Jalen Green & Fred VanVleet Lead Houston Rockets In Impressive Blowout Win Vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Jalen Green & Fred VanVleet Lead Houston Rockets In Impressive Blowout Win Vs Cleveland Cavaliers

On today’s show how the Houston Rockets completely outplayed a very good Cleveland Cavaliers team from start to finish a new identity setting in for this team pace and space and why this team is not better without alperin shenon it’s all coming up on today’s locked on Rockets this is Mission

Control Houston ignition sequence start six 5 4 3 2 1 what’s up and welcome to another edition of lock on Rockets with 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

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Thank you for being in everyday and making the show part of your day every single day joining us now is your weekly co-host NBA draft Enthusiast and die hard Houston Rockets fan Madison Moore he can track down on Twitter at madman leaks here to talk about a game that was

Nowhere near as close as the final box score would have you believe uh Rockets beating the Cavaliers 117 103 uh credit to the Cavaliers B team who kind of closed the Gap there at the end of regulation but Madison this was an like the Rockets absolutely dog walked the

Cavaliers in this game outplayed them from the jump um from the tip to the end shout out to Rockets Legend Clint capella uh always got to use that terminology when possible here on the show this was like this was a game where coming in this was maybe the first game where I

Was a little worried right the Cavaliers coming in third best defense in the NBA you know a lot of size in the Middle with Jared Allen no Evan Mobley in this game but just you know I this was maybe the first game where I was a little

Worried about the Jabari Smith Jr at the five lineup and the rockets came out with just they they out hustled they won the 50-50 balls they just completely outplayed the Cavs from the jump in this one yeah it was to me it was clear that um once the Rockets came out and were

Making their three-point shots I think in the first quarter they hit a ton of Threes it really broke down what the Cavs wanted to do and traditionally what teams want to do to the Rockets is pack the paint so once we be once we begin to

Make the threes at a high enough clip it kind of brought everybody a step up you know especially on those screening rolls and picking pops guys start to try to guard those with more intention which took two and three steps out of the lane and it led to a am Thompson dunk party

In the second quter yeah so so and uh and Fred Van vet was the ultimate orchestrator of that uh and it just goes to show you know when you’re making shots how tough this Rockets team really can be offensively and so I think that really opened up the game for us it’s

Just this the simple fact that we were we came out on fire from three I mean three threes from Jaylen green I believe in the uh first quarter um I believe it was three couple couple threes from Dylan Brooks too like that’s right yeah Dylan hit the identity of this game was really

Like pace and space was was you know great from the rockets in this one their spacing was excellent early on they really did a good job knocking down those shots and again that that’s what really opened things up to where you saw as the game progressed you know Jared

Allen was getting dragged out of the paint repeatedly whether it was on switches whether it was on you know his pick and roll coverages early on kind of giving up some of those threes and then later in the game I did think it was kind of weird that they didn’t start

With Jared Allen on a Min Thompson like like we’ve seen teams do that a lot we’ve seen them Park their opposing Center on you know Amin Thompson and that kind of you know mucks up the Rockets offense a little bit I thought that one was a little weird and they

Actually made that switch in the second half and it didn’t quite matter at that point the Rockets were so like you know firing on all cylinders by that point so it didn’t really matter yeah um they had to make that switch after after the second quarter that I’m in had I believe

It was the second quarter that that he was just having a dunk party in there and and and yeah JB bck staff I think that was that was a poor decision dog like you know what I mean but it’s good to see the Rockets uh are able it just

Shows how much they’ve grown and able to react to what defenses are the different looks defenses are showing them and they really understood how was you’re going under with taking those Threes And if you’re if you’re staying up we’re going to drrive down until uh we have some gu

Body on the backside to dump it down to but I I mean I just think I think the Cavs game was an incredible display of just like making shots shot making you know what I mean like this team was locked in and then defensively is where

I think they really shined um to me you know shots go in shots you make or Miss shots that’s just the way it goes we were on fire last night so I just to me it was just like oh we’re on fire but defensively our defensive activity would

