The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Brian T. Smith: If Harden Wanted Van Gundy To Be The Coach, He Would Be

Episode Date: October 30, 2020

Brian T. Smith: If Harden Wanted Van Gundy To Be The Coach, He Would Be

is the Matt Thomas show. I always look forward to our Friday visits with my good friend. League columnist in the Houston Chronicle, Brian T. Smith with us here on 790. BTS, the general manager of the Detroit Tigers waited exactly 30 minutes before calling A.J. Hinch to fly him to Detroit and eventually sign him. I don't think you're completely shocked that he got a job. Are you a little surprised how fast it took? If you had an open managerial position, Matt, and you were trying to rebuild a baseball team

or get a team to the next level and you had some young talent and you were in a major market slash, you know, mid-ish major market, you're not in New York, L.A., you know, Boston for baseball, but you have a history. You want somebody who's anarchically driven who can also bond with young players and veterans. Who would you hire? I wouldn't hire Tony Larusa. Oh, no question. I'm sure as hell would not hire Tony Larusa.

I think it makes 100,000 percent. It's America, right? It's big business. The second that AJ Hinch is eligible to manage, you can officially pick this guy up. And if you're the Tigers, if you're one of the 30 MLB teams among those with openings, he's the best guy by far.

to hire. And, you know, I think it's like a lot of these things nowadays. We love to sit back. I'm not saying you do. But a lot of people out there, the New York media, love to sit back. Oh, my God. How could they do this? It shames the game.

He's already served a suspension. So once he's served a suspension, you're just, you're going to sit around just, I guess, mind your manners and make him wait like three more months. No, if I'm, if I'm a GM, if I'm an owner, and I think AJ's the right guy for the job, which he clearly proved he was in many ways, hundreds of ways for the Astros, why would you not hire him? Last question on this, because I've got a bunch of other things to get to. Does Jeff Leno feel better today that AJ got hired so fast? I know he's not on the short list in Los Angeles with the Angels, but what do you now envision

Jeff Leno's situation being, or do you have an opinion at all? I definitely have an opinion. That's a great question, and this is what I thought all along. I thought that it would take Luno longer to get back in than it would, A.J., and now we have proof of that. I thought that on day one. Not that Luno had more of a hand that will never be proven. If it does, it might take 20 or 50 years until the official book and movie and screenplay come out. Just because right or wrong, Matt, and you know this, and all the 790 listeners and Houston Chronicle readers, and the Astros fans know this, right or wrong,

A lot of the things the Astros did that weren't considered, you know, on the up and up, you know, whether it was the culture, all those things, they ultimately were attached right or wrong to Jeff Luno, not A.J. Hinch. And so I think it only makes sense that it's going to take Jeff longer to get back into Major League Baseball. Jeff doesn't take my advice. You know, I don't have a consulting fee. but if I'm Jeff Luno, I go into a different sport. And he mentioned that on KPRC. I go into the NBA or NFL or soccer, whatever it is.

He is obviously smart and capable enough. If he wants to do it, I think the smartest play for him is to almost change his own narrative and say, you know what? I'm one of the few that's ever done it in multiple sports. And he is obviously smart enough to do it and succeed. And then if he's successful in that next sport, whatever it is, e-gaming, soccer, whatever, he can bail the handpick his job at that point. All right, let's get to the Rockets.

Yeah, let's get the Rockets. Your surprise level on Stephen Silas being the guy that's going to be the next head basketball coach. Yeah, if you go back, and I know you do this all the time, if you go back and listen to the 790 podcast from the previous Matt Thomas shows, you will clearly hear a certain columnist from the Houston Chronicle saying that Jeff Van Gundy, made more sense in a lot of ways. Jeff Van Gundy, in many ways, was the internal favorite.

Jeff Van Gundy would get the job, but what I've been saying? They had to sell James Hardin and Russell Westbrook. That never happened. And I said that the person that I thought would ultimately get the job, I hate the term by default because that's a little demeaning.

I thought the person ultimately get the job with Stephen Silas, that's who got the job. Yeah, the thing, I thought, Tillman loved Van Gundy, I don't know that for a fact because Timmy doesn't text me or call me and tell me those things. I just felt that there was a guy that was very recognizable. The thing I just couldn't get past was I don't, as much as I believe Jeff Fottles,

adheres to watches the new style of basketball because he works games on ABC and ESP. So he's around it all the time. It's not like this guy's been stuck in his library just reading up on old plays in the 1980s. It's one thing to talk about it. It's another thing when you are in charge to sell it to a bunch of guys who are now running the operation. And as I've said, 500 times, this is a Players League more so than even than now. And certainly with this organization, it is an organization run by James Harden. And I just don't know, even if his playbook got up to the date to times where it is now,

if it would have ever satisfied James long term. I have no doubt that Jeff and Gundy could go take over. And I mean, that's nicely. The Sacramento Kings, you know, any team, the Cleveland, Evelyn Cavaliers, you know, any team that needs to take the next step, and he would theoretically do a fantastic job and make it work, and they would play their asses off and go old school. But me, Bannon, too. It's not about him adapting. It's a simple fact, and I never thought this would happen.

This is not a knock on Van Gundy. I said it many times about it. I could just never picture. It's not about the preseason. It's not about Christmas Day. It's not about April. could you really picture James Hardin and Jeff Van Gundy truly getting together over the course of an 82 game season

and potentially two months in the playoffs and all the road trips and all the things that Hardin does or has done in the past, at some point they were going to clash. And I think that tells you why there was never the full buyout. It's very simple, Matt. If James Hardin wanted Jeff Van Gundy to be the Rockets new head coach, Jeff Angone would be the Rocket's new head coach. All right. Lastly, my friend, I want JJ Watt traded.

