Rockets, Jalen Green suddenly can’t stop winning

The Rockets (32-35) are 7-1 in March with a five-game winning streak, and Jalen Green is the Western Conference Player of the Week. With those recent wins, Houston’s hopes of a play-in tournament push in the West are suddenly very much alive.

Where did things turn, and what does it mean in the big picture? Ben DuBose and Paulo Alves break it all down in Tuesday’s episode, which also features insight on Amen Thompson’s promotion to the starting lineup and areas for further growth within the team.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Cheers, Rockets fans, Welcome toThe Logger Line, an exclusive podcast from
the home of the Rockets, SportsTalk seven ninety. The Logger Line,
It's proudly served to you by CarboxClutch City lagger It is God Red Nation.

(00:23):
Get Ready, Ready, Get Ready. The Lagger Line starts now.
Welcome aboard, Welcome in to anothernew episode of The Logger Line, as
always served to you courtesy of ClutchCity, logger of Carback Brewing. I'm

(00:46):
Ben Dubos, your host, editorof USA Today's Rockets Wire and contributor to
Sports Talk seven ninety, the officialflagship radio station of your Houston Rockets.
I'm joined by my good friend,co host and producer out of Portugal,
Palo Alves, who you can followon Twitter at Palo Alves NBA me.
I'm at Ben Dubo's so as wechat this Tuesday, March nineteenth. It's

(01:07):
been a pretty great few days tobe a fan of the Houston Rockets.
At an individual level, the Rocketsobviously got better than expected injury news about
all per In Shingoon. Reaction tothat is in last week's pod and now
in Shinoon's absence, Jalen Green issuddenly Western Conference Player of the Week.
The Rockets went three and oh intheir first three games without all pe average
margin and victory by double digits.You've got other great individual storylines as well,

(01:30):
and men Thompson has fared extremely wellsince joining the starting lineup, and
as far as Jalen in particular,he's taking on an even greater workload on
offense and seems to be handling itjust fine. If anything, he's getting
better. But at the same time, this isn't just a good week.
Let's not make it all about justwhat's happened since we last had a pod.
Yes, the Rockets are three tooh since losing Shangoon, but they

(01:53):
were also four and one and thefive games prior to his injury. They're
now seven to one this month,and Theottom line is they've just played really
well since the All Star break period. It just so happens that the first
six games, and we knew thiswhen we first looked at the schedule,
were extremely difficult out of the AllStar break, three against the Suns,
two against the Thunder, one againstthe Pelicans, four on the road.

(02:15):
You had it back to back inthere, and now that the schedule is
evening out some the wins are coming, and so certainly there are those great
individual storylines, but let's not oversimplifyit into with Shingoon or without Shangoon,
a men in and out of thestarting lineup, Jalen since his job got
called into question over the All Starbreak, and so on and so forth.

(02:35):
The bottom line is, at leastto me that im Udoka simply has
this team playing really good ball,period, end of story, regardless of
who's on the floor. And weshould remind our listeners that beyond Shangoon,
of course you're still missing tore Eastonand Cam Whitmore with their own injuries.
So because of that, I wantto shelve the discussion as far as the
individual standouts for later in the pot. To start off, I want to

(02:59):
talk about what's going on at theteam level, because to me, that's
the biggest storyline of all. Weare now well inside of a month until
the regular season ends on April fourteenthin Los Angeles against the Clippers, and
the Houston Rockets are still very muchalive in kicking. They're now thirty two
and thirty five on the season.They've won five straight games and seven at
their last eight and as of ourrecording time on Monday night, the eighteenth,

(03:21):
they're three back at the Lakers inthe lost column, and yes,
Houston would hold a tiebreaker for thenumber ten spot in the Western Conference standings
and with that the final berth inthis season's play in tournament. Lakers and
Hawks are about to tip in LosAngeles. Not super optimistic on that game.
Lakers are at home and it's nighttoo back to back for the Hawks
on the road. No Tray Young, but crazier things have happened. Bottom

(03:43):
line, though, regardless of whetherthe Rockets get some help from the Hawks
or not, they're going to bewithin two or three games with fifteen left
to play. From a Houston perspective, that's big time. That is meaningful
basketball, even if some of themodels still have them at about five six
percent, which is growth in andof itself. When I've downplayed the play
and possibilities for the last few weeks, I've cited, for example, ESPN's

(04:05):
Basketball Power Index, which has hadthem about one or two percent. As
of now, it's still about likefive and a half, and that's about
the same as I saw with theBasketball Reference model. I actually think that's
a little bit soft. We shouldnote that these models have certain underpinning assumptions
to them that may not be reflectiveof the state of play right now for

(04:29):
a few reasons. For example,and I've said this before, predicting strength
of schedule down the home stretch ofan NBA season is really difficult. That
game at the Clippers the season finale, is one of the two most difficult
on the Rocket schedule. The otheris at OKAC in a little over a
week. And yet the final Sundayof the regular season the week the playoffs
start. I would be floored ifthe Clippers play Kawhi Leonard, Paul George

(04:54):
and James Harden for more than ahalf and maybe not even that unless there's
just something dramatic to play for inthe final game, and these days that
seems to be happening less and lessthan The Clippers seem to be sort of
baland for a four or five matchupwith the Pelicans, don't matter what,
based in the way the standings areright now. So that's a perfect example
of the strength of schedule not beingas predictive as it typically would be over

(05:17):
the balance of a season, andreally applies to the last couple of weeks.
Whenever you get inside of you know, seven to fourteen days until the
playoffs, you're going to see someteams that are just shelving their big names,
letting them heal up for the postseason. And even tanking teams may be
worse because they're in full blown tankmode. As post a regular season you
want to grind out a few winshere or there towards the end of the
season, there's a lot of teamsthat go totally can coon mode. So

(05:41):
those predictive metrics which show the Lakersand Warriors with a slightly easier schedule in
the Rockets, I believe may notbe as valid as you think. But
also the underpinning assumptions. Let's justbe honest, the Rockets look like a
different basketball team right now. TheRockets for most of the season have been
around or a little below five hundred. If you believe in this version of
Jalen Green, if you believe inthis resurgent defense, if you believe in

(06:05):
this smaller lineup with Jabari Smith Juniorat the five and Aman Thompson is something
of a Swiss Army knife in yourfront court. The Rockets may be better
than the data the Models have ontheir season as a whole. Conversely,
you can make a case that maybethe Lakers and Warriors are worse. They've
got a lot of veterans that whilethere are big names and proven production that

(06:27):
I'm sure the models like if LebronJames, Anthony Davis, Steph Curry,
Draymond Green, if guys like thatare banged up and struggling, then the
model may not be fully accounting forthat when they're making these projections. Should
also know, by the way thatthe longer the Rockets can keep this close.
It's worth noting that Houston's playing withhouse money. Just being in the

(06:47):
conversation is a win for the Rocketsas opposed to a team like the Lakers
or the Warriors, who are justahead of the Lakers and the standings as
of our recording time, well,technically they're tied, but they have one
less loss and Houston would not winthe tiebreaker the Warriors. They would against
the Lakers, although Houston does havea head to head game against Golden State
left to eat into that gap,so honestly, it can apply either way.

