Can the Rockets shock the world and make the playoffs?

Can the Rockets shock the world and make the playoffs?

In Dustin Smith Jabari for three and the win he got it we are here to fuel Rockets news it’s the Rockets fuel podcast presented by the believe Network I am one of your co-host lar Binkley of course you can find me on Twitter X Binkley hoops and

You can always find my reading work over at SB Nation or the dream shake and before we get into another Rockets win I want give my co-host a chance to introduce himself hey what’s up y’all it’s Vader you can find me on uh the Twitter XA and you can also find me on

Instagram at Vader Sports so Vader we have five straight wins for the Houston Rockets this is their uh best ball they’ve been playing since their early winning streak earlier in the year which I think was six games in a row uh they’re playing some of the best basketball of the entire season they’ve

Won seven out of eight and don’t look now um the Rockets are now it’s it’s not really even a joke anymore the Rockets are now only three games behind the Golden State Warriors for last play in spot the Golden State Wars actually take on the Los Angeles Lakers tonight and

We’re actually GNA get a little bit more into that uh a little bit later we’re gonna talk about the chance of the Rockets actually making the playoffs and if they have a real chance because golden state has a lot more tougher schedule than the Rockets coming up but

We want to talk a little bit about about this game uh actually not even tonight that just finished uh maybe like an hour ago where the Rockets took on the Cleveland Cavaliers of course Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t have Evan Moy but the Rockets didn’t have tar een uh Al shanon

Aram Whitmore so he really can’t talk about injuries and one thing to beat up on the Washington generals of the world which they did the last game it’s another thing to beat a really good cast team they still have three all stars and darus Garland Donovan Mitchell and Jared

Allen the Rockets dominated from start to finish this is one of the best Rockets games of the year a lot of time the Rockets can start off slow and then try to fight back at the end of the game but in this game the Rockets dominated

From the tip all the way to the end of the game they did not let they F off the gas jayen had another great game overall game he had a double double Fred Van v i mean he was dishing all over the place the first had he have 12 assists with

Zero turnovers um in the second half he said okay this is what I’m gonna do in the second half I’m go ahead and start storing in the second half and that’s what he did in the second half he had 11 points in the second half as he has been

Playing great ever since he uh this All-Star break and coming back from his injury he has been uh passing all over the court he’s been directing the team he’s been a real leader on this team and of course all five rocket stars were in double figure and of course I can’t

Forget about Amy Thompson who was just all over the court on the defens at end he’s playing Above the Rim he’s really flourishing in that dunker spot um he has just been a revelation um ever since it seemed like he’s really getting more comfortable up on the court knowing

Exactly where he needs to be knowing that he doesn’t have to camp out a three-point line of pretend he’s like three-point shooter because he’s not a three-point shooter yet he knows the strength of his game and he’s not trying to play above that so Vader what did you

See in the Rockets fifth straight Victory man I went into this game today um I was kind of excited because it was a for you know it’s a early game or whatever but I I’m GNA be honest with you I did not necessarily think we were

Going to win this game uh it was fun uh playing against the Wizards the last game their defense offered absolutely no resistance like the Rockets got every single thing that they wanted whether it be like wide open shots at the three-point line uh or get into the

Basket you know for dunks and layups of course there was that and we got to talk about that play like man for we get back to the um we’ll get back to the cast Victory but the Jaylen green uh where he he broke dude’s ankles he fell on the

Ground he stared at him gave him the James right then he shot the three and pulled a Steph Curry did not even watch the ball get halfway to the basket and turn around and ran away and and switched it it was crazy like it that was probably like one of the craziest

Highlights that I’ve seen uh from a Houston Rockets basketball players since of course since James Harden was here actually shenon the shenon uh cook wmy that’s up there too but like as far as it’s like a singular play man that was that was crazy and the fact that he had

Enough confidence to not even watch it go in uh it was just icing on the cake so like I I want to talk about that um but you know getting back to the to the the game at hand though uh yeah like the Wizards were not good they you know they

