As play-in hopes fade, why Rockets’ future remains bright

Despite a 13-3 record from March onward, a 2024 Western Conference postseason berth is becoming increasingly unlikely for the Rockets (38-37). Thursday’s home game versus the Warriors (41-34), whose recent five-game winning streak has created separation in that race for the West’s final play-in tournament spot, could be Houston’s last hope of making a late charge.

Yet, even if the Rockets don’t advance, there’s still a strong case to be made that it was a successful season in Houston. With that in mind, topics on Wednesday’s podcast include the importance of finishing the year at .500 or better; more reasons to be encouraged by Jalen Green; questions regarding the future outlooks for Dillon Brooks and Amen Thompson; and why Houston could climb up the West standings more quickly than some expect, starting this fall.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Cheers, Rockets fans, Welcome toThe Logger Line, an exclusive podcast from
the home of the Rockets, SportsTalk seven ninety. The Logger Line It's
proudly served to you by Carbox ClutchCity Lagger. It is god O Red

(00:22):
Nation. Get Ready, Ready,Get Ready. The lagger Line starts now.
Welcome aboard, Welcome back to anothernew episode of the logger Line,
as always served to you courtesy ofClutch City Lagger of Carback Brewing. I'm

(00:45):
Ben Jubos, your host, editorof USA Today's Rockets Are and contributor to
Sports Talk seven ninety, the officialflagship radio station of your Houston Rockets.
I'm joined by my good friend,co host and producer out of Portugal,
Palo Alves. You can follow onx slash Twitter at Pallo al nba me.
I'm at Benjubo's so as we chat. This first week of April,

(01:06):
the Rockets have had a bit ofan unfortunate week as it pertains to the
postseason race. Since we last recordeda week ago, the Rockets are two
and two. They extended the winningstreak to eleven by winning at Oklahoma City
and at Utah, grinding out bothof those games. First and overtime,
the last in the fourth quarter,then lost at home to Dallas and on

(01:26):
the road at Minnesota. We saida week ago that we were hopeful that
a two and two week. Weknew sustaining the winning streak to thirteen plus
games was unlikely. The Rockets don'thave that type of talent advantage, and
then you couple that with the youththat's just not realistic. But we were
hopeful that a two and two weekwould be enough to keep them competitive going
into this Thursday, April fourth gameagainst the Warriors, because Golden State had

(01:49):
a difficult schedule on its own front. Unfortunately, that's not how it materialized.
The Warriors had five games over thepast week, four on the road,
including a back to back in Myamiand Orlando, then home for Dallas,
the same team that won at twoto Center earlier this week, and
somehow the Warriors went five to zero, and so Golden State now has a

(02:09):
three game lead plus the tiebreaker goinginto that head to head meeting on Thursday
night. So the Rockets over thefinal seven games of the season need to
make up four games on the Warriorsto get into the play in tournament.
Even if they win the head tohead meeting on Thursday night, it would
still be a scenario where you needto make up three games over the final

(02:30):
six not impossible. The Rockets havegotten off the deck before. They were
nine games under five hundred going intoMarch, before they went thirteen to two
with the eleven game winning streaks.So I'm not going to say it's done
until they're mathematically eliminated. But there'sa reason why the models that had them
at twenty five to thirty percent tomake the play in about a week ago
when the Rockets came as close asa half game to the Warriors now have

(02:53):
them about two or three percent.And the silver lining that I take out
of at Pollo, I don't thinkthat it's anything the Rockets did. It's
not like you'll look back at thisseason and say, Wow, they had
it and then let it go.No, it's not what Houston didn't do.
It's about what the Warriors did.To go five and zero against that
schedule and to now have the numberten seed in the West be forty one

(03:15):
and thirty four. It's an anomaly. It's a historic one for the ten
seed in the Western Conference to bethat strong. It is what it is.
For a comparison, the Oklahoma CityThunder were the ten seed last year,
they were forty and forty two.The Rockets at this point could easily
go forty two and forty finish witha winning record, two games ahead of
OKC a year ago. To finishwith a winning record, which I do

(03:35):
think would be big for prestige andhow the Rockets are viewed around the NBA
and influential agents, power brokers,you know, how the game is played.
The Rockets would need to win fourof their last seven because they're thirty
eight and thirty seven. Now.I absolutely think that's doable, and if
they do that, they may noteven be close to the ten seed.
It's very conceivable the Warriors could getit with forty four, forty five,
even forty six wins. So it'sjust a really tough year in the conference

(04:00):
and you tip your hat to theWarriors. I know it feels like the
Warriors are on their way out becauseof course they were still with this same
core contending all those years ago whenthe Rockets had James Harden. But keep
in mind, the Warriors are lessthan two years removed from winning an NBA
championship with this corps. They didit in twenty twenty two as well,
the same year the Astros did.So it's not what the Rockets aren't doing,

(04:21):
it's what the Warriors are doing.And so as much as we would
like them to go away, Iknow we're all sick of them. Again,
it's not just the twenty tens eraWarriors. No, they won a
championship less than two years ago withthat same core Steph Clay, Draymond,
Andrew Wiggins. That's in place rightnow, and so I think you just
largely have to tip your cap.And even the last couple of games for

(04:43):
the Rockets. Look the Dallas game. When Luca and their shooters are performing
at the level they did on Sunday, there's not a lot you can do.
Luca forty seven to ten, hemade nine of his sixteen threes,
and even if you wanted to trapor double team him more, while the
shooters outside of Luca made fifteen tothirty one threes. And then the loss
in Minnesota, Let's just be real. I think what's happened to the Rockets

(05:05):
And this is where it goes backto not having the talent buffer to overcome
it, especially without all Pria inShinoon. The Rockets just art making threes
at nearly a high en f rateanymore. It feels like they peaked that
Saturday game against Utah about ten daysago when they were twenty seven to forty
nine from three. Fred tied thefranchise record with ten threes. Since then,

(05:28):
the five games starting with Portland onMarch twenty fifth, the Rockets still
ranked second in the NBA in threepoint volume. That's been the emphasis over
forty a game since the All Starbreak. But they're twenty fifth in three
point accuracy over that period. Andthat's why a week ago, even though
they were still winning, it wasa grind. They were down midway through
the second half, even to Portlandat home. They had to rally back

(05:50):
late in Oklahoma City, who didnot have SGA. They had to rally
back in the fourth quarter against Utahand escaped with a one point win.
Then the two games against Dallas andminuses, especially the veterans guys like Dylan
Brooks, Fred van Fleet. NowDylan's downturn will he goes back to about
Christmas and the oblique injury. Soyou wonder if that's a correlation as well.
But I also think that the Rocketshad to expend so much energy throughout