Which allowed us to get in transition and allowed us to build on that lead throughout the game is really what I like to what really what I think the difference in this game was I thought our defense activity was excellent from everyone in the switching uh the switching really mucked up things for

Daryus Garland and uh and and Donovan Mitchell I want to get we’re going to get back to the offense here in just a moment because I want to we’ll focus in on the defense here momentarily I said you know from the jump right this was one of the first games where I thought

Man you know the Rockets they’re going to be a bit undersized against this Cavaliers team right you know how are they going to handle that Cavaliers are known to be a very physical team right they’ve embodied that JB bicker staff kind of mentality and I really did think

That the Rockets did a fantastic job not getting not getting bullied by this Cavaliers team right jiren Allen is a guy who he’s not exactly a big that like can dominate a game he’s had games where he can have a big you know big numbers you know obviously big rebounding games

And but I I thought they did a great job you know defending the times that he tried to go over the top he only had seven field goal attempts in this game like at no point there were multiple times right the the rocket switching defense left you know Jaylen green or

Fred Van vet on Jared Allen constantly in this game and at no point did it feel like the Cavaliers were you know effective or good you know trying to the ball down low to him or taking advantage of these smaller mismatches um and then kind of the extension from that is when

Those mismatches happen right when you get a Fred or a jayen on a Jared Allen that’s clearly a mismatch even once like not necessarily just to take advantage of that for Jared Allen to try and score the ball but once a shot goes up you’re at a distinct disadvantage trying to

Rebound the basketball because then you have a small that has to try and box out a big and Jared Allen is an elite rebounder right he’s a great inside presence and I thought the Rockets did a fantastic job in this game of gang rebounding we’ve talked about this

Before even when Alber and shingun was healthy this is a team that needs to gang rebound right because they’re undersized at four of their five positions across the floor and it really felt like in this game everybody took that like that memo to Heart whatever Jaylen was fantastic rebounding this

Game I thought Jabari did a good job kind of being really physical on some boards uh am Min Thompson always fantastic on the glass they really did a fantastic job just securing rebounds and if it meant you know okay two small guys are boxing out Jared Allen cool so you

Know a Wing swings in and gets the board or whatever I thought that was a really key element here to to you know be able to put the Cavs away in this one yeah I mean that’s been the rocket that’s been a emphasis since I feel like the first

Couple weeks of the Season where when it kind of it may kind of understood called him out when he about doing the old school rebounding drills yeah exactly and but it also goes to show the toughness of this team and how Ma has really begin to build this culture of

Toughness and we’ve seen some inconsistencies of it throughout the season but now it’s it it’s starting to be more consistent for our young players everybody is more consistent at buying in and it’s becoming their identity I mean I just think it’s it’s a part of their their tough hard-nosed uh brand of

Basketball and it and it translates on on the rebounds as well as the defense and just I mean you know and Elsewhere for the defense I mean just they they really did a fantastic job you know closing out hard forcing Cavs into tough shots it really felt like again even

Though the the pace of this game was absolutely insane but then you look up and down and the Cavs you know Don Mitchell had 13 attempts Garland also only 13 attempts you know they they just they really I felt like forced other guys other than their two big guns to take their shots

Right so much of the Cavs offense tries to flow through Donovan Mitchell Darius Garland and then it’s those guys drive and kick perimeter oriented offense trying to get the ball out to their Shooters and it really felt like they they kind of flumix the Cavs you know defensively to where or offensively I

Should say to where you know from the point of attack from Jaylen from amen from Fred um from Dylan Brooks they all did a really great job and the Cavs just they they just weren’t ready for this game man yeah uh so one of the things about having good wi Defenders the way

We have and I I I talk about jaylen’s Improvement on defense not just because of his Improvement but because he’s largely been the weakest defender on on our our defense and now that he’s becoming a plus Defender we we’re literally watching him transition into a plus Defender don’t not making mistakes

