- 5 months ago
Seth and Sean discuss the series momentum swinging the Rockets' way as of late and if they can make history tonight and push the series to 7 games.
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00:00Rockets tonight, game six, there will be no Kevin Durant.
00:03There will be the young core.
00:05I know that's a triggering term for some people when they were down 3-0.
00:09I don't want to hear about this young core anymore.
00:11They stink.
00:12They're down 3-0 to the Lakers.
00:13And now everybody's like, ooh, look at the young core.
00:15They're starting.
00:16Feels like the Fab Five almost back in the day, Seth.
00:18Remember when Michigan had all the five freshmen with Weber and Jawan Howard
00:23and they made it all the way to the NCAA championship game?
00:25Yeah, it worked out great for them.
00:27Well, they made it to two title games.
00:30But didn't win a championship.
00:31But this was – I know you were sifting through various age stats of this starting five
00:38of Shepard, Thompson, Smith, Eason, and Alperen Sengun.
00:44And the one that I know was – the one that I know got stated as fact yesterday
00:49in some of the coverage that I'd seen was this was the youngest lineup,
00:54I believe, to win a playoff game.
00:57In an NBA playoff history.
00:58NBA playoff history, yeah.
01:00And it was going against the oldest team in this playoffs in the Lakers.
01:07Yeah.
01:08Which I don't know how it's skewed by – I mean, LeBron being 41 kind of throws
01:11everything out of whack.
01:13But he's their most important guy.
01:14Right, right.
01:15You know?
01:15He's the most important guy.
01:17Yeah.
01:17And that's where, at this point, where the math gets a little bit less daunting.
01:23Like, the history doesn't intimidate me as much if the Rockets pull it off tonight.
01:28Because only four teams have been down 3-0 in a series in the playoffs and made it to
01:34a game seven.
01:35And those teams are 0-4.
01:37But 0-4, that's not like, oh, wow.
01:39If it's 0-4, it'll never be done.
01:42No.
01:42If they get to the – if they get to a game seven, they'll be one of five teams that
01:47have come back from being down 3-0 in the playoffs and made it to a game seven.
01:52Yeah.
01:53And they would be the first team to actually pull it off.
01:55But it's a team that has youth on its side if they do get to a game seven.
02:02Yeah.
02:02Part of the last couple games has been that, man, LeBron James seems to be showing his
02:07age at points.
02:08You know, in game four, I think it definitely – he just didn't look like himself.
02:12Game five, he did some really nice things.
02:14But there were some – I think he settled for some threes at times and made some decisions
02:20with his shots that looked like a guy that was a little bit older and a little bit more
02:23tired.
02:24So –
02:24Yeah, he didn't make – he didn't make any of them.
02:26That was a game.
02:26Yeah, he was 0-4 on his threes.
02:280-6, yeah.
02:29So that's where, especially in the fourth quarter, where the fourth quarter has been
02:33the damn thing that's wrong with this Rockets team at times this year.
02:37They've got to be the best version of themselves in the fourth quarter where, look, you've got
02:41youth on your side.
02:42You should have fresher legs.
02:44Just be the smart versions of yourselves.
02:46Yeah.
02:46Don't start turning the ball over.
02:48Don't do the sloppy, dumb things in the fourth quarter and play like a bunch of young guys
02:52because physically, youth is on your side.
02:55Mentally, in terms of discipline and everything else like that, that's where the youth nips
03:00them at times.
03:01Well, there were too many times this year – you know, Kevin Durant played almost every
03:05game this year.
03:06And there were just way too many times this year where the Rockets took the reason they
03:10got Durant in the first place to too much of an extreme.
03:13And especially with no point guard on this team with Fred Van Vliet to kind of spread
03:18the ball around and get everybody incorporated.
03:20The default was – and some of this is on EmeoDoka for allowing it to be this way – the
03:24default was, well, just let Kevin do it.
03:27You know, just let KD do it.
03:28Yeah.
03:29KD's not walking through that door in this series.
03:31You know, and I give the Rockets credit that, especially after the way they lost game
03:36three, like just horrible, the way they lost that is they could have just folded up their
03:40tents and gotten swept.
03:42And I told you yesterday, Seth, that was the – that was the closest I ever was to not
03:46rooting for one of my teams was game four of this series where I was just so done with
03:51the Rockets based on not only how they lost game three, but the fact that they lost like
03:55six other games in the regular season in similarly catastrophic fashion.
04:00And so I give them credit to where, you know, that they've come back and won these
04:04couple of games and most importantly, I think, have figured a few things out as to how to
04:09get this done without having Kevin Durant on the floor against this team.