Employ Jordan P Kyle kosma those are I think their two best players and then you you have like you know Denny and a few other guys who you know they’re still trying to find their way in the NBA so like there Wen a whole lot to

Take away from that game other than it was a fun game to watch if you’re a Houston Rockets fan uh you know the Cleveland Cavaliers I believe entered tonight as the um I think they had like the sixth best record in the in the league and that’s even with Evan Mobley

Missing a lot of time in fact I think uh they have a better record without Evan Mobley than they do with Evan Mobley so I don’t want to hear any excuses uh they still had like you said three All-Star players Jared Allen um what’s his name and Darius Garland so uh and we

Actually entered this game without an All-Star right and the guy who we think is a All-Star caliber player in a shenon is out with an injury so you know if you factor all those things in going into this game I’m thinking maybe we’ll give them a tough G you know we play really

Well at home but I was not like I said I was not necessarily expecting a victory so like it was very gratifying to see them not only win but like destroy them it did not look like like if you were to um go into the game and you were to say

Uh you know one team was going to utterly dominate the other one I I don’t think anybody would have put money on the Rockets being that team that was going to be the dominant team so proud of those guys Jabar Smith Jr lowkey had

A pretty good game uh he had a couple of like bobbles on some passes where I felt like he needed to finish to like complete a highlight play but like he overall had a really solid game of course like you said fan Le I think man

He he looked like the floor General that the Rockets uh hired him to be and I think he’s able to do that when some of the other guys like Jaylen green and in Thompson are like stepping up and being the guys that we thought they could be

Now he can kind of take more of a backseat and facilitate get guys involved and then like you said when he does need to score it he can do that too I think he finished with 16 assists I do know he had 12 assists and zero

Turnovers at halftime um and then a man jeez like this guy right here um I know a lot of people wanted scho Henderson and I’m but I’m going to tell you one thing that sco Henderson will never be able to do the way am and Thompson does

And that is rebound def rebound like this guy is absolute monster I don’t know if you saw uh there was an article that came out today and maem Oka was basically gushing over how uh good of a Defender he already is as a rookie and like you don’t see guys as advanced

Defensively as he is and he he’s already that right um his speed uh his ability to recover he can stay down in his stance he can still like get up there and contest shots I mean we’ve seen him guard dein Booker effectively we’ve seen him guard Kevin Durant Bobo who is not

You know he ain’t like some kind of like crazy offensive player but he’s like seven but he’s still eight feet yeah yeah he eight feet tall right you know we saw like I said we saw what he did to Shay gilis Alexander we saw what he did to uh Jaylen Brunson we

Saw what he did tonight to to Donovan Mitchell like he is literally cutting the water off on These Guys these guys are not getting to their spots on him uh they’re not getting getting easy uh baskets when when he’s on them and it’s it’s kind of amazing to watch and then

Now you see him coming into uh you know some having some comfort level like offensively like you said getting in that dunker spot being able to play off the other guys and then when he does get the ball he’s a flash right so and then

I say all that to get to the to the last guy Jaylen green uh he strung together I mean like since the since the since they made the announcement you know what announcement I’m talking about since they made the announcement and he been acting different I don’t know if

Know like I don’t know I don’t want to attribute it to that but like you you know you you know how it is when have kids your priorities change man you start taking yourself a lot more seriously that’s all that that is a fact and even even T’s mom made a little joke

About it on social media today so I don’t think we’re out of line with making a joke and she was like I need to basically uh you know to put a nutshell she basically was like I need to find tar somebody so he could get locked in cuz

You know Jay Jaylen is acting up right now like we’ve seen like the flashes that that he’s he’s showing right now some of the stuff we’ve seen before but like I know people are going to say well he does this all the time after the allstar break well to some extent you’re

Right but I’m going to tell you real quick like what I see that’s different right okay so we see the the scoring jump that happens every single season happened last year happened this rookie season but what we have not seen is this complete Game Jaylen green this guy

Who’s going out there and playing on both ends he’s he’s defending he’s giving effort he’s getting rebounds he’s uh making good decisions in in in the open court when he’s had an opportunity to like uh make good passes you saw tonight so I don’t know man like I think

