The Palillog
Despite nice win over Lakers, no end in sight for Rockets title drought
Feb 7, 2020, 6:16 am
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General Manager Daryl Morey's preseason assertion that the Rockets were the favorites in the Western Conference was dubious when he said it, and in hindsight, ridiculous. The Rockets confirmed as much with the trade that shipped Clint Capela and a first round draft pick to Atlanta with the Rockets netting Robert Covington and the already ex-Rocket Jordan Bell. The Lakers and Clippers are not shaking in their sneakers, despite Russell Westbrook's brilliance leading the Rockets to a doozy of a win over the Lakers in L.A. Thursday night.
The Rockets had, and have, a good team, but not a great one, and certainly not one to take seriously as an NBA title contender. They weren't going to win the West with what they had, so they roll the dice with super small ball, which in all likelihood won't be good enough to do the job either. They'll continue to jack up three point shots like no other team, too bad they've not acquired one close to elite three point shooter. The Rockets were a bad rebounding team with Capela's nearly 14 boards per game. It should be a worse rebounding team without him. The Rockets now have zero legit shot blocking or rim production. Their mediocre defense likely remains, mediocre.
It's also obvious that Morey had marching orders from owner Tilman Fertitta to dump some salary going forward and avoid the luxury tax this season. No one likes to pay taxes they can avoid. And remember, Morey's moral but for business moronic China tweet is costing Fertitta millions of dollars.Capela has more than 50 million guaranteed dollars guaranteed left on his contract after this season. Covington has about 25 million. Nene and Gerald Green outgoing, simply salary dumps.
Two seasons in a row the Rockets have passed on using their mid-level exception. Two seasons in a row the Rockets have had a below average bench. In the coming weeks they will shop the buyout market from which last year they added Kenneth Faried and Iman Shumpert. Yippee.
This June will mark the 25 year anniversary of the Rockets having last played in the NBA Finals. Who next plays for their sport's championship first: the Rockets or the Texans?
Seems a good time to note the Astros open spring training next week.
Another body
In what amounts to a meaningless swap the Rockets traded Jordan Bell to Memphis for Bruno Caboclo, who has shown basically nothing to suggest he's an NBA player. When the Toronto Raptors drafted Caboclo in the first round ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla had the great line "he's two years away from being two years away." Fraschilla said that over five and a half years ago.
XFL, part deaux
The second version of the XFL launches Saturday, including the Houston Roughnecks playing the Los Angeles Wildcats. An eight team, 10 game late winter-early spring football league can be of only limited interest, but the Roughnecks will not arrogantly and/or absurdly have a closed roof for any of their home games. They'll play at UH's stadium. The XFL is trying some interesting rules. Among them, offenses can throw two forward passes on the same play provided both passes are made behind the line of scrimmage. There will be no kicks for points after touchdowns. The scoring team can go for one point from the two yard line, two points from the five yard line, or three points from the ten yard line.
Chiefs set the standard
So the Texans had a 24-nothing lead over the eventual Super Bowl Champions. Hail to the Chiefs for snapping Kansas City's 50 year drought between Super Bowl victories. Next season, Houston will probably make it 0 for 50 in pursuit of winning a Super Bowl. Probably 0 for 50 in getting to a Super Bowl. The Oilers were 0 for 31. The Texans are 0 for 18.And counting. Only three other existing franchises have failed to reach a Super Bowl: the Browns, Lions, and Jaguars.
Or just maybe next season, the Texans produce a little football miracle. Hey, the 49ers went from 4-12 last season to the Big Game the just concluded season. For your planning purposes, Super Bowl LV will be played in Tampa.
Watt vs. The Emperor
Which is funnier: J.J. Watt's Saturday Night Live host performance, or the idea of Bill O'Brien coaching a Super Bowl winner? J.J. was okay in the comedy realm. O'Brien delivering a Super Bowl seems more the science fiction realm. However, keep in mind It took Andy Reid 21 seasons as a head coach to finally clutch a Lombardi Trophy. Bill O'Brien has 14 seasons left to beat that! Of course, Emperor O for eternity is more likely.
Buzzer beaters
1. Maybe the Roughnecks win the XFL championship this spring! 2. Good in town hoops doubleheader Sunday: UH-Wichita St at 2, Rockets-Jazz at 6. 3. Worst tasting vegetables: Bronze-kale Silver-peas Gold-lima beans
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Texans HC DeMeco Ryans reveals what he values most at scouting combine
Feb 28, 2025, 3:51 pm
Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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