December 2, 2025 • 27 mins
After routing the Jazz one day earlier, the Rockets fell short on night two of a road back-to-back. For Houston (13-5), Monday’s setback was just its third loss in 16 games.
On the “ClutchFans Live” podcast show, Ben DuBose and Dave Hardisty break down the key storylines, including defensive and rebounding issues that surfaced once Steven Adams (rest) was held out. With injuries and absences piling up, the prospect of more back-to-backs in the days and weeks ahead could prove daunting.
This episode can also be viewed in video form on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clutchfansDOTnet/streams
On the “ClutchFans Live” podcast show, Ben DuBose and Dave Hardisty break down the key storylines, including defensive and rebounding issues that surfaced once Steven Adams (rest) was held out. With injuries and absences piling up, the prospect of more back-to-backs in the days and weeks ahead could prove daunting.
This episode can also be viewed in video form on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clutchfansDOTnet/streams
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome into the show, ladies and gentlemen. Rockets lose a
tough one, one thirty three to one twenty five in
Utah tonight. That was surprising in some ways. I'll just
say that Rockets fell behind big early, didn't have the juice,
let's just say, and basically they fall. They nearly overcome
(00:25):
a twenty one point deficit, mainly behind guys like Shangoon
and Katie in the fourth quarter and surprisingly Jay Shawn
Tate giving this team a burst, but it just wasn't enough.
One thirty two to one, thirty three to one twenty five,
Rockets fall in Utah.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I'm here with Ben. Ben.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
It really took until game eighteen for the Rockets to
lay an egg sort of speak to sort of be like,
where did this come from?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
But that's kind of what this game was.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Well. And it also took until game eighteen for them
to have their first night two of a back to back,
and that is something that is a red flag for
me moving forward. We'll see how they handle it. They
have another opportunity this weekend. This is a stretch we
mentioned going into this week with five games in seven days,
but I think the Rockets have thirteen back to backs
for the season. They hadn't had any until now December first,
(01:13):
So they're going to be coming up, especially in the
second half of the season, and especially the way they
are right now without Charlie Easton, without Dorian Phinney Smith.
Of course, they don't have Fred van Vleet for at
least the regular season, we suspect, so they're shorthanded to
begin with. Their best player is thirty seven years old,
Steven Adams is going to be load managed throughout the
(01:33):
regular season, you would expect. So this is a team
that you know, I mentioned on yesterday's show that the
glass half full view for the Rockets is that as
good as they've been. You know, their strength of schedule
was number four in the NBA going into this Jazz
back to back, and the rest of the season was
number thirty. Well, the glass half empty. The pushback and
a couple of people pointed this out to me on
(01:54):
social media the last few days was do those metrics
include back to backs? And they don't. In the schedule
metrics are solely based on who you play, the records
and home versus away, and so the Rockets have played
a lot of tough teams to start the year, They've
played a lot of road games, they had not had
any back to backs, and on paper, now, maybe this
will improve as the season progresses and they get Tarr easenback.
(02:16):
We hope Jorriyanfinny Smith. We'll see what Steven Adams availability
is moving forward. But on paper, this is a team
that you do worry about a little bit on back
to backs. Are they going to have the juice? Maybe
this was a little bit worse because there is some
altitude playing in Salt Lake City, but that's where this
game was lost. They came out lethargic, they built a
twenty one point depicite, they got within one in the
(02:37):
fourth quarter. I like that they fought. You mentioned jay
Sean Tate. Would he and Aaron Holliday enter the game
in the second half That sort of turned the momentum.
Katie and Shangoon, I thought they showed a lot of
heart and continue to play hard, even on a night
where it felt like the Rockets had so many shots
that were short from three point range. But yeah, at
the end of the day, if you're down twenty one
points with fourteen minutes left in the game, it's going
(02:59):
to be really hard no matter who you play, and
it caught up with them tonight, and I just think
going forward, you know, it's easy to chalk it up
as one of those games, because all in all it was.
There's nothing about tonight that is super concerning or something
that should be replicated, other than the reasons that I
think a lot of those shots were short, the reason
(03:20):
the defense for the first thirty four minutes was a
little lethargic. You do have to worry about, at least
until they get more bodies back, is this going to continue,
Because for me, this was a classic. You know, the
first half of this game, it felt like they were
sort of in mud, and so it would have been
a classic put Chari Easton in there and let them
create some chaos. Well there's no Charie Eason, and so
until they get whole, and maybe even when they do,
(03:41):
because you know, Kevin Durant is thirty seven years old,
I do worry about how they're going to handle back
to backs, and I think that's a valid concern moving forward.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, you know, we're probably gonna end up talking for
most of the time tonight just about the different issues.
I don't think we'll go like the full thirty minutes tonight.
But you know, I want to get this out of
the way first. Shan Gun was really efficient offensively, especially
came on strong in the third quarter when the Rockets
were down big and kind of was the offensive spark
for the team. Really, it was Tait that kind of
(04:11):
five offensive rebounds coming in and a night when what
was so surprising about this game was you look up
and the Rockets are getting crushed on the glass by
a team that's pretty good rebounding certainly, but you don't,
as you mentioned, you don't have Steven Adams.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Rockets were plus seventeen yesterday, by the way, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So it's really another contrast. Is Kiante George zero points
to I think he had twenty eight tonight. Yeah, It's
just it was really really interesting to see how kind
of lethargic and just they were not that bad. They
were not that inefficient offensively. Shangun git ten of his
first thirteen shots, and even with him doing that, the
(04:47):
Rockets were down nineteen points, twenty points at that point.
It's it was the rebounding and the inefficient three point shooting.
I think that were the biggest culprits.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Well and Kiante George going for twenty eight and eight
after yesterday going scoreless and having eight turnovers, people are
going to look at the guy across from him, which
for a lot of possessions is Reed Shepherd. And we
should also note that Reed got bingched and did not
play in the fourth quarter, and so you'll see people
put two and two together and say, wow, is this
a bad game for Reed? And it was. I thought Reed,
(05:17):
despite being just twenty one years old year two, he
also looked not quite himself. A lot of his open
threes were short. But I also think that this was
a product of the team as a whole just not
having the juice, because you know with Reed Shepherd, especially
year two, at his size, there's going to be some vulnerabilities,
and you have to hope, especially when he's alongside the
(05:39):
other starters, that the collective length and IQ is going
to be able from those other four guys to help
overcome whatever deficiencies there are in Reed Shepherd when he
gambles and gets out of position. I think on Sunday, well,
for starters, Reed had six stocks, so a lot of
those gambles paid off, but when they didn't, the Rockets
(05:59):
were flying around. They hadn't played since Wednesday, and so
those other four guys were able to overcome them. Tonight,
the Gambles weren't paying off. But I also think the
other four guys didn't have the juice and so the
issues got compounded. And so that's not meant to say
that Reid played well. He absolutely did not. But I
think it's sort of a confluence of Reed wasn't himself,
but when the collective juice isn't there from the other
(06:22):
four guys, it's gonna look really ugly because Reed is undersized,
he's your two, he's twenty one years old. And when
you combine that with the Rockets defense that you know,
the first half of the game, they gave up sixty
eight points. When they were down twenty one with two
minutes left in the third quarter, the Jazz had ninety
eight points. That's a poor effort all the way around,
and to the Rockets credit, they showed a lot of fight.