(07:08):
The bottom line is that if thoseteams feel pressure from a team like
Houston with nothing to lose, andfor a team like the Warriors or Lakers
that has Steph Clay Draymond Lebron adthe season's of failure. If they don't
even make the play in tournament,that might make the callers tighten a little

(07:29):
bit out in San Francisco or LA. And that's the kind of dynamic that's
not reflected in the model. Sowhile I'm not thinking, I'm not saying
the Rockets are anywhere near fifty tofifty at the same time, on paper,
look, three games in the lostcolumn of fifteen games to play is
not insturmountable, and so these ninetyfive to five odds, it's not just
about the deficit. For example,if you ask the same model, hey,

(07:55):
can the Celtics outplay the Pistons byat least three games over the next
fifteen, the odds would be muchbetter than five percent, because the model,
of course knows that the Celtics area much better team than the Pistons
and can factor that in. Alongthose same lines, if the Rockets are
better than they've been for a lotof this season, they're certainly playing like

(08:16):
it now. In March seven toone, and they have an easy game
or what should be against Washington onTuesday night. If the Lakers or Warriors
are a little bit worse, thenthe model might not be properly sniffing out
what the dynamics are actually going tobe over the next two to three weeks.
So I throw on all of that, not to say that I think
the Rockets are going to make theplay in, just to say that the

(08:37):
odds might be a little bit betterthan those models are currently projecting. Don't
think it's anywhere near fifty to fifty, but I think maybe twenty eighty fifteen
eighty five is a little more reflectiveof the true state of play than five
ninety five. There are some veryrealistic scenarios for the Rockets, and that
in and of itself is a bigwin. Because what I want to emphasize
off the top in this spot theplay in tournament as a goal for the

(09:03):
Rockets. It's not like when youset a goal what we hope the Rockets
do a few years from now ofchampionship or bust or NBA Finals or bust,
where you either put the banner inthe rafters or you don't accomplish it.
No, the play in tournament,it's not just about that. Sure,
those one or two games where youprobably be an underdog for the nine
or ten seed and on the road, those games are nice. But it's

(09:24):
not just about the one or twogames that one week in the middle of
April. It's about what playing outthe entire regular season schedule under playoff pressure.
It's about what that means for yourentire collective organization, the development of
your young prospects, getting these guysbetter. Even if you lose the play

(09:45):
in tournament, or even if younarrowly miss out in the play in tournament,
there's still a lot to be gainfrom simply being in the conversation,
being relevant, and having a realisticpath, even if it is a narrow
one, even if it is justfifteen percent. Okay, that's realistic.
Fifteen percent happened all the time.Nobody's surprised. If there's a ten twenty
percent chance of thunderstorms in Houston,then it starts training one day. Oh,

(10:05):
that's an occupational hazard. It happens. It's a small path, but
it's a realistic one, and that'swhere I think the rockets are and it's
not that it's guaranteed to go throughthe rest of this season. The margin
for error is pretty much gone.So they needed a long winning streak.
They needed a seven to one stretchto get back into the conversation. Now
they need to build on that.You look at the way the final fifteen

(10:28):
games stack up on paper, Thenext four are very manageable. At Washington,
we know the Rocket's been bad onthe road this year, but Wizards
are dreadful, and the Rockets havewon four in a row on the road.
Then you have a home stand againstthe Bulls who are mid and the
Jazz and Trailblazers who are bad andtanking. I think in these next four
you need to win at least threeof them, ideally all four. And

(10:48):
at that point, if you're youknow, holding a nine game winning streak,
and or you've won nine of tengames, eight of nine, whatever
it may be, that may bethe point where you can put some real
pressure on the Layers and or theWarriors. Maybe at that point you shrink
the gap to two games something likethat, and then who knows, maybe
just the race in and of itselfmakes them tighten a little bit. But

(11:09):
the point is, look, theseXPO games matter because if for some reason
the Rockets regress, maybe teams they'restill adjusting to the Rockets postion goons.
So maybe this new lineup, asit gets more tape, other teams could
do more things against it. Ifthe Rockets lose some games they should win,
then all of a sudden, youknow, if you fall back five
games again, then maybe not allthe games the rest of the season have

(11:31):
meeting. So when I talk aboutthe value of being competitive, there's levels
to it. It's not all blackor white. It's not all that you
do or you don't. I justbring up that context or sort of remind
people it's not just about what theplay and race do they actually get in
the playing tournament. No, thereal point of this is playing meaningful basketball
and what that means for your youngcore moving forward. And so because of
that, well, I'm not goingto do, you know, George W.

(11:52):
Bush mission accomplished meme and say it'sinside of a month. So the
Rockets have accomplished their goal. No, we're not there yet, but we
have gotten to where they're accomplishing someof it, and there is a very
realistic path to where they can accomplishpretty much all of it. And so
to me, this is as happyas I've been about the team as a

(12:13):
whole really since Christmas. We knowthe way they started, we know the
optimism, but even then, maybeit's the happiest all year because before Christmas,
the sample was small, and wealways wondered would there be a regression,
How are they going to handle whenthe schedule toughen They have some injuries.
Now we've seen what happens when theschedule toughens. They've got these injuries,
and they're finding a way anyway.They're closer to the first third and

(12:33):
the second third. That's something thatwe've covered in recent pods. He may
Udoku has used this as his analysis. It feels like this team, you
know, going into next season,they have a baseline of being competent in
the range of five hundred, justas is, and that's before we get
to you know, any big internaljumps or the addition of Steven Adams or
anything else that Rafelstone might bring inthis offseason. So I would just say,
for me, at a macro level, this is the happiest I've been

(12:56):
about this team in a long time. And while it's not mission a comp
yet there are levels to it,and if they have a bad week then
it's not like every game is guaranteedat this point to be meaningful all the
way through. But from where I'msitting now, this feels pretty damn good,
and you know, we can alreadysee some of the benefits getting realized.

(13:16):
The last couple of games. Ifelt the buzz in Toyota Center.
I was there. You can tellthat the players, the fans, people
realize that this team is playing goodball. There's something at stake. There
is still a realistic path, evenif it's narrow. So for me,
the season is not a full blownsuccess just yet, but we're getting there.
We're getting really really close. Andat the end of the day,
if the Rockets are playing games throughthe final week of the season that have

(13:39):
meeting then for me, that makesfor a successful season, regardless of what
the final outcome is, because again, it's not just about a playing tournament
banner. No, it's not evena thing. The point is playing meaningful
ball. We're getting that and tothis point. We'll get to the individuals
in a little bit, But tothis point, not only are the individuals
getting those reps, but they arethriving under those high pressure reps, those
high leverage and hopefully that continues inWashington tonight. Pablo, I know that

(14:03):
was a little long wounded, butI just wanted to sort of give my
state of play after the seventh andone start to march in your eyes?
What would it take to make thisseason a relative success at this point?
I mean, I think if youcan get it's it's tough because I don't
really define the season. I hatelike this type of stuff. I hate.

(14:24):
Is it a success or is ita failure? I think that's okay.
There's you know, there's layers toit. Right to me, his
success versus a failure knowing that theplaying tournament is unlikely. The success or
failure to me comes down to howmuch better are you in terms of the

(14:45):
state of the French as compared towhere you were at the beginning of the
season, and and how can youuse that it can can you use that
to move forward? Right? Thisseason, we figured out that kem Witmore
certainly a guy that will fit intoany team in the future. We've we've
learned that men Thompson's one of thebest defenders in the league. Quite like
Tarisan. Just the two percent andthe block percent numbers are just off the
chart and die test matches at all, So we know that there's something there.

(15:09):
We still don't quite know in whatformatch his role will be moving forward.
Will he be a lead guard thatthe rem pressure machine. Will he
be a you know, maybe whatpeople thought of stars Thumplan was going to
be, or is going to bein more of a glue guy. We
don't know yet, but we knowthat those guys are going to be something

(15:31):
We'll think. One has surpassed expectationsobviously, and Jalen Green has underperformed expectations
thought the entire season, but isnow picking it back up in typical children
Green fashion after the All Star break. Tarresan and Tarresan has obviously been injured,
but I don't think anybody has everdoubted or doubted or doubts now that

(15:52):
he'll be a really impactful player forhis entire career. And perhaps the biggest
improvement compared to last season is jfrSmith Junior, who went from a guy
that was literally good for nothing atthe NBA level to a guy that's shooting
lee at the very least. Thenumbers in front of me, but at
least league average from from three hasmade strides as an offensive option when he's

(16:15):
got into the chances. He's hadsome takeover games, which is really rare
last season. And on defense helooks like he knows what he's doing a
lot more right. So from thatperspective, everything looks a lot better than
they did the season prior. Theculture of the team looks a lot better
than what he did the season prior. Seems like we got the coach right

(16:37):
Frevan Leet's deal, while voaded stilllooks like he's holding a piece end of
the bargain, and even if hedoesn't for next year, it's an expiring
deal at this point. Dylan Brookshas been started off really well, but
it's been a mixed back so thatI I'd rather, you know, address
the season as a failure or successor success from a know, from an

(17:00):
individual assessment standpoint for each of theguys and then for the entirety of the
team. I find it hard toboil it down to how close are you
to the play, And I thinkwe've been competent enough. We've already surpassed
the Vegas over under from the Rocketsthe Vegas line. So we're already better
than what everybody expected us to beand there's still what sixteen games. I'm

