Bayou City Links And Tweets: October 4th

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Jeff Luhnow speaks about the Astros, Rockets defense gearing up for this season, and Texans players talk about the NFL and the concussion saga.

Houston Astros

• Brian McTaggart (MLB.com) spoke with Jeff Luhnow who thinks we will see some improvement from next year’s Astros.

"“I think our expectation and our plan is to take the first of what is probably three or four steps towards being a consistently 90-win team each year,” Luhnow said. “Obviously, we’re far from that right now. We’ve got to take a big stride in that direction next year, and I think we will.”"

• Tyler Stafford (Climbing Tal’s Hill) interviewed Astros prospect Brady Rodgers. Click here for the interview.
• Jayne (What The Heck, Bobby?) took a look at home run, strikeout, and walk rates in the Astros  system.
• Astros tweet of the day…

Houston Rockets 

• Jonathan Feigen (Houston Chronicle) writes how the Rockets will focus on defending the corner three.

"When the Rockets began training camp demanding “defense first,” it could have been as much about the practice itinerary as a message about priorities. Something had to be first. The odds were roughly 50/50 that the first drills and orders would be on the defensive end."

•  Adrian Wojnarowski (Yahoo Sports) says Dwight Howard vows to follow Lebron James’ path from villain to champion.

"Dwight Howard watched how the derision dissipated for LeBron James, how the mocking turned back into marvel. The path to a superstar’s public cleansing for past immaturities and missteps on free agency’s jagged journey doesn’t rise out of clever commercials and endless explanations."

• Mike Kerns (TheDreamShake) asks if Jeremy Lin is a fourth or fifth option, is that really so bad?
• Rockets tweet of the day…

Houston Texans

• John McClain (Houston Chronicle) says Matt Schaub is ready to “cut it loose” against the 49’ers.

"Schaub also offered an explanation about his Twitter account, which was shut down this week, creating another controversy. The said the criticism he had been getting had nothing to do with the decision."

• Tania Ganguli (ESPN) spoke with Ed Reed, Arian Foster, and Duane Brown about concussions in the NFL.

"“The business of football is shady,” Reed told ESPN.com. “The business of football is very shady. The fact that they would withhold information is bad. The fact that our CBA would not want that information, the fact that our older players would take money instead of getting that information is bad. The business of football, NFL football, is shady. Now we can’t get that information anymore? It’s just swept under the rug? That’s bad.”"

• The NFL changed the Texans/Chiefs week 7 kickoff to 3:25 PM CT. The game was likely moved so it could be the nationally televised game of that time-slot for CBS.
• Texans tweet of the day…