(06:43):
It would have been easy for the Rockets to say
not our night and just you know, accepted the l
and they didn't. They fought back, They got back to
within one. But ultimately, when you're fighting back from twenty
one down, like too many things have to go right
for you to win most of the time, and that's
what they ultimately found out tonight.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah, you know, with.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Reed Shepherd, we've talked about this a lot off and on,
and Reid has been special offensively lately, so we have
to balance this with what we're gonna you know what
I'm about to say. Certainly he is so he can
be so good offensively that you're going to overlook some
of this stuff. But tonight it was just over and
over and over again. I usually do clips and I
(07:23):
don't share them because I'm not gonna you know, I
know how some people can be about, oh why are
you posting a negative clip about this guy or that guy?
But Reid had just several instances tonight where he was smoked,
you know, either just direct on ball defense. You know,
there was one where he gambled and the guy just
spun right around him and left Shangun on a two
(07:43):
on one. They scored easily over Shangun, you know, and
it's all because he couldn't, you know, keep that guy
in front of him.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
The on ball.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Defensive issues are real, but he can look like a
special defensive player, because those gambles look amazing and he's
got great hands and playing off ball and he can
be terrific and I think he will get better on ball,
but that's just something that they're going to have to
figure out tonight. I just think it stuck out. It's
interesting he was plus two in the box tonight. But yeah,
(08:10):
as you pointed out, you know, he may needed a
defensive spark because they were getting burned pretty badly there
and we didn't see read the entire fourth.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
As a result.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
And by the way, there's a lot of comments in
the chat about what happened down in the structure of
that game, with the Rockets getting very foul prone, and
some people are questioning the officials. Other people are wondering
if the Rockets fouled because they're tired. It could be that,
But I think the bigger takeaway is that when you're
trying to overcome a big deficit like that, there's a
tendency to play too hard and you're also going to
(08:38):
have to expend a lot of energy in the comeback.
And I say that a lot. If you watch the
NBA or even college basketball on a frequent basis. The
reason that a lot of these big comeback bids don't
actually get over the finish line. You use so much
energy coming back from fifteen to twenty down that you
aren't able to have that finishing kick because you've had
to use so much just to get back into the game.
(08:59):
And so I think there's a little bit of that,
but there's also sort of the just a human nature
component that when you're trying to overcome that big deficit.
You know, there was a big play late in the
game where I thought a men tried to go for
the home run steal, he missed, and Lourie Martin and
got a wide open midrange shot to push it back
to six, and it was frustrating. I don't know that
amend necessarily tired. I think it's that he felt like
(09:20):
that he needed to make one of those Amen Thompson
type takeover plays and it just didn't happen. He was
a fraction of a second late and the result is
the mid range shot. But I think that just happens
when you know subconsciously that you're trying to flip a game.
You're trying to completely turn the momentum. And so what
I think this goes down What I think this comes
down to is don't fall behind by twenty one points
(09:41):
where you have to, you know, outscore the other team
by twenty one or twenty two or more over the
final fourteen minutes to win. That's really hard to do
physically and also emotionally. I think that's the story I
wouldn't make. I wouldn't make too big of a deal
out of anything that happened in the fourth quarter. I
think the biggest storyline here is that the Rockets built
a twenty one point toposite against a team that they
should never have been down twenty one points too. No
(10:04):
disrespect to the Jazz, but they're seven and thirteen for
a reason.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
You know, Shangun best player in for the Rockets tonight,
thirty one points. I should mention the fourteen assists he
had ten I believe it was ten. My halftime might
have been nine and eight rebounds. A really good offensive game,
certainly for Shangun. You know Kevin Durant, it's really interesting.
Late in the third Ryan Hollins broadcasting said how good
(10:27):
has he been? Kevin Durant referring to this game, And
I'm like, he's six of nineteen five turnovers at this point.
He really was pretty inefficient until the fourth quarter when
he came alive. Believe he hit four or six shots,
you know, was a big factor in the Rockets getting close.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
They cut it to one.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Then a couple of threes by the Jazz kind of
put it out of reach the rest of the way.
But thirty two points led the team in scoring for
KD ten to twenty five shooting. Yeah, this is Jabari.
It should be noted as well in the chat or
the chat didn't mention this. He did land in the
stanchion on a block attempt in a fast break. Thought
he might be hurt pretty bad, but he got back up,
(11:06):
played and then you could see the bruise under his eye,
black eye that he had to believe. It's his left eye.
That might be a factor for the next game. We'll see.
But Jabari was kind of a mixed bag. Had some
good plays early on, but missed some shots. Three a
knife from the field, one of six for three. Not
an efficient night for him.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
He was short on a couple as well. I mean
that was a theme across the board. So many of
their shooters were just short on threes, and I thought,
what was really telling to me, Dave. The Rockets actually
led late in the first quarter until I want to
say early in the second they were tied or slightly
in front. But after getting off to a pretty good start,
they were taking what I thought were some lazy shots
(11:49):
across the board, like a man had a good first quarter,
but he started falling in love with he took a
couple of threes, a mid range shot, they had an
above the break from Joshua Kogi. It just didn't feel
like they want wanted to aggressively attack the paint until
they fell behind by twenty one points. And that's why,
you know, I do put a little bit of an
asterisk on the stats in this game, and that once
(12:11):
the Jazz got up by twenty one points, like not
to take anything away from the fight the Rocket showed,
because you know, it would have been easy to sort
of pack it in and say not our night. But
it's also a little bit easier to score when the
opponent's just trying to not give up a backbreaking three.
And I think some of the stats the Rockets put up,
especially in the second half of that game, we're sort
(12:32):
of just taking advantage of a Jazz team that knew, hey,
we're ninety percent plus likely to win unless we do
something catastrophically stupid, and so the Rockets took what was there.
