- 2 days ago
Seth and Luke dive into some big picture questions about the Rockets after last night's loss, Steven Adams' injury, and the trade deadline fast approaching.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Rockets, what a tough day yesterday. They lost last night to the Spurs.
00:05Coughed up another one, this time at home to the Spurs.
00:08They were leading by double figures.
00:10In the second half, including in the fourth quarter, got outscored by 20 in the second half,
00:14ended up losing to the Spurs.
00:15Last night, 111-99.
00:18And after shutting down Victor Wembenyama,
00:20the week before, everyone was on ESPN the next day talking about,
00:23wow, what a great job the Rockets did.
00:25Against Wembenyama, well, then last night, he went for 28-16.
00:30I believe, made more than half his shots.
00:32Rockets are, they cough away another one.
00:35Lose last night by 12 at home, plus the Steven Adams news as well.
00:40As I mentioned earlier, three wins off the pace of last year's team at this point in the season.
00:45Just in general, I don't want to be a prisoner in the moment,
00:47but Seth, how do you feel about this Rockets team currently?
00:50As we head into February.
00:51I'm starting to get impatient just because I've preached patience.
00:55From the very beginning, that, hey, it's not as simple as just this young core developing,
00:58and then you throw Kevin Durant into the middle.
01:00And all of a sudden, you're going to have a precision offense that's just lethal.
01:05In multiple different directions.
01:07Now we're at the midpoint of the season, the trade down.
01:10It's almost here, and I feel greedy.
01:15It feels very much like there's a glass ceiling keeping you out of that top.
01:20Now, they could end up in the top three in the Western Conference over the course of the next few years.
01:25But when it comes to projecting how this would look.
01:30Versus really good teams in the playoffs, it doesn't feel as, it doesn't.
01:35It doesn't feel as different as I want it to feel compared to last year.
01:38And now, especially with Steve.
01:40Steven Adams out and what you're going to lose in terms of defense and offensive rebounding.
01:45And everything else, without Steven Adams out there, it becomes that much more daunting.
01:50I know a lot of people are really upset with Emei and just frustrated with the offense under his wall.
01:55Watch last night, at least on social media, and that's probably a bad place to judge, but plenty of people.
02:00People were calling for a coaching change, and even on the text line right now, people are saying we need to bring in some...
02:05...sort of offensive coach, need a shooting coach, so on and so forth.
02:10I like Emei, I think he's a really good coach.
02:12I don't want to overreact.
02:13I know the offense is very frustrating.
02:14Last night...
02:15...in the second half, the ball movement just stopped.
02:16They became stagnant.
02:18It was a different...
02:19They scored 37 points.
02:20It was a bad offense in the second half, but I think we'd be too rash.
02:25...to try to make some sort of proclamation or, you know, some sort of move with Emei.
02:29I think he's a really good coach.
02:30I think you go back to D'Antoni.
02:32You know, it was when D'Antoni...
02:35...obviously extreme offensive-minded coach, and that's, you know...
02:40...you're going to score a boatload of points with D'Antoni on that offense.
02:43But BizDelic, the...
02:45...the defensive coordinator, was a big deal there and kind of just...
02:50...you know, made them a more complete and total team because of the presence of...
02:55...Jeff BizDelic, and yeah, likewise with Udoka...
03:00...because I know people even get frustrated in press conferences.
03:02It's kind of always the same answer after the game, like...
03:05...oh, we just got to shoot better, got to score more points, got to do all these things.
03:08Like, yeah, I feel like I...
03:10...I could be saying this.
03:11And I know that he's having different conversations away from the microphones and everything.
03:15But there's an understandable...
03:19...hesitance...
03:20...to think that Udoka's going to fix the...
03:23...fix the offense or give you some...
03:25...something elevated and above and beyond what just it already looks like on paper.
03:29You want more...
03:30...and you want the younger guys playing a more elegant version of basketball offensively.
03:35Yeah, I think they could certainly use some sort of offensive assistant to help Udoka though.
03:40Overall, I think, is a good coach.
03:41The offense was ugly last night, and this is my concern now moving forward.
03:44I mean...
03:45...last night they had 14 bench points.
03:47You're just not getting a lot there.
03:48The depth certainly doesn't...
03:50...and feel as good with this team.
03:51And in the fourth quarter last night, there were four of 23 shooting, which is 17...
