Rockets Destroy Pelicans AGAIN, Possible Stroud Regression, Astros Looking For An Outfielder...?

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Launch Timers, This is the Matt Thomas Show.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Ten oh two in hats down, What's happening brunch Timers, Hello,
and welcome into a Friday edition of The Matt Thomas
Show with Ross.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
We hated Frins because he showed his package. We hated
justin Timberlake. We've hate we hate them all.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
We took it out. Well, I mean it was he
took it out.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
I think I think that's what old members do to say, Hey,
you just can't cut jump in here and jump and
get and grab our pie. Ross, you care to deduct
the genesis of that call?

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Did Michael blue Blaze sleep with his wife in the
green room? Keith, go ahead and talk while Dan swallows?
I like to lean in the moist. You gonna sneeze?
Here comes one two now. He talked about it in
What Away. Oh that's good. It helped. No, sometimes you
gotta get it out. Man. Wait, who doesn't like the

(01:05):
lean and the moist? And sometimes you do have to
get it out? Oh the friend, I'm not gonna say
what you said for me? A staple, Well, Dan Swallows,
A staple of The Matt Thomas Show now on Fridays.
Definitely put together by one Connor McGovern. Thank you to him,

(01:28):
and thank you for listening to The Matt Shamas Show
with Ross on a Friday. No, it is not the
Matt Thomas Show. It is the Matt Thomas Show here
on Sports Talk seven. Th could kind of make it
math Thomas. That's actually that's what we call him. Indish translation,
I believe is what it is. All Right, Welcome into
the Matt Thomas Show with Ross. Matt Thomas is out.

(01:50):
I don't know. He very sweety. He came in wait
with the walcket, so he needs some sweep play. Whoa
wow woo wa. What nerves this guy has to tied
his analyst last night on the game call, Adam Clanton,
not only at the beginning of the game, but also
two his parting words leaving the arena last night. And
then he takes the day off. That is correct. That

(02:11):
is Bill Belichick. This guy is not. There are days
off from Matt Thomas. The beauty of the hypocrisy. Yeah see,
I believe he was crushing the eighteen yesterday and talking
to Adam Klank question he is off today, That's fine,
He's in Houston. He just doesn't want to work and
that's okay. I as somebody who takes every last drop
of vacation I have afforded to me, I take it,

(02:32):
so I'm not gonna crush matt but he is out today.
If you hear the voice of Dan Matthews and you
say that's Dan, you are correct. That is Dan. He
is here. I am ros Viriel. You can get it
as well. A lot of stuff to get to here.
On a Friday at seven one three two one two
five seven ninety seven one three two, one two five
seven ninety is the phone number we have. The Rockets

(02:54):
winning last night against New Orleans Pelicans one twenty eight
to one eleven. Don't look now, Dan, your Houston Rockets
have won four in a row. They are okay, not
firmly planted in the two seed, but they're firmly planted
in the playoffs. Earlier on in the season, I was like, okay,
sure they're the two seed, but they're three and a
half games of like the ten seed. Well, there's six

(03:16):
games from being out of the playoffs, and there's still
a comfy four games of being in the playoffs. For real,
if you're not aware of the top six in the
Western Conference, make the playoffs. You are in seven through ten,
you have to go to the play in tournament. So
the Rockets a four game cushion of being in the playoffs.
I mean, with all the heavy hitters that we thought,

(03:38):
the Thunder is a one seed Grizzlies, Mavericks, Nuggets, Lakers,
that's your top six in the Western Conference. And cushion's
a good word too, because you're about to face the
tougher part of your schedule. You're gonna find out just
how good this Rockets team is over the next five
games because you're facing five playoff teams both in the
West and in the East. So being able to beat

(03:59):
up on the bad team like they've been able to
do aside from losing the Hornets earlier in the season
as well as the Spurs, but the Spurs are still
kind of in this thing too as well. So I
mean that's the beauty of being able to do that.
And now that you've been able to get some of
these wins before you have to play Oklahoma City again,

(04:19):
before you have to finally play against Denver, before you
have to finally play against Memphis with John Morant, who's
just a different basketball team. It's been fun to watch.
I mean, it's it's definitely been a welcome change from
what we've seen the last few years. Yeah, as you mentioned,
the tough five game homestand coming up starting with a
back to back last night in New Orleans, tonight in

(04:40):
Houston against the Minnesota Timberwolves here on Sports Talk seven
ninety with a seven o'clock tip, and then it'll be
Miami Dallas, the Boston Celtics, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
So we're gonna find out a little bit more now.
We do have a thirty game sample, and the thirty
game sample says there's the second best team in the West.
So it's not like it's nothing. It's not like it's
super early in the season and we were creeping closer

(05:01):
and closer to the halfway mark. But we're gonna find
out a lot more about those Houston Rockets as we
go on, and well, the last two weeks, Dan, we've
been finding out a lot about the Houston Texans. Speaking
of pointing to spots in the schedule, which we're doing
right now with the Rockets, we did this all year
long with the Texans. We said, Okay, they start off,

(05:24):
they're gonna roll they're gonna win four or five of
their first six, some even predicting they were gonna sweep
their first six games. And then that's when it was
going to get a little bit tougher. You were gonna
have to go on the road against the Packers. We
thought the Jets game was gonna be a little bit tougher.
We thought the Cowboys game was going to be tougher
because we thought Dak Prescott was gonna be healthy. And
then we pointed to this stretch with the Dolphins, who

(05:46):
did turn it around. Weren't necessarily as strong as you thought,
but they still turned it around. They're still a good team.
They've been winning a lot of games, so that still
counts in the win column as a good win in
my opinion. But then back to back games, you lost
the thread a little bit against the chief To me
that it wasn't like a complete outclassing, but you clearly
were not as good as the Chiefs and up to
their level. And then on Christmas Day we all know

(06:10):
what happened against the Ravens. Just coming in the ratings,
twenty five million average viewers for Netflix, a smash hit
for them, going up to twenty seven million. When Beyonce
hits this. I was going to say the Beyonce Bowl
is when it really pepped up and you got a
lot of people watching, But no, you know, it's funny.
I've made comparisons to this year's Texans team all throughout
the last few months, to this year's Astros team and

(06:32):
just kind of these similar frustrations that you could have.
But I was thinking about it last night. How weird
is it that the Rockets I think are doing what
we thought the Texans maybe could do this year. Like
the Rockets I think are probably even exceeding our expectations.
If I was told they're fifty seven win pace, there
you go. So I mean, I mean the exceeding expectation.

(06:54):
It's very much exceeding expectations because I think people's expectations
for them was play in round at the least, maybe
you could be this, you know, the five or the six.
That's what I was targeting. And right now, I mean,
it looks like if they continue to just play capable
good basketball the rest of the way, maybe they're not
going to reach fifty seven wins, but they could be

(07:15):
at worst middle of the Western Conference. Yeah, pretty crazy.
So we'll see and we'll know a lot more about
this team with this stretch coming up. We know a
lot about the Texans, and they have one game left
against the Titans, which in my opinion, should be treated
as basically a preseason game, to where you see the
starters for a couple of series max, and then you
sit everybody because I think this team that's ailing as

(07:38):
much as it has, you can ill afford any further
injury if you want to make any sort of noise
in the playoffs, which I don't think they're gonna do now.
I mean, I was listening to you and Matt yesterday
and I agree. I mean, this team's cooked. I mean,
they might win the wild card game. I mean, I
actually do feel pretty decent about them if they play
against Pittsburgh, because Pittsburgh is, like you, they're slumping, going

(08:00):
the wrong direction. I don't really necessarily trust Denver just yet,
but bo Nix seems like he's crazy enough to be
able to pull off a win and then La same deal.
I mean justin Herbert, nice story, good quarterback, all of
those things. Lad mcconkeye. But I mean, I think they
can win the wild card game they go to Kansas
City after that, I have zero faith that they can

(08:22):
win that game. All right, Well, there you go. That
is Dan Matthews. We'll keep looking at the scenarios and
talking about the Houston Texans. How are you feeling about
them right now? One day later? Are you still fire
in Brimstone? This is the worst team ever and they
are just absolute garbage? Or you feel a little bit better?
I mean, it's hard to feel any better after this.
I mean, you're gonna need to get this taste out

(08:44):
of your mouth with a playoff win, because a win
over the Titans with Davis Mills playing probably not going
to do it. So we are gonna be waiting a
while before growing any confidence in what happened? Is what
is happening with the Houston Texans. How are you feeling
about Squad seven one three, two point two five seven ninety?
How about them Rockets? Do we have to get an
obligatory Rockets call? I am taking more and more on

(09:06):
these postgame shows, So you guys want to get in
and talk some rockets. What did you have last night?
Like four or five? Yeah, bit people were getting in.
We were I don't know people rockets fever? Are you
catching it seven one three, two one two five, seven ninety.
We also, of course have uh college games to get
to NFL stuff all around the league, NBA. You want

(09:26):
to still talk some hot stove, the Alex Bregman holding pattern,
It's and anything goes Friday here on the Matt Thomas Show.
If you also want to talk about how great the
week is in between Christmas and New Year's where everybody's
just kind of hanging out and doing whatever they want
to do. That's fun too, are terrible weather? Anything goes
Friday seven one three, two one two five, seven ninety,

(09:47):
will have Non Florida's stories coming up. We'll have the
news at noon. That will be at noon and anything
you want to talk about seven one three two one
two five seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (09:56):
More Matt Thomas Show with Ross Now Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
Day.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
We'll just take listen.

Speaker 5 (10:07):
You know, just making throws and at the same time,
you know, I gotta find a way to stand in
there stronger and make those throws. You know, just some
miscommunication with me and some of the receivers, but ultimately
you know, so to me to you know, make the
throw when guys are open. So, yeah, where are we

(10:29):
at on TJ.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Stroud still believe in them. It's an interesting conversation because,
I mean we kind of talked about this at the
beginning of the season, myself and Matthew Thomas. As we're
here back on The Matt Thomas Show with Ross I
am Ross Virrial Dan Matthews with us as well. You
can get in if you'd like. It's seven to one

(10:50):
three two one two five seven ninety seven one three
two one two five seven ninety to where a lot
of times there is a lot of data and history
in the NFL, and when you see things that happen
such as a quarterback, a young quarterback hitting the scene
and performing really well, a lot of time there is

(11:10):
precedent for that, and there was precedent for what CJ.
Stroud did. He was great, He had a great season.
He's offensive Rookie of the Year. The Texans and myself
included anointing him as the franchise quarterback. He looked so good,
so calm under pressure, so smart, doing all the right
things as far as I mean from A to Z,

(11:31):
from footwork to reading defenses to leadership. Everything you want,
every box you want in a quarterback, he checked it.
But talking about that history that we've seen, there have
been quarterbacks who hit the scene in their first years
and had great years. Dak Prescott, I want to say,
or maybe it was his second year. I think Matt
Ryan had a really good year in his as a

(11:54):
rookie as well. And then but you have to that
begs the question how close is this quarterback to their ceiling?
Because a lot of times when you have somebody who
comes in and they look extremely polished as a rookie,
that still begs the question how much more can they
grow and how much ceiling is there? From that point

(12:17):
from if you took just what CJ. Stroud gave us
in his rookie year and said this is going to
grow and grow and grow, you're talking about literally probably
the best quarterback of all time. So you have to
ask yourself, is CJ. Stroud the best quarterback of all time?
And right now in the second year, what we're seeing
is that he is, at least right now, I mean

(12:39):
regressed from last year and he was extremely close to
his ceiling where he was last year. And I will
also throw in I think the interception numbers are misleading
because felt like he had a few that should have
been picked last year, and then this year it feels
like a lot of them have come on third and
longs to where they're effectively punts. I mean, that's it's
a two part answer to that. Umber One, he's lost

(13:01):
his confidence. I mean, there's zero doubt about that. He
can continue to say he trusts his guys up front,
he doesn't. He can continue to say he trusts his
offensive coordinator. Same answer there. So that's the first part
of it all. And you mentioned Matt Ryan there. I mean,
take a look at what Atlanta did though, to help
him kind of take that next step in his career.

(13:21):
It was the front office there saying, hey, Tony Gonzalez,
he's coming to the end there in Kansas City, Let's
make a trade. Let's get him here. Hey on draft night,
let's make a massive trade. And along with a guy
named Roddy White, let's go out a guy named Julio
Jones and add him to this offense and see what
it's able to become. And he eventually became an MVP.
He eventually became an NFC champion. I mean, he eventually

(13:44):
was able to become one of the better quarterbacks in
the league. Despite what some people might say the numbers
will tell you he was really good, so he can
get to that. I just think that it kind of
becomes a question of the confidence of the people making
the decisions that could get him back to that point.
With Bobby Slowly, I think there's a belief in that
building right now just from people. You know, I've heard

(14:07):
talk about what's gonna happen with him and what's gonna
happen with his coaching staff going forward. We had Aaron
Wilson on when I was in with Lilma yesterday. It
didn't seem like Bobby Sloke's going anywhere, But it did
seem like that Chris Strausser, the offensive line coach, at
least if nothing else, is going to conveniently retire. Yeah,

(14:27):
and we can get to the Bobby Slowack stuff. To me,
it's funny how he was the hottest coaching offensive mind
or one of the hottest coach coaching offensive minds last
year cycle in this cyle, I wonder if he's even
gonna get an interview. But on the on the CJ.
Stroud stuff. His first year twenty three touchdowns, five interceptions.
Dak Prescott's first year twenty three touchdowns, four interceptions, and

(14:50):
also I mean different situations. They had the one of
the greatest offensive lines of all time in that era
with the Dallas Cowboys. But talking about trying to help CJ. Stroud,
Nico Sario did. Nick Casario did go out and get
Joe Mixon, did go with the run game, helping out
c J. Stroud and the team as a whole. And
then of course the Stefan Diggs move was the was

(15:11):
the swing for the fences. And unfortunately, I mean the
way that he did trading him over here, give him
a one year deal, you gave the second round pick.
I mean that was a This has to bear the
fruit of like an AFC championship game or Super Bowl
or this was a bad move. Unfortunately he tore his ACL.
Nick Casserio can't control that. So I do think Nick

(15:32):
Casserio did try to go all in on CJ. Stroud
in his second year and try to give him every opportunity.
Where they have fallen short, of course, has been the
offensive line to where preseason it was okay. Maybe Kenyon
Green can be good. He was a first round pick.
Maybe he can bounce back from the injury. Laramie Tunsel.

Speaker 6 (15:51):
We know what he is.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
We didn't know he's gonna get you know, he's always
been a penalty prone but this is up to I
mean insane level. But obviously, I mean, this is no
breaking news. The offensive line has fallen short of everyone's expectations,
including Nick Cassario. And by the way, you've been beset
by injury basically the entire year, shuffling everything around and
not allowing guys to get on the same page. I

(16:14):
applaud the efforts. I mean for the first point that
you brought up there about Diggs and also bringing over Mixon.
But with Diggs, what you were getting out of him
was not going to make this offense a lead. He
was being a good addition for you. He was not
great for mixing. I just think that he's underutilized. What
did we hear about all last offseason. Oh, this guy's
fantastic catching the ball at the backfield. Look at him

(16:36):
pass protect He's great. And I mean it's not so
much about the second part of that, but at least
the first part. I mean, what do we hear, you know,
Bobby Slowick lamenting every single week, Oh, we didn't run
the ball very well. We didn't run the ball very well.
We had targeted him three times in the passing game.
So if you're not running the ball very well and
you're so averse to it's not a verse, but you're

(16:58):
such a huge fan of using this screen game, why
isn't he being used in that more? If that's the case,
your offensive coordinators all the time talk about, oh, playmakers
in space, well then get them in space. Find a way. Man.
I heard you and Matt talking about this yesterday too
as well, that you're giving the same looks that you
gave early on in the season that you're giving them now.
So you probably have defensive coaches on the other sideline

(17:21):
watching you, saying they're really trying this again, like they
think we haven't seen this. There does there's no motion,
there's no check with me, there's there's just there is
no creativity. And I talked about, you know, CJ's confidence
being lost. Bobby Slowick has lost confidence this year. That
guy is swimming on game day when he's looking at
that play sheet. I think, now it's it's funny because

(17:45):
they do do they do do a lot of screens,
and they do some with Joe Mix and they do
it a lot with the wide receivers, and it's kind
of like when when the wide receiver screen works, which
it was early on in the season, it's great, it's genius.
It's it's a great way to move the chains, get CJ.
Stroud in rhythm. And then when they're not working, when
they do get blown up, when somebody's not holding their block,
when it's getting blown up by a linebacker or something

(18:07):
like that, then it's one of those things that we
look at and if it works, it's genius, and if
it doesn't, it doesn't. So as far as the screen game,
I'm okay with it. They just as Bobby Slowak has said,
as c J. Stroud has said, they need to execute
veteran Maybe they just need to throw some more wrinkles
in there. But because clearly it's not nearly as effective
as it was earlier on in the year, this doesn't

(18:28):
have to be a one size fits all offense. And
you just saw it last week with Lamar Jackson in
that Baltimore Ravens offense. Well, having Lamar Jackson and Derrek
Henry and that offensive line and Mark Andrews, I mean,
and Isaiah Likely, it's kind of a different I understand
some of the parts is different, but where I'm different.
But where I'm going with this is how Todd Munkin
uses his guys that touchdown run by Lamar Jackson. You've

(18:49):
got Isaiah Likely and you've got Mark Andrews in the backfield.
They went wing Tea. But you're not gonna go wing Tea.
I'm not saying to wing Tea. I'm just saying, move
your guys around, man, Like they don't have to just
be Hey, it's a tight end. So he's got to
be on the right side of the offensive line. You know. Here,
here's this formation, so you know you're gonna have Nico
Collins over there on the left side. Oh, we think

(19:10):
we have them one on one. You don't have them
on one. I've had Stover and Schultz in the back
backfield of fair Mounta in my opinion. But like, do
it more is what I'm saying, Like, like, switch up
the looks, man. There's fifty two cards in a card deck, right,
they don't all have to be in the same order
every single time you shuffle them for a reason. Yeah,
but you're you're playing with a five two when you've

(19:31):
got Blake Fisher and Kendrick Green on the right side
of the line as well. You got we have to
keep that in mind. All Right, we're gonna take a
break here on The Matt Thomas Show with Ross. That
is Dan Matthews. You'd like to get in you can't.
Seven one three two one two five seven ninety is
the phone number. Seven one three two one two five
seven ninety. Tweets at sports RV at Dan Matthews h
ou and you can also tweet our producer he is

(19:53):
at Connor d McGovern as well. Anything you want to
get two on Anything Goes Friday. Seven to one three
two one two five seven ninety is the phone number.
Seven one three two one two five seven ninety. Welcome
back to The Matt Thomas Show with Ross, without Matt Thomas,

(20:18):
with Dan Matthews, with Connor McGovern. Yes, put that all
in a business card, all right. Seven one three two
one two five seven ninety is the phone number if
you want to get in. Seven one three two one
two five seven ninety. We're talking some Texans ball and
I am asking you the question. I don't think we've
seen c. Dur Surroud's ceiling, but how close have we

(20:39):
gotten to c J. Stroud's ceiling, how much are we
worried about this regression? And him going forward to where
as I mentioned, uh, I mean similar stats to a
Dak Prescott at least in terms of touchdown to interception
ratio in their first full seasons, to where you have

(20:59):
to ask the question, all right, well, maybe the situation
was more ideal there. Maybe we need to look more
into how many turnover worthy throws there were at that moment.
And then I say, all right, is have we seen
I don't say, like I said, I don't think we've
seen the best of CJ. Shroud, But I'm gonna say
I'm worried because there just have been a significant drop

(21:21):
in just about every metric you can think of, with
the interceptions way up and really just on the field,
as you know, as Dan is saying about his confidence,
he just doesn't look the same and he's not making
the same throws. He also has mentioned it was a
bite you guys played on the A team. I'm not
exactly sure where it is, but he mentioned being banged up,
banged up, and that's another thing, and that's something that

(21:41):
we will not know and they will not divulge. And
I mean, normally you're not gonna hear as an excuse,
but the fact that he kind of let that out
and we heard about it is as far back as
the Jets game with Kirk Kirbstreet on Amazon Prime talking
about it as well, he's not one hundred percent to
what extent. We don't know how hurt is he. We
don't know he's out there. He does not look like
he's moving as well as he was early in the season.

