How Houston Rockets Defense Led By Jabari Smith Jr. & Jeff Green Shut Down Milwaukee Bucks

How Houston Rockets Defense Led By Jabari Smith Jr. & Jeff Green Shut Down Milwaukee Bucks

On today’s show the Houston Rockets get a huge win on the second night of a back-to-back against the Milwaukee Bucks closing out their seven game home stand how were they able to slow down the Bucks offense Jabari Smith Jr and Jeff Green huge on the defensive side of the

Basketball the Rockets bench putting in a ton of work in this game spearheaded by Uncle Jeff but also am Min Thompson and cam Whitmore continuing to grow before our very eyes we’re going to break it all down for you coming up right here here at lock on Rockets this

Is Mission Control Houston ignition sequence start throw it up to jayen Green shenon here in his short row oh my that’s the no look Jabari for three and the win look at t e 15 seconds guidance is internal the Houston Rockets select amen Thompson and cam Whitmore one thing I have never done

Is not made the playoffs and so we want to take that step here as well 6 5 4 3 2 1 what’s up and welcome to another edition of locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native houstonian

And credential media member I’m also the host of lockon NBA Mondays be sure to follow along on Twitter at JT Gatlin and the show of course at lockon Rockets free aable wherever you listen to your podcast including YouTube now today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time

Download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase and as always thank you so much for making lock on Rockets part of your day every single day whether it’s on your way to work on your lunch break in the gym thank you

For being in every day or and making the show part of your day every single day joining us now is none other than your weekly co-host NBA draft Enthusiast and diard Rockets fan Madison Moore you can track down on Twitter atmad man leaks and look this Houston Rockets team they

Had a pair of games over the weekend they got blown out by the Timberwolves we’re not going to talk about that game though because we want to spend our Collective efforts here talking about the Rockets 112 108 win on the second night of a backto back against the

Milwaukee Bucks now that’s not to say that we won’t have to revisit this discussion about the Timberwolves but they play the Timberwolves a couple more times this season we’ll we’ll talk about that down the line let’s talk about this Bucks g game Madison because this game was I think really impressive on the

Second night of a back toback as dominant as the Bucks have been as good of a team as they’ve been offensively this year especially because we just saw this Bucks team you know a couple weeks ago and the rockets had no answer for them defensively they did a really great

Job I think against this Bucks team give me your before we get into the nitty-gritty here give me your reaction to this win five words or less go on the spot on the spot five words or less I’ll just give you one word okay defense defense defense that’s that’s my

Reaction to this game defense and in particular on Damen Lillard keeping Damen Lillard uh you know with a por shoe tonight especially through the first half I think was very key for our our Rockets to get this big win tonight I mean I thought defensively they swarmed against Giannis even though he

Still had a monstrosity of a game I thought they helped incredibly well and I thought they ran uh Shooters off the three-point line and tonight was one of those nights unlike the Timberwolves night where guys just weren’t flaming hot from three and we know the last game

That we lost um to to Milwaukee Dame was being typical Dame against the rockets and he was not that guy tonight and I just want to give our guys the credit for sticking with it staying tough um and really helping each other throughout this this game I thought I thought the

Key for this game was how much the Rockets helped one another in the paint and ran hard hard to run guys off the three-point line I thought it was I thought it was incredible honestly and I just want to give the the flowers out to our guys who are not seen as great

Defenders and who make who make a lot of mistakes like Jaylen green cam Whitmore Aman Thompson I thought they rotated really well a lot of their weaknesses that we usually see come up where they miss their assignments and stuff I thought they were really good today and

It just shows that the young guys are getting better and they’re becoming more consistent defensively and tonight it was enough to get us a win against the Milwaukee Bucks one of the three best records in the league I think I think they are I’m sorry top top three in the

East one of the three best records in the NBA though as well um maybe not after this game but uh look Damen Lillard just 18 points five of 16 shooting only one of eight from downtown he was seven of 10 at the free throw line which is also uncharacteristic so

It may have just been an off shooting night for Dame and you may be chalk it up to that but I do agree fully the defense was really impressive in this game especially there in the first half holding the Bucks to a season low 43 first half points this is a Buc team