03:55...percent embarrassing.
03:57Trade deadlines a week away.
03:59Without...
04:00Fred VanVleet, obviously, for the entirety of this season.
04:02And now without Steven Adams yesterday...
04:05Well, let me back up for a moment, because even before we got the news of Steven Adams, I was...
04:10...surprised with the reports where it played out in the loop earlier this week.
04:14I forget...
04:15I forget who it was, but an NBA writer said that E-May told him, we're not adding a point guard.
04:19It was...
04:20And then they also, there was a story on Yahoo Sports, Kelly Eco had...
04:25...where he said he was, he heard from sources from the Rockets that they were looking to add a center.
04:30And that was before we got the news of the Steven Adams injury.
04:33The Rockets probably already knew it was going to happen.
04:35It was worse than we knew originally.
04:37But I was surprised by that.
04:39What do you think is the...
04:40More pressing needs suddenly for this Rockets team?
04:41Another big guy or more of a point guard?
04:44I think...
04:45I think this is the...
04:46This is the really, really hard part of it, is that everything got...
04:50...advanced at warp speed.
04:52Where, you know, where does this need...
04:55...team need to improve when Fred VanVleet got injured?
04:59You know, it...
05:00The timeline changed when they signed Kevin Durant, obviously.
05:04Or when they got...
05:05And then when Fred VanVleet got injured, it throws everything in this...
05:10Ray in terms of, all right, well, hey, I'm in Thompson over the course of a couple years
05:13can develop into a point guard.
05:15Reed Shepard, over the couple of years, can develop into a true point guard, perhaps.
05:18We'll see.
05:19And...
05:20I think they still...
05:21Like, they have reason to believe that.
05:22Both of those guys have shown a lot of development.
05:25But you also have Kevin Durant sitting there on your roster, and it feels like a wasted opportunity
05:29that...
05:30If you can't capture something this year.
05:33I understand the long-term approach.
05:35And what they might think about the upside of both those young guards.
05:38But is it...
05:40Are they going to develop that much between now and the playoffs to where you feel...
05:45Better about everything we've been talking about.
05:46And it doesn't...
05:47It doesn't feel like it.
05:49But now they...
05:50They also might just be playing it very close to the vest.
05:52And A, they're not really eager to...
05:55Spend a huge dose on somebody to bring in at point guard.
05:59The right...
06:00The right guys aren't out there.
06:01But they also might just be, you know, waiting and biding their...
06:05And waiting to see what truly becomes available as you enter that last 48 hours.
06:10Because that's usually...
06:11Every GM will tell you, like, yeah, you never...
06:13You never really know...
06:15Like, what teams do or do not want to do until you get right up to the deadline.
06:18Yeah.
06:19For sure.
06:20And, look, I think the Steven Adams loss is a big loss.
06:23But I also think it was a...
06:25Complaint I had in the offseason where I think the Rockets went too far.
06:28The pendulum swung...
06:30Going too far in that direction where they fell into this double big lineup.
06:33They fell in love with it.
06:34And...
06:35You know, they bring back Steven Adams, which I like.
06:37And they're about making a starter, which they tried and abandoned pretty quick.
06:39And then...
06:40You bring in Clint Capella.
06:41And my whole thing all offseason was, you still need more help in the guard position.
06:45And this was even before the Fred Van Vliet injury.
06:47And then that injury happens.
06:48Like, yeah, now we really need help.
06:50At the guard position.
06:50And I thought they were already good at the big...
06:54With the bigs.
06:55And with the size.
06:55And even you bring in, like, a Dorian Finney-Smith is also still, like, you know...
07:00You bring in these other pieces that feel more like luxuries than...
07:05And it almost reminded me now of the Steven Adams injury of that friend of yours who makes their...
07:10Their personality, like, their entire...
07:11Their relationship becomes the personality.
07:13And then they get dumped by their boy.
07:15Boyfriend or girlfriend.
07:15And you almost have, like, an identity crisis or something.
07:18Because now without Steven Adams...
07:20You don't have the guard and you don't have the bigs.
07:23And now we're talking about going out and...
07:25Getting another center.
07:25Like, I feel like we've lost the way where everything is being too focused on...
07:30Having as much size and height as possible where you needed guard help in the offseason.
07:35And you especially need guard help now after Fred VanVleet's injury and at the midway point.
