THE PALLILOG

Charlie Pallilo: Rockets on record pace, NFL playoffs and more

Charlie Pallilo: Rockets on record pace, NFL playoffs and more
Clint Capela and the Rockets are tearing it up. Houston Rockets/Facebook

The Rockets hit the court in Phoenix Friday night with a chance to be a 30-win team at the midpoint of their regular season schedule. Stout. In what does not require advanced calculus, that would have the Rockets on pace for a 60-22 record. For all the success the organization has had, no Rocket team has ever won 60 games in a season. That may seem a bit surprising considering the majority of NBA clubs have put up at least one 60 win campaign. The Rocket franchise standard has stood at the 58 wins the 1993-’94 team posted before going on to win the first of the two championships of the Clutch City Era. At Phoenix Friday night then at the Clippers Monday night, not particularly interesting. The Rockets’ two home games next week, verrrrrrry interesting. The vastly improved Timberwolves visit Toyota Center Thursday, then the Warriors are here Saturday to decide the Rockets-Champs season series.

Crunch time in the NFL

The NFL quarterfinals go down this weekend. If limited to watching just one of the four games, the obvious pick of at least a plurality around here would be Saints at Vikings. We have a bunch of Who Dat fans in the area and a solid number of Case Keenum supporters. In the Monday Night Football season opener, Sam Bradford played sensationally and the Vikings rolled the Saints in Minnesota. Alas, Bradford suffered the latest knee injury of his pro career plagued by them and he played in only one other game. One man’s misfortune is another opportunity and oh how Keenum has maximized that opportunity. Just a year ago Keenum was terrible as a Ram, now as a free agent-to-be he’s looking at probably $30 million plus guaranteed. With a strong postseason how could the Vikings let him go? Jacksonville and Arizona would seem two logical suiters; the Cardinals even more so if they hire Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur as their head coach.

On paper the NFC games are both more competitive than their AFC counterparts. The Falcons turned in the most impressive performance of Wild Card weekend in taking down the Rams. Now the only NFC team to make both last season’s and this season’s playoffs tries to take out the NFC top seed in Philadelphia. The Eagles’ offense was downright post-Deshaun Watson Texan-esque (i.e. atrocious) the last couple of weeks of the regular season. Nick Foles is no Carson Wentz. So, for the first time in the 28 years of the 12 team NFL playoff format, a conference sixth seed is favored at the number one seed.

In the AFC even the most devoted Titans’ fans can’t be thinking they have a good shot to stun the Patriots in New England. hence the 13 ½ point spread in that game. In October the Steelers played host to the Jaguars. Pittsburgh was favored by 7 and lost 30-9. Blake Bortles passed for only 95 yards in the game, Ben Roethlisberger threw five interceptions. Which one of those performances seems more repeatable? In the rematch the Steelers are favored by 7 ½. Major difference from October: Sunday’s high temperature forecast for Pittsburgh…18 degrees.

What is he thinking?

All should wish Kyle Allen good luck, but his decision this week to skip his last season of college eligibility to enter the NFL Draft sure seems odd on the surface. After being one of the multiple quarterbacks to transfer out of Kevin Sumlin’s Texas A&M program, Allen sat out 2016 and went into 2017 as UH’s starting QB. One week after completing 31 out of 33 passes in a thrashing of helpless Rice in the second game of the season, Allen threw two interceptions in a loss to Texas Tech. Major Applewhite switched QBs, and Allen basically was never seen again. Not exactly the stuff to have the pros drooling over drafting him. Allen graduated in December, so he’s well positioned to get on with life if the NFL doesn’t work out for him. It would seem that taking advantage of the graduate transfer rule and going to play somewhere in 2018 would have made sense, but hey, it was his choice to make. Perhaps Allen could sign with the Toronto Argonauts and spark a hot Ontario rivalry of ex-Aggie QBs if the Artist Formerly Known as Johnny Football winds up signing with the Hamilton Tiger Cats. Did you know that former Ags Head Coach Mike Sherman signed on last month as Head Coach of the Montreal Alouettes. Gig ‘Em, Eh?

Ice, ice baby

A hockey note, promise I’ll be quick. The expansion Vegas Golden Knights have the best record in the Western Conference. I don’t watch the NHL much in the regular season (the playoffs are the best postseason in pro sports), but that is amazing.

