What Can Rockets Learn from OKC? (Thunder Insider Matt Tierney Joins Us)

What Can Rockets Learn from OKC? (Thunder Insider Matt Tierney Joins Us)

Welcome to Houston Sports Talk with your host, Robert Land. Thanks for checking into the best Houston Sports Podcast, part of the National Believe Network, presented by FanDuel. Great to have them aboard. And joining me to look at the Behemoths and the NBA and the Western Conference, the Champion Thunder are Dylan Huniger and Matt Tierney, who hosts Topic Thunder, the podcast on our Believe Network. So, part of the gang here at Believe. Great to have you guys with us. And just to start off with, how long have each of you covered the Thunder? And and do you live in OKC or have roots there? I’ll let Dylan start off first. So, I started covering the Thunder, I guess, back in 2017. I have my own solo podcast. That’s where Thunder Chats came from. Uh, that’s what the podcast was called. And I actually had like all of our founding members on the podcast as guests and we was just like, “Hey, let’s let’s do a podcast together.” And eventually Tyranny was actually I I call him Tyranny. We have two Matts on the show. So I call him Tyranny and I call the other one Wolves. But Tyranny was in the second wave along with another guy Jerry. You know, we all kind of got together and you know just podcast and talking thunder. In terms of me like I live in Kentucky, born and raised in Kentucky, been here the whole time. Um obviously there’s no NBA team in Kentucky. I kind of got into the NBA watching Allen Iverson, but I didn’t have an attachment to the Sixers, Nuggets, Pistons, Gracies, any of those teams. So whenever he was retired, I was like in the NBA, but I didn’t have a fandom at that point. And you know that was around the time the Thunder pushed the Lakers to six games whenever they were the eight seed against the one seed. And I think that was like our first playoff series. Obviously the crowd was going nuts. You had Rush AKD James Harden like you know you had that like young triumphant to like rally around. You know like I said man like I’m a Kentucky fan so like I I love a home crowd atmosphere and the crowd standing up like standing ovation chanting OKC even as you’re eliminated on your home court. Like I was hookline and sinker and I’ve been hard ever since. Yeah. A little bit more traditional for me in terms of fandom. I just I just lived here. I technically wasn’t born here, but I we moved in when I was like five. It’s basically been home for me my whole life. And outside of, you know, a couple years in in grad school where I moved, I moved back during the pandemic and I’ve been in Oklahoma City ever since. How I came into this pod too, just as like kind of a quick funny story, I also tried to do a pod. It wasn’t called, you know, my name Matt Tierney. Um, it’s called something very odd. It was called Pardon My Kiwis, which was an attribute to Steven Adams being from Kiwi and also a blatant ripoff of a popular sports podcast right now. lasted exactly one episode because then I ended up linking up with Thunder Chat. So, it was a great recruiting tape. It was a great recruiting tape and uh it’s a very cool thing that we’ve created here in Oklahoma City and you can see that from fans, you know, every playoff where the players are coming back from the OKC airport. We have like hundreds of people that stand outside and just to cheer them for like, you know, 10 seconds that they walk by, but they’ll stand there for hours. We had the OKC parade, which I was able to go to, which was really awesome, and it was just packed to the gills in in downtown. So, the community as a whole has been very cool to see, but fortunate enough to to be here to in person to witness all that. Since there are a lot of younger Rockets fans who’d like to duplicate what just happened in OKC and, you know, since you guys are OKC fans and go back a ways, what was it like to see the Thunder go through this perfect rebuild and near Cinderella season culminating in the championship parade? I mean, it was awesome to see Sam Pressie kind of call his shot like very early on like after we traded Chris Paul and like ushered in the like true rebuild like you know everybody thought that it was the rebuild whenever we traded Paul George Fchay and a bunch of picks and when whenever we trade Russ like we thought that was like it was the beginning of a new era but not yet the rebuild because you know we went to the playoffs and of course you guys not had to knock us out in the bubble playoffs. So, thank you for that. But, you know, it ushered in a newer era in which, you know, Sam Prey addressed the Thunder fans, you know, across the world in an op-ed when when he basically just like laid out his plan for what he was going to do like saying that this isn’t something that is, you know, is built in a day. This, you know, we’re not trying to just get in the playoffs like for a couple years like and and a term that he used and like Thunder fans kind of adopted and made it their mantra is when we get back to the postseason, we want it to be an arrival, not an appearance. That was kind of our work cry for a couple years. You know, people kind of like overblue how long the tank actually lasted because I think that we were around 500 that first season without Chris Paul before Shay got hurt and Shay I think missed like 35 40 games or something like that and that’s like when we really the wheels really came off at that point and then the next season of course um you know that was like the the true like if you could point to one true year that we tanked it was that season and of course that’s the season that sounds like he’s breaking up. Matt, you you want to jump in while he’s back now? Yeah, I I was I was just going to add on to the the Sam Prey praise because yeah, like the the Paul George trade happened and then you know the