This is the baseline discussing the hot button topics of the nb A. Welcome
everybody, your tune to the baseline, Callie Warrens y'all discussing the hot button
topics of the n b A. And we keep things moving along a little
bit closer to the NBA regular season coming to an end. But as always,
man, we gotta always got to keep that conversation rolling. So it's
that time, man got throwing them white coats and we continue our efforts in
our Autopsy Reports series. Who none better to do it with than my brother
from another mother, my man, mister Warren Sharp ripping out of Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, obviously on relocation mode right about now for the short time being.
What's good man, I think we're neighbors. Would you like, would
you like? Would you like to borrow some sugar? This guy here chilling,
you know, you know, visiting your neck of the woods and trying
to make things, make it work, make it do what I do,
as I said. Well, excited to be here, man, and can't
believe it. We're literally like a week away from the season being concluded.
So final six seven games here for most teams. Um it's been it's been
a journey, right, and we'll see how the playoffs ultimately land and shake
out. The Western Conference continues to be extremely exciting, Eastern conferences deciding as
well, but literally like teams are following four slots by losing one game in
the West. It's insane. So, uh, these next again, this
next week and a half here, it's going to be a lot, a
lot, a lot of great fun for the NBA fans. Yeah, the
swing in the standings I think stand out the most shot. Like so to
really give people proper perspective about this, one game can literally drop you almost
almost out of the play in that's how tight everything is. And you know,
look, we'll we'll talk about this as we you know, start expounding
on you know, playoff situations and when we have to do our previews,
you know for the play in tournament and you know, for the teams that
will eventually round out what's going to be the playoff picture for this season.
But this is probably the first time where we actually have to speak to the
fact that every game now really matters to the very end. When you're talking
about figuring out or configuring what the playoff picture is really going to look like
and for those teams who had opportunities to separate themselves from the rest of the
pack, they have not been able to do it. And I think you
could also make an argument that, you know, maybe before we used to
put it more on the players, but I just really think that this is
the competitive play at work here with the NBA. And you know, look,
kudos to the NBA as well too, because even with the way that
the schedules have lined themselves up, it really doesn't depict, you know,
a whole lot into the idea that, oh, you know, one team
has a weaker schedule than the other. You know, literally every single team
is still vested really up until the very end, even the teams who have
already secured their playoff spot. It's just it really speaks volumes to the competitive
nature that every game now really matters, and teams aren't you know, taking
nights off. Yeah, at the end of the day, we can just
continue to have the same conversation every year. The playan has made the season
more valuable towards the end, you know, ever more than ever before than
before, because yeah, seating was always something that teams were jockeying four yea,
and really kind of maybe you know, one through five, seven or
whatever the case. Maybe like it's but because there are literally ten spots that
can get you a chance um into this, you know, we're really kind
of two extra spots really, you know, kind of thinking of the tail
end. A lot of those teams that maybe haven't had the best seasons might
be just around five hundred or a little bit below. It keeps them,
keeps them live, and keeps them, keeps them trucking to the end of
the season. So the play in situation has created a lot more intrigue and
competitiveness throughout the course of the other regular season, more than ever than before.
And one other thing before we get right into our autopsy reports for this
week's shop, I think the other thing as well too that you take into
consideration with this is nobody wants to be a one and done situation when it
comes to getting into the playoffs, right Like, if you are one of
the teams that really worked hard to be among one of the top six,
you don't want to have to justify your season and coming down to one game
essentially before you get booted out. And I know, you know, they
set it up so that you know, if you're the seventh seed you lose,
you know you'll wind up having to play whoever the you know, the
winner is. But what I'm just saying is is that it just gives that
feel for like you work hard to give yourself an opportunity, you know,
to play in a best of five and a best of seven, and to
only have one game be the difference between whether or not you're only going to
play one game in order to compete or actually give yourself an extended shelf life
to compete in the tournament. I think also, you know, plays plays
well, I mean plays great for our entertainment value, but I mean any
team would not want to be giving that that type of shot or opportunity for
what they've had to put them put themselves through to get to this point.
Yeah, well said. And it's almost like NCAA tournament style, you know,
I mean, almost almost a one and done situation, grown man nc
double A style that's grown folk business. Listen, we got a great show
on tap for you guys, and we really appreciate you hopping on board with
us this week as we continue our Autopsy Report series. We got two teams
that we're gonna get dig into. Obviously, their seasons came to an end
very very early on, so we got to talk about their future. And
we're gonna be talking about the Charlotte Hornets in the Houston Rocket in this week's
edition of the Autopsy Report. As always, be sure to get him my
man Shaw Astro Sports NBA get at me a gameface. Lead the shows to
a handle at NBA based on available in all the major platforms. You know
where to find us. If you want to see our show or hear our
show, go to www dot to Baseline NBA dot com so you can catch
this episode and all of the episodes that we have dropped for your listening pleasure.
