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ITL debates whether Udoka’s approach is about playoff positioning or proving a point with how he wants this team to play.
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00:00Honestly, not going to lie, I thought the process looked really great last night at Toyota Center.
00:04You would.
00:04When your Houston Rockets got a pretty demonstrative win over the New York Knicks.
00:09I'm talking about the demonstrative.
00:12Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:12No, go ahead and open up the dictionary for this one, baby.
00:15First of all, you throwing too many big words at me, okay?
00:17Now, because I don't understand them, I'm going to take them as disrespect.
00:20A real big and definite.
00:22Not a great win.
00:23Demonstrative.
00:24Not a big win.
00:25No, the Rockets start playing good and I get big words.
00:28Those are directly correlated.
00:30Paradigm shifting.
00:31Oh, yeah.
00:32I like it, baby.
00:34Honestly, the only time that the Rockets trailed was when the Knicks hit a free throw early on in the
00:39first quarter.
00:40And then the Rockets were like, we'll take this from here on out.
00:42They just absolutely dominated.
00:44And it really did feel like the process was much better.
00:46But you, John Lopez, were frustrated, along with a lot of Rockets fans.
00:50I don't want to make this just a you thing.
00:52Yeah.
00:52That the lineup did change for the first time in a little bit where Reed Shepard did not start in
00:58this game.
00:58Tari Easton, who has been coming back on himself, knocking down some shots, playing a little bit better version of
01:03basketball.
01:04We talked about it yesterday when we heard from Tari and Alper and Shang-Goon.
01:08Tari slides back into the starting lineup.
01:11Now, Imei, before the game and after the game, reiterated that this was a matchup thing.
01:15And in this game, you see Tari Easton get the Karl-Anthony Towns assignment.
01:19But you feel like you had some issue with this, it seemed.
01:23Confusion.
01:24Okay, confusion.
01:25I'm confused because it was a matchup thing, all right?
01:30You just said that you were going to give Reed Shepard a good look.
01:36Yes.
01:37Well, why are you changing right now?
01:39And by the way, Tari Easton played damn good.
01:42He played damn well.
01:43That might be an understatement.
01:44Yeah, he played damn well.
01:45So, it's not about, oh, boy, boy, this guy, you know, whatever.
01:49It's just, it's confusing to me because I walked away from that game.
01:54And by the way, he played damn well.
01:55You know who else did?
01:56Reed Shepard.
01:5720 and 5.
01:5920 and 5 in 28 minutes.
02:01Yeah.
02:01And the offense, you know, the reason we talked about him being a starter looked better.
02:06Yeah, in fact.
02:07When he was on the floor.
02:08Imei talked about the fact that he's been great.
02:10This is speaking on Reed Shepard.
02:11He's been great.
02:11He's taking a big jump night and day with his aggressiveness and confidence hunting his shots.
02:16Right.
02:16Loved his defense tonight, which I will say, as probably the biggest Reed detractor, at least on the station.
02:21Yeah.
02:22I liked, I saw progress.
02:23Yeah.
02:24I saw progress there.
02:24And then Imei went further to say he's challenging guys, getting after them.
02:28That's going to be a big part of it as well.
02:29So, even the head coach acknowledged in this circumstance where Reed Shepard steps back to the defense.
02:34So, you're not a little confused by this?
02:35I'm not.
02:36I am very much confused by this.
02:38Are you going to give him, you know, what is a good look?
02:41Define that for me.
02:42And if you're going to give him one, give him one.
02:45And then the most important thing is, what is there, six games left?
02:48How many games they have left?
02:50You would think I'd be able to do the simple math, but I keep forgetting.
02:52It's just a handful of games.
02:53Not a lot of games.
02:54It's just a handful of games left.
02:55Don't worry.
02:56I'll count them up.
02:56This is the time of the year when you are streamlining your lineup and your rotation.
03:03Not spitballing, let's try this guy because of matchups.
03:05Seven games, I believe.
