Rockets SHATTER Expectations As Amen Thompson Earns Defensive Honors | Young Core Ready for Takeoff?

Rockets SHATTER Expectations As Amen Thompson Earns Defensive Honors | Young Core Ready for Takeoff?

On today’s show, Amen Thompson earns AllNBA defensive first team honors in just his second year in the association. Plus, we’ll hear from Eme Odoka and Rafelstone in their exit interviews with Houston Rockets courtside reporter Vanessa Richardson. It’s all coming up right here at Locked on Rockets. This is mission control Houston. Ignition sequence start. 6 5 4 3 2 1 What’s up and welcome to another edition of Locked on Rockets, your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball. As always, I’m your host, Jackson Gatlin, native Houstononian and credentialed media member. I’m also the host of Locked on NBA Thursdays. Be sure to follow along wherever you listen to your podcasts or on YouTube. Just search Locked on Rockets where the best way you can help us grow our show is to listen every single day on a podcast platform of your choosing and then like, comment, subscribe on YouTube. Now, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Just head on over to fanduel.com. And as always, thanks so much for making Lockdown Rock. It’s part of your day every single day, whether it’s on your way to work, on your lunch break, in the gym. Thank you so much for being an everydayer. Later in the episode, we’re going to hear from head coach Emmeodoka and general manager Rafelstone in their respective exit interviews conducted with Rockets courtside reporter Vanessa Richardson. Um, some interesting topics brought up there. EmoAka commenting on Alpin Shingun and Amen Thompson’s growth this season, what he expects uh from the team as far as growing and developing the IQ of this squad moving forward. and then uh Rafel Stone discussing kind of the continuity versus star chasing dilemma facing this Rockets team this off seasonason. But first and foremost, we got to talk about the exciting news with Amin Thompson. Look, we thought he was going to be a lock to be on the alldefensive team this season and he was um locked in one of the five spots on the AllNBA defensive first team this year. Uh big- time honor for Amen Thompson. Uh joining Evan Mobley, Dyson Daniels, Lou Dort, and Draymond Green on that allNBA defensive first team. Uh the second team comprised of uh Avika Zubach, Jiren Jackson Jr., Jaylen Williams uh from OKC, Tumani Kamar in Portland, and Rudy Gobear in Minnesota. Really surprised with the Tumani Kamar pick, although he he flat out deserves it. Tummani Kamar is awesome. Uh but this is really exciting for the Rockets. really exciting for a men Thompson. Um he is just the fifth different player in Rockets franchise history to have been selected to an alldefensive first team. Uh the other five players include Hakee Elajuan who did it five times, Rodney McCrae who did it once, Scottie Pippen who did it once, and then Patrick Beverly who did it once. So some very elite company there for uh Am Thompson. Thompson is just the ninth player in NBA history and the seventh who didn’t come from the ABA to have made an alldefensive first team in either the his first or second season of his career. He’s the seventh player in NBA history who was 22 or younger for the majority of a season to be named to the alldefensive first team. And some of the stats that stand out from this past season for Amin Thompson, uh the Rockets allowed the sixth fewest points this season. Uh just 109.9 points per game. Uh and they ranked sixth in field goal defense at just under 46%. Uh Amen Thompson had the lowest defensive field goal percentage uh just under 41% uh so 40.7% uh of players with more than 10 games played who defended at least nine shots per game. He also ranked 10th in defensive rating for players who average at least 30 minutes played. uh just really fantastic metrics across the board for a men Thompson and it goes to show just how bright his future is. Um he’s just the this when you look at the stat averages from this past season, which doesn’t even factor, you know, that he didn’t start for half the season, right? His numbers as a starter are even more impressive, but this past season averaged 14.1 points per contest, 8.2 rebounds, 3.8 eight assists, 1.41 steals, and 1.29 blocks. He became the first player with at least 10 games played in a season to have averaged at least 148 and three alongside 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks since Anthony Davis in the 2019 2020 season. Um, and then from the start of January, Amen Thompson was one of four players with at least 10 games played to have averaged at least 15, 9, and five. The other three guys were Jiannis and Sedakmpo, Nico Yokic, and Damontis Sabonis. Um, that is some really elite company when you think about the future for a men Thompson, right? And this is this all defensive selection, right, to the first team is going to be one of many when you think about a men Thompson’s future. He’s arguably already the best perimeter defender in the