(22:03):
And you add all that up with the offensive line
issues with no Stefan Diggs and now no Tank Dell.
I mean, performance is suffering and we have to just
wonder where we're gonna go from here. Well, it's also
if you're out on the field, then you're expected to play,
and you're expecting to play a performer. That's I mean,
you can say that, and he even admitted as much

(22:24):
the other day when he said he was banged up.
That's sign excuse because he knows if he's out there,
he needs to be making plays. And yes, he's not
making plays, but it's also it's part of why he's
not making plays exactly. That's all I'm saying. I'm not
saying give him a pass and c J. Stroud is
great because he's hurt right now. Because I don't know
how hurt he is. But I will say, if you're

(22:45):
asking me why is CJ. Stroud regressing in his second year,
I will bring up that I don't believe he's a
one hundred percent healthy. I think last year when he
threw these three interceptions, I think against the Arizona Cardinals,
I thought he was concussed. Like I think a lot
of times we say why why why, And especially in
the NFL more than any other you know, sometimes it
happens in baseball, basketball, guy needs surgery. You know, Alex

(23:07):
Bregman playing with his elbow, hert what was it? A
few years ago Martin Moldonodo had a sports hernia and
he had a broken hand. Like it'll come out after
the fact. But I'm saying, if we're searching for the why,
I'm saying that's perhaps where we can go, where we
can look to. I'm not giving necessarily an excuse and
saying because I don't know how hurt he is, but
if we're point looking for the why, I think that

(23:29):
could be part of it. It's physically, it is part
of it. It's physical and it's mental because I mean
the physical part is exactly what you just laid out.
The mental part is his offensive line. He can say
everything he wants. He doesn't believe in that group, his
receiver group, aside from Nico Collins. He doesn't really trust
any of those guys, and that those guys I mean,

(23:50):
and that's you know. I mean, John Metchi shows some
good things the other day, but you're not going to
win a lot of football games because John Metchi has
a good game or two. You need somebody that can
be more consistent and be able to get more separation
in their routes. Then you're getting right now. So I mean,
I think that all kind of comes to a head
where he might go through his reads, he might go

(24:12):
through all, you know, everything that he needs to go
through on the football field, but it's pretty much been
proven if number twelve isn't an option for him, then
things start to get a little bit shaky. And they've
gotten even shaky yer this year because he's got less
time to be able to try to make something happen
out of really nothing. Yeah, where we are is to
where to me, it feels like we're last year.

Speaker 6 (24:33):
CJ.

Speaker 2 (24:34):
Shroud was raising the level of the Texans. This year,
he's kind of sinking with the team rather than keeping
them afloat as much as he could. All right, seven
one three two one two five, seven ninety The phone
number Marcus in Cyprus has gotten in here on the
Matt Thomas Show with Ross.

Speaker 7 (24:48):
What's up, Marcus, Hey man, I just wanted to time
in on the sophomore slump he's going through. I'm actually
I listen to you guys a lot on my lunch break.
I'm actually a Cowboys fan, and like y'all were mentioning
with Dak Prescott, he went through something similar and in
twenty seventeen his sophomore year that we.

Speaker 6 (25:09):
Played it, we played Atlanta in Atlanta.

Speaker 7 (25:12):
And a guy named Adrian Clayborne sacked them six times
and he never was the same for the rest of
that season. So I think something similar is going on
with CJ. Just all the pressure he's getting, that internal
clock is all jacked up. If you look at his
season last year, he was real successful downfield with the
deep ball. A lot of teams have seen the shell

(25:34):
that off and they're making him, you know, take the
underneath stuff. And I just think that your hope in
him is his rookie season. If he was able to
go in as a rookie and process all of that,
that tells you everything you need to know the guy.
He has it upstairs. It's just a failure up front.
And you know that that's where it starts and ends

(25:58):
in football is upfront, and that is these guys are
I mean, look at Dak Prescott for an example. He
had an all Pro season last year. His old line.

Speaker 6 (26:07):
Was terrible this year.

Speaker 7 (26:08):
And and that's that's that's what happens when you have
a bad run. These these guys that get happy.

Speaker 8 (26:15):
Feet, and once they get that happy feet, that's it.

Speaker 7 (26:19):
It all starts with their legs, and that's that's I'm
a I'm a firm believer in that if a quarterback
can't plan his feet and throw the ball consistently with
his feet set, they're they're done. Unless you're Patrick Mahomes.
And there's only one of those. I love to tell
Cowboys fans that I'm sorry, but there's only one Patrick Mahomes.
You ain't getting one of him. But hey man, y'all, y'all,

(26:40):
keep y'all's head up. Y'all are having a good season,
even though it may not be the season you want.
But just look at that rookie year. CJ's got all
the tools. They're gonna bounce back into off season.

Speaker 6 (26:51):
It's his turn to make the adjustment.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
Then, all right, oh thank you, Mark Marcus. We're we're
up against a break. Appreciate you getting in. This is
where we are now with Texans fans. We're getting consoled
by Cowboys fans. This is not good, Dan. I don't know.
I think I take it the opposite direction. I take
it as okay, hey, maybe the world is healing a
little bit and we don't have to have so much

(27:13):
animosity towards each other. They're they're actually rooting for us,
which I appreciate that market thinks you're so bad for
the Texans. Cowboys fans are feeling sorry for CJ. Stroud.
Let's talk about this. Seven one three, two one two five,
seven nine. What's next? You know, Texas fans are gonna
get A and M's traditions and be like, oh god,
you know what they're Okay, I get them. We're not

(27:33):
bearing good at the stadium. I'm good. All right, We're
going to take a quick break here on the Matt
Thomas Show with Ross. CJ's going to be okay. CJ's
going to be okay. CJ's going to be okay. There's
an awesome He'll be fine. Go to CJ. It's not
your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault.

(27:56):
We we don't we don't need to bring back Robin Williams.
He'll be okay, not your fault. All right, We're gonna
take a quick break here on The Matt Thomas Show
with Ross, but without Matt Thomas, with Dan Matthews. You
guys want to get in. We're talking Stroud, We're talking Texans.
We also got Rockets on a four game winning streak.
Anything you want to get to it is and anything
goes Friday. It's seven one three two one two five

(28:17):
seven ninety seven one three two one two five seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (28:21):
Dan More, Matt Thomas Show with Ross now Sports Talk
seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (28:43):
Ten, forty eight in the am. Here on Sports Talk
seven ninety ros Viria with you Dan Matthews as well.
It is the Matt Thomas Show with Ross, without Matt Thomas,
with Dan Matthews and Connor McGovern seven one three two
one two five, seven ninety. Is your phone numbers seven
one three two one two five seven ninety if you're

(29:04):
just joining us. Things have gotten so bad for the Texans.
We were getting consoled by a Cowboys fan in the
last segment. So that's where we are right now with
the Texans. See, I mean, sometimes the enemy of your
enemy is your best friend, and in this case right here,
I mean, we for years have been chiding Cowboy fans
and you know, it's been a little bit of a
turn the other cheek, so appreciate that. I'd love more

(29:27):
of that energy from those in the Metroplex. It would
be nice if you are a Cowboy fan. And very
clearly now Mike McCarthy is saving his job. You think
you're a little party who's upset watching that Mike McCarthy
would have lost. They've won four of their last five.
Mike Fisher, who covers the Cowboys and has covered him
for a long time, Apparently there's a rumor that if

(29:48):
the Cowboys come to McCarthy with a contract, he's gonna say, no,
it's been real, I'm out here. Really Yeah, what's he
gonna do? Either just go to another opening either that,
or just step away? From coaching. But god, I understand,
I understand one years old. I understand the lack of
playoff success there, but I mean it's also too twelve
plus wins a season for the last few years, and

(30:09):
I mean, this year, notwithstanding, has not gone incredibly well.
And I think he kind of is just looking at
it as, Oh, what I was doing was not good
enough for you guys. Okay, watch this and see how
good you are after I'm not here. Yeah, that leverage
could go out of the window. Though. They got the
Eagles and the Commanders the final two weeks of the season,
so we'll see where they are at the end. I
think they're better than people thought they would be here, certainly,

(30:31):
certainly especially with Dak Prescott going down. All Right, seven one, three,
two two five, seven ninety is the phone number Art
in Lamark has gotten in here. What's up Art?

Speaker 6 (30:41):
Good morning?

Speaker 2 (30:41):
How y'all doing very well? How are you all right?

Speaker 9 (30:45):
Well?

Speaker 10 (30:45):
I hadn't college all the while, but anyway, Uh, you know,
that's that's a great thing, you know, like they're a
lot of slow at the soap poplars, you know, get
a head coaching job. It's that there's two pigs last year.
With CJ's first year, you did rather well and they
gave credit both ways. But here's the second year and
the road might be regressing. But ahead, the coordinator should

(31:11):
make him grow, help him grow.

Speaker 6 (31:14):
Yes, it doesn't.

Speaker 10 (31:16):
It hurts when you don't have a line.

Speaker 6 (31:18):
That hurts.

Speaker 10 (31:19):
I don't want to go Tussel's name. It hurts when
you lose receivers. But I mean, you know, and then
sometimes we listen to too much what we read and
too much what they say. During the earlier season, maybe
we weren't what they what they said where we were
going to be. But again, you have to have a line,
and you have to be able to adapt, and you

(31:40):
have to be able to change on the run. And
it's like when you run it, when you run the
ball the first two plays, throw the third down was
the deepest thing to do all the time, over and
over and over again.

Speaker 11 (31:54):
And we're talking professional football. We're not talking to high
school where they even can adapt after halftime. Sorry word
fellas go rockets. And I'm as soon as you are
not to say you take care.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
I appreciate our thanks, buddy. Yeah, they need to adapt. Well,
I mean that's thirty one other teams in the NFL
that have to do the same thing. I mean, I
get what he's saying. And you know, one thing that's
gonna be interesting to ask Tomiko O Ryons after this
season is do you kind of feel like there's shades
of twenty ten? And I've gone to that example before.

(32:28):
I remember two thousand and nine season, you're you're knocking
on the door, God, if Cincinnati can beat the Jets,
this Texans team is a playoff team, and then the
following year it was got everybody back, We're good, it's
gonna be great. It was an awful season. Like, if
you think this is bad, try going when you played
sixteen games, going six and ten. You have one of

(32:49):
your best pass rushers have his ankle turned sideways, you
have Demiko Ryans rupture his achilles, and you had a
team that just could not get out of their own
way and win ball games. And this team's at least
a playoff team. The team's a division already won nine games,
they've won the divisions. But it's also too there's not
a single person in that building that's going to say, hey,

(33:11):
it was a great season. Everybody there is going to
feel like what could have been You know what, could
this team have done better to have been in even
better position to maybe make a run in the AFC. Yeah,
I need to know when Shack Mason and Juwe Scruggs
if they're coming back, because yeah, if this is going

(33:32):
to be the offensive line, if it's going to be
Titus excuse me, learym Tonsol, Titus Howard, Jared Patterson, Kendrick Green,
and Blake Fisher. That's four out of five spots not
playing where you planned. People who are in that spot
are not who you plan to be in that spot.
If this stays, yeah, I'm gonna agree that this season

(33:54):
is completely cooked and they're not even gonna win a
wildcard game as far as I'm concerned. You have three
starters on the offensive line you have to replace because
Laramie Tunsel he's not going anywhere. Neither is the rest
of this scene. And it doesn't matter. You know where
you have Titus Howard on the offensive line. He's going
to be here next season. So it's going to be
do you feel good about Jarrett Patterson at center? All right?

(34:15):
At least you answered that question. The guards. In my opinion,
that's completely up for grabs. You will absolutely have free
agent trade options, even a draft pick or two. And
it's also too we hadn't even mentioned Blake Fisher in
all of this. I mean, I think that we've seen
him look like a rookie at times this season, but again,

(34:35):
you're only going to know if you play him. And
I'm glad that at least these last few weeks they've said, hey,
we know what we have in Kenyan Green. It's not good.
So let's see what we have in this guy and
figure out at least if he's a capable option. Yeah,
you have to take the training wheels off at some point,
and it's been mixed at best. To meet with Blake
Fisher and what he's done in this offensive line, and

(34:57):
that to me has been is going to be. It's
been the biggest storyline and it is going to be
the biggest storyline in this upcoming offseason. I mean, sure
is who knows if Stefan Diggs wants to come back
on a one year deal or whatever. Like I'm not
even necessarily worried about that. You can you can hopefully
find somebody in free agency when it comes to wide receiver,
maybe even draft somebody whatever, you got Nico Collins wrapped up.

(35:21):
I'm worried about what is happening with the offensive line,
and as you mentioned, the interior needs to be addressed
because whatever plan that Nick Cassario had envisioned as far
as his guys and how well they were going to play,
you had Jack Jack Mason, even before he got hurt,
he was taking a step back. He wasn't very good,
and you've just got issues everywhere up there. Well, Priority

(35:41):
number one for me on the offensive line is center,
because that guy is the extension of the quarterback. I mean,
look at what we saw for years out of Peyton
Manning and with Jeff Saturday. I mean just how good
that group was and how much control they had of
both the offense in general and just the line in general.
Because the center is the guy that has to be

(36:02):
the one who knows everybody's role on that offensive line.
They have to control that room. I mean you go
to usually teams will you know, have position groups. They're
lockers right next to each other, and the guy who's
usually holding court for the offensive lineman is the center.
That's the guy that's the captain, that's the guy that
makes everything go with that group. So you've got to

(36:23):
find that. And I mean you mentioned Jared Patterson. I
mean that's what you need to, you know, go back
and evaluate after this season. Is he a guy that
can control that group? Is he a guy that can
be really the alpha of them? And I mean if
you don't feel like you have that, and you don't
feel like you have the continuity between he and c. J. Stroud,
well then you got to find that. And I don't

(36:43):
think that's a draft pick, but at least somebody out there.
There's a reason why everybody looks at tackles and they
lock them up. But you know who also gets their
money and gets to stick around. It's the center. All Right,
We're gonna take a quick break here on the Matt
Thomas Show with Ross. We'll have a special treat for
you coming up at noon. Did you want to stay
tuned for. We're also gonna continue talking about the Texans.

(37:05):
Where is c J. Stroud relative to his ceiling? What
is going on with this Texans offensive line? How cooked
are they for the rest of the season. We're also
talking about the Rockets. They've won four in a row
and are in the second seed in the Western Conference.
Are you catching Rockets fever. Seven one three two one
two five seven ninety is the phone number if you'd

(37:26):
like to get in. Seven one three two one two
five seven ninety. Will take a quick break and be
back for our number two of the Matt Thomas Show
with Ross.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
Launchtimers. This is the Matt Thomas Show.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
Eleven a m straight up. Our number two of the
Matt Thomas Show with Ross is here on Anything Goes
Friday at seven one three two one two five seven
ninety seven one three two one two five seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (37:57):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
I just got a tweet from Ivan who says Correa
is coming back to Houston. Book it. This is my
nephew with him in camp. Oh then he said, man,
if only never mind, all right, that was fake news.
You are fake news. Yeah, you just you just got
you just got deeped. I just got duped. That's fine,
it happens. Uh, send me more tweets at sports r

(38:20):
VT if you love when when Twitter, you know, for
whatever team Astros Rockets Texans will go full message board mode.
Hey man, hey, hey, you know my buddy is Carlos
Cares Barber, and he he has told the Astros everybody
come get them you know, he wants to come back
to Houston. He wants to be traded for Come on, man,

(38:41):
I this is ironclad. This is coming directly from the source,
like Bert Steele. Hold on, Bert, you don't know Bert Steele.
I don't know Bert Steele. Bert Steele was What was
the first thing that Bert Steele was trying to break?
It was a bunch of fake news about the Rockets
over the years. Maybe it was Chandlin of Parsons. Was
it a James hard and trade? Somebody tweet me what

(39:01):
was the first big thing Bert Steele? The story that
he was telling and people thought he might be actually
breaking some news because he had put on his Twitter,
like formally worked at ESPN and stuff like that. I'm
trying to pull I pull it up his tweets right now. Yeah,
I'm not completely familiar with Bert Steele's work, but I mean, look,
every fan base and all throughout Twitter's got him. I
mean Carlos Beltron's niece, remember Carlos Beltron's niece of you know,

(39:26):
spreading the rumor about the buzzers, and then of course,
you know you had you know, people's favorite Steel. I'm
hearing rumblings that the Rockets are all in on DeMarcus Cousins.
If Morey could pull this off, the Hooker's Cigarth and
Scotch are on me. I was in twenty fifteen, so
it's been a while since Bert's contributed to the sports
media landscape. Yes, I think it has been a while. Oh,

(39:47):
here we go. Inside sources have told me that Mellow
will one be a rocket by Tuesday. You heard it
here first. They got a thousand retweets, So maybe he
was first. Maybe it was the Mellow deal that he
was first in anyways, but yeah, it is. You know,
you got to keep an eye on these folks because
sometimes they're right. Not even you could call from the
inside information. I remember it was happening here. People were

(40:10):
calling us and saying that they saw Lebron James at
like some private school and that he he and he
was going to be coming to the Rockets. Oh that's yeah,
that's always that. I mean, I mean, there was that
with Chris Paul and turned out to be correct, because
I mean I guess he was really looking at schools
and seeing where he wanted the young kids to go. Yeah,
all right, seven one three two point two five seven

(40:30):
ninety is the phone number. We've been talking a number
of things, mostly Texans here as we are now a
two days removed from the debacle the Christmas Nightmare. I
don't even know. We got to come up with a
name for that to reference it years down the road
because it was just an absolute nightmare. The ratings were good, though,
Netflix averaging twenty five million viewers for that Sunday night

(40:55):
Football this year is having one of its best years
in like almost ten years. It's averaging twenty two million.
You got a twenty five million average and it bumped
up to twenty seven million during Beyonce. Yeah, sorry, Lebron James.
The NBA, it's no longer your day. Dare I even
look up the Lakers and Warriors ratings? I think that
I read this morning that the NFL numbers were five

(41:17):
times what the NBA's was. I mean, look, aside from
a couple of players in the league right now, people
don't care unless you have a direct rooting interest in
the NBA right now, it's just as good. Seven point
seven six million viewers for Warriors and Lakers for it
is actually close to twenty five million on Netflix, mind

(41:40):
you on a streaming service and it was on ABC.
I believe an ESPN was Lakers Warriors. But that's at
least the step in the right direction for the NBA ratings,
which have been tanking hard this year. And it was
actually a good game too. I mean, that was the
only of all of the five on NBA Christmas Day
that I watched, and both the stars showed up. That's

(42:01):
another good point the ratings up there where it was
good games all day. I think every game was within
single digits for the NBA all day long. Both NFL
games were duds. Like if those were good games, if
those were close games, if somehow the we lived in
a one of the multiverses where the Texans were keeping
close to the Ravens that they wouldn't even it would
have been even further of a gulf in between the

(42:22):
two now, because I mean, it'd be interesting to see
the third and fourth quarter numbers. I mean, especially after
Beyonce performed, where it's all right, what is there really
to watch now, because there was a steep rise and
then Beyonce left, and then there was a planes make
slower dis sense into airports than than what you saw
right there. It was a complete it was leading to that.

