Worst Loss Of The Season? Why Houston Rockets Choked In Overtime To Portland Trailblazers

Worst Loss Of The Season? Why Houston Rockets Choked In Overtime To Portland Trailblazers

On today’s show the Houston Rockets get absolutely embarrassed by the Portland Trailblazers in overtime what H why were the Blazers even in this game to begin with what has happened to the Houston Rockets once top rated defense that has just completely fallen off a cliff as of

Late how did they choke this game away in overtime we’re going to unpack it all coming up right here at lock on Rockets this is Mission Control Houston ignition sequence start throw it up to jayen Green shenon here in the short row oh my that’s the no look Jabari for three and the

Win look at t e Here Comes T has 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 1

Worst loss of the Season at least I think it’s the worst loss of the Season what’s up and welcome to another edition of lockdown Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native hisian and credential media member I’m also the

Host of lockon 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 now today’s episode is brought to you by prize pick the easiest and most exciting

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Way to work on your lunch break in the gym while you’re crying tears of sadness because the Rockets just got their butts kicked by the Portland freaking Trailblazers thank you for being and every every day or making the show a part of your day every single day this game

Sucked it like this game really sucked like I I think it was when when Brogden hit the corner three to pull the Rockets within one I think I remember Tweeting or saying or just like I was like they’re going to lose this game aren’t they and lo and

Behold they managed to choke away this game they led by four with less than a minute to go and the rockets managed to choke this game away this was this was a really impressive choke job all things considered um so there’s a lot of reasons why the Rockets lost this game

Ultimately um and we’re going to unpack or do our best to unpack a lot of them here on the show because there I sat down to try and record this show the night of and I was so mad about the loss that I just couldn’t do it and then like

The morning after I got up and I had all my show prep stuff done and uh I was still so mad I was like I can’t even talk about this team right now they’re pissing me off too much uh the Rockets had no business they the Rockets had no

Business even letting the Blazers be in this game like look yes you’re missing they they were missing Jabari Smith Jr they still didn’t have tar een I get that but this is a bad bad Blazers team and this is what like the rockets on they deserve this loss because they did

Not take the Blazer seriously because they went through the motion they had a a six-point lead at halftime and then Oka said at postgame they absolutely got embarrassed in that third quarter allowing the Blazers to score 41 points in the quarter their defense has basically been nonexistent for a little

While now and it especially was non-existent there in the third quarter uh the Rockets had no answer all night long for Anthony Simons and we’re going to get into more of why that is and and some specifics with Dylan Brooks and Fred Van v and all this

But what’s really egregious here for me is you know you you let a team like that hang around and you give them hope right you give them life at the end of a game and that’s exactly what happened they had that one scrambling defensive possession late in the game where

Malcolm Brogden managed to sink a corner three-pointer because the Rockets were scrambling on defense and nobody was able to get out to him in time he hits the corner three-pointer makes it a one possession game Rockets inbound the ball Blazer had a foul to give they inbound

The ball again Aaron holiday gets it knocks down two very clutch free throws shout out Aaron Holiday Hits the free throws big time it’s a three-point game with less than two seconds to go and you got boban marianovich on the inbounds and somehow by some miracle they get the ball inbounded to Jeremy

Grant Fred Van vet is the guy defending kind of that top of the key area there swapping everything they’re sending every guys every which way the Rockets are communicating they’re doing a good job on the inbounds play Fred vanite has to pick up Jeremy Grant Jeremy Grant

Takes one dribble to the right elevates sends a Hail Mary towards the rim and Banks it in and that forces overtime and the Blazers took all that momentum from the end of regulation and it carried them through overtime and a big part of the reason they were able to carry themselves

Through overtime is because the Rockets forgot who who their best player was and this is not the first time this has happened where Alper and shenon had six points at the end of regulation Alper and shenon was feasting at the end of regulation and seemingly they just went

Away from him in overtime it’s the most confusing thing he had that one move on deand DeAndre Aton where he faced him up from the perimeter drove attacked him spun back reloaded and then went like Up and Under and finished round eight and at The Rim that was in it was a filthy

Move he also had the dunk right at The Rim in transition off the might I say the beautiful feed from Jaylen green but there was like it it was almost all LP there in the closing moments of this game six points in the final three minutes of the game four