That is a really high octane potent offense they’ve kind of changed their identity a little bit you know with Adrien Griffin now taking over as the head coach bringing in Damen Lillard they’re not quite the Defensive Juggernaut that they used to be but offensively things have been clicking

And you know the Dame Giannis Duo has been you know jelling as of late so being able to slow them down has been or what was I I agree really impressive and I liked what just kind of the Rockets defensive game plan right uh Ryan Hollands talked about it a lot during

The game but just the scrambling defense right basically showing uh multiple bodies at guys like Giannis and Dame and and loading up on those guys right basically having a you know a Defender like right there at the nail getting ready to help on any of those drives sending a double team occasionally at

Those guys when they were you know if Giannis was on the post or looking to get a you know a drive going kind of Walling up and forcing the other guys to beat you that you know that Giannis can beat you and hell he had he almost hung

50 on him right 48 points on 16 of 25 shooting but at NOP I mean there were a few moments in this game Madison where I thought that you know Giannis maybe there was a defensive breakdown whatever he got a free run at The Rim he’s yanis

He’s going to have moments like that but I thought by and large the Rockets collectively did a really good job defens again on Dame like you said but also on Yannis just making him work hard for the buckets that he got specifically the two guys Jeff Green and jabarus SM J I

Thought were absolute defensive standouts in this game Jeff Green with his straight up like one-on-one defense on Giannis at times again I know it’s hard to sit here and say oh he had a good you know defensive performance when the guy dropped almost 50 but it really

Did feel like Giannis was having to work for those shots he only and he only had two assists is the other thing right so Giannis was basically having to carry the scoring load at no point where they let letting the other guys beat you and that’s where I think you get into you

Know the danger zone with teams like the Bucks where Giannis and Dame can turn it on at any point but if you let them get the other guys involved then you’re screwed yeah no I I think the most important part is the Rockets never got discouraged when Giannis was going on

His his his tight rides they they stick to the game plan and they were really tough about defending him I thought I I loved how Jabari Smith he he really fought through every possession and when he got certain wins certain stops you could just feel it feet like okay I’mma

Just stick with it I’m not going to be able to stop this guy you know all the time but I’m gonna I’m gonna stick to the game plan I’m gonna play solid good defense and I thought his rebounding was I felt the impact of Jabari Smith’s re rebounding his toughness limiting a lot

Of uh Giannis to one shot at the rim and you know we’re a smaller team so his rebounding is really important for us and Jabari Smith is kind of emerged as a guy who’s who’s really T taking taking Pride on in the rebound in this over the

Course of this year and I thought he was really tough staying in front of Giannis and a lot of time getting rebounds in traffic that really you know kep limited uh the Bucks uh Second Chance uh shots you know and a big reason actually I want to say the reason the Rockets won

This game was actually their the contributions from the bench the bench lineup in this game Jeff Green amen Thompson cam Whitmore uh and Aaron holiday all instrumental in this one we want to talk about the bench line coming up here in just a moment as well as

We’ve got to anoint your locked on Rockets a player of the game the honors going to uh I’ll let Madison dub the L player of the game here in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by game time look you shouldn’t have to worry when you’re buying tickets

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And continuing on here at lock on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball now Madison we’ve got to get to our locked on Rockets player of the game so I’m going to let you go ahead and do the honors and select your player of the

Game for this one yeah in honor of this segment about the bench mob I think the best player Off the Bench and the best player of the game giving more than what’s asked of him was Jeff Green tonight I thought Jeff Green was Stellar not only in the def defensive end but

Also on the offensive end uh netting 16 points5 of 11 uh tonight I thought he hit some very timely threes in the second half that uh withstood a lot of the Bucks runs trying to get back in this game and I thought he was solid all night playing extended minutes Uncle

Jeff playing extended minutes and I really liked the three big lineup like three three big big guys with switching versatility out there I thought that was a nice touch by Ma especially with all the attention needed with jannis in the paint so I thought Jeff came in he was

Able to switch he was able to uh help and he uh he gave a extra big body against um Giannis and I thought he had an excellent game tonight 34 minutes played which without even looking is absolutely a season high in minutes for Jeff Green Oka leaning on him heavily he

