The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Rockets FINALLY Beat Warriors, Heading To Vegas, Can Texans Defense Stop Tyreek Hill?

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

Matt Thomas and Ross Villarreal of "The Matt Thomas Show with Ross" react to the Houston Rockets defeating the Golden State Warriors 91-90 to advance to the semifinals of the NBA Cup in Las Vegas. Matt and Ross also:review Warriors head coach Steve Kerr's postgame commentstalk with Alejandro Solana of WQAM in Miami about the Texans hosting the Dolphins this Sundayreact to former Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman transferring to the Cougarstalk with Brian McTaggart, Astros beat reporter for MLB.com, about the latest from the MLB Winter Meetingsdiscuss six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick being named the new head coach at North Carolina with Chris Gordy say "I Just Don't Get It" and more.

Lunch timers. This is the Matt Thomas Show. 101 in H-town. Good morning, everybody. And welcome to a Thursday edition of the Matt Thomas Show and Ross. This is Sports Talk 790. And then the ball poked away by Green,

given to the Shengoon. No look past for a jam to Tari. Excellent ball movement off the steel. Rockets up by 8 at 3224. Four. Down the heart of the lane. Oh! On in with the Rockets up by 10.

34, 24. Right. Jabari slides to his left. Doesn't take the three. Brooks inside. Tari goes up, hands it off to a man. Jams it down. The extra pass worked.

And the rockets are within one. All eyes on Curry. Pajemski, looks, looks, gives it up to Curry. Vajemski's side pocket. It's rock. What a! The final. seven points of the game

belong to the Houston Rockets. Huge block shot Tari Easton back corner to preserve a victory. And Steve Kerr is pissed. So sad. I will not weep for you, Steve Kerr.

Got that right. And the Rockets are on to the Western Conference semifinals. Oh, wait, that's the NBA Cup semifinals. We're trying to sell that. We can do it.

The most important series of the history of the Rockets. One of the last five years. Feels good. Felt good. Energy in the Toyota Center. Warriors on the floor against the Rockets. Full crowd. I mean, engaged crowd.

And as you mentioned last night, as I was listening to the Rockets post-game show, you didn't need the scoreboard or Jonathan Sanford to kind of get you guys right now. It was nice. I was on the post game till 12.40 a.m. Good. You may have the most calls you had in like two months combined after last time. Honestly, I might have got as many calls last night as I've gotten all year. It's close. It's closer than it should be. That's crazy.

All right. We have a lot to get to. We have a super busy show today. Okay. We've got football. We've got baseball. We've got basketball. We have, I just don't get it. We've got, which I don't get, I want to get the Steve Kern a little bit here. I get it. I got our TNT people that are not particularly enthralled with how the Rockets won that game last night. We'll get to a little bit of that.

We're going to check it in Miami. What's going on with the Dolphins letter today on the radio program? We also have Rotten 5. We've got Believe it or Not today, which I'm going to handle. What are you weeping for? We're down to a few weeks left. Nothing. I'm not weeping.

I'm good. Everything's great. I know, I know. All right. So we've got a super busy show. Would you like to join us? We would love to have you at 713-212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-7-90 as the Rockets will advance to the semifinals of the NBA Cup

where they are two victories away from $500,000. What do you get, Matt? I believe a firm hand-shaking an out of boy. We were kind of teasing. I was talking with some Golden State Warrior PR officials, and it's like, so, and Craig was with, me too. He says, Matt, if you go, you're going to

want up losing money on the trip. I'm like, give me a chance. That's what I've been saying. I know. Everyone's like, Matt, you may not want to go. You may, you know, Dallas and mid-December is a lovely time of year. Yeah. Dallas is going to save you money. It was going to save you money, but that's okay. It'll be fun to get there. I don't know

what to expect. Frankly, television ratings for the NBA this year have not been good. I don't know if this is going to pump it up. I would be brutally honest in saying that I don't know of Oklahoma City, Houston, Atlanta, and Milwaukee are going to move the needle when it comes to a rando Tuesday night. But there's only going to be two games on in college and the NBA on Saturday and one on Tuesday. So you're an opportunity to kind of brag about this. And again,

not that the NBA average fan gets a hold of the money, but there was an energy in the building last night that would have, I don't have been there if it was just a regular old game, because it was a 15-game losing streak. The rocket snapped. Yes. So I think we would have been energized for, but it wouldn't have been to the level of what we had last night. I think it was a combination of everything. Warriors in town, late start. The crowd was 8.52 tip time. The crowd

was as full as I can remember for the National Anthem. And then it was the NBA Cup against the Warriors. And that floor. Blood red, right? As Steve Kerr said, he felt like he was descending into hell. I mean, I'll agree with him on that one thing.

It's an intense floor. I got used to it, though. I mean, for me, my first time seeing it in person. Yeah, for me, calling it was no big deal. Okay, that's good. It doesn't do anything for me. The crazy-ass uniforms are these, some of these NBA teams where you can't see the numbers,

that's more offensive than the floors. All right. So let me preface this. There are some members of the 790 air staff. I mean, I love everybody. But some are a little more opinionated on officiating than perhaps I am. Okay. And I will say this.

officials have a difficult job in matter what the sport is we want them to get better rossi yes but they're not we're stagnant with progress and the problem that that I'm bothered with is that we are getting

more and more advanced technology in all these sports and yet we're not seeing an overall better refereed officiated product maybe little nuances here and there are foot in bounds juggling, whatever the case. The NBA we're talking about.

But we're talking about all sports, but especially the NBA. It's just, it's not, there's not enough instant replay. You've got to, you got both teams holding on the calls the very last second. In fact, Steve Kerr has even said that last night. He said, I've got to hold on on my time out here, or my challenge because if the game was to go to overtime, I don't want to have it then. What Steve Kerr, and in particularly, Draymond Green get away with in terms of, now it wasn't on the floor. I was in my broadcast deck up on top of the lower level. But it felt like to me there was severe verbal harassment by those two guys.

And it's been that way since their championship run. Yes. And what they get away with that other teams don't get away with is I have a problem with. The, it's an easier. Okay. But yeah, it happened several times last night. Draymond Green is like yelling at the officials in their face. And Steve Kerr too.

And no technical foul. Nothing. Not one. Then late in the game, I don't remember what it was at one point, but it was definitely fourth quarter. Shengun shakes off Dremon Green. He gives him a put. He pumps fake him out of his soul. And then he gets by him.

And the only thing that Dremon Green can do is not grab one shoulder to bring him down, but brings down two. Correct. And Bill Kennedy, who was the crew chief on the call last night, who I happened is one of my favorite referees. Good person. I think he's a good referee. They went, looked at it, and they called it a normal basketball play. I have been watching basketball since I was seven years old. I have called nine years of NBA basketball play by the play.

I've called lots of college. That, my friends, and that to you sports, Harvey, was not a basketball play last night. It was not. How in the world does Bill Kennedy and the replay center possibly justify Draymond Green grabbing both shoulders, pulling him down, and allowing that to be nothing more than a common foul. That to me, and again, I don't like to spend any time on my NBA broadcast bitching about officiating because I hear when I get in the car, when I go, when I finish calling Rockets games and I listen,

I hear a lot of my fellow NBA broadcasters that Rossi bitch and endlessly moan about officiating. And I don't want to be that guy. So last night with that scrum in the last few seconds, where Jalen Green and mixes it up with Cominga. And Bill Kennedy calls the foul, and granted it was very far away. He was the furthest official away from the call and called Cominga for the foul that sent Jailen to the free throw line not only to tie the game, but to give the Rockets the lead. Steve Kerr goes out and blasts the officials, and I'm thinking,

my guy, you have gotten so many breaks. Not only tonight, but basically your entire 11-year career as an NBA coach. Yes. So I don't feel sorry about how the game ended. I don't care if TNT thought it was a bad call. I don't care of the national writers called a bad call. It was time to get even and the Rockets got even. Literally, dossiers have been made about the calls that by Darry and who knows who else

about the calls that the Warriors have gotten. And by the way, flagant foul penalty one, definition on the NBA. Unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent. What about that seemed necessary? Now, was it a flagrant too? Unnecessary and excessive? No, but it was unnecessary contact. Well, they were basically saying that, I don't know who said it, but they were like basically

the Draymond grabbed him so he wouldn't take him down, which meant no sense at all. He took him down. If an offensive player beat you, you either have somebody come help you out underneath the basket or you just say, damn, I got beat offensively. You know what that was? It was similar to a take foul, which is an extra penalty. It was basically a take foul within the paint is what happened. So there should have been a penalty. It was excessive contact. It was not a basketball play. The flip side is that Shingoon did sell it and did go down rather easily. But I guess that's what they are arguing, what the referees would argue.

All right. So we'll get to all that. Steve Kerr will hear from him. We'll hear from the TNT boys. We will hear from you at 713-212-5-790. We have an NFL Texans injury report. Our favorite starting safety is done for the year. We'll get to that on the show. The hot stove, Rossi, at the winter meetings. I mean, it's a blazing, right? It's full gas.

Seems like it. How much longer is Kyle Tucker and Astro? Hmm. Think about that. Brian McTaggart. We'll talk. We'll join us at 1 o'clock today. The Brian McTaggart.

And the one I filled in for you while you were gone. Let's go. It was good. How was that? A lot of George Strait and Cougars talk. Hey, by the way, the Cougars got themselves a brand new quarterback. Yeah. As predicted here on the Matt Thomas show with Ross, 713-212-579.

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All from the Shell Federal Credit Union. To apply online, when you get the process started, you go to shellfccc.org. That's shellfccccc for the Shell Federal Credit Union. Back to Matt Thomas and Ross via Real. On Sports Talk 790. Step back, straight on three, up, back iron miss, rebound loose, Bamblid and Peyton and the ball is still loose. Time out. Time out, please, with three seconds left.

We have a foul first. A foul has been called. Oh, my goodness gracious. Bill Kennedy is going to call a foul. That's a penalty. And that's a penalty. Wow. And that's John the Cominga with a chance for the Rockets to tire take the lead.

It's a bonus situation. There was a mad scramble at the free throw line. Jonathan Cominga fouls Jalen Green. 3.5 seconds left. 90 to 89 Golden State. The bench is desperately telling the crowd to quiet down because even though they're excited, Jalen's got two big free throws here. Tie game!

90. For the lead. Got it. Golden State. Rockets have scored the last seven points in this game. And they would be the final seven points scored in this game. And the Rockets advanced to the NBA Cup's semifinals, which will be in Vegas Saturday night and Tuesday,

if the Rockets are to beat a ridiculously good. good Oklahoma City team. 713-212-5-7-90. If you want to jump in on the conversation, 7-13-21-2-5-7-90. We're going to hear from Steve Kerr in a matter of moments. And it's just rich. Let's just put it that way.

7-13-212-5-7-90. Let's start the conversation today with our buddy, David, in Las Vegas. As soon as I get this potted up properly, we talk to him on 790 at 1022. David, good morning. Yay! I promised I would call in be the first to congratulate the Rockets and also to welcome you to my hometown. It is going to be trip number, I believe 39 from me to Las Vegas.

I mean, I got a little bit of an issue, not a much of an issue, but a little bit of one. Well, I'm curious about, I don't want you to just build secrets, but I'm curious. I'm curious. At one point, you're talking about maybe broadcasting the show from morning from here, where you have a the rock's going to leave deserves it. Yeah, I want to let you go, David. There's a bad connection for some reason. It's probably our fault because it's our phone lines.

Suck. But we are leaving today. They will practice tomorrow, play Saturday. And then I'm off Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, of next week. So I don't really know what happens. You are? Yes, I am. Gosh.

Look at all this time you take off. Oh, really? Really? Okay. Okay. That seems fair. Sorry, go ahead. I don't know how I lost you.

Okay. But yeah, I will be there tomorrow. It's going to be 8 o'clock a.m. But that's okay. I ain't complaining. How hard was Adam Silver and the networks rooting for the Warriors and the Knicks? I mean, I got to be honest with you. I don't know if Atlanta Milwaukee moves the needle very much.

But we were like, we were trying to figure out the Rockets are going to win the game, which game would be the afternoon game would be the night game. And then I knew when Atlanta made the beat the Knicks last night in New York, it was like, oh, when of this is. game's playing at night. I don't care who it is. Yes, 730 on ABC. The Houston Rockets. Mike Breen, bang!

Oh, okay. I like that. Friend of the show, Mike Breen, great friend of the show. Just a spectacular human being. Other national guys, not so much. Mike Breen, Salt to the Earth. Yes. So that'll be on Saturday night. But yeah, thanks David for the phone call.

Sorry, we could not have any more conjecture than that. But yeah, I don't, I mean, I don't even know how, I don't know if the tickets are already sold. I don't know if Rocket fans are trying to get there. I mean, if you're a rocket fan and they're looking for a quick roadie, I bet you can get tickets. I can't imagine it being a situation where they're going to, you know, that every seat is sold and everything is going to be double the face value, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, the flights are a little pricey this weekend, Matt. Oh, well, I don't think you can ever go anywhere on one day's notice and it's cheap. So I guess you can leave Saturday morning if you wanted to. That's still going to cost you quite a bit. Yes, it is. Can't make it, unfortunately. Yeah. All right.

So let's get to Steve Kerr. Steve Kerr. Steve Kerr. Yes. Let's get to Steve Kerr. My daughter, by the way, is proud of me very few times in my life. When her dad, me, makes TikTok and goes viral like we did when I did the Steve Ker introduction, she's like, Dad, do you realize how awesome that was?

I was like, you know, I've raised you. I've put you through school. I've helped you with your development and trying to go play college. Food on the table. Food on the table. Medical attention. The nice clothes you like to wear. But dad, you got vital.

on TikTok. Okay, thanks, Dawn. I appreciate that. So Steve Kerr had a few things to say yesterday after that call was made by Bill Kennedy, and it was on the other side of the floor when he made the foul call. And in his fairness, when you have a scrum like that, you rarely Rossi ever see a foul called unless it's ridiculously over the top. And I keep looking to see what Jonathan Cominga did to Jalen Green that would force him to that. And I guess I'd have to look at the referee report and then probably trying to find some zoom lens on it. Did you see anything super egregious?

Yeah, I mean, not super egregious, but it looks like, and I think probably from Bill Kennedy's angle, it looked worse than it was. It looks like Jalen Green gets hit in the head. It was kind of... And Fred actually takes somebody down a few seconds before that. You could have called a foul on Fred on that play beforehand. Yeah.

But again, I'm not crying for them. I'm not crying for all the teams in the NBA I ain't crying for. It's Steve freaking cur. Kerr. Here is Coach Kerr after the game last night. I've never seen a loose ball foul on a jump ball situation, 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line. I've never seen that. I think I saw it in college one time 30 years ago. Never seen it in the NBA. That is unconscionable. I don't even understand what just happened. You know, loose ball, diving on the floor, 80 feet from the basket and you're going to give a guy two free throws to decide the game when people are

scrambling for the ball. Just give them a time out. Give them a time out and let the players decide the game. That's how you officiate, especially because the game was a complete wrestling match. I mean, he's got fair points, but I don't care. You get away with murder. Your team constantly gets away with calls. And you would think after all these years that the NBA officials who are wise that have gone through training that know every single step that every single one of those players does would be caught up to speed on that kind of stuff. But yet they get away with so much. And like I said, I mentioned this is the very top of the broadcast today. I'm not a referee basher. I don't want to do it. I think it's a bad look for

by play by play guys to do that. But I feel zero empathy for anything Steve Kerr said. No. Zero. Yeah. I mean, looking at the play again and again and again and again, Caminga is going for the ball and his hand hits the ball and then at that point his kind of elbow I guess joint where it bends hits Jalen Green on the shoulder but he's making a play for the ball so at the proper angle it's not really a foul but you can see how it looks like a foul

so hey that's guess what something that's not really a foul and looks like a foul gets called 50 times every basketball game and my guess is probably Steve Kerr's biggest argument is the official that was furthest away from the play was the one that made the call. Yes. And he does have a good point in that it was a physical game.

A lot of stuff wasn't called both ways, that entire game. And they were letting them play. And if you're going to let them play, then you need to let them play with five seconds to go. So, yeah, if we were doing Bay Area, Warrior Dobs talk, we're talking about how they got screwed. But you also need to talk about how you didn't score

in the last three minutes. You got multiple 24-second clock violations, and the Rockets' defense stifled you all game. One of the statisticians working the game last night sent me this note. I want to say somebody took a track of how many, and you could look it up yourself if you wanted to. Let me look here and see how many they had. I think they had 15 team terminars and 22.

