October 28, 2025 • 8 mins
Focusing here on Houston, the Rockets came into the 2025-26 NBA season with some pretty high expectations following last year's early exit from the playoffs in the opening round against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Turning the organization around the season prior, followed by a few phenomenal pieces added in the offseason, the Rockets surprisingly kick off the season 0-2, until last night, when they secured their first win of the season against the Brooklyn Nets. Evaluating the Rockets' first victory, Dan and Chris hash out a few positives from yesterday's tip-off, and pose the question: Has Ime Udoka found his ideal starting 5 rotation?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It worked out well for the Rockets last night. You
just heard Matt Thomas give you the details and with
that we say away we go. Good morning here on
this seven ninety morning show, Dan Matthews, Chris Gordy, Triple,
Emmanuel Elmore is the Rockets last night powered by two things,
the three ball and Tarry Easton and Gordy. You mentioned
it too as you got in the studio this morning,
(00:21):
you were like, Hm, good thing. You didn't get that
extension done with Tarry Eason with performances like that last night,
So it would be nice to have that him being
your six man off the bench this year. That definitely
lengthens this lineup a lot more. If you're able to
get production like that.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, I think they had discussions, they just couldn't get
it done for whatever reason. So but the key thing
to remember is he will be a restricted free agent,
so anything another club wants to offer him, he will
the Rockets will be able to match and keep him
here as a Rocket.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
But yeah, I mean, it's just one of those things.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
It's like some a lot of times in these situations,
when these guys go into this, they they go off
and they have a career type year. So you know,
through the first couple games, three points in the in
the lost ok see, four points in the loss to Detroit,
drops a cool twenty two. Last night, five for seven
from three. They just kept leaving him open from three,
(01:20):
and it's like, all right, I'll take it, and he
was knocking him down.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
To his credit.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, he heard one of those calls too, that Matt
Thomas was mentioning, you know, just how Brooklyn is against
the three, and he was like, yeah, Tari knows that too,
and he's just gonna go ahead, launch one up here.
But five of seven last night from three was Tari
East and the Rockets as.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
A whole fifty from out there.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
So you like to see that a little bit of
a lineup adjustment too, where he made a dooka going
with Josh Okogi in the starting lineup over Steven Adams.
Adams only playing sixteen minutes last night in the game.
And I know, in large part two was that the
Rockets pretty much from the third quarter on controlled that game.
I mean, going into the fourth quarter wasn't really much
(02:05):
of a game at that point, as I mean, you know,
he heard us give you the final one thirty seven
to one O nine. You were up by well over
twenty points, so you were able to empty out the
bench just a little bit. But still, I mean again,
you know, this has been a performance we've been looking
for and you know, one of the things and I
heard Daniel Lerner bring it up on Friday night inside
the locker room where it seemed like offensively, when they
(02:28):
would go smaller, that was their key, but defensively the
double big lineup was working out incredibly well for them.
So he made Doka here early on in the season,
trying out different combinations and maybe last night he finally
found one again with Okogee in and with Steven Adams
off the.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Bench and Clid Capella gave you some good minutes too.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
He was he was the perfect four for four and uh,
you know it in it pretty good defense. That's that's
one of the more underrated additions in the return of
bringing back Clint Copola. It's nice Ray Sheppard is starting
to film himself a little bit. He knocked on three
threes last night, got to the rim a couple times
and had fifteen points, and you start to see that
as a reason why he was one of the favorites
(03:11):
for six Man of the Year preseason, people think that
he's going to be that spark plug scorer off the
bench for the Rockets this year, and so far he's
he's been okay. So again, just another piece on a
night where Durant was good, not great, you know. I
mean he didn't didn't make any of his threes, did
make all of his free throws. It's just it's amazing
(03:34):
the difference at having a Kevin Durant compared to last year.
Last year, Jalen Green's got the ball, shot clocks going
down and he doesn't know what to do with it,
shot clock violation or throw up a you know, kicks
it to Jabbari for a prayer three and it has
no chance. With Durant three two one, switch just turns around.
