March 18, 2025 • 39 mins
Despite trailing by 25 points in the second half, the winning streak is somehow at seven games and counting for the Rockets (44-25, No. 2 in West) after Monday’s bizarre victory over Philadelphia.
In Wednesday’s show, our Ben DuBose reacts to all the latest developments, including an increasingly important home-court advantage; clear signs of progress for Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr.; and why Alperen Sengun’s second-half benching versus the Sixers shouldn't be a major concern.
In Wednesday’s show, our Ben DuBose reacts to all the latest developments, including an increasingly important home-court advantage; clear signs of progress for Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr.; and why Alperen Sengun’s second-half benching versus the Sixers shouldn't be a major concern.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Cheers, Rockets fans, Welcome to The Logger Line, an exclusive
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(00:23):
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Speaker 2 (00:26):
The Lagger Line starts now.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Welcome aboard.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thanks for checking out another new episode of The Logger Line,
again served to you courtesy of Clutch City Lagger of
Carbak Burring. I'm Ben Dubos, your host, editor of USA
Today's Rockets Wire and a contributor to Sports Talk seven ninety,
official Flag Trip radio station of your Houston Rockets. Our
usual co host and producer, Palo Alves couldn't be here tonight,
but I'm hosting the show thee less because there's a
(01:01):
lot to talk about with your Houston Rockets. Honestly, it's
been a fantastic week since we last recorded. You have
to look at the macro first, and the Rockets are
now forty four and twenty five. They've won seven straight games,
longest winning streak of the season, just wrapped up a
perfect six and zero home stand during which they moved
up from number five in the Western Conference standings to
(01:23):
their current spot at number two. By the way, Rockets
are now twenty six to ten at who has near
this season, that's the fourth best home record in the
entire NBA. So knowing that it might make holding on
to that number two seed even more important since it
puts you in line to have home court advantage in
at least the first two rounds of the playoffs, assuming
you advance. Now, with all that said, I do want
(01:46):
to start by acknowledging the elephant in the room, and
that's that every team they've played in this winning streak
currently has a losing record. And while Monday's game against
Philly was absolutely insane and tied for the greatest comeback
in franchise history, reality is they also shouldn't have been
down twenty five points to a severely shorthanded Sixers team
in the first place. So, while certainly good and this
(02:09):
run has made them pretty much a playoff lock for
the first time in five years, let's keep it in perspective.
Beating the Bulls and the Sixers by less than five points. Well,
the Sixers game ended up being a seven point margin,
but come on, it was overtime. The point is it's
not the January stretch where you were going out and
beating the Cavs twice, the Grizzlies twice, the Celtics on
(02:31):
the road. By and large, this is just taking care
of business at home against the teams are supposed to beat,
even without himn Thompson, who by the way, it sounds
like he should be back from his ankle's frame within
the next few days. But even without Amen, the Rockets
are just better than these teams, and so there's no
parade here. They're just simply doing what they should do.
(02:53):
But before I look into some of the more serious
implications of what we've seen in recent days, I want
to start by talking about and highlighting just how absurd
that Philly game actually was, because for me, guys, I'm
forty years old, I really think that was one of
the five or so most bizarre sports games that I've
(03:15):
ever seen. Just think about all that happened in that one.
You fell behind by twenty five points to a team
consisting of mostly G leaguers, Yet to their credit, they
sure didn't play like it. They shot fifteen of twenty
four and threes in the first half. You'd legit be
stunned if the twenty seventeen Golden State Warriors went out
and did that against a bad team. Quinton Grimes was
(03:38):
playing like James Harden on the Unguardable Tour. Then you
had the Rockets overcoming the twenty five point deficit in
less than a quarter, only to have it balloon back
to ten in two minutes. Jalen Green dit a shoving technical.
They had two players get ejected in Tari Easton and
fred Enfleet. And by the way, the whole storyline with
fred was just ridiculous on so many levels. Seven point
(04:00):
swing on bad officiating with under ninety seconds to go,
and then somehow they erased an eight point deficit with
under a minute left. Your all star center in alfer
In Shangoon, who got benched for defensive purposes because the
Sixers were just so ridiculously and inexplicably good at playing
five out, came back in got the tying bucket almost
(04:22):
at the buzzer on a perfectly miss free throw by
Javorie Smith Junior. In his postgame press conference, Amyridoka called
it one of the best misses he's ever seen. Then
in overtime, you had Shoon immediately playing great after basically
being benched for a quarter and a half. Dylan fouled out,
and so at that point, when you lost Dylan Brooks,
you were down four players. You had the two attracted guys,
(04:44):
Dylan and also Aman Thompson because he was hurt. Shangoon
got called for one of the worst travels in NBA
history when the ball was clearly dislodged on his drive.
Rockets were close to put in the game away, and
Patrick Furtiita court side was as demonstratively angry I've ever
seen the guy, by the way. At least the NBA
did own up to that mistake in their last two
(05:05):
minute report. It's not much consolation, but I guess it's
better than nothing. And then the cherry on top of
the shit. Sunday, with under two minutes left and the
Rockets up three, the refs were about to put Philly
on the line for a non shooting foul before the
Toyota Center, PA announcer our good buddy, Jonathan Sanford Guy
put on a Superman cape and loudly announced to the
(05:27):
crowd that the Sixers were not over the foul of
it and that it was a side out. Eventually, they
got a right Sixers ended up missing on that possession,
the Rockets went down and scored and ultimately won the game.
So I don't want to make a mountain out of
a molehill out of that one game because the Rockets
were favored by sixteen for a reason, It's not one
that's going to go on your mount rushmore of favorite
(05:48):
wins as a fan, but just in terms of entertainment value,
that was one of the strangest games that I have
ever seen, and because of that, one of the most
memory ones as well, and for me at least, it's
always more memorable if you win. Anyway, the two guys
I want to spotlight on this mini pod, which will
(06:09):
be just me and Polo's absence, are Jalen Green and
Shabari Smith Junior. I'm not too focused on the Shingoon angle.
I think. I know on social media anything involving Alpa
always gets turned into a thing, But I really think
this was an outlier at a few levels. I think
certainly the way the Sixers were playing and shooting challenged
(06:31):
a lot of the Rockets. I think I have seen
some discussion of why was Shininggoon the only guy who
got pinched? I think a lot of it came down
to not just the defensive struggles against five out, but
that the Rockets down twenty five points felt like they
needed more spacing and shooting themselves on offense to overcome that.
(06:55):
And even though Philly ended up making twenty four threes,
I believe the Rockets made twenty two two and they
needed basically all of them. And so I think this
was a situation where once the Rockets were down that
much in the second half, emi Udoka not just wanted
the smaller lineup for defensive purposes in switching, but he
(07:16):
also wanted it for the sake of having more ability
to shoot threes at follow you offensively. It was going
to be tough to get back in the game just
playing through all Pern Shangoon on the low block once
you fell down by that amount with just twenty or
so minutes left to play. So I think this was
just a perfect storm outlier on a few levels, and
I wouldn't read too much into it, especially because Shinoon
(07:38):
had a good week before it. It was just a
weird matchup. The Sixers had no traditional big men because
they had eleven players out due to injury. Yet another storyline.
There Rockets playing basically a G League team, which is
why they were favored by sixteen over a Philly team
that entered the season with championship aspirations. They're obviously a
shell of that right now. But boy, what a bizarre
(08:00):
game that was on every level. And I just think
for Shongoon. I know there was frustration. You can see,
you know, some of the body language shards the end
of the game. It's not nothing, But I tend to
think once the Rockets get going tonight in Orlando that
this will be a footnote. This was an outlier. He's
been playing well. He's been on an upward trajectory really
(08:21):
since the All Star break. This was just a bizarre
matchup on a number of levels, and Hemyoudoka rode the
hot hand. And this is nothing new. I've seen some
talk of why didn't the Rockets go back to Shangoon
early in the fourth quarter. We've seen this time and
time again. Think the two Warriors games where the Rockets
came back from huge deposits. Didn't win either of them,
but nearly did playing guys like Nate Williams and Jay
(08:44):
Shawan Tait, who, by the way, against the six ers
just plus thirty and twenty two minutes. That speaks to
just how much the Rockets needed someone who had the
right competitive spirit and energy. I think to some degree,
Rockets were just on fumes playing their third game in
four nights and probably overlooked the sick. There's a little
bit as well. Jayshontet is a true pro. He's someone
that you can trust to at least take the game seriously,
(09:06):
and he has fresh legs because he hasn't been playing
a lot in recent weeks, and so I think that
shows just how effective the smaller lineup was. And I
tend to think as far as Shunghun, it's an outlier.