the next big part of it was I think what Dylan was getting to was Russell Westbrook traded to the Rockets. we get Chris Paul. That sort of was a very important year I think for Shay as well because of you know Chris Paul is such a good mentor and being able to be there for at least a year to to mentor Shay in a very when he was very young very I think it was probably like 20 21 at that point and have him develop into what he we all know him as now and then it’s just all the little pieces that Sam Prey did along the way. He drafted Josh Giddy who we thought you know could be something but then ends up turning him into Alex Caruso who was just a vital part of the entire playoff series. we go on to free agency and get Isaiah Hardenstein, which granted he didn’t have as big of an impact in the later series with the Pacers or the Wolves, but during the Nuggets series that that was a very pivotal part of our roster, just keeping Jokic contained. Those little pieces that we did alongside just, you know, just casually drafting Chad Homegrren and Jaylen Williams, two of the better te players in the NBA in the in a couple years, I believe, in the same NBA draft was just all part of the the masterpiece that that Sam Prey has done. It it takes a very calculated GM who isn’t just going to try to put all of his chips in one particular player or one particular year. There’s always a, you know, five to 10 year plan ahead. Even if you are trying to win a championship this year, there’s always a backup and a backup to the backup. And I think you’re seeing that with what we now have because we have reached the summit as Thunder fans, but we still have a lot of assets in the tank that can be used. We also have the flexibility to move contracts around because we all know the the daunting CBA second apron that everyone’s talking about. We have wiggle room around that even when Chad, JDub, and Jay all get their massive contracts. So, we’re set up for the future even though we’ve already kind of reached where we want to. We still have a long-term plan. I think that’s, you know, a big part of what the goal of Sam Prey was was to to like Dylan said, be a rival. Yeah, you’re welcome. First of all, for the Chris Paul trade, the Rockets fans immediately hated that one. And of course, so many ties between these two teams. Like you brought up the Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook. Of course, Russell Westbrook comes to Houston. James Harden comes to Houston. James Harden ends up being upset, leaves, but leads to the Rockets rebuild and some of the pieces that they have right now and where they are. And then we’re going to get to the last guy in that trifecta. Kevin Durant, what are your feelings about the Rocket Steeling for Durant, not only is a OKC legend, but a huge piece in challenging the Thunder next year potentially? I thought it was a great move for you guys. Uh I I hope it don’t go again, but very fun young uh team like you know, thrive on defense. Obviously, you got a little bit of versatility and like Tom and Thompson and Operon Fleet. Uh Jaylen Green was always like the big question mark and it felt like if he was able to step in, you might not have needed to make this move. Um just because it felt like especially like late in games, it felt like you guys really needed that go-to guy to like go get you a bucket. Yeah, it looks like Matt, you’re gonna just have to take over. I I’m not sure what’s going on with him. It’s funny. Every time he he’s fine and then as soon as he talks, he cuts out. I don’t know what’s happening, but I personally am a big Jaylen Green. I have stock in him. I’ll say that. But I do think if Houston is doing what they’re doing and they’re cashing in now because they have this very good core group of of players and a pretty deep roster, mind you, they pulled the trigger and you assume you you’re probably more in the know this than I am, but you assume that they’re also going to extend KD because that basically a one-year rental at this point that you’re giving up. So you assume he’s going to be there for at least multiple years. He’s proven to be an elite scorer even at his age. And like Dylan was saying, he is a guy who you can give the ball to in the late minutes of an NBA playoffs game, which in that Golden State Warriors series just felt like that was always the thing that they just couldn’t figure out was they could stop Golden State to some extent and grind it to like a, you know, 90 to 87 game. But then when the chips were on the table in those last two minutes, who’s going to score? And it didn’t feel like they had that guy consistently. Like Fred Van Fleet could do it here and there, but Kevin Durant is like a legendary consistent. Like he will get you a bucket when you need it. He’s proven it for over a decade now. And now you’ve got him with a very good defensive core still despite giving up Dylan Brooks. Uh I think it’s still a very good defensive core with Dorian Finny Smith bringing him in from free agency. They did a very good job not only with just Kevin Durant, which as a quick aside for Thunder fans. I I don’t know if this is the consensus for all OKC fans. Maybe some of them still have residual hatred for what happened back in 2016. But I think personally now that we’ve won a title, it’s very much water under the bridge. It doesn’t really feel like it’s a particularly hostile, you know, situation between OKC and Kevin Durant. It is probably the first time he has been on a highly highly competitive team since he did go to the Warriors when it was as hostile as it was. But I just don’t feel like even even though he’s going to be on a a title contending team this year, if all you know, all things lay out as they should, I don’t really see it as a OKC fans are going to be booing him out the every time he touches the ball or something like that in Paycom center. So, getting back