entire NBA because nobody has his blend of size, speed, skill, athleticism, length, IQ, uh, and just innate defensive feel for the game. Um, you look at the other members of that AllNBA defensive first team, right? Look, I’m not going to take anything away from Lou Dort and Dyson Daniels, who are both incredibly talented defenders in their own right. But I’m taking Amen Thompson 10 out of 10 times over both of those guys when it comes to needing to have a guy who is so incredibly versatile. Right. There are very few defenders who can go from guarding Luca Donic one possession or LeBron James one possession to guarding Steph Curry the next possession to uh clamping a big on a switch. Uh, think about when he, uh, put the clamps on Evan Mobley and blocked his shot down low in one of those regular season games earlier this year. Uh, you know, we throw around the terminology being able to guard one through five quite a bit. Uh, but Amin Thompson really is a guy who who can guard all five positions on the floor and he’s such a multifaceted defender being able to do it in a variety of ways, right? He can gamble. He can be aggressive. He can go for steals and blocks. He can be a weakside help defender. Or he can be an elite on ball presence like we saw for much of that series against the Golden State Warriors where he really made life difficult for Steph Curry. Steph Curry saying that that was one of the hardest series that he’s ever played in in the playoffs after the fact. So, uh, big-time honor for Amen Thompson, one of many AllNBA defensive selections to come in his career. Uh, and it’s just cool for the Rockets to be able to kind of get, you know, recognition like that. Um, and hopefully it, you know, continues to be a feather in a cap or feather in the cap for him in his career trajectory because again, just being in a year two, seeing the leap that he made from year one to year two and uh, getting excited about what the future holds for him like the sky, I can’t even say the sky is the limit for a men, right? face is the limit for Amin Thompson to the moon with a men Thompson. So, uh just really excited to be able to, you know, talk about it. Uh really cool moment for him, for the Rockets. Um seeing all his teammates, you know, Jaylen Shingon, uh you know, guys sharing it on social media, hyping him up. Uh good stuff all around. So, definitely want your thoughts, uh on Amen Thompson being selected to the alldefensive first team uh this season. And I also want your I want your favorite moment of the season from Am Thompson defensively. That’ll be what I leave you with is I want your favorite defensive highlight play from a men Thompson this season. Uh let me know your thoughts in the YouTube comments. Coming up, we’re going to hear from head coach Endoka and general manager Rafel Stone in their respective exit interviews with Houston Rockets courtside reporter Vanessa Richardson. We’re going to get there in just one moment. First, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are in full swing and every night delivers highlight worthy performances, major momentum shifts, and can’tmiss moments. Whether it’s a game-winning shot or a breakout player, there’s never been a better time to get in on the action. And FanDuel makes it so easy to stay in the game before tip off and live. 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All right, let’s go ahead and we’re going to dive into the conversation with Emodoka and Vanessa Richardson first, and then we’ll share some thoughts about it afterwards. Alurn Shenun accomplished one of his goals, which was to be an all-star. What did you like about his development this season? Yeah, he built he built off of what he did last year. He had really good carryover um into this season. Um continue the team to improve in his weak his areas of weakness and um you know just was a consistent steadying force for us and so um the fact that we’re winning, he had a huge part in that and he was rewarded because of that. And so um you know we felt other guys were rewarding us some things as well but um great to have him accomplish that. something he really set out to accomplish since he got to the NBA. And so, um, you know, it was great to support him, see see the family, see his happiness there. And obviously, uh, our thing with him is it’s not making it a one-off, it’s make it a perennial thing. And so, that’s the goal for all those guys. And, you know, get a taste of that and want more obviously. And so, for him is to increase everything and come back with the same driving hunger he had before he got it. Speaking of hard coaching, I remember a men’s rookie year. You said you were going to be harder on him in cuz you did not want him to develop some of the bad habits that the other guys had. He was sensational this year. What stands out when you look at his incredible season? Um that he grew in every area. Um he’s becoming and realizing who he is and I think sometimes you you respect your opponents too much at times and you know that was him and a lot of rookies come in doing