He's been better since the All Star break. Just a
weird game on mini levels, and once you get back
to a more traditional lineup and a more traditional opponent,
which I think the Magic tonight will be. Magic have
(09:27):
one of the top four defenses in the NBA along
with the Rockets. I think we'll look back at the
Philly game as a memorable, hilarious and at times maddening outlier,
but an outlier. Nonetheless, so in terms of how it
went down with Stringgun in particular, it's not something that's
going to go on his career highlight reel. But I
don't think it's a huge red flag either, just one
of those weird things that happens to everybody. I can
(09:49):
remember when James Harden was at or near his peak,
he had a few games where Mike D'Antoni didn't close
with him for one reason or another. This stuff just
happens over eighty two games. March can be funny in
the NBA because of all the weird dynamics, rosters, constantly
shifting teams, trying to load manage a little bit getting
ready for the playoffs, and fortunately the Rockets just bound
(10:11):
a way to get the win. Into Shinogoon's credit, even
though he didn't play for most of the second alf
when they were running out of bodies in overtime, he
did step up, played very well and had a key
role in getting the Rockets to the finish line. So
kudos to him for that. Anyway, for me, the big
story in this Philly game, and really for the wind
Streak overall, is Jalen Green. I want to start there
(10:34):
because if you go back to our archives and you
listen to our shows right after the amend injury, a
week or so ago, there was a conversation I shared
that I had had with someone inside the building who
had made the case that Jalen and Shangoon were the
two X factors during this stretch without men. My personal
inclination going into it was to say Chari Easan because
(10:55):
obviously he's the closest analog to a men in terms
of style of play, ended up being a men's direct
replacement in the starting lineup. But the way the Rockets
were looking at it is that Tari for the most part,
is somebody who just does what he does, and you're
just asking him to scale out his minutes a little bit.
It's Jalen and Alpi who are the variables. And then
when you lose him in probably your best overall player,
(11:18):
a huge floor racer because he's so good as a
two way guy, you really need your ceiling guys to
hit to offset that, and that's generally what's happened, with
both of those guys having a big week when their
team needed them. Again. I think the Shingoon game against
the Sixers was an outlier for a few reasons, and
aside from that, he's been very good since the All
(11:38):
Star break. But with Jalen, I think what we saw
from that game and really throughout the past week, it's
been special, particularly in light of some of the weaknesses
that he had early in his career. So are the
numbers the last four games. Jalen is averaging twenty seven
point six points, seven point three rebounds, six point three assists,
(12:00):
over forty four percent, shooting almost thirty nine percent on threes.
Rockets are obviously four to Zho, and Jeralen is plus
fifteen point five in his minutes. I should note that
coincides the return of Fred, and I do think that
Fred's generally very good at getting Shalen at basically everybody
the ball in the right spots, the right moments, right
time on the clock, those types of factors. There's a
(12:22):
reason we saw the numbers without Fred much more offensively
than defensively. But with Jalen specifically, there's just been a
few really encouraging things. We know, one of the big
criticisms of him, at least at times, it's been the
assist to turnover ratio. Well, in this stretch he's at
six point three assists and just two point three turnovers,
and he had a career high thirteen assists against Philly.
(12:46):
He's getting his teammates involved, he's doing it without accessibly
turning the ball over. And in fact, you could argue
that the stretch without Fred may have better positioned Jalen
to thrive as the lead ball handler in that he
got more used to doing the heavy lift, and now
that makes it easier for him to sort of take
advantage of Fred's gravity as a shooter and whatnot, because
(13:07):
Fred draws more attention than anyone else on that Houston
roster from a shooting perspective. And then beyond the assist
I think it's clear, you know, the defense and the rebounding,
those are continuing to improve. The plus minus set better
than plus fifteen. That speaks for itself. The rebounding over
seven per game, including against the Bulls, the winning put
back with fifteen seconds to play. By the way, say
(13:30):
what you will about Chicago, but they're inside the play
and field in the East. They had won four straight
games going in, and Jalen was lights out to close
that game, certainly in terms of making shots, but also
in terms of making passes and even crashing the glass
pretty much whatever his team needed down the stretch and
to me, the most important thing of all. He just
looks like a much tougher player physically but also mentally.
(13:55):
And that's where Monday comes into play, because it ties
into a broader trend. He was dreadful in that first
half against Philly. I think some of it may have
been that, you know, he took a knee to the
calf from Quinton Grimes early in that game, and he
was limping around some. But whatever the reason, he was terrible.
Five points, four assists, two of eleven shooting. The defense
(14:16):
from everybody was terrible. There's a reason the Sixers put
up seventy eight points in the first half, and then
from halftime onward, he was brilliant all NBA level twenty
five points, nine assists in the second half, in overtime,
shot better than fifty percent overall and forty five percent
from three guys. That's not easy to do. We've seen
in the past that Jalen can sort of shrug his
shoulders and accept that it's just not his night when
(14:39):
stuff goes poorly. It's something that even James Harden at
the peak of his powers, still had a tendency to do.
And yet it doesn't feel like Jalen's doing that anymore.
That's what a true alpha in the NBA needs to
do or not do. In this case, the highs have
always been there, and you know, to that point, the
rockets are now ten to zero this season when he
(14:59):
scores least thirty points. But the issue has always been
about mitigating the lows, and that's what it looks like
to me, is finally happening. His critics have always made
the point that the good stretches are unsustainable because they
depend on him shooting at a level that he can't
consistently do with volume. But now the formula is getting
a lot more diverse. So to circle back to the
(15:22):
original point, the person I talked to made the point
that Jalen and Shongoon were the guys who really needed
to answer the bell after a Men got hurt. Your
two fourth year guys that are in position to make
the leap what we all hoped for going into the season,
especially after they got their big contracts. And Jalen responded
with maybe his best week of the entire season, even
(15:45):
the Orlando game before that, which was the first that
a Men miss due to injury. I know it wasn't
great overall from an efficiency perspective, but he had twelve
five and five in the first half on great efficiency
against the league defense, and that's what let the Rockets
play with the lead almost the entire time. And so
that's why I think that all of this is so encouraging,
(16:06):
because what it all comes down to is that Jalen
is becoming a much more well rounded player and he's
not having those extreme peaks and valleys. He's providing value
in areas other than scoring. He's not turning the ball
over as much. He's doing it against both bad and
good defenses. We still don't know exactly what Jalen's going
(16:28):
to look like as a finished product, whether he can
consistently tap into that all Star even all NBA level gear.
But what I do know, and what I do like
heading into the playoffs is that it feels like the
gains where he's a zero, those are pretty much gone.
He's finding ways to consistently make an impact and honestly,
that's been the thing that's held him back for most
(16:49):
of his career. And yeah, you can say that this
winning streak has all come against sub five hundred teams, fair,
but being able to stack good games. That's not easy
to do no matter who you play. You look at
Monday's game against the Sixers, third game in four nights,
lots of tanks were on empty. Jalen clearly was limping
(17:09):
around early in the game after bruising this calf. He
had the sleeve on it, so I'm guessing it sort
of hit at what was already at issue, and yet
he was out there playing over forty five minutes, gave
it everything he had. He only sat out two minutes
in the second half in overtime combined, I think it
was those two minutes at the start of the fourth
where the Sixers pushed what was a tie game back
(17:30):
out to ten, and the Rockets realized, well, we can't
function without Jalen. We got to put him back out there,
and he delivered. He left everything on the floor. And
so I think what you're seeing at twenty three years old,
he's just a much more mature, confident, and consistent player
relative to the first three even three and a half
(17:51):
seasons of his NBA career. And if you get that
version of Jalen combined with the top five defense, you've
got a chance against pretty much anybody. You can potentially
play in the playoffs. Maybe the thunder are the lone
exception just because they're insanely good. But who knows, maybe
you get lucky and you don't even draw them. I
think I'll defer the playoff talk for later in the
(18:14):
month when the standings become more clear. By the way,
aside from the Rockets getting to two, the fact that
both the Warriors and Timberwolves had a loss put on
their ledgers on Monday night was huge, giving the Rockets
another game of separation relative to teams at six and
seven and potentially the play in range. Again. At this point,
the Rockets have built up a buffer to the point
where they shouldn't be sweating it down the home stretch
(18:36):
of the year, at least getting in the playoffs. The
more difficult close to the season is going to be
more relative to what seed they are in the top
six and who they potentially play, and so there's going
to be some interesting discussions about where the Rockets should
go to optimize their success or their chances at success
in the playoffs. And again i'll table that for a
(18:59):
show later in the month, because I want to get
more intel about how the standings look there's still a
lot of volatility all the way from two down to seven.
There's not a huge degree of separation. And also the
Rockets are getting to a point where their home success
is hard to ignore. So you're twenty six and ten
(19:19):
at home, but just eighteen and fifteen on the road,
and the splits are getting larger as the year progresses.