(06:14):
March to get that winning streak,and especially as guys like all for Inchanoon
and Cam Whitmore went down. FortunatelyCam is back now. But the point
is the guys you had to leanon very heavily throughout that streak, maybe
getting a little bit tired. Yousee that with the legs, especially on
three point shots. And if theRockets are having games where they're not making
threes, which was the case mostof the way in Minnesota. They made
a few late in the game,but it which was largely too little,

(06:35):
too late, especially combined with thecouple of bad Jalen Green turnovers in the
last minute. It's going to betough for them to have the buffer,
especially down the road against a goodteam to overcome it. But what I
will say about that Minnesota game,Look, that was a Minnesota team that
the Rockets early in the year wereowing to against blown out both times,
and this time the Rockets had everyopportunity. They were within a point with

(06:58):
about a minute to go, gotgood looks throughout the game, they just
missed the shots. This was notlike earlier in the season where they looked
outclassed. They were competitive, theyjust couldn't get the shots to go down.
And even against the Mavericks, asugly as that was, on a
night where Luca it felt like,could have put up sixty if he had
to, and the shooters were makingfifty percent or better from three to high

(07:18):
volume, you could have lost thatgame by thirty or forty. It's not
as if the Rockets have done anythingshameful. There's a reason why a week
ago I said if they went twoand two, I'd be pleased without looking
at the schedule, looking at theinjury absences. It's just unfortunately the Warriors
went five to zero, and itis what it is. Tip your cap.
Now again, I'm not saying it'sover. If the Rockets can win

(07:40):
tomorrow night they're down three with sixto go down three with the tiebreaker,
that is not giving up. They'veagain climbed off the mat before, so
until they're mathematically eliminated, I'm goingto keep my mind open. But if
this is the end, then I'msort of at peace with it because it's
not what they didn't do, it'swhat the war did. Tip your cap

(08:01):
and Again, as we've said afew times in recent weeks, it's not
just about those two play in games, maybe just one in mid April.
It's about what the play and pushrepresents. It's about playing meaningful basketball into
March and April and seeing how thisteam performs under high leverage, pressure games.

(08:22):
And by and large they flourished lastcouple of games, not quite as
much, but again not like it'sbeen terrible, and even the bad okay,
then you learn from it and there'spositives in that as well. So
I'm a little sad that it lookslike it probably isn't going to work out,
but I'm not angry. It's stillbeen a very successful season. I
think if you finish at five hundredor better in particular, then that looks

(08:43):
great in terms of what you mightcan do in terms of move this off
season or in the future. Hello, that's how I'm contextualizing it. What
are your thoughts going into this gameon Thursday night? Yeah, I'm with
you. It was always going totake the Warriors kind of giving us a
cam, right, and it wasmore so that they didn't rather than we

(09:05):
squandered doors. We were never supposedto beat the MAVs weren't supposed to be
the Timberwolves either, although we didcatch up breaking with against Timberwolves were and
didn't just completely go off. Butat the same time, it's hist young
team and the same brilliance that gotyou the winning streak. Eventually it was
going to fall the other way whenyou're overly reliant on one guy, and

(09:26):
that guy Kaleen Green eventually not sayinghe had a bad game, he had
an okay game, and eventually anokay game with where you'd basically fifty to
fifty with them didn't have to goor one minutes ago. Eventually it's going
to fall the other way at somepoint. And the same guy that closed
out the game against Okay se couldn'tdo it this time, and then made

(09:46):
a couple of key mistakes wait inthe fourth that cost you the Timberwolves game.
Right at the same time, theMAVs were unconscious from three and Wuga
could hit basically every time and evenunderhand was me game against us, and
then against the Warriors, it justwas the complete opposite, and they managed
to lose that game. So I'mwith you, it's more it's more of

(10:07):
the rocket. It's more the Warriorsmerit than it is Rocket's fault. And
and I'll just you know, Ifind it's really interesting that Adam Silver was
casually watching that that Warriors game lastnight, not trying to go full come
spirit similar, but there was thatWarriors playing game will be quite a financial
windfall, let's put it that way, which, yeah, which kind of

(10:31):
goes to show something that we're notgoing to get into. But how the
NBA is choosing to you know,translate the current superstar into the next ones
that the playing should be exactly thatif if the NYBY could choose, they
choose the play and to kind oftranslate take teams that are not so well
known and game guys that are notnot such big names and kind of put

(10:54):
them on the stage on that stage. Right, It's it's a very low
for the NBA. It's a lowof stakes, right the play in for
in in the the overall picture ofthe NBA is very low stakes. And
for the Warriors it doesn't really mean. But even if they win and they
get into the playoffs, which isunlikely, I would say it doesn't mean.
But for the Rockets it would be. It would mean in the world,
right, forever young, a newyoung team that it would it would

(11:18):
be for the long term health ofthe NBA, which is clearly lacking in
superstarted out of charisma to you know, take that mental it's it makes very
little sense that they would rather animmediate pay day between Warriors and Lakers rather
than a possible long term payout.With all the young guys Rockets have,
I mean, Kellen Green is theguy that's pretty charismatic and his game is

(11:41):
a lot more that said, thanall of the other young guys out there
as far as tunks go and thethrees go, and he has that type
of flair. But that's besides thepoint. If they if they beat them
tomorrow, they'll be what six gamesleft with being down two games, Oh
no, it's it's actually two.It's actually you know, two and a
half three games down in the standings, but it's effectively three because of the

(12:01):
tiebreaker. Yeah, exactly, SoI guess, I guess they could just
have a chip on the chip ontheir shoulder because of what Raymond Green has
been saying. I mean, yeah, I guess. But other than that,
there is a Lakers game still left, so it's unlikely, but it's
still in the realm of possible.If they lose and you're down five with

(12:22):
six games at that point, it'sover. Yeah, and you have to
I mean, the Lakers are There'snot a kind of not unlikely but probably
unlikely. But the center that couldstill pan out is the Lakers catching up
with the sons of the Kings andavoiding the lower bracket type of playing game

(12:43):
against the Warriors, so they'll havethey'll be incentivized to put you know,
to win that game. But yeah, I mean, as far as the
season goes, my new goal isget to forty wins. I think if
I think forty wins is above theexpectations of basically everybody, they've already cleared
what the Vegas I was. SoI guess the new, you know,
fictitious goal for me would be fortyones. I think they should be able

(13:07):
to get it and go with fortyone because I think they'll honestly be favored
in all three of the final gamesat Utah at Portland, and that's the
Clippers, who will sit everybody thatwould get you to forty one. Now
you'll probably lose one. We are, we are NBA media, we have
we have a very big fixation withround numbers. Okay, I'm just saying