For those of y'all watching hello, you can always catch us on YouTube,
but also check us out. When you see that nineteen Media logo,
you know that we rocks with the nineteen Media Group family. We'll be running
these content streets. So to catch us and all of the great shows that
are out there, great personalities, great uh storylines, great discussions, great
content, go to www dot nineteen Media Group dot com. So without further
ado, you know how we do, You know how we roll. Let's
do a little autopsy here on the baseline. Time to break it. They're
dead, My team, My team is dead. They knew we were coming,
man, they knew we were coming. Time now for the breakdown Callie
Warrenshaw based on NBA podcasts, and this is our coveted autopsy report with Sean
and I throw on the white coats and we get to basically go through the
cadaver that is the teams who have exited stage left. Right now, we're
working on those teams that died a quick death in this NBA season. And
the first team that we're going to kind of log in on are going to
be the Charlotte Hornets. Now the Charlotte Hornets Shaw. I find them to
be a very curial team to examine because there's so much that goes on with
this team off the court. They are one of the few teams that quite
simply cannot do anything off the court that can elevate this franchise or this team
to a sustainable level on the court. With all of the growing commotion about
you know, Michael George selling his stake so he'll probably wind up being a
minority owner, it just lends itself so much to this mentality of they just
can't catch a break. And when you look at the roster and you look
at the plethora of players who have kind of danced in and out of that
organization, all of them, and the whole situation, it just doesn't feel
like they can catch a break. And it's it kind of sucks because for
the for the Charlotte Hornets every year, you want to believe that they're gonna
be a team that can really compete, but it just seems like short sustained
you know, Uh, They're the type of team that just seems like you'll
only get, like in short spurts, this level of competitiveness from them,
but it's not through and through, and they just don't have the empowerment within
themselves to really step up and established themselves. And I'm just wondering what is
it going to take for that team to finally come into their own, the
organization, to come into their own, the fan base, to come into
their own and really be legitimize themselves as being a part of the conversation of
a sustained, well ran competitive organization. So there's a lot to unpack.
I think they're um, you know, trying to start with your last question,
what's it going to take U. It's going to take leadership U.
Leadership that wants and needs to be there. So it's interesting that, you
know, MJ would be selling his majority share and then bringing in new potentially
you know, a new majority share owner. They just brought on Clifford in
for the second time. Obviously we've had many conversations all about that and what
that ultimately looked like for them. But they need to nail a draft pick
for once, really and truly so as luck would have it, let's take
take you one of quick journey Bridges does whatever he does, you know,
and truly truly truly important situation that he's involved in it more obviously more so
for the victim you know, in the you know, domestic violence situation,
and he had. But that's somebody who they thought was going to be a
major part of their part of their team. They bring in Clifford, as
I alluded to, LaMelo starts the season basically on the shelf, plays well
when healthy, but doesn't have just just doesn't healthy the majority part of the
year. Kelly Ubre battles injuries the majority part of the year. Hayward takes
his annual siesta, you know, as to be expected. Terry Rogier started
the year, you know, battling injuries as well. Uh, Cody Martin
injured, so Dennis Smith even injured. Book Night not not just not a
good prospect for them, you know as as currently projected their best. They're
the best thing they have going for them outside of Lamello is PJ. Wasthington
has played well, but he's a free agent um. And then maybe Mark
Williams and Nick Richards, some of the bigs have played okay for them as
well, But this team just hasn't had the continuity that it thought it was
going to and that it absolutely needed to to be even remotely successful. But
fast forward now to the latter part of the season, where multiple guys are
now out, they have somehow found a way to string some wins together,
which is probably the worst thing they could do at this point in the season
because now you know, they're furthering their chances away from getting a higher lottery
pick, and that's what they need. They need to really try to be
within that top three. And now it's a little less likely that they'd get
a top three pick, probably still you know, five to six or something
like that. But it's just been a nightmare season for the Charlotte Hornets,
and I think it's unfortunate. But they need continuity and they need to nail
a draft pick immediately. I like where you're going with it. I would
want to agree with you in that regard that they have to land on the
draft pick. But look, they drafted LaMelo Ball, and by all accounts,
minus his injuries, LaMelo Ball was among one of the most exciting basketball
players you know that they probably have had in their franchise history. Most of
the other players that they've taken on have been quote unquote experiments. The Kemball
Walkers, the PJ. Washington's, the Gerald Wallace's, like a lot of
the essence have been them kind of rolling the dice on some players and these
players because you know, the Hornets found of you know, back then,
even Babcats, Bobcats, Hornets. The organization to feel and the entity about
them has always been like this pseudo admiration. You know, Hey, you
know the losers come over here and you know, make a name for themselves
so that they can you know, go out secure a bag, get paid
bookoo bucks, you know, get that one. Great signing for themselves and
then again disappear off into the sunset. It just never feels sustainable with them,
and so I I often wonder Shaw, you know, to the point,
is it just really just the draft pick that you hit on with this,
because I think at the end of the day, what then becomes is
the vicious cycle that yeah, let's say he becomes, you know, an
all star player for them, if they don't win basketball games, if they
don't show a level of competitiveness even within their own division, which among the
other team of the conference, in the Eastern Conference, among the other divisions,
is really the weakest of all of them. If they can't sustain a
level of competitiveness in that division, let alone the conference, everyone is just
going to buy into the idea that again, you know, the Charlotte Hornets
are essence kind of like the Charlotte Hornets in which then a superstar player or
an all star player becomes disgruntled and then he's gonna want out and they become
like the Pelicans version of the Eastern Conference, which I don't think anybody wants
at this moment in time. Well, let me say this, LaMelo's obviously
a home run right, they they they landed that one thousand percent and they
need to be I think within that range, right, they need to have
a somewhere top five draft pick, you know, things that they're doing within
the latter stages of lottery and mid rounds, like they just haven't had good
talent evaluation. LaMelo in some ways fell into their lab because maybe some of
the teams just didn't believe the hype, if you will. But now you
got to build on that, right, you know, And I think it's
it's it's not about investing on people who who don't fit your timeline or your
roster, call it whatever, whatever you want. Gordon Hayward's contract will be
up after at the end of next season. If he doesn't get moved,
you know, before the season starts. You know, they would potentially,
I'm sure he's gonna be named that a lot of not a lot of teams
are going to mention, but they're gonna shop him heavily if they're not able
to move them in the off season, but definitely maybe trade deadline or they
may try to buy them out, you know. And I don't think you'll
take it, but they can. They can give it a shot. Um,
what do they do with Kelly Ubre? You know, he was solid
for them in the minutes he played this year, but again as alluded to,
was was most mostly injured for you know, like forty fifty games or
the other season. So the biggest question is PJ. Washington. So I
think when you take all of this back, you know you have Lamello,
yes, building block, but what are you surrounding him or what are you
surrounding him with? It's clear for the right fit for where they where they
want to go. Do they need to bottom out another year because I don't
think they're a free agent destination right And they'll have some money. They'll have
some money, especially if they don't resign Ubre, If they don't resign Washington
you know as well, then they'll have a lot of money. They can
figure out what they want to do with book Night and Kai Jones and guys
like that too. You know, those are you know, going into their
third and fourth years respectively. But at the end of the day, Um,
it's it's about what they surround Milamelo with. And I don't know if
he's going to be somebody who's going to go on the recruiting tour one way
or the other. Um and what new ownership if that doesn't take place here
before the next season starts, well they'll be looking to try to do.
