Houston is a Hockey Town

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dngoon's got it overhead, tossed to read Shepherd. Shepherd in
the front court. Shngoon left side three pointer, read in
double legit lead again sixty five fifty four read down
with six Durant behind him to read about thirty two
feet scraw.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
In the old conscience.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Eighty five sixty four read up to nine on his
third three pointer and five tries down the lane. Johnson
baseline right Vincent at a back. It's a second block
for Reed Shepherd and the Rockets come up with a
durant baseline out right side, a deep three.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Fourer for time out.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Atlanta rain in threes in downtown Houston. Corey Kisbertson for
Atlanta here and there's a steal Alpraham with a steel
It's gonna be a.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Nice, easy, refreshing Nobody spoke to Jalen Johnson.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
He's like, can somebody screened that? Alper and Shingun come
in my way? Shngoon directs traffic out right side Holiday
first thirty three. Yes, I did not anticipate a thirty
four point Rocket lead against the team and in won
eleven consecutive games. Atlanta brings it across the timeline tonight

(01:15):
inside Tona Center. The Hawks eleven game streak is over
because it's a Rocket twin final score. Houston won seventeen
and Atlanta ninety five.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
We gotta talk about this, guys, we really do, because
if I'm not sure, how do we feel about last
night's dominant victory? Because on one hand, it's like, yeah,
you win against a team that's just dropped eleven straight
and been dominant in the Eastern Conference, and then on
the other hand it's Atlanta, like I'm not expecting them
to do much in the postseason.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
All right, let's get the show on the road.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
Welcome on into spacea Saturday right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety. Sub friends, it's cold Rocket with you for
the next hour and a half.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Frankie on the ones and twos. If you want to
call on in.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Seven one, three, two, one, two, five, seven ninety your Rockets,
they're back on the hard wood tonight. You can listen
to the game right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
If you want to listen to.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Your Cougars, well, they're gonna be on nine to fifty
the next round. A shot to return to Shuston and
the Sweet sixteen on display at four forty five, You're Astros.
They take the field against the New York Mets, one
of the final spring training games. We're gonna get into
that a little bit later. You can listen to that
right here on Sports Talk seven ninety and then on
seven forty k TRH the Texas long Horns, the eleven

(02:39):
seed Texas long Horns, which, surprisingly, whether you want to
admit it or not, that might be this year Cinderella.
It feels weird to say, but they're taking on number
three Gonzaga. That game tips off at four forty five.
Listen on nine to fifty seven to one three, two,
one two five, seven ninety. Let's start off with what
we witnessed last night. Houston Rockets one to seventeen ninety
five win over the Atlanta Hawks. Again Atlanta, they've been

(03:02):
playing lights out, winners of eleven straight. They come on
into Toyota Center and it is just nothing but a
straight dominant performance top to bottom from Reed Shepherd, from
Jabari Smith, from Aman Thompson, and then of course you
already got your good performances from Katie and Alfrin shan Gun.
How do we feel like, honestly, can we talk about
this for a second. How do we feel Because on

(03:24):
one hand, you're shooting fifty three percent from down I
mean from the field, that's a win. You're shooting forty
seven percent from downtown, that's a win. You're getting Jabbari
to drop three of eight, Kevin Durant shooting sixty percent
from behind the arc, another good game from Reed Shepherd.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
You get the hell of a block by Read.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
It's like, oh my god, this is the version of
Houston that I expect to be able to go toe
to toe with the team like probably La.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Definitely it seemed like Phoenix.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
I would say, maybe you could make this a seven
game series against Minnesota, and depending on how healthy a
team like probably Denver is, it could at least be
a coin flip. Like the version we saw last night
was one that I believe is at least going to
be formidable when you get to the playoffs. If that's
the way that we see them play Defensively, physically, we're

(04:13):
making sure that we're drained in shots, we're not rushing
through plays, We're running a lot of pick and roll screens.
You got to feel pretty confident because that's a team
that I look at and say I at least see
the vision. They're playing physical, they're playing at home, and
you knock off any team that's playing with house money,
you gotta feel pretty good about yourself.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
And that's what Houston did.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
They held Atlanta to I think it was twenty six
percent from the field, I mean off from downtown, forty
two percent of the field. Nobody on Atlanta scored more
than twenty one. And it was Walker last night, Jalen
Johnson at fourteen. CJ McCollum dropped seventeen. He was thirty
percent from the three point range. They had more turnovers,
They really struggled on the offensive rebounds, they really struggled

(04:56):
on the defensive rebounds. The plus minus differential, nobody had
more than a play two. So you did really good
in that standpoint. But then I go back to what
we just witnessed a couple of days ago. So like
beating Atlanta as a win, because of hell, it's a win.
You're ending a losing streak. But now we got to
talk about what went wrong during the other standpoints, because

(05:18):
remember Atlanta right now is probably gonna be a sixteen,
maybe a seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, and we've
talked about this on so many occasions, whether it be
Morning Drive, Matt Tomas Show, eight Team Nightcap. You're probably
looking at a team like Houston and if you were
to throw them in the Eastern Conference, no shot in
hell that they're any less than four seed. Like I

(05:41):
just do not believe in the Eastern Conference whatsoever. Like, yes,
I think that Boston maybe could make a run. I
definitely think that Detroit is if they stay out of
their own way, gonna be a playoff threat. And then
you have the Knicks that I actually think are probably
gonna be the Eastern Conference representative. But I don't believe
in Toronto. I definitely don't believe in Cleveland. I don't
think Atlanta's gonna do Orlando or Miami. I think Houston

(06:02):
would be really good in that standpoint. But then we
got to throw it back to what we just witnessed
over the last week. You took on LA, you struggled
against LA back to back games, You had a lead,
you blew a lead, and you allow Luca, who right
now has been probably the best player in the month
of March, to once again have a dominant outing against
showing back to back Knights. So now you're playing against

(06:24):
the Lakers. Let's say if you were in the first round,
and can you trust that you will get past them
in six? Like you gotta go play on the road
at the Crypto Center at the Staples at least the
way that I put it, Do you trust them to
be able to guarantee that they're gonna be able to
bring this series back home and they get a winner
to at Toyota Center, it's a little challenging. Then we
talk about the game that you played against Denver on
the road at the Pepsi Center or whatever the hell

(06:45):
it's called at this point, and you looked dead, like
you had a good first quarter, you were decent enough
in the second quarter, and then here comes Jokic, here
comes Shamal Murray, here comes quality bench, and they basically
molly wop you into oblivion and you lose.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
By double digits.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
And then you go play in San Antonio a couple
nights ago, and it's from the start to finish just
an ass kicking, Like that's where you are.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
So I'm conflicted right now.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
Because if it's a win, and it's a really good
win over a team that was playing really hot and
you're now back on your winning wate in fact, so
much so that at this point you're a four seed,
Like you're still ahead of Denver, you're still ahead of Minnesota,
and you're only a game and a half back of
LA So like you could still be the three seed,
and if everything goes according to play in you're hosting

(07:33):
the first playoff game and you're avoiding the turn the
playing tournament. And I think that this team is at
least good enough to get past that first round. But
just beating Atlanta last night has not changed my overall
opinion of where you are as a team, Like you
have to mind drift here, Like I know for a
fact that Houston's gonna be a playoff roster, and I've
said that often that they're gonna be a playoff roster,

(07:57):
But my overall outlook is changed on where they are
as a program, the way they play defense, the sporadic
hit and miss with the offensive consistency. Not getting a
lot of love and appreciation for what you get with
Tari Easton because he's been absolutely dreadful this month, at
least offensively.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Duran Phinney Smith is terrible.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
And then your bench really is Reid Shepherd and insert
random dude on a Tuesday night that wants to drop
eight points, and that's what you got. So you're relying
so heavily on Katie and Alprin Schengoon and whoever the
hell you think is either going to be the number
three Jabari or Men Thompson having to gets you at
least eighteen plus. Do you feel good about that for

(08:36):
a playoff series, yes, going up against Oklahoma City, going
up against Antonio probably not. And so it's like last night,
a double digit, twenty plus point win should make you
feel really good about where you are as a team,
especially against one that was playing as if they may
end up being the sleeper in the Eastern Conference, a

(08:57):
conference that you would definitely own if you were playing
on that side of the p But it's hard because
if I've seen you go up against the teams that
you're gonna face the playoffs in a month, Denver, it
looked dreadful. San Antonio, it was a magnitude of sucktage.
You look at a team like Minnesota mid and you
get to play Minnesota in two in a week, what

(09:19):
do you look like when you have to go play
in Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, A boy, best of luck to
you in Los Angeles.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
It was la la, la la la type of offense.
That's what you got.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
So like last night, I think that you can feel
confident that you can be a team that wins a
playoff series.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
That's what my big takeaway is.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
If you get read valuable minutes, if you're playing that
version of defense, if you're able to go ahead and
get really quality play from Jabbari and you're shooting from
downtown with a forty seven percent success rate, you're winning
the defensive rebounds, you're blocking out players, and you're playing physical,
you should be able to handle business against La maybe Minnesota.