It is. I'm sorry, a 6. Shot clock violations. Six of them. Defense stood up. They're so good. They're so good. The national folks aren't as big on the rock as perhaps we are, and we'll hear why coming up in just a minute.

We'll talk to Ray and North Dakota in a minute as well. Ray in North Dakota says he's going to the game in Vegas. How do you know that? You call you a lot-line? Yeah. We're broskies? Yeah. You have North Dakota Bros?

Yeah. I didn't realize you had that. Nice for you. 713-212-579. If you want to join us, 7-1-3-2-5-7-90. Today is Thursday, right? 2-4-2s, Thursday, on the boneless wings, executive chicken nuggets at any of the 13 big-city wing locations. Sauce and toss the way that you want to.

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$5.00, so 25, get you 30 from Big City Wings and Big CityWings.com. This is the Matt Thomas Show with Ross on Sports Talk 790. You know, they didn't call anything. Steph Curry got hit on the elbow, playing his day on a jump shot, just clubbed right on there, no call.

So you've established you're just not going to call anything throughout the game. It's a physical game. We're going to call it a loose ball foul on a jump ball, situation with guys diving on the floor with the game on the line. This is a billion dollar industry. You get people's jobs on the line. I am stunned. I am stunned. I give the Rockets credit. They battle back. They play great defense all night. But I feel for our guys. Our guys battled back, played their asses off and deserved to win that game or at least have a chance for one stop at the end to finish the game. And that was taken from us by a call.

that I don't think an elementary school referee would have made because that guy would have had feel and said, you know what, I'm not going to decide a game on a loose ball 80 feet from the basket. I know we're one day late on this, but Steve Kerr, shut your bum ass up, mate. Shut your bum ass up, man. You're getting fine too. You call him elementary school officials. Yeah. E-May told him to get some effing glasses on. That's probably worse.

But that's pretty bad. bad too. And I think multiple times he was, it was a personal stab at Bill Kennedy. I think in the first bite that we played, he mentioned, I haven't seen that since college. He was kind of be like, yeah, Bill Kellanney, I haven't seen that 80 feet away. He mentioned, that's mentioning Bill Kennedy without mentioning Bill Kennedy. I did watch Bill Kennedy. He ran up the floor. It was a significant, the foul was called way far away from the play. Without mentioning him by name, he made it personal with Bill Kennedy, talking about how far away he was, talking about him being, and not seeing that since college,

basically saying Bill Kennedy, you're not worthy of being an NBA referee, and then the elementary school thing. And then he went really full bore with the elementary school thing. Those are all personal shots at Bill Kennedy. He just made it personal with Bill Kennedy to me. And maybe there was a history between the guys. I'm sure they're, I mean, they've crossed paths. Oh, I mean, my guess is Bill Kennedy's done a lot of Golden Say games over the years.

Yeah, exactly. You know, we haven't seen it a long time as Scott Foster. What's he up to? We're going to have a punch of a chance to see him in Vegas, right? I would hope not. Now referee conversations come back in the play. We even had referee talking years, Ross. Remember when the Rockets would play Golden State and Darryl would be all pissed off about somebody?

And we'd write stories or have people stories written for them. Oh, this guy, this, you know, Tony Brothers is here. When you're playing and you're like 12 and 53, you don't care who the officials are. Like, these are guys you've heard in the Gile. heard it before. Greg Miller is a referee tonight. Who? Yeah, you're like the training ground. It's true. You're going to get more national TV games.

Yes. Better referees. Actually, maybe not better referees, but more recognizable referees. That's right. Welcome to the refs show. That's right. Let's go to, I'm going to I'm going to guess. Let's go to Fargo, North Dakota. Ray on 790. Hi, Ray. What's going on, fellas? What's going on?

Hi, good morning. Man, I got those tickets last week, man. I knew we would do to beat them, man. And we were so close for the first two games this season. Even with Steph back and

Raymond, I just knew we were going to win that game. So I got some tickets last week on that new after everybody's using. Pretty good price. But I found out, man, what we're doing Friday

when I get in there, man. Well, Saturday we got a game. Saturday night, you don't know what's going to happen after that. What happens in Vegas, by the way, Ray stays in Vegas. Yes, sir. No video, no audio, no apologies.

But about the officiate, man. Come on, man. How many years ago they'd get no calls? They really rhyming about calls right now. To speak, if Steph Curry makes that shot, nobody's complaining about the call. It's about time. You got a call.

I mean, yeah, we saw Kevin Durant walk two times, travel two times out of bounds with the ball and didn't get a call in the playoffs. So can we get some? Yeah, all I said this, and I tell us to Adam Clinton all the time, he never believes me. Levin's out. It really does. Now, does a call in the second quarter mean as much than the fourth? No. But these are, unless there's a bias going in, officials are going to screw up stuff on both sides. They just are.

It's an impart. To me, the hardest sport to call. Oh, no question. And you have a little time to react and you can't go back. Yeah. I would like, two, to Steve's current point, I feel like far too often, the official that's furthest away doesn't trust the other officials. that are close and doesn't make a call. Maybe because he doesn't, you know, maybe he doesn't trust the two officials. But sometimes you get a situation where the call should be made and the ones right in front of it don't make it. And then somebody does have to make the call. So it's tough. So they have three officials, obviously, per game.

They have a crew chief who is the veteran. Then they got the mid-range guy. That's the mid-level guy. And then the third person is usually the young person. It's the up-and-comer or it's a guy that's maybe past his prime. It's still can referee, but he can't pay crew chief. Would you have liked to have seen three playoff officials working these games, or do you still treat them at the end of the day as these are just 1 of 82?

Yeah. I guess all else being equal, you might as well put the emphasis on the NBA Cup games and get the best officials right. Why not? What are you really losing in these other games with, I don't know, the, well, the magic were in the NBA Cup. The Spurs and the whatever, the grinsies. Yeah. Yeah, and there was no other games played except the two that were played yesterday. You could have.

You could have. Yeah. Okay. Because when I saw the NBA officials announcement for the games yesterday on Tuesday, it was a crew chief, lots of experience, a mid-range, and then in a young person. Yeah. Or a younger experience, you know, lesser experience. You didn't get playoff rough assignments for these games.

I'm with it. Let's go. Now, what will happen when Vegas? I would assume that you would have more of a veteran crew that's been through this before. That'd be nice. Because again, you're playing for serious money here at this point. It's semi-serious for them. That's right. That's right. All right. So how did our friends at TNT?

You know, the Rockets don't get on T&T very often these days. No, they don't. So inside the NBA, the greatest pre-half and post-game show in sports television history. Well, also with... Well, I'll save my judge. I'll save my judge. We'll play. We'll play. Are we playing this now? We're going to play it right now. There's one thing that Charles did say that can clearly tell he's not watching the team. Mm-hmm.

I want to see if you know exactly what I'm talking about. Here is the boys. That's Charles, Kenny, Chuck, and Shaq on the, and it's primarily Charles Barkley here discussing how that ending of the Rockets Warriors game went. Hey, impressed with the Houston Rockets? They don't have any idea how to play basketball. Play your defense. Yeah, but they play the game strictly on talent.

They should have won that game, but they got so much more talent than the Warriors. But that's one of the reason I say they got a great record. They're not ready for prime time because the rest had to give them this game tonight. They got a bright future. But man, they're going to have to learn discipline. They're going to learn to take care of the ball. They're going to have to learn shot selection. All of that to be said for a team that has like three guys under 23 in the starting lineup.

But sometimes it happens faster. You ask Kenny and Shaq, like sometimes it comes together. Like, they got a lot of talent. and they can't play like they used to be, like, they're relevant. They got a terrific coach. Now they got to learn, like, we got to take care of the ball. We got to stop taking bad shots. Like Jalen Green, he almost had nine points again.

Undisciplined. Rockets, and now last night was not a great example of it. But the Rockets are top five in fewest turnovers per game most nights in the NBA. They have taken care of the basketball. They have not given away a lot of extra possessions. Yeah, I just looked it up. They're seventh this year. So last year they were one on the top of basketball.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they were, they've been in the top five for mostly. They've dipped a little bit because they had a high turnover count against Los Angeles, and they had a high number yesterday. Oh, actually, last year they were eighth. But this year, they're saying, like, that's, that's taken care of the ball. If you're in the top seven in the NBA. And undisciplined, this team is, who or what is undisciplined?

Well, define in your mind what undisciplined means. Undiscipline means playing sloppy, missing a bunch of defense. To me, you cannot have a team as defensively sound as the Houston Rockets and call them undisciplined. They are so disciplined when it comes to defending and being in the right place and playing pick and roles and positioning and basketball IQ, mostly on the defensive side. Offensively, yeah, they have some issues. I don't know if he is he zero. If he's zeroing in on Jalen Green, who he mentioned by name as somebody who didn't score a lot of points and had a bad shooting night, yeah, Jalen Green can sometimes be undisciplined.

But also talking about how they have a lot of talent and they're mega talented, is there a single rocket on this roster who's ever made an All-Star team? Seriously. And the reality is this. And I don't think I'm thinking about a turn on this. The rockets are going to get to the next level. I mean, just not just getting into the playoffs of winning some series, have got to, get a better perimeter game going.

They are winning games despite the fact the three-point shots not falling. And it really hasn't fallen all year long. Fred Van Vleet, one-time All-Star in 2022. Okay. So that's one. One all-star team. But you know how they win games?

They are super aggressive on defense. They make every possession difficult. They don't turn the ball over a lot. They offensive rebound like a mudda. and they attacked the basket on missed shots. Now, would it be fun to see a night where the rockets make, you know, 23-3s out of 39 tries? Absolutely. But this team just hasn't, is not constructed that way at this point.

So you have to do the intangibles to win games. And that's the reason why the rockets are where they are. The intangibles, every single timeout, within reason, go to the rockets. Hustle, steals, forcing turnovers. Dylan Brooks putting the clamps on people when necessary. Jabari Smith giving you a professional defensive effort. They're in need of a deep perimeter game. And once the Rockets right now just don't have.

But they're still winning despite of it. I'm still, then this is actually what I was going to say going in, but I was going to let us play the Charles Barkley stuff and React. He's lost his fastball. He doesn't pay attention to the league and he never really has, but it's even worse now to me. I still love him.

The viral, yeah, we can love him. Yeah. The viral, look, we love leave courts. Now he's not necessarily... I would not put Charles and Lee Corso on the same conversation. I'm putting them in the same conversation. Now, Lee Corso is catatonic compared to Charles Barkley.

But he's lost his fastball. He barely paid attention to the sport as it is, and it's even worse. And now they still make the viral moments on that show, but the basketball analysis has gone from bad to a complete joke. I would never have said, I go to that show to get a deep insight on games. I go for the entertainment factor.

That's what I'm saying has gone from bad to a complete joke. joke. All right. 1045 is a 10. We've taken one call from Las Vegas. We've taken one call for North Dakota. Does anybody in the 713, 281, H-Town? Are you there? Anybody in H-Town? The building was full

last night. Can I tell you one quick thing? I got five seconds. Go ahead. I am anti-thrown-up the H's. It's driving me crazy, frankly. Generation gap on that. That's it?

Yeah. It's very popular with the young lads. Okay. I would say it's even more people that are younger than me. When's the last time you threw up the age, organically? Literally, organically. I mean, I do it. When I meet up with, like we're at an event or something,

and I'll throw up the H if somebody wants a picture or something. It's something to do. Throw up the picture. Throw up your H. I throw double rods up. If you're in the club, if you're in the club and Mo City Dawn from Zero comes on. Oh, is that right? Yeah.

Okay. I know what happens to you, Matt. It does. Sethi's fine jewelry. They fill the ages up and set these. I don't know if they do. You know what they do throw up, but they throw up holiday sale prices of 40%

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I cannot say it more easier than what I've just said right now. 40% off. Right now, Sethi's Fine jewelry, fine diamond jewelry, low prices, great selection, excellent customer service, and the holiday sale gets you 40% off. Sethi's fine jewelry. The Matt Thomas Show. With Ross continues on Sports Talk 790. A lot of things to get to today.

We obviously spent a lot of time on the Rockets. We're going to move on to some other things. We've got the Astros Hot Stove League. Brian McTaggart's going to join us coming up at 1 o'clock today. Don't you feel like we are owed a good trade or Alex Spragman announcement between now and 2 o'clock? We made the sacrifice. We're starting earlier. All the good stuff usually happens during the 18.

They don't deserve it. You know it's going to happen during the 18. sucks. All right. college-wise. So Bill Belichick is really the head coach in North Carolina. We bring in our college expert. He's locked on all things college sports. The one only Chris Gordy is here. Gordy, I've run your tweets the last 12 hours. You sound ridiculously excited about the prospect of Bill Belichick running the North Carolina program for decades. Look, it's an intriguing

story, but my God, the ESPN people this morning, I woke up, turned on the TV. The whole first, what's the get up first up? I call it the Mike Greenberg I'm not to show. First things first get up, first take, it doesn't matter. First off, they bring in the very objective Devin McCordy for his opinion. Hey, who played for the New England. It's basically his whole decade, his whole career.

He's raving about the hire and how Belichick's going to crush it. Dan Orlowski then jumps in and says, there are two coaches kids want to play for right now. Number one was Dion and number two is Bill Belichick. A lie. I'm sorry, Dan. We just had National Signing Day. Where did Colorado's class rank?

Was it top five, top ten? I have no idea. So people don't want to play for Kirby Smart, huh? I don't want to. I'm just saying, like, yes, those guys are polarizing in their fun stories, but let's not act like they're going to crush it. And Orlovsky gets up there and says, there are SEC schools very afraid of what Bill Belichick is going to do in North Carolina.

No way. He said, give him at least a year to start winning, and by year two or three, they will be a perennial playoff team. Like, stop it. He's going to croak. Stop it. Perennial means year after year after year. Again, guys, we could say it's a very intriguing story.

Let's see what happens. But just automatically assuming the 72-year-old is going to walk into college football and crush it, did we watch his talent evaluation over the last couple years in New England? Do we have any idea of what their NIL situation is? They said they have $20,000 in the coffers to spend. $20,000? Yeah, I'm sorry, $20,000. Oh, my God.

He needed an assurance. that they went from 4 million to 20 months. Yeah. And probably had to see the evidence of it, right? I mean, you just don't take the word for it. Did you count the cash? I don't know. That's good question.

I did see our friends over at Bet Online, put out some fun prop bets today on North Carolina. Will North Carolina win 10 or more games next year? 10 to 1? You can get value on that? How do I short that? How do I bet the other side? Here's some other fun ones. What will happen first?

Bill Belichick's girlfriend enrolls for classes at North Carolina? Or Bill Belichick's girlfriend dates in North Carolina? football player. Come on. What? Then Bill watches or what? You know what? I was going to say that.

But you held back. But I held back because I was not I didn't want to be ridiculed by you. So I'm going to ridicule you. I did it for you. How dare you steal my line? That's you are infecting my brain and I'm sad that I said it.

One other one. What will happen first? Belichick is fired after year one or he breaks up with his girlfriend. What will happen first? Let me take you. If you're 24, going for 72, you are not giving that up. She's in for the long haul.

Not that long a long haul. She's in for him to die. She's in for him to die and for him to collect the money. These guys are all smart though. When they get in their 70s, they're all signing pre-nups and stuff. The long haul is two 21-year-olds getting married. The long haul isn't getting with a 73-year-old. Now, Bill's got a family, right? I think. He's got a son.

Steve's significantly older than the girl, right? You guys know the caveat on that, right? In the contrast, I mean, this is all cool. We're talking about North Carolina, but there's really a really much bigger college football story. What is that? Connor Wegman is a Houston Cougar. I love it. I called that a week ago.

My called it a week ago. Hashtag got feelings. The guy who had three touchdowns and five picks this year? Okay, you've seen it more than I have. What do you think? They were NFL scouts saying if he hit his ceiling, he was projected as a future first round. Oh, that's what I'm talking about. So this is a huge, huge landing for Willie Fritz and staff.

I mean, you look at that team this year, the one inconsistent was the quarterback spot. Now, Conner's got to stay healthy. He's battled injuries. He was so good that he's leaving where they had quarterback issues. Well, no, I think they just, I think they could have stuck it out, but Marcel Reed gave him that running dynamic. And now they brought in Jacob Zeno from UAB, who, you know, two kind of guys who can fling it. Oh, don't be bragging over there, A&M, by you bringing a UAB quarterback in. Please.

