January 16, 2026 • 27 mins
In a nationally televised showdown against the defending NBA champions, Oklahoma City’s defense suffocated the Rockets in a 111-91 victory. Houston fell to 23-15 and remains at No. 6 in the Western Conference, while the Thunder hold the league’s best record at 35-7.
Featuring Ben DuBose and Dave Hardisty, our “ClutchFans Live” show offers postgame reaction to Thursday’s letdown at Toyota Center. Topics include a sustained shooting slump across the roster; subpar trend lines for Reed Sheppard and Jabari Smith Jr.; and whether a lack of offensive firepower might force general manager Rafael Stone to consider trades at the February 5 in-season deadline.
Featuring Ben DuBose and Dave Hardisty, our “ClutchFans Live” show offers postgame reaction to Thursday’s letdown at Toyota Center. Topics include a sustained shooting slump across the roster; subpar trend lines for Reed Sheppard and Jabari Smith Jr.; and whether a lack of offensive firepower might force general manager Rafael Stone to consider trades at the February 5 in-season deadline.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome into the show, everybody. Rockets fall one eleven to
ninety one tonight in a very big matchup, an important
matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the number one team
in the West and the number one team in the NBA,
and the Rockets, who have really been struggling as of
late to shoot the ball, just ran into a defensive
(00:23):
buzzsaw at the wrong time. They did not snap out
of this. Definitely had a bunch of issues and really
it kind of that bug kind of hit Kevin Durant
tonight as well. Obviously he's the focus of a ton
of defensive attention. But there's definitely a lot to break
down and dissect from this game. I'm here with Bendubos,
who is at the game. Ben, appreciate you coming on.
You can read all of you know, Ben's stuff at
(00:44):
USA Today, Rockets Wire, and on Clutch Fans, and you
can follow him on Twitter at Bendebos.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Ben.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I think this game to me just sort of illustrated
that the Rockets they have a way to go still
even even with this you know, this team they're missing
Tari Shore dfs, but they just still have a little
ways to go before they're up.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
There, Dave, I'm curious because you've followed the Rockets even
longer than me. Have you ever seen a box score
like this? You look at the shooting by player, So
all for in Ching Gooon, amongst your starters, had the
best shooting percent, Nache, but he was seven of fifteen
below fifty percent. For your big man is never ideal.
But outside of Shingoon, the other four starters KD. Jabari, Joshakogi,
(01:28):
and Min Thompson all thirty three percent or worse. And
your top two reserves in shot attempts Reach Shepherd and JD.
Davison three of ten and two of nine. So outside
of all for in Chinggoon, who was below fifty percent himself,
your top six shooters from a volume perspective were all
at thirty three percent or worse, not from three overall. Like,
(01:49):
that's just one of the craziest box scorers I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, this it really is nuts. The crazy thing is
the Rockets actually did dominate the glass offensively. I think
it was offensive rebounding. Let me double check her twenty
three to seven in offensive rebounding the shot attempt to
one hundred and forty eighty nine but man, it's hands down,
twenty seven points is the difference that they scored from
(02:13):
three point range than the Rockets did. The Rockets not
because Sheng Gun's been out or been back, but they
have started to take less threes, which we thought was
kind of a good sign. But tonight just took twenty
four to threes, hit seven only of them, and while
the Thunder went sixteen to forty one, so that was
(02:34):
a huge difference. But defensively, just okay sees.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
They're elite, They're great.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I mean, this is an all time type team and
their defense just gave the Rockets a ton of problems.
You know, yeah, I mean we can go down the list.
For sure. KD is just going seven of twenty three
after he has been so good, I said, I think
the defensive attention paid to KD is some of the
reason for that, but nobody had it going on, as
(03:01):
you pointed out well.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And to me, this is different than the other bad
shooting games when they lost in Dallas, the two in Portland,
and the one in Sacramento. Those it felt like were
just shot luck outliers where it wasn't sure night, and
that made it incredibly frustrating. Dave tonight it was bad
shot quality. I don't think they shot poorly from the
standpoint of missing a ton of open looks. I think
they didn't get open looks for the most part. That's
(03:24):
what it felt like watching this game live. Oklahoma City
is so good at taking away option A, Option B,
even Option C, and so it really comes down to
your ancillary pieces, your Reed Shepherd, Jabari Smith Junior, Josha Koge,
Steven Adams. It's your fourth and fifth options on the
court at a given time, and the Rockets had nothing
(03:45):
from those guys tonight. Jady Davison helped them in a
few ways. He brings them some traditional point guard skills,
but he couldn't shoot well enough. He was two of nine.
And I think what this game really showed you was
that without Fred van Fleet and without the version of
all for Shoon that hit five threes in that opening
night game in OKAC, that was really a coin flip
(04:06):
and could have gone either way. I don't know how
the Rockets can score enough to beat this team. Like
the only way I think you can possibly overcome it
is if Reed Shepherd and geor Jabari Smith Junior get going.
Those are your only two other rotation players with some
offensive upside, and Reid was terrible tonight. He didn't shoot
well defensively, he got abused and Jabari it was at
(04:27):
best a mixed bag. He started off well, did make threes,
but eventually Okac chased him off the line and he
couldn't hit the middies, He couldn't finish well enough near
the rim, and so he just wasn't well balanced enough
as a scorer. And the thing with Okace, they're so physical,
they're so good at ball pressure. They will take away
what you do best, unless maybe you have a Nikola Jokich.
(04:47):
And this is no disrespect to Kevin Durant or all
for in Hindoo and the Rockets just don't have a
player at that level right now. Unless you're a player
of that caliber, you're probably not going to beat Oklahoma
City just based on your star going out the and
single handedly carrying you to the win. No, it's going
to take your supporting pieces to at least loosen the
defense some. Maybe the supporting pieces don't win the game
(05:09):
for you, but they at least give the stars more
space to operate. And if the supporting pieces shoot the
way they did tonight. Eventually, they're just going to choke
the life out of you. And so the bottom line
for me, those games on the road trip that the
Rockets lost, they miss some open shots, and at the
end of the year, if they follow to four or
five six in the standings in the Western Conference, they'll
regret it. Today, I don't think they'll regret it. I
don't think they'll look back and say, Wow, this was
(05:30):
shot luck shot variance. No, they just got their ass kick.
It's just tough for me to see this playing out
differently unless you get Freventsley back. But even if Fred
comes back, I don't know if he can be close
to one hundred percent this season. And short of making
a move at the deadline, I mean, we're close to
halfway through the season and I'm not gonna say it's
been a terrible year for Reid or Jabari for a
(05:52):
developmental perspective, But I don't think either of them is
to the level that you need in terms of offensive
creativity to beat a team that's this good defensively.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, you know, first to your first point, I think
that's a great point. And this is no insult to Shangoon.
