on a great foot here with the Kawhi
letterd situation. I certainly think that's a team ass of
right now that you can see the Rockets passing. But
(32:58):
we'll say, you know, I think again, I think it
comes down to their offensive consistency and then especially getting
a little bit better on the road. And I certainly
think they have the group that can get into the
top ten, but left it won't see.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
I think when you look at the schedule, the first
month of the season is really important for the Rockets
because the big advantage Houston has compared to most other
teams is continuity. They bring back most of last year's group,
so they should be able to hit the ground running
in a way that most other teams that we know
how crazy the NBA is each off season in terms
of integrating new pieces, the Rockets, other than Reed Shepherd,
(33:34):
and he seems to be integrating very very quickly, aren't
really having to make many changes. I guess Steven Adams,
but I think Steven's type guy. He does what he does,
and so the Rockets should have an advantage, a disproportionate
one early in the year based on the amount of
returning players or turning production guys that know the system.
And then when you look at the first month of
the year scheduling wise, the first eight games, you open
(33:56):
with Charlotte, you're going to be favored in that game.
You play the Spurs three times in the first couple
of weeks, they're gonna be without without Devin Biziel, yep, exactly.
And Chris Paul, even though he's CEP, he is new
and so that's going to be a transition.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
Yep. Thirty nine or whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Yeah, and then you get middle of November, so you've
got the Pistons, the Wizards, You've got a couple of
home games against the aforementioned Clippers. You've got a couple
of home games right before Thanksgiving against the Trailblazers. So
it's a relatively soft open to the year with a
team in Houston that should be disproportionately better because they
(34:34):
have so many players coming back. So with all that
in mind, is it more important for the Rockets because
it feels like it is to me to get off
to a good start given that they have these, you know,
relative advantages.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Yes, I think it's extremely importan because I think the
schedule the back end is very difficult. So yes, it
is really important for them to get off to a
hot start. Look, I think got Oklahoma City early in
the season. Hartenstein is out Lucas. Look, Lucas good for
fifty every time he plays the Rockets, but he's basically
hasn't really done anything with Eletts in the preseason. I
(35:06):
don't think they're probably I know, Lucas Luca and Agetti
kills Houston, but you're gonna catch them early in the year.
So maybe he's instead of good for fifty, maybe he's
only good for thirty eight against the Rockets in that
particular situation. So yeah, I think it's really important for
them to take advantage and get off to a great
start and set the tone. And I think that will
(35:27):
only fuel what's already a really confident group based on
what they were able to do at the end of
last year, and then again already having the comfort level
and the contin anyway that they have heading into this season.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yeah, and perhaps some of these star Layton teams are
a little weaker early in the year because some of
these big names played internationally this offseason. The Rockets only
really had to deal with that with Jock Landell and
Dylan Brooks, who you know, jibblin is certainly important to
the team, but you don't see the Rockets leaning on
Dylan in a way that you know the Lakers, for example,
will be leaning on Lebron and Ad after that Olympics
(36:00):
run in Paris. So who knows, maybe there's a little
bit of a hangover effect there that the Rockets disfortunately
benefit from because their guys are a little bit fresher,
also a lot younger, a lot deeper the advantages that
you've been describing over the last few minutes, Craig, Before
we close out the pod, I want to get back
to Space City Home Network because as mentioned in introducing you,
this is part of our Meat the Broadcaster series. We
(36:22):
had Vanessa and Matt on last month, and so one
of the things that Paolo and myself we always ask
the broadcasters is for you to talk about the other
guys or girl in Vanessa's case, that you work with
and that you're traveling with, because obviously there's a lot
of camaraderie when you're out on the road.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
First road trip, You've.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Got two and three days in San Antonio next weekend.
So tell us a little bit about working with those
three and give us some fun facts about each of
them that someone watching the broadcast might not know about
those Well.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
First of all, we're all very close, love working with everyone.
We get a lot great no issues there. There's a
lot of playful ribbing that goes on amongst the group,
for sure. So yeah, absolutely loved the group, me being well,
(37:15):
at least amongst the TV side, me being the old
man of the group. They certainly make sure that I'm
aware of that at all times, even though I'm not
all that old yet, even though I am the oldest
guy on the on the TV side there, but now
really enjoy work with everybody. We go out to dinner,
we hang out. It's a lot of fun. I mean,
it really is a ton of fun, you know. Matt
(37:40):
Thomas is like the nicest guy ever. I mean, he
and I have known each other for thirty years.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
So when he ultimately got the radio job, when I
started splitting Rady on TV, when when Bill stopped traveling,
I was really happy to see that because Matt is
one of my really really really good friends.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
Uh in the business. Love that guy. Ryan is awesome,
you know, Ryan, Ryan came into a situation where, you know,
it's odd that an analyst has hired for an organization
that he really had no ties to to begin with.
But I think he and I and now heading into
his fourth season here, has we've really developed. We've grown
(38:26):
together with one another as we've learned each other, our
chemistry has improved significantly. Obviously is the team has improved.
It's made our lives a lot easier as well. It's
a lot easier to to call games for a team
that's competitive then there than it is for one that
is not, but really enjoy working with them. He's such
he is an absolute First of all, he is a
(38:48):
legit giant who eats like nobody's business. But he is
like the sweetest guy ever. And then and and Vanessa
is She's Odding her third season working with us, and
it's been awesome adding stories and vignettes and a ton
of fun to hang out with. She's like a human
juke box. So her music knowledge is like insane, Like
(39:10):
any song, any lyrics you can come up with basically
at the top of your head, as long as it's
not some obscure DM thing that I'm a big fan of,
She's got it down. But now we have incredible chemistry.
Love the group. We have a lot of fun. I
really enjoy working with another, with one another, no egos,
no bitterness, no issues, and you know, we work at
(39:33):
the same thing with our director Adam that travels with
us kind of part of the group, and the media
folks of the Rockets led by Tercy Hughes and now,
so it's a really fun group. Keeps me young at heart,
shall we say. And yeah, I really look forward to
to the opportunity to get back at this. I was
super excited to be back with the preseason. Can't wait
(39:54):
for the regular season to get underway. And I think
we're all going to have a ton of fun. And
our job again is to inform and to entertain.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
And hopefully that we will be able to do that
again this season Karok Sessions. Vanessa says that Matt basically
knows no music post nineteen ninety two pretty much.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Yeah, he's he's seventies. He's seventies. I'm a little bit
more over the board. That was that was fun, but yeah, Matt,
Matt is basically nineteen seventy That's why he came last
in the in the Twitter pull of karaoke songs selected
because yeah, he just you know, he just basically went
(40:33):
stuff fro nineteen seventy seven, and especially for the younger
audience that's on x slash Twitter, nobody has any clue.
Not that those songs aren't good. Some of his selections
were bad, but generally speaking, up, I enjoy music from
the seventies as well, but the younger crowd is just
not going to jive with that. So yeah, yeah, understandable.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
So this is year two under Spacity Home Network, right, yeah, yeah,
it was about this time year real.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah, it has changed, It has changed names and ownership
so many times in the last five years.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
But yes, I think this is yes. But what I
mean is the switch to fully like team owned. When
Warner Brothers Discovery gave the rights back to the Astros
and the Rockets, and so there's little bonus things you
can do when it's fully controlled by the team that
you can't when there's a larger RSN. And a good
example with the Astros, you know, when they're in the playoffs.
(41:26):
Unfortunately this year their playoff run is very short, but
they can do these postgame shows in a way that
you know, baseball does not have any local TV broadcast
during the playoffs, and so when there was an RSN,
there was this huge void when it comes to you know,
you have all these broadcasts during the year, and you're
accustomed to, you know, thirty minutes to an hour of postgame.