Minutes of the game and then they made it to overtime and in the overtime period alpie only took two shots he was one of two he went to the free throw line hit one of two there as well but he only got two attempts Fred took three shots Jaylen took three shots

And and I just don’t know why they elected to go away from Alper and shenon who was feasting in this game dropped 30 points on DeAndre aton’s head and instead elected to go with Fred Van vet and Jaylen green trying to to take over the game from the perimeter

When Fred was having a bad night shooting the ball eight of 17 shooting only two of 10 from long distance and Jaylen was having a really good night but he kind of cooled off by that point because for God knows what reason the Rockets didn’t go back to him to start

The third quarter even though he was on fire in the first half so he had kind of cooled off a little bit at that point in the game and I also think the looks that he was getting earlier in the game were very different than the looks that you

Get late in a game you need a guy that can force the issue and and force the opposing defense to make a choice right and Alper and shingun is that guy if you guard him in single coverage he’s either going to draw a foul or he’s going to get a

Bucket it’s that simple if you send a double team at him he’s going to find whoever the open man is and kick the ball out and generate a wide open look that way that’s the type of offensive player he is and that’s why this rocket team is at its best when it’s running

Offense through Alper and shenon whether that’s him posting up on the low block whether it’s him facing up on the perimeter or at the nail whatever letting him go to work is their best offensive play and for them to go away from that in crunch time of a game where they

Shouldn’t have even been in in in overtime to begin with but they found themselves there it it it’s the most mind-boggling thing it’s it’s it’s like the Lakers not letting LeBron James touch the basketball late in the game or the Mavs not letting Luca touch it or

The Nuggets not letting joic be involved the plays late in a game it m it it makes zero sense to me and I I don’t know what’s going on on the sideline I don’t know what’s going on with with Oka and the rest of the coaching staff but

He really does need to like send a message to his guys that at the end of a game when they need a bucket that’s their play they draw that like screw drawing up a play just get the ball to your best player and let him go to work

Because nine times out of 10 it’s going to end pretty it’s going to end well for you or you at least you live live with like if Alp draws a double team and you kick it out to an open shooter and that open shooter misses a shot fine you live

With those looks but like the look that you know some of the looks that Fred and Jaylen were taking there in the overtime period were not good shots you know those are not those are not shots that you’re like okay with when you could have gotten a much higher quality look

Had you gone through your best player so I wanted to highlight that because I thought that was the most egregious thing out of this loss against the Blazers at least their late game execution they could have still won this game had they not just forgotten who

Their best player was um but there’s a lot more that I want to unpack from this one a lot of concerns a lot of things that you know frustrations that we’ve seen with this team and this it’s almost like this game had a little bit of everything that’s wrong with this

Rockets team and things that they need to be able to address going forward if they want to be able to make a push for a playin spot because these are the types of games you can’t lose if you want to be in the playin conversation the Rockets are very much battling for a

Playin spot one of the probably nine 10 spots in the Western Conference and you cannot lose a game at home to the tanking Portland Trailblazers and expect to be able to make the play in tournament it’s just it doesn’t work that way this is one of those games I I

I’m hesitant to say must-win type games because I don’t know if any game is like really a must-win type game but the rocket should have won this game and and they deserved to lose this game for a variety of reason Seasons more of which we’re going to unpack here in just a

Second specifically a lot of the defensive issues in this game we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by grammarly when it comes to writing grammarly is there to support you from start to finish for over 10 years grammarly has been powered by AI

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$100 prize picks is daily fantasy sports Made Easy and continuing on here at lock on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets B ball more to unpack from this Rocket’s 137 131 overtime loss to the Portland Trailblazers and I think one of the biggest issues and concerns with this

Rockets team is how much they have cratered defensively over this probably about month or so in comparison to earlier this season when they were actually a top tier defense in the association and it’s concerning because this team wasn’t winning games because of their offense they just weren’t they like they’d have

Some big games from you know shingun would have a big night or Fred would have a but they weren’t like just outgunning other teams that’s never been that has not been this team’s identity all season long in fact every single time that they have been out what is it

Every single time that they’ve allowed an appointment to an opponent to score over 120 points I believe they’ve lost every single one of those games except for the Utah Jazz game that was the first game all season long where an opponent had scored more than 120 points

