The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Roll Rockets | Bucks tame Hawks | Schroder to the Warriors
Sun, 15 Dec 2024
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder dominate the Houston Rockets in Las Vegas at the NBA Cup, the Bucks and Giannis take down the Hawks and Dennis Schroder is traded to the Warriors. Dave DuFour, Zena Keita and Es Baraheni are on location to discuss all this and more. Host: Dave DuFourWith: Es Baraheni and Zena KeitaExecutive Producer: Andrew Schlecht Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What happened in the Rockets vs. Thunder game?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 15th, 2024. Coming up, we are at the NBA Cup, so we're going to talk about it. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, S. Good morning, Zena. Good night because it is 10 p.m. and we're sitting on the court. We just finished up Rockets Thunder. Our finals is set and we're going to get to the games in a minute.
Chapter 2: How did the crowd react during the NBA Cup?
But guys, I really I want to talk about the vibe here. I wasn't here last year. Our producer and co-host Andrew Schlecht was here, and he told me a lot about how it felt in the arena. It was weird, no fans for the teams, but how did you guys feel about this year? I know that some people were saying it was quiet on TV, but in here, it also was quiet.
yeah the reaction on social media definitely mirrored what we saw in person too because it was quiet some people talked about how it was like you mentioned a high school match right it felt like an AAU game sometimes it did give off summer league vibes which is fitting because we're in Vegas and that's the home of the summer league I think
It got better towards the end of that Rockets-Thunder game, and maybe we've kind of overcorrected here on the bad vibes, the quietness. It was actually pretty good. I thought the vibes were what you would expect for a game, by the way, that they had to organize in 48 hours. No one had any, yeah.
And none of these games have a close fan base either. It's not like an LA where it's an hour away. But then there's, you know, the fact that the first game started at 1.30. Yes. And if you know Vegas, most things don't get started until 12 a.m. Most of the people in here weren't planning to be awake. Correct. Exactly.
So I think that there was something to be said about the game, the first game being so early. And then I agree. By the time that you got to the 5.30 game, vibes were up a little bit. Things were a little bit louder. And I don't know much about acoustics. Maybe people listening to us do. But this is a hockey arena. It's not meant for basketball.
And from what I know about the crossover arenas, like the LA Kings, it's a different vibe. And even just the way they go up, the chairs go up in this arena, I feel like there's something to be said about it just being... A little bit quieter, maybe.
What's funny is you saying that has me right here spinning my head around, which I'm sure is great to watch on video. But there are actually acoustic treatments that are oddly shaped. So there's something going on. I don't know. But it also was quiet. The fans, you know, they're not fans necessarily of these teams. Although I did see a lot of Hawks gear and Bucks gear.
The chants were going, though. I don't want to discount the fact. We did get an OKC chant. We got OKC chants. We got some Hawks chants. There definitely was vibes. But if anything, you saw and heard fans going with the vibes of the game. I'm not here necessarily to cheer for a particular team, but I appreciate what's going on.
So there was a lot of oohs and aahs and cheers and things of that nature.
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Chapter 3: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Rockets?
That's the treble.
That would be amazing.
No, no, no, no, no. Like most wins. Most wins. Most wins, excuse me, yes. The NBA treble. And it's funny because the thing I saw tonight that particularly sold me on this idea had nothing to do with basketball, and S just mentioned it. It was that Case and Wallace – Alperin Changoon scuffle. Nice. Towards the end of the game in the fourth quarter.
Number one, shout out to NBA security because they broke record time. It was so quick. Getting out to the court. That was impressive to see in real time. But after the scuffle, OKC, Shea Gildas Alexander gets his four.
under his arms they go as a pod and they wait for the announcement of whatever it is double tech is what it turned out to be and you see them point like okay we're going this way move on to the next play right as a unit i in that moment as i saw the five of them all together huddled up laughing enjoying each other i immediately looked to see what the rockets were doing
Fred Van Vliet and I'm not sure who else, someone else, they were still arguing with the refs. Two of them were still arguing with the refs. Alper and Shangoon was down the court. There was complete discord between the five of them versus OKC. In my opinion, when it comes to...
figuring out as a team, how can you beat a team four straight or four out of seven times to win a playoff series and win the NBA finals. It's about who can overcome those moments together. Yeah.
Do you disagree with that? No, I actually love that. You know, this team we've talked all year about how young they are. And that's one of the things that we hold up as a detraction, right? Like they're not, it's not that they're not good enough. It's not that the roster isn't flexible enough. It's not that they haven't done the things. It's just, they're young. They have to prove it.
They haven't been there yet.
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Chapter 4: How did Giannis perform against the Hawks?
Chapter 5: What is the significance of the Thunder's team dynamics?
Oh, damn. They did lose. They lost. They did lose the game. They lost. Not that opening. That's crazy.
