December 28, 2025 • 29 mins
By routing Cleveland, the Rockets (19-10) are back up to No. 4 in the Western Conference standings, and their once leaky defense has held two straight opponents to 100 points or less.
Featuring Ben DuBose and Dave Hardisty, Saturday’s “ClutchFans Live” postgame show breaks down all the key takeaways after two dominant wins versus the Lakers and Cavaliers. Topics include elite scoring efficiency from Kevin Durant; what the return of Dorian Finney-Smith means for Houston’s defense; and the short-term outlook for Alperen Sengun, who sat out with calf tightness.
This episode can also be viewed in video form on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvXAiPAQwYk
Featuring Ben DuBose and Dave Hardisty, Saturday’s “ClutchFans Live” postgame show breaks down all the key takeaways after two dominant wins versus the Lakers and Cavaliers. Topics include elite scoring efficiency from Kevin Durant; what the return of Dorian Finney-Smith means for Houston’s defense; and the short-term outlook for Alperen Sengun, who sat out with calf tightness.
This episode can also be viewed in video form on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvXAiPAQwYk
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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. Rockets get a huge win one
seventeen to one hundred, coming home after a six game
road swing, coming home to host the Calves, and really
from about mid first quarter on, it was just all
Rockets as Kevin Durant was just incredibly efficient. Was I mean,
one of his best shooting performances. I felt just watching
(00:24):
this guy operate from the mid range and beyond. Tonight
he drops thirty points in twenty eight minutes and I'm
here with Bendubo's ben. This was a great win. It's
you know, they've got Tari and DFS back and it
was just a no Alburn shangun tonight. So you know,
obviously it was a little questionable whether they would be
able to do well with their bigs got Cleveland's biggs,
(00:45):
but it was no question from the very beginning.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, this was a special Kevin Durant performance. I mean,
the Rockets had this put away. It felt like by
half time. Kenny Atkins and the Cavs coach said postgame
that that they just didn't match the fight from the Rockets.
And this is the second game in a row that
Houston held an opponent to one hundred or fewer points,
and it would have clearly been below one hundred again
just like the Lakers game on Christmas, if not for
(01:10):
you know, the end of the bench guys in the
fourth quarter, which allowed the Calves to get to one
hundred on the nose. So this is the second consecutive
game that the Rockets really buckled down defensively. That's the
phrase Kevin Durant used in his post game walk off
with Vanessa Richardson. And so I think, you know, some
people will undoubtedly point to, you know, Shangoon being absent tonight,
(01:31):
but they were very good with Shangoon on Thursday against
the Lakers. I think it's deeper than that. I think
it's you know, first off, Jory and Pinney Smith was incredible.
His plus minus tonight. I'm looking this up. It was limited,
but he played sixteen minutes and he was plus twenty.
So kudos to DFS. Even though he's only scored three
points in two games. I think he's already making an
effort with his communication, how hard he works defensively. But
(01:54):
I think when you can combine this level of defense
with Kevin Durant, who at thirty seven years old, is
still in all NBA caliber player. I mean, you get
a team that can be very, very good. What happened
on this road trip and they went to and four,
it was the defense. Whenever we talked to people inside
the organization, the two things you heard more than anything
day it was defense and rebounding. That's what they were
focused on. It's not French time scoring, it's not the
(02:16):
point guard debates. It's defense, it's rebounding. They've always felt
like if they can fix those things and get back
to what they do best, Dave, you said it before,
their superpower is rebounding, especially crashing the offensive glass. Then
now that you have Kevin Durant, they should have enough
to get to the finish line. And Dave, I came
away feeling really good in the big picture, like I'm
not going to say that that they'd be better off
(02:37):
without all prems and going like that's crazy, But what
I will say is that seeing that Kevin Durant has
this gear, it felt like without Alpi, they just gave
Kevin the ball. They dialed his usage up, and you
mentioned thirty points and under twenty eight under thirty minutes.
Insane efficiency had seven assists tonight after having eight the
other night. They basically gave Kevin the ball and just
(03:02):
let him make plays all night long, and there was
nothing that Cleveland could do a team that going into
the year was viewed as a contender in the Eastern Conference.
I know the record's underwhelming, but still a lot of
talent on that team. And if you ask Kevin to
do that for the next three and a half months
leading into the playoffs, then yeah, you're probably gonna run
him into the ground, especially with the Rockets having a
(03:24):
disproportionate amount of back to backs down the home stretch
of this year. But Dave, what this showed me is
that when you get to the playoffs, this game is
potentially the blueprint for if you really want to buy
in on this Rockets team at a high level and
say this team can make a ton of noise in April,
May and June. The case for optimism is, hey, let's
(03:45):
get to the playoffs, the games are more spread out,
there's no back to backs, and let's just turn Kevin
Durant loose. Let's let him go as far as he can,
dial up the usage and just see what happens tonight.
They did that in large because they had no choice
without all per Echion Goon, and he delivered against a
pretty good team and the Rockets were on fumes. They
(04:06):
didn't practice yesterday, they didn't shoot around today, which is
pretty rare when they enter a game without a practice
the day before. That's coming off the six game road trip,
and so this team is tired. They were shorthanded. They
basically just gave the ball to Kevin and said, can
you get us to the finish line in this game?
And not only did he get them to the finish line,
he did it in like under three quarters phase Achille
and so uh so, yeah, I just get a lot
(04:28):
of hope from this game. It's not so much saying
that this is the formula for the rest of the
regular season. Absolutely not. There's gonna be a lot of
games that you need all per Inchion Goon. It's to
sort of soak up minutes and touches and playmaking reps.
But you know, can this team actually get to a
championship level April, May and June is there's some meat
being left on the bone right now from what we've
(04:48):
seen in December, when even with this win, they're just
at six and six now nineteen and ten on the year,
the case for optivism. Hey, Kevin Durant's Hall of Famer.
What happens when the games get more spread out, they
get more meaningful and you just say, hey, Kevin will
go as far as you can take us. Tonight we
saw Kevin still has that gear. And if you want to,
if you want to buy in on the Rockets long term,
like Kevin Durant at this level, is is the way
(05:09):
they have a chance this season.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, if you are unsure if Kevin Durant is a
special player, and I'm sure there's very few people who
are unsure of that, but watch this game. I mean
he I mean his thirty seven year old player and
doing what he did in this game. It was just
amazing the shots he was hitting. There was one at
the top of the key. I tweeted out where Evan Mobley,
who's you know, didn't not have a good game tonight,
(05:34):
two for nine coming off the bench, like you get
four points. I was stunned by the lack of impact,
but still a very good defender, very long defender, completely
closed out, seemed to be all over Katie on a
three point shot top of the key, and he drained it.
He had twenty three points at halftime on eight of
ten shooting. I think he was six to seven at
the line. And these were not like layups, off cuts,
(05:56):
you know, these were turnaround guy in his face, hitting
seventeen eighteen footers a couple of threes. I mean, I
can't say enough good things about how he played time.
I'm sure there are other Knights where he's just he
doesn't quite have it going on, But tonight he was
just amazing. I think that was that's first and foremost
the story tonight, and then obviously the next thing being
(06:18):
the defense. But on the night when Shan Gun's out,
you know, for Katie to step up like that, that
was huge. They really in the first quarter really built
out a lead. It was the second quarter bend where
the start of the second quarter probably the only stretch
I just really hated about this game. A men and
Reid were out there, and you know, obviously, as a
matter of fact, he may addressed the multiple ball handlers
(06:40):
and the league guard and the engines and all that
stuff in this post game today and I'll talk about
some of those comments. That was the only stretch I
didn't like. A man had a couple of ugly turnovers. Reid,
I thought made a couple of mistakes and they gave up.
