The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - The Mike D'Antoni Show 2-7-20

Episode Date: February 7, 2020

Rockets Head Coach Mike D'Antoni joins Ross and Brian to talk Houston Rockets Basketball

A straightaway three and is up. And it's good. The Rockets are rolling now. Do a better, harder, longer. Rejected. The beard is cooking. And they play together. They play hard.

He set. He fired and he had the three. Now, exclusive insight and the latest on your Houston Rockets. You've got to be a champion. To be the champion. Presented by Billiard Factory. Rockets head coach Mike Dan Tony joins the Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790, home of the Ron.

Rockets. 1233 here on a sports talk 790. Ross Viriel, Brian Smith on the Matt Thomas show. Matt Thomas out today. And now we are pleased to be joined by Rockets head coach Mike Dan Tony, fresh off the 121 to 111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Staples Center last night. And Mike, you've got to be in a good mood for the win. And also we're giving you the day off from Matt.

Yeah, things are good right now. You know, we've got to obviously get better. but I think we found a formula that's working for now. Well, apparently every single NBA writer in the entire country seems to disagree, Mike. Was there a little bit of extra satisfaction in that one? That's why I know. But no, that's why I know it works. I would be worried otherwise.

All right. Well, let's get into the game last night. Obviously, small ball is nothing new for you guys. I mean, Clint Capelle had been missing games. You've been playing some without him. But now you get the added element of Robert. Covington. And it just to me, I looked like a lot of

wide open looks last night, and people are talking about how are you guys going to defend other teams, but it seemed like the Lakers had some trouble with you guys with all that, with the five-out offense. Well, yeah, I mean, that's the whole thing. And people overlook the fact that we have really good

small guys that can guard the post. You know, I don't we're two or three inches shorter, but you put the strength of James or PJ or Eric Gordon, the length of Robert Covington, and we can guard the post. And actually, the Post is probably the worst percentage shot in the NBA, so even if they score a few, so be it.

But, you know, our whole key is coming down. Can we get back defensively in transition? Can we box out and not get killed on the boards? And if that happens, they're not guarding us. I mean, that's, you got Russell and James, they start to double 10. They can't do that. they go, you know, leave James alone or leave Russ alone. I just got 41 last night.

So now we're going to have to double him, too. So we call a lot of problems. And what do you think about the, I mean, there's some confusion to me between height and length. Like how much does that matter? Because PJ Tucker's 6'5, but he's got a 7 foot wingspan. And Robert Covington, 6.7 or whatever he is, he's got a 7 foot 2 wingspan. James Harron's got a 611 wingspan. So you guys still have some length, even though the height may necessarily be there.

Yeah, that's why. I mean, people just look at the surface on it. And, you know, again, I go back, like last night, if we didn't start a Tyson challenge, like seven feet, if we just played him for five minutes, this wouldn't even be a story. Oh, they played big. They went big, and, you know, they wouldn't have that graphic up there. So everybody's small, starters, first time in 50 years, you know.

But if we had played big for five, six minutes, they go, oh, it's normal. You know, so they don't really dive in the numbers and really look at the game. They just kind of a surface run, and it's a good narrative. and everybody jumps on board. And it's not saying that it might not go against certain times. But this is the best way that we can plan. And if we have a chance to win a championship, this will be it. This way, it would sprinkle big in.

But the other way, it wasn't going, it wasn't cutting it. Mike, how's it going? Brian Smith. Hey, Brian. How you doing? Good. Did you have an espresso this morning? How's the morning going?

Well, I've had two expresses. I've got to stay up through the meeting. We've got to be here in a few minutes with the guys. And I've got to take a nap. It's two nights in a row that I've, you know, a little change of time. And last night was a long night. So it's, we're getting there. Last night was fun to watch.

