- 1 day ago
Seth and Sean talk about the ridiculously frustrating Rockets continuing to frustrate ridiculously in their loss to the Lakers last night, and give their thoughts on the new footage of Tank Dell that surfaced on Sunday.
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00:00Happy, I say that to say happy St. Paddy's Day to everybody and really to stall for four minutes and
00:0549 seconds on talking about the Rockets last night.
00:09Yeah, that's a, I, I, I stall no longer.
00:11Flat out disgust.
00:12Yeah.
00:13Happy St. Paddy's Day, everybody.
00:15Boy, and even, you know, at the end of the first half.
00:17Ruined St. Paddy's Day.
00:18End of the first half, it was an awesome St. Patrick's Day Eve.
00:22It was, yes.
00:23I was like, this guy, boy, this is the best St. Patrick's Day Eve I've ever had.
00:26Look at these guys.
00:27They got the message.
00:28Up six at the half.
00:29They're playing a beautiful brand of basketball.
00:31It's a beautiful game.
00:32Yeah, yeah.
00:33And then, oh, the fourth quarter, everything fell to pieces.
00:38St. Patrick's Day turned into a pumpkin.
00:42And neither team should be shrouding themselves in glory over this fourth quarter
00:47that we had to watch last night.
00:49The Rockets turned the ball over, was it nine times in the fourth quarter?
00:53It felt like nine times.
00:53They turned it over 24 times for the game.
00:55And most of those came from about the six-minute mark of the third quarter on.
01:02You're right, Seth.
01:03They were doing great.
01:04But the first half, it was fine.
01:05There were some turnovers, whatever.
01:06But it was 57-51 at the half.
01:08And then there was a point in the third quarter, I'm like, oh, no, here they are again.
01:12Here's this Rockets team.
01:13It was when Durant got the bogus flagrant.
01:16It felt like that was kind of the tipping point.
01:18It was a turning point.
01:19And yet it was a close game throughout the fourth quarter.
01:23I'm watching the Rockets, and I'm like, they're not getting any attempts at the basket
01:26because they're turning the ball over 25 feet away from the basket.
01:30Durant, boy, Durant's turnovers, if you could grade turnovers based on just how bad they are,
01:35Kevin Durant's turnovers are the worst in the league.
01:38The worst.
01:40I wonder if, I need to get, I want to see in the huddle during a timeout or something
01:45every single game where at some point Udoke was like, hey, guys, I think they're doubling Durant a lot.
01:54Should we do something about it?
01:55And everybody looks around, gosh, I can't believe they're doubling Durant.
02:00Did you guys realize this, what they're doing?
02:03They're doubling Durant.
02:04What should we do about it?
02:05Yeah, man.
02:06I don't know.
02:06And then the next game, and then the next game.
02:09It's the same thing.
02:10And then the next game, yeah.
02:11It's the same thing every time.
02:13And this is where it's so disheartening with this team,
02:16and this is why when we played that Fred VanVleet audio yesterday
02:19where he's telling everybody, slow down on the Spurs.
02:22They didn't want a playoff series yet.
02:23Oh, by the way, this group of Rockets hasn't won a playoff series either,
02:26so settle down about that.
02:28That's why listening to that audio yesterday, I'm like, dude,
02:31you are writing a check for a team that goes out in the biggest quarter of the season.
02:36Because keep in mind, they're a half game back of the Lakers.
02:38The Rockets were in the four seed going into last night's game.
02:41I haven't had the stomach.
02:43I'm guessing they're still in the four seed because they were a full game up
02:46on Denver going into last night.
02:49But you have a chance to overtake the Lakers for the three seed.
02:53Nobody's catching the Spurs or the Thunder out of this gaggle of teams
02:56from three through seven.
02:58But you at least have the chance to wake up on St. Patrick's Day morning
03:01and be first place amongst that next wave of teams.
03:05And so it's a huge fourth quarter,
03:06and it's a game that had umpteen lead changes in this game.
03:10Somehow with the Rockets turning the ball over 24 times,
03:14this was still a close game until Marcus Smart hits that three
03:17with two minutes to go to make it 94-90.
