The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Ime Udoka Talks Recent Success as Rockets Look to Continue 4-Game Win Streak

Episode Date: April 3, 2026

Ime Udoka Talks Recent Success as Rockets Look to Continue 4-Game Win Streak

This is the Matt Thomas show with Ross. Rockets and jazz tonight. We'll have it for you here on Sports Talk 790. Let's spend 10 quality minutes with the head coach of the Houston Rockets. E.M.A. Doka here on the program. E. Mae, things are going well. Congratulations on the nice winning streak. I'll say this.

Reed Shepherd, you bounce in and out of the starting lineup. And it's been matchup driven. But I'll tell you what, it's hard to take them out after getting a career high nine-threes for you a couple nights against Milwaukee. Yeah, Reed's been playing great in either role and really taking a big jump this year. And we love to see the development, the growth, confidence, aggressiveness, and the challenges he's taking on. And so a lot of times happens a lot in their second year. You get more opportunity this year, obviously, with Fred being out. And I love to see the progress that he's making.

What did you ask him to do in the off season? I know that the sample size was so small last year. And you obviously had a different roster. And with Fred being out there was going to be, even with Fred being in, you were going to give him a better run of things. what did you ask him specifically to do that maybe has finally paid off here in this second season for him? Yeah, the main thing is learn to handle the physicality on both sides of the ball. And that's something that comes with time and strength and experience.

And, you know, he has to be able to handle pressure when they're picking him up full court and handle them coming downhill when he's guarding. And so he's really done a great job of embracing that. But other than that, it was be who you are, be who you were in college, high school, and why we drafted you and be confident and aggressive. Obviously, one of the best shooters we have and in the league in general. And so I want him to play towards his strengths and improve on the areas he had weaknesses in. And so he's taking on that challenge.

Did a lot of defensive work in the offseason, which a lot of guys don't put in that work on the defensive side of the ball. And so it's paying dividends. He's blocking shots. I mentioned this to you a couple of days ago. You got four or five guys that are trying to have the team lead and block shots. That's something you obviously don't practice. And it also takes a little bit of guesswork, but also. being in the right place, right time that you don't find yourself when guys in foul trouble.

Has that been a sneaky part of your team's defense, your ability to rim protect the way that you have? Yeah, definitely, especially when you don't look at a, you know, a guy that's playing major minutes that is a typical rim protector. Obviously, Clint is still really good at it. His minutes aren't at Alperin level or even Stephen when he was playing. But it's great for our guys utilize their length and some of their just natural ability. Obviously, when you have a point guard, you know, quote-unquote point guard as a man on the ball. you're going to get quite a few blocks. And then Tari, Jabari, I'm sorry, Kevin using their length as well.

And all those guys are contributing to us being a really good shot blocking team, although it's not coming from just one guy. Tari Isan, of course, had the resurgent for a couple of games. Shooting didn't go the way he or anybody would have wanted in the last game, just one for seven from three. But overall, just what you've been seeing from him and this resurgent and why it's so important to the team as a whole. Yeah, because nobody can do the things he does naturally for our team.

I mean, I mean, it's a great defender and they go about it a little bit differently. But the ability to disrupt their offenses caused havoc there and just uses natural instincts as high level. And so for him, it was getting back to being who he is and not just relying on jump shots to get out of the slump. But, you know, starting defense, turn defense offense, obviously crashing the glass, getting out for some easy baskets. to free to line, all those things that will make the jump shots fall eventually. And he did all those. His activity level was great. And then obviously the jumper is going to come back. You don't shoot that high level as he did for three-fourths of the season and just disappear.

Just going through a minor slump, doing the other things to get himself back into it. And now the threes are falling again. Rocket Tech coach, I may Adoka with us here on Sports Talk 790. I don't see Alperin-Singoon listed on the injury report. So he should be good to go. Yeah, he's good. they just took a bump to the back area that he obviously had some discomfort in a few weeks ago. And so got treatment, got some time to rest, and it's good to go.

E-Man, he was not afraid to tell me how much he doesn't like watching zone defense. Have you ever seen a game where the Bucks went so much zone? I mean, I don't know if there was even a possession. They didn't do it. Yeah, I mean, they run the second most in the league. And even with their main guys there, they run quite a bit. And so we figured they would be doing that with some of the players they had out there. and, you know, it can make you stagnant and a little bit less aggressive.

And, you know, you still want to take the threes that are there. But not only that, you want to move the ball and get some penetration against it, and then you'll lead to wide open things. And so at times, that's what it's there for. You have people second-guess and get a little stagnant, like I said. And I think, you know, we missed some open shots that definitely would have had a wider margin in the score column. But, yeah, Alpe, obviously, wants his opportunities, as do other guys. but the zone is there to stifle some of those.