that. But once you look at them like for who they are, just another guy out there and and look at yourself and hold yourself in a higher esteem. Uh you go go about it different, carry yourself different and stop idolizing guys so much. And for him, you know, he attacked everybody the same. U you know, took on the mantra of no friends on the court. And I think you could see the streak, the nasty streak come out of him at times obviously, but it takes you back to I’m sure the childhood fights with him and you can see that streak and so um he grew in every area like the jump rope come and all that stuff with the recognition IQ and um his versatility defensively and offensively in every position that he played really stood out. What did Steven Adams bring to this team this season? vulgar mouth half the time. This is true. Um, no, he’s he’s uh I mean he opened up a whole different side to our team with what he does. You know, he is one of the best offensive rebound. He’s been there forever. It was just a matter of getting healthy again after a year and a half off. Um, you know, getting his legs under him, rhythm under him, and understanding what we’re looking for, which was to be who you are. And so, um, obviously the lineup for him and Alpie were great. Um, but his IQ, I would say him and Fred are two of the most, um, high IQ veteran players that we have and they would talk and do it in different ways. But, um, yeah, he was just another guy out there kind of, especially when we went to zone. His communication was on point and the things he does on the offensive glass and his unselfishness really stand out beside being the enforcer that, you know, kind of backed everybody up with with all the toughness. You mentioned in the postgame press conference, you want to see a jump in the IQ department from your guys. What does that look like and what do you and your staff do during the summer to help them make that jump? Yeah, a big part of it is experience that you have to go through and you can kind of fall back on those things. But, uh, for us, it’s a lot of film work, a lot of situational things, a lot of, you know, one-on-one sessions and what did you see here? Um, what were you thinking when you this happened on the court? and just to hear how they’re thinking and what they see and um you know it’s onus is on them to really obviously improve in that area but we’ll push them and help them as much as we can as well and so um like I say experience is the best teacher for a lot of those things but how do you expedite the process so you um don’t um don’t really have to go through some of the same situations but also can you you know rely on things you’ve gone through and so um yeah it’s a ton of film work guys learn different ways you kind of go through it on the court and watch film where you can draw things up, but figuring out what best works for our guys to improve in that area. Love the answers from Eay Odoka there. Shout out to Vanessa. Always doing a great job uh with this team and you know in these interviews in particular. Um if you want to see the full interview with Eay and with Rafel Stone that we’ll get to in just a moment, I’m going to put links to both of them uh to her YouTube channel in the uh episode description. So definitely go check those out, please. Um but just to get through you know a few of the things that Eay commented on. First I love you know his optimism right for Alporn and Shingun right talking about um you know the success that he’s had this season right his growth as a player. Um obviously we know the strides that he made defensively this you know really the last two seasons but especially this year and you know his first taste of playoff basketball. So much of the worry and concern with Shingun. Oh my god is he going to get played off the floor? Like if Shingun can stay on the floor, not not just stay on the floor, but be a a net positive defender, you know, against a Steph Curry led Golden State Warriors team, then, you know, I I’m incredibly optimistic about his future, you know, defensively. And, you know, the fact that he’s never really going to be uh a defensive weakness, you know, on the floor, which is huge for his development. He knows that he needs to get better with the finishing around the rim, but to earn, you know, his first all-star nod this season, the first Rockets homegrown all-star since Yao Ming. And um, you know, for Eay to say to make it a perennial thing, right? He wants him to be a year in yearout all-star, right? That’s that’s, you know, high praise from Eay to even mention that that it could be a perennial thing for Alpin Shingu to be an all-star, you know, each and every season. uh loved his commentary on Amin Thompson, talking about the uh the no friends on the court attitude, the bit of a nasty streak that we’ve kind of seen breaking out of Amin Thompson uh as of late, right? Just getting into it with guys, right? Ragd Doll and Tyler Harrow across Toyota center floor and um you know, getting some ejections here and there. And you know, Men Thompson, he’s