LOS ANGELES — As anyone who has sat courtside at a Houston Rockets game knows, Ime Udoka tends to hurl insults in the heat of a basketball battle as if he’s Eddie Murphy on the “Raw” stage.
At his players. The refs. The opponent. No one is safe.
The 48-year-old Houston Rockets coach is as intense, direct and confrontational as they come in the Association, and his rivals often wonder why he doesn’t face tougher consequences for having the sideline style of an MMA fighter at his own pre-bout press conference. But we saw a different side of Udoka in that pressure-packed final minute of Game 5 against the Lakers on Wednesday night, when everyone in the building was wondering if these young Rockets would blow the late lead again like they had two games before and, perhaps, spark an offseason reckoning for all involved in the process.
Yet despite Kevin Durant having missed four of the five games in this series because of knee and ankle injuries — including these last two Rockets wins — Houston now finds itself with a chance to become just the fifth team in league history to force a Game 7 after being down 3-0. No NBA team has ever won a series when facing that scenario. And they wouldn’t be here if Udoka hadn’t helped his youngsters learn from their Game 3 mistakes.
With the Rockets’ lead shrinking in those final two minutes, Udoka pulled his youthful backcourt aside multiple times down the stretch to settle its nerves and reestablish the plan. The last time came with 60 seconds left and the Rockets up five, when Udoka motioned for 21-year-old Reed Sheppard and 23-year-old Amen Thompson to come his way for a quick gathering while the Lakers’ Austin Reaves was at the free throw line.
There was no yelling. No look of angst or disgust that might have been contagious when they returned to the court.
There was Udoka, who spent much of his coaching career surrounded by veteran legends who had already learned lessons like these, providing a rare moment of calm that seemed to inspire confidence. He put one arm on each of their hips and sent a message of support that helped save their season.
“When I’ve got my arms around Amen and Reed, I’m telling them, ‘This is the point in the game where you guys take over,’” Udoka, who is in his third season with the Rockets, told The Athletic after the 99-93 win. “You guys are the guards. Be demonstrative, get the ball and dictate whatever we’re getting. I just wanted to let them know that. They’ve done a great job all game controlling it, and it was no different at the end.”
That final Rockets stretch wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t have to be. The thing that mattered most, and which was so different from the total disaster that had unfolded two games before when they coughed up two turnovers in the final 28 seconds of regulation before falling in overtime, was that Houston didn’t give the game away again. Their last turnover in Game 5, in fact, came from Alperen Şengün with nearly nine minutes left to play.
Coaching is often more of an art than a science, but Udoka’s ability to inspire poise at the perfect time was a subtle, but vital, sign that his voice is still being heard in Houston. He had called on them all to “grow up” after Game 3, when the prospect of a sweep — and all the uncomfortable questions that would have come with it — were very real.
But they responded together, taking these past two games in spite of the fact that all their top veterans (Durant, Fred VanVleet, Steven Adams) were in street clothes. And as every other playoff coach can attest to this time of year, it’s developments like these that sometimes determine whether you get a pat on the back or a pink slip.
For Udoka, the former NBA player who spent his formative coaching years as an assistant under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, the current iteration of these Rockets is clearly forcing him to adjust his often-abrasive ways. It’s not as if he has never led a young and talented group to title contention, though, as his Boston Celtics starting lineup in the 2022 Finals featured a 23-year-old Jayson Tatum, 25-year-old Jaylen Brown and 24-year-old Robert Williams.
The key difference? Vets like Al Horford (36 at the time) and (current Laker) Marcus Smart (28) were there to help back then. This Rockets starting lineup, meanwhile, all falls within the 21 to 24-year-old range (Şengün is 23, Jabari Smith Jr. is 22 and Tari Eason is 24).
Sheppard, in particular, has been a poster boy for some of the Rockets’ pain points. After getting just 11 minutes of floor time in a Game 2 loss that included Durant, he logged 46 minutes in that Game 3 loss where he missed 16 of 21 shots and had five turnovers. He has been much better in the two games since, with just two turnovers and nine assists in a combined 64 minutes, 45.8 percent shooting from the field (11 of 24; six of 13 from 3) and a plus-24 mark in that span.
“It’s an adjustment for him just to have the patience,” Smith Jr. told The Athletic after Game 5. “He knows our team is good enough to do big things, and to do special things, but sometimes the mental side isn’t there. And I think he is growing in a sense as far as just having that patience, but at the same time, it’s like urging us and pushing us to grow up. I think it definitely is different for him, just having young guys who maybe don’t know the things that you’re expecting to know you know.”
Does that mean Udoka is showing a softer side these days?
“Nah, he definitely hasn’t softened up,” Smith Jr. said with a laugh. “But he’s definitely playing with the cards he’s dealt. And I think he’s doing a great job as far as just holding us to that standard, but still knowing that we still have room to grow.”
That’s all he asked for. And he got it — just in time.
“I am who I am, and you can only be who you are,” Udoka explained regarding his coaching style. “Guys respect that, and they know that by now. But in certain moments, certain situations, it’s like I said, ‘Grow up.’ We wanted to show growth or progress in certain situations, and I think they did that.”
Leave a comment