After taking over a Rockets team that won 17, 19, and 22 games in the last three seasons, what is new head coach Ime Udoka focused on improving? “Everything,” he said on Tuesday, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).
“We had a … 28-minute film session,” Udoka said after the first day of training camp. “I showed them clips … and numbers from the past three years — what we want to avoid, what we want to get better at. The main thing I stressed is effort and execution.
“… The numbers were ugly, to be honest, the last few years. When you rank 25th to 28th in a lot of categories, there’s a lot to improve on and grow. I kind of hit them right between the eyes in the areas we struggled in the last few years and (where) we want to get better.”
As Feigen details, the Rockets are expected to use a wider variety of defensive schemes this season and are confident that incoming veterans like Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Jeff Green will help implement and communicate the new strategies on the floor.
“We want to be a louder group,” Udoka said. “And Fred even stressed that. We have to talk more. We have to hear each other. That’s been one of the keys. To be a great defensive, offensive group, you have to talk to each other and not try to read each other’s minds. The defense that we’re going to play, it takes a lot of communication, a lot of talk out there.”
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Jalen Green, who is still a year away from becoming eligible for a rookie scale extension, may be seeking new representation. Two people with knowledge of the situation tell Feigen that Green is considering a handful of options – including Klutch, WME, and Lift Sports – as he mulls the idea of parting ways with CAA. He’s expected to make a decision within the next few weeks.
- Former Findlay forward Josh Bostic is joining Ime Udoka‘s staff as a player development coach, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). Bostic went undrafted in 2009 and played professionally for 14 years. While he was in camp with the Pistons in 2014, he never appeared in an NBA regular season game, having spent most of his career in Europe.
- Aaron Holiday, who signed a one-year contract as a free agent this offseason, said he chose the Rockets because he wanted to play for Udoka, likes the talent on the roster, and considers Houston a “pretty cool” city, per Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). Now, he’s focused on learning what role he’ll play for his new team. “Everywhere I go I would have different roles,” Holiday said. “Sometimes I’m just out there to play defense or shoot shots or get the ball moving or whatever the case may be. So you just have to find your role, and obviously, coach (Udoka) will do a good job helping us. But just do the best at your role. Be a star at your role.”
- In case you missed it, we passed along a series of Rockets notes on Tuesday as well.
Sengun is one of the best offensive young bigs in the league , but you can’t expect your defense to improve with him as your starting center. He is literally a poor mans jokic(except at 6’8). You can call jokic a defensive liability all you want, but Dude is 7’ft with a long wingspan.
Sengun isn’t *that* awful. He’s undersized (closer to 6’9″ than 6’10”, but not 6’8″, lol), but he puts a ton of effort into contesting shots. He was 21st in total contests in the NBA last season (ahead of guys like Clint Capela, Bam Adebayo, Jokic, and Daniel Gafford). And while he didn’t get much out of it, nobody on the Rockets did. Eason and Jabari were worse in terms of results against their opponents. Pretty much everyone on the Rockets was horrific, and Sengun was just regular bad.
Their defense *is* capped with him at the 5, but they aren’t even close to that cap with how bad they’ve been the past two years. Give them a little runway.
I like what Brooks could bring on the defensive end to this group, and what VanVleet can bring for a connected offense. Their mentorship could pay real dividends. But if anyone realistically expects this team to a play-in squad, let alone a playoff one, they should slow down a sec. Both of them are low-efficiency scorers with clear weaknesses on-court and their teammates are toddlers by NBA standards, lol.
Jabari, Green, and Sengun are all going to take big steps forward this season imo. Maybe Tari Eason too. But I don’t think they’ll beat out any of the 11 potential 48+ win teams in the West unless there are massive injury problems.
What I see with the Rockets is another long year. I see the beginning of the season filled with great anticipation and enthusiasm but pretty soon that Hard core defense will turn into foul calls and the offense won’t be bailing them out.
Euphoria will turn to frustration when Houston is continually beat 105 to 80. Rockets try to bring in veterans to win more games but this mix is not the right way to do it.
I’m probably wrong but I can just picture Dillon Brooks averaging 4.9 foules per game and clanking threes on the other end out of frustration. The rest of the squad will follow suit and be in the dumps by January.
Trading deadline vultures will swarm South Texas as the frustrated roster will be carved up and handed out.
I agree. Their offseason spending spree was undertaken from weakness (3 years of FO ineptness to be specific), not strength. This team is a long way from being a winning team, and I’m not even sure that their moves will help them eventually get there.
The good news is they’re not tanking, which, by definition, means they’ll at least contend for a play-in spot. If that can save a few FO jobs there, then maybe their moves accomplished their goal after all.
I think their complete disregard of the last few seasons from a developmental perspective is going to rear its ugly head. They have a lot to cleanup, and even a new coach and vets who can play defense will not cure those ills overnight. Multiple seasons more likely
Maybe they improve during the second half in they can maintain the necessary level of focus but, like you, I expect quite a rough beginning. It feels like too many are expecting Udoka to be a miracle worker.
What Is the right way? In the past 3 years they have had 3 top 5 picks. Adding veterans will teach those young guys that minutes are earned(not given).
Lucky I think they’ve done great with the draft. They’re picking the right guys but the veterans they bring in are not quite the type of veterans that fit here.
Jeff Green is an added piece on an aspiring championship team, not a veteran peace you add to a team trying to grow from the bottom. I see him as a quiet, so-so performer in this situation though he was fantastic for Denver last year. Two different scenarios.
And Dillon Brooks, my goodness, I laid out his entire square peg forced into a round hole above. He’ll try to prove he’s worth the money he signed for and play super tough in your face defense which will result in fouls because the Rockets are not respected as a bottom-dwelling team, and then he’ll start chucking threes to prove his value on the other end and it won’t end well.
I’m not saying I’ll be right this is just how I picture it playing out.
I’m so so on Fred Van Vleet also. Is he an All-Star guard that you pay big money to? Or is he a sixth man for a great point guard and shooting guard and fills in for those guys on a playoff team?
I think he’s a career 40% shooter and though he’s pretty good with assists at 7 per game, it takes him an entire big minute game to reach that number. So the defense will improve with the new coach but the offense in my opinion is not going to be there. As I mentioned I think you’ll see a lot of 105-80 this year.
I personally like to see the rockets improve their win total from last year by at least 14 games. I am on the fence with how this team will be. I still don’t understand why Martin Jr was moved out of Houston. He was one of the better defensive players last year. Christopher was dealt and I was shocked by that move. There is definitely an identity crisis in Houston, but I am hopeful for at least a play in. Odds are unlikely and far fetched. One can dream, right?
That’s exactly what it is. There’s an identity crisis with the rockets. Well said.