(09:59):
Let's say fe Phoenix somehow gets its act together and
they jump into the sixth seeding, you move to the
three seed. I feel confident in that series. I think
everyone should feel confident in that series. Like if you
are a Rockets fan, that should make you feel like
we're in the right direction.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
Love it. Anything else has not changed my opinion.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
And they're playing against Miami tonight, you can go listen
to the game right here on Sports Talk seven ninety
Rockets launch Pad.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
I think, if I'm not mistaken it's.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
Gonna start at five o'clock, so you should be able
to feel really good about Hey, if we win this one,
we're going on a nine day road trip. Let's keep
the good vibes rolling. And you played better away from
Toyota Center, razz of late. Not against the premier teams,
but still as anybody say, in Chicago, as a premier team. No,
what about New Orleans, Like that's where you are. I

(10:50):
think that even with all those wins, I gotta see
you be able to handle business against Minnesota. You end
up showing up against the Timberwolves in their back. Maybe
I'll say that you could at least make it a
series against San Antonio. But last night's when hell of
a game. You're back in the right track. Reach Shepherd's
playing well. You have a constant number three, and thank

(11:12):
god that Taray Easton was not able to go ahead
and have a crap nine offensively, and Dorian Finney Smith
when we only got to see him sporadically seven one three,
two one two five seven nine. If you want to
get on in, I need to talk to you about
the story of Cinderella, not in terms of what happened
when she found the glass slipper. But what happens in
March twhen Hey, we're no longer going to have this

(11:34):
ragtag underdog story. Instead, you know that team that spends
a lot of money. Yeah, that's just Cinderella in disguise.
Explain what that is? One segment down six ago, all
leading up to Astros versus Mets right here on Sports
Talk seven nine. If you want to call on in,
take a quick time out and we come back Cinderella,
she's no longer at the ball because the ball has
been dropped. When it comes to these type of stories

(11:55):
that more on a space Saturday next right here on
Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
You know, this is why I.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
Love working with Frankie western Moreland. He doesn't know, he
doesn't tell me anything. He just shows up randomly and says, Oh,
you know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna drop a bar.
I'm gonna make sure that we stay on subject. Frankie,
how's your Saturday going, Bud?

Speaker 2 (12:15):
It's going well, man?

Speaker 1 (12:16):
How are you?

Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (12:17):
You know what, this has been a very eventful morning,
Like it's supposed to be a day that we're all
like kind of just chillin'. He's got Houston Couger's basketball.
You have Houston Rockets basketball, you got Astros baseball. I
have an event that I'm very excited to go do today.
And by the way, just shout it to the people
at Hockey Day in Houston. You all know me, love
my hockey. I'm gonna be out at Saint Orange Brewery

(12:38):
from eleven thirty two about three thirty. If you're here,
go look for the guy in the Corey Crawford Chicago
Blackhawks jersey and the h Town Dunkshu're not hat, that's me.
Go ahead and get a maybe ice cold one chill together.
But it's supposed to be like a relaxing day, and
yet here I am nervous about my bracket.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
All right?

Speaker 3 (12:57):
So seven one, three, two five seven night, if you
watch him on it, can we have the honest conversation
about Cinderella stories. So how many of you are playing
a bracket like Frank you? Are you playing a men's
tournament bracket?

Speaker 2 (13:07):
Right now? I am not why why I should have made.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
Sure that you were playing a bracket so we can
go ahead and go back and forth with the banter.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yes, sorry, man, I'm very upset with you right now.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
Anyways, so we all saw how the games went yesterday,
and nearly an upset with firm and over yukon it
Thank god, my bracket would have been gone to crap.
But yet, so I'm in the ninety nine point nine percentile.
I have two losses through the first round. And the
scary thing is I picked one of the I picked
two of those three major upsets, and I don't think

(13:39):
they're going past today. So for those of you that
don't understand what I'm saying, the Cinderella story has been
awesome in the world of college basketball. And it's why
I think that we love March Madness so much, because
of On any given Thursday, you're gonna see a future
CPA drop thirty points against the top four seed that
comes from the Big Ten, that comes the se scene

(14:01):
that went up against teams like Arizona and Kansas and
Houston and Tennessee and brought them down to the wire
and they're gonna win by six. And then here we
go into weekend number two and it's that thirteen seed
with a guy like Dougie Eedbard from Saint Peter's that
you know is never gonna hear his name called by

(14:21):
the commissioner. You know for a fact that Adam Silver
is never gonna be shaking his hand. He's not gonna
be a lottery pick, but you can't help but root
for him. And then here's what we get with the
Cinderella story. You know, she goes ahead and finds her
prince Charming, and it's like the hero from within has
bad life with the Stepsisters. We go ahead and we
see her actually win the ball, and then you know what,
she lives happily ever after, they end up going to

(14:43):
the March Madas, they go to Sweet sixteen, they go
to the Elite eight, and then they make it to
the Final four. Loyola Chicago was Sister Jean. We all
remember the Ramblers. We all remember George Mason. We were
all pulling for George Mason. Like Florida Atlantic three years
ago with Dusty May ended up being one of the
best stories, and even for a little bit like Jerome
Tang with Kansas State one of my favorite players, Pale

(15:06):
dropping like twenty three a night, like as a twelve seed,
like we were excited about those matchups because if we
knew for a fact there were something to roof for there, well,
Cinderella's dead, Guys, and I'm not saying in terms of
the storylines aren't dead, but Cinderella is no longer viewed
as this ragtag up and coming story that, you know what,

(15:27):
we're all pulling forward just to be able to beat
the breaks off of teams. There are David versus Goliath matchups. No,
Cinderella is not disguising herself as a team that has
a lot of nil funds and did have a good
first year.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Don't believe me?

Speaker 3 (15:40):
Did they might tell me what would happen if an
eleven seed moved on to the next round. I'll spoil
it for you. Do you want to know who that
eleven seed is? It's the Texas Longhorns, who, by the way,
I do think are going to beat Gonzaga today. That's
your Cinderella. Because high point, it's an awesome story. I
love the fact that you saw the coach afterwards like

(16:02):
he was so intimidating, like he was ready to run
through a brick wall and fight coaches from the big
ten in front of the SEC going yeah, you're gonna
go ahead and talk down to us. We need to
schedule more of these type of top tier matchups in
the sport like it's awesome to see that way, I
do not think they're gonna get past Arkansas. Arkansas dropped

(16:23):
ninety seven against Hawaii, and Hawaii is a better three
point shooting team than High Point. Like, I think Arkansas
is gonna absolutely beat the breaks off of the Panthers today.
So it's a cool story, but they're not moving on
to weekend Number two VCU.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
They're facing off.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
Against Vanderbilt, I mean not Vanderbilt Illinois. Illinois, in my opinion,
is one of the more complete teams in the South Region.
So it's great that they were able to pull it
off against UNC, who's had a down year. Caleb Wilson
was out for the season, so it's like that's fine,
but they're probably not moving on. And the difference between
like a Cinderella story and an underdog is like Cinderella

(17:01):
keeps moving past every other team. So they face off
against three seed, then they face off against the Forest,
I mean, a sixth seed, and then they end up
going to the round of sixteen, and then they beat
like two seed and then they're playing in the Elite eight.
That's Cinderella underdog upsets. That's like having a one win
performance and then twenty minutes later, you're watching as your

(17:22):
team is praying, like pray of U. A and M's
coach last night saying Dan Florida is really good, like
you run out of juice. And that's why I think
it's gonna happen today. VCU is not gonna get past
a team like Illinois. I do not see a scenario
where you're going to watch as High Point gets past Arkansas.
I do not think you are going to see really

(17:44):
anybody else make that big of a run. Maybe Utah
Steak can at least go down the wire with Arizona,
but that's the new Cinderellum. Cinderella is a girl who
actually comes from money but did not have a good
life this upcoming year, Like maybe instead of getting the
Ford Mustang with all the new GT added on in,
she's driving like a two thousand and eight Honta Camery.

(18:06):
I mean to Toryda Camery, that's what she's doing at
this point. And she's got driving for like six months.
But then when she cashes on in because if she
gets a new pay pay check, she's gonna go ahead
and buy the Lexus r X three fifteen.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
That's Texas.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
Like Texas comes from a lot of money, and Texas
has played in a very rigorous conference schedule with the
SEC Florida, Missouri, Arkansas, and they got a brand new
head coach and Sean Miller from Xavier, who I think
is a good guy. I think he actually has the
program trending upward. And then he got like a kid
in Tremon Mac that's pretty good. But like everything that
they're doing is expected to kind of end in disaster

(18:45):
to a degree, but everyone is just like it's an
out of bonus.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
They weren't supposed to be much this year.

Speaker 3 (18:51):
So you get past BYU where Ajdbansa's God dropped thirty five,
it's like, cool, we shut down BYU, who kind of
was over.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Can we get past a team like in Zaga. Cool?

Speaker 3 (19:04):
We are not surviving against Iowa State, and we are
definitely not surviving against Miami, and we're not surviving against Prdue.
That's for dang sure, Like that's where we are in
my opinion, Like that's the match of that I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 (19:18):
But that's your Cinerella team. It's Texas.

Speaker 3 (19:21):
It's a team that comes from a lot of money,
It's a team that definitely is fitting the criteria of
what the numbers say, but they're not the underdog, rag
tag team that we can all root for that we're
gonna see a bunch of guys that go into marketing
degrees and potentially are working as a lawyer or going
back to hang out with dad and his company in
six months, those.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
Stories are done. It's kind of a shame.

Speaker 3 (19:45):
When it comes to that for college basketball, because I
think the thing that made march Man is what it
was for years was.

Speaker 2 (19:52):
Knowing that there's never gonna be a.