Uh like I’ve been saying on this podcast um I think Oka had to kind of tear down like he had to kind of tear Jaylen down to the to the foundation and rebuild him back up and I think you’re starting to see the fruits of of that exercise

Because like he is like we always said he could score right when he when he’s when he’s on but I don’t think anybody has ever said that he was a complete basketball player and I think you’re seeing that now yeah because it’s just follow up on Jaylen I’m not even gonna

Talk about the scoring which was great but he had 11 rebounds uh he had the four assists and not just the four assist but it’s just the one turnover because we all know you know beginning of the year Jaylen kind of struggled with holding on to the ball or making

The incorrect pass or maybe passing a little bit too late but he only had the one turnover and he also had two blocks which is you know that tells me he’s given allout effort and even though Jaylen had been struggling early in the year with his offense he has been

Playing better defense if you really look at his game and not just go by the box scores he had been playing better defense this season he’s been given a lot more effort on the defensive end um picking up guys full court getting in a passing Lane like I said we saw the day

Where he had the two blocks he’s just a lot more active around the ball it’s not just because sometimes things are not going to show up in the box scores sometime it’s about effort and that’s that’s something that Emy I know he pays a lot of attention to it’s not just

About you know what you’re GNA put up in the box scores not what you’re going to do you know on the Highlight Reel it’s about you putting effort on the defensive end it’s about you fighting over screens it’s about how much effort you’re giving on the rebounding side of

The you know when it comes to it all those things is what jaylen’s doing right now and this is something I know we both been saying all year long I think we both been saying this since jaylen’s probably been in the NBA is you have to be patient with these young guys

You have to think about it the first two years you know whatever you want to say about Sal whether it was his fault front office whoever fault it was there was no development going on the first two seasons this is the first year there’s a structure in place people are being held

Accountable so if you’re jayen and you go all the way back to your aaou days or even before that in high school no it really probably wasn’t much of a structure it was hey Jaylen you’re the best guy on the team we’re going to get you the ball and everybody’s goingon to

Get out of the way and if you mess up well we’ll be all right because you’re the best player on the team and we’re not really going to probably hold you responsible but now m m didn’t draft jayen not to say he doesn’t like Jaylen but he didn’t draft jayen he doesn’t

Have anything that’s you know holding him to you know well I gotta make Jaylen a good player because so and so no matter what he does well no ma is coming in I’m gonna hold everybody responsible if you’re not playing well you’re not gonna be playing in the fourth quarter

And we’ve seen that all the way from Dylan Brooks all the way down to the young guys so now I think jaylen’s realizing like hey if I go out and do these certain things every single night I’m gonna be successful and then em is going to have that confidence in me and

Now you seen a totally different Jaylen green now if you want like coming into this game like I don’t know how you feel about Donovan Mitchell but like he’s clearly a star in the NBA right he’s a guy who’s made multiple arstar teams he I think he scored 70 points in a game

Um if I did not tell you who was who and this was your first ever basketball game that you ever watched in your life you don’t know these guys you know from Paul or whoever uh and I told you one of these guys is a perennial Allstar and

And the other guy is a dude who uh his fan base wants to give away and has given up on and thinks it’s not like an NBA uh level basketball player did you see did you see uh like when they matched up tonight like Jaylen looked

Like a superior player and I know it’s a one game sample size but this is the kind of ability that this guy has he has turned 22 years old um and his ability is I mean not now like I said over this uh you know past nine or 10 games you’ve

Kind of been able to see like what he’s capable of uh on both ends of the floor and like being able to play a complete game and like I’m gonna be honest with you like I know it’s a consistency thing I know that he has to figure this out um

But I think having FR van vet in the building having m dokan in the building having a guy like Dylan Brooks to go up against and practice who I remember vividly earlier in the season say if you know if I were to talk to Jaylen green

This I would tell him this is how I’m going to defend and I’m sure he’s been doing that like Jaylen Green’s left hand was pretty weak and I think that’s something that Dylan bricks pointed out in a in a in a in a in a press conference situation or an interview I