(41:48):
You hear from the coaches, you hear from the players.
There's people such as yourself and Vanessa and Ryan that
fans grow to love because they hear your voices almost
every day. And then in the playoffs, when the games
are at their biggest, it's almost like the game, you know,
it ends and then there's nothing, and there's this void.
And when the team was able to take control, then
there were all sorts of additional things that sort of
(42:11):
supplemental things, let's call them, that were added to you know,
the usual repertoire. So I know there's a ways to
go with the Rockets. First, you got to get to
the playoffs and the NBA. It is different because the
NBA does a lot for local broadcast during the first round.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
Right, this is our last year. This is the last
chance for us to do it. Oh, it goes away
after this year, but the new TV deal kicks in
next season. We are just like Major League Baseball and
done at the end of the regular season. Ooh, I
did not realize this is it. So yes, for our sake,
for our ability to do a playoffs series, it's got
to be love then, not just make the play in,
but the playoffs, because this is the last chance we
(42:47):
ever have to do it.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
But to circle back to the question, the long winded
question that I was trying to ask, are there more
things that you can do with Space City Home Network
that you couldn't do in any of those previous iterations
Because you guys have a little bit more flexibility.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
There's a lot more access in terms of features and vignettes.
Last year we started micing up coaches and players. The
plan this year is to do that more often than
we did last year. So I think that's going to
be really cool. The miked up stuff. How many times
ultimately happens this year, it's kind of a little bit
(43:25):
of a wait and see, but the expectation this year
is to get a lot more guys and email miked
up and have that sound for people who are watching
throughout the game. I think that stuff is really cool,
really adds to the broadcast. But just the general support
from the Rockets last year was, you know, just kind
(43:45):
of learning the business a little bit from both the
Astros organizational perspective and the Rockets as well. But they're
the ownership is really behind us getting and showing as
much access and behind seen stuff as we can with players,
and so I think again you're gonna see a little
bit more, hopefully a lot more of that this season
(44:08):
as we're doing different things. We do have a new
producer this year coming over, so we're changing up things
with that and that will be a continued work in
progress as the as the season goals along. You know,
we're doing we're doing our opens the differently this season,
and again that's a little bit of a work in progress.
We're looking at trying to do things a little bit
(44:29):
different there and to do something different things throughout the
course of the broadcast. But the teams have been awesome obviously,
you know, the led by Gretchen Shecher is the president
of Business Operations, who I've known for like twenty plus years.
She's super supportive of everything that we do, and so yeah,
I think ultimately one thing you're going to see is
(44:50):
a lot more micd up players and access and sound
like that, stuff like that throughout the course of the season.
I think that'll be really fun because I thought it
was a really cool add to what we had last season.
And then you know, hopefully some additional synergy with Kevin
and Calvin and the pre and postgame shows and things
like that. So yeah, I'm excited about it and excited
(45:11):
to you know, six months is too much time for
me to to not do what I what I love
to do, and I'm just absolutely happy to be back
doing it. Yeah, and we are happy to be listening
for sure, Craig.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
I also know that you had the broadcast meetings in
Secaucus a few weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Right, Yes, I personally did not attend, but if you
do want to ask some questions about it, I do
have the intel.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
So yeah, I was gonna ask if there are any
points of emphasis from the league office. I know there's
like an officiating for them. They tell you about new
things for this year. Is there anything that's new to
this year that fans should be sort of on the
lookout for, particularly this one Twitter account named Bendubo's that
always likes to criticized officials.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Yeah, this year, for the first time in I don't know, two, three, four,
five years, the league is not put in any major
rule changes. So it's the first time quite a while
they haven't done that. Interesting. The biggest point of emphasis
and change is ultimately going to be the ability to
determine if there's a foul on a coach's challenge, because
(46:14):
that is coming off of the controversial non call in
that series the Western Conference Finals when with the Jaylen McDaniels. Yeah,
to hack down on Luca and the Now that's really
the main point of emphasis in terms of officiating this
season is allowing that mechanism for the officials to be
(46:35):
in place provided that there is a coach's challenge that
will trigger that replay. Although the wrinkle with that and
hoping I'm getting this part of it right, So if
you're the team that is challenging that the ball should
be on and there was a foul on your guy.
(46:56):
I don't think that part of it. We did have
a session the league did just recently, about a week
or so ago, did have a follow up session about
that particular rule. And now I'm forgetting the nuance there.
I wrote it down and I just don't have that
in front of me. But there is going to be
a tad bit of a wrinkle there that might I
think might surprise some people. But I think ultimately in
(47:17):
lay games, situations like we saw the Western Conference finals,
hopefully a situation like that can ultimately be addulicated correctly.
Oh and another point of emphasis is going to be
ultimately straight lined pathway plays and fouls off of that
ass That's what they basically it's always been in the
rule book. But that's remember last year was it mid
(47:38):
February early February that people are like, oh, they're they're
officiating the game a lot ripper around these drives. That's
going to continue to be a point of emfits here.
You basically just can't dribble into someone to get easy foul. YEP.
It's basically if the defender takes a driver off his line,
it's ultimately a foul. But if he allows and there's
some marginal contact there to maintain his dry lane and
(48:00):
it's not a foul. That's one The verticality in terms
of defending and challenging shots, it's going to be there.
And that's something that the Rockets have actually worked on
quite a bit in training camp, was defending with verticality
around the rim ass to not draw fowls. Oh so
here it is. I think I think the renkal To
that coaches challenges thing is the team or maybe that's
(48:24):
just an experiment in the G League. Okay, I'm just
gonna stop talking about that one nu once. Forget baby,
I have it, I have it wrong. We'll just have
to see how it plays out. But but there, you know,
that was the primary things that you're going to look
at from an officiating standpoint this season. Many handed entire segment.
You can probably reduce it to ten seconds at mostly
the five minutes that I spent trying to look at
my notes here.
Speaker 2 (48:44):
Sorry, but fair enough, bult have it out a little bit,
all right? To bring this full circle, what ultimately makes
this a successful season that's the you know, the million
dollar question. I feel like probably multimillion dollar question hanging
over this franchise. What needs to happen this year so
that when we're looking at it in you know, next May,
I would love to say next year, and that might
(49:04):
be a little bit ambitious, but whatever, the season ultimately
ends regular season and hopefully playoffs. What makes this season
potentially a success.
Speaker 3 (49:12):
Well, you know, the irony is that we were all
thrilled with how last year went, and they went forty
one and forty one, but everyone in the building, from
the coaches and the players, were not happy. But that
their goal was I noticed, me, I'm playing or layoffs.
So that's to me that that's ultimately what makes the
season a success. Another step forward means that this team,
at minimum of the playing team, and I think if
that's the case, then you can consider the progressing growth
(49:33):
of this group a continued step forward. To me, yeah, ultimately,
I think that's what it comes down that the goal,
this team's goal is to make the play in and
or play offs, and that's what they're playing for this year.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
Yeah, and if they do that, then at a bare minimum,
you've taken another step and the rebuild and the trajectory,
and I think ultimately the most important it's not just
that you get to the playoffs, because I don't think
anyone's really looking at this as year that you can
win a championship. But the idea is that playing on
that big stage helps all these young guys take the
(50:06):
next step in their development, right for.