03:07Seven games.
03:07So, you know what I'm saying?
03:08That, to me, is just a good win.
03:10You know, obviously, you know, you needed it.
03:12Three out of four, I think, they've got now.
03:14It's not about that.
03:16It's like, I walked away thinking, this looks like a guy in Imei Adoka that is just trying to be
03:22right.
03:23He's just trying to be right.
03:24Not streamlining the roster, not getting the best starting lineup out there, not leaning into what you and I agreed
03:32on last week is their best way to win, and that's with Reed Shepard in the lineup.
03:39It's like Tar Eason had a couple of games that were good, and he put him back in the lineup.
03:43It's just confusing.
03:44Hey, Fig, a little sidebar right here.
03:46Yeah.
03:47Have you watched the cartoons when two cartoons are standing on one side, and then all of a sudden, out
03:51of nowhere, one of the characters slides to the other side before you realize it?
03:55Yeah.
03:55I'm doing that to John right now.
03:58I think that you have to consider, first and foremost, Reed Shepard played 28 minutes, Tar Eason played 30 minutes.
04:03Like, they played about the same amount of minutes in this game, so I do think that that's something.
04:07They've done that before, though.
04:08And I think that that's worth considering, right?
04:09But the idea of the good look, and actually, I'll take this back to this, because I did mention the
04:14stepping onto the other side, and I'll start there.
04:15We agreed that Reed Shepard was the best look for the team, but I thought that was in that moment
04:19where Tar Eason was playing really poorly.
04:21I think with Tar Eason playing at his best, that's a better instance of your lineup, of your starting lineup,
04:26especially because I also want to give Reed praise.
04:30Being the offensive step up when it comes to your second unit is also very important.
04:35And if you have Reed starting...
04:36But what did that get you?
04:38You were playing a lot better basketball.
04:40No, no.
04:40What did that get you over the course of the season?
04:42They were still losing you.
04:44Yeah, I don't think that that's inherently simply about Reed Shepard and Tar Eason.
04:47Well, then neither is Tar Eason in the starting lineup.
04:50I do think that that is here, right?
04:51And it's not less about Tar Eason himself.
04:53I think that he operates more as bringing the defense on the start.
04:56Obviously, we know about that.
04:57But if he's just a spot-up shooter, that's cool because you have more initiators on the floor at that
05:02time.
05:02I think that it makes less sense to have all of your possible initiators as your starters versus having somebody...
05:09Because what were we talking about recently that ended up being kind of secondary because they were just losing?
05:13Your bench unit was woeful, especially while Tar Eason wasn't playing better.
05:17Reed Shepard on your bench unit helps bring some of that consistency across the line.
05:22Wouldn't Tar Eason if he's knocking down shots?
05:24Not as an initiator.
05:25Not when you don't have as many initiators on the floor.
05:28I'm confused with this, man.
05:29And honestly, I kind of agree with Reggie on that.
05:32I think Reed coming off the bench, it is a spark.
05:35But that's not what E-May is saying.
05:37Yeah, that's true too.
05:38Yeah, if he would have said, hey, we need Reed to come off the bench because he'd give us a
05:44spark
05:44and he's still going to play 28 to 30 minutes, I would be fine with that.
05:48But that's not what he's doing.
05:50And worth noting, E-May has said, because of course this is back-to-back,
05:54so tonight they're playing the Milwaukee Bucks who are in town.
05:56Reed Shepard is due to be in the starting lineup again.
05:58So what E-May has said is that specifically was a matchup for Carl Anthony Towns
06:03in order to make sure that Carl was not guarded by Alpert Shangoon or Jabari Smith Jr.,
06:08who he can't overpower.
06:09And later in the game, he did overpower Tar Eason late.
06:12But for a majority of the game, Tar Eason actually handled the challenge very well
06:16and that freed up your bigs to do what they did in the game.
06:18So I did think that he was right in that moment.
06:20But your question is the look for Reed Shepard.
