Alperen Sengun Dominates But No Shooting Costs Houston Rockets In Loss To Haliburton, Indiana Pacers

Alperen Sengun Dominates But No Shooting Costs Houston Rockets In Loss To Haliburton, Indiana Pacers

On today’s show despite a monster 30.6 rebound performance from Alber shenon the Houston Rockets get out mathed by the Indiana Pacers a 19 to5 three-point Advantage this Rockets team has got to start shooting the basketball Moore and Oka post game says there are no plans to bench Jaylen green we’re

Going to talk about it all coming up right here on lock on Rockets this is Mission Control Houston ignition sequence start throw it up to jayen Green shenon here in his short row oh my that’s the no look Javari for three and the win look at

T at 15 seconds guidance is internal the Houston Rocket select amen Thompson and cam Whitmore one thing I have never done is not made the playoffs and so we want to take that step here as well 6 5 4 3 2 2 1 what’s up and welcome to another

Edition of lock on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native Estonian and credential media member I’m also the host of locked on NBA Mondays be sure to follow along on Twitter at JT Gatlin and the show of course at lockdown Rockets

Free and available wherever you listen to your podcast including YouTube Just Go YouTube search flocked on Rockets like comment subscribe all that good stuff we’ve got a lot coming up for you on today’s episode a lot to get into with this Rockets 123 117 loss against the Indiana Pacers

Alprin shenon monster Knight Fred Van vet helping spearhead the comeback in the fourth quarter Jaylen green not with his minutes low as an NBA player just 20 minutes played in this game and oka’s postgame thoughts on Jaylen Green’s role moving forward with this team a lot to get into uh and as

Always thank you so much for making lock on Rockets part of your day every single day whether it’s on your way to work on your lunch break in the gym thank you for making the show part of your day thank you for being an everyday today’s

Episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account use code locked on NBA for $20 off of your first purchase and you know what really sucks is the Rockets were like right here I mean the Rockets were were in this game they were

Winning with less than two minutes to go Fred Van vet drove the ball in in transition took a shoulder bump made a floater and the rockets had the7 115 lead in this game and that is despite the fact that the Pacers were absolutely on fire from long distance look the NBA’s number one

Offense versus the NBA’s number two defense and the number one offense won out and almost didn’t that’s the crazy thing is this rocket team just desperately needs some three-point shooting y’all like it is it is absolute pain you look at the final Box Score first off Tyrese halberton went

Absolutely insane it’s a little disrespectful that Burton shot Seven of 13 from three 713 in Houston uh he had 33 points on 13 of 21 shooting had 10 dimes and the Pacers as a team shot 19 of 43 from downtown 44.2% meanwhile the Rockets are stuck in like the

Mid90s they shot five of 24 from three-point range for a smidge under 21% that’s just not gonna get it done in today’s NBA y’all it’s just not good enough they need more three-point shooting but despite the fact that they are playing like some ugly 90s basketball as far as what their shot

Profile looks like they were in this game they had 74 points in the paint Al and shenon had a monster Knight more on him a little bit later 30 points on 11 of 20 shooting uh he was really kind of having his way with the Pacers defense

Miles Turner didn’t have an answer for him uh n Smith Jaylen Smith it didn’t matter who they put on him Obi toppen alpie was outworking everybody uh and the rockets took the lead there with less than two minutes to go 117 115 and then they went scoreless the

Rest of the way Jabari Smith Jr got a good look at a three Alper and shun had an opportunity with a dunk uh and tar een had an opportunity with a layup now the Jabari Smith junr 3 was a good look didn’t go in jabari’s offense was

Was Jabari really struggled in this game offensively up until that fourth quarter uh where he finally woke up and started hitting some shots so he finished the game 12 points five of 11 shooting at eight boards had an assist had a steal at a couple blocks his defense and his

