Houston Rockets & Golden State Warriors Play-In Tournament Race: How We Got Here, Predictions & More

Houston Rockets & Golden State Warriors Play-In Tournament Race: How We Got Here, Predictions & More

On today’s show a Rockets Warriors crossover episode as only a half game separates these two teams for the final spot in the Western Conference playin tournament how did we get to this point in the season for both these respective organizations who ultimately wins out on their schedules and the all important

April 4th meet up between these two teams to decide who likely gets that final play in tournament spot it’s all coming up on today’s lock on Rockets this is Mission Control Houston ignition sequence time 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 a credential media member I’m also the host of locked on NBA Mondays be sure to follow along on Twitter at JT Gatlin this show of course at locked on Rockets free and available wherever you listen

To your podcast including YouTube and as always thank you so much for making locked 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 everyday and making the show part of your day every single

Day we’re going to dive into my conversation with locked on Warriors host Cyrus SS as a Rockets Warriors crossover as only a half game separates these two teams for the final spot in the Western Conference playin tournament and the way this going to work is I’m handling the host Reigns for the first

Segment you take over the second one will Free Will throughout this thing um but first things first man besides the fact that it’s great to see you how the hell are you doing and how are you like in your opinion are the Rockets gonna overtake the the Warriors let’s start

Right off there man how how are you feeling and how are the Rockets fans feeling and maybe how’s the team feeling about these final this final stretch you know Osirus I’ll be completely honest right it really it was Doom and Gloom for a couple days there because the

Rockets you know they came out of the All-Star break and they had a bit of a rough stretch they went kind of one and four for a few those first handful of games out of the All-Star break really competitive um they looked good in some of these games just couldn’t quite get

Over the hump in a few of them and then they kind of found something right they started playing this this new found Lev with new new level of pace really trying to kind of modify their offensive approach um they brought themselves back into the 21st century of NBA basketball

By actually shooting more threes than their opponents in a number of games after playing this like old school like 90s era basketball for two-thirds of the season and then Alber and shingun went down right a really uh what looked like a very scary injury at first against the

Sacramento Kings and shingun has been their best player all season long and obviously when your best player goes down due to injury and what looked like a really bad injury thankfully he avoided any Serious injury he’s you know reportedly only going to be out for about a month so he could potentially be

Back for a a postseason run if the Rockets do make it into the actual playoffs but soon as he went down it was kind of like it took all the wind out of the rocket sales right where it was like oh man they they finally found something

They were locking in they had a little win streak going and then your best player gets hurt and I I’ve kind of likened it to way back when the Rockets went on their 22 game win streak back in the trace McGrady uh Yao Ming era Yao Ming went down about halfway through

That 22 game win streak and everybody rode off the Rockets everybody’s like oh well there goes the rocket season here’s another Yao Ming injury here it is again and the rockets tapped into something greater than themselves right like sometimes you have these like unexplainable phenomena that take place

In sports and that’s kind of what happened with this team where you lost your Best Player and it’s like they it galvanized them right where they all came together and now they’re playing some of the best basketball of this season right the dynamic has changed considerably moving Jabari Smith Jr to

That five spot and at the core of all of this has been Jaylen Green’s Sensational play jayln Green was arguably one of the worst players in basketball for about two-thirds of this season and he went through the fire he went through all the bumps and bruises along the road Oka

Talked a lot about kind of tearing him down and building him back up as a player and now we’re seeing the fruits of that labor start to take hold start to take effect where jaylen’s been one of the best players in the NBA for this stretch that the Rockets are on now nine

Straight wins uh above 500 for the first time since all the way back in January longest win strength since the uh you’ll be very familiar obviously with the James Harden Chris Paul LED Houston Rockets uh and yeah man it’s uh it’s been really miraculous to see this team

Kind of come together and play some of the best basketball of the Season here at the end and make a push for the playin and you know you brought up em Oka who I I respect tremendously as a head coach I mean he gets results right

I mean it’s really just one objective in in competitive Sports and that’s to win the dude wins he gets the best out of his players um the job he’s done in Houston is miraculous and then meanwhile on the other side you have Steve Kerr these are two coaches and teams going in

Complete opposite directions um the Rockets are rising you mentioned the big winning streak meanwhile the Warriors I believe they they’ve lost six of their last 10 if I’m not mistaken uh yes correct um you know from your perspective and and that’s a huge reason why I love doing these these crossovers