he’s got a little bit of a mean streak to him. And we we even saw it right against the Warriors where uh you know he was talking trash and then Dylan Brooks had to step in and play peacemaker there for a minute. So, um, you know, it definitely feels like Amin Thompson is, you know, over the course of this past year really started coming into his own and understanding just how impactful he can be, you know, on the floor, not just on the defensive end though, but really offensively, seeing the different ways that he could, you know, at times really take over a game offensively. And uh you know seeing what Amin Thompson tried to do there in game seven in that third quarter he and both Alper and Shingun trying to will the Rockets back into that game. It really that moment of that game seven kind of felt like things were slowing down for a Min Thompson where he was like no I can put I can put this team on my back and and drag us back into this. And so when I talk about you know the expectations for Amin Thompson year three I I don’t even know if I’m prepared. I I don’t know if anybody’s really prepared for what we’re going to see out of him this next season. I think the jump is going to be pretty considerable uh for him moving forward. All he needs is the opportunity. All he needs is the chance to have the ball in his hands and to, you know, live and learn and, you know, maybe make some mistakes here and there on the floor, but um the growth has been just flatout exponential for him up to this point. The Steven Adams vulgar mouth bit was hilarious, too. Um, love those love those candid moments from Eay where you can, you know, he’ll crack a smile and, you know, make a little joke here or there. But, um, and then I really thought it was intriguing, right, hearing about the IQ part of things for this team and a lot of it is, you know, going over film and putting the work in and, you know, helping players recognize, okay, what did you see here? What can you do differently here? Um, but in watching the playoffs this season, right, and seeing the guys who understand the game at a deeper level, right, guys who are so incredibly cerebral, um, guys like Tyrese Hallebertton, right, SGA, um, guys who just have this innate feel for the game. I do really wonder, and maybe we’ll visit this in a future episode because I think it’s a very intriguing discussion, right? How much of that, how much of like the feel for the game, right? How much of basketball IQ is innate versus learned, right? Like how much can you really improve your overall basketball IQ versus just having, you know, this natural feel for the game and understanding how to move, where to go, what to do on the floor. Um, and the point about, you know, experience being, you know, such an important teacher for that. I do think that right this this Rockets playoff experience is going to be invaluable to so many of the young guys across the board who now they can look back and you know they’ve lived through it right they went through a sevengame series they literally made it to a game seven right and as cool as it would have been for the Rockets to you know maybe match up with the the Grizzlies in the first round and have an easier first round opponent and then you know make it to the second round and deal with the Wolves like I like I kind of like that the Rockets had to deal with the Warriors. I kind of like that they had to go up against that juggernaut of a team at full strength, mind you, because I know they got waxed by the Wolves, but you know, there was no Steph Curry there. Uh, dealing with a Warriors team that played like a top four team that played like the best defense in the NBA, you know, after acquiring Jimmy Butler, that was a huge test for this Rockets team. And even though they didn’t technically pass because they lost in game seven, I think that based on the expectations for what you hope to learn about this team this season and you know the the goal being just make it to the playoffs, get that playoff experience, right? Don’t get embarrassed in round one. They took a very very good Warriors team uh a championship caliber Warriors team all the way to game seven. And I think you got to be incredibly proud. And again, that’s that’s going to pay serious dividends moving forward um for the development of guys up and down the roster. So, uh really loved a lot of what Eime Odoka had to share. Again, if you want to hear the full interview with Eay, uh click on the click on the link in the episode description. Coming up, we’ll hear from Rafel Stone, his thoughts on continuity versus star chasing, and more. We’re going to get there in just one moment. and final segment here at Locked on Rockets, your daily podcast, home for everything Houston Rockets basketball. All right, let’s dive into uh Vanessa Richardson’s conversation with general manager Rafel Stone. It feels like you drafted guys that perfectly fit the mindset of the coaching staff, which is funny cuz you drafted most of them before this coaching staff was here. So, what do you like about that