04:12You know, they're going to need Kevin Durant if they're going to beat OKC if they get
04:15past this.
04:16But for now, just eating what's on their plate, I give them credit for evolving a little
04:21bit here.
04:22Well, and I think, too, yeah, I'll give EmeoDoka credit for kind of changing the way that
04:26he's handling this team because it is so young.
04:28And he's taken more of an educational approach than his disciplinarian approach in these
04:34playoffs, including after game three.
04:38You know, it was I don't think that when they went in, they immediately watched that last
04:42couple of minutes.
04:43I don't I think in our minds, everybody envisioned that as some kind of, you know, just a thrashing
04:47holding their eyes open tongue lashing or whatever.
04:50But it might have been just more along the lines of like, all right, look, look, we got to
04:55address this.
04:55We got to figure this out.
04:56We got to move on and we can be got to be sure it doesn't happen again.
05:00But, you know, it's it's always it's always really interesting when you see a regular season
05:05team.
05:05What's it going to be like when they hit the playoffs?
05:07And the big difference is when you hit the playoffs, it's not just motivation.
05:12It's that you're facing a good team that has seven games to figure out, figure you out, focus
05:20on what your strengths are and try to take your strengths away.
05:23Yeah.
05:23So it's really tough when you're facing a team like the Lakers.
05:26They know what you want to do.
05:28They know what your strengths are.
05:29And it's centered around Kevin Durant.
05:32And yeah, you can operate differently, but we're going to take away your your MO, your
05:38main thing and take away the things that we we know you'll probably revert to.
05:43And over the course of seven games, good teams really start to exploit that without Durant
05:49in there.
05:50It's harder to figure out exactly how the Rockets are going to operate and who they need
05:54to focus on.
05:55And guys have been able to play a little bit more freely and a little bit more with more
05:59fluidity on offense.
06:00Yeah.
06:00You know, the old in the old days, it was, hey, look, Rockets, you're up.
06:04Look, you're awesome in the regular season.
06:06But you face the Spurs.
06:07The Spurs know that you don't take mid-range jumpers and they know that you're going to
06:12try to get a bunch of fouls.
06:14So the Spurs play defense with their hands behind their back and they didn't even give
06:18a damn about defending mid-range jumpers.
06:20They were going to defend the paint.
06:22They're going to fly out on threes.
06:23And over the course of seven games, they get a bead, a rhythm of exactly the way you
06:27operate.
06:28You know, they won by 40 in the elimination game without Kawhi Leonard at Toyota Center.
06:33Yeah.
06:33They're like, oh, you like drawing fouls and you just will never take a mid-range jumper.
06:39Okay, cool.
06:39Then we're going to focus on, we're not going to give a damn about mid-range shots and we're
06:46going to just not give you the fouls you want.
06:48Yep.
06:49Here's Stephen A.
06:49Smith on first take on the Rockets after the winner in game five on the Rockets and
06:54where this series is going.
06:56The reality is this.
06:57When you look at the Houston Rockets, the one thing you worried about was their energy.
07:03Were they going to have it in the fourth quarter because you know they turned the ball over
07:08and you know them in clutch time, they can be a bit erratic.
07:11So you're looking at Reed Shepard.
07:13You're looking at Armand Thompson and you're saying, can they handle it?
07:16And they ended up handling it.
07:17They were assisted by LeBron who was just off and had a couple of key turnovers.
07:21Clearly, nobody else was really stepping up and being formidable offensively.
07:26And Houston, as a result, has life and they have the momentum because they're going back
07:31to Houston having won two straight.
07:33I expect them to win game six and force a game seven here in L.A. at the very least.
07:41That's what I'm looking at for one reason above all else.
07:44Their energy.
07:46The Lakers were searching for it.
07:48The Houston Rockets obviously had it.
07:51Yeah.
07:51Dude, that'll be, if it does go to game seven, we'll talk about what Stephen A. said about
07:55energy and turnovers and whatnot.
07:57But just thinking about what he said at the end there, that he thinks they're going to
07:59force a game seven.
08:01That is going to be a hot ticket, man.
08:02That might be LeBron's last game in a Laker uniform.
08:04Yeah.
08:05It's going to be a hot ticket.
08:06Might be his last time in the playoffs.
08:07Who knows?
08:08You never know.
08:08Might retire after this season.
08:10That's right.
08:10Might be his last game.
08:11That's right.
08:11We didn't play the Michael Wilbon earlier, did we?
08:13No, we didn't.
08:14We'll play it here.
08:14Let's play Michael Wilbon.
08:16Okay.