Uh what’s going on with the Warriors from your perspective man like like what do you see as an outsider because I I you know I any locked on warriors uh every dayer knows what I’ve been saying for a long time which is that Steve Kerr is playing favorites he routinely is

Playing the wrong play players instead of the the best players I just posted this stat on my threads account again you can follow me there at dog wild listing all the team leaders for the Warriors in terms of net rating the top three players for the Warriors pmy plus

220 plus 221 Draymond Green Plus 1221 Jonathan kaminga plus 108 the other side of that the bottom three cabon Looney minus 37 Klay Thompson minus 71 Andrew Wiggins minus 103 what is your perspective about the Warriors man are they cooked are they done what are you seeing that maybe I’m

Missing it’s hard to say that the Warriors are going to be done right there’s still such an an absurd level of Talent on that roster and you have to almost give them the benefit of the doubt when they’ve been so dominant for such a very very long time right all it

Takes is maybe the the switch flips right and then you you lock in and the the the big three start playing like they used to know how to play together and and I I will say it does at least feel like Steve cerr is kind of leaning

On the guys he thinks are supposed to be the the the guys that are able to produce at a high level right leaning on the veterans leaning on the guys who have who have been proven Commodities in the past but that has kind of I think in

A way blinded him to some of the success of some of the younger guys right Pinsky uh kaminga and not not really leaning into and highlighting hey these are guys that can help us win basketball games I think one kind of interesting um kind of when you compare the two coaches right

Between between Steve Kerr and between e okas udoka is not afraid to ride the hot hand he doesn’t care who’s he will go with the best Five Guys on the court doesn’t matter if it means he’s benching you know two three all five of his starters whatever it is he’s going to

Roll with whoever he thinks gives him the best chance to win a basketball game whether it’s in a quarter a half an entire game crunch time whatever we’ve seen Jaylen green benched we’ve seen shingon benched we’ve seen Jabari benched doesn’t matter you’re not going to get a chance just because of your

Name brand recognition or whatever and it kind of sounds like that’s what’s happening with Kerr where he’s leaning on certain guys even though they’re not producing or even though they’re struggling if if usban guba was coaching the Warriors just that to play off what you said where where gruba is all about

The hot hand and rightfully so right I mean I mean that’s why why wouldn’t you do that um what do you thinkman what I’m sorry I just I’m looking at the chat and Usman guba’s name popped up rocket uh who who has not seen virtually any playing time with the Warriors this year

Much to M shrin uh What uh what do you think if um if e Oka was the head coach of the Warriors what do you think he’s doing differently versus Steve Kerr if anything I think that one thing that em has really done is first off he’s he’s

Leaned into his you know he’s a very defense defensive minded coach he’s leaned into that defensive philosophy in a way he had to it’s hard to say what he would do with this Warriors team specifically because with the Rockets he needed to kind of establish an an identity and a culture because they

Didn’t have that under St Silas so he really tore things down to the nuts and bolts and tried to build it back up because a lot of these guys you know Jaylen shenon for the first two years under Silas uh Jabari and tari last year their rookie Seasons they didn’t have

Structure they didn’t have an identity and the way that it was always conveyed to me is you know talking to you know other assistant coaches agents you know Scouts around the league is that this Rockets team was craving an identity they were like a blank canvas and e may

Got to come in with his paintbrush and really establish what he wanted and that was a defensive identity right and then as they kind of created that Foundation early in the season that’s when they started to really expand post All-Star break and start to you know lean into

Some of the I guess the gifts of the players on their roster right they’ve got some incredible athletes on this team Jaylen green Amin Thompson to name a couple of them but they weren’t playing with much Pace if at all earlier this season right they were slowing

Things down they were playing heavy in the half court all those things so it’s hard to say what he would necessarily do differently with this Warriors roster because they they are an established veteran group right they’ve had success in the past and maybe that’s some of

What Steve cerr is kind of clinging to is just some of the success that he’s had in the past with these guys trying to keep things the same rather than being Innovative and leaning into some of these newer younger names I’m totally with you man um we’re going to flip the

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Lowercase for a first deposit match up to $100 prize picks pick more pick less it’s that easy are you watching Fox Sports or ESP on in TV all day Jackson I try not to do you have to turn down the volume with all that shouting thankfully no because I I have