(42:46):
It was the noseedive before the flashed state. All right, anyway,
seven to one three as that's my phone. I did
that seven one three two win two. I walked into it.
I played I know what the room so I no
want to blame but myself on that, and I'm gonna
look in the mirror. I'm gonna try to get better,
and you know we're gonna come back and next man
up and next segment up. The precedent has been said.

(43:07):
You know who you are, you know what the show
is from ten to two every single day. It's just
maybe every once in a while a different voice in
the room. That's all it is. Dad jokes and double entendres.
The Matt Thomas Show with Ross tending to two. I
hear on Sports Talk seven ninety last night on the
Rockets Rap. I was like, be on with you guys
tomorrow at noon. Oh wait, no, at ten to two
here on sports Tell your friends, Tell your neighbors. We're

(43:27):
on ten to two here on a Sports Talk seven ninety.
Matt Thomas is out. We're talking a number of things
going on. But I was also as we were talking
about the offensive line, It's funny because I kind of
see this a lot. Dan people are like, just tell
Nick Cassario, you just got a drafted offensive line in
every single round of the draft. Just do it just
like Nick, do it. Well. The problem with that is

(43:49):
Nick Cassario drafted Kenyon Green in the first round of
the twenty twenty two draft. Nick Cassario drafted Juice Scruggs
and Blake Fisher in the second round. So there has
been draft capital spent on the offensive line. They're doing
the right thing that way, they're just not finding their guys.

(44:10):
If you take a center in the second round, he's
supposed to be really good. If you take a guard
in the first round, where that was it? What was
Kenyon Green? Was he fifteen twenty is somewhere to somewhere
in that neighborhood. Yeah, it sounds about right. So I mean,
if you take somebody that early in the first round
at guard, it needs to be a can't miss. So

(44:30):
clearly is what I'm saying is a lot of the
blame needs to lie on Nick Cassario in these draft
picks that have been spent high draft picks. Blake Fisher TVD,
We're not going to say that he's a buster or
anything like that. He's coming along. He's at least playing
better than he was early in the season. He needs
a green gain some strength. We'll see what he can
do as far as attack of going forward. I think
that was a good pick. But right now, those three

(44:52):
guys that I just mentioned, in the last three years,
you've taken those guys in the second or first round.
So draft capital is being spent on the offensive line.
It's just not bearing fruit. That's why I think the
concern is valid. I mean, certain gms do have a
blind spot to certain positions. I mean I brought up
the quarterback example before. There's a reason why teams and

(45:13):
certain gms have not been able to find a quarterback.
They just might not know how to evaluate a quarterback
as well as other positions. Nicko Sario has shown you
he can evaluate linebackers, for example, he can evaluate defensive backs.
We've seen that this year. The defensive backs he brought
in with this draft class been fantastic, and Lasseter and
Kaylen Bullock. I mean, probably even the second guy is exceeded,

(45:36):
far exceeded expectations, and he might just not necessarily be
as a depth at being able to evaluate good offensive
line play. It's a difference between seeing what the guy
is able to do in college because sometimes it translates,
sometimes it doesn't. But clearly, you know, I don't know
if he needs to get another set of eyes as

(45:58):
part of his support group in there and you know,
with scouts and you know, assistant gms or anybody else
to kind of help them out with that. But maybe
that's one of his shortcomings. Yeah. I mean, in theory,
this offensive line coming into this season was one of
the highest paid tackles in the league at left tackle,
it was a first round pick at left guard, is

(46:19):
a second round pick at center, and it's two fairly
higher priced free agents on the right side. So in
a vacuum saying all that without any of their names,
you're like, Okay, we got a first round pick, a
second round pick, and three highly paid free agents. This
should be a really good offensive line. It just has
not materialized at all. Well, and that's the thing as well,

(46:40):
is I mean you're bringing up the draft example of oh,
go draft this guy, to go go draft that guy,
you know, go do all of that. Well, you have
to get him right exactly. I mean, that's that's really
the heart of it all is getting the you know,
the individual player is not a hard thing to do.
It's about making sure that that individual player is the
right guy. And clearly, for the examples that you gave out,

(47:01):
he's not had a very good batting average when it
comes to being able to identify that guy. Yeah, so
he's due. He's due. Maybe Blake Fisher will turn out
to be a stud and then he can get somebody
in this upcoming draft that's gonna be really good and
you'll be set. I still maintain that the majority of
the offensive line changes you're going to have this offseason
will be either through draft or draft, through free agency

(47:23):
or trade. Yeah, it's there's just no easy way to
do it because all thirty two teams, it's every thirty Look,
if you reach general manager of the NFL, obviously they're
gonna be guys who are gonna be boneheaded, make bonheaded moves,
and some I'm gonna be better than others. But if
you ask thirty two general managers how important is offensive line,

(47:44):
they're gonna tell you it's up the utmost importance. Well,
I mean, and that's what you heard the head coach
saying last year. But he was more talking about the
defensive line just because of how badly they got physically
just crushed, dominated by the Ravens in the second half
of that playoff game. And I remember that Monday where
he talked about, we have to call the line of scrimmage.
I will do that on Wednesday. I would probably guarantee

(48:04):
you that when that final press conference of the season comes,
which it will come sooner rather than later, you're gonna
have him talking about that on the offensive line this year. Yeah,
you have limited resources. And it's the beauty of the
NFL is that it is a hard capped league. That's
why to me it has the most parody. To me,
it is the most interesting year to year because of
that hard cap. So uh, but that's those are the

(48:26):
rules you play by. You can't sign everybody, you can't
draft everybody, you can't keep everybody. Nick Cassario has got
to figure this out, and offensive line is priority number
one in the offseason. Well, you better make sure you
get it right this next year because after this, all
of the fun things you just talked about they go
away because you got to sign the quarterback, yes you,
and if you signed the quarterback, that terrible again, then

(48:47):
you can think about it. She's going to be signed
to a long term extension. I know he'll be better.
I mean, he.

Speaker 12 (48:53):
You.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
You don't let a guy like c. J. Stroud go.
He's not hitting free agency. I'm one hundred percent with you.
I get you. So we'll see what happens with this
offensive line as a continue to try to build it.
I mean, and that's really the only choice that you have.
I mean, you know you wanted to be able to
go into this next offseason by being able to add

(49:13):
more toys, either at the receiver position, maybe you go
get a really good tight end out there. Dalton Schultz,
You've been fine, but I'm not going to get where
I want to go because of Dalton Schultz. Now he
could be part of it, but he's not gonna be
the reason that I'm there. There's improvements to be made
at the skill positions. There's zero doubt about that. Yeah,
but it feels almost like we're simulatory arr last year

(49:35):
first and foremost. I mean, there's people who get their
foundation of their house reworked on for a reason, you've
got to rebuild the foundation, and the foundation is the
offensive line, all Right, We're gonna take a quick break
here on The Matt Thomas Show with Ross. You want
to get in, we're talking some textans seven to one
three two one two five, seven ninety, has your trust
in CJ Stroud Wavered Where are we out? On Nick

(49:55):
Casario as well as I bring that up all those
picks on offensive Lineman and none of them have been
smash hits at this point. And Kenny Green to me,
I mean he's a bust right now.

Speaker 7 (50:05):
He is.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
It is what it is and to be determined on
Blake Fisher seven one three two one two five, seven ninety.
The phone number if you want to get in seven
one three two one two five is seven ninety News
at noon and a special treat for all of your
ears coming up at noon as well here on Sports
Talk seven ninety and The Matt Thomas Show with Ross.

Speaker 4 (50:26):
More Matt Thomas Show with Ross now on Sports Talk
seven ninety, Gee, Jerry.

Speaker 7 (50:38):
Let's just put it in live middles in my ride thistle.

Speaker 2 (50:49):
Continuing along here on Sports Talk seven ninety, The Matt
Thomas Show with Ross without Matt Thomas, with Dan Matthews
and with Connor mcgovin as well producing playing the ones
and twos. I like you when you go the Irish.
Connor McGovern more, Oh, Connor McGovern he's a fine lad

(51:09):
from Limerick. He's one of the final from Liricks. Okay,
I always thought he was from bell Frong. Is an
old oaken bucket, although the you know Belfast, Belfast, isn't
that those northern Irish?

Speaker 9 (51:20):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (51:21):
Is he from Dublin? Night old? No, all right, welcome
back here on the show. Didn't want to show for
those northern ross of the Riale here as well. We'll
go into the Spanish accent and we're with you until
two o'clock. We've got news at noon coming up and
a special treat for you as well. In the meantime
you can get in seven one three two one two
five seven ninety. Is the phone number, seven one three

(51:43):
two one two five seven ninety. Quick shout out. Jonathan Fagin, Yes,
been covering the rockets for what thirty years at this
point for the Houston Chronicle, has announced his retirement. I'm
going back to look for the official statement. Yeah, today
is his last day at the Houston Chronicle. He is
hanging them up and Jonathan Fagan shout out to him.

(52:07):
I mean, as far as you wanted Rockets news from
a reliable source, you turned to Jonathan Fagan. I mean
I used to read him in the newspaper back in
the day and wishing him the best in retirement. He's
been great, same as you. I mean, I remember, you know,
trying to rip away the sports page whenever it would
come to the house in the morning. And I mean, yeah,
he was a constant and you know, I remember the
first time got to meet him when I started doing

(52:29):
this work back in two thousand and nine. And professional
in every sense of the word. I mean it's a
massive loss for not only the readers but also too,
I mean just the fans in general, because you knew
that if you're getting the story from him, it was
well vetted, it was well sourced, and it's going to
be a little bit different seeing somebody else on that byline.

Speaker 12 (52:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
And as somebody who you two have as well, Dan,
you've been in media scrums and then there's people Sometimes
you get eye rollers. You're like, what is this person doing?
They're asking questions just to ask Jonathan Fagan a professional
in all of the press availabilities. He asked good questions.
He asked the right questions. He asked the questions that
us as fans and readers and listeners want to know,

(53:14):
need to know. He is always like, he's got one
hundred percent hit rate with questions where he's talking to
the coach, talking to the players or whatever. That is
an underrated skill in this day and age. But something
that he is he is so good at. Well, it's
it's doing the job the way it's supposed to be done.
You do the job, you don't look for extra commendation,

(53:36):
you don't look for any sort of notoriety because oh
you asked you know the question. I mean, you're exactly right.
He's there to do his job and really not concerned
with anything else. And you're right. I mean a lot
of times in a scrum, less is more you don't
have to ask a question. It's already been asked. Then
it's fine. I mean, you know, I don't need to

(53:58):
know why Bobby Slowick was not wearing a hat on
the sidelines. What does that do for me? What does
that do for anybody? You think the fans care about that? No,
I don't need that question exactly. So Jonathan Fagan, now
retiring from the Houston Chronicle, wishing him well in retirement
and a great career. It has been here in the
city of Houston. Seven two one two five seven ninety

(54:20):
is the phone number Chris in Jersey Village has been holding.

Speaker 12 (54:23):
What's up, Chris, Hey, Ross, Good afternoon, guys. A couple
of points, uh.

Speaker 13 (54:28):
First, Earlier this week, I posed the question what are
the Texans had to play for on Christmas Day?

Speaker 12 (54:35):
And I couldn't agree more with what Dan said.

Speaker 13 (54:38):
Dan said everything made it sound like our season was
on the line and we had to play this game
like it was a win or lose.

Speaker 12 (54:45):
That's way it sounded.

Speaker 8 (54:46):
Dan.

Speaker 13 (54:47):
But I have to say playing Pittsburgh with losing the
Baltimore is probably the best thing we could have done.
So I totally disagree with our decision to play CJ
the entire game and play some of our cornerstone players
the entire game. I think they needed a mental break,
especially playing so many games in eleven twelve days whatever

(55:08):
it was.

Speaker 12 (55:09):
And I just felt like that was a mistake there.

Speaker 13 (55:13):
And you guys are talking about the offensive line and
all the high draft picks, you know, but maybe these
guys were drafted before Bobby Slovak and this zone scheme
blocking that we're doing. Maybe these guys that were drafted
before Bobby got here were better suited for other schemes.

Speaker 12 (55:33):
And I think that's what a lot of us.

Speaker 13 (55:35):
Are saying right now with Bobby Slovak, is yes, we
have hurt players, so you have to adapt and play
to your player strenks, you know.

Speaker 12 (55:44):
I think that's what happened in Baltimore for.

Speaker 13 (55:47):
The first couple of years when the quarterback was there,
they they didn't play to his strings. They changed offensive coordinators,
and now they do a different scheme.

Speaker 12 (55:57):
So maybe that's part of it.

Speaker 13 (55:59):
Theseus were drafted before Bobby got here, and there we're
trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Speaker 2 (56:05):
Good show, guys, I appreciate it. I mean I was
more coming at it from the standpoint of you're not
going to beat Baltimore. Twice. You said to rest your
start the starters. I didn't say no Iday to clarify
that I was saying. I was saying it from the
standpoint of, if you can get to the three seed,
I think you feel better about your chances of being
able to advance in the playoffs. If you have to

(56:26):
play Baltimore again. Maybe you would have beat them the
other day, which obviously you lost by twenty nine points,
so that's out the window. But the point is you
aren't going to beat them twice. You're not good enough
to beat them twice. That's a really good coaching staff,
that's a really good team. And even though it would
be back at your place again, it's a blessing in
disguise that you don't have to play them again more

(56:49):
than likely until you maybe get to the AFC Championship game.
I think you get to the AFC Championship game, everything
else of this season is forgotten about because it's hey,
this group got there. Now, you really are seeing progress.
Now we can truly believe that next year is a
massive step forward season. Yeah, that's what I'm going on.
It would take winning a home game against the Steelers possible,

(57:12):
and then going on the road and upsetting I mean,
depending on who it's going to be. As of right now,
it would be the Kansas City Chiefs in but on
the sid unless you get an upset lower in the
playoffs where because thankfully the NFL is smart and they
reseed the playoffs. Here's the thing, though, I mean, do
you necessarily believe that the Texans came out of that

(57:33):
game against Kansas City feeling like we were overmatched. We
can't beat these guys, we can't play with these guys.
I don't. That's another thing. I know. It's a hard
sell for me to say that we're overreacting to a
thirty one to two game. It was an absolute abject
failure in all three phases of the game. It was embarrassing.
It was on national television. Twenty five million people tuned
in to watch the Texans get eviscerated. But the week before,

(57:54):
as you just said, they played pretty close with the
Kansas City Chiefs. They led that game ten to seven. Now,
clearly the Chiefs were better in that game, but I
didn't come away from that game saying the Texans aren't
anywhere in the Kansas City Chiefs league. So this being
a week two week league, and I know, again a
hard sell because this was the absolute this is the
worst game the Texans have played in what years and

(58:16):
years it feels like, and the stage that it happened,
and not looking anywhere close to the Baltimore Ravens. But
if you get ten days of rest, you played your
starters just a smattering against the Titans, you get back
in rhythm, You get a little bit more rest that way,
in that you've afforded yourself the luxury of winning the division.
And this is being class half full to where you

(58:38):
get all this rest, you don't really really play your
starters in the Titans, and you're fresh and ready to
go in a couple of weeks for a home game
hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's not the worst situation in
the world as long as you get your guys back
on the offensive. Long See, here's the class half full
scenario exactly the way that it played out. Because let's
just say that the results with both games you lost.
So some people might say it doesn't matter. But if

(58:59):
you went to Kansas City and you lost the way
that you just did on Christmas Day, you're probably saying, man,
maybe there is something about this place having magic for
them here, you know, maybe maybe maybe it is mental
when you when you face these guys. I don't think
that that's the case. I think the fact that you
went there you had a catastrophic injury to one of
the guys that was really having a really good, really
good game and I think for the most part, people

(59:21):
were looking at Tank Dell and looking at Bobby Slowik
and saying, dude, where was this? Like why why why
wasn't this considered more? Why why wasn't this part of
the game plan more? And once that happened, the air
completely came out of the balloon for that one. Yeah,
and I mean I know that you're not as not
coming back. No, it's not. It's not going next year,
So your offense is going to look different if indeed

(59:42):
you do get that opportunity a second time. But it's
also too as well, kind of back to the lesson
that I said that c J. Stroud would learn, it's
you are never out of the fight. I mean, don't
don't ever take yourself out of the fight. And some
people believe with you know, the way he reacted after
after Tank got hurt, he took himself out of the fight.

(01:00:03):
So what's a better way to, you know, try to
regain someone's confidence, give him another chance, and if he
gets that chance again, you'd love to see if c J.
Stroud can maybe say, hey, you know what, I'm still
that guy. I can still do this. I just think,
I mean, especially if the run game is being bottled up.
You're it's Nicocollins and a whole lot of in the
passing game. So that's gonna be tough. It's gonna be

(01:00:25):
really tough. But I mean, that's that's that's one of
the best examples. I think. You know, we played some
audio from Chris Simms yesterday and he was talking about, Yeah,
Joe Mixon's had a great season, but he's also been
able to run against bad teams. When you face a
good team, he's not been able to do that. So
then Bobby Slowik, let me talk directly to you again.
How do you fix that? You get him involved in

(01:00:46):
the passing game. Yeah. And also, I think speaking of
people being banged up, I mean's multiple ankle injuries this
year for Joe Mixon. I think the these ten days
off plus very light work if any against the Titans
is gonna him well and have him ready to go
for the playoffs. So I'm starting to convince myself that
at least there is they are a complete disasters is

(01:01:10):
back Baby Baby, you are Frank Costanza where you regain
the love of cooking again. Third Baby thirty one to two.
I never even saw it all right, We're gonna take
quick breakway Man Thomas Show, Focks with Ross coming up.
We got the news at noon, a special treat for
you at noon as well. You want to get in
Thank you. I was waiting for that. Connor seven one

(01:01:31):
three two one two five seven ninety the phone number
seven one three two one two five seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (01:01:36):
Nothing can stop me. I'm all the way.