They didn't give up the lead, but I think they
got it down to like two or three the Calves did,
and then the Rockets took off from there, really blew
(07:01):
it open in the third quarter. But other than that,
I thought those guys played well. It's really I think
what they have and we'll talk more about the game specifically,
is they have a lot of good guys that can
handle the ball and can create I don't know if
they have the one guy just yet. Like that you
clearly say that's the dude. I mean, obviously I believe
in giving a man more chances, read more chances, but
(07:22):
I just that's that's the only downside. And I think
that's what I may said, you know, talking about it today,
These guys are improving. We was talking about reading amen
specifically as ball handlers, and we have multiple guys and
as they learn to get those spots. When you have
multiple guys who can handle it, you're gonna get some turnovers,
which saw it tonight. But he said, as they're learning this,
they'll get better, and I think that's what we're seeing.
He said, they've improved already this year, and he thinks
(07:43):
they'll get better by the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, and I thought that early second quarter stretch it
wasn't just that Kevin Durant was on the bench, it
was also that Steven Adams was on the bench. Hey,
even what a plus twenty six in twenty two minutes tonight?
Which are it brazy? But I think you know, Lng
Gooon and Adams are sort of, you know, a stimulus
measure in different ways for the young guards. With Shangoon
(08:06):
it's because he can be the primary playmaker. He can
even bring the ball up the floor and initiate the
offensive times. They talked about using him as a point center.
And with Steven Adams it's the screen setting. Clint Cappella
played hard tonight, but he's not in the league of
all per in Shangoon as a playmaker or Steven Adams
as a screen setter. And well, I guess Clint Capella
(08:27):
is close to Clint on a or close to Stephen
on a permanent basis when it comes to the rebounding,
but I don't think he's nearly the presence when it
comes to what opposing teams have to account for, and
so I think be it Shangoon as a playmaker or
Steven Adams as a screen setter, an offensive rebounder, like
those are important stimulus measures just sort of raise the
floor when you have two young guards like him intimes
(08:50):
and like Reed Shepherd. And so when Shangoon's out with
the calf, and it wouldn't surprise me, Dave. So Shangoon
was questionable on Thursday Chris against the Lakers. My guess
is that you know, it's a pretty minor injury. They
wouldn't have led him play if they had any concerns
about this turning into you know what happened with Giannis
and like a four to six week, like legitimate strain.
(09:11):
I think his first time as a young player getting
to play on Christmas. They let him play, but he
needs a few days. It wouldn't shock me if they
sat him Monday as well, because there's slorat of this
break in the schedule after Monday's game, and that's a
bad opponent that even without Shangoon, you'd probably be favored
against the Pacers. You don't play again until New Year's
Day in Brooklyn, so you can basically buy Shangoon a
(09:33):
full week of rest if you sit him Monday against
a six win Pacers team that you should win against
at home no matter what. So I would lean to
this being the same rotation for Monday night against the Pacers,
and then when Shingoon comes back in Brooklyn, he'll have
had a week off. And I don't view this as
a big deal. I really don't think the Rockets would
(09:54):
have let him play on Christmas Night if this was
something they were worried about. I just think it's something
that needs a few days. And and you know they
aired on the side of, you know, giving him the
benefit of the doubt, and you know he played and
played relatively well in Los Angeles, they got a big
win on Christmas Night, and now you let him heal
up on the homestand but you know, without Shinoon as
a playmaker and without Steven Adams in those minutes, that's
where it gets rougher for the young guys. But they
(10:17):
played through it, and then in the second half of
the game. You know, some of it's lower leverage minutes.
But you look at the final stat line for for
Reed Shepherd, who was plus twenty five and thirty two minutes.
What eighteen points eight exists from three? I mean, at
some point the numbers don't lie. This is why you
wet guys play through it. And we talked off line, Dave,
it felt like he was a little over aggressive early
(10:38):
in the game, trying to find his way. They let
him play through it and eventually it worked out, And
for me, that's just that's what you have to do
with young players. You keep trusting them, you keep the
leash long. It helps when you have a lead because
you can be a little more judicious and you know
the extent of that leash. But tonight it's an example
of why you don't overreact early. They let replay through it,
and by the end he was clearly one of the
best non Kevin Durant players. Four.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, no, absolutely, matter of fact, I see some comments
in the chat that I think maybe misinterpreting. We were
just talking about that second quarter stretch. I thought Reid
was really good in this game. I just was talking
specifically about the men and Reid in that early second quarter,
and then I noticed, you know, somebody else was saying
that not putting enough respect on Katie's name. I feel
like I'm putting nothing but respect on him. I think
he's been terrific this year. I thought he was awesome
(11:23):
in this game. So yeah, I'm not sure where that's
coming from, but that was I think the big story.
Certainly Kd's play Reid was really really good. But I
think defensively, you know, to hold the Calves to sixty
three points through three quarters, I mean they really They
kept using the word on the broadcast stifling. It really
was true. And this was the number one offense in
(11:45):
the league last year. The Calves. I think they're number
nine going into this game. They have definitely had some
struggles this year. I think that this is their fifth
loss in their last seven games, and people are disappointed
in general with the Calves, kind of wondering what's gonna
happen with Donovan Mitchell. But still capable offense, very good
three point shooting offense, and Rackus did a terrific job
defending them tonight and really blew it open in the
(12:06):
third quarter. That's another thing that was noteworthy. They had
ten turnovers in the first half, committed their eleventh right
out of the gate in the third quarter, had one
turnover the rest of the third quarter, and matter of fact,
they only had one more turnover till late in the
fourth until they picked up a couple in garbage time,
so that was nice that they cleaned that up as well.
But to get back to the point of the defense,
(12:28):
I thought the broadcast talked about this as well, their ability,
I think in the playoffs to be able to run
this specific lineup, which was then this is the broadcast
talking DFS, Tari, Jabari, a, men and kd is interesting
and DFS, as you talked about at the top of
the show, of Ben having an impact tonight plus twenty,
(12:50):
he's just getting the rust off. Matter of fact that
he may specifically use that term, just slowly but surely
just getting the rust off. This was a guy who
I don't want to use the word anchor, but I
guess I'm going to He anchored that Lakers defense last year.
They were really garbage, you know, without him in that
defensive unit. I don't know if he's going to be
able to fill Dylan shoes necessarily, but he's going to
(13:12):
have a significant impact for you to be able to
throw out there. Jabari, Tari A, men A, Kogi and
DFS and even Reid coming along now defensively, it's nice
to see. We're all just say it's nice to see
the defense getting back because they've had some really inconsistent
stretches this year.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
And it was a reminder that Jabari at the five
is a club in the bag. They got away from
that when the double big took hole late last season
with Steven and Alpi. But if you need to go small,
those lineups with Jabari at the five can function. We
saw that a little bit tonight, and I just think
Jabari is such an easy target. I've gotten so frustrated, Dave.
(13:52):
We talked about this offline as a shade Jabari gets.
