The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - TV Voice of the Rockets Craig Ackerman Joins The Show Before Tip-Off

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

TV Voice of the Rockets Craig Ackerman Joins The Show Before Tip-Off

You know, Alpies, English is significantly better. I mean, massively improved. Since he first became a Houston Rock, I was the first press conference he was at, and he can speak in Lick English. He does very well know for himself. A man who's also a great orator is the television voice of the Houston Rockets. He joins us from a parts unknown where the Houston Rockets are shooting around, getting ready for tonight's game with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Craig Ackerman is with us. Craig, I had a caller earlier today said they needed to, you and I needed to switch because I don't feel good and I would do less talking on television than I want on radio. So just give me a heads up on that. Wow, you actually don't sound all that great. That happened pretty quickly, huh? I'm sorry. It did. I was like, yeah, it hit me at the last second.

I went to bed at 8 o'clock last night and got up about every 75 minutes. Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. Yeah, I don't know. But the show must go on, Mr. Ackerman. Show must go on. Shoot around just did wrap. It was a very quick one. I'm still here on the campus of UCLA, so.

Are you at the Ackerman Student Center? I am not actually physically in the Ackerman Student Center, but I can throw a rock and hit it. Yeah, we should explain that Craig is so famous at UCLA that they had named the Student Center after him there. Yep, they have. All right. Hey, are you as obsessed with the standings as I am or not as much?

Oh, I am completely obsessed because it's just trying to, well, I mean, look, ultimately the Rockets won't know who they're going to play. It'll be down, it'll be whittled down to basically two teams here pretty soon, you know, once the play in tournament starts. But yes, I am obsessed in terms of who's going to finish where, who they ultimately could or could not play. And, yeah, I do kind of keep an eye on it every single night and a habit for several weeks. And that's why I told a caller earlier today, Craig, that even though the Rock's, Rockets are a two-seat, and matter who they play, it's not going to be a significant favor. Not that we should let Vegas decide who's going to happen to what, but you could be taking on in theory five teams that are separated by one or two games

that could be as high as three or four and as lower seven and eight. Yeah, I mean, I pretty much think everybody outside of the Lakers and the Thunder, and then the Mavericks and the Kings are still in play for the Rockets. And then, you know, whether they win or lose this game here tonight, I guess this one doesn't technically matter in terms of some of the. those other teams as much. But depending upon how this one takes shape here tonight and the one obviously on Sunday versus Denver, still so many different scenarios to take place.

Obviously, that big game and for the Clippers and the Warriors to end the regular season, I mean, still, again, so much madness as of right now with so many teams within a game, game of one another. And I think, what, Minnesota crushed Memphis last night and I don't think really gained any space or spots in. or something like that. It was very strange. So again, anything can happen. So if Ime Adoka said, hey,

come down on the bus with me, let's talk about who we want to play and how much we want to play tonight against the Lakers and how much we want to do against Denver, what would you be advice to him? What would my advice to him be? They're trying to thread the needle here obviously between rest

versus Russ, but again, they're going to have a week off anyway in between games to begin with. They have to do what they feel's best for their players. Um, Fred hasn't been 100% obviously, you know, a man has the, the ankle thing. You got to make sure you're 100% okay about. And so I think the goal ultimately is just to make sure that these guys are completely and fully healthy.

Because regardless who they play in the first round, even at the two seat, it's going to be a really, really tough matchup because there's some, there are a lot of really, really good teams in the Western Conference. So I think they're just kind of trying to thread the needle. And look, I mean, ultimately, if they do go with a similar lineup that we saw the other night in LA against the Clippers and like the one that we saw in Oklahoma City, those guys play super hard. They gave both teams a game.

And so if they decided to go with that particular group again here tonight, I'm sure they're ultimately going to attempt to try to win this game to the best they can. But ultimately, it's about being 100% healthy and ready to go for the playoffs. Craig Ackerman, Television Voice on Space City Home Network with us for a few minutes here on the Matt Thomas show with Ross from Los Angeles. Greg, was there a turning point in your mind this year where this team went? Okay, not only are they good, their playoff good, and their top four good. There's so many big wins this year.