(13:28):
I get it. I'm just sayingforty one and forty two, like forty
one for me is big because it'sfive hundred. Forty two is a winning
record. So that's why I'm gettingthe minutia here. But your point is
well taken round numbers forty that's oh, you're right. I guess we can
spend a narrative into a five hundredrecord. All right, I'm okay with
forty one. Now, I gotit. There we go. Yeah,
that's where I'm going with it.And I will say to your point on

(13:50):
the Lakers Warriors and the play inand that stage ideally being to showcase the
league's younger talent, like we didsee for example, uh SGA and the
Thunder in that nine to ten playinggame which they won a year ago,
and it sort of put OKAYC onthe map a little bit more before they
were then blown out by get whothey played. But yeah, they did

(14:13):
not make it into the actual playoffs. Yeah, and I mean one last
thing that I want to get inon this entire playing thing. Listen,
it's way beyond it's way beyond timethat that the NBA makes, you know,
the playoffs, see the cross Conference, because yeah, it's I mean,
it just makes sense, right,and I guess it would be a

(14:35):
first in American sports. But Imean, the difference between the Hawks and
the Rockets is what three full gamesand the Hawks have no tree young They're
not going to do anything. They'renot exactly a young team blossoming into the
into the scene. Right. Itjust it just makes no sense. I

(14:56):
mean, imagine, imagine how bigthey made the All Star Game, the
team selection cross conference and they madeit a draft, right, and it's
not like that anymore, but theymade a draft and that was start.
I mean, I think at thebeginning, at least that big at big
TV night. Imagine how big ofa TV night would it would be if

(15:20):
you see the cross Conference and youhad the top eight seeds pick their matchups.
Can imagine that that night where theydraft the matchups would be amazing.
And imagine the storylines that you couldbuild because all of a sudden, the
other guys picked you, they thoughtyou were the weakest link among the remaining

(15:41):
teams. Imagine the story mate thatyou couldn't build off of that. The
new rifle is that you couldn't buildoff of that, and then then you
can apply that if not cross conference, you couldn't play that and it conference
that I think it would make alot of sense because it didn't get Toba
as a eighty two game season,and you want to make that curregular season
matter where well this entire so theClippers may not play their starters because they

(16:03):
don't really care, or they maytank on purpose a game or two so
they get a better matchup. Youknow, you'd get rid of that completely,
make the game is more important untilthe end. But that's something I
want to cut off my class becauseit's really doesn't make any sense. And
I've since the very beginning where Istarted watching the NBA, it never really
made sense. So just wanted toput that. Put that out there well

(16:26):
to your earlier point on the playin as a showcase for younger teams potentially,
which I agree ideally that's what itwould be for the league to take
advantage of. I think the factthat the Lakers and Warriors are currently tracking
to be one of those games issort of a byproduct of the parody in
the current league, and that ifyour team is built around older superstars who

(16:51):
can't go pedal to the medal foreighty two games. Then in an NBA
where there's so many good teams,that's going to put you in the mid
forties simply because you're not able totake the regular season seriously enough with your
key players. If you're built aroundguys like Steph Draymond Clay Lebron, Anthony
Davis and so on, to rackup wins over eighty two games, you

(17:15):
can do enough to get in.You can do the minimum, but you
have to keep an eye on thebigger picture when you're trying to load manage
guys at that age with that muchmileage. And so I think this whole
landscape where the Rockets can have awinning record and still be eleventh in the
West, that's also what's forced teamslike the Lakers and Warriors that otherwise would

(17:37):
be securely in the playoffs to abit lower because there are so many good
teams. And as far as whatthat means for the Rockets moving forward,
because to me, this season isa little bit less interesting because it is
what it is. We're pretty muchninety seven percent know how this season's going
to end up for the Rockets.In terms of the future. So there's
a glass half empty and a glasshalf full. Way to look at it,

(18:00):
the glass half empty, and I'velooked at it through this lens a
little bit. In recent days,we know the phenomenal jump the Rockets made
this year from twenty to twenty twowins the last couple of years to forty
to forty two this year. Togo up basically twenty games in a year
is phenomenal, But in a wayit's sort of the low hanging fruit,

(18:22):
and that there's always going to bea few tanking teams, a few really
bad teams, and if you beatup on them, you steal a few
other wins. Throughout your eighty twogame schedule. You can get competitive,
you can get in the range offive hundred, and I think a lot
of people are going to look atthe Rockets making this huge jump largely on
the back of their young guys,although the veterans Fred and Dylan played a

(18:44):
role as well, and say,wow, the Rockets got from twenty two
to forty two, why can't theyget from forty two to fifty. I
don't think anyone's saying that the Rocket'snecessarily going to do what the thunder did
going from forty last year to fiftyfive to sixty this year. Because there's
no SGA, a clear top five, top ten player. But some people
are going to superficially look at itand say, well, if the Rocket's
got to forty to forty two winsthis year, why can't think it to

(19:07):
upper forties to near fifty next year? Because these young guys are going to
get better. It's possible, butthe class half empty way to look at
it, as there's so many goodteams. There's so much parody that the
jump they made from last year thisyear was sort of the low hanging fruit.
Now moving forward, who do theyjump because it's not like anyone clearly
is going to pivot to hanking ordrop off. I guess there's some older

(19:32):
teams. You never know what happenswith the Lakers and Lebron does he have
a regress or retire, What happenswith the Suns and KD if they go
outsid, what happens with the Clipperswho have some aging stars. And there's
been some speculation about what Paul Georgemight do as a free agent. There's
possibilities, but by and large,there doesn't seem to be any of those
ten teams ahead of you in theWest that is poised for an immediate drop

(19:56):
off, And so whereas inn anormal circumst and you'd say, wow,
the Rockets made this big jump largelyat the back of young players, and
they still have this young core.Just run it back and you're going to
continue to get better. There's noguarantee of that in a landscape where there
are so many good teams. However, the glass half full way to look

(20:17):
at it, there's a lot ofgood teams. There aren't really any great
teams we watch in one caveat.Before I get to that, I do
want to note that the twenty twentyfive and twenty twenty six draft pools are
supposed to be substantially better than twentytwenty four. So who knows. Maybe
there's a team or two that decidesto tank. Maybe it's not in the
offseason. Maybe it's they pivot midwaythrough next season and sell off at the

(20:37):
deadline. But maybe somebody drops off. Because the next couple of drafts are
really strong. Thankfully the Rockets start. You have to worry about that because
they have assets unprotected ones owed tothem from Brooklyn. So even if the
Rockets want to aggressively pursue winning themselves, which they are, and of course
they would otherwise lose their pick toOklahoma City, so you might as well.
The fact is, even if theRockets did have to consider, well,