identity, that culture, and that synergy that is among this team and this franchise right now? Yeah, I think what we found is that like um for like just organizationally, and it actually this one doesn’t start with me, it starts with Tilman. But I think there’s a certain um personality type that is going to do better here than others. And so, Eay definitely fits that. Eay fits He fits Tilman really well. He fits me really well. Um, and we all kind of the three of us all kind of approach life in the same way. And so, um, so I think that that bleeds into our players. And one of the great things about bringing in young talented guys or guys that are this young, they’re trying to figure out how to be professional. I think some of it is, you know, you observe it and then you and then you do it. I think one of the great things about having a a team this young is is my personality, Eay’s personality, Fred’s personality, Dylan’s personality, Stevens, and and all of us actually share a lot of the same characteristics. But I I think I think it then becomes for our young players, I think it just kind of became what you do. This is how you were successful. And so I I think we we’ve kind of built something around um kind of work ethic and toughness that that everybody the those guys too that we’re all comfortable with. The continuity versus getting a superstar. I’m not going to ask you what you’re going to do because I know that you wouldn’t tell me. But what factors play into that decision? Well, the superstar thing is like it’s largely in the NBA it’s largely points, which um is at least as much points are a factor of who shoots. Some of that is like offense driven. So, it ends up being cyclical. Like, you know, if you engineer your offense around one player, they’re going to score more. They’re going to get more assists. Uh I don’t think that’s in EA’s DNA. So, um, so some of this is like just how we’re going to go about it. I I think we’re going to be a team focused team. Um, and, uh, that doesn’t mean we won’t do a trade for a really talented player. Um, but I I also think we have really, really talented players on this roster. And, um, and I think they’re all improving. And so before we before we trade one or two or three or four of those guys for a more veteran guy, we want to make sure that we give we give this current group room to to grow. The huge caveat to all of that is the job is to win championships. That’s that is my one and only goal. And and if we think there’s a better path than continuity, we we would pursue it. But but right now that that bar is pretty high. You said in that press conference, as you did just now, the goal is to build a championship team. So, what’s the next step in making that happen? I mean, for right now, it’s getting better over the course of the summer. That’s what’s in front of us. And I guarantee you, we’re not going to turn over the entire team. So, so we definitely it’s it’s for our players and and young players definitely have a greater opportunity than do more veteran ones. So, and we’re extraordinarily young. So for those guys, this summer is just an enormous opportunity and they’re entering it coming off this hard fought playoff series where they should have learned um some really important lessons about you know small things, technique, how important they are. Um but also like just the rhythm of the game and h and and the intensity of the game and and and all those things that you know if you haven’t done it, people describe it to you but it’s hard to fully internalize. So we, you know, our whole team has that under their belt. So, so, so to internalize that, come back with with a renewed focus. Those things that were a struggle in the playoffs. Make sure that you’re really working on those areas. Just generally the areas of weakness that you had last year, make sure you’re bringing those up. And your strengths, make sure they’re stronger. Love the conversation. There’s some great points um brought up uh in that. And again, if you want to see the full one, uh, click on the link in the episode description for Rafllstone’s full interview with, uh, Vanessa Richardson. But, uh, starting with kind of the, you know, the whole continuity versus star, you know, pursuit thing, you know, a couple of the points that Rafel brought up are are interesting to say the least. Um, right, the idea that points being a factor of who shoots and that it’s cyclical and if you engineer your offense around one player, then they’ll score more or that they’ll assist more. Um, I think the argument there is a little, you know, it’s kind of semantics. It’s like, well, the star players get those opportunities more than other players because they’re generally better than other players. Like, it’s I understand the premise of like, oh yeah, if you build an offense around like, you know, Joe Blow who’s like the eighth man on a team somewhere, then yeah, they’ll get more opportunities than so- and so who if you build the offense around this guy, right? Like, so yes, to a lesser degree, right? heliocentric