Not going to have, because I don't think he's owed anything. I think it's in the best interest for the organization to get some draft picks, replenish, get somehow, some way, get in the second round. I also think it's in the best interest for JJ to go somewhere else where he'd be happier. He's clearly miserable. I don't think he's being an actor in front of these Zoom calls. I think he's pissed off. He's mad.

He's about to run into a football team that could lose at the very minimum 10 games. So with that being said, I'm hearing no whispers, no. buzz about this. I'm hearing only about Will Fuller and a little bit about the other receivers in the receiving core. What does your gut tell you about a week from now when you and I discuss what the

Texans did before the trade deadline? What are we going to be talking about? Number one, we all know things can instantly change with one phone call. We've seen that a billion times. Number two, as it stands, the last I heard, which was, you know, this morning. They're just just think of what they said.

Like, there willing to trade DeAndre Hopkins for peanuts. They're willing to trade Jedevi and Clowney for peanuts. Jack Easterby played a key role in those deals, but when they actually have to, now the move is on you, right? The move's not on Bill O'Brien anymore, Matt. The move is on Jack Easterby. It's a lot different when you have to put your name on it, and he's trying to make multiple things work. He's trying to lay low. He's trying to be the big dog. He's trying to keep buddy up to Cal McNair and keep the respect within the organization and continue to earn respect. He's trying to make his career in the NFL at this level.

He's an interim GM right now. The whole thing, and Romeo is going to say what Romeo is going to say, and he has every right to say it. But this whole idea that they're not getting enough, shouldn't you have gotten enough for DeAndre Hopkins? Wasn't that a little more important? Shouldn't you have gotten enough for Clowny? Jack used to be, he's been in this organization for two years right now. So right now, it doesn't look like they're going to do anything because, they're under the impression that they're building a dynasty.

You know, it's like the Astros in 2017, 15, 16 at the trade deadline. Well, we have to think about the short term and the long term. Give me a freaking break. This team would have to win its next nine games to even be relevant. They have nine left. Yeah, nine games, right? You have to win, they have to go finish 10 and 6 to even be relevant right now. And that doesn't even guarantee that they make the playoffs.

So I don't understand it. I've written about a billion times in the conference. but this is the stance they're taken. And so you factor in JJ and the number two franchise space and the most popular NFL player still in some ways in the state of Texans, in the state of Texas, there's no way they're trading him unless they get blown away by a deal. Doesn't mean it's right. Doesn't mean it's right, Matt.

I hate it. But this is how the Texans operate now. Well, I think they're also afraid of the backlash, which I believe, except for Texans, Karen, we'd all be like smart move. By God, you're doing something right. What I'm deathly afraid of us, if they don't pull the trigger on anything, because they're afraid of getting is what Romeo Cornell said, would say, peanuts. Ross, I should say, Brian, we're going to be in a, we're not going to trust any move that's being made.

We're not going to trust the interim GM. We're not going to trust the hire. We're not going to trust the general manager. They've got to move some pieces here. And I'm not talking about moving guys off injury reserve for future seventh round picks. I think if you really want to give a general manager and make this job a sex, your job. You've got to figure out a way to somehow, some way getting the second round of next year's draft to at least give the new GM something to think about come draft time.

The one thing you can do, and I'm not in favor of this, but what you can do, Matt, is basically punt on this season, which they've kind of done because they're one and six, they don't have a head coach in your manager anymore. You punt on this season, you win as many games as possible. I mean, Cal clearly loves to win a few games, even though they can't do it right now. He'd be just fine going five and 11 and keeping all their players. you bring a new GM in, you bring a new head coach in, you have them both on board by early January, right, mid-January. Right. And then your GM, your real GM, not Jack used to be, has two, three months to work out trades, to really get a feel to talk, you know, to reshape things in the organization.

Because here's a thing, Matt, we've seen blockbuster deals done on draft day for a long, long time in the NFL. So what's to say, just because they don't trade JJ now, they don't trade JJ, that they could trade JJ before the draft. And he'll still have a year left on his contract. You trade him. He can renegotiate, whether that's JJ, whether that's Whitney Merciless, whoever it's going to be. That's probably, probably what's more likely with his team as we speak right now. They basically punt on this year, keep everything intact. You kicked Bill O'Brien out. And then the new GM can actually come in, get his hands on everything, and make the big moves in 2021. So as long as maybe JJ's not wearing Texan gear, say, by the 2021 season.

Not that we don't want them here, but this is going to take. It doesn't matter. Have a great weekend. What are you wearing for your costume tomorrow? You know what? Two years ago, I needed a costume because I don't dress, I don't really, I love Halloween and I love candy, but I don't dress up a lot anymore because I'm just not a huge costume person.

Two years ago, I made a huge investment. I went to one of those Halloween stores and the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, Ghostbusters. I got one of those, the blow-up one, it actually has a little fan in it. So I just put that on, so nobody knows it's me. And I end up scaring all the dogs and the kids, because they don't know the same puff marshmallow man. And they're like, why are you so fat? That's what I dress up every year is now. Okay.

It's fun. It's a lot of fun. Yeah, to scare kids and dogs. It sounds like a blast. Have a great weekend, my friend. I'll talk to you next week. Take care. You got a Brian T for The Chronicle at Cron, Brian Smith.

Speaking of candy, our friend Brendan Rowley is going to go against Joe George as they battle for best Halloween candy. We need judges for the Fantasy Five. If you would like to be a judge, we're doing it right now because we're going to make some money for some folks a little bit later. 713-212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-790. We need judges for the Fantasy Five Best Halloween Candy. It's next on 790.