07:39Yeah, in the Versa...
07:40Yeah, so you don't have the versatility, basically.
07:42You've just got this one...
07:43You've got one tool.
07:44It's a hammer.
07:45And that's all you're good at doing.
07:47And then all of a sudden you're asked, like, okay, no, I want you to hammer that.
07:50Nail in with a thimble.
07:52You need to be a thimble.
07:53You need to be a thimble.
07:55We have no thimbles.
07:56We certainly don't have one big enough to hammer in that nail.
07:58Yeah, the...
08:00The vast history of the Rockets experimenting with different types of lineups.
08:03Going back to Kevin McHale trying to...
08:05To redo the Twin Towers.
08:06Yeah.
08:06Maybe the uber small lineup during the COVID season.
08:09It's...
08:10It's just...
08:10It's always...
08:11It's always...
08:11It's...
08:12It ends up being, like, you know...
08:15Summer Romance.
08:16It's...
08:16It was fun for a little while there.
08:17It looked like everything was going to work out.
08:19Nope.
08:19Nope.
08:20It's Danny Zuko.
08:22Yeah, that's right.
08:22That's no good.
08:23Do you feel like...
08:24So my whole...
08:25The whole thing with the guard situation...
08:26Look, I think the Rockets still need to add a point guard.
08:28I just don't know.
08:29As you...
08:30Kind of alluded to a little earlier.
08:31I don't know if there really is that option out there.
08:33But...
08:33Yeah.
08:34My whole thing when...
08:35Fred VanVleet got injured, I thought, okay, let's not be rash.
08:38We don't need to overreact now.
08:40We have till the trade deadline.
08:41Let's give it a few months and see if this experiment works out.
08:44Let's see if...
08:45A men Thompson can develop into the point guard you need.
08:48Let's see if Reed Shepard can...
08:50And develop into the guy you thought you were drafting at third overall.
08:53But now here we are.
08:55What, 42 games into the season?
08:57Just past the midway point, I believe.
08:59And...
09:00Or maybe we're right at the midway point.
09:01Either way.
09:02Trade deadline coming up a week from now.
09:04Do you feel like we have any...
09:05More clarity one way or the other, I guess.
09:07Like, do you feel like we know what a man could be at...
09:10The point guard position, what Reed Shepard could be,
09:12and that the Rockets really do need help?
09:14Or...
09:15Is there still time the rest of the season for these guys to develop
09:18into what the Rockets...
09:20I think Almond Thompson has made a lot of strides.
09:23And...
09:25So I don't know.
09:27I don't want to put a cap on where he's going to be a couple of...
09:30months from now.
09:31But there's also the part of me that says,
09:33no matter what they do...
09:35to improve between those two guys,
09:38when you hit the playoffs...
09:40It's a whole different story.
09:41You know, we saw that with Jalen Green last year.
09:43It just...
09:44It's a whole...
09:45It's a whole different story when it comes to playoffs,
09:46especially at the point guard position.
09:48And even if you're...
09:50somebody that does not like Fred VanVleet at all,
09:52I feel like you have to acknowledge that, man...
09:55Boy, it's a lot different when you've got a veteran in there.
09:57And it's a lot different when you've got a true...
10:00a floor general in there,
10:01especially when you hit the playoffs.
10:03And I get...
10:04That's...
10:05I'm growing dumber and dumber for being this way,
10:08but there is still a little tiny little secret part...
10:10that wonders exactly what might happen with Fred VanVleet.
10:15Unless I missed a report or something that it's 100% slam dunk,
10:18no way in hell he's returning.
10:20at the end of the season.
10:21No, that's...
10:22That's always been surprised by these reports to expect...
10:25back, I always assumed he's done for the year,
10:27got to find somebody...
10:27even the playoffs, like, just move on.
10:30remove Fred VanVleet from your mind for this year of Rockets.
10:33But all the reports have always been like,
10:34oh, he's...
10:35he's gonna try to come back,
10:36he might be ready for the playoffs,
10:37all that sort of stuff.
10:38I still find it hard to believe, personally.
10:39The...
10:40conspiracy theory I hear behind that from, you know,
10:42people who are, you know, smarter Rockets people than...
10:45is that, look, Fred VanVleet really wants to be here, for one,
10:48and just wants to be sure that he's...
10:50like, he's making this push,
10:52and he wants to be sure the team doesn't decide they have to move on.
