Houston Rockets Need More From Alperen Sengun & Jabari Smith Jr’s MONSTER Game Not Enough Vs Thunder

Houston Rockets Need More From Alperen Sengun & Jabari Smith Jr’s MONSTER Game Not Enough Vs Thunder

On today’s show the Houston Rockets unravel in the second half against the OKC Thunder after a really impressive first 18 to 20 minutes of this game no answer for Shay Gil Alexander or Chad hom who absolutely took over in the fourth quarter what were wrong defensively for the rockets in this game

Jabar Smith Jr with a monster Knight almost getting a 2020 game why the rockets need more from alperin shenon it’s all coming up right here at locked 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 15 second guidance is internal the Houston Rockets select amen Thompson and cam Whitmore one thing I have never done has not made the playoffs and so we want

To take that step here as well 6 5 4 3 2 1 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 houstonian and credential media member I’m also the

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Thank you for being in every day and making the show part of your day every single day joining us now is your weekly co-host NBA draft Enthusiast and die hard Houston Rockets fan Madison Moore he can track down on Twitter at madman leaks here to break down a game that

Started really great for the Rockets like they were up by as many is 16 against a very very good OKC Thunder team it looked like we were headed for a a two and0 record against the thunder so far this season Madison first about 18 20 minutes or so of this game where

Everything was all Rockets the whole way and then things just completely came off the rails kind of just a little bit before halftime OKC kind of started taking over a little bit there just before halftime and then that third quarter they wind up outscoring the

Rockets 30 to 21 and then man that top of the fourth quarter OKC just dominated Chad holgren was on another level I believe he had 19 points uh of his total 29 in that fourth quarter he had 10 points across the first three quarters combined scored 19 in the fourth Rockets

Had no answer for him this really did feel like a a game that was maybe not quite the tale of two halves the tale of like the first 18 minutes and then the final 30 minutes for right yeah no this was a real tough game to watch because

As the things begin to unfold um you could kind of see the rating on the wall I think the Rockets competed very well in the first half defensively but the Thunder still seemed to be chipping away in a way and not to bother from the from

Not getting calls and kind of stayed the course and the rockets were just flaming hot from threes right so when as that that occurs um throughout the game then the Thunders kind of find a Groove at the end of that fourth and it really hurts us and it really came against our

Starters where we had some really UNC characteristic turnovers from Fred Van vet and turnovers is like a a big issue in this game to me and in in the in the end of the four I mean end of the second top of the third and top of the fourth

Is where the Thunder go on these runs and they’re really they’re really defined by their defensive play by creating turnovers uh blocking shots in the fourth quarter with uh with Chad and really just some greatness from their their star players but what was really what was really discouraging for me you

Know a lot of those plays where those turnovers came I mean FR Fran Le had some really bad turnovers in the uh that second quarter which got you know got them into the Rhythm like back-to-back turnovers not slowing it down not doing the things that I think Fred Van is

Brought here to do I think he only had three assists and four turnovers like that’s just unacceptable I mean alar shinon finished with six turnovers tonight there was just there was just some things from the guys who are supposed to settle us down when we have

A lead and we are supposed to you know get back to what we do best and we we just couldn’t do it because I I think our best players and our most poised players were not very poised tonight I mean even there was a play during a very

Crucial run where Dylan Brook where Jaylen green is on The Fast Break with Dylan Brooks and he passes ahead to Dylan Brooks and Dylan goes oneon-one and uh and just refuses to pass the ball to Jaylen green for a wide openen dunk those are the type those are the little

Things that allow the OKC Thunder to continue their runs in these runs and it was just a to me it was a a game of runs where the Rockets didn’t do the little things to get past those those runs from the Thunder well was funny as it felt

Like in that first you know 18 20 minutes where everything was clicking Rockets were firing on all cylinders the shooting was there whatever it felt like they were doing the little things right it felt like they were the the ball movement was incredible they had in that

First quarter now granted again when you shoot so so to to your point about the the three-point shooting here I I wanted to Crunch the numbers on this just to have it rocket shot eight of 15 from three in that first quarter so they were

On fire 53% they shot eight of 26 from three the rest of the game so a smidge over 30% so yeah they they regressed quite a bit shooting the basketball one other thing that that fell apart as the game went on too was the ball movement

