March 22, 2026 • 33 mins
In perhaps the most memorable game yet of Houston’s 2025-26 season, Amen Thompson hit a game-winning tip shot at the buzzer as the Rockets rallied past Miami. At 43-27, Houston remains at No. 4 in the tightly packed Western Conference standings, which would put the Rockets in line to hold home-court advantage in at least one round of the 2026 playoffs.
Featuring Ben DuBose and Dave Hardisty, Saturday’s “ClutchFans Live” postgame show recaps all the key storylines. Topics include brilliant games from Thompson and Reed Sheppard versus a quality opponent; the odds of Sheppard maintaining his new starting role into the playoffs; and the history made by Kevin Durant, who passed Michael Jordan for No. 5 in all-time NBA points.
This episode can also be viewed in video form here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiy6ETQkdsY
Featuring Ben DuBose and Dave Hardisty, Saturday’s “ClutchFans Live” postgame show recaps all the key storylines. Topics include brilliant games from Thompson and Reed Sheppard versus a quality opponent; the odds of Sheppard maintaining his new starting role into the playoffs; and the history made by Kevin Durant, who passed Michael Jordan for No. 5 in all-time NBA points.
This episode can also be viewed in video form here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiy6ETQkdsY
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
What's up, everybody. Ben's just getting a couple things adjusted.
This was just a crazy night. I mean, there's so
much to discuss about this game. I really don't know
where to start. I feel like this game had a
story to it until about nine minutes left to go
and everything just got nooked completely. Rockets win one twenty
(00:25):
three to one twenty two on a on an incredible
athletic tippin' by a men. Thompson literally at the buzzer,
off the glass, off of a Katie isolation and a
double pump maybe sixteen fifteen footer that was heavily contested.
Looked like for sure the Rockets had lost, and a
(00:45):
men came flying in using that incredible athleticism to win
the game. Preceding that was one of the inmost insane blunders,
Tarry Easton passing the the inbound with about what eight
seconds left Ben with the Rockets up one underneath the
Heat's basket, immediate turnover. It was just so crazy because
(01:07):
the broadcast was saying, what you can't do here is
turn it over, and he literally passed it to them.
They quickly score on you know, Jabari contested it called
goaltending Rockets were down one setting up that play. But
there's so much to talk about Reid Shepherd, Kevin Durant
passing Michael Jordan tonight on the all time scoring list,
but Ben here with Ben Dobos of Rockets wiring clutch fans,
(01:31):
I mean, just thankfully they got the win.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, And what's crazy about this one? Dave Kevin Durant
passed Michael Jordan. Let's start there. He's now top five
all time in NBA scoring, which is a remarkable achievement,
and yet from a Rockets perspective, it feels secondary because
in the big picture, what you saw tonight from a men,
Thompson and Reed Shepherd combining to shoot better than sixty
(01:55):
percent from the field read making five of his eight threes,
read with twenty three fourteen zero turnovers a man with
twenty four and eighteen with the final rebound leading to
the game winning tip in at the buzzer. I mean,
those two of the future of your franchise. We've talked
about when it comes to the young core, so to speak,
(02:15):
that's where the upside really is. And to see both
of them have those level of games at the same time,
starting next to one another, because Obviously, the Rockets made
the change yesterday to Centauri to the bench and start read.
So now you have reading the men starting next to
each other, to see the synergies that those two have
playing off one another, twenty three years older, younger, to
(02:37):
see both of them playing that way in a big game.
Let's be honest, like the Heat are a pretty good team.
They played very well tonight, Tyler hero bam Adebayo. There
is talent there, there's playoff stakes Rockets on night Tuba
back to back to see your two most I don't
want to say necessarily best young prospects, because Shingoun is
a two time All Star, but let's say I would argue,
(02:59):
perhaps you're two highest upside prospects to both go off
in the same game at the same time against a
big name opponent and for one of them to win
it at the buzzer, that's one of those. You know,
Kevin Durant let off the post game last night doing
a vibe check. Dave, I'll do a vibe check with
you right now. I'm assuming it's prett damn good.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Oh, absolutely, I mean it was. I gotta say, you know,
I've been talking about Red Shepherd is in like I
think he's more combo guard. He's got some point guardability,
but it's I really wouldn't call him a point guard.
I mean, fourteen assists in zero turnovers. I mean, I
have to admit this has humbled me. I don't anticipate
we'll see this often. I could be wrong. I would
love to be wrong. But tonight he was finding shooters,
(03:41):
you know, making the right passes, moving the ball around
the floor. Read was terrific. A men, getting eighteen boards.
I mean you highlighted these things to go with his
twenty four points on ten and seventeen shooting. I mean,
those two, in my opinion, were absolutely terrific. Read with
a team high plus seventeen and it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Ben.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
You know what, this is the second game Read started
right since the switch was made from Tari. And what's
I found fascinating is if you look at this starting lineup,
and we've talked about this before, but you look at
the five that are starting, it's easily been the most
ineffective lineup of all the starting lineups that they've played.
I'm talking about to you know this point of the season,
(04:23):
and like we I think we said it was something
like a negative seven net rating, which is bad, and
it really wasn't great or early on. You know, they
started out eight nothing, then gave up a twelve zero
run and e May kind of did that quick hook
again with less than four minutes to go, pulling Read
or pulling Shangun for Tari. But it's very clear to
(04:43):
me that Read there are combinations that really kind of
unlock Read. He's got incredible shooting ability, he just needs
some things around him. But what bucked the trend was
that fourth quarter. I mean I had a story here
looking at you know, sort of the red Shangun minutes,
and they were pretty bad, to be honest with you.
(05:04):
Reed was like super good when he didn't have Shangun
and then super bad when he did have Shangar. At
least I'm coming about the team results. And then they
hit five of six threes in a row. Jabari hit
the two, Reid hit one, and then Aaron Holliday comes
in and hits two and just and they played zone defense,
which just you know, completely confused at Miami, and they
(05:24):
were down ten to eleven points and turned that thing
completely around, seemed to have the game under control, and
then you know what we talked about with that that collapse.
Reid was fantastic today, so I have to give him
all the flowers and as well a men. But Red,
I thought really did a great job considering he's being
kind of thrust into a role where he's being counted
(05:45):
on for a.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Lot, and I think there's something to be said that
Reid and amend play well off of one another, and
that's something that has implications beyond this season. Like I know, everyone,
at least around the NBA, it feels like it's down
on the rockets because the last couple of weeks they
went oho to four again, the Lakers, the Spurs, the Nuggets.
But even if this season with Fred and Steven out
and the first year of Kadie, you're not able to
(06:07):
patch it together down the stretch of this year. When
you have two guys like what we saw tonight and
Reed Shepherd and a Men Thompson as young as they
are and they play well together, that's something that gives
you hope for a long time here in Houston. And
that's why I just I couldn't be happier seeing the
way they won this game tonight. Leaning on the backs
of those two guys, and I do think with regards
(06:28):
to the point guard rep specifically, I think those two guys,
you know, they make it easier on one another. Neither
of them is a full blown point guard just yet,
but when you play them together, you can sort of
trade off for the estions at times in terms of
who does the heavy lifting and who's playing a little
more off ball. Reid obviously has a lot off ball
gravity as a shooter, and then we know what he
can do when he's in that dunker slot and able
(06:51):
to well we saw the winning put back tonight. You know,
they both can play on ball, they both can play
off ball as well, and so I think having those two,
you know, the synergies they have together, that's so big
going forward because that's one of those, you know, team
building implications. And then you know, the other big benefit
to starting Read Shepherd is that the Rockets have really
increased their three point volume. They hit fourteen last night,
(07:12):
they hit sixteen tonight, so that's an average of fifteen.
And there may have been some tired legs because back
to back three games and four nights. And yet with
Reed Shepherd, I mean he's basically a math advantage or
a math equalizer at a bare minimum by himself. And
so you put him in a starting lineup that at
times can be a little mid range heavyby no Shangoon
(07:33):
and the men aren't really three point shooters. It can
make a big difference and another benefit. So I want
to shout out Fri into the program. Anthony Duckett, he
writes for Rockets on SI, he texted me yesterday. I
thought this was the most random text. I'm going to
read it now. What's up man? What do you think
about Aaron Holliday. This is at four fifteen yesterday afternoon,
(07:53):
and I'm like, why are you texting about Aaron Holliday.