They just wrapped up a perfect six and oh home stand.
They had that terrible road losing streak early in February.
At some point, even if it's a tougher matchup, if
you can get in line to host not just one,
but at least two playoff series, to have homecourt advantage
(19:40):
game one, Game two, Game five, game seven, if the
Rockets continue to be that much better at home, and
Jibori gave a shout out to the fans at two
toison or more and Gabori in just a second after
Monday's game, that's something that can't be dismissed. We're not
there yet. We'll see how the Rockets fare. They do
us some road games coming up, including two in Florida
this weeking into the Magic and the heat, so perhaps
(20:00):
the Rockets get some victories on the road, but I
do think even if the matchup in round one is
a little more difficult, if you can get home court
advantage and potentially be on the other side of the
bracket from the Thunder, so that the Thunder have to
play two rounds before you could actually go up against them,
and who knows, maybe you get lucky and they somehow lose,
or they have an injury or two in those first
(20:22):
two rounds. Maybe something happens to where either you don't
face them. Think let's see All's SuperSonics. When the Rockets
made their first championship run in ninety four, they were
one seed, nobody thought they could eat them. Well, they
lost to the eight seed in round one and the
rest is history. Not saying that's gonna happen, but if
you're on the opposite side of the bracket from the
Thunder and you can't play them until at least the
conference finals, crazier things have happened. And so getting on
(20:44):
the opposite side of the bracket from OKC and getting
home court advantage and at least one round that may
be something for the Rockets to consider as they get
down the home stretch of this season, even if it
draws them what could be a slightly tougher matchup in
Round one, a team like Golden State or Minnesota. Not
saying it's a slam dunk case, just something that as
the Rockets continue to stack home wins and with the
(21:04):
thunder looking as great as they do, it might be
something to consider. But I'll do a deeper dive on
that later in the month with Powlos, so we can
get multiple perspectives and we can get a little more
concrete intel as far as what the standings are looking
like and what the various options are depending on you know, ah,
are the Rockets at two, three, four, five or six,
and so at that point, the Rockets will have a
(21:25):
much better idea of you know, if we load manage,
so to speak, in a couple of games, what the
likely draw would be if they fall back a seed
or two, or conversely, if they go balls to the
wall to try and win every game, Well, what the
reward would be if they actually get to the two line.
And by the way, should point out that if the
(21:45):
Rockets are the two, it's not a guarantee that they
would play the Timberwolves because of the plan tournament. If
the Timberwolves to play at seven, or say at seven
excuse me, or the Warriors if they drop to seven
and fall below the Timberwolves. Because the seven plays the eight,
you could easily have the eight seed, which right now
is the LA Clippers. James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are
Hall of famers. You could easily have a scenario where
(22:07):
one of those two guys or both goes off wins
at Minnesota or at Golden State in a one game
winner take all in the playing tournament and gets the
seventh seed, and then you're playing the Clippers. So that's
a factor to consider as well. And the Rockets are
three to zer against the Clippers this year. That looks
like a very good matchup, with Houston's athleticism giving them
a lot of problems. So it's still somewhat conditional for
(22:29):
me based on exactly who is in each slot. But
the more the Rockets win home games, and the more
I think about the advantages of being on the opposite
side of the bracket from ok see, there might be a
benefit to them being aggressive and trying to hold on
to ideally the two seed, but at least a top
three seed. By the way, it'd be cool to get
another division title. Rockets only had eight in franchise history,
(22:52):
none since that twenty nineteen to twenty twenty team, which
is also the last Rockets team to make the playoffs.
If you win the division, it inherently means you I
had a Memphis. It helps you out with tiebreakers because
in situations where there's a split like there is with Minnesota,
than division winners one of the first ties. So yeah,
add another line to that division titles banner Inteyota Center.
(23:14):
Get yourself home court advantage and at least one, probably
two rounds, because if you're head of Memphis, you're probably
going to be in the top four. Good chance for
second or third like you are now. There's a lot
to think about again, more on that later in the month.
Just something to sort of keep your eyes peeled for
as you're watching these other games around the NBA. Anyway,
(23:35):
as far as guys that have stood out to me
the past week and especially this bizarre game against Philly,
Jalen to me is obviously the headliner, but the other
guy that I think deserves his flowers is Shabari Smith Junior,
who against the Sixers was just brilliant. Thirty points off
the bench, he was the guy who it felt like
(23:55):
in the fourth quarter every time the Rockets are on
the verge of it getting away from them, made a
big shot to where they stayed just close enough to
have a chance, and then ultimately the Rockets went on
that ten to run in the final minute of regulation,
got it to overtime, and the rest is history and
port Jabari beyond making all the threes, I believe he
had five in total. Also, that ridiculously good missed free throw.
(24:18):
That was incredible. I'd say that's the best missed free throw.
It's e mystery. But I think another angle with Jabari
and Powlo alluded to this on one of our recent pods.
There's a case to be made that he's a better
player off the bench because his role was more simplified,
and the numbers bear that out. It's still a small sample,
(24:39):
but entering Wednesday, he's played thirty nine games as a starter,
averaging eleven point eight points, six point seven rebounds in
thirty one minutes, forty one point three percent shooting thirty
four point six percent on threes, plus minus a plus
two point five. In eight games is reserve, he's averaging
fourteen point three points six point eight rebounds and thirty
(24:59):
minutes for more points, more rebounds even in slightly reduced minutes,
and way better efficiency fifty one point two percent shooting,
thirty six point six percent on threes, plus minus of
plus seven point nine, and it's very intriguing. You can
see that Emao Ujoka is emphasizing this because even in
this stretch with the Men Thompson out, the Rockets have
(25:19):
made it a point to start Tari Easton. I believe
because of the consistency of role argument that you know
Tari's someone and I used the phrase he does what
he does earlier. I think I said it on the
last pot as well. He's going to play the way
he plays regardless of the role. And he's also a
fairly close analog to a Men Thompson in terms of
(25:40):
how he plays with the other four starters. Shabari is
someone who depending on how a game is going for
him and who he's playing alongside, you can often see
very different versions of him. And so I think the
Rockets want to get him into a routine and I
think what changes for when he comes off the bench
(26:01):
he looks to be much more assertive offensively it looks
like he knows where he fits within the pack. And
even though in these bench units, yeah, I know, sometimes
he's still playing alongside a lot of the starters. And
you know, Jalen did a great job, I thought, getting
Jewbari going against the sixers with the pick and roll game,
getting going downhill a few times. But generally, the way
(26:24):
it works in the NBA, you're six man when he
comes in midway through the first and third quarters, even
if he's playing alongside a few starters, that sixth man
sort of takes the keys of the offense because it's
understood that a lot of those starters, even if they're
still out there, their legs are a little tired because
they've been playing for a while, whereas the sixth man
(26:44):
is more fresh, and so Jabari goes out there and
he's more aggressively hunting his offense. And that's the untapped potential.
And yere three, at twenty one years old, he's already
done a lot Jabari that is defensively and in terms
of rebounding. You can look at the on off splitch.
You could look at the six weeks he missed while
injured earlier this year and see just how valuable he
(27:06):
is on those ends of the court. It's offense. It's
that end where there are games where he's really good,
and there's games where it feels like he just transitions
to a secondary role and it's just camped out in
the corner or on the wing. And you know, some
of the good games, which is bad games comes down
(27:28):
to does the ball go in the bucket. That's always
true to an extent, but with Jabari, beyond that, it's
also a matter of confidence. It's a matter of feeling
empowered and for whatever reason, when he plays alongside the starters,
if he gets going early in a game, then yeah,
the Rockets will feed him and you can see his
confidence grow. But if he has a bad start, you
(27:51):
often see him retreat into the background and give more
usage raps to guys like Shalen and Shingoon and Fred
now that he's back and a men once a men
comes back, or Dylan even by the way, Dylan had
twenty five, five and five for the first time in
his NBA career against the six Ers. He's had such
a good shooting season. That's been a big part of
(28:12):
how the Rockets have survived this stretch. Where they're getting
back to their top five defense now, but earlier this
year when the injury said it was a struggle defensively,
they weren't what they've been for the season overall, and
they simply shot well enough to overcome it. Dylan was
a big part of that, and he did the same
on Monday, where for various reasons, the Rockets certainly did
not defend like a top five unit against the Sixers,
(28:34):
giving up eighty eight points in the first twenty six
minutes of the game, but led by guys like Dylan Brooks,
they shot well enough, made enough threes to stay in it,
and then finally down the stretch of the game they
had enough plays not just offensively, but defensively as well
to get to the finish line. Anyway, this is meant
to be about Jabbari and how this all ties into him.