On rotations being in the right place at the right time and really getting after a one-on-one defense he has some incredible plays where guys used to knock him off his spot and just go through his chest and score we seen uh we’ve seen aoro try and do it and he get

The block and you know what I mean he’s starting to play with this competitive nature on that end and you can tell he’s starting to like it right we we we even see him he has he’s starting to thrive because of the defense yes exactly and

And just also a one-on-one play with uh I think he stripped uh Garland as well it’s just his hands are getting better and when you couple that with these Elite Defenders that we have across our starting lineup we have a lot of really really good Defenders now that Jaylen is

Starting to put in plus uh plus defensive efforts this defensive team is growing in a way that you know is really sustainable um and I just want to commend our rockets on the activity of their hands their hands make it so tough for for opposing teams to get into

Rhythm uh whether it be um shot creation but just watch Jabar uh for van v how they swipe at on when guys dribble dribble over so they don’t get a clean dribble over right uh am and does it every time every time somebody tries to right left cross over there’s a there’s

A hand there they have they’re so active in their hands and everyone on the team is that way and it’s so disruptive especially with the increase in physicality that the league is allowing now yeah the inre physicality absolutely bodess well for the Rockets cuz when you’re a bit of an undersized team you

Can sometimes get a little get away with a little bit more physicality sometimes the refs will let you get away with a little bit more and that helps the Rockets because they’re not a team that’s you know big and has a lot of length and size to where they can kind

Of play you would say a bit more like safe on the defensive in right and just rely on their length to you know stop guys right you know directly at The Rim or closing out hard so they’ve got to find creative ways to to be disruptive defensively they have to be proactive

With their defense and kind of try and force the issue and it very much felt like that was the case in this game coming up we’re going to switch gears and get back to some of the offensive stuff in this game how well the starters played together a plus 17 in their

Minutes on the floor in this one some fun stats about the starting lineup we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by LinkedIn when you’re hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for

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Apply and continuing on here at lockon Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball all right Madison kind of Switching gears here back to the offensive side of things in this game it felt like a really well balanced scoring approach kind of spread across all the star and I

I found this stat that I thought was pretty interesting is that the Rockets had a three-point assist rate of 85% in this game meaning that they they assisted on damn near all of their threes in this one it really didn’t feel like a lot of you know you know they had

A very small handful of you know some isolation threes here and there right Fred had you know a couple of them Jaylen had a couple of the of the makes that is not necessarily the ones that included misses but of their made three-pointers a majority of them well

Over 80% came from assists and it really felt like the Rockets did a good job and this kind of goes back to us talking about the pace and space where they didn’t want to have to attack this Cavaliers defense when they were set up in the half court if you look at the

Stats the Rockets only recorded 21 fast break points in this game but fast break points in the way that is Quantified on NBA statistics is always really weird it felt like that number should have been way bigger than that because the Rockets constantly whether it was off of off of

Misses off of makes they were taking the ball out of the net and just running and going and trying to find any and all ways to attack this Cavaliers defense um in transition before they got themselves set up yeah I thought the Rockets did I

Mean that that is a key to how they are getting easy offense and it’s really key to uh to this new lineup that we’ll talk about uh in the third segment um but the this this ability of this balanced offensive approach um it is working because the Rockets are sharing the ball

Right and so because the Rockets are sharing the ball so well we have a more balanced approach and guys are picking up for one anothers when when other guys you know they’re allowing guys when they’re hot to to continue to shoot and um I thought today I mean yes in the

Cavs game the the Rockets really had about two or three starters or players who carried quarters for them throughout this game and it really just it it it made for a uh more cohesive game in no letup of of the offense and so the first quarter was more Jaylen green and um

Dylan Brooks in the second quarter was more Aman Thompson Jabari Smith um and Fred Van with the passes but then the third quartery give J shant some credit put some rep he he had eight points in three minutes off the bench he was not

