Jalen Green & Fred VanVleet Combine For 75 Points As Houston Rockets COOK Utah Jazz With Threes

On today's show, the Houston Rockets hit every three-pointer against the Utah Jazz, they absolutely

cook

ed them. Jaylen Green is on his way to his second NBA Player of the Week award. Uncle Jeff Green is going back in time and much more is yet to come. up here locked in Rockets this is Mission Control Houston power up sequence home 6 5 4 3 2 1 what's up and welcome to another edition of lock down Rockets your daily podcast home for all Houston Rockets basketball as always I'm your native host by Jackson Gatlin Member of the Houston media and with credentials. I am also the host of Locked on NBA Mondays.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter at JT Gatlin and the show, of course, at Lockon Rockets, free and available wherever you listen to your podcast, including YouTube. Now comes today's episode. to you by prize pic, the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports, visit price.com lockon NBA and use the lowercase code locked on NBA for a first deposit of up to $100 and as always, thank you very much for block it. Rockets are part of your day every day, thanks for being there every day or whether it's on your way to work during your lunch break at the gym, thanks for making the show a part of your day every day, join us us now to analyze the five. alarm fire that occurred at the Toyota Center on Saturday night when the Houston Rockets completely burned you Utah Jazz is none other than your weekly co-host Madison Moore, you can track him on Twitter at Madman Leaks Madison, the Rockets just completely burned against the Utah Jazz behind a mountain of three-pointers, they hit 27 of 49 from long distance, one of the best displays of three-point shooting in NBA history.

TI is tied for the fourth most three-pointers made all-time in any game in NBA history. Second most in Rockets history. Easily most of this season this was the game that ended when it felt like this game was over at the end of the first quarter like the Jazz were so demoralized and out of their depth at the end of that first quarter 47

points

were hanging on them in first quarter 4721 this game was over after 12 minutes man yeah no the Rockets went absolutely nuclear especially their backcourt so when the Rockets shoot so well from three there's really nothing you can do about it respect and with the Utah Jazz being one. of a tank team right now, um, it was kind of a curtain call after that first quarter.

I mean, hanging 47 in a quarter is absolutely ridiculous and they did it not only with three-point shooting but with defense and going out and running with inre with increase. Pace I thought their pace was really good and they really took advantage of Utah's inability to get back or properly find their man. There were several times where even when they tried to come back they just couldn't find who, who, who, the guard, uh, and often two or three players stopped the ball leaving one guy running to make a layup and that's it, it was good to see the Rockets finally on the other side of these winning games with these blowout wins and the Rockets are basically doing exactly what they're supposed to do when playing lesser teams: they're taking care of business and they're doing it early and They're doing it effectively and convincingly, so it's really good to see them taking care of business like this one you mentioned. guys running for open layups, how about guys just coming up for open

threes

in transition?

In this game it felt like again it really felt like the Jazz had completely given up, as you know, in this game now I'll say Maybe not maybe I didn't completely give up because they played them a little close there. in that second quarter. The second and third quarter are a little bit close there, but there was a big discrepancy there in that first frame where the Rockets just had this huge one. they increased the lead and were able to keep the score moving the rest of the way and they did it with that barrage of

threes

mentioned as the biggest contributors in this game, obviously the backourt was sensational in this one, Jaylen Green had 41 Fred Vanet. he had 34 and then a shout out to Uncle Jeff Green who came off the bench and scored 21

points

.

I actually can't say for sure if that's his career record with the Houston Rockets, since he played with the Rockets during that little time in the bub. once before, so I'm not 100% sure if he had, he broke 21 back then, but it's definitely a season high for Jeff Green, uh, 21.7 of 14 shots, let's talk about how he stepped up to the plate, uh, in absentia. from Jabari Smith Jr after his little uh I guess what happened with Jabari and Chris did well they got into this before really like this is like a lingering beef and this isn't like the Rockets just played against the Jazz yesterday and they're like they're fresh and they said they played them in what was October November and they're still mad at each other bro it's a problem for me it was also funny because it was like the start of a quarter. like so, it's not like there wasn't even a real game that had just been played, the cameras weren't even ready for what had happened, like we were trying to get started and these guys are already fighting, man, but yeah.