I have a great alternative to Fox Sports uh and that is our locked on sports today channel it’s so good absolutely make the switch to locked on sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming locked on sports today

Brings you can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast nwork your team every day sorry to take that I wasn’t we didn’t really script that part of it uh and again Jackson gadlin is available on

Twitter at JT Gatlin you can follow me on threads at dog wild Jackson take it away sir all right Cyrus so here we are we’re at the tail end of the season we’ve got 12 games left for the Warriors 11 games left for the rockets and right

Now we have a half game separating these two for the final playing spot in the Western Conference for a little bit there it looked like there was going to be kind of a three-way race for the final two spots with the Lakers kind of in that mix as well however the Lakers

Kind of separating themselves from that 1011 pack a little bit it looks like they’re kind of solidifying their spot right there as the ninth seed in the Western Conference it doesn’t look like they’re going to be able to get much Headway north or south from that position so I think the Lakers are

Pretty much locked into that ninth spot but as we said again Rockets just a half game back right now the Warriors riding a nine game win streak the warriors with a two- game losing streak as it stands and they’ve got a couple of tough games coming up here against the Miami Heat

And the Orlando Magic a little Florida road trip and things are about to pick up for the Rockets they had a really easy slate for these past couple weeks uh which is one of the reasons they’ve been able to have this nine game win streak but Cyrus when we look at the

Standings as they are right now for this just kind of when you take kind of a 10,000 foot view on this Warrior season is it is it like a crazy disappointment that you see them all the way down here at the 10 seat and and trying to hold on

For deer life to just make the play in tournament as like a bottom of thee Barrel team is that a complete disappointment from the expectations coming to this season how do you view where the Warriors are right now I I I say this whole season is a colossal

Disappointment I even go back to the draft uh look this is no disrespect to Brandon pmy I do think that was a a a a positive draft pick I I don’t think that was a bad pick but um going back all the way to last summer when I saw Ken

Whitmore just falling this is a player who is projected to be a top five pick and all of a sudden he’s available to teams in the late teens approaching 20 I was just completely flabbergasted that the Golden State Warriors just didn’t even bother uh taking a look and your

Team snagged him he’s having a phenomenal rookie season especially given he’s only 19 years old um so for me it’s like this this whole season I mean this is the postbob Meers era it’s been a colossal disappointment thankfully Brandon psky has at least proven himself to be a player in this

Game um his shooting still leaves a lot to be desired but the the tenacity he’s one of those irritants um that that you usually if you’re on the other side you can you can see it I always try to take the perspective of the opposing player

And opposing team and and every time I do that looking at psky I see myself getting annoyed and I’m so thankful he’s on my team but with that said the team just from the get-go like that like this is Steve Kerr’s Vision right and Steve Kerr admitted two weeks ago in an

Interview with the San Francisco Chronicle with Sam Gordon that he makes tough decisions based on his gut and I’m not a fan of that I’m all about logic and reasoning I’m all about if something makes sense you do it uh you know speaking of the hot hand you mentioned

With eoka that makes sense if someone is on fire you play them but that’s not Steve K mentality he’s all about his gut he’s all about playing you know the guys that he has has has proven themselves to be winners as opposed to young players who might get there someday but haven’t

Proven anything yet but look you got to play to prove yourself and and so I think looking at it right now especially when you look at the the rhetoric of Steve Kerr he said this was a championship team this is a team that could win the title he’s ton down down

That rhetoric a little bit uh a mon month or two ago he said for example that uh you know in regards to the playin that the Warriors are a team that could that could follow the Lakers model of last year because they were a playing team who reached the Western Conference

Finals and so now you’re now you’re talking about the Western Conference finals championship is suddenly out of the vernacular the point is for this Warriors team to be where they are and for this Warriors team to be stifling the growth of Moses Moody who is a plus

50 this year net rating the team wins when he plays for this team to still this stage this late in the season when you know with near certainty and correct me if I’m wrong I’d love to know what your thoughts are on kaminga because to me there is no doubt he’s the second

Best player on this roster yet Steve cerr will not finish games with him he’s still finishing games with Andrew Wiggins who on the season is a minus 103 he’s still finishing games with Klay Thompson a minus 71 who’s already like been been who had a starter uh role

Revoked but he’s still finishing games with these guys over the players who are better both in terms of measurable I think they passed the eye test so this season as a whole where you’ve you’ve stunted the development of your young players you’re not winning with your veterans you’re