They had in that first quarter I believe I I think at one point it it might not be at the at the end of the first quarter but at one point I remember they had 12 made shots and they had nine assists on 12 made shots like they were

Moving the basketball incredibly well early on um I thought they made made it a really big point a point of emphasis in this game to try and get Alper and shenon involved offensively early and really kind of run things through him because the last time these two teams

Played Albert and shingun absolutely dog walked Chad hred like it was it was a really impressive showing Chad had zero for guarding Alp he was stronger than him he was play he was you know driving straight through his chest and finishing strong at The Rim this game complete

Night and day difference like it I don’t want to say alpie looks scared to go at cat but he just didn’t have it in this game and credit to OKC’s uh help defense the guys who came over the double teams uh a lot of guys you know collapsing on

LP doubles and triples and that led to a lot of the turnovers that you already alluded to the six to’s and and look if you look at the final box score from this game you’re going to be like oh well you know shingun had 19 points he

Had 12 boards I I think shingun absolutely has to be better like like this was a game where this was a matchup where where Oka clearly tried to make it a point to feed alpie very early on get him going get him in in positions to be

Successful against a very uh I can’t Chad hren is an incredible Defender but he doesn’t exactly have the strength to really go toe-to-toe with Alp and I felt like Alp kind of missed some of those early opportunities um and then the rocket started to maybe go away from

That because it wasn’t successful early on and then whenever they did go back to him over the course of the game it just it resulted in in turnovers some bad possessions it was just it was just a really rough night for shingun unfortunately yeah it’s like I said I I

Feel like alarin Shon and Fred Van v are supposed to be the the Poise of our team you know when we they’re supposed to get us back going the way we need to get going and those guys just turned the ball over tonight um I thought OKC’s defense was really good the defensive

Playing they packed the paint and you know that’s that led to a lot of wide openen threes early and and actually throughout the game but man their hands and defensive activity on the backside with with their help men was just absolutely ridiculous I mean they got so

Many um uh folks on on the ball from behind from all the players on the team honestly I mean guys you could tell the Rockets were trying to be aggressive through these tough stretches and put pressure on the paint but they but every time they got two feet in the paint it

Seemed like somebody got a hand or a deflection on the ball and which led to a a run out and really just hurt the team and and in those times those are the things I kind of expect to see from our young players which we did see like

Um like cam Whitmore has some really tough plays where he’d go one on two one on Three some some really just knucklehead play has play he was going one on five all right yeah yeah I mean just tunnel vision I mean but I mean to see Dylan Brooks do it over and over

Again to see Fair van v uh um Jay Jaylen green you know but Jaylen I actually thought some of his drives were actually pretty good he was getting to where he needed to get to but it’s still they were packing the pton away that the Rockets really just weren’t able to

Overcome and kick and I think the Rockets had a similar game plan defensively against uh against OKC but they had some of the best decision makers in the world who just kicked it out to open three over and over again where they sunk the defense and and had

A lot of off ball actions that confused the the rockets and got them a lot of wide open threes in which they converted coming up we got to talk about the Rockets defensive game plan in this one what went wrong trying to contain Shay gildas Alexander and then Chad holen

There especially late in the game in the fourth quarter when he absolutely exploded for 19 points plus we got to talk about Jabari Smith Jr’s Monster game flirting with a 2020 game very close to breaking his career high in rebounds and so much more we’re going to get there in just one

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Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball now Madison when we look at how the Rockets were trying to defend OKC it was really funny because we actually saw you know first time these two teams played we saw Oka go out there and have Alper

And shingun guard Josh giddy from the jump right and it’s it’s a sign of the like almost utmost disrespect that you’re going to guard a player with your Center but then OKC turned around and did the exact same thing by using their Center by guarding uh Amin Thompson

Later in the game with Chad Homen because Amin can’t shoot Josh giddy can’t shoot so what are you going to do right um but I I felt like early in the game the discipline on SGA was actually pretty solid for the most part now he he

Did you know finish the game with nine free throw attempts hit eight of them finished with 36 points that’s just kind of what SGA does like I’m honestly not even really upset with the how they defended SGA and the fact that he did score those 36 points what didn’t quite

Mak sense to me and this is what the issue with what I take with the defensive game plan is when Chad rren started to take off there late in the game a big part of it was because they started doubling SGA even like away from the like he would be out at the