Speaker 3 (19:54):
Player on this roster that we see represent their university
in the NBA and they're gonna be going up against
All Star, maybe potential Rookie of the Year candidates. Players
are gonna average eighteen points a night in their next
stage of the career, Freshmen that we know are gonna
be lottery picks, and they shut them down, and we're
all like pulling for it because of we as people

(20:14):
who never are gonna be able to be in that situation,
kind of live vi curiously through them. And that's where
we are when it comes to Cinderella, is that hey,
and we're gonna root for an eleven seed. But do
you know what that eleven seed is gonna be. Oh,
let's unveil the mask. It's Miami, It's it's Texas. It's

(20:34):
Texas Tech that did not have a good season in
the Big twelve. Oh hey, don't look now, Frankie, don't
look now.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
You know what it is.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
It's gonna be UCF as a ten seed. They come
from money, they have enough funds. That's where we are
when it comes to the future of Cinderella. I'm not
saying it's bad. And let's be real, You're never gonna
see probably a ten seed win. You're never probably gonna
see a nine seed move past the elite like that.
Like that's where we are. But the bottom line is

(21:04):
that the narrative has changed. Don't expect to see many
high points. Don't expect to see many Hawaii's. You're not
gonna see the George Masons of the world or the
Florida Internationals making runs. You guys see teams from power
for conferences that have a little bit of money, that

(21:24):
did not have the season that they expected at the
start of the year, masquerading as what's supposed to be
a David and Goliath type game and they're gonna find
a way to paul the upset, when in reality, when
you look at the logo, you look at the schedule,
you look at the quad one wins, and you're like, yeah,
this really isn't an upset. It was that they had
a bad game and you shot better from downtown. That's

(21:47):
the new version not complaining because Houston's a two seed.
I never want to see them be quote unquote Cinderella
because they deserve to be at the very front, like
they deserve to be considered what I would say one
of the goats of the Disney movies like Lion King level,
like Tarzan level, like Treasure Planet level, that does not
get enough respect. That's Houston in my opinion, Like that

(22:08):
should be what we're talking about, not Cinderella, but Cinderella
is gonna be masquerading as a team that you know
is actually pretty damn good. But they end up just
going and having a crap season until they get a
twelve seeds their consolation prize. In somehow, some way, they
go to weekend number two and then the reward is
getting beaten by twenty points against a one seed Florida
or Arizona seven one three, two.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
Point two five seven nine. If you want to chime
on in.

Speaker 3 (22:32):
The Houston Cougars are one win away from returning to
their hometown and basically making it a lopside affair for
the Sweet sixteen and the Elite.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
Let's talk about that.

Speaker 3 (22:43):
Let's talk about what I need to see today against
Bucky Ball, Texas A and M. Because there are some
things that you can be really excited about. Take calls
to comments right here. Coming up next on a Space
City Saturday, Sports Talk seven ninety ye. It's a Space
Day Saturday right here on Sports Talk seven ninety rolling
ride along, Cold Tom, some rock and with juice up.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
Friends.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
We're only gonna have a shortened show today because we
do have Astros versus Mets. You can listen to the
game right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. We also
have a jam Pack Day here at the station right
on iHeartMedia, So if you haven't heard, we're gonna be
everywhere today. Later on we're gonna have the Houston Cougar's
taking on Texas A and M. It's a two seed

(23:25):
versus a ten seed, four forty five over on nine
fifty at seven point forty at five point thirty, you
can listen to a ten seed Texas, eleven seed Texas.
My apologies, cinderellad its finess against number three can saga.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
I think that's gonna be an upset.

Speaker 3 (23:40):
I think you can flash on over right back to
Sportstock seven ninety for Rockets versus heat Ring game Rockets
launch Pad starting at five o'clock seven one three two
one two five seven ninety. If you call on in,
we're gonna try to get the phone lines working. Frankie
is doing his best due diligence to make sure that
we get your calls in. So if you're calling him
for some reason, he can't hear us. That's why. But

(24:02):
we're working on it right now. I do want to
talk about the Houston Cougar So Houston dominated really from
like the fifteen minute mark on against Idaho in the
round of sixty four just two days ago. They get
to take on Texas A and M bucket ball.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
Here's my thing.

Speaker 3 (24:20):
I think right now the Cougars should feel mighty confident
about playing against Texas A and M because the strengths
of Texas A and M are really an underwhelming thought
compared to the strengths of Houston. Houston does such a
dang good job defensively of shutting down high tempo offenses
and making them go on drafts of six minutes eight

(24:42):
minutes where they're not able to get anything, rolling good
defensive rebounds, creating second chance opportunities for their offense that
a team like Texas A and M with bucket ball,
that relies so heavily on explosiveness driving towards the basket
and every once in a while dropping a three, you
should feel like that this is a game to where
if you get on a rhythm. And I'm not saying

(25:03):
that you have to go ahead and go on like
a twelve zero run the way that you did against Idaho,
but if you get in a rhythm, things should be
going your way. Like I'm not asking again for like
a Joseph Tuggler to drop seventeen. I'm not saying that
Emmanuel Sharp Scotch drop like thirty two, or that you
need so heavily at Kingston Flemings thirty point game. I'm
just saying if you're in a position to where your

(25:25):
offense is able to get any momentum and then you
do a good job of boxing out some of the
top names that you look at fourteen like Texas A
and M, guys like Rashaan and Aggie, guys like.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
Cary Lane. You do that, you should.

Speaker 3 (25:43):
Feel like that you're gonna win this one, and you
should feel like you're coming home to Houston. And then
you gotta ask yourself does home field actually matter?

Speaker 2 (25:50):
I think to what degree it does?

Speaker 3 (25:52):
And you're gonna be at Toyota Center, So reminder, you're
gonna be at a position where right now, no, not
only should this place that has twenty thousand seats at
least have thirteen thousand people dressed in red and white,
You're also gonna be going up against either a VCU
or an Illinois in the next round. That's kind of

(26:13):
the beauty about what you have with this tournament. And
I said this on Morning Drive, and I said this
like the last week and a half. I'm not saying
that Houston has an easy pathway to the final four
in a trip to Indianapolis. I don't think so. Because
did you wantch the way Florida play in last night?
I get it was Prairie View A and M, but guys,
the game was over within four minutes. Like somebody called
into the Matt Thomas Show and said, don't be shocked

(26:35):
when Praview A and M has the Gators on the
ropes and Matt shockled and Ross was sitting over there
and he's like, okay, bro, because if you want to why,
it's the reality that there's no shot that we're gonna
have a chance. Like Matt even said there is a
zero point zero percent shot that Prairieview A and M
even covers the spread. He wasn't wrong, Like did you

(26:57):
watch the way that that game ended?

Speaker 2 (27:00):
Brutal performance?

Speaker 3 (27:01):
And it's not because I don't think that Prayview A
and M earned their right to be in the tournament
because they beat Lehigh and they handle business against Lee High,
but Florida's just built different. It was one fourteen to
fifty five.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
I mean, it was the most.

Speaker 3 (27:12):
Lopsided gain of the entire tournament so far. But I
still look around the brackets. I say to myself, is
anybody really impressible on duked in? Like Sienna had Duke
on the ropes for a good thirty eight minutes. McNamara's
team was like, oh dude, you know what we know?

(27:32):
Our coaches getting looked at by Syracuse. Let's go ahead
and keep him around a little bit longer. And then
Duke said, oh, you know what were the blue devils.
We're gonna wake on up and choose violence now, Like
that's where we are, so they could be beaten anybody
paying attention to what happened yesterday with Furman, like the
Paladins pushed Dan Hurley's roster. That's actually pretty bad this

(27:55):
year in a lackluster group in the Big East to
the brink.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
Saint John's is not that great. I don't think Kansas
is that great.

Speaker 3 (28:04):
But I think when you have those teams that are
all kind of mid together, anyone could beat anybody on
any given weekend.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
So like that's a tournament.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
That's a bracket where I don't think that you should
feel comfortable if you are a Duke or you con
to be able to make it all the way to Indianapolis.
Like for some reason, I think a seventh seed like
a UCLA could go on an epic grunt, like that's
just possible. I think the same thing could be said
about what's going on in the West bracket, like Arizona's good,
but I see a scenario where Arizona just does not

(28:35):
have its three point shooting. Arizona just doesn't have its momentum.
And so Arkansas and the Sweet sixteen, they mollywop them
or Texas and it's momentum. Well, now they're getting past
a team like Inzaga, they get somehow past a team
like Miami or Purdue, and then you're in the Elite
eight and that goes down to the wire, like I

(28:56):
could see that Iowa State, Michigan, Alabama, Texas Tech, even
Tennessee and Virginia, Like Virginia against Wright State. The writers
were in control of that game. And then here's what happened.
Ryan Odams roster realized, we actually have dudes. They're gonna
be representing us in the NBA next season. Let's go
ahead and give them a little preview what to expect

(29:16):
in come October or in the summer league. And then
they go ahead and they get their act together and
they win. Tennessee beats up on Miami of Ohio. I
think Miami Ohio is fine. Like it's a good roster.
It ain't a great roster. We knew that they were
a team that many people thought was masquerading as a
bubble roster. They probably really didn't desert to be in
outside the fact they were undefeated, which means that they

(29:37):
deserve to be in. But any one of those teams
can get upset and then look at what's going on
in the South Region. Vanderbilt's the one team that right
now I would say, Okay, if they beat Florida, it
would be a story to follow them.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
It just would.