It's actually a compliment to Shangoon in that first game
where you know, coming off of the EuroBasket where he
was hitting threes, like lots of them, and we're like, wow,
is this for real? Comes out against the defending champs
on the road, hits I believe five of eight. I'm
going off a memory here from three and we're like,
(06:23):
oh my gosh, this is for real. Hit a couple more,
I think in a next game. Since that first game,
he's hit sixteen threes total in like thirty thirty one games.
I think he's two for his last twenty five. It's
just that game saw shng Gun do something we haven't
really seen for the rest of this season, and it
put them at a level that was awesome. I still
(06:44):
think the Rockets would have been more competitive if other
guys a men Jabari, Shannggoon certainly and especially Kadie, you know,
had just hit some shots. But at the same time,
I am I'm just really nervous about this.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Team from a three point shooting standpoint.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
This has got to correct itself because I don't know
for me, and maybe I'm old school on the new
school already, but I just feel like since that twenty
eighteen Rockets team. You've got to have a good defense,
you've got to be able to hit open threes, and
that just seems to be a problem.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Go ahead. The problem, in my opinion, is that the
one source of good play they had tonight was the
Double Big lineup. Steven Adams won his minutes, but then
if you play Steven Adams, Shungoon and Amend together, that's
three of your five that are non spacers. So then
you get crushed from three point volume. Like the Thunder
put up forty one threes tonight, and it helps them
(07:34):
made up. They made sixteen of them. The Rockets put
up twenty four and made seven, so they were worse
in volume and accuracy. But even if the accuracy was
a little bit better, the Rockets still got killed in volume.
And that's where again the Double Big work to an extent.
They weren't as bad in those minutes as they were others.
But at the same time, to go back to your point,
(07:56):
if the Rockets are only putting up twenty four threes,
it's tough to win in the model NBA when this
is your formula against a really great team.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, you know read, let's talk a little bit about
Reid for just a minute, right. I know a lot
of people have been claiming for Reid, and maybe they
are correct. There was a play in the fourth quarter
where he got switched on to AJ Mitchell, and AJ
Mitchell just his eyes lit up and he went around
Read like he didn't even exist, had a wide open layup.
(08:23):
Rockets don't have a rim protector. They're not. They can't.
My point is they can't afford to have players that
can't hold their own on the perimeter. It's been this
way for a while when you are playing Shengoon. Shangoon
is an offensive center who's very versatile and gifted in
that way. So yeah, I don't know, that's a very
tough thing for you. May because Reid is extremely as
(08:45):
he used the word variance, like there's the potential for
him to go off and hit five to eight threes
in a game. You need that type of thing, like
the whole you know, Cocaine Curry, Steph Curry going off
kind of thing. But he's definitely lost some confidence in
Read because he's go I went to JD. Davison playing
him early. Davison side didn't have his shot going on,
but he seems to be more the trusted player right
(09:08):
now at this moment, Aaron Holliday's not playing at all
and Reid's minutes have come down.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, and there's a comment in the shaft that I
want to address because I think it's misguided. At least
in the context of this matchup. Fred is not going
to help the Steam do y'all remember last season. Here's
a fun stat for you. In the two wins they
had over Oklahoma City, Fred averaged twenty five and a
half points per game. I'm better than fifty percent shooting
and fifty percent from three, So at least in this matchup,
(09:36):
I think he does. And he delivered late in the
playoff series against the Warriors as well. I think Fred
is very useful against these half court defenses that really
hit you with physicality and ball pressure, because not so
much that he's a great point guard, it's that he
can he can fire away from anywhere. He can fill
it up for all we talk about Fred as a
(09:57):
floor general, He's a really good shooter in tight spaces,
and that's something that the Rockets, especially if Reid plays
the way he's doing the way he is now tonight.
He just put up three threes in nineteen minutes, which
I think speaks to his lack of confidence at the moment.
The Rockets don't have that type of upside. You know
last year's team. I'm not going to say the Big
(10:19):
three a year ago of Jalen a men in Shinoon
is analogous to KD A men in Shingoon right now,
because clearly Kdi is a lot better than Jalen. But
I do think that from a scouting report perspective, those
are the three that you hone in on as potential
engines for the Rockets. Last year it was Amn, Shangoon
and Jalen. This year it's Shangoon, KD and a Men.
(10:41):
Not in any spific order. I'm just saying those are
the three. And so Fred, even though he's a good
floor general, he's something of an ancillary piece that can
step up when needed. And you know, one of the
two wins, Houston had an over OKC. Fred had that
grenade three from like thirty feet with a minute or
two left in the game that really got some separation.
And someone's asking, why are we talking about Fred? Because
(11:03):
this is how you beat Oka Se last year, this
is how you almost beat Golden State. This is the
type of supporting piece that you need. And when Fred
went down, the talking point from the organization was, Okay,
this is a blow, but we're going to dial up
the usage for Reed and a men on ball and
see where they can take us. Well, Reed has just
(11:23):
progressed severely the last ten to fifteen games. We've talked
about that and a men. You know, I'm not going
to say it was an awful game for him, but
four sixteen it certainly wasn't good. There were points in
which it felt like he was close to putting his
inprint on the game. But on the balance, you shoot
twenty five percent, that's not getting it done. And I
also thought, you know this game was officiated, it felt
(11:43):
to me like a playoff game. And so if the
Thunder can be even more physical against the likes of
A men in Shingoon when they're trying to finish inside,
then it goes back to the question we started with,
which is where are the Rockets going to get enough points?
Like we saw last year? If nothing else, the Rockets
are aggressive enough and physical enough, they can find a
(12:04):
way to get to the line. Well, if they're not
going to call those spowels and the rockets don't have
the shooting, and the thunder can basically defend against anything.
Where are the point's gonna come from? That's what I
keep coming back to.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, I'm in four of sixteen tonight, as you're pointed out,
and there were some frustrating plays where I just thought
he missed, you know, bunnies around the basket, even Jabari
to Jabari actually hit freeze tonight. He's three of six
from deep, but he missed a lot of like kind
of open six seven footers to twelve footers, you know,
a few of them, certainly, And I was very frustrated
(12:39):
with some of the bunnies. We'll call it that these
guys missed.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
The problem is Katie is the guy, very clearly the
guy on this team. He gets the ball. I think,
you know, Shengun's that secondary guy or up there with Katie,
let's say. And I just didn't think he was aggressive tonight.
I really didn't. I thought, I think of his seven
made shots, six of them were layups, like they were.
One was a put back, an other was like, you know,
(13:05):
just like a quick pass, and they gave him layup.