(17:25):
not quite here every game. Yeah, so listen, it's it. I
think it'd be biased to say it'snot add of success right now because we're
on the winning stream. I thinkit would be biased as well to say
that it can't be a success orthat they won't be a success unless we
make the play. And because it'sbeen a season of ups and the apps
as far as that the realism ofmaking the play, and we were,

(17:48):
i mean, everybody was keeping upwith, if not watching the game,
at least keeping up with the boxscore of the Lakers Warriors game, which
had massive implications for us, andor they were disappointed that the Lakers one,
that the Lakers lost and the Warriorswon, and it actually wasn't because
of exactly what you what you justmentioned, because we have a tiebreaker against
the Lakers, and I think it'sit's a bit far feed to expect us

(18:11):
to just all out, you know, clear whatever team you have to clear,
buy a full game or at theend of the season, to put
to put it in context a littlebit, if the Rockets go ten and
five, which I think we'd bepretty pleased with scheduled us topping up after
the next four. The Lakers wouldneed to go six and eight for you
to tie them and thus win becauseof the tiebreakers. So to outright clear

(18:36):
is a lot to ask to beit the Lakers or the Warriors. Yeah.
So, and then besides that,when you look so so for the
Rockets, you have you have theWizards, who who is must win.
We have the Bulls, which havebecome a tough team. But in between
time, Kobe whites out, PatrickWilliams is out. Obviously Zech Levine is

(18:57):
still out, so they lost somekey pieces. I think it was a
massive, massive part of what gotthem back to being decent tough after you
know that stretch, the first stretchwhere Zacklovin is out and he's out now.
So I think the Bulls should bewhile not I must win, they're
competent enough team that I don't thinkwe'll be thanking by three days from now.

(19:22):
I think they are someone who wecould beat. The lass are someone
who we could beat. Uh.I think we'd be favored against them,
especially at home. The Boyzards aremust win the thunder while being by far
favorites in any matter. With theRockets, we tend to play up against
them, even though we haven't necessarilywon too much. It's going to be

(19:44):
I think it will be a closegame. I wonder how that matchup changes.
Not that we don't have Shangun,but that's you know, it's not
a it's not a timber Wolves ifeverybody is healthy level or Celtics if everybody
is healthy level of game where you'rebasically hopeless. I think the games are
something that we have a bunch ofscams. The Jazz again, obviously we
could win that game. The Mavericksare incredibly inconsistent. If we remain with

(20:10):
the current lineups. I think Thompsoncould be one of the guys in the
league that gives the most trouble ifyou can go it trouble to look at
onst it and then you've just gotto pray that Carrie Irving doesn't go absolutely
off, because he hasn't been goingoff yet, the game winner a couple
of days ago, but he's not. You know, those guys when they
play together. From what I've watchedfrom the maps, that are literally up

(20:32):
and down there they can beat alot of teams, but they also lose
to a lot of bad teams.And we should also mention that any game
at home is winnable. They're twentythree and eleven this season. They just
beat the crap out of a Clevelandteam that had Donovan Mitchell, had Shirt
Allen, had Darius Garland. Soat this point, any team that comes
to Tutor Center, not saying theRockets are for sure going to beat them,
but they have a fighting chance justbased on their strength at home,

(20:55):
which we've now seen almost a fullseason's that's legitimate. That should sustain itself.
Yeah, So so from what we'veseen so far, I think I
think we can count the Thunders asa loss, although there's a chance that
we win that one, but thenthere's also chances that we lose. Some
of they the gyms that I'm goingto go through. So there's the Thunder
one, just go quickly through it. I think we lose against the Wolves,

(21:18):
even though Coronthiny turns us out nasReed does the Inn club of filling
in the offensive big gap that theyhave without Towns, the Warriors will probably
lose. It's the Warriors. It'scursed and I don't want to talk about
it. So that's the wine.Though I'm at home against the Warriors and

(21:40):
I'm gonna get cat flame for thistheater Center is basically Steph curis home as
well. Let's be honest, atthis point, he gets MVP cance there.
I mean it's at the European SportsWan in me, you know,
has a lot of the staying forthat. Noting that the best player of
the team that literally ruined this friendsover the last ten years, it gets

(22:03):
here or whatever. I know,I know it goes We're not good enough
to fill up the state. Andyet although I will say these last couple
of games, and this goes intothe argument that I was making off the
top, it's felt different. There'sbeen more energy. Now. That's not
to say that the Warriors aren't gonnahave fans for that game or the mass
with Luca like the big names arestill gonna have their stands. The Rockets

(22:26):
are not full blown contenders yet andquite frankly, even when they are,
Houston's always been a big transplant market. It just is what it is.
There were some of that even duringthe peak Harden days of a few years
ago. But you are seeing fansaround Houston rally around this team more and
because of that, that's one ofthe real benefits is that there is some

(22:47):
energy in the gym and we're seeinghow these guys you know, you were
distinction is fair like, maybe it'snot about the collective and a season like
this, it's about, you know, evaluating the individuals and how they respond.
Okay, but still like seeing howthese individuals perform when the gym has
some life to it, when there'ssome stakes, that has value as well.
So while again not trying to tellpeople that they should anticipate no Warriors

(23:11):
fans, let's not get crazy.We're not idealist to that extent. However,
I do think you'll see a bitmore sort of competitive juices amongst the
fans and will have a little bitmore than it usually does. And that's
exactly what you're trying to get theseplayers accustomed to, right, Yeah,
for sure. And so I've kindof three three losses this far, so

(23:33):
I'm saying an ideal scenario, youmight split it with the mass, although
I think we could win it.So that's for you know, we might
drop a game against another team thatyou should be beating. If you want
to make the play in. Butyou know, I don't think ten and
five is that far fat. Ithink or are schedule until then the season.
I don't think the Clippers even thinkabout playing any of their superstars in

(23:56):
the last game. And you knowthere's two teams that have not been that
in the past. I've shown thatthey're not beyond thanking a game at the
end of the season on purpose fora better matchleift that that I done it
when we were contendents. I rememberwith Clers that when they were the three
season, we were the four seator something like that. And the Clippers

(24:18):
have done it in one of theworst basketball games I've ever watched a couple
of a couple of a couple ofyears ago when they have a big that
shot twenty five shots and went likefive for twenty five or whatever it was.
So I think ten wins is notthat far fat. But when then
when you look at the Lakers,like their sketchley is like really tough they

(24:40):
play. They played the Hawks right, which is basically a win that there's
not it's on the second and halfoff the back backs. That not very
young. If you said it outwhy you were ruined it. The Sixers
are tough, but they're probably beatthem. But then the Placers are really
tough and they're on they're on thehunt for a playoff spot as well.
I think they're in the playoff stop, but they're in the hunt for a

(25:03):
higher seed. The Bucks are reallytough. The Grizzlies. I mentioned earlier
in the year that we got reallylucky because we got the Grizzlies without Camorant
and then they lost Jared Jackson Juniorand Desmond Payne and they're both backs.
So the Grizzlies are actually going tobe I think, a fairly tough match.
And I don't think they're going tothank That's just not what the Grizzlies

(25:23):
are. And they play them,you know, still with more than ten
games to go in the season,so I don't think they'll be danking.
The Grizzlies might be an upset pickin this game. The Pacers again the
next we can't count on them foranything. The Raptors, you know,
they can get hot and upset you, but I don't think so those Ads
are a free win. But thenthe CAFs are fighting for higher seeding.