So Connor Wegman got beat out by a UAB quarterback. He didn't get beat out. He sought greener pastures. He said, I'm going to go home and hang out. I'm just asking. He demolished number 24 Missouri earlier this year. Thank you very much. He certainly did.

The Wegman mania is going to be running wild all over Space City, whatever they're calling a stadium next year. And no offense. I mean, you take a little bit step back to Big 12 competition. He'll look really good against Big 12 competition. That's true. Then, how you got out of the SEC. He ran scared.

Now he's going to greener pastures. One other quick note, Malik Murphy's has gotten gentleman's name, right? Yeah, he... So he leaves Texas, because Arch is there. That's a good season at Duke. Great season at Duke. 12 picks, but good season at Duke.

And then he's like, I'm gone. Yes. He's going again, he's going back in the portal. Where's he going now? Is there any word on that? I had heard, maybe Florida State, but they just got Thomas Castiano's from Bill O'Brien's... Could you imagine? Somebody brought this up in the office today.

Could you imagine being an NFL team and your team makes the playoffs? Let's say C.J. Strout, when the Texans won the NFC South and just before that first playoff game, he's like, you know what? I'm going to see if I can go test for agency. That's what it's come down to. He can't even play the damn bowl game. I mean, come on, man. Come on. And the weird thing at Ole Miss is a bunch of their players are all announcing they're going to play.

So whatever that spread is, Ole Miss minus whatever against Duke, take that line. So Connor Weigman wins the Heisman next year. Cougars get to 10 victories. And Bill Belichick is five and seven next year. Sounded right, right? Shout out to whoever the Coogs help write that check for Wegman. That's a difference making. That's a huge difference.

You know what? I've told you before. I went to school with Conner's dad. Yes. He was two years older than I was at the Maid Creek High School. Wow. The Maid Creek. The May Creek.

So how does he get how he talks? Have you heard Connor Weigman talk? You're the second person I brought that up to me. And we'll leave it that. Yeah, bro. Where are you from? Just bridgling. Can I give you guys something to do on a New Year's Eve?

You want to come join me? New Year's, you know, I could actually go if I wanted to. I'm busy. Are you going to have a sweet? We might. You get a sweet I'll go. I was going to say, I get in parking too. Okay, so me, Ross, Matt, come join us.

New Year's Eve, 230. It's the Baylor Bears against the LSU Tigers, battling out at NRG Stadium. The 2024, Kinders, Texas Bowl, tickets are on sale now. I might have to hit up ND. Kalu. His son plays at Baylor. We've got to get some LSU-Bailer trash talk going.

But Baylor, LSU, New Year's Eve, NRG Stadium, what more could you ask for to close out? An unforgettable 2024. If you're ready for football and fireworks, look, the game's at 2.30. You get it in, and then you still get to get home and do all your New Year's Eve stuff. Head to Kinders, Texas Bowl.com right now for tickets,

sweets, group opportunities right now. Now, tickets are going fast. Don't miss it. Kind of by tomorrow. We want to hear from you tomorrow. Let's do it. Make it just like a daily thing. You get a little FCS football. The FCF playoffs are still going on right now. FCS. Yeah. There's nothing going on now. I'm watching any of that. I'm watching the transfer portals when I'm watching. It's ridiculous. All right. 11 o'clock. We'll get the second hour started of the Matt Thomas show with Ross after this. Rossi coming up in about 25 minutes, give or take. We're going to have, I Just Don't Get it. This is a weekly segment we do on the radio show that ask you what in life you just don't get. And I got one off of social media that we had from last night's game. So that'll be coming up at bottom of the hour.

What don't you get in life? If you don't get something, we can help you here on Sports Talk 790. Rockets with a huge win last night. It was huge. And huge is a term that maybe is often overused. Massive. The biggest win in franchises. A little too hard.

It's a Wednesday in December. Rossi, we've had two phone calls about the game. One was from Las Vegas, Nevada, and someone was from North Dakota. That's true. It's worldwide victory. Apparently, the city of Houston is not enthralled with the game last night. It's reverberating throughout the world, but not necessarily here. That's fine. That's fine.

All right. Texans back on the practice field today. Jalen Petri, no surprise. Peck injury is done for the season. Juice Crugs had been gone a couple weeks, too. That's a huge miss from the defense, honestly. Jaylen Petrie has been very good. Oh, and we'll get an update on what's going on Miami in about 90 minutes from now.

We'll check in with one of the Miami reporters that will join the show, so we'll get a little thought on that. But, man, and I was listening, I think it was listening to the A team yesterday. They were talking about this, or maybe it was Sean Salsberg. They were like, this vibe for the Texans, for a team that's going to cruise towards an AFC South championship, it ain't there, is it? Yeah, we're all spoiled brats.

one year in. They're eight and five. That's pretty good. Yeah. But there is no going to open up a savings account to save money for the Super Bowl. No, I don't think you should,

either. Because frankly, if you think about it, Pittsburgh has jumped the Texans in terms of a favorite. Yes. People still are not staying away from Baltimore right now because the Lamar Jackson factors huge.

Yes. And the Chargers look, I don't trust the Chargers come playoff time. If there's a way to lose a game crazily, is that a word crazily? Kind of? Yeah, I think so. They will figure out a way to lose it. They lost a game off a doink.

Yes. That's not their fault. Oh, by the way, the Kansas City Chiefs don't lose games ever except for one time in Buffalo. But they're close every week. They're close every week. They're beatable. The Chiefs are way beatable. It's vulnerable. But I did bring this up to you a couple days ago.

do you do up to give them a little bit of credit for being able to figure out different ways to literally win it at the gun every single week. But I think, and I didn't think I would ever say this, it may pale in comparison. The Detroit Lions are the creme to the creme of this league right now. Even on a night where a few weeks back when a certain quarterback throws five interceptions against a certain NFL team and they still win a game? Well, yeah, if Kimee Fairbren could make kicks. Oh, wait a minute. You leave him alone. They would have won that game.

Matt All right, you've got to leave him alone. He's saved this team's baking more times than that. Yes, he has. In fact, he's almost been relied on too much. They had those opportunities in that game, though. Yeah. And it's been two straight field goal games for the Lions, but they've also won 11 straight.

They're really good. So, yeah, the Texans against the Miami Dolphins coming up this week. Miami pulled one out of there. You know what? They beat the Jets in overtime last week. Matter of fact, the Miami Dolphins took the kickoff in the overtime, scored a touchdown. The Jets couldn't even get on the football field.

It was an old overtime game, the old-fashioned way. Yes. Sudden death, kind of. How do you like it? Do you like it where field goals have to count, or field goals give you possession? Yeah, it's fine. I mean, the old sudden death did need to go away,

at least in the playoffs. I'm okay with bringing sudden death back and it's just a regular season. See, my thought is I would lean towards liking sudden death like we had on the old school days because, again, it wasn't like you didn't have multiple opportunities during the course of the previous 60 minutes of a football game. Right. But in

a playoff game it felt like somebody just gets the kickoff has to go like 30-ish yards and the game's over. Yeah. So I like this. It's fine. Yeah, I guess it would be flimsy if you took the opening kickoff, kicked the 51-yard field goal, and it had no chance to even respond to that.

I kind of see what they did. But it's not one of those things that would just fall in a sword for. No. No, I'm going to fall on the sword for them to changing the kickoff rules. It still is ridiculous. I like them. What's wrong with them? I can't. It just, it looks awkward. It looks, it looks computerized. It looks Hmm. It's just, yeah,

it's different, but I've got no issue with it. They wanted to do something to limit the injuries and, I guess it's working out that way. And you get the occasional runback or big runback. Yeah, by the way, those of expecting Dr. Roto today, his mother is still not doing great. We're going to push him back

to tomorrow. It'll be my final fantasy football week ever tomorrow. Come on, Matt. we need you back you're such a strong player the league needs you as a pillar of the i heart houston league i thought about this sometimes you have to retire on top you're as compared to staying you've never won the championship is it's compared to to you know sometimes staying a year or two too much when you can retire at the appropriate time this league has been running since 2010 i think yeah yeah that's right and you've never won a championship and i've collected some money over the years

You've paid out some too. I have paid out. And I'm paying out this year. I told Kim and I said, I'm done with fantasy football. She goes, Hallelujah. Because she doesn't give me a hard time about it,

but it's just, I'm like, honey, it's December 23rd. I need $100. Do you want me to lower the entering thing? You're the one that made it as high as it is. No,

because I wanted to have a dog in the fight. No. This is it. We should play a little, I will remember, all the great players of fantasy football years. We can run through the teams. All things Houston Toros tomorrow.

on believe it or not. Yeah. All right. 713212. 5.790. 719. 710. 7.1 3212. 5 is 790.

If you want to jump on our conversation today, I just don't get it. It's coming up in about 20 minutes from now. Hot Stove League is hot, right? I guess. Or is it cooling off? I haven't heard much. We were talking about building steam with a Bregman deal imminent last night.

And did it happen? Did I miss it? Do you think Boris wants to do this when the home... How many more day? Is today the last day of the meetings? I think so. Now, obviously, if he makes the announcement, the announcement of where he goes is going to...

Or leaks it to whichever reporter it feels like leaking it to. It's going to be in that city where they're going to have the grandiose, Alex comes out, where's the new hat, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Hmm. I had a friend of mine call me yesterday that lives out of town. And he's like,

if Bregman signs with the Yankees, there should be no fond farewell video tribute, there should be none of that. It should be you went to the freaking Yankees. F you. Some people will feel like that and that's okay. I don't care where he goes. He's going to get a video tribute.

He's going to get a standing ovation. 100% well, yeah. For the first and back. The third and fourth? Probably not. And he should. He's been one of the pillars of the, this championship run.

And frankly, it would be disrespectful. He had an opportunity to test free agency for the first time in his major league career. Now, the first contract extension he signed, bought some years out and also bought some arbitration years out. The Astros just put a certain number at it and said this is as far as we can

go. Braggman's like, I think I can go somewhere else. It'd be like, Rossi, you know, you leaving to go another station. You could have stayed here. The eye heart's like, we're not paying from him to for that kind of money for him. I don't think I have as much leverage as Alex Breggman.

But if you had come back for a reunion show, we would not treat you poorly. Oh, thank you, Matt. We would not escort you out with having you a chance to clear out your stuff. You're not going to boo me? I appreciate that. I would boo you if you're still working here in five or six years. Yeah, that's right. I was going to say, what's out of the ordinary.

But yeah, I think that what I was talking about about, I was like, come on, that's a little harsh. Now, is it going to be a kumbaya celebration every time he comes here? No. But the first time, absolutely. he has nothing left to prove here in Houston he's done everything possible he could for this city and it's time for him to go get paid and you can maximize his earnings and he's got a finite he's going to retire at what 40 years old or whatever probably so he's got to make as much as possible until then I'm okay with that now he could also say now people have done this not a lot

of people but a lot of people have said like for instance Rossi you and I can obviously go somewhere else in this country and work. Okay. I believe in our talents. Thank you, Matt. But we're also happy here. I'm very happy here. And there's just going to be a certain level of financial accommodations this company will give us.

That may be another company and another city might give. Yeah. But we choose to stay here. And just for cost of living. But I mean, I'm saying, I mean, look, you go on KC radio every other week. They would definitely hire you in a heartbeat. But do you want to live in Kansas City? You've decided, no, I don't want to pursue that.

You love living in Houston. and your families, your friends are here, you grew up here. So I root for the teams. There is some of that. Could there be an athlete that says, you know what,

I could make $25, 30 million dollars elsewhere, but I kind of like where I live right now. There's very few people to do that, but there are some. There is one on this Houston Astros roster. He wears number 27. Absolutely. He loves being an Astro.

He wanted a raise. He got one, but he could have gotten more money somewhere else. Absolutely. So it does happen. You're asking Bregman to be that person, and Alex is like, you know what, I've only got so many years of a baseball life.

If this was an insurance, if I was working for an insurance company or if I'm working for a car dealership, maybe. But it's baseball, where there will be only a certain number of years where he'll be able to compete at a high level for a high salary. So I don't be bonoan it. But if it's the pinstripes, it's going to be as, it's, the Rangers would be one. I think so. I agree. The Yankees would be two and everybody else would be a distant third. I agree.

713-212-5-790 7-13-212-5-7-90. There is one Astro. You better get ready to not see wearing your gear in 2025 because it sounds like to me he is definitely going to be a goner. And it's not Alex Bregman. We'll talk about that in a moment. 1113 is our time.

7-13-212-5-790. 7-13-212-5-7-90. Underdog Fantasy is going to want you to watch Thursday night football tonight. Yeah, because first of all, you love football. Secondly, you also love the opportunity to make money while you're watching your favorite sports. And that's why you get with fantasy, underdog fantasy. Rams and Niners tonight, picking your favorite players will be a great fun thing for you to do. They'll give you some player stat.

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NCP gambling.org. Hire, lower, stats, projections. You know them, you win money with Underdog Fantasy. Promocode SportsMT. More Matt Thomas show with Ross. Now on Sports Talk 790. All right. The rumors about Kyle Tucker, Ross, include the Cubs, the Yankees, the Yankees,

And the Philadelphia Phillies. Could this 2025 roster be without Presley, Bregman, Tucker, and Framber Valdez? Chances at all, what would you put the percentages on it? All four being gone? 25%, 30, 40? By opening day? All four. I think Valdez is the one that sticks, is that it would be.

the one that would be the most likely to still be here, unless you just can't find anybody that wants to inherit the Ryan Pursley contract. And he says no to a no trade. Which I'm thinking he's going to say, he's going to want to go somewhere else. I mean, I think Ryan did not have any fun last year.

Where is he going to close? Where does he want to be? I don't even, I think he and his agent are trying to figure out at this point that there's no one that's going to think he's a closer. no nobody that's a contender but if he goes to a contender and as an eighth inning guy at least he doesn't feel like that he was pushed aside like i think in his mind maybe he thought he was pushed aside here for josh hater right uh yeah he was but he is i mean i guess to get to certain levels of heights and of professional athletes you have to have this sort of a never-ending and unfaltering belief in yourself, and he has that clearly. But let's be realistic, dude.

You're not Josh Hater. Josh Hater's best season, which was, well, unfortunately, the season before he came over. It's better than anything Ryan Presley has ever done. Yeah. You're not the closer. Once he realizes, once his agent does enough digging,

that he doesn't close for a contender, he may close for a second-tier team. then the question is going to be, do you want to go play for a contender, or do you want to go back to your ninth-fitting role? Did you, were you happier doing that in playing for a team that's not expected to contend is compared to being a setup guy for a team that is contending? But my guess is that Ryan was, Ryan had a, was hurt from the jump and really never got past it. And his performance kind of, is that like a gut feeling? Does instant go about him not being 100%?

No, no, no, I'm just saying that. I just think there was such an emotional. Oh, hurt emotional. Yeah. I'm sorry, I thought you meant like he had a bad hammy all year. An ego kick that hurt him a little. I'm sorry. I thought you meant physically. Yeah, his ego was certainly hurt.

But he pitched very well, actually. I mean, he started out pretty It wasn't terrible. He just wasn't the Presley of years past. Now, the whip was way worse than the year before, but I think overall his ERA was better than the year before. Yeah. All right, let's go to the phones and talk to

Philip and Pearland at 1123. on 7.90. Philip, good afternoon. Or good morning, that is. Hey, good morning. I, you know, if careers ended today, I'd much take Presley's career over haters. Presley's been a beast. His playoff record, I was listening to

some Cleveland and baseball announcer talking about Presley's playoff record. It's ridiculous. I don't know them off the top of my head. I'm a lazy Astros fan. To the Rock Kudos to the Rockets, Matt.

I'm slowly getting on board. There was a great piece in the Sunday, New York Times, a little bit ago about Van Viette. Yeah. But the reason I'm calling is about Bregman. You know, and really all of the players, how much do they need? I mean, come on. I mean, how much can you spend? What is it just ego?

Maybe it's more about what the wife wants. See, that's what I would like to hear more about or what are the women want in these deals. And also what the players want, is it about location, geography? Is it just numbers and like, oh, my, you know, my net present value is higher than yours? I never got that sense from the Astros after following them for so many years, you know, with this current group. with Al Tuve being the lead, the beautiful Jose Altuve. Are you kidding? You know.

