- 13 hours ago
ITL debates what the Lakers getting swept means for Houston’s exit.
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00:00Our guy T-Mill.
00:01Shout out to Tyler Miller.
00:02Shout out to Tyler Miller.
00:03He doesn't get enough love.
00:04No, he definitely doesn't.
00:06His nipples are exposed a lot during these shows.
00:09I wasn't going to correlate that with him getting a lot of love, but go ahead.
00:12I mean, why not?
00:13I'm not a big male nipple guy.
00:15Okay.
00:15All right.
00:16Today we learned.
00:17But T-Mill yesterday was clearly washing some hoops.
00:20As we mentioned, Lakers are done.
00:22They get swept out of the second round of the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
00:27And Dylan Brooks on the sideline, a full grin, Cheshire grin, excited to see it happen.
00:32But as this game is going on, T-Mill sends out a tweet that I found to be interesting.
00:37In essence, he says, if the Lakers do indeed get swept, which they did, you should feel
00:44even that much worse about the Rockets.
00:46And I'll say, read this verbatim, right?
00:48If and when the sweep of the Lakers happens tonight, the Rockets fans should be just as,
00:52if not more embarrassed, than at the conclusion of Game 6 of the playoff loss.
00:58You know, when we were talking about this off-air, I was like, absolutely not.
01:03I mean, every series is different.
01:05You know, the matchups are different.
01:08You know, clearly, you know, Oklahoma City is a different opponent.
01:12But the more I thought about it, and I kind of changed my mind on this, I think it, because
01:17we're talking about what you feel, you know, not what's real.
01:20The reality is different opponent, all those things I just said.
01:22But what you feel is like, well, damn.
01:25You know, like, so much of what we do in this game, in sports, is about the emotions that
01:31are, you know, that are drawn up, you know, that you have in particular instances.
01:35So I've kind of changed my mind.
01:36And it does, it is a little bit, I don't know how you feel, Figgy, I don't know how
01:40you feel, Reggie, but I'm just like, yeah, that, it doesn't feel right.
01:43It does make me feel a little worse.
01:45Yeah, I ain't going to sit here and say I should feel awful or anything, but for the
01:49simple fact, you guys, they swept them like they were in nothing.
01:54I'm like, damn, man.
01:56And the Rockets was on the verge of getting swept.
01:59So I think from that point, I'm kind of like, damn, man.
02:02And like, and look, OKC is the best team in the league right now.
02:07So that's, you know, I can't be too mad at that.
02:10But man, they made the Lakers look like they were just straight up ass.
02:16Yeah.
02:16Yeah, but I felt like we already kind of had that understanding that the Thunder and maybe,
02:21you know, maybe you talk about the Spurs, maybe you talk about the Timberwolves, especially
02:24after what we've seen.
02:25They're kind of on a different level.
02:26We kind of understood that to be the case, especially with the Lakers team, Sands, their
02:31best player in Luka Doncic.
02:33And I think we were talking about this as that first round series was going along is
02:37no matter who else gets out of this, they're going to get dog walked by the Thunder.
02:41We kind of knew that this was what was on the other side waiting for him.
02:43Yeah, but see, the thing is, I felt like, like if we would have known Kevin Durant was
02:47just going to play one game, would y'all would have thought they could have possibly got swept
02:52by the Lakers?
02:53Or it would have been maybe six games, seven games?
02:56Right.
02:57Because it seemed like it wouldn't, it kind of got a little interesting when the Rockets
03:00won two straight games, but it felt like it wasn't even a series, man.
03:04This is where I am.
03:05What you're saying and what I laid out earlier is logical.
03:09You know, logic says, nah, you know, it shouldn't have an impact.
03:14Logic sometimes doesn't have anything to do with it.
03:16You know, with how it makes you feel.
03:19I talk about that all the time and the feelings that it emanates and all that.
03:25So logically, you're right.
03:26Like, realistically, I don't agree.
03:29It makes me feel like, oh, well, damn, man.
03:31They didn't look bad.
03:32And not to mention, you lost to a 41-year-old LeBron James, who pretty much put the team
03:38on his back.
03:38And Austin Reeves really wasn't there for most of the series, in the series that you played.
03:43He plays in this series, and they get wiped.
03:45I can see where you come from if you go, hey, this is some level of indication of just
03:50how far off you are from the top of the West.
03:52But I would have felt like we already knew that, but sometimes playoff basketball illuminates
03:57it anew.
03:57So I could understand if you're in that place.