(25:45):
The Wolves the same thing. TheWarriors were obviously just talked about them,
and then they played the Grizzlies again. At this point they may be thanking.
That may be a free win.And then they play the Pelicans,
who are on the verse in thein the in the in the Eastern Conference
from slipping to a play in spot, you know, the high the high

(26:06):
end ones, and they might wantto avoid that. So the last game
of the season is tough as well. I think is so much least than
there's I think it's actually realistic forus to make the play in as long
as some of the trends that Iknow we'll get into about about the team's
play over the last week or soor kind of two weeks. Now,
if if those continue, I thinkwe have a real shout at making the

(26:30):
play in. And how ofesome wouldit be. I mean, as a
fan of the team that hasn't playedmining meaningful basketball for three years now,
just the thought, because once youget into the plane, it's one game,
or it's actually two games from formore spot, you have to upset
a team twice and you get aplayoff series. I can imagine how crazy
it would be if we got aplayoff series. Oh yeah, would be

(26:53):
these games. I think that wouldbe that would be like you that will
I know these are vote I knowthese are voted before the playoffs start.
Wait, it's before the playoff start, but it's not before the playing right
the year the award's voting. Ithat's a good question. I'm not sure
offhand. I think the way ittypically works is that there's a period of

(27:19):
several days where you can submit,so it's like the Heisman Trophy in college
football. I'll try and confirm this, and if I'm wrong, I'll tweet
it. But typically a lot ofthese awards, they want as many media
members as possible to vote to havetime, so they give a wide window
of when you can accept, sovoters can wait through the playing games,

(27:40):
but not they don't necessarily have to. So the answer, as I understand
it is sort of but I willtry to confirm that. Yeah, because
if it is, and if theRockets make the playoffs, so I think
you can count on. Maybe isa bit too far because the thunder are
so good, So I don't thinkhe might heal win that one. But
I think you'll look at Raphael Stoneas an executive of the award contender if

(28:06):
the Rockets do make, you know, a leap like that, I still
be one anyways, just because thealbum much better. The team is what
a you're talking about? It's timeto fire him, right? Yeah?
Crazy? Right? But yeah,I think how how insane if we've got
a playoff series, especially like whenyou look at it, three years for
a team to go from starting thereveal back into the playoffs is pretty insane.

(28:32):
Yeah, it absolutely would be.Of course that's still a long shot,
but I do want to provide alittle bit of contact. So her,
thank her Tankathon. Wow. Reallystruggling to put my words together tonight.
Rockets actually have a slightly tougher schedulethan the Lakers. Twenty for Houston,
twenty two for LA. But andthis goes both to your point and

(28:56):
what I was saying earlier, It'snot as simple, especially in the final
two or three weeks of an NBAseason, as who you're playing on paper.
It's when you play them, It'swhat the incentives are. Are they
likely to play hard? Are theygoing to pull back? What does your
finale look like? So those takethonnumbers this time of year, and that's

(29:17):
why I think the models have alittle more variability than they often do throughout
the season. This time of year, there's going to be some unusual things
happening when it comes to trying topredict the NBA down the home stretch of
a season. Be at Cancun mode, resting. Maybe some tanking teams take
a game against a star started opponentlike the Lakers or the Warriors as their

(29:40):
super Bowl in the last week ofthe season. We actually saw the Rockets
do that last year. Remember whenthey won their home finale, annihilated Nicola
Jokic and the full strength Nuggets.That was insane, like basically the swan
song for Steven Silas, and theRockets choose as a springboard to three straight
wins, which of course could notsave Stephen's job. At that point the
die had been cast. Yes,But the point is, some weird things

(30:02):
happen down the stretch of an NBAseason, and so those models that for
a season as a whole are verypredictive, including strength of schedule not necessarily
the case when we get to thenitty gritty of the home stretch of a
season, and thankfully, it lookslike regardless where the whether they actually get
to or over the final threshold,the Rockets have every opportunity to be competitive

(30:22):
in That in and of itself issomething to celebrate. Now, as far
as the individual storylines, there's anumber of directions we could go. I
do want to touch on Jalen atsome point, although I'm personally less excited
to talk about Jalen, like Iam very happy for him, Like he
nearly lost his job. We knowthe criticism he's faced online. To see

(30:45):
him respond by earning Player of theWeek, I mean, think about how
this is for the Rockets as afranchise. By the way, entering this
season, the Rockets and not hada Player of the Week since the twenty
tens, since James Harden won itin late twenty nineteen. Now they've had
two different guys Shingoon in January andnow Jalen in March, when it just
in the first three months of twentytwenty four. That in and of itself

(31:07):
represents the progress that we're seeing fromthe team as a whole, and most
notably, as you said, leadingoff amongst these young core prospects that are
so crucial to know your route tocontention in the years ahead. But as
far as Jalen. Look, we'veseen the highs before, while there are
some things different right now. Iespecially love the defense. I love that
he's finishing better, and you cansee in the on off numbers in this

(31:30):
five PM winning streak he's averaging betterthan twenty five game on strong efficiency.
Oh and the Rockets are plus eightpoint eight with Jalen on the floor,
So there's nothing empty calori to thesenumbers at all. He's contributing to winning.
At the same time, look someof the earlier numbers in his career
when he allegedly wasn't contributing to winning. You also have to acknowledge that those
Rockets teams were dreadful, so it'sreally tough to truly gauge what's winning play

(31:52):
and what isn't in those environments.The bottom line, with Jalen, it's
always been about the consistency. Andso while this week, especially without Shin
Gun, has been really encouraging,I've actually been most impressed since the Ulstar
break that Jalen's avoided the really badgames. Like a bad one for Jalen
since the Ulstar Break is something likesixteen points, five boards, five for

(32:14):
twelve shooting and he's still playing thirtyminutes a night because he may Udoka trust
tend to make a positive impact defensively. You're not seeing just the total o
fers the four points in twenty minutesand not even playing last quarter and a
half like the game in Memphis rightfor the ulstar break. That's unacceptable because
he may Udoka just doesn't know whathe has from one game to the next

(32:35):
in that environment, and so it'strust. It's tough to build around the
guys to have to give him anew contract and see him as a key
part of your future when from onegame to the next he may give you
thirty plus or he may give youabsolutely nothing. And so for me,
while I'm glad to see Jalen playwell enough to earn Player of the Week,
I think what gives me the mostencouragement long term is that the lows
seem to have been mitigated. Thelows are much more reasonable. He's still

(32:58):
making an impact defensively, and whoknows, maybe you know the thought of
losing his job or some coaching theRockets stad on the side has contributed to
that mental toughness getting better. Maybeit just took more time because Jalen was
the guy who was exposed to youknow, the Steven Silas tax more than
anybody, even the guys that didplay with Silas the last couple of years
that weren't new to this system.Look all pri In Shongoon, Jabari Smith

(33:21):
Junior or Tarnie Easton, they weren'tthe focal points. Jalen has the focal
point. Really one of two guysalongside Kevin Porter Junior and KPJ never made
it to the roster this season,so Jalen was the only guy who suffered
the most in regards to losing habits. So maybe it's just it took a
little bit longer for him to shakethose habits. But regardless, what impresses
me the most with Jalen, it'snot even the highs. It's just that
he's avoided the lows in terms ofthe individual's story lines. But what stands

(33:43):
out to me the most is actuallya Men Thompson because what the Rockets have
done since inserting him ended the startinglineup for Stingoon is really creative on both
ends of the floor. I thinkwe all knew that even though Amn Thompson
is no out of center, let'snot get crazy. He's a better defensive
player than all for ehin Goog.He just has far more tools and even

(34:07):
if you have to be creative interms of how you deploy the other four
players, Look, Dylan can guardbig guys. Who've seen Dylan Brooks successfully
defend Wemby multiple times. Javari Smithhas the length, even though you know
he's not a prot typical big manby any means. He had three blocks
against the Calves. He does havesome presence at six foot eleven. You

(34:27):
can be creative with how you deploythe other guys on the floor and find
a way to make the clear skillsof Amn Thompson work. The question has
always been with the men. Lookthe athleticism, the playmaking, the vision,
the IQ. He has these clearskills, but he's also got some
clear weaknesses as a twenty one yearold rookie. Obviously the shooting, but

(34:50):
also the handle has been uneven atbest this year, and so the Rockets.
The've always wanted to play more,but they've sort of had to balance.
Okay, we know he has theseclear skills, but how do we
avoid putting him in situations where theweaknesses are going to be exposed that they're
going to be too much, andI think that was part of the calculus
when they were considering, and wetalked about it on the pod. You

(35:13):
know, should they remove Jalen andsort of men into the starting lineup over
the All Star break? The Rocketsdidn't know that it would be better with
a men like There were potentially somereal limitations, especially when you know if
you do a men for Jalen swap, then you'd have two of your five
guys in that starting lineup with themen Thompson and all per in Shangoon who
aren't really respected as shooters. Now, Shindun can pass well, but you