But Philip, the lead, if you're telling me the lead of Jose Altuve is how they do it, then the guys around him didn't follow his lead. George Springer didn't follow his lead. Charlie Morton didn't follow his lead. Carlos Correa didn't follow his lead. I got, Philip, this is a case, and thank you for the phone call. I appreciate it. This is just good old-fashioned Americana.

if there's somebody out there that wants to give you significantly more money and guaranteed cash. And again, in professional baseball, or from that matter, professional sports, there's only a certain amount of shelf life. You're just going to take the best deal. I saw a story today, non-sports related, and I wanted to make sure I got the numbers right. I mean, Elon Musk, Rossi, has more money than he'll ever imagine, right? They announced it yesterday. his net worth is now worth $400 billion.

That's pretty good. He could have been happy at $75 billion. No, of course not. Because people that love money want more of it. They just do. Yes. Now, I did bring up a big example, Ross in the last segment. My family is here.

My friends are here. I'm growing up doing my dream job working in Houston Sports Radio, The Voice of the Rockets. There's nothing that's going to say, I'm not going to all of a sudden say, I'm in the open market, Charlotte Hornets, come get me. that's not going to happen. Right. But everybody has a price.

But everybody's got some sort of a price. And it's about the tradeoff and it's about how much you value one thing over the other. Yeah. Everybody's got different parameters. But from my experience covering sports and talking to athletes in the last 30 years, they usually take the money and the bigger contracts, even if it's to a place that they loved once before. But you know, they're thinking, yeah, maybe it's time for a change.

And by the way, three more years and $75 more million and guarantee money sounds good. And let's not forget that one of the reasons Alex Bregman wears number two is because he was the second overall pick. And he wants to remind himself of that. Another reason he wears number two? You brought this up yesterday. It made me cringe a little bit. I don't think I brought it up on air. No, as I'm saying, you're going to do it now. Make me cringe. His childhood idol was Derek Jita.

Not patting the second basement, Derek Jita. His number is retired for which organization, Matthew? Don't say it. The New York Yankees. Just saying. I'm not saying, I'm just saying. That's all. And we talked about it.

It's a hallowed franchise. If you're going to leave anyone, if you're somebody who grew up analyzing. Derek, Detop. It's really weird. The first year I went and saw a Yankees game at Yankee Stadium, they used the old PA announcement with the dead guy. Bob Shepard.

How'd they do that? They reanimated his corpse? No, they just recorded it. Oh, and what? He was saying, Oh, he had died in the team of the lineup. Was the same? So the PA announcer does eight of the nine guys.

Oh, okay. But every time it's Derek Jeter, it's not batting, shortstop, Derek Jeter. Okay, so they only used the dead guy for Jeter. That's it. That's weird. I don't know if we would have considered it weird

because Bob Sheper was considered an icon of doing the stadium announcing at Yankee Stadium. Okay, well, good for him. Let's bring back that dead guy to announce Derek Jeter. They don't bring him back. They didn't necessarily bring him back. Okay. That's why they kept him in shortstop.

That's why they never moved to third base? That's why they moved A-Rod. I mean, you're a great shortstop, but you're going to third because we already got Derek Jeter recorded. Better shortstop than Jeter at that time. You're such a Jeter hater. I'm not a Jeter hater. I got a friend of mine who's such a Yankee fan. He named his son, Jeter.

that's a little much well I've also I mean what kind of person would name their children after sports figures I mean grow up Bell had talked to Grand Hill yesterday I'm kidding by the way I had Grand Hill shoot a video for Cameron

in Camry yesterday oh yeah wow look at you got some I got some points how hard did he roll his eyes when you asked no the second time I'm asking it was second time he did it because one time would you leave Grand Hill alone no he's great he's a duke he doesn't want to talk to your children that he doesn't know

he talked to my wife who he didn't know either Jeez, even worse. I didn't say, hey, you want to hook up with my wife. I didn't say that. I said, hey, just say it over. You just implied it. Well, I mean, it's probably on her bucket list. She's on the list.

I mean, we all have a list. You were getting past, Matthew. We have a list. Every grown-ass man's got a list. Every grown-ass woman's got a list. Yeah, but you're not really going to let her go on. Never mind. Check off the list.

No, but sample, I would be uncomfortable. but checking off no. We're not going four deep on the list here. Maybe one. Maybe when I'm 85 eating food out of a blender. Oh, my God. Ladies and gentlemen, if there's something you don't get. There's a lot I don't get.

It's sitting to my left. Stop it. Is there something in your life you just don't get? Let us know right now. It's 713-212-5-790. 7-13-212-5-790. If there's something you don't get, we want to hear from you right now, 1130,

Sports Talk 790. Do you have something in your life that you just don't get? No need to worry. No need to fret. We will discuss the topic to see if we comprehend. The things that may confuse our friends, it's time to say, I just don't get it. All right, here we go. 1135.

This is where you call and you get your advice from your good friends, Connor, Ross, and Matt. Things you just don't get. A couple from me real quick. Right off of Twitter. So our website put the final minute of the game on with my radio call. And two people put on there, and you saw the exact same thing. Let me make sure I get it here. One in person says, I just can't watch a game played on a court that looks this ridiculous.

So you said to yourself, I'm going to turn it off. The game is, the court is so ridiculous and so bad, I'm not going to watch it. I've never thought of it that as a legitimate excuse just to why to not watch something. I get it a little bit. If you're a fringe fan and you're just looking to flip it on and you're like, you know what, this court sucks and you're going to flip it off. I imagine that person is not a diehard Houston Rockets fan. And the next person after that says, nobody watches this anymore.

I mean, that's simply not true. Now, our numbers down a little bit? Yes. But using the term nobody is not relevant. There were 18,000 people in the building last night. The game was nationally televised. To say nobody watches it is ridiculous. So my question is, Rossi, when you say something on social media, do you have to comment on every single thing?

Some people do it. What do you do it? I just don't get it. They want attention? Connor, you big attention seeker? Do you like to comment on every single thing you're seeing on Twitter? I don't think you tweets hardly at all. I don't tweet that much.

Yeah. Get your tweets up, Connor. Get the followers up. Let's go. I just say, boys, I just don't get it. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I'm with you.

I had a couple of responses because I was tweeting about the rockets last night and there were a couple of people like no one's watching this, no one cares. The rockets? What are the rockets? Who cares about them? Like, well, the building was full. It was on T&T.

We're here in Houston, Texas, talking about the rockets. Do we just have a really cranky public existence? Some people, not everybody. I think the majority of people are good, well-adjusted people, maybe not as many as there were, you know, years ago before the social media age. Like you'd be putting up a picture of Sarah Jessica Parker.

And it says Sarah Jessica Parker is going to be in a new movie. Yes. And instead of saying good for her or just scrolling past it, they'd say, she didn't look that hot. I can hear the nang from the horse face if somebody says that. That's rude. Very rarely do I ever comment on something that I, unless it's something I really, really have,

to. And I guess maybe because people really, really object to the NBA. One more. This is another one. Matt the Ben says, I don't get the in-season tournament in the NBA. Makes no sense. They have a blank ton of trophies to get rid of or something. I just don't get it. Well, the reality is they're stealing a bit.

The NBA's a bit steeler because you've seen this in soccer for generations, correct? It's different. The NBA does it a little bit different because they count it. The cups in soccer are a completely different competition. The records and the goals and all that don't count. But the games, like last night's game, the points, rebounds, assists, turnovers, et cetera.

It all counts to the record books. It's a whole different competition. But, yeah, they did that. They poached that idea. And I'll tell you exactly why they did it. Generally, year after year, people don't care about regular season NBA basketball before December 25th. I mean, I'll be honest with you, it's not the most thrilling thing in the world to me. Uh-huh.

But it has a little layer, but I'm not going to oversell it to anybody going, hey, why aren't you watching? I'm not asking you to do that. I don't know how much extra juice was in the Toyota Center last night because it was the NBA Cup. But I'm going to tell you there's more than if it wasn't. You know what the juice for me was? And again, it's selfish. Partly is selfish. The trip to Vegas to me is never a bad thing.

But number two is the Rockets have lost the Golden State Warriors 15 consecutive times going back to 2020. I was sick and tired of watching Steph Curry put up these fourth quarter Hail Marys that go in and they win. And I was excited. sue me. Yeah. So, I mean, that's the point. To make a little money, try to grab a little more extra attention before December 25th. There's a reason why the cup is ending like in this week.

I thought that they were going to do it all year long and it was going to be, I don't want to say more prestigious, but to me it would have held a little bit more weight if they did it for more long term. It's just a little extra layer, but nobody should be taking this super seriously. It's 100% a gimmick. And if you want to call it gimmick, that's fine. To me, again, it doesn't change. To me, I was excited about the thought of going to Nevada as I was seeing the Rock finally be Draymond Green and having Steve Kerr whine like a little bitch.

It's made up. It's a gimmick. They're doing it to garner more interest in the regular season. It worked last year. It's not working as much this year. But I like it. It's cool. And it's not going to hurt you.

It's okay. Hey, I got one for you. What? What don't you get? Oh. You got one for me. What I don't get? What don't you get?

Why did the North Carolina Tar Heels just sign a 73-year-old coach to a five-year contract? I don't understand either side of this. Bill Belichick is arguably the greatest NFL head coach of all time. To me, he is number one. He's 14 wins away from besting Don Chula for the most. NFL wins all time. And then the UNC Chapel Hill folks

just got rid of a coach who is into his 70s to hire a coach into his 70s? Yeah, they saved one year. I think Mack Brown is one year older. What are they doing? I didn't know when they said younger, they were going with the 73-year-old. I don't

get it. Rossi, I don't get it. This is going to fail. The time that Bill Belichick is wearing North Carolina of gear is going to ultimately fail. He's not going to want to listen to 18 and 19-year-olds who are going to leave the portal and leave their school after one year and have to spend all the money in the NIL for these guys to leave. He doesn't need the money. He's never coaching college. He does a good job at ESPN. I think he's great on the Manning cast. He is hooking up, well, I don't know how often,

but he's hooking up with the 24-year-old. Oh, the magic of pills these days. I'm sure more often than you would have been. Just be with her endlessly. Keep her satisfaction. and enjoy retirement. You know 24-olds and you need and love them more than probably more than he's willing to give? Right? Matthew. Is a 24-year-old libido different than a 73?

The answer, of course, is yes. Well, I'm talking about football. I just don't get it. I'm sitting here talking about football and Bill Belichick and the Carolina Tar Heels and you want to talk about a 72-year-old plowing his 24-year-old girlfriend. That's exactly where you go to.

I didn't say tap. but I didn't say plow, hit, none of that. Whatever you want to call it. Make sweet love. And whichever way, I just don't get it. Why do we have to go this direction every time?

Weekdays, 10 to 2. Connor, we go to you, my friend. Is there something you don't get before we talk to, Ronnie and Rosenberg? I had a different one, but I don't know. I just thought of it. Did you guys talk about the law in Ohio? Oh.

In Ohio lawmaker, a bill Tuesday that would classify flag planting at Ohio Stadium around Buck. football games as a felony. The Ohio Sportsmanship Act comes in response to Michigan's attempt to plant its flag after a win at Ohio State which set off a brawl between the teams.

And I think a lot of people can relate when I say I just don't get it. Why don't elected officials have better things to do? If you don't want flag planting or taunting, just win the game. You know me, I didn't mind it until it became an issue. And I still don't mind it. It's college.

It's bloods and crips. Hatfield McCoys. you know what you don't want a flag being planned on your home football field then montacues and capulettes yes the villarieals and the thomas's we we don't got beef do we well you haven't listened to my wife lately i love your family okay yeah way more than i love you i know i just don't get it either i mean what it called the flag uh sportsmanship law or something like that the ohio sportsmanship act you know what that's just that's just politicians trying to get involved in sports again but kowtowing to their base making

stupid. It's ridiculous. Don't get me started. All right. Ronnie and Rosenberg is first up. If there's something you don't get, we'll get to you next. 713-212-5-790. 7-13-213-2-5-790. There's something you don't get. You've heard it from us. Now it's your turn. Ronnie, you're first up next at 1144 on Sports Talk 790. This is the Matt Thomas show with Ross on Sports Talk 790. All right. 13212-5-790.

7-1-3-21-2-5-7-9. We have the news at noon coming up in about 10 minutes. In about 40 minutes, we're going to go to Miami to get a thought or two about what's happening with the dolphins. We'll do that with Alejandro Solana, and he is a host at WQAM in Miami. 7-13-212-5-7-90. Ronnie and Rosenberg, I've got one simple question for you. Ronnie, what don't you get? Good morning, Matt.

How are you guys? doing a I do some long distance commuting three or four days a week and I look forward to y'all show you really make my day and I enjoy your knowledge. You've been you guys been around for a pretty good while and know a whole bunch of stuff so help me with this.

Please. Please help me. How the heck does momentum work in a sports event? How can the momentum swings? I just don't get how everything can be going one team's way and then the next thing you know it, a little

fumble or a turnover or something and the next thing you know the other team is just waxing the other guys so help me with that please all right ronnie thank you for the phone call and the nice words um hoi that's it's an intangible you can't pick up a piece of momentum you can't scoop it up you can't manufacture momentum if you wanted to Ross I believe we're stuck here I don't no, Ronnie, if I get, oh, you have the answer? Ronnie, ladies gentlemen, I present to you, Ronnie, sports heavy expunning momentum. This is my opinion.

I've gotten in very big arguments with people about this before. Hey, very know? Yes. It's not real. It's made up. To me, the easiest way to talk about momentum is to say, go to the live betting market.

And if you're so, if you know momentum and you know this team has all the momentum, them and and they got it all, then live bet them. And then you're going to win 100% of the time if you can predict it. It's something we make up a team. It's very human to look at patterns and say there has to be a reason for this pattern. Sometimes there's not a rhyme or a reason. I would say especially at the professional level when you have the more mentally strong players.

Maybe at the lower levels it's a little bit different and maybe there can be more. But we've seen teams come back from 21 point deficits and still lose in overtime. seen all the, I mean, any number of examples that we can give. To me, it's something, it's a label that we place on something that is not really even, especially at the professional level of sports, it's not real. But in a sporting event, momentum, and there is a definite definition from momentum. Okay. Can change.

You go from a 13 to one run and the other side scores 11 of the next 13. that would be a momentum shift. Yeah, you could say after the fact, the momentum shifted, but I think it's not predictive, it's not anything real, and it's not honestly anything worth talking about to me. All right. I got one for you. In my opinion. You got one going for you.

This is maybe not before I just don't get it. But I don't get why people in sports believe there's adversity. Every day in life, we live through adversity. Wait, there is adversity. So then there is adversity. But I mean, every team has it. Every team that wins a championship overcomes adversity. I've never in my life, whether it's watching a college football team, a pro basketball team, a pro baseball team, a 13-year-old's soccer team.

Rossi, adversity is there every single day. And everybody has to overcome some sort of adversity. I have to get over adversity of fighting traffic coming in from Kingwood every morning. That's adversity. Getting in the car and driving and stopping and getting off at. What are we getting off these days at Connor? Collingsworth. Is that what they're making us do?

Quitman. Making us turn left on right to jump onto 45 on these weird ass side streets. That's adversity. But we fight through it. We get here in time. Okay. I'm sick and tired of everything. every sports team I ever hear about talking about adversity.

I just don't get it. Do you think some teams go through more adversity than others? No, absolutely. No. Everybody's got injuries. Everybody's got the same amount of injuries. Every team, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. Generally speaking, I'm not going to say, oh, that team's got 14 times the adversity of something else.

Adversion's a blanket statement. Every team. No one ever says, nobody says, Ross. We had minor adversity this year. No, either you have it or you don't. Some have more adversity than others. Okay, technically more injuries. Okay, fair.

What are you even talking about? I'm sick and tired of adversity. Well, I get it. People go through adversities. It happens. Every day. Every single human being has adversity. Yeah, but some worse than others.

That's for your decision. That's for 100% fact. Your blood pressure. hired today than it was yesterday. That's an adversity. Okay. Yes, it is. You're done with. You're good. Okay. Or I was driving to work and then somebody crashed into me. That's adversity. That's not the same as you having to deal with traffic on Quitman. Or God forbid, literally even like serious life adversities that we don't even necessarily need to get into.

Correct. That's what I'm saying. There are real adversities involving real life tragedies and real life struggles. Having one of your players pull a hammy is not a real adversity. It's just, It's just the wear and tear of sports. What happens? Jalen Petrie tearing his pectoral. That's adversity for the Houston Texans. Oh, here we go. Houston, Texas won the AMC South at Go Overcoming Adversity. How about not having enough depth in your secondary?