He had one I think turnaround or hook from about
eight feet. That's the only shot that wasn't a layup
I really needed for him against this team. He's got
to go right away before that defense truly gets set,
and I think he's capable of it, but sometimes he
gets into that hesitation bo. That's what it kind of
felt like to me tonight. You know, the Rockets just
(13:26):
have to get some sort of offense going, and it
can't be just Katie, and I think that's where you
turn to, you know, shngunas as far as creation and
creating you know, often to himself.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
And when we talk about that first game against the Thunder,
which was truly a coin flip, we keep stating that
Shangoun made five threes because to this point that is
an outlier and in terms of, you know, the stat
line is going to look a lot different tonight. But
it's not that he necessarily attacked a ton in that
first game. It's more, you know, we talk about the
(13:58):
Thunder giving for you to your fourth, your fifth option
something like that on every half court possession. I mean,
shin Gooon from twenty five plus feet is your fourth
or fifth option. In a lot of cases, it's just
that first game he made them. Right now he isn't
even confident enough to take them, and so that, to
me is what makes it so alarming. It's not so
much that you know that Shin Gooon was. I mean,
(14:19):
there were a few drives he had in that first game,
but a lot of them the drives came after he
made those threes, and so they had to, you know,
defend a little more aggressively. Like there was the play
he had against Chet Holmgren when he got shut into
foul trouble, which also helped in that opening game because
he was making those threes and it made Check come
out more. In this case, it felt like Chet was
(14:40):
able to sag back and protect the rim, and with
the extraordinary length and shot blocking presence that that he provides.
I just think, you know, it's easy to say Shino
Shin Gooon needs to do more attacking off the dribble,
but against this particular team, it's tough. And that's why,
you know, for sure, that's why I keep going back to.
(15:00):
This team just needs more offensive firepower if they're gonna
have any chance at beating the Thunder four times out
of seven. I think someone mentioned in the Chat. They're
now twenty seventh and then scoring this season. The Rockets
like ideally Fred would come back. But in theory, maybe
this moves the needle in terms of getting Rafael Stone
to look externally for a potential trade. But it just
(15:21):
felt like tonight they just did not have the horses.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah, let me add one other thing. Shan Gun has
had a lot of success one on one against Chet Holmgren,
as in Chet defending him. Shangun does not defend Chet.
That's the other issue with this. But as far as
the other way around, Chet does guard Shangun and he
has a hard time with Shenggun. Shangun's crafty. He's bigger, stronger,
or not Matt taller. I'm just saying, you know, a
(15:45):
little bit more sand in his pants, and tonight it
just didn't happen. Chet held his ground, did I thought
a better job. Chutut had a really good game actually,
right out of the gate. I think he had first
five shots, hit a couple of threes block shots. Was
a very versatile old player for them. They talked about
after the game about whether he's up there with for
defensive Player of the Year. This is a really tough
(16:06):
team this is the basically benchmark, you know, where the
Rockets need to be. I think you have to look
at San Antonio and some other teams as well. But
OKC is it, you know, and it's tough. Tari's not
in the game. Hartenstein's not here either, so it's a
different type of matchup. You saw a lot of Caruso
on Shangun, but I just thought that's where tonight against
(16:27):
this team, where we needed Shangun to feast because of
that matchup, and it just didn't happen well.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
And one reason we're talking a lot about Reid when
you look back at those matchups against the other elite
teams in the West. You mentioned the Spurs, and it
made me think of that NBA Cup game. We'll see
the Spurs two more times in the next twelve days,
I believe.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Oh I forgot about the second one. Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Reed was tremendous in that game against the Spurs, and
on the balance, the three games against Denver, he was
very good in those as well. Tonight he was dreadful,
and I think you see the difference. I think against
be truly top to your teams, you need another offensive
creator to step up and the way this roster is built.
After losing Frevan Vleet, the next man up is Reed Shepherd,
(17:10):
and when he delivers this Rockets team has been competitive.
When they get the version they had tonight, there's just
nowhere else they can turn, you know. JD. Davison gives them,
you know, more of a presence and more point guardability,
but he's certainly not going to fill it up from
twenty five plus feet the way you do, especially to
overcome the math disadvantage that we cited a couple of times.
(17:31):
So I just think so much of it comes down
to read. And then I don't want to pile on
Jabari because certainly, on the balance it's better than the
last few games he is making threes. But it was
just so frustrating for me, Dave, because midway through the
third quarter, I think he had like fifteen points, seven rebounds,
he had made sixty percent of his threes. Like the
(17:51):
possibility was there for him to score twenty five plus
points on good efficiency and give the Rockets a chance
to win this game. Soon as the thunder chased him
off the three point line and said, you know, will
you make some tough middies and traffic finish through contact
near the rim. He couldn't. And it's just so so
frustrating because lately the struggles for Jabari have been the
(18:14):
three point shot. Well now as soon as it feels
like he's figured that out, now all of a sudden,
the end between game is deserting him, and it's just
it's a missed opportunity. It's not to say that Jabari
has the has the upside that Reid does offensively, but
I think the way the thunder were defending the Rockets,
Jabbari was the one guy that you know, on the
right night you could have gotten a little bit more
out of and tonight unfortunately was not that night.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, no, you're exactly right. I mean mentioned that a
little bit earlier, but just the middies could not hit those.
He got stuffed a couple of times. I think check
might have been checked twice, but yeah, he just and
some of those are so maddening for me to watch Ben,
to be honest with you, I'm like, Okay, that's a
wide you know, wide openness. Certainly the not enough not
(18:57):
defenders around him six to eight foot you would think
he makes that in his sleep, and it's just rimming
out and it just feels like, I don't know what
it is. I don't know if I'm biased or what,
but it just feels like the rim while off of
Jabari shots just I mean, the ball just rockets off
of it and you're like, gosh, you gotta be kidding me.
But yeah, he did not have a good game inside
the arc tonight at all. But I just, yeah, overall,
(19:19):
I don't know what to say about this shooting slump
that they're in. It's I can't chalk it up tonight
to just the shooting slump because that defense is really
really good, the best in the league. But I mean,
tomorrow is Minnesota Ben and no Anthony Edwards, which if
you're if you're just looking for a win, this should
be a gift. But I would not. I would not
chalk it up as a guaranteed win. I don't know
(19:41):
what you think about that game coming in coming in
or what they'll Gobert has been apparently having a monster.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
I don't think the Rockets have played Minnesota yet this season?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Correct, I don't think they have.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yeah, I don't remember a game, to be honest.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
With you, So yeah, go ahead. Gobert will protect the rim.
That's one thing, you know, unless you know, maybe Prime
James Harden could do something about that. But Gobert is
an elite rim protector, and so it's gonna come down
to your ability to make shots. And I'm very curious.