Speaker 3 (29:52):
But Illinois VCU. You put them against Houston, I think
Houston wins by ten. You put Tech A and M
against the Houston, they think they should win by twelve,
maybe even thirteen, fourteen, You somehow go ahead and lose
to you know, play Iowa in the Elite eight, I
think you should win by fifteen. You play Nebraska, you
should win by thirty. Like Nebraska is a fun story. Congratulations,

(30:15):
It's awesome to see you finally get over the hump
and say we can win a tournament game. But one
and done is probably where we are when it comes
to Cornhouse Kers, Like that's where I'm at when it
comes to these teams, Houston, the way that they playing,
how good defensively they are, how consistent they can be
in the first half of shooting the fact that you're
playing at home, the fact that your bracket it doesn't

(30:38):
feel like a legit superstar contender that should go toe
to toe with you. You should feel like that you're
in a pretty good position to be able to handle
business against them, against anybody. So I'm not saying that
there are easy games. What I'm saying is that the
way Houston's bracket pan on out, you probably should be
able to win today by ten. That guy say that

(30:58):
you're gonna win by thirteen. You should be able to
beat Illinois VCU by at least I'd say eight, And
you should feel confident going into Saturday saying, hey, you
know what, Indianapolis, we're prepared for you this summer around.
I mean to go with Sharps ready, I can tell
you that much. Kingston Fleming wants to leave a legacy
for his one year here in Houston. Jojo Tugler, same

(31:19):
thing for Milo Susan and Calvin Sampson wants to go
ahead to make sure that there is at least gonna
be one more run with him seven one three, two,
one two five seven ninety Houston first text A and
M two versus ten seed.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
Later on today.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
Go ahead and listen to the game right here on
KPRC nine fifty quick time out and we come back.
I do want to say that right now, I am
very excited to see what happens with Mike Burrows on
the mound. Mike Burrows not only has one of my heart,
he's also probably gonna win me a lot of money.
I'll explain next when we come back here on Space
Safe Saturday. We see you on the phone line. We're

(31:54):
trying to work that out. Don't go anywhere. We'll get
to your calls, we'll get to your comments. All that
more coming up on Space A Saturday.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
Next. Right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
You got Mike Burrows taking them out today against the
New York Mets, and he is gonna win the Montreal
expos A Championship and probably a little bit over a
grand For those of you that don't know, this is
a space AA Saturday. Cole Thompson sub friends rock with
Chew until eleven five is then we're gonna go on
over to Astros versus Mets, Mike Burrows on the mound.
I play in a keeper fantasy league with a bunch

(32:25):
of other journalists. Love doing it, doing it for like
the last four years. And I was able to get
both Totsi Emi and Mike Burrows, two guys that kind
of flew under the radar in our fantasy draft this morning.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
For combined eighteen bucks.

Speaker 3 (32:41):
And like, I'm really excited about that cuz it's a
keeper league and you keep them on your roster and
the payroll only goes up by five percent every two years,
and can keep them up to four years.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
So in Mike Burrows and TOTSU Mind.

Speaker 3 (32:55):
If you guys listened to Morning Drive from six to
ten Monday through Friday, you know how exciting to see
what Mike Burrows is gonna be issue future number two.
You know that I think that tense Mike can be
an ace in this league.

Speaker 2 (33:06):
If they end up meeting my.

Speaker 3 (33:07):
Expectations, Guys, we're going to the championship. And then I
got a really good roster filled in with guys like
Jeremy Paying is still on the squad, Halo, Let's see
if you can go back to an all star performance.
I get Jacob Wilson, He's gonna have a breakout year.
I got many Machado in my draft. I feel really
confident about him, I got some really good steals like
the Expos much like we need to get a hockey

(33:27):
team out here. I'm very excited to see if they
can go ahead and make an impact, so much so
that Rob Manfred, Yeah, dude, you can go ahead and
say we're expanding, go to Nashville.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
It's totally fine with that.

Speaker 3 (33:38):
And then what we're gonna do is we're gonna go
ahead and see a team head back to Canada. You
already got Yolpie, so you gotta feel pretty good about
what he's gonna be.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
Okay, So anyways, we're working on the phone lines.

Speaker 3 (33:49):
I see you, James. I'm trying to get Tia. We'll
see if we can get you in the segment. If not,
we'll get you to the next one. But Mike Burrows
is gonna be really interesting what his role is gonna be,
because here's what we just heard from Chandler Room of
the Athletic So the Asheles are gonna break camp after
tomorrow and head on into dike In Park with two

(34:10):
games against Sugarland in a five man rotation.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
This is what Joe Spott has said.

Speaker 3 (34:15):
The team will carry multiple long term relievers on its
opening day roster to be able to shift to a
sex six man rotation after the season second off days.
So basically what he's saying is, we're gonna have a
six man rotation for I don't know, probably a month,
but against the Angels and against the Red Sox, we're
gonna have a five man rotation. So we know for

(34:38):
the guys, I think right now, guaranteed, no questions asked,
Hunter Brown's gonna be your opening day starter. Water is wet,
pizza is really good on a Friday. I like dumplings.
Like these are just common facts that people know. Then
comes the news that we got a couple of days
ago that Ted Mai is gonna pitch a dyke in

(34:59):
on two Tuesday and he may only go for like
two innings against this against the Cowboys, he may go
for four, like I'm not sure, but that knocks him
down in the pecking order because he's not gonna go
again on Friday.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
He's not gonna go again on say Saturday.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
You're gonna need to wait probably until Sunday for him
to make his debut in the Sea in the series
finale against the Angels.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
But he's gonna be.

Speaker 3 (35:21):
Your starter and then I think you're gonna be able
to probably guess Hobbyer is gonna be in that rotation
and then Mike Burrows. Guys, is Mike Burrow's gonna break
camp as your number two? I don't see why not, Like,
can you give me a reason why he shouldn't. The
guy comes on in in a trade I get for

(35:44):
Brandon Laue to go to Pittsburgh, and it's against giving
up Jacob Melton for the race.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Like that's what you give on up?

Speaker 3 (35:53):
You get this guy in your rotation who is good,
but you don't really know a lot about him. Yearly
played last year, really didn't do most who got on
the phone line Frankie, Oh no, okay, well I guess
he's trying to get on it. Oh it was Gordy.
Hell yeah, three ninety four average last year er. Well,

(36:14):
now in the minors, I mean and I mean now
this past year in spring training, has there been a
better pitcher? Like, honestly, if you're just looking straight up
at what we have seen up to this point, has
there been a better pitcher than Mike Burrows. He hasn't
given up a run four starts in twelve and a

(36:36):
happenings pitch. He's given up six hits, he's given up
six walks. He's also struck out sixteen teams. Batting average
is one fifty four against him. His whip is at
one to zero four. Before last game against Washington he
was at point one five. I mean it was at
point ninety five and he currently is averaging five innings

(37:03):
per game. Great cutter, elite change up, the sweeper is
one of the most dangerous pitches currently in Major League Baseball.
And you got this guy under contract for six years. Like,
if you're looking right now at the ass shows, is
it weird to say that Walt to Cemi was probably
the big prize jewel. The one that we need to

(37:24):
be focusing in on more is Mike Burrows because the
Burrows meets all the expectations that I think that we
have from spring training. That's probably what you want to
see in your number four starter, Like, that's probably what
you are expecting for a guy who can come on in,
give six innings of work, get the bullpen a little
bit of a day off, and if he has like
a three five to four ERA no harm enough out,

(37:45):
your offense should be good enough to get the job done.
A couple of blue singles, maybe an RBI double from
Christian Walker, maybe Yani Diez gets his back together and
he flies one over into the into the left field porch,
Crawford boxes.

Speaker 2 (37:59):
You win the game.

Speaker 3 (38:01):
But this is the version of Mike Burrows that we're
seeing right now. Four pitch arsenal with a fastball that's
able to hit ninety seven miles per hour, and he's
getting guys to swing a junk on the regular, and
he's your number two. How does that change your opinion
of the Astros, Because, like I thought their their roster
was gonna be underrated going into the year. I thought

(38:21):
for sure they would be a team that was gonna
garner a lot of like eighty six wins conversations. They're
not gonna be as good as the Mariners. Boooo, they're
not gonna do well, but they still would be a
wild card team, still make the postseason. If Mike Burrows
is pitching the way that he has done over the
last month and a half, that's an All Star. Now,

(38:43):
that's a guy that's gonna be fighting for I think
a top ten spot in Cy Young Award rankings. That's
a dude that we're gonna be saying come September and
you're in a division race and you're in an elimination game,
you gotta feel pretty confident that he's gonna be on
the mound.

Speaker 2 (38:59):
We're gonna see you got like forty five get the
job done.

Speaker 3 (39:01):
Oh by the way, we got him for six years
on a team friendly contract, Like that's gotta feeling make
you feel pretty good. Not to mention what Christian Hovier
is done, you can tend if he ends up being
your number four, TATSI might working his way on up
from being your number four to probably your number three.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
On Hunter Brown doing Hunter Brown things.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
Whoever the hell the other two guys are Spenta Arraghetty
and Lances mccollors, whether it be a six man rotation
with both them, and then mccullor's goes on the il
so you turn to Ryan Wise or aj Blueba if
those four are doing the job of what you expect
from a quality rotation, Ladies and gentlemen, I hate to
be the bearer of bad news for the other fourteen

(39:39):
teams in the American League.

Speaker 2 (39:40):
I don't know who's stopping them.

Speaker 3 (39:42):
I know Mike Burrows has been such a damn good
find by Dana Brown that my entire opinion of what
the Astros are has drastically changed going.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
Into the season.

Speaker 3 (39:52):
Like I expected, you know what, eighty six wins as possible.
Now I'm saying that this is the version that we
get at Dyking Park a special if he comes out
on the mountain on Friday night and he's wheeling, dealing
and giving you seven nineings strong like, if that's what
we see, I'm hitting the over and I'm saying ninety
plus should be the expectation, because I do think that.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
You will get a researching year from Christian Walker.

Speaker 3 (40:13):
I do I think that you'll be able to get
something going with Joey Loprafido to begin the season, and
maybe he ends up struggling Zach Cole regards to where
he plays, he ends up finding a rhythm and a
groove and then we get the version of him that
we really like.

Speaker 2 (40:25):
Josel.