Speaker 3 (50:08):
Sure, and I certainly think it did in many respects
sure last year when they started playing meaningful as you mentioned,
outside of some of the handful of games in April, right,
they were playing meaningful games, got themselves in the race
where they were a legitimate threat to Gold Stadi, in
particular at the time of trying to leapfrog them to
make the plan obviously fell a bit short. But yeah, yeah,
(50:30):
playing meaningful games late in the season, getting into the
plane and playoffs, getting that kind of experience with this team,
it's all part of the growth and the movement forward.
That is the goal for this team, and I think
if they don't achieve that, then I think ultimately at
the end of the season, you was seeing Ayodoka and
these players saying that they did not accomplish what they
wanted to accomplish this year, good stuff, Craig, thank you
(50:52):
so much for the time anytime. Thank you. All right,
that's where we.
Speaker 2 (50:55):
Will wrap it for today's show, and if you got
more content for the next one, best place to get it,
as always, is online where you can follow me on Twitter,
slash x at Ben Dubo's and this show at the
Logger Line, or if you go to the logger Line space,
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(51:17):
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content as well. All right, With those plays complete, we'll
adjourn for today for Craig. I'm Ben, Thanks always for listening,
and please come back soon for another new episode of
the Logger Line.
Cheers, Rockets fans, Welcome to The Logger Line, an exclusive
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The Logger Line, It's proudly served to you by car
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Speaker 3 (00:29):
It starts now.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome aboard, Welcome back to another new episode of the
logger Line. Again, serve to you courtesy of Clutch City
Lagger of Carback Brewing. I'm Ben Dubo's your host, editor
of USA Today's Rocket Squire and contributor to Sports Talk
seven ninety, official Flag show radio station of your Houston Rockets.
(00:53):
You can follow me on Twitter, slash x at Ben
Dubo's my usual co host and producer of Palo Alves.
Couldn't make tonight's show, but I am thrilled to have
an awesome guest. Nonetheless, it's Craig Ackerman, played by play
voice of the Rockets on Space City Home Network and
at CA Underscore Rockets on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Craig, thanks for taking the time.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
I know you will be on the call Wednesday night
when the regular season opens at home versus Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
So let's start there.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
This is maybe the first time in four or five
years the Rockets will open the season with potentially a
realistic goal of advancing the postseason play. Does that add
to the excitement, the anticipation, and all that good stuff
as we get closer to Wednesday night?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Well, first of all, hello, how you doing Ben? Thanks
for having me on again. I appreciate it. Yeah, you know,
I mean every season, I think, at least for me personally,
regardless of circumstances and where the team may or may
not sit going into any given season, I'm always excited
to get that the season, the regular season underway. But yeah,
I do think that when the team has something to
(01:51):
play for makes it a little tad bit more exciting
because we're very interested to see, you know, how this
season ultimately shakes out. So yeah, I think this year,
especially since you know, the rebuild is now three four
years in and the vast majority of those initial building
(02:14):
blocks have grown and matured and the team improved dramatically
a season ago. Yeah, I think there is a lot
more excitement going into this particular season open, the most
we've had going into a season opener and in quite
some time.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So ever, since training camp opened on the first of
this month. All of us in media have gotten some access,
but those of you on the broadcast teams. By the way,
this is part three of our fur part Meet the
Broadcaster series. We've had Vanessa Richardson to Matt Thomas on
a few weeks ago. We hope to have Ryan Hollins
on the next.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Week or two.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
So we're trying to pick all of your brain, sort
of peel back the curtain a little bit on your jobs.
Since the first we've all gotten some access at the
new training center, the new practice I know those of
you on the broadcast teams have gotten a little bit more.
So I'm curious what you've seen behind the scenes. Has
anyone or anything particularly surprised you with this group relative
(03:12):
to when we last saw them in April.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, this is this is a team that is pretty
darn focused. And first of all, the new practice facility
is just as you've seen personally. It's just it's amazing,
and I know that everybody associated with the organization is
thrilled to have it and have it available and to
be used by this team. And when they had their
(03:37):
grand opening in the unveiling, I think the best line
of all of it was from Rockets Tom rafell Stone
when he talked about, you know, you could play basketball anywhere,
all you need is a couple of hoops. But at
this level, it's about trying to be better around the margins.
In this facility gives us an opportunity to attempt to
be better at the margins, and I think he's one
hundred percent right with that. So congratulations to any and
(03:59):
all people that were involved in putting that facility together,
starting with the Petita family. Their their focus and their
investment in that is is tremendous and everybody appreciates it.
But this is a this is a group that's this
is a determined, focused group. A year ago, as Emay
has talked about multiple times, already was about a lot
(04:22):
of teaching, a lot of instilling principles, a lot of
making sure that everybody knew what this new staff's expectation
was for them, and all of that has already been
That groundwork has already been laid because the Rockets have
a ton of continuity. So everybody on this team, for
the most part, outside of a couple of guys here
and there, know exactly what is expected of them and
(04:45):
what they're going to what they need to accomplish, and
so they kind of hit the ground running in training camp. Again,
a lot of energy, a lot of focus, a lot
of excitement is is what I've seen.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Look, obviously practice is one thing, but then we've seen
it translated so far into the games, and it took
three of their four preseason games in many in many areas.
They I think they translated that stuff to the preseason
game floor. And then again ultimately we'll see how this
thing looks when things, you know, they start to play
for things that count starting this week. But yeah, this
(05:17):
this is a group that I think is confident, especially
with the young players. When they took that leap forward
last year, I think it helped them immensely with their
both their individual confidence and their confidence in their group.
And I think that's the kind of team that you're
going to see for the vast majority of the season.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
One thing that's really surprised me, at least relative to
my expectations a couple of months ago. Reed Shepherd already
has a fairly high place in the hierarchy, it feels like,
and when he was drafted at number three, I know
that's a high slot. But there were a lot of
people that said, well, we don't know how strong this
draft classes, YadA, YadA. Obviously he had a very good
(05:56):
run at summer leave. You know, they had offseason workouts. Holiday,
who was the backup point guard to Fred van Fleet
last year, had a very solid season and he was
someone as the year progressed, making close to forty percent
on threes. Trusted veteran defender Ima Udoka really liked him.
They brought him back.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
I wasn't sure if.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Reed would walk in and be guaranteed rotation minutes. I
think he's also potentially in competition with Cam Whitmore a
little bit who had a strong rookie season. And yet
through the preseason and through what we've seen at training camp,
it feels like Reid is clearly the backup to Fred.
It feels like maybe he's the fourth guy off the bench.
I mean, the only guys that are arguably more important
(06:36):
than Red. It feels like our men Thompson, Tarry Eason,
Steven Adams, although Stephen a little bit minutes limited at
his age and coming off with knee surgery, are you
surprised at all with just how quickly that Reed has
sort of established his place. Because I'll be honest, behind
the scenes, ever since they sort of slipped the switch
in mid twenty twenty three to phase two of the rebuild,
(07:00):
I've been told rookies are no longer going to be
guaranteed minutes. They're going to have to earn it. They're
trying to win now. They understand that most rookies are
not contributors to winning, and so behind the scenes, they've
sort of laid the groundwork for the expectation being, hey,
they may not play a lot early on, even if
they're a highly drafted prospect, they're going to have to
(07:21):
earn it. If they play a lot in the G
League year one, so be it. It's about the long
term with development, and in the short term they're trying
to win games under emy Udoka. Yet they clearly believe
that Reed is going to help them, starting with Wednesday's
opener against Charlotte with winning. Now, are you surprised with
just how quickly Emao Judoka seems to be trusting him
with very real minutes?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Uh, I guess again, because he's a rookie. And as
for the reasons you describe where they are currently at
in terms of what their expectations are for the season.
