The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Ime Udoka Joins the Show As the Rockets Continue to Struggle On the Road.

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

Ime Udoka Joins the Show As the Rockets Continue to Struggle On the Road.

1234 sports talk 790 we're going to spend 10 minutes with the head coach of the Houston Rockets ema don't get mad at ross with you here on the 790 umay thanks for joining us i hope we're we're going to have some better conversation we're about to have the next handful of minutes but things have not gone so far well so far on this trip one and four some really tough losses some late games and then last night uh boy the clippers just hit everything on the floor you're going to meet with the team and a half an hour to go over some film so would you like like to give us a sneak preview of the conversation you may be having with the boys. Yeah, it's really, you know, getting back to who we are as a team.

You know, we, last night, probably the worst, worst game of the year in a lot of aspects. But when you look at things big picture-wise, we gave them away, and you're going to have some poor nights, but that's why losing the Denver game with a foul at the end, losing New Orleans with a foul and giving up a lead against Sacramento, that's why those want to sing even more because nights like last night are going to happen but our main thing is trying to keep it simple and get back to our identity

you got a veteran group that's won a lot of basketball games in the last year and a half Kevin's obviously got a distinguish NBA career I don't think that these athletes that especially the ones you have have a little bit of that here we go again

am I right about that and if they do have some of that how you as a coach get past that no i think it's it's simplifying things and not trying to overcomplicate like i said are some of the things we've done over last few years um we haven't slippage in those areas the simple things and like we don't have the proper effort or attention to detail with the game plan um we start with that first and so for us it's like i said getting back to that you know had a good win against denver two games ago and very competitive games against quality teams and so you don't forget that but at the

same time even if you win those overtime games you know that doesn't gloss over the areas we need to improve in and so win or lose you know you still look at the good and the bad in those games and plenty of things we could have done to not be in those positions especially giving up big leads against new Orleans and sacramental email there's a certain level of respect that goes with every NBA team even though the wins and losses are going to be obviously different based on who you play every single night is it especially aggravating that some of these losses have come to teams really gotten off the bad starts? Yeah, I would say that.

I mean, you look at the Clippers, and they're probably, their record's not indicative of their talent. Obviously, you've got Leonard and Harden, that's two really Hall of Fame players there. So you respect that and understand that they've not come out with the proper effort on their part, and so that was the part

that was probably most frustrating last night, is that you know, we get a nine-point lead, and you know, we make three, four plays in a row undiscipline, going for gamble, steals, and fouls, and let them right back in the game where they've faltered at times this year when you've gotten them into those predicaments, but we helped them get back into it and then it flipped the other way. But, yeah, overall, I would say the Sacramento's and New Orleans, those guys,

teams are going to start to play better, and New Orleans has. But we were doing some really good things and got stagnant offensively, undisciplined defensively, and then, like I said, the fouls at the end of the thing that stand out the most. You mentioned a bit of the lack of discipline defensively. What do you attribute to that? Do you think there is just a little bit of fatigue or tiredness or overall laziness? What would you say that you would attribute that to? I mean, we do have to get back to playing harder than we have been lately.

You know, that's been, like I said, our identity last two years and you don't want to forget what brought you success. And so you stick with that as you're trying to improve and implement some things offensively with some new players and new positions. And so we can always rely on that, whether you make shots or not. And we were doing that this year, you know, earlier in the season, regardless of the lumps we took offensively as we're, you know, putting our men at the point or different guys in different positions. We could still rely on that. And the last few, we definitely haven't done that. Hence the overtime games in the late game valley. Rocket Tech coach, Emaidoka, with us here on Sports Talk 790.