Speaker 4 (01:01:38):
Up, all away.

Speaker 2 (01:01:47):
Eleven thirty three in the am here on Sports Talk
seven ninety ros Viria with you on the Matt Thomas
Show with Ross without Matt Thomas with Dan Matthews and
Connor McGovern will have the news at noon coming up
and also a special treat for you. There is this
the Armed Forces Bowl getting well in the middle of

(01:02:09):
the first quarter as oh, you up fourteen to nothing
on Navy. What's the opt in rate on this ball?
I think they're o you if I'm not mistaken. Did
I hear AC say this yesterday or somebody said it
that thirty percent of their roster was in the portal,
So I mean this might be he don't know what

(01:02:29):
they can Those who stay will be Armed Forces Bowl champions.
Game for OUs, so good for them. I think you
know Danny Stutsman and some of those guys are playing.
But yeah, such as bowl season, now, that's that's what
we get, is everybody in the portal. Although I believe
Coach Prime has a lot of the Colorado Buffaloes playing
the game. Correct, Yeah, I mean, as far as I know,

(01:02:51):
I think you are still going to see Travis Hunter
and some of the guys. There's been a lot of
hype for them there in San Antonio. The it's the storied,
hallowed Alamobile. A Texas Longhorn fan, I can tell you
the Alamobile one of the best in the biz. And
the new age college football, that is two conference teams
playing against each other to the Big twelve right there,
I think that what was it? Jake Rutsloff, the quarterback

(01:03:13):
for BYU, called it the peoples this Big twelve Championship,
the People's Big twelve championship game. So whatever that twelve
supremacy on the line. That's that's how I called the
twenty nineteen Longhorns N Championship the People's Championship. Side the
office building that they call a stadium there, the Alamobile.
You're not playing for anything that really matters. You're playing

(01:03:36):
for Pride. It's the pay Pals Championship at the Alamo Bowl.
We always joke on this show because I've been to
like three Alamobiles as a Longhorns fan, that they Matt
always says that there is a seat for me save
with my name on it, and that's not true at
the Alamobile. But have I taken an old Greyhound bus
back and forth from San Antonio and with an Alomobile
trip in between? Maybe I have? You don't concern yourself

(01:03:58):
with the Alamobile anymore? On the well might be, we'll see.
The standards are much higher now where I mean, it's
even getting to the point where I guess there's not
really New Year six Bowl games anymore because they've been
absorbed into the twelve team playoff. But that would have
been where finally, you know, you know you're in a
good place as a fan base, where you finally say

(01:04:19):
we're playing in the Sugar Bowl, not for the whole thing.
Yeah no, thanks, I'm not going.

Speaker 12 (01:04:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:23):
Well, with the twelve team playoff, the expectation would be
to get in every year, if you but that's also
there's thirty programs who were saying we should be in
the playoff every year, So Alabama says that they're not in.
Blaine Kiffin and Ole Miss probably says that they're not in.
It's going to be a year to year things, So
I mean, maybe it's kind of a case by case
basis too, where if you're playing in the pop Tarts Bowl,

(01:04:45):
then yeah, you want to go, and you want to
you want to get your pop tart. Gonna go crush
some pop tarts. Yeah, that'd be great. Miami another team
I guess Clemson is or was they are actually in
the pop Tarts Bowl. Miami is. Okay, good for them. Yeah,
they're playing against Iowa States. Wishing them the best. All right,
we are rolling along here on the Matt Thomas Show
with Ross Christian and Lamark has got in. So let's

(01:05:07):
go ahead and clear the floor for Christian. Go ahead,
and you are on the show morning, Ross Villa Ringo,
Damn Matthews, Van comm Govern, Hey, Hi Christian, how are you?
How is your Christmas? Christian?

Speaker 8 (01:05:27):
My Christmas was all right, average and boring because of
the fact that the Texan's laws thirty one to two.

Speaker 2 (01:05:33):
But all scrooge it you do you do you have
nepheis Christian? Or do you steal somebody's passwords.

Speaker 8 (01:05:40):
No, I was watching it on you know the station that.

Speaker 2 (01:05:45):
Chael eleven CBS. Does he hate them?

Speaker 8 (01:05:49):
Yes, he hated them back when Tate was having their
issues with Direct TV.

Speaker 2 (01:05:54):
Remember right, that's right, I remember what you're talking about.
I'm sorry, go ahead, Christian, Yeah, but.

Speaker 6 (01:05:59):
Steal bro if.

Speaker 8 (01:06:00):
I just basically wanted to ask these two questions. First
of all, even though Houston hasn't really been in the
sports spotlight outside of the Astros of course losing to Detroit,
I just wanted to basically ask what was your favorite
Houston related sports moment of twenty twenty four? And second

(01:06:20):
of all, with Johnson Fagan retired, They're not seen and
read the post earlier this morning about it. What do you,
I mean, what were your favorite memories about Johnson Fagan
covering the Rockets for the Houston Chronicle.

Speaker 2 (01:06:34):
Favorite moments. I don't have any specific moments necessarily, but
just the fact that he was always there. He was
a great writer, He always told the story. He was
extremely reliable on the beat. I mean, the quintessential beat
writer is somebody who's gonna write postgame articles, They're gonna
write features throughout the year, they're gonna be at press conferences,
they're gonna ask good questions, they're gonna I just be

(01:06:57):
there for everything you need, cover every facet of a team,
and on top of that, breaking news here and there.
You know, it's not like he's to the level of
Woj or Shams or anything like that, but oftentimes throughout
the years he would he would break some stories. So
basically checking every single box of what a beat reporter is,
which is becoming a lost art. And you know, as

(01:07:18):
as it goes along with these newspapers making cuts, which
I hope it wasn't the suffering of a cut for
Jonathan Fagan and his retirement, but if I had to guess,
maybe it's something like that with the Houston Chronicle. I
don't know, but just checking every box, that's what Jonathan
Fagan did for as a beat reporter for an NBA team.

(01:07:38):
It's the same for me. I mean, you know, as
I mentioned in the last segment, he did the job.
I mean, and that's something that I think is a
lost art in this business is it's people who want
to make a name for themselves. You know, they have
ulterior motives for why they're doing the job, and he
did exactly that. He showed up, he worked, and he was,

(01:07:59):
you know, able to outstanding content in return.

Speaker 8 (01:08:04):
Oh, understood. And just to ask question number two, what
was your favorite Houston sports moment of the year that
was actually good?

Speaker 2 (01:08:13):
For one, I'll go the wild Card game last year.
That was beating up on the on Joe Flacco and
the Cleveland Browns. That was fun. Yeah, and then we
don't have to talk about what happened the next week.

Speaker 8 (01:08:27):
Understood, understood, but definitely for certain I agree with y'all
that Browns Texans moment was definitely worth it, mostly because
everybody was mad that Joe Flacco who got off his
lazy rear end just to come back and took an
awar from Hambling, I mean just to I mean basically,

(01:08:48):
he wanted to come back a war for nothing and
he literally got whooped just because he wanted to come
back for Deshaun Watson. But still, though point of the
matter of his I agree with y'all, Browns Texans was
definitely the top notch moment of Houston sports this year.
And hopefully we'll have more than twenty twenty five to.

Speaker 2 (01:09:08):
Look out there. Yeah, hopefully some better ones.

Speaker 8 (01:09:11):
Other than that sports RV. It's been fun talking with you.
I didn't even notice that y'all moved up two hours,
yea four extra hours of this show. It sucks that
the other guy, Northfleet ain't on here anymore, but hey,
hopefully I'll listen to y'all more often and I'll talk
to you on social media until then.

Speaker 2 (01:09:30):
Ross, it's been fun. Yes, thank you, Christian. Yes stand
Northfleet speaking of Jonathan Fagan and cuts it newspapers and
stuff like that. It happens in the radio business as well.
An unfortunate casualty of the business. We have chosen Dan.
But yeah, we are on tended to here on Sports
Talk seven ninety Tell your friends, Tell your neighbors, the
Matt Thomas Show with Ross Matt out today. I think

(01:09:52):
he's back Monday, and we'll be with you. I mean
starting next year, making New Year's resolution to listen to
all four hours here on Sports Talk seven and plus.
Next week we get D of the Year. Correct, Oh,
that is right, we are going to get D of
the Year. And as far as I mean, I'm trying
to come up with great sports moments from this year.
Maybe renewe Blanco is no hitter. Okay, yeah, no, absolutely,
that's up there for sure. I mean Jalen Green's March.

(01:10:15):
The entire month of March, he was incredible, and that's
when I was like, oh my god, he's unlocking his
full potential. He's going to be a star shooting guard.
And well that hasn't happened. But he did have thirty
points for the Rockets, leading the way in a win
over the over the Pelicans. So at least we have
that Astros in Mexico City maybe because fun that's the
one that kind of turned the season around at that point.
And did fromer get a no hitter this year? Was

(01:10:37):
that last year? You got another one this year?

Speaker 6 (01:10:41):
Right?

Speaker 2 (01:10:42):
He was close? Close, that's right, because it was against
the Rangers, and didn't you give up like a two
guardians was last year? Yeah, he got close, that's right,
one out shy, That's what it was. Earlier this year
as I pull it up to run homeer to Corey
seeger I remember now, thank you for jogging my memory
on that. But yeah, the Renault Blanco hitter, I don't know.
Jalen Green's March, the win over the the wild card

(01:11:03):
win back when we really really believe these Texans were
going to be something Dan many many moons ago. The
calendar now turns to twenty twenty five. I mean, that's
the thing, is all. From the beginning of this season,
it kind of was a little bit of huh, is
this a harbinger of what's to come? I mean the
Minnesota game we thought was an anomaly, and then after

(01:11:24):
that we were like, oh mekee cern Then with all
the pressures that were giving up this team is, we
kept waiting and waiting and waiting for them to saying
they're look, they're not playing their best ball. Maybe they'll
really start improving and getting better. Kind of what the
Chiefs did?

Speaker 6 (01:11:37):
You know?

Speaker 2 (01:11:37):
They're back to back Super Bowl champions, So a different
team we're talking about. But Chiefs were winning close games,
not looking their best, but they've really rounded into form
in the last four weeks, looking like a strong contender.
Was hoping something like that it would happen with the Texans.
Unfortunately that has not come to pass. Seven one three,
two point two five, seven ninety is the phone numer
We're going to take another quick break here on Sports
Talk seven ninety. Coming up at noon, we will have

(01:11:58):
the news at noon as we reset all the news
topics of the day. We also will have a special
treat for you coming up at noon. I think you
know what it'll be. We also will have the special
Friday intro. My my goodness, were gonna have to push
the news at noon back. We'll have to see what
goes on here. But we're gonna be with you until
two o'clock. You shouldn't go anywhere. As I said, yes,
the Matt Thomas Show is ten to two here on

(01:12:20):
Sports Talk seven ninety at seven one, three, two, one
two five, seven ninety more Matt.

Speaker 4 (01:12:25):
Thomas Show with Ross now by Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (01:12:46):
Welcome in to the final segment of the second hour
of the Matt Thomas Show four hours. Yes, Christian, just hearing.
For those of you not aware, we are the Matt
Thomas Show with for from ten to two, although Matt's
not here, you know. But there was a little bit
of an adjustment for some of the callers because at

(01:13:08):
two forty five some days I would get, yeah, it
is a prize, it's tailed off. It's tailed off for
the last month, but yeah, I'm calling to play believe
it or not. You know what I need to start doing.
If I do get any of those today, I need
to hang them on what was your favorite part of
the show today. That's what Matt Thomas would do. The
prize horse clocks have not adjusted completely. We are on

(01:13:31):
ten to two. There's that. So the Believe It or
Not segment, which is not on today, normally at one
forty five. So there you go an hour earlier, so
adjust your times accordingly. But it's that or it's also
to the way that we give away our prizes on
the A team is we ask a question so then
you know, of course people will call. I'll usually time
it out, you know, countdown from twenty and then know, okay,

(01:13:53):
you know they heard the question. So let's see if
we get an answer. Oh man, what was the question? Click?
So yeah, I don't do it. I don't do it. Okay,
I'll do it, Thank you, Dan. But one standing ovation
I will give today. You noticed that I was here
with plenty of time to spare before the show, you know,
standing ovation for the drivers out there in Houston today. Oh,
because they weren't there because you did holiday traffic right,

(01:14:18):
There wasn't fifty five mile an hour drivers in the
middle lanes clogging things up for everybody else. There wasn't
useless breaking at any times. You did it well. Congratul
I know that I complain a lot about the drivers
of this city, but today a plus work. I feel
like Demko after a win in the locker room. I'm
giving out game balls. You guys did a great job.

(01:14:40):
Game ball for all of you out there today. Helmet
stickers to follow. Yeah, we're all proud of you. All right.
Seven one three, two two five seven ninety is the
phone number. Dan Matthews is here. I am here, ros
Viria that Thomas on vacation. He will be back on Monday.
Larry in industry has called in here on the show. Larry,
go ahead, everybody, how wrong how you doing today? I'm

(01:15:03):
doing great, that's great.

Speaker 9 (01:15:05):
Hey, how come your voice goes up like a little
girl every once in a while.

Speaker 2 (01:15:11):
That's your problem, man, My voice says. I'm more of
a cackler when it comes to laughing. But I mean
that's who I am, and I'm always gonna be who
I am. I'm sorry if you have a problem with Hilarry.

Speaker 12 (01:15:22):
You gotta be who you are, buddy, and I will
be Larry.

Speaker 9 (01:15:26):
You want to know how to name that game. It's
a grint game because the grint stole Chris and he
told a bunch of money out of my wallet.

Speaker 2 (01:15:36):
Y Larry, how come you tell terrible jokes on air?

Speaker 6 (01:15:39):
Oh no, how can?

Speaker 2 (01:15:41):
I I said? How come.

Speaker 6 (01:15:45):
I lost you?

Speaker 2 (01:15:46):
I know your very lost, Larry?

Speaker 8 (01:15:47):
Go ahead?

Speaker 2 (01:15:48):
Do you want to make a point about the Texans?

Speaker 9 (01:15:51):
Well, and I just hope they reffed everybody. Get the
backup quarterback in there, get him from rev and uh
let let uh let our quarterback just take it day
off and get in mine right for the next game,
and we'll hope for the best. You know, Yeah, you
mind if I asked you a baseball.

Speaker 2 (01:16:11):
Question, sure, go ahead, anything goes.

Speaker 9 (01:16:13):
I know we're talking footballs either. But you know we
got paraded at third now, so we got Walker at first.
We still got to have a right fielder. You cannot
go in the season with you know, McCormick and Mars
and Dumont.

Speaker 2 (01:16:28):
There's no way that works.

Speaker 6 (01:16:30):
Do you agree? Uh? I?

Speaker 2 (01:16:33):
I think I agree. I don't know if Jim Crane
in his pocketbook and Dana Brown agree, well.

Speaker 9 (01:16:39):
They need to they need to get that pocket book
out and then do something with it. But yeah, anyway,
I'll let y'all talk in the Happy New Year, y'all.

Speaker 6 (01:16:47):
All.

Speaker 9 (01:16:49):
I love talking y'all this year.

Speaker 6 (01:16:50):
It was great.

Speaker 2 (01:16:51):
Thank you, Larry, appreciate you getting in. Yeah. As far
as and we do have some baseball news coming up
at the News at noon as well, it's gonna have
to be cheat Like is Jason Hayward gonna come back?
I mean, Alex Verdugo has been a name that's been floated.
They're not gonna be big game hunting as far as
the outfield, it's gonna be a warm body and it's

(01:17:11):
not gonna be anybody that's gonna really really get the
juices fawn and get you excited for this Astros offseason.
I mean, for Dugo, I think would actually be a
little bit more than I would expect. I would think
it was terrible last year. Travis Jankowski is out there.
He's somebody that had a pretty good season a couple
of years ago. Another one that I would possibly keep
an eye on is there's history between Dana and him

(01:17:32):
and a guy that's done pretty well here at Minute
Made Park. I would probably make a run at Adam Duval.
Now there's a lot of strikeouts in that bat. I
get that, but there's also a lot of pull power
in that bat and a guy that can in a
pinch play center field for you as well. He's done
that in the past. You could do a lot worse
than going after a guy like Adam Duvall. It'll be

(01:17:54):
interesting to see. But and there will be names, and
I think we'll come along and it'll be one of those.
You know, there's always the headliners of free agency. It's
gonna be one so too. It's gonna be Alex Bregman.
It's gonna be those types of guys, the Corbyn burns
Is of the world, Blake Snails. But there will be
somebody that's going to be left on the table that's
going to be good value. And I think the Astros

(01:18:15):
are going to be able to find a warm body
for this. Is Dana Brown able to pull off the
outfield version of Josh Hater last year, because remember it
was about what mid January whenever it was where you
had the the Dana Brown, Hey what about Josh Hater? Now, Yeah,
let's give him five years ninety five million dollars. With
the Christian Walker deal, they're already into the tax for

(01:18:36):
next year. Correct. Okay, so two straight years of beating that.

Speaker 1 (01:18:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:18:39):
So look, if Jim Crane wants to do it, that'd
be great. And if he wants to keep doing it,
that's that's not my money. And all the all people
calling him cheap can chutch you obamass up? He's about
to be in the attack for two straight years. Well
and you know, I mean, we heard Dana Brown talking
about how excited he was about Jacob Milton last year.
Is Melton a guy that can break camp? Yeah, it

(01:19:01):
feels like that's a little early timeline wise, but we
shall see. Certainly, time for another break here. On the
Matt Thomas Show with Ross, Larry talked about something that
we've been discussing. Will also bring that up. Should the
Texans full sit their starters or you treat it like
a preseason game? Or do you go full boar all
four quarters to build momentum in the playoffs? Of course

(01:19:21):
that's not going then Texans just give up. That's your questions.
A great question, all right, So we'll get into that
and Alex Bregman News coming up on the News at
noon after this quick break.

Speaker 1 (01:19:35):
Lunchtimers, this is the Matt Thomas Show, twelve.

Speaker 2 (01:19:40):
O'clock NH Town.

Speaker 4 (01:19:42):
Good mo.

Speaker 6 (01:20:00):
Come to whatever I'm about Thomas show with Ross without
about Thomas and what then Matthews, this.

Speaker 2 (01:20:08):
Is sports sock seven ninety. We hated. It's because he
showed his package. We hated justin Timberlake. We've hate we
hate them all. We took it out well, I mean
it was I don't know if he took it out.

