- 2 days ago
Ten games in — who exactly are these Rockets shaping up to be?
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00:00Who are these Rockets?
00:01You know me.
00:01I've been chomping at the bit to talk about these Rockets, who they are, what we're seeing.
00:07And I think that widely regarded in basketball spaces, when you're trying to find a sample
00:13that is big enough for you to have any solid take.
00:17A start.
00:17A good start on a semblance of what they are.
00:19Ten games.
00:20Yeah.
00:20Ten games is usually where you are, and now the Rockets have ten games in.
00:23Seven and three.
00:25Get an absolute drubbing of the Washington Wizards, as they were supposed to.
00:30That's how it's supposed to look on the night where you bring back the Dunks or not,
00:34where you got the City Edition jerseys, Cam Whitmore's coming back.
00:37This is what it was supposed to look like, and that's what it was.
00:39However, I want to look at the more holistic thing.
00:42Who are these Rockets ten games in?
00:44Seven, one, three, five, seven, two, four, six, ten.
00:46And I think you kind of have an interesting perspective on this.
00:53That's a weird way.
00:54Okay.
00:55Kind of coming around on what they are.
00:57I'm kind of coming around on what they are, especially in the landscape of what the NBA
01:03is today.
01:04Because, you know, we, both of us, have talked about, ooh, you know, point guard.
01:09I don't know.
01:10You know, is it going to be this?
01:11Is it going to be that?
01:12You know, what role exactly are they going to play?
01:13How good are they going to be?
01:14Can you thrive with all that?
01:15But more importantly, defensively, we're like, you saw it in the preseason.
01:20I saw it early on in the season.
01:22We talked about it.
01:23Yeah, because you don't watch preseason basketball.
01:24I really don't.
01:24I just watch highlights, and that's just being completely honest.
01:27Same, same.
01:28But one thing that we both have talked about regarding the defense is they're just not
01:33efficient.
01:34They give up way too many three-point looks.
01:37I think they're like eighth in terms of the most three-pointers they've given up in
01:41the highest percentage in the league.
01:43And so we've kind of been wringing our hands, sort of wondering if this is going to get
01:49better.
01:50You know what, though, Reggie?
01:52It's working.
01:53It's working.
01:54I mean, they are a high-scoring team.
01:56Their offensive rebounding is, now look, we understand that wasn't the best team in
02:01the world, but over the course of 10 games, it's been like that.
02:04That's right.
02:04I got a whole bunch of stats.
02:05I'm not going to read them all at you.
02:07But, I mean, when I look at a lot of these, it's stuff where I go, it's irrefutable, right?
02:13The thing with the Rockets is, who they are is a team that is really good already.
02:19That's the thing that's kind of, and you know me, I like trying to find, poke holes
02:23in what's happening with whatever's in front of me.
02:26I've been trying to do that, and even with the places that I have, I can look statistically
02:32where I go, all right, that's fine.
02:34And then there's things that I like the look of that I go and I look at the stats and I
02:37go, huh, there's room for that to get better.
02:39I think that that's ultimately the interpretation I get.
02:42How about this?
02:44This team has just knocked down shots in an incredibly, like, the shot making's been
02:47really good.
02:48They're fourth in field goal percentage, and they're third in points per game.
02:52They're first in three-point percentage, which is funny because they're not, they don't
02:56take a lot of threes.
02:57In fact, they're literally last in the league on the number of threes that they take.
03:00They just make so many of them.
03:02Reed Shepard, Tari last night.
03:05Dude, Tari Eason is shooting like 53% from three this season.
03:10Like, they're just, it's really well-made offensively in a way that I didn't think
03:14that it would be like that this early.
03:16And it's very clear it's not fully figured out, but that's the thing that's really
03:20amazing to me is that it's not fully formed and yet it's incredibly functional.
03:23I guess what I'm getting at is we may have been spending too much time worrying about
03:27what the Rockets don't have than what they are.
03:30And what they are is working.
03:32You know, the rebounding yesterday was just a joke.
03:34I mean, it was just, they were eating glass.
03:36I mean, it was crazy and they're working, you know, they're, they're knocking down shots
03:39on the offensive end, whatever argument you want to have about point guard and distribution
03:45and spacing and open shots.
03:47It's working with a man doing what a man does.
03:50What Reed, Reed Shepard has been a revelation and I thought he would be good.
