THE PALLILOG
Charlie Pallilo: Rockets on record pace, NFL playoffs and more
Jan 12, 2018, 8:25 am
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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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.