Maybe a little bit surprised, but for the most part, no,
I mean, this is the guy they wanted it in
the draft. This is the player that they are very
high on him. He plays with a lot of maturity
and a lot of poise. He defends, and that's pretty
(08:05):
much rule number one. If you're going to see a
lot of playing time with this team this season, you
need to defend. If you don't defend, then you're not
going to see as much time and so and look,
they need somebody to help spell some of the minutes
of Fred Vanvliet. We know how important thread is. We
saw that already in the preseason, despite the fact he
really wasn't looking to do a whole lot scoring wise,
(08:29):
of the fact he didn't have a great offensive preseason,
outside of the fact that he was an incredible table setter.
But we already saw the effect that this team is
just fastly better with Fred on the floor. But they
would prefer that he not played thirty seven minutes a game.
They want him as fresh as possible as the season
goes along, because their expectation is to be playing again
(08:49):
some really meaningful games late in the season and hopefully
beyond that in terms of either play in or playoffs,
and so they want him, you know, to be as
fresh as possible, and they just like the way that
Read approaches the game. Again, a very high basketball a cue.
The guy really defends and plays with a ton of poise. Now,
(09:10):
I think there are going to be some bumps on
the road, as there are with any and every rookie,
barring an exception here and there, for every rookie that
comes into the league, So there are going to be
some moments that it will be a bit rocky for him,
But I think they already have a ton of trust
in him and uh and hopefully he can continue to
play well enough where he will continue to see a
(09:32):
lot of minutes and his role will continue to grow.
But yes, they're very excited about him and his prospects,
not only this season but obviously into the future as well. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Absolutely, the shooting potential, even though he hasn't shot that well.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Let rightly, he didn't shoot the one of the preseason
the league either, which is one thing that you were
you were really thinking you were going to get from him.
But again, beyond that, again, I don't think anybody is
worried about his ability or his ability to shoot the ball,
because he's proven that. But his heat. He plays with
poise as a high basketball IQ, and the guide defends
(10:07):
and that's why they really like the guy, and they're
not worried about whether or not how well he does
or does not shoot, because he's already proven that if
his threes aren't dropping, he does have the ability to
get to his mid ranch shot, which is, at least
from what we've seen in a very small sample size,
pretty much automatic for him.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah, it feels like watching Chris Paul a few years ago.
Obviously a much smaller scale of that. Since three is
just a rookie, you don't want to thrust that expectation
on him, but his.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Ability to get to that shot certainly, And I brought
that up during one of the preseason games. Was not
comparing him to Chris Paul, was just his ability to
get to those spots on the floor. Did remind me
how Chris Paul is able to get to those spots
on the floor whenever he wants to.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, and obviously they have a tremendous amount of data
on his shooting. The threes are going to come around.
That's just small sample sized theater. At this point, between
the preseason and in Summer League, he just had so
much attention paid to as basically the primary creator for
a team that after Reid and Cam, and I think
Cam only played two or three games, didn't have a
whole lot in the way of established NBA talent. So
(11:11):
he's going to get looks when he's playing alongside NBA
players in a way that he did not at Summer League.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
I think one of the.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Ways that this really intrigues me is sort of the
blend of Reed's profile with ima Udoka, because I really
did not realize until after the All Star Break class
season just how progressive imy Udoka was.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
As a coach on the offensive end of the floor.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
When he took the job in mid twenty twenty three,
I think a lot of people respected him for what
he did defensively in Boston. I think a lot of
people also remember I May as a defensive minded role
player during his time in the league. I did not
realize just how much he was going to emphasize the
three point shot because until the All Star Break last year,
(11:54):
I went and looked up the stats. Craig they ranked
fifteenth in three point in temps per game. They basically
prioritiz half court offerens Fred VanVleet all for in Shongoon,
limiting turnovers, breaking some of those bad habits. And then
at the Al Star Break they had that week off
to sort of rest, to install some more layers to
the offense. And ever since the All Star Break, it's
continued into the preseason. You hear them talking about wanting
(12:16):
to play with more pace, put up more threes. Over
the final two months last year, they were second in
the NBA. Only e May's old team in Boston averaged
more threes per game than the Rockets. The Celtic for
number one at forty two per game, and the Rockets
were number two at forty per game, And obviously read
being potentially a dynamic three point shooter feeds into that
even more. After the San Antonio preseason valley the other night,
(12:38):
when Emay was talking to us postgame, you could tell,
you know, he had a a sort of an air
of disgust in his voice when he talked about the
first quarter and the Rockets only putting up seven three
point shots. So I'm not going to say that, Imo
Udoka is you know, new age Mike d'An TONI, but
he's a little closer to MDA than I would have thought.
With e May going then to the job. May we
(13:00):
just didn't know you made that well because he had
only been a head coach for one year in Boston
before taking the job here. But I guess you know,
just that sort of surprised you in any way. And
when did you realize just how much they were going
to emphasize, you know, the math advantage that your former
broadcast Colleaguett Bullard would always talk about on the broadcast.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Well, the Rockets, especially under Mike d'An tony, took that
to just a level of the league hadn't seen it. Frankly,
it changed. I mean Mike originally in many respects changed
the sport when he was in Phoenix, and then when
he came to the Rockets, and their philosophy married with
his philosophy was like literally kind of like the perfect synergy.
And then they started playing that way, especially that first year,
(13:41):
you know, when they ended up winning sixty plus games,
and they literally the league changed because they realized in
order to compete with the Rockets, they had to try
to win the math game a little bit. But look again,
a lot of these the beginning of e Mays era
here a year ago was just sort of stealing principles
(14:02):
and things like that. And then as the season war long,
as you mentioned, they were able to kind of put
some more things in. Obviously they could continue to do
that because of the great continuity with this team. But look,
patient space isn't just about shooting threes. It's about utilizing
the strengths of this young group, which is the breathtaking
athletes that they have on the floor right scoring before
(14:24):
NBA half court defenses can get set, because even the
worst half court NBA defenses can be a bit problematic
to break down if you allow them to get setup.
And that's another reason why teams wanted it. Like to
play fast, but it takes advantage of their ability to
just run by people because they're just so young and
they're just so athletic. But also in the half court
(14:45):
said it allows them to play driving kick, it allows
them to play off of cutting off of Auburn Shingoon's
ability to pass from the elbows. So it just kind
of really opens every single thing up. And then again,
obviously the numbers game is that the vast majority of
players are able to shoot league average from three, which
(15:09):
is worth a heck of a lot more than what
the league average kin guy can do from the mid range.
And so you try to encourage those things. Going back
to again all the things that we talked about during
the time and when Mike dad Toni was here, and
so all that kind of marries itself. I mean, a
large part of the Rockets front office that was around
band is now still here, led going out by Rafel
and so yeah, so a lot of those principals are
(15:31):
still there, and again they don't have this is not
they don't have to install principles anymore. That the expectations
are there, and so now they can really start focusing
on some other things, which is very different now in
year two of e made than it was when we
first got the job.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah, and it feels like again the All Star break
last year was when the switch was sort of flipped.
And I think it's important to note that because one
of the questions going into this season.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
We know how Jalen.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Finished last year, perhaps the last few games that but
standing because I think by that point a lot of
people were sort of checked out. The season was over
for the Rockets and a lot of teams in terms
of playoff contention. So those games playing out the string
in April maybe not quite the same intensity as you
see in March when the Rockets had that eleven game
winning streak went thirteen and two, And so the narrative
it's out there is, Okay, the Rockets took off Jalen
(16:20):
Green specifically, but it was after all for Inch Shing
Goon got hurt. So how does all for inch Shing
Gooon get integrated alongside that March version of Jalen Green
and with that new offense that we've been talking about. However,
I think when you actually look at last season, there
was a good three weeks coming out of the All
Star break before Stingoon got hurt in which he was playing.