(21:00):
do we want to worsen our pick, well, you have to worry
about it because you have assets comingfrom Brooklyn a lot of teams. If
they want to take advantage of thosereally strong draft pools in twenty twenty five
and twenty twenty six to build theirteam moving forward, they're gonna have to
think about losing themselves. So maybethat contributes to their being an unexpected decline
because on paper, yeah, notonly are the ten teams ahead of you,

(21:22):
we should also point out that thefour teams behind you, the only
two that I feel confident are goingto stay behind you no matter what,
are Utah and Portland Memphis. Idon't know if they'll get all the way
back to where they were a coupleof years ago when they had Dylan Brooks
and Steven Adams. But when youhave John Morant and a healthy Desmond Bane
and put them with Jaron Jackson,they should at least be competitive San Antonio.
They're bad now, but Wemby shouldbe a draw. If you can

(21:45):
pair like a Trey Young with Wemby, they could jump to being competitive relatively
quickly. So on paper, there'sa lot of parody and the class half
empty way to view that as well, how do the Rockets get to that
next tier? The glass half full? Again. There may be some teams
that sell off because of the strengthsof the draft classes coming up. But

(22:06):
the other way is that when youlook at these teams ahead of you,
there's a lot of good teams.There aren't really any great ones. Like
I'll use Minnesota as an example.I've watched Minnesota a bit of late because
they've had a lot of games againstwell, certainly the Rockets on Tuesday night
of this week, they played theWarriors last week, teams that are involved
in the postseason race with the Rockets, Minnesota doesn't scare me a lot.

(22:27):
There's not a ton of offensive creativityto what they do, the defense we've
seen in the past, some ofthe limitations of a Rudy Gobert anchored system
in the playoffs. It's a goodteam, for sure. I don't see
them as a true contender. Ithink the current NBA certainly Denver and Boston,

(22:48):
maybe Oklahoma City, there aren't reallya lot of great teams, so
the bar to get to that toptier is difficult. But in the sort
of parody NBA and you know,the new collective bartying agreement may play into
this as well because it's making ittougher to keep super teams with high priced

(23:08):
stars together. But the glass halffull way is that if a team like
the Rockets that has this burgeon inyoung core and theoretically should be well positioned
in the trade market as well,Houston should be a draw to disgruntled stars,
YadA YadA. If the Rockets canactually get to that top tier,
you might even have more staying power, because it's not like, you know,
ten years ago, when there werefive or six it felt like legit

(23:32):
contenders, true top tier teams.There's a lot of good teams in the
league right now and certainly in theWest, but there's not a lot of
great ones. So it's a challengein that there's more uncertainty, and in
that I can't tell you that justby running it back, the Rockets are
clearly gonna get better even if theyget Tarry Easton and all per Echhan Goon

(23:53):
healthy and more development from the youngguys, YadA, YadA. Nothing is
guaranteed. But I also think they'rethere's an opportunity and that there's not really
any great teams either other than probablyDenver in the West, and so if
you get the right mix, that'sthe obvious caveat, but can also come
together a little bit more quickly thanI think people think as well. So

(24:15):
to me, it's sort of likemore volatility is the way I would look
at it. And it's easy tolook at that from a negative lens because
of the strength right now and thefact that you may have a winning record
and still not even be close tothe ten seed. But the upside is
that if you can get the rightmix and if it really starts taking off,
then you might can get to thattop tier even more quickly than you
think. Does that make sense,Yes, I think it does. But

(24:38):
I think the most important thing right, I don't agree with most of the
points it's just said. I thinkDenver is Golden State Warriors level. Agree,
maybe not prime the level, andI think it's just I think they
just take games off sometimes and that'swhy their record isn't the insane and Jmal
Murray, you know, has beengetting very Michael Porter Tunior yourself not the

(25:00):
king of availability. But what Imean to use that Warriors analogy like the
mid twenty tens, which I thinkwill resonate for a lot of our audience,
like the Warriors with the Warriors orthey were just coming on the scene,
but you had the Rockets with Harden, you had the Spurs at the
end of the Duncan years, thenLaMarcus Aldridge to pair with Kawhi Leonard.
You had Oklahoma City before KD left. While not the Warriors, there were

(25:23):
a number of really really good teamsafter Denver. I don't really feel like
those other West teams are to thatlevel. And so that's the opportunity if
you can get it right. That'sa big if, but that's what I
mean. I don't feel nearly asstrongly about those teams in like the two,
three, four range. Yeah,so I feel that strongly about to

(25:44):
Night that I think I think thefunder are going to be a dynasty type
team or at least on that level, you know, consistently for you know,
six to eight ten years so Ithink they will be the second team
that will get there right next seasonbecause this season, I mean, they
are still playing a thous money.There's been no aggressive moves made by them
at this point. I still wonderabout okay see as a draw, but

(26:08):
yeah, if Jalen Williams hits,then they may not need to be a
draw. Well, Jaylen Williams headset like an All star level. Be
clear, He's definitely gonna hit reAlter through his raft slot. But yeah,
like the one question for me withOKAC has always been can they be
the draw on the trade market toget that true top tier piece That can
be difficult to get if you're asmall market. But if you've already got

(26:29):
sga On expectively turning into the MVPcandidate, and then Jalen is an All
Star as well, then they maynot even be necessary. I think with
the lack of, as you said, true top teams, I think when
player movement comes about, I thinkthat you know, with the Lakers being
on the downswing at this point,they will need to rebuild it here in
a few years and then I mean, the Clippers are even worse to me

(26:49):
than the Lakers because they will haveto reveal probably sooner because Ads younger than
any of the guys the Clippers have, I think there won't be that that
big market type thing. I thinkthe hundred will be a prime candidate,
especially because not only they have alot of talent, they have talent that
is switchable across positions. If theyneed the point guard, Check can play
the two, if they need thecenter, Check can probably play the fourth

(27:11):
they need the fourth, Chick canplay the five kiln Williams can play one
through three. He can even playthe fourth time. So they can get
basically anyone at any position. Butregardless, I'm agreeing with you in a
sense that my view is as surprisedto nobody is the class half full.
I think the Nuggets will be thatthat caliber of team. I think the

(27:33):
Thunder will be that caliber of teamgoing forward. I actually buy the Wolves
if they traded down. I thinkAnthony Edward's going to keep rising into superstar
them, even more so than hehas right now. I think Copet is
the you know, great center tohave to par up with the card center
of team, and I think Katthis year has proven that he can win.
If I were the Timberwolves and I'ma bit of an extremist, as