They fought back, but the Jazz knew they were in
a good position as long as they made a couple
of shots, and they ultimately did so. Sorry for hijacking
your feeth their date, but I just think, you know,
some of the stats, I think it's a mixed bag
(12:54):
because even though overall the offensive stats would tell you
it was a good night, I do think some of
it was, you know, the Rockets sort of I don't
want to say stat padding, because they did get to
within one with like four minutes lefts in the game,
But I do think some of those stats came easier
than you would think just based on the game flow,
you know.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
And we've talked about this before as well, and I'm
just curious if do you think that this team, the
Rockets team, the way it's currently rostered is staffed, can
they finish the year being the most efficient three point
shooting team, because we've kind of wondered will they regress?
You know, they're not, the matter of fact, they're one
of the worst as far as volume I don't want
to say worst. I mean the lowest volume that they
in the league, but the most efficient, and tonight they
(13:33):
just were not efficient from three point range, you know,
and you take away that superpower of the rebounding Adams
being a big factor. Usually you expect Capella to help
out a little bit. Tonight wasn't. Wasn't really. It took
Jayshawn take coming in to kind of bring some of
that back. You know, you take away that superpower, that rebounding.
I mean, you got an incredibly efficient game from Alprin Shanghu,
(13:53):
when when the defense is not there and you and
you know you don't have the rebounding advantage and your
three point shootings off, you know, you can get a
great nights from Katie and Shangun, You're still going to
lose the game.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
It's those things.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
To me that are really like the MVP of the Rockets,
the true superpower of the Rockets. That's how their offense
is so good, and it just it all wasn't there tonight.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Yeah. I think, you know, we talked earlier in the
game like even though KD and Shagoon had really good
statistical games, this is a game that reminds you that
they don't have a full blown MVP candidate, because when
the rebounding isn't there to the extent that it normally is,
when they've had a top two offense for most of
this season and they're not able to put up enough
(14:35):
threes at volume, where are they going to be able
to generate enough offense? And I know the box will
tell you that the offense was fine, that they lost
the game defensively, but a lot of that came again
game flow in the fourth quarter, being able to get
some very easy looks because the Jazz were just sort
of wanting to hold on and giving up certain spots
(14:56):
on the court to make sure they weren't giving up,
you know, threes to let the Rockets, you know, get
back into the game quickly. So I would urge anyone
that's looking at the box score to consider the context
of the game and when a lot of those points
were put up, because for the game as a whole, yeah,
it was a game where without being able to hit
threes at volume and without getting the extra effort plays
(15:18):
the second and third chances that you normally get when
it's Steven Adams in tandem with all prind shining Gooon
attacking the glass. By the way, for whatever reason, Shangoon
in the Glass has not been quite the same the
last week, week and a half. Not sure why, but
it's something that you know, I'm keeping an eye on.
You're right, like, they have a lot of good offensive pieces,
but they don't have, you know, that super transcendent piece
(15:41):
to where they can overcome it. The transcendent piece is
the offensive rebounding when they don't have that. You know,
they have a lot of good pieces, but they don't
have the one that you can say one hundred percent
is going to make you okay.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yep, absolutely, uh you know that.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Just real quick before we kind of close up and
we'll talk there, just about a question that was asked
in the chat about out Tarri and DFS if we
know anything about when they'll be back.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Jacks are definitely a rebuilding team.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
They're going to expect them to tank near the end,
just to you know, avoid giving their picked oksee, but
they have some decent pieces, can't George didn't show it yesterday,
He certainly did today. Yeah, he looked a lot better tonight.
Clayton is not a bad player. I think he's got
a decent upside, you know, certainly.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, I was blanking.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Yeah, absolutely, that guy has a good, good future as well,
and of course marketing is really good. And they're missing
Walker Kessler. Yeah, I mean, I'm not don't get me wrong.
They're not like in my top five in the West
coming up or anything, but they you know, they're tough
out here and there when they when they bring it,
and tonight they certainly did. I think they look motivated
for after the loss. Let me just ask you what
you think. You know, I know I haven't heard anything
(16:51):
about DFS. I'm not sure if you have either, But
just when do we expect those guys back? I believe
Tari is how long.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Has that been?
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Yeah, it's been so that was the Portland game, So
that's been about two and a half weeks, so I
would think they said four to six weeks, So I
would think probably middle of next week. They have that
stretch between the sixth and the eighteenth where they have
only two games, so I would say middle of next
week will be four weeks. That's when we'll get an update.
(17:20):
And so my guess would be with Tari, assuming all
goes well with the recheck, then I thinkvill target that
stretch right before Christmas when they have a lot of
tough road games. They have the Nuggets in Denver. I
don't think the first I don't think the add on
the fifteenth is realistic unless he starts ramping up. But
I think the second game at Denver on the twentieth
(17:41):
and then the Lakers on Christmas, I think that stretch,
and they have the Clippers in between, they're in LA
National TV game. I could see that being the target
for Tari, who has some LA ties. So my guess
is Tari comes back before DFS, only because we're close
enough to where I think we're now inside of definitely
(18:01):
two weeks before there'll be a recheck with with DFS
and both of these guys. It should be noted it's
not going to be like a snap your finger situation.
They've been out long enough to where they're gonna need
a little bit of a ramp up period. My guess
is that DFS, because he's coming off of a surgery
and it's the lower leg that's going to take him
(18:22):
a little bit more time to sort of build up
his conditioning. With Tari, maybe he's not all out sprinting
but within the bleak, I'm guessing he's able to somewhat
stay in shape. So I would also think that the
ramp up process is a little bit less with Tari.
So just because A we have a timeline with Tari,
and B it's not a lower leg, so he can
stay in shape better, my guess is that Tari comes
(18:44):
back a little bit sooner. But that's strictly a guess
on my part. They've kept both of those close to
the best. Again, I haven't heard anything that sounds like
there was a setback with DFS, and so hopefully he's
back sooner rather than later. But if I had, if
I had to bet, just because there is a timetable,
it's not a lower leg, there's no surgery, he can
stay in shape, I would bet on tie before DFS.
(19:06):
And I think it's probably that road stretch before Christmas
that that they're sort of looking at. Internally.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, I'm surprised we don't have an update don DFS specifically.
I wonder if you know, we might want to, you know,
us behind the scenes see if we can't figure something out.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Yeah, go ahead, And to be clear, like I see
this on social media all the time, like why don't
media people ask they have asked exactly and then they say,
you know, he's he's working and will let you know
when we have an update, And I mean, what are
you going to say at that point? Like, we can't
make them say more than that. They're saying all they
have to say, and I'm not accusing them of lying.
(19:42):
They may not have more information, like I'm sure Emay
is waiting to get clearance from the medical staff, and
it's it's a frustrating situation. I get it. But A,
we can't make them talk. B. We don't know that
Ema one hundred percent, you know, has a timetable himself.