(16:41):
Yet they were taking more threes. They were making these
strides in terms of, you know, adapting to that system
that he may wants to run and you know taking
off the training wheels that I guess you can call
it when he had starting office tenure in Houston. So
what do you think as far as you know, reintegrating
all for inch Shin Gooon and Is there any concern
you have with sort of fitting him back with you know,
(17:03):
the way they played after the ultar break last year.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
No, I don't have any concern about it, and I
think that we've both those guys had really good preseasons. Yeah,
so it seemed to work in the preseason. Uh again,
preseason is not regular season, and you got to take
some of that with the greatest salt. But no, ultimately
I do not have any concerns whatsoever. It does seem
(17:29):
like that Jalen has become so much more comfortable, which
I think is important for his growth, being off the
ball and being more comfortable and catch and shoot situations,
which allows everything else on the offense to continue to
flow out. A Alp has always been a very unselfish
(17:51):
uh player with how he approaches the game, And so
now I have zero concerns about those two guys meshing
and ultimately everything uh mess, you know, meshing together for
the entire team. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I think in the preseason one of the most encouraging
data points was just how comfortable Jalen seemed playing off ball.
He had some catch and shoots. We saw the New
Orleans game in particular, which was probably the closest thing
to address rehearsal. He had really nice footwork, He attacked
drives when he had a big switched on to him,
and he took advantage of the mismatch, and I thought
(18:23):
it was very encouraging that it wasn't the formula for
March after Shinoon went down. When a lot of those
games when he had that incredible march, it felt like
things ran disproportionately through Jalen. And of course you're going
to feed the hot hand, that's smart coaching, but at
the end of the day, you want to know can
he thrive in other settings, And it felt like to
(18:45):
me that he did that.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
You seem more calm, more poised, more on balance, was
taking better shots. Obviously, he is an absolutely a plus
level athlete, and that's always be in case since he
steppedoot in the league. That's never a question. But for him,
it was always about quality of shot taking, finishing consistency.
(19:11):
You know, the same thing could be said on a
smaller level for Jabari, which is the case for a
lot of young players, like they were so much better
at all them than they were on the road, but
just a level of consistency that this team needs to
be successful and I think he certainly has demonstrated that
so far from what we've seen from this group in
the preseason.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I think it's reasonable to expect this group to be
a top ten defense.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Is that fair? I mean they pretty much were last year. Yeah,
they pretty much were last year. And I think, and
now you asked, unless something crazy goes wrong, they will
continue as long as spread van bleetchs running the offense,
turn ball security will continue to be a priority, which
is one big reason why one main reason why they
improved last year defensively is they just stopped turn the
(19:57):
ball over and they not giving up free opportunity. He's
on grim runs and transition opportunities. So they improved so
much in those two areas just because they stopped turning
the ball over. So as long as Fred is healthy,
that's the presumption, right that they will continue to have
a priority in terms of their ball security. So that
should be there. And then Tarry Easti is back at
healthy and you're adding Steven Adams, and then you have
(20:19):
a Men Thompson in a year or two, and this
guy is going to make multiple all defensive teams, and
obviously Dlinky defend, and Fred can defend and reach Shepherd
can defend. I mean, even Reid is defensively seems to
be in the very much in the mold. It is
kind of cool I think that he's on the same
team with Fred because you've got two smaller point guard
(20:39):
right who both play defense so well with their hands
and so, Yes, I think the expectation is that this
group is going to be one of the best defenses
in the league this season. Again, and I don't see
any reason why, unless they have significant injuries to multiple players,
why they wouldn't be one of the better defense. This
(21:00):
isn't the league this year.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Yeah, I would agree, And so the question is can
they also get to a top ten or at least
top fifteen offensive level, because I think that's what you
need to be a playoff team, especially in a loaded
Western conference. You can't give up on offense what you're
getting on defense. I think for a lot of last
year they were around ten on defense, but around twenty
(21:21):
on offense, and so that evens out.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Very existing at the offensive end, especially on the road.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, So what is the key to getting the offense
to an average or above average level?
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Is it individually.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Someone like Jrealen and or Shingoon taking the next step
to consistently be an All Star?
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Is it the collective? You know?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
One thing that encourages me is that with Tarry Easton
and Steven Adams being added to the rotation, they're very deep.
They rebound the ball very well, especially the offensive glass.
We saw in the preseason the game they lost in Utah,
which they led for the majority of the time that
the rotation players played, but they were minus fifteen for
the game as a whole in rebounding. The three games
they won, they were an average if I think, plus fourteen,
(22:05):
So that could be a key. Do you look at
it more in terms of them needing an individual star
to breakout? Is it more about the collective crashing the
glass to pace the depth? What is it that they
need to get that offense to a top ten or
at least top fifteen level.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Well offensive rebounding, I guess we'll start there. That is
going to be one of the key principals for this
team this season, Like as in, all five guys on
the floor going to crash the offensive glass. They believe
that they can continue to have one of the best
transition defensive groups in the league and also be one
(22:40):
of the elite offensive rebounding teams in the league, So
they're going to be sending everyone to the offensive glass.
I don't think that necessarily has Obviously, second chance opportunities
are big, but I don't think that per se has
much to do with them becoming a better and more
consistent offense. Obviously can get more cracks at it. Hopefully
that leads to right addition opportunities, but that that is
(23:02):
going to be one of their key principles this season.
But ultimately, look to your other point, someone becoming an
All Star and or preferably All NBA level guy is
still something that the organization needs and is looking for,
because once you get to that point with either a
(23:24):
player or players, then you become a team that is
a legitimate threat to make deep playoff runs and then
ultimately can consider yourself a legitimate championship contender. That is
still a goal that is still something that needs to
happen with this team moving forward. But in terms of
(23:46):
this season and becoming better on offense, I think just collectively,
it's about shot making, particularly translate. They were a pretty
good all team last year. Their shooting splits were so wild.
I mean, they the irony was that they defended the
three so much better at Toyota Center, they shot the
three so much better at Toyota Center, and the results
(24:07):
were in their record. And then when they went on
the road, they didn't defend the threequot as well on
the road, and they certainly didn't shoot the three as
well on the road either. And so to me, it's
just comes down the consistency of shot making. You start
making more shots, particularly threes, you're going to automatically become
a more efficient offense. And if that happens, blended with
(24:29):
their ability to run the floor and to crash and
get second chance opportunities, hopefully that if they can, hopefully
they can become at minimum a league average offense. But
I think the only way that happens, it just simply
comes down to shot making. They solved a lot of
the issues last season except the consistency of shot making,
(24:50):
and so to me, that's the one big key to
their success this season. Can they consistently shoot the basketball
this year high clip to become a more efficient offense.