Rebounding is what kept Him in the game uh and it’s a good thing that he did hit you know wake up and hit a few shots there in the fourth quarter to keep the scoreboard rolling for the Rockets as part of their comeback uh it’s just unfortunate that he missed

That last three because that would have been uh that would have been a huge shot game tied up 117 all would have put the Rockets ahead by comfortable you know not not comfortable would have put them ahead by three uh that could have been a game-changing shot right there and then

Alper and shenon had the chance to uh had his has had his attempted dunk uh Rockets had a full-time out down 12 117 they ran a good play albring driving into the rim tries to dunk the basketball and at the time in in real time and then even on the replay that we

Got in Toyota Center I didn’t think Alp got fouled uh and then after and I even I said as much on social media I was like guys I really like everybody was up in arms about this Alp foul uh and I was like what I was like what what foul what

Phantom foul are we looking at here the angles that I saw I saw the angle on the Toyota Center jumbotron and I saw the angle that I had cuz I was recording on my phone and I went back and like zoomed in and looked at it I didn’t see much

Contact if any because it it very much looked like Miles Turner just very like like it looked like he barely touched Alp on the shoulder and I was like look if if somebody had called that call on the Rockets I would have been pissed and

So I was like that’s how I know that it it wasn’t a foul but then I saw a different angle shout out to um uh clutch fans Dave Hardesty who posted the clip and I found it a little bit later on after doing all the postgame interviews and everything

Uh and that that angle showed like the floor angle of Miles Turner who clearly like kind of like was holding alpie shoulder down when he elevated for the dunk uh which which probably it caused alpie because I I thought he just lost the ball like on

The dunk attempt um and it clearly you know he was fouled by Miles Turner Miles Turner was playing with five fouls and it’s it’s always weird offic different officiating Crews handle things differently right sometimes they let a player with five fouls get away with being a little bit more physical or get

Away with a foul or two at the end of a game rather than you know call something that maybe in the first quarter or the first three quarters would have definitely been a foul it’s very it’s very frustrating to have that happen in the closing moments of a game where you

Know had alpie not gotten contact from Miles Turner on that on that play he dunks that ball and then the game is is 120 119 with a little under a minute to go and the Rockets are very much still in it right so I don’t know it’s it’s

Tough to deal with that one but even then the Rockets still had another chance even after that one uh missed out where Rari een missed a layup with just over 20 seconds to go uh which would have cut it to a three-point game and at that point the Rockets probably would

Have had to do the free throw fouling whatever back and forth and you know it’s it sucks because the you know the Rockets really did a good job you know down by as many as I believe 12 in this game I want to say they trailed by as many as 12

Um and yeah sorry yeah Trail by as min’s 12 in this game they fought back into this game they didn’t hang their heads and they dealt with a lot of adversity dealing with the fact that they were getting just flat out cooked by the Pacers offense uh again the the math is

There like the Rockets shot so many more more shots than the Pacers in this game 97 to 82 field goal attempts uh the Pacers just three is greater than two how many years did we did we pride ourselves on three being greater than two for the Houston Rockets during the

James Harden era and now it’s coming back to bite the rockets in the butt because they’re playing some kind of version of mid90s basketball they need more shooting the Rockets lost this game because they don’t have enough shooting that’s that is the simplest way to chalk

Up this loss they need more shooting on this team they need to put more shooting around Alper and shenon they have key pieces that could benefit from more shooting guys like Al Brin shingon guys like Fred Van vet even guys like am Min Thompson who can facilitate can create

Open looks for their teammates we saw some you know exciting glimpses from a men talk about that coming up as well as alpr shing’s dominant game this team needs more shooting and the only way they’re going to get more shooting is by making a trade where playing a couple of

Guys that are buried on the bench currently and not in the rotation in cam Whitmore and Reggie Bullock but coming up want to get into some of the specific some of what the standout performances in this game alprin shenon Fred Van vet with a couple of strong knights from the Rockets