Still playing your veterans even though you’re no longer a championship team which makes no sense I’m just I’m frustrated I’m I’m just I’m I’m completely just bewildered by all this and yeah I would say this is a colossal disappointment but if you look at at Steve Ker’s messaging he still thinks

There’s hope he still thinks like just like I feel like his whole mentality is just get into the postseason and then Anything could happen I feel like if you’re I feel like if you Eric spoler the Miami Heat with you know Jimmy Butler and Bam atab bio

And kind of that group which the Heat have shown time and time again that when they get into the postseason they do have like a switch that they can flip and just become a different team in the postseason so I do think there is some Merit to the idea of the regular season

Is what it is we’re not worried about it we just want to get there and then we’ll be able to play our best basketball I don’t know if that necessarily to this Warriors team and it definitely feels like from an Outsiders perspective that this year feels like a huge indictment

On Steve Kerr specifically as a coach because I I kind of thought that this Warriors team had kind of the ingredients to age out of the big three era to age out of the Warriors Dynasty ERA with a lot of Grace and actually transition into the next era of Warriors

Basketball pretty seamlessly right with a lot of young Talent a lot of exciting young players um and and it really feels like Steve G has been just so adamantly like opposed to doing that where you know I really thought that this Warriors team was going to be very similar to the

End of Dynasty San Antonio Spurs right think about the big three think about the the end of that era and how Greg papovich embraced and leaned into some of the young guys namely obviously kawh Leonard right and really transition into that next era of Spurs basketball then

Now obviously kawh and his time in San Antonio ended you know with fireworks and it was not fun and it was a mess but I do think that transition was incredibly seamless where the Spurs did not have a drop off in play in fact they

Became a better team in the in the post like Big Three era where suddenly they had kawhai they had LaMarcus Aldridge they were leaning to this new identity they had the right pieces and that was the sign of an organization that understood how to maintain greatness

Over an extended period of time and the Warriors have been a dominant team they’ve had this dynasty because in large part of the big three and obviously Steph Curry’s greatness clay Dre they’ve all been so such important pieces but it really feels like Steve K’s clinging on to that old identity and

Hasn’t embraced a new version of this Warriors team and that’s where a lot of these struggles have come from right you’re absolutely right and just to add to that first of all that Spurs team in 2016 no 2017 almost any other year they are by far the best team in the NBA they

Just happen to be competing in the same season as the Kevin Durant Warriors um I mean that yeah that that Spurs team was a juggernaut um it’s incredible they didn’t win a title you’re absolutely right um and and yeah regarding this Warriors team here’s the thing you’re you’re absolutely right that the

Warriors with with all the successful years the championship years they they had the the core three they had other pieces right I mean Wiggins for six months turned into an All-Star uh for one of those title teams you had Kevin Durant for two of those years but the

Common theme for all of their title teams except for maybe 2018 but they were so top heavy was dep they had a team that their bench you could go 10-1 deep and they often would would um defying the norm of NBA teams that normally go 8 n maybe right like the

Warriors would go 10 11 12 deep in a lot of these years including 2022 and Steve cerr would rely on the on on his bench I I saw the recipe this season as following that and the Warriors currently right now are third in the NBA in bench scoring in net

Rating they have a fantastic bench but it’s just oftentimes the Warriors are also the worst clutch team in the NBA they’re the worst fourth quarter team in the NBA and I think a huge reason for that we covered this a lot on lockdown Warriors is Steve Kerr ultimately in

These closing moments and in these pivotal moments keeps relying on his veterans who are just they’re they’re cooked and the why of that can be a myriad of reasons whether it’s age the Wiggins thing I mean he’s only 29 so that’s a whole other story but that that

Core is just not delivering anymore and and Steve Kerr has had a hard time letting go I keep bringing this argument up and I love to to maybe we could tease this when we come back uh before we lead into the April 4th game but but to me

The the sign of Steve Kerr and why in my opinion he’s overrated and I and I hate bashing him so I don’t take joy in this but it’s just you know you got you gotta you gotta critique based on what’s in front of us if Steve Kerr I’d love to

Get your answer to this when we come back if Steve Kerr was the head coach of the Houston Rockets what’s the record how are they doing this year Jackson’s gonna answer that when we come back today’s episode is brought to you by better help give online therapy at TR