And the rockets had not lost that game if I’m not mistaken so what happened to the Rockets defensive identity where did it go um I almost went into the where did you come from where did you go old Cotton I Joe no look I think some of it you can point to

Obviously the Personnel issues and the fact that the Rockets were missing Dylan Brooks for a stretch of game and they’re still missing tar een they didn’t have jabarus Smith Jun in this game sure that’s some of it absolutely but that’s not nearly all of it is the problem and

I think in this game we saw some really concerning moments from Fred Van vet and Dylan Brooks defensively and I think some of it has to do with they’re not 100% healthy uh Dylan Brooks who you know is maybe is still playing through a little bit of discomfort or pain with

The oblique injury uh he does not look 100% because he’s out there he was getting blown by consistently in this game against the Blazers didn’t matter who he was checking if he was guarding Brogden or Simons or Grant whoever he was guarding on the perimeter almost had a free run

To the basket it was pretty bad defense from Dylan Brooks um and then on top of that so youve got so you’ve got Dylan Brooks who’s still dealing probably with the oblique stuff and he does not look 100% because that’s not the Dylan Brooks level of defense

That he was playing earlier in this season where he’s like legitimately a one-man differen maker on a on the defensive side of the ball uh he was actually a negative defensively in this game like he was costing the Rockets points pretty consistently and he got benched late in this game eeme elected

To go with Aaron holiday instead of Dylan Brooks to close out this game until like the final I don’t know minute of Regulation or whatever where he subbed Dylan Brooks back in for for defensive purposes which we’re going to get into some of the some of Em’s decision-making with his lineups here in

Just a moment because I think that’s another concerning Trend to that warrants discussion so Dylan was not himself this game defensively uh and Fred is now struggling defensively where Fred does not look like he’s the same level of player that he was earlier this season

And some of that probably has to do with the back issue that he’s dealing with the the the the back tightness that he’s going through um but he doesn’t seem to have the same like lateral quickness ability to keep a Defender you know to to keep his uh his

Assignment in front of him to keep the offensive player in front of him when he’s guarding at the point of attack and that’s where I think the Rocket’s biggest issue is and and why we’re seeing shades of you know like silus era defense almost is because this team was

Built with the understanding that they needed to H have great point of attack defense to prevent easy straight line drives to the basket because they don’t have the luxury of having a seven foot tall you know defensive minded shot blocker back there to swat everything that comes near the rim right they don’t

Have a Brook Lopez back there they don’t have a a Nick Claxton a Rudy goar a walker Kessler whatever they don’t have one of those bigs back there they’ve got Alper and shenon and alp’s not a slouch defensively and he’s improved in that regard but if you’re going to let if

You’re not going to contain dribble penetration and if you’re going to let guys just get straight past you on the perimeter the Rockets defense has zero chance to survive because then you’ve got Alp having to play two men he’s playing the rle man and he’s trying to

Guard the ball handler at the same time and you’ve got guys fighting over screen it’s the defense is just a mess right now it’s regressed considerably to where Fred and Dylan have regressed defensively uh in this game you know goon was not doing enough on the glass

For sure um and this is a this has been a I don’t want to say a constant all season but you know alpie is is the man in the middle and has to be more of a presence in the rebounding department at times uh especially without Jabari SMI

Jr in the lineup but I think that the The Bigs for the rockets in this game shenon Jeff Green they they let the Rockets down from like the physicality perspective because because they allowed so many Second Chance opportunities from the Blazers in this game the Blazers wind up scoring 23 Second Chance points

In this game they’re one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the association but that’s almost an insurmountable total of Second Chance points to allow in a given game um and it’s not like unfortunately like the Rockets they had 12 Second Chance points like they had a few offensive rebounds

And got some Second Chance opportunities but they need to be able to rely on closing defensive possessions strong and even there late in overtime when the game kind of looked like it was probably already going to be over but you know they had moments where they would get a

Good defensive stop and then be unable to secure the defensive rebound to close out the possession and that falls squarely on the shoulders of your bigs of shingon and you know for this game since there was no Jabari Jeff Green they needed to be better on the

Defensive glass to be able to give the Rockets a chance to to get past the Blazers who were like unconscious from three especially after pardon me especially after that um that third quarter where they were just they were on fire they couldn’t miss and a big part of why they couldn’t miss it