03:53We talked about it before the season started.
03:55I thought he would be a guy that deserved to play more.
03:57I mean, he's a point guard.
03:58You got to get him out on the floor.
03:59Number three, pick all that stuff, but he's even better.
04:01He's shooting 50% and a lot more threes.
04:04He's shooting 50% from three-point range.
04:06I think on like just under six attempts a game.
04:12Why change what you're doing?
04:14On either side of the floor.
04:15I am not too big to slide in a little, I told you so in here.
04:19Does it not feel like Reed is becoming the thing that I was hoping he would be, which
04:23is just high level six, seventh man?
04:26Or maybe not high level, but like really solid, capable six, seventh man where he comes in
04:30and if he scores and has the confidence to do that with a second unit, he could be incredibly
04:35valuable to what you do.
04:36Yes.
04:36I mean, absolutely.
04:38You know, a man is a man.
04:39You're not, you're going to, he's going to get a bulk of the minutes.
04:41He's going to do what he does, but they kind of, they morph into something else when Reed
04:44is on the floor and, and that's what they are.
04:47And so, as I mentioned, I'm watching this game.
04:49I'm like, they become different teams almost with those two guys on the floor.
04:53But the thing that really, that really kind of struck me is, boy, I, you know, I'm watching
04:59this and I'm like, you're just never going to be really good on defense with the bigs
05:02on the floor.
05:03You're just never, you know, against the, against the shooters.
05:06Okay.
05:08Okay.
05:08You're not, but you're going to be able to get a lot of rebounds, a lot of transition.
05:12And, and when a shepherd's on the floor, you're going to be able to run a little bit more
05:15offense.
05:16Yeah.
05:16That's, that's really been fun.
05:18Defense has been the thing that, you know, I've been kind of talking about a lot and I don't
05:23think that's going to change.
05:24It's going to be what they are now because you can't change the bigs.
05:27Well, I hear you on that.
05:30I think I go back to, I was referencing the Emeo Doka quote that Daniel Lerner had earlier
05:36in the week talking about the zone and how he mentioned that Fred was really very much
05:41organizing force, something that I've talked about and something that I'm still looking
05:44at.
05:44Dylan Brooks was absolutely a big help in that as well, being a veteran on that court.
05:50I'm still looking, ends up being organizing force in there, but also he kind of broke down
05:55a little bit of that matchup zone and saying that, you know, when you're not immediately
05:58engaged in a matchup, you need to have your head on a swivel.
06:01And that's something that to your, to your point of you not thinking that that'll change.
06:07I, it, I'm, I don't know.
06:08Right.
06:09I want to believe.
06:10But I'm saying embrace it almost.
06:11I want to believe that within that zone, the players that they have on there can lock into
06:16a place where they're keeping that, you're keeping their head on a swivel and alert to
06:19where guys are on the floor so that they can get there and rotate with enough focus.
06:24However, it's a lot of guys who are either vets on the floor or, you know, have done seemingly
06:29done this better in years prior, including last year that are not kind of doing it.
06:34And so there is a question for me is like, is this a Dorian Finney-Smith comes back and
06:37he ends up being that voice or is this just, is that going to be a hole in what they do
06:41all season?
06:42I don't know if I would even say a hole.
06:44I think it's, it's, here's how I'd put it.
06:47I'd still say it's a hole.
06:48It's one that's very manageable.
06:49In terms of like what you're seeing on the floor on a, on a given different, uh, offensive
06:53possession against your defense.
06:55Yes.
06:55But what I'm saying is the big picture, 10 games, 30 games, whatever it may be, I don't
07:00know how much better they're going to get, but I think I'll put it this way.
07:04I don't know how much of a calculated strategy it was.
07:07Or maybe a little luck involved as well.
07:10But this, this whole NBA season is a higher scoring season and they are a scoring team
07:15early on.
07:16It's working is what I'm saying.
07:17The way they play, despite you want to want them to get better on defense.
07:22That's a good, uh, constitution of the team for the way the NBA is being played this year.
07:29How much of it was luck coming, whatever.
07:33And that's the thing.
07:33It's a 10 game sample.
07:34It's not a 30 game sample.
07:35So we'll see as that continues to grow, uh, you know, me anxiety still going to pop
07:39out, right?
07:41The other teams are not shooting crazy good, uh, against them and, but they're getting
07:45good looks.