This was one no and poor no shout out to to Cavaliers poor Sam Merill man like top of the second quarter he was just getting bullied by that lineup at the top of the second quarter because it didn’t matter who like it didn’t matter who turn it was to attack on offense

Whether it was Tate whether it was Jabar whatever it was they were hunting Sam Merill defensively and they were trying to put him in the blender or put him on the low block and and just let those guys go to work it was funny to watch yeah man and it’s so important though

Because really we wonder where we’re going to get offense from that second unit at the top of the second and Jan Tate like we we kind of forget like Jan Tate if he he get the right mismatch I mean it’s barbecue chicken in there you know what I mean and his activity and

Defensively we really needed is burst off the bench and it’s and it just reminded us like that is a real NBA player bro like that that’s real depth on this team and it was it was really good to see him and he even hit a three

So you know shout out to jshine but yeah and as well as Jabari I thought Jabari had an excellent quarter as well as well as Aman had all those finishes uh and with the 10 assists before that with Fred speaking of those finishes for a

Minut that was uh oh my God the one where he he had the Breakaway and and and he like so gently dunked the ball right and Cam and Jeff were like pissed at him after that because they were wanting some they were wanting to show they got up off the bench they were

Ready to like cheer and he didn’t give them anything to cheer for and they were like barking at him on his way back down and I I like you the camera kind of panned back to a in and he he kind of like it looked like he kind of nodded at

Them like all right all right I’ll give you something and a couple possessions later he ran that pick and roll with Fred Van vet set the set the screen rolled to the rim and then he caught the the little pass and he had like that like kind of double clutch in the air

And then dunked it home and then the Rockets bench exploded off that one that was a great little like he he redeemed himself in that moment yeah man come on Aman come on Aman you’re you’re a rook dog if it’s any time to be showing out

With your athleticism this now dog we we want to see the tricks when you’re out on the break but yeah uh but just getting back to the offense the the way the team picked each other up and I thought um I thought Jaylen and uh Fred

Really really uh helped at the top of the Fred I thought Fred made some some really underr excellent buckets in that third that really kept our offensive live I mean those are the thirds we we we’ve sometimes s struggle with leads in the third and I thought Fred was the

Reason we were able to sustain and actually build on that lead Fred it kind of he had that thing where you know he he did the thing where he was just facilitating the first half right getting guys set up getting guys in their spots he made sure everybody else

Was rolling and then that third he was like all right I I Fred’s a player that he knows he can get his offense butes I’ve everybody else involved now I’m going to hunt my shot a little bit and that’s exactly what we saw from Fred in that third quarter and to your point

You know about having each player kind of Step Up and you know having one or two guys you know three guys whatever Step Up in each quarter there was never really any offensive like let down until actually it kind of felt like that fourth quarter which is what less so

About like not having a guy step up in the fourth quarter and more so just the Rockets were leading by as many as like 27 and like once the Cavs G like I think like Donan Mitchell hit a three and Garland hit a three you know early in

That fourth quarter they maybe like pushed the lead back down to like I don’t know 18 or something I think is as close as they got it maybe 16 at one point with like their actual starters in the game um before they eventually threw in the bench unit but what one thing

That I did like and this kind of goes back to what happened at the top of the second quarter hopefully this a theme that we see continue moving forward is it’s always been kind of a question mark with that second unit right how we’re going to generate offense how things are

Going to get done and it felt like they did a really good job in this game of identifying their mismatches um they did it really well in that second quarter they were picking on Sam Merill they were picking on uh uh uh Nang at certain points in the game and then same thing

Top of the fourth quarter they had multiple possessions like two three possessions in a row where they got the ball to Jabari where he had a smaller defender on him where he was able to you know Elevate just get over the top that kind of thing uh side note for Jabari he

Had a lot of attempted finishes in this game around the rim that did not end well for him that’s that’s just it’s got to be an area of improvement for him if you’re 611 7 feet tall you got to be able to finish through some contact at

