The Q and A Podcast 028

On today's very special podcast, DeQuiency and Anthony talk about their Thanksgiving traditions and then present the first ever Q and A Thanksgiving Food Draft.

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The Q and A Podcast 027

On today's podcast, Anthony and DeQuiency continue talking about the MLB Hot Stove by discussing Kyle Seager's $100 million deal with the Mariners plus Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez signing with the Red Sox.

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The Q and A Podcast 026

On today's podcast, DeQuiency and Anthony talk about the MLB off-season including Giancarlo Stanton's record-breaking $325 million dollar deal, the Heyward/Miller trade, and for a finale, the guys pick players who should be traded before next year.

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Rockets Review: Viva La Mexico

Courtesy of NBA.com

As a mea culpa for going on vacation right before the NBA season, DeQuiency will be writing weekly updates about the Rockets' season. Now we here at Two Eighty Eight aren't exactly sure how he's going to do this since he doesn't have CSN, but he is the boss so we're going to let him try.

So where are we now? 
Extremely happy that no one came back from Mexico with Montezuma's Revenge.(Although watching James Harden limping on a twisted ankle gave me a queasy feeling). Another column, another winning run, as the Rockets wrap up the week with a 3-0 record with wins over the T'wolves, 76ers, and the cheap-ass Thunder.

Quick tangent: I watched the HOU/OKC game on NBATV last night, and as a fan, there is nothing worse than watching a game and being forced to listen to the other team's broadcast. Every foul on the Rockets was the best call ever and any call on the Thunder is "ticky-tacky" and "absurd". In the third quarter, Thunder PG Sebastian Telfair damn near puts his elbow through Beverley's throat, knocking him to the ground, all while the broadcast team accuse him of flopping. Ugh give me Bill, Matt, and Clyde any day of the week. Now back to our regular column... 

If you have read any of my baseball columns, you know that I am a bit of a believer in sabermetrics. I like to use the numbers to validate what is happening on the field and to predict future performance. 

On offense, the Rockets are 18th in scoring at 98.3 points per game and 20th in Offensive Rating* at 101.7. No team has attempted and made more 3-pt shots per game, 32.4 and 12.3 respectively, while also in the top 10 for free throws attempted (30.1) and made (20.7). They take the fewest amount of long 2-point shots, which NBA describes as between 15-19 feet, at 4.8 per game.  I swear, the Rockets' playbook only has these 4 plays:

• A Harden drive that leads to either a foul, lay-up, or dunk
• An entree pass to Howard that again leads to either a foul, lay-up, or dunk.
• An entree pass to Howard that brings a double-team then 3 or 4 passes around the court that leads to a wide open 3 in the corner
• Harden over dribbling and jacking up a long 3

*Offensive Rating is the number of points a team scores per 100 possessions 

On the defensive side, the Rockets allow the least amount of points per game at 88.9 per and are first in Defensive Rating with 91.5 points surrendered. They are the stingiest team allowing opposing teams to score on only 40.3% of field goals and a ridiculous 28.1% on 3's, both percentages are best in the league. Top 10 in both steals and blocks and....wait a minute....

Hold on....the 3-point chucking, sometimes ball-hogging, foul drawing Houston Rockets are winning games because of DEFENSE? I'm as shocked as you are.

The real question is, can this new defensive shift continue? I'm leaning towards yes; with 3 starters who rate between above-average to excellent defensively (Howard, Beverley, and Ariza), and Harden trying and not looking like this anymore, the sky is the limit. 

Last week: 3-0
For the season: 9-1

The Q and A Podcast 025

On today's episode, Anthony and DeQuiency discuss the WWE Network and where the future of the network lays. Afterwards, the guys talk about the upcoming Survivor Series and break down the known matches.

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Rockets Review: Keep on Rolling

Courtesy of NBA.com

As a mea culpa for going on vacation right before the NBA season, DeQuiency will be writing weekly updates about the Rockets' season. Now we here at Two Eighty Eight aren't exactly sure how he's going to do this since he doesn't have CSN, but he is the boss so we're going to let him try.

So where are we now? 
So is it cheating to say that we are in the same place that we were last week? It is? Oh well; it's my column and I'll cheat if I want to. Last week,  the home team went 3-1 suffering the first loss of the season thanks to the Golden State Warriors. Let's break down the games and I swear to you, these games will get a lot more in depth when I am able to record and actually watch the games. Come on ROOT Sports! 

• Beat the Sixers who are on their way to 0-82.
• Beat the Heat who are when healthy are a 3/4/5 seed in the East this year but definitely not what they once were. 
• Beat the Spurs but since Pop sat Duncan, Ginobili (age) and Splitter (right calf injury), the Rockets basically blew out the B-squad.
• Lost to the high-scoring Warriors squad albeit without Howard (flu-like symptoms) and Jones (brusied right leg)

And that's why I said that nothing has changed  The Rockets won against a team that blatantly trying to lose and a team resting superstars for a play-off run in June apparently, but whatever. They lost to a very good Warriors team but with out 40% of their starting line-up. Their one "legitimate" win was over a Heat team that plays in the horrific Eastern division. One legit win out of six. I'm not saying that the Rockets are not a good team because they are. I'm just saying that the schedule has been a huge help.

@Rachel__Nichols it's early although the game that will magically determine if we are any good keeps getting moved back on us
— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) November 7, 2014

Story of the week:
We are taking a slight detour this week and talking about the Spurs and their habit of resting the older players.


Highlight of the week:

All together now............DAAAAAAAAAAAAMM!!

Last week: 3-1

For the season: 6-1

The Q and A Podcast 024

On today's episode, DeQuiency and Anthony nerd-out about the recent DC and Marvel movie announcements by discussing the line-up and what movies they would produce next.

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Rockets Review: Beating up the worst of the worst

Courtesy of Bleacherreport.com

As a mea culpa for going on vacation right before the NBA season, DeQuiency will be writing weekly updates about the Rockets' season. Now we here at Two Eighty Eight aren't exactly sure how he's going to do this since he doesn't have CSN, but he is the boss so we're going to let him try.

So where are we now? 
Thankful to the schedule makers for the easy start and that's it. The Rockets took care of business this week by trouncing the Lakers, Jazz, and Celtics by 18, 11, and 14 points, respectively. No disrespect to those three teams (on second thought, I'm throwing a lot of disrespect towards the Lakes) , but these games were wins at the opening tip. The Rox are a playoff team and teams like that are suppose to beat up on lottery teams especially terrible ones like the Lakers. We'll know more about this teams this week; one more cream puff game against the 76ers tonight, followed by the Miami Heat, the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, and the high scoring Golden State Warriors.

Biggest story
Duh. Fight night in downtown L.A.! Let's get ready to ruuuuuuuuuuuuuumble!

I've watched this video about....oh......20 times and two things jump out every time. First, I can not tell you how much joy it brings to me to watch Beverley, by far the smallest player on the court, get in between Howard and Kobe and push guys away. Coming in second is Kobe yapping "Try me" while snaking away between two Lakers. 

Oh and Kobe? Bro you can't call anyone "soft" while this picture exists on the internet:

Courtesy of LAtimes.com

And because you deserve it, here's another one free of charge:

Courtest of LAtimes.com

Weirdest subplot of the week:
Screw week. This will be the weirdest sight of the season.

Quick tangent: My friend, Raisa, is a huge Rockets fan. She's a hater of Dallas and everything that comes from that cursed city, including Jason Terry. When the Rockets signed Terry, I believe she curled up in the fetal position and cried for about eight hours. This will be a roller-coaster.

Last week: 3-0
For the season: 3-0