(03:54):
I mean, like he's just he's a difference maker from
that aspect of the game, and it's it's it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
To have a guy like that.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So yeah, I mean, they got the big lead in
the third quarter and then they just never looked back
on Brooklyn and it was nice to get darre I said,
I mean, like first win of the season. This is
crazy to say, but long season ago.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Yeah, I mean, you know, just what the hell are
you doing, you know, losing your first two games, and
then what's the matter with you? Kevin Durant only nineteen
points last night? Come on, man, we need more out
of you. No, I mean kidding, of course so far,
I mean three games in.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
He's played in all three games, you know, So we'll see,
we'll see if they if they make a change at
some point, you know, against a lesser opponent.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
But don't look out.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I mean, I mean, Toronto, this might be the one
if you were gonna rest him, but the schedule has
been so spread out. I mean, you played Tuesday, you
had Wednesday off, well, Thursday off, played Friday, had Saturday off,
had Sunday off, played Monday. Now this is the one
where you only get one day off between travel day
to Toronto. So they'll play Wednesday and then it'll be
(05:00):
off Thursday, Friday, play Saturday. But at Boston home for Dallas,
at Memphis, at San Antonio.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
All of those are pretty big games.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I mean, I think there was a little bit of
mini load management last night because he only plays twenty
five minutes in the game. So I mean that kind
of hurt helped you a little bit.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
But maybe that's what they'll do.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Maybe he won't do the whole sitting full games out
like he's done in the past.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
At least early on.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I mean, because without looking at the full schedule this year,
you almost wonder if the Rockets are going to have
the back to back stretch of death like they had
last year, like where it seemed like pretty much in
February and March it was, oh, another back to back,
how about that? Oh you get another one. Oh you've
got another stretch of them like that. That's a lot
of fun. I mean, it just it seemed like when
(05:47):
you finally hit a part of the schedule that it
was just like, good lord, man, Like, what did this
team do to the NBA to deserve this schedule?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, I'm looking at towards the end of December. You
play on a Thursday Orleans, You play on a Saturday
in Denver, and then very next night Sunday in Sacramento.
So that's that's gonna be a tough stretch. And then
you're off that Monday, then Tuesday in La, Thursday in La,
so you get to stay in LA for a little
bit there. But yeah, the NBA has done a good
(06:17):
job they did this last year, a pretty good job
of early in the season, really getting you a ton
of days off.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah, so hopefully that's gonna help out the Rockets and
you know again, you know, them picking up their first
win last night, twenty one out of Alpi. I mean
all five starters and double figures last night, including as
I mentioned, josh Okoge getting the most minutes of the
starters thirty one out of him. But aside from that,
I mean nobody last night going over the thirty minutes
(06:45):
on the floor. I mean, you know, like I said,
he had the thirty one thirty out of Alpi, but
then the rest of the starters only twenty and change.