He is now shooting career highs over all forty six
percent from eight percent. His plus minus is one of
the best on the team. Like on the road trip,
he had a couple of bad games, and it's like,
hold on here, if we're going to talk about his
plus minus being bad in the given game, why aren't
we talking about the whole season when he's one of
(14:13):
the best on the entire team. Like plus minus can
be telling if it's well, it can certainly be telling,
and that like a guy has a bad night. But
if we're trying to use it as a referendum on
the player. Then if it's a clear outlier relative to
the season as a whole, that should be noted, Like
you shouldn't note the one or two bad games in
(14:33):
the plus minus without pointing to the season overall. When
he's still one of the most valuable players on this team,
and tonight, you know, twenty six minutes, fifteen points, seven rebounds,
six of nine shooting three of five from three. He's
just such a valuable player. And I feel like his
archetype because he doesn't have the defensive highlights that that
Amn and Tari have. It's so easy to overlook him
(14:57):
because whenever someone blows by him on the perman like,
people make a mountain out of these plays, when I
would say they're a molehill. In today's NBA, where officials
don't let you have any hand checking, much contact at all,
there's no Ruben Patterson as the Kobe stopper. To go
back to you a reference from from our prime days, Dave, like,
(15:18):
there are no perimeter stoppers, even a men Thompson. I
can think of games last year like one of the
most fun I was thinking back, so I was in
person at that game the Rockets lost to the Knicks
at Madison Square Garden and Jalen Brunson cooked a men
down the Stretch yea and a men's a first Team
All Defense guy. It is just so tough in today's
NBA with how quick guards are, especially if you're asking
(15:42):
bigger guys to switch, with how quick guards are, how
tight the handles are, how tight that defenders are whistled
in regards to the level of contact that officials allow
or more accurately, don't allow. That's when I'm talking point
obviously all around the league, going back to the thunder
and shake just Alexander, The point is, if you want
(16:04):
to make a defender look bad and you just want
to find a possession where he gets blown by, you
can find that. And I feel that. I feel like
that's what people have done with Jabbari because if you
look hard enough, if you squint hard enough, Yeah, in
today's NBA, any good defender is gonna get blown by
over a few possessions of the game. It happens. It's
about the team construct defenses these days. The top sheal
(16:26):
defense is it's not about individuals, it's about how they
function together. Yeah, and Jabari is really useful in that construct.
The plus minus for the season overall doesn't lie the
shooting percentages. He has gotten better overall from three in
my opinion. It's not to say that that there haven't
been games that that Jabari has left you wanting more,
that's fair. But overall, Jabari has been a really good player.
(16:49):
It's been a very encouraging season for him. Not gonna
say every game has been great, but on the balance,
I think you have to be pretty pleased with what
you see.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Oh yeah tonight, fifteen points, six to nine, shooting three
or five from long range. I mean, yeah, he You know,
with Shinghunau, you would love to see him get more shots,
but he just is content sort of in filling the
role both on both sides of the floor, doing whatever
it takes in my opinion, to win. Yeah, he had
a couple of games there where he got beat. I
think a lot of it is, you know, you can't
(17:18):
always connect, especially as a six foot eleven guy contain
as you're pointing out a guard exactly. A lot of
it is funneling as you're pointing it out. Finally, it
to help defense or back line rim protection or things
of that nature. It's they judge that in the whole
of you know, team defense. It's I promise you that
the the internally the Rockets did not look at that
(17:39):
and say, oh, yeah, Jabari Smith Junior is the problem
didn't happen. But I know that, you know, some fans
see that and say, you know, Jabari is terrible or wherever.
I we certainly saw that on on Twitter. He's been
really good. Another fifteen point night. I think that wasn't
there a stat I don't remember. I don't remember off
the top of my head, but a stat where I
think he's had several fifteen plus point nights in the
last X number of ill I'll have to look it
(18:01):
back up. Good but it got shared by the Rockets
organization and their media notes today. But I thought he
was very efficient tonight Tari and people were talking about
kind of criticizing Tari. I'm not sure why. Maybe I
need to go back and look. He did have five
fouls nine twenty one minutes, but he did hit two
of three. He had some nice defensive highlights. You know,
a couple of I thought he had a couple of
steals at the double check that yeah, two steals tonight.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
But Javari has to reference the stat. Jabari has scored
fifteen plus points in nine of his past ten games
and nineteen times overall this season, which is already ahead
of his entire total from last year. Yeah, and as mentioned,
he's averaging a career high in points career high and
field goal percentage career high and three point percentage. This
is a clear step forward and with Tari like, there's
(18:44):
something to be said for Sorry you're jumping on this,
but there's a oh yeah, there's a comment in the
chat that I wanted to address. I think the Rockets
are fifteen and one. Someone pointed out in Tari's last
sixteen games as a starter. I do think there's something
to be said for what Tar he means for the collective,
not just what he means overall or what he means individually.
(19:06):
Because he's gonna have good games, he's gonna have bad games.
Tonight wasn't one of his better games. But I think
just the combination of defense, the Terror Twins dynamic, the
transition play with a men we talked about on last episode,
how he's good for a men's specifically offensively, the fact
that in contrast to Josha Kogi, who it feels like
has been you know, pushed down if you noted in
the rotation, not just Tari, but Aaron Holliday ahead of
(19:29):
a Kogi, and the bench rotation as well. They want
more shooting and so when you when you have the
floor space, it's easier for guys like Katie to operate.
So with Tari not his best game individually, but I
still contend that that starting him is good for the collective.
It makes it easier for the other guys to operate.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Yeah, and I don't know why some people out there think,
you know, Jabarishi's now thirty eight point two percent from three,
which is way above average, and it's I guess I'm
keeping seeing this narrative that he hasn't improved the lick.
I'm not understanding that. Maybe it's because Reed and Kadi
are you know, I think Katie's forty four point two
percent and Reid I think just jotted down forty two
(20:09):
point nine percent from three after tonight. I mean, I'm
not sure the Rockets matter of fact, have really good
shooters the way they're playing right now, those three Jabari
kd Reid and then Tari again knock on wood that
this is the stays going. But he's to a three tonight,
shooting forty nine percent from three on the season, which
is really kind of in contrast to the fact that Adams,
you know, obviously doesn't shoot at all a man is
(20:31):
just abysmal. Sorry, I love him and Thompson, but he's been.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
He made a three tonight. But yeah, he did what
he is.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
And that's something that obviously he has to work on.
And Shan Gun after the start of the year where
he was like wow and all that EuroBasket stuff. I mean,
he's he's won for his last twenty in threes and
I think his last the last time he made when
was December. And worse than that, to me is he's
not shooting him anymore. I think he's taking two in
the last four games. I just don't want him to
lose his confidence even if he's missing, just I still
(20:58):
want him to be able to stretch the floor. But
I guess what I'm saying is you've got this contrast
of all these defensive wings and they're actually providing great
three point shooting, and then you've got two or three
key guys in a men Shangoun and Adams who really
can't shoot him. I mean, hope knock on wood Shangun
will get back. But it's an interesting contrast.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
And before we close out, I want to throw one
more shout out to Dori Anthony Smith because I think
there's been a clear psychological boost. I posted it to
my Instagram story. I was in the crowd and I
the reaction from the bench when DFS hit that first three.
They could not have been more happy for the guy.
And I think I don't know how much you attribute
(21:37):
to DFS individually and how much the Rockets as an organization,
but I don't think ima Udoka was lying or just
trying to keep us, you know, off the trail when
he said a few weeks ago that January was the
target for DFS. No, I think it got expedited a
little bit to Christmas based on what was happening and
especially how it was happening this month. We talked about
(22:00):
defense and rebounding being where this team has slipped, and
DFS is a guy. You know, he's taller, but his
profile in terms of what he means defensively, not just
individually but for the team overall, in some ways it's
sort of similar to Fred and so you bring him back.