Starters Amin Thompson with some flashes there in the second unit uh as well as tar een and Aaron holiday making a huge impact off the Rockets bench and Oka with no plans he says of benching Jaylen green anytime soon we’re going to get to all of that and so much more here

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Ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel some additional thoughts on this game kind of just the game Flow as well as the specific standout performances for the Rockets I want to add one more point about the Rockets defense in this one uh the Rockets did a great job I felt like

Of uh forcing turnovers from the Pacers uh I believe 20 turnovers was their season high if I’m not mistaken I thought I saw that in the in the game notes uh from the Rockets I I don’t have those pulled up though so maybe don’t quote me on that with my voice that I’m

Using here on this podcast uh 20 turnovers from the Pacers Rockets uh had 15 steals which is I I also believe a season High uh they did a really good job disrupting playing passing Lanes forcing turnovers the Rockets as a team did a really great job uh felt like

Crashing the glass at least offensively generating Second Chance points they had 15 offensive rebounds Alper and shinon had seven of them seven of his 16 boards in this game were offensive rebounds uh the Rockets as a team uh they had 22 Second Chance points so they did they they kind of kept

Themselves alive a little bit with the second chance points uh and the points off of turnover so the Pacers again 20 turnovers the Rockets 24 points off of those turnovers the Pacers one of the worst transition defense teams in the NBA so the Rockets you know getting out

Running a little bit scoring some points off of those turnovers uh it was it was nice to see and it kind of kept them in the game a little bit but again that that math Advantage for the Pacers it was just too much and you you also look

At the game that Tyrese halberton had 33 points 13 of 21 shooting look Dylan Brooks was the primary defender on Tyrese halberton here in this game and it it’s kind of unfortunate because Dylan was struggling with with injury he he was struggling with a abdominal injury apparently and when he

Left the game in the third quarter after about 5 minutes played in the third uh we got an update from rocket PR that he wouldn’t return and it makes sense that he was dealing with an injury we didn’t I didn’t know about it until about Midway through the game uh but it kind

Of matches the eye test because Dylan was really struggling uh as the primary on Tyrese halber like he was getting blown by uh pretty regularly and there were some just some defensive lapses from Dylan that seemed very unar istic where you’re like what’s what’s going on

With Dylan here uh he’s he’s a trooper though he’s a warrior he was trying to play through injury credit to him for trying to give it a go but he clearly wasn’t 100% uh I would imagine that if he left this game and didn’t return due

To injury he’s probably not going to be available for the second night of the back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night which is concerning because tar een who has also basically been a game time decision these last few games and was a game time decision going into the Pacers game

Probably not going to play the second night of a back toback so could be uh very thin pickings as far as the Rockets rotation against the Pacers which is doubly concerning since the Rockets are basically playing 4v5 at times with their starters because we don’t know exactly what’s going on with

Jaylen green uh more on that in the third and final segment but Alper and shingun had a monster game he continues to have a monster game uh what didari e say about Alin shenon Al shenon is an Allstar I’m just letting everybody here know it the wizard is an Allstar you

Heard it here first shout out to our Houston Rockets PA announcer to Jonathan Sanford for dropping a uh a wizard call over the the Toyota Center uh intercom PA system uh Alber shingun had an assist to Tar een in this game and uh he makes

The call he’s a tar een with the slam or whatever it was with the layup with you know RAR e for two I can’t remember which bucket which bucket it was but then the followup was uh with the with the pass or with the dime from The

Wizard and I like I heard the wizard over the intercom and it was really cool uh so the nickname is catching on it’s it’s really cool stuff um I like the wizard a lot more than I like the the flamingo nickname for his one leged shot

Which we haven’t seen in a while I feel like we we haven’t seen the flamingo in a minute albering in this game 30 points 16 rebounds five assists four steals he did have four turnovers 11 of 20 shooting eight of nine at the free throw line and that’s honestly that’s where I