If they do, with their ability to defend it, they're
gonna win a lot of games.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Do you have a sense for which of those young
guys is potentially the closest to taking that leap that
might take this franchise from where it is today, which is,
you know, realistic goals of making the postseason to actually
getting to that contention level. I think the easy answer
would be either Jalen or all p because they're in
(25:27):
your four the rest of the other young core guys,
or either rookies year to year three. Perhaps Jalen and
Shingula are also and to prove it, you're contractually we'll
see what happens by Monday's extension deadline. Do you have
a sense for which of those young guys might be
closest to, you know, taking that leap to being, you know,
an all star level player that you know this team
(25:47):
can can build around.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
You know, honestly, I really don't know. Look, the first
half of last season, apprin Chingun played like an All
Star and was played like he was basically a top
thirty player in the league most of last season when
he was on the floor. The Rockets need Fred van
Fleet on the floor. He's their most important player because
he just gets things organized and settled, and he is
(26:12):
so important to their success. But last year, obviously Shengoon
I think was the closest. The month of March that
Jalen had was obviously all Star All NBA caliber with
what he was doing at both ends of the floor
and the numbers he was putting up in the ability
and his efficiency shooting the basketball. Now, Jalen's had great
(26:33):
closes to each of his seasons that he's been in
the league. I think this particular go around last March
there was something get there were just different and so
he certainly played like that. But I think ultimately the
question still remains, can they get one of it? Look
a Men Thompson, I think, as I mentioned earlier, he's
(26:53):
going to be an All NBA level defender. Can he
We've seen to make a couple of threes, Can he
at least knocked out enough. I think it's I think
it's ultimately really important for him if he's going to
step into that conversation, he's got to be able to.
He does so many things so well, but I think
to be that level of a player, you've got to
(27:15):
have some level of efficient perimeter shooting to thrust yourself
into that conversation. We'll see how that goes. But I
think that's still something that this team is needing because
if they had a clear cut guy like that, say
like Shay Gilges Alexander right then you're talking about, well,
not just a team that can they make the play
(27:36):
in or can they get into the back end the
playoff picture, then you're talking about a team that could
potentially seed much higher in the West. And they just
don't have that guy as of right now, so I
don't I won't really know. I hopefully hopefully it's multiple guys,
because then you really cook him with gas and then
you really have something to build from and with for
(27:57):
the future. But I think we'll have to wait and
see it happen again. And Shangun has shown flashes, JALENK.
Green has shown flashes. I think a Men Thompson has
some of that ability in him as well. But we'll
just have to see how it ultimately shakes out. And
that's the biggest thing. That's the thing that this team
still I think that's still the biggest overlying question with
(28:18):
this group. Can they get a guy or guys to
really step up and become not just a top thirty
top thirty five level player, but can they ultimately become
a top twenty all NBA caliber player. And then if
you get somebody like that, then you're really going to
be good and you're really going to be set up
well for a long time because of the youth and
(28:38):
the talent on this team.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
So in terms of taking that next step, and you
probably have to you know, crawl before you walk, walk
before you run. You're probably not going to have the
Oklahoma City type leap because at this point you don't
have a shay Gil just Alexander to go from.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
You know, two years ago Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Was forty and forty two, and last year they were
fifty seven and twenty five with the best record in
the West.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
That's probably a.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Bit too ambitious in terms of expectations for this season.
I think what you would like to see is going
from forty one to forty one last year or something
in you know, the mid to upper forties. That gets
you solidly in the play and mix, and maybe you
get lucky and you get to up to five or
six in the Western Conference. But obviously that's difficult because
you look at the West. I mean, you were forty
one and forty one last year, but it would have
required being forty six and thirty six ten days over
(29:21):
just to be in.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
The top ten.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
And you look at this season, there's only two teams
in the West Portland and Utah that are clearly rebuilding.
So you've got ten teams in front of you've got
to pass at least one of them, and you've also
got two teams behind. You had Memphis in San Antonio,
They're at least going to be trying, So it's not
going to be easy. When you look at those ten
teams that were ahead of the Rockets last year, I
think maybe the Clippers, with the uncertain situation with Kawhi
(29:44):
Leonard losing Paul George in the offseason, that's one target
to potentially jump. Are there any teams that you look
at and be it because of age, injuries, whatever the
case may be, that are potential targets for the Rockets
to perhaps, you know, leap in the standings if they
want to make a serious post season push.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Well, like, injuries are inevitably part of every season, Memphis
was decimated by them. As long as they're healthy, I
think they're in my opinion there and as long as
they're healthy and Zach Edy can walk and chew gum
at the same time, which appears to be the case. Yea, there,
I think they I think they're without a doubt, one
of the six best teams in the regular season UH
(30:23):
in the Western Conference. Like inevitably a team is going
to fall back like Memphis did last year because of
an injury UH situation. The Lakers last year got but
the starting group that they're going to go with this year.
If memory serves, when they were on the floor together,
they were really really good can but they also had
(30:45):
incredible health from both Anthony Davis and Lebron James last year.
Is that something that's going to happen again? Maybe not
necessarily with Lebla. Lebron, even though as as he continues
to age the way he has, I think is probably
of a less of a concern of injury concerns with him.
But Anthony Davis had one of his healthiest seasons he's
ever had, and injuries have always been part of his calculus,
(31:09):
So can he ultimately stay healthy? New Orleans has a
ton of talent, but the question always remains. Like Zion
played a career high seventy games last year. Can that
be expected again moving forward, will find out. I think
the injuries will play a role in things. You know,
a lot of teams could be one injury most the
(31:29):
vast majority of teams are basically one key injury away
from not being there. And so I think those are
some of the teams that perhaps because of the injury concerns,
that might be a team that they ultimately could leap.
But again, we're gonna have to find out. The Rockets
this year. In my opinion, they are going to be
I think they're going to be significantly better this year
(31:51):
than they were last year, although I have no idea
how that's ultimately going to translate into the win column.
As you mentioned, it took forty six wins last year
just to get into the back end of the play
in race, as Sacramento and Golden State each had forty
six wins. I think with the depth and the talent
in the West, my guess, this is just a guess,
(32:13):
I think that number might be closer to forty four
this year than forty six because there's just going to
be so much competition against these groups, and so I
think the Rockets certainly have the ability to ultimately get there.
But again, and we got to hope the Rockets have Look,
the Rockets have depth to deal with injuries, but they
(32:35):
couldn't afford a catastrophic injury, say to Fred Van Bliet,
So yeah, I mean, I think again. I think long
winded answer to your question was, I think those are
some of the teams I've pointed out that ultimately you
could point to the Clippers, as you mentioned, are not
starting off on a great foot here with the Kawhi
letterd situation. I certainly think that's a team ass of
right now that you can see the Rockets passing. But
(32:58):
we'll say, you know, I think again, I think it
comes down to their offensive consistency and then especially getting
a little bit better on the road. And I certainly
think they have the group that can get into the
top ten, but left it won't see.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
I think when you look at the schedule, the first
month of the season is really important for the Rockets
because the big advantage Houston has compared to most other
teams is continuity. They bring back most of last year's group,
so they should be able to hit the ground running
in a way that most other teams that we know
how crazy the NBA is each off season in terms
of integrating new pieces, the Rockets, other than Reed Shepherd,
(33:34):
and he seems to be integrating very very quickly, aren't
really having to make many changes. I guess Steven Adams,
but I think Steven's type guy. He does what he does,
and so the Rockets should have an advantage, a disproportionate
one early in the year based on the amount of
returning players or turning production guys that know the system.
And then when you look at the first month of
the year scheduling wise, the first eight games, you open
(33:56):
with Charlotte, you're going to be favored in that game.
You play the Spurs three times in the first couple
of weeks, they're gonna be without without Devin Biziel, yep, exactly.