It's not just what he does against his man in
single coverage, it's what he means for the collective. And
(22:21):
even if it's fifteen to twenty minutes, I mean that's
close to half of a game. Those are meaningful minutes.
He was plus twenty in his sixteen minutes tonight. So
I don't know who you give the credit for. It's
probably a combination of the individual and the team. But
for all we talked about and deservedly so in December
when they were losing terrible teams, about why don't they
show more of a sense of urgency. They're falling down
(22:43):
the standings in the West. This is a sense of
urgency like DFS and the team to push the time
people forward and get two wins, like I know, you've
got your spreadsheet, Dave, And I don't think you would
have assumed that the Lakers and Caves were both wins.
Not that necessarily sugar on zero two. But I guess
what I'm saying is, you know, the Pelicans and Kings
(23:03):
were some terrible losses, but these are some good wins.
And the Denver game was a good win. As well,
but I'm pointing to these two because they're the most
recent two with DFS, and so if you can stack
some wins and you have an opportunity your next two
games or against the Pacers and the Nets, and you know,
let's get back to twenty one and ten on New
Year's Day. I don't think you're too far off the spreadsheet.
(23:24):
And you know, yeah, certainly like email, the culture of
the organization, you give a lot of credit to, you know,
not getting bogged down by the weight of the losses
and things spiraling in recent weeks. But I also give
a ton of credit to DFS individually. I just think
psychologically that was a huge boost to this team when
everything was going against them. They needed to see something
go right. To me, DFS returning has been has been
(23:45):
as spark. It came in just the right time.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Absolutely, and just on that spreadsheet, the I have them
currently one game behind now that this at Sacramento and
at LAC were both wins that I had and they
lost them both, But then I did have the at
Lakers as a loss. This is again how I rank
at the beginning of the year, before any of this
stuff played out. So they got back within one and
then I hate to say this, I'm looking at it.
(24:07):
I have it six straight wins now Cleveland, Indiana, Brooklyn, Dallas, Phoenix, Portland.
So they were supposed to win tonight on the spreadsheet.
They can only fall behind if they don't, you know,
if they lose any of the next five games. But
we'll see how this guy's I think there's some others
that they can win that I've got on there. And
just on a other another closing note, shehng goon the
cath th I am, just as you pointed out, always
(24:30):
concerned every time I hear calf now just because of
anybody of being out. And this was the most important game,
the game where I thought, well, Shangon has really done
a number on Allen and Mobiley lately. I'm sure he
wanted to play. I'm sure if in other words, I
think he would have played this game as opposed to
you know, the others. I think I'm hoping it's just
nothing serious. I mean, I don't think it's serious, but
(24:51):
you know, I guess what I'm getting at is, if
it is anything of a concern, I'd like to see
him sit in the next game, and maybe even the
next game, just because they are probably the too easy
before you get back with Dallas, Brooklyn has picked it up.
They're playing better. But you know, if anything, I think
you can survive those games. But obviously I trust the
Rockets to do the right decision with that.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
And by the way, excuse me, yes, Stephen Adams is
plus minus tonight. I mentioned the plus twenty six, But
Steven Adams Stats on Twitter had a good post earlier
today about reasons you shouldn't be alarmed by Stevens plus
minus not being what it usually is in recent games. Folk.
Steven Adams is an insanely impactful player. He's the why
you can mitigate a short term absence for all per
(25:33):
in Shangoon. And that's why if we're talking about a
plus minus in a game or two that isn't in
line with the season as a whole, It's why you
shouldn't overreact the way I thought some segments of this
fan base did with Jabari having a couple of bad
games on this road trip. Look, everybody, even Steven Adams
over eighty two games, is going to have a few
(25:53):
games here or there where it doesn't look good in
the plus minus. If it's a bigger trend in the aggregate,
and yeah, let's talk about it. But if it's clearly
an outlier Jabarti's twenty two years old, he's clearly getting
better or he has career highs at all of these Yeah, like,
that's clearly statistical noise. We've seen that the last couple
of games with this turning around, and so I think
(26:14):
it's just, you know, Steven is a is a cautionary
tale for why you know, we can point it out
when we talk about, you know, an individual game and
why the team won or lost. Yeah, that's completely fair.
But in terms of like overall trends, what it means,
I mean there's going to be some statistical noise, and
the stuff that was going on on this road trip
with I would say Stephen and Jabari's specifically was clearly
statistical noise.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, and I thought it was I forgot and jotted
is down in the notes, but I forgot to mention this.
Jabari had a couple of plays in the first quarter,
I believe, where he found Adams down low. Adams had
either a lamp or whatever got kind of you know, fouled,
got put to the line. Jabari doesn't get it obviously,
any assists for that, not that that's that big of
a deal, but I just noteworthy that Jabari did it
twice on creation of creation opportunities and found Adams down
(26:57):
low he got to the line. He was just three up,
six from the line tonight. But it's just it's insane,
And the thing about it is, I'll just close with
this too. Reed. Shepherd's starting to be that kind of
player too, Like he's out there and it's not always
necessarily because of him. But you look up and he's
plus twenty five tonight, and I think you know, a
couple of games back he was the number one guy
as far as we all total plus minus. I don't
(27:18):
think it's that case now, but you know, it's just
right now. The Rockets have a lot of depth going
on with the FS andry back, so it's great to
see this. The defense looks good. Hopefully they get Shinhun
back here shortly. Anything else you want to say, man
before we close up.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Nope, I think you get the nail on the head
with Shingun. You can be cautious with this. I think
you know it's nothing major, or they wouldn't have let
him play on Christmas after he was previously listed as questionable.
I think they let him, you know, Lakers in La
Lebron and Luca first sign playing on Christmas. I think
you combine this game with the Pacers on Monday, you
can give him a full week's worth of rest and
(27:55):
let it heal up. I don't think it's a big deal.
I think this is just them being you know, conservative
at a friendly point in the schedule where finally they
can be and hopefully, you know, you give him that
week off and he comes back in a weekend and
it's like it never happened. That's my whole when I
think it's a reasonable expectation.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
And what is it, sixty five games you have to
play to be eligible? Yeah, okay, I mean he's not
close to that or anything. I just I just know
what I'm saying is I'd rather be conservative so we
don't run the risk of him going a fifteen game
stretch again or something.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
And I'm sorry if you lose to a six win
Pacers team on Monday night at home, the reason is
not that you didn't have all for Echion Goon. Something
went wrong with the other nine ten players that you're playing,
So no does affect to all for ench and goon.
But if somehow this goes wrong on Monday that you
won't hear me on this post game saying oh if
anyone had all for eens gooon, No, it's it's squarely
(28:42):
within the control of those who are out there.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Yep, thanks everybody, appreciate it. Feel free to comment in
the in the uh, in the comments and YouTube to
let us know how you feel about uh, you know
what we had to say, or the game in general.