Three-point line and you would send double teams at him and the the rotations off of those double teams were not crisp whatsoever they were leading to wide open threes wide open buckets for at home grin and I I I felt like the Rockets maybe had like a committed game

Plan of hey we’re going to stay disciplined on SGA we don’t care if he scores on us we’re just going to let you know guard him one-on-one try and try and pack the paint a little bit make it tough on him once he makes it inside but

We’re not going to send you know two and three guys at him especially when he’s out on the perimeter right kind of let him do his thing and we’ve seen e Oda do that a lot with bigname stars right let let this guy go off for 30 40 we don’t

Care we’re going to shut everybody else down and then it felt like they abandoned that game plan in the fourth quarter and that part didn’t make sense to me because they were doing just fine again holding cat to just 10 points across the first three quarters was pretty solid and then things unraveled

There in the fourth yeah in the fourth and in a and a bigger part of it to me is yes like you gota let you gotta double Shay and I understand you don’t want to send those doubles too early because it just makes it too easy in the

Decision-making uh situations but to me what I think what hurt us worse was the rotations like you said like the these rotations I think you have to show another body on Shay and I think Shay actually worked for every point that he got tonight like I was actually very

Kind of proud of how the Rockets defended especially in the first half and they made things very tough on them made made it tough for the the refs to kind of call fouls early but they kind of just it kind of just got away from

Them uh over the course of the game uh and I just really credit that to the greatness of Shay and also Jaylen Williams of their just ability it it felt like a running back you know where you just continue to give them the ball and let them get down heill and and

Until you know you break a defense and it seems like by the fourth quarter they just figured it out they they figured out exactly what they needed to do and they were in complete Rhythm and some of the passes he were making to wide openen three-point Shooters and then while

Still also consistently getting to the rack and like scoring and drawing fouls it just seemed like he kind of wors down but more importantly it’s the rotations I mean cam whitmore’s rotations in defensive you know uh performance tonight was was really really tough I mean him at the end of the third quter

Tonight was a prime example of of watching a rookie play against a very good team because you saw some of the tunnel vision on display offensively you know driving into two and three and multiple guys you saw the the the mistakes defensively you know kind of compounding things where you’d have like

A reckless drive on offense ignites the fast break for OKC then you have Cam try to get back in the picture he doesn’t know who he’s trying to pick up defensively and it’s just mismatch nightmare it was it was a rough game for cam in this one and he he looked every

Bit a rookie in this game unfortunately yeah man I mean it’s honestly crazy because of that because that lineup of Cam and amen that bench lineup that they come in and like with three minutes left in the first quarter in the first half it they were so strong together they got

Out ran they made defensive plays they were really active especially I’m and Thompson with I think three blocks in the first half I mean he was incredibly incredible defensively in that half and then at the end of the third and top of the fourth they really they really lost

It it was almost the opposite of their performance and that’s the inconsistencies we see with rookies and so I mean it to me you know a lot of people call for the starting of Cam Whitmore and Aman Thompson and these guys are such exciting young players but

This just goes to show consistency is is the name of the game you you know what I mean and when you go against the best teams in the league and once you start once teams start game planning for you and knowing what you do best they take

Away what you do best and then players kind of you know regress in the manner that you see tonight right and when you’re not scoring that sometimes affects your defense and your defensive awareness and I think that really got got to cam it almost felt like cam felt

Like he needed to get himself going offensively and he kind of forced the issue and that could and it affected his defense tonight too especially in the second half there were the funniest mo one of the funniest moments from this game was was cam trying to feed the ball

Into the OR well Dylan trying to you know secure a seal off for a post up down low and cam had the ball in the wing and then cam waved DB off to get a step back three and then missed it and it’s like dude that was that was that

Was kind of a rough moment to watch but and to your point right that that Twan combo men Thompson cam wh when they check into the game they do change the flow they change the dynamic they the Rockets suddenly play with a lot more Pace when those guys are in the game

Hell one of the first early possessions on in this game was uh when aen Thompson blocked SGA beat him he comes in from behind blocks him from behind and then takes off in transition he dimes up cam Whitmore for an early transition dunk like they they do still impact the game

There are still great moments but you also see right what happens when you have a good team like the OKC that are and I can’t even say an experienced veteran team just a well coached well oiled machine start to pick away you find the little cracks you find the