(35:35):
know we've seen from time to timehe can find a men when he cuts.
But just by and large, it'stough in the NBA to run an
offense where two of the five guysaren't really respected from his facing perspective behind
the three point arc. However,by using him with this configuration alongside Fred
and Shalen and Dylan and Shabbari,it's almost like, for me, this

(35:58):
is an analogy you might enjoy.Hello. It reminds me a little bit
of how Mike D'Antoni used Russell Westbrookafter the Clint Capella trade four years ago,
when the Rockets leaned into small ballwith a six foot four, six
foot five PJ. Tucker at centerand six foot seven Robert covingkonn at the
four and shoot a six foot threeor six foot four Eric Gordon at the
three. At least this quote unquotesmall ball has a six foot eleven Guy

(36:22):
Jabari at center, and you alsohave some nice length and power with not
just dealing with a men as well. Now, conversely, that front court
of E. G and H.Covington and PJ. Tucker had a lot
more proven physical toughness and there's alot of value as well. Not trying
to shit all over the bubble Rocketsand that team they had going into COVID

(36:44):
and coming out of COVID, theyhad some advantages as well. This team,
you see some of those similarities withhow they're using a men. They
also do have some more length,So there's pros and cons and also not
trying to say that you know,current Aman Thompson is as good as Russell
Westbrook. Then no Russell Westbrook.That first month he was either player of
the Month or really close. Afterthey made the switch, to small ball

(37:05):
and basically made it to where Russwas flanked by four shooters. Before that,
it was tough to play Russ andCapella, same dynamic. Capella wasn't
as good of a pastoration goon.But either way, like it's I said
earlier, it's tough to play twonon shooters, and the spacing got clunky
as opposed to when you put Russout there with the small ball lineup,
he just took off and you couldlet him attack the rim, attack the

(37:27):
offensive class, occasionally screen even dothings off the ball. You just unlocked
a new layer of Russ, andyou know, three years removed from being
MPP. Not saying, Amn Thompson, is there just shit, No,
this is just a prototype. Thisis a much smaller rookie level, Amn
Thompson. So again when I'm drawingthese cops, not trying to say that
now is even close in some areasto then just saying you can sort of

(37:49):
see the blueprint. And so becauseof that, the way they have used
a men. So you put himin the dunker spot and he provides the
lob threat that even with Stromgoon theRockets haven't had. We've talked, we've
heard from imy Udoka say throughout theyear that that's important to them. Well,
now you put him in in thatdunker slot and if Fred or Jalen
breaks down the defense and that lowman comes over to help, okay,

(38:13):
just lob it to him in Youcan also use him as your primary screener,
and if you get him to theyou've get them the ball in the
short role, even if he doesn'thave a great handle at the same time,
because the vision is there, thenhe can find somebody else and he's
done that several times. You canalso put him in positions to attack the
offensive glass and get put backs,which he's done and all of those are

(38:34):
things that are tough to do ifhe's playing alongside all per inchhion Goon,
because your star big man oftentimes needsthe space on that low block or in
the mid range area. So thissmall ball lineup has allowed them, in
my opinion, to almost use,at least on offense a men as a
quasi center and giving them the LPthreat that they haven't had throughout this season,

(39:00):
and to me, that's somewhat offsettingat least to this point. Now
obvious caveats, small sample size thingscan change. Coaches are gonna try and
adjust to this, and we'll seewhat happens as more tape goes out around
the league of these rockets. Butto this point, even though they don't
have the playmaking and scoring potential ofShongoon, at the same time, it's

(39:20):
sort of offset by the fact thatyou're getting a better version of a men
now. A couple other things Ido want to note, like, Okay,
you put him in the starting lifeand you're getting a better version of
him using him alongside these other four. That's great, But now the beds
unit is even more compromise. Youdon't have cam Atari, as mentioned earlier,
so now you're leaning very heavily on, you know, guys with very

(39:40):
clear ceilings, guys like Jeff Green, Aaron Holliday, Reggie Bolock is back
in the rotation. So we'll seehow that holds up down the stretch of
the season. It's fair to havesome concerns there. I mentioned the tape
and the question of what happens asthis lineup gets more data on it and
other coaches around the league see howthey want to play it. The JV.

(40:02):
Bicker staff of the Cavs mentioned beforeSaturday's game that, yeah, it
was tough because the Rockets were stylisticallyplaying a very different way than they have
for most of this season. Shindoonand started sixty three to the first sixty
four games. So I'm not takinga victory lap just yet. It's still
premature. And also want to sayeven in the long term, like I've
seen some people saying, well,you know, how does this fit with
Shindoon long term, we should notethat a men is not a finished product.

(40:24):
Like the handle should definitely come around, and perhaps the shot does as
well. So we're talking about makingthe best of himn Thompson as he is
right now. We hope that ifthe handle comes around. I mean,
there's no reason why with the passing, the playmaking, the size the defense.
I think a realistic outcome is preinjury Ben Simmons when he was an

(40:46):
All Star with the Sixers, Iwas saying, that's for sure gonna happen.
But I think it's realistic with hisskill set and if the shot comes
along a little bit with a Men'sconstant work with Ben Sullivan, then maybe
that makes him eventually, like that'swhat takes him to a super level like
a top ten player, and soin those constructions. Later on everything may

(41:07):
change in terms of how he fitsalongside the other four players. Does he
fit with Shangoon? Does he fitwith anything else the Rockets might do.
But right now, based on hisclear strengths and weaknesses as a rookie,
I feel like using him in thiscapacity that they have since losing Shangoon to

(41:27):
injury, it's sort of offset theimpact. And that's no disrespect to all
p because it is a blow,but because you're using a man Thompson in
the best possible way and putting himin basically the perfect lineup to play the
hits strengths and minimize his weaknesses,then what you're getting the increased amount from

(41:51):
Amen sort of offsets what you're losingfrom Shingoon, And that, to me
is what's most encouraging about the pastweek. What do you think about that?
And uh do you sort of seethe uh a Men twenty twenty four
to Russ twenty twenty vibe at leastpost clump Capella that comp I was trying
to throw at you. Yeah,I definitely do. Obviously there's there's some

(42:13):
differences and there's not quite the playmakerRussas and the man does not quite happen.
The handle and of finishing at therooms also not quite the same.
But I but I can see whereyou were going with it in the way
that you can that you can usea guy that's basically a guard non shooter
or a ball hand or non shooterin ways off the ball so that he

(42:35):
doesn't clog up everything else that you'retrying to do. I think it's it's
really interesting what's happened. I tooksome notes I was walking back that I
didn't watch the Cleveland game live,unfortunately, because the NBA chooses to only
give early games on the weekends whenpeople in Europe are, you know,
usually going out. So I guess, I guess I have to choose between

(43:00):
not going out or staying up untilfour am in a weekday or whatever.
That's a fight that I've given up, but I wanted it back, and
it's it just seems like overall,this is the way this EMAILUKA team,
with this talent, wants to playthe tendency for a uber athletic young team

(43:27):
that has very lengthy athletes, alot of them defensive specialists. I mean
basically every single one of them exceptfor children. Dream defensive specialists is to
play at a high pace, runup and down the court, run a
more free flowing offense where we're beingreally active or going for offensive rebounds.
We may put up some shots thatare ill advised, but we are mostly

(43:50):
you know, free lancing on offense. There's there's some structure to it where
we're still seeing screens, we're stillseeing picking pops, but it's very rudimentary
and basically every single piece of theoffense kind of is able to do the
simple you know, drive pass shootscomponent of it, right besides the man

(44:13):
and the shooting. But they're inmovements so often that the defense from what
I'm seeing is not even like theassignments are being changed so often that the
defense is not realizing that they canfully sag off of him and thumbson even
when he is not in the dunkerspot. Sometimes he's in the permitter.
He is being respected as a shooterbecause the shooters are who's guarding the shooters

(44:36):
is constantly changing, and so guysaren't you know immediately you know it's not
a jent type of scenario when you'rerunning a pickn roll where the guy that's
guarding him sagging off because that's theguy that's been guarding him all game,
and he knows that he can sagoff. If you're constantly changing who his
matchup is, you're you're keeping thedefender in their toes on their toes and
you are. And so they haveto make a quick decision. And the