Forgot what it was and and you can tell like these guys have been working with him I don’t know you know you know what has gone on behind the scenes but I can tell you like without that I I do think that he’s gotten better um and you know

Honestly I I wasn’t sure he would figure it out this year I just think like I feel like he’s just too talented um to like give up on you know what I mean like I know the contract situation is coming up I know um a

Decision is going to have to be made on him pretty pretty soon and I don’t know if the the contract might be something that forces him out of Houston because they can’t agree on numbers but I feel like by the time he is 25 years old he’s

Going to be a a very good basketball player because like I remember even telling you like a few podcasts ago if he could just make wide openen threes I think the whole conversation around him changes if he’s just making threes and like so he has games now where he’s

Still not really hitting his shot but I think he’s made a concerted effort to go to the basket and be aggressive and he if he just continues to do that only just go to the basket be aggressive um finish at The Rim I think the the three-point shooting is we’ve seen guys

Like who had no you know form no jump shot at all like eventually become at least passable Shooters ran Rondo Jason kid I mean we can we the list goes on so I’m not 100% concerned super concerned about whether or not he’ll be able to hit you know open shots in the future

But like just the development in the other areas of this game has is what has impressed me the most yeah absolutely I mean even you go look at Players like Brook Lopez who nobody ever thought he was going to be a three-point shooter and I know a center but that all tell

You even more that it’s possible to become a not you don’t have to be an elite three-point sh everybody’s not going to be Steph Curry but you can be a passible three-point shooter you can be a 36% if Jayy green get the 36% consistently as a three-point shooter

And you add along with his athleticism and his speed that’s a whole different level of Jaylen green we’re talking about now because you know beginning of year he was he was hovering around 30% 32% from most of the year and but even tonight he was four for nine and that

Opens up his entire game because now if you’re a defense what do you do do you get up on jayen and try to guard him tight because then he can go around you or do you back up off of if he’s shooting 36 37% from three I mean that

Just opens up his entire game and then how exactly do you stop him on that end of the court so yeah I think the sky is a limit for jayen yes like you said the contract is gonna it’s gonna come up one way or another whether he’s playing good

Or bad it’s going to be something that’s going to come up next season um but right now as far as way the Rockets are playing and why reason why the Rockets are winning Jaylen green is probably the number one reason why they continue to win even without their best player in Al

Shanon not being in the uh being on the court anymore and that kind of leads us into the one thing real quick one thing real Qui and the last thing I want to say about that jayen green situation is that like I feel like we have become spoiled

As a fan base uh the Jaylen the uh uh James Harden era we did not really keep young players and develop them it’s been a long time since we it’s been a long time since we’ve drafted a young guy and and we have like six of him now we’ve

Drafted drafted young players and like actually had to go through a process of of develop developing them and being patient and watching them go through Growing Pains uh you know you don’t always get a hakeim alijan out of the draft who’s like who comes into the league already ready and already you

Know dominating or whatever you know some of these guys take a few years before they actually become what they are going to be and so like I don’t know I think to some extent uh you know we need to slow down on the like throwing guys away thing like sometimes you can

Kind of tell um there’s a few guys who we did draft in the first round over the past few years who are no longer here and you know they still haven’t like latched on in other places in the NBA but like when you have a guy who like

Has um he has accomplished some things in this league like he has some skins on the wall as far as like when you look at how many points he scored in this in a period of Time how many 30o games he’s had how many 40 point games um so

There’s something there right and so like and I think the front office is kind of like okay we see something we’ve made an investment in this guy like we’re going to try to see the process through uh and I think like I said right now you’re kind of starting to see

Hopefully him turning the corner we’ll see obviously how he like he could tank there there’s still a lot of season left and then but like I feel like his confidence like you see him playing with a different bounce a different a different Swagger to to himself right

Now and so like I don’t see him going in tank even if he comes out struggling in a game or two I think I don’t I don’t think he’s going to like uh have a rough ending into the season yeah and that kind of leads us into the next um our

