March 10, 2025 • 32 mins
The Rockets (39-25, No. 5 in West) enter Monday coming off back-to-back wins but needing to navigate a new short-term reality without second-year star Amen Thompson, who is out for at least 10-to-14 days with a left ankle sprain.
With that in mind, our reaction show explores why the injury may have come at a fortunate time of Houston's schedule; what lineups Ime Udoka can rely on in Thompson’s absence; and why Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun could be the players with the most responsibility to step up.
With that in mind, our reaction show explores why the injury may have come at a fortunate time of Houston's schedule; what lineups Ime Udoka can rely on in Thompson’s absence; and why Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun could be the players with the most responsibility to step up.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
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Welcome aboard, Hi guys.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Bendubo's here, editor of USA Today's Rockets Wire, contributor to
Sports Talk seven ninety, official flagship radio station of your
Houston Rockets. It's Monday morning, March tenth. Rockets back in
action tonight at home against the Orlando Magic, game two
of a six game homestand at Toyota Center. But there
is some breaking news that we need to discuss prior
(01:00):
to tip off, and so that's what we're gonna do
today in a special mini cast episode of The Logger Line.
Currency of Carbock Brewing their beer developed in collaboration with
Your Houston Rockets. So, as we learned Sunday night, Amn
Thompson out ten to fourteen days, first reported by ESPN
Sean Sharania with the left ankles frame that he suffered
(01:20):
in the closing minutes of Saturday's blowout when over the
New Orleans Pelicans Rockets thirty nine and twenty five, fifth
in the West, just a game back of the Memphis
Grizzlies for the number four slot, Southwest Division lead and
home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately,
every game is still meaningful because while the Rockets are
closing the gap on teams like the Grizzlies, like the Nuggets,
(01:44):
like even the Lakers, who lost Saturday night and may
not have Lebron James for the next couple of weeks, well,
the team's right beneath you in the standings. Most notably,
the Lakers and Timberwolves simply are not losing, and so
the Rockets are without probably their best player and a
men Thompson for the next week or to all, while
the Warriors and Timberwolves are making a push. Warriors at
(02:04):
twenty eight losses, Timberwolves at twenty nine, Warriors have the
tiebreaker over you, Timberwolves.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
It's dicey.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Winning the division would really help on that front, and
so hopefully the Rockets can run down Memphis, and if
that's the case, even if they do get caught by
one or both of those teams, the Warriors and Timberwolves,
it wouldn't really matter. The end goal for the Rockets
is simply to stay in the top six of the
West standings number five right now, thirty nine and twenty five.
You get in the top six, you directly qualify for
(02:31):
the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
If you follow the seventh or below, you have to
go through the play in tournament.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
So I think for this Rockets team, and especially within
the construct of the Western Conference in twenty twenty five,
getting just any spot in the top six, regardless of
if it's two, three, four, five, or six, it's all
the same, because I think there's matchups where you can
be as high as two and you might be an
underdog in the first round against Anthony Edwards and the
(02:57):
Timberwolves who advanced to the Western Conference line a year ago.
And you could conversely be six and perhaps be a
favorite if you draw on the Memphis Grizzlies at three,
a team that you beat three or four times and
the only loss was at the Buzzer on the road
in a game where you didn't have your all star
all per inch should goon. So other than the thunder
at one and knock on wood, the Rocket shouldn't be
(03:19):
in play for the eight seed if they are something
but horribly wrong, because you're having to go through the
aforementioned play in tournament. As long as you're in the
top six, I think it's much more about matchups than seed.
In a perfect rold, you would like to have home
court advantage Rockets or twenty one to ten at Todis
Center this season. They won four or five since the
All Star Break there. But by and large, if you
(03:40):
get to the playoffs as a top six seed and
relatively healthy, I think everyone inside the building at Tudisner
would take that and run. They would be happy with
that scenario and let the chips fall as they may
once you get to April and once the playoffs start. Anyway,
the reason we're having this breaking news episode is because,
unfortunately the discussion this week is not just about what
happens on the court at Toyota Center. The Rockets do
(04:03):
need to win these games for purposes of the standings,
as I was just laying out where the Rockets.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Are on this Monday, March tenth, but.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Also they're going to have to do it without probably
their best player, and a Men Thompson their best player,
I would argue based on his numbers as a starter,
which Imo Udoka recently announced he would be for the
remainder of this season in all likelihood and really the
remainder of his career. I would guess a man at
twenty two years old is clearly on a starlight trajectory
in my opinion, and no disrespect to all Parisianoon or
(04:31):
Jalen Green, but when you look at the totality of
Amn Thompson's production, not just offensively but defensively, how elite
he is on that end, how versatile he is, He's
the best player on this team, and so to see
him go down really in what should have been a
celebratory six or so minutes, the Rockets were wrapping up
a blowout victory over the Pelicans, back to back wins
(04:54):
after a tough three game losing streak, and so it
felt like the ship was getting steadied. The Rockets were
thirty in the fourth quarter, they were getting ready to
clear the bench. It should have been one of the
feel good wins of the year. Rockets put up one
hundred and forty six points, which is the most they've
put up in a single game all year, and all
of a sudden, it felt like the air was let
(05:16):
out of the balloon at Toyota Center as soon as
a Men went down, because he stayed down for quite
a while I'd say about thirty forty five seconds near
the basket, and then he did walk unassisted.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
That was some encouraging news.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
It was not like when Alprin Shangoon got wheelchaired off
when he's framed his ankle ultimately a Grade three sprain
in Sacramento last year.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
But there was definitely a lamp. And then about an
hour after.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
The game, we heard from Kelly Echo of the Athletic
that he was a men that is on a walking
boot and using crutches. So yeah, as good as the
Rockets played, and with Fred VanVleet on the verge of
being back, he's listed as questionable tonight against the Magic.
If he doesn't play tonight, I think he will against Phoenix.
So it's either this game or the next. There's so
(06:02):
many positive things with this team.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It feels like they're turning it around. And then to lose.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Probably your best overall player, it's brutal and so I
want to do a special mini cast episode here talk
about the implications. We'll have a full show with Palo
Alves later in the week. I'm sure we'll touch on
the implications of themn injury, but also to tie it
in with what's going on on the floor in each game,
hopefully the Rockets can continue to put together some wins.
They are playing losing teams over the remainder of this
(06:28):
homestand but we'll see and we'll pick that up with
Paolo later in the week. Now it's just about the
Amen Thompson injury and some of the immediate implications, both
in terms of the starting lineup, as well as the
games ahead and the pressure that's still on the Rockets even.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
After losing Amen.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
These are not games where the Rockets can say, oh,
we didn't have our best player. We'll make it up
later once a Men comes back. No, these are games
that even without Amen, they are going to be favored.
They need to win, but their marginal error is reduced.