Little chinks in the armor right and you take advantage of those moments so a men I did think have a you know you mentioned earlier talking about the Rockets made sgaa work for every single one of his points every single one of those 36 points he got I fully agree

There I thought Dylan Brooks’s defense on him was actually pretty pretty phenomenal for the most part very disciplined didn’t bite on many pump fakes like the the the times that he got to the free throw line I think he earned those free throws with with legitimate contact rather than like his you know

Fakes and all this stuff that he usually does and then a men defense on SGA when they were matched up was also incredible so I I thought they did about as good of a job as you could hope for on SGA the rookies had some rookie moments it is

What it is um the guy who I think is is clearly your locked on Rockets player of the game from this one is Jabari SMI junr um he had a monster game he always plays with a chip on his shoulder when he plays against OKC especially when he

Plays against Chad holgren and he had 20 points 17 rebounds four assists and a steal only six to 15 shooting but he was doing a lot of the Dirty Work the glass and I I love it when he plays big like he did in this game the Rockets are a

Completely different team right this is kind of the the level of like rebounding that we’d become that we’d come to expect from Jabari pre- ankle injury because he came back from the ankle injury and he didn’t quite look the same he wasn’t nearly as aggressive on the

Board so it’s nice seeing him kind of get back to that a little bit more but I I got to wonder Madison if at one point you know top of the fourth quarter or something if Mark dagal like walked over to Chad HR I was like hey uh jabari’s

Punking you right now go go out there go out out there and get it done because right now he is absolutely crushing you in tonight’s game uh and and then Chad HR woke up there in the fourth quarter unfortunately yeah uh I thought Jabari was really good throughout the course of

This game he slowed down and cooled down in that fourth quarter but I thought he got he got the rockets off to a really really good start defensively and offensively had three threes he had that and one early and I think he was a big part of why the Rockets were able to

Grow that lead such such uh early and how crucial it has been for this rocket team to get good starts so it was really good to see him do that and I just thought he was kind of a beast off on the offensive boards like I seen him

Just jump through out of nowhere and grab boards and he really shows some toughness that uh I know that’s deep down inside of him and I want to see more more of that out of him on a night toight basis and he kind of really BR it

Tonight and he had the shot going so that was it was really good to see um it just it’s unfortunate that it kind of went away from him in the during the fourth quarter I I think he took some kind of not bad shots but early shots

And I think that’s another thing that these young these young players have to realize when when when the team is in trouble we need a good shot we can’t take the first shot you know that’s semiopen we have to actually get into our offense run something and make sure

We get the best possible shot throughout the course of the game that’s how you stop these runs that’s how you respond properly and I just I just feel like it wasn’t just Jabari but a couple players even vet players just took some some some bad shots or just some early shots

That I thought we could have you know be more measured and get get better shots which also leads to why OKC scored so many points tonight coming up final segment final thoughts from this Rockets Thunder game we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought

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Navigating this final segment here Madison one thing that I’ve been kind of noticing a little bit as of lately and I want to I want to give a quick shout out to good friend of the program and member of like OG Rockets Twitter Stanford KP because he’s been on this this train for

A minute now that Dylan Brooks is not nearly the impactful player that that we we see him as now I will say again credit where credit is due he was the defense was good in this game the three-point shooting was good in this game but we’ve been seeing this this bit

Of a trend as of late where the three-point shooting has still been awesome but he he’s starting to kind of creep back into a little bit of that Memphis Dylan Brooks with some of his you know the the tunnel vision the aggressiveness the the getting to

Certain spots on the floor some of the bad shot choices and I I made I made a bit it was kind of made in just but I think there was a little bit of truth behind it last game after the uh the the rocket Suns game where we saw because

Dylan Brooks was in foul trouble that game we saw some lineups that featured basically all the starters and Amin Thompson instead of Dylan Brooks so I kind of made the joke that you know the the the tired thought is benching Jaylen for a men and the wired thought is

Benching Dylan for a men because at this point I still think Dylan makes sense but there’s something about the way that he plays at times that feels a little clunky I don’t know what I don’t know how else to describe it give me your give me your thoughts your feelings

About Dylan Brooks right now so yeah I’m uh the regression of Dylan Brooks is it’s been kind of creeping up on this team um and and I I think we all kind of have been given it a pass because of the injuries and we understand a players uh

Need or feel that they need to do more for the team when you know and pick up the slack but tonight was uh just a perfect example of how you can really hurt your team offensively uh some of the shots when OKC was going through these runs I talk about over and over