I wouldn't say tonight was necessarily an extension of the
shooting slump. I think tonight the thunder just choked the
(20:14):
life out of you. But it's not like they've broken
out of the shooting slump either, so they haven't had
a really good shooting game in a while. This is
a setting where they're going to get some open looks
from three because Gobert is protecting the paint. You just
need to make them. I think it's that simple. And
the legs are going to be tired on night two
of it, back to back. Maybe you get Tory Easton
(20:35):
or Dori and Finny Smith back their day to day
with their injuries. Not going to use that as an
excuse for tonight, because I really don't think they changed
the math all that much, and also the thunder were missing.
I say, Hartenstet excuses only go so far. But maybe
you get some reinforcements tomorrow. Because the downside you know,
I don't think this was bad effort from the Rockets.
I thought they played very hard in this game. I thought,
(20:56):
you know, until the wheels fell off in the fourth quarter,
they competed really hard defensively on the glass. They just
couldn't generate enough offense. But I'll bring that up to say,
with another game looming in twenty four hours, there's gonna
be a lot of guys whose tanks are unempty. And
on top of you know, the injuries the Rockets have,
Houston has two players in Shongoon and Steven Adams who
(21:17):
have strained ankles in the last two to three weeks.
So I'm gonna be very curious to see if they're
available and for how many minutes if they are on
night two of a back to back, and those are
your two big men that you lean on to get
the rebounding advantage. So I just think that Tomorrow's going
to be a game where they need to make a
lot of threes. They should be due. The Timberwolves are
not going to defend them, especially not without Anthony Edwards.
The way the thunder could nowhere close but night two
(21:40):
back to back tired legs, and the way the Rockets
have shot this month. I don't know how you can
feel super confident that they're going to make them. They
should be due, they should make some. But if they don't,
even without Anthony Edwards, the Thunder, the Timberwolves, excuse me,
can beat them.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Yeah, I do wonder what's going on right now. I
guess we'll put our ears to the ground as far
as you know, to center off the branch. Basically, what
they're thinking at this moment, you know, trade deadline a
few weeks away. I don't think it's any kind of
panic meter, but I just I wonder what they're thinking
because their time window with KD is maybe really short,
maybe not as short as we're saying, but just age
(22:16):
in general, you just have to wonder. So I'm very
curious to see what their their overall thought process is.
How much patience comes into play versus we need to
do something with KD. But this is, you know, another
game that you got to win with and out. You
got to win this game, and they're not easy. It's
not you know, that's nas Red on that team. He's
played well against the Rockets, certainly, Randall Gobert, Jaden McDaniels
(22:39):
it's it's a good team. So and they've been playing
I think, really well lately. So you got to keep
that in mind.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
And I found it, and I think those two Spurs games,
especially coming up, not to look past Minnesota tomorrow night,
but in terms of the trade doubline, that angle that
you were speaking to, I think those Spurs games are
going to be really revealing in terms of, you know,
can you generate enough offense outside of KD and Shinkun?
What can a man do as a potential engine if
(23:04):
he gets a friendlier whistle than he did tonight, does
that help? Is there a better matchup for him than
the thunder? Can Reid get back to what we saw
him do against the Nuggets and the Spurs in November
and December If the answers are no, I mean, those
are the two guys that internally the Rockets pointed to
when Fred went down. You know, it was a blow,
(23:25):
but they said, look, these are two young guys that
we want to take a step forward. Anyway, We're going
to give them more on ball opportunities a man buying large, like,
let's not pile on the guy because as we mentioned
going into this game, sting the granty number first. Yeah,
he's been great and the efficiency has been there. So
let's make it clear. You know, with Reed, this is
a trend that's gone on for close to a month now.
With the men, this is something of an outlier. Now.
(23:45):
As an outlier you certainly have a raise eyebrow towards
because it's, you know, the gold standard, the oklamusity thunder
that you have to eventually beat if you want to
win a championship. But at the end of the day, look,
it is one game out of eighty two. So with
the men, you know, I'm still pretty hopeful with a Reed.
With Reed, it's been about a month now of subpar
play and I and if he looks the same against
(24:06):
the Spurs and basically every big game, it looks like,
you know, offensively he's not hitting at ballum and defensively
he's getting abused and it's tough to play him due
to the physicality. Yeah, I could see this moving the
needle for rofel Stone because it's like when you lost Fred,
these are the guys that you said that if you're
going to overcome this, this is how you can do it.
(24:27):
And if they're not doing it and they're losing to
the big boys. I mean, that's as much of a
red flag as you'll get.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah, and just a heads up, Rockets are now four
wins behind pace on this spreadsheet, which is kind of shocking.
This just happened to be one I had as a
win at home against Okay. See I think I had
him going one in three against Okay, so you had
to double check. But they're also three games behind their
pace from last season, which is kind of surprising. I
think the Rockets were twenty six and twelve and actually
(24:55):
twenty seven and twelve as well last year, So things
will kind of even out. But Rockets gotta get going.
And I hope this is not an issue. But okase
he does own Houston's draft pick. Let's hope this turns
around in a hurry, because if this loss, you know,
the losing keeps happening, it's like, geez, are we really
flirting with this kind of noise? So hopefully they can
(25:17):
get this going. Tari gets back healthy and can at
least string a couple of games together, and that would
be nice.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
And to leave off on a positive note, I want
to state again I thought the effort was a lot
better tonight. I thought the focus was there. I think
they took the game seriously. Even after Oklahoma City took
a couple of eight nine point leads. They fought back
up until that flurry in the fourth quarter that they
couldn't rally back from. I don't think this was a
game like the road Trip where you leave frustrated saying
(25:43):
they just didn't take the game seriously enough, or that
it was just ridiculously awful walk, or however you want
to frame it. This wasn't the missed opportunity. You just
got beaten by a better team. And that's frustrating because
we all want to see the Rockets win a championship.
But in terms of predictive value moving forward, I'm cautiously
optimistic the effort was better tonight, even if the box
score doesn't show it.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yep, Ben will be off tomorrow night. We will still go.
I'll be here, I believe with David wien Er beam
a thug. Come come hang out with us for sure. Ben,
anything you want to say about this game where Rockets
in general before we close it up, No, let's move on,
all right, Thanks everybod I appreciate you guys, I know
it wasn't the best of nights. I'll just say one
last thing. The Kyle Tucker thing to the Dodgers absolutely
(26:28):
is abysmal news. And it's I think it's sixty million
annual value. Yeah, for four years. It's just disgusting. Baseball
needs to figure this out. Well, let's just say that,
because the Dodgers are stacked to the gills.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
And that particular fan base that has made Jose Al
two Bay's life a living hell every time he goes there,
they better boo Kyle Tucker. Spoiler earth, they won't because
Kyle Tucker was part of the twenty eighteen Astros team
that was identified in that report. So if oose Al
two Bay is complicit for not turning into teammates, so
it's Kyle Tucker. But just like ti Oscar Hernandez, they
will do some middle gymnastics and move the goalpost. Oh
that's where it is.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
You're just highlighting politics and team sports. It's my side
or you know the other side.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
So you will see them do nothing but cheer Kyle.