Let me ask you this. You've done small ball. I mean, this, in a lot of ways, this isn't new. You guys have done it at time since you've been the coach. It's, you know, you go back to Don Nelson. You know, you mentioned the Warriors and their death lineup. on and on. But this had to have been a conversation that you and Daryl and your coaching staff have had, even before Capella was injured. What was the thought process going from all of that

to this? How did you connect those two things and then all of a sudden hit the full acceleration? Well, I mean, sometimes it's luck. And in the sense that when we were two guys out in Utah, nothing to lose. All, let's try it. And then I could see it with my eyes. Before that, you're a little afraid to do it. We needed an extra perimeter for sure. And it's like, I don't want to try it, and then it doesn't work because we don't have that extra perimeter.

And then everybody, you know, we'll jump on, you know, move off the bandwagon and say, I told you it would work. So you have to pick the right moment, get the guys in, have them believe that it. It's off the other way that Disney's. saying this is not it. And then tried and convince the players just going to work. You know, I think they were a little skeptical. That's the biggest takeaway from last night's game is that before our meeting at noon,

I think they were a little skeptical. By the time the game is over, if we're in the locker room after the game, total believers. And so now we have a real chance and everybody's got to stay on that, you know, mindset that, yeah, we can get it done. If we don't get it done, it's because we're not playing well. off or hard enough. When it comes to Westbrook and Harden particularly, I mean, they, you know, they can both

rebound, they can both score, they can drive, they can hit threes, they can dish out, they can do everything. But does this require them to do even more? I mean, do you have to balance them not being exhausted by game 82 or the first round of the playoffs? Or are they already, have they already been doing so much? Their roles don't change. I don't think it changes that much.

I think it actually will be easier on them. Last night, the minutes came down for everybody. Russell's minutes were up a little bit last night because he wasn't going to play tonight and he had a role. But we would like to keep everybody's minutes down, and this gives us an opportunity to do that. Plus, if we really play it well, we should get some blowouts and that can help them.

And to me, it's just an easy way to play. Now, they do have to fight the Biggs a little bit, and that could be a little exhausting. But the other alternative is a run-around screen, and get hit and all that. So to me, it's easier. But, you know, I'm not the one that has to do it. So, you know, I'm not thinking it's easy for me to say.

But I think at the end of the day, they're going to be fresher. They should have been last year's set. All right. Rocket Tech coach Mike Dan Tony here on The Bad Thomas Show on Sports Talk 790. Coach Robert Covington making his, well, not debut as a Houston rocket, but at least debut for this season's rocket. Just take us through him becoming a rocket. How much were you guys able to work with him and talk to him last night?

And then, of course, speak to his performance, which was pretty good. Yeah, it was really good. And he's a bad song. He knows how to play, first of all. And, you know, we have a fairly, everything's fairly simple. They're a double team and James. So we just try to show him the spots that we need to feel how to run on the fast break and transition. I'll keep the middle open.

And then just play and use your instincts. And there'll be some things, obviously, we'll clear up with him. try to get him exactly the way we want it. But the guy's good. And he's, the one thing I like is he's passing is really good. He made a couple passes right on the money for easy threes. He's long,

you know, he blocked a shot on Anthony Davis. He said it was big. He got a couple good rebounds. And then he has some big trees. And, you know, with that extra guy that we can put out there. And now I can play also,

before I had to rely on Tavo, P.J. and Daniel House, and PJs get too many minutes at the five. So now you can add, I can also play Daniel House and Robert at the 4-5. And so I can rest PJ keep cephalosha within his minutes' restrictions. And REST PJ have him pressure. So he has an element that we shortly needed, and I think it will only get better. Mike, we'll let you go on this one.

Thanks a lot for coming on. We appreciate it. My pleasure. We take sports very seriously in America and the city of Houston, so let's go out with a very serious question. So you don't really have, you're not playing a center anymore, you've gone small. Does that mean that Matt Thomas is good in, can Matt Thomas play center for the Houston Rockets now since you don't really need a center anymore?

Well, obviously, Matt missed this show right here, so I don't know what hits pop, I don't know why he's died. So we got, we got a mess with a little unruly. He's out with rest, coach. Yeah, you know, he doesn't play back to back. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. All right, Mike, thanks a lot.

We'll talk to you down the road, coach. Thanks a lot for that. All right, guys. Thank you, guys. Take care. Rocket's head coach, Mike, Dan Tony, here on the Mad Thomas Show.