07:46And that's one of the things I worry about to some degree is who are the teams that
07:49knocked this down?
07:50And it's worth noting the teams that they've played here.
07:52Again, it's a 10 game sample.
07:54I think we can take some extrapolation things.
07:55And largely my takeaway is, okay, this works as currently constituted and still, uh, in
08:01its somewhat infancy this season of how they're developing this.
08:04However, somebody texts in, and I don't think I fully agree with this from the two way one
08:07that the Rockets are a mid team that can't beat top tier teams.
08:10However, you go and you look at the teams that they've beat.
08:13They've beaten the Brooklyn Nets.
08:14Are they good?
08:15The Brooklyn Nets?
08:16No.
08:17Uh, the Toronto Raptors, are they good?
08:19Nah.
08:20Nah.
08:20Boston Celtics?
08:21Uh, yes.
08:22Not this year.
08:23Not quite this year, but they're good.
08:24They're still okay.
08:25Yeah, they're good.
08:25But no Jason Tatum.
08:26Dallas Mavericks?
08:27No.
08:28Okay.
08:28Uh, Memphis Grizzlies?
08:30Nope.
08:30Nope.
08:30Uh, Milwaukee Bucks?
08:32Okay.
08:33Pretty good.
08:33Yeah.
08:33Pretty damn good.
08:34And the Wizards?
08:35The teams that they have lost to, the Thunder, the Pistons, the Spurs.
08:38Yeah.
08:39Those are the good, those are the best teams that they've faced.
08:41And so, I'm not saying that that is inherently going to track the entirety of the season where
08:46once they get up against the best teams that it's going to falter.
08:48Yeah.
08:48However, I do think that that is an interesting note to have within this, which is, this is
08:52working, however, the, the, what should, this team will be graded on ultimately, maybe
08:57not in this moment, will be, how do they face fairer against those types of teams?
09:00And I think it feels like those types of teams can maybe pick at some of those things
09:03that we're talking about right now.
09:04Oh yeah.
09:05No, I was going to say, I think it's working right now.
09:07But as far as, I think we got time, but when it, when it, when it matters, playoffs and
09:15all that stuff, I think that's when teams, the good teams will start picking at that.
09:19That's when it could be an issue, but you never know, the Rockets could get that addressed.
09:24I think they could, but we spend a lot of time with the Texans talking about what's your
09:29identity and they have no clue.
09:31I think the Rockets know what their identity is now.
09:33And that's what I'm saying.
09:34If it ain't broke, I get it.
09:36You know, you're going to face really good teams and, and, and lose some games.
09:40I mean, of course you are, but I think they can win those games with this identity.
09:45If they embrace it.
09:45Yeah.
09:46No.
09:46And I think it's early and they got a lot of time to address all of that too.
09:50But right now is like you said, John is working right now.
09:54So working.
09:54Yeah.
09:55And there's a lot of figuring out to be done.
09:57I mean, there's still the possibility or plausibility that, you know, halfway through
10:01the season, they can make some acquisitions.
10:03One of the things I mentioned early on in this is like the things that are going well, I
10:07could easily see those continue to going well.
10:08And the things that I've liked that I've looked at, like, you know, just off of the
10:12tape and look, I look at the numbers and I say, there's room to grow.
10:15Like Alperen Shingun being like a ball handler.
10:18It's looked really good when he's done that.
10:20I'm looking at it and I mean, he's, he's had six post-ups per game, approximately six
10:26post-ups per game.
10:26Good for third in the league behind Giannis and Jokic.
10:31He's only really scoring at 0.93 points per game, which could still be higher as he gets
10:36more efficient with those.
10:37I think that is something that's available to him.
10:40Isolation, which he's actually looked pretty good on 0.88 points per game, which again,
10:45or points per possession rather, which it feels like that also has room to improve.
10:48So I'm like, there's those.
10:50Those are just a little where I think that I like the things that they're doing and there's
10:55room to develop there.
10:56So I recognize that the games that they played against good teams are close and that those
11:00can get better 10 games in.
11:02I don't want to completely just, you know, drink Kool-Aid, but it does feel like this
11:06is a team that is one very offensively minded.
11:09They do enough defensively.
11:10That's what they are.
11:11And they have a lot of, they've got a lot of upward mobility within it as well.
11:15That's, that's who those rockets seem to be 10 games in.
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