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How the Rockets draft just hits different for Houston sports fans
Jun 22, 2023, 4:17 pm
The Rockets have the 4th pick in the NBA Draft. Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images.
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When the NFL Draft came around last April, Houston was lit up with Texans talk: who will we take with the No. 2 pick and, surprise surprise, the No. 3 pick?
Texans fans were elated, actually more relieved, when Houston selected quarterback C.J. Stroud from Ohio State and delighted when they landed edge rusher Will Anderson from Alabama.
Interest ran high because football fans in Houston were familiar with the league’s top choices. We had seen No. 1 pick Bryce Young, the one who got away, play nearly every week for two years at Alabama. We watched Stroud’s heroic effort in the college semifinal game against Georgia. We knew all about Anderson’s ability to wreck an offense at Alabama.
The first round of the NFL draft involves superstar college players from major conferences whose games are on TV every Saturday. We know these players and we want them on our team.
The NBA Draft is different. Tonight league commissioner Adam Silver will call out names that fans, while they may recognize them from pre-draft publicity and predictions, may never have seen in action on TV or in person.
With the NFL, fans can make up their own draft boards based on what they’ve seen personally. With the NBA, fans have to rely on NBA scouts, executives, and analysts.
You know these scouts, executives and analysts, they’re the same geniuses who in recent years, after spending millions on research, recommended taking the following “guaranteed superstars” with the No. 1 overall pick: Markelle Fultz, Ben Simmons, Anthony Bennett, Greg Oden, Andrea Barnani, and Kwame Brown. Major flops all.
The Rockets are rumored to be pursuing free agent Fred VanVleet to lend proven veteran leadership to their young squad. VanVleet wasn’t even drafted in 2016. So there.
The bigger problems daunting fans’ interest in the NBA Draft in recent years are the emergence of international players and the developmental G League. Most fans do not watch G League games and can’t watch international leagues.
If the NBA is a star-driven league, it’s a fair argument that international ball has produced as many megastar talents as U.S. colleges. The last five Most Valuable Players were either born outside the U.S. or played on international teams before joining the NBA: Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic (twice) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (twice).
Four of the five 2023 All-NBA First Team members were born outside the U.S.: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Now for tonight’s draft:
Victor Wembanyama is the most talked-about, can’t-miss, sure-fire No. 1 pick since Zion Williamson in 2019. Wembanyama, we’re told, will change the way NBA basketball is played. He instantly makes the Spurs must-see TV. He’s 7 ft. 4 and can shoot threes, run the floor and block shots.
That’s a big “we’re told.” Like most NBA followers, I have never seen Wembanyama play a complete game. He played for the Metropolitans 92 team in the LNB Pro A tier of the French basketball league. Big fan?
All most NBA followers have seen of Wembanyama are highlights from France. Yes, he looks dominant and unstoppable. He’s also playing against opponents who would not make an NBA team.
He also looks skinny and young, which he is. Wembanyama is 19 years old. Williamson was only 18 when he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2019. With all the talent in the world, Williamson has been a major disappointment due mainly to injuries and, some accuse a hearty appetite and lack of professionalism. Williamson doesn’t look skinny. He’s missed about 65-percent of Pelicans games since he entered the NBA. With a long-term contract worth about $200 million, Williamson is an overpaid, overweight, part-time member of the Pelicans active roster. When Charles Barkley calls you fat, it’s time to give Jenny Craig a call.
The NBA Draft will start at 7 p.m. on ABC and ESPN with the San Antonio Spurs on the board. At 7 p.m. and one nanosecond. Charlotte comes next and is projected to take either Scoot Henderson of the G League Ignite or Brandon Miller from Alabama. Portland will pick third.
Then it’s Houston’s turn. Most experts have the Rockets selecting Amen Thompson from Overtime Elite. We can only hope that the Rockets war room has done its due diligence on Thompson and he becomes a productive player for Houston. Most fans have never seen Thompson play. Would you recognize Amen Thompson in a supermarket? Did you know what position he played before his name popped up on the Rockets wish list? (He’s a 6 ft. 7 guard reportedly with a high basketball IQ.)
But there is reason to get excited. The last three years have presented Houston a No. 2 (Jalen Green), No. 3 (Jabari Smith Jr.) and No. 4 (tonight), along with No. 17 in 2022 (Tari Eason). The Rockets also have the No. 20 pick tonight.
That’s one way, probably the best way, to build a successful team, to draft wisely. And that’s where hope enters the game.
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How Astros advanced metrics tell puzzling story about Houston's start
Apr 17, 2025, 5:21 pm
Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.
The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. He has often looked befuddled in the batter's box. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.
All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.
As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.
Familiar faces return
This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.
Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me 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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