Dave Hardisty

And the Rockets didn't have KD yet.

I don't think there's any shame in losing in 7 the way it went down.

But I did think as the series progressed, you know, they showed some mental fortitude.

And I think that's ultimately what Imei's trying to do.

It's not that he's trying to pick on these guys.

It's just, you know, he shows them some tough love.

And then as we saw with

you know, Javari tonight, a man the last six weeks or so, that eventually they'll come out on the other side and they'll be better for the experience.

And so I think, you know, I'm certainly not victory lapping the Ime Udoka approach because the Rockets have not won at a high level either.

But I understand what he's trying to do.

He's trying to make these guys mentally tougher so that when it gets to April and May, these guys aren't overwhelmed.

They've been through the struggles before and they can call upon these experiences and know that, hey, we just got to play through it and don't have the deer in the headlights look that we saw from CJ Stroud today.

That's saying for sure it's going to work out that way, but that's the hope.

So I will say Steven Adams and Alfred and Shingun coming back from their own ankle sprains earlier this month, it's a bit of a cautionary tale.

Steven just re-injured the same ankle, it sounds like, and Shingun came back and he wasn't quite himself those first couple of games in terms of just the overall freedom of movement and the fluidity near the rim.

He just didn't look as springy to me as he typically is.

So I think that's a little bit of a cautionary tale when you try and bring these guys back too soon.

And I actually wasn't that surprised tonight.

I was very surprised he didn't play against Minnesota.

But once they sat him that way, I said, hey, you've got to trust that you can beat the Pelicans at home, steal a couple more days, and try to bring him back against the Spurs.