Want to give Alp the most credit is he’s really worked on his free throw shooting like it really feels like he’s made a conscious effort to to be better at the free throw line putting in extra hours putting in the extra work to to be more comfortable he knows he’s going to

Get fouled he knows he’s going to get to the free throw line a ton and you got to be able to knock him down when you get there eight of nine free throw shooting is absolutely phenomenal and he’s changed his free throw routine too I don’t know if anybody else has noticed

That he doesn’t whisper to the basketball anymore he puts the basketball on his hip like on his side and he still he says something and I haven’t had a chance to ask him about it yet he says something before he shoots the free throw but he’s not whispering

To the basketball anymore so I don’t know you know if that’s part of his his new found free throw success or what but uh Pacers had no answer for him and and largely no team in the NBA has an answer for Alper and shenon alpie is so smart

When it comes to figuring out defenses and he had like that that little rough stretch of games and it looks like he’s right back to playing like All-Star level basketball and we really do have to get to a point where when you see Alper and shun playing like this the question

Really becomes you know it’s not even a question anymore if he can give you this type of production this is easily best player on a championship level team type of production and he’s done it consistently enough throughout a little more than a quarter of this season and

He’s going to continue to produce at this level that it makes you think how do you like the rockets need to start figuring out how to put pieces around Alper and shenon that makes sense because if you just surround Alper and shenon with good Defenders and guys who

Can knock down threes at a 40% clip this Rockets team is a top four seed in the Western Conference it’s that simple he’s that good at 21 years old he is that damn good so I don’t expect the Rockets to try and make sweeping roster ch in

The middle of the season but there is more than enough of a sample size now to show that a the rockets can be a top defense with alperin shingon in the middle which is absurd the nuggets have never been a top three defense with Nika

Yic so they can do that and then on top of that they have a chance to be even more successful and even more potent offensively if they just put the right pieces around this 21-year old Phenom who routinely commands a double team who is largely unguardable by opposing defenses

And is often times putting this team on his back and trying to drag them to wins not enough for Alper and shingun unfortunately however he does have some uh exciting company the last three 21 year olds to record 30 plus points 15 plus rebounds five plus assists and four

Plus seals Alper and shingun just did it before him Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson so that’s some exciting company for Alper and shenon to be a part of as far as uh NBA history but the Rockets desperately need to put some shooting around Alp and it it might not happen

This season uh but there are there’s a reason why there are moments when the lineups that feature like Aaron holiday and tar E look a lot better than at times you know when when jayen is out there or when jabari’s out there when he has been struggling from three although

He’s been really good from three usually he struggled in this game 05 three Point shooting but largely you know when the Rockets put shooting around Al and shenon good things happen emo DOA did highlight it postgame and he did say that there are moments that Alber and shun has to work

On where he has to recognize um when or how the defense is guarding him especially late in games uh because sometimes like against the Pelicans the the Pelicans were being really aggressive when albering had the ball in the post late in games whereas the Pacers

Were uh delaying a little bit and it was not as instantaneous as far as drawing that second Defender so Alp just has to continue to grow and get better at reading and understanding okay bait bait bait okay all right here’s the second Defender boom and then and then passing

Out as soon as that second Defender gets there rather than holding it for a little bit too long those kind of things which again feels like nitpicking but that’s the type of Coach Oka is he expects the most out of Al Shu which is part of the reason why I think that he

Is excelling the way that he has this season emok is routinely and consistently Challen challenging Alp and Alp has risen to that challenge this year which is why he’s playing at an All-Star level coming up final thoughts from this game as well as oka’s commentary on Jaylen Green’s role with

This team moving forward we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by game time look you shouldn’t have to worry when you’re buying tickets to your next night out your next concert your next sporting event whatever it is

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Guaranteed and final segment here at lock on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball final thoughts from this Rockets 123 117 loss against the indana Pacers I want to give some credit to Fred Van vet here in this game 18 points nine dimes two steals had a block what