A lot of the time when he's playing alongside those starters,
(28:56):
he can be deferential well. When he comes off the bench,
certainly he's the best player from an offensive and creation
standpoint amongst the guys that comes off the bench, but
beyond that, even in the minutes where he's with the starters,
because he's a little bit fresher, and it's a new
look for the opposing defense. It's understandable that you'll give
(29:17):
Jabaris some more touch, and it just looks like to
me that he is a much more confident player in
this six man role. Now, I'm not saying it's going
to be anything permanent again, just twenty one years old,
year three. It may be that in a year or
two he's much more secure in who he is as
a player. He has his footing in the league. He's
a clear above average player and this is all a
(29:39):
non issue because he knows who he is. But right
now he's still establishing his value alongside a lot of
players on the Rockets who you know, Houston may not
have any proven great players at this point, but they
have a lot of proven good ones. And so when
you have a lot of guys at similar points in
their careers who are all respect each other's abilities, it
(30:03):
can be difficult. It can be a fine line to
walk between wanting to give yourself enough opportunities to you know,
have the sample size even out, eventually, get some shots
to fall, get some momentum, while also giving your teammates
a chance to get going and perhaps ride to hot
hand that gives you or may give you a better
shot to win a given game. In a playoff race
(30:24):
where every game matters, it's a very fine line to walk.
And even if the Rockets aren't super deep from the
standpoint of oh, they are playing ten to eleven guys. No,
in terms of the rotation, it's a pretty consistent eight
or nine. But when you look at who's doing the
heavy lifting, especially on the offensive end of the court,
it's not like there's a clear one A or even
(30:47):
one B. There's a lot of variance, and so I
think with Jabari he's someone because his profile isn't as
on ball as someone like Jalen or Shingoon, it's easier
for him to sort of retreat into the background and
not do everything that he's capable of doing, especially if
he's just not feeling like this is his nine as
(31:09):
opposed to when he's the six men, it looks like
he's more empowered, like he has no choice but to
come out and be aggressive because that's what the role needs.
And I think it plays into bringing out the best
version of Jabari's Smith Junior, because again, the defense is
there no matter what the impact on rebounding is there
no matter what, The untapped potential for Jabari with this
(31:31):
team is about the offensive end of the court. And
for again, it's hard to put my finger on exactly why.
I think it's probably a combination of things, but it
just feels like for right now, the six man role
is it for him. It brings out the best version.
I think Imyridoka clearly sees it. That's why it's been
Tari filling in for a men and not Jabari in
(31:52):
the starting lineup. And that doesn't mean Jabari's going to
be a six man for his career. It could be just,
you know, a perfect storm set of circumstances, says at
twenty one years old in year three and alongside a
pretty deep team in Houston of good players but without
any great players, all trying or most of them trying,
at least in terms of the young core to establish
their footing and prove who they are. This may be
(32:14):
a non issue in a year or two, but for
right now, for this particular team, the sample size is
getting to a point where at eight games accounting, I
think sixth man Jabari is probably the best version of Jabari,
and so kudos to the Rockets for having the vision
over the Alsto break. I'm sure they had some hard
conversations internally about with Shabari coming back from injury, Frank
(32:34):
coming back from injury and then playing so well, what's
going to make the most sense. It looks like to
me they made the right choice of bringing Jabari off
the bench because this is just a much better version
of Jabari offensively. This is the area of untapped potential
for him, and so I'm happy for Jabari that he's
(32:55):
gotten going. But I also think it speaks well of
the Rockets that I think they anticipated a lot of
this and through eight games, not a massive sample, but
not its significant, not an insignificant one either. It seems
to be playing out very favorably now. Closing thoughts, most
(33:17):
of the spot has been positive because look, they've won
seven straight games, and a couple of your young prospects
we've taken a lot of criticism, Jalen Green, Roycemi Junior
have taken leaps over this stretch and are looking really good.
So I think it's natural that most of the discussion
is going to be positive. The vibes are immaculate right now.
(33:37):
But the one bit of cold water, I'll throw you
are seeing that this Rockets team does not have the
clear A one. Their success without a men Thompson, their
success without all per inchin Goon against the Sixers. Those
are the closest things to proven star that the Rockets have.
(34:02):
I know it's from a weaker stretch of the schedule,
but the Men Thompson is probably their best player, and
the Rockets just went five to zero in a week
without him, even with some tired legs. Alpha and Shangoon
was an All Star this year, and yet the Rockets
just overcame a twenty five point deficit mostly without him.
That should show you that this team, and you know
(34:23):
it speaks well to the depth. There's a lot of
good players who can step up on a given night.
But it also should remind you that there's not that
clear A one. And so for right now, it's fine.
You're stacking wins. They're proving they can win in different ways.
Maybe it makes them a more difficult scout in the playoffs,
(34:45):
that's good. And perhaps Jalen is turning into something closer
to that A one. That's the hope. Not nearly there
yet as far as the sample, but you know we
can hope, but if the playoff run goes poorly, this
is something that will remind you that even the best
players on this team, we get excited by them, and
we should be, especially given how young they are. But
Shamoon's not a perfect player. A men's not a perfect player.
(35:08):
The Rockets are still able to win without them, and
you know, it's good in that it speaks to the
depth of good players on this team, but I think
it also speaks to the fact that this team doesn't
have anything close to, at least historically, what you need
at the NBA level to contend for a championship, which
is a top ten, top fifteen level player. The production
(35:29):
of the Rockets, even when these guys are the lineup,
should show you that, while good, they're flawed. There's a
reason why the Rockets have not had a huge decline
and their efficiency on either end of the court when
these guys aren't out there, And so I think that's
mostly good. But the one small bit of cold water
that I will throw on this is that it's a
reminder that, hey, while you have a lot of good players,
(35:53):
none of them are great players yet, and maybe the
Rockets aren't outlier, maybe the Rockets. You know, this approach
of sometimes me, some times you always us. Maybe it
works in the playoffs, or maybe somebody takes their game
to a new level. That's the whole point of getting
to the playoffs and stress testing these young guys under
the bright lights and seeing what happens. But if it
(36:14):
goes poorly, and it might because they're young, it can
also be a reminder that while there's a lot of
good players, there's not, at least not yet a great
player or anything close to that, and so that might
be the type of thing that prompts you to be
a little bit more aggressive in offseason trade talks. Should
a really prove an All Star or all NBA level
(36:36):
player come available, don't know who that would be, don't
know that it will happen, And hopefully the Rockets go
out and have, you know, not just a strong end
of the regular season, but a strong playoff run to
the point where we're looking at guys like Shamgoun or
men or Jalen and saying, hey, we don't need to
go externally for a big move because we feel like
they're on the right track. There's still plenty of time
a time my guys that are twenty two to twenty
three years old. But the one you know, it's class
(36:59):
how full, class half empty? The glass half full way,
as man, the Rockets are winning games even with these
guys out or playing poorly or having a bad matchup.
But there's also a glass half empty way you can
look at it, which is that the fact that the
Rockets are able to win these types of games even
without or with limited versions of some of the closest
(37:21):
things to stars on this roster should tell you that,
at least right now, they're not really stars. And so
if the playoffs go poorly and if the right player
comes available in the off season, that might be something
you have to think about, depending on you know, of course, age,
contractional alignment. There's a lot of factors. We can talk
about that more in the offseason, but historically you tend
(37:45):
to need at least one top ten, top fifteen level
player to get to that championship level. I don't think
the Rockets have anything close to that on the roster
right now. That's not to say that they don't have
players on the roster that could become that in time.
There's absolutely hope for that but I think the performances
without Amen, the ability to succeed without Shoon, and of
(38:07):
course they've succeeded without Jalen, although it seems like he's
becoming a more indispensable part of the formula as the
season progresses. It tells you that there is some growing
at least in terms of that all NBA level still
to go. And so that's something to just sort of
keep in the back of your mind as you go
down the home stretch of the season, get to the playoffs.
If things go poorly and if the right player comes
(38:29):
available in the offseason, this might be a distracted you
look back on and say, hmm, this is a reminder
of while the team overall is certainly very good, there's
a lot of depth. There's a lot of quality players
up and down the roster. None of them are to
that level or anything close just yet to where they
can carry the team. And perhaps that's something the Rockets
(38:49):
have to look extremely to get. I hope that's not
the case, Just saying it's something to keep in the
back of your mind. Anyway, That's where I'll wrap things
for today. And if you want more content before an
next sho that's supposed to get it is online. Of course,
you can follow me on Twitter x at Fendubo's got
my lovely officiating rants every game. As they get more meaningful,
I'm sure you can expect more of those, and of
course this show at the Logger Line where if you
(39:12):
go to the logger Lines page on Twitter slash x,
you can find our link tree which has links to
distribution partners like Apple, Google and Spotify. If you be
kind of subscribe, leave posit review at your location of choice,
we would greatly appreciate that. And also on that same
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(39:32):
Talk seven ninety. You have those links and you can
enjoy their content as well. All right, with those flies complete,
I will adjourn for today. Appreciate you guys as always
for listening, and please come back soon for another new
episode of the Logger Line
Cheers, Rockets fans, Welcome to The Logger Line, an exclusive
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The Lagger Line starts now.