to the Rockets, I think I think he’s uh exactly what they needed. And with all the other free agency moves that they made, they’re set to to be right up there. I I I think they’re projected as second best odds to win the Western Conference Finals. Yeah, we’re we’re going to we’re about to get get to that. Before we get there, I just want to ask you, Matt, is there anything you could tell Rockets fans about what to expect from KD that maybe isn’t obvious unless you watch him every day, as you did for years. It could be on the court as a locker room guy or whichever direction you want to go with that. As a locker room guy, I think he’s a little bit undervalued. And I think part of it is because of the way he left OKC. And I think part of it is because in the years after Golden State, every team he’s been to hasn’t really worked out. And so it can come across as, oh, KD is like ruining these franchises. I I don’t think I think it’s more the franchises were the problem than KD. I think KD is actually a pretty decent lock, more than decent locker room guy. I think he’s someone who just cares about basketball. I don’t think he really cares about like interpersonal drama. He just wants the hoop. And I think that’s if you’re looking for someone who can be not only just the guy in the locker room because that’s what he’s going to be in any locker room he steps into. He’s also going to be someone who can not get intermingled with anything that’s not that important. I think that’s a a bonus because I won’t say any particular names, but there’s there’s highlevel NBA players out there that have have a history of causing major drama. And Kevin Durant’s never actually had that. He’s never had like a situation where he’s, you know, lost faith with the GM or he he he demands a trade out uh of somewhere. I think he’s just always been like, I want to I want to win and if I can win, I I want that that’s the place I want to be. it it’s nothing more than basketball. I think that’s sort of a a part of this that that could go a little bit underrated. Thunder fans know just on the court he he’s one of the most clutch players I’ve ever seen. Even at 37, the moment never phases him. Nothing is going to, you know, cause him to to get scared of the moment. And I think that also is on the court a big a big factor to his game. Yeah. Just to let our audio people know, Sam Prey has traded Dylan for more draft choices down the road. So, right now, we do not have Dylan. We’re gonna go ahead with Yeah, Sam Prey got more picks somehow. Yeah, we’re we’re going with Matt for the moment. And you mentioned the big picture. If you look at the Western Conference Championship odds, Matt, and our friends at FanDuel have OKC as a big favorite, no surprise, plus 140. But I want to ask you about the next four teams. Rockets and Nuggets are next on the odds, tied at plus 500. After that, the Lakers and T-Wolves are tied at plus a thousand. Do you agree with that order? And who would you bet on if the Thunder stumble this year? Yeah, we we actually ranked the Western Conference on our part not too long ago. So, I’m going to be a little bit I’m going to be consistent because I don’t want to change it up. So, I will say fair warning. It may not be what Houston Rockets fans want to hear, but um obviously I think OKC if if they do not have any injuries is going to stay at top. And part of that is because look, they they won 68 games, but you have to also put that into context of what happened throughout that season. They were not a perfectly healthy team throughout that 68 win season. They lost Chat Homegrren for almost I think half the season with a broken hip. Isaiah Hardenstein was not in for a large portion of that too. So they had no bigs for a pretty decent amount of time and were able to tread water along the way. Alice Caruso, you know, an injury history, so he was on and off. So, it wasn’t a healthy team and they still got 68 wins. So, if they can not have Chad Homegrren snap his hip in two, I think they can easily repeat that. Um, but if if there were another team besides OKC, I currently lean the Nuggets, and this is the reason I gave before, so I’ll be consistent with that as well. When I look at a team that’s bringing in a superstar at for the first time, there’s always a question of is it going to work? because you’ve never actually seen him play with this collective group of people. And it hearkens back to what I’ve what’s historically become like a problem with teams that they just bring in superstars. You saw like the Phoenix Suns did it with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. It never it just didn’t work. And it happened in Brooklyn as well with KD and James Harden. That that collection of and Kyrie Irving, excuse me, that collection of stars just didn’t work for whatever reason. And you can argue maybe it’s just the the general manager didn’t have the right pieces around him. There’s a lot of different reasons, but I’ve grown weary of teams bringing in a superstar and just being like, “Oh, they’re going to be really, really good now.” Because it’s not always the case. So, for that reason, I choose I’m going with the Nuggets because they did upgrade their team, but it was more the guys on the outside. They swap in Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson, and I think that is a pretty decent upgrade in that particular area. They also get Bruce Brown back, who didn’t have the greatest season, but with Yic, I think could come back to what Bruce Brown was. I would say the Nuggets because they basically well they took the OKC to a long series and they did it with onearmed Gordon and onearmed Michael Porter Jr. basically both playing injured in that series. So what more could they get, you know, if they had two healthy starters along with a Jokic? Exactly. And that’s why I think the with the odds with FanDuel being exactly