Photo courtesy of Houston Roughnecks
Your Houston Roughnecks take on the St. Louis Battlehawks this Sunday at 5pm at TDECU Stadium.
A few things to expect from St. Louis this week.
- QB Talk. They don't have a PJ Walker but the Battlehawks DO have Jordan Ta'amu. The former Ole Miss QB isn't just going to throw the ball around. He's a runner… And pretty good at it. He also avoided throwing any interceptions in his XFL appearance last weekend.
- RUN. Speaking of running, this team played more conservative in their game against Dallas. Unlike most of the teams in this league, the Battlehawks offense avoided airing the ball out too much. Instead, they stuck to the run game... SUCCESSFULLY. They racked up the most rushing yards in the leagues' debut. Look to see a few different backs attack the ground.
- DEFENSE. The secondary in particular stood out last week. DB Darius Hilary and Safety Dexter McCoil combined for 13 tackles and 4 assists. LB Terence Garvin caught fans attention with his 6 tackles and 2 assists.
- PENALTIES. No this is the Tampa Bay Bucs BUT St. Louis did rack up their fair share of penalties in game one. Most were due to false starts. (One would assume this was a key issue to work on in practice this week but it's worth noting.)
Yesterday I spoke with Roughnecks Offensive Coordinator, Chris Miller. Here's what he had to say about last week's game.
"PJ Walker was obviously the hot topic of the week, was the transition to this offense as easy as PJ made it look?"
Chris Miller: "Well, I think PJ obviously did a nice job. He played very well in the game, managed it well. Got out and made some plays with his legs outside of the pocket. I think you have to give June Jones a lot of credit with the amount of reps we've put in since early December. In training camp we probably worked more than most, I know we had a few two a day sessions. In terms of the install and what June put in, what PJ's been able to grasp. A lot of its due to how many reps he's got. We've been able to hit the ground running."
"The XFL has this new offense the fans are really into. The DC Defenders showed out with their new trick plays last week. Do we have any big surprises in the playbook?"
Chris Miller: "Well we have a few wrinkles hidden up our sleeve, but if I told ya I'd have to kill ya. I can't do that... I think that's a move line. I'm just kidding but we've been reppin' a few things and working. We have some in our repertoire, we'll see if we will need to pull them out and you'll be one of the first to know."
"I noticed we're going for a lot of 2pt conversions, is there a thought process behind the PATs? Is it all situational?"
Chris Miller: "Well I think right now we're all learning about it. It's kind of going by feel right now. If you score first, you're thinking let's go for one and be up a conventional 7-0, but LA scored first and I think they missed their conversion or they may have gone for 1 so then you try to either match them or maybe go up 8 to 7. So my theory is, if you go for 4… if you go for two 2 point plays form the 5 and you hit them, that's 4 points. And if you go for four 1 point plays from the 2 and you only get two out of four then you're only getting 2 points for that. So it's kind of mathematical theories but I think as the game goes along, it's more situational how many points you want to be up at that time. There's no exact science to it so I think right now it's kind of new and we have to feel it out. It's interesting."
"How much improvement do you expect to see from your team and league wide in game 2?"
Chris Miller: "We've all got one week under our belt, one game. I think there was a lot of good football put on from what I watched. At the end of the day, it was new and there was a lot of uncertainty as to what we would see and what we would put out there. I think you just trust in your training and then it becomes football. STL is a very good team. They have a big defense, they're a physical bunch. It's a good group. I think it'll be a good challenge for us but maybe some of the areas we were a little bit rough in or didn't execute well we hope to see improvement in those areas."
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
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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