10:55from, or whatever,
10:56that this is a place he wants to stick around,
10:58which is cool,
10:59but I don't know if it's...
11:00it's also just raising my...
11:01my hopes more than they should.
11:03I...
11:03it's not like it's...
11:04it's not like...
11:05it's unheard of or ridiculous to come back from an ACL in that time frame.
11:09He's not gonna be...
11:10100%,
11:11but it's also...
11:12it's not his brilliant athleticism.
11:15or anything that...
11:16that makes him a good player.
11:18It's just that...
11:18can his experience...
11:20matter that much more,
11:21even in certain rotations in the playoffs,
11:23because it doesn't have to be Fred...
11:25VanVleet comes back,
11:26and hey, there you go,
11:26you're plugging him in,
11:27and he's the...
11:27he's the point guard now.
11:29But you know how it matters...
11:30the playoffs,
11:31all those...
11:31those rotations that maybe only see the court five or...
11:35six minutes a game,
11:36they can end up being a big,
11:38big deal.
11:39So maybe it's...
11:39maybe...
11:40something like that.
11:41Maybe he's your fourth quarter specialist.
11:42I don't know.
11:43Yeah, yeah, could be.
11:45I think they need to add,
11:46based off of what we've seen,
11:48it's not a regular season problem.
11:49They'll go...
11:50through the regular season just fine with a man,
11:51Reed Shepard,
11:52whoever else you want to put in there.
11:53But come playoff times like...
11:55like you touched on earlier,
11:56it's a whole different game.
11:57They pressure the ball more.
11:58We saw it last year,
11:59even in the NBA.
12:00finals,
12:00despite all the guards on those two teams,
12:02the amount of turnovers they had,
12:03teams actually game plan in the playoffs.
12:05as opposed to the regular season.
12:08You know,
12:08you need multiple ball hints.
12:10And the Rockets,
12:11even with Fred Van Vliet,
12:12I thought were short ball handlers.
12:13Now they're really short.
12:15and they got about a week
12:16to try to make something happen
12:17until the deadline next week
12:18for the playoffs.
12:19What does that...
12:19Tell me what...
12:20Tell me what it looks like
12:20if, theoretically,
12:21let's say Kendrick Perkins' trade suggestion,
12:24which...
12:25it was something along the lines of
12:27Shane Goon and Tari Eason plus...
12:30draft picks
12:30for Antetokounmpo,
12:32which was widely hated
12:34and reviled.
12:35by at least our listeners
12:36and a lot of Rockets fans.
12:37Yeah.
12:38Myself included.
12:39If you...
12:40let's say hypothetically
12:40you did that
12:41and you just dump Antetokounmpo
12:43into the Houston lineup.
12:45and he's 100% healthy.
12:46What's it look like?
12:48What's the actual...
12:49like five?
12:49Yeah.
12:50Offense, yeah.
12:50Like, yeah.
12:51What's the actual...
12:52like, immediately,
12:53like, realistically...
12:55what changes immediately?
12:57Yeah.
12:57It's...
12:58that's...
12:58well, that's a good point.
12:59That's a good question.
13:00I mean, you get more star power,
13:02but I think still
13:02you're missing
13:03the most important part.
13:05of, like, you need
13:05that initiator...
13:07Yeah.
13:08...in order to set up
13:08the offense
13:09and get the ball...
13:10to these guys.
13:11Like, it's great
13:11to have those pieces
13:12and I know basketball
13:14is different nowadays.
13:15then back in the day
13:15where, like,
13:16just throwing out
13:17a random example,
13:18if you had Shaq
13:18in the post
13:19but you don't have the...
13:20guards to even get
13:20the ball to him.
13:21I know it's different
13:22where Alpi will bring
13:22the ball up himself now,
13:24but you still need...
13:25to be that initiator
13:26and also,
13:27I think where...
13:28I think back to, like,
13:29Durant...
13:30Durant in Brooklyn
13:30or we see this all the time
13:32with these super teams
13:32where people always think...
13:35and maybe companies
13:35run into this problem as well.
13:36If we just get a bunch
13:37of talent in a room,
13:38we'll be fine.
13:39We'll figure it out.
13:40We'll figure it out later
13:40and we saw that
13:41with Kyrie and Harden
13:42and Durant.