I mean, I guess that's another story, but again it's part of the Rockets' new toughness, so I guess that's what we'll call it okay and you know, let's touch on what happened with Jabari the unfortunate. The repercussions of that are that he will serve a one-game suspension for the Rockets next Monday night's game against the Portland Trailblazers. What that means for this team, we'll get to that a little bit later in the show and We also want to talk about Jeff Green, who turned back the clock because he was sensational in this game as well, but Madison, one thing that really stands out about this team and it's something that St has stood out since the post-All-Star break, is their identity has really changed to where before the All-Star break, this team had a lot of ugly wins.

Oka talked about having many uneven wins, and rarely, if ever, prioritizing his three-point shooting, he was actually kind. It's mind-boggling how in today's NBA, you know, the year of our Lord 2024 2023. I guess for the first half of the season, the Rockets weren't shooting enough threes like they were getting blown out by other teams. Now the Rockets are actually the ones doing the math damage in these games the Rockets made 27 threes in this game the Rockets have now made 15 plus threes in nine of the last 20 games after doing it just eight times in the first 50 games this season That shows the discrepancy and how they were playing earlier this season, they weren't prioritizing the Three.

And even the threes they were getting they weren't hitting them, now they're making an effort to really prioritize the three balls and they're hitting them at a much better rate this way, yeah, I think the Rockets have not only identified that the math is something you've been pointing out a lot about us identifying that mathematical inconsistency that we needed to address and Now that we've added it, to me it also comes with even more passes. I think the ball movement has allowed for more open threes and better shots and since they've done that, they've gotten better and better at generating open threes um and I think the beneficiaries have been primarily Fred Van Jaylen Green and uh uh sorry Jeff Green. just like Jeff Green has gone nuclear from three and I and I like a lot of the shots that he's getting that he's making open shots and like tonight we had 31 assists we had 31 assists tonight and that's just a great move from the ball this team is playing for each other they are not stagnating and uh even though everyone likes a game like this when the guys are hot you can see the guys start making stats.

But that's true, these guys aren't playing good enough defense, let me go get mine. Let me go. Write down the stats, but that's not what happened, the Rockets actually moved the ball very well. and a lot of the buckets and three-pointers we saw were assisted and you also see that in a game like this, right? You tend to see that sometimes teams often ease off, you know, let off the gas. They'll get lazy, they'll stop trying on defense, they'll start getting sloppy on offense, we didn't see it, the Rockets continue to execute, they continue to make shots, things looked good offensively, they stagnated a little bit.

A couple of points, but you know that happens within the given flow of a game, you're going to go through some droughts where you know the bucket shots just aren't going to fall and then, but most importantly be defensive, they got locked in. defensively. Even though the Jazz were able to go toe-to-toe with them scoring the rest of the way, it wasn't for lack of effort, it wasn't like the Rockets were just oh, we're up 30, who cares? like they were locked in and committed on every possession, there was one, in the third quarter, where Jaylen Green like the Rockets were up like 30 and Jayen Green took over Taylor Hendrick like you know, 25 feet away from the basket and was forced to turn the ball over and it's like you, you don't have to do that when you're up 30, but that just shows the mentality and the advantage of this team and even in a moment where I think they called a timeout, like when they cut Jazz. take it to 27 or something and that's like coming straight out of Greg Papovich's coaching tree, right to call a timeout angrily when you're up 27 and say no this is unacceptable, right defensive collapse to 27, no we can't let that we.