But to me, this roster is just not as talented as it wants to
be. And while I love Scary Terry, you know that's, you know,
one of my young sons. I don't know if he's long for this
process as well, and if he's a building walk around around alongside LaMelo and
those are things Charlotte and Mitch Cupcheck and everybody like that and need to figure
out in media. Well, okay, so I'm gonna ask you to put
your GM hat on real quick, Shaw, because you highlighted a very important
point to me that I'm going to make in a moment. But I wanted
to ask you this then. So you think that the Charlotte Hornets should be
all in on building with or building around LaMelo Ball. Yeah, I think
he's he's in the few years that we've seen him, I think he's proven
to be a guy who can make his teammates better. Not just because he's
statistically and almost averaging triple doubles and all that, you know when he plays,
but he puts butts and seats and and he makes the teammates better.
So to me, you know, that's the starting block. You have a
point guard who can really can control and I won't say master the game book
control the game to a certain certain degree. And he's only getting better.
So I think he's he's the right fit for what they ultimately need to do.
And in a city that struggles to bring that level of excitement you know
about about their franchise, he's somebody who can definitely do that, and hopefully
by virtue of that also be even if even if he doesn't openly outwardly to
say, hey, cal Lee, I want you to play on my team,
is his skill set something attractive enough where almost like Devin Booker and Phoenix,
where Katie was looking looking from Afar and says, hey, I'd love
to play with the book one day, you know, And hopefully Lamello has
that type of gravitas that maybe some the next upcoming free agent is looking like,
hey, you know what, I can go there and be a great
teammate alongside Lamello. Yeah. So I'm not going to disagree with you that
if you are miss cup check to validate the fact that you went with getting
LaMelo Ball, you have to assume that LaMelo Ball is a key piece.
He is what's going to drive the engine for how you're going to construct this
team moving forward. I do think though, that part of that process and
getting to that point, Shaw is recognizing what the future of this team needs
to be like. And I'm just talking about it from an unconventional sense of
the word that it's not even so much Steve Clifford. I think Steve Clifford
and LaMelo Ball could actually work. Remember Steve Clifford was very much involved in
elevating and preserving the career of Kemba Walker, who you know, sometimes you
need a wily, veteran coach that knows how to take care of superstar players
who have a history of not being able to stay healthy for a duration.
Part of that, though, is going to come down to Mitch cup Checks
moves, so to speak, to supplement what you could get out of the
combination of Clifford and LaMelo Ball. With that being said, I would I
would think that if you're a cup Check, you go completely opposite of the
idea that you gotta go out and use free agency and you know, bring
guys in the Charlotte Hornet is. Weirdly enough, Shaw have had a good
track record of drafting quality players, good quality role players who could find their
way playing for a struggling organization and a struggling fan base like for the Charlotte
Hornets. We've seen this kind of in and out mode with the Charlotte Hornets.
Every couple of years or so, they put together a quality team who
competes. They find themselves hanging around either the play in or maybe actually make
the playoffs, and even if they are a first round exit, whatever the
case may be, the problem is is they do something post that season that
wrecks the whole thing. I think they've never fully committed to the idea that
they should have a young, gutty, gritty team to work with. They're
always hedging their bets. We do the same thing when we complain about the
Orlando Magic because we can't figure out what kind of roster they're gonna put together.
But I think that this has been the m with the Charlotte Hornets over
the last few years as well too. They somehow don't fully commit to whether
they want to be young, they want it to be you know this this
blend, this hybrid of I think that if you want to have an effective
team for Clifford to coach, you really need to start focusing in on the
guys that they're drafting, taking advantage of guys that may even pull from the
G League whatever. But I think you need to bring a little bit more
to the table and not do it via through the draft. If you're Mitch
cup Chack, I'm sorry, free agency. If you're Mitch cup Check,
yeah, well, I mean, and that does mean you've got to move
these dudes like they've they've served their purpose, you know. I mean,
PJ. Washington has been more than solid, right, and I think they
got to figure out do they want to keep him and retain him long term.