He's forty played and I say, down shooting year and
basically a two guard, so there's not a lot of
room for him to play. Great teammate though, And Anthony
or Sonnaby, have you seen the data on him though
eight and two when he scores in double figures eight
and five last season, when he's in double figures six
and three this year, when he plays twenty plus minutes
(08:13):
four and two last year, when he does and that's
interesting And I do think that you know, Holliday's the
kind of guy when he gets hot. That's often the
best version of the Rockets because typically under emi Udoka
they play good defense, and if you're able to hit
threes at volume, then this is generally a team that's
going to win a lot of games. The difficulty, especially
when they prioritized playing Reed Shepherd a lot off the bench.
(08:35):
Hemeyudoka typically doesn't play ten or eleven guys. Most teams don't,
and it's tough if you're running, you know, an eight
or nine in rotation for two of your three or
four guys off the bench being really small point guards
or at least defensively. You know, Holiday maybe a two
guard how he plays, but he's got a point guard's body,
and so I think just sort of by default, if
you're bringing Reid off the bench, it's tough to give
(08:56):
extended minutes to Aaron Holliday as well.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Otherwise you're just really small.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Well, all of a sudden, if you start read Shepherd,
there's more of a pathway to play Aaron Holiday without
you being too small. And he's combined for five threes
the last two nights, so he's been a huge part
of that volume. And he had a stretch in the
fourth quarters night where he almost took over the game.
So that's just a little side benefit. You know, we're
seeing Reid's praises and deservedly so. But one thing that
(09:21):
it didn't sort of I didn't even think about it
until Anthony texted me yesterday. But if starting read Shepherd
allows you to get this version of Aaron Holliday, certainly
not every game, but let's just say, you know, once
a week or so as a stimulus, Like that's a
big deal for a Rockets team that's been searching for
anything off that bench, you know, going into tonight. I look,
the Rockets were second to last and scoring in calendar
(09:43):
year twenty six. This version of Aaron Holliday, who we
know when he's right, can shoot, that would be a
big beneficiary. So let's make sure we shout him out
as well.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Oh no question, I hate those those threes in the
fourth that were huge. I mean it was I don't know,
I don't like, For example, I agree one hundred percent
of men and Read or your backcourt future. At least
that's the way you're you're going forward with that, even
when he may wasn't starting Read. That's always been the
plan of the organization eventually read takes this over. It's
gonna be a little awkward when Fred comes back. I
(10:13):
think Fred may start, but you know, you just don't
know what's gonna end up happening in the offseason. But
you know, as far as Holiday is concerned, he was
really good last year. This year, I think he still
got that trust. And then he couldn't hit anything for
a long while. I don't have the data in front
of me. That's just what I remember. And then he
fell out of the rotation completely for a good long stretch,
(10:33):
which I thought was a little surprising, just because he
may has always trusted him. Not that I questioned it,
like it was the wrong decision, just it was just
surprising to me. And now he seems to be, you know,
earning some minutes back. Yeah, I mean, those those shots
were huge. I mean it's like, you know, what's really interesting, Ben,
we talked about this. So the start of the third
quarter of the starting lineup was in rockets. Uh, just
(10:55):
offensively we were great. Shangun was scoring, Reid didn't score,
but I can't remember who else. I think a man
had some bus baskets. They were seven of ten in
a less than five minute stretch. Seven of ten from
the field, two of four from three, scored sixteen points
in less than five minutes. Yeah, and they were outscored
twenty to sixteen because they couldn't stop anybody. You know,
(11:17):
the offense continued to thrive in that fourth when Rechepard
came back in, but their defense was pretty good for
a good stretch as well. And it has to be
because it went to that zone. I didn't, you know,
study it the whole way as I was going, but
it seemed like Miami suddenly couldn't do much with that.
But for them to come up and score one hundred
(11:38):
and twenty three points, that's something new we haven't seen
much of from the Rockets lately. And you know, defensively,
I still have some concerns, no question, with the starting lineup.
They're gonna have some easier matchups at Chicago coming up,
a couple other I think you got Memphis coming up.
But offensively, this was incredibly fun to watch a lot
of scoring tonight.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, And to address the switch they made before were
yesterday's game, starting Reid in place of Tari I know
you had the solo show last night, but just you know,
I want to add a little bit of perspective on that.
I really think a lot of this comes down to
Tutari Easton struggles, like they need to get him right.
And some people will undoubtedly ask, you know, why didn't
(12:17):
this happen earlier? Because the fan base has been asking
for this really since the All Star Brank when Reid
came out and was really hot on that road trip,
we saw the big games he had in Charlotte in Orlando,
and people have been sort of clamoring for it ever since.
And of course, as you laid out, you know, defense
is the concern. Well, I think there's a couple of
things that happened. First off, I mean there are always limits,
(12:39):
and offensively, going into tonight, as I mentioned, they were
averaging Glow one hundred and nine points per game in
calendar year twenty six. That's forty games worth of data
and that's second worst in the entire NBA. Only the
tanking Brooklyn Nets were worse. So you were at a
point where even if it is helping your defense some
and I know Eme said before last night's game that
they did like what Tari is doing defensively, at some
(13:02):
point the offense is so bad that you have to
try something else. So I think that's why we reached
the point this week. It's just gotten so bad with
a sustained slump. I know some people pointed to, you know,
Jabari had his shooting slump in January.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
This is not like that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Jabari shooting slump is basically eight games. Tari has been
below fifteen percent from three dating back to before the
All Star break, So we're talking close to twenty games
now that he's been below fifteen percent from three. So
I just think you reached a point. Your offense was
so low at some point if your second last, second
to last in the NBA, it doesn't matter what you're
giving up defensively if you just can't score. So something
(13:36):
needed to change, and especially for that role, you know,
for the way this Rocket team is built, at least
for this season, I think they clearly view their four
most valuable players as KD, Shingoon, Amen, and Jabari. Those
are the core four. Those are the guys that since
training camp have been in trench starters. That's not to
say that they're the core four long term. I mean,
hopefully Red Shepherd can break into that tier and then
(13:58):
some I'm just saying for this particular season, those are
the four They're almost always going to start, assuming they're healthy.
So with the attention those guys draw, whoever is in
that fifth spot needs to be able to hit open shots,
and if they can't, the entire offense is going to
bog down, as we've seen too often the last two
and a half months. And so when Tari's that fifth
(14:18):
guy and he's shooting sub fifteen percent from three for
more than a month, I mean, it's tough to survive with.
And I think that's ultimately what made the change. And
the other thing is that, you know, they said he
was still competing defensively, but Tori's a guy. You mentioned
the frustration late in the game tonight on that handle
turnover to address some comments in the chat, Yes, the
(14:39):
Rockets absolutely should have called time out. I was stunned
that they didn't. They had two timeouts and didn't end
up using both of them. So if you ever get
that late in the game, you know, personally, I'm not
a huge fan of fouling up three that early. I
would rather wait to foul up three until closer to
five six seconds because even if the Rockets hadn't thrown
away the inbounds. I mean, if they had done anything
(15:01):
other than go two of two from the free throw line,
the heater gonna have a chance to win the game themselves.
So I would have rather waited a little bit on
the initial foul to begin with. But then certainly if
he had multiple timeouts, use one of them then to
get more organized. But Tari is the guy who made
the turnover. I do you know e may and his
pregame quote or postgame that was the first time he
addressed it on the record. After the Atlanta game, he
(15:22):
mentioned wanting Tari to relax. Tari, to me, as this
slump has continued, seems to be a guy that's that's
losing his composure a little bit. He's very frustrated and
it's starting to affect him in other areas. And so
that's the other thing that drove it. And we saw
it at times tonight. We saw last night, you know,
thirty seconds into the game he fouled a three point
(15:43):
shooter and it was a flagrant. That's why this needed
to be made. And you know, Reid is proving that
it's worthwhile with the prorection he's given. You twenty three
and fourteen. But aside from that, I mean, we've seen
the reminders as to why this was. You know, I
think we both said it after Wednesday's game, it was
time for change.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Yeah, and to that point, if you I know this
in real time. I don't know what he was upset about,
but Jabari was the one who was originally inbound and
a ball, and Tari came running to him clapping and
then got really upset. I don't know if he got
upset with Jabari because he was not the one inbounded
ball or because Jabari didn't pass it to him, which
he would have been immediately fouled and gone to the line.