Also leaned on Jabari a ton in this game Jabari Smith junr a team High 40 minutes played in this game honorable mention to Jabari Smith Jr as well I know we just kind of uh wax poetic about both of those guys in the first segment their defense the intensity with which they

Played in this game so again Jeff Green Off the Bench the 15 points five of 11 shooting had a couple boards had a couple assists had a block in there jabarus Smith Jr 14 points three of seven shooting uh that timely three near the end and then uh arguably the play of

The game right shingun drives in you know draws two has the behind the back kick out to Jabar madon I was losing my mind watching that play that was an insane play um shows up when he need most uh but we want to talk about we want to

Highlight the bench here because the bench it really felt like was kind of the Difference Maker in this game for the Rockets Jeff Green a big part of that uh the Rockets bench outscored the Bucs bench 43-22 and Madison they did this in a game in which the Rockets are missing

One of their starters in Dylan Brooks which means you’re you’re inserting one of your key reserves in jant Tate who did not really have a good game in this one whatsoever uh fouled a lot you know was almost more or less a non-factor offensively had the he had the clutch

Tip in at the end I’ll give him that um it was it was a good you know very trademark jate hustle play but other than that not a huge impact in this game uh but so you’re missing Dylan Brooks and you’re missing tar een who’s your best reserve and yet their bench unit

Outscored Milwaukee’s bench 43 to 22 and a big part of that comes from one Aaron holiday actually remembering how to shoot the basketball was a big development in this game but then also just Amin Thompson and cam Whitmore continue to grow and look better and better

With each passing game they are the real deal they’re still rookies they still make rookie mistakes but they have looked so good and E is continuing to give them more burn he’s trusting them more with each passing game which is a f fantastic development I think yeah no uh

I have to give the flowers Sal alond and cam talk about guys developing on the Fly we t i kind of touched on it in the first segment about sometimes they have these rookie mistakes and I really felt like I didn’t see much rookie mistakes at all in this Big Bucks game cam

Whitmore continues continues to be a efficient uh uh scorer you getting the most of out of his minutes and giving us a offensive uh punch and uh his three-point shooting has been so good this year I mean now he’s doing it in real uh real game time minutes I think

His strength going to the basket he had a tough and one he had some nice finishes and defensively no I didn’t I may have missed one or so but I didn’t see any time where Cam just got completely lost on the floor right and that and that was something we saw at

Least two or three times a game when cam was playing I think he’s getting better defensively he has the physical tools to be better and this is the big reason why I’m not calling for the Rockets to bring another um uh bench level Wing in I want

The Rockets we we have these injuries we just need to get healthy we’re fine when we’re healthy but while while those guys are injured let’s develop our young guys who have a whole lot of upside and can give this team a lot of promise and

Right now um it may be a little tough but by the end of the season this team will be better for giving them those minutes we may have to take a couple losses here but I think it will reward us at the end of the season whether we

Have to play in the play in or not these guys will be ready to perform and so I’m really happy with their performance tonight I thought they were really solid allaround defensively and offensively you know the uh Rockets bench unit of Aaron holiday uh well with Jabar Smith

Jr out there so Aaron holiday Jabari Smith Jr Amin Thompson cam Whitmore and Jeff Green logged a total of N and a half minutes in this game they were a plus seven in those nine and a half minutes they were really effective together and against watch like watching

Uh that one play where Amin gets the steel down low you know he’s play he’s he’s the low man he he’s in the right place right time on the on the Damen liard Drive rotates over uh gets the steel and then immediately takes off and transition and you’ve got cam like on

The rails on the outside you know running his Lane and a man feeds him the ball and cam took off like he wanted to dunk it he wanted that that highlight dunk in transition and instead he had to settle for absorbing the contact and finishing at The Rim but that’s just

Those two guys are going going to be a terror in transition with one another playing off of one another and you look at their stat lines I mean cam just comes in he fills it up he had 12 points in 13 minutes almost a point per minute

That he’s out there on the floor he’s currently at he’s shooting 6 he’s got 63% cre shooting right now as a rookie like he’s he hits so much and he looks so under control in how he’s going to attack and like the one one play that really stood out was the back down

