00:00You know me, especially when the Rockets are on, my laptop's on my lap,
00:02and I'm looking at all sorts of nonsense.
00:04It didn't help that I had two different people call me during this game,
00:07one of my good friends who I nerd out with on basketball,
00:10and then my mom, who might be the most basketball-ist mom
00:13that has ever mom-ed in life.
00:15And so that got me thinking about a lot of different things,
00:18looking at a lot of different numbers.
00:20And one of the things that kind of annoys me a little bit about the Rockets
00:23is, and we asked Lashard Binkley yesterday, we talked about it a little bit,
00:27I don't know that they have anything that they do incredible.
00:30And it definitely showed up in this game where they just couldn't knock down shots.
00:33Even the rebounding that used to be their superpower,
00:36they're still good in the league, but they are not superpowered
00:39versus the rest of the league, and so you're seeing possessions change.
00:41They're not getting as many possessions that help them mitigate their, I guess,
00:45lesser shooting.
00:46And so I thought to myself, what would you prefer in a team?
00:50A team that maybe just kind of does everything okay,
00:54that doesn't really have anything that they're great at,
00:56or maybe a team kind of like the Texans,
00:58where they have one thing that they're incredible at,
01:00and maybe last year is more so than this year,
01:03but the other stuff kind of pale in comparison to that one thing that they do.
01:08Which of those is preferable for a team for you?
01:10So would you rather have your team do one thing great or everything good?
01:15All right.
01:16Well.
01:16Yeah.
01:16Yeah.
01:19That's a tough one for me.
01:20We know the Texans can do one thing great.
01:23Incredible.
01:24I mean, just, yes, incredible.
01:26To the point where everybody around the league,
01:30when they talked about the team,
01:31you know the first thing that was going to come out of their mouth is,
01:33whoo, their defense.
01:34Yeah.
01:34Yeah.
01:35On the other hand,
01:37you know what it is, I think, with me?
01:38I think it depends on the sport.
01:39Okay.
01:40I think it depends on the sport.
01:42In basketball,
01:44I think you need to be able to do,
01:46or have someone who can do one thing incredibly well.
01:49Because it's often, you know,
01:51fourth quarter, last three minutes, two minutes, whatever.
01:53You have to be able to rely on that one thing that you do great
01:56to be the difference.
01:58In baseball, I think the same thing.
02:02You know, really good, solid teams that have good pitching,
02:05good hitting, good defense can go a long way.
02:08But in football, I think you need to have a superpower.
02:14You need to have that.
02:15I think the Texans, despite how the season ended,
02:18can, and there's been examples of this,
02:21they can get to and perhaps win a Super Bowl
02:24just on the strength of their defense.
02:26It's happened before.
02:27So it's almost football, yes.
02:30Baseball, no.
02:32Basketball, yes.
02:33You have to have, I think, basketball,
02:34you have to have that superpower, you know, in your team.
02:38So then you're looking at this Rockets team,
02:42at least it's currently constituting, you go,
02:44they're not close, they're not doing that.
02:46Well, I was going to say they're not close to that,
02:47but especially the thing that they had that was close to that
02:50was the rebounding.
02:50And I guess maybe the defense before.
02:52And the defense has stepped down,
02:55and the rebounding has stepped down,
02:56if for no other reason than you lose Steven Adams,
02:59who was doing a whole bunch of that.
03:00Yeah.
03:01There's not a path to having one of those,
03:03or something close to that this year for them, is there?
03:05No, I think, you know, what are there, 18 games left?
03:09Something like that.
03:10I can actually do the math.
03:11Who really cares?
03:12Nobody cares.
03:13Something like that.
03:15We said that so count.
03:17Nobody cares.
03:18So, yeah, I don't think the Rockets are in a place where we can think
03:22anything close to championship.
03:23Hell, I'll take the second round at this point.
03:26Yeah, but the thing that I keep going back and forth is that you look at
03:30the way that the NBA standings are lining up right now,
03:35and there's just so many teams that you go, maybe.