Because they were given so many open opportunities um I really I really feel like the Vets kind of let the Rockets down in this game because Jaylen delivered Jaylen was locked in had a strong game was knocking down his shots was was playing within the flow of the offense you would have

Liked to see Jaylen be a little bit more consistent from the perimeter only two of seven outside shooting but that also means that he was 10 of 17 inside the ark that that’s those are phenomenal numbers for Jaylen green he was taking what the defense gives him and it looked

Really really good he was knocking down that midi and he knocked down what like three four five of those early on and it opened up the rest of his game so that’s exactly the type of process that you want to see from Jaylen green Alper and shenon aside from the shortcomings on

The on the defensive glass and the the six offensive rebounds as well as the smattering of other offensive rebounds that other guys got but the six offensive rebounds that DeAndre Aton got uh shingun was was phenomenal he was much improved at the free throw line shot Seven of eight at the charity

Stripe he had 30 points he had 10 rebounds he had eight assists he was doing everything out there so in a way I almost don’t even want to pin the blame for this one on Jaylen or on alp I kind of think that the Vets just let the

Rockets down in this one like you literally started your three veterans in Fred Dylan and Jeff Green and I felt that Jeff Green was almost a non-factor in this game Dylan was a negative piece in this game which is why he got benched late and Fred was out there because Fred

Is the extension of em Oda and he’s you know like got that that trust Factor there and he’s kind of uh Em’s like safety valve to where he doesn’t want to take him off the floor but Fred also played 46 minutes in this game 45 minutes of an available 53 minutes Fred

Played 45 of them like that just can’t happen man especially when you like when he’s killing you on defense when you need to be finding ways to give this guy some rest and when am Min Thompson has looked as good as he has looked I feel like you got to find a way

To get Amin more minutes am Min Thompson played only 14 minutes in this game and you could have easily bumped him up another five or 10 and given Fred some rest and I think we’re start I think we’re seeing some of the side effects of how hard the Rockets were pushing

Earlier this season especially with Fred and Dylan and the workload that those guys had and now we’re seeing some of that workload catch up to them where now Fred’s got the sore back Dylan’s going to be dealing with the oblique issue it’s probably not 100% yet even though

He’s playing even though he’s been cleared to return to play he’s probably not playing 100% And so this team is not able to be as locked in and putting forth the the the or exerting the effort that they were earlier in the season when they were a top defensive team

Because unfortunately the way this team is built you have to have guys locked in and preventing dribble penetration from starting at the three-point line you can’t and you can’t let those guys drive and you can’t give guys those free straight line drives to the basket because then that’s how the defense gets

Collapsed and that’s when guys get in rotation and then that’s when you give up the open threes and Oka talked about it before the game that three-point defense has been their largest regression and that three-point defense comes from the fact that they’re allowing the initial penetration at point of attack where you’re allowing

Yourself you’re allowing your defense to be collapsed which is then leading to kickouts and wide open threes and there’s also miscommunication at times where guys aren’t switching clean enough and there’s there’s slight moments where guys are being given you know open shots because of miscommunications like guys

Going under on a screen when they should be fighting over little little things here and there and all the these mistakes add up to a game like this where you gave the Portland Trailblazers life you gave them life in a game where they should have they should have gotten

Absolutely dumpstered in this game second night of a back-to-back Rockets had plenty of rest and they messed around and didn’t take this game seriously gave the Blazers a 41o third quarter Blazers LED going into the fourth quarter and the rockets had to fight their way back in that fourth

Quarter to regain the lead and even once they did did regain the lead they weren’t composed enough down the stretch to close things out like this is just that that’s why this game is frustr I can I can already I can feel my blood kind of boiling as I’m talking about

This game because there was so much that went wrong in this game and it’s still kind of feels like even though they had so many different things go go wrong that they were right there and again it it sucks because it’s like okay maybe the Mal maybe the the brog and three

Doesn’t go down and you know the Blazers never never get Within get within one point and we’re talking about a win instead maybe the Jeremy Grant buzzer beater doesn’t go down and we’re talking about a win instead because it rims out or you know misses front iron or airball or

Whatever but unfortunately all these problems that we’re highlighting here would have still been problems even if the Rockets had won the game it would have been an ugly win and we would have been thankful for the win because nobody’s going to be ranking the quality