And so look at it his class half full, you
can look at his class half empty. But we'll get
into that as the show progresses. I want to start
(07:07):
by addressing a common argument that I've seen on social media,
which is that this was mismanaged by the Rockets because
a Men was in there with six minutes to go
in a thirty point game, and his replacement was at
the scorer's table, and at the time he had fifteen points,
eleven assists, nine rebounds. There's been some speculation that perhaps
(07:28):
the Rockets or a Men was chasing a triple double,
although Brian Bearfield, Big Starch Sports Contributes to Rockets Wherever
I'm the editor, reported that the Men didn't even know
the stat line at the time, and I have a
tough time thinking that the Rockets coaching staff would have
him out there for that purpose if a Men himself
was not aware of where he was. I think it's
(07:49):
more the Rockets are trying to build the right habits
in all of their young guys. A Men is extremely important.
He has been very durable this year and then just
a freak accident. He landed on defender's foot coming down
from a shot and his ankle rolled ninety degrees. And
so for me, that's why I haven't really dived into
(08:11):
the whole mismanagement angle in terms of, oh, where the
Rockets just irresponsible having him out there. Look, I'm not
going to tell you how to feel fan however you like,
but for me, I'm not going down that road because
this was not a situation where it was an overuse injury.
This is not a guy who's been playing high minutes,
(08:31):
which a man has.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
He's averaged as a starter. You know, his overall.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Numbers are like seventeen points, ten boards, five assists, two blocks,
two steals a game, something in that neighborhood on strong efficiency.
And he's done it playing thirty seven minutes a night.
And so if a hamstring or a calf went out
on just a routine movement, yeah, I could see the
argument of why don't you cut off his minutes in
a game where, let's be honest, the Rockets were in
(08:56):
control for the entire fourth quarter, Why is he out there?
I could be persuaded by that argument much more if
it was an injury that's more in line with overuse.
But landing on the defender's foot, and by the way,
it probably should have been a flagrant foul. That's the
Kawhi Leonard play the NBA has tried to outlaw in
recent years. But I think everyone, players and especially officials
(09:19):
were just sort of checked out at that point. And
that's what makes it so tragic that in the game
that was already over Rockets were in victory formation mode
and for it to happen in the closing stage is
just so so frustrating. And so if you want to
use ema Udoka or the coaching staff or men, if
you think that he argued to stay in the game
(09:39):
for the triple double, although again Brian Beerfield has reported
that that's not the case, I guess you can. But
for me, I see it as something that could just
as easily have happened at practice. Anytime you play five
on five or even one on one basketball, there's an
opportunity for you to land on someone's foot and have
your ankle ben ninety degrees. It happens, it's an occupational hazard,
(10:02):
and so for me, it's analogous to an act of
God in which you know, someone gets in a car
crash driving to the office. In theory, someone could argue
if they were able to work from home, they wouldn't
have been in that crash.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
But it's just a risk that most.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
People take, and I think that's the healthy way to
look at what happened to a man on Saturday night.
It sucks for the Rockets that they're losing probably their
best player, just over a month until the playoffs. But
in terms of how it happened, this isn't about overuse,
It's not about the minutes. It's just simply a freak
accident that can happen, not just in the game, but
(10:41):
a practice in an informal gym setting. It's part of basketball.
It just is what it is, and so I'm not
that enraged about how it went down. I'm frustrated because
of how good he is, but I don't have anything
extra when it.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Comes to, you know, how this all came to be.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
And then, truth be told, the Rockets caught a little
bit of a break here in that when the reports
came out late Saturday, a walking boot and crutches. Immediately,
any hope of him playing in the next game or
two was off the table. This was not a nothing
burger where it's just a slight role. No, as soon
(11:23):
as that report came out, it was a legit sprain.
And so at that point you're just waiting to find
out grade one, grade two, grade three. I never thought
it would be grade three, which can be you know,
even as much as two or three months, because unlike
Shainggoo and Sacramento last year, he was able to walk off,
(11:44):
and he did it without assistance. This was not a
wheelchair situation. Typically, if it's a Grade three, which is
a total taire, it's tough to even walk. The fact
that the men could do that to me, it was
telling him is not a Grade three, but it could
have been a Grade two, which is four to six weeks,
and not only would it cost you the rest of
this regular season, but there'd be some question as to
A if he could be back by the playoffs, and
(12:07):
b if he is, would he be truly himself? Because
with any ankle injury, and we've seen this with frederin
Fleet and we will see it when he hopefully comes
back this week, they aren't themselves the moment they get back.
It takes some time with the lower body injury to
build up your conditioning because part of the rehab process
is that you can't do the things you normally do
(12:28):
because you need to not put as much weight on
the injured body part. That's part of allowing it to heal.
And so if it had been a Grade two, which
until the MRI was something that I think internally and
certainly the fan base feared, it would be an open
question as to whether he could come back and how
effective he would be. With it being presumably a grade one,
(12:48):
which is what ten to fourteen days is compatible with
typically a week or two even if he's not quite
himself when he comes back, hopefully by the end of March,
he does have some runway two or three weeks before
the playoffs start in mid April to hopefully get back
to peak four. And so yes, the Rockets still do
need to clench their playoff spot, but on paper, assuming
(13:09):
there are no setbacks, this is one where it could
have been worse. Plenty of grade two grade three ankles
frames have happened in situations just like that, and so
with it being a Grade one and with it being
an injury that wasn't really overuse, I'm frustrated, but I'm
not enraged. This is a nuisance, but especially at this
(13:29):
point in the schedule, I think it's one that the
Rockets can survive, and hopefully at the end of this
season it's a footnote rather than something that actually defines
their season. And so with that in mind, I want
to address the schedule over the two weeks that a
man is likely to be out, because there's a glass
(13:50):
half full and a glass half empty way to look
at this, So the glass half full perspective. The next
seven games are all against losing opponents, the Magic, the Suns,
the Mavericks, the Bulls, the Sixers, the Magic again, and
the Heat. You've got an extended run against below five
(14:11):
hundred teams. Five of those games are at home as
part of that aforementioned homestand I think the Rockets are
probably going to be favored in all of those games.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Maybe the one exception is Phoenix.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Because even though they're below five hundred, they do have
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, and they are playing harder.
They're making a bit of a run for the play
in tournament. It seems God guess the Rockets are still
favored in that one unless they lose badly against Orlando tonight,
especially if Fred Van Fleet is back in the lineup.
This is the part of the schedule, and we've talked
about it before that the Rockets really need to make
(14:45):
some hay. They need to get some separation from teams
like the Warriors and the Timberwolves before the schedule gets
much more difficult towards the end of this month and
going into April, when they have a difficult close with
a lot of road games against competitive playoff Islander playoff
contending teams down the home stretch of this season. And
so this isn't a point of the schedule where you
(15:07):
can shrug and say, well, we'll make it up later
as long as the men comes back, because when a
men comes back, the schedule is going to be much
more difficult.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
These are games that you need to win.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
And so the class half full way to view this
situation is to say, yeah, we can win these games.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
We're still going to be favored.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
The class half empty way is to point out that, look,
you lost a big part of your talent advantage over
these teams. The Rockets would not be thirty nine and
twenty five and have this perceived advantage if they did
not have a Men Thompson for the first sixty plus
games of this season. So on paper, games that should
have been huge advantages for the Rockets going in, they're
(15:46):
not as big of an advantage anymore with this version
of the Rockets without Amen and possibly without Fred Bentleet,
and if he does play not quite himself in the
first few games after a month long layoff with an
ankle injury of his own.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Time will tell as which version is right.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
If the Rockets are able to stack wins, certainly we'll
say this came at the right time because the Rockets
had enough of a buffer over these teams and guys
like Tory Easton could step up and absorb more minutes
and the Rockets survived it.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But if they don't, then.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
We'll look back and say this was a stretch where
the Rockets needed to get some real separation and couldn't.
