The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Ime Udoka Joins as the Rockets Aim to Extend Their 5-Game Win Streak

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

Ime Udoka Joins as the Rockets Aim to Extend Their 5-Game Win Streak

Rockets won their fifth in row last night in Cleveland. Let's talk about it for 10 minutes with the head coach of the Houston Rockets. Imaidoka with us here on the Matt Thomas show with Ross. Tomorrow night, Denver in town. But first things first, a victory over the Cavaliers. Coach, thanks for the time. What a strange second half. You score 17 in the third and put up a 40 spot in the fourth.

That in-quarter break must have been quite a conversation between you and the boys. Really, when we went up 22, got a little stagnant. you know, stop going away from the things that got us the lead. And when you got some really good scores like Donovan Mitchell, Hunter on that night, they can get back in the game easily. Hey, the first half was something special. You guys held them to horrific three-point shooting. That had to have been part of the repertoire because they shoot so many of them.

Doesn't necessarily mean they make a lot of them and, boy, they couldn't find him in the first half especially. Yeah, I focused with to defend Mitchell, you know, make it hard on him and you know, kind of live with some other guys. Hunter made a few, Other than that, we had some guys taking shots that we prefer them to take. The whole middle of the two points on one for seven in the first half is pretty much as good as you can get. We knew he'd come out aggressive in the third, and he did that and made a few shots. Like I said, we got a little stagnant, and, you know, they're going to keep firing.

They're going to keep playing with that pace, and that's what got them back in the game. You know, sometimes stagnant play is going to be happening. It's a long season, but you found another hero last night, and I feel like I'm talking to somebody different on the post game every night because there are different heroes. What Aaron Holiday did for you in the fourth quarter, that had to be maybe his best. stretch as a Houston rocket, which you got from you last night. And it was great. He came in and made timely shots. You know, he's, we have a foul trouble across the board a little bit with Jabbar and some guys. And so we needed some other guys to come in and, you know, defend Hunter, defend Mitchell.

And, you know, he did what he could there. But on the offensive end, Alperin and Kevin are going to draw that attention. He obviously knocked down timely shots, but got a lot of deflections, hands on the ball, get on transition, made some layups and floaters as well. you were a role player in the NBA so you obviously empathize the guys that are on that second tier group what do you have you used as your experiences

to talk to guys that Aaron's not going to be called every single night but make the most of his opportunity that's given to him yeah you have to be professional which he is he's been there from day one be ready for every opportunity and sometimes it's going to be two minutes three minutes here you have to come in and perform and when you

come in the game in those situations your job is to increase the lead and get an up-pick and effort and all intensity and all those things. And I think that's a, it's a tough thing to do, but it's an admirable thing the way Aaron goes about it. Jay Sean, those guys ready to play aren't always called, but have to stay prepared.

And you see the work they put in behind the scenes. And so for us, it's no secret to that, no surprise, that they're going to make shots and play at a high level and they get their opportunity. Rocket Ted coach, Amy Adoka, with us here on Sports Talk 790. Alperin-Shingoon continues to impress even going after and scoring on the defensive players. of the year down the stretch in the last

game. Where, even since you've been here, what have you seen from him as far as growth in his game? This is for his understanding it's a long game. If he has some ups and downs, he's going to still have his opportunities to make plays on, you know, whether scoring the ball or facilitating.

For him, I don't think he looks at anybody as a defensive player year or anything like that, and neither do we. We feel he has an advantage every night on whoever. And whether it's Mowably one nighter, who be it. You know, he's going to attack the same way, be aggressive, and he's confident his ability to score or make the right play on anybody.

Obviously, one of the nicknames he's gotten has been Baby Joker. What do you think? I mean, obviously, Nicolioch is just a different animal. But when you hear those comparisons, what do you think about the similarities and differences of their games? Well, I mean, there's the fact that they both, you know, are flirting with triple doubles every night.

Yokic just had a ton. Alpi's right around there. The passing ability, And it's not a typical back to the basket center. They both can score in the post, but they can handle on the perimeter. They can be, we can run pick and rolls for them. They got isolations on the wing. I would say the difference is at this point, Yokic is just more season

and he understands and makes a simple play. Alpe will get caught up every now and then. But, you know, he's young and ambitious in learning on the fly as well. And I think for him, his athleticism is a little higher than Yokic is. And so they have a ton of similarities. That's obviously a great name to be compared to. but Albuy's trying to carve out his own niche and he looks up to him and the things he does

and sees the areas he can be successful as well. I know he's been floating with triple doubles a lot so far this year. Does he ever beg to stay on the floor to get that one final assist or does he get like one shot and one shot only to get it done? Of course, they all beg to stay in. And to me, if you get it in the natural flow of the game, great. If not, we're not going to leave you up 30

and risk injury or anything like that. And so, you know, it'll happen. It continues. He's at him in European competition. He flutter when I'm like you said here. And so, you know, last year, we had an injury. You haven't now men, you know, he's won away and rolled his ankles out for a few games. So lesson learned will never do that again.