Of wins at the end of the season but these are very real problems that this team is facing and they have to find solutions for moving forward if they want to be able to make the play in tournament this season so I want to get into a a couple

Of the positives at least from this game uh mainly Amin Thompson and cam Whitmore off the Rockets bench who continue to impress in the limited amount of minutes that they are getting want to talk about those two guys as well as some final thoughts from this one in just one

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Basketball final thoughts from this Rockets Blazers game really frustrating loss um I want your thoughts you know I I asked you you know is it was it the worst loss of the season I think it’s the worst loss of the season but tell tell me what you’re frustrated about

From this game with the Rockets because for me and and I said this at the top of the second segment right I think you can point to the fact that yes you know this roster is missing key guys um and missing tar is a big reason the defense

Has has cratered the way that it has but at the same time you know so much of it feels like the team has just taken a step back as far as how locked in they are right how serious they take every single possession uh you know when I said the

Vet I felt like the veterans kind of let the Rockets down in this game you know there was a stretch there in the third quarter when the Blazers were on their insane run where both Dylan Brooks and Fred Van had a pair of like I don’t know

If it’s quite backto back but they happened really within close frame you know close close close enough to each other where they had those back-to-back turnovers where they just lazily were passing the ball around the perimeter and you’ve got matis thel who is an absolute Ball Hawk and he he stole ball

Just playing the passing Lane very simple stuff playing the passing Lane both times easy transition opportunities both times and it’s all because they were throwing lazy passes around the perimeter going through the motions not taking the game seriously and that that cannot come from your veterans like

That’s the type of behavior you expect from one of your young guys who doesn’t know any better who’s just kind of like out there you know Vibes whatever like no you cannot have that level of apathy or that level of carelessness from the veterans who are supposed to be your

Example you know guys on the floor the guys that you point to say you want to play like that guy we want you playing like Fred you know and then you you can’t say I want you playing like Fred and then Fred you know coughs the ball up because he’s throwing lazy passes

Around around the perimeter or getting blown by defensively that’s not good you can’t do that so I will say that the the two s the couple Silver Linings from this game look and I’ll give credit shenon had an off had an incredible offensive night he was phenomenal facilit ating at a high

Level scoring at a high level the rebounding especially defensively needed to be a little bit better but that’s not just on him it’s it’s kind of a team Collective thing um but I I am looking at him and Jeff Green specifically Dylan Brooks probably needs to be a little bit

Better on the rebounding Department as well but the team is a whole just needs to be better rebounding the basketball um you know you can’t have a game like that especially missing one of your best arguably your best rebounder in Jabari Smith Jr and the team didn’t come

Together to make up for his lack of you know for for the fact that he wasn’t playing um for for shenon he was awesome offensively for eer Jaylen I talked about his offensive game earlier was really impressed with what he did uh and and I kind of mentioned it in passing

But I was also really disappointed that the Rockets didn’t go back to Jaylen to start the third quarter he played his third quarter C I think he played about seven or eight minutes in the third quarter before getting going to the bench and or maybe maybe it was slightly

Longer than that but at one point like I looked and it was I think it was about eight or N9 minutes in the quarter and Jaylen had only attempted four shots in the third quarter which to me seems unacceptable right like the guy was on fire he had 19

Points in the first half of the game and then you come out at halftime and you’re not immediately running more offense to get him involved like that doesn’t make any sense to me either like that’s that’s confusing and this kind of goes into I think there’s some serious I’ve

Had some serious concerns about some of em OD doa’s decision-making these last few weeks right certain lineups that he throws out certain decisions to stick with certain guys or to not go back to certain guys and I still this is not me saying oh I

Think e is a bad Cod no I think e is a great coach but I think there’s certain he has certain like moments where he’s he trusts one player more than another or he’s going to stick with a veteran over a young guy even though the young

Guy is probably playing better like you know I I like even that final possession you know I don’t know I don’t know who you could have maybe had in there instead of Fred Van vet on the final possession of the game I don’t know if there if there was somebody that

You should have had in there instead of Fred Van vet on the final possession of the game but it just sucks that the inbounds happened and you had Jeremy Grant who’s all of 6 fo n inches able to elevate and shoot over Fred Van vet