guys are going to have the chance to put up and, you know, put up more numbers or stuff the stat sheet a little bit more than other guys. Um, but at the same time, right, star players get those opportunities because they’re just better at it than other players. Like, that’s what makes the difference between being, you know, uh, a rotation guy or a role player versus a star player. You can’t just put a role player in a star player’s shoes and say, “Hey, we’re going to give you 25 shots a game and you’re going to go get us buckets, right?” like you have to be able to actually elevate your play to do that and you also have to be able to elevate those around you. And so I think that was I don’t know that point was a little funny to me. Um but the followup to that of you know the idea that uh that approach to basketball is not really in EA’s DNA and that the Rockets are going to try to focus on being a team focused team. I think that does make a lot of sense and I think that that certainly matches what we’ve seen out of this team the past two years and and in fact what we saw out of the Boston Celtics when Eime Odoko was running the ship over there, right? Like the Celtics kind of came out of the gate and they struggled for the first few months that season where EA was the head coach before things really started to click in January or so of that year before they made their finals run. And it was because Eay wanted a team that was more well-rounded. didn’t just want to dump the ball in Jason Tatum or Jaylen Brown’s hands and let them go to work, right? He wanted all five guys to be connected and playing well together on the floor. And that’s very much what you’ve seen Eay try to do in his approach with this Rockets team is, you know, there are times where, you know, you know, maybe it’s Jaylen’s night or maybe it’s Shingun’s night or maybe it’s, you know, Fred or Dylan or Jabari or whoever I’m in. Um, and I I do think there is some merit there. I think there’s, you know, a significant number of positives to the whole, you know, sometimes you, sometimes me, always us kind of mentality. Um, but like we talked about during the season and and like we talked about during the series against the Warriors and even in the aftermath of that series, right? You need the star players. You need guys who are able to rise to the occasion. You need guys who can step up when the lights are brightest. And that’s what star players do. That’s what guys do. That’s what that’s what we saw Tyrese Hallebertton do the other night when he hit the the game tying bucket and hit the choke job gesture you know in front of all of New York City. Um you know guys who are built for the moment. Guys who don’t shy away. Guys who aren’t scared of the moment on the floor. And that’s what a star player brings, right? Star players bring so much more than just the stats, right? They bring those intangibles. And I do think that the Rockets, right, up and down the roster, they’ve got an immense amount of talent and they’ve got guys who have already shown kind of some of the cojones in those moments, right? Guys like Shingun and Amen Thompson who have shown to be able to handle those moments when the lights are incredibly bright. Um, and you know, guys like Jaylen who kind of struggled against the Warriors, you know, take it as a learning opportunity, come back better next year and and you know, grow from it. Uh but yeah, so we’ll we’ll see what happens there. I do think that there’s you know something to be debated about kind of that mentality of being a team focused team because at the end of the day you do like star players win you championships like you know you can go through all of you know the history of the NBA and there are very few teams that you look at that didn’t have a de facto star leading them or leading the way. Um, you know, like the the 04 Pistons come to mind, right? And that’s like the first and only team that really comes to mind. Maybe the 2014 Spurs also come to mind as a team that was a kind of a team oriented team or a team focused team that didn’t necessarily have one true blue star um in their midst, but they were a very well-rounded team, right, where it was, you know, every player was a cog in the machine and it just they operated and and played so well off of one another. Um maybe this Rockets team is able to, you know, elevate and get to that point one day. We’ll see. But by and large, it’s a lot easier to win when you have a star player or two to bank on, you know, in those big time moments when the going gets tough. Um the other really big line that I wanted to highlight here is uh Stone saying, “I guarantee you we won’t turn over the entire team.” Uh talking about, right, and you know, obviously Stone there’s a lot of lawyer speak there, right? saying, “Okay, you know, the caveat being, right, if we have a chance to upgrade, if we have a chance to make a trade for a guy that we think improves the roster, um, you know, his whole goal is to win a championship, right? That’s his job. Um, and so if there are opportunities