Keeping it Raheel
Raheel Ramzanali: Texans training camp bingo
Jul 24, 2018, 7:11 am
Bill O'Brien and unity will be a big topic. Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images
As we inch closer to players reporting for Texans training camp in West Virginia, we will be hit upside the head with tons of training camp stories from various outlets. Sure every training camp is different, but they really aren’t. That’s why I wanted to throw some bingo spaces out there for storylines that ALWAYS get covered or become a story. So grab your markers and mark off the imaginary board of Texans Training Camp stories:
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A sports radio host complains about J.J. Watt’s social media activity: Few things rile up sports radio hosts like J.J. Watt’s posting pictures on JJ Watt. It usually starts with the host saying something like, “I don’t even follow the guys, but gosh I saw this picture he posted” and it turns into. “J.J. needs to focus on returning and playing more than just two games this year”. Sure it only takes a minute to take a picture and post it on social, but J.J. HAS TO FOCUS AND STOP SPENDING SO MUCH TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Ugh, we sports radio hosts can be the worst.
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The Inevitable defense vs. offense fight: Nobody likes a fight, but gosh these training camps are so long and guys get tired of hitting each other! These fights usually happen just days before the first preseason game or in a joint practice. Soon as one happens, mark it off your board!
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Way too early cuts: Every day we will be hit with the “Here’s my way too early cuts” for training camp, but in reality those stories will be really off right up until the actual cuts are made.
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Keke Coutee and Drake: Riding the popularity of In My Feelings by Drake, get ready to hear that song everytime Keke Coutee does something good on the field. Bonus: the Keke Coutee hype train. He has a chance to be a playmaker in this offense so you know the hype train is going to be on full speed with every single thing he does in training camp.
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The offensive line caused Deshaun to get hurt: Maybe they did or maybe it was a missed assignment from a running back, but anytime the injury is brought up or the lack of talent on the O-line, get ready to hear about the injury.
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Bill O’Brien Unity: The word unity will be thrown around A LOT.
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Houston weather vs West Virginia weather: We get it, it isn’t as hot in West Virginia as it is here in Houston.
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Kiara Mia references: The Texans have a joint practice and preseason game against the 49ers so that means Jimmy Garoppolo will be the topic of conversation for a few days. Get ready to hear about his date with adult entertainer Kiara Mia.
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“I think this a Super Bowl caliber team:” If everyone stays healthy, this team can win it all.
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It was midway through the third quarter of the Oklahoma City-Houston NBA Cup semifinal matchup on Saturday night. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had just made a short jumper in the lane and, to his delight, a time-out was immediately called.
He needed it.
He retreated to midcourt, crouched down, propped himself up by his fingertips and took deep breath after deep breath. It was that sort of night. And given the way the Rockets and Thunder have defended all season long, such a game was predictable.
In the end, it was Oklahoma City 111, Houston 96 in a game where the teams combined to shoot 41%. The immediate reward for the Thunder: two days off to recover. The bigger reward: a matchup with Milwaukee on Tuesday night for the NBA Cup, with more than $300,000 per player the difference between winning and losing.
“That's what defense does for you,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, whose team has held opponents to 41% shooting or worse a league-best 11 times this season — and is 11-0 in those games. “It keeps you in games.”
The Rockets-Thunder semifinal was basketball, with elements of football, rugby, hockey and probably even some wrestling thrown in. It wasn't unusual. It's how they play: defense-first, tough, gritty, physical.
They are the two top teams in the NBA in terms of field-goal percentage defense — Oklahoma City came in at 42.7%, Houston at 43.4% — and entered the night as two of the top three in scoring defense. Orlando led entering Saturday at 103.7 per game, Oklahoma City was No. 2 at 103.8, Houston No. 3 at 105.9. (The Thunder, by holding Houston to 96, passed the Magic for the top spot on Saturday.)
Houston finished 36.5% from the field, its second-worst showing of the season. When the Rockets shoot 41% or better, they're 17-4. When they don't, they're 0-5.
“Sometimes it comes down to making shots,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Especially in the first half, we guarded well enough. ... But you put a lot of pressure on your defense when you're not making shots.”
Even though scoring across the NBA is down slightly so far this season, about a point per game behind last season's pace and two points from the pace of the 2022-23 season, it's still a golden age for offense in the league. Consider: Boston scored 51 points in a quarter earlier this season.
Saturday was not like most games. The halftime score: Rockets 42, Thunder 41. Neither team crossed the 50-point mark until Dillon Brooks' 3-pointer for Houston gave the Rockets a 51-45 lead with 8:46 left in the third quarter.
Brooks is generally considered one of the game's tougher defenders. Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the game's best scorers. They're teammates on Canada's national team, and they had some 1-on-1 moments on Saturday.
“It's fun. It makes you better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That's what this league is about, competing against the best in the world and defensively, he is that for sure. And I like to think that of myself offensively. He gives me a chance to really see where I'm at, a good test. I'd say I handled it pretty well.”
Indeed he did. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 32 points, the fifth instance this season of someone scoring that many against the Rockets. He's done it twice, and the Thunder scored 70 points in the second half to pull away.
“We knew that if we kept getting stops we would give ourselves a chance,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And we did so.”