Postup spin on Damen Lillard right he had the mismatch and that’s where you see like oh Cam has like a lot in his bag right it’s not simply just okay I can I’m only going to attack this way or I can face you up or I’ve got to like

You know get to a c he has so much in his bag where he was like oh cool I’ve got a smaller defender on me I’m putting my back against him I’m backing him down and as soon as he got a couple good you know hits in on on Dame he spun around

Him and finished at the rim for two so simple so smooth so effective cam Whitmore is the real deal and watching him actually get those minutes and get get and have the trust from eay to be out there um continue trust right seeing him out there playing during the fourth

Quarter in certain stretches that kind of stuff I fully agree with you I think the investment in cam is going to be great for the long-term success of this Rockets team yeah man I’m with you I I think there’s a real star in the making in Cam

And we have to continue to to nurture that I mean this team we we are winning on the backs of our young guys our young guys are major contributors even even shenon today uh one of the things about you know he didn’t shoot the ball that

Well from the field today but he was great at the line and he was great facilitating don’t even have to about it he he was awful I don’t know what was going on with shagon he missed all his easy like like six minutes into the game

Eight minutes in the game I was like who broke Alp like he’s he was missing every Bunny at the out of rhythm he was just out of rhythm and I could tell after that first Miss and then the second one and he threw his hands up the n one he

Missed it was an easy n one he threw his hands up I was like yeah this might be one of those nights where he’s just a little off he’s a little off but still 21 points eight re I I believe it was eight rebounds 11 rebounds final 11

Rebounds what it okay so yeah just still effective you know still that that’s the sign of Allstar even even when your shot is not going for you you still have one of the best stat lines and still one of the you know best players tonight so I

Really want to give him his flowers that too strug going through the struggles I I did I I liked that even though he was struggling the Rockets didn’t necessarily like move away from him right and and it’s it’s one of those things where you know you would have

Liked to see him kind of break out of that slump he had that really nice um like scoop shot around Brook Lopez at one point in the second half where it’s like okay maybe he’s maybe’s starting to break out of the shell a little bit I do

Think that Alp has a tendency at times especially when the shot stops falling to start looking for fouls before trying to actually finish plays at times which is a bit frustrating emoa has highlighted that in the past with alpie as an area of focus for him where it’s

Just like hey man stop trying to draw fouls just you know play your game hit your hit your shots uh but Brook Lopez is a tough defensive guy to go or a tough you know tough cover so uh well tough cover that’s the opposite end of the floor I’m saying this wrong wrong

Terminology it’s really tough when you’re being guarded by Brook Lopez and you know you’ve got to find a way to try to get around him or get him into foul trouble and the one thing that really did bother me in this game was I felt like in the second half when the Bucks

Switched things up and they put um Andre Jackson Jr out there instead of um I I believe it was instead of Middleton or was it instead of Beasley to start the second he he started okay instead of Beasley he started the second half and they put sh they put Andre Jackson Jr on

Shenon and even Ryan Holland was begging for it on the broadcast he was like you got to get the ball to shingon you have Andre Jackson Jr on him post him up and the reason they did that with shingon is because they wanted to the same reason that the Rockets sometimes don’t put

Shingon on the opposing team’s five man like against the Nets with Nick Claxton they didn’t want uh the the the Bucks didn’t want Brook Lopez involved in the pick and roll actions so instead you know shingun is going to be your primary screener cool now you’ve got Andre

Jackson Jr boom he switches so you you need needed to move away from the pick and roll actions there in the third quarter and and I think the Rockets kind of did that but they didn’t then capitalize on having Jackson Jr guarding shingun which is a bit of a frustrating

Like offensive development they lasted they they they they worked through the quarter they survived the Bucks technically won the quarter 30 to what was it 26 28 um but you know and first off that Madison that third quarter took like an hour and a half man it was

Ridiculous there were so many whistles in quarter dude yeah yeah no there was there was a lot of whistles and and just stoppages for weird plays like the the the Jabari Smith uh scuffle and you know it was just it was stuff like that it was just dragging those quarters out but

Yeah overall I I agree with you and I and I do I would like to say I don’t even put shenon struggles at The Rim on Brook Lopez because those are shots that he makes every single day I mean he was making good over theh shoulder easy

