Why Reggie Is Really Fired Up for Rockets vs. Cavs Tonight

KILT-AM / SportsRadio 610

The Rockets take on the Cavs tonight, and Reggie has one very specific reason he’s fired up about it.

Transcript

00:00All right, John Lopez, the Rockets back in action.

00:03The Rockets have been fantastic.

00:05I think they've only really lost one game since those first couple of games

00:08early on in the season that they had against the championship Thunder

00:16and then the Detroit Pistons, who are top of the East.

00:19Actually leading the East, yeah.

00:20So leading the West, leading the East in the first couple of games,

00:22you lost those, and they've just been on a good roll of things since then.

00:27And I think tonight going into Cleveland serves as a super, super intriguing game

00:34for a reason outside of just the idea that the Cleveland is another one of those

00:38really, really good teams that they can face off.

00:40Yeah, speaking of pulling back the curtain, you said,

00:41do you want me to tell you what I think that reason is?

00:43And I was like, no, I want a surprise.

00:45But I do have an idea of what you're thinking.

00:49Do you?

00:49The most intriguing thing.

00:50Actually, I would like you to guess then just to see.

00:52I'm intrigued.

00:53The Cavaliers shoot more threes than any team in the NBA.

00:56Did I guess it?

00:57Did I guess it?

00:59Not only do they shoot a lot of threes, they're very good and not going to be.

01:01More than anyone.

01:02And I think that the intriguing thing, and you know me,

01:05I'm trying to poke holes in this defense to stress test it.

01:09I think stress test is the word.

01:11Just for this week in general, because you've got the game versus the Nuggets here on Friday

01:16when it comes to the NBA Cup.

01:18But this one in and of itself, on the road in Cleveland,

01:20but then also, we talk about this zone defense.

01:24And the zone defense has been something that's gnawed at me.

01:26Because just the defense in general for this Rockets team,

01:28not at the same level as last year.

01:30Still sufficient, I think, but not at the same level.

01:33And that's okay.

01:33Yeah.

01:34Because you've got the offense on the other side.

01:37The one to be able to use is like, this is our thing.

01:40Boom.

01:40Here's the big joker.

01:41It hasn't been, it hasn't had that punch.

01:43And some of the stuff that is not allowed to have that punch is

01:46those above the break threes in particular,

01:48but just the three-point shooting that other teams are able to get up

01:51has been huge.

01:52Teams haven't been able to capitalize on it.

01:54This, I feel like, is a Cleveland Cavaliers team

01:57that is going to have the best chance at poking a hole in this.

02:00If they're able to withstand what Cleveland is probably going to do to them

02:05shooting-wise, I think that then I will be willing to lay down my concerns

02:09about this zone defense in a larger scale.

02:11Yeah, maybe.

02:12I'm more along the lines of, I want to see how they react.

02:15I want to see how the defense reacts, personnel-wise and otherwise,

02:20because they're going to have their runs.

02:22Cleveland's going to have a big run.

02:24They're a really good team.

02:25And they're going to have their runs of knocking down some shots.

02:28They've got a bunch of guys that can hit it.

02:30You mentioned that.

02:31So it's like, okay, are we going to get a hint of like,

02:34how do we handle these heaters that these other teams get?

02:37Or a really good three-point shooting team, which everybody shoots them,

02:40but certain teams like the Cavaliers can find ways to put it up

02:44in different ways and with different players.

02:47I want to see how they react.

02:48What do they do?

02:49Right.

02:51Not just the zone, how it plays it, but how they react.

02:54That's fair, especially in a game where I don't know if Jabari plays.

02:57We know Tari's been out.

02:59Some of the defensive elements that you've had just generally are not in this game.

03:03Some of the things that you've leaned on.

03:05So this is actually going to be an even tougher challenge

03:07because they're figuring, I think, how to incorporate even more of these guys.

03:10I know that I very much like seeing Aaron Holiday.

03:13He's just a professional basketball player.

03:17But he's also really and truly guard size as opposed to the larger,

03:23lanky-year team that you've put together.

03:25There's not really a replacement for Jabari when he is not having,

03:29at least just when you talk about the size, the length that he provides to you

03:32on this team, right?

03:33So I think that if you look at those things,

03:36you also aren't leaning as much into one of the benefits I think this team

03:39is benefited from, which is the length that they just throw out one of the

03:44tallest, longest lineups in all of basketball.

03:47That's likely not going to be available to you in this game.

03:50So, again, how do they work out for that?

03:52And usually if you don't have that length, you need to have the awareness

03:55and that trigger, that ability to rotate that Emei has talked about

03:58wanting to develop.

03:59This is going to be the ultimate, throw you into the deep end

04:01and see if you can float.

04:02Yeah, how they rotate has been my question since day one.

04:06You know, they just seem a half-step slow on some.

