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Video: Roger Patterson sits down with Tim Yeager at the beginning of the NBA season to talk NBA basketball in the state of Texas.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: James Harden and Luka Doncic, two of the top 4 NBA scorers this season, go head-to-head for the first time this year when the Houston Rockets (11-5) host the Dallas Mavericks (10-5) Sunday afternoon.
The Dallas Mavericks are coming to Houston riding a 4-game winning streak. Through the first month of the season, Doncic is averaging 29.9 points, 10.4 assists and 9.7 rebounds, leading the NBA in triple-doubles (7).
Many members in the National Media recently have compared the 20-year-old's game to Harden. Both are elite-scores, great at getting to the FT line and have lethal step-back threes in their arsenal.
Doncic's has seemed to constantly get himself in the record books. This past Monday night, Luka scored a 42 point triple-double in a win vs San Antonio, becoming the second-youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double that included a 40-point effort. The youngest being LeBron James.
"This guy can do anything he wants to on a basketball court," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said Monday of Doncic. "He's having one of those magical runs right now. It's a phenomenal thing to watch. It's a phenomenal thing to be a part of."
Meanwhile, Mavs big man Kristaps Porzingis after sitting out last season with an ACL injury and beginning this year with just one double-double in Dallas' first 10 games, has now come on strong in the team's past five contests, recording a double-double in four of the five games. Porzingis has also been the Mavs protector of the rim averaging 2.29 blocks a game – 4th in the NBA just in front of Rockets' Clint Capela.
The Rockets will have their hands full Sunday afternoon and need to get back in the win column after dropping their last two games. Sunday's game vs Dallas begins a three-game homestand that closes out the month of November.
Fun Fact via ESPN: Harden and Westbrook are both averaging 20-plus points per game. The last time Houston had two players averaging 20-plus points in a season was 2007-08 with Yao Ming (22.0) and Tracy McGrady (21.6).
It's a great time to be a basketball fan, both north and south of I-45.
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When the Texans decided to part ways with OC Bobby Slowik last week, some were surprised DeMeco Ryans would pull the cord so quickly.
But others have been calling for Slowik's removal for most of the season with CJ Stroud and the offense showing significant regression, and Stroud getting repeatedly beat up behind an offensive line constantly baffled by stunts and twists.
To Stroud's credit, he took his fair share of blame for the struggles on offense this season, never throwing the coaches or scheme under the bus.
Which led many people to believe Stroud wanted Slowik to return. CJ even spoke about the challenges of learning a new system and how he didn't know how quarterbacks were able to pick up a new system every couple of years, hoping he wouldn't have to do that.
However, ESPN Houston's Lance Zierlein on Monday spoke about Stroud's relationship with Slowik and if it was really as tight as it appeared to be in press conferences.
Which makes sense on many levels. Stroud had to be losing faith in the offense based on results, and Coach Ryans did not give Slowik much of an endorsement when meeting with the press last week.
There have also been rumors that ownership was frustrated with the state of the offense, after giving Slowik and members of his staff a raise after a terrific 2023 season.
Who could blame them? The offense was the main reason Houston kept getting blown off the field in almost all of their primetime games. The cherry on top had to be the offense getting shutout on Christmas against the Ravens with all the world watching on Netflix.
While we believe Stroud had to give his blessing to move on from Slowik, at the end of the day the decision was DeMeco's. As a defensive coach, watching his offense fail to correct the same mistakes all season long had to drive him nuts.
Who will be the next OC?
KPRC2's Aaron Wilson reported some possible candidates which include Rams passing game coordinator/ tight ends coach Nick Caley, Ohio State OC Chip Kelly, Vikings QB coach Josh McCown, and the Texans current QB coach Jerrod Johnson. Houston also interviewed Syracuse OC Jeff Nixon on Monday.
Personally, I'd rather the team bring in a coordinator with experience. But we'll see which way DeMeco leans soon enough. Hopefully he already had someone in mind before letting Slowik go.
Be sure to watch the video above as we examine what ultimately got Slowik fired, the top OC candidates, and how players and coaches view the opportunities and challenges in Houston.
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