Speaker 1: Let un O one on Sports Talk seven ninety our
weekly visit right now with a head basketball coach. If
your Houston Rockets, who fell last night to the Oklahoma
City Thunder, and we'll talk about that and tonight's matchup
with the Minnesota Timberwolves. It is a late start. If
you were at the game last night, thank you for
being there. At six thirty tonight you get a chance
to relax a little bit and get a little bit
there a little bit later. You may doka with us
here on the show and Ros could you pot him
up for me?
Speaker 2: Here?
Speaker 1: My phone system is down, so let's talk to coach
right now. Uh Emy, I'll tell you this. The first
three quarters weren't I mean the easiest thing to watch,
but your guys kind of hung around. Did you was
there a sense in your mind to say, look, let's
put together one good scoring quarter, we can win this
bad boy. Instead, unfortunately with the other direction.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're ruined me of Vegas a little bit. Last
year against them, we defended at a high level. Gild
As Alexander was kind of held in check. J Williams
only had six points, but we couldn't make enough shots
to really extend that lead and take advantage knowing that
they'll get going eventually. And to your point, it was like, Okay,
seventy seven to seventy five on the last quarter, that's
put one together. And we went on a major drought
and they up their physicality.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know that your your squads do not shoot
well from three, obviously, and you're trying to find an
answer for that. But I will give credit, and I
hate giving credit because it's just what I don't want
to do. But they intercept passing lanes. They're ferocious there,
even though they've been a little more human the last
couple of months. Oklahoma City can make life miserable for
teams defensively, can they not.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're one of best in the league and pretty
unique at what they do as far as they can play,
getting steals, turnovers, deflections and all those things. And so
you have to be disciplined and get off the ball,
make the simple reads. But at the same time, you
have to knock down those shots. And we've been in
a little bit of a tough stretch right now where
these games will look a lot different if we make
some shots, obviously, but still still garden at a high
enough level stests. Stay confident, you know, trust the trust
the work you put in all year, and that the
worm will eventually turn, you know.
Speaker 1: And I think Kevin Durant shared your exact centemon that.
But so someone says, coach, hey, good morning, how arey?
Let me buy you a cup of coffee and can
you guys make some shotsy? How does does it come
right down to that? I mean, no back, the ball
has to go through the hoop. But is it spacing?
Is it shot selection? Is it timing? Tell me where
a team that is collectively in a shooting self, especially
from three, try to shake itself when four or five
guys are kind of struggling at the same time, Hey.
Speaker 2: You have to do other things to interject yourself into
the game. The shots that are there at high quality,
looks that we've gone all year and been one of
the most efficient shooting teams. You have to continue to
take those. And it always happens throughout the year. You'll
get a slump or two and it snowballs into the
entire team. But at the same time, still take those
same shots, but do other things to get yourself going.
Get get get in the passing lane, guard some get
some transition offense, offensive rebounds, things like that, does the
ball go through and not just be relying on jump shots.
Speaker 1: ROCKETEC coach imy Adoka was here on a Sports Talk
seven to ninety and what is it like you for
you as a coach when it's been a bit of
a bad run like this, as far as the self
evaluation process of you and your coaching staff balancing saying hey, yeah,
this is going to turn it's okay, or we have
to make some sort of changes or tinker with some things.
Speaker 2: So it's a little bit of both understanding as long
as we've been around and then some players you see
it happen once or twice a year. Like I said,
it sucks when it's the whole team and you just
need one or two guys to kind of step out,
step up and make those shots. But at the same time,
you have to figure out other things and not just
say okay, the jump shots will fall eventually, go to
different actions, get other guys involved, and then tweak the
lineups if you have to to inject some energy, and
I think JD did that in the Chicago game taking
a look at some other guys and how we can
help them. As well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's who I was going to bring up next,
talking about tinkering and some changing. What led to the
decision with some more minutes for JD. Davison and what
have you seen from him that you like and that
you would like to improve?
Speaker 2: The injuries, I mean, Dorian being in out a little
bit sorry going down, it's the opportunity to get some
other have some looks. You know, he's one of our
more natural point guards and guys that facilitate the offense
and get us into stuff, and so knowing what we
have with him there, it's just a chance to get
him a look with some guys being down right now,
and that was really what led into that. But had
a really good game Againt Chicago, I think. Okay, see,
he made it tough on everybody last night from a
shooting standpoint, nobody had an average or above average game.
But just get a look at him over these next
few games and seeing what he brings the table. He's
done it all through preseason and very comfortable putting him in.
Speaker 1: You unfortunately got a tea last night the A J.