We're going to go back there and we're going to do what we're supposed to do next. We want to talk about Jaylen Green and Fred Van examining their game specifically from this one combining for 75 points. an absurd performance by the Rockets, a backcourt and Jaylen Green on his way to his second straight player of the week award, has to be an absolute lock for another player of the week award, uh, we'll get there in just one . First moment Today's episode is presented by Robin Hood. Did you know that even if you have a 401k for retirement, you can still have an IRA?

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At the prices you want, it's easy to turn your car into the MVP and take home that profit. Keep your ride or live at ebaymotors.com Exclusion of eligible items only eBay Guaranteed Fitment Supply available to US customers only and continues here on locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for all Houston Rockets basketball now I already mentioned it Jaylen Green on this game 41 points Fred vanet 34 points

combine

d for 75 in the backourt uh Fred vanet just one triple short of matching his career high from being from Beyond The Arc uh, he scored 10 of 15, 11 is his career high, Jaylen

green

, seven of 11 from the three-point line, but for Jaylen in this game, Madison and kind of an extension of his game lately, first of his averages from last week are absolutely crazy, he averaged 36 points 30 36.3 points six rebounds 3.3 assists a steal just undera shooting block of 57% from the floor 50% from three and 81% from the free throw line this past week in three games absolutely has to be a lock for the player of the week award again after getting the first last week, yeah, I mean, I think he's forcing his hand with this dog like you, you can't, you can't, not pick Jaylen Green, especially since we went undefeated. in that stretch and that's one of the biggest requirements and I'm sure there won't be a team with a better record and a better um what do you call it stack profile like Jaylen was this week and I was really proud. from Jaylen, I mean, he was on fire tonight, but you saw he still allows other guys to get involved and lets this offense flow a lot of times when guys are on fire like that, you can see them really go hunting for shots and I thought that Jaylen picked his spots tonight.

I thought Jaylen scored when, when he needed to score, there was something you talked about in the third quarter, there was kind of a stop-and-go offense and while the team was going on to other things, they were trying other things, other ways to get the bucket and Jayla just stayed patient, but then when she realized, hey, you know these guys, I think they cut him to 24 22 um from 30 32 something like that and Jaylen just took it upon himself to take down two three three more and back to back like steps back that he himself generated and then he had the uh no, I apologize, the first one was a step back and then a then.

There were two back to back in transition right where the trailer was and all three were in the exact same spot on the floor, on the right wing, where he just stepped back, one then took the trailer and another, it was a quick nine. points at the end of the third quarter just so you know, get that lead balloon back to 30 more, yeah man, it was really good to see because that's what I want from my star player, you know, these are the moments like, no let's play these guys, let's put them aside so you know you can start the fourth quarter and you don't even have to play like this, this was the kind of game where you don't.

He had to play in the fourth Jaylen played in the fourth so he could get his 40th piece, which was very easy for him, so he got his piece, but he didn't have to play in that fourth and that was it and that was it. because of his prowess as a star to keep that game, keep the game, you know, way off the lead, excuse me, he leads by 30 or so, so thank eem for letting him, as we've seen this a couple of times. Sometimes when I know you've got a young 22-year-old guy who's chasing career highs, chasing numbers, and it looks like you've done all the dirty work, you've done everything you're supposed to do in the three and half a quarter to that point three quarters whatever, let him go look up stats a little okay, there's nothing wrong with that shout out to eem for not being a total idiot and being like no game is over, sit on the bench, you know it's it's good to let Jaylen come out and do his thing a little bit on top of the fourth quarter side note.

I want to highlight that offensive foul they called on him at the top of the fourth quarter, complete BS like if you've ever played a day in your life, you know when you move at the speed that Jaylen moves at and you fade your B like Your legs will swing a little under you, now I get it, I get it. You're the NBA, you've got to cut down on offensive fouls, swing kicks, all that, but that wasn't Jaylen going up like he was standing still, catching and shooting a three or a set shot where he then intentionally kicked the leg that was was fading.