(16:17):
I don't know which one, but it was clear that
Tari was very frustrated when he ran up to Jabari
trying to figure out something. MY guess was it was
because he wanted to inbound the ball, and then because
they I don't know what, I can't remember what the
issue was. They re inbounded the ball and Tari did
it this time and made that pass. This reminds me
of a couple of pass games. Remember the Orlando game
at home when they made that. I can't remember if
(16:38):
it was Shangun inbounding it, trying to get it to KD.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
He was probably fouled.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Ball goes and the Shangun fouls him on the on
the fast break and won. And then Shanggun very luckily
scores and in forces overtime where they ultimately win.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
But good hell, you were going to say that hilarious
twenty nineteen game No, No No. Twenty nineteen and Madison
Square Garden. Remember the PJ Tucker and Eric Gordon in
bounds play under eat the basket where you know Pj's
just staring at it, he doesn't want to touch it,
and Eric Eric Gordon gives the ultimate Eric war.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yes, I remember vividly.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
I was also gonna remember the amend one in Brooklyn.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Was it a couple of years so I am very yeah,
yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
And they're all like trying to get somebody to pick
up the ball and oh.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
My gosh, Doane little Russell for three? Yes, right, that's right.
By the way.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Speaking of tari, I will say it's sort of symbolic
that the Rockets won a game on a tip in
at the buzzer, because this feels like getting one back
from that game in Portland where they thought they'd wanted
the buzzer the Tari tip in that was a tenth
of a second too late. In this case, amends was
a tenth of a second or maybe two tenths of
a second in time just before the buzzer. So some
interesting symmetry there. Somehow the Rockets got one to go
(17:42):
their way for a change.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Yeah, oh absolutely. But yeah, on Tari, it's just very clear,
like you said, something's probably very frustrated to him. I'm
sure contract stuff so hanging over his head. I'm sure
it's all compacting, you know, everything, the weight of the
last fifteen twenty games is on him. I really don't know,
but two of seven from the field tonight and had
that incredibly costly turnover. And you know, as I mentioned earlier,
(18:07):
e May still is. You pointed this out, and I
think it's absolutely correct. They're trying to get Tary going.
I think Tarry kind of forced the issue. As far
as the starting lineup change. As I mentioned that starting
lineup it actually hasn't been great. You're you're playing read
now for the future to get a look and hopefully
we get a lot more improvement. But the actual starting
lineup read Shanghon, Jabbari Kadi and Amen has has been
(18:32):
largely in effective this season, So let's hope that that
read kind of takes the reins obviously like he did
tonight twenty three points fourteen A says go ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Postgame quote from ima Udoka on Red. You can see
him growing up right before your eyes. So for all
the criticism, oh, is em too harsh on Red, there's
some love right there. When he plays like tonight, he's
going to get the phrase.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
One thing I said for sure is Ema wants read
to succeed. I mean it's I see a lot of
stuff like he hates Reid. I don't think that's true.
He's trying to integrate him into like what he's doing
defensively and knowing and he's and the other thing is
this he hasn't started. He has played heavy minutes for
a good long stretch. I think you go back at
(19:13):
least ten fifteen games he's playing thirty minutes a game,
and you go back, you know, to January one, he's
probably playing, you know, between twenty five and thirty. So
it's not like Reid hasn't had plenty of opportunities to
do these kinds of things. But I get it. People
want to you know, it's it's a status thing. It's
also you know you're going to start the first, you're
going to start the third. Those are significant minutes. But
(19:35):
you know Reid keeps playing like this, He's not gonna
let go of that role.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
That's for sure, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And I've seen some comments in the chat tonight and
on social media, why won't the Rockets an e may
commit to him as the starter the rest of the season,
because the quote last night was, you know, we're going
to do it for six, seven, eight games and we'll
reevaluate right before the playoffs. If he plays anywhere near
like he does today, he's not coming out of that lineup.
I promise you that. The reason they're saying that is
that they want to make make sure that the production
(20:01):
continues when he's a starter. This has been this fifth
starter spot. This has been a point of debate ever
since Frivanfleet went down at the end of September. They
started the season with Steven Adams as the fifth starter
in Oklahoma City. They tried Josha Kobe for a while,
and then I remember on Christmas we were all excited
about sliding Tarry Eason into the starting lineup at that time,
(20:22):
and still for another month or so, he was shooting
incredibly well from three and on paper, hey, you add
his defense to the starting lineup, you can stabilize it.
He's going to space the floor with this newfound shooting stroke.
We were so excited, and yet pretty much ever since
Tory joined the starting lineup, that's about when the offense
fell off a cliff and has been your bottom five
in the league in offensive rating. So we can say
(20:43):
that it should work out on paper, but the Rockets
have tried a lot of different configurations this year and
nothing has found consistent success. So I do understand why
emy Udoka before reach Shepherd goes on a prolonged run
with these starters. And you can point out, and rightfully so,
read ten and two as a starter this year. That's true,
But these last two have been the first two that
(21:04):
he's starting alongside all the other big guns. In most
of the other cases, it's been because one of the
main stays was out, and so it's easier to sort
of build your offense and your schemes around him. Now
you are truly trying to blend the best of Reached
Shepherd with the best of those in Trench four, and
I think it can work. In my opinion, it should work.
But the Rockets, again, they haven't had a solidified starting
(21:27):
five since the end of September when Fred went down,
and they're not gonna one hundred percent commit to anything
until they see it on the floor for a few games.
If it's anywhere near what it looks like the last
two nights, he's going to be the fifth starter. I
guarantee you. It's just the Rockets aren't going to prematurely
make that declaration. They're They're just going to wait and
see how the next couple of weeks go and if
(21:49):
past two nights any indicator is gonna be great.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
And also like if it doesn't go well in the
next handful of games then and you said he's locked in, right,
what do you do if you have to make a change,
you hurt his confidence. I just think this is let
him prove it and earn it, and I think he did.
He's starting to do that tonight.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Interesting, Just a few things I want to point out
him and Hawkins Junior did not play tonight. Andrew Wingers
did not play to night. Norman Powell did not play tonight,
so Heat were missing three key guys. Was really fascinating.
I don't know the story.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
I don't think there was an injury. But gilllle Ware
played less than five minutes tonight after pretty much feasting
in the game in Miami and was a minus fifteen.
I don't know what I missed, you know, in that stretch.
So that was kind of interesting. But bam tonight thirty
two points, a career high, twenty one rebounds. Tyler Harrow
was also really effective and Larsen and I'm not going
(22:40):
to pronounce this right fon Techio that's right, Actually, okay, good.
Those guys were pretty effective tonight. This was a starter's
game for both teams for the most part. I mean,
those were the guys who were really doing, you know,
and we haven't mentioned some of the other shngun tonight.
Nine of thirteen from the field had twelve boards, three assists.
Katie he was I say, quiet, quiet, twenty seven points
(23:03):
and passing Michael Jordan, and you know, that's just that's
amazing to pass Michael Jordan. I guess I've kind of
become a little bit numb to all the names that
he's passing. But Michael Jordan is you know, to me,
he's the goat now, that's to him. For him to
pass him on scoring is pretty amazing. Twenty seven points
on ninety seventeen shooting. Jabari did not shoot well tonight.
But one thing I will give credit.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
For for.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Is those two huge three when they were really down big.
You know, it was kind of coincidence. Reid came in,
made that first pass to Jabari in the corner, and
then Jabbari, you know, off the rebound, basically ran out
and transitioned and just a pull up three in transition
that forced a time out by the heat I think
cut the lead to four and the Rockets were on
their way. So but he didn't have, in particular a
(23:47):
good shooting night, that's for sure. So shout out to
those guys though, for their contributions to the game as well.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
One hundred percent and on KD, I'll be quick, but
beyond his scoring brilliance, which is true tonight, it's true
for his career. But I'm going to cite a Michael
Shapiro quote from one of our earlier shows as far
as all the body language experts earlier this week and
Kendrick Perkins and all the national storylines, the basketball will
determine the feelings. The feelings will not determine the basketball.
