Top Storylines For Rockets' First Playoff Series Since 2020

KILT-AM / SportsRadio 610

Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast lay out and discuss the top 5 storylines heading into the Rockets' playoff series vs the Warriors.

Transcript

00:00You and I were talking right before the show, and I said to you, and I wonder if the audience

00:05is feeling this too, like it's, we went the better part of four plus years without the

00:10Rockets playing a meaningful basketball game, like, and we survived just fine through that

00:15time.

00:16It's, speak for yourself, I developed a cocaine habit.

00:19Make no mistake, and side pieces, and syringes, and we survived just fine, make no mistake,

00:26it is awesome having the Rockets back, and being relevant, and getting ready to play

00:30some high-level playoff basketball, but we went four years, and we were okay, they last

00:35played a meaningful game, ironically enough, against Golden State on April the 6th, it was

00:40a Sunday, April the 6th, and that's 12 days ago, and I think, you know, they played three

00:47meaningless games at the end of the season, because they'd clinched the two seed, and then

00:52they haven't played a game at all in six days, and I'm like, I'm tripping out right

00:56now, I'm like, man, when are we going to get some, it's almost as if the previous four

01:01years didn't even exist, it's like, hey, Sean, you survived just fine for four years, I know,

01:05but this has been really fun, having them be very, very good at basketball again, I can't

01:10wait for Sunday night to get here, man.

01:11It would be nice if, this time last year, when the Astros were really, really struggling

01:16to have playoff basketball, so this is where, when you've got three teams that are playoff

01:23caliber, the dead spots in the sports calendar aren't nearly as vast, so that's been a part

01:28of it, it's just flat out, oh, okay, yeah, oh yeah, this is one of those periods where

01:32you've got three playoff caliber teams, all right, I don't have to actually sit around

01:37and think about real life as much as I might otherwise.

01:39It is really cool, like, this is truly the first time in a long time that we've had all

01:44three teams be, and it's early for the Astros, and people are probably rolling their eyes

01:48at that, like, that's a playoff team right now, they're 8-10, they're always 8-10 this

01:52time of year, everybody's 8-10 right now, no, in the American League, nobody's won more

01:55than 11 games, like, nobody's out of it at this point, at all, but yeah, so for the Rockets,

02:01okay, so let's rapid fire this Rockets thing, Yankees have 12 now, by the way, they do,

02:04they won last night, so do the Rangers, bastards, and Rangers are phony.

02:09So, the storylines with this series here, I was thinking about this last night, what

02:14are the reasons I'm most excited?

02:16In Pendergast fashion, I've got five of them here, counting down, Draymond versus Dylan

02:22Brooks, and really, Draymond versus the world, everybody versus Draymond, as much as I complained

02:26about Draymond in that April 6th game that I just got done talking about, where he was

02:31at major, like, scale of 1-10, 12-A-hole level in that game, and I'm like, I can't do seven

02:37games in that game.

02:39This is fun.

02:41I guess my big question for Draymond versus Dylan is, who's more baitable?

02:47You got to be careful about all of that.

02:49You know, Dylan Brooks, Dylan Brooks, by and large, people had their feelings about Dylan

02:53Brooks, but when he said that he pokes bears in talking about LeBron James, that's where

02:58everything kind of blew up in his face in terms of the way people were talking about Dylan

03:01Brooks.

03:02Whatever it comes to pushing the envelope or pushing the line, I think the Rockets, hopefully,

03:09are very much the team that the Eagles were in the Super Bowl, where the Eagles knew what the

03:15challenge was, and they didn't fall for any of Travis Kelsey's BS.

03:18Travis Kelsey was out there doing all the crap that he gets away with.

03:22Like, Travis Kelsey gets away with stuff the same way Draymond Green does, of trying to

03:27instigate, trying to instigate, trying to instigate, and the Eagles were really disciplined

03:30about, just like, nah, bro.

03:32We're just, we're going to instigate you every now and then.

03:36But they did not bite, and I think that's big.

03:39You don't have to prove your manhood or something versus Draymond.

03:42Dylan was asked about that yesterday.

03:44I don't have the clip.

03:44I just happened, you brought this up, and I happened to see him talking to the media

03:48yesterday at practice, and they asked him, like, who's going to cave first?

03:53Like, who's going to, you know?

03:54And he's like, I'm not getting ejected from any of these games.

03:56They need Dylan Brooks out there.

03:58That's the thing.

03:58Like, he can't, Draymond's goonery is just woven into, like, if Draymond is not that, then

04:04he's not Draymond, whereas I think Dylan Brooks, to your point, Seth, I think has

04:08kind of evolved as a basketball person.

04:10I mean, he still is chippy.

04:12He's still, it's still part of his thing.

04:14He also happens to be the Rockets, if I'm not mistaken, if I'm putting...

04:19Reed Shepard, he's their best three-point shooter this year.

04:22He's shot 40% from three this year.

04:24They need Dylan Brooks out on the floor.

04:26Like, he can't fall for any of this.

04:27He's just got to wear a cup, because Draymond, at some point, is going to pull his

04:30patented crotch kick.

04:32Like, that's where a big tough guy's signature move is to kick in the Nargs.

04:36Yeah, just be careful.

04:38Number four, that was number five, Draymond versus Dylan.

04:41Number four, exercising the ghosts of the Harden era, which the team has completely

04:48downplayed.

04:48Like, Fred Van Vliet got asked about it the other day.

04:51Like, how about all those series that the Rockets lost to the Warriors back from 2015

04:55to 2019?

04:56He's like, I don't care.

04:58That's a different team.

04:59Like, this is...