And then I mean, you were able to go what
seven eight deep on the bench last night.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So if, like I said, a message Alpi though authoritative
alf Alpi police, I just and he was more authoritative
last night. I just nothing kills me than the soft
like just like, oh, I'm gonna go at you, and
I'm letting you know I'm gonna go at you, and
the defender's like, okay, I'll man up.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
And then he loses the.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Ball and then throws his arms up and looks at
the ref like stop, dude, Like the European comes out
in him sometimes where it's like the the old manager
nobilely flail and then just look at the ref.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I mean he does have a little bit of Luka
Dancic and him with that where I mean remember that
was supposedly one of the things in Dallas that they
got tired of was him complaining that the refs. I
mean you almost wonder if that's gonna finally be a
conversation with Alpi where it's like, hey man, look, if
you're gonna be a big man, you gotta be a
big man where you know you are gonna you are
gonna get a little bit more contact. It is going
(07:52):
to happen. And when it does, I mean dish it
out too. I mean, that's that's kind of part of
it all. So yeah, I don't think it's necessarily a
massive deal, but I am with you though, like where
it is in some moments where you're just like all right, dude,
get past it, get back on defense and try to
help your team out.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So yeah, the Rockets will be They'll be traveling up
to Toronto today,
It worked out well for the Rockets last night. You
just heard Matt Thomas give you the details and with
that we say away we go. Good morning here on
this seven ninety morning show, Dan Matthews, Chris Gordy, Triple,
Emmanuel Elmore is the Rockets last night powered by two things,
the three ball and Tarry Easton and Gordy. You mentioned
it too as you got in the studio this morning,
(00:21):
you were like, Hm, good thing. You didn't get that
extension done with Tarry Eason with performances like that last night,
So it would be nice to have that him being
your six man off the bench this year. That definitely
lengthens this lineup a lot more. If you're able to
get production like that.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, I think they had discussions, they just couldn't get
it done for whatever reason. So but the key thing
to remember is he will be a restricted free agent,
so anything another club wants to offer him, he will
the Rockets will be able to match and keep him
here as a Rocket.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
But yeah, I mean, it's just one of those things.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
It's like some a lot of times in these situations,
when these guys go into this, they they go off
and they have a career type year. So you know,
through the first couple games, three points in the in
the lost ok see, four points in the loss to Detroit,
drops a cool twenty two. Last night, five for seven
from three. They just kept leaving him open from three,
(01:20):
and it's like, all right, I'll take it, and he
was knocking him down.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
To his credit.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, he heard one of those calls too, that Matt
Thomas was mentioning, you know, just how Brooklyn is against
the three, and he was like, yeah, Tari knows that too,
and he's just gonna go ahead, launch one up here.
But five of seven last night from three was Tari
East and the Rockets as.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
A whole fifty from out there.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
So you like to see that a little bit of
a lineup adjustment too, where he made a dooka going
with Josh Okogi in the starting lineup over Steven Adams.
Adams only playing sixteen minutes last night in the game.
And I know, in large part two was that the
Rockets pretty much from the third quarter on controlled that game.
I mean, going into the fourth quarter wasn't really much
(02:05):
of a game at that point, as I mean, you know,
he heard us give you the final one thirty seven
to one O nine. You were up by well over
twenty points, so you were able to empty out the
bench just a little bit. But still, I mean again,
you know, this has been a performance we've been looking
for and you know, one of the things and I
heard Daniel Lerner bring it up on Friday night inside
the locker room where it seemed like offensively, when they
(02:28):
would go smaller, that was their key, but defensively the
double big lineup was working out incredibly well for them.
So he made Doka here early on in the season,
trying out different combinations and maybe last night he finally
found one again with Okogee in and with Steven Adams
off the.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Bench and Clid Capella gave you some good minutes too.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
He was he was the perfect four for four and uh,
you know it in it pretty good defense. That's that's
one of the more underrated additions in the return of
bringing back Clint Copola. It's nice Ray Sheppard is starting
to film himself a little bit. He knocked on three
threes last night, got to the rim a couple times
and had fifteen points, and you start to see that
as a reason why he was one of the favorites
(03:11):
for six Man of the Year preseason, people think that
he's going to be that spark plug scorer off the
bench for the Rockets this year, and so far he's
he's been okay. So again, just another piece on a
night where Durant was good, not great, you know. I
mean he didn't didn't make any of his threes, did
make all of his free throws. It's just it's amazing
(03:34):
the difference at having a Kevin Durant compared to last year.
Last year, Jalen Green's got the ball, shot clocks going
down and he doesn't know what to do with it,
shot clock violation or throw up a you know, kicks
it to Jabbari for a prayer three and it has
no chance. With Durant three two one, switch just turns around.