03:19And then ultimately it's 100-92 is the final score.
03:22The biggest quarter of the season, and you go out and score 12 points
03:25and turn the ball over nearly double-digit times and score four points
03:29in the final six minutes, this is why I and many others can't get behind this team.
03:34You don't beat good teams.
03:36You turn the ball over, and in the biggest of moments, you stink.
03:40You know what?
03:41I'm glad you framed that Fred Van Vliet clip from his interview with Sarge there,
03:45his podcast with Sarge, about, okay, yes, you can say all this about the Spurs,
03:52but leave out the fact that, you know, who cares, who honestly,
03:56who gives a damn about what people are saying about the Spurs at this point?
04:00The Rockets need to worry about the Rockets.
04:03Yes.
04:03The Rockets versus any good team or marginally good team,
04:07any other fringe Western Conference team, that it's not enough?
04:13No.
04:13This just simply isn't enough.
04:15No.
04:15So, yeah, I don't care that maybe the Spurs are getting a little premature adulation.
04:20It's a problem people suffer from these days.
04:23Premature adulation.
04:24Yes.
04:25Yes.
04:26There's treatments for it.
04:27There are.
04:28It's called the playoffs.
04:29Mm-hmm.
04:29Yeah.
04:31But because that has nothing to do with the fact that it doesn't matter
04:34whether the Rockets are playing the Spurs or the Nuggets or the freaking Lakers
04:38that this is the same brand of basketball you keep spitting out there.
04:42And this is where I tire of saying, well, what are you going to do without Fred VanVleet?
04:47You know how much – it would be so much easier to make excuses for this team
04:51if it looked like at any point this season they had done something
04:55to adequately address the absence of Fred VanVleet.
04:58Okay, they're not going to be as good without Fred VanVleet.
05:00Cool.
05:01You've been the same offense the whole damn time, regressing, if anything.
05:07And it just – that's the frustrating part.
05:09You're left looking at Udoka as, ooh, what are you doing to try to solve –
05:14Yeah, do something.
05:15– the absence of Fred VanVleet.
05:16Yep.
05:17That ran dry for about a month and a half ago.
05:21Yep.
05:21Like, okay, we all acknowledge that this is not the ideal circumstance without Fred VanVleet.
05:28Yeah.
05:28But what are you going to do to change things or improve or get better?
05:32And it's just absolutely nothing, game after game after game.
05:36Well, and the lack of Fred VanVleet or any point guard is still no excuse in an NBA game for
05:42a good team.
05:44And trust me, I said this earlier.
05:46I said this last week when I got back from Vegas.
05:47I watched bad teams in the sportsbook.
05:50I watched the Bulls and the Kings.
05:51Yeah.
05:52The Rockets are better than two-thirds of the teams in the NBA.
05:56The teams that matter are teams like last night.
05:58And the Lakers are at the bottom end of teams that matter.
06:00Make no mistake about that.
06:02The Spurs and the Thunder and some of the teams out in the East are the ones that matter.
06:05And the Rockets just aren't on the same floor with those teams.
06:08The lack of a point guard is no excuse for 24 turnovers.
06:12It's an excuse for more turnovers than the average team.
06:14I'll grant you that.
06:15But to your point, Seth, yeah, find a solution.
06:17And they should have found a solution.
06:20It's not like Fred VanVleet tore his ACL in January.
06:23You know, he tore it in September.
06:25There was time to go find some solution to bring the ball up the floor and initiate.
06:30We're not asking you to go get Magic Johnson.
06:32Listen, we're asking you to get a guy that can put the keys in the ignition and turn the keys.
06:36Whatever happened to, like, well, I don't know, point guards, they're all over the place.
06:40What are you going to do?
06:40You can find guards here, there, anywhere.
06:42Point guards, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
06:44Oh, okay.
06:45Apparently, it's easy.
06:46Yeah.
06:47Apparently, you should be able to have some replacement-level guy in there.
06:50But they punted on the season.
06:52Dana Brown told us they punted on the season.
06:54Raphael Stone.
06:55That's right, too.
06:57Can you imagine?