Kenyon Green. Next man up. Kenyon Green has been blocking it left. Kenyon Green sucks. Yeah, like a tree stump. Do you have overcoming adversity with that? C.J. Stroud's not having to overcome that adversity. They're the most blown blocks and pressures allowed in football. That's not a versy.

That's not. That's not CJ Shroud's fault. Yeah, people have to overcome adversity. What are you even talking about? DJ has to go overcome adversity. That is general manager didn't get a better offensive line in front of him. That's adversity. It's just an overused, cliched term.

Everybody has adversity every single day. Yeah, but some more than others. And some teams more than others. You know what? When you win something down the road, which never, I don't really want everything in your life? Me? Yeah. You're going to be like, I want to think my mom, my dad, my brothers, my sisters, my friends. I overcame a tremendous amount.

I absolutely overcame out of a tremendous amount of adversity. Oh. You don't know what the hell you're talking about. Oh, seriously. Adversity sucks. Everybody's got it. Oh, my Lord.

Nobody lives in adversity-free life. I'm so happy I started this. It's good. Well. Ross, you've got three minutes to overcome some adversity for the news at noon. Can you do it? Jesus Christ.

You jump to J.C. on me? I shouldn't be as dumbfounded as I am, but I am. Oh, because I don't agree with you. It makes me dumbfounded? It makes you dumbfounded? Okay. I didn't realize that was such a big deal. Advert. I'm just saying it's too, it's too often used. It's ridiculous. Everybody's got adversity. And for somebody to, every time somebody wins a championship, we had overcome adversity. Well, of course you did. That's what sports are. Sports is adversity. Overcoming it every single time. The news at noon is up next. Let's tell you about love volleyball first. League one volleyball. You know, they have a lot

adversity in League One volleyball. You know, they've got to get to the court. They've got to drive down down there. They've got to play. They're going to have a lot of fans screaming at them. That's overcoming adversity. League one volleyball is a brand new major league coming to the city of Houston down at the four-pin epicenter in early January. L-O-V-B.com. League one volleyball. Best national players, best collegiate players, best international players are representing the city of Houston with a new branding professional. I love volleyball. And if your daughter plays, your son's playing a lot of guys

are playing volleyball now, it is such a great sport, and you're going to be able to see it play to the very highest level. League One volleyball, LovB.com. That's LovB.com for League One volleyball, starting up this January at the Fort Bend epicenter. Lunch timers, this is the Matt Thomas show. 12-03. N-H-South.

What's happening in Lunchtimeers? halfway home on the Matt Thomas show with Ross on a Thursday. Lots to celebrate after last night's huge victory inside TOTA center. Not so much to celebrate if you're an Alex Bregman and or Kyle Tucker fan with the rumors continuing to swirl about their futures. We present that and more as part of the news at noon. All right, we've done the news at noon for about three or four weeks, and every single time we've gone to the news at noon at the desk,

we have Ross changing his voice. That's not every single time, but it's going to, to happen again now, isn't it? Hello, Matt. This is the news at noon here on the Matt Thomas show. I don't want you sound like a wake-old news

and cross. Here is what is happening with the Rockets winning. Can we just get a regular voice? Last night in the NBA Cup. Pogemsky to inbound

at three and a half to go. All eyes on Curry. Pajemski, looks, looks, gives it up to Curry. Fijmski's side pocket. It's blocked. Yeah. It's blocked.

And the Rockets win it. Brandon Pachensky! The shotless! What a comeback! On to the Western Conference semifinals for the Houston Rockets. No, no, no, downgraded. Okay. NBA Cup semifinals for the Houstoner Rockets.

That's more realistic. But Matt, the curse, lifted energy in the building. It felt good. The Rockets. Fifteen losses in a row sports RV. Exercise the demons and beat. The Golden State Warriors. Fifteen. Too many. It was way too many. February of 2020. The last time the Houston

Rockets had beaten the Golden State Warriors. So a wonderful comeback by the Rockets, a low-scoring game, 91 to 90. But what has become a story afterwards? What Steve Kerr had to say after the game. I've never seen a loose ball foul on a jump ball situation, 80 feet from the basket with the game on line. I've never seen that. I think I saw it in college one time, 30 years ago. So much shade. The NBA. That is unconscionable. I don't, I don't even understand what just happened. You know, loose ball, diving on the floor, 80 feet from the basket, and you're going to give a guy two free throws to decide the game when people are scrambling for the ball. Just give them a timeout. Give them a time out and let the players decide the game. That's how you officiate.

especially because the game was a complete wrestling match. Now, to his point, it was a very physical game and a lot of fouls were called, but still at the end of the day, a foul was called. And well, you can't boil it down to just one play, Steve Kerr, but. Oh, he did. He did. He bowled it down to one play. Steve Kerr, very upset with the officials last night, Matt. Your thoughts? Are you weeping for Steve Kerr on the Golden State Warriors? If there's any NBA team that I will not give the benefit of the doubt to,

it's the Golden State Warriors, who by the way, Alperin Shangoon was physically manhandled. Do you think he, you mentioned it a little bit, do you think he sold it a little bit too much? Or do you, I mean,

when you grab someone's shoulders, how do you not sell it? Yeah, he did sell it, but it was not a basketball play. It was unnecessary. It wasn't unnecessary and excessive, which is flagrant too,

but it was unnecessary contact. Not, And it's the most simplistic terms, Ross. It was not a basketball play. And if it's not a basketball play, it's a flagrant one. It's not a basketball play. It was excessive. I'm sorry, unnecessary.

And it was also simply, basically, in effect, a take foul because Draymond Green got faked out of his shoes. And then Alper Nchengun was going to have a free lane to the basket. Yeah. And he fouled him. Yeah. He fouled him. So, yeah. Don't cry for Steve Kerr, not that you are, but my goodness, I'll never cry for the Warriors.

I mean, I appreciate the hell what they've done and how they've won the championships and you've got the greatest jump shooter of all time. And he may have had the best back court shooting of all time. And frankly, even though Draymond Green gets away with murder, he's maybe one of the best 5x5 players ever to play in the history of the NBA. I mean, is he the best center of all time 6, 9 and under? Sure. by then not a lot of people who got some guy in the 50s who was like 6'6 and really good.

The point is that most guys in the NBA at least 611 in that spot. I mean he's going to be a Hall of Famer. He's one of the best defenders ever. He was making great defensive plays all over the place last night. He and Steve Kerr I mean, especially Dreemey.

He gets away with everything. Gets away with murder arguing with the officials. All right, let's go on to the baseball side. Matthew, MLB.com's Mark Feinson reporting. Bregman could be the next major Domino to fall in the Free Agent Market. Astros, Red Sox,

Yankees, Tigers, among the teams, quote, in the mix for Bregman's services. Do we need to have a heart-to-heart with some people that think the Astros were ever in this to begin with? We have the quotes from Boris that he has been talking

with Dana Brown. Yeah. Maybe it's just the cynic in me that says that this was, that this was, the conversations were pleasant. There was obviously affinity for Bregman towards Houston, Houston towards Bregman. But at the end of the day, Alex knew when he left spring turning last year, and there was no offer on the table at any point during this year, that the Astros were kind of mentally and organizationally preparing themselves for Alex to test free agency and go somewhere else.

I'm curious how much will come out because stuff is coming out like about the Soto deal. There's this insider report by Jeff Passon and others on ESPN talking about the dinners and the behind the inner workings. I'd be very curious to hear or read a similar story on Alex Bregman and this whole free agent deal as far as what's going on, the meetings, who was closed, who wasn't, and stuff like that. And we'll find out. I would hope so. I would think so. I mean, remember the stuff coming out with Soto about the Yankees wouldn't offer a suite, but the Mets were willing to offer. for us, all that type of little stuff.

Now, of course, Bregman not as highly sought after as Juan Soto, but still, that type of stuff, I think will be interesting if and when it comes out. I don't know if Bramon will do the Carlos Crayomotive, well, here's what the Astros offer me. I don't think it's going to be that, but I think there will be enough people that will drop

hints of where the Astros are as an organization. And also, Matt, on the baseball side, the Astros and Kyle Tucker, will there be a trade. There continues to be reports. Joel Sherman of the New York Post

describing the Yankees as among the teams, quote, most seriously, end quote, pursuing the outfield. Of course, there was the Chandler Rome and King Rosenthal report about the Cubs being involved. What's going to happen? Kyle Tucker, if I asked you right now, an Astro opening day. No chance. No chance. Zero percent. No way. No how.

Okay. And I would probably lean 75, 25, to the Chicago Cubs. I just want y'all to think about this for a second. I need you've got one more story to get to. Not really. Okay, well. What? Restarting the computer Insta.

This is a whole mess. Sorry, go ahead. Can you imagine a 2025 roster with your starting right filter being Kyle Tucker and your starting third baseman being Alex Springman and they're both wearing pinstripes? Should you even bother playing the season? Oh.

You know what? I just made you vomiting your own mouth that I know. You just made me sick. That's disgusting. That's a possibility, isn't it? That's disgusting, Matthew. So let me ask you this. Juan Soto

paying outrageous money on a 15-year contract or Kyle Tucker and Alex Spregman. Who had a better off-season if that happens? The Mets or the Yankees? Scott Boris.

Scott Boris wins every single place. I didn't think about it that way. He doesn't have Kyle Tucker. I believe he ex-execkel. sales sportsman? No, that's right, that's right. The point being is that that would be... But he does have Bregman and Soto. Think about that. That'd be quite an offseason for the Yankees.

Now, the difference in Kyle Tucker is he has one year left on his contract. Yes. Does that preclude somebody, some team from getting involved knowing that Kyle Tucker could certainly take his talent somewhere else in 2006? Hmm. Maybe. All right. Anything else on the

offbeat and track? I do have something, but we're going to have to get to it on the other side. because it's time for a break. We're not standing the news at noon past that. Okay. But we'll just make an anecdotal coming back. Yes. We're going to go to Miami.

It's a quick piece of audio. Ooh, we'll play it. Okay. Bottom of the hour, we go to Miami. Check on the Dolphins. 12.13 on Sports Talk 7.90. All right. College basketball is in play tonight.

No NBA, but you've got the NFL tonight with the Rams and the Niners. And you're like, Matt, I'm going to watch the games, but I just, I don't have a dog in the fight. Well, get a dog. Why don't you bark a little bit? it with Underdog Fantasy. And the folks of Underdog Fantasy are going to say, they're going to give you some player stats. And you're going to take your knowledge of these player stats. And you're going to go, oh, that seems like that's a bad situation.

I'm going to go lower. Or you're going to like, oh, that's undervalued. I'm going to go higher. And the more you do it with the more games you select, the bigger money you can win. In fact, you went up to 1,000 times your money just by choosing higher or lower on the player stats. Football, it's touchdowns, passing yards, rushing yards, receptions. There's a combination of things out there. If you want to use college basketball, you can go with rebounds, assist, and field goals.

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SportsMT. Back to Matt Thomas and Ross Villarreal. On Sports Talk 790. All right, one last leftover thing. From the news at noon, Matt, you always want something off beat. I thought I'd bring it to you. Please. This is sports-related.

Head coach Pat Kelsey of the Louisville Cardinals was asked in a press conference this week about mentally preparing his team for a tough week. They have Duke, then they have U-TEP, and then they have Kentucky. What is it like preparing the team for such a tough and or mentally draining schedule? I mean, we have a. a bunch of free sneakers. I wear sweatsuits to work. Like, like, you know, my kids are healthy, my wife's hot. Like, I got a pretty good life. We get to play college basketball. We get to play in the Yom Center. We get to get ready for Utah. My dad used to say it all the time. Like,

I would say, him, Dad, you got to go to work today. He said, son, I get to go to work today. Right? Heck, heck, yeah. You know, I mean, schedule's been a little bit difficult. We've had some adversity, but, you know, this guy's been awesome. The guy's been awesome. The process has been great. Results will take care of themselves, and just on to the next one. The most important game in the history of the program is the next one we play.

And that's, that one on Saturday. About three hours ago, it was this one right here. It's the deal. He had me until he said he had adversity, because everybody's got adversity. He gets free sneakers, sweatsuits to work, his kids are healthy, and his wife is hot. That's what he has to say about that.

So what do the average man do? Yesterday after hearing that quote, I'm assuming? I would say probably Google his wife. Bingo. And you did? No, I didn't know about this until 12, two minutes ago. I thought maybe you saw it on Twitter. No, I actually saw it. I just didn't do it.

It is, uh-oh, it is the worst. Lisa Kelsey. And? She seems nice. That's your, that's your, uh, review of her? Yeah, what do you want to say? You can say she's a one out of ten? I mean, we, we, we, we.

Life is full of grading. We grade in school. We grade on the gymnastics events. We grade. Ro-woo-ro-ro-ro. I give her... I give her a what? I give her three out of five wolves.

Ro-mo-roo. What a scrappy dude doing the evaluations or what? When did I do that? I remember it, but... Can play the whole thing, Connor? What is that from? What's the nickname? Okay.

Fido? Like a dog? Ro roo. You're trying to figure out Joey Loper Fido's nickname. Oh, Loperfito, that's terrible. Well, how do you still let me on air?

You know what? We have not been together on a Friday in quite some time. Tomorrow, I'm scared the death about tomorrow. Play some from last week since he missed last Friday. Load it up. Loaded up, Connor McGovern.

Do it best of. I feel like we got some good material this week too, by the way. I really haven't caught myself. Are you serious? Are you listened to yourself? No, I don't listen to this. show when it's not on.

I'm talking about listening to yourself. I have left over from last week. Oh, here we go. Tomorrow could be epic. Let's go. By the way, I got to wake the strippers up at 10 a.m. Pacific time tomorrow. Just wait to one. No, the Vegas strippers don't wait.

They don't go to sleep. They don't go to sleep. Yeah, they're like vampires of the night. But they're not listening to us. The Houston strippers have been woken up at noon. So we'll do that tomorrow. Let's go to George Memorial at 1224 on 790. Hi, George.

Yeah, what's going on? Matt? Hi. I've had a long time to talk. Hey, I heard you read Twitter sitting last night. Just wanted to give your opinion on a couple questions I have about Steve Kerr calling the call irate. I are A-T-E, I believe. So you spell it? So what do you think?

Yeah, irate would be a, yeah, he was irate. He was, I don't think he called the collierre. He was irate. Yeah, I'm not sure what it says. I'm just lexic, but I want to give your opinion a question. What do you think is more irate? that the Warriors, they could just scored one jump shot in last three minutes and they could have won. Or that Steve Kerr said that a chokehold on the free throw line 80 feet away was irate.

Or that Steve Kerr said he wanted to go to Republican State Nevada to go win a championship, which is more irate. A, B, or C? What? What? Are you smoking something? I'm pretty drunk. I'm drinking fireball, like, subway. Ice tea, but it's unsweet, so it's okay.

Okay, Subway, Subway, unsweet tea with a fireball. Is that irate? Did I hear a girl back there behind you? I mean, she's a bird. I wouldn't call her girl, but she's definitely a bird. That's a bird's name. Mrs. Thomas.

What? What? The hell was that? What? Fireball and Subway T. Write his number down. Let's call on for the show. 832-244. All right.

What do you mean? All right. You don't get liberties. Yeah, right that, right? You get the number copied? We'll have to give him a shout out for the show. He'll be passed out by the end of the show. No kidding.

Fireball with the subway unsweet tea. Incorrect usage of irate. Yeah. Multiple times. Multiple times. And then he's worried about Kerr going to the Republican's in Nevada. Well, there's a lot of states that were the Republican this last election. I don't know how to respond to that, so I won't.

Man, I don't even know where to go from here, man. I really don't know what to say. I mean, I just don't get what that was. It's a bird. What's a bird's name, Mrs. Thomas? Okay, I mean, there have been some strange bird names. Huh. I mean, you can't name every bird Polly.

is 1226 in the PM. That is one intoxicated listener right there. Thank you, George. Thank you, George, for being you. You appreciate you. And overcoming the adversity to get on the show. I have adversity now on the show after that phone call. Oh, man.