(27:56):
everybody knows. I would look attrading cat right now. Gizelli is the
highest to ever be and so he'staking as someone that fits a little bad.
So I think those are the threeteams moving forward. I don't buy
the Clippers standing being around from Mutolonger. I don't buy the Mass being
around from the longer. I knowthat they that Lucas young, and they've
made some really good moves, butyou can only get so far with a

(28:19):
team like that, and you'll behighly reliant on as we saw with the
clim Sumpton Rockets, Carrie is notreliable. They don't have the assets to
go get another start, so they'llbe reliable on how and the young players
that they do have, they don'tstart potentially young players. They are in
a really good role player type ofof of young players. So I think
the mass will probably be the fourthteam, as they'll be consistently good,

(28:41):
but not a buzz saw. PelicansI don't buy. I don't buy this
year, and they'll have to makethe decisions with the Hurricanes, who has
already extended and Trey Murphy. Nowit's I think it will be tough for
the toik instrument competitive. I thinkI think even there's just something wrong with
that team because with the amount oftime that they have, the way that

(29:03):
they win basketball games is too inconsistent. You know, Zion and Ingram are
great players, but they're not superstarlevels too you can rely on them to
year after year. And there's beenwhispers behind the scenes about Zion for years
and whether that's a long term fitthat I don't think you can ignore.
And then the Kings I don't buy. I think it was a cool story
for you know, a couple ofyears. They'll they'll make the playoffs.

(29:26):
I don't think they'll lea perpetually goodbut not great here. Yeah. Yeah,
Sons are falling off obviously, likethere's the same Warriors, the same
I think the lass are miles away. Last year was clearly a fluke.
There they are, They're still onthe down swing before getting back to the
upswing. I think will be back. I don't know how good they will
be, but they'll be back.They'll be probably fifth behind the Maps and

(29:48):
then the Spurs eventually. I'm notsure how quickly they can do it.
And traillerss are you know, milesaway. Uh, And so I think
the Rockets can realistically just next season, you know, with just getting naturally
better and perhaps moves around the margins. They know what this team is,
and they'll know a lot more aboutthe guys now they can hang around.
They can fight for the fifth seedwith the Grizzlies or the Mavericks or one

(30:11):
of these teams underperforms. I thinkthey can fight for the fifth seed realistically
within the next you know, nextyear, two years from now, and
that's you know, that's a prettybig step to make. And then at
that point you can start thinking abouthow can I optimize this team to actually
be a contender. But I thinkthere's a lot of teams in the West
that could right now that are youknow, surpassable within the next couple of

(30:37):
years. And so to me,just as a to put a bowl on
the entire season, I think thisthese last you know, fifteen games make
me feel a lot better. Ithink we're seeing stuff from Kill and Green
that's not hot streak ish. Ithink there's true there's true development there that
I think he's putting things together.I've seen him be what I mean,
I would class and this is thehot take, but I would classify him

(31:00):
as right now upon active players.I think he's been playing the second best
defense on the team. I thinkJapari's way too inconsistent. I think Dylan's
been slacking. I think Fred's clearlytired, and I think he's been I
mean only when Thompson, to me, has been better of the guys that
have been playing. Obviously, ifstar recent comes back, he's obviously better.
If Dylan's at full strength, Ithink it's better as well. But

(31:22):
I think Killn's been that good defensively. I think he's been He's been leaps
and he's made leaps as a playmaker, and the scoring is not happening just
because he's hot from three. Aswe saw last game against the Wolves,
he was not hot from three,but and he was attacking. We made
the point earlier, you know,in the season on the spot that he
really struggles against room protector as well. He was what nine for eleven against

(31:45):
the Timberwolves against the best room protectorin the league. He's you know,
he's first thing before our eyes,and I think moving forward, I think
he'll be able to consistently be oneof our brightest young players, which has
a relief to say, because itwill looking dire at to this point.
And then we've seen him and thumpsand people to contribute in an amount of

(32:07):
ways besides being the lead guard.And that's still that upside to him came
with more as when you know,I hit the ground running. Still he
still has upside. I think we'veseen different guys step up throughout this run,
and you can be confident in everysingle one of them to make a
lead wards the future. And Ithink and even if they don't, because
it's you know, it's tough tohave all six guys make that lead.

(32:31):
I think that the perception around theleague of our young core individually is high
enough that any of our guys,perhaps not our reason because he hasn't gotten
the explosure, although he would bethe last guy that I will you know,
put into potential start, right,I think any of those guys could
be considered that I think, andI'm not gonna say cordineral pieces, but

(32:52):
I'll say any of those guys,considering the guys that are potentially available around
the league, would be competitive underpiece options for a trade for a star
and could swing a big space packetversus what other teams would like, would
be would be likely to make availablein a star treate. I don't know
if this makes sense. I thinkwhen you compare, you know, the

(33:14):
Rockets can part ways with one guyfrom the young core, and that'd be
less of less and that'd be lessof a sacrifice to the team then the
equivalent level of you know, priorityin other teams exactly. So imagine,

(33:35):
imagine. Let me give you anexample to illustrate this. For for example,
let me look at, you know, the standings right now, the
Pelicans, right, if the Pelicanswanted to swing a star rate, obviously
it doesn't make sense for them toswing a start trate if it's Zion or
Ingram. The purpose is to youknow, back it to have to guys
play with them, and then TreyMurphy would be like a really really big
loss the Thunder, Right, thethunder have Shay Kat and Kevin Williams,

(34:02):
none of which they are going totrade for a star, right, those
guys are untouchable. And after thatand Kisson Wallers is nice right that they
have, you know, okay playerskiss and Wallas is probably the one that
would be the closest to a centerpiece in the trade for a star,
but I think any of our guyscompare to Case and Wallace would be you

(34:22):
know, considered higher upside. Sowhat I'm saying is we have so many
young guys at a similar level thataren't you know, untouchable for us,
that we could afford to part wayswith that, you know, the medium
level is so high that we'd probablyhave the best cornerstone in a star traight
around the league unless some teams willingto partways with, you know, a

(34:45):
guy that can contribute to inn inright now, and that's really really good
right now. I know that waskind of convoluted and hard to explain,
but that makes me more confident movingforward as well. I'll say, just
not to be completely in want andpositive, I'll say, don't the one
thing that has made me a littlebit. The one guy that I've been
lower on is Dylan Brooks with casuallythe guy that has the longest contract as

(35:10):
well, but he has not beenas good and if the Rockets are able
to move him, if a teamgets hung up on his current percentages,
if they don't get a lot worseand the reputation than he, I think
his opportune took a massive jump earlythis season. It might be smart for
the Rockets to make a move withhim, but I think, I mean