06:22I don't think that the look means that he has to start every single game down the stretch.
06:26And I think that he will continue to do.
06:27But he said that.
06:29He didn't say he will start every single game.
06:30No, no.
06:31He said he was going to put him in his starting lineup and give him a good look as a
06:33starter.
06:34And the look continues.
06:36The look continues.
06:37I don't know about that.
06:37I don't know about that.
06:38To me, it seemed like he do not.
06:40You're either committed or you're not.
06:41It seemed like he, let's be real, it seemed like he's not really committed with Reed like that.
06:45Exactly.
06:46And in a perfect world, he'd rather have Tari as a starter.
06:50And that's my big confusion.
06:51Again, good win.
06:53You know, the Knicks came in.
06:54Decent team.
06:55More than a decent team.
06:56But, you know, they played four games in six days, three on the road.
06:59So, you know, it was a time where I would have maybe seen what Reed Shepard could do against that.
07:03You know, I would have, you know, hey, you know, this is, you want, if you want to give him
07:07a good look, give him a good look.
07:08It seemed like his hand was forced where he had to put Reed in the starter lineup because he wasn't
07:13getting them from Tari.
07:13I do agree with that, too.
07:15My thing, Reggie, is it's just like, okay, so seven games left in the season.
07:19Yes.
07:20What is the Rockets' identity going into the postseason today?
07:25I mean, this is a team that prides itself on defense and, I mean, offensively, it's rough.
07:29Like, it's just, that's something that we've known all season long.
07:32It's a bottom ten offense.
07:33Right?
07:33So, the identity of this offense in its best circumstance right now is a team that's going to play incredible
07:39defense,
07:40hopefully get some decent rebounds, and beat you that way.
07:42But we've seen and agreed on this, that identity is not, first of all, nearly as good as they think
07:48it is.
07:48Sure.
07:49And, secondly, didn't work.
07:52So, again, it goes back to, I watched this game and, again, very impressed with the game that Tari Eason
07:59had.
07:59I'm not saying, I'm not disparaging him per se.
08:02What I'm saying is, if you're going to admit that it's not as good a defense as you think,
08:07the defense didn't work over the long haul, you're going to give Reed Shepard a good look as a starting
08:12guard,
08:13and you need that offensive identity to win, to have a better chance to win, then what are we doing?
08:20I mean...
08:21What are we doing?
08:22I think you put the best lineup out here last night.
08:25I'll say that flat out.
08:26I think you put out the best lineup last night.
08:27I don't know about that.
08:28But he held that team to 94 points.
08:30Yeah.
08:31Was it Tari Eason?
08:32He was a large part of it.
08:34How was Reed Shepard?
08:34Was he a large part of it?
08:35Reed Shepard was absolutely helpful, and some of that is also putting him in the right circumstances.
08:38Also, one of the things that I think we forget here, in the look that we were getting from Reed
08:42Shepard,
08:43how was Reed Shepard over the last few games?
08:44Not saying that that ended up being the reason why, but I think there's also some aspect of,
08:49I think we're valorizing Reed Shepard as if he is a superstar and he's not.
08:53Well, I'm not valorizing him.
08:54I know he went 8 for 12 last night, and I know he struggled before that, but by and large,
08:58again, the thing we agree on, their best chance to win is with him in the starting lineup.
09:02And this is where, I don't fully agree with that.
09:04I thought that for a period of time, if Tari Eason's playing as terrible as he was,
09:08Tari Eason isn't playing as terrible.
09:10Are you totally confident that we're going to get this type of Tari moving forward?
09:14That's a good question.
09:15Or is this a couple games right now?
09:17That's a good question.
09:18I don't know that you get exactly the Tari Eason that's knocking down what feels like having one of his
09:21shots.
09:21If that's the case, then I'm cool with that, but I'm not for sure if Tari going to be balling
09:26like this for the rest of the year.
09:27I just think, ultimately, and we've seen this repeatedly over the course of the season,
09:32flat-out hard-headedness, we are a defensive team from Emeo Doka.