So the questions are being asked, the answers are vague,
and maybe there s don't entirely know themselves. But the
(20:03):
one peace of mind that I have, and I think
fans should have it as well, this was not something
that's a secret. The Rockets knew it when they signed DNFs.
He had the surgery in June, so they had the
medicals as long as there's no setback. And this an
issue that he played through the last couple of years.
So I don't think it's some you know, secret awful thing.
(20:25):
No it's a nagging issue, just like what Jay Shaun
Tate had, and you know, it took Tate a little
bit of time to sort of build himself back up,
and I think the same thing is happening here with
the FS to make sure that when he comes back,
they don't have to you know, pull back the way
you know last week they just send Tate to the
G League to get him back into rhythm a little
bit because it's so tough coming off that ankle surgery. So, yeah,
(20:46):
the questions are being asked, and I don't think, at
least from what I can tell, that there's anything huge
that's being hidden or that there was a setback. I
think it's just, you know, any surgery to a lower
leg is going to be it's gonna be time consuming,
it's gonna yeah, because it's not just the surgery, it's
not just the procedure, but it's also then building back
(21:09):
up to where you're capable of running up and down
an NBA court for you know, thirty ish minutes per
night and all that that entails physically. So it's frustrating.
But yeah, just between the nature of the injuries and
the timetables we have, I would bet. I'm sorry before DFS,
but that's nothing but strictly my guess, Ben.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
I was trying to throw one last bonus question to
you before we close up. You know, I'll set the
table here. Rockets play the Kings Wednesday. They played the
Suns in Houston on Friday. That will be Dylan Brooks homecoming.
As we speak right now, Phoenix is just laying waste
to the Lakers. Yeah in LA, and this is the
(21:47):
team that's above the Rockets. If the Lakers lose, and
it looks very likely they're down by twenty two with
five twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
To go, I mean the Nuggets lost in the Maps tonight,
so keep that in mind for this weekend.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Another surprising way missing.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Back and back on Friday and Saturday.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Yeah, they're missing Gordon more than I'm just kind of surprised.
Me well, I guess not surprised, but it hurts to
lose that game because Gordon went out early on. But
they're missing I think Aaron Gordon for sure. But Dylan
Brooks is fifteen of twenty five from the field, has
thirty three points plus twenty four in this game.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Do you worry at all?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
And I'm saying this is a way off of the
off topic a little bit here, because I do you
know the Lakers losing tights good news for us? Do
you worried all of the floor that this trade raised
the floor on the Suns and you own that twenty
seven and the twenty nine pick, and that you know
and in the next few years that that picks, maybe
you hurt the prospects of it.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
What do you think.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I wouldn't go there because I could honestly see it
going the other way too, and that if they overachieved
this year, it sort of suckers them into staying the
course and then all it takes, you know, to me
the Suns and I could be wrong, but they strike
me as a team that, you know, the salm is
greater than the individual part. They're well coached. I think
the chemistry is really good. But sometimes that can be
(23:04):
tough to sustain from year to year, especially when the
West is as loaded as it is. And so I
could see a world not saying it for sure will happen,
but I could see a role where they're worse than
expected last year because people don't I guess, account for
how much of this year was based on the chemistry now,
it could be that some of these young players they
have are better than we thought. And you know, the
big question with the Suns, you know, is Devin Booker
(23:26):
a top you know, fifteen to twenty player. Is is
he a top like thirty to thirty five player, Like
is he an All Star or an All NBA guy?
That's the big question, especially the money that he's making now.
And you know, if he's legitimately an All NBA guy,
then that sort of changes the long term trajectory as well.
I would say it's it's too easy, it's too early
to say. But for me, I'm more focused on the
(23:48):
younger guys. I think that's going to tell the tale
for twenty seven and beyond those picks. You know, Booker
and Dylan are good players with a lot of pride.
It doesn't surprise me that after being sort of written off,
they're off to a good start. I'm more curious about
Jalen when he comes back, because obviously we know Jalen
has a ton of upside. They have a few other
young guys as well, the kid from Duke that they
(24:11):
drafted it ten with the big thig At from the Rockets,
chief among them. You know, how did those guys feirit?
I think you know what they have right now is
a combination of, you know, two veterans with a lot
of pride in Booker and Dylan, and perfect chemistry, a
friendly schedule to start the year. In terms of the sustainability,
I think it's largely going to depend on do those
young guys take strides, and they might. It's it's possible.
(24:33):
I just think it's still a little bit too early
to say, but I will say I have a raised
eyebrow on that a bit more than I did to
start the year. Like it has made me a little
more uncomfortable to answer your question.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Gotcha all? Good, brother man. I appreciate it, Ben.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
I know it sucks being up eleven fifteen a night
to recap the rockets falling in Utah, which.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
You know I've got. I've got a question for you.
Since we've stayed on, we'll still cut it before thirty minutes,
but you asked me a bonus question, I'll ask you one. Yes.
So MAVs won at Denver tonight, that's night two of
the back to back in Dallas Phoenix night one in Houston,
and you mentioned as of now, the Rockets are slightly
behind the Suns. So if Steven is still unavailable for
(25:17):
half of a back to back and seeing the last
two days, what a difference he makes. Dave, if it's
your choice, do you play Steven against Phoenix or do
you save him for the Dallas game on the road.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Oh, that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I think I think you need him, boy with Ad
playing now, that's that's tough. Remember what happened, That's how
this all started. I would probably say Dallas now.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And I think about it.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I was going to say Phoenix initially, but I think
that's where this all started. I mean, Ad just feasted
on the Rockets traditional lineup, and then they countered in
that game with Adams and it just was like a revolution.
And I thought, well, this is this is a fluke.
You know that nobody expected this. They'll adjust blah blah blah,
and here we are, you know, almost a season later,
(25:59):
and double big is still a thing. So I think
that that's probably a matchup where they would need him,
assuming AD's playing healthy and everything.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
I think you and you and you're at home against
the Suns, and so that could be a game where
there should be a lot of juice in the arena.
Dylan Brooks, you know, his homecoming and so you know,
maybe your stay ready guys like Capella and Tate can
sort of help carry you a little bit in that one.
Like I'm torn because right now Dallas is certainly ahead
in the standings, but for matchup reasons, I sort of
look at it the same way. Like to me, Dallas,
(26:28):
if you're assuming they have a d and you don't
have Steven, that could be a tough one, especially if
it's night tubing back to back and we saw how
fatigued the Rockets were against the Jazz.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
YEP.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Absolutely, but you're right, it's a very, very tough decision.