Not having their best player was a big part of that,
and now the Rockets would need to make up for
it in all likelihood going down the home stretch of
the year with some tough wins on the road against
good teams. Otherwise they'd be at risk of falling to
the playing tournament and the whole goal of the season,
which is to get a longer sample and see how
(16:42):
guys perform under the ultimate stress test of the NBA
playoffs in the best of seven series.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
You'd be at risk of.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Not accomplishing that if you follow the playin tournament and
everything comes down to one or two games.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
So there's a lot at stake here and.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
The Rockets can't say, well, we can just wait until
the men comes back and then it'll be fine. No,
there's still a huge incidentive to go out and take
care of business starting to die against the Magic, and
hopefully they're able to do that.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
As far as what the lineup's going.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
To look like and how the Rockets can best overcome it,
I think if Fred doesn't come back, the obvious answer
is that both Chari Easton and Jabari Smith Junior will start.
I think it's clear from Imodoka's comments the Rockets view
themselves as having three primary initiators. I don't think they
even look at it so much as point guard. I
(17:30):
think it's lead guard or more realistically, initiators, guys who
organize the team and get them into their sets as
the primary ball handler, and that's Fred and Fleet, Jalen
Green and Amen Thompson, even though guys like Aaron Holliday
and Read Shepherd, although Read Shepherd unfortunately is down for
a month with his own injury fractured a thumb against
(17:51):
the Pelicans last week. I think they view them, at
least at this point, as more off ball. They might
guard point guards on the other end of the and
so it's not impossible that maybe Aaron Holliday gets a
start if they think they need a smaller defender with
a little more side to side agility.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
But for the most part, I think.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
It's gonna be Tari and Jabari, especially if both Fred
and Men are out that are called on because they're
you know, we talked all season long and the Rockets
have a clear top seven, the five starters plus Jabari
and Tari. Well, if you're down two starters, put in
your two top guys off the bench, which are Tarri
and Jabari.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
And I don't think it's a situation where the.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Rockets will not do that because they need a quote
unquote point guard, because again, that's just not how they
functionally use guys like Aaron Holliday off the bench. They
have three primary ball handlers and initiators, and Fred VanVleet,
Jalen Green, and Men Thompson. With a man out and
possibly Fred out, Jalen's going to be the.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Guy who is primarily your point guard.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
And I have heard I had some conversations this weekend
that made me feel a little bit better about the
issue with his bat. Jalen's been not quite himself in
terms of efficiency. The last few days. He saw a
big pad around his back during that Saturday home game
against the Pelicans. I was told, that's really not a
big deal. They think he'll be fine, So Jalen should
be out there, And so that'll allow you if Fred
(19:11):
is also sidelined along with men, to go with a
little more size defense rebounding. The Rockets have picked it
up on the defensive end the last couple of games,
and so I think the starting lineup is easy. If
Fred and the men are both out, you just go
with the two highest usage guys off your bench and
hope for the best. And then of course you'll need
guys further down your bench. Mentioned Daron Holliday, but also
(19:33):
Steven Adams a double big lineup. Rockets been trying that more.
If that works against teams like the Magic and the Suns,
Rockets would love to see it. Cam whitmore. Perhaps he gets.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Another opportunity Jay Shaun Tate.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
But I think by and large, it's going to be
about asking guys like Tari and Jabari to step into
even bigger roles from a minute's perspective, and hopefully they're
able to do so efficiently and go out and have
dynamic two wave performances. I think that's what happens if
Fred and the Men are both out. If a Man
is out but Fred is able to come back, I'm torn.
(20:06):
I think it may be matchup to matchup. I think
in a perfect world, the Rockets would start Tari over
a men because they're the closest analog. You know, coaches
don't want to deviate too much from their formula. I
mentioned in the last episode the Rockets choosing their starting
line up. They want to get more chemistry and cohesion,
and so they're called the Terror Twins for a reason.
(20:29):
There are some similarities between the Men and Tari's games,
and so I think having Tari rather than Jabari is
a little closer to the formula in terms of how
the other four guys play and how they'll play where
the Men ultimately comes back. And so combine that with
a knowledge that since the All Star Break, Tari has
generally started over a men anyway, or sorry, has usually
(20:53):
started over Jabbari excuse me, in games where a men
shifts to point guard. I think in a perfect world
that's what Emay would Yoka would do. However, there may
be some matchups where you need a little more size
and physicality, because the one difference between Amen Thompson and
Tarry Easton, Tari isn't quite as physical. He's not as
(21:13):
much of an above the rim lob threat, and so
if you're facing a bigger team then having Shangoon as
you're only big, that could be a little problematic because
both Tari and Dylan are a little light and they're
at their best when they're defending on the perimeter. So
there may be some matchups where you need Jabari Smith
(21:33):
who is a bit more physical, a bit stronger, and
is able to function something as a big, a stretch big,
but a big nonetheless, and so it could be matchup
to matchup.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I think in a.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Perfect world, Tari would be the guy that you start,
and I think that's largely why he has started ahead
of Jabari since the All Star break. However, if you
need to play bigger, I could see Jabari getting the nod,
especially because when you're starting Dylan and Tari at the
forward spots and you have a six foot seven a
Men Thompson at point guard, you might be a little
(22:06):
undersized at forwards, but you are jumbo at point guard,
and so it offsets if you're starting a fairly small
fredvand Fleet at point guard, you might be too small
with Dylan Brooks and Tari Easen as your forwards, especially
if you're playing a bigger team that's pretty physical and
likes to pound you on the low block or crash
(22:27):
the glass. In those situations, you might benefit from the
added height and muscle of Jabbari, And so that's why
I think it's going to be matchup to matchup.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Perfect role Tari and Gun. To my head, I think Tari.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Starts more than Jabari in this world where you do
have Fred back, and so there's just one spot to determine,
but I think there will be some variants, and ultimately,
with a men out who's been your high usage player
from a minutes perspective ever since he became a starter
early in twenty twenty five, this is one where it
(23:00):
honestly doesn't matter that much in terms of who starts,
because you're gonna need to lean on both Tari and
Jabari to play thirty plus minutes per game roles no
matter what.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
So I don't think this is.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
One where you know we've seen Jabari recently if it's
a game where he's not shooting that well, he might
play just twenty two minutes something like that.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, that's off the table.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Regardless of who starts, who comes off the bench without
a mend, there's a lot of minutes to fill, and
so these guys are gonna get minutes, they're gonna get
shot attempts, and so it's just about, you know, usage
patterns and matchups and who fits best at a given night.