Betterhelp.com lockon NBA and get on your way to being your best self and Jackson you and I have actually had conversations off the air about the value of therapy how this your brain is your most important organ and it’s there’s nothing wrong with seeking help for that right I mean is there anything

Anything you want to add no i’ I’ve done therapy in the past we’ve talked about this before and it’s an incredibly you know cathartic experience to have somebody who’s unbiased when it comes to your life kind of help you know Point some things out to you share some things

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NBA thank you for making locked on Warriors and locked on Rockets your first listen everyday for the everydays Jackson when are you rub next uh for the everydays our next episode we’re going to have this on our Channel but our next episode should be our recap of the

Rockets on the road against the OKC Thunder that’s going to be their first really big uh barometer for the success that they’ve had as of late nine game win winning streak but against a lot of easier opponents so we’ll see how they perform against one of the Western Conference Elite teams absolutely and

We’ll be back at this again we’re recording this on Tuesday at approximately 130 right now we’re back at this in a few hours it’s it’s post game of Warriors and heat a huge game for the Warriors um but I POS a question Jackson I’d love to get your answer if

Steve Kerr was your head coach for the Houston Rockets instead of em OD DOA are the Rockets a half game out of the playin are they better are they worse your thoughts I don’t think so but part of that is I think it’s twofold I don’t know what Kerr would look like

With this team because I honestly don’t know if you ask me to sit here and and describe what is Kerr’s identity as an NBA head coach we haven’t seen Steve cerr without a a future Hall of Fame cast as as you know that at his disposal right we haven’t seen Steve CER without

Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and and Kevin Durant for the couple years that he was in Golden State we haven’t seen that version of Steve Curry yet so I really don’t know what he would like I feel like the medal of a head coach is really tested when

You have a team that isn’t you know chalk full of star players right when you have a team that really needs Elite coaching to be able to get them somewhere and when you look at this Rockets team they don’t have any Bonafide Stars right shingon had a breakout season OB obviously he could

Have been a super you know an All-Star this season didn’t make the cut but he was playing at an All-Star level Jaylen green was really rough for most of the season their Marquee Acquisitions were Fred Van blet and Dylan Brooks and yet Oka has this team a half game out of the

Play in like that speaks volumes about who he is as a head coach and what he was able to achieve and get out of this group of guys so yeah I I feel pretty confident saying that I don’t think the Rockets would be where they are right

Now if Steve cerr was the head coach especially with like his just unwillingness to play young guys maybe that’s just a golden state thing maybe if he was with a different team it would look a little bit different but uh different expectations or whatnot but

Yeah I I don’t know man uh I I’m gonna do I’m doing an episode coming up soon where I’m going to dedicate it entirely to Steve Kerr’s gut and I’m gonna go through every decision he’s made since 20 because I go I go back to 16 when uh

And and more specifically the first item I’m going to bring up on that episode is were the adjustments the Warriors made up 3-1 against the Cavaliers when Draymond Green was suspended um I mean my my critique of him I’ve never I’ve never critiqued him publicly until last

Season the four titles I feel like earned him that right um but when I started seeing you know and paying attention to the Nuance of his decision- making last year it’s just a lot of stuff started to just stick out and stink and you know so I’m I’m going to

Dedicate that episode soon to Steve Ker’s gut and and where it has not necessarily LED them in the right direction but you look our teams have a big game coming up April 4th and a huge reason why um I I feel like logically it would make sense to have this crossover

Between us right before that game but the reason why I thought we should do it now is because only half game separates our two teams and more importantly that game even though it’s just a week away represents five games between now and then for the Warriors four games between

Now and then for the Rockets and the way this season has gone you cannot predict where things are going to go man like every time the the Warriors for example look like they’re on the right track and you’re thinking big picture like they could do anything then they go through

This slide where they lose six of 10 and your team first of all and backtracking real fast you do have a star even though it’s not technically a star yet Jaylen green is on the cusp my friend like’s he’s playing like a star now and again

Mentioned it in the in the open in our first segment he’s playing like a star level player now he’s been one of the best players in the NBA for about the last three weeks or so um but that’s that’s a new development right and again credit to eoka for not for having the

Patience for not abandoning ship when nobody would have blamed him for benching Jaylen green earlier this season we saw Jaylen green benched in a number of games at the end of fourth quarters because eeme just couldn’t rely on him right he was struggling he wasn’t