How did Fred get credited with a block anyways that’s always weird when that happens when the shortest dude on the court gets a block shot um seven of 18 shooting not great one of seven from three also not great I I’ve said it before it’s worth repeating Fred playing

The most minutes per game in the NBA is clearly wearing him down Alper and shinon same thing Alper and shinon looks flat out exhausted after some of these games and he’s still producing at a ridiculous rate probably a little bit easier for Alp to produce when he’s his

Shots are right there at the rim versus Fred who has to rely on his legs and and it’s just what’s the first thing to go if you’ve ever played basketball in your life right when the moment you’re tired and your legs start to go your shot is

Gone and it’s really hard to expect Fred to be a consistent jump shooting threat it’s really hard to expect him to have that three ball stay consistent when he’s being run ragged out there every single game because the team just falls off a cliff oka’s words the team falls

Off a cliff when Fred goes to the bench uh which means that we need to see a Min Thompson and his minutes slowly increase and tick up but it’s also really hard to run a Min Thompson out there when the Rockets have no shooting to surround him with

There’s a there’s a lot of problems with this rocket as good as this Rockets team is at 15 and 13 and slightly ahead of schedule there’s just certain like pieces that you’re just like they’re so close they’re so close to being a really really good team they’re just not quite

There yet because they’ve got certain roster limitations and limitations with their personnel and what guys can and can’t do and Fred is just I I feel like that’s easily one of the reasons that Fred is is so inconsistent with his shot I know he historically he’s been inconsistent but historically he’s also

Played a crapload of minutes so lo and behold what would happen if Fred was maybe getting like 33 34 minutes a night and he was able to rest and not you know have to play the entire first quarter or the entire third quarter and then check

Back in at the top of the fourth to give this team even a remote chance to win these games uh Fred Van’s just a winning basketball player man he he puts this Rockets team on his back at one point when the Rockets went down 11 there uh late in

The game he he had a personal 0 run it was an and one got to the free throw line so that’s right an and one layup scored the ball hit the free throw came back down scored another layup forced an Indian Pacers timeout just you know a

Personal little 50 run to pull the Rockets within six Fred just understands when the team needs a bucket he’s incredibly reliable I I like there’s a reason his nickname is steady Freddy he hits Big Time shots it’s just unfortunate that his three ball has been you know kind of inconsistent as of late

Because this he’s one of the best Shooters on the Rockets as a team and when when Fred Goes one of seven and Jaylen goes 0 of three and Dylan goes you know only attempts one three because he clearly wasn’t feeling well uh you know was playing through injury Jabari

05 it’s just really tough to win a game the fact that the Rockets were even in this game the fact that the Rockets came back and took the lead in this game where the Pacers were a oh God oh God 19 five subtract that’s 14 is the

Difference 14 * 3 14 * 3 30 12 42 haha live math on the Pod never a good idea Pacers were a ridiculous plus 42 from three the Rockets had no business even being in this game you hit a couple more threes in this game and then the Rockets win this one that’s

That’s how simple it was man is the you just can’t you can’t play that way in today’s NBA and so I wanted to highlight them and also shout out to Tar e and Aaron holiday their continued production Off the Bench tar was 16 and eight Off the Bench Aaron

Holiday with 15 points had a few rebounds had an assist out of Steal six of 10 shooting three of six from downtown Aaron holiday had more had 60% of the rocket three-pointers in this game three of six shooting the Rockets hit five threes Aaron holiday was three

Of them that’s how down horrendous the Rockets are as far as their three-point shooting post game uh oku was asked about Jaylen green so Jaylen Green’s Performance in this one not great Five Points so another another really rough night for Jaylen green Five Points points two of seven

Shooting one of two at the free throw line missed all three of his threes one rebound two assists one steal uh minus 19 in his 20 minutes played emoa sat Jaylen green for almost 12 minutes straight in the first half he was subbed out just under five minutes