06:58Damn it.
06:59Dana Brown's like, well, we're certainly not punting on the Astros season like Raphael Stone's
07:03punting on the Rockets season.
07:05You know what's happened to me with Dana Brown and Raphael Stone?
07:09What's that?
07:10Is I have this thing in my head where I'm constantly telling myself it's Dana Brown, not Dana White.
07:14It's Dana Brown, not Dana White.
07:16To the point where he's dominated GM discussions.
07:20He's been the GM of three different sports here in Houston.
07:23Yep.
07:23If we talked more about the Dynamo, he'd probably be the GM of them as well.
07:29Heavy is the head, Dana.
07:31Yeah.
07:32He's all on you.
07:33No, but Raphael Stone just flat out telling us we punted on the season.
07:36Yeah.
07:37I just, yeah, cool.
07:38Man, there's nothing to, I'll tell you one thing, boy, to make a cross-sport comparison.
07:42There's nothing sports fans love watching more in a football game than punting.
07:47Oh, oh, the majesty of the punt.
07:49That's why everybody gets so excited when you run a draw on third and long.
07:53Like, oh, we've got a punt coming up.
07:56Yes, yes.
07:57The Rockets now, it's like you get to watch, you get to watch punts every single night.
08:02Remember how much fun you had watching Tommy Townsend last year, Texan fans?
08:05That's what the Rockets are doing.
08:07Oh, that's what I know.
08:08You know, but we've got a young up-and-comer this year that maybe we can, oh, boy, I hope
08:12they punt 29 times a game.
08:14Oh, the punt.
08:15Okay.
08:16This is, okay, the Tex are rolling in on this, actually, early in the morning.
08:20People are upset with the Rockets on the base power Tex line.
08:23KD was terrible.
08:24Yep.
08:24Text message, KD has to be better.
08:26Those turnovers are not on E-May.
08:28That's fine.
08:30There's plenty of other stuff that's on E-May.
08:31Fair.
08:32But let this, I hope you're not absolving E-May Udoka in this situation, sir or ma'am.
08:37Tried to tell, okay, this is a good one.
08:39Tried to tell you about Durant and his turnovers from a Suns fan, it says.
08:43Suns fan.
08:44Tried to tell you about it.
08:45Tried to tell you about it.
08:47Rockets got to bring in an offensive coach of some sort.
08:49They need to coach better offense.
08:52I know that.
08:52If it means bringing somebody in, then that's what it is.
08:55Yeah.
08:56You know, D'Antoni had his defensive coordinator there.
08:58What's his face?
09:00Bisdelic.
09:00Oh, it was Bisdelic.
09:01Bisdelic.
09:02Yeah, Jeff Bisdelic.
09:03That, you know, and it made a difference.
09:05That was when Bisdelic came in.
09:07That's when Harden all of a sudden started.
09:09People had to start well-actuallying.
09:11Yeah.
09:11Hey, no, well-actually.
09:13Harden's actually been a good defensive player.
09:15And those were decent defensive teams, too.
09:17Right.
09:17Yeah, you're absolutely right.
09:19Maybe Bisdelic has an evil twin who's focused on offense.
09:23That would be great.
09:24Maybe Oz maybe had a fraternal twin.
09:26And he was an offensive guru.
09:29And available.
09:30Yeah.
09:32This is why we only do.
09:33Okay, this is interesting.
09:34This is why we only do football in H-Town.
09:37Let the other loser stations talk about this garbage basketball team.
09:42Nobody respects the majesty of the punt anymore.
09:45All right.
09:46Look at the parabolic action on that thing.
09:49Okay.
09:49I'll, uh...
09:53Okay.
09:54Football.
09:55Y equals MX plus B, mother...
09:58Yeah.
10:00Yes.
10:01Coming up next, Pythagoras.
10:03Wait, that's not a...
10:04What's the formula for a parabola?
10:06Kids.
10:07Kids who still remember this stuff.
10:08Text in.
10:09Yeah, text in.
10:11Okay, football.
10:12Did you happen to see...
10:13I think I sent it to you.
10:15The latest Tank Dell video that surfaced.