I think it goes back to some of their previous All their decisions are
always, to me somewhat rooted in some question. The decision to bring Hayward
in at that number specifically was questionable, you know, and once again,
he played fifty He'll play games max, you know, roughly the end of
this year. Um, they obviously didn't expect LaMelo to only play thirty six
games, right like that was that that really was the worst part of their
season by far and away, and Cody Martin played seven games and was just
never to be heard from again due to his injuries. Um, I don't
know. Charlotte Is is not devoid of talent, but I don't know if
they have a true direction in their offense. Is really really bad. It's
really really really bad. And yeah, LaMelo fixes a good portion of that,
but he doesn't get them from twenty nine thirtieth, you know, even
into the teams right he might, he might get them up a couple three
four spots, but not fifteen spots, you know, even to like middle
of the pack. So they got to figure out a way to get better
on that side of the basketball um specifically and just shooting. And you know,
he can help set some guys up, you know, once he's back.
But to me, they need to figure out a way to again get
stronger offensively, get some three point shooting specifically, and then figure out who
are the who are the main studs that they're trying to bring around them,
and hopefully they end up with the top pod draft pick that allows them to
get somebody to pair LaMelo alongside. You know, a lot in our last
conversation and all of our conversations with these teams are already eliminated. Yeah,
everyone's in the one Banyama sweek STAPs, but only one team can get them
right. And you know I said last week, I'd love for LaMelo to
pair alongside that type of big and Charlie's been looking for a big man that
they can just say, hey, this is our guy for years. Ironically,
Public was having the best year of his career. Then they probably shipped
them out to the Clippers because while they weren't going anywhere. Um. So
Charlotte to me is just they're they're a little bit lost, um, but
they're not too far off from the ability to, as you alluded, to
get back into some level of viability where they can at least be competing like
everybody else seems to be in these a conference from the playing tournament. Absolutely
my final thought, Sean. And then I'll let you lead into your your
eulogy. Um, you know, for the Charlotte Hornets is really more centered
on what does this team look like with LaMelo ball and I and I wonder
about this because you have they have the notion of the premonition that like the
way that they play to your point offensively remind you a lot like I don't
know, um, those uh, those those city league teams where you got
like the coach who really doesn't have coaching experience. You know, you got
a really exciting player and you just give him open you know, cartemaches,
do whatever you guys got to do. Just make it look like you guys
know how to play basketball. Right, We'll work on some you know,
simple drills, will act like, will play like we're organized. And I'm
not speaking of this in the sense and I'm like, oh, Steve Clifford
doesn't know what he's doing. Steve Clifford is one of the most recognized and
respected coaches in the game of basketball, but I even think his biggest struggle
is being able to figure out an offensive system that's gonna work for a guy
like LaMelo Ball. And I think the only way that you're going to really
be able to truly see that is you're gonna have to put pieces around LaMelo
that doesn't reflect LaMelo, that challenges LaMelo, that forces him to become a
more well rounded basketball player. And I think that's where the danger lies in
the process of acquiring the kind of talent that you're saying Shaw that they're gonna
probably need for a moment just even forget about competitiveness. I'm just saying that
when you see how LaMelo Ball plays his brand of basketball, that might seem
good in the short term, it might, you know, turn some heads
while some heads, but for some of those players, even whether they're young
or you know, somewhere trying to find there or spark their career, they're
gonna want to figure out how they can fit in with a dynamic player like
LaMelo and it's gonna be It's gonna behoove LaMelo Ball for his evolution, and
part of it is staying on the court being healthy, but his evolution is
really gonna come down to his ability to figure out how to make his team
better. And that's gonna be a great, a great challenge that you will
see with the Charlotte Hornets because a lot of the years of the successful Little
Hornets has always been predicated on one player trying to save them when it really
should come down to a whole team. Like the teams that are winning right
now is when yeah, they have a dynamic player, but that dynamic player's
evolution is figuring out ways to accentuate the you know, what makes their team
unique, their players unique, or the team elevating to a level when it
calls for it or demands for There's some people out there who may say lamellos
more flash than substance right now, not exactly empty calories, but you know,
more flash, and yeah, can you make more simple plays at times?
And sure, I believe all that, but I think he's going to
get there. And I think he's shown the ability to understand and each year
or even this year when he played, he was better than he was a
year before. So he's got to stay in the court at first and foremost.
But I think again, it just kind of continues to go back to
all right, well, who's who's out there alongside them? And then something
you said it kind of struck me. When it comes to your teams in
your organization, it's not always doesn't always have to be about the star guy
or the upper echelon coach. Sometimes can be even a top notch assistant or
somebody who's owned the rise on the come up, who makes subtle tweaks,
or the offense or the defense that just gets the team kind of moving in
the right direction to bring some some level of cohesions. So I think they
just need to take you know, and I'll just kind of go into the
soliloquy of the autopsy you like fully here, take full stock of what your
roster is, take full stock of who's on the sideline alongside Clifford. And
I'm not kocking Clifford or anybody that's currently there, but twenty nine and thirty,
if you know, in terms of your offense, you know, offensive
top offense SI six is not that's not great, LaMelo or otherwise, So
figure out a way to you know, revamp that and might be bringing a
different voice who can maybe resonate with some of those guys. And then you
don't get rid of Clifford in essence to do that or even undermine him.