(35:31):
when when win total wise, developmentwise, I think that the and chemistry
wise, I think the season hasbeen a resulting success and I can't wait
to see what they, you know, do this offseason with the Brooklyn because
they'll be forced to make something withthat big although I think they may consider
just not doing anything else as faras you know. The corgoes to your

(35:53):
point on trade packages. One hugeadvantage the Rockets have beyond the depth of
their horse and the fact that youcan part with someone without disrupting your formula
nearly to the extent that a comparableplayer would take in another team scenario,
a big advantage for the Rockets isthat the picks from Brooklyn would be unaffected

(36:16):
by that other team sending a reallygood player to the Rockets. In most
cases, you're sending a really goodplayer to the team well any pick you
would be getting from that team,you're inherently making it worse. This is
an exception to the rule, andnot only as an exception to the rule,
because there are a few other situationsaround the league where one team owns

(36:37):
a different team's future drafts as partof a superstar trade. Generally those picks
are devalued even if they aren't yourown, because that other team has a
really good outlook. For example,Brooklyn has all these Phoenix picks that they
brought in as part of the KevinDurant trade. Well, no one's really
going to be that excited about thePhoenix picks as long as they have Devin

(36:57):
Booker and Kevin Durant on your contract. So even if theoretically like Brooklyn could
offer something and say, hey,even if you ma can ask better,
then it's not our picks, well, then the Phoenix angle is still a
factor as opposed to the Rockets.Not only would a team shipping a star
to the Rockets not impact the valueof the draft assets they're getting from Brooklyn,
the draft assets from Brooklyn are arare situation where Houston owns the picks

(37:22):
of another team picks and swaps,and that team doesn't have any stars,
so their outlook is really bad.There's a reason they're going to be in
the top ten of the draft thisyear. So the Brooklyn angle is really
unique in terms of what it allowsthe Rockets to do in trade packages,
and I think that could give thema leg up as well. The concern
I have from the Rockets angle,and you illustrated it already is with Dylan

(37:46):
Brooks, because the Rockets from anasset perspective, can make a lot attempting
offers. Some should a top tierplayer shake loose. What's sort of complicated
is the financial aspect because we talkabout a lot of guys being salary filler

(38:06):
on the current roster Jock Landale,Steven Adams, Jeff Green, these expirings
this year to year optionality, butthese are generally guys in like the eight
to twelve million dollar a year range. Now you can aggregate some of these
in the off season where teams canexpand rosters temporarily up to you know,
twenty twenty one guys and get aroundthe you know, roster size limitation a

(38:30):
little bit, but by and large, it's tough to stack like six seven
guys to make the math work whenyou're trying to match salaries. If you're
trading for you know, a truemax player something close to it, a
guy that's making forty fifty million dollarsa year. If you need to match
a larger salary. There's only twoguys as the team is currently constructed that

(38:51):
can really eat up a big chunkof space. That's Fred van Vliet,
who's in the low forties, andDylan Brooks, who's in the low twenties.
Now Fred van Fleet isn't expiring,would absolutely be viewed as positive asset,
and he could match salaries with nearlyanybody. He's basically at the max.
But he's also really important to youas a basketball team, and I
think in most of these scenarios theRockets would want to keep Fred for so

(39:15):
many reasons. He's a good shooter, he's a fantastic leader. I don't
think him in as nearly ready tobe a point guard yet. And if
you're going to make an aggressive tradeto try and win now as soon as
next season at a very high level, then I don't think you want to
subtract Fred from your formula. Soat that point, in terms of salaries

(39:36):
of substance beyond the eight to twelvemillion dollar tier, the only one left
is Dylan Brooks. So I thinkit's very important to the Rockets that Dylan
be viewed at least as a neutralvalue. I hope he still is.
I am concerned because he had afantastic start to the year. We've covered
this before. He was shooting almostforty one percent from threes until he had

(39:57):
the oblique injury right after Christmas,and he was a positive plus minus guy
in the nearly forty games. Sincehe's come back from the oblique injury in
mid January, he's shooting below thirtytwo percent on threes. Defense has slipped.
He's a negative plus minus guy.I'm not saying it's terrible. I
know the Rockets love him in thelocker room. He's a great, toughest
guy, leader, culture, allthat stuff has value. But as you

(40:22):
look forward in the Rockets, youknow this year, rebuilding the culture was
a big aspect of what i mayUjoka was trying to do, and so
Dylan played a very large role inthat. In future years, it's not
just about intangibles. It's going tobe about maximizing margins on the court.
And some of the negatives to Dylanthe inconsistent jump shot, the occasional issues
with shot selection, the boneheaded turnoversand fouls that he tends to rack up

(40:45):
in bunches, the inconsistent play thatcan take a larger toll, especially when
you have younger wings that are alreadythere, guys like a Men Thompson and
Tari Ethan that can do many ofthe same things as cheaper in house replacements,
and they also have younger legs thatmay give them more range and virtutility

(41:05):
defensively already than what Dylan, nowin his late twenties has so for a
number of reasons, I think youneed Dylan financially in trades, ideally to
at least be neutral to where it'snot a burden for the team taking him
on at you know, basically twentytwenty one million dollars a year for the
next three years. And then interms of just the way the roster is

(41:27):
currently constructed, if you were goingto subtract from your current team to bring
in someone else, to me,Dylan is the obvious candidate because you could
easily replace a lot of what hegives you in the current team construct simply
from expanding roles from within. Forguys like Amn Thompson and tari Easen in
particular, maybe a little bit CamWhitmore, although his game obviously tilted a

(41:50):
bit more towards the offense, andI think also with the men and Tari
coming on, maybe you could arguethat Dylan's role should be more tilted towards
a shooter. Anyway. I mean, in an ideal world, I think
what you'd be able to do isupgrade Dylan to McHale. Bridges. Take
a little bit of a hit interms of defensive physicality, but you get
at obvious upgrade in terms of offensivepotential, shooting floor spacing. The incenter
to Brooklyn would be you're sending themsome of their own draft capital back as

(42:14):
well. But time will tell asto whether Brooklyn is actually willing to engage
with the Rockets on that type ofdeal. To this point, they have
not. That is largely speculative,and so I want to shelve that until
more of an offseason discussion when wehear what teams around the league may do.
Does Brooklyn have a change of heartand look at finally tearing it down,
or does anyone else potentially come onthe market. I think there's fascinating

(42:35):
discussions to be had, but ifwe do this before the season is up,
it's going to be way too speculativein terms of the remainder of this
season and looking towards training camp inthe late summer early fall, I'm interested
to see if the Rockets don't makeany big moves what they do with Dylan
internally, because his role is interesting. You can make a case that purely