the same for the Nuggets and Rockets. I’m a little bit like that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me because the Nuggets are a much more proven team and can beat the Thunder if they are healthy. And they had a couple of other injuries kind of like on their deep deep bench too. So they were they were pretty tight in their roster in that series and that was part of the reason why even Joic was getting so tired at the end is because we were such a deep team and they had like eight guys, seven or eight guys that they could play and Joic was playing pretty much the entire time because of that. Um they also get back year and homes this season too which will be a big bonus for them especially for rotation minutes for for Jokic. But yeah, for that reason I just I think the the Nuggets you have to put at a little bit higher than the Rockets. But you know Kevin Durant could come in here and just be the perfect piece for the Rockets and I could be proven completely wrong. It’s just a matter of time to see. But I think before we play a single game you have to put the the Nuggets above the Rockets and I agree Minnesota is at the four. I think those three teams we’ve been talking about Rockets, Nuggets and Thunder are a clear tier above everybody else. So, I think I personally would be interchanging between like the Wolves and the Clippers and like that four slot there. But, I mean, if the Wolves are the next in line, that’s that seems fair to me. But, it’s those three at the top that I think are the real contenders for this Western Conference. Yeah, I I feel like uh I take off my red colored glasses and you know, I agree with you about the Nuggets for sure. I I want to hit on the Rockets Thunder as a matchup, but before I do, I just want to ask the listeners, what do you guys think about this matchup between the Rockets and the Thunder from a Rockets perspective or even a Thunder perspective? Let me know in the YouTube comments. Also, look for our YouTube shorts. If you need a quick break at work, don’t forget the Texans play Saturday. I’m doing live postgame shows again this season and we’ll be live 900 PM on game days this year. So, if you’re hanging with friends or at the game, you can get in on the live chat that night. Join me and my co-host Tom this Saturday night. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube with notifications so you can get updates on the live shows and all our content. You also want to subscribe to us on your favorite podcast app. All right, the Thunder off season, Matt, was very simple. They give extensions to the big three, SGA, Jaylen, and Cadet. Did Prey get any value in the extensions? Because we know that’s massive with the current CBA. One of the interesting things about JDub’s extension in particular. Typically with these extensions, uh it’s in terms of percentage of the cap, it’s usually 25% of the cap, but then it will jump up to 30% if they hit like all NBA or something to that nature. Usually, it’s all NBA. And what’s interesting about JDub’s extension is that it’s not in a 25 immediately to 30% of the cap, which 5% of the cap is obviously like a big factor, especially when you’re trying to fill out the rest of the roster. It now goes 25% of the cap, you know, starting. And then if he makes third allNBA team, it’s 26%. He makes second AllNB team, it’s 27%. And if he makes first AllNBA team, MVP, rookie or uh defensive player of the year, you know, one of those big awards, it’s now it’s 30%. So, I think it’s structured in a way that’s very useful to us because if it’s just any AllNBA team, he’s probably going to get that, right? He just made their third third AllNBA team and I think he’s going to keep getting better uh in years three, four, and five. But now you basically have the best of both worlds because if he doesn’t necessarily take a next step up, he’s still a very good player, but if he doesn’t take a next step up, your extension doesn’t bump up to 30, it bumps up to like 26 27%. And again, a a few percentages can mean one veteran minimum that you could bring in. And now the alternative is if he does make first AllNBA team and it does kick in, well, you you’ve got now two of the best five players in the NBA on your roster according to that particular stat. So, it’s the best of both worlds. I think that is one of those small things that gradually came out once the contract news was reported, but you kind of have to like look in the weeds and it’s it’s on spot track now, so you can kind of see the language that they have, but that’s a a pretty useful part of it. Um, the other two contracts are pretty standard. I think Chets, it’s just the normal 25% uh and it it doesn’t have any kickers in it. So, that was also kind of a big big part of it. So, it goes up to 27% in his last year. So can’t ever go up to that 30% with any incentives, but JDubs can with those caveats that I just mentioned. And obviously Shay is going to get what he he wants. He can have every penny in the world for all I care. Uh but the the chat and JDub ones, obviously you need to make those. You had to get the max for them. But the little things on the ends of those save us a few million dollars potentially. That’s important when you’re trying to really build around this core three because as much as Thunder fans love this roster, it’s not going to stay this way in a couple years. we have to make some moves to to move off like Isaiah Hartenstein who’s got a pretty big contract maybe even Lou Dort who has a reasonable contract or reasonably high contract as well and those moves are going to be much more helpful if we have some wiggle room with those percentages so yeah no doubt about that and you know from the outside looking in it’s nearly impossible Matt to find an OKC weakness is there one if I had to say one thing and this is one thing that also happened in the NBA playoffs the entire