04:59That has nothing to do with it.

05:00Yeah, these guys don't have that memory of it.

05:03It's kind of like when the Texans play the Bills.

05:05That's an extreme version of it.

05:07All right, the fans feel a certain way about it.

05:08It's the fans.

05:09The Oilers versus the Bills.

05:10Yeah.

05:10But the players on the team have zero clue about it.

05:13But I do think...

05:14Even the ones who grew up in Houston, they're young enough now that they have very little

05:17clue about it.

05:18But I do think it's relevant to the fans.

05:19I think there's a big feeling of the laundry out on the floor, the jerseys, that they would

05:23be exercising some of those ghosts.

05:25Number three, I think this is a massive opportunity for Jalen Green to go from rising star to star.

05:32Not just in this series, but in this postseason.

05:34And Jalen Green's game has evolved tremendously over the course of this season, where he's

05:39gone from being a 20 or 21 point scorer, which he was already last year, to being an efficient

05:4420 or 21 point per game scorer, who has learned to see the whole floor, he's become a better

05:50ball distributor, he's become a more willing defender, and they're going to be playing in

05:55some close games, and this team is going to be leaning on him late in those games to go

05:59get back.

06:00He passed a big maturity check in the last Warriors game, where he wasn't playing well

06:06in the first half, came out, and just flipped the switch in the second half.

06:09And everything that he's done in working with Emi Odoka, and just becoming a much more calm,

06:18cool, and collected veteran player, that's put to the test in the playoffs.

06:22Does he maintain those habits?

06:25Does he maintain all that?

06:26I trust that he will.

06:27It's a big test versus the Warriors.

06:29It's a big test, and it's a huge opportunity for him, man.

06:31I think a bigger opportunity for him than any other player on the Rockets in terms of their

06:36profile.

06:36Number two, Emi Odoka redemption time.

06:41Not just redemption, I mean, look, when he lost in the finals as a coach of the Celtics,

06:46it was to the Warriors, you know?

06:47So he's back three years ago, I think, in 2022.

06:50Yeah.

06:50So he's got a history with the Warriors.

06:53He was off the grid for a year after the way in which he got fired in Boston.

06:58You know, a deep Rockets playoff run.

07:00I think people already respect Emi Odoka as a head coach.

07:03They know he's a good head coach to be able to put playoff productivity with this new

07:08team that he has in year two with it, I think, would be a major story.

07:12Yeah, no, and I think that's probably the biggest X factor in terms of a team that doesn't look

07:18like the conventional championship caliber team or a team that makes a deep playoff run.

07:22They also excel at a lot of things, the rebounding specifically.

07:29But Odoka and his ability to kind of exploit matchups and his ability to make adjustments

07:35throughout the game, I feel a whole lot better about Emi Odoka that was rookie head coach

07:41with zero playoff experience.

07:42Or rookie head coach or just one of these retreads that just happens to hook up with...

07:46You know, you see, the league is full of coaches like that.

07:49They're like, guy's on their third team, but he's a good networker.

07:52You know what I mean?

07:52You drive my race car.

07:54Let's drive the same race car and see who does better.

07:57I like Odoka better than Doc Rivers.

07:59Yes.

08:00Yeah, yeah, yeah.

08:00Doc Rivers, perfect example.

08:02Perfect example of that.

08:03Yes.

08:04Steve Kerr, I'm not so sure about.

08:05We'll have to see.

08:06Yeah, yeah.

08:07Steve Kerr has been in this race.

08:08Steve Kerr has a lot of experience and time with his race car.

08:12Odoka does not have nearly as much time with his race car.

08:14And at various times this year, it needed tuning up.

08:18Yeah, yeah, yeah.

08:19I think Kerr's a good head coach.

08:20He's just...

08:21He's so whiny, man.

08:22He's so whiny.

08:23I think he's a good head coach.

08:27To stay on a transcript, that would look like a compliment.

08:30On this radio show, it sounded like...

08:32On the radio show, it was very begrudging.

08:34I get it.

08:34No, it sounds a little bit almost like the Take-A-Mania take by Angelo Cataldi.

08:39Yeah, yeah.

08:40Steve Kerr is the all-time overrated head coach.

08:43That's all I say.

08:43I'm going to tell you something.

08:45At least I didn't call him a fraud.

08:46Yeah.

08:46All right.

08:47And then the final one, disrespect for the two-seed, man.

08:52It's been a long time since I can remember a higher-seeded team being...

08:57And this isn't like a four getting dismissed over a five.

09:00This is a two.

09:01They clinched the two with a week and a half left in the season.

09:05And they are getting completely dismissed on the national talk shows.

09:11The pundits, they had their picks on ESPN, Seth.

09:15Like all their NBA experts, you know, they do that thing before the playoffs.

09:17And they just list all eight of their experts have.

09:21And it's like Warriors in seven, Warriors in six, Warriors in six.

09:24There was one ESPN expert, Bobby Marks, the former GM for the Nets, picked the Rockets in six.

09:30Other than that, it was just the Warriors love fest.

09:34Just everybody slurping up the Warriors, man.

09:36They transitioned very quickly from, oh, the NCAA tournament needs Cinderella.

09:42That's what's missing from the beauty of it.

09:44You go to the NBA.

09:45It's like, oh, here's the Rockets.

09:47Die by fire.

09:48Die by fire.

09:49Exactly.

09:50Exactly.

09:51All right.

09:51Payne and Pendergatt.

09:52What are your thoughts?

09:53Did I miss any there on the Jim Adler, the Texas Hammer text line?

09:56If you're up with us this morning, hit us up.

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