03:59And this is where, I guess, maybe the embarrassment happens.
04:01Not necessarily because of the way that the Rockets play, but maybe more of the way that
04:05the Rockets have signaled afterwards the way that they feel and just how much of their
04:12intention of getting better is built on what we just build from within.
04:15Now, of course, this is talk.
04:17We'll see what the actual actions are, because they've been in this place before where they've
04:20kind of talked in a way where it felt like running back and they made some adjustments.
04:24But it does feel like a frustration that you can have with this team where you go, damn.
04:29So it didn't make you feel any way at all?
04:31This game?
04:32You know, you're talking logically, but I want to know how it made you feel about the
04:37Rockets losing to this squad that just got swept.
04:39Nothing?
04:40No, I didn't.
04:41You felt nothing?
04:41Because I felt nothing because I felt like I knew exactly what this would look like with
04:49the Thunder.
04:50Actually, the only thing I felt like is, damn, maybe I have not been giving the Thunder enough
04:53credit in just how good they can be out here.
04:57Yeah, that's the thing that was frustrating.
04:59I'm kind of looking at it as the Rockets almost got swept by this Lakers team that got swept
05:05by the world champs.
05:06Yeah.
05:07And it wasn't even close.
05:08And here's the thing.
05:09And the 8-3-2 goes to this place on the text line.
05:12It's simple.
05:12The Rockets were the worst team in the playoffs.
05:14It felt like it was like we were free eats in the West, right?
05:17You were food, as I like to say.
05:19At least in the West.
05:20I don't know.
05:20The East had some situations that were a little funny.
05:23Although, you had a number of first-round series go to some depth.
05:27Yeah, but remember, before we were dealing with a Luka Doncic injury, before we were
05:32dealing with an injury to Austin Reeves, that was kind of the conversation.
05:38You don't remember going into the final stretch of the NBA season where teams were like,
05:41oh, yeah, we want to get the Rockets.
05:43Yeah.
05:43You were food.
05:45That was the place that you were in.
05:47But we were also talking about –
05:48But that's embarrassing.
05:49Yeah, we were also talking about we want the Lakers.
05:51Yeah, that too.
05:52And that was less of a, oh, man, yeah, we want to pick our opponent so that we can
05:57maximize our opportunity to get far.
05:59It was like, hey, this might be our only path forward.
06:02Mm-hmm.
06:03And I knew that.
06:04And maybe we got to a place where we deluded ourselves.
06:07We were like, all right, because they have injuries, because of the situation,
06:11you should be better than this team and you should be able to move on.
06:13But that never took me to a place where I was like, yo, that means that this team is
06:17now where they're supposed to be.
06:18And I think a lot of people had smoke for the Rockets in that place because of that
06:22understanding.
06:22And I think that that was part of the reason why even when we came in talking about
06:26they should be able to get beyond the Lakers, some people weren't all that jazzed
06:29because they were like, okay, so – and then what happens?
06:31You go to the Thunder and you're not able to compete.
06:33No.
06:33That is just – this was just a clarification of that, but I felt like we were already there.
06:37Yeah, I just can't separate – and again, you know, my first inclination was to think
06:42of this logic.
06:43No, no, it doesn't really matter.
06:44Everything's different, all the things you just said.
06:46But, you know, when I'm sitting there watching it, and as you pointed out, I think that matters.
06:52Like, you easily could have gotten swept by a team that got swept, you know, and that
06:56just makes you feel a certain way.
06:57Yeah.
06:58And like I said, you got a 41-year-old LeBron James who didn't have no Luka, and he was
07:04– he
07:05put that team on his back, man, and that's probably why he got – probably why they
07:09got swept, because he put everything into that first round.
07:12Now, where – again, the place where I get – where I feel any emotion off of the game
07:18that happened yesterday is, okay, this is the chasm that exists, right, between not
07:24just the Rockets and being a better version of themselves, but the Rockets and where you
07:28actually want to be of being in some level of championship contention.
07:32Well, that's part of the feeling.
07:34That's part of the feeling.
07:35It's like, well, okay, even if you can separate all the details of how good Oklahoma City was
07:40and everything else, it does make you kind of go, okay, they got a long way to go.
07:45They got a long way to go.
07:46And this is – I mean, I think you would agree with me when I say this.
07:49This is the biggest jump in sports, right?
07:51The jump from being a bad team to a serviceable team, that happens.
07:55We see that a lot.
07:56The jump from being a, you know, a serviceable team to a good team, we see that.