Last part that we’re going to be talking about here and that’s if the Rockets can make the playoffs because honestly it really comes down to yes you don’t necessarily control your your future because you still have a team in front of you in Golden state who’s right now

Three games in front of you only have one head game left with them so you’re going to need them to lose some games along the way but at the very least you can make them sweat um because like say you do have that one game against them early April

They play um tonight they play against the Lakers and over the next um 10 games if you go look at their schedule seven out of 10 games are against winning teams you go look at the Rockets next 10 games four out of the next 10 are against winning teams and I think that’s

Something else that we didn’t point out enough is that yes the Rockets did struggle from I would say from January until probably the beginning a March where they didn’t win any back-to-back games at any point in between there but they also had a really tough schedule if

You go back and look at some of the game I mean it was like a probably I think it was a stretch where they played what OKC three times or was it Phoenix three times was one of them they played three times the other one two times and then

They had like a a lot of just tough games in a row where they were just playing a lot of really good teams uh back to back to back and now the schedule is kind of is kind of lightening up for them they play um Washington at in Washington coming up

Next of course you can’t take any team lightly but Washington is the absolute worst team in the league and then they also have games up against Chicago they have games against Utah they have some really winnable games coming up if they continue to play the way they’ve been

Playing right now I mean it by this time next week we could talk about the Rockets possibly being maybe even a game or two behind the Golden State Warriors and wouldn’t that be something kind of poetic justce where the rockets for once knock the warrior out of the playoffs

Instead of Vice Versa yeah that would be amazing I mean it doesn’t make up for all of the like heartache they caus Us in the past but it would be uh I would enjoy it you know I’d get a kick out of it for sure to see like Draymond and

Clay and Steph have to go home and and and watch the playoffs on TV but um yeah like this is not like especially after shenon after tar got hurt that was a huge blow right when we knew we weren’t getting T eing back and then after losing your best player op shinon you

Kind of feel like okay this season’s over Let’s uh get Cam Whitmore some minutes let’s get amen some minutes uh hopefully you know we can get Jaylen going or whatever and now look at us right now we’re actually having a a conversation about making a playing tournament um and honestly like even if

They make it or don’t make it they’re playing for something you know what I mean this is the first time that these guys have actually played meaningful basketball games and I think that in and of itself is not just an accomplishment but I think as far as like development

And um you know them getting a a a taste of what it what it feels like to play games that that mean something like I said and and then also you know having to go out there every night and lock in and and be focused like I think this is

Great for them you know what I mean like we were we always talk about how young they are and how you know a lot of them have not been on you know team you know veteran teams because they’ve been here the whole time and then you know coming

Out of uh o uh OT for for a man and coming out of g-league ignite and and AE circuit and all that kind of stuff um this is actually I feel like a great opportunity them for opportunity for them to play meaningful basketball games and we can kind of see what some of

These guys are made of so far so good like I saw um the postgame uh interview Vanessa interviewed uh aen and um I’m paraphrasing but one of the things he said was that we’re trying to win all the rest of our games because we want to make the playoffs and so like they’re

They’re talking about it this is a conversation that’s happening in the locker room uh and you could tell like when they come out on the floor like recently these guys have been locked in as evidence by the the five game winning streak I think that they won uh seven

Games seven out of last so yeah man like this this is good man this is good like so like even if we don’t make it like I feel um us as Rockets fans like we should just enjoy these next few weeks and just kind of like watch watch this

Houston Rockets basketball team and see what these young guys can do because like if you really look at it we’re playing a um what is jaylen’s 22 just turned 22 am man Thompson is 21 and uh Jabari is 20 these are the only three of our of our young core that’s that’s like

Standing right now and they are going out there and Performing and you know with the help of uh obviously FR van vet um who today like he’s just been a really good facilitator and then I guess some of the leadership of of Dylan Brooks but for the most part I was say

You know our young guys are doing a lot of the heavy lifting yeah and I just want to go through the Warriors just looking at their schedule coming up so tonight they play the Lakers the next game after that is against the the Knicks then they gota