The Rockets are just trying to survive this stretch, and
especially against lesser teams where they need to win. It's
(23:43):
simply an all hands on deck scenario. And so I
don't think you should draw any long term conclusions, not
that the Rockets are looking to start with those guys anyway,
it's pretty clear what the starting lineup will be when
everyone is healthy. I think right now, imo Udoka is
just going to try and mcgiver his way through each
individual game and map out what makes sense for the
(24:03):
first six minutes of the first and third quarters, what
makes sense for the second units late in the first
and early in the second quarters, and same for the
third and the fourth and the second half.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
That's my guess as far as the lineup.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
It'll change some from game to game, and then finally,
in terms of who needs to step up, my initial
read of the situation was Tari because I think now
he'll be a thirty plus minutes per game player, whether
he starts or doesn't, and he's been.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Taking on a bigger workload of late.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
We'll see if he's still out on night two of
back to backs, but there's only two of those left,
and the one this week is against the MAVs and
the Bowls, so hopefully whichever one you send him out,
you can still get that win. Anyway, the more I
think about it, and the more I talk to people
inside the building, I think Tari is someone who does
what he does now.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
You would like him to reduce turnovers.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
He has some head scratching ones, especially in transition, and
so can he play better, yeah, yes, But generally Tari
is fairly consistent in terms of his impact from game
to game, and even though his minutes are going up,
it's not like he's suddenly going to play a different
way and become a different version. You're simply going to
be scaling him up, and hopefully his leg can handle that.
(25:17):
But all indications on that front have been good in
recent weeks, to me, the guys to watch are Jalen
Green and all for In Shangoon, simply because they have
the most variants. The good news is that since the
All Star Break, Shingoon has played very well. Going into tonight,
He's had twenty plus points on sixty percent or better
shooting in four straight games, the first time in his career.
(25:37):
We know he had the back issue prior to the
All Star Game, He's been moving much more freely.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
He seems to be making decisions much quicker.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
We saw some of the dynamic passes against the Pelicans
that you know, it felt like he made all the
time in his first.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Two NBA seasons, and then the last two.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
I think because he's become a bigger part of scouting
reports and the Rockets have asked a lot more from him,
he's been a little hesitant and he hasn't read the
floor as quickly well. It seems like he's processing is
getting back to where it was earlier in his career,
when he was just playing and he wasn't thinking as much.
He seems to be moving much more freely with the back.
Jalen Green, we know what he was doing until the
(26:13):
last week or so he'd had an extended stretch of
very good play, not so much over the last three games.
I'm told again the Rockets aren't worried about his back.
They don't view that as a major issue. We know
what Jalen can be when he's right. Back to March
a year ago and how the Rockets survived the stretch
after Shingoon hurt his ankle, it was because Jalen was incredible.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Jalen and Shangoon.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Are good but flawed players in that if it's a
night where they aren't playing well, you might see Shangoon
get benched for Jabbari or Jalen get benched for Tari.
Because they are not great defensive players. And if they're
not efficient offensively, if they're tended to for one reason
or another, if they're turning the ball over, they have
(26:58):
bad nights. But they also really good nights. And when
they are good, when they are scoring and playmaking at
a high level, they are all Star level players. Shingoon
was an All Star this year. Jalen was in the
conversation as the leading scorer for a Houston team that's
been top four, top three in the West most of
the season.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
These guys have that gear. It's about whether they.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Can tap into it or consistently. Signs are positive on Shangoon.
They were positive on Jalen until the last week. Hopefully
he's getting healthier.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
He is at home.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Playing flights definitely aren't good for your back, and thankfully
Rackets have six in a row at twots and right now,
so hopefully that will help. I just think the biggest
hit when it comes to losing the men beyond the
obviously he's a really good basketball player. He's also probably
your most consistent player in that he does what he
does from one game to the next. With Jalen and Shangoon,
(27:53):
there's a lot more variance, and so with a men
going out and your floor being a little bit lower,
these are games where you need your ceiling razors to
go out and get it done, especially against lesser teams.
This is not Murderer's Row, although Orlando does have a
top three defense, so that'll be challenging to two guys
(28:13):
in Jalen and Shangoon that depend on scoring and play
making at a high level to be at their best.
But I just think from a minute's perspective, you'll see
Tari and Shamari probably get the biggest bump, But in
terms of do the Rockets actually survive this stretch and
win enough games to maintain this three four game buffer
(28:34):
over the play and range and make it where you're
not sweating every game down the home stretch of the
year and risking having to go through the play in
tournament to get to the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Shalen and Shangoon are the guys to watch.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
I think that's the way the Rockets themselves are looking
at it, and honestly, maybe that's the way it should be.
These are your year four guys. These are the two
two that have been there at the lowest points. Now
you're within a month of returning to the playoffs for
the first time in five years, playing your first playoff
basketball at Toyota.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Center in six years.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Perhaps it's fitting symbolic that it's on their shoulders that
they need to go out there and get it done
no excuses because they're at home, they're playing teams that
aren't great. They have been generally on an upward trajectory.
There are some bumps, as there always are, but in
terms of how they're playing now relative to the start
of the year, I think it's better in both cases,
(29:33):
If Jalen and Shingoon go out and.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Play the way they're hit the playing, the Rockets should
be fine. That's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
When you consider the schedule and the opponents in front
of you over the ten to fourteen days that a
man is likely to be out. If they don't, then yeah,
it could get hairy because your floor is significantly lower.
Without a men, you're not going to be as dynamic defensively.
You need to put the ball in the bucket. But
if Shingoon keeps doing what he's done over the last week,
(30:02):
if Jalen can get back to who he was before
this recent downturn, it should be okay.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Those are the guys.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Your floor is lower, so you're gonna have to lean
into your ceiling guys a bit more, and you're playing
at home against a.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Lesser part of the schedule, no excuses.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Trust them to go out and do it, and if
they do, then the Rockets will welcome back a men
in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
They'll have a lead at least comparable to.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
What they have now in the standings over teams in
the play tournament, and they can focus on getting a
men healthy down the stretch of the year and having
him in peak form for when the games get really meaningful,
when the playoffs start in mid April.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Anyway, that'll do it for today.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Just wanted to give some high level takeaways as far
as what to watch for.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Coming off this brutal amen injury.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Although again it could have been worse, certainly, but still
losing your best player for at least ten to fourteen days,
it's never good. I think that's the way we should
be looking at this stretch, the remainder of this home
stand and the remainder of the time what we hope
is the time at least that and we'll not be.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Out there again.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
We'll have a longer discussion, more game analysis, and our
full show with Paullo later in the week. This is
just me laying out a few of the high level
storylines to watch for over the remainder of this homestand
and we'll see the way things play out starting.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Tonight at two listener.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Hope to see you all there anyway, until our next
full show, which should be coming in the not too
distant future. I'll break it here if you want more
content in the interim. Of course, the US place to
get it is on Twitter, slash x where I'm on
their at Benjubo's. This show is on there at the
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(31:35):
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(32:02):
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Bendubo's here, editor of USA Today's Rockets Wire, contributor to
Sports Talk seven ninety, official flagship radio station of your
Houston Rockets. It's Monday morning, March tenth. Rockets back in
action tonight at home against the Orlando Magic, game two
of a six game homestand at Toyota Center. But there
is some breaking news that we need to discuss prior
(01:00):
to tip off, and so that's what we're gonna do
today in a special mini cast episode of The Logger Line.
