The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Ime Udoka Joins as Rockets Look to Continue Two-Game Momentum

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

Ime Udoka Joins as Rockets Look to Continue Two-Game Momentum

We are very happy to get to visit with IMEA Doke on this radio show once a week during the course of the regular and hopefully long postseason. And EMA joins us here now at 1132 on 790. Coach, thanks for the visit. Congratulations. It's not bad. You had two teams coming in that are obviously thinking about next year. And you beat Utah by 20 and then a season high 31. So a pretty good way to get here to Orlando on a nice two-game winning streak.

Yeah, yeah, it was good to play to our level regardless of the opponent. had some good carryover from things we've done in the previous games and, you know, handle business. We've slipped up a few times and had it good to, like I said, take care of business this time. Reed with the Kerr-high-7-3s, Alpi, a triple-double. Reed's made seven starts, and obviously a lot of that is because of injuries. But just a thought or two about, as you see Reed as a starter right now as compared to when you use them as your primary guy coming off the bench for scoring.

Hey, good. Obviously the threat of the shot and him in the pick and roll and off ball is really good. Alperin, Kevin, attracts so much attention even when he started with Amen. He does as well in the spacing and, like I said, the threat in the open looks he's going to get, he's going to be a recipient off those guys. And so he's continuing to grow whether he starts to comes off the bench and is improving as the season's going on. Now, you said to me yesterday that, you know, Reed didn't do a whole lot of real true point guard work at Kentucky. What was his high school life like?

Because he was only there one year. And is it crazy to you that he's still kind of learning the nuances of running an offense, even at this point of the NBA? Yeah, I mean, I would say, you know, they had him and him and the kid from Minnesota coming off the bench together, you know, two of their main scores. And, you know, he handled the ball a little bit more. And so I think in high school he was just the best guy and scored and, you know, handled and did a little bit of everything, played on the off ball.

but, you know, always been a really gift to score. And so for him, it's like you said, learning those nuances and not just, you know, looking to score the ball every time, although the shot is there, we want him to take it and be aggressive. And, you know, he's hitting out front in the pocket, finding open guys all over the court much better and continuing to work on the defensive end. So regardless of high school and college,

NBA is a much higher level, bigger leap with really good lengthy defenders on you. And so for him, it's continued to grow in those areas. And like I said, he's finding the balance of looking for a shot and hitting guys. And I think he's continuing to take strides. Now, obviously, you played a different position when you were in the league, and you obviously play when you were a kid all the way through high school and college and whatnot. When you got to the NBA, what was your biggest adjustment,

even though you had been a big forward for most of your professional career life, and obviously before that in college and high school? Yeah, I was saying, you know, the physical class. size and length and athleticism, everything goes up three or four times. And so things you get away with, obviously, in high school, you take a little leap to college, but the college NBA is even bigger than high school to college. And so you're playing the best of the best every night at their position. And for a guy like Reed, you know, coming as a number three pick and the threat to score

and shoot like he is, you'll see how teams guard him immediately. As soon as he comes in, they got one of their best defenders on them, trying to put size and length that, you know, deter some of those shots. but something he just has to adjust to and get used to. And I think he's done a great job even last year growing in that area and on both sides of the ball, the physicality of guarding defense and then getting guys freed up off him on offense and learning to get those shots off.

He's really adjusted to that well. What are some of the things you'd like to see from him to maybe make him more used in closing in late-and-close situations? Yeah, I mean, the defense is a thing. You know, teams try to target him, and he's taking some steps. He started the year off really well, and then, you know,

as time goes by, some guys have some slippage. And so a lot of times it's situational, offensive defense, and, you know, we want to have five defenders out there. If a team is scoring too much, and like that, Reed and third guys, if the offensive hill is stagnant. And so that's the biggest thing.