Again about veteran leadership to get this team back into sets and take get good shots and there were a lot of isolation plays from Dylan Brooks um in the fourth quarter that just were really tough shots that we know no one Drew up it was just Dylan Brooks mono imano and

He really has to check his ego on that type of stuff we talked about the play with uh not giving the ball back to Jaylen green for easy score on the fast break I mean that is a selfish play like Dylan Brooks that’s selfish it’s weird

Because ear earlier in the season I felt like he was actually really like locked in his role you know he would he would drive he would kick he would you know he would do all the little things that you would want out of a guy in his role

Specifically over these last over this last like month or so I feel like the dude doesn’t really pass much he just doesn’t pass the ball it’s not it’s not like it used to be and and we really need Dylan Brooks we need Dylan Brooks on this team because he nobody brings

That defensive tough toughness and pedigree the resume of if of his defense as well is very important and not just that is Dylan Brooks has been an incredible catch and shoot three-point shooter on a team that really needs three-point shooting he’s one of our best three-point Shooters and he went

Four five from Beyond The Arc but finished 410 right so the only shots he made was those three-point shots he has to learn to uh pick his spots better uh we understand that you can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket make sure it’s within the flow of this

Offense when uh just like pass is infectious you know when you make selfish plays like that that’s infectious that makes the next guy and you are a leader which makes it uh so much more important that you continuously make the right plays I mean as bad as Jaylen or you know much as

Jaylen has struggled this year Jaylen seems to consistently try and make the the the right play or the the extra pass or you see what I’m saying like you know that that whole thing about Jaylen being a shot chucker to me is is is completely

Over in my mind because of of the pass because no matter what Jaylen has consistently tried to make the extra pass throughout this season and you like and before transferring back to Dylan Brooks I just just on your point about Jaylen I thought his passing was actually phenomenal this game like like

The way that he would you know he had that one play where he blocked um it wasn’t SGA but he had a block on one end it might have been SGA but he had a he had kind of a block from behind recovered the ball went in transition

Touched the paint kicked it out to Dylan Brooks wide open fantastic he died up Alp on a roll to the basket one possession he had a kick out to to Fred Van that didn’t result in a made three-pointer but he had some really good passes in this game where you could

Tell he was reading what the defense was doing he was reacting appropriately now the game on a whole right you know five of 13 shooting that needs to be a little bit better one of five from outside that’s that’s nothing new right we know that the three-point shooting is a

Struggle he had those few plays where he drove it in kind of back toback plays where he drove in on chat holgren and Def you know used the rim to like Shield him scored with the right hand he had some impressive moments in this game but you still like it’s tough because you

Want to compliment him on the stuff he did right but then you’re also like but you also need to do more is the problem yeah yeah of course like Jaylen needs to do do way more he needs to be more efficient of course but the thing some

Of these things you can help right like you can your your defensive effort you can help now there was a play where Shay like kind of backed him in and he got the foul but his effort was there so I was okay with him getting that foul it’s

To me jaylen’s issues are not of a effort or mindset issue right now like he’s making the right plays he’s he’s remaining unselfish and those type of things keep your team like it’s a part of the rhythm of the game it keeps a rhythm it’s something that you can’t

Quantify on a on a stat sheet you know what I mean and I just like to see my veteran player and and Dylan Brooks also be bought into to making those consistent plays over and over again like I bro I understand that you have the confidence to make big shots and you

Those opportunities will naturally come within the game when there’s a big shot that we need you to hit and you hit a tough big shot three you just need to make sure there are good shots because you’re hurting your team and it’s infectious those guys feel it they feel

The need cam Whitmore it’s itching in his in his hands that he you know what I mean and when you take a early shot or when you take a a shot that you you know a post up against ISO it really just hurts this team in a way that you can’t

Really explain but I think this explains it best Dylan was a team worse minus 20 tonight minus 20 you know and I felt that over the course of the game I felt it you know what’s funny is the first play of the game right was a Dylan

Rook’s post up on Josh Giddy and I don’t know here’s the thing I don’t know if that’s an emay thing or a Dylan thing because we’ve seen eay go to Dylan when he feels like he has a mismatch or a smaller player what do you think you