Just get somebody who maybe it's just better offensively minding gifted Clifford has always been
a defensive minding coach, and then maybe that can shift things in the direction
that it ultimately needs to go. Alongside with whatever draft pick they get,
maybe they move off a Hayward and maybe they don't, maybe they flip Bubre,
maybe they don't. But I think again, as we've talked, talked
this through some This team is again is close to being at least competitive,
even if they bring everybody back, just with some subtle changes. Yeah,
maybe that's what it Maybe that's what it takes, you know, like when
we uh have to fix up you know what I'm saying the body right,
can tweak it a little bit here, We don't you know, we just
we a soon want to bury them ugly, right, We want to make
them look nice. So yeah, that that's the overall goal. All right,
let's try to give a little give them a little bow tak Yeah,
yeah, a little Charlotte Charlotte getting a little bow tax right. Your tune
to the baseline Callie wards Yaw discussing the hot button topics of the NBA as
we continue our efforts here on the autopsy report. Coming up, Sean and
I will break down the second team that we got, uh you know,
on docket for the autopsy report, we'll be talking about the Houston Rockets now.
They are gonna probably need an extreme makeover or maybe not. I don't
know. I just felt like I had to say that. But you'll find
out where we're coming from here on the baseline. We are back Callie Warren
Shaw Baseline NBA Podcast, as we continue our autopsy report, and the next
team that we're going to basically exoom and examine will be the uh, the
Houston Rockets. Now, typically when we do our autopsy reports, you know,
I rattle off all of these you know, numbers and you know,
try to validate, uh, you know, part of what we see,
like this team is not good and struggling, and or what it's going to
take for them to elevate. Not gonna We're not gonna bore you with all
of that, right. I think once we start moving up, you know
what I'm saying, our autopsies on some other teams we could really dissect and
really look at, you know, what was the sex, what was successful
with the failures for certain teams. I think it's really easy. Teams like
the Houston Rockets and the Charlotte Hornets and the teams that we'll be talking about
over the next coming weeks, they were not good on either side of the
basketball. But Shaw, I think something really sticks out at me when I
think about this Houston Rockets team. And you know me, I have you
know, I speak my piece when especially I you know, focus a lot
more on the coaching aspect of things, because obviously I think coaching matters,
especially in the NBA, but I think you also have to take a look
at how the rosters are being constructed and what's the vision, what is the
what is the end goal. Over the last few years, we've seen,
you know, um, Steven Silas, he's he's had to work with quite
an eclectic bunch of guys, right, very young, right, um,
very wet behind the ears. But the one thing that I will say that
that that that really concerns me is I don't know if I'm finding an identity
with this Houston Rockets team, even with the star players that they have.
I don't know if whether or not I'm seeing Stephen Silas's imprint on the core
players that have been drafted and are on this roster. And then I will
equally say as well too for Raphael Stone as the GM, what exactly are
you what exactly are you focusing on for this team that is giving Stephen Silas
an opportunity to have an imprint on how he coaches that team? Right,
Like, certain moves you can tell the GMS are making are clearly in the
best interests of building up the team and giving his head coach really being behind
his head coach. I don't know if I see that with this Houston Rockets
team Shaw and the fact that we're now doing this for a second year in
a row. I'm gonna I'm gonna let the first year that Stephen came in
as the head coach go to pass because he was dealing with a lot of
turmoil with John wall in that whole situation and stuff. But now we're in
the third year of this supposed to be rebuilding process and I don't even know
if I've seen the materials make it to the construction site yet. Yeah,
it's they are a team that is a lot of young guys. They have
some picks coming their way, obviously as a result of the James Harden trade.
But you're right, I think Silas is probably like, I waited all
this time to get a head coaching job, and look at this pile of
crap just kind of walked into. In terms of the situation, not the
people, not the players, but just the situation and how it all meshes
together. He's got to be frustrated, you know. And while Jaellen Green
is somebody who's going to be a high level scorer in this league for a
very long time. I don't know that he's somebody you build your team around,
right, I don't know that yet. I think he's going to be
a guy who can get buckets and that can get you to a certain level
of success, but you know, he's got to do it in a different
way. Um that I don't know that he's developed yet. Um. Kevin
Porter is probably one of the most dislike people on Twitter outside of Houston,
you know, in terms of, you know, the way they think his
basketball IQ is and some of the mistakes he makes or whatever. But I
think he's grown. Um. But is he the solution at point guard long
term? Probably not right and he's not a natural point guard, but he's
he's taken some he's grown into being at least serviceable for what the Rockets are
right now, but not who the Rockets ultimately probably need to be long term.
Um. Then you take Shangoon, who seems to be you know,
uh, you know, we use this term a lot, but you know
Walmart brand, you know, yokich Um. He's not quite um as prolific,
obviously, but he's showing some signs of being good Jabari Smith had an
okay Brookie season started to come on here late, closing the season off pretty
strong. But there's some there's there's some pieces here. Tory Easton even you
know, he's had some nice moments coming off the bench. And we all
know what Kenny Martin Junior has black at times in terms of you know,
being a role player. It's just but it just doesn't work, you know,
for sustainable winning. And yes, they're young, Yes there's more growth
to do, even from Silence's standpoint as as a head coach now as well,
but he's supposed to be one of the better offensive minds. And the
Rockets are last in offense and shooting threes. You know, we talked about
Charlotte they were next to last and now we have the last place team,
you know, with the Houston Rockets. So they've got to figure out how
to be more efficient, you know, first and foremost. But really listen,
you can take what John Wall said with the grain of salt, but
I think we all see it as we're watching. Yeah, they do need
to let how to learn how to play with more poise, especially down the
stretch of games. And you know, it's been said that they are just
kind of like they're devoid of real structure. And if other NBA players are
critiquing that John Wall, Austin Rivers, people like that who have had those
criticisms of them, then that's something that Silence and Stone need to address.
They need to figure out, all right, how do we get a veteran
who can help us here, um as opposed to just throlling the balls out
and letting the chips fall where they make. So there's a lot to unpact
on that. I'm gonna let that sit for a moment and let me just
speak on on this one thing that I just thought about from what you were
just saying a few moments ago. I think maturity plays such an important role
in being able to see the forced, you know, through the trees.