(03:54):
I mean, like he's just he's a difference maker from
that aspect of the game, and it's it's it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
To have a guy like that.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So yeah, I mean, they got the big lead in
the third quarter and then they just never looked back
on Brooklyn and it was nice to get darre I said,
I mean, like first win of the season. This is
crazy to say, but long season ago.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Yeah, I mean, you know, just what the hell are
you doing, you know, losing your first two games, and
then what's the matter with you? Kevin Durant only nineteen
points last night? Come on, man, we need more out
of you. No, I mean kidding, of course so far,
I mean three games in.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
He's played in all three games, you know, So we'll see,
we'll see if they if they make a change at
some point, you know, against a lesser opponent.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
But don't look out.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I mean, I mean, Toronto, this might be the one
if you were gonna rest him, but the schedule has
been so spread out. I mean, you played Tuesday, you
had Wednesday off, well, Thursday off, played Friday, had Saturday off,
had Sunday off, played Monday. Now this is the one
where you only get one day off between travel day
to Toronto. So they'll play Wednesday and then it'll be
(05:00):
off Thursday, Friday, play Saturday. But at Boston home for Dallas,
at Memphis, at San Antonio.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
All of those are pretty big games.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I mean, I think there was a little bit of
mini load management last night because he only plays twenty
five minutes in the game. So I mean that kind
of hurt helped you a little bit.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
But maybe that's what they'll do.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Maybe he won't do the whole sitting full games out
like he's done in the past.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
At least early on.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I mean, because without looking at the full schedule this year,
you almost wonder if the Rockets are going to have
the back to back stretch of death like they had
last year, like where it seemed like pretty much in
February and March it was, oh, another back to back,
how about that? Oh you get another one. Oh you've
got another stretch of them like that. That's a lot
of fun. I mean, it just it seemed like when
(05:47):
you finally hit a part of the schedule that it
was just like, good lord, man, Like, what did this
team do to the NBA to deserve this schedule?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, I'm looking at towards the end of December. You
play on a Thursday Orleans, You play on a Saturday
in Denver, and then very next night Sunday in Sacramento.
So that's that's gonna be a tough stretch. And then
you're off that Monday, then Tuesday in La, Thursday in La,
so you get to stay in LA for a little
bit there. But yeah, the NBA has done a good
(06:17):
job they did this last year, a pretty good job
of early in the season, really getting you a ton
of days off.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah, so hopefully that's gonna help out the Rockets and
you know again, you know, them picking up their first
win last night, twenty one out of Alpi. I mean
all five starters and double figures last night, including as
I mentioned, josh Okoge getting the most minutes of the
starters thirty one out of him. But aside from that,
I mean nobody last night going over the thirty minutes
(06:45):
on the floor. I mean, you know, like I said,
he had the thirty one thirty out of Alpi, but
then the rest of the starters only twenty and change.
And then I mean, you were able to go what
seven eight deep on the bench last night.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So if, like I said, a message Alpi though authoritative
alf Alpi police, I just and he was more authoritative
last night. I just nothing kills me than the soft
like just like, oh, I'm gonna go at you, and
I'm letting you know I'm gonna go at you, and
the defender's like, okay, I'll man up.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
And then he loses the.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Ball and then throws his arms up and looks at
the ref like stop, dude, Like the European comes out
in him sometimes where it's like the the old manager
nobilely flail and then just look at the ref.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I mean he does have a little bit of Luka
Dancic and him with that where I mean remember that
was supposedly one of the things in Dallas that they
got tired of was him complaining that the refs. I
mean you almost wonder if that's gonna finally be a
conversation with Alpi where it's like, hey man, look, if
you're gonna be a big man, you gotta be a
big man where you know you are gonna you are
gonna get a little bit more contact. It is going
(07:52):
to happen. And when it does, I mean dish it
out too. I mean, that's that's kind of part of
it all. So yeah, I don't think it's necessarily a
massive deal, but I am with you though, like where
it is in some moments where you're just like all right, dude,
get past it, get back on defense and try to
help your team out.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So yeah, the Rockets will be They'll be traveling up
to Toronto today,
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