So yeah, it's appreciate all you guys for joining us tonight.
Please feel free to leave comments in the in the
underneath of the video and we'll get back with you
and we will see you guys tomorrow night. Thanks everybody,
Welcome into the show, everybody. Rockets fall one eleven to
ninety one tonight in a very big matchup, an important
matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the number one team
in the West and the number one team in the NBA,
and the Rockets, who have really been struggling as of
late to shoot the ball, just ran into a defensive
(00:23):
buzzsaw at the wrong time. They did not snap out
of this. Definitely had a bunch of issues and really
it kind of that bug kind of hit Kevin Durant
tonight as well. Obviously he's the focus of a ton
of defensive attention. But there's definitely a lot to break
down and dissect from this game. I'm here with Bendubos,
who is at the game. Ben, appreciate you coming on.
You can read all of you know, Ben's stuff at
(00:44):
USA Today, Rockets Wire, and on Clutch Fans, and you
can follow him on Twitter at Bendebos.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Ben.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I think this game to me just sort of illustrated
that the Rockets they have a way to go still
even even with this you know, this team they're missing
Tari Shore dfs, but they just still have a little
ways to go before they're up.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
There, Dave, I'm curious because you've followed the Rockets even
longer than me. Have you ever seen a box score
like this? You look at the shooting by player, So
all for in Ching Gooon, amongst your starters, had the
best shooting percent, Nache, but he was seven of fifteen
below fifty percent. For your big man is never ideal.
But outside of Shingoon, the other four starters KD. Jabari, Joshakogi,
(01:28):
and Min Thompson all thirty three percent or worse. And
your top two reserves in shot attempts Reach Shepherd and JD.
Davison three of ten and two of nine. So outside
of all for in Chinggoon, who was below fifty percent himself,
your top six shooters from a volume perspective were all
at thirty three percent or worse, not from three overall. Like,
(01:49):
that's just one of the craziest box scorers I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, this it really is nuts. The crazy thing is
the Rockets actually did dominate the glass offensively. I think
it was offensive rebounding. Let me double check her twenty
three to seven in offensive rebounding the shot attempt to
one hundred and forty eighty nine but man, it's hands down,
twenty seven points is the difference that they scored from
(02:13):
three point range than the Rockets did. The Rockets not
because Sheng Gun's been out or been back, but they
have started to take less threes, which we thought was
kind of a good sign. But tonight just took twenty
four to threes, hit seven only of them, and while
the Thunder went sixteen to forty one, so that was
(02:34):
a huge difference. But defensively, just okay sees.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
They're elite, They're great.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I mean, this is an all time type team and
their defense just gave the Rockets a ton of problems.
You know, yeah, I mean we can go down the list.
For sure. KD is just going seven of twenty three
after he has been so good, I said, I think
the defensive attention paid to KD is some of the
reason for that, but nobody had it going on, as
(03:01):
you pointed out well.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And to me, this is different than the other bad
shooting games when they lost in Dallas, the two in Portland,
and the one in Sacramento. Those it felt like were
just shot luck outliers where it wasn't sure night, and
that made it incredibly frustrating. Dave tonight it was bad
shot quality. I don't think they shot poorly from the
standpoint of missing a ton of open looks. I think
they didn't get open looks for the most part. That's
(03:24):
what it felt like watching this game live. Oklahoma City
is so good at taking away option A, Option B,
even Option C, and so it really comes down to
your ancillary pieces, your Reed Shepherd, Jabari Smith Junior, Josha Koge,
Steven Adams. It's your fourth and fifth options on the
court at a given time, and the Rockets had nothing
(03:45):
from those guys tonight. Jady Davison helped them in a
few ways. He brings them some traditional point guard skills,
but he couldn't shoot well enough. He was two of nine.
And I think what this game really showed you was
that without Fred van Fleet and without the version of
all for Shoon that hit five threes in that opening
night game in OKAC, that was really a coin flip
(04:06):
and could have gone either way. I don't know how
the Rockets can score enough to beat this team. Like
the only way I think you can possibly overcome it
is if Reed Shepherd and geor Jabari Smith Junior get going.
Those are your only two other rotation players with some
offensive upside, and Reid was terrible tonight. He didn't shoot
well defensively, he got abused and Jabari it was at
(04:27):
best a mixed bag. He started off well, did make threes,
but eventually Okac chased him off the line and he
couldn't hit the middies, He couldn't finish well enough near
the rim, and so he just wasn't well balanced enough
as a scorer. And the thing with Okace, they're so physical,
they're so good at ball pressure. They will take away
what you do best, unless maybe you have a Nikola Jokich.
(04:47):
And this is no disrespect to Kevin Durant or all
for in Hindoo and the Rockets just don't have a
player at that level right now. Unless you're a player
of that caliber, you're probably not going to beat Oklahoma
City just based on your star going out the and
single handedly carrying you to the win. No, it's going
to take your supporting pieces to at least loosen the
defense some. Maybe the supporting pieces don't win the game
(05:09):
for you, but they at least give the stars more
space to operate. And if the supporting pieces shoot the
way they did tonight. Eventually, they're just going to choke
the life out of you. And so the bottom line
for me, those games on the road trip that the
Rockets lost, they miss some open shots, and at the
end of the year, if they follow to four or
five six in the standings in the Western Conference, they'll
regret it. Today, I don't think they'll regret it. I
don't think they'll look back and say, Wow, this was
(05:30):
shot luck shot variance. No, they just got their ass kick.
It's just tough for me to see this playing out
differently unless you get Freventsley back. But even if Fred
comes back, I don't know if he can be close
to one hundred percent this season. And short of making
a move at the deadline, I mean, we're close to
halfway through the season and I'm not gonna say it's
been a terrible year for Reid or Jabari for a
(05:52):
developmental perspective, But I don't think either of them is
to the level that you need in terms of offensive
creativity to beat a team that's this good defensively.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, you know, first to your first point, I think
that's a great point. And this is no insult to Shangoon.
It's actually a compliment to Shangoon in that first game
where you know, coming off of the EuroBasket where he
was hitting threes, like lots of them, and we're like, wow,
is this for real? Comes out against the defending champs
on the road, hits I believe five of eight. I'm
going off a memory here from three and we're like,
(06:23):
oh my gosh, this is for real. Hit a couple more,
I think in a next game. Since that first game,
he's hit sixteen threes total in like thirty thirty one games.
