On Tuesday night, publisher Chris Sheridan was supposed to appear on the Red & Orange Report, a podcast hosted by Josh Reese 
and Sheridan Hoops contributor Ben DuBose that covers Houston sports.
Maybe Sheridan was chasing down more info on Tom Thibodeau’s shaky future as coach of the Chicago Bulls. Or maybe he was watching President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. But I was asked to fill in for him.
In a lengthy discussion, I talked about how the Rockets have carried out GM Daryl Morey’s analytic blueprint to position themselves for a top-four seed in the Western Conference. Those who deserve the most credit for Houston’s success this season are coach Kevin McHale and superstar James Harden, and I explain why.
Another topic was how the anticipated return of Rockets forward Terrence Jones is analogous to drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield on “The Wire.”
We also talked about some of my midseason award selections and why there will definitely be another flurry of player movement at the trading deadline, regardless of all of the activity over the past month.
You can determine whether my stepping in for Sheridan was more like Reggie Jackson filling in for Russell Westbrook or Perry Jones replacing Kevin Durant. All you have to do is click here.
The entire show is an hour long, but my segment begins at about the 8-minute mark and runs about 30 minutes. Enjoy.