Who’s all of six feet tall like I get that Fred’s one of the better Defenders on the team and he’s a high IQ guy all that but but could you not have found a way to get just throw out all your wing players you know in that final moment

Cuz all you had to do was switch everything and then there’s even the the argument of why didn’t they just foul why didn’t they foul immediately on the inbounds and and some of that comes down to coaching where Fred was doing his whole thing where and I don’t know if

This is Fred if this was Fred’s decision if this is coached by eeme but on the inbounds Fred had his back to the inbounder like Fred couldn’t see that the ball was being in it until it was literally over his head and then he was

Having to make up ground to get up at D up on Jeremy Grant so I don’t know who call that was if that’s if that’s how eay wants it defended on the inbounds or if that’s how Fred defends the inbounds or what but I felt like that that play

Gave enough breathing room to Jeremy Grant where if you’re not up in his body to deny the catch in the first place that’s what allowed him to get the ball take the one gather dribble and then Elevate and shoot over the top of Fred going with you

Know Aaron holiday to close this game over Dylan Brooks made sense but at the same time but then but then you go back to Dylan Brooks in the final possessions of this game for for defense when Jaylen was actually decent defensively in this game against some of the against some of

The the Blazers guards in Brogden Simons while Dylan was getting cooked all night like it just there was a lot that really bothered me in this game and I think big and one of the bigger things was how good Amin Thompson was playing and how impactful he’s been as a defensive piece

For this team he’s he’s one of the team’s best defenders already as a rookie he’s really impactful on that end and yet in a game where it felt like you needed an answer to slowing down Anthony Simons and or potentially also an answer to slowing down Malcolm Brogden who

Really got it going in overtime and you’ve got got a guy who could be you know a stopper for either of those two guards sitting on the bench in a Min Thompson and he manages to only get 14 minutes of run meanwhile Fred vanet is playing 45 minutes this is not

Me clamoring for Fred’s minutes to be reduced so a in can get more minutes but just find a way to make have them coexist right Dylan was struggling all night maybe you take away some of his minutes if you need to have Fred on the floor that much sure and then I get

There’s there’s spacing issues there there’s a lot that I get that this team is trying to juggle and fig F out and all this but this game was just a really frustrating display of a lot of bad stuff going wrong and a a bad team

Getting hot at the wrong time and a good team playing down to the level of their opponent uh but I am I am still really impressed with with am men Thompson and cam I want to at least end on a bit of a positive note here because I’ve

I’ve kind of railed on this team I’ve just I I needed to vent a little bit because this loss just really upset me for a bunch of reasons um but for am Min Thompson he’s become a Difference Maker defensively he had that he he’s completely erased a layup

Attempt by scoot Henderson right at The Rim just completely like two-handed like volleyball SWAT kind of block uh on scoot Henderson right under the basket uh but a minut he had six points three rebounds two assists had that one block three of five shooting in 14 minutes played played some really Stellar

Defense when he was out there on the floor he just he moves his feet well he’s got active hands you see the length whenever he’s contesting shots like it’s really hard for guys to shoot over the top of a Min Thompson uh so his defense has been has been Next Level and he’s

He’s figuring it out offensively he’s he’s getting better he’s understanding and picking and choosing his spots really well he’s really effective moving without the basketball there’s moments where you see guys who you know rather than him peeling back and looking to get the pass on the perimeter and trying to

Set the offense up himself he moves really well without the basketball right he’s he’s getting more and more established as a cutter and somebody who can move without the basketball and his teammates are finding him so that’s been a nice little improvement from him and for cam Whitmore cam continues to just

Do what he does in his minutes off the bench he had 12 points in 14 minutes almost a point per minute Off the Bench five of 10 shooting two of six from the three-point line he had four boards uh did have a couple fouls little questionable on some of the fouls and

For cam you know he’s just got like the Ultimate Green Light man you know he was three of four inside the three-point line only two of six outside the line in this game and maybe a couple of those threes were a little a little aggressive uh you know

Him maybe shooting a little early in the shot clock or just Okay Defender sagging off him a little bit so he’s just going to pull the trigger but that’s also what you like about cam is he’s got like he’s got a uh what is it he’s got a Shooter’s