08:16Because I just, the Lakers collapse is something that's good, not just for the city of Houston,
08:21but for America.
08:23Yeah.
08:23You know?
08:24It's a good Monday.
08:25In this time of divisiveness, what can pull us together is really just destroying, yes,
08:31a member of the United States.
08:32Yeah.
08:32But still, the most hated member of the NBA.
08:36Yes.
08:37The L.A. Lakers.
08:37The L.A. Lakers.
08:38Yeah.
08:38Here's Michael Wilbon.
08:41He's actually kind of a team Lakers.
08:43He said, I can't see the Lakers losing a game seven.
08:45I could see the Lakers getting their doors blown off in Houston tomorrow night.
08:50Mm-hmm.
08:51Sunday going back there, given what's at stake, and then you still put that young nucleus
08:57that Sean just talked about, you're putting them in a game seven situation, which none
09:03of them have been in, and certainly not together, and am I expecting Durant for game seven?
09:08Why should we expect Durant for game seven?
09:10That is, that's almost take a mania.
09:13They played in a game seven in the playoffs last year.
09:15Yeah.
09:15Against Golden State.
09:16He caught himself by saying together, but you're like, well, the young core was, yeah.
09:21They were together.
09:22These guys were all on the team last year.
09:24Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:24Like, he's just, if that's his handicap in that game is their lack of experience, okay,
09:30I mean, they are a young team, and it'll be, that game seven last year was at home.
09:34It wasn't on the road, so that part of it's fair, but that wasn't what he said.
09:38Like, he's saying this group's never been in a situation like this.
09:40Like, they lost, but they played in a game seven last year against the Golden State Warriors.
09:45You know what, and I'm guilty.
09:46I was more excited about that clip because the only part of the clip I had heard was I
09:50could see the Lakers getting their doors blown off.
09:52I'm already, I'm getting my action down right now, and I agree with him on that.
09:56Yeah.
09:57I think, I do think, you got excited about that, huh?
09:59About the Rockets running the Lakers off the floor tonight?
10:02Yeah, I didn't realize he was going to flip it around and say that the young guys were
10:07going to poop their pants.
10:08Did the old switcheroo on you right there, old Michael Wilbon.
10:11I do think the Rockets are going to win tonight.
10:13I do think there will be a game seven, and I think, you know, if you believe in momentum,
10:17I know some people do, some people don't, but I don't know that it's as much momentum
10:21as it looks like the Rockets have figured a few things out over the course of this series
10:25without Kevin Durant on the team.
10:27Yeah.
10:27You know?
10:28Here's Charles Barkley.
10:29Speaking of which, here's Charles Barkley on, this is, now keep in mind, this is at halftime
10:34of game five, where the Rockets were leading 51-47, and they were functioning offensively very
10:40well, getting guys a lot of touches in that first half.
10:44This was Barkley on the Rockets without Kevin Durant.
10:47And the thing I just noticed, without Kevin Durant, these are their shots, the shot attempts.
10:55Seven, eight, five, five, six.
10:58That tells me everybody's eating.
11:00Shaq always talk about that.
11:02When guys just like, when the Rockets played all year, it was give Kevin the ball, stand
11:08around, give Shingun the ball, and stand around.
11:12And then when it worked, it worked.
11:15But now, everybody's involved, everybody's getting shots.
11:19You know what it shows up on?
11:21Kidding.
11:21Defense, right?
11:22That's why, because we're going to talk about the Lakers' turnovers.
11:26That's because the Rockets are playing great defense.
11:28Ernie, when you're part of a team, and you get to eat, the team's going to, you're going to be,
11:34yeah, it works.
11:35All right.
11:36So Charles is saying there's a ripple effect of guys getting involved offensively.
11:40There's a ripple effect at the other end, which I'll take his word for it.
11:43That checks out.
11:44Yeah, no, and I think about partly, too, is I guess people are taking that last stretch
11:50of the regular season and just completely discounting it, because they had played a
11:56better version of offensive basketball when they were on that win streak.
12:00And they'd shown they're capable of doing it.
12:02Whether or not they're going to be capable of doing it in the playoffs, obviously,
12:06didn't look so hot at first.
12:08That's a part that I don't, I hesitate when they say that's all they did the entire season.
12:14That's what they did for the vast majority of the season.
12:16Yeah, and it was better.
12:18It wasn't great.
12:19The one thing they did do better, and you and I chronicled this, I felt like we had a
12:23ticker on the wall, like in Times Square with the debt, where we were tracking their
12:27turnovers in those last 10 games.
12:29And they were, at the very least, it may not have looked like highly competent NBA
12:33offense, but they were more careful with the basketball than nothing else.