Oh oh wait it fight. I do have one more
shout out, so oh yeah. One of our listeners, Chris,
who was right behind me and seats tonight, said hello
to us, so I'll say hello to Chris. Thanks for
watching and or listening. But it reminds me this is
(29:07):
only the eleventh Rockets home game of the season, so
they're nineteen and ten. But that's split eleven home games
to eighteen road. If you want to be bullish, that's
a reason to be bullish. This team has not had
many home games. They're now nine and two. It to
the other Center.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
One of the two losses was way back in October,
the season opener against the Pistons, so Yeah, they're about
to have a lot of home games. They've looked really
dominant until the other center of late. The crowd was
really full tonight, so fingers crossed they can build on
this because they've looked really good in that building.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Awesome, that's Ben Dobos. I'm Dave Hardesty. Appreciate you all
listening and watching, and we will see y'all on Monday.
Thanks everybody, have a great rest of your weekend.
Welcome into the show. Rockets get a huge win one
seventeen to one hundred, coming home after a six game
road swing, coming home to host the Calves, and really
from about mid first quarter on, it was just all
Rockets as Kevin Durant was just incredibly efficient. Was I mean,
one of his best shooting performances. I felt just watching
(00:24):
this guy operate from the mid range and beyond. Tonight
he drops thirty points in twenty eight minutes and I'm
here with Bendubo's ben. This was a great win. It's
you know, they've got Tari and DFS back and it
was just a no Alburn shangun tonight. So you know,
obviously it was a little questionable whether they would be
able to do well with their bigs got Cleveland's biggs,
(00:45):
but it was no question from the very beginning.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, this was a special Kevin Durant performance. I mean,
the Rockets had this put away. It felt like by
half time. Kenny Atkins and the Cavs coach said postgame
that that they just didn't match the fight from the Rockets.
And this is the second game in a row that
Houston held an opponent to one hundred or fewer points,
and it would have clearly been below one hundred again
just like the Lakers game on Christmas, if not for
(01:10):
you know, the end of the bench guys in the
fourth quarter, which allowed the Calves to get to one
hundred on the nose. So this is the second consecutive
game that the Rockets really buckled down defensively. That's the
phrase Kevin Durant used in his post game walk off
with Vanessa Richardson. And so I think, you know, some
people will undoubtedly point to, you know, Shangoon being absent tonight,
(01:31):
but they were very good with Shangoon on Thursday against
the Lakers. I think it's deeper than that. I think
it's you know, first off, Jory and Pinney Smith was incredible.
His plus minus tonight. I'm looking this up. It was limited,
but he played sixteen minutes and he was plus twenty.
So kudos to DFS. Even though he's only scored three
points in two games. I think he's already making an
effort with his communication, how hard he works defensively. But
(01:54):
I think when you can combine this level of defense
with Kevin Durant, who at thirty seven years old, is
still in all NBA caliber player. I mean, you get
a team that can be very, very good. What happened
on this road trip and they went to and four,
it was the defense. Whenever we talked to people inside
the organization, the two things you heard more than anything
day it was defense and rebounding. That's what they were
focused on. It's not French time scoring, it's not the
(02:16):
point guard debates. It's defense, it's rebounding. They've always felt
like if they can fix those things and get back
to what they do best, Dave, you said it before,
their superpower is rebounding, especially crashing the offensive glass. Then
now that you have Kevin Durant, they should have enough
to get to the finish line. And Dave, I came
away feeling really good in the big picture, like I'm
not going to say that that they'd be better off
(02:37):
without all prems and going like that's crazy, But what
I will say is that seeing that Kevin Durant has
this gear, it felt like without Alpi, they just gave
Kevin the ball. They dialed his usage up, and you
mentioned thirty points and under twenty eight under thirty minutes.
Insane efficiency had seven assists tonight after having eight the
other night. They basically gave Kevin the ball and just
(03:02):
let him make plays all night long, and there was
nothing that Cleveland could do a team that going into
the year was viewed as a contender in the Eastern Conference.
I know the record's underwhelming, but still a lot of
talent on that team. And if you ask Kevin to
do that for the next three and a half months
leading into the playoffs, then yeah, you're probably gonna run
him into the ground, especially with the Rockets having a
(03:24):
disproportionate amount of back to backs down the home stretch
of this year. But Dave, what this showed me is
that when you get to the playoffs, this game is
potentially the blueprint for if you really want to buy
in on this Rockets team at a high level and
say this team can make a ton of noise in April,
May and June. The case for optimism is, hey, let's
(03:45):
get to the playoffs, the games are more spread out,
there's no back to backs, and let's just turn Kevin
Durant loose. Let's let him go as far as he can,
dial up the usage and just see what happens tonight.
They did that in large because they had no choice
without all per Echion Goon, and he delivered against a
pretty good team and the Rockets were on fumes. They
(04:06):
didn't practice yesterday, they didn't shoot around today, which is
pretty rare when they enter a game without a practice
the day before. That's coming off the six game road trip,
and so this team is tired. They were shorthanded. They
basically just gave the ball to Kevin and said, can
you get us to the finish line in this game?
And not only did he get them to the finish line,
he did it in like under three quarters phase Achille
and so uh so, yeah, I just get a lot
(04:28):
of hope from this game. It's not so much saying
that this is the formula for the rest of the
regular season. Absolutely not. There's gonna be a lot of
games that you need all per Inchion Goon. It's to
sort of soak up minutes and touches and playmaking reps.
But you know, can this team actually get to a
championship level April, May and June is there's some meat
being left on the bone right now from what we've
(04:48):
seen in December, when even with this win, they're just
at six and six now nineteen and ten on the year,
the case for optivism. Hey, Kevin Durant's Hall of Famer.
What happens when the games get more spread out, they
get more meaningful and you just say, hey, Kevin will
go as far as you can take us. Tonight we
saw Kevin still has that gear. And if you want to,
if you want to buy in on the Rockets long term,
like Kevin Durant at this level, is is the way
(05:09):
they have a chance this season.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, if you are unsure if Kevin Durant is a
special player, and I'm sure there's very few people who
are unsure of that, but watch this game. I mean
he I mean his thirty seven year old player and
doing what he did in this game. It was just
amazing the shots he was hitting. There was one at
the top of the key. I tweeted out where Evan Mobley,
who's you know, didn't not have a good game tonight,
(05:34):
two for nine coming off the bench, like you get
four points. I was stunned by the lack of impact,
but still a very good defender, very long defender, completely
closed out, seemed to be all over Katie on a
three point shot top of the key, and he drained it.
He had twenty three points at halftime on eight of
ten shooting. I think he was six to seven at
the line. And these were not like layups, off cuts,
(05:56):
you know, these were turnaround guy in his face, hitting
seventeen eighteen footers a couple of threes. I mean, I
can't say enough good things about how he played time.
I'm sure there are other Knights where he's just he
doesn't quite have it going on, But tonight he was
just amazing. I think that was that's first and foremost
the story tonight, and then obviously the next thing being
(06:18):
the defense. But on the night when Shan Gun's out,
you know, for Katie to step up like that, that
was huge. They really in the first quarter really built
out a lead. It was the second quarter bend where
the start of the second quarter probably the only stretch
I just really hated about this game. A men and
Reid were out there, and you know, obviously, as a
matter of fact, he may addressed the multiple ball handlers
(06:40):
and the league guard and the engines and all that
stuff in this post game today and I'll talk about
some of those comments. That was the only stretch I
didn't like. A man had a couple of ugly turnovers. Reid,
I thought made a couple of mistakes and they gave up.