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Welcome aboard.
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Thanks for checking out another new episode of The Logger Line,
again served to you courtesy of Clutch City Lagger of
Carbak Burring. I'm Ben Dubos, your host, editor of USA
Today's Rockets Wire and a contributor to Sports Talk seven ninety,
official Flag Trip radio station of your Houston Rockets. Our
usual co host and producer, Palo Alves couldn't be here tonight,
but I'm hosting the show thee less because there's a
(01:01):
lot to talk about with your Houston Rockets. Honestly, it's
been a fantastic week since we last recorded. You have
to look at the macro first, and the Rockets are
now forty four and twenty five. They've won seven straight games,
longest winning streak of the season, just wrapped up a
perfect six and zero home stand during which they moved
up from number five in the Western Conference standings to
(01:23):
their current spot at number two. By the way, Rockets
are now twenty six to ten at who has near
this season, that's the fourth best home record in the
entire NBA. So knowing that it might make holding on
to that number two seed even more important since it
puts you in line to have home court advantage in
at least the first two rounds of the playoffs, assuming
you advance. Now, with all that said, I do want
(01:46):
to start by acknowledging the elephant in the room, and
that's that every team they've played in this winning streak
currently has a losing record. And while Monday's game against
Philly was absolutely insane and tied for the greatest comeback
in franchise history, reality is they also shouldn't have been
down twenty five points to a severely shorthanded Sixers team
in the first place. So, while certainly good and this
(02:09):
run has made them pretty much a playoff lock for
the first time in five years, let's keep it in perspective.
Beating the Bulls and the Sixers by less than five points. Well,
the Sixers game ended up being a seven point margin,
but come on, it was overtime. The point is it's
not the January stretch where you were going out and
beating the Cavs twice, the Grizzlies twice, the Celtics on
(02:31):
the road. By and large, this is just taking care
of business at home against the teams are supposed to beat,
even without himn Thompson, who by the way, it sounds
like he should be back from his ankle's frame within
the next few days. But even without Amen, the Rockets
are just better than these teams, and so there's no
parade here. They're just simply doing what they should do.
(02:53):
But before I look into some of the more serious
implications of what we've seen in recent days, I want
to start by talking about and highlighting just how absurd
that Philly game actually was, because for me, guys, I'm
forty years old, I really think that was one of
the five or so most bizarre sports games that I've
(03:15):
ever seen. Just think about all that happened in that one.
You fell behind by twenty five points to a team
consisting of mostly G leaguers, Yet to their credit, they
sure didn't play like it. They shot fifteen of twenty
four and threes in the first half. You'd legit be
stunned if the twenty seventeen Golden State Warriors went out
and did that against a bad team. Quinton Grimes was
(03:38):
playing like James Harden on the Unguardable Tour. Then you
had the Rockets overcoming the twenty five point deficit in
less than a quarter, only to have it balloon back
to ten in two minutes. Jalen Green dit a shoving technical.
They had two players get ejected in Tari Easton and
fred Enfleet. And by the way, the whole storyline with
fred was just ridiculous on so many levels. Seven point
(04:00):
swing on bad officiating with under ninety seconds to go,
and then somehow they erased an eight point deficit with
under a minute left. Your all star center in alfer
In Shangoon, who got benched for defensive purposes because the
Sixers were just so ridiculously and inexplicably good at playing
five out, came back in got the tying bucket almost
(04:22):
at the buzzer on a perfectly miss free throw by
Javorie Smith Junior. In his postgame press conference, Amyridoka called
it one of the best misses he's ever seen. Then
in overtime, you had Shoon immediately playing great after basically
being benched for a quarter and a half. Dylan fouled out,
and so at that point, when you lost Dylan Brooks,
you were down four players. You had the two attracted guys,
(04:44):
Dylan and also Aman Thompson because he was hurt. Shangoon
got called for one of the worst travels in NBA
history when the ball was clearly dislodged on his drive.
Rockets were close to put in the game away, and
Patrick Furtiita court side was as demonstratively angry I've ever
seen the guy, by the way. At least the NBA
did own up to that mistake in their last two
(05:05):
minute report. It's not much consolation, but I guess it's
better than nothing. And then the cherry on top of
the shit. Sunday, with under two minutes left and the
Rockets up three, the refs were about to put Philly
on the line for a non shooting foul before the
Toyota Center, PA announcer our good buddy, Jonathan Sanford Guy
put on a Superman cape and loudly announced to the
(05:27):
crowd that the Sixers were not over the foul of
it and that it was a side out. Eventually, they
got a right Sixers ended up missing on that possession,
the Rockets went down and scored and ultimately won the game.
So I don't want to make a mountain out of
a molehill out of that one game because the Rockets
were favored by sixteen for a reason, It's not one
that's going to go on your mount rushmore of favorite
(05:48):
wins as a fan, but just in terms of entertainment value,
that was one of the strangest games that I have
ever seen, and because of that, one of the most
memory ones as well, and for me at least, it's
always more memorable if you win. Anyway, the two guys
I want to spotlight on this mini pod, which will
(06:09):
be just me and Polo's absence, are Jalen Green and
Shabari Smith Junior. I'm not too focused on the Shingoon angle.
I think. I know on social media anything involving Alpa
always gets turned into a thing, But I really think
this was an outlier at a few levels. I think
certainly the way the Sixers were playing and shooting challenged
(06:31):
a lot of the Rockets. I think I have seen
some discussion of why was Shininggoon the only guy who
got pinched? I think a lot of it came down
to not just the defensive struggles against five out, but
that the Rockets down twenty five points felt like they
needed more spacing and shooting themselves on offense to overcome that.
(06:55):
And even though Philly ended up making twenty four threes,
I believe the Rockets made twenty two two and they
needed basically all of them. And so I think this
was a situation where once the Rockets were down that
much in the second half, emi Udoka not just wanted
the smaller lineup for defensive purposes in switching, but he
(07:16):
also wanted it for the sake of having more ability
to shoot threes at follow you offensively. It was going
to be tough to get back in the game just
playing through all Pern Shangoon on the low block once
you fell down by that amount with just twenty or
so minutes left to play. So I think this was
just a perfect storm outlier on a few levels, and
I wouldn't read too much into it, especially because Shinoon
(07:38):
had a good week before it. It was just a
weird matchup. The Sixers had no traditional big men because
they had eleven players out due to injury. Yet another storyline.
There Rockets playing basically a G League team, which is
why they were favored by sixteen over a Philly team
that entered the season with championship aspirations. They're obviously a
shell of that right now. But boy, what a bizarre
(08:00):
game that was on every level. And I just think
for Shongoon. I know there was frustration. You can see,
you know, some of the body language shards the end
of the game. It's not nothing, But I tend to
think once the Rockets get going tonight in Orlando that
this will be a footnote. This was an outlier. He's
been playing well. He's been on an upward trajectory really
(08:21):
since the All Star break. This was just a bizarre
matchup on a number of levels, and Hemyoudoka rode the
hot hand. And this is nothing new. I've seen some
talk of why didn't the Rockets go back to Shangoon
early in the fourth quarter. We've seen this time and
time again. Think the two Warriors games where the Rockets
came back from huge deposits. Didn't win either of them,
but nearly did playing guys like Nate Williams and Jay
(08:44):
Shawan Tait, who, by the way, against the six ers
just plus thirty and twenty two minutes. That speaks to
just how much the Rockets needed someone who had the
right competitive spirit and energy. I think to some degree,
Rockets were just on fumes playing their third game in
four nights and probably overlooked the sick. There's a little
bit as well. Jayshontet is a true pro. He's someone
that you can trust to at least take the game seriously,
(09:06):
and he has fresh legs because he hasn't been playing
a lot in recent weeks, and so I think that
shows just how effective the smaller lineup was. And I
tend to think as far as Shunghun, it's an outlier.