I guess we'll see what they end up making. But
I think you want Gafford on Shanngoon because he does
well against Gafford.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I think he would struggle more with ad So we
will see.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Man.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
I appreciate you doing this, man, like I said eleven
fifteen at night after losing to the Jazz. But we'll
see hopefully better times. After the Rockets played the.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
It's not the end of the world.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
This is the first real disappointment.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Everything else has been really close against very good teams
and then this, this loss is just one that you know,
you can chalk up to a back to back or
whatever you want to do. But yeah, I wouldn't panic
at all about the Rockets. Appreciate all you guys. Thanks everybody.
We will see you all on Wednesday. Have a good one.
Welcome into the show, ladies and gentlemen. Rockets lose a
tough one, one thirty three to one twenty five in
Utah tonight. That was surprising in some ways. I'll just
say that Rockets fell behind big early, didn't have the juice,
let's just say, and basically they fall. They nearly overcome
(00:25):
a twenty one point deficit, mainly behind guys like Shangoon
and Katie in the fourth quarter and surprisingly Jay Shawn
Tate giving this team a burst, but it just wasn't enough.
One thirty two to one, thirty three to one twenty five,
Rockets fall in Utah.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I'm here with Ben. Ben.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
It really took until game eighteen for the Rockets to
lay an egg sort of speak to sort of be like,
where did this come from?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
But that's kind of what this game was.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Well. And it also took until game eighteen for them
to have their first night two of a back to back,
and that is something that is a red flag for
me moving forward. We'll see how they handle it. They
have another opportunity this weekend. This is a stretch we
mentioned going into this week with five games in seven days,
but I think the Rockets have thirteen back to backs
for the season. They hadn't had any until now December first,
(01:13):
So they're going to be coming up, especially in the
second half of the season, and especially the way they
are right now without Charlie Easton, without Dorian Phinney Smith.
Of course, they don't have Fred van Vleet for at
least the regular season, we suspect, so they're shorthanded to
begin with. Their best player is thirty seven years old,
Steven Adams is going to be load managed throughout the
(01:33):
regular season, you would expect. So this is a team
that you know, I mentioned on yesterday's show that the
glass half full view for the Rockets is that as
good as they've been. You know, their strength of schedule
was number four in the NBA going into this Jazz
back to back, and the rest of the season was
number thirty. Well, the glass half empty. The pushback and
a couple of people pointed this out to me on
(01:54):
social media the last few days was do those metrics
include back to backs? And they don't. In the schedule
metrics are solely based on who you play, the records
and home versus away, and so the Rockets have played
a lot of tough teams to start the year, They've
played a lot of road games, they had not had
any back to backs, and on paper, now, maybe this
will improve as the season progresses and they get Tarr easenback.
(02:16):
We hope Jorriyanfinny Smith. We'll see what Steven Adams availability
is moving forward. But on paper, this is a team
that you do worry about a little bit on back
to backs. Are they going to have the juice? Maybe
this was a little bit worse because there is some
altitude playing in Salt Lake City, but that's where this
game was lost. They came out lethargic, they built a
twenty one point depicite, they got within one in the
(02:37):
fourth quarter. I like that they fought. You mentioned jay
Sean Tate. Would he and Aaron Holliday enter the game
in the second half That sort of turned the momentum.
Katie and Shangoon, I thought they showed a lot of
heart and continue to play hard, even on a night
where it felt like the Rockets had so many shots
that were short from three point range. But yeah, at
the end of the day, if you're down twenty one
points with fourteen minutes left in the game, it's going
(02:59):
to be really hard no matter who you play, and
it caught up with them tonight, and I just think
going forward, you know, it's easy to chalk it up
as one of those games, because all in all it was.
There's nothing about tonight that is super concerning or something
that should be replicated, other than the reasons that I
think a lot of those shots were short, the reason
(03:20):
the defense for the first thirty four minutes was a
little lethargic. You do have to worry about, at least
until they get more bodies back, is this going to continue,
Because for me, this was a classic. You know, the
first half of this game, it felt like they were
sort of in mud, and so it would have been
a classic put Chari Easton in there and let them
create some chaos. Well there's no Charie Eason, and so
until they get whole, and maybe even when they do,
(03:41):
because you know, Kevin Durant is thirty seven years old,
I do worry about how they're going to handle back
to backs, and I think that's a valid concern moving forward.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, you know, we're probably gonna end up talking for
most of the time tonight just about the different issues.
I don't think we'll go like the full thirty minutes tonight.
But you know, I want to get this out of
the way first. Shan Gun was really efficient offensively, especially
came on strong in the third quarter when the Rockets
were down big and kind of was the offensive spark
for the team. Really, it was Tait that kind of
(04:11):
five offensive rebounds coming in and a night when what
was so surprising about this game was you look up
and the Rockets are getting crushed on the glass by
a team that's pretty good rebounding certainly, but you don't,
as you mentioned, you don't have Steven Adams.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Rockets were plus seventeen yesterday, by the way, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So it's really another contrast. Is Kiante George zero points
to I think he had twenty eight tonight. Yeah, It's
just it was really really interesting to see how kind
of lethargic and just they were not that bad. They
were not that inefficient offensively. Shangun git ten of his
first thirteen shots, and even with him doing that, the
(04:47):
Rockets were down nineteen points, twenty points at that point.
It's it was the rebounding and the inefficient three point shooting.
I think that were the biggest culprits.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Well and Kiante George going for twenty eight and eight
after yesterday going scoreless and having eight turnovers, people are
going to look at the guy across from him, which
for a lot of possessions is Reed Shepherd. And we
should also note that Reed got bingched and did not
play in the fourth quarter, and so you'll see people
put two and two together and say, wow, is this
a bad game for Reed? And it was. I thought Reed,
(05:17):
despite being just twenty one years old year two, he
also looked not quite himself. A lot of his open
threes were short. But I also think that this was
a product of the team as a whole just not
having the juice, because you know with Reed Shepherd, especially
year two, at his size, there's going to be some vulnerabilities,
and you have to hope, especially when he's alongside the
(05:39):
other starters, that the collective length and IQ is going
to be able from those other four guys to help
overcome whatever deficiencies there are in Reed Shepherd when he
gambles and gets out of position. I think on Sunday, well,
for starters, Reed had six stocks, so a lot of
those gambles paid off, but when they didn't, the Rockets
(05:59):
were flying around. They hadn't played since Wednesday, and so
those other four guys were able to overcome them. Tonight,
the Gambles weren't paying off. But I also think the
other four guys didn't have the juice and so the
issues got compounded. And so that's not meant to say
that Reid played well. He absolutely did not. But I
think it's sort of a confluence of Reed wasn't himself,
but when the collective juice isn't there from the other
(06:22):
four guys, it's gonna look really ugly because Reed is undersized,
he's your two, he's twenty one years old. And when
you combine that with the Rockets defense that you know,
the first half of the game, they gave up sixty
eight points. When they were down twenty one with two
minutes left in the third quarter, the Jazz had ninety
eight points. That's a poor effort all the way around,
and to the Rockets credit, they showed a lot of fight.