out there to do that, uh, then he will pursue those opportunities. I do think that this Rockets team is is they are fast approaching a point where roster consolidation is going to become a thing. like we kind of thought it might be a thing last summer. Um, but it was Eay’s first year and you know, a lot of it was his first chance to really get to know a lot of these young guys and we weren’t quite ready to that point of like, okay, well now like got to make a decision on this guy or like you got to decide, are we paying these guys? Are they going like whatever. um this off seasonason with so many potentially bigname guys available, right, with with guys like maybe Giannis on the market, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, maybe you get involved in the Jaylen Brown talks if the Celtics decide to, you know, cut bait there and, you know, reduce their payroll um with this kind of, you know, uh you know, gap year that they’re going to have with Jason Tatum and his Achilles injury. like there’s so much going on and there are so many players that could be available this off season that the Rockets are going to have to ve you know do some very hard thinking about the future of this organization and what direction they ultimately want to go in and if they’re ready to you know push some of their chips to the center of the table. Not all their chips mind you right but some of them. Um, and that means, right, making some hard choices on some of these young guys. And in a league where every team is striving to get better every single offseason in a in a Western Conference that is going to be, you know, even harder this next season, right? Like the West was already a bloodbath this year. It’s going to be even worse next season with the Spurs, a healthy Spurs roster, which TBD on if Giannis lands in San Antonio, right? Because that would be just catastrophic for the Rockets. But, um, you know, even as presently constructed, right, the Spurs with Wimi and De’arren Fox and all the other young talent and potentially the number two overall pick, right, they may add, the Spurs may just add Dylan Harper to that mix. Like, that could be crazy. Um, they’re going to be significantly better this next season. The Blazers showed some improvement this last year. The Mavericks, who were in the playin discussion, right, but kind of like, you know, faded after the whole Luca situation, dealt with a mountain of injuries. They just landed the Cooper flag sweep stakes. like they’re going to be missing Kyrie for a chunk of next year, but they’re still going to be a very, very tough team to deal with next season. There’s only going to be one maybe two teams in the Western Conference that are like actively still tanking next year. It’ll be the Jazz and maybe like the Pelicans depending on what they ultimately decide to do with Zion. Um, that’s going to be tough, right? This Rockets team may not walk into 52 wins again next year unless they make a significant move this off seasonason to improve the roster. You can’t just bank I while I’m incredibly optimistic about the future for so many of the young guys on this team. I think it might be foolish to just bank on internal growth when the West is as stacked as it is um and doesn’t look like it’s changing anytime in the foreseeable future. So that’s what I got. I definitely want your thoughts again. Give me your give me your favorite moment, your favorite defensive highlight from Amin Thompson this season. Um, give me your thoughts on what Enoa and Rafel Stone had to share in their exit interviews with Vanessa Richardson. Uh, to check out the full interviews, click on the links in the episode description. 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.

Rockets SHATTER Expectations As Amen Thompson Earns Defensive Honors | Young Core Ready for Takeoff?

Can the Houston Rockets rising star Amen Thompson redefine defensive excellence in the NBA? With his recent All-NBA Defensive First Team selection, Thompson is making waves in the basketball world, joining elite defenders like Draymond Green and Evan Mobley.

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) explores the Houston Rockets strategic evolution as Head Coach Ime Udoka and General Manager Rafael Stone share insights with courtside reporter Vanessa Richardson on player development and team strategy. Key figures like Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green are spotlighted, with discussions on their growth and the team’s playoff experiences against the Golden State Warriors.

Discover how the Rockets plan to navigate the competitive Western Conference and what offseason moves might be on the horizon. Tune in for an in-depth look at the Rockets’ path to success and the pivotal role of their young talents.

IME UDOKA FULL INTERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6UXp_uTtGg&ab_channel=VanessaRichardson

RAFAEL STONE FULL INTERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRjjpdrb2Ho&ab_channel=VanessaRichardson

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