They didn't give up the lead, but I think they
got it down to like two or three the Calves did,
and then the Rockets took off from there, really blew
(07:01):
it open in the third quarter. But other than that,
I thought those guys played well. It's really I think
what they have and we'll talk more about the game specifically,
is they have a lot of good guys that can
handle the ball and can create I don't know if
they have the one guy just yet. Like that you
clearly say that's the dude. I mean, obviously I believe
in giving a man more chances, read more chances, but
(07:22):
I just that's that's the only downside. And I think
that's what I may said, you know, talking about it today,
These guys are improving. We was talking about reading amen
specifically as ball handlers, and we have multiple guys and
as they learn to get those spots. When you have
multiple guys who can handle it, you're gonna get some turnovers,
which saw it tonight. But he said, as they're learning this,
they'll get better, and I think that's what we're seeing.
He said, they've improved already this year, and he thinks
(07:43):
they'll get better by the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, and I thought that early second quarter stretch it
wasn't just that Kevin Durant was on the bench, it
was also that Steven Adams was on the bench. Hey,
even what a plus twenty six in twenty two minutes tonight?
Which are it brazy? But I think you know, Lng
Gooon and Adams are sort of, you know, a stimulus
measure in different ways for the young guards. With Shangoon
(08:06):
it's because he can be the primary playmaker. He can
even bring the ball up the floor and initiate the
offensive times. They talked about using him as a point center.
And with Steven Adams it's the screen setting. Clint Cappella
played hard tonight, but he's not in the league of
all per in Shangoon as a playmaker or Steven Adams
as a screen setter. And well, I guess Clint Capella
(08:27):
is close to Clint on a or close to Stephen
on a permanent basis when it comes to the rebounding,
but I don't think he's nearly the presence when it
comes to what opposing teams have to account for, and
so I think be it Shangoon as a playmaker or
Steven Adams as a screen setter, an offensive rebounder, like
those are important stimulus measures just sort of raise the
floor when you have two young guards like him intimes
(08:50):
and like Reed Shepherd. And so when Shangoon's out with
the calf, and it wouldn't surprise me, Dave. So Shangoon
was questionable on Thursday Chris against the Lakers. My guess
is that you know, it's a pretty minor injury. They
wouldn't have led him play if they had any concerns
about this turning into you know what happened with Giannis
and like a four to six week, like legitimate strain.
(09:11):
I think his first time as a young player getting
to play on Christmas. They let him play, but he
needs a few days. It wouldn't shock me if they
sat him Monday as well, because there's slorat of this
break in the schedule after Monday's game, and that's a
bad opponent that even without Shangoon, you'd probably be favored
against the Pacers. You don't play again until New Year's
Day in Brooklyn, so you can basically buy Shangoon a
(09:33):
full week of rest if you sit him Monday against
a six win Pacers team that you should win against
at home no matter what. So I would lean to
this being the same rotation for Monday night against the Pacers,
and then when Shingoon comes back in Brooklyn, he'll have
had a week off. And I don't view this as
a big deal. I really don't think the Rockets would
(09:54):
have let him play on Christmas Night if this was
something they were worried about. I just think it's something
that needs a few days. And and you know they
aired on the side of, you know, giving him the
benefit of the doubt, and you know he played and
played relatively well in Los Angeles, they got a big
win on Christmas Night, and now you let him heal
up on the homestand but you know, without Shinoon as
a playmaker and without Steven Adams in those minutes, that's
where it gets rougher for the young guys. But they
(10:17):
played through it, and then in the second half of
the game. You know, some of it's lower leverage minutes.
But you look at the final stat line for for
Reed Shepherd, who was plus twenty five and thirty two minutes.
What eighteen points eight exists from three? I mean, at
some point the numbers don't lie. This is why you
wet guys play through it. And we talked off line, Dave,
it felt like he was a little over aggressive early
(10:38):
in the game, trying to find his way. They let
him play through it and eventually it worked out, And
for me, that's just that's what you have to do
with young players. You keep trusting them, you keep the
leash long. It helps when you have a lead because
you can be a little more judicious and you know
the extent of that leash. But tonight it's an example
of why you don't overreact early. They let replay through it,
and by the end he was clearly one of the
best non Kevin Durant players. Four.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, no, absolutely, matter of fact, I see some comments
in the chat that I think maybe misinterpreting. We were
just talking about that second quarter stretch. I thought Reid
was really good in this game. I just was talking
specifically about the men and Reid in that early second quarter,
and then I noticed, you know, somebody else was saying
that not putting enough respect on Katie's name. I feel
like I'm putting nothing but respect on him. I think
he's been terrific this year. I thought he was awesome
(11:23):
in this game. So yeah, I'm not sure where that's
coming from, but that was I think the big story.
Certainly Kd's play Reid was really really good. But I
think defensively, you know, to hold the Calves to sixty
three points through three quarters, I mean they really They
kept using the word on the broadcast stifling. It really
was true. And this was the number one offense in
(11:45):
the league last year. The Calves. I think they're number
nine going into this game. They have definitely had some
struggles this year. I think that this is their fifth
loss in their last seven games, and people are disappointed
in general with the Calves, kind of wondering what's gonna
happen with Donovan Mitchell. But still capable offense, very good
three point shooting offense, and Rackus did a terrific job
defending them tonight and really blew it open in the
(12:06):
third quarter. That's another thing that was noteworthy. They had
ten turnovers in the first half, committed their eleventh right
out of the gate in the third quarter, had one
turnover the rest of the third quarter, and matter of fact,
they only had one more turnover till late in the
fourth until they picked up a couple in garbage time,
so that was nice that they cleaned that up as well.
But to get back to the point of the defense,
(12:28):
I thought the broadcast talked about this as well, their ability,
I think in the playoffs to be able to run
this specific lineup, which was then this is the broadcast
talking DFS, Tari, Jabari, a, men and kd is interesting
and DFS, as you talked about at the top of
the show, of Ben having an impact tonight plus twenty,
(12:50):
he's just getting the rust off. Matter of fact that
he may specifically use that term, just slowly but surely
just getting the rust off. This was a guy who
I don't want to use the word anchor, but I
guess I'm going to He anchored that Lakers defense last year.
They were really garbage, you know, without him in that
defensive unit. I don't know if he's going to be
able to fill Dylan shoes necessarily, but he's going to
(13:12):
have a significant impact for you to be able to
throw out there. Jabari, Tari A, men A, Kogi and
DFS and even Reid coming along now defensively, it's nice
to see. We're all just say it's nice to see
the defense getting back because they've had some really inconsistent
stretches this year.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
And it was a reminder that Jabari at the five
is a club in the bag. They got away from
that when the double big took hole late last season
with Steven and Alpi. But if you need to go small,
those lineups with Jabari at the five can function. We
saw that a little bit tonight, and I just think
Jabari is such an easy target. I've gotten so frustrated, Dave.
(13:52):
We talked about this offline as a shade Jabari gets.