That was spectacular. 713-212-5-790. 7-1-3-2-5-79. We go to Miami next. Find out what's going on with the dolphins. after we tell you by Game Day Men's Health, eight locations now in the Houston area. Very happy to speak for a company

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Celebrate with Matt. Hey, Matt, love your show. Look, what was he talking about? And by the sound of it, some of you started the party at breakfast. Matt Thomas on Sports Talk 790. A lot of you are asking. off air, Ross, if I have a bird, I don't. And if I did have a bird, it wouldn't not be named

Mrs. Thomas. I'm just going to put that out there. Good afternoon, Houston, Texas. Day drinking in full force. A Thursday afternoon. Love it. I mean, we have been the day drinking leader for sports radio for 14 years in this marketplace. Absolutely. No doubt

about it. We carried the flag. Yeah, we were the flagship. We were the flagship. We were the flagship. For the flagship of drunk callers around Houston, Texas in the midday. I mean, I can't argue with that. I really can't. Let's say hi to a new friend of the show, Alejandro Salana, is with WQA.M. He covers the Miami Heat, but he also is a huge part of their very successful Hoke and Crowder radio show. He's also a host of Uncensored on WQAM, and he covers the Miami Dolphins as part of that. Ono, it's Matt and Ross here on Sports Talk 790. How are you

this afternoon? Thanks for joining us. Yeah, Matt Ross. Love the intro there. I'm actually throwing down a couple right now. So looking forward to it. Well, seriously, if you're not burning a blunt while talking to us, I want to hang up on this conversation immediately. So you just feel free to do whatever you need to do during your 15 minutes with us here. Hey, um... Listen, man, you know how it's done in Miami. I mean, we do that. We do everything. Oh, my God. A bar. Everything goes down here. I love Miami when I call Rockets games down there because it's, and let me ask us, I don't know, are you from there? Yes, born and raised in, uh, in Miami. It's the, and people say

Vegas, New York, and Chicago are great people watching cities. I will proclaim your hometown is because there are these smoke shows that walk around town with guys that are 30 years older and 75 pounds heavier. That to me is the great

spectacle that is Miami, Florida. There's nothing better than we just had Art Basil which is like our big artsy-fartsy you know, week-long event. And it's just like 75-year-olds with TikTok influencers on their arm. and it's it's what makes this city what it is it really is god love it god love it all right let me get

a thought or two about something that ross and i think about all the time when two attack of aloa plays the game of football he's obviously a very successful thrower and is a good quarterback we're still scared to death that he's one hit away from being carried off like a spatula on a football field does that go through the mind of people that cover the dolphins like yourself and fans or is that, you know what, he's taking his own life into his own hands with all the concussions of the last few years. He knows what he's doing. Just let him play football. Every day. I think that's a conversation, you know, from the people covering the team to even the people in the organization and obviously the fan base. I think what Tua has shown this

year from the four games he missed is that he is the most valuable player to the Dolphin's With that being said, every conversation about Tua ends with when he's available, when he's on the field. Everybody knows that the lasting image of Tua Tua Tua Tua Tua Bailoa across every football fan's memory is him on the ground with his hands cramping up. And nobody wants to see that. You know, nobody, nobody down here wants to see that. No football fan wants to see that. So, you know, I think he understands, and I think obviously the dolphins understand the nervous continuing to play football.

But at the end of the day, I mean, you guys know as well as anybody, these guys have a different outlook on life, a different mindset. And I didn't think, you know, even when he went down against Buffalo, there was a chance he was going to give up the game. I just didn't think there was a chance he would. And this is what the Dolphins had gotten themselves into, unfortunately. they finally found a quarterback post-Dan Marino that is good, right? I don't know if he's great.

I don't know if he's a top-five quarterback or can be, but he's definitely better than the clear things of the world or the Jay Fiedlers of the world that we suffered through for 20 years. And the bad part is that you're always worried if that hit comes, at least four games, which is a president of the Dolphin set earlier this year when he had to miss those games going on IR. Alejandro, you've got the dolphins have at least four really, really good skill position players, if not more than that. Would Tua being out there for a full season?

Would this be significantly better than the 6 and 7 record indicates or is just slightly better? Because I still am dumbfounded at how the dolphins last week had to hang around with the Jets for four quarters before finally winning that game in overtime last Sunday. Yeah, I mean, of course, Aaron Rogers is a big game against the dolphins. And truthfully, if Devante Adams catches a pass at the end of the game, stays in bounds. The Dolphins don't have a chance to send it to overtime. I mean, the margin is just so slim between a failed season and, hey, there's still a chance for this team to somehow back themselves into the playoffs. The question is, how good are the Texans, truthfully?

And, you know, maybe you guys can give me some insight for my pregame show. But the Dolphins, very simple, in the Tua era, in the Mike McDaniel era, one p.m. game, a. against a team that's good, but not great. They're going to compete. They're going to have a chance to win, and it's going to be the Tua show. The Dolphins against elite teams, teams that are actual contenders, their record is awful. Last year, one in six against playoff teams, and the one win was against the Dallas Cowboys, who ended up losing in the first round at home.

So were they really a great team? Probably not. This year, that's been the exact same narrative. And it's held true, unfortunately, for the dolphins and for Tuatung Vailoa, when he's been out there, we can talk about how well they played against the bills on the road, still lost. The other day against Green Bay, all these narratives swirling around the team that they're soft, they're mentally soft.

The former player called them out for being soft. And Tua said he wants to go change narratives, and they're down double digits going into halftime. This team is great when they're playing against mediocre teams in the National Football League. this team has not, with two as the quarterback, beaten legitimate contenders. And this is another opportunity now for the Dolphins to go on the road and win a game that's A, a must win, and B against the team they failed to beat time and time again. Well, we have great news for you, Alejandro. The Texans aren't an elite contender.

So maybe the dolphins will be okay this weekend. But just on your side, it's similar here in Houston. It feels like when you go up against the best of the best, that they're going to fall short, but they can beat and compete with decent to below teams. But a lot of that can be talked about as far as resting on coaching. And I was going to ask you, what do you feel about Mike McDaniel and what he has done there as a head coach, his strengths and his weaknesses? Yeah, I mean, it's a tough question to answer because, okay, he brings this new perspective on Tua.

Brian Flores clearly had no interest in Tua Tuna by Lowe as the franchise quarterback. they limited to us production. It was quite obvious to everybody around this team. Mike McDaniel comes in and from day one, I'm going to turn Tua's career round and he did that. This is a team that has not won a playoff game. An organization 24 years now. I mean, I'm 30 years old.

I don't remember the Dolph is in a playoff game or, excuse me, winning a playoff game. So his job was simple. Come in, win a playoff game. That's the bar. Most teams are looking to go to a Super Bowl. The bar was when a playoff game in, first two years, playoff appearances.

Fantastic. But you talk about, you know, what we were just discussing, the record against actual contenders. This year, the expectations were playoff win or bust, period. And I think, you know, when you look back to those four games, that Tua was out, the Dolphins had one of the worst offensive performances over a four-week sample size that I can remember. remember. And that's saying a lot coming from a person who has followed this Dolphins team,

which just hasn't had success on that side of the ball. So you can point to the fact that McDaniel, two consecutive playoff berths, there's something to be said about that, given this franchise's inability to win consistently. And I think he should be, you know, celebrated for that fact. But year three, the Dolphins didn't have a contingency plan for a quarterback that is constantly getting injured, aside from concussions for Tua. And when he wasn't a out there, McDaniel showed no true ability to actually have a plan in place to put his team in a position to succeed, which is why they went one in three and their only win was against the New England Patriots, which might be the worst team in the NFL. So it's still a question that's

being asked right now. There was a report today that McDaniel would be on the hot seat if this Dolphins team doesn't end up making the playoffs. And it's simple. Even if they win out right now, there's no guarantee that they're going to make the playoffs. They don't control their own destiny. And I think the questions will continue to be asked around here, and the seat will only grow hotter if the dolphins fail to make the playoffs this season. Yeah, and part of that, as you mentioned, with Tagalog down, you figured you'd see a lot more Tyreek Hill. It's been a slow season for him, but he's heating up the last couple of weeks,

is the breakout here? And what do you think were the reasons for his slow start to the season? Yeah, so I think he had a much better performance against the Jets. And I know, you know, the Jets defense is good. I wouldn't say they're one of the best in the league, but they're certainly top half of the league. So I think you look at the fact that he finally, him and Waddle for the first time since week one,

both had over 90 yards. I mean, the idea that we're saying that in going into week 14 or coming out of week 14 is insane, Tyree Kill had almost 100 yards receiving or more in half of the Dolphins games last year. He almost had 2,000 yards receiving it. He doesn't get hurt. He had a real shot at it.

going to the final game of the season. Teams this year have taken Tyreek and Jalen Waddle, for that matter, out of, you know, the game for the most part. They're playing too high safety, and they're forcing the Dolphins to beat them underneath. You're going to see a lot of opportunities for Jono Smith, the Dolphins' tight end, who over the back half of the season since Tua's return, has really been the focal part of the Dolphins' offensive passing game.

And it hasn't been Tyreek and Waddle for the most part this year. So can Tyree Kill have a breakout game against the Texans? Of course, he's Tyree Kill. He was voted the best player in the NFL for a reason amongst his peers. But I wouldn't bet on it just from the fact that teams seem to have kind of figured out how to scheme him from beating you over the top. And it sounds so simple, just play two men keep and don't let him get behind you. But last year, teams were doing that. The Dolphins still find a way to get him the ball.

This year just has not worked out. they haven't been able to run the football either less than 100 yards combined over the last two games it seems as if to a tongue of Iloa has to have a perfect game throwing the ball to get this offense moving as we saw against the new york jets they want tyreek and waddle to be the focal point it just hasn't been consistent enough this year yeah that's the sort of the tight end three times on one drive to win that game when you don't even go to him throughout the first four quarters was simply amazing watching that end the way that it did for let you run you're also part of the heat broad crew. I'll ask you a very simple question to wrap up our conversation. Is Jimmy Butler a member of the Miami Heat one month from today? Yes. I think one month from today, Jimmy Butler will be. I'm not breaking any news. I'm not telling you it's a guarantee. Nothing would surprise me in this day and age of the NBA. But going back to that Sean's report, I genuinely don't believe anything changed

from the time Shams Sharania reported this 48 hours ago to what. everybody around this organization has been saying it since the Miami Heat were bounced in the first round last year. Jimmy Butler was unavailable. And Pat Riley made his statement very clear, which was Jimmy needs to be available more. He needs to shut his mouth and play basketball. And they're not going to give him a contract extension, which he clearly wants, considering he has a player option for next year at $52 million and then nothing guaranteed after that. So I just think the only thing that changed is the fact that the Miami Heat are now picking up the phone to hear teams out. But because of the cap constructs in the NBA right now, it's very difficult for Jimmy Butler to have serious leverage in this situation.

And even if he and Jimmy decided that, hey, this has kind of run its course. It's time to move on. As you guys know, the Rockets right now are pretty much the only team, it seems, on that list that can actually make a move. And I don't know if Houston, considering what your general manager has been saying, is trying to make that kind of move right now. So it's a complicated situation. There's a lot at play. But no, I do not think anything is currently imminent.

I do not believe the Miami Heat are actively or aggressively shopping Jimmy Butler right now. 52 million dollar player option. I mean, that is a sobering stat right there. Alejandro, thank you so much for spending some time with this today. I look forward to introducing myself to you when we come to your place in February. Thanks for the time and a continued success down in South Florida. Thanks, guys. Anytime. Looking forward to it. Take care now. That's Alejandro Solano with WQA.M. in Miami.

It covers the dolphins and the heat for that radio station. Rossi. $52 million player option. I'm going to assume that he's going to take that option. He's going to be like, no, I don't think it's a responsible thing for me to do. Well, we'll see. 52 million. Maybe we can get a longer deal with more overall money from somewhere else,

but probably 52 million are going to be an opt-in. All right. Brian McTagger joins us at the top of the hour here on Sports Talk 790. Right now I want to tell you about quality home products of Texas. 713 quality. 713 qualities a number you will use to get a hold of the great folks at quality home products of Texas because they want you to get a generic automatic standby generator. They're there for you because they want you to not be left in the dark.

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life. It's a Generax, and by generator from quality home products at Texas. 713, quality. The Matt Thomas show continues. On your Roku, listen to Sports Talk 790 on any device with our free Iheart Radio

app. 12. 51 in the PM here on Sports Talk 790. Ross, V. Rios, with you on the Matt Thomas show with Ross. That is me. here as well. Connemogvern as well. Phone lines open for you at 713. 212.579.

Thanks to our friend Alejandro Solano for talking some Dolphins football. 30 years old. He dropped a little age thing on the show. How about that? You know, what's wrong with that? I think it's good. He sounds very polished for 30 years old. I wish I was as polished at 30 like he was. We're still waiting for you to get polished. I know. By the way, you're going to want to listen.

Believe it or not, today is at 150. Yes. You're going to be hosting it. I love when you host it. Why? I already did. Yeah. I'm leaving one segment early.

Jeez. But I did it for you already. You know, I just like you to show a little commitment, Matt. I did. I wrote it for you. How about us both wearing rockets gear today, by the way? Big win yesterday. By the way, the temperatures in Vegas can be chilly.

You're going to be okay? I won't go aside. What are I worried about? Yeah, you're going to be at the blackjack table the entire time. That's true. The temperature is 72 at the blackjack table. You'll be fine. I got that 6.45 wake-up call tomorrow morning.

I've never gotten up that early in Vegas in my life. Well, at least to go to bed. What you got? Oh, you mean for the show? Yeah, because we'll be on the air tomorrow at 8 a.m. Pacific time. Struggles of a broadcaster. Oh, your workday's done at noon. You poor baby.

I'll go to practice. Are you what for? Just to hang out. Let's see the guys. You're writing down the sets? You're looking for the high horns? I want to make sure I'm philosophically aligned with what the rockets are doing. Make sure I know what's being called.

No, Matt, they're all about toughness and want to. I don't know if you're philosophically aligned. Okay. By the way, congratulations to the McNair's. Hannah? Yes. She's in really good shape. Janice, still kicking, right?

I don't know if she's out of the country for a while. She's moving, but she's not necessarily kicking. Forms, valuations were released today. Oh, really? Yes. Oh, man. Now I got to play. This is where you put me on the spot, aren't you?

I do. Would you like? to value among the 30 NFL teams where the Texans are, and I'll give you plus or minus three spots. That's a pretty wide gap there. What number are they valued at among the 32 NFL teams you get plus or minus three? Ten. Going with that?

8.75 billion. Okay, they're the 12th most valuable NFL team. I almost said 12! Ah! I thought they were 10th the last time or something, so I was going to say 12th. Hannah and Cal the franchise they own worth

$6.1 billion dollars Good for them Now again it takes somebody to buy it for that Yeah It probably would sell more for more than that It feels like these teams

are always sold above the Forbes evaluations That's why Hannah's always in a good mood Now sometimes she's in a pissy mood When's the last thing you start on a pissy mood When Cal shows up with barbecue sauce on his shirt to the formal dinner? You mean like a Wednesday? When people are bad-mouthing the Texans on air, she doesn't like that. Oh, she gets those people fired.

Well, she tries to. Yeah. She keeps the receipts. Six. $6.1 billion. She stares lovingly in those eyes of H. D. D. Calhoun. Is that what his name is? H. Calhoun?

D. Calhound. D. Calhine is one of the letters. I don't remember what the D is for. Oh, she does. Dollars. I thought you're going somewhere else. I know you thought of, but you know what? Give me a little credit once in a while. Dollar Cal McNair.

I'm glad you cleared that up for us all. It was, uh, I looked it up before. I found it. I can't remember now. It doesn't matter. He doesn't, she doesn't care what it stands for. The family is Daniel. Why did he go from Daniel to Calhoun? Calhoun said like he's... Calhoun McNair. He sounds like he should be on a Smoking the Bandit at 4.

Hannah, we were 12th on the Forbes list. No, that's not Hannah Gump. We are doing great. We need to be higher. That's why he needs to do more barbecues and more hot dog grilling. Can I have a second slice of cobbler tonight? You know it be cool if he said, look, everybody, I saw my value, my franchises were $6 billion. Everybody that comes to this Sunday's Texan's game gets one free hot dog.

It's not liquid cash. It's just what it's valued at. So what do you think is in a... I always ask you these things, and you don't have the answer nor do I. If we were to pulse out $40 off the McNair debit card. Okay. What do you think the receipt that comes out and shows you with your balances? Are there enough zeros in it?

I would hope that they don't have too much money in a check account, Matt. You've got to put that into savings, hedge funds, ETFs, Bitcoin. Do they have a debit card? I would imagine they have, no, they have black cards. So there's not a, they don't direct. Does you ever get cash out? Like we, my wife and I have kind of a little strategy we have. Anything under $100 we use our debit card.