(45:02):
default for an NBA player is toguard the shooter, because most guys are
shooters. The other thing Ament doesreally well is the way he angles to
himself within the area of the tunkerspot. Right. It's it's a little
bit of a plus compared to anormal big because the man so it's just
smart, savvy player already at thiseight. He knows how to open the

(45:25):
angle further for the past to beeasier to make, or for the dunk
to be easier to get to oncehe gets the ball, so he doesn't
get found because he's not that greaterfiltrough hutter. If he gets fouled,
it's usually points off the board comparedto a dunk. I mean, basically
everything in the NBA points off theport compared to a dunk. But you
know what I mean. So it'sit's interesting because these guys. They seem

(45:47):
to fit a lot better with thistype of basketball. This doesn't invalidate that
Singun is the best player on theteam and that he contributes to winning when
he's on the floor. It's justthat there's a little bit of a clash
between the way Shane Gun plays andwants to play ideally and and the and
the way Racers are playing. Rightnow, we're seeing we don't quite switch

(46:14):
one through five. If we needto, we do right, We try,
We try to not do it,but so we try to force the
matchups to remain the same. Butwhen they don't, we are more active
in the way that we're switching.And it's not like we're giving up,
like we're not giving up mismatches atwill, but at the same time we're

(46:37):
more willing to give them because wedon't unless it's Kill and Green on a
five or Kill and Breen on aguy at Pascal Siakam at the flour,
it's not really a mismatch. Anotheranother parallel to what you were saying about
passive dressions of the rockets with JamesHarden and especially Rossall Westbrook, prevent vleet

(46:59):
is very James hard than a likein the way that he guards the post.
He has very quick hands, he'sincredibly stout. You know, he
holds his own he has a lowercenter of gravity than most of the pigs
that he's guarding, and so hedoes a pretty decent job with that's strippings,
stripping the ball or making it enoughbalanced shot, so which makes it
And considering he's the one, andyou know, for most players sees the

(47:22):
point for most for most ball hendEr sees the point of attack. Him
and Dylan Brooks, both of themcan guard the five. And then even
if it's a man Thompson, whoeven if it's a man Thomson's matchup,
he can also guard the five prettyefficiently. I'll actually say it's possible that
our one, or three and orfour in this lineup are better at guarding

(47:45):
fives than or two in R fivebecause Javari struggles a little bit because of
the power, even though he hasthe size to do it. So it's
really confusing for you to design agame playing a round because it's such a
unique set of skills. But atthe same time, it is exactly the
time with basketball that Imloka wants theteam to play and by the way,
one point I want to make youmentioned Fred and Dylan. This is just

(48:07):
a very basic one, but Ithink one that should be made. We
talked a lot about the defensive regressiongoing into the All Star break, and
we know the story of this teamas a whole. They've generally been in
above average defense all year or formost of the year, below average offense.
And the defense gets to mediocre orworse than they're just not going to
be a good team because the offensecan't overcome it. I mean, talked
a lot going into the break aboutthe injuries that Fred and Dylan had going

(48:29):
in and hoping that, you know, some time off could let them recharge.
To me, just the eye testthat looks exactly like what's happened.
I've asked him Udoka, and hesort of downplays it because the team's always
somebody to say, look for playersout there. He's playing and he should
give it everything he has. They'renot going to say that these guys were
playing hurt and give them that excuse. He doesn't want them thinking in those

(48:51):
terms. But just by the eyetest, independent of the Shongoon stuff.
Ever since the All Star break,Fred and Dillan just looked like they have
a lot more juice. They looka lot more inpact and that's that's definitely
helps some, right, Yeah,for sure. And listen it's I think
it has some to do with withKillen's offensive, you know, the new

(49:13):
style and Chilen's offensive comeback of sorts, while it started earlier than being out.
I think shenguon if you think ofit in archetype terms or in what
you project you want to be,which we are reminded every game, whether
it does good or bad, thatthat's not like the atactity is in theory
you think of and I think theperfect parallel is the Kings in theory you

(49:37):
you you think Killer can be thetarn Fox type and Chicken can be the
Savonas type, right, or theMalik Monk type. The difference is al
branchingn creates advantages on offense, whetherhe's isolating, whether he's in dribble handoffs
he creates, or whether he's screening. He creates advantages, but he creates

(49:57):
advantages that are better capitalized by certaintype of player, the way the Aaron
Fox and Milik Monk works so wellwith the bonus is they're both and and
Fox wasn't thet theginning of his career. That's why the Kings struggled out for
a bit. But it is nowa real pull up thread from three so
is Monk Dylan at this point instructure isn't a pull up thread. I

(50:22):
think most teams will be would bewilling to let him shoot that shot most
of the time, and so whatand he does that some in the picino
when they go under, but I'mnot sure how the SAT's rank and when
when it's a when it's a dribblehandoff. But I don't think that any
of us would characterize that as astrength to clout. And then the other
thing that both Monk and Fox havethat Cleveland doesn't is the ability to make

(50:45):
really tough finishes at the room consistently. Monk and Fox just from the eye
tests, are some of the bestin the league at finishing at the room
through contact, through shot blockers,around shot blockers, high after rim,
whatever type of you know, acrobaticfinished that you want you want to think
about. They're good at it Dayalenisn't Dalen for most of his career and

(51:08):
before he came to the NBA hasalways been a guy that who was so
athletic that he didn't really have tobecome a really crafty finish in at the
room because he's going to beat everybodythere even if he even if he isn't
given a screen, right so Jalenusing me as well, he's athoticism can
create the advantage on his own.We've talked about him calling for screens when

(51:28):
they're on ind just because it's it'sbeen ingrained into his brain from the Steven
South's offense that he has to callfor a screen every single time, but
sometimes even calls for screen only alreadyhas a mismatch, even though he doesn't.
For the most part, the cancreate an advantage just off his speed
and twitchiness alone, and he canuse that advantage to them finish at the

(51:51):
rim and not have that must ofa and obviously that's exceptions to this,
but for the most part not havethat much of a contest when he gets
there. Operaching gun creates advantages overcreates driving lanes, but they are you
know, tighter driving lanes with moreof a contest when when when you get

(52:13):
to the rim, which is perfectwhen you have more to play finisher type
as the guard like Monk like Fox, who are elite at the two types
of finishing off plays that I justmentioned. With Jalen, it's a little
bit tern because he's never had someonecreate the advantage just for him, and

(52:34):
so his game naturally isn't tailored forthat. He'd rather have less people involved
and him have to beat the firstman than have someone beat the first man
for him, but then have someonehelp at the rim the man usually that's
guarding the guy that just created theadvantages the advantage past the first man.
I don't know if this makes sense. I know I'm going really long on

(52:55):
this, but it's a weird andI only this happens just with Jalen,
but it's a weird scenario where wehave a lot of guys on this team
that they can finish at the rimor or they're better at creating the adventage
than they are at capitalizing on itafter it's created. And so I think
that's why we haven't quite seen theoffensive regression that we expected without shang Un

(53:22):
part of it. It's because thedefense is better that generating that that you
know, the game is more influx. The game is higher placed than
so easier shots present themselves as aas a as a as a result of
the chaos. But the other partof it is exactly is in my opinion,
comes from this, and this doesn'tmake Opportune any worse of a player,

(53:44):
and he does. It doesn't meanthat he isn't the best personal team
He clearly is, and he clearlycontributes to winning when he's on the court.
What I'm saying is that the differenceisn't as large as it should be
because while he does create let's callit twenty I don't know potatoes worth of

(54:05):
advantages, the team is only ableto capitalize I'm seventeen of those potatoes,
and when he isn't on the team, everybody else is a little bit better
at creating advantages. And when youstack all of those advantages together, it
amounts to fifteen potatoes. So theteam would be better with Shangoon, absolutely,

(54:27):
but it's not that much worse withouthim because of this clash and styles.
And I think when you look atother teams that have been built around
the big like Shangoon, I thinkthe difference comes from what I've just mentioned,
and so I think it's been fascinatingto watch. A couple of other

(54:49):
pointers that to bring up about howthe offense has changed is we're seeing a
little bit more of Clippari, whichis interesting offensively at least something that we
I've only seen in spurts throughout theseason. So I think obviously succession comes
hurt, but it's really encouraging thatteam is still good while he isn't.