09:35Hard-headedness.
09:36Well, I mean, I think if you look at the way that the team is constructed, that's their best chance
09:39to win.
09:40But it's not.
09:41But it's not.
09:42We'll have to disagree there.
09:43But you agreed with me on that, that the defense isn't as good as before.
09:47Yeah.
09:47And that they've given it 60-whatever games, and it didn't really work.
09:52Yeah, but all 60 of those games aren't exactly the same.
09:53Well, I understand that.
09:54There's different circumstances that play in.
09:55Okay, I understand.
09:56But 60-something games, it didn't work the way we thought it would work.
10:01Then you get Reed Shepard in the starting lineup, and you start to think, okay, this offense is the way
10:05they're going to get there.
10:07And then you go back.
10:08Again, I think it's just like in his mind, he's like, I'm going to be right on this.
10:12And we've all been there.
10:13But this is the thing that I think that you're locked in too hard on Reed Shepard, in my opinion,
10:18right?
10:18Because I think also, in the course of Reed Shepard starting to start, you're seeing this team lose games that
10:23make us both go, I'm kind of done with the idea of this team being a real threat here.
10:28And then you see them come against, admittedly, a team that's on a little bit of a downstroke with the
10:33New York Knicks, but a team that is a playoff contender and actually play one of their best games, at
10:37least in recent memory.
10:38And then you're going, well, this is him being hard-headed.
10:41I don't think that that's the way that I respond to this.
10:44No, no, I think it absolutely is, because we've seen multiple examples over the course of the year of him
10:48just leaning into, this is what we're going to do, this is what we're going to do, this is what
10:51we are.
10:52And then finally, as Figgy said, maybe forced his hand a little bit into changing his ways.
10:57Tar Heeson has some good games, and he's back in the starting lineup.
11:00You know, how good a look did he get, and is he just trying to be right on this?
11:02And I think that if you're talking about hard-headed, we also are having a conversation where you go, do
11:06you just start Reed the whole way, the rest of the way?
11:08Just because.
11:09That's also a form of hard-headedness.
11:10Well, I don't think you started him in the first place just because.
11:13I think you started him in the first place because it was better.
11:16It proved to be better.
11:16In the moment, right.
11:17And I think that even if we just come from what Emil Odoku has said, this particular game, I don't
11:22think that you get this outcome if Reed Shepard is starting.
11:24Can't you argue that Reed Shepard, excuse me, Tar Heeson starting after a couple of good games is in the
11:29moment as well?
11:30Sure.
11:31That's my point.
11:32I mean, it's just kind of like, this is what we're going to be.
11:35Hell or high water.
11:36It's just confusing.
11:37Good win.
11:39Just confusing.
11:39And we could disagree on this because we ultimately are.
11:42I saw one of the better versions of the Rockets last night.
11:45And I'm not saying that, again, when they bring out Reed Shepard tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks, that very well
11:50can work.
11:50I think that one of the things that I appreciate is having the opportunity to have multiple ways of getting
11:54this done to some degree.
11:56And I don't know.
11:57Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic, right, because that's a possibility and that's actually a probability.
12:02I saw a team last night that I go, maybe they can actually throw up some level of competition at
12:06their first round, their first round opponent, as opposed to what we had previously thought, even the night before with
12:13the eventual playoffs.
12:13That means something to me, right?
12:15That means something more than Reed Shepard starts at all costs.
12:20All right.
12:21Fair enough.
12:23Because I don't think that you're – I hear where you're coming from, right?
12:25Because that was what was said.
12:27And you have this one moment where you step back.
12:29I thought that there was fair reason, at least in my opinion.
12:31All right.
12:31You're in the loop here on Sports Radio 610 from the 346.
12:33I like when you guys disagree.
12:36Well, I'm glad that you enjoyed it.
12:37You need to do this more often?
12:38All right.
12:38Fair enough.
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