(24:14):
That's what Michael said on our show, and I think
it still holds true today. You know, those two games
against the Lakers were incredibly frustrating. But look if if
you have a camera on any top shelf NBA player
and you're watching every second of what they're doing on
the court for two and a half hours in a
game that they lose in an agonizing way, you're going
(24:37):
to be able to find five to ten seconds that
you can clip and send viral on Twitter and make
it seem representative and make it, you know, make these
huge storylines. In reality, it's just a product of the situation.
Those were frustrating losses. Everybody's gonna, you know, have a
few minutes here in there of pouting or in their.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Case, a few seconds. It's not a big deal.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
And we saw tonight the body language mc a lot
better when the threes are going in and when they're
making plays down the stretch of close games.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
So that's not to say that the you know, the.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Body language police can't have a point. I mean, if
if intel comes out that the environment is toxic, that
you know, that they don't like being around each other,
that team chemistry is an issue, then sure like that
can be a storyline. But let's wait for actual evidence
of that. Clipping something that's five to ten seconds in
length and trying to blow it out of proportion, that
(25:28):
doesn't really tell you anything. And so you know, that's
not to say that everything's fine and everything's great. I
mean maybe maybe things aren't great. I haven't been I
haven't personally gotten any indication that there's any you know,
chemistry issues, so to speak. But if there are, then fine,
we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
But it didn't look like it when they won.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
No, they got it all right. Now that stuff is
just making them out in Abamol Hill.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Yeah, yeah, I mean they were, as was mentioned in
the chat as well, Jabbari and Shngoon both just you know,
swarmed a man after that dip in, giving him big hugs.
It was kind of a really cool kind of moment.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
If you see the comment of the chat, Rockets had
great defense on dam keeping him fifty under his season high.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Actually it's pretty good.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Yeah, it's a good win, and I don't want to
definitely downplay it at all. It's this team. Miami played
fast today. They made it difficult for the Rockets for
a good stretch there in that third quarter when Miami
closed on a thirteen to two run, And like I said,
the defense in the third quarter was rough. A matter
of fact, even they went with a wings lineup, you know,
(26:32):
taking I think both Read and shngoun out and that
lineup struggled defensively in that third quarter. This looked like
a loss. So it's a great win. I want to
downplay it. It's just, you know, like I said, they're
missing a few key guys. And I loved what the
Rockets did. I love what Reid did, what a Men did.
It's all very very very positive vibes. Bigger tests are coming.
(26:53):
I like that they're kind of shaking off the negative
vibes that we saw after the two Lakers losses.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
And that's that's a big.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
One hundred percent. And to close the loop on the
chemistry comments, I see someone in the chat pointing out that,
you know, it is an issue in the long term. Yeah,
it absolutely can be What I'm saying is that you're
not going to be able to tell the chemistry from
a five to ten second clip when it's the last
sixty seconds of a game that you're clearly going to
lose that got away from you, that you knew going
(27:22):
in was massive for you. And you know, you see
Kevin or Alpi or whoever it is, you know, just
slumped shoulders and looking frustrated or having a snipe an
offhand remark or two, like, you can't use that as
a referendum on chemistry. Chemistry absolutely can be and is
a big deal. What I'm saying is that you need,
you know, much more of a long term indicator than
(27:45):
a few seconds of frustration. That's what I'll say about that.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Yeah, So they finish up the five game homestand three
and two. There are two games behind last year's pace,
so or the record the Rockets had at this point
of the year last year. They now go on a
four game homestand at Chicago at Minnesota, and It's gonna
still be out for the Minnesota game, Is that right?
Speaker 3 (28:04):
I think so?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
I think he's out. So that's that's huge for the Rockets.
At Memphis, that's a tanking team, but they did beat
Denver recently, so you can't sleep on them. And then
at New Orleans, and we've talked about New Orleans extensively.
That team is sneaky. You know, on paper they look
like a tanking team, but I think they're actually kind
of inching closer to play in territory because they've been
(28:26):
playing so well since de Jan Tay Murray got back.
So four game road trip here at Chicago, at Minnesota,
at Memphis, at New Orleans. What are you expecting as
we go there?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah, I'm nervous because for the season overall, Rockets are
now twenty five and ten at home, which is like
a almost sixty win pace, but they are eighteen and
seventeen on the road, barely better than five hundred. And
if we're talking about you know, Amen and Red as
the variables as we saw tonight, guys twenty three and
twenty one years old, those are the types of guys
(28:56):
that historically, in the biggest games, tend to play better
at home. So the Rockets right now are in the
top four of the West. And in terms of you know,
actually you know, riding the ship and hopefully winning at
least around in the playoffs and being able to be
a real threat, which is, you know, the best case scenario,
you need to stay in the top four so that
you have home court advantage in at least one round.
And yeah, four straight road games for a team that's
(29:19):
been five hundred on the road isn't easy. I'm hoping that,
you know, I like starting off in Chicago because that's
one that on paper should be very favorable to you.
Then you get Minnesota, a big one in which they
probably won't have Anthony Edwards. So any road game makes
me nervous these days. But I do like the way
it starts out, and I just like the way the
Rockets have responded, you know, all around the NBA after
(29:41):
they've lost, especially that second game to the Lakers. I
mentioned the Kendrick Perkins comments. Every talk show around the
league this week. The Rockets have been a punch line.
All the talk has been what's wrong with the Rockets?
And they came out this weekend against two teams that
were both thirty eight and thirty one entering the weekend.
I think each was top six, top seven in the East.
And you know, I said after Wednesday's game, with it
(30:02):
being a back to back, both of those teams Atlanta
and longest winning streak in the league. I would have
been satisfied to go one and one, to get two
wins over winning teams on a back to back immediately
after forty eight hours of being the punchline. And you know,
even within the fan base, I mean, we know how
toxic it's been.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
You know, just look at some of them. Yeah, the
comments after uh when.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
I would say it's worse than national media, and yeah,
it's the problems inside the house.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
And so I like the way, you know, it got
really really real after they lost those two to the Lakers,
and so I like the way they've responded. There's a
lot of pressure on this road trip, especially the games
like Chicago that they need to win, but I like
what we've seen the last two nights. And then, you know,
one last shout out. We've mentioned him a few times already,
but a Men Thompson night two of a back to back,
(30:50):
when supposedly you're not going to have legs eighteen rebounds
with the eighteen being the game winner in the final second.
To have that level of burst on night to go
back to back special special.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Player think about what the dialogue would be right now,
how this post game would be going right now if
he didn't tip that in. Yeah, I mean, would this
just be like a Tari barbecue? I mean, what would
we be doing, like just ripping on him left or
I don't know. I mean I feel bad in the
way for it for Tari there, but like all the
vibes are good and they would be so negative right
now if not for that. And one other thing I
(31:25):
was going to mention is you know you've you've actually
mentioned this the other day, Ben, But how cool would
have been if if Katie was a little short of
the record tonight and went to Chicago for the next
game and past Jordan in Chicago that would have been
kind of funny. But he goes there on Monday night,
I believe, for you know, having passed Jordan. So that'll
be interesting to see the reception he gets there. But
(31:47):
great win for the Rockets one twenty three, one twenty
two at home read really stepping up a then really
stepping up, and you know, shout out to Katie Shanghun
also for their efficient contributions, uh, you know, offensively and Jabbari,
you know, the big shots in the fourth quarter, not
to mention Aaron Holiday as you mentioned, Ben, anything else
you want to say about this game before we close.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Up, Nope, I think we've covered it all. I'll just
point out fifteen threes their average the last two games.
To me, that down the home stretch of the year,
and hopefully read Shepherd is the math advantage can help
on that front. That's the variable to watch when you
look at this down turn offensively, which has started really
since around the same time Tari went into the starting
(32:28):
lineup around you know, late December, early January. It's been
about the three point shooting, the lack of actor, say,
the lack of volume. If they can start to take
and make a respectable amount of threes, it's amazing how
quickly a lot of other things can fall in line.
