After a month of competition, few bettors would undoubtedly have imagined the Rockets being ahead of the Warriors or the Clippers in the standings. The Texans owe a lot to Ime Udoka to display a balanced record (6 wins – 6 losses) with a current 8th place in the West.
This one, after a blank season linked to his suspension, went from title aspirations with the Celtics to the aspirations of a team wanting to get involved in the race for the playoffs. The 46-year-old technician assures that moving from one situation to another is not that complicated.
“ For me, the expectations are the same, the standards are the same. We want to play at a certain level, it doesn’t matter if it’s a team aiming for the title or a young team. We want to build these habits and fundamentals from day one », displays the coach, interviewed at length by The Athleticon the group’s defensive progress in particular.
There are no young people or veterans. Just players
Ime Udoka recalls that in Boston, despite the presence of already established players within the squad, he had to break certain habits. The idea is to do as much as the Rockets, where, apart from a handful of veterans (Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks or Jeff Green), there are many young executives.
“ I’m not going to treat them differently, ask them for less effort. We’re going to push them to the limit. And we must recognize that they adapted and reacted quickly and well », he appreciates.
The former NBA player had already had the opportunity to say it last spring: “ Youth is no excuse. » « If you make a mistake, I’m not going to brush it under the rug because you’re young and you can make the same mistake over and over again. They understood it from day one, it’s my way of doing things. But everyone deserves credit for understanding everything we’re trying to do », continues Ime Udoka, probably thinking of Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr, without forgetting Alperen Sengun.
Push the superstars, the others will follow
The Portland native was in a good school, playing for seven years alongside Gregg Popovich as an assistant. There, in San Antonio, he learned the importance of “ don’t skip the steps “.
“ Every year, we had teams of veterans and we started with the basics, as if they knew nothing. If you do this with veteran Hall of Famers who have won titles, obviously you will do the same with the younger team you have to build. It’s one thing to see it, but it’s mostly about the fundamentals, the basics and the foundations », continues the coach.
Rather than the issues linked to defense and altruism, Ime Udoka mainly learned from coach Pop his way of coaching “ everyone the same way. It puts them on the same level, or even higher (in terms of requirements), with Tim (Duncan), Tony (Parker), Manu (Ginobili) and superstars. You push your guys further, and everyone follows. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Alperen Sengun | 12 | 32.0 | 58.8 | 34.6 | 60.9 | 2.8 | 5.9 | 8.8 | 5.7 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 20.9 |
| Jalen Green | 12 | 31.4 | 39.5 | 35.4 | 78.1 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 18.0 |
| Fred Vanvleet | 12 | 37.1 | 38.0 | 35.9 | 89.7 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 9.3 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 16.6 |
| Dillon Brooks | 12 | 31.7 | 50.8 | 50.0 | 82.1 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 3.9 | 13.9 |
| Jabari Smith, Jr. | 12 | 29.1 | 48.0 | 33.9 | 69.2 | 1.6 | 5.4 | 7.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 12.6 |
| Jeff Green | 12 | 15.0 | 58.3 | 33.3 | 75.9 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 6.9 |
| Jae’sean Tate | 12 | 19.1 | 52.5 | 42.3 | 71.4 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 6.7 |
| Tari Eason | 5 | 17.2 | 45.5 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 4.6 | 6.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 6.6 |
| Amen Thompson | 4 | 16.7 | 40.9 | 18.2 | 62.5 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 6.3 |
| Aaron Holiday | 10 | 17.1 | 44.4 | 39.1 | 83.3 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 5.4 |
| Nate Williams, Jr. | 2 | 6.3 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 |
| Boban Marjanovic | 3 | 6.7 | 55.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 3.3 |
| Nathaniel Hinton | 2 | 3.9 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
| Cam Whitmore | 3 | 7.7 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
| Jermaine Samuels | 3 | 6.6 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Jock Landale | 10 | 9.2 | 28.6 | 22.2 | 100.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Reggie Bullock | 6 | 10.0 | 20.0 | 22.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.0 |