Hooks those are just money for oper and shingon and they just were not going and it’s just like sometimes you don’t have it you know what I mean these are humans you know sometimes you don’t have it but overall I mean for the Rockets still to

Win in such a convincing way I think goes to show how much this team has improved and how ready they were uh to play tonight and look Alp he still rebounded he was still defending and at the end of the day he he still had some you know some the timely assist to

Jabari late was still able to draw two you know kicked the ball out made the you know making the right reads um I want to say I don’t know if fourth quter 10 free throws yeah no he was still getting to the foul line so it was you

Know not a not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination it was just one of those where okay he struggled you know to put the ball in the basket we know he’s better he’ll bounce back um a guy that I do want to spend a little bit of

Time talking about I have one more point that I want to share about am men Thompson and I also want to talk about Jaylen green who despite the positive trend of him you know hitting the three ball and and connecting on the most three since like December 27th or

Whatever the stat was uh that is a POS positive trend unfortunately the three ball wasn’t falling for him in this game but there was another another angle that I want to highlight so a positive development for Jaylen Green in this one we’re going to get there in just one

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Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball thoughts on the Rockets 112 108 win against the Milwaukee Bucks and last point one one more quick point about amen Thompson that we didn’t get to squeeze in there in the second segment talking about the bench unit Madison but

Uh amen continues to get more and more comfortable with the driveing kick game right this is where he’s going to be you know I I I don’t know if you know he’s not quite like a a natural maybe Flor General at this point the way

That like fred is or like a Chris Paul type and there are very few players that you know are even like that in today’s NBA right a lot of players are just you know you’re going to collapse the defense you’re going to attack you’re trying to generate an offensive

Advantage and a Min Thompson is great at doing that he’s get great Court Vision great feel for the game and in in this game against the Bucks I felt like he did a really great job of driving collapsing the defense and finding the open man on kickouts um you know he he

Walked away with five assists in this one it really feels like he’s starting to understand hey if I just get the ball and go in transition before the defense gets set I’m going to draw a second Defender and then all I have to do is

Kick it out to the open guy and it doesn’t even matter if that guy shoots the shot as long as I kick it to the open man then defense is in rotation and we’re going to generate a good look yeah no I I definitely definitely see that I

Mean Amon is getting more comfortable with the ball in his hands um I think the handle has been a bit more behind than than we had hoped right and so it hasn’t allowed him to get as much many primary reps but I can see him improving

And he did initiate a lot of the offense and was moving the ball very very effectively uh this game one more thing we just need him to to uh to learn how to do is to keep his dribble alive on a lot of these a lot of these plays um can

Go from good pass rotations to um excellent uh finding a guy wide open you know if he could just keep his his dribble open a lot of times he picks the ball up and kind of finds himself in no man’s land but it’s such a talented

Passer he’s able to still get the kick out right but those those are how you get turnovers and those are one of the things that I I I saw in his tape uh at OT but as he continues to get more comfortable on the floor those will be

Things the coaching staff will point out to him he’ll be able to keep his dribble alive on those plays and be able to survey even more to uh leverage his passing ability so I can’t wait till Aman unlocks that part of his game uh it’s worth noting in this game Fred Van

Vet had seven assists he created 16 points off of those seven assists Alper and shenon had four assists and created 11 points off those four assists and then a Min Thompson also tying Alp he created 11 points off of his five assists in this game now the guy that I

Want to talk about here in the third segment uh Jaylen green who has been kind of in the third segment the last couple episodes we’ve had to do for bad reasons but some good reasons here now he wasn’t quite look Jaylen green was not the headliner by any stretch of the

Imagination in this game he is not that that honor goes to the defense to the bench guys that’s why we have a bit of an order of operations here on the show right we go with the most important stuff then you know work our way down

But in this game Madison Jaylen green 16 points five of 12 shooting only one of six from long distance even though he’s been shooting the ball incredibly well from a long distance over this last stretch of you know five to 10 games or so he had four rebounds two assists had

A steal only one turnover the one of six from three call it an off Knight shooting whatever he’s been really consistent from three over about the last 10 games so we’ll call it a fluke in the outside shooting however I know you’ve been highlighting the fact