(06:43):
It would have been easy for the Rockets to say
not our night and just you know, accepted the l
and they didn't. They fought back, They got back to
within one. But ultimately, when you're fighting back from twenty
one down, like too many things have to go right
for you to win most of the time, and that's
what they ultimately found out tonight.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah, you know, with.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Reed Shepherd, we've talked about this a lot off and on,
and Reid has been special offensively lately, so we have
to balance this with what we're gonna you know what
I'm about to say. Certainly he is so he can
be so good offensively that you're going to overlook some
of this stuff. But tonight it was just over and
over and over again. I usually do clips and I
(07:23):
don't share them because I'm not gonna you know, I
know how some people can be about, oh why are
you posting a negative clip about this guy or that guy?
But Reid had just several instances tonight where he was smoked,
you know, either just direct on ball defense. You know,
there was one where he gambled and the guy just
spun right around him and left Shangun on a two
(07:43):
on one. They scored easily over Shangun, you know, and
it's all because he couldn't, you know, keep that guy
in front of him.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
The on ball.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Defensive issues are real, but he can look like a
special defensive player, because those gambles look amazing and he's
got great hands and playing off ball and he can
be terrific and I think he will get better on ball,
but that's just something that they're going to have to
figure out tonight. I just think it stuck out. It's
interesting he was plus two in the box tonight. But yeah,
(08:10):
as you pointed out, you know, he may needed a
defensive spark because they were getting burned pretty badly there
and we didn't see read the entire fourth.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
As a result.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
And by the way, there's a lot of comments in
the chat about what happened down in the structure of
that game, with the Rockets getting very foul prone, and
some people are questioning the officials. Other people are wondering
if the Rockets fouled because they're tired. It could be that,
But I think the bigger takeaway is that when you're
trying to overcome a big deficit like that, there's a
tendency to play too hard and you're also going to
(08:38):
have to expend a lot of energy in the comeback.
And I say that a lot. If you watch the
NBA or even college basketball on a frequent basis. The
reason that a lot of these big comeback bids don't
actually get over the finish line. You use so much
energy coming back from fifteen to twenty down that you
aren't able to have that finishing kick because you've had
to use so much just to get back into the game.
(08:59):
And so I think there's a little bit of that,
but there's also sort of the just a human nature
component that when you're trying to overcome that big deficit.
You know, there was a big play late in the
game where I thought a men tried to go for
the home run steal, he missed, and Lourie Martin and
got a wide open midrange shot to push it back
to six, and it was frustrating. I don't know that
amend necessarily tired. I think it's that he felt like
(09:20):
that he needed to make one of those Amen Thompson
type takeover plays and it just didn't happen. He was
a fraction of a second late and the result is
the mid range shot. But I think that just happens
when you know subconsciously that you're trying to flip a game.
You're trying to completely turn the momentum. And so what
I think this goes down What I think this comes
down to is don't fall behind by twenty one points
(09:41):
where you have to, you know, outscore the other team
by twenty one or twenty two or more over the
final fourteen minutes to win. That's really hard to do
physically and also emotionally. I think that's the story I
wouldn't make. I wouldn't make too big of a deal
out of anything that happened in the fourth quarter. I
think the biggest storyline here is that the Rockets built
a twenty one point toposite against a team that they
should never have been down twenty one points too. No
(10:04):
disrespect to the Jazz, but they're seven and thirteen for
a reason.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
You know, Shangun best player in for the Rockets tonight,
thirty one points. I should mention the fourteen assists he
had ten I believe it was ten. My halftime might
have been nine and eight rebounds. A really good offensive game,
certainly for Shangun. You know Kevin Durant, it's really interesting.
Late in the third Ryan Hollins broadcasting said how good
(10:27):
has he been? Kevin Durant referring to this game, And
I'm like, he's six of nineteen five turnovers at this point.
He really was pretty inefficient until the fourth quarter when
he came alive. Believe he hit four or six shots,
you know, was a big factor in the Rockets getting close.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
They cut it to one.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Then a couple of threes by the Jazz kind of
put it out of reach the rest of the way.
But thirty two points led the team in scoring for
KD ten to twenty five shooting. Yeah, this is Jabari.
It should be noted as well in the chat or
the chat didn't mention this. He did land in the
stanchion on a block attempt in a fast break. Thought
he might be hurt pretty bad, but he got back up,
(11:06):
played and then you could see the bruise under his eye,
black eye that he had to believe. It's his left eye.
That might be a factor for the next game. We'll see.
But Jabari was kind of a mixed bag. Had some
good plays early on, but missed some shots. Three a
knife from the field, one of six for three. Not
an efficient night for him.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
He was short on a couple as well. I mean
that was a theme across the board. So many of
their shooters were just short on threes, and I thought,
what was really telling to me, Dave. The Rockets actually
led late in the first quarter until I want to
say early in the second they were tied or slightly
in front. But after getting off to a pretty good start,
they were taking what I thought were some lazy shots
(11:49):
across the board, like a man had a good first quarter,
but he started falling in love with he took a
couple of threes, a mid range shot, they had an
above the break from Joshua Kogi. It just didn't feel
like they want wanted to aggressively attack the paint until
they fell behind by twenty one points. And that's why,
you know, I do put a little bit of an
asterisk on the stats in this game, and that once
(12:11):
the Jazz got up by twenty one points, like not
to take anything away from the fight the Rocket showed,
because you know, it would have been easy to sort
of pack it in and say not our night. But
it's also a little bit easier to score when the
opponent's just trying to not give up a backbreaking three.
And I think some of the stats the Rockets put up,
especially in the second half of that game, we're sort
(12:32):
of just taking advantage of a Jazz team that knew, hey,
we're ninety percent plus likely to win unless we do
something catastrophically stupid, and so the Rockets took what was there.
They fought back, but the Jazz knew they were in
a good position as long as they made a couple
of shots, and they ultimately did so. Sorry for hijacking
your feeth their date, but I just think, you know,
some of the stats, I think it's a mixed bag
(12:54):
because even though overall the offensive stats would tell you
it was a good night, I do think some of
it was, you know, the Rockets sort of I don't
want to say stat padding, because they did get to
within one with like four minutes lefts in the game,
But I do think some of those stats came easier
than you would think just based on the game flow,
you know.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
And we've talked about this before as well, and I'm
just curious if do you think that this team, the
Rockets team, the way it's currently rostered is staffed, can
they finish the year being the most efficient three point
shooting team, because we've kind of wondered will they regress?