I think he's two for his last twenty five. It's
just that game saw shng Gun do something we haven't
really seen for the rest of this season, and it
put them at a level that was awesome. I still
(06:44):
think the Rockets would have been more competitive if other
guys a men Jabari, Shannggoon certainly and especially Kadie, you know,
had just hit some shots. But at the same time,
I am I'm just really nervous about this.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Team from a three point shooting standpoint.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
This has got to correct itself because I don't know
for me, and maybe I'm old school on the new
school already, but I just feel like since that twenty
eighteen Rockets team. You've got to have a good defense,
you've got to be able to hit open threes, and
that just seems to be a problem.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Go ahead. The problem, in my opinion, is that the
one source of good play they had tonight was the
Double Big lineup. Steven Adams won his minutes, but then
if you play Steven Adams, Shungoon and Amend together, that's
three of your five that are non spacers. So then
you get crushed from three point volume. Like the Thunder
put up forty one threes tonight, and it helps them
(07:34):
made up. They made sixteen of them. The Rockets put
up twenty four and made seven, so they were worse
in volume and accuracy. But even if the accuracy was
a little bit better, the Rockets still got killed in volume.
And that's where again the Double Big work to an extent.
They weren't as bad in those minutes as they were others.
But at the same time, to go back to your point,
(07:56):
if the Rockets are only putting up twenty four threes,
it's tough to win in the model NBA when this
is your formula against a really great team.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, you know read, let's talk a little bit about
Reid for just a minute, right. I know a lot
of people have been claiming for Reid, and maybe they
are correct. There was a play in the fourth quarter
where he got switched on to AJ Mitchell, and AJ
Mitchell just his eyes lit up and he went around
Read like he didn't even exist, had a wide open layup.
(08:23):
Rockets don't have a rim protector. They're not. They can't.
My point is they can't afford to have players that
can't hold their own on the perimeter. It's been this
way for a while when you are playing Shengoon. Shangoon
is an offensive center who's very versatile and gifted in
that way. So yeah, I don't know, that's a very
tough thing for you. May because Reid is extremely as
(08:45):
he used the word variance, like there's the potential for
him to go off and hit five to eight threes
in a game. You need that type of thing, like
the whole you know, Cocaine Curry, Steph Curry going off
kind of thing. But he's definitely lost some confidence in
Read because he's go I went to JD. Davison playing
him early. Davison side didn't have his shot going on,
but he seems to be more the trusted player right
(09:08):
now at this moment, Aaron Holliday's not playing at all
and Reid's minutes have come down.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, and there's a comment in the shaft that I
want to address because I think it's misguided. At least
in the context of this matchup. Fred is not going
to help the Steam do y'all remember last season. Here's
a fun stat for you. In the two wins they
had over Oklahoma City, Fred averaged twenty five and a
half points per game. I'm better than fifty percent shooting
and fifty percent from three, So at least in this matchup,
(09:36):
I think he does. And he delivered late in the
playoff series against the Warriors as well. I think Fred
is very useful against these half court defenses that really
hit you with physicality and ball pressure, because not so
much that he's a great point guard, it's that he
can he can fire away from anywhere. He can fill
it up for all we talk about Fred as a
(09:57):
floor general, He's a really good shooter in tight spaces,
and that's something that the Rockets, especially if Reid plays
the way he's doing the way he is now tonight.
He just put up three threes in nineteen minutes, which
I think speaks to his lack of confidence at the moment.
The Rockets don't have that type of upside. You know
last year's team. I'm not going to say the Big
(10:19):
three a year ago of Jalen a men in Shinoon
is analogous to KD A men in Shingoon right now,
because clearly Kdi is a lot better than Jalen. But
I do think that from a scouting report perspective, those
are the three that you hone in on as potential
engines for the Rockets. Last year it was Amn, Shangoon
and Jalen. This year it's Shangoon, KD and a Men.
(10:41):
Not in any spific order. I'm just saying those are
the three. And so Fred, even though he's a good
floor general, he's something of an ancillary piece that can
step up when needed. And you know, one of the
two wins, Houston had an over OKC. Fred had that
grenade three from like thirty feet with a minute or
two left in the game that really got some separation.
And someone's asking, why are we talking about Fred? Because
(11:03):
this is how you beat Oka Se last year, this
is how you almost beat Golden State. This is the
type of supporting piece that you need. And when Fred
went down, the talking point from the organization was, Okay,
this is a blow, but we're going to dial up
the usage for Reed and a men on ball and
see where they can take us. Well, Reed has just
(11:23):
progressed severely the last ten to fifteen games. We've talked
about that and a men. You know, I'm not going
to say it was an awful game for him, but
four sixteen it certainly wasn't good. There were points in
which it felt like he was close to putting his
inprint on the game. But on the balance, you shoot
twenty five percent, that's not getting it done. And I
also thought, you know this game was officiated, it felt
(11:43):
to me like a playoff game. And so if the
Thunder can be even more physical against the likes of
A men in Shingoon when they're trying to finish inside,
then it goes back to the question we started with,
which is where are the Rockets going to get enough points?
Like we saw last year? If nothing else, the Rockets
are aggressive enough and physical enough, they can find a
(12:04):
way to get to the line. Well, if they're not
going to call those spowels and the rockets don't have
the shooting, and the thunder can basically defend against anything.
Where are the point's gonna come from? That's what I
keep coming back to.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, I'm in four of sixteen tonight, as you're pointed out,
and there were some frustrating plays where I just thought
he missed, you know, bunnies around the basket, even Jabari
to Jabari actually hit freeze tonight. He's three of six
from deep, but he missed a lot of like kind
of open six seven footers to twelve footers, you know,
a few of them, certainly, And I was very frustrated
(12:39):
with some of the bunnies. We'll call it that these
guys missed.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
The problem is Katie is the guy, very clearly the
guy on this team. He gets the ball. I think,
you know, Shengun's that secondary guy or up there with Katie,
let's say. And I just didn't think he was aggressive tonight.
I really didn't. I thought, I think of his seven
made shots, six of them were layups, like they were.
One was a put back, an other was like, you know,
(13:05):
just like a quick pass, and they gave him layup.