That you think maybe you know there have been some tweaks to his form possibly here and I haven’t had a chance to ask eay about it yet it’s on my to-do list but if jayen green can get to a place where his three-point shot is consistent

The way that it has been over these last 10 games this is a very different Jaylen green we’re talking about then the Jaylen green that was frustrating most Rockets fans everywhere and was kind of you know at times holding this team back a little bit if he’s just knocking down

Open threes that’s awesome but in this game it was his the way that he was attacking the Bucks defense in on the Interior right his drives that was I thought was really encouraging because it wasn’t just oh the Bucks had a defensive breakdown and Jaylen green had

You know these wide open layups it was he was actually playing with tempo right he was he wasn’t just one speed the whole time trying to drive directly into Brook Lopez and then getting his shot swatted to like the fifth row yes so I think the the whole reason the Bucks

Changed out the how they guarded alerin shenon is because how we were dicing them up in the pick and roll and a lot of that had to do with Jaylen green as of late Jaylen green has been getting a lot more pick and roll reps with Alp

Most of those reps have been going to Fred Van vet but now they have switched back to Jaylen green especially in the first halfs of games now we already know how effective they were last year uh as a two-man game and I think it’s really helping him being able to play with

Appari goon in the Twan game again I mean he knows where his spots are in that particular game he’s no longer doing the hostage d uh dribble or trying to snake across the paint unnecessary with with uh your talents Jaylen now he’s he’s moved back into um what me and

Nathan fog talked about online it is oh my God the Hang dribble the Hang drial is such an effective move for Jaylen green because of how fast he is so you you seen once again in the first quarter against Brook Lopez where he kind of led

Him to sleep as soon as Brook showed and went back he was able to explode because of the Hang dribble you don’t know where you’re going right and score at The Rim a lot of plays like that where jaylen’s coming up the pick and roll and he’s in

His hang dribble and you’re able to pass uh shoot or drive out of that and it gives him the ability to read the defense he also made a a some really good passes to appar and shenon throughout the whole course of the game there was a play um where it was it was

Crunch time uh in the fourth quarter and Jaylen hadn’t gotten a lot of reps in the crunch time as of late I mean uh uh previously but he he they still mixed him in so he can get his reps and they trapped him um a high above the

Three-point line and he just lobbed it real real quick and easy over the top to opininon where he now now there is Advantage for the Rockets whereas there’s a four on three in that uh particular situation and he’s able to to uh to make plays but those type of

Simple decision decision making things is the type of development that we want to see out of jayen and so even though his shot wasn’t going from Beyond The Arc he was still a very effective player because he wasn’t turning the ball over he was making good decisions and he was

Leveraging his threat as a offensive uh Creator along with operan shenon to help this offense continue to be effective and as you know guys were shooting it really uh very well from three other than Jaylen so o over the course of of this I say to say over course of this

Jaylen seems to be getting his confidence back it does seem like there’s a minor adjustment to his shot there’s less of a a bringar around hitch around his face in the beginning of his shots and he seems to be holding his Arc um after shots a lot more and that seems

To have given more arc on his jumper um and I think that is led to more consistent shooting even tonight the way Jaylen missed shots tonight were all back rim they were all back R all his shots were were back rim that he missed missed and um that to me is about

Consistency though the consistency in your jumper usually Jaylen has some some pretty you know when he misses sometimes they’re to the left or to the right right they these were on target they look like good shots you know what I mean they just didn’t fall I think he

Had one that was front iron but it’s kind of the same concept there right as it was on target it just wasn’t it wasn’t wide left or wide right it was just a little bit shorter um and a memory service I think he shot that one

Like off like late off dribble kind of like you know late shot clock like just get a three up and then you know shot clock was running down or whatever but we’ve talked about this before is you know does the process look good for Jaylen and I thought in this game the

Process looked great for Jaylen you know this and Jaylen can have games like this all the time and and I will even if if it results in a loss kind of so be it because this team wants to play competitive basketball they want to you

Know be in the playoffs or be in the playing hunt at the end of the season I get that but I do think that development has to come first as long as the guys that you’re trying to develop are showing proper signs of they’re getting it right they’re they’re doing the right