Right. Um, the problem that I'm seeing from all of these players is
while it seems nice and exciting and it's cool because among your peers, right
you're you're you know, your age limit, your age group of guys.
Because you can make the argument that like they have a very young team right
now that Eric Gordon has gone, Wall's not playing on that squad, um,
they have an extremely young basketball team who has no idea how to compete
and play in the NBA, and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe that
you know you're it's a fresh start, and losing the way that you do
to some of the teams that you're playing against may humble you in really taking
this offseason to figure out certain things that you have to get better at,
be marketably improved at. The problem is, and I think it's to the
point that you were mentioning Shaw because this could lead to the frustration of Steven
Silas. If you're someone who's been involved in the in the NBA ranks and
you've had the ability to be in the ear of certain players and you could
watch their growth, you could watch their maturation process, you know, come
of age, so to speak, you feel proud because you were a part
of that. All of these guys show such a high level of immaturity and
their ability to figure these things out that it moves in contrast to the window
of opportunity that day, the organization and even the head coach is going to
have to figure out how to get this right. You know, It's it's
different if we're giving these guys a five year window to do things, but
the way that players operate, the way that players move, the way that
organizations see certain things, the way that they're losing basketball games, the effectiveness
that the coach has in the locker room and out on the basketball court.
All of that accelerates what takes what takes place in really saying, do I
want to sit pat, let this thing play itself out, maybe these guys
figure this that formed together and and take that next step, or do I
just am settled on the idea that as exciting as these guys are out there
on the basketball court, not one of them is ever going to figure out
how to compete and elevate and mature and lead a team. And I think
that's gonna be one of the big questions. And typically what saves that question
from even having to be answered is if you have a head coach who can
have a very quick imprint on that on addressing that question. And I'll and
I'll say this, and to say Shaw, the Rockets had a JB.
Bickerstaff the Cleveland Cavaliers and Altman, you know, they they they put their
faith in the fact that JB. Bickerstaff is going to have an imprint on
that young team. And look at what those guys are doing. And that's
what I'm saying. There's a danger here with the Houston Rockets, because to
your point, there's there's a lot of great things, like if you break
down all of their numbers and stuff, there's something good there. There's they
can score the basketball, there can be excitement there. They got guys that
can play above the rim, right, But what does it mean anything too
if it's not translating to two wins and the maturity of of seeing that happen.
I think it's a scary proposition for the Houston Rockets because you don't want
to be where they've been the last couple of years with this kind of youthful
exuberance that people should feel about exciting basketball that can be played down there.
Yeah, you'd figure mind coming from Dallas and one of the most historic offenses
when he was there under Luca etc. Now there I miss spoke. They're
twenty seventh and conservating thirtieth and three point shooting, thirty and three point three
pointers made, and then you go to thirtieth internovers, so they don't take
care of the basketball. But one of the most damning stats for me dead
last and assist so they're out there not really playing for each other. And
again somebody has to be last and assist I guess or what I mean.
It's a ranking, somebody's gonna finish last. But you wouldn't initially want you
don't want it to be your team. You wouldn't necessarily expect it to be.
You know, this team that has so many offensive talent, like they
could just fall into some assist they share the basketball more, you know,
and again that goes again. This is in an indictment on Porter Junior specifically
U Shangoon is a is again shoot him to have to be a capable passer
like that too. But there's no real natural playmakers on the roster, and
that means everybody's kind of going out there. Your turn, my turn,
you know what, my turn again? And I think those are what's coming
down to, you know, some of those discipplinting losses and some of those
high turnovers that they also see. So this is a team that has some
capability there. Again, they're not devoid of talent. You know, you
could put their actual raw skill and talent up against a lot of other teams.
But where I think they are probably lacking the most is what you just
said, the actual discipline, and I don't want to utilize because I don't
think they're not stupid, but the basketball IQ, the in game situations that
they have been in, they haven't performed willing yet and they need they just
need more repetition in that and ways to figure out now, Okay, well
how do we not blow this game this time? You know, because you
might fight hard for three and a half quarters and then you lose a game
at the end. To me, this Rockets team can be a lot better.
I don't think that they're going to jump into the conversation of the play
in you know, next year, even with a high draft pick. I
just I just don't see that because I think there's a lot of growth that
needs to happen here. But they are talented in terms of the raw talent.
They just all got to work hard and work together. And I'd love
to see, you know, the workout videos with the Rockets this summer.
You know, hey, Kevin Porter Junior and Jelen Green and gathered everybody over
in Wyoming, you know, to to work out and just try to come
together and with whatever draft pick they end up getting and seeing how they can
work on some of the repetition and the reps that they need, and that's
to be better when it comes to regular season. But um, again,
I think they have some talent here, but it's it's just going to look
like it's going to be a little bit further, a longer drive than I
think some of the teams we've talked about earlier. Well, let me ask
you this question, Shaw, If you are the Houston Rockets, right,
do you focus your attention on on drafting more right? Like looking forward to
have a potential lottery pick right with this team come this upcoming draft class?