To go in the first quarter and he returned with like 501 to play in the second so SATs for 12 minutes straight in the first half and then same thing in the second half he sat with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter

And then he didn’t return so uh he was asked about whether they had given any consideration to bring him off the bench and kind of asked about his struggles uh post game after this one coach it seems like Jones in the midst of a real struggle has there been

Any thought to potentially bring him off the bench get him going up at the second unit or that no we had not thought about that I don’t know if he’s getting the best looks but second guessing for sure you can see that um you don’t want to be

Aggressive initially but you have to be able to do both and I think it’s time struggling to read what they’re doing you know pass up some looks and you know Force some others and so um just kind of continue to improve in that area read

The game and take what it gives you at times you know if if you have the open shot the first look you get is that’s a lot of times the best one and so um there was something to grow into and get better at but um teams are putting one

Of the better Defenders on them and paying attention to him and obviously with him playing that way if he was playing the other way we’d obviously wouldn’t struggle as much offensively and have to lean on other guys as much or play other guys minutes so continue to keep him confident continue to you

Know improve in certain areas and he’ll take a step eventually okay a lot to unpack from what Oka had to say there I do want to highlight here so Not only was Jaylen struggling offensively in this game unfortunately uh which has become kind of the norm as of late but

Defensively things did not look good either um you know it’s it’s it’s not for lack of effort but the Pacers are one of those teams in the NBA Pacers the Hawks uh the Kings the the Warriors and the Spurs a little bit these are teams that really move the basketball and and

Move without the ball pretty well and they they they they move they relocate they slip a lot of screens all of the above right and the rockets have struggled with with each of those teams respectively this season so you know Jaylen really got lost on some defensive coverages early where it

Resulted in wideopen three-pointers for the Pacers and you cannot give the number one offense in the NBA even you know uh you can’t give them any space to get a three off and so the Pacers got rolling and were hot from three early in large part due to some defensive

Breakdowns and miscommunications by the rockets and and Jaylen green was responsible for a few of those early on leading to some open threes for for n Smith for for halberton it was it was painful to to to witness pretty early on so that’s unfortunate but you know eay was was very like point

Blank when when asked about potentially bringing jayen Off the Bench he was like no we’re not doing it but at this point and you know to to follow up on what else he said right he you know he highlighted the fact that that you know he is not taking good shots at times

He’s forcing things um the decision making has not been great and he highlights the fact that you know he didn’t shy away from saying that this team would would be in a better position if Jaylen was playing the way that they need him to play right and that they

Wouldn’t have to lean on other guys as much uh everything Oka said was true I did like that he said that the one thing that he’s trying to do is is keep Jaylen confident but here’s the problem when you bench your starting two guard for 12 straight minutes in the first half and

Then when you routinely bench him in the second half and don’t even let him close out games this Rockets team is stuck between a rock and a hard place because there are two very clear directives for this team this year and this is why I am not envious of the

Position Oka has been put in the team wants to win basketball games and they want to be a competitive basketball team that’s part of phase two of this rebuild I get that and they’re doing that credit to them 15 and 13 above 500 well ahead of schedule this team’s directive is also

To try and develop talent and right now they are torn between winning games or developing talent and and and trying to cultivate and basically fix Jaylen green that’s kind of where they’re at because for the last two years if Jaylen was in a funk cool he’s still getting 35

Minutes a night he’s still he’s able to go out there and still get 20 plus shot attempts and shoot himself out of a funk and and he could have these lows where he was struggling offensively and then he’d just get right back to it because

It was just the jayen kpj show for the last couple years now the Rockets are not afforded that luxury and so you’ll see it you know either in the first quarter of a game or sometimes in the third quarter you’ll see there’s points in a game where really feels like the Rockets are

Making a concerted push or effort to get jayen green going where they run a few sets for him they they put the ball in his hands Fred starts playing like the offguard role and jaylen’s running like heavy pick and roll with Alp or get some isolation touches or even previously