Things they’re following you know what what em is trying to teach them they’re locked in they’re doing all the correct stuff and I really felt like in this game Jaylen did everything that he could possibly do other than knock down you know one or two more three-pointers I

Feel like Jaylen did everything that he could possibly doing this game within his power to play the best game he possibly could right he was he was engaged and locked in on defense he like you said he was using his gravity as a score all these different things that’s

All we want from Jaylen that’s all I want from jayen at the end of the day and if he can this player on a consistent basis then this Rockets team is going to be great because of it because again they need jayen there have been times when we’ve seen this team

Without Jaylen out there and you know it clogs things up a little bit defenses still treat him like a scoring threat even though he’s been pretty inconsistent this season defenses still treat him as like a number one or number two option that they have to put one of

Their best perimeter Defenders on that they have to try and slow down and you know by doing that it’ll it opens things up for his teammates right you talked about his pass passing to Alper and shenon out of the pick and roll that’s been a great development for Jaylen it’s

Something that we know going back to last season is there that they can build upon so it has been great seeing Oka kind of go back to that a little bit more um you know in in recent you know the recent stretch of games or so uh

After you know I talked to him about it earlier this season I like hey like what’s up with the jayen alpie stuff right we haven’t seen it at all and he’s like yeah we’re trying to roll more of that you know back into the back into

The offense but by and large Madison I you know I think this is arguably one of the best wins for the se you know on the season for the Rockets again underman you know you don’t have Dylan you don’t have tar second night of a backto back

You just got blown out at home by the Timberwolves and I do think that this kind of helps save a little bit of what could have been an ugly homeand here with some you know the early losses um you know all all three coming in a row

And and then you know you’re able to kind of clean it up and Salvage it here a little bit with the winds against the Pistons the Nets and then you know by by cleaning it up with the Bucks you go three and four on this seven game home

Stand that’s not as good as we would have liked to see them especially now that they got to go you know I think 13 of 20 on their next of their next set of games on the road unfortunately so a lot of road games coming up for this Rockets

Team but I think you got to be happy with where this team is at right now after this win yeah man I wish still wish could have got that Sixers win but nonetheless this was not a you know a failure there still a young team underand on a hom stand uh building a

Rhythm and getting better and I think they honestly got better over the course of this home on that note you guys let us know your thoughts from this Rockets Bucks game 112 108 final score who was your locked on Rockets player of the game I feel

Like it could have gone you know we we we anointed Jeff Green I feel like Jabari had a strong claim to it maybe you want to still give it to Al pin shenon let us know in the YouTube comments give us your thoughts from this game Madison you know the drill let

Every know where we track you down at yeah man hit me up on X or Twitter madman leaks love to talk Rockets ball that’s going to do it for another edition of locked on Rockets as always thank you so much for checking out the show if you haven’t done so yet please

Consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts Apple Spotify Google The Odyssey app free available on all podcast platforms we’re also available on YouTube go to YouTube search locked on Rockets like comment subscribe all that good stuff but as always thank you so much for watching thank you so much

For listening and we look forward to having you back right here at locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rocket Basketball

How Houston Rockets Defense Led By Jabari Smith Jr. & Jeff Green Shut Down Milwaukee Bucks

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) is joined by weekly cohost and NBA Draft enthusiast Madison Moore (@MadManLeaks) react to and discuss the Houston Rockets 112-108 win on the second night of a back-to-back against the Milwaukee Bucks. How the Rockets defense slowed down the Bucks offense, Jabari Smith Jr. & Jeff Green huge on defense, off night for Alperen Sengun but still finding ways to impact the game, Houston bench outscoring Milwaukee bench 43-22 including some fantastic play from Amen Thompson & Cam Whitmore, a great “process” game for Jalen Green despite going 1-of-6 from deep and more.

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#HoustonRockets #Rockets #NBA #JalenGreen #AlperenSengun #JabariSmithJr #TariEason #AmenThompson #CamWhitmore #FredVanVleet #DillonBrooks #JeffGreen #JockLandale #ReggieBullock #BobanMarjanovic #AaronHoliday