You know where he needed to be on the defensive side of the floor offensively he couldn’t find a rhythm it was really tough for him to adjust to playing winning basketball but now that he has now that he’s gone through that fire and come out on the other end he is a

Significantly better player for that and so you have to give em odoko a lot of credit for not losing sight of the long-term vision of what he wanted to achieve with Jaylen green but when we do look at the importance of this final game Cyrus you know F first off this

Game could be for it’s gonna feel like a playoff game because I don’t think the rockets and words I don’t think either team is going to create a ton of Separation over these next four or five games before ultimately the Warriors come to visit the rockets in Houston I

Will say though one benefit for the Warriors is they’ve already won the season series regardless so the Warriors won the first two meetups between these teams they only play three times total this season this is the final Meetup between these two teams so there’s not a

Chance for the Rockets to tie the season series or win the season series which absolutely plays into the favor of the Golden State Warriors here because if the two teams wind up with identical records at the end Warriors have the tiebreaker they’re going to earn that play in spot absolutely the Warriors

Play the Heat the the magic the Hornets the Spurs all on the road and then they play a home game against the Mavericks before they travel again to Houston to take on your squad meanwhile the Rockets are at OKC at Utah then they’re at home against the Mavericks and then they’re

On the road against the Timberwolves before that that Warriors game where do you see them where do you see them in the standings are they going to be as tight now as they were then what are you projecting you know I I think with the way that this team has been playing and

The way that they’ve kind of all come together as a unit I I wouldn’t be shocked if they’re able to at least go two and two over this next stretch of four games they’ve got some really tough opponents in there but they’ve also played OKC surprisingly well this season

Even though OKC’s been a really dominant team in the NBA this year now again a lot of this you have to say with the caveat of we haven’t seen a lot of these teams play the Rockets without Alper and shenon so all the games they played against OKC previously they had shenon

In the lineup and shingon versus chat hren has been largely in favor of the Rockets up until this most recent meeting between the two teams where chat hren played out of his mind but in the first two meetups Al and shingun got the better of Chet holr so I think that it’s

It’s actually a benefit for the Rockets because a lot of teams they don’t have enough tape on the Rockets and the way that they’re playing right now with Jabari Smith Jr at the five with a Min Thompson inserted into the starting lineup That kind of gives them a little

Bit of a sneaky advantage against certain teams because other coaches they’re looking at film and they’re like we don’t know how this team is going to play against us now they’re playing at a much faster Pace they’re getting out and transition a lot more they’re playing a

Lot they’re running a lot of their offense through jayen green and Fred Van B they become a much more perimeter oriented offense uh in the absence of alarin shenon so I think that helps the Rockets considerably but over these next four games you know if they could go two and

Two and at least go 500 over these next four before that Warriors game happens then I think they’re going to be in a really good spot how do you feel about the Warriors five games before they get to uh their their faded little little date with Destiny in Houston they’re

Their borderline unpredictable at this point I mean I don’t feel good about either of these next two Road games at Miami at Orlando I I don’t feel good about that at all the Hornets is the only opponent I feel I do feel confident with that I mean even the Spurs don’t

Feel like a gimme because the Spurs I think beat the Warriors last time they played and we’re now seeing uh uh you know one of the future of the NBA Rising for that Squad and he’s playing much better than he was earlier in the season I’m I’m really worried about this

Warriors team man I mean I feel like if if you believe in in God intuition I guess if you just believe that pieace is fall they may the Warriors will get the 10 seed but you know if things were scripted I guess is the best way I can

Describe it I I feel like if if the NBA was scripting this whole thing theyd put the Warriors in but it’s not scripted and on paper that your team looks so dangerous um do you ever I know we only have a a couple seconds here but um I’m

Sure you’ve heard of the euwing theory which which implies that sometimes when the team’s best player is injured or removed the team actually is better yeah have you discussed that with with the rockets and singon like is uh do you think they’re a better team without them because they’re faster I

No they so they they already started picking up the pace with shingun in the lineup post Allstar break that was an emphasis of Oka coming out of the All-Star break and we saw them playing with more Pace we’ve also seen them anchor down a top 10 defense they I

Think they they drifted off to about seventh or eighth in defensive rating but shingon has been a part of a top 10 defense all year long so the argument that this team is somehow magically better without their best player they’re not they they they’ve leaned into they’ve leaned into a different identity