Play the Grizzlies which yeah you know that’s one of those you know they could lose but I doubt they lose that game then they play the Pacers who’s of course is a really good team then they gotta go to Minnesota to Miami to Orlando and then they play the Hornets

But I don’t think people been paying attention the Hornets been playing a lot better lately uh basketball so that’s not necessarily A gimme game now if you had to pick you probably pick them to win that game but just kind of finishing off they play the Spurs and then they

Play uh the Mavericks a game that was postponed due to the death on their coaching staff and then they play the Mavericks before of course the game on April 4th which who knows by then that may be the biggest game of the year the April 4th game The Warriors come to the

To Houston to play the Rockets which absolutely I would definitely be at that game but the Rockets are four games behind the wars when it comes to in the Lost column and if I’m not mistaken the Warriors do have these uh season series if I’m not mistaken I can’t remember off

Hand I can’t remember if they’ve already played them two times already I think so I have to look that up but the Rockets are four games and the lost colum behind them so is it likely that they catch the Warriors I wouldn’t put money on it but

I would say the percentages are going up a lot more every night I mean when I said a couple days ago I said 30% the Warriors lose tonight and they lose lose the next game that might start creeping up to 40% I mean it might start getting

Closer and closer to 5050 because the Warriors have a really tough schedule with the end of year I mean you talking about they still got another game with the Lakers the end of year they got a game against the Pelicans uh another game with the Mavericks I mean they have

Some really tough games coming up so and Steph has been hobbled I think he may be back tonight drayvon green was injured I don’t know if he’s even playing tonight so they’re older team with a lot of mileage on them so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Rockets

Can really make the Warriors sweat these last few games and like you said even if they don’t make it it really comes down to you have improved already from last season and how many people going into this season have the Rockets if the Rockets go I think um 10 and six or or

Or nine- six or 10 and five in their last games they can actually get to 41 and 41 how many people you really thought have the Rockets actually winning 41 games this seon I ain’t gonna lie and say I did because I didn’t have them

Winning 41 I said highend 35 to 40 if everything goes right but I had them more closer to 35 36 wins so I would be wrong if they were to get the 41 wins I mean I don’t know about you where you had them at the beginning of year but I

Definitely didn’t have him winning 41 games I think I had him at like 38 wins and I feel like uh honestly if they if they reach that with the hobble team I was considering 38 wins with a full Squad not like with uh you missing tar e who like I said objectively speaking

He’s probably uh when he was on the court this year was probably our third best player behind shenon and and Dylan Brook I mean not Dylan Brook shenon and TR van vet and then um now you you don’t have shenon either and then like we don’t say his name very much but you

Know that guy who used to start at point guard you know last year we didn’t even he he never made it to the roster he never play big hole on the roster yeah wherever you think about him that’s a big hole that I Know M when he came in

Did not expect to be dealing with right and so like if they still are able to get to 38 somewhere between 38 even 37 37 to 40 wins when you consider all the adversity they’ve gone through this year I think that is uh you know that’s a win

That’s a massive win and then like you pointed out like the Warriors actually have a pretty tough schedule going down the stretch and our schedule is probably a little bit easier than theirs so there is a there is an Avenue there is a world where in a week or two we could be

Sitting here and having a discussion about how uh the Rockets are tied with the Warriors or one game behind the Warriors or one game ahead of the Warriors so like I’m just interested to see how this plays out plays out uh we’re playing meaning meaningful basketball in March for the first time

In three years so that’s enough to be happy and enough to celebrate and enough to S yeah before we wrap up the show I just want to go over the rocket schedule over the next two games so of course they just got through beating the Cavs they

Have the Wizards I mean that should be a win they have the Bulls um even though the Bulls have been playing better I mean you’re playing at home I mean if I had to put money on it I put money on the Rockets winning that game and you

Have the Jazz and then you have the Trailblazers before you play the Thunder so over the next four games even if you go three and one if you go four and0 even better it’s a possibility they can go four and 0 in these next four games