Speaker 3 (01:20:21):
I think I think that's what old members do to say, Hey,
you just can't cut jump in here and jump in
get and.

Speaker 2 (01:20:26):
Grab our pie. Ross, do you care to deduct the
genesis of that call? Did Michael blue Blaze sleep with
his wife in the green room? Keith, go ahead and
talk while Dan swallows. I like to lean in the moist.
You gonna sneeze. Here comes one two Now he talked
about it and what away? Oh that's good. Helped. No,

(01:20:49):
Sometimes you gotta get it out, man, Sometimes you gotta
get out of me. Can he doesn't like the lean
and the moisture. You a lean guy or a moist guy.
I think the well done lean is the is the goat.
But you have to be at the right place. Well
done lean, brisket no, no, okay, I don't mean okay,

(01:21:10):
I don't mean cooked well done as an overcook lean
brisket done perfectly well crafted. No, I need perfect mounted
the juice fall apart. Yeah, but when you get the
lean done right, it's juicy. I mean geez, I feel
like this could all be getting cliped now too. Yeah,
you definitely stepped into it. Maybe maybe maybe I saved

(01:21:30):
you from jumping in there too quickly, which if I did,
you're welcome. But I definitely think that the fattiness. You know,
it's kind of like a ribbi. You know, Matthew McConaughey.
Matthew McConaughey taught us on Busting with the Boys that
ribbi is the steak, and because it's got the perfect balance,
it's got you know, really good amount of the cow,
but it's also got enough for the gristle to be

(01:21:50):
able to add that flavor as well. Yeah, I mean,
Ribbi is great. Sometimes you got to fight a Ribbi though,
And that's why I also like the New York strip
as well. I mean, I I don't I definitely don't
step away from a New York strip a file a third.
But anyways, food, it's the overrated of all of them.

(01:22:12):
I I feel like like I feel like fill a.
I'm like, hey, give me a little bit of the Christ.
If they have to wrap it and bacon, your steak,
isn't that good? A lot of times you'll see bacon
wrapped fil A on the menu. Anyways, Uh, stopping Food
Talk seven ninety for a moment, we got we can
we can break steak talking playing in the world of sports.
We got to the News at Noon with Dan Matthews

(01:22:35):
here on the That Tommy Show with Ross. Yeah, news
guy voice is your thing? Okay?

Speaker 12 (01:22:41):
Good?

Speaker 6 (01:22:41):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:22:41):
I mean, I I just show up with them. I
don't even mean to do it. I just hear this
music and it just starts that. But I can't help it.
It's just, you know, I've got the nicely crafted suits though,
so at least I've got that to my game, you know.
I just I don't have the the the news guy hair.
That's that's the problem. But maybe we can work on that.
Rockets beat the Pelicans one twenty eight, one eleven, New

(01:23:02):
Orleans Jalen Green thirty points six of eleven from three.
That's nice to see out of him. How about Cam Whitmore.
I think you had a lot of people who are
part of the Cam Whitmore fan club calling in last
night on Rockets wrap. From what I could hear is
going into the Hall of Fame. Actually might be he
might be on a tour. Had pace twenty seven points
off the bench. And it's gonna be you again tonight

(01:23:24):
for launch Pad and rap Masida Timberwolves in Town or
City Connect unis alright, city edition, The City Connect is
baseball city addition is the NBA, so you're gonna have
the old Summit floor in the h Town Unis tonight
for the Rockets against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Yes,
the competition ramping up for the Rockets, who have won

(01:23:47):
four in a row. As you mentioned, good shooting from
Jalen Green six of eleven from three. How about Fred
van Vliet getting those numbers up overall career thirty seven
percent shooter coming into last night under thirty from three,
but a good seven of twelve good for twenty five points.
So with this stretch of some tough games coming up

(01:24:07):
in this five game homestand if you can get Jalen
Green and Fred Van Vliet knocking down threes. That's gonna
go a long way. You've mentioned it, We've given our shoutouts,
but we can't give enough shout outs to this guy,
Jonathan Fagan stepping away from the Rockets coverage on the
Houston Chronicle twenty seven years on the beat. Like you said,
true professional in every single way. And the stories by
the way too. If you see people who are reacting

(01:24:29):
to it on Twitter, both people in the industry, fans,
everybody of the sort, it's hey, we're gonna miss you man. Yeah,
he's gonna tip a cap from everyone. We Zach Low
covered the NBA for years at the ESPN before getting
laid off, By the way, I mean, to me, the
best basketballball rider on the planet laid off by ESPN.
Don't even get me started with them. But anyways, giving kudos. Also,

(01:24:50):
what is his name?

Speaker 9 (01:24:51):
Met?

Speaker 2 (01:24:51):
Is it Matt Matt Miller who is Hardwood? Yeah? I
think that's roxism. I think that's Matt. It's Met something
or Met Moore. Sorry, I got there, you go. Matt Moore,
who is an asher is the basketball guy. So I
mean Tim McMahon. Everybody's weighing in, you know, and it
makes me happy. It makes me feel good because I mean,
what I thought of my head is like Jonathan Fagan
is so good, as I mentioned, checking all the boxes,

(01:25:13):
writing good stories as far as game stories, writing good
features in season, covering the team, answering the right questions
there for every game, home or road. He is the
quintessence of a great beat reporter, and he will be
missed here in the Houston media, especially for someone like
me who we here on radio. We play a lot
of these postgame availabilities a lot of times. He's answers

(01:25:35):
we get and we play on the radio are only
as good as the people asking those questions. So he's
you're hurting our programming, Jonathan, we are. You're hurting my
post games and my pre games because you're great, correct
right necessary questions that you ask are going to be missing.
What would Daryl Moore, I'm upset? What would Darryl Moury
say to Jonathan Fagan today? Okay, fine, I'll be I'll

(01:25:57):
you just for the end of the year. I'll be
your performance monkey. Great loss for the city of Houston
and Jonathan. And We've had our battles over the year,
but I have great respect for Jonathan and what he's
done for the Houston media market over the last several
years and wishing him the best in retirement. Darrel, What

(01:26:18):
were what were some of those battles. Oh, he thought
James Harden wasn't gonna win US a championship. And while
he was right on that one, but I ran a
seven hundred and sixty five simulations in multiverses and we
run championships in two hundred and four of them. So
he was wrong in that sense, but in the sense
of this is the universe we live in, he was correct.

(01:26:40):
Anything else you want to go in the further detail about,
you know, it's a lot of proprietary you know, patents
and trademarks, so I can't go too much into the
simulations that we run. But with Jonathan Fagan going to
be missed. Yeah, and I'm sure mister Alexander feels the
exact same way as well. On the Texans front, they're

(01:27:01):
off these last couple of days and as he's al
Shay here, he's back officially been reinstated from suspension. Aaron
Wilson the first on that yesterday to point that out
that as these could come back inside the building, happy day. Yes,
he's back from crushing Trevor Lawrence into oblivion. So good

(01:27:21):
to have him back. A good piece, necessary piece, I
mean as far as the defense, and I'm not saying
that he would have been a difference maker and stopping
Derek Inery. Come on, he's a twenty nine point difference maker.

Speaker 6 (01:27:33):
I know it.

Speaker 2 (01:27:33):
They would have won that game if we're available. But no,
you're getting pieces back. If you get alshy earback, you
get guys healthy, Tank Dell unfortunately not coming back stuff
on Diggs as well, but you get juice scrugs, you
get Wilson. Am I thinking of who's who's been a
shy jack healthy? Yeah, you get everybody fully healthy. This
team can compete. Now, they're not gonna win. The ceiling

(01:27:55):
is very is not as high as we were hoping,
and I think a lot of that because of the
offensive line issues. But you get some pieces back things
things can look better for the Texans in a couple
of weeks come playoff time. All right, So I've got
a Bregman bit that you mentioned, but we're gonna hold
that to the end here so we can then carry
it over. Let's go a little pop culture here. Bad
news guys, if you ever thought you had a shot

(01:28:16):
at dualipa. Well, British actor Callum Turner has beaten you
to the punch, the singer and the actor. Nowadays, there's
a movie reference for you if it Where is my ding?
You've had more than I have today. It's impressing. No,
you know what, it's your fault. As Matt said, It's
like he just gets in your brain, especially whenever you're here,
and now whenever we make a movie reference, we're gonna

(01:28:38):
get a ding. Hey. Look, I mean I just I'm
picking and choosing my spots. That's all it is. I'm
picking when I am going to dial up pressure and
when I'm gonna hold back and play coverage. Yeah. I
like that, Dan, You're picking and choosing your spots. All right?
What else?

Speaker 1 (01:28:51):
All right?

Speaker 2 (01:28:51):
So you mentioned Alex Bregman, Maybe the Detroit Tigers as
a possibility is not off the table. President of Baseball
op Scott Harris saying earlier today that newly acquired infielder
Glaber Torres is going to play second for the Tigers
this season, So a potential Alex Bregman and h Hinch
reunion remains alive. I was talking with a buddy of

(01:29:12):
mine about this. Earlier today. He had mentioned about somebody
from MLB network. I couldn't remember exactly who it was,
but they floated out the idea that Bregman would be
looking for seven years to ten. Now we've heard the
rumors that they were looking for a deal upwards of
two hundred million, So that might be the sticking point.
It not might be. It is the sticking point for

(01:29:33):
teams right now, because if teams really wanted Alex Bregman
at that price, then he would be on their team
right now. But the fact that he's got it so high,
I'm thinking he's going to be closer to one to
eighty seven years. That might even be high ten for
Alex Bregman. When you hear that, what does that make
you think? And also that is important or notable, I

(01:29:54):
should say the Glabor Torres could be playing second base
for the Tigers. Does that mean Alex Bregman is going
to be reunited with a J. Hinch and be a
Detroit Tigers. Yeah. Yeah, But and we can talk about
this on the other side. Maybe there's other concerns for
the Tigers. They got a lot of concerns. They're the Tigers,
all right, even though they beat your astros, our astros

(01:30:16):
seven one three two, one two five, seven ninety the
phone number you want to talk some astros, we can
do that. We've also been talking about the Texans and
the offensive line Rockets on a four game winning streak.
It isn't Anything Goes Friday. Anything you want to get
to at seven one two, one two five seven ninety
seven one three two one two five seven ninety more
Matt Thomas Show with Ross now Sports Talk seven ninety

(01:30:55):
twelve nineteen in the PM. Here on Sports Talk seven
ninety The Matt Thomas Show with Ross without Matt Thomas,
with Dan Matthews and Conna McGovern. You can send tweets
at sports RV if you would like, at Dan Matthews
hou as well, and at Conna Deep McGovern if you
would like to get to him as well. It is

(01:31:15):
in Anything Goes Friday on the show. We have non
Florida stories coming up at one thirty, and really that's
about it as far as planned segments, So you folks
want to get in. Normally we'd be previewing a Texans
matchup with a weekend, but well they played on a
Wednesday night, and judging by the review, I'm sorry the

(01:31:36):
viewership numbers that have come out. Dan, I don't think
we're going to ever have another Christmas again without football.

Speaker 7 (01:31:43):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:31:44):
That's another thing that I thought of today, is not
even just Christmas. It's gonna be interesting to see how
many times on national TV next year the Texans make it,
because I think the NFL could possibly look at it
as well. They didn't do so hot last year, So
is it necessarily going to be a novel matchup to
have them on TV that people have to watch? I
mean the luster might be themselves. Well, the luster might

(01:32:06):
be gone a little bit. Yeah, well, the fact that
they're a playoff team should get them in there. I
think it'll be dialed back. What was it five? Would
be calling them standalone games because I wasn't national television.
It was on Netflix and the Saturday game as well.
So how many was it? Was it five or six?
Someone like that? Yeah, it was five. You had two
Sunday nights, you had a Thursday night, of Monday nights,

(01:32:28):
and then of course the Netflix game. Okay, so I'm
gonna bet the under unless the Texans really make some
moves in the AFC Playoffs, which I'm not anticipating at
this moment, nor should anybody else. I'm gonna bet the
under on five games for them next year. But Netflix
coming out with the numbers, Sunday Night Football had been
averaging twenty two million per week and that's one of

(01:32:48):
their highest averages since twenty fifteen. And it was over
twenty five million for the Texans games with Texans game
with the Ravens, with it peaking at twenty seven million
with Beyonce, and then I think the first game was
like twenty two million. I'll have to go back and
look it up. But by as far as the the
not ratings, I guess, but how many actual people watching

(01:33:09):
the game. Because Netflix can get the data better than
to say what arbitron not arbitron uh Nielsen can provide.
You're going to get the first place schedule again, obviously
because you just won first place team NFC South, but
you're also getting the AFC West and the NFC West.
Next year, they'll have another Thursday, they'll be back on

(01:33:30):
Thursday Night Football, they'll get a Monday.

Speaker 7 (01:33:31):
Not only the.

Speaker 2 (01:33:32):
Raiders still suck, but the AFC West is gonna be
kind of tough NFC West, I'm going three. I think
that probably I would be surprised if it's more than
three National TV games next year. And then they're your
first place opponents being the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills,
which I think the Ravens would be at their place.

(01:33:52):
Can we get back to the fourth place schedules or
the third place schedules? Bill's and Ravens guarantee Bill's Ravens
chiefs at this moment guaranteed to be on the schedule
that thus, you know, this is the blessing and the curse.
Winning your division is also going to get you the
tougher first place schedule. So Ravens Bill's Chiefs guaranteed to
be on the schedule for the Texan schedule, permitting sports

(01:34:16):
MT trip to Buffalo. What it depends on what time
of year. Man who jumps to the table. If we
go off September, what it'd be you, dan Oh, I'd
be the one jumping through the table. We're putting you
through the table, all right, So we make Connor government
do it. He's spry, I mean, one of us.

Speaker 9 (01:34:31):
We're old.

Speaker 2 (01:34:31):
We're gonna break our backs, all right. I even think.
There's a guy too that you can either put on
a poncho if you want. People don't, But there is
a guy that you get a hot dog from the
grill and then he stands on top of like a
bus or an RV or something and just starts scorting
ketchup and mustard down. Yeah. Yeah, I don't want to
go to bout. I don't like the cold now. First

(01:34:52):
of all, I don't like these seventy five freaking degrees
every day, which is a seventy five to eighty, which
is what it's been here in Houston. It's muggy and
it's disgusting, and it's like dreaming of a white Christmas.
I'm dreaming of Christmas we get under seventy. But I
also I don't want cold. I don't like anything under
like it's out of the question. We're not doing it.
I'm not jumping three tables, none of those things. But

(01:35:14):
I'm not trying to get frostbite in the middle of
Orchard Park, New York. I mean, there's there's not enough
Bourbon two that can warm me up. There's not enough layers.
It's none of those things. Yeah, I'm out, all right,
count So Buffalo has been scrapped. That's fine. Yeah, you
know what, have a good time. I'm wishing you the best.
Maybe maybe Connor McGovern will go for you with you

(01:35:35):
if if his brother, if his twin, Connor McGovern is
still in the Buffalo bills. All right, that's a bet.

Speaker 6 (01:35:40):
I like it.

Speaker 2 (01:35:40):
I think we can make that happen. Jersey, yes, yeah,
you do have his jersey. Yeah. See, it's like you're
like the Wizard of Oz voice. We don't have your
camera in here, Connor, so we don't know if you're
even here, what you're doing, or if you're even paying attention,
or if you're eating. Maybe he's like Matt, although he
sounded like he was in less of a corn silo
that Matt was when he Oh, he delivered us his

(01:36:02):
his treats. Yes, by the way, I did want to
thank Matt Thomas for calling us from inside of a
Folgers can and giving us that that wonderful greeting at
the beginning of the twelve o'clock. Sure it wasn't the
bathroom like at a restaurant or something. Yeah, did you
hear a flush at the end of that. I think
I'm just saying, Okay, or air blade. Yeah, okay, those

(01:36:24):
things are the worst. Why save our planet, Dan? The
save our planet? Do you you selfishly? You want to
use all of these paper towels? The trees are already Damn,
you're wasting the trees. You have to conserve, Dan, We
only get one planet. Haven't you ever heard of Earth Day?

Speaker 8 (01:36:41):
Wait?

Speaker 2 (01:36:41):
I thought the straws were the problem. It wasn't the
paper towel straws too. All right, it's going up these
turtles noses. Okay, Leonardo and Michael Angelo are trying to
go about their business in the sea and next thing
they know, they got a plastic straw up their nose.
That's weird. How do they eat pizza with fins? Yeah?
I don't know, all right, that's that's a question for
the animators. I'm not sure. All right. The Ninja Turtles lore,

(01:37:03):
you know, is the secret of the ooze dude? Come on,
raised by Master Splinter eating pizza. Depending on whichever major
chain wants to to sponsor them. Can you imagine, like
what that It's not even a focus group, it's what
that board meeting is of. All right, Hey, the new
Ninja Turtles movie is coming out. We have to be
the one who wins the bid. Yeah, that's true. Little Caesars,

(01:37:25):
I I think that are Little Caesars are mid yeah,
middle Mesers. I think is trying to really raise their game.
They are. The quality has gone up. The hot man,
they'll sleep on the Hot and Ready lived very much
sleep on the hot readies. Now, when I was like
a broke producer like connom mc govern, I would just
go and spend my five bucks and inhale in entire
Hot and Ready and that was gonna say the Hot

(01:37:46):
and Ready can't be messed with. But the quality of
that that restaurant has gone up over the years. They've
reinvested in their product, but they got a new arena
up there, so they've got even more revenue that can start,
you know, kind of flowing in a little bit normally
when people are making money like it just goes to
the CEO Oh's pocket. Looks like a little feels like,
at least to me, either every other quality of the
other chains has gotten worse or Little Caesars has gotten better.

(01:38:09):
I'm not sure which. I've I've got my favorites out there,
but you know it's every once in a while there's
a shopping center near me where I'm like hot and ready.
That'll do well. If you want a sponsor, just go
ahead and call seven one three two one two eight thousand.
Say you want Dan Matthews to speak for your pizza restaurant.
You are the pizza connoisseur of Houston. Massive, massive, huge,

(01:38:29):
you know, I mean huge. Some people might say that
Dave Portnoy is the king of pizza. Oh that's Friday.
What is the one bite? Yeah? Yeah, I think I
think that I wear that mantle. I wear that crown
here in Houston. So you're throwing some breadsticks. We're gonna
call it maybe bytes. Is this like, oh, make another
boop of six minute abs? That's it? No, seven two
bite pizza for views. Step into my office because you're fired.

Speaker 9 (01:38:55):
There we go.