03:39But maybe this is also hurt by the fact that there are two teams at the very top
03:42that you go, you know on any given night they're giving you capital P problems.
03:47Because they do one thing, or more than one, but one thing particularly great.
03:50No, you can point to one thing, right?
03:51With the Oklahoma City Thunder, they defend their ass off.
03:54Yeah.
03:54Right?
03:54They make it damn near impossible for you, while also on the other side
03:58having enough individual brilliance on offense to make things go.
04:01And then the San Antonio Spurs, actually, they probably also defend their ass off
04:05if for no other reason than Victor Wemeyama is in there blocking the mess
04:09out of everything.
04:10Then you go to the Rockets, the Lakers, the Nuggets, the Timberwolves.
04:13Maybe you could even lock in the Suns and the Clippers in there.
04:15And that's just a whole bunch of teams that are kind of interesting in there
04:19that, depending on how things break and who you're matched up with,
04:22could make or break a first or second round matchup.
04:27Now, the thing that is different, though, about some of these teams,
04:29at least you saw it last night, the Denver Nuggets,
04:32through the first half of basketball, they were playing sloppy basketball, too.
04:36The third quarter, you go, oh, okay, they could turn that up.
04:39I'm wondering, what's the Rockets turn that up?
04:41Well, no, but I don't think they have that.
04:43They don't have a, oh, well, they could turn up.
04:45They have Durant.
04:46If Durant's just having a great game and Jabari is knocking down shots,
04:49that's the turn it up, maybe?
04:50Then they've got a shot at it.
04:52But the Nuggets have that ability.
04:55And, you know, they've been getting healthy.
04:57They started the year, you know, with a lot of guys down
04:59or missing games or whatever.
05:00I think the Nuggets are in that group.
05:02I think the Nuggets are going to continue to climb here
05:04at the end of the season.
05:06But there's really only four teams that have that true superpower in the NBA,
05:10two in each conference.
05:11Because I think the Celtics, I think the Celtics are really going to be a problem
05:15now that –
05:15Oh, yeah, with Jason Tatum back.
05:17With Jason Tatum back.
05:18And, of course, the Pistons and then Thunder and Spurs on this side.
05:21So I think that kind of illustrates, like, nobody believes any of those four teams.
05:25It could always happen.
05:26But any one but those four teams are going to be championship level, right?
05:32Nuggets might be closest in the evaluation.
05:35And that's because they were dealing with injuries,
05:37which I think is what brought them down to that group.
05:39But, yeah, I think that's probably a fair thing.
05:41So now you turn to baseball.
05:43There have been a bunch of examples where you don't have to be super power.
05:45I mean, you have to have good pitching, you know, good hitting, good defense.
05:49You know, just be sound in every way.
05:51And you can win a World Series.
05:52Yeah.
05:53I mean, absolutely you can.
05:54How would you –
05:55I mean, obviously, these two are extremes where you go kind of
05:59just a little bit of everything, jack of all trades, master of none,
06:02versus a super power one thing and maybe other things pale in comparison.
06:07Where are the Astros in that?
06:08Because I don't know that they fit nicely into either of those buckets.
06:11Kind of depends on the year.
06:13You know, there have been recent years where they had a distinct super power,
06:16whether it's, you know, hitting for power or, you know,
06:20some incredible offensive performers just overall, you know,
06:24the strength of the lineup.
06:25You know, there were no cheap outs for a while.
06:27But then there were.
06:28I think right now they're in that category of they might do a lot of things well,
06:32even though respect to Hunter Brown.
06:35And Ima has had a hell of a spring, by the way.
06:37He's had a hell of a spring.
06:38He's had a hell of a spring.
06:38Hey, man.
06:39Also, don't forget Spencer Arrighetti in the spring has been pretty good as well.
06:45Like, he looked pretty good on the mound.
06:47And so, I'll be honest, I have not done enough thinking about Spencer Arrighetti
06:52because if you throw him into your rotation, Hunter Brown, Mike Burroughs
06:56looks like he's just going to be real solid.
06:58I wonder what the high end for him is during the season.