He's been better since the All Star break. Just a
weird game on mini levels, and once you get back
to a more traditional lineup and a more traditional opponent,
which I think the Magic tonight will be. Magic have
(09:27):
one of the top four defenses in the NBA along
with the Rockets. I think we'll look back at the
Philly game as a memorable, hilarious and at times maddening outlier,
but an outlier. Nonetheless, so in terms of how it
went down with Stringgun in particular, it's not something that's
going to go on his career highlight reel. But I
don't think it's a huge red flag either, just one
of those weird things that happens to everybody. I can
(09:49):
remember when James Harden was at or near his peak,
he had a few games where Mike D'Antoni didn't close
with him for one reason or another. This stuff just
happens over eighty two games. March can be funny in
the NBA because of all the weird dynamics, rosters, constantly
shifting teams, trying to load manage a little bit getting
ready for the playoffs, and fortunately the Rockets just bound
(10:11):
a way to get the win. Into Shinogoon's credit, even
though he didn't play for most of the second alf
when they were running out of bodies in overtime, he
did step up, played very well and had a key
role in getting the Rockets to the finish line. So
kudos to him for that. Anyway, for me, the big
story in this Philly game, and really for the wind
Streak overall, is Jalen Green. I want to start there
(10:34):
because if you go back to our archives and you
listen to our shows right after the amend injury, a
week or so ago, there was a conversation I shared
that I had had with someone inside the building who
had made the case that Jalen and Shangoon were the
two X factors during this stretch without men. My personal
inclination going into it was to say Chari Easan because
(10:55):
obviously he's the closest analog to a men in terms
of style of play, ended up being a men's direct
replacement in the starting lineup. But the way the Rockets
were looking at it is that Tari for the most part,
is somebody who just does what he does, and you're
just asking him to scale out his minutes a little bit.
It's Jalen and Alpi who are the variables. And then
when you lose him in probably your best overall player,
(11:18):
a huge floor racer because he's so good as a
two way guy, you really need your ceiling guys to
hit to offset that, and that's generally what's happened, with
both of those guys having a big week when their
team needed them. Again. I think the Shingoon game against
the Sixers was an outlier for a few reasons, and
aside from that, he's been very good since the All
(11:38):
Star break. But with Jalen, I think what we saw
from that game and really throughout the past week, it's
been special, particularly in light of some of the weaknesses
that he had early in his career. So are the
numbers the last four games. Jalen is averaging twenty seven
point six points, seven point three rebounds, six point three assists,
(12:00):
over forty four percent, shooting almost thirty nine percent on threes.
Rockets are obviously four to Zho, and Jeralen is plus
fifteen point five in his minutes. I should note that
coincides the return of Fred, and I do think that
Fred's generally very good at getting Shalen at basically everybody
the ball in the right spots, the right moments, right
time on the clock, those types of factors. There's a
(12:22):
reason we saw the numbers without Fred much more offensively
than defensively. But with Jalen specifically, there's just been a
few really encouraging things. We know, one of the big
criticisms of him, at least at times, it's been the
assist to turnover ratio. Well, in this stretch he's at
six point three assists and just two point three turnovers,
and he had a career high thirteen assists against Philly.
(12:46):
He's getting his teammates involved, he's doing it without accessibly
turning the ball over. And in fact, you could argue
that the stretch without Fred may have better positioned Jalen
to thrive as the lead ball handler in that he
got more used to doing the heavy lift, and now
that makes it easier for him to sort of take
advantage of Fred's gravity as a shooter and whatnot, because
(13:07):
Fred draws more attention than anyone else on that Houston
roster from a shooting perspective. And then beyond the assist
I think it's clear, you know, the defense and the rebounding,
those are continuing to improve. The plus minus set better
than plus fifteen. That speaks for itself. The rebounding over
seven per game, including against the Bulls, the winning put
back with fifteen seconds to play. By the way, say
(13:30):
what you will about Chicago, but they're inside the play
and field in the East. They had won four straight
games going in, and Jalen was lights out to close
that game, certainly in terms of making shots, but also
in terms of making passes and even crashing the glass
pretty much whatever his team needed down the stretch and
to me, the most important thing of all. He just
looks like a much tougher player physically but also mentally.
(13:55):
And that's where Monday comes into play, because it ties
into a broader trend. He was dreadful in that first
half against Philly. I think some of it may have
been that, you know, he took a knee to the
calf from Quinton Grimes early in that game, and he
was limping around some. But whatever the reason, he was terrible.
Five points, four assists, two of eleven shooting. The defense
(14:16):
from everybody was terrible. There's a reason the Sixers put
up seventy eight points in the first half, and then
from halftime onward, he was brilliant all NBA level twenty
five points, nine assists in the second half, in overtime,
shot better than fifty percent overall and forty five percent
from three guys. That's not easy to do. We've seen
in the past that Jalen can sort of shrug his
shoulders and accept that it's just not his night when
(14:39):
stuff goes poorly. It's something that even James Harden at
the peak of his powers, still had a tendency to do.
And yet it doesn't feel like Jalen's doing that anymore.
That's what a true alpha in the NBA needs to
do or not do. In this case, the highs have
always been there, and you know, to that point, the
rockets are now ten to zero this season when he
(14:59):
scores least thirty points. But the issue has always been
about mitigating the lows, and that's what it looks like
to me, is finally happening. His critics have always made
the point that the good stretches are unsustainable because they
depend on him shooting at a level that he can't
consistently do with volume. But now the formula is getting
a lot more diverse. So to circle back to the
(15:22):
original point, the person I talked to made the point
that Jalen and Shongoon were the guys who really needed
to answer the bell after a Men got hurt. Your
two fourth year guys that are in position to make
the leap what we all hoped for going into the season,
especially after they got their big contracts. And Jalen responded
with maybe his best week of the entire season, even
(15:45):
the Orlando game before that, which was the first that
a Men miss due to injury. I know it wasn't
great overall from an efficiency perspective, but he had twelve
five and five in the first half on great efficiency
against the league defense, and that's what let the Rockets
play with the lead almost the entire time. And so
that's why I think that all of this is so encouraging,
(16:06):
because what it all comes down to is that Jalen
is becoming a much more well rounded player and he's
not having those extreme peaks and valleys. He's providing value
in areas other than scoring. He's not turning the ball
over as much. He's doing it against both bad and
good defenses. We still don't know exactly what Jalen's going
(16:28):
to look like as a finished product, whether he can
consistently tap into that all Star even all NBA level gear.
But what I do know, and what I do like
heading into the playoffs is that it feels like the
gains where he's a zero, those are pretty much gone.
He's finding ways to consistently make an impact and honestly,
that's been the thing that's held him back for most
(16:49):
of his career. And yeah, you can say that this
winning streak has all come against sub five hundred teams, fair,
but being able to stack good games. That's not easy
to do no matter who you play. You look at
Monday's game against the Sixers, third game in four nights,
lots of tanks were on empty. Jalen clearly was limping
(17:09):
around early in the game after bruising this calf. He
had the sleeve on it, so I'm guessing it sort
of hit at what was already at issue, and yet
he was out there playing over forty five minutes, gave
it everything he had. He only sat out two minutes
in the second half in overtime combined, I think it
was those two minutes at the start of the fourth
where the Sixers pushed what was a tie game back
(17:30):
out to ten, and the Rockets realized, well, we can't
function without Jalen. We got to put him back out there,
and he delivered. He left everything on the floor. And
so I think what you're seeing at twenty three years old,
he's just a much more mature, confident, and consistent player
relative to the first three even three and a half
(17:51):
seasons of his NBA career. And if you get that
version of Jalen combined with the top five defense, you've
got a chance against pretty much anybody. You can potentially
play in the playoffs. Maybe the thunder are the lone
exception just because they're insanely good. But who knows, maybe
you get lucky and you don't even draw them. I
think I'll defer the playoff talk for later in the
(18:14):
month when the standings become more clear. By the way,
aside from the Rockets getting to two, the fact that
both the Warriors and Timberwolves had a loss put on
their ledgers on Monday night was huge, giving the Rockets
another game of separation relative to teams at six and
seven and potentially the play in range. Again. At this point,
the Rockets have built up a buffer to the point
where they shouldn't be sweating it down the home stretch
(18:36):
of the year, at least getting in the playoffs. The
more difficult close to the season is going to be
more relative to what seed they are in the top
six and who they potentially play, and so there's going
to be some interesting discussions about where the Rockets should
go to optimize their success or their chances at success
in the playoffs. And again i'll table that for a
(18:59):
show later in the month, because I want to get
more intel about how the standings look there's still a
lot of volatility all the way from two down to seven.
There's not a huge degree of separation. And also the
Rockets are getting to a point where their home success
is hard to ignore. So you're twenty six and ten
(19:19):
at home, but just eighteen and fifteen on the road,
and the splits are getting larger as the year progresses.
They just wrapped up a perfect six and oh home stand.
They had that terrible road losing streak early in February.