He had one I think turnaround or hook from about
eight feet. That's the only shot that wasn't a layup
I really needed for him against this team. He's got
to go right away before that defense truly gets set,
and I think he's capable of it, but sometimes he
gets into that hesitation bo. That's what it kind of
felt like to me tonight. You know, the Rockets just
(13:26):
have to get some sort of offense going, and it
can't be just Katie, and I think that's where you
turn to, you know, shngunas as far as creation and
creating you know, often to himself.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
And when we talk about that first game against the Thunder,
which was truly a coin flip, we keep stating that
Shangoun made five threes because to this point that is
an outlier and in terms of, you know, the stat
line is going to look a lot different tonight. But
it's not that he necessarily attacked a ton in that
first game. It's more, you know, we talk about the
(13:58):
Thunder giving for you to your fourth, your fifth option
something like that on every half court possession. I mean,
shin Gooon from twenty five plus feet is your fourth
or fifth option. In a lot of cases, it's just
that first game he made them. Right now he isn't
even confident enough to take them, and so that, to
me is what makes it so alarming. It's not so
much that you know that Shin Gooon was. I mean,
(14:19):
there were a few drives he had in that first game,
but a lot of them the drives came after he
made those threes, and so they had to, you know,
defend a little more aggressively. Like there was the play
he had against Chet Holmgren when he got shut into
foul trouble, which also helped in that opening game because
he was making those threes and it made Check come
out more. In this case, it felt like Chet was
(14:40):
able to sag back and protect the rim, and with
the extraordinary length and shot blocking presence that that he provides.
I just think, you know, it's easy to say Shino
Shin Gooon needs to do more attacking off the dribble,
but against this particular team, it's tough. And that's why,
you know, for sure, that's why I keep going back to.
(15:00):
This team just needs more offensive firepower if they're gonna
have any chance at beating the Thunder four times out
of seven. I think someone mentioned in the Chat. They're
now twenty seventh and then scoring this season. The Rockets
like ideally Fred would come back. But in theory, maybe
this moves the needle in terms of getting Rafael Stone
to look externally for a potential trade. But it just
(15:21):
felt like tonight they just did not have the horses.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah, let me add one other thing. Shan Gun has
had a lot of success one on one against Chet Holmgren,
as in Chet defending him. Shangun does not defend Chet.
That's the other issue with this. But as far as
the other way around, Chet does guard Shangun and he
has a hard time with Shenggun. Shangun's crafty. He's bigger, stronger,
or not Matt taller. I'm just saying, you know, a
(15:45):
little bit more sand in his pants, and tonight it
just didn't happen. Chet held his ground, did I thought
a better job. Chutut had a really good game actually,
right out of the gate. I think he had first
five shots, hit a couple of threes block shots. Was
a very versatile old player for them. They talked about
after the game about whether he's up there with for
defensive Player of the Year. This is a really tough
(16:06):
team this is the basically benchmark, you know, where the
Rockets need to be. I think you have to look
at San Antonio and some other teams as well. But
OKC is it, you know, and it's tough. Tari's not
in the game. Hartenstein's not here either, so it's a
different type of matchup. You saw a lot of Caruso
on Shangun, but I just thought that's where tonight against
(16:27):
this team, where we needed Shangun to feast because of
that matchup, and it just didn't happen well.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
And one reason we're talking a lot about Reid when
you look back at those matchups against the other elite
teams in the West. You mentioned the Spurs, and it
made me think of that NBA Cup game. We'll see
the Spurs two more times in the next twelve days,
I believe.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Oh I forgot about the second one. Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Reed was tremendous in that game against the Spurs, and
on the balance, the three games against Denver, he was
very good in those as well. Tonight he was dreadful,
and I think you see the difference. I think against
be truly top to your teams, you need another offensive
creator to step up and the way this roster is built.
After losing Frevan Vleet, the next man up is Reed Shepherd,
(17:10):
and when he delivers this Rockets team has been competitive.
When they get the version they had tonight, there's just
nowhere else they can turn, you know. JD. Davison gives them,
you know, more of a presence and more point guardability,
but he's certainly not going to fill it up from
twenty five plus feet the way you do, especially to
overcome the math disadvantage that we cited a couple of times.
(17:31):
So I just think so much of it comes down
to read. And then I don't want to pile on
Jabari because certainly, on the balance it's better than the
last few games he is making threes. But it was
just so frustrating for me, Dave, because midway through the
third quarter, I think he had like fifteen points, seven rebounds,
he had made sixty percent of his threes. Like the
(17:51):
possibility was there for him to score twenty five plus
points on good efficiency and give the Rockets a chance
to win this game. Soon as the thunder chased him
off the three point line and said, you know, will
you make some tough middies and traffic finish through contact
near the rim. He couldn't. And it's just so so
frustrating because lately the struggles for Jabari have been the
(18:14):
three point shot. Well now as soon as it feels
like he's figured that out, now all of a sudden,
the end between game is deserting him, and it's just
it's a missed opportunity. It's not to say that Jabari
has the has the upside that Reid does offensively, but
I think the way the thunder were defending the Rockets,
Jabbari was the one guy that you know, on the
right night you could have gotten a little bit more
out of and tonight unfortunately was not that night.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, no, you're exactly right. I mean mentioned that a
little bit earlier, but just the middies could not hit those.
He got stuffed a couple of times. I think check
might have been checked twice, but yeah, he just and
some of those are so maddening for me to watch Ben,
to be honest with you, I'm like, Okay, that's a
wide you know, wide openness. Certainly the not enough not
(18:57):
defenders around him six to eight foot you would think
he makes that in his sleep, and it's just rimming
out and it just feels like, I don't know what
it is. I don't know if I'm biased or what,
but it just feels like the rim while off of
Jabari shots just I mean, the ball just rockets off
of it and you're like, gosh, you gotta be kidding me.
But yeah, he did not have a good game inside
the arc tonight at all. But I just, yeah, overall,
(19:19):
I don't know what to say about this shooting slump
that they're in. It's I can't chalk it up tonight
to just the shooting slump because that defense is really
really good, the best in the league. But I mean,
tomorrow is Minnesota Ben and no Anthony Edwards, which if
you're if you're just looking for a win, this should
be a gift. But I would not. I would not
chalk it up as a guaranteed win. I don't know
(19:41):
what you think about that game coming in coming in
or what they'll Gobert has been apparently having a monster.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
I don't think the Rockets have played Minnesota yet this season?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Correct, I don't think they have.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yeah, I don't remember a game, to be honest.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
With you, So yeah, go ahead. Gobert will protect the rim.
That's one thing, you know, unless you know, maybe Prime
James Harden could do something about that. But Gobert is
an elite rim protector, and so it's gonna come down
to your ability to make shots. And I'm very curious.
I wouldn't say tonight was necessarily an extension of the
shooting slump. I think tonight the thunder just choked the
(20:14):
life out of you. But it's not like they've broken
out of the shooting slump either, so they haven't had
a really good shooting game in a while. This is
a setting where they're going to get some open looks
from three because Gobert is protecting the paint. You just
need to make them. I think it's that simple. And
the legs are going to be tired on night two
of it, back to back. Maybe you get Tory Easton
(20:35):
or Dori and Finny Smith back their day to day
with their injuries. Not going to use that as an
excuse for tonight, because I really don't think they changed
the math all that much, and also the thunder were missing.