(55:10):
And it's and it's really valuable datathat. Yeah, that's what the season
is about, collecting data. Yeah, and and and and it's it's really
good that Emi went to Japari atthe five and not just plug in Jeff
Green, who isn't as good Vitutyis not going to be as respected or

(55:30):
Jacquelandelle at you know, just promotingstraight up from the reserve to the starter
and just change the entire way theteam works. And I really think that
this group spoops the way he wantsthe team to play, better than the
team beforehand was doing. Now withthe disclaimer that there was a clear attitude

(55:59):
change at the beginning of the winstreak when it comes to defense, and
Shingun was included in that, andhe was also playing better defense, but
surprisingly enough it's actually the biggest differenceis on offense than it is on defense,
and that's really mind boggling. Andeven if we don't make that play

(56:20):
and it, I think we're infor a really interesting last fifteen to sixteen
games. I know you corrected me, I still remember, Yeah, fifteen
to go. And to your pointwith the disclaimer that very small sample and
weird things can happen when we're tryingto extrapolate a bigger picture trend from a
sample as small. But in thethree games without Shangoon, defensively, they're

(56:44):
seventh. Okay, for the seasonas a whole, they're eighth, and
since they also break their ninth,so they're right about where they've been.
The offense, which is twenty fourthof the season as a whole, offensive
rating for the Rockets, is actuallyseventh in these last three games, So
while I don't expect it to staythat high, that would just be crazy.
At the same time, even ifthey're just moderately better, that's interesting

(57:05):
because yeah, it's not just abouthow an individual player performance by himself.
It's also about the broader team constructhow it contributes to winning. So at
a bare minimum, it's interesting towatch, and while three games is not
a sufficient data size to draw anysort of sweeping conclusion, nearly twenty would
be. And that's what you're gonnahave the final eighteen without all Premson Goon
would be floored if he comes back, as I explained in last week's pod.

(57:30):
So I agree with you at thispoint. I think we've seen enough
to where it's actually the offensive endoof the court that's more intriguing. Defensively,
they're already fine with all Perension Goon. It's more about trying to figure
out and it's not saying he's bad, it's just how much does he actually
contribute to the offensive success for theteam as a whole. That's a fair
question, and it's not an insultto all p to say that. The

(57:52):
same could be said of any playeron this team. Until the Rockets win
at a high level and they stillhaven't even had one above five hundred season,
then everyone's an open book. We'realways trying to learn more. So
while I think you know, againit's very early with some of the points
that you're making, at the sametime, you certainly can't dismiss them.
It's something to watch and if itcontinues over the final eighteen games. That

(58:13):
is not an insignificant sample at all, So I'm largely with you at this
point. I'm more intrigued watching howthe offense functions without shingun especially with as
mentioned sort of unlocking a men playingat his strains, using him as something
of a lob threat and letting himclean up the mess. For a lot
of these other guys as far aswhere they go from here, the guy

(58:37):
I'm actually keeping the closest watch on, I think is Jabari Smith Junior.
And we can close out the podon this because we've talked for most of
the last forty five minutes an hourhowever long we've been recording about the things
going well. Yet you also haveto realize sometimes things can go unsustainably well.

(59:00):
And I think, for example,Jalen Green not saying he's gonna regress
hard, but is he truly twentyfive plus points per game on nearly sixty
percent true shooting. I hope so, But gun to my head, I
think there's gonna be some regression,not a ton. I do think there's
progress in terms of kicking the reallybad games that offers out of his arsenal,

(59:21):
but I think there's probably gonna besome regression. And then with Fred
VanVleet, people are underestimating just howelite his shooting has been. Since the
All Star Break, he's kicked thevolume up a notch to more than eight
attempts per game. He's shooting almostforty two percent. That is insanely good,
shooting at volume, all while playingat a faster pace. They're already
playing at a faster pace. Thatwas emphasis for Imai Ujoka just since adding

(59:45):
him in times in the CAMLP moreto the rotation, and then those two
to Jalen Green. You've got allthese athletes and even with Shangoon, they're
trying to play faster and they're havingsome success. Now there's no Shingoon,
so you don't have quite the halfcourt playmaking potential that you did before,
and so paces even more of anemphasis. To the point is you're asking
Fred now thirty, to play ata faster pace, shoot even more threes
and higher volume. I don't knowif forty two percent is sustainable. I

(01:00:07):
hope it is, but gun tomy head, I think that probably slides
a little bit. So when wetalked about the backcourt and how well they've
played, and that's certainly these firstthree games without LP helped to mitigate the
absence offensively. Then I look atthe rest of the roster and it's like,
okay, where is there some meatbeing left on the bone that they
can potentially get more from to offsetany slight decline, not a big one,

(01:00:32):
but from guys like Fred Jalen,who, in my opinion, over
the past week or two, haveplayed just about as well as they can
play, and thus it may notbe reasonable to expect him to do so
every single game the rest of theway. Jabbari is low key a guy
who I'm keeping an eye on.So going into the All Star Break,
his last fourteen games, and Icalled attention to this on Twitter, he
had shot below thirty percent from three. He was in a funk. We

(01:00:55):
both speculated it could be his anklesand hopefully the time off would do him
well. That certainly seems to havehappened. Since the Altar break, He's
averaging like fifteen points and nine boardsa game, up from twelve and seven,
and he's shooting nearly thirty eight percenton threes. He's also notably had
an uptick in free throws, nota ton, but going from one point
eight per game to three point two, and also the accuracy up from seventy

(01:01:16):
six percent to eighty five, sothere's been improvement across the board. He
seems springier. And you know somethingwe've seen from Jabari in the past on
nights that he's been a little cold. If you had him largely flanked by
guys who could create their own shot, like Jalen, like hall P,

(01:01:38):
like Fred, you'd see him geta little passive. In this configuration,
he's gonna let it fly, youknow, the big change with that shanghun.
You can't if you have an openshot, you can't feel confident that
there's definitely gonna be a better one, even if it's not your night.
Just let it fly and live withthe results. And of course, you
know Jabari, this shooting has beena littleistent, but he is generally respected

(01:02:01):
by opposing defenses, I feel like, and so for this five out to
work, and you're giving up alittle bit physically in terms of sand in
the pants on the low block,that's a fair observation. So he's going
to offset that in other ways andthe shooting, you know, number one,
he needs to make some because ifhe misses everything, obviously he's not
gonna be respected. But beyond that, he's just going to be willing to

(01:02:21):
shoot at a high volume. Tothis point, he's done it. He's
shooting at higher volume we've seen eversince Shingoon went down. I feel like
he's been a little more aggressive interms of looking for his own shot,
not just from three point range,but you know, a little bit of
creation the mid range game turnarounds,just trying to elevate over guys. Again,
it's not that he couldn't do thatbefore. I just feel like there

(01:02:44):
were games in which, you know, he would sort of seed control to
other guys, especially if they hadit going on a given night and he
didn't. This is an opportunity forJabari. He's going to get more usage
than he would have with Shin Gooon. He's one guy who nobody's talking about
it because the numerical improvement isn't asstaggering as obviously for Jalen, who just

(01:03:06):
won Player of the Week, buteven for Fred the percentage jump is a
big one. But Jabari is aguy if he can, you know,
give you something like fifteen and nine, sixteen and nine on solid efficiency to
stay where he is now. Hedoesn't have to have to get better,
just stay like thirty eight percent fromthree. That's the kind of little thing
where even if you do have alittle bit of regression from your other guys,

(01:03:30):
and as I mentioned, the bench, until Cam gets back. I
do think Cam is going to comeback, by the way, from everything
I've heard, it might not beunto the last week of the season,
but they are acting as though he'sgoing to return, and Cam is preparing
for that scenario. Until he getsback, the bench is a little limited,
So how much can you expect fromthem? Although I guess conversely you
can also point out that guys likeAaron Holliday and Reggie Bullock and Jeff Green

(01:03:51):
or and send the by to playfor the next contracts that will help.
Time will tell, But just interms of the starters, even if you
lose a little bit from Fred andShabari or from Fred and Jalen, excuse
me, Shubari is the guy wherethere might be, at least for the
season as a whole, some meatbeing left on the bone that potentially could
offset any decline elsewhere. That's sortof how I'm looking at the offense and