time is the shooting we have guys that are three-point shooting experts. Isaiah Joe is there for that particular reason. Lou Dor can be that. He was this regular season. He shot 40% from three, but then when it comes down to the playoffs, a lot of that just sort of went away. And obviously teams are going to be playing a lot more intense defensively. So, you kind of expect that. But like you said, we didn’t do much in the offseason besides just extend these guys. We didn’t bring any new players in. So, we’re pretty much relying on these same guys to hopefully improve in that department. We have a very good shooting coach here in the Thunder front office in Chip, England. He’s he was with San Antonio for a while and he’s proven to be a very good very good with helping players get their shooting form down and I trust him with that. But we’ve got to have guys that besides the big three with Shay Dub and Ch, we have to have other guys be able to make their shots from the outside. especially if you want Sheay to do what he does best with driving. Because if they’re not, you kind of see what teams did in the playoffs against us where they just completely clog the paint. And if they’re not going to let Sheay do anything at the mid-range or at the rim, it’s it’s much harder to unlock the rest of the offense. Uh granted, one thing I will say is JDub was playing the entire playoffs with a torn uh ligament in his wrist. He had surgery for it over the offseason. He kind of came out about it through some videos on YouTube about how how he was going through that. He basically had to have I think it was cortisone or steroid shots every single day. He had to rework his shooting form between the end of the regular season and the playoffs because it wasn’t going to get any better with the ligament that he tore in his wrist. So I think that’s a factor too. I think if JDub is completely healthy, he is one of those guys who could aid in improving the outside shooting. But the fact of the matter is the role players also have to be able to do that too if you want to have a a good team. And we were able to pull through this playoffs without that. I mean, we can’t we went to seven games in the last two series, so it was definitely a nailbiter. But if you’re someone outside OKC looking in, that’s a weakness that is certainly exploitable because if you can prevent Shay from getting to his spot and basically letting the guys on the outside do whatever they want, uh, that can really kind of gunk up and slow down the Thunder offense. The Rockets and Thunder faced each other five times last year. The Thunder won three of five. One of the Rockets losses was when they sat nearly every rotation player. They split two early games. Then the closest faximile to a playoff game was OKC’s win in that inseason tourney. The Rockets win late this season in OKC and what I thought was one of their best performances of the season. Do you have any specific recollections, Matt, of the matchups this season? I remember Shenon being such a big problem consistently and I think part of that was because I guess I could have also mentioned this too, but rebounding is one of those things. It’s not necessarily a weakness. I guess it is, but we we sort of elect to not be a great rebounding team. And the trade-off is basically we can just run and gun a lot faster because if we get a steal or turnover, we can just hit the ground running. And we kind of give up size and rebounding for that reason. And I think that was a big problem with the Rockets matchup is that Shenun is so good at offensive rebounding, giving them second chances that that was just like always a frustrating part of that team in terms of as a Thunder fan. Now, I believe I could be wrong. I think Isaiah was out for at least a couple of those games. I’d have to go back and look. But if he’s in there to help with that particular department, it would be a little bit uh less frustrating as a Thunder fan. But that to me was one of those just kind of consistent throughout the season uh points of of reference where I was like, man, Shingun’s got like five offensive rebounds again. How do we keep allowing this? And it’s just because he’s just so good in that department. And also being able to see the floor when he gets an offensive rebound and finding someone on the outside. The second chance points in particular were a big problem. Yeah, I was going to ask you if there’s a particular matchup. That one’s the one it’s obvious that you’re worried about. You mentioned size. The Rockets can run seven rotation players with seven foot plus wingspans right now. Can size bother the Thunder? Yeah, the Rockets are kind of doing what the Thunder do, which is wingspan and size and clogging up passing lanes because that was our bread and butter. Our offense came a lot of times from the defense. You would think as a team that, you know, at practice sees a lot of this length in the Thunder, they would be prepared for what the Rockets are coming with because of the fact that they now are bringing in more length with Dorian Finny Smith. They already have Almond Thompson who’s, I think, going to be a stud defensively. They have Jabari Smith as well. I mean, the it goes on and on, but it’s definitely not going to be easy. Uh, I think if you are the Thunder and you’re especially looking at the playoffs where a lot of times when the when Shay wasn’t getting his shot, the offense just sort of stalled out. The ball wasn’t moving as much as it should. It was basically just dribble, dribble, shoot. I think that’s where if you’re the Thunder, you’ve got to be a little bit more mature with how you kind of go into the game and start playing it. As soon if you don’t get the the look that you want, not just completely shutting down because the Rockets are going to do that. they’re not going to give you the look that you want because it’s going