Teams are going to, you know, hunt him and go out of them, and we can steam around that and try to figure some things out there, but taking the challenge overall at defense. That's always been a key with a lot of young guys. and, you know, you've got these big guys that are going to go at you, and then he's just got to hold up a little bit,

and he's done that. He's taken a step, and we just want him to have a higher point of contact. You know, he has really good hands, so a lot of times he would let guys go by and reach inside for the ball, and just take the hit and the help will be there. Rocket Tech coach, Emmaidoka, that was here on Sports Talk 790. Is Tari Isan full going back-to-back-to-backs the rest of the way, or are you guys taking it case-by-case?

case by case but he'll be available tonight it was good to sit him that fourth quarter and get some guys some rest but he played the last clipper back to back going it to all-star break and felt good so he'll do that for now and we'll see what happens after this all right amen thompson i know you it's never fun to sit your young talented player uh he's been got got batting a little bit of that tendinitis whatever were is his situation i guess is that more of a game time or do you have a feel for him right now it was game time uh he's said he felt much better yesterday, and obviously with the back-to-back in three and four nights, we wanted to be smart with that. And so he felt better yesterday. We'll be getting treatment, and we'll see when he ramps it up before the game and tries it out and know from there. It is difficult for the schedule, even though we've got some off days and all-star breaks,

it's still a condensed night where you've got back-to-backs and whatnot. That training staff of yours has to put in some incredible time because there just isn't a lot of time to sit back and let these guys naturally heal on their own. No, so it's almost a 24-hour thing. You know, if you prepare guys to play and then things happen in the game, you have to, you know, ramp that up again, especially on the back-to-back. But, you know, guys got to be smart about rest and diet and body and all the recovery is a huge thing.

And so especially on a quick turnaround like this, you've got to be smart. And that's why it's great to, you know, have a comfortable win last night, said some guys, get them with the rest and have them prepare for tonight. Is it hard to sit, Katie? I mean, or is he know that at 37 that he doesn't need to be playing 37 minutes every single night? Does he fight you much on it? Because, look, he's been a competitor since today. He stepped on a basketball floor.

I'm just curious about what those conversations are like in terms of playing time. Okay. That's for sure. And so, you know, you got to save guys from themselves at times. And I think any chance that we can rest them like last night in the fourth quarter is great. And any time in the game, when we go on a nice run without them, It's great to extend the break and the rest. And we saw it in the Charlotte game when we had the lead going into the fourth.

Alperin, we kind of played through Alperin, and he dominated, and we stretched the lead a little bit there. And then as they came back, we were able to bring Kevin back. And then he got the 10 points in a row. You know, we sat him out for eight plus minutes, and he was fresh and good to go and close that game. And so anytime we can extend the rest periods, it's great. But a game like last night really helps.

Josh Akoki helped you out off the bench last night with those corner threes and we had him on the postgame show. Was that something that when you brought him here, you said, hey, we know through our metrics, there's a good spot for you on the floor to hit your shots, and he's hitting at a career best almost about 40% from 3-point range. Yeah, he's a really good 3-&D player. And, you know, he started the start the year extremely well, especially with the injuries to Dorian and Jayhawn coming out.

So, you know, pleasant surprise as far as that, but that's what we envision him being. was a really good defender and a guy that could spot up and shoot off of Alper and Kevin, I'm in those guys. And so for him, he took advantage of opportunity as guys became healthy and we're bringing guys back in. His minutes have been a little up and down, but great to see him coming and contribute like he did early in the season, Aaron as well, and some of the other guys who haven't

been playing with injuries to Jay Sean and some guys now. It's great to see them, but they're always ready and they've been here. Just your thoughts on tonight's matchup, trying to guard. Palo Bencaro who gets a lot of the headlines, but they also got guys, other guys who can score the basketball. Yeah, you know, he's a tough of stuff, but, you know, we like the guys that we have

on the legs and size on our wings as well. I've done a decent job about him in the past, and, yeah, you have to worry about Bain and, you know, Anthony Black has stepped up some, and so, you know, not just complimentary pieces, other guys that are really good scores, good players. And so, and coming off a long West Coast trip that had some good wins,

you know, some tough losses, and they're kind of battling in the East. And so it'll be a tough test, but we're prepared for it, especially with the extra rest in the four-quarter. Ema, thanks for the visit. We'll see in the arena later on tonight. We appreciate the time as always. Thank you.