And Chris Paul, even though he's CEP, he is new
and so that's going to be a transition.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
Yep. Thirty nine or whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Yeah, and then you get middle of November, so you've
got the Pistons, the Wizards, You've got a couple of
home games against the aforementioned Clippers. You've got a couple
of home games right before Thanksgiving against the Trailblazers. So
it's a relatively soft open to the year with a
team in Houston that should be disproportionately better because they
(34:34):
have so many players coming back. So with all that
in mind, is it more important for the Rockets because
it feels like it is to me to get off
to a good start given that they have these, you know,
relative advantages.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Yes, I think it's extremely importan because I think the
schedule the back end is very difficult. So yes, it
is really important for them to get off to a
hot start. Look, I think got Oklahoma City early in
the season. Hartenstein is out Lucas. Look, Lucas good for
fifty every time he plays the Rockets, but he's basically
hasn't really done anything with Eletts in the preseason. I
(35:06):
don't think they're probably I know, Lucas Luca and Agetti
kills Houston, but you're gonna catch them early in the year.
So maybe he's instead of good for fifty, maybe he's
only good for thirty eight against the Rockets in that
particular situation. So yeah, I think it's really important for
them to take advantage and get off to a great
start and set the tone. And I think that will
(35:27):
only fuel what's already a really confident group based on
what they were able to do at the end of
last year, and then again already having the comfort level
and the contin anyway that they have heading into this season.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yeah, and perhaps some of these star Layton teams are
a little weaker early in the year because some of
these big names played internationally this offseason. The Rockets only
really had to deal with that with Jock Landell and
Dylan Brooks, who you know, jibblin is certainly important to
the team, but you don't see the Rockets leaning on
Dylan in a way that you know the Lakers, for example,
will be leaning on Lebron and Ad after that Olympics
(36:00):
run in Paris. So who knows, maybe there's a little
bit of a hangover effect there that the Rockets disfortunately
benefit from because their guys are a little bit fresher,
also a lot younger, a lot deeper the advantages that
you've been describing over the last few minutes, Craig, Before
we close out the pod, I want to get back
to Space City Home Network because as mentioned in introducing you,
this is part of our Meat the Broadcaster series. We
(36:22):
had Vanessa and Matt on last month, and so one
of the things that Paolo and myself we always ask
the broadcasters is for you to talk about the other
guys or girl in Vanessa's case, that you work with
and that you're traveling with, because obviously there's a lot
of camaraderie when you're out on the road.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
First road trip, You've.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Got two and three days in San Antonio next weekend.
So tell us a little bit about working with those
three and give us some fun facts about each of
them that someone watching the broadcast might not know about
those Well.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
First of all, we're all very close, love working with everyone.
We get a lot great no issues there. There's a
lot of playful ribbing that goes on amongst the group,
for sure. So yeah, absolutely loved the group, me being well,
(37:15):
at least amongst the TV side, me being the old
man of the group. They certainly make sure that I'm
aware of that at all times, even though I'm not
all that old yet, even though I am the oldest
guy on the on the TV side there, but now
really enjoy work with everybody. We go out to dinner,
we hang out. It's a lot of fun. I mean,
it really is a ton of fun, you know. Matt
(37:40):
Thomas is like the nicest guy ever. I mean, he
and I have known each other for thirty years.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
So when he ultimately got the radio job, when I
started splitting Rady on TV, when when Bill stopped traveling,
I was really happy to see that because Matt is
one of my really really really good friends.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
Uh in the business. Love that guy. Ryan is awesome,
you know, Ryan, Ryan came into a situation where, you know,
it's odd that an analyst has hired for an organization
that he really had no ties to to begin with.
But I think he and I and now heading into
his fourth season here, has we've really developed. We've grown
(38:26):
together with one another as we've learned each other, our
chemistry has improved significantly. Obviously is the team has improved.
It's made our lives a lot easier as well. It's
a lot easier to to call games for a team
that's competitive then there than it is for one that
is not, but really enjoy working with them. He's such
he is an absolute First of all, he is a
(38:48):
legit giant who eats like nobody's business. But he is
like the sweetest guy ever. And then and and Vanessa
is She's Odding her third season working with us, and
it's been awesome adding stories and vignettes and a ton
of fun to hang out with. She's like a human
juke box. So her music knowledge is like insane, Like
(39:10):
any song, any lyrics you can come up with basically
at the top of your head, as long as it's
not some obscure DM thing that I'm a big fan of,
She's got it down. But now we have incredible chemistry.
Love the group. We have a lot of fun. I
really enjoy working with another, with one another, no egos,
no bitterness, no issues, and you know, we work at
(39:33):
the same thing with our director Adam that travels with
us kind of part of the group, and the media
folks of the Rockets led by Tercy Hughes and now,
so it's a really fun group. Keeps me young at heart,
shall we say. And yeah, I really look forward to
to the opportunity to get back at this. I was
super excited to be back with the preseason. Can't wait
(39:54):
for the regular season to get underway. And I think
we're all going to have a ton of fun. And
our job again is to inform and to entertain.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
And hopefully that we will be able to do that
again this season Karok Sessions. Vanessa says that Matt basically
knows no music post nineteen ninety two pretty much.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Yeah, he's he's seventies. He's seventies. I'm a little bit
more over the board. That was that was fun, but yeah, Matt,
Matt is basically nineteen seventy That's why he came last
in the in the Twitter pull of karaoke songs selected
because yeah, he just you know, he just basically went
(40:33):
stuff fro nineteen seventy seven, and especially for the younger
audience that's on x slash Twitter, nobody has any clue.
Not that those songs aren't good. Some of his selections
were bad, but generally speaking, up, I enjoy music from
the seventies as well, but the younger crowd is just
not going to jive with that. So yeah, yeah, understandable.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
So this is year two under Spacity Home Network, right, yeah, yeah,
it was about this time year real.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah, it has changed, It has changed names and ownership
so many times in the last five years.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
But yes, I think this is yes. But what I
mean is the switch to fully like team owned. When
Warner Brothers Discovery gave the rights back to the Astros
and the Rockets, and so there's little bonus things you
can do when it's fully controlled by the team that
you can't when there's a larger RSN. And a good
example with the Astros, you know, when they're in the playoffs.
(41:26):
Unfortunately this year their playoff run is very short, but
they can do these postgame shows in a way that
you know, baseball does not have any local TV broadcast
during the playoffs, and so when there was an RSN,
there was this huge void when it comes to you know,
you have all these broadcasts during the year, and you're
accustomed to, you know, thirty minutes to an hour of postgame.
(41:48):
You hear from the coaches, you hear from the players.
There's people such as yourself and Vanessa and Ryan that
fans grow to love because they hear your voices almost
every day. And then in the playoffs, when the games
are at their biggest, it's almost like the game, you know,
it ends and then there's nothing, and there's this void.
And when the team was able to take control, then
there were all sorts of additional things that sort of
(42:11):
supplemental things, let's call them, that were added to you know,
the usual repertoire. So I know there's a ways to
go with the Rockets. First, you got to get to
the playoffs and the NBA. It is different because the
NBA does a lot for local broadcast during the first round.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
Right, this is our last year. This is the last
chance for us to do it. Oh, it goes away
after this year, but the new TV deal kicks in
next season. We are just like Major League Baseball and
done at the end of the regular season. Ooh, I
did not realize this is it. So yes, for our sake,
for our ability to do a playoffs series, it's got
to be love then, not just make the play in,
but the playoffs, because this is the last chance we
(42:47):
ever have to do it.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
But to circle back to the question, the long winded
question that I was trying to ask, are there more
things that you can do with Space City Home Network
that you couldn't do in any of those previous iterations
Because you guys have a little bit more flexibility.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
There's a lot more access in terms of features and vignettes.