So I know it's just two games, but to me,
that's the big variable to watch. If they can figure
out the math discrepancy and at least you know, they're
(32:48):
not all of a sudden going to you know, lead
the league in attempts or anything crazy like that, but
just make it somewhere close to parody, then that can
solve a lot of these issues in hurry.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yep, great win. That's Bendu Bos again. You can follow
him on Twitter at Bendubos and read all of his
stuff out on the Rockets Wire and on Clutch Fans.
Mere Fick, you actually just wrote a story on Clutch
Fans I think about Reed Shepherd and being in the
starting lineup and some of the data behind that, So
go check that out. Appreciate all of you for tuning
in on a Saturday night and we'll be back Monday
(33:18):
night for sure after Rockets Bulls. Appreciate y'all.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Have a good one.
What's up, everybody. Ben's just getting a couple things adjusted.
This was just a crazy night. I mean, there's so
much to discuss about this game. I really don't know
where to start. I feel like this game had a
story to it until about nine minutes left to go
and everything just got nooked completely. Rockets win one twenty
(00:25):
three to one twenty two on a on an incredible
athletic tippin' by a men. Thompson literally at the buzzer,
off the glass, off of a Katie isolation and a
double pump maybe sixteen fifteen footer that was heavily contested.
Looked like for sure the Rockets had lost, and a
(00:45):
men came flying in using that incredible athleticism to win
the game. Preceding that was one of the inmost insane blunders,
Tarry Easton passing the the inbound with about what eight
seconds left Ben with the Rockets up one underneath the
Heat's basket, immediate turnover. It was just so crazy because
(01:07):
the broadcast was saying, what you can't do here is
turn it over, and he literally passed it to them.
They quickly score on you know, Jabari contested it called
goaltending Rockets were down one setting up that play. But
there's so much to talk about Reid Shepherd, Kevin Durant
passing Michael Jordan tonight on the all time scoring list,
but Ben here with Ben Dobos of Rockets wiring clutch fans,
(01:31):
I mean, just thankfully they got the win.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, And what's crazy about this one? Dave Kevin Durant
passed Michael Jordan. Let's start there. He's now top five
all time in NBA scoring, which is a remarkable achievement,
and yet from a Rockets perspective, it feels secondary because
in the big picture, what you saw tonight from a men,
Thompson and Reed Shepherd combining to shoot better than sixty
(01:55):
percent from the field read making five of his eight threes,
read with twenty three fourteen zero turnovers a man with
twenty four and eighteen with the final rebound leading to
the game winning tip in at the buzzer. I mean,
those two of the future of your franchise. We've talked
about when it comes to the young core, so to speak,
(02:15):
that's where the upside really is. And to see both
of them have those level of games at the same time,
starting next to one another, because Obviously, the Rockets made
the change yesterday to Centauri to the bench and start read.
So now you have reading the men starting next to
each other, to see the synergies that those two have
playing off one another, twenty three years older, younger, to
(02:37):
see both of them playing that way in a big game.
Let's be honest, like the Heat are a pretty good team.
They played very well tonight, Tyler hero bam Adebayo. There
is talent there, there's playoff stakes Rockets on night Tuba
back to back to see your two most I don't
want to say necessarily best young prospects, because Shingoun is
a two time All Star, but let's say I would argue,
(02:59):
perhaps you're two highest upside prospects to both go off
in the same game at the same time against a
big name opponent and for one of them to win
it at the buzzer, that's one of those. You know,
Kevin Durant let off the post game last night doing
a vibe check. Dave, I'll do a vibe check with
you right now. I'm assuming it's prett damn good.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Oh, absolutely, I mean it was. I gotta say, you know,
I've been talking about Red Shepherd is in like I
think he's more combo guard. He's got some point guardability,
but it's I really wouldn't call him a point guard.
I mean, fourteen assists in zero turnovers. I mean, I
have to admit this has humbled me. I don't anticipate
we'll see this often. I could be wrong. I would
love to be wrong. But tonight he was finding shooters,
(03:41):
you know, making the right passes, moving the ball around
the floor. Read was terrific. A men, getting eighteen boards.
I mean you highlighted these things to go with his
twenty four points on ten and seventeen shooting. I mean,
those two, in my opinion, were absolutely terrific. Read with
a team high plus seventeen and it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Ben.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
You know what, this is the second game Read started
right since the switch was made from Tari. And what's
I found fascinating is if you look at this starting lineup,
and we've talked about this before, but you look at
the five that are starting, it's easily been the most
ineffective lineup of all the starting lineups that they've played.
I'm talking about to you know this point of the season,
(04:23):
and like we I think we said it was something
like a negative seven net rating, which is bad, and
it really wasn't great or early on. You know, they
started out eight nothing, then gave up a twelve zero
run and e May kind of did that quick hook
again with less than four minutes to go, pulling Read
or pulling Shangun for Tari. But it's very clear to
(04:43):
me that Read there are combinations that really kind of
unlock Read. He's got incredible shooting ability, he just needs
some things around him. But what bucked the trend was
that fourth quarter. I mean I had a story here
looking at you know, sort of the red Shangun minutes,
and they were pretty bad, to be honest with you.
(05:04):
Reed was like super good when he didn't have Shangun
and then super bad when he did have Shangar. At
least I'm coming about the team results. And then they
hit five of six threes in a row. Jabari hit
the two, Reid hit one, and then Aaron Holliday comes
in and hits two and just and they played zone defense,
which just you know, completely confused at Miami, and they
(05:24):
were down ten to eleven points and turned that thing
completely around, seemed to have the game under control, and
then you know what we talked about with that that collapse.
Reid was fantastic today, so I have to give him
all the flowers and as well a men. But Red,
I thought really did a great job considering he's being
kind of thrust into a role where he's being counted
(05:45):
on for a.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Lot, and I think there's something to be said that
Reid and amend play well off of one another, and
that's something that has implications beyond this season. Like I know, everyone,
at least around the NBA, it feels like it's down
on the rockets because the last couple of weeks they
went oho to four again, the Lakers, the Spurs, the Nuggets.
But even if this season with Fred and Steven out
and the first year of Kadie, you're not able to
(06:07):
patch it together down the stretch of this year. When
you have two guys like what we saw tonight and
Reed Shepherd and a Men Thompson as young as they
are and they play well together, that's something that gives
you hope for a long time here in Houston. And
that's why I just I couldn't be happier seeing the
way they won this game tonight. Leaning on the backs
of those two guys, and I do think with regards
(06:28):
to the point guard rep specifically, I think those two guys,
you know, they make it easier on one another. Neither
of them is a full blown point guard just yet,
but when you play them together, you can sort of
trade off for the estions at times in terms of
who does the heavy lifting and who's playing a little
more off ball. Reid obviously has a lot off ball
gravity as a shooter, and then we know what he
can do when he's in that dunker slot and able
(06:51):
to well we saw the winning put back tonight. You know,
they both can play on ball, they both can play
off ball as well, and so I think having those two,
you know, the synergies they have together, that's so big
going forward because that's one of those, you know, team
building implications. And then you know, the other big benefit
to starting Read Shepherd is that the Rockets have really
increased their three point volume. They hit fourteen last night,
(07:12):
they hit sixteen tonight, so that's an average of fifteen.
And there may have been some tired legs because back
to back three games and four nights. And yet with
Reed Shepherd, I mean he's basically a math advantage or
a math equalizer at a bare minimum by himself. And
so you put him in a starting lineup that at
times can be a little mid range heavyby no Shangoon
(07:33):
and the men aren't really three point shooters. It can
make a big difference and another benefit. So I want
to shout out Fri into the program. Anthony Duckett, he
writes for Rockets on SI, he texted me yesterday. I
thought this was the most random text. I'm going to
read it now. What's up man? What do you think
about Aaron Holliday. This is at four fifteen yesterday afternoon,
(07:53):
and I'm like, why are you texting about Aaron Holliday.
He's forty played and I say, down shooting year and
basically a two guard, so there's not a lot of
room for him to play. Great teammate though, And Anthony
or Sonnaby, have you seen the data on him though
eight and two when he scores in double figures eight
and five last season, when he's in double figures six
and three this year, when he plays twenty plus minutes
(08:13):
four and two last year, when he does and that's
interesting And I do think that you know, Holliday's the
kind of guy when he gets hot. That's often the
best version of the Rockets because typically under emi Udoka
they play good defense, and if you're able to hit
threes at volume, then this is generally a team that's
going to win a lot of games. The difficulty, especially
when they prioritized playing Reed Shepherd a lot off the bench.