Speaker 3 (40:26):
Tuve still ends up being a quality hitter, Carlos Korea
ends up hitting, You get more of a solid Yanny Diaz,
and then you get Jordan Alvarez with an MVP swing,
Like if you add that plus the pitching staff right now,
you gotta feel good about probably getting to ninety wins.
I'll tell you what I really really was excited to

(40:46):
hear about Tatsmi being welcoming to what we see a
part of this unit. Number forty five I think is
going to be a name that we talked about for
a long time here in Houston, because I think that
he's either going to opt into the deal or Danis
Kisinum long term. But the guide that I am very
much buying all the stock into right now. And we
can come back in October and you can go ahead

(41:07):
and call in and say, Cole, I appreciate you seeing
the future. I appreciate you doing your due diligence on
knowing ball like I appreciate what you were for us.
Because I'm telling you right now, on March twenty first,
twenty twenty six, at ten fifty eight in the morning,

(41:28):
Mike Burrows is going to be the picture that everyone
in the American League is talking about come July. Do
not be shocked when we're mentioning the Astros and they
don't got one ace. They got one ace, damn sure,
and they got two that are pulling up the rear
that definitely in a pinch, you would trust them to
give you seven endings strong seven one three, two one
two five, seven nineties. The number of time on in

(41:48):
take quick time out, one hour down, Dallas Cowboys fans
grow up.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
I mean, I gotta explain this one.

Speaker 3 (41:57):
There are rumors and then there is just app that's
somehow spews on the Internet and people are donut to believe.
I'll explain that to much more when we come back
right here. On a space safe Saturday Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
Ninety, Mike Burrows takes the mound.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
Of the Rockets back at Toriota Center, and you're Houston
Cougar's one went away from returning to Houston to play
at Toyota Center in the next two games for a
shot at Indianapolis.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
One hour down, one more to go.

Speaker 3 (42:22):
On a space Safe Saturday sub Friends, it's cold Rock
with you until eleven forty five. Frankie Western Mooreland on
the ones and twoes. Frankie, I hear that you're also
doing double duty today. Are you excited to do Astros games?

Speaker 1 (42:36):
Oh? Yeah, no, it's good.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
How are you feeling about that, Bud? I'm feeling good?

Speaker 4 (42:39):
Are you?

Speaker 3 (42:39):
Are you?

Speaker 5 (42:40):
Are you?

Speaker 3 (42:40):
Now locked in the way that I used to be
locked into in the producing to where it's like it's
now second nature.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
I'm getting there. Yeah, No, I've gotten more comfortable with
it for sure. Are you giving Bolts and Uh and
Sparky a hard time yet? I haven't worked up to
that yet.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
I am going to demand that in the next two
weeks you are giving them a hard time. Tell tell
them today that Cole on the picket to click it
is not playing and if he does.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
Who's in the starting lineup?

Speaker 3 (43:10):
ID probably know it's on the top of my hand
at this point because he's gonna make a bet with
me and I'm gonna have to find a way to
get this done.

Speaker 2 (43:15):
Astros.

Speaker 3 (43:17):
Tell him today that Cole is taking Eastside praise to
go yard deal. Okay, all right now seven one three,
two one two five seven ninety. If you want to
play click at to picket with me, go ahead and
get your calls in. All right, let's talk about this
real fast. So there are dumb things that we see
on the Internet that people are willing to believe all
the time because it's the Internet, Like you realize that

(43:38):
we made the wrong people famous so much so that
there is currently a court case going on with a
celebrity that was about to be shown on America's number
one reality television show with another reality television show, And
before we had any actual factual information, we were jumping
to conclusions like, because it's the Internet, we just believe

(43:58):
the most nonsensical prap that ever shows on up because
of that's just the way society works.

Speaker 2 (44:03):
It just is that way.

Speaker 3 (44:05):
And then there are things that's like, guys, there's no
way that you can actually believe that, Like, there's none.

Speaker 2 (44:12):
Come on, has anybody seen.

Speaker 3 (44:16):
The report gone out about the Dallas Cowboys training for
Azaz Alsheer, And then the fact of the matter that
we had actual cowboys beat reporters, people that are supposed
to work in the industry and not care about the clicks,
going and running with this story and saying, because as
so and so said on the internet, dumbass who does
not have an actual really no notion that's locked on

(44:38):
in hazl on the Traine Block for the Texans, what
would it cost? Ellipses like, do you understand how stupid
you at the beat to be leieve for one second
that Aziz Alshair is actually going to be moved this offseason,
and it's for a lot of reasons.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
Seven three.

Speaker 3 (44:57):
Let's start off with the fact that the Texans have
the number one defense that got better over the span
of the last week and a half. Like I'm still
gonna be questioning the offensive line, I'm still gonna question
Nick Casario's draft selection when it comes to who he
looks for on building long term of the trenches. But
I'm not gonna question him when it comes to free
agent signings, especially on the defensive side. Even when he

(45:20):
bargain bin Shomps, he seems to hit it out of
the park like red Blanket Ship. Joining the Texans secondary
is a win. Getting Logan Haul at a cheaper price
to play the role of Diniko Autrey.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
It's a win.

Speaker 3 (45:34):
Bringing back Sheldon Rankins, the PAA loongs time with Tommy
Togi I and whoever you drafted one of your first
four picks is a win.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
It's the number one defense.

Speaker 3 (45:42):
And part of the reason it's the number one defense
is you have a guy and as he's outshore, you're
agent zero. Who's earned the respect so much of Damika
Ryans that he can just say, hey, Coach Matt Burk
I got this take the afternoon off, I'm gonna call
plays like that's the level of respect that we're at.
So it's like having a second coach on the field,

(46:05):
and that's the guy who potentially is getting shipped on out,
Like do you understand that automatically? That should be dumb enough.
Now move on to point number two. Have you ever
heard of the relationship between Tamiko Ryans and is He's
al Shair? Like there's a brotherhood in the world of
the NFL where it's a common theme that two people

(46:25):
are on such a good wavelength that you probably know
if anything were to happen, he's gotten the respect, like
he's gotten that type of respect, and then there is
a familyhood Like I know that the NFL is like family.
I do understand that, But if you ever had or

(46:47):
heard a conversation about his ash and Demika Ryans, like
that is like a brotherhood like Dmika Ryans, I genuinely
think views as He's Alshair as family. He bet on
him when he was the linebackers coach in San Francisco
and got him into a starting role. He bet on
him to be in the Super Bowl when he was

(47:08):
in San Francisco playing in place with Drake green Law.
He banked on him saying, go sign with Tennessee, do
what's best for your career, as spot's always open for you.
Killed it in Nashville, realize that there's no future in
Tennessee because Amy Adams Struck is running that team into
the ground, even though she's trying to pretend that she's
the next Butt Adams two point zero, which by the way,

(47:28):
is not a compliment. He then signs with Houston and
he kills it in two years. And that's because of
the respect factor and the brotherhood that Damiko ryans and is.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
He's I'll show your half.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
And you think for one second that Demiko is gonna
go into Nick Cassarro's office in Okay a trade for
one of his best players, one of the guys that
he has so much respect for that he probably would say,
that's a head coach in waiting, Like you really think
that's gonna happen, Dallas fans, I mean, I get it.
There's these dumb things to say, and there's always reasons

(48:03):
to have a conversation as somebody getting moved.

Speaker 2 (48:05):
That's not one of.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
Them, Like like what, oh, then there's point number three.
Azz aust year is not quote unquote on the chopping block.
Like I saw some dumb ass fansweet out yesterday. Oh
you know, disease is up for a is going into
the funny year of his contract, So the Texans might
be willing to move off of him because of it

(48:27):
would free up some cat space.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
Brother, do you know that they're getting a deal done?

Speaker 3 (48:31):
Like ask any Houston Texans reporter right now, any one, Hey,
you know, I think that the Texans are probably closer
to moving and getting a guy like a Z signed
long term and then they are losing him, Like that's
where we are. And instead it's like Dallas fans, Oh,

(48:52):
you know what, We're gonna go ahead and trade for
his ease because of he's in a contract deal. Like
can you hear the crap that's coming out of your
mouth at the time, Like, Dallas fans, I get it.
You're trying to go ahead and find a long term
answer at linebacker because of nobody has been as good
as Sean Lee.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
I get that.

Speaker 3 (49:09):
And Jerry Jones thinks that he can buy your hopium
every single off season because for some reason, he instead
of wanting to win a Super Bowl, just wants to
make you good enough to buy into next season, because
this is the air of the Cowba always, this is
the air that we all come together and we're gonna
find a way to get back to say bow. Except
you know for a fact that Jerry Jones only cares
about the money that he's funneling into his pocket because

(49:32):
you buy into his crap every single off season like that,
like that's what it is.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
And so a rumor like this that's going and being
spread around.

Speaker 3 (49:40):
We could get Jordan Brooks, we could get his he
house shy year, and now we got a linebacker that's
gonna be the face of the team moving forward, and
we don't need to spend money on Sunny Styles, the
kid from Ohio State, and we can go after a
wide receiver or a Devataid Like you know, it's just malarkey,
It just is. And youn't believe anything because if Jerry's
go wrap around his finger so much that if he

(50:02):
has one of his minions that's out in Arlington spewing
crap for him, they're gonna force feed it down your
throat and you'd be.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Like this has to be true, like you're fishing upstream
for clickbait like that. That's all it is.

Speaker 3 (50:17):
And this is why sometimes I genuinely hate the internet
because of how many times I got my DMS yesterday.
What would be the asking price for his z jel
Schaer to be moved?

Speaker 2 (50:26):
What do you mean when moving? The asking price? There
is none.