(42:59):
on basketball merit that once the Rocketsget everyone healthy, including Tari Easton and
alpri In Shangoon, that the beststarting lineup for them already has either Tari
Eason or a Men Thompson at thethree, and not Dylan Brooks. However,
he's a veteran, He's got acertain presence to him. I also
think that if you bench a guymaking twenty plus million dollars a year,

(43:22):
that might not help the trade valuecomponent that I was just describing. So
there's a lot to balance, andthat's another thing that might tilt me towards
looking at Dylan trades this offseason toavoid being in this scenario. But as
things are currently constructed, look,I think fred Jalen, Schabari and Shangoon,

(43:44):
those are going to be starters forsure if you keep them on your
roster going into training camp. Barringjust some insane regression or injury, those
roles are secure. And yet weknow there are at least two guys the
rockets are extremely high on with amen in Tari. Maybe you can throw

(44:05):
Cam Whitmore into that mix as well. And there's only one spot left and
that's Dylan Brooks. So for allthose reasons that would make sense to explore
trades, you also need a salaryfor any bigger deal. But honestly,
that's the easy scenario. If somethingbig comes along and you can use Dylan
as part of a package for aclear upgrade, as part of even a
star trade, and hopefully he's viewedpositively around the league, of course you

(44:27):
do it. That's the easy discussion. To have the harder discussion, and
I'm not sure where I land.What do you do if there is no
trade? Do you run it backwith Dylan as you're starting three? Do
you start a men or tari anddeal with any consequences to Dylan's ego,
the leadership structure, trade value.What do you think, Palo as far

(44:51):
as the scenarios of staying the course? Do you have an open competition for
Dylan's spot at small forward? Doyou trust that he'll bounce back? Because
some of this could be the ablikin and some fatigue. I think that's
probably a component, and he's notthe only guy slumping. It's just we're
focusing on dylan slot because the others, for various reasons, are much more
secure. Dylan's is the one spotthat could change. And he also happens
to play the same position or avery similar role to two of your upper

(45:15):
tier prospects that as of now don'thave a starting spot. So how would
you approach this? If the Rocketsstay the course with Dylan's role as they
get closer to training camp in latesummer early fall, I think my default
answer would be, even though Iagree that a man or Tari, mainly
Tari is going to be just straightup better from the get go, I

(45:37):
think I'll still go with Dylan andmake the other guys earn the spot or
how yeah unders the one. Wouldyou have an open competition, I mean
the final open competition, right?I would start one, start Dylan Brooks
the first game of the season,and then I would chaint it based on
performance. Okay, I'm guessing opencompetition means just through training camp, see

(46:00):
who's playing the best, and youknow, play them. I think if
you want to betch a guy likeDylan with a degree that he has.
I think you have to wait untilhe messes up or someone's playing really,
really well so you can justify it. Yeah, I guess to check if
in Memphis he ever played off thebent, and yet he hasn't played off

(46:22):
the bent. No, basically atany So twenty nineteen one year off the
bench when he only played eighteen games, So I'm guessing that was post injury.
Yeah. The way I would doit, and I'm largely in agreement
with you, it would have tobe an overwhelming edge or a men or
tari in that. If it's atall close, then the tiebreaker would be

(46:45):
Dylan's veteran status, the contractual angles. I know people will recoil when they
say, oh, you're making adecision in part based on the contract,
Well, it's not irrelevant. Thatis something, at least to a small
extent, you have to consider basedon the political angles, everything that goes
with it. If it's close,I would break the tie with Dylan and

(47:06):
at least until next year's trade deadline. See if you know you can use
his salary to help you with someother upgrade that you make, and then
you know that you have a manatari in your back pocket, and you
can always expand those roles later.So I guess that's the way I would
do it. Sounds like you're sortof an alignment in that if there's a
clear advantage, then do it immediately. But if it's at all close,

(47:30):
then roll with Dylan and just buymore time. Yeah, and and and
this should not be confused with thestarting lineup, is not confused with the
closing lineup. With the beau,I would just play why I think the
best guys are at any point,So if and I think that would be
Darry at this point. So andespecially if Shingo's still here, Lingolm's still

(47:53):
here, to definitely be Darry,assuming he is. If Shinghun for some
reason isn't or is he, thena man could be a solution there.
But yeah, I think when Ithink starting lineups is a prestige thing,
it goes on a statue, everybody'splaying attention to it. I think that's
more important, perhaps from the oneas far as you know, public perception

(48:16):
of it goes. But closing lineup, to me, that's a total.
It should always be the best five, and perhaps even the best five within
the game unless you have a superstarwithin you know that game itself, who's
playing the best because when it comesto winning, it should always, you
know, take every single edge.When it comes to the starting lineup,

(48:37):
it's more about who do you wantto see play first or rather than rather
than who plays the best because you'restarting. Dealering basically says you have a
chance to go out and play well. If you don't, you're going to
lose the minutes or when it comesto the when it comes to the closing
lineup, that's if you don't ifyou don't lose the game. Till at

(48:58):
that point, it's not flexible,all right. The last topic I want
to get to before we close outthe show. I think Dylan is the
guy whose role is most in question. Not in the sense that he wouldn't
have one. No, he's notgoing to go to the end of the
bench and not play. It's justwhether it's here or somewhere else, What
exactly is his role? How manyminutes? How is he going to respond

(49:19):
if there's a change in role.That's the one thing that when you look
at how the team is currently constructedthat I think raises the most questions.
Heading into the offseason and next year. How many options should the Rockets have,
how much are they going to lookat it, etc. Etc.
And that's going to be a storyline. Another thing that could come into a
little more focused down the home stretchof this year and certainly into the fall,
is a men Thompson a wing ora point guard. When he was

(49:43):
drafted, the idea was that he'sthe point guard of the future, and
he still might be, but weknow why he has not been to this
point. The handle is still verymuch a work in progress. There's been
some talk on social media throughout theseason of oo, should they be trying
to get him some more on ballreps? To me, I think that's
misunderstanding where the Rockets are in phasetwo. If this was the last few
years, then sure, where thingsare given to top prospects and you're willing

(50:07):
to sacrifice things for the sake oflong term development. In this season where
you have to earn minutes, it'sclear that he's not there yet as a
facilitator as a ball handler. Heis playing off ball as a lob threat,
as a defender, as an offensiverebounder, and thus that's the role
that he's in right now, weknow that as time progresses, he'll get

(50:29):
back to the Rockets. Hope theBen Simmons model, the pre injury Ben
Simmons, let's clarify that. Ithink a lot of us had in mind
when he was drafted, and maybethat happens by the fall, Maybe it
does it. One thing that's goingto be interesting to me is that if
the Rockets are eliminated from the playand race, do they perhaps experiment a
bit more with on ball a Menat that time? I could see that.