Absolutely and that helps when you replace one really good player with Jaylen green who suddenly started playing like a superstar player and has been averaging you know 30 plus a game over this little recent winning streak that the Rockets are on so that’s been incredible to see but no this is not a

Better team without Alper and shingun and that’s that’s a narrative that I’ve had to debunk multiple times over at locked on Rockets but Cyrus when we look at this game right you know I don’t think either team is going to create a mountain of Separation I think they’re

Actually still I I I would wager that they’re still going to be within I’d say at least a game with of each other uh either way whether the Rockets Leap Frog the Warriors and they’re holding that 10 seed for a little bit or maybe they they they’re still hovering right

Behind the Warriors I think they’re still going to be within about a game of each other by the time their matchup ultimately happens on April 4th in Houston the way that I’m feeling though man is and I’ve said this before over my show is something about it screams right

You want to talk about like like you know karmic retribution whatever something about it streams like poetry to me where if the young Houston Rockets were able to like Usher this new age of basketball by knocking out like the Warriors at the end of their big three

Dynasty and Steve Kerr and all that something about it is is a little poetic right when you think about the way that the warriors were the direct roadblock and preventing the James Harden Le Rockets from winning titles for a few years there I know you you Ro I need my

Retribution man you’re still thinking of that I get it that’s sports right I mean some of my most painful memories going back to her sponsor better help just a few moments ago some of the most painful memories are sports related man so it’s

I I feel you I get it um you know a different sport but the 49ers I mean I don’t think they’re ever going to be Patrick Mahomes and that sucks so so the so the Niner fans always look at the Chiefs I think the same way the Rockets

Fans look at the Warriors but I will say this man the Warriors are facing an existential crisis right now because if your Rockets surpass them um and this does become a reality where the Rockets are in and the Warriors are out I mean I don’t see what do you do if you’re the

Warriors yeah what do you do at that point up I think to blow it up I don’t I mean how do you come back when you can’t when like injuries are not the cause of this right it’s just your best players are cooked and and you know and you have

Some Rising young players who should be playing right now but they’re not getting these important reps which is needed for development so um finishing up predictions wait we we’ll do the predictions and I’ve got one final question for you because I’m so curious so we’ll do predictions and then I’ve

Got one final one so perfect perfect so predictions for the game I’m gonna I’m gonna say it’s going to be a nailbiter and I’m going to be the Homer here I think the Rockets come out on top I I’m not I I I’m I’m tempt I’m not

Going to put a final score on it yet because this these the Rockets have been playing at an insane Pace as of late so it could be something where we see you know a final score in the like 120s range or whatever um but if Jaylen green

Can keep up his current level of play I don’t see a way that this team loses because they’ve been one of the best defenses in the NBA they’ve switched with Jabari at the five they’re a switch everything scheme one through five I think they match up incredibly well with

The Warriors so that’s going to be my prediction for this game and and Jabari Smith is rising your I’m so envious of your team because on one hand the Warriors do have have great young pieces themselves but you’re the potential level for the Rockets with Jaylen green

With with the one of the Thompson Twins uh Jabari Smith who is really coming into his own I’m envious man I I will say this I you you’re I’ll I’ll roll with you in your prediction for the for the Warriors Rockets I think Houston wins that game at home but I think the

Warriors will hang on and get into the playoffs only because of that tiebreaker that tiebreaker to me is going to you think they finish with the identical record and the finish with identical records because because right now the Warriors lead by one in the Lost column I think they’ll finish with identical

Records but I also think that the Warriors will sneak in however speaking of of of it being poetic the Rockets are going to be regardless of what happens your offseason is is roses it’s the Rockets already look they’ve already won regardless of how the season finishes

Whether they make the play in or not this season has been a Monumental success to go from 22 wins to fighting for the final playin spot in the western conference is a huge W no matter what way you slice it the Rockets are looking like they’re going to hit 40 wins at a

Minimum it feels like at this point and going from 22 wins to 40 wins is a huge Improvement E odok I think has to be in the conversation for Coach of the Year not that he’s going to win the award win he should win I don’t know I I I think

That honor probably Falls with Mark dagal or Chris Finch with the timber wolves and and thunder personally uh I’m not going to be too much of a homer here but I think eay should at least be in the conversation it should be a finalist for the award but when it comes to

Coaching and this is the final question that I want to leave you with and I’m sure you’re gonna have to unpack this on a future show you talked about if the Warriors do get bounced right if they if they don’t make it the play in tournament if they finish the 11th seed