He is now shooting career highs over all forty six
percent from eight percent. His plus minus is one of
the best on the team. Like on the road trip,
he had a couple of bad games, and it's like,
hold on here, if we're going to talk about his
plus minus being bad in the given game, why aren't
we talking about the whole season when he's one of
(14:13):
the best on the entire team. Like plus minus can
be telling if it's well, it can certainly be telling,
and that like a guy has a bad night. But
if we're trying to use it as a referendum on
the player. Then if it's a clear outlier relative to
the season as a whole, that should be noted, Like
you shouldn't note the one or two bad games in
(14:33):
the plus minus without pointing to the season overall. When
he's still one of the most valuable players on this team,
and tonight, you know, twenty six minutes, fifteen points, seven rebounds,
six of nine shooting three of five from three. He's
just such a valuable player. And I feel like his
archetype because he doesn't have the defensive highlights that that
Amn and Tari have. It's so easy to overlook him
(14:57):
because whenever someone blows by him on the perman like,
people make a mountain out of these plays, when I
would say they're a molehill. In today's NBA, where officials
don't let you have any hand checking, much contact at all,
there's no Ruben Patterson as the Kobe stopper. To go
back to you a reference from from our prime days, Dave, like,
(15:18):
there are no perimeter stoppers, even a men Thompson. I
can think of games last year like one of the
most fun I was thinking back, so I was in
person at that game the Rockets lost to the Knicks
at Madison Square Garden and Jalen Brunson cooked a men
down the Stretch yea and a men's a first Team
All Defense guy. It is just so tough in today's
NBA with how quick guards are, especially if you're asking
(15:42):
bigger guys to switch, with how quick guards are, how
tight the handles are, how tight that defenders are whistled
in regards to the level of contact that officials allow
or more accurately, don't allow. That's when I'm talking point
obviously all around the league, going back to the thunder
and shake just Alexander, The point is, if you want
(16:04):
to make a defender look bad and you just want
to find a possession where he gets blown by, you
can find that. And I feel that. I feel like
that's what people have done with Jabbari because if you
look hard enough, if you squint hard enough, Yeah, in
today's NBA, any good defender is gonna get blown by
over a few possessions of the game. It happens. It's
about the team construct defenses these days. The top sheal
(16:26):
defense is it's not about individuals, it's about how they
function together. Yeah, and Jabari is really useful in that construct.
The plus minus for the season overall doesn't lie the
shooting percentages. He has gotten better overall from three in
my opinion. It's not to say that that there haven't
been games that that Jabari has left you wanting more,
that's fair. But overall, Jabari has been a really good player.
(16:49):
It's been a very encouraging season for him. Not gonna
say every game has been great, but on the balance,
I think you have to be pretty pleased with what
you see.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Oh yeah tonight, fifteen points, six to nine, shooting three
or five from long range. I mean, yeah, he You know,
with Shinghunau, you would love to see him get more shots,
but he just is content sort of in filling the
role both on both sides of the floor, doing whatever
it takes in my opinion, to win. Yeah, he had
a couple of games there where he got beat. I
think a lot of it is, you know, you can't
(17:18):
always connect, especially as a six foot eleven guy contain
as you're pointing out a guard exactly. A lot of
it is funneling as you're pointing it out. Finally, it
to help defense or back line rim protection or things
of that nature. It's they judge that in the whole
of you know, team defense. It's I promise you that
the the internally the Rockets did not look at that
(17:39):
and say, oh, yeah, Jabari Smith Junior is the problem
didn't happen. But I know that, you know, some fans
see that and say, you know, Jabari is terrible or wherever.
I we certainly saw that on on Twitter. He's been
really good. Another fifteen point night. I think that wasn't
there a stat I don't remember. I don't remember off
the top of my head, but a stat where I
think he's had several fifteen plus point nights in the
last X number of ill I'll have to look it
(18:01):
back up. Good but it got shared by the Rockets
organization and their media notes today. But I thought he
was very efficient tonight Tari and people were talking about
kind of criticizing Tari. I'm not sure why. Maybe I
need to go back and look. He did have five
fouls nine twenty one minutes, but he did hit two
of three. He had some nice defensive highlights. You know,
a couple of I thought he had a couple of
steals at the double check that yeah, two steals tonight.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
But Javari has to reference the stat. Jabari has scored
fifteen plus points in nine of his past ten games
and nineteen times overall this season, which is already ahead
of his entire total from last year. Yeah, and as mentioned,
he's averaging a career high in points career high and
field goal percentage career high and three point percentage. This
is a clear step forward and with Tari like, there's
(18:44):
something to be said for Sorry you're jumping on this,
but there's a oh yeah, there's a comment in the
chat that I wanted to address. I think the Rockets
are fifteen and one. Someone pointed out in Tari's last
sixteen games as a starter. I do think there's something
to be said for what Tar he means for the collective,
not just what he means overall or what he means individually.
(19:06):
Because he's gonna have good games, he's gonna have bad games.
Tonight wasn't one of his better games. But I think
just the combination of defense, the Terror Twins dynamic, the
transition play with a men we talked about on last episode,
how he's good for a men's specifically offensively, the fact
that in contrast to Josha Kogi, who it feels like
has been you know, pushed down if you noted in
the rotation, not just Tari, but Aaron Holliday ahead of
(19:29):
a Kogi, and the bench rotation as well. They want
more shooting and so when you when you have the
floor space, it's easier for guys like Katie to operate.
So with Tari not his best game individually, but I
still contend that that starting him is good for the collective.
It makes it easier for the other guys to operate.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Yeah, and I don't know why some people out there think,
you know, Jabarishi's now thirty eight point two percent from three,
which is way above average, and it's I guess I'm
keeping seeing this narrative that he hasn't improved the lick.
I'm not understanding that. Maybe it's because Reed and Kadi
are you know, I think Katie's forty four point two
percent and Reid I think just jotted down forty two
(20:09):
point nine percent from three after tonight. I mean, I'm
not sure the Rockets matter of fact, have really good
shooters the way they're playing right now, those three Jabari
kd Reid and then Tari again knock on wood that
this is the stays going. But he's to a three tonight,
shooting forty nine percent from three on the season, which
is really kind of in contrast to the fact that Adams,
you know, obviously doesn't shoot at all a man is
(20:31):
just abysmal. Sorry, I love him and Thompson, but he's been.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
He made a three tonight. But yeah, he did what
he is.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
And that's something that obviously he has to work on.
And Shan Gun after the start of the year where
he was like wow and all that EuroBasket stuff. I mean,
he's he's won for his last twenty in threes and
I think his last the last time he made when
was December. And worse than that, to me is he's
not shooting him anymore. I think he's taking two in
the last four games. I just don't want him to
lose his confidence even if he's missing, just I still
(20:58):
want him to be able to stretch the floor. But
I guess what I'm saying is you've got this contrast
of all these defensive wings and they're actually providing great
three point shooting, and then you've got two or three
key guys in a men Shangoun and Adams who really
can't shoot him. I mean, hope knock on wood Shangun
will get back. But it's an interesting contrast.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
And before we close out, I want to throw one
more shout out to Dori Anthony Smith because I think
there's been a clear psychological boost. I posted it to
my Instagram story. I was in the crowd and I
the reaction from the bench when DFS hit that first three.
They could not have been more happy for the guy.
And I think I don't know how much you attribute
(21:37):
to DFS individually and how much the Rockets as an organization,
but I don't think ima Udoka was lying or just
trying to keep us, you know, off the trail when
he said a few weeks ago that January was the
target for DFS. No, I think it got expedited a
little bit to Christmas based on what was happening and
especially how it was happening this month. We talked about
(22:00):
defense and rebounding being where this team has slipped, and
DFS is a guy. You know, he's taller, but his
profile in terms of what he means defensively, not just
individually but for the team overall, in some ways it's
sort of similar to Fred and so you bring him back.
It's not just what he does against his man in
single coverage, it's what he means for the collective. And
(22:21):
even if it's fifteen to twenty minutes, I mean that's
close to half of a game. Those are meaningful minutes.