Currency of Carbock Brewing their beer developed in collaboration with
Your Houston Rockets. So, as we learned Sunday night, Amn
Thompson out ten to fourteen days, first reported by ESPN
Sean Sharania with the left ankles frame that he suffered
(01:20):
in the closing minutes of Saturday's blowout when over the
New Orleans Pelicans Rockets thirty nine and twenty five, fifth
in the West, just a game back of the Memphis
Grizzlies for the number four slot, Southwest Division lead and
home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately,
every game is still meaningful because while the Rockets are
closing the gap on teams like the Grizzlies, like the Nuggets,
(01:44):
like even the Lakers, who lost Saturday night and may
not have Lebron James for the next couple of weeks, well,
the team's right beneath you in the standings. Most notably,
the Lakers and Timberwolves simply are not losing, and so
the Rockets are without probably their best player and a
men Thompson for the next week or to all, while
the Warriors and Timberwolves are making a push. Warriors at
(02:04):
twenty eight losses, Timberwolves at twenty nine, Warriors have the
tiebreaker over you, Timberwolves.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
It's dicey.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Winning the division would really help on that front, and
so hopefully the Rockets can run down Memphis, and if
that's the case, even if they do get caught by
one or both of those teams, the Warriors and Timberwolves,
it wouldn't really matter. The end goal for the Rockets
is simply to stay in the top six of the
West standings number five right now, thirty nine and twenty five.
You get in the top six, you directly qualify for
(02:31):
the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
If you follow the seventh or below, you have to
go through the play in tournament.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
So I think for this Rockets team, and especially within
the construct of the Western Conference in twenty twenty five,
getting just any spot in the top six, regardless of
if it's two, three, four, five, or six, it's all
the same, because I think there's matchups where you can
be as high as two and you might be an
underdog in the first round against Anthony Edwards and the
(02:57):
Timberwolves who advanced to the Western Conference line a year ago.
And you could conversely be six and perhaps be a
favorite if you draw on the Memphis Grizzlies at three,
a team that you beat three or four times and
the only loss was at the Buzzer on the road
in a game where you didn't have your all star
all per inch should goon. So other than the thunder
at one and knock on wood, the Rocket shouldn't be
(03:19):
in play for the eight seed if they are something
but horribly wrong, because you're having to go through the
aforementioned play in tournament. As long as you're in the
top six, I think it's much more about matchups than seed.
In a perfect rold, you would like to have home
court advantage Rockets or twenty one to ten at Todis
Center this season. They won four or five since the
All Star Break there. But by and large, if you
(03:40):
get to the playoffs as a top six seed and
relatively healthy, I think everyone inside the building at Tudisner
would take that and run. They would be happy with
that scenario and let the chips fall as they may
once you get to April and once the playoffs start. Anyway,
the reason we're having this breaking news episode is because,
unfortunately the discussion this week is not just about what
happens on the court at Toyota Center. The Rockets do
(04:03):
need to win these games for purposes of the standings,
as I was just laying out where the Rockets.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Are on this Monday, March tenth, but.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Also they're going to have to do it without probably
their best player, and a Men Thompson their best player,
I would argue based on his numbers as a starter,
which Imo Udoka recently announced he would be for the
remainder of this season in all likelihood and really the
remainder of his career. I would guess a man at
twenty two years old is clearly on a starlight trajectory
in my opinion, and no disrespect to all Parisianoon or
(04:31):
Jalen Green, but when you look at the totality of
Amn Thompson's production, not just offensively but defensively, how elite
he is on that end, how versatile he is, He's
the best player on this team, and so to see
him go down really in what should have been a
celebratory six or so minutes, the Rockets were wrapping up
a blowout victory over the Pelicans, back to back wins
(04:54):
after a tough three game losing streak, and so it
felt like the ship was getting steadied. The Rockets were
thirty in the fourth quarter, they were getting ready to
clear the bench. It should have been one of the
feel good wins of the year. Rockets put up one
hundred and forty six points, which is the most they've
put up in a single game all year, and all
of a sudden, it felt like the air was let
(05:16):
out of the balloon at Toyota Center as soon as
a Men went down, because he stayed down for quite
a while I'd say about thirty forty five seconds near
the basket, and then he did walk unassisted.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
That was some encouraging news.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
It was not like when Alprin Shangoon got wheelchaired off
when he's framed his ankle ultimately a Grade three sprain
in Sacramento last year.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
But there was definitely a lamp. And then about an
hour after.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
The game, we heard from Kelly Echo of the Athletic
that he was a men that is on a walking
boot and using crutches. So yeah, as good as the
Rockets played, and with Fred VanVleet on the verge of
being back, he's listed as questionable tonight against the Magic.
If he doesn't play tonight, I think he will against Phoenix.
So it's either this game or the next. There's so
(06:02):
many positive things with this team.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It feels like they're turning it around. And then to lose.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Probably your best overall player, it's brutal and so I
want to do a special mini cast episode here talk
about the implications. We'll have a full show with Palo
Alves later in the week. I'm sure we'll touch on
the implications of themn injury, but also to tie it
in with what's going on on the floor in each game,
hopefully the Rockets can continue to put together some wins.
They are playing losing teams over the remainder of this
(06:28):
homestand but we'll see and we'll pick that up with
Paolo later in the week. Now it's just about the
Amen Thompson injury and some of the immediate implications, both
in terms of the starting lineup, as well as the
games ahead and the pressure that's still on the Rockets even.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
After losing Amen.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
These are not games where the Rockets can say, oh,
we didn't have our best player. We'll make it up
later once a Men comes back. No, these are games
that even without Amen, they are going to be favored.
They need to win, but their marginal error is reduced.
And so look at it his class half full, you
can look at his class half empty. But we'll get
into that as the show progresses. I want to start
(07:07):
by addressing a common argument that I've seen on social media,
which is that this was mismanaged by the Rockets because
a Men was in there with six minutes to go
in a thirty point game, and his replacement was at
the scorer's table, and at the time he had fifteen points,
eleven assists, nine rebounds. There's been some speculation that perhaps
(07:28):
the Rockets or a Men was chasing a triple double,
although Brian Bearfield, Big Starch Sports Contributes to Rockets Wherever
I'm the editor, reported that the Men didn't even know
the stat line at the time, and I have a
tough time thinking that the Rockets coaching staff would have
him out there for that purpose if a Men himself
was not aware of where he was. I think it's
(07:49):
more the Rockets are trying to build the right habits
in all of their young guys. A Men is extremely important.