Before kind of being removed from that role he would have his opportunities with the second unit right maybe Jaylen can’t get it going with the first unit comes out early comes back with the second unit and then it’s it’s it was supposed to be the jayen green show with

The second unit right he he would have a solid like you know four to five minutes of run where it’s just him and the second unit and five out spacing and he was supposed to be able to take advantage of those opportunities and routinely couldn’t so now emok is tasked with this

Really difficult decision of how many more wins are you willing to sacrifice to continue trying to give Jaylen this confidence because it feels like they’re kind of stuck in the middle because I think they’ve got to go one way with it or not like you can’t you can’t bench

Jaylen for 12 minutes in the first half and expect him to not and expect it to not impact his confidence there’s a shot from last night’s game that’s doing the rounds and it’s during a timeout and Alber and shun has his arm around Jaylen green and Jaylen just

Looks just so out of it and it it really it really does kind of break my heart because I I want this kid to be so good and know he wants to be good right like I have never once and I never will question like jaylen’s work ethic what

Like the the his desire to be great like I really do like he works he works hard everything I know about him everything I know I’ve heard about him from his Camp from his circle from the coaches he works he does what they ask him to do

It’s just not translating right now he’s struggling you know in a big way on the court I think a big part of it now at this point is confidence it’s mental he sees you know he’s getting these these WI wide open looks he’s getting opportunities and they’re just not

Falling and when Jaylen Green’s shot isn’t falling there’s just not much else that he provides currently he’s improved as a Defender he’s improved as a playmaker sure but there are other players that do those things much better than he does to where if he’s not scoring the ball then you’re almost

Forced if you’re em odoki you’re forced to put in other guys to give you a chance to win the game and that’s what is routinely happening now so the Rockets are stuck between deciding how much how many reps are they willing to give Jaylen green to try and get him out

Of this funk to to renew his confidence or giving those minutes and those reps to other players who are more equipped to help you win basketball games right now and that’s where the Rockets are at and it’s a tough place to be it really is and I think there is probably some

Merit to just ripping the Band-Aid all the way off and maybe running Jaylen green with the second unit a little bit but the problem is you don’t exactly have a s a player who is perfect equipped to slide into that starting role it would make sense if it was tar e

If tar e was 100% healthy I’d be all for it if you could give tar e 30 plus minutes a night right now and he wasn’t a game time decision before every single game I’d say at this point the switch should happen because tar e produces he

Defends at a high level the team looks really good when he’s out there play Tar een make Jaylen green your Sixth Man make that the switch call it a day see how it happens see what see what it looks like but the problem also is the moment you make that call whether it’s

Whe whether it was for tar een in this hypothetical scenario whether it’s for Aaron holiday it’s not going to be for cam Whitmore calm down y’all like I just I hate to break that to you right now it’s not going to be cam even though cam looks really good and and should

Probably get a crack at the rotation sometime soon once the toothpaste is out of the tube you can’t put it back in and right now it feels like the Rockets are are slowly creeping towards that point where Oka has to do something with the starting lineup cuz he’s basically

Already doing it like for all intents and purposes Jaylen green isn’t a starter he’s not getting starter level minutes being a starter in the NBA is is basically a uh I don’t want to say it’s a novelty I can’t think of the word for it it’s a

It’s a what is it it’s a uh this is when I get to the tail end of a podcast and then I start forgetting vocabulary words it’s so annoying being a starter doesn’t matter it’s about who finishes the game who starts doesn’t matter it’s about who

Finishes and I can’t think of the damn word that I was trying to figure out for that that point that I was trying to make but for all intents of purpose like Jaylen doesn’t matter Jaylen doesn’t matter in his role right now because he’s not finishing games right like

That’s the that’s the painful part so whoever starts the game really doesn’t matter you can start the game and play the first two minutes and you’re still a starter but if you’re not getting starters level minutes if you’re not having a role of a starter on a team if