Right, do you consider the idea maybe you move that in order to maybe
acquire a veteran player, because that always seems to be, you know,
the go to move whenever we talk about a team's lack of maturity so to
speak, they need a veteran presence. And I'm not mocking anything that we've
been talking about, y'all, because that typically is what happens. Right,
Like, I go get any a veteran guy, and we think that he's
going to help improve the locker room. But I see a dichotomy here that's
taking place when we talk about this type of talent that you're referring. I
think the thing that concerns me when I look at this team is can this
team together get better? And if so, can they figure out the roles
and responsibilities that each person will take it upon them off to help this team
improve on a lot of the metrics that you had alluded to just a few
moments ago, right, Because part of that conversation Shaw, when I think
about the Kevin Porter juniors and the Jailing Greens, and you know, the
Jabari Smiths and the Singoons and the Martin juniors are this is a free form
team, but ultimately somebody has got a captain this ship, you know.
So does that mean if you're Jailing Green, that you take a step back
and worrying about being the point god so to speak, of scoring the basketball
all the time and worry more about getting guys where they need to be showing
more leadership. Or should that fall on a Jabari Smith junior? Or should
that fall on a Kevin Porter? You know, who's going to be the
defensive anchor for that team? Could it be a Kenyan Martin junior? Like
there's so many undefined roles, but the talent is so much there, and
even I myself when I see them play Shaw, I don't know who.
I don't know where I would put the onus on those guys if you gave
me an off season for them to say you take on this role, you
take on that role. And it's not even saying oh, they do each
of these things really well. What I'm saying is they're just doing their own
thing, right, Like you just alluded to that, they're doing their own
thing. But I don't know whatever of that thing is is what's going to
equate to us figuring out what they're gonna look like even when they come back
for next season, like we'd have to see, we'd have to see something
change up that narrative where were they can speak more to what it is that
they want to see themselves approve upon as a team. Well well, I
mean again, the fact that they have such a at least a potential for
such a high draft pack draft pick makes them extremely malleable. And I think
it's you know, if it's if it's Wemby, he projects as you're building
block. If it's Scoot, maybe projects as you're building block, and then
you move jen the ground green up to the three or something like that.
I think again, we continue to maintain that there's talent on this roster,
but are any of them the true building blocks of what you want a team
to become? And those are questions that do come with some semblance of role
definement. So where does this draft pick lan? However, let's not get
down this rabbit hole too far. But there are rumors and some that think
James Harden may want to return. I don't know about all that you like.
I don't know that that's I don't know if that's good for this team
and this especially the way it's currently constructed, but it is something that is
potentially on the horizon. Then take into account. In addition to their own
pick, they also have two other first round picks this year. They have
first round picks next year and multiple seconds next year, and then two first
rounds picks and twenty five again, so they could very easily cobble some stuff
together if they wanted to try to fast track it. But what does that
look like? And does it whoever you bring in, who do you ship
out? I don't know, you know, I think the Rockets just but
they do they need some serious, serious, serious clear role definement as eluded.
I think that was an amazing point. Yeah. So, I mean
one of the things that you know, you talk about with the with the
Houston Rockets team is the fan base themselves I think are going to be patient,
but I think they're only going to be patient for so long. We've
seen somewhat of a slippage sort of speak in what the Southwest Division UM has
afforded them. So while the Dallas Mavericks may still you know, be relevant
because you know they're they're they're hanging around in the play in and you know
now they're in six as we're recording this, I'm sure this is going to
change and flip flop. UM. The New Orleans Pelicans have taken a step
back, but a lot of it is due to you know, Dion Williess
and not being available. UM, and the San Antonio Spurs have just been
a bad basketball team. So where we thought that this division itself was going
to basically leave the Houston Rockets, you know what I'm saying, in their
in their in their spurs, in their boots and spurs, right, UM,
there's a window where the excitement of some of the players that come out
and they compete, they show some signs of playing exciting basketball. You know,
there's there's there's a there's something there, you know. But I do
also caution the idea as well too, that they gotta make the right moves
now, you know, moving forward. Um and in haste, we've seen
when the Houston Rockets don't do that, So it'll be interesting to see,
you know, how they look at this particular season. Um. And I
I'm more so curious Shaw, who is definitively going to speak to those roles
that you were talking about before. If there was somebody that you wanted to
really be quote unquote the head of the snake for this team, not necessarily
by the numbers, but just from what you've been able to see so far
this year, Who do you really think should be the top dog for this
basketball team? Yeah, I think that's it's tough for me. Most people
are gonna say Jailing Green. I think Shangoon is showing some some shops,
but I don't know enough about him, you know, his personality and understanding.
Can he be a locker room type guy and leader and somebody who galvinizes
a roster and team. It doesn't always have to be a guy who scores
the most points. You know, I think that's going to be Jailing Green,
but it can be you know, and if he's willing to take that
that that maturity step, then then awesome. I don't think will be any
of the rookies they bring in, even if it's when be Brendan Miller,
Scoot Henderson, you know, whoever they bring in. I think whoever that
is is going to be looking for somebody to lean on and just kind of
go out there and hoop, but not necessarily you know, lead by you
know, not necessarily lead in the locker room, but maybe lead more from
example. So that vocal voice maybe is a shooon type, maybe can be
jail and Green. I think Kevin Porter thinks he can do it. I
don't know that he's up to the task, but I think it's hard.
But the one thing that you touched on that's really also truth. If they
decide to make a move by virtue of all the picks they have, or
by version of just having a crap ton of money, they only have sixty
eight million dollars committed in salary. That's a crap ton of money, you
know, and they don't need to go out here and blow it, you
know, they don't. That's not what they need to do at all.