He was plus twenty in his sixteen minutes tonight. So
I don't know who you give the credit for. It's
probably a combination of the individual and the team. But
for all we talked about and deservedly so in December
when they were losing terrible teams, about why don't they
show more of a sense of urgency. They're falling down
(22:43):
the standings in the West. This is a sense of
urgency like DFS and the team to push the time
people forward and get two wins, like I know, you've
got your spreadsheet, Dave, And I don't think you would
have assumed that the Lakers and Caves were both wins.
Not that necessarily sugar on zero two. But I guess
what I'm saying is, you know, the Pelicans and Kings
(23:03):
were some terrible losses, but these are some good wins.
And the Denver game was a good win. As well,
but I'm pointing to these two because they're the most
recent two with DFS, and so if you can stack
some wins and you have an opportunity your next two
games or against the Pacers and the Nets, and you know,
let's get back to twenty one and ten on New
Year's Day. I don't think you're too far off the spreadsheet.
(23:24):
And you know, yeah, certainly like email, the culture of
the organization, you give a lot of credit to, you know,
not getting bogged down by the weight of the losses
and things spiraling in recent weeks. But I also give
a ton of credit to DFS individually. I just think
psychologically that was a huge boost to this team when
everything was going against them. They needed to see something
go right. To me, DFS returning has been has been
(23:45):
as spark. It came in just the right time.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Absolutely, and just on that spreadsheet, the I have them
currently one game behind now that this at Sacramento and
at LAC were both wins that I had and they
lost them both, But then I did have the at
Lakers as a loss. This is again how I rank
at the beginning of the year, before any of this
stuff played out. So they got back within one and
then I hate to say this, I'm looking at it.
(24:07):
I have it six straight wins now Cleveland, Indiana, Brooklyn, Dallas, Phoenix, Portland.
So they were supposed to win tonight on the spreadsheet.
They can only fall behind if they don't, you know,
if they lose any of the next five games. But
we'll see how this guy's I think there's some others
that they can win that I've got on there. And
just on a other another closing note, shehng goon the
cath th I am, just as you pointed out, always
(24:30):
concerned every time I hear calf now just because of
anybody of being out. And this was the most important game,
the game where I thought, well, Shangon has really done
a number on Allen and Mobiley lately. I'm sure he
wanted to play. I'm sure if in other words, I
think he would have played this game as opposed to
you know, the others. I think I'm hoping it's just
nothing serious. I mean, I don't think it's serious, but
(24:51):
you know, I guess what I'm getting at is, if
it is anything of a concern, I'd like to see
him sit in the next game, and maybe even the
next game, just because they are probably the too easy
before you get back with Dallas, Brooklyn has picked it up.
They're playing better. But you know, if anything, I think
you can survive those games. But obviously I trust the
Rockets to do the right decision with that.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
And by the way, excuse me, yes, Stephen Adams is
plus minus tonight. I mentioned the plus twenty six, But
Steven Adams Stats on Twitter had a good post earlier
today about reasons you shouldn't be alarmed by Stevens plus
minus not being what it usually is in recent games. Folk.
Steven Adams is an insanely impactful player. He's the why
you can mitigate a short term absence for all per
(25:33):
in Shangoon. And that's why if we're talking about a
plus minus in a game or two that isn't in
line with the season as a whole, It's why you
shouldn't overreact the way I thought some segments of this
fan base did with Jabari having a couple of bad
games on this road trip. Look, everybody, even Steven Adams
over eighty two games, is going to have a few
(25:53):
games here or there where it doesn't look good in
the plus minus. If it's a bigger trend in the aggregate,
and yeah, let's talk about it. But if it's clearly
an outlier Jabarti's twenty two years old, he's clearly getting
better or he has career highs at all of these Yeah, like,
that's clearly statistical noise. We've seen that the last couple
of games with this turning around, and so I think
(26:14):
it's just, you know, Steven is a is a cautionary
tale for why you know, we can point it out
when we talk about, you know, an individual game and
why the team won or lost. Yeah, that's completely fair.
But in terms of like overall trends, what it means,
I mean there's going to be some statistical noise, and
the stuff that was going on on this road trip
with I would say Stephen and Jabari's specifically was clearly
statistical noise.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, and I thought it was I forgot and jotted
is down in the notes, but I forgot to mention this.
Jabari had a couple of plays in the first quarter,
I believe, where he found Adams down low. Adams had
either a lamp or whatever got kind of you know, fouled,
got put to the line. Jabari doesn't get it obviously,
any assists for that, not that that's that big of
a deal, but I just noteworthy that Jabari did it
twice on creation of creation opportunities and found Adams down
(26:57):
low he got to the line. He was just three up,
six from the line tonight. But it's just it's insane,
And the thing about it is, I'll just close with
this too. Reed. Shepherd's starting to be that kind of
player too, Like he's out there and it's not always
necessarily because of him. But you look up and he's
plus twenty five tonight, and I think you know, a
couple of games back he was the number one guy
as far as we all total plus minus. I don't
(27:18):
think it's that case now, but you know, it's just
right now. The Rockets have a lot of depth going
on with the FS andry back, so it's great to
see this. The defense looks good. Hopefully they get Shinhun
back here shortly. Anything else you want to say, man
before we close up.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Nope, I think you get the nail on the head
with Shingun. You can be cautious with this. I think
you know it's nothing major, or they wouldn't have let
him play on Christmas after he was previously listed as questionable.
I think they let him, you know, Lakers in La
Lebron and Luca first sign playing on Christmas. I think
you combine this game with the Pacers on Monday, you
can give him a full week's worth of rest and
(27:55):
let it heal up. I don't think it's a big deal.
I think this is just them being you know, conservative
at a friendly point in the schedule where finally they
can be and hopefully, you know, you give him that
week off and he comes back in a weekend and
it's like it never happened. That's my whole when I
think it's a reasonable expectation.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
And what is it, sixty five games you have to
play to be eligible? Yeah, okay, I mean he's not
close to that or anything. I just I just know
what I'm saying is I'd rather be conservative so we
don't run the risk of him going a fifteen game
stretch again or something.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
And I'm sorry if you lose to a six win
Pacers team on Monday night at home, the reason is
not that you didn't have all for Echion Goon. Something
went wrong with the other nine ten players that you're playing,
So no does affect to all for ench and goon.
But if somehow this goes wrong on Monday that you
won't hear me on this post game saying oh if
anyone had all for eens gooon, No, it's it's squarely
(28:42):
within the control of those who are out there.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Yep, thanks everybody, appreciate it. Feel free to comment in
the in the uh, in the comments and YouTube to
let us know how you feel about uh, you know
what we had to say, or the game in general.
Oh oh wait it fight. I do have one more
shout out, so oh yeah. One of our listeners, Chris,
who was right behind me and seats tonight, said hello
to us, so I'll say hello to Chris. Thanks for
watching and or listening. But it reminds me this is
(29:07):
only the eleventh Rockets home game of the season, so
they're nineteen and ten. But that's split eleven home games
to eighteen road. If you want to be bullish, that's
a reason to be bullish. This team has not had
many home games. They're now nine and two. It to
the other Center.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
One of the two losses was way back in October,
the season opener against the Pistons, so Yeah, they're about
to have a lot of home games. They've looked really
dominant until the other center of late. The crowd was
really full tonight, so fingers crossed they can build on
this because they've looked really good in that building.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Awesome, that's Ben Dobos. I'm Dave Hardesty. Appreciate you all
listening and watching, and we will see y'all on Monday.
Thanks everybody, have a great rest of your weekend.
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