Speaker 3 (50:29):
He's irreplaceable. He's the anchor of your number one defense.
He's beloved by the city of Houston. His head coach
treats him like family. He's up for a contract extension,
and you wouldn't be as good as you are without
him on the field. That's why he is the field general.
That's why we call him Agent zero. That's why he

(50:50):
is invaluable to being on the market and better. Yet,
why on earth would anybody think that a team in
the same state would ship off a player to a
roster that's trying to be competitive and.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
This might get them over the hump.

Speaker 3 (51:07):
Like all the mat that you throw on into a
pile and say this is what would have to happen,
you realize that it never would come true. So Dallas fans,
do yourself a favor. Stop believing everything that you see
on the internet. Don't always go for the clickbait content.
I know there's a lot of it, because if I
say that Dak Prescott does anything, you're gonna buy into it,

(51:28):
or that CD lamb is unhappy dot dot dot dot
dot with the guy that remodeled his house. You're just
gonna read the unhappy part and say, oh, now we
gotta go believe there's the trades coming on in. Stop
listening to the people who constantly are just trying to
get you to click on their websites and see the
clickbait content spewing on in and actually read the room.

(51:49):
If you think for one second that Aziz alshi Ear
would ever be moved by Tamika Ryans, I can tell
you that the tooth Fairy exists, Santa Claus is coming
down your chimney in July, and by the way, you
just won the lottery even though you didn't play the
Mega millions. I could probably get you to believe anything,
because you would have to be that dumb to think
that a move like that is even possibly on the table.

(52:11):
A ziz Aushi here at this point should be considered
a Texan for life. But if you want to go
ahead and believe whatever nonsense is being spewed onto X.
That's your funeral, buddy. I don't pity you because I
believe that type of stuff. You really have to have
a low self a stem about where you are as
a program. Then again, you are the Dallas Cowboys. Every

(52:31):
single year since nineteen ninety five, you've been buying into
the opium and you've been swinging missing NonStop. Seven one three, two,
one two five seven nineties is the number to get
in Texans Draft?

Speaker 2 (52:41):
Around the corner? What's the best move to go? Make?

Speaker 3 (52:44):
Rockets James to see you on the phone line, will
get to you next. And the Cougars just a couple
of hours away from playing Texas A and M. What
do you think about them? Let's talk some Texans draft
conversation because I do think that right now there is
a good game plan for Nick Seria. I'm gonna tell
you what it is right here on Space every Saturday
next Sports Talk seven ninety pilot's here. We can get
the phone lines for can Space day Saturday. Rolling right

(53:06):
along here on Sportstock seven ninety seven, friends, Col Rockaman
Chew until Len fifty, they get Mike Burrows on the
mound on Sportstock seven ninety the Astros take on the Mets. Later,
Oni listened to on our sister station seven forty the
game between Texas and and Zaga number eleven seed Texas
looking to advance the Sweet sixteen.

Speaker 2 (53:26):
And year one of the Sean Miller era.

Speaker 3 (53:29):
You can also listen over on nine point fifty number
two Houston taking on number ten Texas A and M.
Bucky Ball and the Cougars, both looking to return to
the lone Star State, playing at Toyota Center next week
for an opportunity to advance to the Final four. And then,
of course, later on tonight, Rockets launch Pats starting at
five o'clock right here on Sports Talk seven ninety, and

(53:49):
then you're gonna get of course, the Rockets taking on
the Miami Heat seven one three two one two five
seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
Okay, James, can you hear me? Let's start off with this.

Speaker 4 (54:00):
Can hear you? What's that?

Speaker 3 (54:00):
Did?

Speaker 2 (54:00):
How are we doing?

Speaker 4 (54:01):
Listen? I'm being good. I was watching my beloved Rockets
last night and I saw this guy named Landale that
we used to have. Did we trade him or did
we just waive him?

Speaker 5 (54:10):
Or what?

Speaker 4 (54:11):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (54:11):
Choco Lindel, Yeah, I think you just loved him free agen.
See if I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 4 (54:17):
Okay, do you think he's better than Clint Capella?

Speaker 3 (54:22):
Depends on what solid offense you're trying to run. I
think that Colapella is a good fit. I gotta lot
Capella playing more minutes than what he probably needs to,
which is I don't know what fifteen. But unfortunately, because
if you don't have Steven Adams right now, he's got
to play more.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
So it's like that's the losing formulas.

Speaker 3 (54:37):
That Capella was good as a backup to Adams, but
now that he's got to play the albums role, it's like,
do you really want him out there?

Speaker 4 (54:45):
Yeah? Well I saw Leyandale last night. I thought he
did pretty good, So I thought, well, why did we
get rid of this guy and get Clint Capella Because
I thought he was playing better than Clint Capello last
night as far as offense was, and he had a
few rebounds as well. I mean they got blown out
by the Rockets. I didn't the guts play was particularly bad. Hey,
Landel's Yes, Landell's Joe.

Speaker 2 (55:08):
I mean that's fine, but he's not part of the
Rockets right now. So I mean, like I don't really care.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
What's going Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.

Speaker 4 (55:13):
I just thought maybe that was a mistake getting rid
of him and uh as far as uh Reid Shepherd.
He was the third pick overall, Right, yep, the third
pick overall. You should have a superstar. I mean he's
playing better, but he's not a superstar by any means.

Speaker 3 (55:28):
Well, okay, James, James, James, he's going into he's going
into his what second season, his third season?

Speaker 2 (55:36):
I mean, how many guys, how many guys have.

Speaker 3 (55:38):
You actually seen taking the jump to the level of
superstar as the number three overall pick in the last
ten years in their first two years. I'm like, I'm
so like again, like if he ends up being your Like,
he's been your second best and most efficient score of
this season behind KD. Like, I mean, like there is
a difference about like, hey, he's not turned into the

(56:00):
next Dwayne Wade or the next you know, Chris Bosh,
who's also been in that three through five range.

Speaker 2 (56:05):
But it's not like he's been a boss.

Speaker 3 (56:07):
I mean there's been way worse number two and number
three overall, because like Marvin Bagley Junior, we number two
and Markel Foltzman number one, and neither one of those
guys should be on active rosters right now.

Speaker 4 (56:17):
Yeah, I understand that, but it just seemed like I
don't want to blame the coach because I don't think
the coach is that fault for the Rockets slide. Sure,
I think it's just the person personality has and he
just doesn't have the personnel to put out there to
win right now. And we have injuries as well, So
I'm gonna say that's not hurting our problem right now.
But I just think the upper management should make some

(56:37):
better decisions about who they let go and where they
drafted people. But that's just my opinion and what that's worth.

Speaker 3 (56:45):
James Hilton, I just appreciate your phone calls. You're calling,
You're you're a loyal listener, you join us every Saturday.
I'm going to disagree with you when it comes to
read only because of the thing that I want for
Reid is not to be the superstar, Like, can we
alcome to the agreement that if re ends up shooting
forty five percent for the field, forty eight percent from
three point range, he's averaging eighteen point two points per

(57:08):
night to close out the year. That's a dang good
year three, Like.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
Can we all agree with that?

Speaker 3 (57:13):
Like we don't need him to turn into Yanna's two
point zero or become the anchor of your team.

Speaker 2 (57:17):
And last night he was one of the bigger reasons why.

Speaker 3 (57:19):
You were able to not only jump up to a
double digit lead, but have one of the largest leads
against a plus five hundred roster in the last two months.

Speaker 2 (57:28):
That was what Reed Sheppard was doing last night.

Speaker 3 (57:31):
So it's like, I think that there's way more moves
that need to be made that will put the Rockets
in a bay position going into the playoffs raid if
he ends up starting. And that's like the other thing,
Like I get an argument with Dan all the time
about and it drives me nuts, Like, yeah, it was
cool that he was in the starting lineup last night.
Tarry Easton going to the bench was probably necessary, But
if you're playing starting minutes, who cares if your name

(57:53):
is mentioned by the announcer at Toyota Center or wherever
the hell you're playing, Like if you're getting thirty six
minutes in a forty eight minute game and Tari Easton
or Josh Kogi is playing twenty two minutes, or twenty
eight minutes. Yeah, you're not the starter, but you're playing
starting mans. Because that's what emailed djok of Valschhu values four.

(58:14):
I just want to see him on the court when
I need a game winning three. I don't need to
see him on the bench once again, because that was
the thing that drove me crazy. Seven one three, two
one two five seven ninety. Let's go out to the
fall Us again. I'm pretty sure I know who this is.

Speaker 2 (58:25):
David. What's up, dude? Hey, what's up?

Speaker 1 (58:28):
My dude?

Speaker 2 (58:30):
I knew this was the right David. How are we doing, Bud?

Speaker 5 (58:34):
It's all good, man. I love my Houston Cougar basketball
team this year. Man, Hey, listen, I think I'm gonna
go as far as we win in the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (58:45):
I hope. So I have money, okay, well.

Speaker 5 (58:50):
Yeah, and we will have a parade in downtown Easton
On It.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
Really?

Speaker 3 (58:56):
You?

Speaker 2 (58:57):
So you think that we're gonna get a parade. We're
gonna get everything here in Houston, right, yep? All right, David?

Speaker 3 (59:02):
Before I think, before I let you go, who is
Houston playing in the National Championship?

Speaker 2 (59:08):
I don't really care.

Speaker 5 (59:10):
I don't want to care who we play in the
national title game because we got the best college basketball
coach in the country, Kevin Thompson.

Speaker 2 (59:19):
You know what, I'm gonna let that slide. Good on you, David.
You got playing for the rest of to day.

Speaker 5 (59:25):
Well, I want to listen to you talk about the
Houston Texas a little bit, all right, and see what
they got going in the off season.