to be too difficult at times to get that pass that you’re looking for. If you are the Thunder, then in that sense, you need to be able to to not just shut down and and be able to reset and and sort of just think within the flow of the offense. I think one person in particular that comes to mind uh is Alex Caruso on the offensive end. Like defensively, we know he’s very good, but offensively, I think what he does really well is if there’s a play that doesn’t quite work out, he will always find the open space. And a lot of times it’s like a cut back to the rim on the baseline. Sometimes he’ll be the one with the ball and he’ll find it, but usually it’s off ball. He’s one of those guys that I think can just revive the offense when the original plan or the the set play doesn’t work out as it’s supposed to. So, I’m kind of looking to him for, you know, in those Rockets matchups with that, you know, I would probably argue the second best defense besides OKC and the league. I think he’s going to be one of those big factors as well as Aaron Wiggins who does a lot of that cut back offball play as well. Um, so that’s sort of what I’m looking for as a Thunder fan. Yeah, Houston is in terms of their size and length is is going to be a massive massive problem for sure. I don’t know if you have any memories of this, but how does Ahmed Thompson compare to other defenders on SGA from what you saw this past season and what you’ve seen from SGA and other guys and how they seem to lock him up. I’m trying to remember. I feel like there was a particular game. I might be mixing up the players, but I feel like there was a play where it was a last minute shot from Shay and Aman Thompson. He was kind of on Shay’s hip. Like Shay got by him a little bit, but then he put up sort of like Shay put up like kind of a floater and Almond was able to like come back over the top and and block it. And it was one of those plays that was just like even when you beat your guy, Almond Thompson can still like recover enough to to just completely deny you. And as a fan, that’s just so frustrating because it’s like Sha’s first step is so good and sometimes it doesn’t even matter. The other thing too is, you know, we have some really good screeners on this team with particularly with Isaiah Hardenstein, uh, who can free Shay up a little bit. And I think Amond is so good at getting around that so quickly just because how athletic he is. Uh, it’s it’s not always like just screen and switch because that’s not going to work on on this particular team, I And even if it does, they have so much length that there’s not going to be a one particular weakness in this Houston Rockets defense that we can exploit. Uh but yeah, with with Almond Thompson in particular, I think he’s also one of those guys that is so fast off of the off of a turnover, he kind of gives us a taste of our own medicine where we’re very good at as soon as like someone like Caruso or uh even like Casey Wallace is a lot where they sort of poke the ball away, they’re immediately gunning for the other rim. I think Aman does that as well as in a one-man game where he can just poke the ball away and he’s immediately going in the opposite direction faster than everybody else and it’s just it’s just free two points that can completely, you know, shift the momentum in one way or the other. He’s one of those guys that definitely scares me. I’m wondering too, and I mean I’m kind of throwing this back at at you. I’ I’ve kind of been wondering about their guard rotation as a whole besides just Almond and Fred Van Fleet because I’ve been looking at Reed Shepard a lot and I’m like what are the Rockets going to do with with him? Because I like him as an offensive player but you know we’re talking about the defensive impact in the length and it’s like I wonder how they’re going to be able to get around that with him because they are in kind of a win now mode but he didn’t really get a lot of time in the playoffs this year or towards the end of the end of the season. So I’m kind of wondering what they’re going to do with him in this particular situation. I don’t know if they keep him and see what happens or try to get something for him as an asset, but I’m kind of wondering on that end what they’re going to do. I think probably what’s going to happen is they just play big where they usually have like maybe either Almond or Fred Vanble and then they just go a bunch of wings and and like Jabari or Steven Adams or Clint or Shingun at the five. OKC plays into what the storyline was with Reed because he struggled early in the year and then he was out of the rotation. He comes back and he gets that start when everybody else is sitting on the bench against Oklahoma City. Looks great. The best game of the year. Rockets lose, but he was playing with a bunch of nobodyies for that game. And then he gets hurt for a few weeks and when he comes back just doesn’t look all that good and basically that was the end of it. They definitely weren’t going to use him in the playoffs at that point. Right. My feeling is that they want him to get real reps behind Fred Van Bleet. So, he’s going to get backup point guard duties this entire year, unless he just looks terrible. And then the hope is that maybe by the playoffs he’s okay enough defensively where he’s not a disaster. The thing with the Rockets is you’ve got so much length at the other positions, they hope that those guys can cover up some of his mistakes. Guys like you mentioned, Amen, Tara E, etc., etc. So, I think that’s sort of the plan with Reed Shepard, but you you said it. I mean, the defense has scared me and I’ve I’ve said that over and over again. I’m I’m really worried that he’s not going to be able to make it in the NBA because he’s going to get picked on like we saw with the Mike Connley’s and when he when he gets picked on at times and you know different guys that