The Rim you got to be able to you know power through absorb some contact UM and that’s going to elevate his game to another level right because we know that he can you know we know that he can kind of get his wherever he wants in the

Mid-range that’s his like his sweet spot we know that once he gets gets going a little bit the three ball you know is there and can be reliable for him sometimes it’s hard to like you know start off cold and just start drilling threes right out of the gate but it’s

That being able to finish in and around the rim is what’s going to really take his game his offensive game to the next level yeah uh Jabari come on dog come on come on Big Dog you 6 foot 11 I know you need a little bit more muscle but yeah

That mean you gotta get in the gym bro and get stronger uh in the paint so you can knock guys off all you got to do is hit them in their chest with that shoulder and finish through that contact I know you know you’re not as strong as

You need to be right now and that’s and that’s fine CU you’re a young player but come on dog we we need you finishing in there you know what I mean we need but once once Jabari adds that size I do think Jabar is a decent finisher it’s

Like I think he’s he’s he’s gonna be okay but right now it is a struggle and that’s something that’s another area that he should focus on but I thought he was excellent from three tonight you know what I mean so so so he picked us

Up in that way so and and and that and being so such a good threat from three really really got I’m and all those Ducks so we you know I want to give him his his praise on that for knocking shots down and how that causes teams to defend you differently absolutely

Because they couldn’t pack the paint right so it left you know and so a men was able to kind of roam that Baseline you know be in the dunker spot and get all those free you know uh free kind of Dives towards the rim um and it was it

Was beautiful to see the uh the dunon whatever that he he was the dunster not there in that second quarter look this game was over by the fourth quarter for all intents and purposes um it was a really impressive win by you know again a very short-handed Rockets team missing

Alperen shagon missing cam Whitmore obviously they’ve been missing tar for basically the entire season um yes the Cavs didn’t have Evan Mobley but you know this is a very very good Cavaliers team top four seed in the Eastern Conference uh so I think a very impressive win and the rockets are now

Seven- one in the month of March and the playing hopes even though we thought maybe they were gone they’re still kind of there potentially so the Rockets might be be you know sneaking their way into the play in discussion but last thing we want to talk about coming up

Here in a moment on today’s show how the identity of this rocket team has shifted since the All-Star break we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by Stitch fix with Stitch fix you get a stylist who understands your style

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Running around in the three games that this team has now played and I Madison’s if for you if you’re watching on YouTube great if you’re if you’re listening you you can’t see Madison chuckling cuz he already knows what we’re having to uh debunk we’re going to have to dispel the

Notion right here in this segment uh this team is not better without Alper and shingon that has been a a very wild narrative that has taken place in the very short mind you three game three game sample size that we have without Alper and shenon against you know the

Worst team yeah the very bad teams like that’s the thing it’s like it’s not these are not it’s we had a Spurs game we had a Wizards game and yes the Cavs are a good team but they didn’t even have like come on so we just got to address that right from

The jump but and we’re not to we’re not even going to do we’re not even going to spend a lot of time discussing it because it doesn’t it’s not even an argument to be had it’s Dum I’m sorry it’s dumb you’re dumb if you think that I don’t respect your basketball mind at

All I know that may not mean anything to anybody but I just I just don’t so that’s it’s dumb bro it is you know it’s it’s it’s silly to try and draw that kind of a sweeping conclusion after a tiny three- game sample size for a guy

Who has been your best player all season long now one thing that I do think warrants you know discussion is how this team’s identity has shifted since the allstar breek but especially in this kind of three- game sample size that we do have where yes they have adopted a

Different identity kind of without Alper and shenon on the floor but I don’t think it’s because they don’t have alpia out there I think the team was actually in the process of adjusting to this new identity we saw them playing with more Pace trying to get out and run more even

With shingun in the lineup before he went down due to injury and it really feels like this team is now settling into this new identity where they’re able to still maintain and remain an elite defensive team but they’re also now finding easier opportunities to get out in transition and really

