The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Brian T Smith: The Rockets Coaching Search Is Probably Down To Two People

Episode Date: October 16, 2020

This is the Matt Thomas Show. Final hour, the Matt Thomas Show. Sports Talk 790. Next segment, Brendan and I will make our picks. Then we'll give you some money from some professional handicapping advice. And then we got hell yeah or not today. The category is all things about anecdotal things about the Tampa Bay Ray players. so we may not see them much.

Hopefully we won't. Either that, we're going to see a bunch more of them next week and then the World Series. But again, I'd rather see more of the Astros. We'll get to the Astros, the Texans, and the Rockets in 12 short minutes here with Brian T. Smith. BTS, we've got a lot to get to in a short period of time. Yesterday you came on the Rockets situation.

You learn anything in the last 24 hours? Yeah. That's what they, said was true, but not the full story. And that's often how it goes. This had been building for Darry, Matt. And I'm, I would 100% take Daryl at his word. I mean, the words are coming from his mouth. I'm sure part of it is taking time away and family and, you know, maybe trying to refocus. There is no question that the last couple years wore. on Mori, and I think you just have to look at where the Rockets are at right now.

They have two of the top 10, 15 players in the NBA. James Hardin is one of the best players in the NBA. There's a lot of work to do. And in some ways, I'm always hesitant to compare the Texans to the Rockets. In some ways, they're very close right now. I mean, if you look at Deshaun Watson and James Hardin, if you look at the positions, both of these franchises are in, they've fallen short. And, you know, when it comes to Mori, you know, part of it was probably the bubble.

Part of it was having to start all this over again, knowing that you're not a true Western Conference Finals contender. I think ultimately, Darry, if he wants to get back into the NBA in a couple years, what better way to do it than to step out now, kind of get a reset? He can be able to always say, hey, my team had the second best record in the NBA. you know, when I was a GM, we went to, what, eight straight playoffs, you know, advanced four times, et cetera, et cetera. He will be one of the leading GM candidates in the NBA. The second he gets back into it if he wants to get back into it. But this had been building for a while, and it wasn't just that, hey, the season's over,

and I want to spend more time with the family. This was the culmination of a few years of struggles for the Rockets. All right, with that being said, we already know the general manager's spot has been filled. Any gut feel on the candidates because it feels like it's down to about three or four people right now. Yeah, it feels like it's increasingly down to three. Now, here's the thing. If it, if for whatever reason, the rocket say, you know what, it's not working out with this person and this person and we want to reset and we want to expand our field or we want to do another round of interviews, it took them a long time, if you remember, to finally lock in

I'm Mike Dan Tony. I mean, in many ways, there's a very exhausted search. But right now, I believe that it's really down to two people. John Lucas could get this job. And I love, love Lucas. Great to deal with. Cannot emphasize how respected he is by James Hardin and Russell Westbrook, specifically Hardin.

If there's one person in that organization that can really reach hard, that hardened trust that could coach him up if needed to be. That's Lucas. But let me just, you know, and this is just a fact, Lucas was not a head coaching candidate in the NBA, you know, two months ago. So I will be surprised. Doesn't mean he won't get it, but I will be surprised if he gets the head coaching job. I think it's coming down to Silas, and I think it's coming down to Van Gundy,

and there are some decisions that have to be made. they have to get everybody, and I mean everybody on the same page. But here's the thing. If I'm Jeff Van Gundy, which I'm not, I'd be a little more wealthy. If I'm Jeff Van Gundy, you have to know that James Hardin wants you to be his coach, that Russell Westbrook wants you to be his coach. And if you're the Rockets, because if not, it ain't working. And why in the world would you leave a great cushy job,

calling the NBA finals, you know, being able to complain about flopping NBA rules all the time. Why would you want to get back in the mix if ultimately you're set up to fail? You have to have alignment. You have to have Hardin on board. If you're going to coach him hard a la Kevin McHale at times, if you're going to do that, Hardin's got to be on board. The other part of that is if I'm the Rockets and I go with Silas, you have to believe he's the next great one in the NBA. because he's never coached the game, right? I mean, he's not been in the NBA finals.

He can't even touch Jeff Van Gundy or Mike Dan Tony or Kevin McHale when it comes to the experience. So you have to believe that he can also earn the respect and the trust over 82 games in the playoffs and training camp of Russell, Westbrook and James Hardin, because this is the last thing I'll say in when we want a better stuff. The Rockets are owned by Tim and Fritita. everyone knows that. For Tita, I think publicly goes back and forth, hands on, hands off. I trust my people. Timon for Tita, Matt, you know, Tillman.