Speaker 2 (01:38:55):
We're just trying to rack him up for you. Connor.
He made me step into that one, and fine, I did,
I did? I let you know what I ali ut
And you dunked it down like Jaen Green and I did.
I don't let a teammate down. I appreciate that all right.
Time for another break here It is the Matt Thomas
Show without Matt Thomas, with Ross with Dan Matthews with you.
We're We're well. I was meaning to talk about Alex

(01:39:16):
Pregman in that segment. As we mentioned at the end
of the last one seven years, two ten has been
the number that has been floated for Alex Bregman. Also,
the Detroit Tigers having Glaber Torres play second, does that
mean Alex Bregman is slotting in to third. We'll talk
about it when we come back. We'll also take all
your calls if you'd like to get in. It is

(01:39:37):
in Anything goes Friday at seven one three two, one
two five seven ninety seven one three two one two
five seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (01:39:46):
Matt Thomas Ross viial It's the Matt Thomas Show with
Ross on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 14 (01:40:02):
It's his time, baby, the Jake Myers takeover in the
twenty twenty five season, locking down the center field spot
with gold glove defense, knocking out thirteen or so bombs
over the fence and striking out on every outside slider.

Speaker 2 (01:40:23):
That comes his way. It's Jake Myers' time. Twenty twenty
five Houston Astro. You spoken into existence, you will it?
I mean it's going to happen now. I mean that's
that's exactly that. It is, no dream that is that
is Yeah, you're exactly right, Walter soapcheck.

Speaker 6 (01:40:41):
I skit stop.

Speaker 2 (01:40:42):
This is your fault. It's so fun, isn't it. And
it's almost like getting to play actor without actually actually
need to leave. Dan, just get out of here. I'm
making too many movies, Riff. It's fine. Get get the
hell out, ees, It's fine by me. I can go
get coffee now. Opening day outfield, I will say, Chaz

(01:41:04):
Jake Dubon or are we going with any other combination
on the planets? Any other combination? To be right, I mean,
I think that you're going to have a free agent
brought in. Is it gonna be necessarily the sexiest name?
Probably not. But here's another one too. A buddy of
mine brought this up to me the other day, and
I agree, why not make a run at Ben Gamble again?

Speaker 6 (01:41:24):
Hey?

Speaker 2 (01:41:25):
Ben Gamble was great? How's he doing these days? So
that's what a thund like. I feel like there will
be some name that we're not even necessarily putting on
our radar that can that will be found. The thing
I've found is to me, it seems like Dana Brown
speaking of guys, like Ben Gamble, you know, Taylor Scott
coming out of nowhere. There's some other examples. It seems

(01:41:45):
like finding something that's not really working out in another
place and having it work here. Jason Hayward last year
as well. Dana Brown's done a pretty good job doing
that and so far into his short tenure as astros
GM Well, it's like, you know, when he sat down
with me and you last year at a spring Tray
asked him about the scout's eye, you know, and and
that's what he always talks about. Oh, the scout's eye,

(01:42:05):
the scout's eye, And that's the thing. I think he
looks for certain intangibles what could work here. I mean,
Hayden was an esky. They talked about him from the
pitching perspective of, you know, we see some things that
maybe we can tweak here and make him even better.
The Villo's there, the stuff is there. I mean, I'm
like irrationally excited about Hayden. Went wasn't esky when you
look at like a lot of his Okay, and of
course we know eer A and other numbers can definitely

(01:42:27):
be misleading, but like, I just feel like it's gonna
happen again, like the astros are gonna bring a picture
over here, who's got good stuff, as you said, Vello,
and then he's they're gonna tweak it there with a
pitch mix whatever, and he's gonna be good for the ash.
So you gets Josh Miller, who makes that toward pace
to the mound. Keep an eye out for that this year.
Whenever Josh Miller makes a mound visit, he walks out

(01:42:49):
there with authority, like he walks out there with a purpose.
I mean, you know, he's a time limit. But it
used to be Kristavinsky had the strut, Like he doesn't
have the strut. He just he walks out there. And
Christevinsky was falling away like he was falling down in
at the end of his delivery. But then remember, you know,
walking off the mound. He was done for that, and
I think you guys even brought it to his attention
and he was like, what are you talking about? Just walking?

(01:43:10):
It's just like, well it looks a certain way, but
but no, I mean, you know, that's that's another guy
that if he hits this year, you can look at
Dana Brown and say, you're pretty good at evaluating talent like, yeah,
so we will see what happens the outfield. And now,
I mean, are we putting the pieces together? Do we
think Alex Bregman will be a Detroit Tiger? Now that
was the Brian Bogus that we did gut feelings when

(01:43:32):
he was in last Tuesday. His gut feeling was Detroit
Tigers for Alex Brigman. Well, I mean, I just I
feel like if he was going to be a Yankee,
if he was going to be a Red Sox, it
would have already been done. I mean, what's the hold up?
What's the weight? The player is not going to improve
between now and whenever you would possibly put an offer
in front of him. So do you like him or
do you not? And clearly I think those teams are

(01:43:55):
showing you they are not as high on him as
maybe he is on joining them. Yeah, ever won three two, one,
two five seven ninety. Lewis in sugar Land has gotten
in on the phone lines. What's up, Lewis? Hey, guys,
Happy holiday to both of you. Lewis Hey, I think
I must be the.

Speaker 15 (01:44:14):
Only person in this town that actually likes the Kyle
Tucker trade. You know, I know they tried to get
parit's last year at the deadline. But I really like
this cam Smith kid and the picture they got I
think is going to surprise a lot of people. And
you know, Tucker missed what three months last year and

(01:44:38):
then you know he basically did nothing in the playoffs,
and you know, if he's not going to resign with us,
I think we got the best possible package that we could.

Speaker 2 (01:44:50):
So I just I want to hang up and see
what you guys think.

Speaker 15 (01:44:53):
And also y'all had mentioned Ben Gammel, what do you
think about, you know, as a stopgap bringing back Jay Hayward.
I thought he did a pretty decent job when he
was here. Thanks so much and happy New Year.

Speaker 2 (01:45:06):
Yeah, thank you, Lewis, appreciate it.

Speaker 16 (01:45:07):
You.

Speaker 2 (01:45:07):
We did mention Jason Hayward as somebody, I mean just
made a passing brief mention. But as an astro in
twenty four games he had an ops A seven fifty
six two eighteen average, not great. He did have four
home runs, plays pretty good defense and was playing left
field for the first time in his career and things
a little bit different back there. And selfishly, great interview,

(01:45:30):
really great, really great interview. So I'd be on board
with with Jason Hayward coming back into the fold for
the Astros, and you know what else with Hayward, what
are you losing to Alex Pregnant. You're losing leadership, You're
losing a guy that was someone who kind of had
commanded that clubhouse. Hayward was only here for a short time.
You already had people talking about man with a clubhouse presence.

(01:45:50):
He's great. Like you know, you had Mauricio Dubonnet at
the end of the season talking about growing up in
Honduras and watching Jason Hayward and now having a chance
to be able to be on the same team and
in the same clubhouse with him. So you're going to
be looking probably for someone to kind of step into
that role. But I mean, you bring back Jason Hayward,
I think you're able to kind of accomplish that one

(01:46:12):
as well. Yeah, thirty five years old on his third
team since twenty twenty two. So it's not like you're,
as Lewis said, stop gap. I mean, not somebody that
you're here expecting to throw out there every day and
hit you thirty home runs or anything like that, but
someone that can be productive if you play platoon matchups.
You put them in against the right pitching, the right
pinch hitting situations, which I would say Joe Spott it

(01:46:36):
was great at last year. He perhaps can provide some value. Well, see,
you made a choice this year, and you're a year
ahead of what I thought the Astros were going to do.
I thought this year it was going to be we're
not spending money on first base. We're spending money on
first base for a guy we can't even use. So
that's not going to happen. You're going to have to
get creative over there. Remember Dana talking about having to

(01:46:56):
get creative. But I thought that move was going to
come next year. And then they felt like, obviously when
they couldn't get Alex Brugman back, that it was the
time to do it. You've got some good first base
options right now, pull power first base options, so that's
another thing that can help you at your home ballpark.
And a god, it's won three straight goal gloves. So
you do that next year. Maybe you do have to

(01:47:18):
kind of ride it out with what you were going
to do at first base and go stop gap. As
you just threw out there platoon a little bit in
the outfield not going to be a great offensive outfield,
and it is you know a little bit of you
need Chaz to be better than he was last year,
because last year he was not good.

Speaker 7 (01:47:34):
Ugh.

Speaker 2 (01:47:35):
So if you get something in between that helps, that's
what we have to figure out as well. Who man
If I say you're going for Kyle Tucker and right
field to Chas McCormick, it's a down grade. There's snigffickant
down across the board for all three positions. But you're
going to have money coming off the books next year.
Maybe that's when you make a run at a pretty

(01:47:56):
serious outfielder that is able to then have you look
looking at that group and saying, huh man, okay, all
of a sudden, that so bad? I mean, just just crazy.
How I mean the the the drop off from year
to year for Chas McCormick, of course, probably was going
to have a drop off from the year before when
he hit twenty two home runs because you know he

(01:48:19):
was in spot duty and a catching lightning in a bottle.
But to drop off as significantly as he did, my gosh,
I mean, and is that but and he's that banana
pudding or whether what was the bread pudding. What kind
of pudding was It was banana pudding. Okay, yeah, it
was been in a pudding that Dusty would bring him.
And how funny is it too? You know, you finally
get your wish of Chas McCormick's playing every single day,

(01:48:40):
and people were angry that Chas McCormick was playing every
single day. I know, maybe sometimes the fans don't know everything,
but of course neither do we. Sitting in front of
these microphones, we're all just talking to simple. I've got
a pretty good batting average the sports dog my batting
average terrible at seven one three two one two five
seven ninety. Is the phone number if you'd like to
get in seven one three two one two five seven ninety.

(01:49:01):
Those you on hold, We'll get to you. As we
continue along, we get non Florida stories coming up. At
one thirty, It is The Matt Thomas Show with Ross
without Matt Thomas with Dan Matthews. With you until two pm.

Speaker 1 (01:49:12):
Matt Thomas return Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (01:49:16):
Baseball, football, basketball.

Speaker 1 (01:49:18):
As home for your home teams.

Speaker 2 (01:49:35):
Welcome back to The Matt Thomas Show with Ross without
Matt Thomas with Dan Matthews. At seven one three two
one two five seven ninety. Ros VI Real with you,
Dan Matthews, conmerc Govern as well you on the phone
lines at that number that I said seven one three
two one two five seven ninety. You can also send

(01:49:56):
some tweets at sports RV like it's it's depress. It's
like a Jonathan Fagan love fest. And that's great, But
Houston Media is losing one of its best members today
with Jonathan Fagan into retirement. Covering your Houston Rockets, who
have won four in a row. Don't look now number two,
as they will have been steady number two in the

(01:50:18):
Western Conference. But I mean the games keep racking up.
We're thirty games into an eighty two game season. That's
not nothing in the Rockets still at the number two
spot in the West. What's the role in Major League Baseball?
Is a Memorial Day? You can start looking at the standings. Yes, well,
I think the Memorial Day of the NBA season is okay,
So like this, now that your past Christmas Day, you

(01:50:39):
can look at the standings and say maybe we got
something here. Maybe, but we do four game cushion to
say stay in the top six. I think that should
be the focus because it is a tightly packed and
tough top six in the West Thunder, Rockets, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Nuggets,
and Lakers for the moment, although the Lakers and Clippers
both LA teams tied at seven and a half games

(01:51:00):
back of the Thunder. Seven one three, two two five
seven ninety is the phone number will in memorial on
the phone lines.

Speaker 6 (01:51:06):
What's up, hey, guys, you know, let me get this
out about the Astro before I go to my Rockets.
Come in. I haven't heard you. Guys mentioned Nessa Loreano
and used to play man. He was actually an Astro
farm hand and played in Oakland and he finished up.
I'm sorry, Ramone Nessell was a former player. Yeah, Ramontelariano, you're.

Speaker 2 (01:51:28):
Kind of knocking around. He has been a great outfielder,
but he's just had some significant drop off in his
game the last couple of years, although he's pretty good
for Atlanta.

Speaker 6 (01:51:39):
Yeah, yeah, okay, I got to get this comment in.
I'm a long time basketball fan and I had the
privilege to watch the Bernard King play right, So when
the Rockets took u wibore Uh last year's draft, I
called my buddy up in Dallas. I said, man, you
need to see this guy. I said, this guy reminds
me of Bernard King. And he said, yeah, to take

(01:52:00):
a look at it. And he has his quick first
step and he's real explosive off the job. And I'm
telling you, I think they got a player in camp
with Boar. I really do believe they have a player
in camp wit Boar. So you tell me what you
think about that one, all.

Speaker 2 (01:52:14):
Right, thank you will. Yeah, I mean, I mean Bernard
King one of the great scorers of all time. I
mean dropped fifty. I think they even had a sixty
point game, if not multiple. But I'm not necessarily I
think of man Bernard King very unique. But yeah, as
far as like big, stout, strong guys, not saying that
I've seen a ton of Bernard King games, but I
have watched a lot of hardwood classics in my day

(01:52:35):
and have seen some Bernard King games more of also
kind of like like lived in the mid range type
of guy. And of course, well with the way the
NBA is cam went more and more of a three
point shooter. But as far as kind of like the
bigger barrel chest but still fast type of scores, I
can see I can buy a little bit of what

(01:52:55):
you're selling there with that, with that comparison, But as
far as you know how he fits into this rock
Its team, they mentioned it last night, and I mean
we played some of the postgame audio on the Rockets wrap,
Fred van Vliet and Cam Whitmore himself talking about scoring
and knowing that Cam Whitmore can score. It's about those
other things. And I thought Cam Whitmore with some good

(01:53:17):
insight into talking about very bluntly being trusted by coach Udoka,
clearly saying without saying it that he hadn't been trusted
by coach Udoka in years past. But I thought the
effort and energy in all facets of the game was
great last night. No, by the way he scored twenty
seven points. Well, it's also too. I mean you're looking
towards this year's trade deadline and wondering if this is

(01:53:38):
the year that the Rockets actually do make a move,
because last year you were wondering if they were going
to be in position felt like they were and they
didn't decide to make a move. Where you're looking for
some scoring in this team, either it's from your starting five,
which some nights you get it, or some nights it's
one or two of the guys are way off and
you need to try to find it somewhere else. Performances

(01:54:00):
like you got last night, that that knocks off a
wishless item for somebody that you feel like you would
want to try to add to the trades because you've
needed three point shooting on this team. That is by
far the weakness on this team. The outside shot is
not anywhere close to being a strength for this team.
You get four of eight from him last night, twenty

(01:54:20):
seven points. That's somebody that you feel I can be
a microwave off the bench for you, a little bit
more energy to go along with the Terror twins.

Speaker 6 (01:54:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:54:30):
Well, with Tarry Easton gonna be day to day, hopefully
he'll be back today. I think they're just kind of
keeping his injury with kid gloves and treating his injury
with kid gloves and making sure that he's gonna be okay.
So you get Tarry Easton back into the fold. You've
been getting him in Thompson in the starting lineup. I mean,
he only had you look at the box where you're like, okay,
nine points whatever, okayyah ten rebounds that's pretty good. But

(01:54:51):
he had five blocks. He had huge impact defensively on
the game. He was second highest on the team at
a plus twenty two arm. Sorry excuse me, third to highest.
Jashon Tate, by the way, had a great night as well.
But with all these pieces playing well for the Rockets.
This came up on the postgame show last night, Dan,
what does that mean for Reed Shephard clearly? Organizationally, I

(01:55:12):
think if they wanted to put him in the G League,
they would have done it already, but it hasn't happened.
That's something that a lot of people have been talking about,
maybe getting him some a little bit of seasoning, getting
his confidence up, and allowing him to go down there
for a little bit to the Rio Grand Valley, get
some seasoning, and maybe come back by seasons in. One
thing you hear from good teams in any sport is

(01:55:33):
practices are harder than the games. So I'm wondering if
that's the tact the Rockets are taking with him, is
we put him through five on fives in practice. He's
going against our guys. We know they're physical, we know
they defend, we know that they're going to play him
as tough as anybody plays him in this league, and
maybe that in essence is his game time. That's when
he's starting to kind of gain that confidence, earn that

(01:55:55):
trust from ema Udoka that you just talked about with
Cam Whitmore, because Whitmore was a little bit of a
slow study. Last year. He did some good things. Then
this year you see him down in the G League,
You're like, what's up. Obviously, clearly on the on the
on the practice floor, he was not showing ima Udoka
enough to say, yeah, I can give you some meaningful minutes.

Speaker 6 (01:56:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:56:14):
And then really by necessity, because it was that game
in Toronto where the Rockets were awful. They were terrible.
I mean, and you're looking when you see the substitutions
coming in he and Jay Shawn Taate where that to
me showed me e May's being serious in terms of
you're not giving me what I need. I'll go to
these guys. I'll give him an opportunity. What do you
hear people say all the time, I'll give me an opportunity,

(01:56:36):
give me a chance. Well, here you go, and they
both made the most of it, and now there are
even two more guys that he can trust in a pinch. Yeah,
it's it's been great to see the way that this
team has grown. And really it's about buying in and
in twenty twenty four, you got to be like a
certain type of coach and with a certain really a

(01:56:59):
type of charisma, type of like to where you're not
gonna get tuned out where you have these young players
that Jalen Green to Cam Whitmore's or whoever to to
to really go in and buy into what you're trying
to sell. What Udoka is but is about being a
complete player, and I think we're we're seeing it right
now with Cam Whitmore and the way that he's playing.
Not that he's you know, lockdown defense or anything like that,
but Albryn ching Goon has been improving on the defensive side.

(01:57:21):
We mentioned you mentioned the Terror Twins with u Aman
Thompson and Tari Eason. I mean then the guys like
Fred Van Vliet, Dillon Brooks when he's healthy. I just
love this these kind of like maulers and brawlers that
the that the Houston Rockets have become. He's got a
perfect balance of what you want for a guy that
fits the profile that im Udoka has. He's a former player,

(01:57:44):
but he also too has a good he He has
a good grasp of letting his guys know I'm not
your buddy, I'm your coach. Like that's that's how this goes.
I know what you're going through, because let's look at
coaches who in the past. The first time around, it
didn't go so well. Jason Kidd, I think it was
like he wouldn't even a year remove from the game
and he's already a head coach in the NBA. And

(01:58:05):
I remember at the time I was working with Sam Mitchell,
former NBA player, former coach, and he had talked about
that you have to sometimes learn to stop thinking like
a player, and he didn't think that he had enough
time to be able to do that. It didn't go
well the first time. Then he got another opportunity with
the Mavericks that's going much better, took him to the
NBA Finals last year. So sometimes you have to go

(01:58:27):
through those trials and tribulations of making that transition. And
he may Udoka seemingly has that. It's I know, when
I've got to be able to press the gas on
these guys in terms of getting into them or kind
of tail back and say they're professionals, they'll figure it out.
All right. We got to take a quick break here
on the Matt Thomas Show with Ross Without Matt Thomas,

(01:58:48):
Rockets have won four in a row, big home stamp
coming up. What is your prediction for how they do
with these games coming up? Starting tonight on the second
half of a back to back against the Minnesota Timberwolves,
Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks. By the way, no Luka Doncic
with the calf strain that he has suffered. Then you
have the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers after that.