10:18Wait, there's a...
10:19When?
10:20No, more than a few days ago?
10:22Yeah, like the one that...
10:23Yeah.
10:23It surfaced a couple of days ago.
10:26It's making the rounds right now, this Tank Dell video.
10:29It popped up again on my time.
10:30We didn't talk about it yesterday.
10:31Which is why I'm...
10:32I'm bringing it up now for two reasons.
10:33One, we didn't bring it up yesterday.
10:35Two, I don't feel like talking about the Rockets anymore for the next two and a half minutes.
10:41But I think I sent it to you and said, I choose to be optimistic about this.
10:45That's Tank Dell.
10:46He's working out with the receiver, like one of these receiver specialty coaches.
10:52Is this the one, though, where he's out and he's just out doing drills on the field?
10:56Or is there a different one?
10:57Yeah, it's a second.
10:59No, no, no.
10:59There's another one now.
11:01Oh, okay.
11:01Yeah, there's another one that surfaced.
11:03I think I sent it to you a couple of days ago.
11:05Yeah.
11:06At any rate, my question was going to be, how optimistic should I be about this?
11:10Oh, you should be really optimistic.
11:11I think he looks good, yeah.
11:13Okay.
11:13Yeah, it's...
11:15I don't...
11:16There was anything...
11:17Was anybody picking apart any part of those videos?
11:19No.
11:20I think he looks spectacular.
11:21No, no, no.
11:21But there's a thought process, like, don't get too excited about this.
11:27You know, he's making jukes against cones with no defensive backs out there.
11:32Right, right.
11:33It's just him cutting and juking.
11:34I think he's looked awesome in all of those things.
11:36Yeah.
11:36It's hard to tell, you know, when somebody's not out there doing it against competition.
11:40Guys like Tank...
11:41Tank Dell at 90% still looks freakishly fast.
11:44Yeah.
11:44So that's the part that I'm never quite sure about.
11:49So the video that I put, the link I put in the rundown was a tweet, which was two days
11:55ago at 740 at night.
11:56So Sunday night at 740.
11:58Yeah, no, no, no.
11:59I'm watching that one.
12:00It was...
12:00Yeah.
12:01I think it's the same as the ones that we've seen the last couple times.
12:05Yeah.
12:05I think he looks really good.
12:06People were nervous.
12:07The first video that came out a couple weeks ago, people were really shocked by how skinny
12:12his legs were.
12:13And I had a hard time reading too much into that just because he's always had ridiculously
12:18skinny legs.
12:19Right.
12:21His knees look a little bit knobby, but that can be normal coming back from multiple surgeries
12:28on a knee.
12:28So the actual way he moves, it looks great.
12:32I just can't tell, you know, without him actually competing against defensive backs or anything,
12:36there's just no way to judge.
12:38Yeah.
12:38Yeah, yeah.
12:39I'm choosing to get excited about this, watching him.
12:41I would say...
12:42You know what I would say?
12:43I don't...
12:43Like, just from watching those videos, there's no reason for you to...
12:49Doubt his availability during training camp.
12:51Okay.
12:51So then it comes down to just how generally an optimistic human being I am.
12:55Yeah.
12:55Right?
12:55Like, so there's no reason to doubt.
12:56So then it comes down to, okay, do I generally buy into stuff like this?
13:00And Seth, as you know, I'm easily sold to.
13:02Yeah.
13:03I am looking at this and I'm getting excited about OTAs and seeing Tank Dell run around.
13:08Yeah.
13:08Yeah.
13:09No.
13:09And I think the big thing is also just how do you recover from these workouts and how do
13:13you recover from actual football and all of that?
13:15Any kind of pessimism you have should be based on just how hard it is to come back from an
13:21injury like that.
13:22And again, that Tank Dell at 90% looks incredibly fast, but Tank Dell at 90% isn't the version
13:31of Tank Dell that had such an incredible rookie year.
13:33That's right.
13:33And was having a great game in that Kansas City game before he suffered this injury.
13:38That's what really hurt.
13:38So we'll see.
13:40That's where I am on it.
13:42Okay.
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