And what do you do as a coach when it's like sometimes last night especially, Kauai Leonard was just knocking down crazy shots? James Harden was knocking down contested shots. and they just go in. Is that something you just kind of try to brush away, or do you ever say that to the guys? Like, hey, good defense there, and there was just nothing we could do, better offense? No, there are some times where you play really good defense

and guys are talented so they make shots, but it's doing your work ahead of time, doing your work early, and keeping guys out of certain positions. And one thing we had pride ourself on all year was holding teams and players far below their average. We put us that up five, games ago where we held pretty much everybody

well below their average and so for those guys get loose especially after we played them recently and guarded them really well you know to give up 15 or 13 fritos to harden means we're not being disciplined we're reaching in we're fouling you know we gave them only five

fritos last game and so you're going to see two guys tomorrow Donchish leads the league in fritos Austin Rees is top five and so being disciplined there and not fouling on certain shots is a big key and that's gets hardening those guys in their rhythm. Eme, you did not play Kevin or Alping the fourth quarter of the game last night.

I don't think Kevin is a lip service guy. It certainly doesn't come across to me that way. When asked about why he didn't play, he says, like, he trusts you with that. Was there a conversation had in the middle of the game? I don't know if it was like, it's not your night, or, hey, I want to let everybody know that, you know, nobody is sacred from guaranteed playing time, especially if things aren't going well. No, we gave them an extended run in the third. We, you know, didn't take them out their regular time and to try to get back in the game,

and it didn't go that way. So I tried to inject some energy and juice into the game and put some guys in that hadn't played as much. And, you know, you look at a 15-point deficit. About eight, nine minutes ago, you cut that down to seven. We're, you know, in the next three minutes, we give ourselves a chance. But it didn't go that way. It went the opposite. If it did, we could have put our guys back in and gave herself a chance.

But not a lot of energy. like I said, or physicality in the game in general and wanted to give some other guys a look to try to spark us. You did get the win against Denver, and you now have talked about this before on this trip so far. You've played them three times. It's a team they very well could play in the playoffs. You have two three-point losses and a nice win back.

Does that give you the... I know we can play against the upper echelon teams. That isn't the question mark. It's about trying to give it the full-throttle effort and not letting those losses to second-tier team. pile up? Yeah, I mean, you know, I got to do a better job of getting us motivated against everybody. I think, you know, certain matchups guys get up for it.

But, you know, you don't have the areas of slippage that we had in those two games against New Orleans and SAC if you're properly motivated or, you know, continue to do the right things that we did to get the lead. And so for us, it's not even about Denver or whoever, Lakers, or whoever tomorrow. It's really focused on us, getting back to what we've done well. to start the season and over the last few years what we built and so that is you know we shouldn't look at anybody's record it's more about continuing to work on our things and taking them one as they come and I don't think we're looking ahead to anybody specifically we need to write our ship

by ourselves here's somebody who's been playing and coaching in this league for 25 plus years and do you feel like even the the bad teams are more talented and dangerous than they may be ever have been because the Clippers have a couple of Hall of Famers, even though they don't, as you said, a little bit better than their record. The Kings and the Pelicans have some good players too. Is that just me being a recency bias

or do you think that even the bad teams are more talented than they have been in years past? Well, I'd say definitely in the West. You're not going to have many easy nights. Even the teams that are struggling record-wise, like you said, have talented guys all over place, and, you know, SAC is missing Sabonis and Levine and guys like that.

You got the Rosen every night, you guys that are taking advantage of opportunity when guys are out. And so in general, I don't think you can look at record. Every team in the NBA obviously can beat you. And it's up to us to be disciplined to do the right things and not take the approach of guys being out or looking at a record. It's more so focused on what we're trying to build the right habits and continue to head toward that path. And so for us, we definitely shouldn't be looking at records. Take it, like I said, a game at a time and focus on getting back. to what we did well.

All right. To wrap up on a much letter note, does your son know what he's getting tomorrow or is it a secret at this point? Well, he's 14. He did his own shopping, so he can act surprise when he gets it,

but he picked everything itself. Sounds like our kids are being raised exact same way. Thank you, EMA, for the time. Happy holidays, you and your family. Look forward to catch up with you later tonight and good luck tomorrow against the Lakers. Appreciate it, same to you guys.