(50:51):
Again, I don't think that it'ssomething that because they haven't done it
yet now they're viewing a Men asthe next Sean Merion. No, I
don't think that they've changed the longterm formula or template for him. It's
more this is what works now.So once they're eliminated and thus you don't
have anything to play for in termsof immediate benefit, do they perhaps look

(51:13):
at a few changes for most ofthe guys and the current roles on the
roster. I don't think there'll beany big changes, but for a Men
that could be the one that Isee, and maybe it gives you a
little more data. But even so, even if he does fairly well.
To me, it's too late inthe year in my opinion for you to
bank on it. Translating, it'salmost like a couple of years ago when

(51:35):
you know, KPJ and Jalen hadthat amazing seven game stretch together to finish
a year, and people wanted tobank on that carrying over, and by
and large it did not. Nowthat's not to say the Rockets can't get
a better feel on a mend goinginto the fall, but I think in
terms of the work he needs todo as a facilitator with his handle those
types of thing, it's going tobe less whatever happens the next couple of
weeks, and it's more just dayafter day, hour after hour world throughout

(52:00):
the summer and pickup games in thethings he does with coaches and his teammates
throughout the summer, their runs,everything they do. I don't know if
he'll play in Summer League, butmy guess is he's at least a round
the team out there that's gonna bemuch more of a driving force in the
Rockets decision making going into the fall. Can we view him in as a

(52:20):
possibility for some point guard minutes oris he still just a wing, just
an off ball threat. So Iwould just say in general, it's not
something that you're gonna be able totell too much from from the last seven
games, especially against some of thesescenes we mentioned. Leading off Utah Portland,
the Clippers are probably going to beplaying for nothing with some really terrible
players out there. It's going tobe more of a longer term decision anyway,

(52:40):
in terms of how does he lookin the off season, and that's
going to factor heavily. And dothe Rockets think he's ready for some more
on ball reps next season. Iguess I could see it down the home
stretch of the year if the Rocketsare eliminated. I would just caution people
from taking too much, from readingtoo much into it what you review on

(53:00):
that the men on ball conundrum asthis season winds down, and then trying
to project him into next season.I mean, I don't think he's a
I don't think he's a point guardor a wing. I think he's a
sinner. I'm kidding. I'm sorrythat wasn't I didn't even make it sound
convincing. I think I can't sayhe's though right now, it's I mean,

(53:25):
yeah, but it's purely depending onthe dress of what the rest of
the team looks like. If therest of the team has an arm spacing
big, then he's probably he's probablya point guard. If the team does
not have a for space, Imean, I don't know, honestly,
I would. Where I was goingwith that is actually not what I think,

(53:45):
So I'm going to take that back. But it's I think I think
it's it will be. Really itwill be depending on dependent on not the
shooting but the handle. If thehandles good enough, I think it'll be
a point guard. If the handle'snot good enough, then I think it'll
be a wing. How you slothim in is tough, because I mean,

(54:07):
we saw some sets where Chocolindale andhim were basically occupying the same not
sets, but we saw some circumstanceswhere by default both him and Chockulin jacquelind
that were basically occupying the same dunkerspot, right, And unless they can
find some sets that I'm not awareof that can where you can afford have
two non shooters. You either haveto you know, live or stag at

(54:32):
him with whatever gener you have,or you can just leave them open in
whatever study is on the court andjust live with with with the three c
days. It depends on what yourgoals for the season are. If it's
still partially wins, partially development,then you might want to live with the
threes if that may or not maynot go. And if the goal is

(54:54):
to win games, and maybe yougive him a shot, and if it
doesn't work, you know you haven'tworked for their honest threes and hope that
eventually you can make that work.It's not too oversimplified because obviously he can
still contribute defensively, and obviously hecan still contribute without being able to shoot
attacking closeouts, but that gets alot tougher if you guys aren't respecting you

(55:14):
enough to give you a space toattack whatever. If sessional clothes out again,
attack close out. So I wonderhow they're going to make it work.
And especially since since we already haveor we have or they have set
the two centers and neither of themare shooters, and Steven Adams and open
thing Gun, I'm to say,I mean, it could be the thing
Gun becomes a shooter in this niceseason. I mean he's made strides in

(55:37):
that regard. Well, that's mylarger point like so many of these things
that fans want answers to, likea man in the handle Shangun and the
shot is another that's going to bemuch more about the work they do in
the summer, day after day thanit is anything that could happen over you
know, a few games to endthe season. I just feel like a
lot of this emphasis is misguided.Everybody wants to see something, they want

(56:00):
a data point, but in termsof whether Shingoon's jump shot takes off,
whether a men's handle takes off,it's less about anything that could considerably happen.
Of course, Shangoon is injured.We're talking about men in this case,
but it's not like anything can reallybe learned at a high level from
the next two weeks. So evenif you experiment, that's not necessarily going
to provide you the answers that youwant. It's more the development that happens

(56:22):
and the off season, which we'renot going to stay on the court until
the fall, that's going to answerthat question much more realistically than whatever we
can find out the next seven games. That's not to say that they won't
experiment, that's not to say thatthere's no reason to watch I would just
again take everything with a grain ofsalt. Don't have your expectations too high,
because my guess is also internally theymay conclude that the juice is not

(56:45):
worth the squeeze or any sort ofmajor change to the way these guys are
currently being used, because it's notgoing to really offer that much in terms
of predictive value or even I wouldsay confidence moving forward. Doing this in
a game against largely G leaguers,it's not going to give him in Thompson,

(57:05):
what he needs to then translate itinto the fall that's going to come
from consistently doing it day after dayin the off season against top shelf talent,
and I hope he does that.He can do that, but that's
going to be something that's again lessdetermined by how they play out the string
after they're most likely eliminated in thecoming days, and it's going to be

(57:27):
much more about what happens in thegym over the weeks and months ahead.
All Right, I think we coverenough ground for today, so I'll bring
everything to a close here for Pawlo. I'm ben If you guys are loyal
listeners, want any more information beforeour next episode, The best place to
get it is on Twitter slash x. I'm on there at Bendubo's, Powoll's
on there at Palo Alps NBA,and this show is on there at the
logger line, where if you hitup the link tree in the bio at

(57:49):
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(58:12):
one of the most active podcasts coveringHouston Rockets basketball. All right, that'll
do it for today this Wednesday,April third, again for Palo Alves.
I'm Ben Jubo's, thanks always forlistening, and please come back soon for
another new episode of the Locker Line. Go Rockets,