Anything over $100, we use our credit card. Why? I don't know. It just keeps things budgeted, I get. Don't argue with me. I'm not arguing. I'm asking you why. I don't know.

I would like to put everything on the credit card and then pay it off. Let me call Mrs. Thomas on this. Let's get her on the horn. No, she's a bird. She's not available right now. But isn't that crazy? I hope she's now with Georgia Memorial. Yeah, really.

But do the McNairns have a debit card? What would you think? Yeah, it's dusty. You're saying they have one, but it's in a way in the back of her purse. You put everything on the credit card. You got to get them points and then cash back, Maddie. Yeah. Les Alexander used to, when he owned the Rock,

it's put everything on a credit card so you get the points. Yeah. Why wouldn't you? I would do the exact same thing. Absolutely. You'd have like 70 billion shmided miles. Yeah. I think you own a 787 by that point. Well, until one does, so it works out that way.

All right. Let's talk to Brian McHaggy. You want a little hot stove of action from the winter ratings? Can't wait. We'll talk to him next. 1257. It is Sports Talk 790 at 713-212-5-790. 7-1-7-190.

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Final hour of the Matt Thomas Show with Ross. been busy. We have gone to Miami. We have gone to parts unknown. We've gone to somebody's house where the birds named... We went to North Dakota. Las Vegas. We think we took one Houston call on the rockets, right? I think. A couple. And then we had somebody... Oh, it was like, yeah, and wants the rockets a long time. Then they asked about the contracts. Yes. On the Astros. And you know what? Why not? We don't need to speculate anymore. We've got the insider with us.

Let's go. He's with us every Thursday at 1 o'clock during the baseball. baseball season and we were happy to have Brian McTago joining us in the winter meetings. Brian, first of all, you are missed. Secondly, how crazy has it been speculation-wise? You've been going to these things for a long time. Is this the most activity in terms of heard this, heard that, that you have been around in a long time when it revolves around the Astros? Yeah, around the Astros, I would say yes.

I mean, you know, typically there's all kinds of, you know, stuff thrown out or nonsense. But yesterday, you know, wondering the floor of the hotel, the lobby. And every time I turn around, I'm, you know, talking to a different agent or someone with another team. And everyone's like, what are you hearing? What are you hearing? And everyone's trying to find out what everybody else knows, other reporters as well. So when there's buzz like that, there means usually something is going on. And it definitely seemed like there's momentum building towards Kyle Tucker being traded now.

and, you know, Bregman's still out there as well. You know, two different, two separate situations, but the Astros are Dana Brown thought they were close to getting something done the other day. So the way continues, though, nothing's done yet. All right. Back to the speculation on Kyle for a second. I always said, and maybe there wasn't a moment in time, but obviously when you had the arbitration of a few years back and the Astros lawsuit,

there were some resentment on the Kyle Tucker side. and also Kyle Tucker knows the landscape of what the Astros have done. Do you think there was a conversation ever between Kyle and Jim or Dana in the last, say, six months that said, look, I know you're looking for the mega deal. You know that we don't offer the mega deals down and everybody's done in their off season. We're going to go to the winter meetings and really try to see what we can do in finding you a new place for 2025 to help you figure out what you're going to do for the long term. or do you think this was always just something that was kind of brought up in passing conversation, but because there are more media there, more people talking about it, then this all of a sudden has gained some steam.

Yeah, I don't know if they ever had those conversations. I mean, they tried to extend Tucker previously, and, you know, it didn't happen. So I think there's always been a belief that Tucker was going to explore free agency. And it came to that point, the Astros weren't going to resign him. And now you see Juan Soto getting that crazy money. And Kyle Tucker next year could be one of the biggest free agent names on the market, a guy with 50 Homer Power with more tools and Soto all around. And so he sees that and he's going to want $400,500 million.

And the Astros see that as well. And the Astros are just like, let's get something for him. And I don't blame him. They could get a couple of big league players, a couple of prospects maybe, not have to pay him 15 plus million in arbitration this year, and they won't lose him next year. I mean, they lost, you know, Krea, they lost Springer, didn't get anything for them.

You know, I can't remember if they got qualifying offers or not. Maybe they got a draft pig. But, you know, their farm system is in the position where they say, okay, we'll let Tucker walk and we'll just plug this guy in. They're just not there. They need to, and they have so many questions on the big league club. They could sort of fill both of those questions by trading one guy and free up some payroll. It makes a lot of sense.

Where do you think that puts us, Brian, just in kind of as far as an era of this Astros team. There was obviously a very hard rebuild. Then there's the championship era. Is this seeming like a soft reset and they want to contend in a couple of years? Like philosophically, where is this driving this organization the next couple of years? Well, I don't think they'll ever rebuild under Jim Crane. I mean, he sort of said that. I would say maybe a retool. I mean, you know, they could trade Tucker, get a couple pieces and still sign a couple of more players. It still won the division.

I mean, the division is not great. I mean, it took what, 88 wins to win the division last year. So, you know, Rangers just resigned the Evaldi and, you know, Angels have made some moves. So still, there's a lot can happen. But it's not like trading Tucker and, you know, you're falling into the abyss now. They could still be really good next year. They're not the 2019 Astros, and they might not be, again. unless they go through a rebuild process.

But I would call it more of a retool. It might look different. It might not feel fun for Astros fans of Tucker and Bregman aren't there anymore. But, you know, there could be a different, a new face at third, a new face and right, a new face and center, a new starting pitcher. And that could still be a pretty good team, especially if you build it around pitching a little bit. Brian McTaggart, MLB.com with us here on Sports Talk 790. And a man has kind of been somewhat forgotten, at least, with all. all the talk that's been going on.

What do you think about Framber Valdez? Do you think there's much of a market for him? Could he possibly be moved? Or do you think he is still in an Astros uniform come opening day? When we met with Dana Brown Monday in Dallas, he did bring up Frommers name. I guess, you know, I'm sure you know, as a guy they would consider trading as well. And it's something they consider, you know, sort of the same boat as Tucker. If they do, and they want to compete, I mean, you're going to have to go get a starting pitcher or two because

he's your race, he's your horse. I think it's less likely he gets traded. But also a guy that, you know, if he has a really solid 20-25, he's going to make a ton of money on a large contract and probably the Astros wouldn't have a ton of interest in bringing him back so they could trade him and get something as well. But, you know, baseball is about pitching,

and he still looks pretty good at the top of your rotation. If you trade Tucker, you free up that $15 million or so. He's going to make an arbitration. Valdez is probably going to make $18 million, so he's going to cost a lot as well. So I don't think you necessarily have to trade both. But, you know, I think there's a chance, but a little less likely that Bromberg gets traded at this point.

Brian, when it comes to Brayman, what's you waiting for right now? Do you think Scott Boris is a type of person that says, all right, we're calling a deadline in, make your best offer, let's go, or is there any sort of waiting game that we're in right now? Well, we're still in the waiting game. I don't know where Alex's mind is. I don't think he's the guy that wants to wait forever and, you know, get into January and February, not knowing where he's going.

I heard yesterday when I was in the lobby that the Red Sox were the team to watch at that point, which, you know, makes total absolute sense, putting him at third base there and playing, you know, with the Green Monster. You know, that would be tough for Astros fans to see. But, you know, I don't know if the Yankees are involved. But, you know, I think we'll have a Bregman decision sooner than later. It's not going to drag on. I still think there's a shot he could wind up here, probably a small shot.

Dana Brown said Tuesday they were optimistic. They could get something done with Bregman. I mean, I'm not sure where that comes from. So, you know, maybe the market's not there for him and his offer value comes down. And the Astros can raise theirs a little bit and there's some kind of match. But I still think that's unlikely. When Dana tells you stuff like that, do you think it's just a straight situation of we gave him an initial offer? you reported last week 6156.

Are they holding back a little bit of money? Or are they saying, we think we've been able to figure out what your value is. If you can't find something better than 6156, then we're always here for you. I think there might be a little wiggle room in that. I mean, he was asked if they made him another offer beyond the 656, and he didn't say.

But I think the aster has put a lot of thought to what his value is, what he's worth, knowing that there might be. might be a team or multiple teams that could offer him more, but maybe the market's not there for him. And maybe if the Astros up their offer by another year, they get close to a match and something can get done. Still, I find it hard to believe the Astros would go longer than six years to a player who's in his early 30s, even if it is Alex Breggman, somebody that everybody loves and has been a cornerstone player. I just don't think the money's going to match up. All right. Last question. If Breggman moves, which I anticipate that happening, what do the Astros do right away for satisfying third base?

Well, at the same time, maybe still looking for some first base help. Yeah, well, I think we go back to Tucker. You know, if they trade Tucker, maybe they get a third baseman and an outfielder from another team. You know, we've all seen, you know, Jorge Polanco is somebody they're interested in to come in and play third base. He's not Alex Breggman. And whoever they put in right field is not Kyle Tucker. but they could still add more pieces on top of those guys. So, you know, I think the Astros need to make a decision at some point sooner or later on Breggman, whether they think he's going to sign or not and say, okay, we're going to do this. And they did start having post-life without Breggman, post-Breggman conversations at the winter meetings.

I think they realize this is a long shot. And I think they're sort of starting to formulate plans to move on. And if they trade Tucker, they might get a third baseman in return and close the door in Bregman and they start in 2025 with some new faces. Did the Astro Suite provide delicious snacks and alcoholic beverages for the reporters? No, it is, it's not that exciting. I mean, we go in there, there's a, you know, a gaggle of media. We all sat on chairs.

It was like a big suite. We all sat on chairs, like sort of a U-shaped angle, and Dana Brown sat in the middle. And it was, you know, everyone's kind of sitting back with their legs crossed and their note pads out and just, you know, peppering questions to Dana. And then after about 10 minutes or so, we leave. But no, no snacks, no drinks. It was a few years ago we were leaving, and Jeff Luno offered us a bottle of wine that was sitting on the floor that he didn't want.

But I passed on that. Okay. Hey, safe travels back. Thank you for the information. And if we don't, we may call you one more time. I mean, seriously, Bragman moves, Tucker gets moved. We're going to, you're on the scene. We know you know people.

We're going to have to call you one more time. understand that, right? I will be here and I will answer. You know that. You're the best. Brian McTaggart, MLB. Doc. Oh, I forgot to ask Brian. Do you hear about our new quarterback, Mr. McTaggart? I was about to say, I couldn't believe this didn't come up. I know, I know. I know. I forgot. I did. Very exciting. Very, very exciting. I mean, he's been a rough couple of years for U.H.

quarterback. So, you know, give Willie Fritz some time. I think he knows what he's doing. And if they can add a couple of receivers in the portal. Let's go. Let's, you know, Big 12 is wide open. They can win it. Just say what everybody's thinking. We're the next Big 12 champions. Pair into the story. I like it. We are. Arizona State was picked last. They won't. Hey, it is completely wide open. My money's on the coogs.

Oh, it's always on the cooks. Thank you, friend. We appreciate it. Brian McTaggart. MLB slash Cougar Objective Reporter. Yeah. You don't believe that? I hope it's not too much money. We need some NIA on money. Cut the check. Both of y'all. We don't make that kind of money.

Let's go. We know people that can cut the check. Coug Collective. Got to start collecting something. Pay for these players. 713-212-5-790. 7-13-212-5-7-90. Let me tell you about set these fine jewelry.

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Vegas NC NBA Cup semifinal games, tickets are very reasonable. Yeah, I heard that they, what's the opposite of skyrocketing? Plummitted? The term I saw from Arash

Marcosi is the word plummet. Dive bombed. They were hoping for Lakers. Lakers. They were hoping for any California team because it's easy to get to Vegas. Golden State. They got none of that.

If you want to go see bucks hawks why the first game is $29 if you want to go see Thunder Rockets $39 Is it like a twin billing? Can you buy tickets to both? It sounds like to me you have to be they're two different Yeah, you've got to leave because the first game I think is

Like at 2 or 2.30 And they play in the sphere, correct? And they make it a basketball? No And you two is the halftime show? No. No shares at halftime. This may be a weird sentiment to make but I'm going to make it. I don't even know what you're going to say

and I know it's go ahead. If we were young If we were young men in 1975 Okay We'd have three people on our list Okay Raquel Welch

And Margaret and Cher Okay Agreed? You feel like those are the three in the list? I have no idea That's before I was born I'll take your word for it. Okay, just throwing it out there.

Well, I don't know what to have time shows. They're very young. Still? You're like 60% under 30, right? That's true. All right. So, Bucks Hawks is $29.

Thunder Rockets, $39, and the NBA Cup is $79. The final. The final, if you want to go. Tuesday. I'm good. I'm going to have to have you Venmo me some money. What?

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Five days in Vegas, the Rockets Beach, Oklahoma City. You need a Venmoe me dues. Oh, I do. It'll be the last time I do it, though. Ellie, Roto's going to join us tomorrow at 1 o'clock. Maybe we'll have him join the league. Actually, no.

He's going to be accommodated. I don't know if you want that in any circumstance. He's making waiver pickups at 4.30 a.m. All right, so so far on the show today, we've had a call from Vegas. Yes. North Dakota. Uh-huh. We had one from Houston.

Yes. On the Rockets. We didn't talk Rockets with him. We're talking about Rockets calls. Oh, a guy from Dallas? A guy from Dallas. Then we had the man with his bird. He had a memorial.

Yeah. Let's go to Stephen in Los Angeles at 124. I bet Steven's going to make the way to Vegas. Hi, Stephen. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. First of all, Matt, I just got to say that last second call you made was Elite. Thank you very much.

So much fun to listen to. Thank you. Made the Rockets game a lot of fun to watch. Yeah, so, I mean, I don't really have anything crazy to, to ask. I just was enjoying that Rockets game last night. I mean, just it was incredible. I don't think Golden State

will play another game this year where they have that many shot clock violations. The one thing that, you know, we all want of course is this team just needs like a dead ass shooter. It's just so obvious. I don't know where it's going to come from, who

it's going to be, but it just feels like this is like the, that is like the missing ingredient on this team because I think they held Golden State to no, I mean, I don't think they scored like the last two minutes of that game last night, which was incredible. And just all the components are there, it just, they can't shoot. And that's like what's holding them back from being elite. Steven, it's a fair conversation point. And Ross, you and I'm talking about this before.

The Rockets are winning 67% of their games without a knockdown, drag-out shooter, without a absolutely, unbelievable perimeter threat. Now, some days it's Jabari, some days it's Janeland, some days it's Fred, some days it's tarry, but it's not the same person every night. And that does present problems for other teams' defense. But at the end of the day, Stephen, I think you'd agree with me on this. You want one guy, whether it's a 14-minute guy off the bench or a guy that starts for you, plays 26, that is that perimeter threat. And they were kind of hoping Reed Chepard would be that guy. At this point, that has not happened. And Cam Whitmore, Got such off to such a bad start, boys, that he's gone to the G League and hasn't been seen since.

He got recalled now. He didn't play last night. Yeah, but I mean, don't you agree with Steve? Even though this is a team that is in desperate need, if they're going to make that super leap. But what do you have to give up in order to get that guy? And who is that guy? I don't know. You were hoping it was going to develop in house.

You're hoping Jalen Green would be better. And Jabarismet Jr. has been better. Fred Van Vlitz going to shoot better. I promise you. Kind of. But, I mean, can you? Stephen, can you give me, who do you predict to be a 40% three-point shooter by the end of the season? Oh, I didn't see that.

Hey, I'm trying to be positive on this. Why don't you say 50 while we're at it? So how much you say 75 over here? Stop, you're rude. I mean, I love this team, but I don't see anybody currently on it that's going to shoot that well from the three point. I mean, I think, you know, Reed is probably like a year or two away from being that, you know, that shooter that we're all talking about. And, you know, Cam is, you know, who knows what? with him. He's still so young at 20 years old. I mean, the great thing about this team is that they

are, they are loaded with depth. And I think that they are in a position where you could part with a couple of pieces and still keep the core intact. I'm just looking forward to seeing this. I didn't have any plans to go to Vegas, but maybe I might because this seems a lot of fun to watch. It is a lot of fun. Thanks, Stephen. Appreciate it. Yeah, I mean, that's the hard part right now. Rossi, if you're a Rafael, is that you love the vibe right now. This is a young team that's all growing up. It's still a young team, even though you've got Dylan Brooks

and you've got Fred Van Blee playing major minutes. But you need a jump shooter. And can you wait for Reed to have an offseason in the NBA world and do that? Of course you can. You're not winning the championship this year.

