Rockets Need More from Ime Udoka Than What He's Been Giving Them

Ime Udoka’s arrival to the Houston Rockets franchise in 2023 was a major moment for the franchise. The team clearly lacked structure and discipline, after a three-year period, in which the franchise stockpiled talent via the draft.

In other words, tanking. Houston went a combined 59-177 in three short seasons, finishing with top-four draft picks seemingly year-after-year. Houston first selected Jalen Green in 2021, as they found themselves in need of a scoring guard to replace James Harden, and later selected center Alperen Sengun in the same draft, just outside of the lottery.

In the following season, Houston selected Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, followed by Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore in the subsequent year. Udoka, who reached the NBA Finals in his first season as head coach of the Boston Celtics, appealed to Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta because of his defensive-first philosophy. And it’s easy to see why Fertitta would’ve been excited by that, because the Rockets ranked bottom-five in defensive rating in each of the years following Mike D’Antoni’s departure and Udoka’s arrival.

And Udoka isn’t afraid to call players out either, which is beneficial for a young team still finding out how to fulfill the role, expectations and daily living of an NBA player. Fast forward three years and the expectations are different.

Those young players have postseason experience under their belt. And new contracts already, well, in the case of Jabari Smith Jr. and Sengun.

And Houston has already passed the Cinderella phase, in which they overachieved, at least in comparison to the expectations placed on them. That was last season, when they rose to second in the Western Conference, despite missing the play-in tournament altogether in the previous 2024-25 season.

Now, with Kevin Durant in the fold, and Sengun having become a two-time All-Star player, who is generally regarded as one of the best at his position, the expectation is to legitimately compete to a championship. Udoka is now under the brightest lights.

And this season hasn’t been his best. Rotational decisions have been questionable, specifically as it pertains to his unwillingness to use Reed Sheppard to fill Houston’s biggest void at point guard, even though Sheppard is the closest skillset match to Fred VanVleet on the roster.

He’s remained insistent on using Amen Thompson at point guard, even though that’s clearly not the best use of his skillset as a slasher who is unstoppable when getting downhill. And what about in-game adjustments? Or simply having counters for the counters that other teams have thrown his way.

Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick outcoached Udoka by simply double-teaming Durant at halfcourt, yet Udoka kept having Durant bring the ball up the court, playing into the hands of the defense, as Durant is a turnover machine when facing traps and blitzes. Udoka’s postgame message is generally predictable – he’s usually quick to point out that the team didn’t dig deep enough to pull out the internal fortitude to win.

Or he’ll point out that the team got punked. Or disrespected the game of basketball by not playing with enough effort.

Never a strategic change. Which is fine, as he’s not an X’s and O’s guy. That’s been known. And it’s always worked.

However, the Rockets are no longer an under the radar team. It’s no longer good enough to merely make the playoffs. That drought has already ended.

And based on the expectations of a title-contending team, Udoka and this Rockets ball club have underwhelmed. They blow leads quite regularly and don’t come ready to play when facing non-contending teams, hence two losses to the Sacramento Kings this season.

We just saw a Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Rockets in spite of a 13-point deficit in overtime, even without Anthony Edwards. So is it time to get rid of Udoka?

That’s probably an overreaction. But it is time for him to assemble a coaching staff that can help maximize the roster and/or mask his weaknesses.