07:59The jump from being a good team to a great team, that's such a big – it's such a big
08:03jump to happen.
08:04And I think that that's what you're looking at, is the Rockets are a pretty good team,
08:09and I know it didn't feel like it at times because we had high expectations, but to be – I
08:12mean, they won 52 games.
08:14Yeah.
08:14In the NBA, if you win 50 games, you're a good team.
08:16I'm willing to say that flatly.
08:17Not anymore.
08:18Go ahead.
08:18But – no, I still think that.
08:20I'll stand on that one.
08:2110 teams lost 50 games?
08:23Good.
08:24Lost 50 games?
08:24I think 10 teams lost 50 games.
08:26Okay.
08:26Yeah.
08:26Yeah.
08:27Okay.
08:28Those teams are not good teams.
08:29Well, I'm just saying because of all the prevalence of tanking now.
08:32I'm with you.
08:3250 doesn't – 50 is the new 48.
08:35Okay.
08:35So, 52 games then?
08:37New 50.
08:38Okay.
08:39Yeah.
08:39And that means they were good –
08:4050 isn't that impressive.
08:41They won 52.
08:42Yeah.
08:43So, we're here, right?
08:44We're still in the same place.
08:44We're parsing here.
08:45But the ability to jump up to that next level is tough.
08:48My bigger point is winning what they did is not the same as it was five years ago.
08:52No.
08:52Yeah.
08:53Sure.
08:53Yeah.
08:54One more thing, though, from this game, the actual game.
08:57Was that the last time we'll see LeBron James?
08:59Because that is worth noting, right?
09:00His contract with the Lakers is up.
09:03The possibility of him returning might not be there.
09:06He said that he has to go and consult with his family to see what the next step is.
09:10Is it possible that he just walks away?
09:12Because also, there's thoughts that, oh, LeBron James goes and plays somewhere else.
09:15Are we certain that other teams are just going to be like, hey, we want all the things that come
09:18with LeBron James that's maybe more of a high-level role player than he is a star?
09:22I think, clearly, it's all up to LeBron.
09:25We know that.
09:26And I do believe he's going to ponder this a little bit.
09:30But I also feel in his heart of hearts, he knows already.
09:33He's just going to make sure whether he wants to come back and play or not.
09:37And you talk about the teams that take him on, maybe three or four teams at the most.
09:43People talk about the Knicks.
09:45Yeah.
09:46You know, that's the last little box to check.
09:48Yeah.
09:49You know, takes over New York, takes him over the hump.
09:52Yeah, and I think LeBron, I think he's at a point.
09:54He's kind of, I guess he, this was a tough year for him because he was the third option, pretty
10:00much.
10:01And I think he's at a point where either I'm going to stay with the Lakers, give it one last
10:06try with them because I'm already living here,
10:08or either go back home where I'm loved and I can have my farewell tour.
10:14You know, that's the best place to probably have it, to be honest.
10:17If they want them, if they don't feel like that doesn't stop their development, which now they're tied to, too,
10:24in their series.
10:25So maybe if they are able to progress, I was thinking maybe if they flamed out, maybe they would look
10:28at that as a way to go and pivot for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
10:31But I don't know.
10:32That probably wouldn't be the way to do it because you can't depend on somebody like a LeBron James like
10:37that through a whole season.
10:38Can I ask you an uncomfortable question?
10:39Mm-hmm.
10:39If it comes at barely any cost, would you take LeBron James on this Rockets team?
10:45Sure.
10:47What a convincing answer.
10:50I would.
10:51Here's where it gets dicey.
10:52That's a playmaker.
10:53Here's where it gets dicey.
10:54That's why I said sure, but it gets dicey.
10:56It has to be a head coach that he truly, truly respects.
11:00I'm not saying he doesn't respect Eme.
11:01Well, Eme's out here calling him a B-word all the time.
11:03Right, right.
11:05And so there is that, like, it has to be a coach that says, listen, you're going to be our
11:09third option at best.
11:11You're going to be in this very defined role.
11:14Well, that's what he was this year.
11:15But he respected J.J. Redick.
11:16I was his best friend.
11:17Sure.
11:17You know, and so it has to be someone that he can kind of respect and take that role and
11:23actually do that role.
11:25From the 281, Rockets took OKC to overtime in the first game of the season a long time ago in
11:30a galaxy far, far away.
11:31I forgot about that.
11:32I did too.
11:33What a time.
11:34What a time.
11:34What a time.
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