(08:35):
Hemeyudoka typically doesn't play ten or eleven guys. Most teams don't,
and it's tough if you're running, you know, an eight
or nine in rotation for two of your three or
four guys off the bench being really small point guards
or at least defensively. You know, Holiday maybe a two
guard how he plays, but he's got a point guard's body,
and so I think just sort of by default, if
you're bringing Reid off the bench, it's tough to give
(08:56):
extended minutes to Aaron Holliday as well.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Otherwise you're just really small.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Well, all of a sudden, if you start read Shepherd,
there's more of a pathway to play Aaron Holiday without
you being too small. And he's combined for five threes
the last two nights, so he's been a huge part
of that volume. And he had a stretch in the
fourth quarters night where he almost took over the game.
So that's just a little side benefit. You know, we're
seeing Reid's praises and deservedly so. But one thing that
(09:21):
it didn't sort of I didn't even think about it
until Anthony texted me yesterday. But if starting read Shepherd
allows you to get this version of Aaron Holliday, certainly
not every game, but let's just say, you know, once
a week or so as a stimulus, Like that's a
big deal for a Rockets team that's been searching for
anything off that bench, you know, going into tonight. I look,
the Rockets were second to last and scoring in calendar
(09:43):
year twenty six. This version of Aaron Holliday, who we
know when he's right, can shoot, that would be a
big beneficiary. So let's make sure we shout him out
as well.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Oh no question, I hate those those threes in the
fourth that were huge. I mean it was I don't know,
I don't like, For example, I agree one hundred percent
of men and Read or your backcourt future. At least
that's the way you're you're going forward with that, even
when he may wasn't starting Read. That's always been the
plan of the organization eventually read takes this over. It's
gonna be a little awkward when Fred comes back. I
(10:13):
think Fred may start, but you know, you just don't
know what's gonna end up happening in the offseason. But
you know, as far as Holiday is concerned, he was
really good last year. This year, I think he still
got that trust. And then he couldn't hit anything for
a long while. I don't have the data in front
of me. That's just what I remember. And then he
fell out of the rotation completely for a good long stretch,
(10:33):
which I thought was a little surprising, just because he
may has always trusted him. Not that I questioned it,
like it was the wrong decision, just it was just
surprising to me. And now he seems to be, you know,
earning some minutes back. Yeah, I mean, those those shots
were huge. I mean it's like, you know, what's really interesting, Ben,
we talked about this. So the start of the third
quarter of the starting lineup was in rockets. Uh, just
(10:55):
offensively we were great. Shangun was scoring, Reid didn't score,
but I can't remember who else. I think a man
had some bus baskets. They were seven of ten in
a less than five minute stretch. Seven of ten from
the field, two of four from three, scored sixteen points
in less than five minutes. Yeah, and they were outscored
twenty to sixteen because they couldn't stop anybody. You know,
(11:17):
the offense continued to thrive in that fourth when Rechepard
came back in, but their defense was pretty good for
a good stretch as well. And it has to be
because it went to that zone. I didn't, you know,
study it the whole way as I was going, but
it seemed like Miami suddenly couldn't do much with that.
But for them to come up and score one hundred
(11:38):
and twenty three points, that's something new we haven't seen
much of from the Rockets lately. And you know, defensively,
I still have some concerns, no question, with the starting lineup.
They're gonna have some easier matchups at Chicago coming up,
a couple other I think you got Memphis coming up.
But offensively, this was incredibly fun to watch a lot
of scoring tonight.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, And to address the switch they made before were
yesterday's game, starting Reid in place of Tari I know
you had the solo show last night, but just you know,
I want to add a little bit of perspective on that.
I really think a lot of this comes down to
Tutari Easton struggles, like they need to get him right.
And some people will undoubtedly ask, you know, why didn't
(12:17):
this happen earlier? Because the fan base has been asking
for this really since the All Star Brank when Reid
came out and was really hot on that road trip,
we saw the big games he had in Charlotte in Orlando,
and people have been sort of clamoring for it ever since.
And of course, as you laid out, you know, defense
is the concern. Well, I think there's a couple of
things that happened. First off, I mean there are always limits,
(12:39):
and offensively, going into tonight, as I mentioned, they were
averaging Glow one hundred and nine points per game in
calendar year twenty six. That's forty games worth of data
and that's second worst in the entire NBA. Only the
tanking Brooklyn Nets were worse. So you were at a
point where even if it is helping your defense some
and I know Eme said before last night's game that
they did like what Tari is doing defensively, at some
(13:02):
point the offense is so bad that you have to
try something else. So I think that's why we reached
the point this week. It's just gotten so bad with
a sustained slump. I know some people pointed to, you know,
Jabari had his shooting slump in January.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
This is not like that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Jabari shooting slump is basically eight games. Tari has been
below fifteen percent from three dating back to before the
All Star break, So we're talking close to twenty games
now that he's been below fifteen percent from three. So
I just think you reached a point. Your offense was
so low at some point if your second last, second
to last in the NBA, it doesn't matter what you're
giving up defensively if you just can't score. So something
(13:36):
needed to change, and especially for that role, you know,
for the way this Rocket team is built, at least
for this season, I think they clearly view their four
most valuable players as KD, Shingoon, Amen, and Jabari. Those
are the core four. Those are the guys that since
training camp have been in trench starters. That's not to
say that they're the core four long term. I mean,
hopefully Red Shepherd can break into that tier and then
(13:58):
some I'm just saying for this particular season, those are
the four They're almost always going to start, assuming they're healthy.
So with the attention those guys draw, whoever is in
that fifth spot needs to be able to hit open shots,
and if they can't, the entire offense is going to
bog down, as we've seen too often the last two
and a half months. And so when Tari's that fifth
(14:18):
guy and he's shooting sub fifteen percent from three for
more than a month, I mean, it's tough to survive with.
And I think that's ultimately what made the change. And
the other thing is that, you know, they said he
was still competing defensively, but Tori's a guy. You mentioned
the frustration late in the game tonight on that handle
turnover to address some comments in the chat, Yes, the
(14:39):
Rockets absolutely should have called time out. I was stunned
that they didn't. They had two timeouts and didn't end
up using both of them. So if you ever get
that late in the game, you know, personally, I'm not
a huge fan of fouling up three that early. I
would rather wait to foul up three until closer to
five six seconds because even if the Rockets hadn't thrown
away the inbounds. I mean, if they had done anything
(15:01):
other than go two of two from the free throw line,
the heater gonna have a chance to win the game themselves.
So I would have rather waited a little bit on
the initial foul to begin with. But then certainly if
he had multiple timeouts, use one of them then to
get more organized. But Tari is the guy who made
the turnover. I do you know e may and his
pregame quote or postgame that was the first time he
addressed it on the record. After the Atlanta game, he
(15:22):
mentioned wanting Tari to relax. Tari, to me, as this
slump has continued, seems to be a guy that's that's
losing his composure a little bit. He's very frustrated and
it's starting to affect him in other areas. And so
that's the other thing that drove it. And we saw
it at times tonight. We saw last night, you know,
thirty seconds into the game he fouled a three point
(15:43):
shooter and it was a flagrant. That's why this needed
to be made. And you know, Reid is proving that
it's worthwhile with the prorection he's given. You twenty three
and fourteen. But aside from that, I mean, we've seen
the reminders as to why this was. You know, I
think we both said it after Wednesday's game, it was
time for change.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Yeah, and to that point, if you I know this
in real time. I don't know what he was upset about,
but Jabari was the one who was originally inbound and
a ball, and Tari came running to him clapping and
then got really upset. I don't know if he got
upset with Jabari because he was not the one inbounded
ball or because Jabari didn't pass it to him, which
he would have been immediately fouled and gone to the line.