You know, they're not, the matter of fact, they're one
of the worst as far as volume I don't want
to say worst. I mean the lowest volume that they
in the league, but the most efficient, and tonight they
(13:33):
just were not efficient from three point range, you know,
and you take away that superpower of the rebounding Adams
being a big factor. Usually you expect Capella to help
out a little bit. Tonight wasn't. Wasn't really. It took
Jayshawn take coming in to kind of bring some of
that back. You know, you take away that superpower, that rebounding.
I mean, you got an incredibly efficient game from Alprin Shanghu,
(13:53):
when when the defense is not there and you and
you know you don't have the rebounding advantage and your
three point shootings off, you know, you can get a
great nights from Katie and Shangun, You're still going to
lose the game.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
It's those things.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
To me that are really like the MVP of the Rockets,
the true superpower of the Rockets. That's how their offense
is so good, and it just it all wasn't there tonight.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Yeah. I think, you know, we talked earlier in the
game like even though KD and Shagoon had really good
statistical games, this is a game that reminds you that
they don't have a full blown MVP candidate, because when
the rebounding isn't there to the extent that it normally is,
when they've had a top two offense for most of
this season and they're not able to put up enough
(14:35):
threes at volume, where are they going to be able
to generate enough offense? And I know the box will
tell you that the offense was fine, that they lost
the game defensively, but a lot of that came again
game flow in the fourth quarter, being able to get
some very easy looks because the Jazz were just sort
of wanting to hold on and giving up certain spots
(14:56):
on the court to make sure they weren't giving up,
you know, threes to let the Rockets, you know, get
back into the game quickly. So I would urge anyone
that's looking at the box score to consider the context
of the game and when a lot of those points
were put up, because for the game as a whole, yeah,
it was a game where without being able to hit
threes at volume and without getting the extra effort plays
(15:18):
the second and third chances that you normally get when
it's Steven Adams in tandem with all prind shining Gooon
attacking the glass. By the way, for whatever reason, Shangoon
in the Glass has not been quite the same the
last week, week and a half. Not sure why, but
it's something that you know, I'm keeping an eye on.
You're right, like, they have a lot of good offensive pieces,
but they don't have, you know, that super transcendent piece
(15:41):
to where they can overcome it. The transcendent piece is
the offensive rebounding when they don't have that. You know,
they have a lot of good pieces, but they don't
have the one that you can say one hundred percent
is going to make you okay.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yep, absolutely, uh you know that.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Just real quick before we kind of close up and
we'll talk there, just about a question that was asked
in the chat about out Tarri and DFS if we
know anything about when they'll be back.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Jacks are definitely a rebuilding team.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
They're going to expect them to tank near the end,
just to you know, avoid giving their picked oksee, but
they have some decent pieces, can't George didn't show it yesterday,
He certainly did today. Yeah, he looked a lot better tonight.
Clayton is not a bad player. I think he's got
a decent upside, you know, certainly.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, I was blanking.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Yeah, absolutely, that guy has a good, good future as well,
and of course marketing is really good. And they're missing
Walker Kessler. Yeah, I mean, I'm not don't get me wrong.
They're not like in my top five in the West
coming up or anything, but they you know, they're tough
out here and there when they when they bring it,
and tonight they certainly did. I think they look motivated
for after the loss. Let me just ask you what
you think. You know, I know I haven't heard anything
(16:51):
about DFS. I'm not sure if you have either, But
just when do we expect those guys back? I believe
Tari is how long.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Has that been?
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Yeah, it's been so that was the Portland game, So
that's been about two and a half weeks, so I
would think they said four to six weeks, So I
would think probably middle of next week. They have that
stretch between the sixth and the eighteenth where they have
only two games, so I would say middle of next
week will be four weeks. That's when we'll get an update.
(17:20):
And so my guess would be with Tari, assuming all
goes well with the recheck, then I thinkvill target that
stretch right before Christmas when they have a lot of
tough road games. They have the Nuggets in Denver. I
don't think the first I don't think the add on
the fifteenth is realistic unless he starts ramping up. But
I think the second game at Denver on the twentieth
(17:41):
and then the Lakers on Christmas, I think that stretch,
and they have the Clippers in between, they're in LA
National TV game. I could see that being the target
for Tari, who has some LA ties. So my guess
is Tari comes back before DFS, only because we're close
enough to where I think we're now inside of definitely
(18:01):
two weeks before there'll be a recheck with with DFS
and both of these guys. It should be noted it's
not going to be like a snap your finger situation.
They've been out long enough to where they're gonna need
a little bit of a ramp up period. My guess
is that DFS, because he's coming off of a surgery
and it's the lower leg that's going to take him
(18:22):
a little bit more time to sort of build up
his conditioning. With Tari, maybe he's not all out sprinting
but within the bleak, I'm guessing he's able to somewhat
stay in shape. So I would also think that the
ramp up process is a little bit less with Tari.
So just because A we have a timeline with Tari,
and B it's not a lower leg, so he can
stay in shape better, my guess is that Tari comes
(18:44):
back a little bit sooner. But that's strictly a guess
on my part. They've kept both of those close to
the best. Again, I haven't heard anything that sounds like
there was a setback with DFS, and so hopefully he's
back sooner rather than later. But if I had, if
I had to bet, just because there is a timetable,
it's not a lower leg, there's no surgery, he can
stay in shape, I would bet on tie before DFS.
(19:06):
And I think it's probably that road stretch before Christmas
that that they're sort of looking at. Internally.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, I'm surprised we don't have an update don DFS specifically.
I wonder if you know, we might want to, you know,
us behind the scenes see if we can't figure something out.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Yeah, go ahead, And to be clear, like I see
this on social media all the time, like why don't
media people ask they have asked exactly and then they say,
you know, he's he's working and will let you know
when we have an update, And I mean, what are
you going to say at that point? Like, we can't
make them say more than that. They're saying all they
have to say, and I'm not accusing them of lying.
(19:42):
They may not have more information, like I'm sure Emay
is waiting to get clearance from the medical staff, and
it's it's a frustrating situation. I get it. But A,
we can't make them talk. B. We don't know that
Ema one hundred percent, you know, has a timetable himself.
So the questions are being asked, the answers are vague,
and maybe there s don't entirely know themselves. But the
(20:03):
one peace of mind that I have, and I think
fans should have it as well, this was not something
that's a secret. The Rockets knew it when they signed DNFs.
He had the surgery in June, so they had the
medicals as long as there's no setback. And this an
issue that he played through the last couple of years.
So I don't think it's some you know, secret awful thing.