The guys understand that, especially up big. You got to play with the game. You mess around with that things happen. So he'll have his chance to get a ton and he will throughout his career. How is Amen embrace the role? He's been your starting point guard. And it's not an exclusively ball handled, but he's been in that lineup and that backcord. He moved him all over the spots last year because of injuries and whatnot.

I know turnovers are always a thing, and it's not his exclusive responsibility to make sure the low turnovers are in come in play. He's going to come into play, obviously. But where do you see him now as compared to start of the season in terms of just embracing the role of I'm in that back court every single time and I'm the primary ball handler? It's just an understanding of wanting to be in attack mode looking to score, wanting to set guys up and look to get us into sets.

And so at times, you know, we love him when he grabs the rebound and pushes is at the pace he does. He's going to either get to the basket or fine guys. But in the half course, who needs a shot? Who are he trying to get a mismatch against, cross-match against, and then understanding that part of it. And so it's only 11 games in, and 12 games in, he's improving rapidly at that.

But it's different for him. I mean, he had in his hands a ton throughout his care and OTE. Last two years did a bunch of different stuff off ball, and now we're asking him to get back to facilitating Ned, as well as being aggressive to score. So it's a balancing act that he's improving on game by game. You mentioned injuries and trying to keep guys off the floor and try to avoid that. And there were some comments from Steve Kerr earlier this week about the pace of the game now

and the way that guys are pushing their bodies. Just in your eyes from when you've been playing from now, what do you think about those comments from Steve Kerr if you heard them? And just how the game has evolved and do you think the way that the game has changed, do you think it is causing more injuries? I don't know. It's a tough argument to have, you know, there were 140-point games back in the 80s consistently. Guys played 72 games, or 82 games back in the 80s.

And, you know, I think I take pride on this guy like Jalen last year, the last two years playing all 82 games and different guys that are playing all games. And so some guys don't want to sit out. We understand the risk on older guys. But, you know, at the same time, it's a balancing act. I think you don't want to give guys a cop out, but also understanding those nights of rest, especially three and four nights,

they'll start to add up. But I'm old school as far as that, and I always give guys examples of John Stockton, missing 17 games over his career, and like 14 of them were due to a broken hand. So that's three games in a 20-year career. Carl Malone missed like seven games, five were due to suspension. And so I go down those things,

and Michael Jordan playing all 82 at 40 years old. So you can look at it both ways, and guys got to condition themselves to be ready to play. but at the same time, you know, it's a balancing act. Of your 10 youngest guys on the team, if you said John Stockton's name, how many of them know who John Stockton is? They all do. He's a Hall of Famer, assist leader, and so they may not have seen him, but they know who he is.

And so, you know, I tell Reed and guys all the time, Stockton was one of the toughest guys, setting cross screens, not getting bullied by bigs, you know, taking hard foul. And so just because you're a smaller point guard doesn't mean get out of the way and get him a layup, I use John Stockton as an example all the time. All right, good, because I'm really nervous these guys. I don't know who these great OGs are.

If I let you run, a thought or two about this Denver team. It's a group play game tomorrow night. I'm excited about it. The energy will be nice. It'll be a little later game. People can get out and do their thing before coming to the game. But look, we had a great time in Vegas last year, and I think those guys wanted to have an opportunity to do that again, and tomorrow night will be a huge

portion of how this group play tournament turns out. It's added incentive, for sure. The energy is different, like you mentioned, and I think the fact that we got there last year and had a really tight game against OKC that we didn't play our best. And if we did, we would have a good 15-point lead, probably if we made some shots because we defend it at such a high level. We want to get back and give ourselves a chance again and be on that stage. And so, you know, not only the fact that we're neck and neck in the standings already, just close, you know, two really competitive teams that have the good starts, the tournament adds to it.

And anytime you play a team like Denver, some of the top of the West, you want to have a great game. Thank you, Amy, for the time. As always, we'll see you tomorrow. and I appreciate the visit as always. Thank you guys.