(01:04:11):
how sustainable it is. Is thereanything else you wanted to throw in on
Jibari or anything else offensively before weclose out the pod? Yeah? I
think I think the way you mentionedsome guys, you know, efficiency is
going to drop off, and Ithink part of it's going to bear stepping

(01:04:32):
up a little bit more because he'sgoing to get more reps. I mean,
he's in the three games since sinceLingom's been gone, he hasn't scored
less than fifteen points, and hehas scored twenty in one of them,
but he has been fairly efficient.I think the way it's if the Rockets
are to win, the way it'sgoing to change is actually going to be
You're going to compensate the decline andoffensive efficiency with defensive efficiency, because I

(01:04:59):
do think while they've seen they've stillbeen the laite. I think that there's
further steps up that they can takedefensively, as far as as far as
the switching goes, and as faras deciding when to switch not to switch,
as far as the scrim switching offthe ball. I think that there's
still steps to be taken with thisteam, with this new lineup, that

(01:05:24):
will make up for what the offensewill eventually crash back down to, hopefully
not too much, but at leasta little bit, because it's the only
guy that you have within the startingfive that is a mismatch or a clear
mismatch is Jalen and he's a mismatchfor you know, three are of the

(01:05:45):
O of the five positions. Butunless you're you know, putting him in
the pick and roll, you're alllike the whatever Missmach is going to get,
he will likely be able to orat least often enough, he'll be
able to scrim switch out of androckets have you know, shown some ability
to do it, especially with DylanBrooks, and they seem to be paying
more attention to it. And oneof the things Killn's come better at defensively
is recognizing what's happening around him,not just what his matthup is. So

(01:06:10):
I'm hoping that the you know,the makeup for that inevitable decreasing efficiency comes
from the defense. That's fair,And I guess to tie it full circle
as we close out the pod,I think the theme is that it's all
about the team construct, right,and it's what we were talking about earlier
with Shin good. It may notbe a criticism of him directly at all.

(01:06:34):
It's just we have to not lookat just how something looks on paper,
but how it actually plays out andthe ripple effects for other guys,
what they do with their opportunities.And it sounds like this is sort of
an offshoot of the same thing thatyou know. It may not be as
simple as to say that, well, this regression is going to happen and
then and then they either have tomake up for it in the same way

(01:06:58):
in this sense, you know,offensive playmaking and creativity. No, I
mean there may be a different elementof the offense or different side of the
ball as you're saying. The bottomline is, there's multiple ways. There's
countless ways really to win basketball games. There's all sorts of strengths and weaknesses.
And so even if what you thoughtwas your strength or wanted to be
a strength might not be as muchas what you thought. Then you know,

(01:07:21):
if you improve what was really tobe a weakness, you might can
upset that. Right. Like,it's the bottom line is and what I
think sort of ties all this together. It's all about the cumulative effect.
It may not be all in onespecific area. Right, Yeah, and
I think eventually if KEM W.Moore comes back, I think you can

(01:07:43):
help with the defense with them,not the defense with the offense, and
you know, providing that spark ofthe bent because one of the things that
suffers with I think not being outthere is that, well now you don't
have as much power on the bendas you use to. And you know,
shout out to before we go,just because we haven't really mentioned him.

(01:08:03):
I mentioned them as a possibility ofthe line up chained. But Jock
Clandell has been really, really goodfor a guy that was barely playable throughout
the season. You know his name, his number was called consistently, and
he's playing a lot better. Yeah. Absolutely, And that's also a testament
to why the Rocket should and willbe careful with Shingoon's ankle injury, because

(01:08:29):
Jock tried to come back too earlyand was straight up bad and he since
admitted it that his ankle just wasnot right. It needed more time.
And that's why even if theoretically therewas a possibility that Shingoon could come back
in the final week of the seasonand theoretically play, although certainly not at
one hundred percent capacity, this isnot the NBA Finals, it's not worth

(01:08:49):
it. Take your time, beready for next season. I think Jack
Landell is a perfect example of whyto wait. And we know in again,
to go back to the story Ishared last pod. Playing for Team
Australia in World Cup preparation, He'ssprained his ankle, a pretty bad one,
just like the one Shingon had inmid August. Tried to come back

(01:09:11):
two months later in mid October withthe Rockets camp the preseason start the season
terrible, and he did it becauseof game pressure, because he wanted to
be there for his team and hisankle just was not ready. And once
he was out of the rotation,let it hel up a little bit more
and gradually built strength. Then,yeah, he's a different player now.
So beyond Chocolatendill stepping up, goodfor him. He's making a case for

(01:09:32):
the Rockets or some other team ifthere's a trade that happens in June,
to pick up the next year onhis contract, keep him as the human
trade exception, so to speak.There's merits to that just financially, but
now you know, it helps thathe provides some positive basketball value as well.
He's in Son advised to play well. Beyond that, I also think
he's his success is a nice cautionarytale to Shingoon and Shin Gooon's medical team,

(01:09:55):
the advisors that are helping steer himin this rehab look at Dale as
a guy as an example of whyyou don't try to come back in a
month and a few weeks. Giveit more time, and then three or
four months down the road he'll befull go Shangoon that is, and much
the same way that Landale is nowthat three or four months would of course
be well before training camp for nextseason. Give him plenty of time in

(01:10:17):
the off season to ramp up.Turkey is not going to be in the
Olympics, so there shouldn't be anypressure on that front. So bottom line
is Landel's a perfect example beyond justhis own play of why shouldn't Goon Cannon
should take his time and be readyfor next season, probably a contract year
because you know, we can talkabout this more in a future pod,
or maybe wait until next month whenthe season ends. But in terms of

(01:10:39):
contract extensions, it's interesting because Jalenat the higher cap hole this offseason may
be more realistic to try and extendhim than Shangoon who has a lower cap
hole. Not because Jalen's proven morethan Shingoo, No, it's just that
you know, if you can reducethat figure, then the Rockets are more
incentivized to explore something now as opposedto Shinoon. And if the money is

(01:11:00):
going to be close to the sameno matter what, then you may as
well wait the way the Sixers didwith Tyree Maaxi. I think that's a
parallel and take advantage of that lowercapold entering the twenty twenty five off season
when you could has some financial flexibilitydepending on what you do with Obviously the
fredmin Fleet contract and a few otherdeals on your roster per serve that optionality.
We've been talking for over an hour, so we will save that discussion
for another day, but just somethingto keep in mind, not just for

(01:11:24):
the Rockets, before Shanoon as well. It's probably a decent chance that next
year is a contract year for him, and so he wants to be or
he should want to be fully readyfor that scenario and to take advantage of
it, be it the Rockets anywhereelse, prove his value as a max
player in the NBA, which he'salready getting talk. Shamp Serani of The
Athletic had a bit on that lastweek, and it's certainly still their time

(01:11:44):
will tell, but bottom line,it's a big off season for all for
Insion Goon, don't rush it,get right, and we'll see what happens
when he reports to camp in thefall, but I'm anticipating him being full
go after what looked like an injurythat could have been a lot worse.
Talked about a lot of positives.We shouldn't forget that one Rockets a week
ago dodged a big bullet there aswell. So by and large, March
twenty twenty four has been very,very good for the Houston Rockets, and

(01:12:08):
with that, I think we can, on that happy note, bring this
episode finally to a close. Lastcouple of pods, we were under an
hour. Guess what, we finallyhave happier stuff to talk about, So
we're back over an hour. Sorry, but as you can probably tell,
Paolo and myself, we're both veryexcited about how the team is playing these
days, and hopefully you are aswell. This is the most fun,
at least from my perspective, thatit's been to be a Rockets fan in

(01:12:28):
sometimes so enjoy these games. Hopefullythe Rockets keep playing well so that we
can keep the good vibes going,because right now it feels really really good.
And if you want to consume morecontent for our next episode in a
few days, the best place todo that, as always, is on
Twitter slash x. I'm on thereat Bindubo's Powlo's on there at Palo Alves,
NBA, and this show is onthere at the logger line where if

(01:12:49):
you hit up the link tree andthe bio you can find all our friends,
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(01:13:09):
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All right, with those plugs complete, we will adjourn again for Polo Alves.

(01:13:30):
I'm ben Ju Bo's Thanks Almays forlistening, and please come back soon
for another new episode. Go Rockets.