12:36But the spacing and everything else looked a lot better.
12:38It started with Tari Eason playing better.
12:42Yeah.
12:42And it was really just a matter of, a big part of it was, when Tari Eason was playing
12:47like he's capable of playing, then all of a sudden, yeah, there was room to move.
12:51Guys were, there were options off the ball.
12:54There was a lot of, everything flowed a lot better.
12:57It was a better version of offensive basketball.
12:58I'm not saying it was a top five offense or anything like that.
13:02But that part of it, it's not like it was completely absent the entire season.
13:06No, and then, but then they get in the series with the Lakers, and the Lakers just start
13:09pressuring the ball at half court, and they poop the bed.
13:12Right, I guess I just, but I, because I keep hearing over and over again, this is the only
13:19thing the Rockets did all season long.
13:21And it wasn't, and I think maybe because people don't pay attention to the NBA regular season
13:26in the last quarter of the season, they just don't put any value on the things that teams
13:30are doing.
13:31I was encouraged that it felt like, all right, they had taken a step forward in terms of
13:36having some kind of structure to their offense and some kind of a plan.
13:40Rudoka started drawing up more plays, all of that.
13:42It's just, it doesn't mean that it's going to work in the playoffs or you're going to be
13:46able to do it in the playoffs, but it's, it's disingenuous to say that, like what Barkley
13:52was describing was the only thing they did for the entirety of the season.
13:55Yeah, yeah, a caliber of opponent, I'm agreeing with everything you're saying.
13:58I'm just fishing for reasons, like caliber of opponent probably had something to do with
14:02it.
14:02It wasn't a great patch of schedule.
14:04They did beat the Knicks on that patch of schedule.
14:06They thumped them pretty good.
14:07So yeah, the, the Rockets tonight, game six, 830 tip.
14:12Here's Kendrick Perkins, Kendrick Perkins.
14:14Now let's, let's play these in reverse, Ben.
14:16This was Kendrick Perkins a week ago talking about the Rockets.
14:20The Rockets look like a pile of s**t.
14:23And I mean a pasture of it, a pasture of s**t.
14:27Okay.
14:28That's where that's, we're good enough.
14:29So he thought they were a pasture of feces.
14:32Now here we are a week later and here's what Kendrick Perkins is saying about the Rockets.
14:37They are in trouble.
14:38As a matter of fact, the Rockets are going to win this series.
14:41Everything right now, the Rockets, the Rockets, the Rockets.
14:45Wow.
14:46Yes.
14:46History.
14:47Yes.
14:47Making history.
14:48And I'm sorry because Braun is going to be on the wrong side of it.
14:51But right now in this series, it favors the Rockets.
14:55But you didn't call them a pasture full of manure or anything?
14:58No, no.
14:58That's a pretty big jump in seven days to go from a pasture of animal feces to they're winning
15:05this series and they're knocking the all-time greatest player out of the playoffs.
15:09Did he go on to say that the Lakers look like a pile of manure though?
15:12No, I don't think he did.
15:14Where's your, where's your, you're going to, why aren't you keeping that energy as the kids
15:18would say?
15:18Right, right.
15:19I need my energy kept.
15:21Yep.
15:23He's not.
15:23He's not.
15:24He's not keeping that energy.
15:25No, man.
15:25No pasture of bleep.
15:27He's scared of LeBron is what I heard.
15:28He even had to make deference to LeBron there.
15:31Yes.
15:32Text messages on the Rockets here on the base power text line.
15:35The Rockets are able to throw multiple defenders at LeBron to wear him down.
15:38Yeah, there's no Luka out there.
15:40And Austin Reeves, I mean, I wonder, I do wonder like in LA, maybe I'll listen in on some LA
15:45radio this afternoon, how they're feeling about Austin Reeves' first game back.
15:49He was terrible shooting the basketball.
15:51That could be rust.
15:52You know, maybe he's better.
15:54I don't think it improves on the road necessarily.
15:56But having him back is eventually going to help them.
16:00But yeah, no Luka.
16:01You can throw resources at LeBron.
16:02And LeBron is showing signs of being 41 years old in this series.
16:05Flat out.
16:06Flat out.
16:07Yeah, it's got to be everything that you're worried about with the young core.
16:11Just know that the young core, they have to use youth to their advantage in this.
16:17It's got to be just frenetic and nonstop balls to the wall for four straight quarters
16:22and into the overtime.
16:25But it's got to be coupled with a certain level of intelligence.
16:29Yes.
16:30You know, none of these fourth quarter meltdowns.
16:31Yep.
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