Buzzer beaters

1. It’s Mark Davis’s money, but Jon Gruden’s contract is absurd.    2. If I’m Jalen Hurts, think I’m leaning toward transferring.  3. Best bagels: Bronze-cinnamon raisin  Silver-garlic  Gold-everything

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Get your popcorn ready! Composite image by Brandon Strange.

Filed the column early this week with Astros’ baseball that counts arriving Thursday! Ideally that arrival occurs with Minute Maid Park’s roof open under sunny skies with temperature in the mid-70s and only moderate humidity (that’s the forecast).

As they ready for their season-opening four game series, the Astros and Yankees enter 2024 with streaks on the line. The Astros take aim at an eighth consecutive American League Championship Series appearance while obviously aiming ultimately higher than that. The Yankees are a good bet to fail to make the World Series for the 15th consecutive season, which would be a new Yankees’ record! At its origin in 1903 the franchise was known as the New York Highlanders. The name became the Yankees in 1913, with the first franchise World Series appearance coming in 1921. So that was 18 years of play without winning a pennant. Maybe that gives the Yanks something to shoot for in 2027.

On the more immediate horizon, the Astros and Yankees both start the season with question marks throughout their starting rotations. It’s just that the Astros do so coming off their seventh straight ALCS appearance while the Yankees are coming off having missed the postseason entirely for the first time in seven years. Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole can spend time Thursday chit-chatting about their days as Astro teammates because they won’t be pitching against one another. Cole’s absence hurts the Yankees more than Verlander’s should the Astros. Cole was the unanimously voted AL Cy Young Award winner last season, and at eight years younger than Verlander the workload he was expected to carry is greater. Cole is gone for at least the first two months of the season, the Astros would be pleased if Verlander misses less than one month.

Whoever does the pitching, the guy on the mound for the Astros has the benefit of a clearly better lineup supporting him. The Yankees could have the best two-man combo in the game with Aaron Judge batting second ahead of offseason acquisition Juan Soto. Two men do not a Murderers’ Row make. Gleyber Torres is the only other guy in the Yankees’ projected regular batting order who was better than mediocre last season, several guys were lousy. The Astros have six guys in their lineup (Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, Chas McCormick, and Yainer Diaz) who were better in the batter’s box than was Torres last season. The Yanks have hopes for a healthy and huge bounce back season from the brittle and 34-years-old Giancarlo Stanton. Good luck with that.

Man with a plan

We have to see how things play out over the season of course, but it is exciting to see new manager Joe Espada’s progressive outlook on a number of things. Acknowledging that Astros’ baserunning has too often been deficient, Espada made improving it a spring training priority. The same with Astros’ pitchers doing a better job of holding opposing base runners at first with base stealing having occurred with the highest success rate in MLB history last season. Tweaking the lineup to bat Alvarez second behind Altuve is a strong choice. Having your two best offensive forces come to the plate most frequently is inherently smart.

Opting to bat Tucker third ahead of Bregman rather than the other way around also seems wise business. Let’s offer one specific circumstance. An opposing pitcher manages to retire both Altuve and Alvarez. Tucker walking or singling is much more capable of stealing second base and then scoring on a Bregman single than the inverse. Or scoring from first on a ball hit to the corner or a shallow gap. I suggest in a similar vein that is why the much older and much slower Jose Abreu should bat lower in the lineup than Chas McCormick and Yainer Diaz. Though Espada giving Abreu veteran deference to get off to a better season than Abreu’s largely lousy 2023 is ok. To a point.

Eye on the prize

The ceiling for the 2024 Astros is clear. Winning a third World Series in eight years is viably in play. The floor is high. Barring an utter collapse of the starting rotation and/or a calamitous toll of injuries within the offensive core there is no way this is only a .500-ish ballclub. That does not mean the Astros are a surefire postseason team. The Rangers may again have a better offense. The Mariners definitely begin the season with a better starting rotation. In the end, other than when it impacts team decision-making, prognostication doesn’t matter. But these two words definitely matter: PLAY BALL!

To welcome the new season we’ll do a live YouTube Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast about 30 minutes after the final out is recorded in Thursday’s opener.

Our second season of Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast is underway. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics weekly. On our regular schedule the first post goes up Monday afternoon. You can get the video version (first part released Monday, second part Tuesday, sometimes a third part Wednesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available at initial release Monday via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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