Think that was an eem thing or a Dyan thing so ma of course uh equal opportunity offense remember that and then when you get when you get certain matchups they have it schemed up with this is an appropriate play because it’s matchup dependent right but Dylan has

Found a way to be overzealous about that you see what I’m saying and it’s just it’s just a way it’s like hey man that that matchup has to come natural throughout the throughout the game and some of these are not uh uh you like I’ve seen Dylan go one-on-one against

Not smaller players or very good Defenders and it’s like hey like I understand you think you have the advantage but like your awareness here is isn’t as well so I just need him to dial it back and really get back to being more team oriented and keeping

This team moving the ball that we need to the way they need to move the ball throughout the game one final thought here is you know there were there were a few moments as things were kind of unraveling there in the third quarter and OKC really started to click and then

And then completely just took off there in the fourth where you know watching and this is this is the downside to these two guys even though they’ve made you know strides defensively both Alper shinon and Jaylen green this year when you get those two guys guarding pick and

Roll action it it it’s rough like it’s and there were there were like a series that was like two or three different plays there in the third quarter where we saw OKC get the mismatch they wanted and basically get shingun and Jaylen involved in the two-man game and there

Was just no answer when those two guys are guarding the pick and roll it still looks bad and that’s unfortunate because individually like if you have shingun out there with four good Defenders or you have Jaylen out there with a lineup of good Defenders they can kind of hold

Their own right they’ve gotten to a point where I think at times those guys can at least be neutral or even even positive you know defensive presence but when you put them together then it’s kind of like ah crap like this is not looking great and I don’t

Know how e is going to have to juggle the the minutes and the lineups to do this you have to find a way to get a Min Thompson more minutes like even in this game where he was two of 10 from the floor only six points he was such a

Difference Maker defensively his his rebounding you know didn’t have a monster rebounding game like he has in Prior games but Amin Thompson is such a Difference Maker for this team it they just they feel like they play different when he’s out there they it it he brings

Intensity he does a lot of the little things right he had a a few moments though in this game and similar to cam right where you see those rookie moments kind of creep in uh where unfortunately you know he has a couple of those moments and I think it was near the end

Of the first half where e may like a man had two back-to-back mistakes or on a couple different possessions one on offense one on defense and then eem may like pulled him after that happened because he was like I I just can’t have that out there but I I still think in

The grand scheme of things amen Thompson has shown a lot of flashes as of late he he’s become a guy that really makes an impact and makes a difference when he’s on the basketball court kind of similar like all like tar een right the way that

Tar just goes out there he doesn’t need plays drawn up for him he makes things happen A Min had these moments right he put you know he put Josh giddy in the spin cycle on one of his drives he had a great like Coast to Coast transition

Bucket he had some really strong moments in this game even though you look at the Box scen you’re like all right two of 10 like why are we raving about this guy because he he makes things happen when he’s on the court yeah I mean I just think his his activity defensively on

And off ball is just yeah it is all all NBA Defense level and and I think I knew he was going to be a great and potential all NBA Defensive type player but I think this dude could be you know defensive play of the Year type I think

I think he has that type of potential in his in his game and yes he has to find ways to be more effective but at as we know once teams understand your weaknesses they make you ineffective so this is more about our young BL players to me understanding their weaknesses and

Really addressing them this offseason put dwade on notice because we have another guard coming up as the greatest shot blocking guard of all time and his name is Fred Van no I’m kidding it’s a it’s it’s a men Thompson all right Madison you know the drill every me know where to track you

Down at all right man come follow me on madman leaks on Twitter come talk Rockets basketball that’s going to do it for another edition of locked on Rockets as always thank you so much for checking out the show if you haven’t done so yet please consider subscribing wherever you

Listen to your podcast or on YouTube just search locked on Rockets be sure to like comment and subscribe 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

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Houston Rockets Need More From Alperen Sengun & Jabari Smith Jr’s MONSTER Game Not Enough Vs Thunder

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) is joined by weekly cohost and NBA Draft enthusiast Madison Moore (@MadManLeaks) to discuss the Houston Rockets 123-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. A fantastic first 18 or so minutes of play from the Rockets leading by as many as 16 before unraveling the rest of the way, defensive gameplan on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, needing more from Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr.’s MONSTER double-double night, no answer for Chet Holmgren in the fourth quarter, the concerning regression of Dillon Brooks and more.

#Rockets #AlperenSengun #JabariSmithJr

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