are smaller point guards in the modern NBA, I mean, old school NBA, I would have said Reed Shepard is gold, but nowadays you better be elite offensively if if you’re not getting it done defensively. and he’s he’s just got to work on some footwork as well. I mean, he gets blown by way too much, but you know, he’s got some ability to get some steals. One of the things, uh, Matt, I was noticing that was FanDuel had the Thunder win total at 62 and a half. Interesting number. What do you think about that number? And do you go the over or the under? If you’re making a wager, if you are a someone who does sports betting a lot, I think you probably know this, but Vegas tends to with the extremes of the wins and the losses, they usually will hedge towards the middle. So, I think in this particular case because the total, they couldn’t put a total at like 65 66 and a half because that’s just far too high. So, they kind of hedge to 62. And that for that reason, I think it’s very easy to see an over for this. And the the counterargument is obviously the Rockets got a lot better, the Nuggets got better. The West in general is just such a dominant confence as compared to the East that it’s going to be hard for every game. But kind of what I was saying earlier, the the Thunder got 68 wins on a team that was not healthy for half of the season and you’ve got to expect that a freak injury like Chets is not going to happen again. You know, knock on wood, of course. But that to me tells tells me that if there’s if this all is quote unquote normal in terms of, you know, regular, you know, ankle strain here or there, you know, a a small hip injury that takes you out for like a week or two, if it’s just those types of injuries, I could easily seeing us get over 62 and a half. And I would argue that we’re in line to get very close, maybe not up to where we ended last season, but pretty close to that 68 win total again, just with the fact that we brought the entire roster back. They’re very young, so they’re all still developing. Especially, you know, Kase Wallace, I think for what he did in year two, to get to year three, I think you’re you could see a lot of really big things from him. Not just defensively, but I think like offensively, he kind of found his spot a little bit. Um, the big three is all just I think going to get better because Shay’s in his prime, but Chad and Jub are are going to get better because they’re still so young. You just have a collection of youth and talent that I think is just getting better, not worse, even after a title run. So, um, I’m I’m clearly going over on 62 and a half. Yeah. The only thing that I think might matter is SGA’s health and if he can stay as healthy as he did this past year. The importance of him is just so big to that lineup. Just just jokic or you know some of these key guys are these top three, four or five MVP candidates. One of the things that we talked about was you know a lot of the connections that these two teams have. One thing we didn’t know until we got him and I don’t think you know this until you get this guy on your team. Stephen Adams has such an impact that it is unbelievable and he is immediately everybody’s favorite player. It’s it’s amazing uh what he’s met to the Rockets and at times at the end of last year I I felt like he might be the most important Rocket. The the plus minus numbers were just off the chart. Matt Rockets fans probably knew this before he came to the team because they saw what he did to Patrick Beverly in that one play where he set a screen at half court and Patrick Beverly just like ran into him. fell over and Stephen Adams didn’t move. He’s a brick wall. He does. He is a big strong guy. That translates into a lot of rebound, a lot of offensive rebounding. He just gets secondhand or second chance points for you guys. I loved Steven Adams when he was with the Thunder just for for one for that reason just because of he could move guys out of the way without a, you know, out of second thought, but also he’s off the court. He’s just one of the coolest dudes ever. He’s very chill. He cracks jokes all the time. He’s just kind of like a happy golucky guy. I love Stephen Adams. could I could sit here and talk about all the memories I’ve had with him like off the court and all the fun things I remember, but we’d be here for an hour. But he’s one of those guys that Thunder fans will never ever forget. If we could, we would build a statue in Oklahoma City for him. We already have a mural for him, so there there’s that. But if we could build a statue, too, we would. He’s incredible. And and one last sort of esoteric question. Is there anything that you’ve learned about team building or title building from following the Thunder the last few years? anything you can impart since these two organizations were forced into similar rebuilds? I think a lot of the reason this team won a title besides their talent because I think we saw that the Pacers and the Nuggets I think had the talent to beat the Thunder. Obviously with the the Pacers, the Halleurn injury is a factor you have to put into it. You know, putting that aside, I think a big reason why the Thunder were able to eek it out in both of those was their team chemistry is one that I’ve never seen on another Thunder team or any other NBA team for that matter. You may have seen this. I, you know, Thunder fans have seen this. I’m sure some other NBA fans have seen. What’s become now very his uh famous is their postgame interviews initiated when Chad joined the team because Chad is one of those guys for whatever reason he doesn’t ever do a postgame interview by himself. he’ll always bring somebody else. And that sort of snowballed into last year what became just the team just all being around whoever is being interviewed and they were kind of like elbow and joke with each other. And you could see it in those moments that