He has been very durable this year and then just
a freak accident. He landed on defender's foot coming down
from a shot and his ankle rolled ninety degrees. And
so for me, that's why I haven't really dived into
(08:11):
the whole mismanagement angle in terms of, oh, where the
Rockets just irresponsible having him out there. Look, I'm not
going to tell you how to feel fan however you like,
but for me, I'm not going down that road because
this was not a situation where it was an overuse injury.
This is not a guy who's been playing high minutes,
(08:31):
which a man has.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
He's averaged as a starter. You know, his overall.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Numbers are like seventeen points, ten boards, five assists, two blocks,
two steals a game, something in that neighborhood on strong efficiency.
And he's done it playing thirty seven minutes a night.
And so if a hamstring or a calf went out
on just a routine movement, yeah, I could see the
argument of why don't you cut off his minutes in
a game where, let's be honest, the Rockets were in
(08:56):
control for the entire fourth quarter, Why is he out there?
I could be persuaded by that argument much more if
it was an injury that's more in line with overuse.
But landing on the defender's foot, and by the way,
it probably should have been a flagrant foul. That's the
Kawhi Leonard play the NBA has tried to outlaw in
recent years. But I think everyone, players and especially officials
(09:19):
were just sort of checked out at that point. And
that's what makes it so tragic that in the game
that was already over Rockets were in victory formation mode
and for it to happen in the closing stage is
just so so frustrating. And so if you want to
use ema Udoka or the coaching staff or men, if
you think that he argued to stay in the game
(09:39):
for the triple double, although again Brian Beerfield has reported
that that's not the case, I guess you can. But
for me, I see it as something that could just
as easily have happened at practice. Anytime you play five
on five or even one on one basketball, there's an
opportunity for you to land on someone's foot and have
your ankle ben ninety degrees. It happens, it's an occupational hazard,
(10:02):
and so for me, it's analogous to an act of
God in which you know, someone gets in a car
crash driving to the office. In theory, someone could argue
if they were able to work from home, they wouldn't
have been in that crash.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
But it's just a risk that most.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
People take, and I think that's the healthy way to
look at what happened to a man on Saturday night.
It sucks for the Rockets that they're losing probably their
best player, just over a month until the playoffs. But
in terms of how it happened, this isn't about overuse,
It's not about the minutes. It's just simply a freak
accident that can happen, not just in the game, but
(10:41):
a practice in an informal gym setting. It's part of basketball.
It just is what it is, and so I'm not
that enraged about how it went down. I'm frustrated because
of how good he is, but I don't have anything
extra when it.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Comes to, you know, how this all came to be.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
And then, truth be told, the Rockets caught a little
bit of a break here in that when the reports
came out late Saturday, a walking boot and crutches. Immediately,
any hope of him playing in the next game or
two was off the table. This was not a nothing
burger where it's just a slight role. No, as soon
(11:23):
as that report came out, it was a legit sprain.
And so at that point you're just waiting to find
out grade one, grade two, grade three. I never thought
it would be grade three, which can be you know,
even as much as two or three months, because unlike
Shainggoo and Sacramento last year, he was able to walk off,
(11:44):
and he did it without assistance. This was not a
wheelchair situation. Typically, if it's a Grade three, which is
a total taire, it's tough to even walk. The fact
that the men could do that to me, it was
telling him is not a Grade three, but it could
have been a Grade two, which is four to six weeks,
and not only would it cost you the rest of
this regular season, but there'd be some question as to
A if he could be back by the playoffs, and
(12:07):
b if he is, would he be truly himself? Because
with any ankle injury, and we've seen this with frederin
Fleet and we will see it when he hopefully comes
back this week, they aren't themselves the moment they get back.
It takes some time with the lower body injury to
build up your conditioning because part of the rehab process
is that you can't do the things you normally do
(12:28):
because you need to not put as much weight on
the injured body part. That's part of allowing it to heal.
And so if it had been a Grade two, which
until the MRI was something that I think internally and
certainly the fan base feared, it would be an open
question as to whether he could come back and how
effective he would be. With it being presumably a grade one,
(12:48):
which is what ten to fourteen days is compatible with
typically a week or two even if he's not quite
himself when he comes back, hopefully by the end of March,
he does have some runway two or three weeks before
the playoffs start in mid April to hopefully get back
to peak four. And so yes, the Rockets still do
need to clench their playoff spot, but on paper, assuming
(13:09):
there are no setbacks, this is one where it could
have been worse. Plenty of grade two grade three ankles
frames have happened in situations just like that, and so
with it being a Grade one and with it being
an injury that wasn't really overuse, I'm frustrated, but I'm
not enraged. This is a nuisance, but especially at this
(13:29):
point in the schedule, I think it's one that the
Rockets can survive, and hopefully at the end of this
season it's a footnote rather than something that actually defines
their season. And so with that in mind, I want
to address the schedule over the two weeks that a
man is likely to be out, because there's a glass
(13:50):
half full and a glass half empty way to look
at this, So the glass half full perspective. The next
seven games are all against losing opponents, the Magic, the Suns,
the Mavericks, the Bulls, the Sixers, the Magic again, and
the Heat. You've got an extended run against below five
(14:11):
hundred teams. Five of those games are at home as
part of that aforementioned homestand I think the Rockets are
probably going to be favored in all of those games.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Maybe the one exception is Phoenix.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Because even though they're below five hundred, they do have
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, and they are playing harder.
They're making a bit of a run for the play
in tournament. It seems God guess the Rockets are still
favored in that one unless they lose badly against Orlando tonight,
especially if Fred Van Fleet is back in the lineup.
This is the part of the schedule, and we've talked
about it before that the Rockets really need to make
(14:45):
some hay. They need to get some separation from teams
like the Warriors and the Timberwolves before the schedule gets
much more difficult towards the end of this month and
going into April, when they have a difficult close with
a lot of road games against competitive playoff Islander playoff
contending teams down the home stretch of this season. And
so this isn't a point of the schedule where you
(15:07):
can shrug and say, well, we'll make it up later
as long as the men comes back, because when a
men comes back, the schedule is going to be much
more difficult.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
These are games that you need to win.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
And so the class half full way to view this
situation is to say, yeah, we can win these games.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
We're still going to be favored.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
The class half empty way is to point out that, look,
you lost a big part of your talent advantage over
these teams. The Rockets would not be thirty nine and
twenty five and have this perceived advantage if they did
not have a Men Thompson for the first sixty plus
games of this season. So on paper, games that should
have been huge advantages for the Rockets going in, they're
(15:46):
not as big of an advantage anymore with this version
of the Rockets without Amen and possibly without Fred Bentleet,
and if he does play not quite himself in the
first few games after a month long layoff with an
ankle injury of his own.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Time will tell as which version is right.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
If the Rockets are able to stack wins, certainly we'll
say this came at the right time because the Rockets
had enough of a buffer over these teams and guys
like Tory Easton could step up and absorb more minutes
and the Rockets survived it.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But if they don't, then.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
We'll look back and say this was a stretch where
the Rockets needed to get some real separation and couldn't.