Speaker 2 (59:33):
All right, we're gonna hang up and we're gonna do
that next. Appreciate it, David, all right.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
Twenty to fifteen, twelve minutes and thirty six seconds left
as Round two of the tournament is underway, Michigan leading
over Saint Louis, who, by the way, Saint Louis, Like
that was one of the more impressive wins that I
don't think we spent enough time talking about. Like the Billikins, which,
by the way, Franky, do you even know what the
hell of billiken is like? Have you ever heard what
that mascot is? No? Oh my god, Like, can somebody

(59:59):
please at mister Cole Thompson tell me what their thing
is like.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
It's supposed to be like a goblin.

Speaker 3 (01:00:05):
It looks weird and honestly, one of my friends, his
wife picked them to bit the upset over Michigan today
because she said it was a cool logo, And honestly,
the logo theory I think is actually gonna work, Like
I genuinely can see that being a scenario to where hey,
the better logo wins, and if for some reason she's
getting like the pot the pot luck, I think it's

(01:00:26):
like eight hundred dollars whatever.

Speaker 2 (01:00:28):
If she ends up winning that, I am every time from.

Speaker 3 (01:00:31):
Here on now just taking the cooler logo because that
just has to be the way to think about it.
And that's the thing that we as society need to
learn is that, my goodness, for some reason, we are
dumb enough, Like truly, we are dumb enough to believe,
to truly believe that we can do a lot of
evidence and backpiling and following stats and saying, hey, look

(01:00:52):
at what this team is doing in the month of May,
I mean in the month of March, look at how
will they played in their conference tournament, and then still
fall for the bit of studying the tape for like
four hours, six hours and making the perfect bracket. And
the person that has never watched a single second of
basketball says, better logo, cooler nickname, better mascot and they

(01:01:14):
make it to the Elite eight and then we just
looked stupid for spending the last hour and a half
trying to talk ourselves into what's a better win? In
between eight verses nine, they just said, oh, I like
that color scheme more. Look at that they won by
forty Like that's gonna be the new.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
Norm of the sport.

Speaker 3 (01:01:29):
It is seven one three ninety. Let's talk to some Texans.
What is the right draft plan for the Texans at
pick twenty eight?

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
Is there one?

Speaker 3 (01:01:41):
Cause you got to ask yourself going into last week,
I would probably say it was probably garden. Maybe it
was tackle, because again we could have had the argument
of Braiden Smith or whyat Teller? I met Braiden Smith
at tackler, Braiden Smith at guard? Where's the better fit?

Speaker 4 (01:02:03):
Now?

Speaker 3 (01:02:03):
Now there's gonna be a bunch of Texans fans at
seven one, seven nine. If you want time on in,
there'll be a bunch of Texans fans who will say
Braids supposed to tackle, And I would say, back, but
if you can play tackle, you can play guard, like
it could work. But now you got Wyatt Teller, so
you don't need to go tackle. Both these guys are

(01:02:24):
on two year contracts. Both these guys are gonna get
paid a lot of money for twenty twenty six. Both
of them are gonna be in your starting lineup. Your
offensive line as of now should be Arianta Erstry at
left tackle, Wyatt Teller at left guard, Jake Andrews or
a rookie not at pick twenty eight or pick thirty eight.
Let's get that out of the way right now, starting

(01:02:44):
at center, adding them at the right guard. Brad's at
the right tackle. Andrean Brown's gonna be your swing option.
So is there a right formula now with that in
motion for Nick Casarro to target to pick twenty eight.

Speaker 2 (01:02:57):
I think there is.

Speaker 3 (01:02:59):
It's called to get on the on lines making a
trade back, Like I understand why Texans fans get so
frustrated on Nick always wanted to move on back in
the draft or giving away a Day one selection for
a proven commodity and then picking up an extra Day
two pick.

Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
Like, I get that frustration.

Speaker 3 (01:03:16):
I do. I really can understand why it's so annoying
that you think, Hey, there's an offensive tackle here, there's
a guard that we really like, Oh, what's the matter
we're gonna be picking on a Friday and seven Thursday.
But right now you're picking at number twenty eight. You're
picking again ten selections later at thirty eight. Let's say

(01:03:37):
you got like seven guys on your board. You know
that one of them will be there at day two,
and potentially two of them will be there in the
first ten picks. Why would you not want to go
ahead and just get them signed to a four year
deal where you can guarantee them a lot more money
up front, and they're part of your foundation, and the
expectations are a little lower, and you're also getting draft

(01:03:58):
compensation in a return. The Texans right now, the way
that I think of their built, they're so well equipped
to be able to kind of run the board and
say we're just gonna take the BPA approach, which yes,
Nick Cassio needs to take the best player available approach
and walk away at winner, but potentially the best player
available may still be available at pick thirty four. And

(01:04:19):
let's just say Ty Simpson has himself a day at
Alabama's pro da, like he ends up really looking the
part of QB two, which he's gonna be, and there's
a team out there like the Arizona Cardinals. That's not
gonna take him at number three because no reason why
you should take ty Simpson number three. But they need
themselves a long term answer a quarterback, and they say,

(01:04:39):
you know what, Ty Simpson, we want to get them
on the fifth year option. We can redshirt them for
a year. Mania support's done deals with Nick Asseio before.
Let's call him on up and see thirty four. A
future third round pick and a fourth round pick. Can
we make that deal work?

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (01:04:54):
Pull the trigger.

Speaker 3 (01:04:55):
Well, I can tell you that probably a Lee Hunter
from Texas Tech to even tackle that a lot a
lot of people have been mocking him to at twenty eight,
will have an opportunity to be there at thirty four.
Peter Wood's the defensive lineman from Clemson that nobody has
any idea what he's gonna because he's like the biggest
boom er bust in this year's draft.

Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
He's gonna be there at thirty four.

Speaker 3 (01:05:15):
If you want to go after an offensive lineman like
Max amy Ekor from Arizona State, he has a shot
of fun of thirty four. Same thing with Blake Miller,
the offensive tackle from Clemson. Emanuel pregnant, the guard from Oregon,
like the guy that everyone's like, you gotta go ahead
and bring him on in, and he's gotta be the
long term answer.

Speaker 2 (01:05:33):
He's gonna be there.

Speaker 3 (01:05:34):
At thirty four, and at thirty four, none of those
picks feel like overkilled. Like if I'm forced to look
at a wide receiver, an offensive tackle, an offensive guard,
in a defensive tackle, the wide receiver is gonna be
the best player on the board at that point.

Speaker 2 (01:05:50):
I don't mean a wide receiver.

Speaker 3 (01:05:52):
Would I like a casing Aintcepsione from Texas A and
m oh yeah, I would, But I basically got that
in Jalen Nolan. He's already under contract for the next
three years. So am I really gonna take a dude
who I can probably get six or seven picks later?
Because if I need to get him at twenty eight
or can I trade on down? Feel really good about
where I am building a roster. Wise, pick up an

(01:06:12):
extra third round pick, pick up an extra fourth round pick,
and then do what Nick Cassarios seems to kill it at,
which is select guys on day two.

Speaker 2 (01:06:19):
Got just do that? I think that's game plan.

Speaker 3 (01:06:23):
Like, honestly, I would respect if like a Spencer Fano
from Utah fell to pick twenty eight. Like, yeah, you're
on the board and you're saying, you know what, screw
whatever pick we're gonna get back. Damn what the mock
material says. A player like this falls into your lap,
will figure out a role for him. Like if we
got to play him at center for one year, so

(01:06:44):
be it, because he's just too valuable. But if it's
not like him Caydan Procter from Alabama, I get it,
you can probably swing a deal to get him at
like say, pick number thirty four, maybe even pick number
thirty three. You could definitely swing a good deal to
get to maining with pregnant orly Hunter or any of
the other guys that already named.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
Chase Bessiontist from Texas A and M.

Speaker 3 (01:07:04):
That's probably a guy you want to pick number thirty
eight anyways, and you're getting two players for the price
of one and getting an extra draft pick in return.
Like I am the very biggest against Nickosserio moving on back,
and I always will be.

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
I think it's terrible to make these type of moves.
I really do. I think there is value of having
a Day one pick, but.

Speaker 3 (01:07:22):
Now that you've got Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith, Andy
Gott Logan Hall, Andy brought back Shovin Rankins, Andy brought
in Reid Blanket Ship, and all these guys are gonna
be seeing valuable reps next season. The smart move is
to get as much draft compensation to pick your guys
that you think are meant to play for the Texans
long term, and then just take them when you can.

Speaker 2 (01:07:44):
At the best value.

Speaker 3 (01:07:46):
You're gonna get at least two of the ten dudes
that you like at the start of round two, you
make that phone call, you get an extra day two pick,
and you call it a day. If you're Nick Asio, that,
my friends, is the only plan I think I should
see from the ten going into Thursday Night seven one three, two,
one two five seven ninety nine oh eight left in
the first half, Michigan just squeaking on by against Saint

(01:08:10):
Louis twenty eight to twenty seven.

Speaker 2 (01:08:12):
The Billikins stupid logo, stupid name, stupid pick by.

Speaker 3 (01:08:18):
Me to go ahead and rock Michigan. And then one
of my braggets, that's my national championshipicks. So I kind
of need them to get their act together. Take a
quick time out and we come back. Astros rotation and
Astros Roster two both predictions on who I think are
going to make it come Thursday at Dike and Park.
We'll discuss that as we close out another space. Say

(01:08:38):
Saturday right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Next space,
aita Saturday rolling right along here on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (01:08:43):
Couple more minutes with me some friends Cole Thompson, Rock
and Machew.