(16:17):
I don't know which one, but it was clear that
Tari was very frustrated when he ran up to Jabari
trying to figure out something. MY guess was it was
because he wanted to inbound the ball, and then because
they I don't know what, I can't remember what the
issue was. They re inbounded the ball and Tari did
it this time and made that pass. This reminds me
of a couple of pass games. Remember the Orlando game
at home when they made that. I can't remember if
(16:38):
it was Shangun inbounding it, trying to get it to KD.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
He was probably fouled.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Ball goes and the Shangun fouls him on the on
the fast break and won. And then Shanggun very luckily
scores and in forces overtime where they ultimately win.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
But good hell, you were going to say that hilarious
twenty nineteen game No, No No. Twenty nineteen and Madison
Square Garden. Remember the PJ Tucker and Eric Gordon in
bounds play under eat the basket where you know Pj's
just staring at it, he doesn't want to touch it,
and Eric Eric Gordon gives the ultimate Eric war.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yes, I remember vividly.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
I was also gonna remember the amend one in Brooklyn.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Was it a couple of years so I am very yeah,
yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
And they're all like trying to get somebody to pick
up the ball and oh.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
My gosh, Doane little Russell for three? Yes, right, that's right.
By the way.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Speaking of tari, I will say it's sort of symbolic
that the Rockets won a game on a tip in
at the buzzer, because this feels like getting one back
from that game in Portland where they thought they'd wanted
the buzzer the Tari tip in that was a tenth
of a second too late. In this case, amends was
a tenth of a second or maybe two tenths of
a second in time just before the buzzer. So some
interesting symmetry there. Somehow the Rockets got one to go
(17:42):
their way for a change.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Yeah, oh absolutely. But yeah, on Tari, it's just very clear,
like you said, something's probably very frustrated to him. I'm
sure contract stuff so hanging over his head. I'm sure
it's all compacting, you know, everything, the weight of the
last fifteen twenty games is on him. I really don't know,
but two of seven from the field tonight and had
that incredibly costly turnover. And you know, as I mentioned earlier,
(18:07):
e May still is. You pointed this out, and I
think it's absolutely correct. They're trying to get Tary going.
I think Tarry kind of forced the issue. As far
as the starting lineup change. As I mentioned that starting
lineup it actually hasn't been great. You're you're playing read
now for the future to get a look and hopefully
we get a lot more improvement. But the actual starting
lineup read Shanghon, Jabbari Kadi and Amen has has been
(18:32):
largely in effective this season, So let's hope that that
read kind of takes the reins obviously like he did
tonight twenty three points fourteen A says go ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Postgame quote from ima Udoka on Red. You can see
him growing up right before your eyes. So for all
the criticism, oh, is em too harsh on Red, there's
some love right there. When he plays like tonight, he's
going to get the phrase.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
One thing I said for sure is Ema wants read
to succeed. I mean it's I see a lot of
stuff like he hates Reid. I don't think that's true.
He's trying to integrate him into like what he's doing
defensively and knowing and he's and the other thing is
this he hasn't started. He has played heavy minutes for
a good long stretch. I think you go back at
(19:13):
least ten fifteen games he's playing thirty minutes a game,
and you go back, you know, to January one, he's
probably playing, you know, between twenty five and thirty. So
it's not like Reid hasn't had plenty of opportunities to
do these kinds of things. But I get it. People
want to you know, it's it's a status thing. It's
also you know you're going to start the first, you're
going to start the third. Those are significant minutes. But
(19:35):
you know Reid keeps playing like this, He's not gonna
let go of that role.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
That's for sure, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And I've seen some comments in the chat tonight and
on social media, why won't the Rockets an e may
commit to him as the starter the rest of the season,
because the quote last night was, you know, we're going
to do it for six, seven, eight games and we'll
reevaluate right before the playoffs. If he plays anywhere near
like he does today, he's not coming out of that lineup.
I promise you that. The reason they're saying that is
that they want to make make sure that the production
(20:01):
continues when he's a starter. This has been this fifth
starter spot. This has been a point of debate ever
since Frivanfleet went down at the end of September. They
started the season with Steven Adams as the fifth starter
in Oklahoma City. They tried Josha Kobe for a while,
and then I remember on Christmas we were all excited
about sliding Tarry Eason into the starting lineup at that time,
(20:22):
and still for another month or so, he was shooting
incredibly well from three and on paper, hey, you add
his defense to the starting lineup, you can stabilize it.
He's going to space the floor with this newfound shooting stroke.
We were so excited, and yet pretty much ever since
Tory joined the starting lineup, that's about when the offense
fell off a cliff and has been your bottom five
in the league in offensive rating. So we can say
(20:43):
that it should work out on paper, but the Rockets
have tried a lot of different configurations this year and
nothing has found consistent success. So I do understand why
emy Udoka before reach Shepherd goes on a prolonged run
with these starters. And you can point out, and rightfully so,
read ten and two as a starter this year. That's true,
But these last two have been the first two that
(21:04):
he's starting alongside all the other big guns. In most
of the other cases, it's been because one of the
main stays was out, and so it's easier to sort
of build your offense and your schemes around him. Now
you are truly trying to blend the best of Reached
Shepherd with the best of those in Trench four, and
I think it can work. In my opinion, it should work.
But the Rockets, again, they haven't had a solidified starting
(21:27):
five since the end of September when Fred went down,
and they're not gonna one hundred percent commit to anything
until they see it on the floor for a few games.
If it's anywhere near what it looks like the last
two nights, he's going to be the fifth starter. I
guarantee you. It's just the Rockets aren't going to prematurely
make that declaration. They're They're just going to wait and
see how the next couple of weeks go and if
(21:49):
past two nights any indicator is gonna be great.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
And also like if it doesn't go well in the
next handful of games then and you said he's locked in, right,
what do you do if you have to make a change,
you hurt his confidence. I just think this is let
him prove it and earn it, and I think he did.
He's starting to do that tonight.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Interesting, Just a few things I want to point out
him and Hawkins Junior did not play tonight. Andrew Wingers
did not play to night. Norman Powell did not play tonight,
so Heat were missing three key guys. Was really fascinating.
I don't know the story.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
I don't think there was an injury. But gilllle Ware
played less than five minutes tonight after pretty much feasting
in the game in Miami and was a minus fifteen.
I don't know what I missed, you know, in that stretch.
So that was kind of interesting. But bam tonight thirty
two points, a career high, twenty one rebounds. Tyler Harrow
was also really effective and Larsen and I'm not going
(22:40):
to pronounce this right fon Techio that's right, Actually, okay, good.
Those guys were pretty effective tonight. This was a starter's
game for both teams for the most part. I mean,
those were the guys who were really doing, you know,
and we haven't mentioned some of the other shngun tonight.
Nine of thirteen from the field had twelve boards, three assists.
Katie he was I say, quiet, quiet, twenty seven points
(23:03):
and passing Michael Jordan, and you know, that's just that's
amazing to pass Michael Jordan. I guess I've kind of
become a little bit numb to all the names that
he's passing. But Michael Jordan is you know, to me,
he's the goat now, that's to him. For him to
pass him on scoring is pretty amazing. Twenty seven points
on ninety seventeen shooting. Jabari did not shoot well tonight.
But one thing I will give credit.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
For for.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Is those two huge three when they were really down big.
You know, it was kind of coincidence. Reid came in,
made that first pass to Jabari in the corner, and
then Jabbari, you know, off the rebound, basically ran out
and transitioned and just a pull up three in transition
that forced a time out by the heat I think
cut the lead to four and the Rockets were on
their way. So but he didn't have, in particular a
(23:47):
good shooting night, that's for sure. So shout out to
those guys though, for their contributions to the game as well.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
One hundred percent and on KD, I'll be quick, but
beyond his scoring brilliance, which is true tonight, it's true
for his career. But I'm going to cite a Michael
Shapiro quote from one of our earlier shows as far
as all the body language experts earlier this week and
Kendrick Perkins and all the national storylines, the basketball will
determine the feelings. The feelings will not determine the basketball.
(24:14):
That's what Michael said on our show, and I think
it still holds true today. You know, those two games
against the Lakers were incredibly frustrating. But look if if
you have a camera on any top shelf NBA player
and you're watching every second of what they're doing on
the court for two and a half hours in a
game that they lose in an agonizing way, you're going
(24:37):
to be able to find five to ten seconds that
you can clip and send viral on Twitter and make
it seem representative and make it, you know, make these
huge storylines. In reality, it's just a product of the situation.