But because these are not these are not the same Warriors like we could go we could go three in one and they could potentially like three right you know what I mean so like we’re not out of this by by any means yeah so I mean the

Fact that we hav been talking about this I think that that should say a lot about the rocket coaching staff and and and you know coach Oka and you know Thiago splitter and you know all all the guys Ben Sullivan all the guys there they say

A lot about them because I know some people were having some questions when the Rockets were struggling in January and February little bit of March people were starting to question I even saw it on our favorite app Twitter X like oh did they make the wrong decision hire Ma

And what is ma doing and this and that now you’re starting to see like a lot of these things that he’s been preaching about all year about physicality um about you know putting your will on the other team of because we saw like after the San Antonio game Victor W beond was

Like man this is the hardest I’ve been guarded all year the the most physical team I’ve been playing against all year same thing papovich says some of the other teams have said the same thing and you’re starting to see Ma’s uh well Ma’s Vision starting to come to kind of

Fruition of the court of the Rockets not necessarily being the most talented team or the best offensive team or the best shooting team but they’re starting to be one of the more physical teams in the NBA and now they’re starting to pay off with wins and not just you know moral

Victories and not just not just that but also like he he pointed out like you were talking about being physical he he specifically said uh toughness and yeah uh we was it after the Lakers game where he said we got punked by a team that’s

Not known for you know what I mean like that’s not known he’s he basically like they are not like that and we let them punk as we cannot you know win basketball games you know this way and since then we’ve seen cam Whitmore get

Into it with people uh he got into to it with Devon Booker we saw the uh Bradley Bill Jaylen green dust up um and I feel like there oh the amen Thompson and Jeremy Sohan uh little thing where where Sohan tripped him and so like we’re not

Trying to go out there and fight guys but you know like I think the Rockets have let it be known that hey you’re not going to like just treat us any kind of way we’re not going to let you trip us we’re not going to let you hit us in the

Head with a basketball if you talk trash to us we’re going to talk it we going to give it right back to you and you know like anybody that’s ever played any kind of uh Sports competitively you know that’s just part of the game um you know

There’s a mental aspect to the game and there’s a physical aspect and I think we were losing uh in both of those areas earlier in the season and I think uh maoka definitely you know he brought it like we talk about culture change a lot but I think that’s something else that

He definitely has instilled in these guys so far yeah absolutely and you know that something that the Rockets can even if they don’t make the playoffs they can kind of build into next year when they start getting players back and we will start we will see you know how it plays

Out tonight I know you know a lot of rockets fans are goingon to be Lakers fans tonight lot Rockets fans would would say that in the past but a lot of rockets fans gonna be Lakers fans tonight so we’ll see how that LeBron go LeBron so we’ll see how you know if the

Rockets entry even a little bit closer after theight game um if the Rockets practice tomorrow I plan on being out at that try to bring you some of that coverage I’ll be out at the Utah talk game next Saturday so we will definitely continue to bring you coverage we’ll

Definitely have some more podcast next week we appreciate the support let us know down in the comments do you think the Rockets can make the playoffs and at what percentage do you put it at do you put it at 40% now 50% maybe even a little bit higher depending on what

Happens tonight let us know down in the comments what you think um and as usual we appreciate the support we appreciate everybody that subscribed to the channel even the ones that are just finding us for the first time we’re going to continue to build on the channel

Continue to do things better so make sure that you hit that subscribe button that like button that helps us with the algorithm and Vader as usual I appreciate you jumping on today being the co-host I was always I appreciate you brother you like do a great job like

Getting out to to the arena I know a lot of people don’t realize how much work goes into that and how much work it goes to like uh continuously put content on the YouTube channel man so we definitely definitely appreciate everything that you do as well man absolutely I

Appreciate that man and we’re going to continue to do bigger and better things here at Rocket Fuel uh presented by B Network and as usual we appreciate all the support and make sure you check out the next episode of Rocket Fuel Podcast

Can the Rockets shock the world and make the playoffs?
Lachard and Vator talk Rockets big win over Cavs, Jalen Green living up to his potential and if they can shock the world and make the play in game.
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