Ben DuBose

And still for another month or so, he was shooting incredibly well from three.

And on paper, hey, you add his defense to the starting lineup, you can stabilize it.

He's going to space the floor with this newfound shooting stroke.

We were so excited.

And yet, pretty much ever since Tari joined the starting lineup, that's about when the offense fell off a cliff and has been your bottom five in the league in offensive rating.

So...

We can say that it should work out on paper, but the Rockets have tried a lot of different configurations this year, and nothing has found consistent success.

So I do understand why Ime Udoka, before Reed Shepard goes on a prolonged run with the starters and...

You can point out, and rightfully so, Reed's 10-2 as a starter this year.

That's true, but these last two have been the first two that he's starting alongside all the other big guns.

In most of the other cases, it's been because one of the mainstays was out, and so it's easier to sort of build your offense and your schemes around him.

Now you are truly trying to blend the best of Reed Shepard with the best of those entrenched four.

And I think it can work.

In my opinion, it should work.

But the Rockets, again, they haven't had a solidified starting five since the end of September when Fred went down.

And they're not going to 100% commit to anything until they see it on the floor for a few games.

If it's anywhere near what it looks like the last two nights, he's going to be the fifth starter.

I guarantee you.

It's just the Rockets aren't going to prematurely

make that declaration.