Highlighting the strengths of a lot of their athletes on this roster guys like Jaylen guys like a men not in this game specifically because he’s been out for a couple games now due to injury but guys like cam wh more right who can really get out and be a terror in transition

These weren’t things that we saw happening earlier in the season because again eeme was trying to you know strip it all down to the nuts and bolts right get them fundamentally sound get them to clean up the mistakes that had them you know last place you know one of the

Worst defensive teams in the association for a couple years and once those fundamental defensive principles were in place then he started giving them the freedom trying to push the pace right trying to really say all right now we’ve got to get out and run now we’ve got to try and capitalize on these

Opportunities where our young guys can get out and really get some easy buckets yeah I I think that and that is key and we’ve already been making that shift but the shift has become and we’ve been getting better at getting out in transition and it’s largely due to the

Improvement of our young players as Defenders that that like we talked about their activity it allows for us to to get turnovers and play quicker right and so because oper Shon went out of the lineup That was such a that that was going to clearly hurt our offense it’s

Going to clearly hurt our offense and we seen it in that Spurs game when it just a lot of the offense devolved into one-on-one craziness right which I think the Rockets really benefited from playing those two bad teams early so they could see how their team look like

And work on some things that they needed to to get the offense together but to get back to it defensively we replaced oper shinon who who’s been a very good I think a serviceable uh Defender this year but we replaced him with an absolute Elite defender in Aman Thompson

Absolutely Elite Defender and what that does for your pace um when when you have guys who switch uh now we do this do the switching lineup and we make offenses devolve into one-on-one basketball when you can switch everything and so it just gives us a different look and because of

Our activity and growth over this time it’s leading to more turnovers and leading us to get out in more transition and get e easy buckets and you know I I I am very impressed in the growth of uh our young players in sharing the ball since that first Spurs game I thought I

I I thought this they really needed an anchor in a a a screener but you see alond is already getting better at it we we seen more of Jabar in the pick and roll the team is trying to find itself offensively in those ways as well and I

Think it’ll be good for the development of all of our players as now the playmaking uh onus is now more spread out everybody has to uh to make more and like we saw F Le has always been the orchestrator but I I would wondered who would hit uh Aman in those back door

Situations and last night or with the Cavs game it was foran V it’s good to see that we we can still make those same plays but now I want to see the other guys start to make those plays too and so there’s really a development component of making everybody better in

This while uh while uh oper Shon is out and that’s just that’s just going to help our other guys catch up to the level that op shagon is at right now absolutely and look you know it’s it’s kind of by necessity right so Alp goes

Down and other guys are going to have to step up you’re going to have to find you know different ways to generate offense you can’t rely on a guaranteed you know double team or triple team to Alper and shenon to generate a wide openen looks

And this kind of goes back to what we talked about how the Rockets were doing a good job you know at points in this game identifying mismatches attacking weak points within the Cavaliers defense and I do think that when you have sufficient five out spacing what that

Does is there’s always going to be a weak Defender somewhere on the floor so whether that weak Defender is guarding Jabari whether that weak Defender is guarding Dylan Brooks whether that weak Defender gets switched onto a Fred Van fet that becomes kind of the weak point

That you’re trying to attack and then I thought the Rockets did a really great job with their drive and kick game just finding those seams finding those cracks in the Cavaliers defense even in the half court to where they could attack and then kick out to an open shooter

Right and whether that open shooter would fire a three or then that person was able to attack off the catch and keep the keep the the Cavaliers defense kind of scrambling those are how they generated those opportunities right so it’s a combination of the defense is very different now because now you have

A true one through five that is switchable across the board um and you know because primarily when shenon was playing and when they play still now when they play jock landale they don’t involve their fives in switches right they switch one through four when those

Guys are on the floor so the defense of coverage becomes entirely different and when you’re switching everything one through five it becomes a lot more chaotic for the other team offensively to try and generate anything right it flattens out an offense and because of the things that we talked about earlier