(01:59:11):
I think we are going to learn a lot about
the Rockets on this homestand we know that they're one
of the best teams in the West right now. Some tough,
tough tests coming up. We'll talk about that as we
go along. At seven one, three, two, one two, five,
seven ninety. We've also been talking some Texans astros with
the Bregman and the outfield stuff. What do you want
to happen there? Anything you want to get to on it,

(01:59:31):
Anything goes Friday. We also have non Florida stories coming
up at one thirty, a jam packed final hour of
The Matt Thomas Show with Ross coming up at seven
one three, two, one two five seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (01:59:44):
Launchtimers, This is the Matt Thomas Show.

Speaker 2 (01:59:48):
Our number four of four of The Matt Thomas Show
with Ross is upon us ros Virial Dan Matthews with you.
Matt out on vacation, although he we'll be calling the
Rockets game tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves, second half of
a back to back Rockets winners of four in a row,
a season high twelve above five hundred, number two in

(02:00:12):
the West, but a good test coming up in this
big homestand with five games coming up as the calendar
swings to twenty twenty five, we go to the new year.
Pretty good sample size of the season with the Rockets
sitting at number two in the Western Conference. We're talking
about that and many other things with you at seven
one three two one two five seven ninety seven to

(02:00:35):
one three two one two five seven ninety We've been
talking about Alex Bregman, is he going to land with
the Tigers? Who was putting out the the Glabor Torres
news that he would likely be put to second I
saw Chandler had quote you heated it by wondering the
original source. I'm guessing because I saw Nightingale had it
as well, that it was, you know, like Dana did
after the Tucker trade, a zoom call or some sort

(02:00:57):
of availability with Scott Harris, the president of baseball ops
for the Tigers, that not only would he move to
second Torres, that is that Colt Keith would be playing
first base for them. So Cult Keith cult two first names. Yeah,
uh so he'll be over at first. So that leaves
third base wide open. Who during the playoffs Vierling's back,

(02:01:21):
Matt Vierling was playing third base. Oh yeah, and Matt
Verling okay, because he just didn't hurt, right, We didn't.
We didn't have a chance to turn this game upside down?
Was the problem in those two games. They turned the
game upside down. That was the problem. Yeah, all right,
seven one, three, two, two, five seven nine of the
phone Nuber if you'd like to get into any of that.
We've also been talking about the Houston Texans a day removed.

(02:01:42):
I mean, we're always, you know, I always it's funny
when when the NFL season happens, I always want to say, like,
don't overreact to one game. It's one performance, things can
turn around. Last time they got really destroyed, it was
against the Vikings, and then they won their next three games,
although a couple of those are really close. But this

(02:02:04):
just feels different. The way that we're closer to the
end of the season, the way that the injuries have
piled up, with Diggs and Dell not coming back. Who
knows what's going to happen. I think that the Texans
are better than what they put on the field on Wednesday,
clearly by a team that won nine games, that looked
like a team that had never even It looked like
a team of the school the blind was playing there.

(02:02:26):
So they're better than that. But how much better is
the question? And CJ Stroud a big part of that.
We were kind of talking earlier Dan about how close
have we seen CJ. Stroud get to his individual season
with the comparison being Dak Prescott early on in his
career with the twenty three touchdowns four interceptions in his

(02:02:47):
rookie season, c J Stroud twenty three touchdowns, five interceptions,
and both of them taking a step back in their
second year. And really, depending on which Cowboys fan you ask,
is Dak press get the guy to take you to
his Super Bowl. Some say most say no, and some say, eh, yeah,
if the team's good enough around him. And that's not
what I want for CJ. Stroud's career. No, I mean

(02:03:09):
you want him to steadily be able to make that
a scent in terms of becoming one of the best
in the league. And he looked like he was on
his way last year. This year it looks like, at
the very least, it's a plateau in terms of him
being able to ascend to that category of the Mahomes
Josh Allen, you know Lamar Jackson, who is absolutely at

(02:03:32):
the top of that list in terms of being the best.
And I mean that's where you were hoping that getting
to a different planet?

Speaker 8 (02:03:38):
Man?

Speaker 2 (02:03:38):
Did CJ. Shroud? Look judging from that game on Winnsday,
you want to talk about to a great fit with
what Todd Munkin has been able to do all throughout
his career. I mean, look at all of the ways
that he used him in that game. You need him
as a runner pal, you need him as a passer.
He can absolutely do that for you. You need him
to be able to kind of extend things so guys
can get open. Yeah, he can do that. Ye too,

(02:04:00):
he did that numerous times as well in the game.
A huge part of it is on him, but it's
also too as well. You've got to be able. I
just did it.

Speaker 8 (02:04:08):
I know that.

Speaker 2 (02:04:08):
I just did it. You really absolutely need to be
able to have a good, strong offensive coordinator that can
even unlock some of those things that you didn't even
know that you possessed. And Todd Munkin's done that.

Speaker 12 (02:04:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:04:21):
Thirty nine touchdowns passing passing for Lamar Jackson, four interceptions,
I mean yards per attempt of almost nine the highest
of his career. And then that's not even going into
too what his rushing numbers have been so far eight
hundred and fifty two rushing yards and four touchdowns. Is

(02:04:43):
he going to rack up like fifty touchdowns and lose
the MVP to Josh Allen? I mean it depends in
Josh Allen been great by the way, and is great
to me. Those are the two favorites, you know. Adam
and Adam were talking about that yesterday on the A team.
I think what people are going to use against Lamar Jackson, Well,
he's got Derrick Henry. That's going to be a convenient
excuse that people use this year because the narrative is

(02:05:04):
going to be, well, look at how Josh Allen was
able to raise the play of his receivers when he
lost Stefan Diggs and you had some really serious questions
about how good that receiver room could be. And with
Lamar Jackson it's going to be. It's also a little
bit of well he's had his time kind of deal.
I think that is you can get the voter fatigue

(02:05:24):
type of issue. I think that's what's going to end
up hurting him, is that it's going to be, well,
he's won back to back, Do we really need to
give it to him three years in a row even
though he's playing better than he did in those two years. Yeah,
Lamar Jackson with four rushing touchdowns thirty nine passing, you
have Josh Allen with twenty. Now, of course, Lamar with
a game up right now, Josh Allen going to play

(02:05:44):
this weekend against a Jesus Jets, the Horrible Jets. So
he's over under not very high either. Two thirteen in
a hook for passing yards this weekend for Josh Allen,
Oh really, well, it's good. Probably can go a lot
through the ground. I guess twenty six passing, six interceptions,
eleven rushing touchdowns for Josh Allen.

Speaker 6 (02:06:04):
But on c J.

Speaker 2 (02:06:05):
Stroud mentioned this earlier. Here is him at talking with
the media and there is a very very key piece
of this that I want to talk more about. Here's
what c J. Stroud had to say about the difference
and how he's playing this year versus last year.

Speaker 5 (02:06:20):
I try to post the game the same way I did,
you know, and even you know, I think I'm seen
it better than I ever have, you know, just a
little banged up so on not really making plays and
that's that's a terrible excuse, but I mean, really just
not making plays. That's really the difference between last year
and this year for me is just not making enough plays.
So and you know, there's times where you know, the

(02:06:40):
players are to be made and there's guys open, and
I got to sign a way to you know, make
the play. Worry makes my mission do something just that
I'm capable of doing, you know, and you know, winning
us a football game, you know, that's really you know,
up to me to lead our team in those those
times where guys are open, and you know, ultimately it's
which is heat making plays. That's really how I look

(02:07:03):
at the difference between this and last years. You know,
can be fixed.

Speaker 2 (02:07:09):
Banged up part of the conversation there and also not
making the plays. The plays that are that are that
are there for him. But also ce J Stroud talking
about being banged up something we've kind of talked about.
You can't put a number on it, you can't put
anything on it. And as you said earlier we were
talking about this, if he's out on the field, he
needs to perform. But also if we're asking the why

(02:07:30):
why is c J Stroud regressing? Why is he not
looking as sharp as he did last year? Of course
there's a lot of factors in that, that being the
offensive line, that being the weapons, as far as the
pass catchers. Your down, Tank Dell, now you're down, Stefan Diggs,
Dalton Schultz doesn't look nearly as good and as fresh
and as spry as he did last year. And you've

(02:07:51):
missed Nico Collins for a stretch of the season as well.
He quickly corrected himself and right right for what you
just said is he said, yeah, I'm banged up, but
that's not an excuse. I mean, he subscribes to the
same thing. You might have wanted to let it out,
but then also like, hey, guys, I'm hanged up a
little bit because it's not an excuse, but also, guys,
I'm kind of hurt, butget it's not an excuse. It's

(02:08:12):
not anything that I'm worried about. But yeah, I'm hurt.
Because that's what he knows will become the story. It's
it's not about hey, he's not playing well. Hey he's
not being protected. Hey he only has Nico Collins to
throw two on the field, which that part's not true
because he's trying to quickly take it away from him
becoming the distraction where the Texans got him hurt, the

(02:08:33):
Texans didn't protect him. Then the blame deflects off him
and it goes to other people. And he's doing the
right thing as a quarterback of saying there's no excuse,
I'm out there, I'm playing. If I'm out there and
i'm playing, I need to be that guy that I
wasn't twenty twenty three. I'm not that guy right now. No,
he hasn't, and to me, the worst he might have
had worst games this year in terms of statistics like okay,

(02:08:55):
zero no touchdowns, one pick. I feel like he's had
worse than that this year so far. But just to me,
as far as the looking of loss, the missing of
easy throws, the feeling pressure that wasn't there, to me,
that's as bad as he looked all year, because there's
been numerous chances. And that's why I threw out that
tweet the other day. The offensive line still took, of course,
the beating that it has all season long on Twitter,

(02:09:18):
but I truly believe it. He had good pockets to
be able to throw out of. He had chances to
be able to make some plays, and he overthrew. He
led his guys. I mean he looks lost out there
with his feet and actually being able to trust his throws.
He has no trust in his throws right now. And
you saw it the week before against against Kansas City,
right before the first I believe was it an interception

(02:09:40):
on the first drive that he had when the Texans
were driving, and I mean he had a good enough
clean pocket to throw out of. He was off his
back foot and it fluttered a little bit and it
got picked. All right. That begs the question I'm going
to ask all of you I'm gonna ask Dan when
we come back. I want your answers. How much should CEJ.
Stroud play in the game, not this weekend, but next

(02:10:03):
week against the Tenancy Titans. Seven one three two one
two five, seven ninety. How much do you want to
save him and bubble wrap him for the playoffs? How
much do you want him to get back in a
good rhythm against the Tennessee Titans team that is not
very good? Seven one three two one two five, seven ninety.
You can also send tweets to at sports RV and
at Dan Matthews h ou and you can also call

(02:10:25):
in at seven one three two one two five seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (02:10:29):
Matten Ross return return on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (02:10:49):
Oh as you know a lover of fine lyrics, you
gotta love the lyrics to this one percocet, Molly Percocet
to Molly Perkoson, Welcome back to the What is this?
This is the Matt Thomas Show with Ross, without Matt Thomas,

(02:11:09):
with Dan Matthews, with me Ross Viya, with Kanem of
Government with you. It's seven one three two, one to two.
It takes a village to make this seven ninety seven
one three two one, two, five, seven ninety. Now, I
want to be clear, I am not dismissing C. J.
Stroud and saying his career is over and he's terrible
or anything like that. He is the Texans franchise quarterback.
At the moment that it is available, they should sign

(02:11:31):
and extend him forever and ever. I think this is
going to be one of the low watermarks of his
career and he will continue to get better and better. Uh,
Because got a tweet from Timothy saying Ross josh Allen
Lamar both struggled in their second and third year. I've
definitely Josh Allen was struggling early on in his career.
I have to see. It feels like I mean just
basically from the get Lamar Jackson was special. He did

(02:11:53):
maybe regress some here and there, and then there of
course were those couple of years in a row where
he was missing some games. People got the IP the
injury prone label for Lamar Jackson. Oh, this style of
play not sustainable. Well, he's played sixteen games in back
to back years. Has Lamar Jackson with the seventeenth coming up, Well,

(02:12:14):
that'd be not after this weekend, but the next week.
I would say Lamar's the larger issue that he had
to overcome was he can't win in the playoffs. Yeah,
he's still gonna that's still gonna be his label. And
because it didn't help last year where it seemed like
it was tailor made for them to be able to
make it to the Super Bowl and you had Kansas
City came in there and beat them. Yeah, and they

(02:12:35):
didn't score. I felt like in that game, I think
he did press in that game. I think he was
driving the ball down the field way too much. He
should have taken the things that were in front of him.
He does have this chip on his shoulder to prove
that the people that doubt that he can pass, and
so he's done a great job of staying in the pocket,
extending plays, keeping his eyes downfield. I mean, the freaking
dude has thirty nine touchdowns this year passing and four interceptions.

(02:12:59):
This Lamar can't pass narrative has been long dead. I'm
sorry for those of you that are still hanging on
to that, but absolutely that's the last hump. He has
to get over it. Josh Allen has to get over it.
But oh, by the way, that Pat Mahomes guy is
gonna have something to say about it too well. I mean,
and that's the thing is, I mean, there's quarterbacks all
throughout the history of this game that have that. I mean,
Peyton Manning, it was, how many super Bowls does he have?

(02:13:21):
There's no Tom Brady well, I mean, but be four
or five. And that's just the thing. I mean, he
had that juggernaut standing in front of him. Even when
he went to Denver too as well. Tom Brady was
still around. The Patriots were still around. Yeah, and I
mean at least a couple of times he was able
to get past them. Yeah, they did make well. I mean,
he was horrible that second super Bowl they won. But

(02:13:42):
the year before was it the year before the maybe
one or two years before when they got crushed by
the Seahawks In this year, it was the year before, Okay,
I can see that was when he threw like fifty
five touchdowns or whatever, a ridiculous, ungodly number he got
to that year. But yeah, Peyton Manning probably has more
Super Bowls. And we might be talking about I mean,
Joe burt Well, Joe Burrow did get passed once. He's

(02:14:03):
still dealing with it. I mean, even though he's having
a fantastic season and they're still a live for the
playoffs barely, but I mean you've already got people who
are wondering if Joe Burrow is the second coming of
Dan Marino. Where it's going to be he stays with
the same team and he is never able to get
back to the super Bowl because remember Marino got to
the Super Bowl quickly and people were like, all right,

(02:14:24):
this is gonna be a regular thing. He never got back. Yeah,
last year in the playoffs for Lamar Jackson against the Texans,
two touchdowns, no picks, only one hundred and fifty two yards,
but I mean they were boat racing the Texans, so
he wasn't needed to throw the ball a ton. And
then against Kansas City two hundred and seventy two yards,
a touchdown and a pick, but as I said, a
completion percentage only fifty four percent. He was driving the

(02:14:46):
ball downfield. I think there were some easy throws he
could have made. They were down one score basically that
whole game. It felt like he was trying to get
it all in one play. So we'll see. He's had
some good games in his career in the postseason, but
he's also had some really bad ones overall, just a
fifty seven percent completion per percentage, just a two to
four record for Lamar Jackson and just six touchdowns to
go against six interceptions, and let's see three rushing touchdowns

(02:15:12):
as well, So he'll have another chance to prove it.
He's looking great. He looked like the MVP on Wednesday
to me, but well, time will tell. That's the beauty
of sports is when you get into the playoffs, when
the games really matter and everything on the line, that's
when it's gonna get really fun. And oh, by the way,
don't forget the Texans were horrible on Wednesday, but they
are in the tournament. Seven one three two one two

(02:15:33):
five seven nine of the phone number Alex and Conrad
has been holding what's up Alex?

Speaker 8 (02:15:38):
Okay, So great show, guys, especially you know, since you're
carrying Matt's extra weight, you're doing an admirable job.

Speaker 2 (02:15:45):
I appreciate it. So I got a couple of things.

Speaker 17 (02:15:50):
Number One, with the Texans, they should absolutely play everyone on.

Speaker 12 (02:15:56):
Against the Titans.

Speaker 17 (02:15:58):
How much they need if we're winning at the you know,
if we're winning considerably, then yeah, you know, you sit,
you sit your starters, but no, you gotta start everyone,
especially considering.

Speaker 8 (02:16:09):
How bad that last game was, they definitely need to
tune up. Like if it's been a long time since
you've been with a nice lady in a biblical sense, uh,
you just you know, and then all of a sudden
you get a date with one and it seems like she's.

Speaker 6 (02:16:23):
Pretty down, Like, are you just gonna go in there?

Speaker 2 (02:16:25):
No, man, you gotta you gotta have a warm up.

Speaker 8 (02:16:27):
You gotta find a slump buster first, and maybe you know,
you know, get your tune in right.

Speaker 6 (02:16:32):
Get everything worked out so that you.

Speaker 2 (02:16:34):
Can go in confident.

Speaker 6 (02:16:35):
You can't just go in with a You can't go
in like that.

Speaker 8 (02:16:39):
You can't go in with a loaded gun that you
don't know if it's gonna fire.

Speaker 2 (02:16:46):
But this analogy works for football, Alex, Just just FYI.

Speaker 6 (02:16:51):
I think I think it does.

Speaker 17 (02:16:53):
You need to have a nice rehearsal dinner. How about
that you don't get married without having a rehearsal. Okay,
And I think that they definitely need to have their rehearsal.

Speaker 2 (02:17:02):
Desfore the main event for sure. But I guess maybe
the Titans are the Texans slumpbuster. Hopefully we need them
to be.

Speaker 17 (02:17:12):
If we had beat them the first time, uh, then
maybe I might be apt to say just go ahead
and let everybody sit. But considering we lost last time,
and considering we got our asses beat on Wednesday, Yeah,
they definitely need to They they can't.

Speaker 8 (02:17:26):
They can't be sitting that long and then go back
in the go back.

Speaker 17 (02:17:31):
Into the playoffs against Pittsburgh if that's how it winds up,
and expect to perform well that. No, you come on,
you gotta you gotta know how your car is gonna run. Secondly,
my my anything goes comment. So about twenty three days ago,
I went on a nice date with the girl. Everything
was great.

Speaker 8 (02:17:48):
I rode my motorcycle, everything was cool. After the date,
I went to go fill up my bike with some
gas to get headed home, and there was water in
the gas. So, just as a as a public safety announcement,
don't we get gas from the Texaco on four ninety.

Speaker 2 (02:18:02):
Four in New Pain.

Speaker 17 (02:18:03):
You're gonna get water in your gas and then they're
gonna give you a hard time and try to tell
you that you have to get it fixed before they'll
reimburse you.

Speaker 2 (02:18:11):
No, don't do that, all right, Alex, Thank you, appreciating.

Speaker 6 (02:18:14):
It for thirteen hundred dollars.