At some point, even if it's a tougher matchup, if
you can get in line to host not just one,
but at least two playoff series, to have homecourt advantage
(19:40):
game one, Game two, Game five, game seven, if the
Rockets continue to be that much better at home, and
Jibori gave a shout out to the fans at two
toison or more and Gabori in just a second after
Monday's game, that's something that can't be dismissed. We're not
there yet. We'll see how the Rockets fare. They do
us some road games coming up, including two in Florida
this weeking into the Magic and the heat, so perhaps
(20:00):
the Rockets get some victories on the road, but I
do think even if the matchup in round one is
a little more difficult, if you can get home court
advantage and potentially be on the other side of the
bracket from the Thunder, so that the Thunder have to
play two rounds before you could actually go up against them,
and who knows, maybe you get lucky and they somehow lose,
or they have an injury or two in those first
(20:22):
two rounds. Maybe something happens to where either you don't
face them. Think let's see All's SuperSonics. When the Rockets
made their first championship run in ninety four, they were
one seed, nobody thought they could eat them. Well, they
lost to the eight seed in round one and the
rest is history. Not saying that's gonna happen, but if
you're on the opposite side of the bracket from the
Thunder and you can't play them until at least the
conference finals, crazier things have happened. And so getting on
(20:44):
the opposite side of the bracket from OKC and getting
home court advantage and at least one round that may
be something for the Rockets to consider as they get
down the home stretch of this season, even if it
draws them what could be a slightly tougher matchup in
Round one, a team like Golden State or Minnesota. Not
saying it's a slam dunk case, just something that as
the Rockets continue to stack home wins and with the
(21:04):
thunder looking as great as they do, it might be
something to consider. But I'll do a deeper dive on
that later in the month with Powlos, so we can
get multiple perspectives and we can get a little more
concrete intel as far as what the standings are looking
like and what the various options are depending on you know, ah,
are the Rockets at two, three, four, five or six,
and so at that point, the Rockets will have a
(21:25):
much better idea of you know, if we load manage,
so to speak, in a couple of games, what the
likely draw would be if they fall back a seed
or two, or conversely, if they go balls to the
wall to try and win every game, Well, what the
reward would be if they actually get to the two line.
And by the way, should point out that if the
(21:45):
Rockets are the two, it's not a guarantee that they
would play the Timberwolves because of the plan tournament. If
the Timberwolves to play at seven, or say at seven
excuse me, or the Warriors if they drop to seven
and fall below the Timberwolves. Because the seven plays the eight,
you could easily have the eight seed, which right now
is the LA Clippers. James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are
Hall of famers. You could easily have a scenario where
(22:07):
one of those two guys or both goes off wins
at Minnesota or at Golden State in a one game
winner take all in the playing tournament and gets the
seventh seed, and then you're playing the Clippers. So that's
a factor to consider as well. And the Rockets are
three to zer against the Clippers this year. That looks
like a very good matchup, with Houston's athleticism giving them
a lot of problems. So it's still somewhat conditional for
(22:29):
me based on exactly who is in each slot. But
the more the Rockets win home games, and the more
I think about the advantages of being on the opposite
side of the bracket from ok see, there might be a
benefit to them being aggressive and trying to hold on
to ideally the two seed, but at least a top
three seed. By the way, it'd be cool to get
another division title. Rockets only had eight in franchise history,
(22:52):
none since that twenty nineteen to twenty twenty team, which
is also the last Rockets team to make the playoffs.
If you win the division, it inherently means you I
had a Memphis. It helps you out with tiebreakers because
in situations where there's a split like there is with Minnesota,
than division winners one of the first ties. So yeah,
add another line to that division titles banner Inteyota Center.
(23:14):
Get yourself home court advantage and at least one, probably
two rounds, because if you're head of Memphis, you're probably
going to be in the top four. Good chance for
second or third like you are now. There's a lot
to think about again, more on that later in the month.
Just something to sort of keep your eyes peeled for
as you're watching these other games around the NBA. Anyway,
(23:35):
as far as guys that have stood out to me
the past week and especially this bizarre game against Philly,
Jalen to me is obviously the headliner, but the other
guy that I think deserves his flowers is Shabari Smith Junior,
who against the Sixers was just brilliant. Thirty points off
the bench, he was the guy who it felt like
(23:55):
in the fourth quarter every time the Rockets are on
the verge of it getting away from them, made a
big shot to where they stayed just close enough to
have a chance, and then ultimately the Rockets went on
that ten to run in the final minute of regulation,
got it to overtime, and the rest is history and
port Jabari beyond making all the threes, I believe he
had five in total. Also, that ridiculously good missed free throw.
(24:18):
That was incredible. I'd say that's the best missed free throw.
It's e mystery. But I think another angle with Jabari
and Powlo alluded to this on one of our recent pods.
There's a case to be made that he's a better
player off the bench because his role was more simplified,
and the numbers bear that out. It's still a small sample,
(24:39):
but entering Wednesday, he's played thirty nine games as a starter,
averaging eleven point eight points, six point seven rebounds in
thirty one minutes, forty one point three percent shooting thirty
four point six percent on threes, plus minus a plus
two point five. In eight games is reserve, he's averaging
fourteen point three points six point eight rebounds and thirty
(24:59):
minutes for more points, more rebounds even in slightly reduced minutes,
and way better efficiency fifty one point two percent shooting,
thirty six point six percent on threes, plus minus of
plus seven point nine, and it's very intriguing. You can
see that Emao Ujoka is emphasizing this because even in
this stretch with the Men Thompson out, the Rockets have
(25:19):
made it a point to start Tari Easton. I believe
because of the consistency of role argument that you know
Tari's someone and I used the phrase he does what
he does earlier. I think I said it on the
last pot as well. He's going to play the way
he plays regardless of the role. And he's also a
fairly close analog to a Men Thompson in terms of
(25:40):
how he plays with the other four starters. Shabari is
someone who depending on how a game is going for
him and who he's playing alongside, you can often see
very different versions of him. And so I think the
Rockets want to get him into a routine and I
think what changes for when he comes off the bench
(26:01):
he looks to be much more assertive offensively it looks
like he knows where he fits within the pack. And
even though in these bench units, yeah, I know, sometimes
he's still playing alongside a lot of the starters. And
you know, Jalen did a great job, I thought, getting
Jewbari going against the sixers with the pick and roll game,
getting going downhill a few times. But generally, the way
(26:24):
it works in the NBA, you're six man when he
comes in midway through the first and third quarters, even
if he's playing alongside a few starters, that sixth man
sort of takes the keys of the offense because it's
understood that a lot of those starters, even if they're
still out there, their legs are a little tired because
they've been playing for a while, whereas the sixth man
(26:44):
is more fresh, and so Jabari goes out there and
he's more aggressively hunting his offense. And that's the untapped potential.
And yere three, at twenty one years old, he's already
done a lot Jabari that is defensively and in terms
of rebounding. You can look at the on off splitch.
You could look at the six weeks he missed while
injured earlier this year and see just how valuable he
(27:06):
is on those ends of the court. It's offense. It's
that end where there are games where he's really good,
and there's games where it feels like he just transitions
to a secondary role and it's just camped out in
the corner or on the wing. And you know, some
of the good games, which is bad games comes down
(27:28):
to does the ball go in the bucket. That's always
true to an extent, but with Jabari, beyond that, it's
also a matter of confidence. It's a matter of feeling
empowered and for whatever reason, when he plays alongside the starters,
if he gets going early in a game, then yeah,
the Rockets will feed him and you can see his
confidence grow. But if he has a bad start, you
(27:51):
often see him retreat into the background and give more
usage raps to guys like Shalen and Shingoon and Fred
now that he's back and a men once a men
comes back, or Dylan even by the way, Dylan had
twenty five, five and five for the first time in
his NBA career against the six Ers. He's had such
a good shooting season. That's been a big part of
(28:12):
how the Rockets have survived this stretch. Where they're getting
back to their top five defense now, but earlier this
year when the injury said it was a struggle defensively,
they weren't what they've been for the season overall, and
they simply shot well enough to overcome it. Dylan was
a big part of that, and he did the same
on Monday, where for various reasons, the Rockets certainly did
not defend like a top five unit against the Sixers,
(28:34):
giving up eighty eight points in the first twenty six
minutes of the game, but led by guys like Dylan Brooks,
they shot well enough, made enough threes to stay in it,
and then finally down the stretch of the game they
had enough plays not just offensively, but defensively as well
to get to the finish line. Anyway, this is meant
to be about Jabbari and how this all ties into him.