He's involved. He's involved with his restaurants. He's involved with a billion-dollar deals. Timon for Tita is involved. He trusts his people. He lets them work, but he is involved. But ultimately, Matt, this is James Hardin's team. And Chris Paul would still be on this team if James Hardin wanted him.

Russell Westbrook right now is on this team because obviously James Hardin wanted him. James Hardin, for the most part, and especially publicly, always backed Mike Dan Tony. But this will partly be, and it was going to be going into it. This is going to be also a James Hardin decision, and that shouldn't shock anyone if you know how the NBA has been run by superstars in the last decade. Yeah, not just in Houston. It's everywhere, but James certainly has had a strong hand in the who has been the leader of this team for ever since he's been here. All right. Other notes. Where are you putting this Astros Ray series in terms of legacy of Houston heroes, especially with the way Carlos Gray hit the

home run on the ninth inning last night? Well, let's see them win tonight before we start talking about the legacy of Houston sports heroes. I'm not raining on any parades. That was a hell of a walk-off. He's done it before. But we have recency bias, and it gets worse. every year because the world's a little crazy. And so coming, you know, they were down 30 and it looked bad. The games were close. Altube couldn't throw the ball to second on first base. Pitching was pretty good.

A very untimely hitting. These have been close games the last two games. There's been a close series, Matt. 4-3, 4-3. Every game has basically come down to the final inning. And the race could have taken the last two and the series is over. But if the Astros are really going to do something, they obviously have to become the first team since the Red Sox,

the only team since the Red Sox to come down from 3-0, but like slow the freaking roll, talking about legacy or history, even after tonight. No one's going to remember in 10 years that they almost came back in a 60-game season. So if they're going to really do this tonight and Saturday, game 6 and 7, those are the games where you want to talk about legacy. And it's still the ALCS, Matt. So, I mean, it's great. they're still alive, but they won't be favored.

If they make the World Series, it'll be the Braves. Expect the Braves to make it. But they need to finish this off because everyone has to remember. As much as Houston fans are starting to love it again, and that's awesome, the rest of the world still hates the Astros. Yeah, but you know what? As someone that has had to kind of deal with that a little bit from social media perspective, it amuses me now or it angered me earlier this week.

Now it just makes me laugh because you, If you're going to continue to push this agenda with how good this series has been, then you just got bitterness in your heart and you hate everything. And they do. They do, though. I mean, I agree with you fully. It's stupid. But I said this when it started.

Once Corona hit, like, there were a billion of the things in the world to worry about other than the Houston Astros. So, you know, let's see what happens tonight. But here's the thing that they've been here before. They had Game 7 of the World Series and they were eight outs away. So, you know, the Astros and the ALCS, you know, other than a 29 and 31 record, that's not really new news. This team has done it. They continue to do it.

And if you're hating, there's something wrong with you right now. Lastly, I'm trying to wrap my mitts around this Texas team being new, fresh, innovative. I can't do that unless I see them go against one of the best. running backs in the NFL and Derek Henry on Sunday, and he struggles, and the Texans run defense is a lot better than what we saw in the first quarter of the season. Yeah, I'll bring the realism again. It's not even about the Jaguars. Let's see where the Texans stand after the next two games. So even if they beat the Titans, that would be a nice win. There's no way around that. The Titans are a very good team. They'd thoroughly beat a very good Buffalo team on Tuesday night.

it's short rest for the Titans. I mean, nobody, Matt, plays Tuesday and then plays Sunday. So it doesn't mean it won't be legit. Texans will be on the road, but what? You have the Titans game and then, you know, what, Packers, and then you're going into Dubai. That, you know, give these, give it a couple weeks to see this play out and really, you know, see what this team is able to do.

the offense is able to do, the defense is able to do everything together, the chemistry, the players having fun and playing harder and on and on and on. We see it too many times. In the NFL, in the NFL, there's some type of change, and there's like a one-week bump, and then you hit reality. So let's check back in a couple weeks on what a Texan stand. All right, my friend, great stuff, as always. Have a great weekend, and we'll do this again next week, unless we got a coached by Tuesday,

Tuesday, or Wednesday. you know. No more of that. All right, Matt, take care. All right, Brian T. Smith with us here from the Houston Chronicle, a double visit in this week. It was good to have him on. All right, Brandon and I are going to make our picks on the NFL. Do we have time?

Do y'all want another double-crush bus? Did anybody try to get on that couldn't get on earlier? Like a whole full set of phone lines. We will make our predictions quickly and find time for people to get on the next segment. You're all right with that? I think that works well. If you want in to the double-crush bus,

and we'll give you some audio highlights to make you super excited to do that. 713-212-5-790. 7-1-3-21-2-5-790. If you want on the double-crush bus, we're inviting you to jump on. A second bus is rolled in here on Sports Talk 790.