Of course there will be some movement and of course his leg is going to kick, this happens all the time and in fact a few possessions later when he got his last basket of the game he faded and his leg kicked again. I'm so glad you brought this up because it's a point I've wanted to make for so long that this whole rule about the kick out is because it's an unnatural move, but this is not an unnatural move if you're fading, especially when there's a lot of footage, especially when Jaylen is fading, like he's doing a movement to the right or to the left, so sometimes he takes a step back where he comes right back, but if he takes a step back, it's from side to side. side, he often kicks that leg the moment his momentum takes him, it's a natural natural movement, now I understand that the league doesn't want to call fouls for that, it's okay to have that as no. call, you know what I mean, it's okay to have a no decision and the guys go down, it's incidental contact due to fading.

You see what I'm saying because both players are making natural attempts, so I'm fine with that, but it has to stop, the league has to review that that's something they need to bite in the ass and push harder. I think the Rockets should maybe send a video to the league office explaining this because this is a great opportunity for Jaylen. great shot for him and it's a rhythm shot for him and it's one that he hits a high percentage on, so it's very important that the Rockets established that type of shot is a natural shooting motion at least for Jaylen, but I think it should be adopted for the larger League in general.

You know, one thing that really stood out to me about Jaylen in this game, specifically first, you know he and Fred got off to a really good start. Fred got 17 of his points in that first one. fourth Jaylen had 13 in the first quarter, but I loved Jaylen's kind of shooting profile in the first quarter, where even though he's been shooting the ball incredibly well since Beyond The Arc for a while, he's not settling on his own with triples, it is not. he's not just like oh, I'm, you know I've got it or I've been on fire since three, I'm just going to open up and start, you know, picking up three to start the game, no, he's been in attack mode for several weeks. in a row since we talked about it, we talked about how he's getting more comfortable shifting the Tempo using his speed to get to the rim protecting the Defenders, all the little things that he's finally integrating into his driving package, where you are now.

I'm watching him finish at an elite pace in and around the rim and in the paint and I love where he started this game. He was six for eight in the first quarter, he only took two threes, so he was getting it in and around the rim and it's funny because it was kind of the reverse, we've talked about how when his three balls fall, it opens up the rest of his game because then you can drive past your defender. I felt like this was kind of the opposite of that in this game where he was attacking so much early on that he forced defenders to back off in front of him because no one can stay on Jaylen.

He has a lightning-fast first step, so there were points later in the game where the guys went down. on the screens they were backing off and giving him too much space on the three-point line, he was like, okay, great, you're going to give me the space. I did my job early, now I can start shooting and that's when he started. go crazy from long range yeah that's the game within the game that's the point of being a complete all round player and I love that Jayen is starting to get into rhythm in different ways like you said I think that rhythm needs start and it died out and that's what we saw.

I think Jaylen's first shot of the game was a three and then he had one of the threes he made, but I constantly feel like he got into the rhythm by running hard in transition. he got two easy early dunks and he and he had another end side and that's the early dunks of the little Showtime Rockets between Jaylen and a lover watching the transition man playing, it's a lot of fun, yeah, a lot of fun, I mean those I want I mean, the future is bright for our transition game, no doubt, but yes, it is, but it's just about Jaylen establishing his rhythm early inside the arc so he can grow outside the arc and grow his game, but as you said, that's why He allowed those three to be a little more open.

I also want to highlight here. I know Fred Van had a crazy game and at any point this season, I feel like we could highlight Fred's importance to this team, obviously, you know when. scores 34 and lights up from three like he was in this game, that's cool, that's funny, he even joked about it after the game saying that, uh, he said, "Make sure you tell everyone it's because we didn't." We haven't shot a day, that's why we shoot the ball so well, so, hey, if you're listening, man, you cancel shots for the rest of the year because clearly they could shoot better without it, um, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. but Fred is very important to this team man and just seeing the ways that this team has been able to evolve and use him in a variety of different ways right where he can step up and be the scorer like he was in this game where he was, I mean, he was bombing some like Steph Curry, like deep threes from way beyond that, like some crazy heat control threes in this game, he was clearly on one, he was feeling it very early, but right, Fred has been whatever.