you don’t really get to see often is them just kind of being themselves with each other. And then it kind of became like a huge cultural thing where our postgame interviewer Nick Gallow is the one that usually interviews him and they would start to just do silly things like they would put a bunch of towels on his head. They would like dress him up with like a hat or something and like a chain. It was just like very goofy, very silly, not taking themselves too seriously. And I think that sort of energy is useful in doses in the NBA playoffs, especially in like game sevens where you are so tight and so stressed out. If you have that kind of mentality of like we can be loose with each other, we don’t have to be stressed out all the time. That plays into the game of basketball a little bit, I believe. And I think that was a big factor as to why this team was able to get over those those edges. As far as on the court, I think what it really comes down to is like, and I think you alluded to this earlier, in the modern NBA, you cannot have any weaknesses on defense anymore. Every single weakness will be exploited through screens and they’ll find you somehow. They will always rotate around until they get the match up they want. And the Thunder do not have that on their team. There is no defensive weaknesses you can exploit. Even their MVP, Shay, who was putting up 30 30 point games every night basically, is a positive defensive player. He’s not a negative on that court or a neutral. He’s a positive. And I think if you’re looking at the Rockets too, for those seven or eight guys and a couple more down the line, there aren’t any weaknesses either. I think that’s a part of it that’s going to be if they can stay healthy, that’s something that very few teams have in the NBA. And so, I think that’s one of those areas that you can definitely exploit because other teams will have that defensive liability. whether it’s Kevin Durant, Fred Vanble, whoever, if you get the switch you want and you go up on them one-on-one and you can take them and and score more often than not, you’re you’re just going to win more games than the other team. So, not having a weakness defensively is is a big reason why I think a lot of people like the Rockets this year. But, I think the that was the recipe for the Thunder as well is they will not let you do what you want on defense and you will not get the shot you want um if they play their defense correctly. Yeah. And I’ll throw out something else that the Rockets I think have picked up from the Thunder. um besides chemistry which you know Daryl Moy wasn’t much of a believer in it, Rafel Stone’s more of a believer in chemistry. So they seem to be following that model from OKC, but the depth and and I feel like the depth with OKC has sort of changed maybe how some of these teams look at things going forward. I I I believe it’s a sea changer with where we’re seeing the NBA going as far as the new CBA, but also the injuries and all of that factoring in. And when you look at the Rockets, they’re as deep as as any team in the NBA. The only thing that I would say is you can be as deep as you want to, but if the wrong guys get hurt at the wrong time, you mentioned Hallebertton or Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter last year for the Nuggets. It’s it’s very difficult to overcome those type of injuries. So, you know, that that that’s a key, too. And that’s always been a thing uh in the NBA. You are Matt Tyranny. remind us where we can find you on social media anywhere else and and just kind of plug uh what you’re doing over there at Topic Thunder. Follow us at OKC topic Thunder. Um that’s where I post everything. If you want more uh outlandish takes about the Thunder, you can follow me at Matt Tyrney, but the more normal takes are at OKC topic Thunder and then we have a YouTube channel. Just you can’t type in Topic Thunder because it will autocorrect Tropic Thunder. So you have to type in OKC topic thunder and you’ll find it on YouTube. We we just hit 1,000 subscribers which was really cool. We’ve just started that YouTube channel this season. So, uh we’re hoping to build it out a little bit more in the in the upcoming seasons as well. And then on uh yeah, like I said on Twitter, OKC topic thunder as well. It’s the Believe Network. Thank you again to FanDuel. Uh very sad that Stephen Adams has blocked out like he blocks everybody out. Uh your friend Dylan, but it was great to have you on with us, Matt, and thanks for doing the show. Thank you for having us. That was we really appreciate it. You’re listening to Houston Sports Talk. Hey, don’t forget to support us by subscribing and commenting on YouTube. You can always listen to us on Spotify, Apple, or your favorite podcast app. Tell your friends about us and share our show links on social media. Spread the word, everybody. Thanks for listening.

Bleav Host Robert Land asks Thunder Insiders (Hosts of Bleav’s Topic Thunder podcast) Matt Tierney & Dylan Huntzinger about the Rockets offseason, Durant’s signing, what Rockets fans should know about KD, OKC’s big offseason moves, a Thunder weakness, the Rockets-OKC matchup, Amen vs. SGA & what the Rockets can learn from OKC. We’re presented by FanDuel.
(2:54) What was OKC Championship experience like?
(6:56) What did OKC think of Rockets getting KD?
(9:52) Things Rockets Fans should know about Durant?
(12:00) Did FanDuel get Western Champ odds right?
(16:51) Did Presti get deals on SGA, Jalen Williams & Chet Holmgren extensions?
(19:45) OKC Weaknesses?
(22:02) OKC Lessons from Rockets-Thunder matchup?
(23:40) Can Rockets size bother OKC?
(25:51) How does Amen compare to other SGA defenders?
(30:09) Did FanDuel OKC Over-Under get it right?
(32:27) Steven Adams Impact for Rockets & Thunder?
(33:50) What can Rockets learn from OKC team building?

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