(20:25):
No it's a nagging issue, just like what Jay Shaun
Tate had, and you know, it took Tate a little
bit of time to sort of build himself back up,
and I think the same thing is happening here with
the FS to make sure that when he comes back,
they don't have to you know, pull back the way
you know last week they just send Tate to the
G League to get him back into rhythm a little
bit because it's so tough coming off that ankle surgery. So, yeah,
(20:46):
the questions are being asked, and I don't think, at
least from what I can tell, that there's anything huge
that's being hidden or that there was a setback. I
think it's just, you know, any surgery to a lower
leg is going to be it's gonna be time consuming,
it's gonna yeah, because it's not just the surgery, it's
not just the procedure, but it's also then building back
(21:09):
up to where you're capable of running up and down
an NBA court for you know, thirty ish minutes per
night and all that that entails physically. So it's frustrating.
But yeah, just between the nature of the injuries and
the timetables we have, I would bet. I'm sorry before DFS,
but that's nothing but strictly my guess, Ben.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
I was trying to throw one last bonus question to
you before we close up. You know, I'll set the
table here. Rockets play the Kings Wednesday. They played the
Suns in Houston on Friday. That will be Dylan Brooks homecoming.
As we speak right now, Phoenix is just laying waste
to the Lakers. Yeah in LA, and this is the
(21:47):
team that's above the Rockets. If the Lakers lose, and
it looks very likely they're down by twenty two with
five twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
To go, I mean the Nuggets lost in the Maps tonight,
so keep that in mind for this weekend.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Another surprising way missing.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Back and back on Friday and Saturday.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Yeah, they're missing Gordon more than I'm just kind of surprised.
Me well, I guess not surprised, but it hurts to
lose that game because Gordon went out early on. But
they're missing I think Aaron Gordon for sure. But Dylan
Brooks is fifteen of twenty five from the field, has
thirty three points plus twenty four in this game.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Do you worry at all?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
And I'm saying this is a way off of the
off topic a little bit here, because I do you
know the Lakers losing tights good news for us? Do
you worried all of the floor that this trade raised
the floor on the Suns and you own that twenty
seven and the twenty nine pick, and that you know
and in the next few years that that picks, maybe
you hurt the prospects of it.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
What do you think.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I wouldn't go there because I could honestly see it
going the other way too, and that if they overachieved
this year, it sort of suckers them into staying the
course and then all it takes, you know, to me
the Suns and I could be wrong, but they strike
me as a team that, you know, the salm is
greater than the individual part. They're well coached. I think
the chemistry is really good. But sometimes that can be
(23:04):
tough to sustain from year to year, especially when the
West is as loaded as it is. And so I
could see a world not saying it for sure will happen,
but I could see a role where they're worse than
expected last year because people don't I guess, account for
how much of this year was based on the chemistry now,
it could be that some of these young players they
have are better than we thought. And you know, the
big question with the Suns, you know, is Devin Booker
(23:26):
a top you know, fifteen to twenty player. Is is
he a top like thirty to thirty five player, Like
is he an All Star or an All NBA guy?
That's the big question, especially the money that he's making now.
And you know, if he's legitimately an All NBA guy,
then that sort of changes the long term trajectory as well.
I would say it's it's too easy, it's too early
to say. But for me, I'm more focused on the
(23:48):
younger guys. I think that's going to tell the tale
for twenty seven and beyond those picks. You know, Booker
and Dylan are good players with a lot of pride.
It doesn't surprise me that after being sort of written off,
they're off to a good start. I'm more curious about
Jalen when he comes back, because obviously we know Jalen
has a ton of upside. They have a few other
young guys as well, the kid from Duke that they
(24:11):
drafted it ten with the big thig At from the Rockets,
chief among them. You know, how did those guys feirit?
I think you know what they have right now is
a combination of, you know, two veterans with a lot
of pride in Booker and Dylan, and perfect chemistry, a
friendly schedule to start the year. In terms of the sustainability,
I think it's largely going to depend on do those
young guys take strides, and they might. It's it's possible.
(24:33):
I just think it's still a little bit too early
to say, but I will say I have a raised
eyebrow on that a bit more than I did to
start the year. Like it has made me a little
more uncomfortable to answer your question.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Gotcha all? Good, brother man. I appreciate it, Ben.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
I know it sucks being up eleven fifteen a night
to recap the rockets falling in Utah, which.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
You know I've got. I've got a question for you.
Since we've stayed on, we'll still cut it before thirty minutes,
but you asked me a bonus question, I'll ask you one. Yes.
So MAVs won at Denver tonight, that's night two of
the back to back in Dallas Phoenix night one in Houston,
and you mentioned as of now, the Rockets are slightly
behind the Suns. So if Steven is still unavailable for
(25:17):
half of a back to back and seeing the last
two days, what a difference he makes. Dave, if it's
your choice, do you play Steven against Phoenix or do
you save him for the Dallas game on the road.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Oh, that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I think I think you need him, boy with Ad
playing now, that's that's tough. Remember what happened, That's how
this all started. I would probably say Dallas now.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And I think about it.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I was going to say Phoenix initially, but I think
that's where this all started. I mean, Ad just feasted
on the Rockets traditional lineup, and then they countered in
that game with Adams and it just was like a revolution.
And I thought, well, this is this is a fluke.
You know that nobody expected this. They'll adjust blah blah blah,
and here we are, you know, almost a season later,
(25:59):
and double big is still a thing. So I think
that that's probably a matchup where they would need him,
assuming AD's playing healthy and everything.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
I think you and you and you're at home against
the Suns, and so that could be a game where
there should be a lot of juice in the arena.
Dylan Brooks, you know, his homecoming and so you know,
maybe your stay ready guys like Capella and Tate can
sort of help carry you a little bit in that one.
Like I'm torn because right now Dallas is certainly ahead
in the standings, but for matchup reasons, I sort of
look at it the same way. Like to me, Dallas,
(26:28):
if you're assuming they have a d and you don't
have Steven, that could be a tough one, especially if
it's night tubing back to back and we saw how
fatigued the Rockets were against the Jazz.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
YEP.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Absolutely, but you're right, it's a very, very tough decision.
I guess we'll see what they end up making. But
I think you want Gafford on Shanngoon because he does
well against Gafford.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I think he would struggle more with ad So we
will see.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Man.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
I appreciate you doing this, man, like I said eleven
fifteen at night after losing to the Jazz. But we'll
see hopefully better times. After the Rockets played the.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
It's not the end of the world.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
This is the first real disappointment.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Everything else has been really close against very good teams
and then this, this loss is just one that you know,
you can chalk up to a back to back or
whatever you want to do. But yeah, I wouldn't panic
at all about the Rockets. Appreciate all you guys. Thanks everybody.
We will see you all on Wednesday. Have a good one.
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