Mitchell backcourt. Did you get obviously did not get a
satisfactory explanation did those referees even by the looking at
the screen at all, or they like, I don't want
to look at it.
Speaker 2: No, they never look up there. They they don't want
to see if they're right or wrong by looking up there.
But it's just, you know, a culmination of some things.
So that one stood out that nobody's watching the ball.
They all tell me it's not my call, not my look,
and so okay, that's fine. But I think more so
a culmination of a few different things.
Speaker 1: And straight on my part, well, I understand that for sure,
that's the thing. If I was refereeing, I goofed it up.
I would let you have about a minute and a
half and then and then we go on from there.
But unfortunately that was not the case.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: Tell me about Steven Adams, A huge rebounding night for you. You've not, uh,
you stayed away from back to backs on him. We've
got one here tonight, So are you ready to announce
whether he can go to night? He can take tonight
on off? I mean, you've got a bunch of games
come up even after tonight's game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he'll he'll be out tonight, Dorian will be available
and I'm hoping to have Harry bag based on how
he feels after going through a workout today. And so
you know, Minnesota is another team with some big bodies,
and you know Steven is great against everybody, and so
we'll be conscious with him as we have been to
keep to get him right throughout the season and have
other guys available with with Randall and Nasriz and it's
good to have some smaller bodies to put on those
stretch stretch fives.
Speaker 1: I know he wants to play. I know you want
him to play, but it's it's you got to follow
the rule book, don't you When it comes to Stephen
to make sure he's ready for you come posts and.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think he's night and day from last year.
I mean last year he can go more than five
minutes to start the season and now he can run
longer stretches and play up to twenty five thirty. And
so we're just, like I said, being smart about the season,
getting other guy's looks. That's why you got Clint Capella
and all the guys that we brought in and get
him to the and go healthy and then a good rhythm.
Speaker 1: I mentioned Katie a little bit ago, and he gave
a good retrospect. What does he see through this? And
obviously don't get talk to him much. We get to
talk to you, but how is he pacing this, because look,
he has been through the highs and lows of an
NBA season multiple times over and this has not been
a great January. How does he see things? And have
you asked him or is he just doing on his
own to kind of keep the guys saying, look, this
is January. Nobody wins championships then, But as you know,
as things will be super competitive in the West like
they were last year, that every game especially it feels
like after the turn of the calendar seems to mean
just a little bit more.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thing playing as long as he has he has
a great perspective on that. But at the same time,
the know us are happier, satisfied, and he's at the
top of the list as far as that and so
understanding where we want to get to. I've been take
a little bit of time with you know, different personnel
and him being inserted. But at the same time, the
standard is the standard, and we want to play up
to that and not play down to level our competition
or up to level competition. We want to be consistent
across the board, and as we know, it all helps
to make shots, no doubt about that. But we can
get guys going himself. He holds himself to a high standard,
and nobody's happen when we're losing, regardless of the time
of year.
Speaker 1: And another guy that holds himself to a high standards, Jabbari,
A couple of nice back to back games from three
from him? Is that a pull aside of conversation, say, Hi,
keep it going, Let's change a couple of things up,
because he was his hard as harsh as critic after
those games earlier in the months.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you're getting right over the look. There's
nothing more you can ask than that. But like I said,
there's not just being reliant on jump shots. You want
to do the other things. Get to his mid range game,
which he had been missing some of those. I think
him and Kevin missed a good amount of good mid
mid range shots last night. But he's one of our
best offensive rebounders, a versatile offensive player that can do
multiple different things, and so it's not just hitting on
the perimeter. Sometimes that happens when when Portland goes zone
or something like that, but doing other things to get
yourself in the game, gets the free throw line and all,
and get some layups and just to see the ball
go through and so great that he had to stretch
against Chicago and he had some carryover lately.
Speaker 1: Last thing you mentioned zone, when teams struggle from three,
teams will do that. We saw quite a bit of
that with like OKC last night. If the three ain't falling.
How is the most effective way is basketball one on
one to break that zone? Is it finding those guys
in the baseline for those mid range's a little bit
of both.
Speaker 2: I think we have two really good players that we
can flash in the middle with with Kevin and Alprin.
Kevin is very much automatic that layup in the mid
range shot, but Alprin is such a good playmaker and
finisher around the basket if you get them in the middle.
But at the same time, you don't want to just
rely on those guys going on on one there. You
have to get some ball, some ball movement and penetration,
not just pass the ball around. A lot of teams
get stagnifican zone, and as long as you penetrate and
locate usually get a really good wide open shot.
Speaker 1: Thank you for the time. Coach. We'll talk to you
tonight in best of luck against the Wolves.
Speaker 2: Thank you.