07:00But he looks like you're just, you know what you're going to get out of him
07:03and he'll deliver, which you need those guys in your rotation.
07:06But overall, it's a good pitching staff.
07:07Brown, Burroughs.
07:08If Emai continues this trend and Arrighetti, I really like what you have pitching-wise.
07:12But overall, wouldn't you say it wouldn't be like, you know,
07:14like the 2019 Astros or anything, it would just be a good pitching staff
07:18with Hunter Brown, obviously, at the top.
07:20Yeah.
07:20And then the capabilities of if you can get your first baseman, Christian Walker, right,
07:26and if you can manage to navigate having these infielders get in there,
07:30you should be able to really hit the cover off the baseball, though.
07:33You're a very good offensive team.
07:36There's going to be some cheap outs at the bottom, at least to start the year.
07:39You know, some...
07:40Name names.
07:41Who are these cheap outs that you're talking about?
07:43Well, give me the lineup and I'll name them for you.
07:44What's today's lineup?
07:45Are they playing today?
07:47Yeah, I believe they are.
07:48I'm slacking them all pimpin', aren't I?
07:50Well, that's usually for next segment.
07:52That's my excuse there.
07:53But, yeah, they are playing today.
07:55What's today?
07:55Thursday?
07:56They're playing the Washington Nationals at 5.05.
07:59Actually, I think this one...
07:59Is this one a televised game?
08:01No.
08:02But, yeah, they're playing the Washington Nationals at 5.05 today.
08:06But I think they're in the category of they do everything pretty well.
08:09Okay.
08:09No superpower.
08:10And that's what you'd prefer in baseball, you think?
08:12In baseball, I do.
08:14Well, I would prefer the superpower, but I think you can win a lot like that.
08:20From the 713, are you guys hopeful that the Rockets look better in a playoff series where
08:23Imei can really attack matchups or defensive strategies?
08:25How?
08:26I don't have hope there.
08:27I'm going to be honest.
08:28Because this is the thing.
08:29Imei Odoka has said on offense that they're a read and react team on offense.
08:33Except that works when you have notorious players or notable playmakers.
08:37That is the big issue with them this year.
08:39And so it feels like instead of being a read and react offense and just kind of depending
08:43on your players to find the brilliance in those moments, I think that what you probably need
08:48is more sets that create things for your guys.
08:51And that's not the way that they've gone.
08:52Talk less of.
08:53The things that you attack for the Rockets, I think that they, you give a team an opportunity
08:58to see it three, four, five, six times in a row.
09:01And I think that they get better at picking at those scabs.
09:04And I don't know for the Rockets that that works the other way, right?
09:07I don't know that you go, well, KD, he wears you down over six games because he's just getting
09:14better at getting to his spots.
09:16I don't know if that works the other way.
09:18I'm actually a little less confident about getting into a playoff series and it getting
09:22better per se.
09:24Now to, to the texture's argument, you know, once you get into series, the adjustments are
09:30very thorough and you can make adjustments on whatever one team is doing versus, you know,
09:35versus your offense or defense.
09:36But the reason I said how is really attack matchups.
09:41He's, he can't, he's shown, he consistently shown he can't do that.
09:46Unless, unless, unless you get fortunate and you get a team where there is a weak link and
09:51we can just screen, get them switched and let either Kevin Durant or Alperin Shangoon or
09:56whoever attack that guy individually.
09:58If that's what we're talking about, sure.
10:00Otherwise, if we're talking about like tactics on tactics and finding ways to break down another
10:05team, I think that that's been one of the things that we've been frustrated about all
10:08season long, especially last night.
10:10Yeah.
10:10Cause last night you saw a team in the nuggets that was willing to try some things like
10:14they had a Nikola Jokic guarding Tari Eason at one point, which was an acknowledgement
10:18of Tari Eason, not shooting the ball recently, well recently.
10:21So they had him sag off and they clogged up the paint even more.
10:24I don't think we see enough of those types of interesting tactical developments from the
10:28Rockets as of right now, which for me personally does not bode as well, at least in my
10:33mind for a playoff context, but I appreciate the question 7-1.
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