The Rockets quick hands their activity and passing Lanes being disruptive it really has leaned into I think a a different kind of defensive identity for this team yeah I mean that’s what I say the rets have been good defensively all year but it allows us to do a little uh

Do things a little bit differently and it’s going to be a shock to teams you know I it’s going to be a shock this they don’t have a lot of film on how the Rockets play like this um and so and so as as this increase in physicality has

Uh come after the All-Star break the refs aren’t calling fouls like they used to it’s really helped the rockets in that sense as well where we can be physical and that’s maok he’s been preaching that and so now we don’t get those knick-knack fouls or foul baiting

Files that young players fall for all the time now they can just play freely and tough right so and and it just makes for it it’s ially a better game the process goes quicker but it really benefits the rockets and guess what on offense it doesn’t hurt us because we

Didn’t get no F foul calls anyway you know what I mean it don’t hurt us at all on offense because these Rockets have been playing like this they they don’t they don’t have foul baiters on their team uh and operation Good sto doing that right he you he used to be this

Super crafty foul baiter but he doesn’t do that anymore because that’s not moka’s identity he doesn’t he he don’t play like that and Jaylen green actually gets fouled all the time but he never gets the call so he’s used to it now he he knows that he has to play through

That stuff his mentality is better um we do got to get Jabari rounded back in uh you know he’s struggling with being filed and not getting those calls around the room hey that’s what it is now you know what I mean like and and and the sooner you get that mentality it doesn’t

It doesn’t I remember in the Steven Silas era how not getting calls could just debilitate this team it really could debilitate this team these guys have a different mindset now they’re way tougher than this and I think that new increased physicality is also pouring into what the Rockets are doing right

Now yeah Jaylen had some you know at least at least two different really tough finishes kind of through contact and um he talking about you know I mentioned the rebounding earlier in this game too he was he kind of had he had like the the and we’re going to talk

About jayen the the post post Allstar break Jaylen green um this phenomenon that we’ve seen for the last couple seasons and it’s it’s taking place yet again this year where post Allstar by Jaylen green is a different Beast um but he had that one rebound he got the he

Went in you know in traffic got the offensive board put it back up you know around like three Cavaliers players and then gave him like the little little shoulder Flex on him too um he again it’s it’s a it’s a mentality that this whole team has has embraced um and it’s

Kind of that Underdog mentality right they they’ve got it and and often times teams start to reflect the mentality of their head coach the Rockets have that mentality from Oka and I think we’re seeing kind of a different version of this team now um Again by necessity

Without Alper and shingon out there the way that they’re having to change things stylistically offensively defensively um but I think that we’re going to have to this is going to Warrant a discussion you know for a future episode but Oka has to absolutely be in the coach of the

Year discussion I think if this Rockets team can make you know a late push here and and you know snag a play in spot I think he’s got to at least be a finalist for coach of the year for the for the absolute massive turnaround that the Rockets have already experienced they

Have now broken their Vegas over under win totals for the season I think they were 31.5 games uh coming into the year they’ve broken that now winning 32 games on the season they’re only a handful of games under 500 and uh we still got a

Little ways to go this year and and some hopes for the playing tournament but Madison on that note you know the drill everybody know where to track you down at yeah you can follow me on Twitter at madman leaks man come talk Rockets ball with me 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 whether you’re listen to your podcast or on YouTube just search lockon Rockets be sure to like comment and subscribe 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 lockon Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets Basketball

Jalen Green & Fred VanVleet Lead Houston Rockets In Impressive Blowout Win Vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) is joined by weekly cohost and NBA Draft enthusiast Madison Moore (@MadManLeaks) to discuss the Houston Rockets impressive 117-103 blowout win vs the Cleveland Cavaliers. How the Rockets outplayed the Cavs from the jump, pace and space key to attacking Cleveland’s defense, gang rebounding and matching Cavs physicality, balanced scoring approach from starters led by Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet, why the Rockets are NOT better without Alperen Sengun, how the identity of the team is shifting and more.

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