Chapter 6: What impact does youth have on the Thunder's performance?
They lost. You know, they did a great job in the first half. Yes. They held the Thunder to 41 points. Shea was 3 of 12. I mean, they really did. They were disruptive defensively. Men Thompson had a fantastic half of basketball. The issue is. As always, the offense just leaves them, especially in crunch time. This is another game where it's who's the guy. The veterans can't step up.
Shingun is not able to get it done yet. Jalen Green's not the guy. I mean, are we just going to... Going to be a broken record all year?
No, it is right. And I think that's why people bring them up in these Jimmy Butler conversations, the star conversations, because that's what they're missing. It's the closer that can finish off these games for them. Their defense does such a great job for 36 minutes. We need someone to close out games for that last 12. Jalen Green hasn't been able to do it so far.
Him and Fred VanVleet combined to shoot 8 of 30 tonight. And I think part of it is they rely on Fred so much when it comes to the pull-up shooting that if he's not hitting his shots, it's sparse.
Well, we said this the other day. Too many of their possessions wind up with Fred VanVleet with the ball with three seconds left, taking a very tightly contested, usually no dribble pull-up. I mean, we see him airball these.
This is what's going to hurt them in the playoffs ultimately. They're a really special defensive team, Amand Thompson you mentioned, but it's the offense.
Yeah, and I believe they're in the bottom third of the league in pull-ups, and it's like if that's your offensive game to end a shot clock, to end a quarter, to end a game, you're not statistically set up to do that well. But what's interesting about the Rockets is that the best thing about them is what's actually hurting them in the end when it comes to this offense. You look at their bench.
You got Cam Whitmore just sitting there. You got Reed Shepard just sitting there. But guess what? They cannot play because they can't play defense. And Ime Udoka, which I respect, will not compromise his defense just because you can score the ball. True.
But imagine if you had a Cam Whitmore in the game or a Reed, anyone that could go up strong in the middle, Reed Shepard that could put the ball up, I mean –
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Chapter 7: What challenges are the Rockets facing this season?
That also, like, they have the depth to do a consolidation trade eventually. I don't know if that's necessarily Jimmy. Yes, they do. Maybe it is. Maybe they end up going for it. I'm not necessarily sold on that.
Their asset collection is built to go out and get a guy.
Get someone.
Whether it's a guy who is Jimmy Butler, who's not quite going to be the guy. He's 35 years old. I think that... They definitely have enough for that. It's just whether they can pull it together or not. When they do it, too. Let's swing to the early game because the Bucs, they stopped our Hawks, guys. You know, the Hawks, they did everything they could.
They had a really nice comeback in the start of the third quarter. They started running on the Bucs. Actually, it's funny. I was walking through the tunnel, and I overheard the Hawks coaching staff talking about – We've got to run. Why aren't we running? Especially against the Bucs. You can run on the Bucs, and they did.
But the story of this game, Zena, Giannis, he has put this team on his back, and he is going to try to carry them. They're 8-2 in their last 10. They found their footing, like we've talked about, and he was crazy in this game.
And emphasis on the word crazy. Because I would love to find out what else has gotten into Giannis' psyche in the way that he is attacking the basket. It's like on a different level. And he's always been someone to attack the basket. Especially, you know, we've seen those like gallivanting hops. He gets to the basket in two steps.
But this year, it's not only the quickness with which he's getting to the basket, it's how he's ripping... the basket down when he gets up there. He's angry when he gets up there. All of his might, all of his power is up there. He's been unreal. It's like Young Shaq. Yeah, he's just like, right. Or like Orlando Magic Shaq. The basket did something to him. He just goes out there.
And then also, in the same breath, sometimes he goes so hard that he kind of misses some of his teammates that are already spotted out. But either way, 32, 14 rebounds, 9 assists. Like, you can't ask for a better game out of your star.
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Chapter 8: How did the Bucks manage to win against the Hawks?
Right. Fourth quarter for them.
They were crazy.
I thought Doc did a really good job of getting them settled and getting them to actually defend. You know, they were just switching.
I'm glad you're crediting Doc.
I try to give coaches credit when they make good decisions. And he got them, you know, their switches were a little wild in that third quarter, and this is why the Hawks got that run. But once he got them to stay in front of the ball, they just did a better, I mean, imagine that. Stay in front of your man, and it makes it more difficult for them to score.
And I know it sounds funny to say that, but these guys had to be reminded of that, and the Hawks can do that to you. especially when Trey can get it going. Now, look, the shot wasn't falling for Trey, but no one else was sticking shots. Still ended up with 30.
And the Bucs were doing such a good job of denying everyone around Trey. Trey had to keep putting up pull-ups, which isn't statistically his best shot. I will say, though. The free throw was his best shot.
17, 18 free throws.
And Giannis had 18.
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