A lot of the time when he's playing alongside those starters,
(28:56):
he can be deferential well. When he comes off the bench,
certainly he's the best player from an offensive and creation
standpoint amongst the guys that comes off the bench, but
beyond that, even in the minutes where he's with the starters,
because he's a little bit fresher, and it's a new
look for the opposing defense. It's understandable that you'll give
(29:17):
Jabaris some more touch, and it just looks like to
me that he is a much more confident player in
this six man role. Now, I'm not saying it's going
to be anything permanent again, just twenty one years old,
year three. It may be that in a year or
two he's much more secure in who he is as
a player. He has his footing in the league. He's
a clear above average player and this is all a
(29:39):
non issue because he knows who he is. But right
now he's still establishing his value alongside a lot of
players on the Rockets who you know, Houston may not
have any proven great players at this point, but they
have a lot of proven good ones. And so when
you have a lot of guys at similar points in
their careers who are all respect each other's abilities, it
(30:03):
can be difficult. It can be a fine line to
walk between wanting to give yourself enough opportunities to you know,
have the sample size even out, eventually, get some shots
to fall, get some momentum, while also giving your teammates
a chance to get going and perhaps ride to hot
hand that gives you or may give you a better
shot to win a given game. In a playoff race
(30:24):
where every game matters, it's a very fine line to walk.
And even if the Rockets aren't super deep from the
standpoint of oh, they are playing ten to eleven guys. No,
in terms of the rotation, it's a pretty consistent eight
or nine. But when you look at who's doing the
heavy lifting, especially on the offensive end of the court,
it's not like there's a clear one A or even
(30:47):
one B. There's a lot of variance, and so I
think with Jabari he's someone because his profile isn't as
on ball as someone like Jalen or Shingoon, it's easier
for him to sort of retreat into the background and
not do everything that he's capable of doing, especially if
he's just not feeling like this is his nine as
(31:09):
opposed to when he's the six men, it looks like
he's more empowered, like he has no choice but to
come out and be aggressive because that's what the role needs.
And I think it plays into bringing out the best
version of Jabari's Smith Junior, because again, the defense is
there no matter what the impact on rebounding is there
no matter what, The untapped potential for Jabari with this
(31:31):
team is about the offensive end of the court. And
for again, it's hard to put my finger on exactly why.
I think it's probably a combination of things, but it
just feels like for right now, the six man role
is it for him. It brings out the best version.
I think Imyridoka clearly sees it. That's why it's been
Tari filling in for a men and not Jabari in
(31:52):
the starting lineup. And that doesn't mean Jabari's going to
be a six man for his career. It could be just,
you know, a perfect storm set of circumstances, says at
twenty one years old in year three and alongside a
pretty deep team in Houston of good players but without
any great players, all trying or most of them trying,
at least in terms of the young core to establish
their footing and prove who they are. This may be
(32:14):
a non issue in a year or two, but for
right now, for this particular team, the sample size is
getting to a point where at eight games accounting, I
think sixth man Jabari is probably the best version of Jabari,
and so kudos to the Rockets for having the vision
over the Alsto break. I'm sure they had some hard
conversations internally about with Shabari coming back from injury, Frank
(32:34):
coming back from injury and then playing so well, what's
going to make the most sense. It looks like to
me they made the right choice of bringing Jabari off
the bench because this is just a much better version
of Jabari offensively. This is the area of untapped potential
for him, and so I'm happy for Jabari that he's
(32:55):
gotten going. But I also think it speaks well of
the Rockets that I think they anticipated a lot of
this and through eight games, not a massive sample, but
not its significant, not an insignificant one either. It seems
to be playing out very favorably now. Closing thoughts, most
(33:17):
of the spot has been positive because look, they've won
seven straight games, and a couple of your young prospects
we've taken a lot of criticism, Jalen Green, Roycemi Junior
have taken leaps over this stretch and are looking really good.
So I think it's natural that most of the discussion
is going to be positive. The vibes are immaculate right now.
(33:37):
But the one bit of cold water, I'll throw you
are seeing that this Rockets team does not have the
clear A one. Their success without a men Thompson, their
success without all per inchin Goon against the Sixers. Those
are the closest things to proven star that the Rockets have.
(34:02):
I know it's from a weaker stretch of the schedule,
but the Men Thompson is probably their best player, and
the Rockets just went five to zero in a week
without him, even with some tired legs. Alpha and Shangoon
was an All Star this year, and yet the Rockets
just overcame a twenty five point deficit mostly without him.
That should show you that this team, and you know
(34:23):
it speaks well to the depth. There's a lot of
good players who can step up on a given night.
But it also should remind you that there's not that
clear A one. And so for right now, it's fine.
You're stacking wins. They're proving they can win in different ways.
Maybe it makes them a more difficult scout in the playoffs,
(34:45):
that's good. And perhaps Jalen is turning into something closer
to that A one. That's the hope. Not nearly there
yet as far as the sample, but you know we
can hope, but if the playoff run goes poorly, this
is something that will remind you that even the best
players on this team, we get excited by them, and
we should be, especially given how young they are. But
Shamoon's not a perfect player. A men's not a perfect player.
(35:08):
The Rockets are still able to win without them, and
you know, it's good in that it speaks to the
depth of good players on this team, but I think
it also speaks to the fact that this team doesn't
have anything close to, at least historically, what you need
at the NBA level to contend for a championship, which
is a top ten, top fifteen level player. The production
(35:29):
of the Rockets, even when these guys are the lineup,
should show you that, while good, they're flawed. There's a
reason why the Rockets have not had a huge decline
and their efficiency on either end of the court when
these guys aren't out there, And so I think that's
mostly good. But the one small bit of cold water
that I will throw on this is that it's a
reminder that, hey, while you have a lot of good players,
(35:53):
none of them are great players yet, and maybe the
Rockets aren't outlier, maybe the Rockets. You know, this approach
of sometimes me, some times you always us. Maybe it
works in the playoffs, or maybe somebody takes their game
to a new level. That's the whole point of getting
to the playoffs and stress testing these young guys under
the bright lights and seeing what happens. But if it
(36:14):
goes poorly, and it might because they're young, it can
also be a reminder that while there's a lot of
good players, there's not, at least not yet a great
player or anything close to that, and so that might
be the type of thing that prompts you to be
a little bit more aggressive in offseason trade talks. Should
a really prove an All Star or all NBA level
(36:36):
player come available, don't know who that would be, don't
know that it will happen, And hopefully the Rockets go
out and have, you know, not just a strong end
of the regular season, but a strong playoff run to
the point where we're looking at guys like Shamgoun or
men or Jalen and saying, hey, we don't need to
go externally for a big move because we feel like
they're on the right track. There's still plenty of time
a time my guys that are twenty two to twenty
three years old. But the one you know, it's class
(36:59):
how full, class half empty? The glass half full way,
as man, the Rockets are winning games even with these
guys out or playing poorly or having a bad matchup.
But there's also a glass half empty way you can
look at it, which is that the fact that the
Rockets are able to win these types of games even
without or with limited versions of some of the closest
(37:21):
things to stars on this roster should tell you that,
at least right now, they're not really stars. And so
if the playoffs go poorly and if the right player
comes available in the off season, that might be something
you have to think about, depending on you know, of course, age,
contractional alignment. There's a lot of factors. We can talk
about that more in the offseason, but historically you tend
(37:45):
to need at least one top ten, top fifteen level
player to get to that championship level. I don't think
the Rockets have anything close to that on the roster
right now. That's not to say that they don't have
players on the roster that could become that in time.
There's absolutely hope for that but I think the performances
without Amen, the ability to succeed without Shoon, and of
(38:07):
course they've succeeded without Jalen, although it seems like he's
becoming a more indispensable part of the formula as the
season progresses. It tells you that there is some growing
at least in terms of that all NBA level still
to go. And so that's something to just sort of
keep in the back of your mind as you go
down the home stretch of the season, get to the playoffs.
If things go poorly and if the right player comes
(38:29):
available in the offseason, this might be a distracted you
look back on and say, hmm, this is a reminder
of while the team overall is certainly very good, there's
a lot of depth. There's a lot of quality players
up and down the roster. None of them are to
that level or anything close just yet to where they
can carry the team. And perhaps that's something the Rockets
(38:49):
have to look extremely to get. I hope that's not
the case, Just saying it's something to keep in the
back of your mind. Anyway, That's where I'll wrap things
for today. And if you want more content before an
next sho that's supposed to get it is online. Of course,
you can follow me on Twitter x at Fendubo's got
my lovely officiating rants every game. As they get more meaningful,
I'm sure you can expect more of those, and of
course this show at the Logger Line where if you
(39:12):
go to the logger Lines page on Twitter slash x,
you can find our link tree which has links to
distribution partners like Apple, Google and Spotify. If you be
kind of subscribe, leave posit review at your location of choice,
we would greatly appreciate that. And also on that same
link tree you can find links to friends, sponsors partners
of the program, USA Today's Rockets, Wire carbok Prowing, Sports
(39:32):
Talk seven ninety. You have those links and you can
enjoy their content as well. All right, with those flies complete,
I will adjourn for today. Appreciate you guys as always
for listening, and please come back soon for another new
episode of the Logger Line
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