Last year we started micing up coaches and players. The
plan this year is to do that more often than
we did last year. So I think that's going to
be really cool. The miked up stuff. How many times
ultimately happens this year, it's kind of a little bit
(43:25):
of a wait and see, but the expectation this year
is to get a lot more guys and email miked
up and have that sound for people who are watching
throughout the game. I think that stuff is really cool,
really adds to the broadcast. But just the general support
from the Rockets last year was, you know, just kind
(43:45):
of learning the business a little bit from both the
Astros organizational perspective and the Rockets as well. But they're
the ownership is really behind us getting and showing as
much access and behind seen stuff as we can with players,
and so I think again you're gonna see a little
bit more, hopefully a lot more of that this season
(44:08):
as we're doing different things. We do have a new
producer this year coming over, so we're changing up things
with that and that will be a continued work in
progress as the as the season goals along. You know,
we're doing we're doing our opens the differently this season,
and again that's a little bit of a work in progress.
We're looking at trying to do things a little bit
(44:29):
different there and to do something different things throughout the
course of the broadcast. But the teams have been awesome obviously,
you know, the led by Gretchen Shecher is the president
of Business Operations, who I've known for like twenty plus years.
She's super supportive of everything that we do, and so yeah,
I think ultimately one thing you're going to see is
(44:50):
a lot more micd up players and access and sound
like that, stuff like that throughout the course of the season.
I think that'll be really fun because I thought it
was a really cool add to what we had last season.
And then you know, hopefully some additional synergy with Kevin
and Calvin and the pre and postgame shows and things
like that. So yeah, I'm excited about it and excited
(45:11):
to you know, six months is too much time for
me to to not do what I what I love
to do, and I'm just absolutely happy to be back
doing it. Yeah, and we are happy to be listening
for sure, Craig.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
I also know that you had the broadcast meetings in
Secaucus a few weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Right, Yes, I personally did not attend, but if you
do want to ask some questions about it, I do
have the intel.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
So yeah, I was gonna ask if there are any
points of emphasis from the league office. I know there's
like an officiating for them. They tell you about new
things for this year. Is there anything that's new to
this year that fans should be sort of on the
lookout for, particularly this one Twitter account named Bendubo's that
always likes to criticized officials.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Yeah, this year, for the first time in I don't know, two, three, four,
five years, the league is not put in any major
rule changes. So it's the first time quite a while
they haven't done that. Interesting. The biggest point of emphasis
and change is ultimately going to be the ability to
determine if there's a foul on a coach's challenge, because
(46:14):
that is coming off of the controversial non call in
that series the Western Conference Finals when with the Jaylen McDaniels. Yeah,
to hack down on Luca and the Now that's really
the main point of emphasis in terms of officiating this
season is allowing that mechanism for the officials to be
(46:35):
in place provided that there is a coach's challenge that
will trigger that replay. Although the wrinkle with that and
hoping I'm getting this part of it right, So if
you're the team that is challenging that the ball should
be on and there was a foul on your guy.
(46:56):
I don't think that part of it. We did have
a session the league did just recently, about a week
or so ago, did have a follow up session about
that particular rule. And now I'm forgetting the nuance there.
I wrote it down and I just don't have that
in front of me. But there is going to be
a tad bit of a wrinkle there that might I
think might surprise some people. But I think ultimately in
(47:17):
lay games, situations like we saw the Western Conference finals,
hopefully a situation like that can ultimately be addulicated correctly.
Oh and another point of emphasis is going to be
ultimately straight lined pathway plays and fouls off of that
ass That's what they basically it's always been in the
rule book. But that's remember last year was it mid
(47:38):
February early February that people are like, oh, they're they're
officiating the game a lot ripper around these drives. That's
going to continue to be a point of emfits here.
You basically just can't dribble into someone to get easy foul. YEP.
It's basically if the defender takes a driver off his line,
it's ultimately a foul. But if he allows and there's
some marginal contact there to maintain his dry lane and
(48:00):
it's not a foul. That's one The verticality in terms
of defending and challenging shots, it's going to be there.
And that's something that the Rockets have actually worked on
quite a bit in training camp, was defending with verticality
around the rim ass to not draw fowls. Oh so
here it is. I think I think the renkal To
that coaches challenges thing is the team or maybe that's
(48:24):
just an experiment in the G League. Okay, I'm just
gonna stop talking about that one nu once. Forget baby,
I have it, I have it wrong. We'll just have
to see how it plays out. But but there, you know,
that was the primary things that you're going to look
at from an officiating standpoint this season. Many handed entire segment.
You can probably reduce it to ten seconds at mostly
the five minutes that I spent trying to look at
my notes here.
Speaker 2 (48:44):
Sorry, but fair enough, bult have it out a little bit,
all right? To bring this full circle, what ultimately makes
this a successful season that's the you know, the million
dollar question. I feel like probably multimillion dollar question hanging
over this franchise. What needs to happen this year so
that when we're looking at it in you know, next May,
I would love to say next year, and that might
(49:04):
be a little bit ambitious, but whatever, the season ultimately
ends regular season and hopefully playoffs. What makes this season
potentially a success.
Speaker 3 (49:12):
Well, you know, the irony is that we were all
thrilled with how last year went, and they went forty
one and forty one, but everyone in the building, from
the coaches and the players, were not happy. But that
their goal was I noticed, me, I'm playing or layoffs.
So that's to me that that's ultimately what makes the
season a success. Another step forward means that this team,
at minimum of the playing team, and I think if
that's the case, then you can consider the progressing growth
(49:33):
of this group a continued step forward. To me, yeah, ultimately,
I think that's what it comes down that the goal,
this team's goal is to make the play in and
or play offs, and that's what they're playing for this year.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
Yeah, and if they do that, then at a bare minimum,
you've taken another step and the rebuild and the trajectory,
and I think ultimately the most important it's not just
that you get to the playoffs, because I don't think
anyone's really looking at this as year that you can
win a championship. But the idea is that playing on
that big stage helps all these young guys take the
(50:06):
next step in their development, right for.
Speaker 3 (50:08):
Sure, and I certainly think it did in many respects
sure last year when they started playing meaningful as you mentioned,
outside of some of the handful of games in April, right,
they were playing meaningful games, got themselves in the race
where they were a legitimate threat to Gold Stadi, in
particular at the time of trying to leapfrog them to
make the plan obviously fell a bit short. But yeah, yeah,
(50:30):
playing meaningful games late in the season, getting into the
plane and playoffs, getting that kind of experience with this team,
it's all part of the growth and the movement forward.
That is the goal for this team, and I think
if they don't achieve that, then I think ultimately at
the end of the season, you was seeing Ayodoka and
these players saying that they did not accomplish what they
wanted to accomplish this year, good stuff, Craig, thank you
(50:52):
so much for the time anytime. Thank you. All right,
that's where we.
Speaker 2 (50:55):
Will wrap it for today's show, and if you got
more content for the next one, best place to get it,
as always, is online where you can follow me on Twitter,
slash x at Ben Dubo's and this show at the
Logger Line, or if you go to the logger Line space,
you can find our link tree that's got links to
our distribution partners Apple, Google, Spotify and so on and
so forth. If you'd be kind enough to subscribe leave
pods to review at your location of choice, obviously we
would appreciate that. Also on that same link tree you
(51:17):
can find links to our friends, sponsors partners of the program,
USA Today's Rockets, WHI, our Carback Brewing, Sports Talk seven
ninety hit up those links that you can enjoy their
content as well. All right, With those plays complete, we'll
adjourn for today for Craig. I'm Ben, Thanks always for listening,
and please come back soon for another new episode of
the Logger Line.
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