I mean, yeah, I don't think you move up a stage, you know, what is it, the stages that Timmy wanted last year improved, the phases, stages, whatever. Same difference. Phases are moving up. And the next phase would be, do you go get a superstar? Because this team is full of really good players,

but there's no definitive star to really shake things up, to really put the fear in God in teams and NBA, and what would you have to give up in return? You cannot trade Alpi or Jalen this season. And I still don't think they would want to trade either one of them unless it was a deal that couldn't refuse. Everybody else could be moved.

But if Reed could somehow figure out, And maybe it's just too, you know, even though we're still not even at the halfway point of the season, maybe it's just a learning growth campaign for him. Yeah. And maybe expectations are a little higher than they should be because he is a number three overall pick, but it also was, I mean, roundly talked about as the worst draft in possibly NBA history at the top of it. So where would he be picked in any other given year? I don't know. Yeah. Well, again, if we're going back 25 years ago, he's a sophomore in Kentucky going into throwing his first accounting class today.

Right. It's just showing somebody to go for him. It's Kentucky. That's true. But also Kentucky's the leader of the one in Duns, too. So they weren't surprised by that. And nobody's going to class in Kentucky since probably the 50s. Can you imagine being a Kentucky athlete?

Just go and play basketball. And if you go to class, no big will, but you're going to wind up living us anyway. We're not really, really worried about you. Right. I used to, when I was in college, I used to pick classes that attendance didn't count as part of the grade. Like, if you showed up, he showed up. You went and you went. Really?

Yeah. I used to pick the biggest class sizes, too. I taught people things at U of H. I was in a business. I was teaching them things that they were like, oh, like the biggest problem I had with U of H broadcasting back then. This is going back to late 1990s when I was in school.

Okay. Was that they were still using record players. I said, nobody's using record players anymore. What do you mean, Matt? They're back now. But not on a major radio station. Radio stations are not playing songs of records. At the time, back in the 90s, it was using CDs.

And you would turn a CD to a certain number, and you just hit the play button and go from there. Yes. Now everything is digitalized, so it doesn't, you know, they're not even seeing these anymore. But I told Dr. Musberg, I said, must. Dr. Musburger. Yeah, he's a cousin to Brent. Really?

Yeah. Wow. We got to update things. We're trying to get people to think that this is a great communication school. Using a record player to play music is just absurd. You're like, well, it's not about the record play. It's about using just another piece of audio equipment. I'm like, okay, whatever.

And you were speaking in a 10 cans, I believe, correct? Stop it. And the one great thing we did when I was there was I had a television class and it was just kind of like mass media in general. And the professor says, I got to tell you something. There's this thing called HD TV that is going to revolutionize how we watch television. It's basically you're going to be able to see the whites of the eyes of people. You're going to have things crystal clear. I'm like, this guy's nuts.

He don't what he's talking about it. And he was right. I learned HD. At U of H. At U of H. Wow. I was going to say down on the D, but that wasn't not down in the D. Yeah, you were not UHD.

It was UHMC. Yeah, main campus, that's right. All right, 131 on Sports Talk 790. Let's replay against Steve Kerr and how much he was so pleased with the officiating of last night's game. We'll do that in just a moment. 131, Sports Talk 790. The Rockets coming alive from deep. Hey, everybody.

This is Craig Ackerman from the Rockets broadcast team. Thankfully, and finally, I am socially distancing myself for Matt Thomas. Wait bye to your cash cow because it's leaving the pasture. Now back to your show. Step back on three. Up, back iron miss. Rebound loose. Bamblite and Peyton and the ball is still loose.

Tie out. Time out, please. With three seconds left. We have a foul first. A foul has been cold. Oh my goodness gracious. Bill Kennedy is going to call a foul. That's a penalty.

And that's a penalty. Wow. With a chance for the rockets to tire take the lead. It's a bonus situation. There was a mad scramble at the free throw line. Jonathan Kaminga fouls, Jalen Green. 3.5 seconds left. 90 to 89, Golden State.

First blush reaction, Rossi, after you find out that Jalen Green is going on the free throw, and do you think he's going to make both, miss both, one-on-one, one-and-two, what were you thinking? I thought we were going overtime, from being honest. I'm happy he made him both. And then I was deathly afraid and scared of what was going to happen after that. The free throws didn't bother me.

It was the timeout three and a half seconds left. I'm going to be honest. I didn't even watch the first one. I whist out. Didn't even want to look? What did you do? I just looked up and listened for the crowd. Well, the crowd, I mean, everybody in the Rockets bench is like,

shut up! Yeah, I saw that. Cam Whitmore was leading the charge, trying to get everybody to quiet down. He was, for the free throws. Paulette about it, was he? It's fine. I mean, oh, I'm sorry, you can't make a free throw with the crowd being loud? Get out of here.

He made them both. Yeah. They were both pure. Very nice. He's been shooting, what is he, at 87% I think from? Great, yeah, he's a good season, yeah. That was, he'd only scored four points in the second half. He had zero in the first quarter, I believe, eight in the second quarter.

Eight in the second, two in the four, something like that, somewhere in that range. One field goal, two free throws. It's inconsistent. Jalen Green, stop me if you've heard this. before. All right. So the game ends, I would see, and the Rockets win the best scoring the final seven points. And Steve Kerr goes to the podium, like he does, up to every game. Yes. And wants to say it was a very competitive game. Tough luck loss. We'll gather, we'll regroup, go back and play Dallas later into this weekend and be just fine. Right. Is that how it went, Ross? Basically.

All right, here it is. I've never seen a loose ball foul on a jump ball situation, 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line. I've never seen that. I think I saw it in college. I've never seen that. I think I saw it college one time 30 years ago. Never seen it in the NBA. That is unconscionable. I don't, I don't even understand what just happened. You know, loose ball, diving on the floor, 80 feet from the basket, and you're going to give a guy two free throws to decide the game when people are scrambling for the ball. Just give them a timeout. Give them a time out and let the players decide the game. That's how you officiate, especially because The game was a complete wrestling match.

So I didn't see, I saw Bill Kennedy come in late. He was clearly not right on top of the play. But if there was a scrum at the free throw line, 80 feet from the free throw line would be the baseline on the other end of the floor. Because a court is 94 feet and the free throw line is 15 feet from there. So you're telling me that all that was going on. Bill Kennedy was 80 feet away from the play. I don't think he was that far away. I think it was a slight bit of embellish with there.

of an exaggeration from our good friend Steve Kerr, who we are not going to weep for. No, we're not. The folks at TNT wanted to talk about the Rockets win last night. Ernie throwing up a softball, as he normally does, to bring up conversation about this young pesky Rockets basketball team and how much fun it was to see their defense step up. And here's Ernie with Kenny, a little bit of Shaq, and a lot of Charles Barkley.

Hey, impressed with the Houston Rockets? They don't have any idea how to play back. They play your defense. Yeah, but they play the game strictly on talent. They should have won that game, but they got so much more talent than the Warriors. But there's one of the reason I say they got a great record. They're not ready for prime time because the rest had to give them this game tonight. They got a bright future.

But man, they're going to have to learn discipline. They're going to learn to take care of the ball. They're going to have to learn shot selection. All of that to be said for a team that has like three guys under 23. and the starting lineup. But sometimes it happens faster. You ask Kenny and Shaq, like sometimes it comes together.

Like, they got a lot of talent. And they can't play like they used to be, like they're relevant. They got a terrific coach. Now they got to learn like, we got to take care of the ball. We got to stop taking bad shots. Like Jalen Green,

he almost had nine points again. They didn't. He got the double digits. Not ready for prime time. I mean, it's not the prettiest thing. It's ridiculous and lame. And he's not watching the Rockets. And what is he? How do they have far and away more talent than the Golden State Warriors?

That's a ridiculous statement. I mean, Cominga is becoming a star in this league. Curry is still showing no signs of really slowing down much. Draymond Green continues to be very good. Buddy Heald. Buddy Heald is a three-point machine at 11 points in the third quarter. That's stupid. I'm going to say it.

It's stupid. His stupid takes from Charles Barkley. He's not watching the rockets and he doesn't know what he's talking about. So when NBA pundits tell me they're tired of seeing three point shots all the time being taken, and the rockets do it different ways. I mean, and then, Tom's never going to be considered a perimeter threat. He goes to the lane. He works hard.

He gets reverse layups, oper in Shingoon with a fadeaway. Again, it's sometimes it's aesthetically not pleasing to watch the rocket shoot because they're not a great shooting team collectively as a group. But they get the job done. I mean, what do the folks want? Do you want excitement or do you want three point shots? Do you want dunks? Do you want layups? Do you want defense?

Do you want offensive? I feel like that we're, that all of us is sports media, maybe fans, to a certain extent, just never seem to be happy with whatever the product's being given in front of us. Well, you're saying we like to complain. Kind of. Yes. And that's what Charles did. What is he even talking about? Way more talented than the Warriors.

Don't take care of the ball. false statement after false statement. What game is he watching? Oh, he's not watching the games. No, he's probably on his phone. I don't know what he's doing. He's at the blackjack table. They don't have blackjack in Atlanta.

Probably should, make it a girl, even in a better state of those. He's got a private game hooked up. All right, let's play, believe it or not today. What happened to the Rotten Five? Oh, my God, we forgot Rotten Five. Well, at least I wrote it. We'll do it tomorrow. We'll do it tomorrow.

Why didn't you remind me? That's fine. I told, and I'm usually pretty good about what we do on the show. some of you oh now I feel terrible we had to toss to the intro and everything

yeah I didn't you guys didn't remind me I'm serious that's a total mistake on my part that's okay rotten five tomorrow can't wait rodeo tomorrow

let's go I'm glad you rushed to finish it Ross now four of stories tomorrow yes hell you are not tomorrow I wrote where you're going to be I'm going to be in Las Vegas

certain western city okay I won't say where it is kind of keep it as a secret All right. I wrote Believe it or Not because Ross is going to do it. Now, when Ross does believe it or not, it is an amazing audio event. Why? Because I feel like there's a good vibe when you do it.

Okay. I'm not even, all right. It's very Googledable today. It involves U.S. ambassadors. Yes. And other people. Does that seem fair? Mm-hmm.

Okay. If you want to play, believe it or not, 713-212-5-790, 7-1-3-212-5-7-90. Word right now for the great people. at Quality Home Products of Texas. If you would like to get a Generac standby generator and get at a very good price with financing options and excellent customer service, you're going to call 713 Quality.

That's 713 Quality for the amazing people at Quality Home Products of Texas. 77,000-plus people have made the switch in getting a new standby generator from Generac and from Quality Home Products. And 14,000 five-star reviews. Do you know how hard it is for people to say something nice about anything in life?

much less go to a Google review and do it. That's exactly what the folks at Quality Home Products have been able to do. 713 Quality, 713 Quality Quality, QualityTX.com for more details on a Generic. Standby generator from the amazing people at Quality Home Products of Texas. The Matt Thomas Show continues. On your smart speaker, listen to Sports Talk 790 on any device with our free iHeartRadio app. You know what? I forgot. I was going to try to write down the believe it or not intro. I know the funny part is I've heard it like 5,000 times and I don't remember it.

But we'll get to that in a moment. Believe it or not coming up here in a second, you want to get in. 713, 212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-790 as we continue along on the Matt Thomas show with Ross. Without Matt Thomas for now, he had to duck out. He's flying up with the Houston Rocket. It's to Las Vegas. He'll be broadcasting from there tomorrow. As they won last night, they lifted the curse. They snapped the streak, 15 losses in a row to the Golden State Warriors. They won the game.

It was a late tip. The building was electric. It felt good. And now they're on to the semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Adam Silver and the NBA probably not happy that there's not marquee teams left, at least in name. I mean, if you like basketball, you should be happy about the Rockets and the Thunder. That should be a good game. You should be happy about the Hawks and the Bucks in the Bucks in theory.

That's a good game. But no big brands. You're not bringing in as many casuals. So I guess I should say, I understand why the NBA would rather have some of the other big-name teams. But guess what? The big-name teams didn't win. The Rockets are in and they play the Thunder Saturday at 7.30. Here on Sports Talk 790, you're home for your Houston-Rockets.

That five minutes left to go in the show, what should we do? We should play America's fastest growing sports game show. We simply call it, believe it or not. My name is Ross Virio, and I will read you a question. Well, actually, first thing you're going to do is you're going to call 713-212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-7-90 to play, believe it or not. I will read you a question if it's 100 percent. completely true. You will say this. I don't remember the words, like I said. If it's completely made up full

of bunk and absolutely untrue and terrible and not good, you'll say this. If you get two questions in a row, you will win a prize today. Connemer, what is that prize? We got a pair of tickets to see the Transnabrier and Orchestra on the Lost Christmas Eve Tour December 26 at the Toyota Center. We've got our final pair of tickets to go see Nelly, John Wool, with special guests, Eve and Jermaine Dupree live on the Where the Party at Tour, Tour, September 4th, at the Woodlands Pavilion and a $790 t-shirt. Okay. Would you rather go to Nelly or Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Connor? I'd go see Nelly.

Okay. With all them, they've got enough hits. Will you put a Band-Aid on your cheek when you go? No, I'm not that. Okay, all right. 7-13-21-5-7-90. A pair of tickets to see Nelly or Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Good prizes today at 7-1-3-212-5-7-90.

Oh, I didn't even give the category. See, I've butchered this whole thing. I'm going to give you a question. It's either going to be A, an NBA referee, or it's a, going to be B a ambassador from the United States

if it is a nut. So this is very Googlable. You're going to answer extremely quick. Rubin, you're ready to play? Believe it or not. Yes. All right, Michael Adler, NBA referee, believe it or not? Believe it.

NBA referee, believe it or not? Believe it. Oh. Matt Thomas is fist pumping in the car. Two questions, two wrong answers. 713, 212, 2-1-790. If you'd like to get in, 7-1-3-212-5-790. Jeremiah in Magnolia, you're ready to play, believe it or not?

Believe it. All right, Zach Zarba, NBA referee, believe it or not? Believe it. Believe it. Yes, of course, Zach Zarba. Come on. layup drill Matthew. Arthur Brown, NBA referee, believe it or not.

Believe it. Oh, no, he is the U.S. ambassador to Ecuador. That is very unfortunate. Let's keep it going. By the way, Kenneth Merton, the Bulgarian ambassador, Michael Adler, the Belgium ambassador or Belgian. Jesse, ready to play, believe it or not? Believe it.

All right. Meg Whitman, NBA referee, believe it or not. Not. Not is correct. Meg is the ambassador to Kenya. Tom Washington, NBA referee, believe it or not, for the win. Believe it. Believe it.

It is correct. You are a winner. Congratulations to you, Jesse. You're going to one of those fine concerts. Let's keep it going. Pedro, ready to play. Believe it or not. Believe it.

Sean Corbyn, NBA referee, believe it or not. Believe it. Believe it. Believe it. Is correct. number two for the win. Ashley Moor Gleich is an NBA referee, believe it or not?

Not. Believe it. Oh, of course. She's a referee. That was a sneaky good one by Matt Thomas. I am very, very proud of him. Let's keep it going with Edgar. You're ready to play. Believe it or not, Edgar. Believe it. Gediminus Petritus.

Is an NBA referee? Believe it or not. Oh, wow. Mac. Believe it. I see back there be someone that's difficult to read. It's not so fun being on the other side. They are. Mr. or Mrs. Petritus

is an NBA referee. And last one for the win. Hey, Zuz, you ready to play? Believe it or not. Believe it. Eric Needler, NBA referee. Believe it or not. Believe it. Oh. What is that? Only one

winner. Very proud of you, Matt Thomas. very upset with you giving me a tough Greek name that I wasn't ready to read. But there you go. That is today's edition of Believe it or not. And that is today's edition of The Matt Thomas Show with Ross. My name is Ross Villarreal, saying, thanks so much for you listening and getting involved in the program. We do appreciate it. Thanks to Matt Thomas, well, for hosting the show. Thanks to Brian McTaggart for joining us. Thanks to Adriana or Alejandro Solano for joining us from Miami as well. My name is Ross Villarreal. I'll talk to you folks next tomorrow at 10 a.m.

on Sports Talk 790 right now do not go anywhere. It's not one Adam, it's two Adams. They call them the A team, Adam Wexler and Adam Clanton, coming up next here on Sports Talk 790.