I say, Hartenstet excuses only go so far. But maybe
you get some reinforcements tomorrow. Because the downside you know,
I don't think this was bad effort from the Rockets.
I thought they played very hard in this game. I thought,
(20:56):
you know, until the wheels fell off in the fourth quarter,
they competed really hard defensively on the glass. They just
couldn't generate enough offense. But I'll bring that up to say,
with another game looming in twenty four hours, there's gonna
be a lot of guys whose tanks are unempty. And
on top of you know, the injuries the Rockets have,
Houston has two players in Shongoon and Steven Adams who
(21:17):
have strained ankles in the last two to three weeks.
So I'm gonna be very curious to see if they're
available and for how many minutes if they are on
night two of a back to back, and those are
your two big men that you lean on to get
the rebounding advantage. So I just think that Tomorrow's going
to be a game where they need to make a
lot of threes. They should be due. The Timberwolves are
not going to defend them, especially not without Anthony Edwards.
The way the thunder could nowhere close but night two
(21:40):
back to back tired legs, and the way the Rockets
have shot this month. I don't know how you can
feel super confident that they're going to make them. They
should be due, they should make some. But if they don't,
even without Anthony Edwards, the Thunder, the Timberwolves, excuse me,
can beat them.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Yeah, I do wonder what's going on right now. I
guess we'll put our ears to the ground as far
as you know, to center off the branch. Basically, what
they're thinking at this moment, you know, trade deadline a
few weeks away. I don't think it's any kind of
panic meter, but I just I wonder what they're thinking
because their time window with KD is maybe really short,
maybe not as short as we're saying, but just age
(22:16):
in general, you just have to wonder. So I'm very
curious to see what their their overall thought process is.
How much patience comes into play versus we need to
do something with KD. But this is, you know, another
game that you got to win with and out. You
got to win this game, and they're not easy. It's
not you know, that's nas Red on that team. He's
played well against the Rockets, certainly, Randall Gobert, Jaden McDaniels
(22:39):
it's it's a good team. So and they've been playing
I think, really well lately. So you got to keep
that in mind.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
And I found it, and I think those two Spurs games,
especially coming up, not to look past Minnesota tomorrow night,
but in terms of the trade doubline, that angle that
you were speaking to, I think those Spurs games are
going to be really revealing in terms of, you know,
can you generate enough offense outside of KD and Shinkun?
What can a man do as a potential engine if
(23:04):
he gets a friendlier whistle than he did tonight, does
that help? Is there a better matchup for him than
the thunder? Can Reid get back to what we saw
him do against the Nuggets and the Spurs in November
and December If the answers are no, I mean, those
are the two guys that internally the Rockets pointed to
when Fred went down. You know, it was a blow,
(23:25):
but they said, look, these are two young guys that
we want to take a step forward. Anyway, We're going
to give them more on ball opportunities a man buying large, like,
let's not pile on the guy because as we mentioned
going into this game, sting the granty number first. Yeah,
he's been great and the efficiency has been there. So
let's make it clear. You know, with Reed, this is
a trend that's gone on for close to a month now.
With the men, this is something of an outlier. Now.
(23:45):
As an outlier you certainly have a raise eyebrow towards
because it's, you know, the gold standard, the oklamusity thunder
that you have to eventually beat if you want to
win a championship. But at the end of the day, look,
it is one game out of eighty two. So with
the men, you know, I'm still pretty hopeful with a Reed.
With Reed, it's been about a month now of subpar
play and I and if he looks the same against
(24:06):
the Spurs and basically every big game, it looks like,
you know, offensively he's not hitting at ballum and defensively
he's getting abused and it's tough to play him due
to the physicality. Yeah, I could see this moving the
needle for rofel Stone because it's like when you lost Fred,
these are the guys that you said that if you're
going to overcome this, this is how you can do it.
(24:27):
And if they're not doing it and they're losing to
the big boys. I mean, that's as much of a
red flag as you'll get.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah, and just a heads up, Rockets are now four
wins behind pace on this spreadsheet, which is kind of shocking.
This just happened to be one I had as a
win at home against Okay. See I think I had
him going one in three against Okay, so you had
to double check. But they're also three games behind their
pace from last season, which is kind of surprising. I
think the Rockets were twenty six and twelve and actually
(24:55):
twenty seven and twelve as well last year, So things
will kind of even out. But Rockets gotta get going.
And I hope this is not an issue. But okase
he does own Houston's draft pick. Let's hope this turns
around in a hurry, because if this loss, you know,
the losing keeps happening, it's like, geez, are we really
flirting with this kind of noise? So hopefully they can
(25:17):
get this going. Tari gets back healthy and can at
least string a couple of games together, and that would
be nice.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
And to leave off on a positive note, I want
to state again I thought the effort was a lot
better tonight. I thought the focus was there. I think
they took the game seriously. Even after Oklahoma City took
a couple of eight nine point leads. They fought back
up until that flurry in the fourth quarter that they
couldn't rally back from. I don't think this was a
game like the road Trip where you leave frustrated saying
(25:43):
they just didn't take the game seriously enough, or that
it was just ridiculously awful walk, or however you want
to frame it. This wasn't the missed opportunity. You just
got beaten by a better team. And that's frustrating because
we all want to see the Rockets win a championship.
But in terms of predictive value moving forward, I'm cautiously
optimistic the effort was better tonight, even if the box
score doesn't show it.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yep, Ben will be off tomorrow night. We will still go.
I'll be here, I believe with David wien Er beam
a thug. Come come hang out with us for sure. Ben,
anything you want to say about this game where Rockets
in general before we close it up, No, let's move on,
all right, Thanks everybod I appreciate you guys, I know
it wasn't the best of nights. I'll just say one
last thing. The Kyle Tucker thing to the Dodgers absolutely
(26:28):
is abysmal news. And it's I think it's sixty million
annual value. Yeah, for four years. It's just disgusting. Baseball
needs to figure this out. Well, let's just say that,
because the Dodgers are stacked to the gills.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
And that particular fan base that has made Jose Al
two Bay's life a living hell every time he goes there,
they better boo Kyle Tucker. Spoiler earth, they won't because
Kyle Tucker was part of the twenty eighteen Astros team
that was identified in that report. So if oose Al
two Bay is complicit for not turning into teammates, so
it's Kyle Tucker. But just like ti Oscar Hernandez, they
will do some middle gymnastics and move the goalpost. Oh
that's where it is.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
You're just highlighting politics and team sports. It's my side
or you know the other side.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
So you will see them do nothing but cheer Kyle.
So yeah, it's appreciate all you guys for joining us tonight.
Please feel free to leave comments in the in the
underneath of the video and we'll get back with you
and we will see you guys tomorrow night. Thanks everybody,
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