Conscience right like he just Ultimate Green Light ultimate confidence in himself he has never seen a shot that he didn’t like and that’s what you want out of a guy who’s supposed to be able to be you know who’s supposed to be able to fill it up offensively like that so

Cam’s going to learn over time how to pick and choose his spots better how to take shots within the flow of the offense uh and he’s going to be given more hopefully more and more offensive reps and and responsibility as the season grows and and as he becomes more

And more comfortable in the lineup but just seeing what he does when he’s out there in in the the little bit of runtime that he gets he looks legit man he looks good so I’m ecstatic with what we’ve seen out of Cam Whitmore and am Min Thompson in their limited amount to

Run you could you could have made a very legitimate argument that both of those guys should have played substantially more minutes than they did in this game because of the struggles right again Jeff Green was I felt like at times a non-factor in this game Dylan Brooks was struggling defensively Fred vanet was

Struggling in this game shenon and Jaylen both had it going offensively but they own and and even J even jayen was was really solid defensively shenon had his had his shortcoming is trying to you know close out defensive possessions with the rebounding but this is one of those games that they shouldn’t have

Lost and that’s why it stings so much because when we go back when we when we get to the end of the season and we’re looking at the standings and the rockets are going to be you know a half game back or a game back or whatever of

Securing a playing spot or if they if they miss the playing tournament by like a game or a half game or something like that if it comes down to like if it’s like a razor thin race to the playin tournament we’re going to be looking at

A loss like this or losses like this if there’s multiple of them to point to and say yep well the Rockets could have been in the play in tournament if they had taken business back in January against the Blazers so hopefully they learn their lesson from this game hopefully

Oka tears into this team and they’re able to bounce back because they hit the road trip and they’ve got a couple easy ones coming up here uh with what is it the Charlotte Hornets and then uh I apologize it’s the Charlotte Hornets and then it is the Brooklyn Nets on the road

Before they come back to Toyota Center and uh Hornet should be an easy game and Brooklyn should be an easy game but I’m not going to count those as automatic dubs at all because this team has managed to find a way to surprise us this season unfortunately so they need

To be able to get back to the level of defense that they were playing earlier this year but some of that might be Personnel limited if if guys like Fred and Dylan aren’t aren’t playing at 100% if they’re not able to lock in and play the defense that they were playing earlier this

Season then it’s going to be a very very long second half of the year uh if you can’t get those guys back to playing good point of attack defense uh in order to get this team back to being one of the top defenses in the NBA because this

Team ain’t going to be an offensive Powerhouse that that’s for sure they’re not going to be an offensive Phenom they have to rely on their defense to win games and they haven’t been able to do that in a very long time they gave up so many rebounds in this game so many

Second Chance opportunities um here’s a fun stat for you the Rockets are 0 and six when the oppos team out rebounds them so for the Rockets to have a chance to win a game they need to outrebound their opponent and they’ve largely done that this season but when they don’t

Outrebound their opponent they have literally not been able to win a game at all this season 0 and six so far on the season uh two of those games coming in the last four so two of the last four games that they played uh they’ve been outrebounded by their opponents and

Subsequently lost those games I believe it was Nicks and this one against the blade if I’m not mistaken I think it was Nick’s Blazers but on that note that’s going to do it for today’s episode as always I appreciate you for checking out the show if you haven’t done so yet please

Consider subscribing wherever you’re listen to your podcast Apple Spotify Google The Odyssey app free and available on all podcast platforms are also available on YouTube just go to YouTube search lock on Rockets like comment subscribe what was the most frustrating part of this loss for you

Let me know in the YouTube comments but as always thank you so much for watching thank you so much for listening and we look forward to having you back right here at locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball

Worst Loss Of The Season? Why Houston Rockets Choked In Overtime To Portland Trailblazers

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) reacts to and discusses the Houston Rockets 137-131 overtime loss to the Portland Trailblazers in easily the worst loss of the season so far. Why were the Rockets struggling against the Blazers, what happened in the third quarter, how did Portland manage to force overtime, why did the Rockets go away from Alperen Sengun late and more.

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#HoustonRockets #Rockets #NBA #JalenGreen #AlperenSengun #JabariSmithJr #TariEason #AmenThompson #CamWhitmore #FredVanVleet #DillonBrooks #JeffGreen #JockLandale #ReggieBullock #BobanMarjanovic #AaronHoliday