The team has needed him to be there all season long, whether he's going to be the floor general, put up 10, you know, 15 assists, whatever it is and make sure everyone's involved or if he needs to make some shots timely, as it should be. the steady hand in the fourth quarter calms everything down, he made a couple of clutch jumpers, he's been that guy, he's been the one on the floor of the ball. General, he's been the off-ball decoy, the floor spacer when Jaylen and my guys run the offense and he really makes me think. Obviously, the Rockets had a very important decision making this past offseason, going after James Harden, going after Fred Van, vet right and that was a big discussion among Rockets fans, a lot of people wanted James Harden back and a lot People were very against it. the idea of ​​bringing back James Harden and I think so this team clearly had the right vision, they really wanted the success of this team to be based on internal growth and youth development and Fred has enabled that. it's going to happen perfectly because it fits wherever you need it to be on the court, you don't get this version of this Rockets team with James Harden, you're not worth every penny, that's it, and then some AB is worth every penny and then Some of it is what F van Le has been to this team because there was a specific role that Fred had to balance on when to be the guy that gives more and when to give less and you explained all of those roles that Fred Van looks at.

It had to be for this team. It's very difficult to become all those things for a team in the season, to feel how a game is going and know what the team needs from you at that moment and change your role. on a dime, that's why we paid Max Money, we paid Max Money to play that role and what allowed the guys to develop naturally within a winning context, allowed us to film these guys, see, see what their weaknesses what his strengths are allows us to see what this team is really going to be like and he's grown in Courage and me and we're not even talking about leadership like the off the court leadership that we advise, I mean even the journalist that says uh just gems to help kind of promotion um Empower Jaylen, he said something about oh he's doing the white reads, that's more of an advanced basketball mind, but that kind of stuff, man, it helps you, it shows that you stand up for your guys, does it?

You know? What I mean and it shows and it shows the kind of thing when there was a lot of criticism from Jaylen that he had his back and now that he's surging again, Fred can step back when he doesn't have to and let Jayen shine and he's so, this guy has been critical and honestly it could be that Shinon is the best young player and the best player on the Rockets, but this guy's importance to this team this year was by far number one and he just do an excellent job. I I I I can't express enough how grateful I am to have welcomed Vanite onto his team and I think all Rockets fans understand now that they know those inside AR.

Arc numbers don't really matter that much when you have this type of leadership and the these type of intangibles like that Rockets fans this is what intangibles do for Te and now we have organic growth within oh my goodness. I think it's actually called organic learning. I think no, you're a good word, but yeah, no, it's just it's just perfect for what this team needed brother and I really have to give Fred his flowers a lot of times we talk about this stretch of jayen these stretches of oper go but Fred has been there to facilitate all that and then some we just have to give you your flowers today and there is a real argument that you made, not on today's show, but in the future, that you know that Fred could very well be a solution to long term for this rocket and perhaps not a long term fixture. for $40 million plus one year, but potentially at the end of this deal there's a very real possibility that if Fred likes it here in Houston and the Rockets like him and the relationship grows and blossoms, then he could be a piecelong term of this.

The Rockets can transition to a bench role or just, you know, ramp back up on a lower annual value contract, that kind of thing as the rest of the young guys start to really blossom and take on their roles. , as you already know, in the future, ideally, stars of today. NBA is coming, we have to talk about the guy turning back the clock on this game in a much needed game where Jabar M junr was bounced early in the second quarter. We're going to talk about that as well as the final thoughts on this and the Rockets are now one game behind the Golden State Warriors for the last playing spot in the Western Conference, we'll get there in just a moment, first, the episode today is presented by award selections, the award selection is the United States number.