Speaker 3 (01:08:46):
If you guys have nothing else going on today, this
is a shameless plug because if I would like to
go ahead and meet the listeners, I'm gonna be over
at Hockey Day in Houston Saint Arnold's Brewery, just to
shout out to the guys over there. I'm excited because
if I again believe Houston is a hockey town, and
I'm gonna put make sure that I represent every opportunity
I get for the organization.

Speaker 1 (01:09:07):
That is what I do.

Speaker 3 (01:09:08):
Like, I want to see the East Houston Arrows come back.
I want to see them play at Toyota Center. I
want to make sure that their continuous growth of hockey
in the city is only exploding. I'm gonna be there
for at least three hours, so stop on buy I'll
be the guy in the Corey Crawford Chicago Blackhawks jersey
and the.

Speaker 2 (01:09:25):
Ductsh not had.

Speaker 3 (01:09:26):
That's my game plan to day, while also listening on
my way over there to Robert Ford and sees Barks
called the game as Mike Burrows takes the mound against
the New York Mets. And then I'm also gonna be
listening to everything going on on seven forty when the
Texas Longhorns they take on the uh in Zaga Bulldogs.

Speaker 2 (01:09:48):
I shouldn't know off the top of my head.

Speaker 3 (01:09:49):
And of course the Houston Cougar's they take it on
the number ten tex A and m Aggie's number ten
see tex A and m Maggie's nine to fifty. And
then of course your Rockets they played in to night
on Sportsox of a Night listen a Rockets launch Pats
starting at five o'clock seven one, three, okay two both
predictions going into the season. The Astros spring training is basic,

(01:10:09):
come to an end, West Palm Beach, Happy Trails.

Speaker 2 (01:10:12):
We'll see you next March. Do well for us.

Speaker 3 (01:10:15):
Cannot wait, but it's time for us to return to
Dikon Park and get started for the regular season. So
here are my two predictions. I'm gonna give you a
third one as well, just to throw it on out there.
At number one, the guy that's going to make the team,
no questions asked, at least in my opinion, or should
make the team very well, should make the team. It's

(01:10:38):
Joey lit Brafido. Like, if you're watching Joey Liltbrafido at
this point and saying anything other than hey, that guy's
at least gonna be a bench player, I don't know
what to tyan All. I genuinely do not know what
He's fitting the part. He is fitting the part, and
he looks like he is going to be that dude,
and well he should be. I mean, you're talking about

(01:11:01):
a guy who has made probably the biggest growth from
the first week that he was traded back here in
the Hayesu Sanchez deal with Toronto to now. There's not
another guy that I think has guaranteed to spot more
on all the bubble roster players, and Joey libraffdo three
thirty three bounding average, one extra base hit, two x
base hits with the home run eleven hits total five

(01:11:22):
RBIs three stolen bases, eight walks, he has an eight
eighty ops. He currently is hitting better than both Cam
Smith and Zach Cole. He's better than Jake Myers when
it comes to his plate discipline. His strikeout rate is low,
and he's a left handed bat that you need in
the outfield. Now, do I think that there is a
scenario where he is going to be a bench player

(01:11:44):
on opening day?

Speaker 2 (01:11:45):
Yes?

Speaker 5 (01:11:45):
I do.

Speaker 2 (01:11:45):
In fact, I would probably lean into it because of it.

Speaker 3 (01:11:47):
If the reports are true that Jerry Panga is swinging
a bat, and he may even be close enough to
return of the lineup. When you come back to dyk In,
He's probably gonna be starting at shortstop, which parades is
not gonna be a bench player. He will be playing
DH and Jordan Avarez will break as your left fielder
on an opening day.

Speaker 2 (01:12:07):
That's just my theory.

Speaker 3 (01:12:08):
But I do think that right now, if you're asking
me to pick one guy, Zach Cole or Joey libraffdo
I'm picking Joey Lebrafido, I just say him. He's got
more power, he's got better plate discipline, He's been more
consistent when it comes to his swing rate, his launch handle,
has been good. I feel like that he can be
a little bit more power and juice that you need
from the set from the left handed side of the plate,

(01:12:30):
and I can put it anywhere between the five and
the eight hole and feel pretty confident that he is
going to have a better shot at getting on base.
And if that means that eventually I gotta have a
defensive replacement for Jake Myers because if he's not doing squat,
I'll figure it out along the way.

Speaker 2 (01:12:43):
Is Can Smith gonna have to play in centerfield? Maybe?
Do I like that?

Speaker 3 (01:12:47):
No, But that means that Joey Librafido is gonna be
in the lineup and I don't have to constantly see
swinging misrates in the eight or the nine spot. So
be it. That's prediction number one. Prediction number two. Bryce
Matthews is also making this roster.

Speaker 2 (01:13:01):
I think he has to now. Do I think that
Bryce Matthews is killed at the spring, No, I'm not
ready to go to that level. I'm just not.

Speaker 3 (01:13:09):
But I do think that there is enough to believe
up to this point he's too valuable because of the
position that he plays, which is kind of an unknown.

Speaker 2 (01:13:20):
Did he play in the middle infield.

Speaker 3 (01:13:21):
Yeah, would you rather him to see him as a
bench player, probably, But I do think that with Bryce again,
his ability to now learn how to play in center field,
the ability to have a little bit of power to
where you know it can at least hit the gaps,
his speed on the base path, it's all worthy of
a roster spot, at least in terms of I would

(01:13:42):
like to see him be playing on a slightly decent
basis finished in the spring right now, two fifty batting
average ten RBIs seven to seventy four ohps. I think
that's probably good enough. I'm not saying that I love it,
but what I am saying is that right now I
can just between him and Nick Allen. Nick Allen, I

(01:14:03):
trust is a defensive replacement, But I don't think that
the drop off is that drastic when you talk about
him compared to.

Speaker 5 (01:14:13):
Gi.

Speaker 1 (01:14:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:14:15):
Nick Allen, Yeah, I don't think it's that much.

Speaker 3 (01:14:17):
The offensive drop off, dude, it would be like going
from me at the plate to Aaron judge of the plate,
and we're just being completely honest. That's how bad it is.
That's how bad Nick Allen is when it comes swinging.
Bryce Matthews offers you more. Nick Allen also is a
lot like Cam Robinson with the NFL. So Cam Robinson

(01:14:39):
when he got picked up by the Texans, he was
a left tackle, and he lets you know he was
a left tackle.

Speaker 2 (01:14:44):
And I say, he.

Speaker 3 (01:14:46):
Lets you know that he was a left tackle because
there was an opportunity for him to go to the
right side of the offensive line, and they say, yeaht no,
we're not doing that. Nick Allen's a middle infielder. Like
if you had to throw him at third base for
a game, you'd probably survive. But if you said, hey,
we need your in right field, ain't gonna be able
to do that. In fact, he probably is not gonna

(01:15:08):
be able to play first base, and he's definitely not
gonna be able to play center field. Now, I don't
think that Bryce Matthews could play first base, and I
definitely know he can't play catcher. But if you told
me he could play three outfield spots, second base, short,
and at least in a given Thursday afternoon matt and
a game, you throw him at third you'll live.

Speaker 2 (01:15:25):
You'll figure it out.

Speaker 3 (01:15:26):
So better offensive production, better defensive production, more consistent on
the base path, good speed if it comes down to
him and Nick Allen. I'm sorry, I'm giving it to
Bryce Matthews, even though I think that there's more to
see and you'd rather have him in Sugarland getting as
many reps as possible.

Speaker 2 (01:15:41):
I think right now between the two, if I.

Speaker 3 (01:15:44):
Knew that that was gonna miss the Carls Korea for
a game where Jeremy Pingham was gonna be out for
a long extended period, his bat is more valuable.

Speaker 2 (01:15:50):
Than Nick Allen's and number three.

Speaker 3 (01:15:53):
I think that by the end of the day, I'm
ready to say that Ryan Wise is probably gonna win
that six man rotation. So we know Spencer Getting and
Lance Polis Junior are probably gonna break camp in that
six man rotation. Lance probably will be the five right now,
when then when they go to the six man in
two weeks, it will be RAGHTTI. He'll be out of
the bullpen for a game or two. But I think
that when you see one of them go down aj Blueboff.

(01:16:15):
For as good as he is, I think they want
him in that long term reliever role. Like I genuinely
think that they view him as this year's version of
Ryan Gusto. We're gonna amp him on up if we
need him to start a pinch because of Hey, it
goes really bad for Christian Havier, it goes really bad
for TUTSI in my one weekend. Yeah, we're gonna go
ahead and pull the trigger and we're gonna go to

(01:16:35):
blue Ball for four or five innings.

Speaker 2 (01:16:37):
I think they want that.

Speaker 3 (01:16:38):
I think that they believe Ryan Wise, while probably gonna
give you four innings of work and it'd be a
bullpen game the rest of the way. They like his stuff,
and I don't out him. Why you shouldn't. He's been
really consistent throughout all of spring. I think that there's
a lot to like about his upside. You put him
on the roster, you guarantee that he is gonna be
a signature role for your squad, and on top of that,

(01:17:02):
you can be a bullpen arm if need be. That'd
be who I think is your six man. So Joey
Liberfido's making the squad if you told me right now,
Hammer Zach Cole, I think it's Joey Liberfido. I think
Bryce Matthews is gonna break camp and head back to
Houston up part of the roster, and I think that
Ryan Wise long term will be your six man because
I don't know what I'm gonna get a out of
Land Scolars, Junior, Christianavia and the rest. But here's right,

(01:17:25):
we'll tell you that's been another version a Space. Say Saturday,
come say hello to me over at Saint Charrens. Go
and listen to the Astros game as Mike Burrows takes
them mount. We'll talk to you next Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:17:38):
Pace

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