04:08I think their length hurts them in some of those rotations.

04:13Really?

04:13I do.

04:14I think, you know, a lot of times your instincts are to chase the shot

04:19rather than the ball, and that's kind of a no-no in a zone.

04:22You want to chase the ball first, and that's just coaching one-on-one.

04:26You know, that's nothing profound, and I think they tend to reach a lot.

04:30So I want to see how they react to it.

04:31I also want to see how they make their threes because this is going to be

04:34an up-and-down game with the way that, you know,

04:37the Rockets are shooting a very high percentage.

04:39But they literally shoot the least.

04:41Fewer but a high percentage, yeah.

04:42This is a battle of the most shots taken versus the least shots taken

04:45when it comes to three-point.

04:47Do you think that, especially with the volume of threes that the Cavs get up,

04:52do you see this at all shifting?

04:54Like, do you see the Rockets?

04:57Because I kind of like that they, against Orlando, right,

05:00where Orlando was actually knocking down threes at a rate that felt really high

05:03for that team.

05:05But the Rockets stayed their course, and they just kept getting the twos

05:07that they typically get and were ultimately able to track them down.

05:10Do you think that they just stick to that game plan if the Cleveland Cavaliers

05:14are indeed knocking down threes at a high clip?

05:15I think he better, especially as much as we're both talking a lot more

05:21and sort of leaning into Reed Shepard, you know, as the point guard

05:25and more minutes and all that stuff.

05:28I think this could be a huge game for a man, a huge game for Durant

05:33in terms of attacking the rim.

05:35The Cavaliers do give up a lot of free throws, too.

05:38They make a lot of threes, and they give up a lot of free throws.

05:40Their defense has been known to send you to the line.

05:43I'm glad you mentioned a man,

05:45because this is probably a larger conversation to have.

05:48Have you at all had a feeling of,

05:50man kind of looks like a little bit of a shell of himself?

05:53And understandably so.

05:55But at the very least, like defensively,

05:57it does not feel like a man has had the clear impact

06:00that it seems like he had had last year,

06:03both when he was coming off the bench,

06:04and it was like, oh man, this is different than our starters.

06:07And then when he became a starter,

06:09has that hit you in the same way that it feels like it's hit me?

06:12In a different way.

06:14And again, this is just...

06:15And I don't mean it straight like just a knock on him.

06:17I think there are reasons and understandable things as that.

06:20I think that's where I am.

06:22I think the reason that he might look like a shell of himself,

06:24I don't think he is.

06:25And that's probably a harsh way of putting it to it.

06:26And he hasn't looked that way to me,

06:27but I have thought about this a couple of times.

06:29So I'm glad you brought this up.

06:31The one thing that I say bothers,

06:34maybe that's too strong of a wheeze when he's running the point.

06:39What is the point guard?

06:40What's the first thing the point guard does?

06:42Again, this is rudimentary amateur coach 101 stuff.

06:44But what's the first thing they do when the shot goes up?

06:47They leak.

06:48Yeah.

06:48They leak so they can get the ball and push it up court.

06:51A lot of times he might be leaking too soon.

06:53You know?

06:54And so...

06:55Interesting.

06:55I hadn't noted that.

06:56That's what I would be saying if I were him.

06:58You know, let somebody else leak and get the ball,

07:00and then you catch up.

07:01Because his defense is his strength.

07:04You know, his ability to rebound and play, you know,

07:06basically all five positions on the defensive side if he wants to.

07:09But instead, I've noticed...

07:11I want you to pay attention to that tonight.

07:13Sometimes on the defensive side,

07:14he leaks out a little too soon

07:15because it's the trying to be a point guard,

07:18give me the ball and let me push it,

07:19as opposed to staying a little longer on the defensive side.

07:21Yeah.

07:21Okay.

07:22I'll be watching that.

07:23It's going to be a very interesting game.

07:246 p.m.

07:25And this is on ESPN.

07:27I believe it's still...

07:28I have to check if it's still going to be on Space City as well.

07:31But I believe...

07:31I know for certain this is an ESPN game.

07:33This is going to be one of those games where everybody's watching,

07:36at least everybody that's inclined to watch national NBA broadcasts.

07:39So looking forward to that.

07:40And I'll see you 8 through 2.

07:41So y'all saying the Cavaliers are the D'Antonio Rockets back in the day?

07:45Or D'Antoni, rather,

07:46because D'Antonio is Mark, the old Michigan State football coach.

07:51Not quite.

07:52However, if you look at it, they're top 10 in pace,

07:54and they take a whole bunch of threes.

07:56Like, if you wanted to get to it there, yeah, maybe.

07:58But very much an intriguing game for a number of reasons.

08:02One of the big ones is,

08:03let's see how that three-point barrage affects the way the Rockets defense looks.

08:07All right.

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