Not having their best player was a big part of that,
and now the Rockets would need to make up for
it in all likelihood going down the home stretch of
the year with some tough wins on the road against
good teams. Otherwise they'd be at risk of falling to
the playing tournament and the whole goal of the season,
which is to get a longer sample and see how
(16:42):
guys perform under the ultimate stress test of the NBA
playoffs in the best of seven series.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
You'd be at risk of.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Not accomplishing that if you follow the playin tournament and
everything comes down to one or two games.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
So there's a lot at stake here and.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
The Rockets can't say, well, we can just wait until
the men comes back and then it'll be fine. No,
there's still a huge incidentive to go out and take
care of business starting to die against the Magic, and
hopefully they're able to do that.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
As far as what the lineup's going.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
To look like and how the Rockets can best overcome it,
I think if Fred doesn't come back, the obvious answer
is that both Chari Easton and Jabari Smith Junior will start.
I think it's clear from Imodoka's comments the Rockets view
themselves as having three primary initiators. I don't think they
even look at it so much as point guard. I
(17:30):
think it's lead guard or more realistically, initiators, guys who
organize the team and get them into their sets as
the primary ball handler, and that's Fred and Fleet, Jalen
Green and Amen Thompson, even though guys like Aaron Holliday
and Read Shepherd, although Read Shepherd unfortunately is down for
a month with his own injury fractured a thumb against
(17:51):
the Pelicans last week. I think they view them, at
least at this point, as more off ball. They might
guard point guards on the other end of the and
so it's not impossible that maybe Aaron Holliday gets a
start if they think they need a smaller defender with
a little more side to side agility.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
But for the most part, I think.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
It's gonna be Tari and Jabari, especially if both Fred
and Men are out that are called on because they're
you know, we talked all season long and the Rockets
have a clear top seven, the five starters plus Jabari
and Tari. Well, if you're down two starters, put in
your two top guys off the bench, which are Tarri
and Jabari.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
And I don't think it's a situation where the.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Rockets will not do that because they need a quote
unquote point guard, because again, that's just not how they
functionally use guys like Aaron Holliday off the bench. They
have three primary ball handlers and initiators, and Fred VanVleet,
Jalen Green, and Men Thompson. With a man out and
possibly Fred out, Jalen's going to be the.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Guy who is primarily your point guard.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
And I have heard I had some conversations this weekend
that made me feel a little bit better about the
issue with his bat. Jalen's been not quite himself in
terms of efficiency. The last few days. He saw a
big pad around his back during that Saturday home game
against the Pelicans. I was told, that's really not a
big deal. They think he'll be fine, So Jalen should
be out there, And so that'll allow you if Fred
(19:11):
is also sidelined along with men, to go with a
little more size defense rebounding. The Rockets have picked it
up on the defensive end the last couple of games,
and so I think the starting lineup is easy. If
Fred and the men are both out, you just go
with the two highest usage guys off your bench and
hope for the best. And then of course you'll need
guys further down your bench. Mentioned Daron Holliday, but also
(19:33):
Steven Adams a double big lineup. Rockets been trying that more.
If that works against teams like the Magic and the Suns,
Rockets would love to see it. Cam whitmore. Perhaps he gets.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Another opportunity Jay Shaun Tate.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
But I think by and large, it's going to be
about asking guys like Tari and Jabari to step into
even bigger roles from a minute's perspective, and hopefully they're
able to do so efficiently and go out and have
dynamic two wave performances. I think that's what happens if
Fred and the Men are both out. If a Man
is out but Fred is able to come back, I'm torn.
(20:06):
I think it may be matchup to matchup. I think
in a perfect world, the Rockets would start Tari over
a men because they're the closest analog. You know, coaches
don't want to deviate too much from their formula. I
mentioned in the last episode the Rockets choosing their starting
line up. They want to get more chemistry and cohesion,
and so they're called the Terror Twins for a reason.
(20:29):
There are some similarities between the Men and Tari's games,
and so I think having Tari rather than Jabari is
a little closer to the formula in terms of how
the other four guys play and how they'll play where
the Men ultimately comes back. And so combine that with
a knowledge that since the All Star Break, Tari has
generally started over a men anyway, or sorry, has usually
(20:53):
started over Jabbari excuse me, in games where a men
shifts to point guard. I think in a perfect world
that's what Emay would Yoka would do. However, there may
be some matchups where you need a little more size
and physicality, because the one difference between Amen Thompson and
Tarry Easton, Tari isn't quite as physical. He's not as
(21:13):
much of an above the rim lob threat, and so
if you're facing a bigger team then having Shangoon as
you're only big, that could be a little problematic because
both Tari and Dylan are a little light and they're
at their best when they're defending on the perimeter. So
there may be some matchups where you need Jabari Smith
(21:33):
who is a bit more physical, a bit stronger, and
is able to function something as a big, a stretch big,
but a big nonetheless, and so it could be matchup
to matchup.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I think in a.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Perfect world, Tari would be the guy that you start,
and I think that's largely why he has started ahead
of Jabari since the All Star break. However, if you
need to play bigger, I could see Jabari getting the nod,
especially because when you're starting Dylan and Tari at the
forward spots and you have a six foot seven a
Men Thompson at point guard, you might be a little
(22:06):
undersized at forwards, but you are jumbo at point guard,
and so it offsets if you're starting a fairly small
fredvand Fleet at point guard, you might be too small
with Dylan Brooks and Tari Easen as your forwards, especially
if you're playing a bigger team that's pretty physical and
likes to pound you on the low block or crash
(22:27):
the glass. In those situations, you might benefit from the
added height and muscle of Jabbari, And so that's why
I think it's going to be matchup to matchup.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Perfect role Tari and Gun. To my head, I think Tari.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Starts more than Jabari in this world where you do
have Fred back, and so there's just one spot to determine,
but I think there will be some variants, and ultimately,
with a men out who's been your high usage player
from a minutes perspective ever since he became a starter
early in twenty twenty five, this is one where it
(23:00):
honestly doesn't matter that much in terms of who starts,
because you're gonna need to lean on both Tari and
Jabari to play thirty plus minutes per game roles no
matter what.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
So I don't think this is.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
One where you know we've seen Jabari recently if it's
a game where he's not shooting that well, he might
play just twenty two minutes something like that.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, that's off the table.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Regardless of who starts, who comes off the bench without
a mend, there's a lot of minutes to fill, and
so these guys are gonna get minutes, they're gonna get
shot attempts, and so it's just about, you know, usage
patterns and matchups and who fits best at a given night.