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Jaylen Green has totaled 172 points in these last five games of his, which is the most by a rocket in a five-game span since James Harden back in 20120, that's how impressive Jaylen Green has been in this in this ter scorer and even em odoko commented on this post game, true, he spoke and I'm paraphrasing here, but he said something like true, he is, he has coached a lot of high level scorers in his career and this is a guy who had teams that included joeel MB James Harden Kyrie Irving Kevin Durant and said that this stretch that Jaylen is in the way he's scoring the ball right now the way he's playing is right up there with any of them, and that's high praise from such a sharp basketball mind and a guy with as much respect and love for the game as Oka has, uh, that's incredibly high praise, so just for Jayen to be where he is now after the adversity and struggles he faced. earlier this season.

It is truly incredible to witness. What else was amazing to witness? However, Jeff Green absolutely turned back the clock instead of Jabari Smith Jr., so obviously we mentioned that earlier. Jabari Smith Jr got into this with Chris Dunn, the problem is they don't really like each other and they both got ejected at the top of the second quarter. Jeff Green intervened in a big way and he owned that second quarter. Jeff Green room like he had what was I think 21 No 19 of his 21 I think it was all in that room it was crazy yeah no it went nuclear in that room it was crazy I mean it's some of the shots, like I think he got like one or two catch-and-shoot threes and then he just took the next two like he wasn't even open, he just took them compared to Jeff Green from earlier in the season, I was like hesitating about everyone. those 3 from the beginning of the season, just like him.

He would kind of feint or look for momentum first and now or look for the handoff that he was getting, the ones that he was letting break, he was just feeling it in this game, man and you. I know the second quarter is, you know, Jaylen and Fred were, I think, off the court and the Rocks were really struggling to score and the only person who could really score was Jeff Green, he had some good shots at the rim and came out of the transition. and I got a great dunk. I was like you turned the clock back he's still shooting man so you know just gu stepping up that's it and Jeffy went two games in a row big time you know what I mean.

So I thought during that stretch literally no one could score, so we really leaned on our defense and Jeff Green as the offensive complete and I have a note because as I watched Jeff play the way he did in that second quarter. It really makes me wish the Rockets would use Jabari a little more like they used Jeff. Now I know that some of those skills are very different skill sets. Jeff is obviously much more adept at putting the ball on the floor, attacking the rim and attacking the rim. I have a slightly more polished game than Jabari at the moment, but I'm talking more specifically about Pick and Pops, it really feels like Jeff and I don't know if it's because he's a better screen.

Right now he is more of a setter than Jabari, I don't know what it is specifically, but many of the possessions that Jeff had in that second quarter in which he was not a starter he did not have the ball in his hands, he was simply being a finisher of the play He set up a nice hard screen that floated down to the three-point line and it's not like even Jaylen or Fred were putting pressure on the defense, it was Aaron Holiday and Jan Tate and those guys were putting enough pressure on the defense to where you know Walker Kessler, of all people, he got dragged off the three point line by Jeff and opened up the paint for other driving lanes for other guys or if Walker Kessler floated back in for a go and you know, guard. the paint was a wide open shot now, maybe it was just a really bad matchup and maybe that's why it looked so good, but it really made me wish we could see a little more of that type of play. from Jabari, especially now that he's been the Rockets' full-time five for a while, um and again, it's just that there's something left to be desired.

Jabar is choosing the pop game at this point, yeah, I think we really tend to let Aman be the blocker right now and just because we don't have any other role for him other than block and roll and as the back cutter, so I think For the offense that's what it is, but there are other things Jabari can do, like be. More aggressive, uh, attacking the closeouts, I think that's something he really needs to work on this offseason, because you can see when Jeff Green attacks the closeout, he attacks it with some like, yeah, right, we need to and we need to Jabar, I know. that's not his game, but even more so, you know, three four dribbles inside the arc, making a good free throw, like a jump shot, that's just money, you know what I mean, for Jabari, that's a good shot, you know what I mean, Jabari. may be his layup, so it'll be nice to see him mix some of that up just by driving around a little bit.