13:43Like, I just put a bunch
13:44of talented guys together.
13:45How can that fail?
13:45And it was a bit
13:46of a mess there.
13:47And I think it could be
13:47something similar
13:48where just because
13:49you add Giannis and...
13:50He's this, you know,
13:51great player,
13:51an MVP-caliber player,
13:54just because you throw him in...
13:55there with Durant
13:55and whoever,
13:56a man, whoever else,
13:57doesn't mean that
13:58it's a good match.
13:59I think still the...
14:00bottom line is
14:00they still need guard help
14:01with Giannis,
14:02this current team,
14:03whatever it is.
14:04We still need more...
14:05guards to help just run things,
14:06especially in the playoffs,
14:07handle just the pressure
14:08the teams throw at you.
14:10Yeah, and I think
14:10when you throw Kevin Durant
14:12into the Golden State Warriors,
14:13it wasn't like
14:14it was an...
14:15immediately awesome thing.
14:17They had issues
14:18kind of getting everybody
14:19on the same...
14:20page and getting him
14:20integrated into the offense.
14:22And it was...
14:23At the time,
14:24it felt like it was going on...
14:25for months.
14:25In hindsight,
14:26it was probably like six weeks.
14:27But...
14:28Because it was...
14:29People...
14:30talked about it
14:30every single day.
14:31But yeah,
14:32it's just...
14:32It's never as simple
14:33as you want it to be.
14:35when you just slap a guy in
14:37and expect immediate results.
14:40You know,
14:40it's not an all-star game
14:41or something.
14:41You gotta be part
14:43of a cohesive offense.
14:44Yeah.
14:45And I just...
14:47You don't trust
14:47that Udoka's gonna be
14:48the architect of that.
14:50cohesive offense.
14:50That's true.
14:51That's true as well.
14:52And look, Alpi...
14:52If we were giving up Alpi
14:53for Giannis,
14:54Alpi's better.
14:55bringing the ball up the floor
14:56in my opinion
14:57and having the offense
14:58run through him
14:58as a distributor...
15:00Almost like Jokic.
15:00Then Giannis.
15:01So I think you take away
15:02the little, you know,
15:04positive or the little...
15:05strength you do have
15:05in terms of
15:06ball distribution.
15:07It is.
15:08That whole take it most...
15:10It felt mostly just like
15:11a huge insult to Shane Goon
15:12and especially just Shane Goon.
15:15not just...
15:16Not just what he is
15:16as a player right now
15:17but he's got upside to him.
15:19That...
15:20to just cast him out
15:22and not to mention
15:23throw in Tari Eason.
15:25also along the way
15:26that Perkins almost made it sound
15:28like it was no big deal
15:29because it was...
15:30It obviously makes sense.
15:31You can win now.
15:32Please.
15:33Anything Perkins says.
15:34Get that guy out of there.
15:35On the text line
15:36someone said
15:37Rockets went from
15:37an exciting young teen
15:38to an old...
15:40injury-prone team.
15:41I can sort of get behind that
15:43without Fred VanVleet,
15:44Steven Adams.
15:44And you look at that...
15:45that game last night
15:45like we said in the open.
15:47I mean you got nothing
15:47from the bench.
15:48Dorian Finney-Smith
15:4919...
15:50No points.
15:51Thanks for showing up.
15:51Clint Capella does nothing.
15:53Reed Shepard has...
15:55been struggling of late.
15:56Okoge did not score.
15:57He didn't make a shot
15:57in his 15 minutes.
15:59You know...
16:00Jabari Smith has been lousy.
16:02Again, don't want to be
16:03a prisoner in the moment.
16:04There's just...
16:05not a ton to be positive
16:06about what we saw
16:07from the Rockets
16:08last night at least.
16:10And last thing I'll say
16:10before we hit the break too
16:12is somebody said
16:12teams are just leaving...
16:15Amen Thompson open
16:16from 15 to 20 feet.
16:17They're giving him that shot.
16:18He needs to make...
16:20Yeah, it's like
16:20Ray John Rondo
16:21back in the day.
16:22They're just sagging
16:22so far off
16:23daring you to shoot.
16:24You can't shoot.
16:24It's...
16:25It's embarrassing
16:25and it hurts the offense.
16:26So that's a big issue
16:28for a man in this offense
16:29as well.
16:30Like, say,
16:56you.
Comments