Speaker 2 (02:18:16):
Thirteen hundred dollars Public service announces from Alex, all right, well,
I'm going to stay out of that one. Alex. I'm
gonna let you make your comments. We hear at the
iHeartMedia and our legal department and iHeartMedia Houston and our
parent company, iHeartMedia at Large in Sports Talk seven ninety
do not necessarily condone the remarks of Alex. We are
going to take him at his word and not investigate further.

(02:18:37):
There you go, you said it best. But what do
you think as far as the Texans? How much should CJ.
Stroud and the starters play in a game that really
doesn't have any meaning coming up, not this weekend but
next weekend against the titles. It doesn't matter, I mean,
because there is nothing that leads you to believe that
this team is going to find some say, stop with

(02:19:01):
the defeatist attitude, because they're not quitting. It's week eighteen.
We've been seeing the same script play out over and
over again, and maybe they will get a ten seventeen
point lead over the Titans and then it's going to
be a all right, let's not lose this game at
this point, as opposed to you know, all gas, no breaks, swarm,
all of these different types of things. They just they

(02:19:22):
they don't have that in them, like they they have
enough to be able to get the job done. They're
not going to get the job done expertly and exemplary,
you know, in an exemplary way. They're just not They're
not They're not playing getting into the super Bowl. They
shouldn't even try. You just fold up. Shot. It's not
that no, come on, I know, I know that's that
that's the joke. But I mean, but the point is

(02:19:43):
is it doesn't matter who plays, It doesn't matter how
much they play. They should beat the Titans. The Titans
are terrible. The Titans are not trying to win. They
bench Will Levis for that exactly reason. He's not the guy.
And they also realize it's dumb to win games at
this point because maybe not trying. They might want to,
but who gives them the best chance to lose any
put Will Levis back in. I mean, is Aj mccerrn

(02:20:05):
still available, could you maybe go get him if he
hasn't played quarterback? I mean, it's just it doesn't matter
at this point. You're not going to find some fountain
of youth in this game. That's going to all of
a sudden have you going into the playoffs and saying
that's it, we are ready to go. The hell with
the Steelers, the hell with anybody else, which you might
be able to say that for that game, But then

(02:20:26):
going up to Kansas City, I know that they're gonna
believe they can win that game. Do I believe they
can win that game?

Speaker 10 (02:20:32):
No?

Speaker 2 (02:20:32):
Okay, Well that's loser attitude, that's loser mindset, Dan. You
gotta go and try and win.

Speaker 7 (02:20:37):
Now.

Speaker 2 (02:20:37):
Are they gonna win? Absolutely not, But they're gonna go try.
They're gonna go try. I'm not saying don't try, but
I mean I'm also saying that it just do it.
One game is not going to be where if if
indeed they did go on some miracle run and did
find some sort of magical elixir to be able to
win four games in the postseason and come home with
the Lombardi Trophy, it's not going to be them coming

(02:20:59):
back and saying, you know what the difference was, it
was us going to Nashville and beating the Titans that day.
It's Davis Mills it's Davis Mills and Mason Rudolph Noon
on CBS. See and then watch Daria goomble Wally goes
for like one hundred and fifty two hundred yards of
this game, and everybody's gonna be like, we should play
Daria goomble Wally. It's Darry ogunba Walle versus Taj Spears.

(02:21:21):
Noone on CBS, although it says TVD flex, I mean,
they're gonna put that bad boy. No nobody, that's that's
That's Noon. That's whoever the the lowest of the low
in terms of TV tv U. There see it is
Don Krickey still around? Could Don Kricky do this game?
We're gonna have Ai Keith Jackson on the call Sunday

(02:21:44):
here on CBS. Okay, time for a quick break here
on the Matt Thomas Show. A couple of segments left,
we're asking the question how much should the Texans starters
play in the game against Tennessee? How close is CJ.
Stroud to his ceiling? A minor setback for a major comeback,
we sure hopes. So we're also talking some Texans, I
mean some Rockets and Astros, anything you want to get
to it is also in Anything Goes Friday and if

(02:22:06):
you want to recommend a good gas station, Alex and
Conrod needs one seven one three two one two five
seven ninety is the phone number seven one three two
one two five seven nights.

Speaker 4 (02:22:17):
Back to Matt Thomas and Ross viial Fine on Sports
Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 18 (02:22:23):
We find interesting stories that cer outside the state of
Florida and share them with the people.

Speaker 17 (02:22:34):
Of hust.

Speaker 6 (02:22:37):
It's time for no Florida.

Speaker 2 (02:22:45):
I'll for no Florida.

Speaker 18 (02:22:55):
Store on coast to coast, o Grady Strange, and.

Speaker 1 (02:23:03):
No alligator exales, but something that will make you smile.

Speaker 2 (02:23:11):
It's time for laughs from Car and w.

Speaker 14 (02:23:17):
In this crazy world.

Speaker 18 (02:23:20):
There's no.

Speaker 2 (02:23:29):
I mean, my goodness, what do I have to add?
After that? Welcome into a signature Friday segment on The
Matt Thomas Show with Ross. Matt Thomas remains out on vacation.
He will be back on Monday. But now is the
time of the week. What do you bring? We bring
you stories now. I love personally Florida stories. Matt hates
Florida stories because he thinks they're too easy, low hanging fruit.

(02:23:49):
So we must venture outside the state of Florida and
we do that for this segment called Non Florida Stories,
Dan Matthews, You being the guest here, let's go ahead
and start. Wait you you can't get more Non Florida
than Peru, So we go international for this one. Oo
Polasia National del Peru carrying out a real life drug

(02:24:12):
bust with officer dressed in full Grinch costume. The officer
part of a raid that took in a suspected drug trafficker.
We turned to NBC News for the details. The operation
part of the police unit's ongoing tradition of dressing agents
and festive costumes when carrying out operations during the holiday

(02:24:33):
periods such as Halloween and Christmas. On the eve of
Valentine's Day earlier this year, an undercover policeman dressed in
a Teddy Bear costume showing up to the house of
an alleged drug dealer to deliver a fake love surprise
as part of an operation in Peru. Agents have also
dressed up as superheroes and even horror movie characters like

(02:24:55):
Freddy Krueger and Jason in the past. There's even a
tweet included in the story of two agents, one dressed
as Spider Man and the other dressed as wolverine when
carrying out such operations in the past, and this one
it was the Grinch leading the way. So the National

(02:25:15):
Police of Peru letting criminals know who exactly is in charge. Wow.
I mean, imagine you're just trying to go about your day,
serving up some heroin to the fine children of Peru
and the next thing you know, you're getting busted by
the Grinch. That's tough. I saw the bodycam footage from it.
It's pretty funny. Oh really, Yeah, And I think the
Grinch was what do they call the you know, sometimes

(02:25:37):
they'll use sledgehammers. Do they use the battering ram? Yes?
I think the Grinch was the battering ram.

Speaker 16 (02:25:43):
What.

Speaker 2 (02:25:43):
I think he was the one that busted down the door,
and then of course police police hit the ground. That
seems dangerous. That seems extremely dangerous. Okay, Dan, thank you
for your non Florida story. I will go next, just
because I imagine Connor's ready, but I can't see him
in there, So Connor, You're gonna go after me. But
let me go ahead and take you folks to a
place called Maryland Avenue. Maryland actually is the name some

(02:26:08):
would say the Florida of the mid Atlantic, of the
town Thomas Campbell Bowling of von Gates had himself quite
a day on Christmas Eve as he was going to
church on Christmas Eve. It was the Holy Angels Catholic
Church in Avenue, Maryland, and during a mass, he approached

(02:26:29):
the altar and he dropped an onion which disserved this
piece of those attending. Deputies also said a witness followed
von Gates as he was exiting the church after making
a scene to make sure he was leaving, and then
he's assaulted another person in the parking lot, apparently by
throwing tangerines at them. At that point, our good friend

(02:26:55):
Thomas Campbell Bowling von Gates escaped that church. Later on
that deputies say von Gates struck again during a midnight
mass at Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Leonardtown. Deputy
said von Gates disrupted the service by pouring whiskey into
the holy water at the mass and threatening to harm parishioners. Now,

(02:27:19):
I think all he was trying to do is he
was taking Jesus' lesson of turning the water to wine. Oh,
except he just want a little more ABV literal. He
wanted to get a little eighty proof. He wanted to
go to the Heartstar or maybe it was even cask
Strength who knows, could have been. Church attendees then escorted
him from the building, where deputies say he attempted to
unsuccessfully hit several individuals with a whiskey bottle. Parishioners were

(02:27:43):
able to dedainn von Gates until deputies arrived. He was
then transported to a local hospital for medical evaluation. See
this is where the ushers really come into play here,
because I mean, if you've got ushers who they run
a tight ship, they run a hard line right there.
Then he doesn't even get to the altar, dropping onions,
throwing tangerines, pouring whiskey into the holy water, and then

(02:28:06):
trying to hit people with said whiskey. Bo Is, there's
some church policy against produce out there? What's what's the
what's the church's position on the churches? Officer? Uh, yeah,
he was trying to spread some Christmas cheer, But unfortunately
he has been charged with second gurguria, assault, disorderly conduct,
defacing religious property, religious crime against a group, obstructing a

(02:28:30):
religious exercise, threat of mass violence, and disturbing the peace. Uh,
threatening mass violence at a church. He could be going
a long way. You'd been going going away for a
long time. Yeah, I was gonna say that gets you
into some legal categories. But you know what could also
be in play here is I've also I've always been
told that nuns are really good at crowd control, at

(02:28:50):
least in uh. In grade school, nuns were known for
strict discipline. Okay, so she's gonna hit him with a ruler.
There you go, is what you're saying. There, you got
you no sleeping in class? All right? There is my
non's Florida story from Maryland economic govern You may go.

Speaker 16 (02:29:06):
Oh my ConA falls are along a similar theme with Christmas.
In downtown Fort Collins, Colorado, a baby Jesus figurine was
snatched from a nativity scene, but was returned in time
for Christmas with an apology letter. The statuette of Jesus
lying in a manger, stolen from a public display in
the downtown square, was dropped off anonymously at a fire
station and was accompanied by a handwritten note saying, quote,

(02:29:29):
I'm really sorry I made a dumb mistake in the
moment it won't happen again. What surveillance of the suspected
grinch appeared to be a young adult, probably a student
from Colorado State. The fire station returned the statue to
the downtown square, and the business that owns the Nassivity
scene did not pursue charges. So perhaps a drunken college
student stealing Baby Jesus from a Nativity scene, feeling guilty,

(02:29:50):
and then returning it to a fire station.

Speaker 2 (02:29:53):
Hmm wow, Well, a good on the kid for circling
back and taking back what he took. Is it, little
sweet Baby Jesus eight pound six pounds hardly knows a word.
I mean, people could say that the power of Christ
compelled them. Oh okay, that's two movie references for those
keeping it a square at home. Connor, Well, yeah, maybe

(02:30:14):
he felt guilty, like he was getting stared into the
depths of the eyes of Baby Jesus, and Baby Jesus
was like, you better take me back, bro. Come on, now,
you guys ever stolen anything while drunk? No, no, no,
I have not, and I never would and I do
not condone such activities. Now you didn't ask, have you ever, say,
used the bathroom where you shouldn't have been and unfortunately

(02:30:38):
then there was somebody that may or may not be
in law enforcement that let you know, hey, you can't
do that parking lot at the rodeo. Who has it?
It's impossible to find when you were walking in the
put to the uber lot. It's so far it was
a parking lot. I've never been more happy, by the way.
This was in college for you know management out there.
It's a statute of limitation. It's over twenty years now,

(02:31:01):
close to it. But I was never more happy to
see a ticket book come out. I was like, oh,
thank god, all right, we're gonna take a quick break there.
Thank you, Dan. We're gonna save you from authorities as
the statue of limitations has been hit. So we're good
on there. A final segment of the Matt Thomas Show
coming up here on Sports Talk seven ninety. My name
is ros View Real Dan Matthews in tow Matt Thomas.

(02:31:23):
We'll be back on Monday, but we'll be back after
this very short break here on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (02:31:29):
Thomas on Sports Talk seven ninety, your rockets, your astros,
your voice.

Speaker 2 (02:31:50):
Welcome back to the Matt Thomas Show with Ross without
Matt Thomas. He's on vacation. He'll be back on the show.
He's not on real vacation. He's on staycation, which I
expect a good staycation, good staycation, Dan, Yeah, I mean
that's where you're able to get stuff done around the
house if you want to do that. If it's a
good lazy day on the couch or even staying in

(02:32:10):
the bed, it's it's a play as well. Yeah, I
mean that's fine. He's gonna call the game tonight the Rockets.
We're going against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Seven o'clock start. I
will be with you with the Rockets launch pad at
six o'clock live from the Toyota Center. Good to be
back in the arena. I've been missing some time. I

(02:32:32):
did I go last week? I can't remember. It's just
been too much going on. But Rockets as of this
moment one and a half point favorites over the Minnesota
Timberwolves and Edwards and crew in town, a big five
game homestand coming up, as we've been talking about on
the show, Timberwolves and then the Miami Heat on Sunday.

(02:32:53):
That will be their third game in four nights. Don't
forget that because they are on the second half of
back to back. Not a crazy road back to back.
It was a short flight from New or Orlands last night,
but still on the back to back tonight, three out
of four on Sunday, then Wednesday against Dallas, who is
going to be without Luka Doncic, Friday against the Boston Celtics,
Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers. If this were Tuesday,

(02:33:14):
I would ask you for your gut feeling, So we'll
pretend since it is and anything goes Friday. That means
we can, like grandfather in a Tuesday gut feeling, how
the Rockets perform on this homestand in terms of overall record,
anything to me, winning record is gravy. Anything above that
would be insane. Two and three wouldn't be horrible, but

(02:33:35):
you don't want it any worse than that. Yeah, I
was gonna say, I just with how well they've played
at home this year, believe it's gonna be a winning record.
But I will say, going the back to back right
here off the front of beating Minnesota, which you know
they feel like they owe you for one that you
got from them up there, So gotta believe there's gonna
be a little bit of added juice to that one,

(02:33:58):
and then you get the heat on Sunday the Mavericks,
even without Luca, that's still gonna be a tough game
because you've got Kyrie and you've also got Klay Thompson
still on that team. Oh God. So I'm gonna go
three and play Klay Thompson thrives into Toyota Center, no
matter what jersey he's wearing, and I mean and even
playing them the first time two up in Dallas See,
he was able to have a hell of a game.

(02:34:18):
So I'm gonna go in three and two. Three and
two feels right. That's what I think I'm gonna come
away with as well. Now right now they're the two
seed and kind of we were talking about this with
the Texans ebbs and flows week to week. It's the
same thing with the NBA. Like I took a call
last night and you brought it up there. We were
talking about it on the postgame show, which number one,
I love you guys are calling me. Keep it up.

(02:34:39):
We've been getting more calls this year than we have
in the last like three years. Combined with the Rockets.
Clearly the interest is up. We are your home for
your Rockets. I love you guys calling me on the
Rockets wrap. I'll be on the show again tonight if
you want to get in. But there was a guy
asking if I think the Rockets are gonna make the
finals last night, and it's like, okay, we have to
remember now, while we're excited thirty games, they're the two seed,

(02:35:01):
they're twenty one and nine, they're on a fifty seven
win pace. I don't know, call me crazy, I'm not
ready necessarily to put them in the NBA finals now.
I mean I think that you look at this a
lot like you looked at the two thousand and eight,
two thousand and nine Rockets, which remember that that was
the team that finally with Tracy McGrady, broke through and
was able to win in the playoffs. Well, McGrady got

(02:35:22):
hurt and then by the end of that playoff series,
yao got hurt too, and it was like the Rollers. Yeah,
so I'm used them to seven, but at least you
were able to get to the next round of the playoffs.
And I mean baby steps here, I think with this
team of I get it. There have been teams that
have been able to make surprise runs before and maybe
the Rockets could be one of those teams this year.
But I think if you get to would that be

(02:35:43):
the Western Simmis, if you got to the second round, Yeah,
if you got to the Western Simmis, I think you
look at it and say, hey, this group's got something
that this group can this group can take this and
move forward with it.

Speaker 1 (02:35:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:35:56):
The Bubble year, I believe is the last time they
made it that far. That was the Russell Westbrook James
Harden lad Rockets that lost in the second round after
was it the tough seven game series I think against
the Thunder where James Harden had the block against Lou
Dort and then they made it to the second round
and they lost in like five games I think, or
maybe six to the I think five to the eventual

(02:36:17):
champion LI Lakers. Yeah, winning that Mickey Mouse tournament, which
literally was a Mickey Mouse tournament because it was in
Mickey Mouse's backyard. They or would you say it was goofy,
they could have been goofy as well. Pluto Even people
sleep on Pluto, man, do they?

Speaker 6 (02:36:32):
Yes?

Speaker 8 (02:36:33):
They do.

Speaker 6 (02:36:34):
Pluto.

Speaker 2 (02:36:34):
I'm gonna wake up on Pluto is a cute, sweet
Dog and Pluto deserves the references count as movie references.
I don't know, sure, sure we'll count it. We'll count it.
But the Rockets in action tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves,
bouncing back off of a six point game against the Hornets.
It also was a blowout. He didn't play in the
fourth quarter at all. But Jalen Green looking a little

(02:36:56):
bit better, a little more spry six of eleven from
three certainly helps. Thirty points from him last night and
also very key to me, Fred van Vliet seven of
twelve from three. If you can get him start knocking
down some threes like he did last year, where he
was almost thirty nine percent a career thirty seven percent.
Guy now at thirty one percent on the year. Let's
get that creeping up to his career average. I mean,

(02:37:17):
you know, not only him, but I mean you've been
able to get a nice little energy boost from the
bench in addition to Tary Easton even though he's been
out for the last few games, and a men Thompson
of Kim Whitmore helping out. I mean, just trying to
find any offensive production from the outside is huge because
defense is nice. Defense will help get you into the playoffs,

(02:37:40):
but you win in the playoffs by being able to
knock down three pointers. And this is a team right
now that is if he at best when it comes
to that proposition. Yeah, that is the long term concern
of course for the Rockets. How will the offense perform?

Speaker 6 (02:37:54):
Well?

Speaker 2 (02:37:55):
Some hot shooting last night, can it continue tonight? We'll
see tonight on Sports Talk seven ninety. Well here tonight
on Sports Talk seven ninety with Matt Thomas on the call.
Seven o'clock start, six o'clock Rockets launch bad. In between
that will be a couple of atoms. My name is
Ross V. Reale saying thanks you. Thanks to you folks
for listening to the program. Dan short notice, it's filling

(02:38:17):
in and on the holidays, I know you're getting working
a lot hours. I appreciate you. Thank you for filling
in today. For Matt Thomas, it was a good spots start.
I was ready to go. We were we were throwing
good in the bullpen and it translated to the mound
on the field. We're good. I do appreciate you. I
appreciate Connor mcgovernment producing doing a great job. Thanks to
all you called listen, got involved in the program at
all coming up next. It is not only one atom,

(02:38:38):
there's two atoms. They call themselves seem and they're next
up here on a sports Talk seven ninety Talk to
you folks at six

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