The Rockets are just trying to survive this stretch, and
especially against lesser teams where they need to win. It's
(23:43):
simply an all hands on deck scenario. And so I
don't think you should draw any long term conclusions, not
that the Rockets are looking to start with those guys anyway,
it's pretty clear what the starting lineup will be when
everyone is healthy. I think right now, imo Udoka is
just going to try and mcgiver his way through each
individual game and map out what makes sense for the
(24:03):
first six minutes of the first and third quarters, what
makes sense for the second units late in the first
and early in the second quarters, and same for the
third and the fourth and the second half.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
That's my guess as far as the lineup.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
It'll change some from game to game, and then finally,
in terms of who needs to step up, my initial
read of the situation was Tari because I think now
he'll be a thirty plus minutes per game player, whether
he starts or doesn't, and he's been.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Taking on a bigger workload of late.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
We'll see if he's still out on night two of
back to backs, but there's only two of those left,
and the one this week is against the MAVs and
the Bowls, so hopefully whichever one you send him out,
you can still get that win. Anyway, the more I
think about it, and the more I talk to people
inside the building, I think Tari is someone who does
what he does now.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
You would like him to reduce turnovers.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
He has some head scratching ones, especially in transition, and
so can he play better, yeah, yes, But generally Tari
is fairly consistent in terms of his impact from game
to game, and even though his minutes are going up,
it's not like he's suddenly going to play a different
way and become a different version. You're simply going to
be scaling him up, and hopefully his leg can handle that.
(25:17):
But all indications on that front have been good in
recent weeks, to me, the guys to watch are Jalen
Green and all for In Shangoon, simply because they have
the most variants. The good news is that since the
All Star Break, Shingoon has played very well. Going into tonight,
He's had twenty plus points on sixty percent or better
shooting in four straight games, the first time in his career.
(25:37):
We know he had the back issue prior to the
All Star Game, He's been moving much more freely.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
He seems to be making decisions much quicker.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
We saw some of the dynamic passes against the Pelicans
that you know, it felt like he made all the
time in his first.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Two NBA seasons, and then the last two.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
I think because he's become a bigger part of scouting
reports and the Rockets have asked a lot more from him,
he's been a little hesitant and he hasn't read the
floor as quickly well. It seems like he's processing is
getting back to where it was earlier in his career,
when he was just playing and he wasn't thinking as much.
He seems to be moving much more freely with the back.
Jalen Green, we know what he was doing until the
(26:13):
last week or so he'd had an extended stretch of
very good play, not so much over the last three games.
I'm told again the Rockets aren't worried about his back.
They don't view that as a major issue. We know
what Jalen can be when he's right. Back to March
a year ago and how the Rockets survived the stretch
after Shingoon hurt his ankle, it was because Jalen was incredible.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Jalen and Shangoon.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Are good but flawed players in that if it's a
night where they aren't playing well, you might see Shangoon
get benched for Jabbari or Jalen get benched for Tari.
Because they are not great defensive players. And if they're
not efficient offensively, if they're tended to for one reason
or another, if they're turning the ball over, they have
(26:58):
bad nights. But they also really good nights. And when
they are good, when they are scoring and playmaking at
a high level, they are all Star level players. Shingoon
was an All Star this year. Jalen was in the
conversation as the leading scorer for a Houston team that's
been top four, top three in the West most of
the season.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
These guys have that gear. It's about whether they.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Can tap into it or consistently. Signs are positive on Shangoon.
They were positive on Jalen until the last week. Hopefully
he's getting healthier.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
He is at home.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Playing flights definitely aren't good for your back, and thankfully
Rackets have six in a row at twots and right now,
so hopefully that will help. I just think the biggest
hit when it comes to losing the men beyond the
obviously he's a really good basketball player. He's also probably
your most consistent player in that he does what he
does from one game to the next. With Jalen and Shangoon,
(27:53):
there's a lot more variance, and so with a men
going out and your floor being a little bit lower,
these are games where you need your ceiling razors to
go out and get it done, especially against lesser teams.
This is not Murderer's Row, although Orlando does have a
top three defense, so that'll be challenging to two guys
(28:13):
in Jalen and Shangoon that depend on scoring and play
making at a high level to be at their best.
But I just think from a minute's perspective, you'll see
Tari and Shamari probably get the biggest bump, But in
terms of do the Rockets actually survive this stretch and
win enough games to maintain this three four game buffer
(28:34):
over the play and range and make it where you're
not sweating every game down the home stretch of the
year and risking having to go through the play in
tournament to get to the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Shalen and Shangoon are the guys to watch.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
I think that's the way the Rockets themselves are looking
at it, and honestly, maybe that's the way it should be.
These are your year four guys. These are the two
two that have been there at the lowest points. Now
you're within a month of returning to the playoffs for
the first time in five years, playing your first playoff
basketball at Toyota.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Center in six years.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Perhaps it's fitting symbolic that it's on their shoulders that
they need to go out there and get it done
no excuses because they're at home, they're playing teams that
aren't great. They have been generally on an upward trajectory.
There are some bumps, as there always are, but in
terms of how they're playing now relative to the start
of the year, I think it's better in both cases,
(29:33):
If Jalen and Shingoon go out and.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Play the way they're hit the playing, the Rockets should
be fine. That's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
When you consider the schedule and the opponents in front
of you over the ten to fourteen days that a
man is likely to be out. If they don't, then yeah,
it could get hairy because your floor is significantly lower.
Without a men, you're not going to be as dynamic defensively.
You need to put the ball in the bucket. But
if Shingoon keeps doing what he's done over the last week,
(30:02):
if Jalen can get back to who he was before
this recent downturn, it should be okay.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Those are the guys.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Your floor is lower, so you're gonna have to lean
into your ceiling guys a bit more, and you're playing
at home against a.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Lesser part of the schedule, no excuses.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Trust them to go out and do it, and if
they do, then the Rockets will welcome back a men
in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
They'll have a lead at least comparable to.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
What they have now in the standings over teams in
the play tournament, and they can focus on getting a
men healthy down the stretch of the year and having
him in peak form for when the games get really meaningful,
when the playoffs start in mid April.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Anyway, that'll do it for today.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Just wanted to give some high level takeaways as far
as what to watch for.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Coming off this brutal amen injury.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Although again it could have been worse, certainly, but still
losing your best player for at least ten to fourteen days,
it's never good. I think that's the way we should
be looking at this stretch, the remainder of this home
stand and the remainder of the time what we hope
is the time at least that and we'll not be.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Out there again.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
We'll have a longer discussion, more game analysis, and our
full show with Paullo later in the week. This is
just me laying out a few of the high level
storylines to watch for over the remainder of this homestand
and we'll see the way things play out starting.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Tonight at two listener.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Hope to see you all there anyway, until our next
full show, which should be coming in the not too
distant future. I'll break it here if you want more
content in the interim. Of course, the US place to
get it is on Twitter, slash x where I'm on
their at Benjubo's. This show is on there at the
logger line. If you go to the link tree in
the bio of the logger line, you can find links
(31:35):
to our distribution partners, Google, Apple, Spotify.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Subscribe to Pods for Review.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
If not already, but also friends partner sponsors of the
program Sports Loot seven ninety USA, Today's Rockets, Wire Cardback Brewing,
please consume their content as well. If we look good
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running as one of the most active podcasts covering Houston
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we're excited to provide even more content in these weeks
ending up to the first Rockets plaoff appearance, at least
(32:02):
we hope the first Rockets plan appearance.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
In five years.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
And so if you show some love to our partners,
if you subscribe with pots review on your platform or choice,
those are ways that we can look good and keep
the business model working as one of the most active
podcasts covering Houston Rockets basketball. All right, we'll journ for
tonight until next time. This is where we'll break Go Rockets,
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