Ben DuBose

But I guess the mid to late January Rockets, the concerns are back as far as is this offense without Fred and Fleet going to be good enough to contend for a championship?

And so which version would you prefer?

It's a fascinating thought exercise.

But for me, I think I prefer this version, especially because, you know, you have had some big wins.

You did beat the Spurs last week.

You beat the Pistons last week.

And if you're going to ultimately fix the problems with this team, you at least need to start with the right spirit.

You need to start with the right competitive fire.

And for this team to go out and take care of business against an undermanned Hawks team, I know the Rockets were a little bit undermanned themselves, but...

they're playing with the right respect for the game.

And I think that's where you've got to start.

Like, there's some problems, especially offensively, that in the aftermath of this first game, they've got to iron out.

But at least in contrast to December, this current version of the Rockets seems to be taking the games much more seriously.

And I think in the interim, that's something to celebrate, even if there are bigger challenges ahead.

Yeah, absolutely.

Both Jabari and Reed had five made shots and multiple made three-pointers, and that just goes so far to relieving the pressure on Kevin Durant and Alperin Shingun.

Shingun did not have an efficient shooting night, although I think you have to put an asterisk on this one.

He was questionable going in today with the ankle sprain, which he seemed to re-aggravate.

against the Spurs.

I think he was gutting it out because this Rockets team, especially the way last night ended, blowing a 16-point lead and losing by double digits, this would have been a bad one to lose.