But they're well below the cap, especially after getting John Wall and Aaron Gordon
off their books, so they have a lot of options and it's just going
to be a matter of how, you know, Fatita, you know,
the owner guy, he wants to how he wants to empower the rest of
the team in the roster and the leadership to explore those options. But they
definitely have them and Texas isn't a bad place to live. But those guys
haven't necessarily proven to be I don't think they're the ones where are driving the
conversation, you know, in terms of recruitment for the NBA guys as well
too, because of the way they played so far. And I just that
those are things again, that role definement, you know, that maturity that
will get guys who want to come there. Or again, maybe you do
it by some virtue of a trade and then kind of force the force the
situation, force the hand and maybe there's a direction that way. But it's
it's going to be an interesting situation I think for the Rockets, you know,
for years to come. So I'll let you get into your eulogy for
the Houston Rockets, But for me, what I will probably say is,
this is going to be an interesting offseason for the Houston Rockets. I want
to see which of the young core guys are so far core guys, which
one of them goes through their transformation. Right, there's always one player,
whether he uses social media, he uses a contract extension, whatever, I'm
there's gonna always be one player who I think is gonna head shoulders, you
know, switch things up on people and have like a much different mentality,
mindset approach, which I think may lend themselves. Now. I don't know
if I want to go out on a limb and you know, start talking
about, you know, one of these guys like Jaylen Brown or Kenyan Martin
Junior, one of those guys can elevate themselves to say like most improved or
you know, do something you know from an individual perspective that's putting them on
the map. But I do feel like for us to for us to buy
into what we've been talking about and for people to buy into what they want
to do, one of them is going to have to do that. And
I think some one of those guys will if I had to put my money
on it, I'm gonna say, look out for Kenyan Martin Junior. I
think that he is. I think he's in a prime position to show his
athleticism and also show that he's still you know what I'm saying, a chip
off the old man, you know, shoulder. You know what I'm saying,
chip off the block right, watch for that that that grit and that
chippiness exhibited, you know what I'm saying, come next season and see how
he can establish his presence as a as a front core player with a lot
of dynamic opportunity for the Houston Rockets, So that that would be what I
would probably speak to them that well, you know what I'll I will allow
it as I say, I think I think you knew with with him having
the roots of his father, somebody who's you know, obviously done it and
understand what it means to be in a functioning locker room. You know,
maybe he can talk to Pops and say like, hey, how do I
become you know, better leader and get these guys together, and then at
the same time, you know how they respect me because I'm out there producing
on the court on a more regular basis um and not and not just dunking
on people. You know, I think he's he's definitely showed some flashes of
a guy who can be more than than that. And you know, he's
defending and trying to shoot three ball here with a little bit more consistency,
etc. I'm so much shooting thirty one percent unfortunately, but he's somebody who
I think makes a lot of sense. Again, I'm gonna go with Shangoon
only because if, if, if he can take those again, if if
he's just if he's using the joker as any type of model. Uh,
look where Denver is. And while he is not going to go out there
and become in a two times MVP, you know, the next couple of
seasons, I'm not saying that, but I think he can take strides towards,
you know, galvanizing the team and understanding that, hey, i can
get my buckets when when I need to, but I'm going to focus on
rebounding and maybe getting other guys involved, and I can run some offense and
do dribble handoffs from from the you know, from the nail and the pinch
post, etcetera, etcetera, those are things that I think can help other
guys say, you know what, let's let's rily around this guy, and
I think he has the chops and essence of potentially be able to do that.
So this rocket team is again they're they're an interesting conundrum, man Um.
I'm rooting for them, but it's gonna take a minute. It's gonna
take a minute, well said shaw Well said they they die quickly this season,
Maybe they might die a little slower come next season. Awesome show this
week, shaw Um, you know, and again man Um, as always,
you know, this is why it's such an interesting time of the year,
you know, to really examine some of these teams, to give a
little bit more attention, you know, to what took place for them.
I think speaks volumes about how excited we want to be, you know,
for them, especially in this offseason, um, you know, and whether
moves are made or guys are drafted when they come to this team. This
is what we look forward to when we have summer League and you know,
OTAs and things of that nature and stuff like that, because we want to
see if whether or not part of the things that we're saying we want to
they would like we'd like to see improving on these teams. If they start
to show that, like even before we even get to the you know,
regular season tip off, we would love to see that they're in that direction,
you know, And so that that's what I'm hoping for. When we're
talking about these guys and alluding to these teams the way that we do in
our autopsy reports. Yeah, I mean it's there's no hate here, right,
We absolutely want the best. We're trying to give you know, unbiased
analysis and understand and it's great. You know, we've got some great feedback
on our last AUTOPSICI report. Even on the YouTube, you know, great
Pistons fans was trying to chime in and saying, hey, you know he
was given you know, the butter goods because he follows the team more closely
than we do. Like we're not watching every single game. We're taking a
broad shook overview, you know, with these autopsy but it's definitely all love
and while we may not necessary the best things about your favorite team, Um,
we're hopeful. We want everybody to be successful, but as I said
before, somebody's got to lose, and unfortunately, you know, these were
some of the teams that were the first out this year, so again hopefully
that their die slow um is a little bit longer next year. And you
know we're talking about them, you know, at a lot of part of
the autopsic season. I'd like to think that, you know, they loved
us so much that they wanted to first get on the table. It's like,
we can look at it that way, right, We do such good
work with for them over the last few seasons that they have no problems.
We're being were allowing us to exhoom and examine them. They said, baseline,
take me now, okay, but come next year, do better.
You know I'm saying, so we have to come to you first once again.
Man, we'd like to thank you and yours for hopping on board with
us this week for the baseline. Kylie warren Shaw, we appreciate you,
guys, you know we do that. We'll catch up with you next time.