So this outbeat jump shot, the three-pointer, has come into play two of the last three games. As you see them, is it good time for him to shoot them? Is it the ball leaving his hand better, a combination of both? Because let's face it, he was good for about the first month, two months from three, and then kind of went down on a downward trim, but now it's picked up the last couple of games. Yeah, I mean, now it all comes down to confidence.

All of our guys put a ton of work on these shots, and so it's not like they're taking them for the first time in the game. I think with him, you know, we love him rolling and picking rolls and, you know, spacing out and just him rolling, collapses the pocket whether he has the ball or not, and it leads to open shots for everybody else. So, you know, we love them to do that. But when you're playing on the perimeter some and initiating some offense and then all the attention that Kevin and some of our guys get,

I mean, attacking the basket leads to some of those kickouts. And the main thing is take the shot you want and be confident taking it. If you're not going to take it, you go into a secondary action, or attack downhill, but if you're going to, you know, pump fake nobody at times, we want you to let the thing go. You put in all the work, and now it's paying dividends as well. You got a Utah team very similar to Milwaukee that's got a beset of a number of injuries. They're obviously thinking about next season. Do you use the, hey, Milwaukee came in and hit 10 threes against us in one quarter.

You cannot have the same sort of, not necessarily the same sort of, but hey, don't take these guys lightly because they could come and make a ballgame of it as well if they need to. Yeah, I mean, that's the message. And it's happened too often to us this year, you know, playing up and down until. level of competition and you know you look at the Chicago game they hit a bunch of threes early Washington Wizards they hit a bunch of threes early so we want to come out and be aggressive regardless on defense and not just go through the motions follow guys around and hope they missed shots this NBA

guys are putting in a ton of work and they're in the NBA for a reason and they'll make shots if you don't deter that and so we want to come out aggressive and do better than we did in that game obviously New Orleans is a good blueprint of respecting the opponents and because Zion Williamson and Dejante Murray and certain guys are out there same thing with the Knicks and we want our guys have the same mindset regardless of who's playing.

Seedings can fluctuate a lot down the stretch here in the West. How much does that influence your philosophy or try to not pay attention to it at this point in terms of wanting wins or balancing rest and also even potentially playing for matchups? You know, for us, it's just to play great basketball at this time. We're playing better right now and still can sharpen some things up, no doubt. Our assist numbers off the chain, I think that taking the care of the ball has been great. So two areas we really want to improve and be consistent with. I think that's good. But at the same time, you obviously look at the standings.

Some things you can't control, so you really just want to play good basketball and be healthy. And so for us, that's the goal. You'll get some rest with the playing tournament now. You get some more extra time off after the season. So we need to continue to win. And we'll see, let the chips fall where they made as far as seating. If I would have told you that Kevin would have played as many games as he has, as logged as many minutes.

I mean, 73 games, top three in minutes played this year. About I told you that in October. I don't know if you would have loved it, but I don't know if you'd have been totally surprised because, again, when healthy, he has been a guy that has given you north of 35 minutes no matter what uniform he's played on. Yeah, well, I know Kevin well

and played against, coached him. And, you know, he's a guy just similar to Fred where he doesn't want to come off the court ever, and he also doesn't want to miss games. And so for him, yes, you understand he's going to play a good amount of games. You know, we'd love to shave the minutes down for sure, and any chance we get to and him sit out of fourth quarter is great.

But, you know, with some of the other guys being in a lineup this year and the season-ending injuries, we've had to rely on him a little more than we would like as far as the minutes. But like I said, it takes great care of himself. Works extremely hard in the off-season to be able to play in these games. And obviously, you see his efficiency at the all-time high as well. I'm trying to think about this. How many guys are still in the league playing that you played against?

Kevin. I got two on this team. Kevin and Jeff. Kevin Love? Yes or no? Yes, of course. Okay. For sure, there's still a few outhorfer and guys like that. Just anybody up there in age a little bit. But yeah, most of those guys were rookies when I was on my way out. So you will not feel old when that answer is zero, correct?

Of course, I feel old now when I look at our guys' birthdays. And the majority of guys are born in 03-04, and I was in the league already. Well, I feel old because I've called games in the NBA in college. I've got like Kenyon Martin, I've called KJ Martin's games. I mean, I've called Tim Hardaway Senior and Junior. That's how you feel old when you're talking. When you start coaching Jabari Smith's kids that you may, you're going to definitely feel old. I can tell you that for sure.

Yeah, exactly. Hey, thanks for the time. We'll see you tonight. Thanks for and good luck against the jazz. Appreciate it. All right, we'll see you. That's a you mayadoka joining us on the show.