Those were frustrating losses. Everybody's gonna, you know, have a
few minutes here in there of pouting or in their.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Case, a few seconds. It's not a big deal.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
And we saw tonight the body language mc a lot
better when the threes are going in and when they're
making plays down the stretch of close games.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
So that's not to say that the you know, the.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Body language police can't have a point. I mean, if
if intel comes out that the environment is toxic, that
you know, that they don't like being around each other,
that team chemistry is an issue, then sure like that
can be a storyline. But let's wait for actual evidence
of that. Clipping something that's five to ten seconds in
length and trying to blow it out of proportion, that
(25:28):
doesn't really tell you anything. And so you know, that's
not to say that everything's fine and everything's great. I
mean maybe maybe things aren't great. I haven't been I
haven't personally gotten any indication that there's any you know,
chemistry issues, so to speak. But if there are, then fine,
we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
But it didn't look like it when they won.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
No, they got it all right. Now that stuff is
just making them out in Abamol Hill.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Yeah, yeah, I mean they were, as was mentioned in
the chat as well, Jabbari and Shngoon both just you know,
swarmed a man after that dip in, giving him big hugs.
It was kind of a really cool kind of moment.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
If you see the comment of the chat, Rockets had
great defense on dam keeping him fifty under his season high.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Actually it's pretty good.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Yeah, it's a good win, and I don't want to
definitely downplay it at all. It's this team. Miami played
fast today. They made it difficult for the Rockets for
a good stretch there in that third quarter when Miami
closed on a thirteen to two run, And like I said,
the defense in the third quarter was rough. A matter
of fact, even they went with a wings lineup, you know,
(26:32):
taking I think both Read and shngoun out and that
lineup struggled defensively in that third quarter. This looked like
a loss. So it's a great win. I want to
downplay it. It's just, you know, like I said, they're
missing a few key guys. And I loved what the
Rockets did. I love what Reid did, what a Men did.
It's all very very very positive vibes. Bigger tests are coming.
(26:53):
I like that they're kind of shaking off the negative
vibes that we saw after the two Lakers losses.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
And that's that's a big.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
One hundred percent. And to close the loop on the
chemistry comments, I see someone in the chat pointing out that,
you know, it is an issue in the long term. Yeah,
it absolutely can be What I'm saying is that you're
not going to be able to tell the chemistry from
a five to ten second clip when it's the last
sixty seconds of a game that you're clearly going to
lose that got away from you, that you knew going
(27:22):
in was massive for you. And you know, you see
Kevin or Alpi or whoever it is, you know, just
slumped shoulders and looking frustrated or having a snipe an
offhand remark or two, like, you can't use that as
a referendum on chemistry. Chemistry absolutely can be and is
a big deal. What I'm saying is that you need,
you know, much more of a long term indicator than
(27:45):
a few seconds of frustration. That's what I'll say about that.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Yeah, So they finish up the five game homestand three
and two. There are two games behind last year's pace,
so or the record the Rockets had at this point
of the year last year. They now go on a
four game homestand at Chicago at Minnesota, and It's gonna
still be out for the Minnesota game, Is that right?
Speaker 3 (28:04):
I think so?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
I think he's out. So that's that's huge for the Rockets.
At Memphis, that's a tanking team, but they did beat
Denver recently, so you can't sleep on them. And then
at New Orleans, and we've talked about New Orleans extensively.
That team is sneaky. You know, on paper they look
like a tanking team, but I think they're actually kind
of inching closer to play in territory because they've been
(28:26):
playing so well since de Jan Tay Murray got back.
So four game road trip here at Chicago, at Minnesota,
at Memphis, at New Orleans. What are you expecting as
we go there?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah, I'm nervous because for the season overall, Rockets are
now twenty five and ten at home, which is like
a almost sixty win pace, but they are eighteen and
seventeen on the road, barely better than five hundred. And
if we're talking about you know, Amen and Red as
the variables as we saw tonight, guys twenty three and
twenty one years old, those are the types of guys
(28:56):
that historically, in the biggest games, tend to play better
at home. So the Rockets right now are in the
top four of the West. And in terms of you know,
actually you know, riding the ship and hopefully winning at
least around in the playoffs and being able to be
a real threat, which is, you know, the best case scenario,
you need to stay in the top four so that
you have home court advantage in at least one round.
And yeah, four straight road games for a team that's
(29:19):
been five hundred on the road isn't easy. I'm hoping that,
you know, I like starting off in Chicago because that's
one that on paper should be very favorable to you.
Then you get Minnesota, a big one in which they
probably won't have Anthony Edwards. So any road game makes
me nervous these days. But I do like the way
it starts out, and I just like the way the
Rockets have responded, you know, all around the NBA after
(29:41):
they've lost, especially that second game to the Lakers. I
mentioned the Kendrick Perkins comments. Every talk show around the
league this week. The Rockets have been a punch line.
All the talk has been what's wrong with the Rockets?
And they came out this weekend against two teams that
were both thirty eight and thirty one entering the weekend.
I think each was top six, top seven in the East.
And you know, I said after Wednesday's game, with it
(30:02):
being a back to back, both of those teams Atlanta
and longest winning streak in the league. I would have
been satisfied to go one and one, to get two
wins over winning teams on a back to back immediately
after forty eight hours of being the punchline. And you know,
even within the fan base, I mean, we know how
toxic it's been.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
You know, just look at some of them. Yeah, the
comments after uh when.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
I would say it's worse than national media, and yeah,
it's the problems inside the house.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
And so I like the way, you know, it got
really really real after they lost those two to the Lakers,
and so I like the way they've responded. There's a
lot of pressure on this road trip, especially the games
like Chicago that they need to win, but I like
what we've seen the last two nights. And then, you know,
one last shout out. We've mentioned him a few times already,
but a Men Thompson night two of a back to back,
(30:50):
when supposedly you're not going to have legs eighteen rebounds
with the eighteen being the game winner in the final second.
To have that level of burst on night to go
back to back special special.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Player think about what the dialogue would be right now,
how this post game would be going right now if
he didn't tip that in. Yeah, I mean, would this
just be like a Tari barbecue? I mean, what would
we be doing, like just ripping on him left or
I don't know. I mean I feel bad in the
way for it for Tari there, but like all the
vibes are good and they would be so negative right
now if not for that. And one other thing I
(31:25):
was going to mention is you know you've you've actually
mentioned this the other day, Ben, But how cool would
have been if if Katie was a little short of
the record tonight and went to Chicago for the next
game and past Jordan in Chicago that would have been
kind of funny. But he goes there on Monday night,
I believe, for you know, having passed Jordan. So that'll
be interesting to see the reception he gets there. But
(31:47):
great win for the Rockets one twenty three, one twenty
two at home read really stepping up a then really
stepping up, and you know, shout out to Katie Shanghun
also for their efficient contributions, uh, you know, offensively and Jabbari,
you know, the big shots in the fourth quarter, not
to mention Aaron Holiday as you mentioned, Ben, anything else
you want to say about this game before we close.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Up, Nope, I think we've covered it all. I'll just
point out fifteen threes their average the last two games.
To me, that down the home stretch of the year,
and hopefully read Shepherd is the math advantage can help
on that front. That's the variable to watch when you
look at this down turn offensively, which has started really
since around the same time Tari went into the starting
(32:28):
lineup around you know, late December, early January. It's been
about the three point shooting, the lack of actor, say,
the lack of volume. If they can start to take
and make a respectable amount of threes, it's amazing how
quickly a lot of other things can fall in line.
So I know it's just two games, but to me,
that's the big variable to watch. If they can figure
out the math discrepancy and at least you know, they're
(32:48):
not all of a sudden going to you know, lead
the league in attempts or anything crazy like that, but
just make it somewhere close to parody, then that can
solve a lot of these issues in hurry.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yep, great win. That's Bendu Bos again. You can follow
him on Twitter at Bendubos and read all of his
stuff out on the Rockets Wire and on Clutch Fans.
Mere Fick, you actually just wrote a story on Clutch
Fans I think about Reed Shepherd and being in the
starting lineup and some of the data behind that, So
go check that out. Appreciate all of you for tuning
in on a Saturday night and we'll be back Monday
(33:18):
night for sure after Rockets Bulls. Appreciate y'all.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Have a good one.
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