I like his attacks to be a little harder, you know, a little bit, he needs to be a little harder, but he doesn't. he's got the athleticism, he's still not that fluid, so it might just be a little bit of that polish and now, unfortunately for the Rockets, they'll be without Jabari, uh, on the starting line, well, actually, there's no Jabar M Jr to Monday night game against the Blazers um it's an unfortunate loss for them, I'm not saying it's not a big loss, he hasn't been playing his best lately, but at the same time you know the Rockets are playing against the Blazers should be an easy win now, the last time the Blazers were in Houston at the Toyota Center ended up being an unfortunate loss, so maybe we're looking at a trap game here, but I think it's obvious, you know.

The solution is for Ja Landel to be inserted into the starting lineup. You call it a day. It's just unfortunate for a team that has already lost much of its depth to lose another piece. Now, hopefully, he comes against a very, very bad opponent in the Blazers. I should be able to take care of business against him. Now my only concern here is that this is a Blazer team, especially Anthony Simons, who probably wants revenge on Jaylen Green after the last time these two teams played, so I'm a little worried about the Blazers. They may come here with a little bit of hard feelings, but the Rockets are going to have to find a way to do it without Jabari in the middle this time, yeah, I mean, I think it's tough because they also have DeAndre Aiden, who's been playing a lot. better lately, so you know, losing a guy with that kind of size is going to hurt us and now the Rockets have to have a choice to make.

Do you want to start Lelle and take away the space so you can have a bigger player? body to protect Aiden or do they want to go with Jeff Green to preserve spacing but lose some toughness inside uh uh uh you know, rebounding and defending, so it's going to be a tough decision, but one these Rockets should be able to make. Take care of business, but Jabari, I understand that you have to defend yourself, dog, like I really do, but your team needs you right now, dog like, I think, I think this is good learning, I also don't think he should have been suspended on game, I think.

I don't think I should have suspended it, but you can't throw those chicken wings at them. Sorry, sorry first. I get that you had to throw something back because he threw the first one at you, but You both look stupid because you were 5 feet away, so you know what I mean, just you know, show some patience, square off 5 feet away It's kind of fun, really, and that's when you get those chicken wings and everyone likes them. "Everyone can't fight, but it's okay, but it's okay. I understand that you have to defend yourself. I know what it looks like.

It's all good, but Young Buck, we need you right now. We're shorthanded inside, so we need you you do". Being on this court because we're making a playoff effort, we're making a playoff effort and I know you have something to say about that effort. I do it, I do it and we're very quick before we talk about it because it's so exciting. The race is very thin right now, man, it's going to be crazy, it's going to be a photo finish for the Rockets to get into the tournament and oh my gosh, it would be very satisfying, but I have to ask you, I guess.

I think I'm leaning. I think I'd start with Jock Landale if only because I also think Jeff Green is a guy you might not want to lean on from the get-go, um, even though he's been playing outside of his Keep in mind that Jeff is also a guy you don't want to push too hard on, right? You don't want to give Jeff 30 35 5 more minutes a night, you don't want to rely on him too much and Jock has been playing really impressively. basketball, so even though he screwed up the spacing, if I'm Imodoka, I'm going to start Jac Landale and move to Jeff Green on that second unit as well because Jeff is a good stabilizing force for that second unit, which again is that lineup.

They had there against the Jazz, right, it was what Aaron Holiday, Reggie Bullock J, Shant, Tate, Jeff Green and Jack Landale, they weren't the best second unit of all time, so you've got to find a way to wow guys that they can generate their own looks and actually get you some buckets, um, if you're emoa, are you going to start Jack Landale or are you going to start Jeff Green against the Blazers? I think I would start with Jeff Green for I think right now the Rockets offense has been the best thing we've ever done and in some ways I would.