I think, you know what? Early on in the season, the big win against Oklahoma City was a pretty good sign that this team was legit. the road win at Memphis as part of the NBA Cup play as well kind of made me feel like that they were legit. But I think ultimately maybe the win on the road in Boston against the defending champions I know a lot of people probably pick the home win against the Warriors in the Cup games and then to Vegas as the biggest win of the season. For me, I thought

it was the one in Boston and I think that's when I kind of realized that you know what, this team does have home court advantage in the first round, not just potential, but probable. And so to me, that was the one I think where I personally was ultimately convinced that everything that we had seen up to that point, which was really good from this team, was going to continue to be really good the rest of the way. Rockets, Craig, beat the Warriors Sunday in San Francisco. They had a lot to play for.

They since have lost to San Antonio. We have had a lot terrible times in San Francisco and in Houston for that matter. Telling me. Oh, my gosh. Was there any things? that you took away from that game going, maybe this isn't your mom and dad's World's Warriors team from five years ago? Well, what I took away from it was that this particular rocket team is, and we already

kind of have seen it. We saw in the second half of last year. We've seen it all year around this year. They're just, they're not going to allow anybody just to punch them in the mouth and take it. If somebody does, they're going to punt them back. And oftentimes the rockets are the ones that hit first. And that's what I ultimately took away from that game.

I mean, this group finally got over the hump. I mean, outside of Jeff Green, nobody on this team had ever beaten Golden State up until the point that they won that home game. And then a lot of these guys hadn't ever won in San Francisco either up until the game a few days back. And so I think psychologically for this group, they got over a couple of humps against the team that they've really struggled with, especially again this young core. And winning on the road in that environment with everything that was going on was, again, another sign that this team is just not going to back down. against anybody. But that series, if they do happen to play the war, it's going to be an absolute battle.

I mean, with Raymond Green and all of his stuff, and then playing with, you know, Dylan Brooks and the men Thompson and Alper and Shungu not taking anything and the Rockets punching back and everything like that. That'll be an absolute war if it happens to be the first round matchup. Craig Ackamming with us from UCLA. Rockets are warming up or shooting around,

getting ready for tonight's game. What do you, when the Rockets were making those playoff runs, Arisa had playoff experience. Chris Paul did, James Hardin, Dwight Howard. And obviously, Dylan and Fred Habit, and Stephen Adams has it, but there's a lot of guys, a lot of key guys, a Jabari, a Jalen, an amen that don't know what Tari, that don't know what the playoffs are all about. What do you think that EMA is telling the guys about what they're about to experience here

starting in about 10 days from now? Well, I think what they've been prepping these guys for is that playoffs, obviously the level of intensity turns up a notch, but this is the team that plays with that kind of level of intensity anyway. So I think they're already used to sort of playing in that kind of environment. But look, the vets and these coaches have got these young guys along extremely well over the last couple of years. But the playoffs are a different animal.

And I think much like as players grow and learn and mature in the regular season, there's no substitute for experience in the playoffs. and so a lot of these young guys will be facing this for the very first time in their careers, I think we'll ultimately have to wait and see how each of them respond to that kind of, that level of intensity in those situations, especially if they happen to get messed up against a team like Golden State that has guys who have won multiple championships. So we'll have to see how that all plays out. But ultimately, again, I think their style of play, the way they approach,

the way they play teams with such physicality, ultimately prepare them for a playoff series, but ultimately, again, for the young guys, experience is something that they'll just going to have to learn on the fly. And as we all know, the playoffs are a process. And typically, you have to go through some pain to experience some pleasure in this league. And so I'm sure there'll be some of that. And again, hopefully their talent. And again, everything they've been taught in the way they've been taught in the way they've played with all year long can kind of overcome the lack of playoff experience for so many of these guys.