You’re not closing out games then you’re not really part of the starting group or you’re not part of the finishing Group which should matter a lot more and it’s unfortunate because it looks like jaylen’s confidence is completely shot right now and I I want him to get back on

Track and I just don’t know what the answer is and I and and I hope em odok is able to find an answer but he’s also kind of stradling the fence right now between wins and keeping J and and developing Jaylen green and this is the same conversation we had earlier this

Season when am Min Thompson was struggling right out of the gate am Min Thompson is a rookie and the moment Aaron holiday stepped in and took those minutes away from a Min Thompson after his injury guess what the ETS looked a lot better because the Rockets were

Trying to a win games and B do it with a rookie backup point guard who was getting 15 minutes a night and it did not look great at times so are you willing to sacrifice the developmental reps and the runtime for guys like Jaylen and a men who clearly need more

Time to get up to speed versus the veterans who are kind of ready to win right now and that’s the question that this rocket team is going to be faced with as long as Jaylen green is struggling as we navigate the rest of the season what do you do with Jaylen

Green do you pull the plug on him as a starter and bring him off the bench do you try and trade him do you completely give up on him I don’t think I’m quite on that at that point yet as far as completely giving up on Jaylen I’d

Rather take a look at him off the bench before this team completely gives up on him but hard decisions are going to have to be made with this team sooner rather than later I give it to the end of this homeand where if Jaylen is still

Struggling I give it to the end of the home stand before we see maybe a starting lineup change at this point this season I don’t think emok is the type of Coach to mess around and even though he said that right now there are no considerations to bring Jaylen green

Off the Bench that’s not the type of answer that you can waffle about that’s not the type of answer you can say oh well maybe we’ll see like no you go out and you say hell no we’re not considering it even if they they absolutely have considered it behind the

Scenes come on read through the read through the lines here they’ve absolutely talked about what they need to do to get the best out of jayen so maybe a benching is coming because he’s been getting benched at the end of games so it might do him some good to just

Come off the bench to start the game and play against those second units and have a chance to see the game from A New Perspective a new role as a sixth man we’ll see what happens with Jaylen green we’ll see what happens with this team whether or not they can add some

Shooting this season uh but those are the final thoughts from this one the 123 117 loss to the aniana Pacers NBA’s number one offense gets the best of the NBA’s number to defense in this one as always thank you so much for checking out the show and I want your no I want

Your thoughts give me your thoughts on everything Oka said post game give me your thoughts on Jaylen Green’s role moving forward I didn’t include that just all of it down below in the YouTube comments but as always thank you so much for checking out the show if you haven’t

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

Thank you so much for listening and shout out to my guy Josh who I met at the Rockets game rocking the I almost forgot at the very tailing I’m so sorry Josh it’s just been it’s been a busy 24 hours busy holiday season uh with rocking the Oilers jacket works for

Credit Karma living The Sweet Life at Toyota Center shout out to my guy Josh was cool uh running into you at the game uh sorry you have to live in the Bay Area and deal with all the Warriors fans but as always thank you so much for

Watching thank you so much for listening and we look forward to having you back right here locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets Basketball

Alperen Sengun Dominates But No Shooting Costs Houston Rockets In Loss To Haliburton, Indiana Pacers

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) reacts to and discusses the Houston Rockets 123-117 loss to the Indiana Pacers, in which the NBA’s No. 1 offense showed the No. 2 defense that three is still very much greater than two. Rockets unable to match the Pacers three-point shooting (19/43 vs 5/24), forcing turnovers and second chance points keeping Houston in the game, Alperen Sengun’s monster 30/16/5 night and Indiana with no answer for him down low, Fred VanVleet spearheading the comeback late and taking the lead with just under two minutes to play, Jalen Green continues to struggle, but Ime Udoka goes on record to say there are “no plans” to bench him and more.

#Rockets #AlperenSengun #JalenGreen

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