I don't want to spoil that space, but I hear you, you know what I mean, I hear you, but we are short-staffed right now and it's going to be difficult, I mean, I wonder if Jan tat might even be an option, but probably not , but yeah, Aiden, if Aiden becomes a problem, I think Londelle and Jeff Green will see a lot of minutes, well, they'll see a lot of minutes anyway, but maybe minutes together. well I'm just fast asleep pick bobon start bobon call it my you know what we are we're kidding but I'm G call it right now I bet we actually got some minutes of Bon rotation against the Blazers. calling it now we're going to have a little bit like it's like four minutes of Bowon rotation because we saw it earlier this season and they've done it before so I'm calling it now a lack of depth.

We're going to have some good minutes when Andre Aton is on the court. The latest here, the Rockets are now officially one game behind the Golden State Warriors for that final play in the Western Conference spot. Shout out to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the former. Rockets assistant coach and RGV Vipers stalwart Chris Finch, who has been doing magical things with the t-wolves,they won against the Golden State Warriors 114 110 on Sunday, pushing the Warriors again, I think they're on a two-game losing streak. now, if I'm not mistaken, but they're there, yeah, two straight losses for the Warriors Rockets, now one game behind and man, it's Madison.

I need it as much as I need the Warriors to rebound from the play in a tournament and the Rockets to squeeze that last play spot and then this is the little side note to pay attention to here if the Rockets get that last play spot, which means that they'll face the Lakers in a single-elimination game, which sounds horrible because, let's be real, Adam. Silver and the referees would love to have them in the playoffs, so it might not be great, we could have a Scott Foster masterclass once again, but I'd love to see all of that. come to fruition and we're so close this team is on an absolute heater and it feels like it feels reminiscent of a shout out to good friend of the show roou Williams who I think said this online but it feels reminiscent from when the Rockets Lost Ming and won 22 games before, like you overcame all the adversity and you were like everyone was writing you off, oh the season is over, whatever and hell we thought right around the time LP dropped , we were like ah.

The season is a bust now, like there's no way they were going to make the play and they've proven us all wrong. I think the Rockets like The Underdogs right now are playing for free you know what I mean and like the chasers right now and I think. That's an identity that they're building that I think they're enjoying right now and it would be great to be able to play the Lakers on the play and then rebound them and somehow get Denver in. the first round, I mean, I'm just dreaming right now, but anything is possible, what if we had Denver in the first round, which we're 3-1 against in the series, we'll probably still lose, but I think it'll be a series Really fun and a great experience for the Rockets in the playoffs, but I think that's a little ahead.

Right now, you know, that's just my dreams are coming true right now. I get it, I get it no, we're manifesting we're manifesting it right here in the Rockets lockout, but I will say this is getting really close and there's a playoff game built into this regular season against the Golden State Warriors. We all have to go out and support that game against the Golden State Warriors. Both teams know what is at stake and that will be their own pseudo playoff game. It was really the first time I had a little taste of a playoff experience, because I'm the Warriors coming to play that game.

I promise you and you know who else will probably come play that game and it will be hilarious when it happens. The NBA will assign Scott Foster to that game. Brethren, it's g at this point, like I just wrote it in pencil. It's going to be a Scott Foster game and it's going to be horrible the moment Rockets fans see that, because they scream. to Adam spolan from Sports Talk uh uh 610 uh or Sports 610 radio. I apologize for killing that uh, but he always tweets like referee assignments when it's like a juicy referee assignment. He'll finish it that morning the moment they announced.

Scott Fosters refereeing Rockets Warriors oh my god I'm going to do it. I might lose it once I see that news, but on that note, Madison, you know the Dr. letter, I know where to reach you man, you can find me on Twitter at Madman Leaks, come talk to me about Rockets basketball, that's it will do in another edition of Locked on Rockets, as always, thank you very much for watching the program. If you haven't already, consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcast or on YouTube just search Locked on Rockets, be sure to like, comment and subscribe, but as always, thanks so much for watching, thanks so much for listening and we hope to have you back here on Locked on Rockets, your daily home podcast for all things Houston Rockets. basketball