In the Western Conference do you blow it up or do you simply try changing head coaches and seeing what happens because I think that you know when you look on paper at this Warriors team they shouldn’t be where they are and I think a lot of the frustrations from this year

Can be account you can point to and attribute them to Steve Kerr so if you’re the Warriors do you maybe try changing up the head coaching Department to see if you can still be a competitive team next year with this current core maybe a coach that leans into some of

The younger identities a little bit more or do you just straight up blow it up and see what you can get for all the pieces although I’m I’m assuming you want Steph Curry to retire a warrior you want him to be a life e easily I and I

Don’t I don’t I don’t mind the aspiration of of the big three retiring together but you they’re clearly not going to carry this thing moving forward yeah if you’re asking me what I would do if I was the GM yes I would I would get

Rid of Kerr I would have gotten rid of Kerr last year um but you know pragmatism has to come into play and that includes Joe lob’s relationship with Steve Kerr and the whole dynamic one of the huge reasons why Steve Kerr got the extension and why he’s not going

Anywhere I don’t think at least not this off season and and near the start of next season is because of Draymond Green Draymond Green is a very difficult player to manage and coach and that’s almost single-handedly the reason why Steve Kerr is still here because him him

And Steph right Steph loves him as well um so his wishes are are taken into consideration also but I think that’s overblown like Steph’s love for Steve Kerr I do think people overblow that in terms of Steve Kerr’s job security like Kerr is not safe just because of Steph

Like like they will make a change if things continue in this trajectory but I also think Steve Kerr will get most likely one more year um my guess is he’ll make the argument and they’ll have he’ll have a discussion with Joel lob Joe lob loves to win and I’m eternally

Grateful that the Warriors have an owner like him um who doesn’t like to just sit on his Laurels when the team is not successful he he wants to win and he’s got that in his blood and I love that so much so he can’t be happy with all this

Like he cannot be and and and it was very um it was very evident at in the fact that he attended a Steve ker press conference earlier this year following the game where they lost to the Nuggets they blew this huge leads Jonathan kaminga didn’t play the final 18 minutes

Of that game and and Joe lobs showed up in the postgame press conference interview room to hear Steve Kerr’s answer that Regarding why kaminga didn’t play those final 18 minutes kaminga is Joe lob’s boy so when he doesn’t play it it definitely raises antennas on Joe

Lob’s head um but with that said uh I do think KR gets one more year um if they don’t make the playoffs again that’s I I just haven’t put enough thought into what happens there but I logically speaking you have to blow it up I don’t know how you keep it together Klay

Thompson’s an unrestricted free agent you gotta deal with that um you know but we we’ve got a lot of ground to cover between now and then though there’s still there’s still you know 11 12 games left of the season so whether or not the Warriors are going to have to blow it up

That’s a convers that’s definitely some offseason content that I know you’re going to cover what the Rockets are going to do regardless of whether or not they make the play in I’m going to have you guys covered for all the Rockets musings over at locked on Rockets but

Cyrus this is we’re on your channel your program you take us away man both both we’re on both man the lock Rockets is live too I the Crossovers are fun man I I I love doing this thank you so much for saying yes to this um again this is

A delight and congrats on your team man if in case people were hoping for more of a a a you know more tension between us a more conflicted uh uh program with Two Hosts battling it out I have too much respect for Jackson but also Rockets Warriors are Rivals your team

Looks good man I don’t have much to hate on the only weakness I feel like you guys have is inexperience that’s it and and once you get that part down you’re going to be dangerous so congrats Rockets fans you have my respect because um your team looks good and for warriors

Fans I’m with you we’re we’re anxious we’re an anxious Bunch we’re a borderline freaked out Bunch we’ll see how it goes but Jackson thanks for doing this brother this was incredibly fun on my end as well thanks man absolutely that’s going to do it for another edition of lock 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 podcast or on YouTube just search lockon Rockets be sure to like comment and subscribe but as always thank you so much for watching 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

Houston Rockets & Golden State Warriors Play-In Tournament Race: How We Got Here, Predictions & More

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) is joined by Cyrus Saatsaz (@Locked On Warriors) for a crossover episode to discuss the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors race for the 10th seed and final play-in tournament spot, how both teams got to this point in the season, coaching impacts of Ime Udoka and Steve Kerr, schedule predictions and more.

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