Ime Udoka on Rockets OT loss to Warriors, Alperen Sengun's struggles

Yeah I'm back and fourth on this. On the one hand, it would be a pretty huge coincidence if there was some innocent reason he had to leave the bench for the end of the second quarter, and that happened to coincide with him getting benched and being very visibly frustrated.

But on the other hand, he played all 12 minutes in the 3rd quarter. If it was really a big deal, and he really did just walk away and leave the team...would Ime let him play in the third? That's typically the kind of thing you get punished for, like a "you're sitting out the rest of the game" type situation. So I dunno. Hard to speculate.

 

Wow, that guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. How can you create vids like that and be flat out wrong on several of his play analysis.

But when your moniker/shtick is “Awful Coaching”, you’ll get a lot of support from armchair coaches, no matter what you say, as long as you’re putting blame on someone.

 

Also how can you not know/check how to pronounce his name?

 

Alpi will be fine. Just needs to work on setting screens. It's very promising to see that Green can be effective with a C that is neither a vertical nor long range threat (Adams). Sengun is perfectly capable. Teaching someone to set better screens is not hard.

Once defenders start respecting Greens 3PT shot, the duo will start to be effective in the PnR and Alpi's game will take off too.

 

He is top 5 in the NBA in screen assists so far this season.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle?dir=D&sort=SCREEN_ASSISTS

 

Senguns body language on Saturday was disgusting. Absolutely embarrassing how he sulked and pouted on the bench and didnt celebrate the comeback with his team. Jalen has been benched a sht ton more than him and he's never clocked out on his team that way. I dont give a rats ass about ego and player/fan expectations when you present yourself as terrible teammate. FOH.

 

Reed is playing hesitant as a rookie. And it is to be expected. It was a lot like Amen was last year. Reed has to be aggressively looking for his 3pt shot when he is in the game. When he isn't, that's when Ime pulls him.

 

I went back and skipped through the fourth quarter + OT here because I didn't notice this during the game. You are right but a minor correction, and interesting context (imo) about the whole thing here - he actually did celebrate the comeback. He was the single most excited player on the bench during the comeback, first off the bench after every made basket, jumping up and celebrating every shot, running onto the court and chest bumping his teammates as they came back into the game. He was REALLY into it, and then at some point, did a complete 180. My best guess is that he asked Ime when he was going back into the game and Ime told him that he wasn't. Then he sat down on the bench and stopped celebrating entirely. I don't know exactly what happened, but there was a specific point where his enthusiasm went from 10 to 0. Really immature way to handle it, and totally unacceptable. I do wonder what the catalyst was, though.

 

Ime was immature as well. Seems understandable from a 22 year old top 5 center, but not an experienced head coach. Wonder how Embid would have reacted to the same thing.

 

So far this Warriors game is the only game I haven't seen but it seems like Ime has enraged the SoFs this time. Can someone who actually watched the game and knows what basketball is supposed to look like explain to me the gist of what happened?

From what I have seen from clips/stat line:
- it looks like we mostly came out lackadaisical to team missing Curry(but who is secretly stocked with a good mix of high motor guys and shooters) and we gave up a ton of open shots and transition play with poor communication.
- Fred did his normal poor shooting routine he has been doing all season.
- Jalen was doing his throwback inefficiency game on both sides of the ball.
- Our defense got us back into it - seems like the Amen/Tari "all chaos" lineup changed the game
- Alpi seemed to be scoring in the post but I wonder if giving up transition plays and 3s led to his being benched because those are typically areas Alpi is not as helpful defensively OR offensively to the team. After all - you almost HAVE to play in transition and 3s on offense if you want to bring yourself back from down by 30+ in the 2nd half - that would certainly be a reason to "go small".

....what else did I miss? I feel like our dependence on Fred is starting to hold this team back a bit but I understand we need someone to fill the role Fred is on the court with directing - and currently no one has stepped into that role. We need to start forcing others to step into that - Reed isn't ready yet but the team will improve if we can substitute Fred's shots for virtually anyone else's provided they can keep the team organized and focused while on the court. I would say this is the consolidation trade we need to explore to bring another vet in who takes minutes from Fred and maybe you are packaging a Cam or a Jabari with a Fred or DB to open up some minutes and upgrade at a position of need...

 

I saw that as well. To me, its like if he doesn't get his PT or things aren't going his way, he checks out.

You must admit, It didn’t look good. I know you're a Sengun fan but it's not a good look.

 

I don't have an issue with Udoka pulling Reed - I was only saying that the Rockets need perimeter shooters at this point, and Reed provides that better than Thompson. I like both players and their talents.

I believe that while the Rockets have some talented pieces - they really don't fit well together. Stone has drafted solid so far but these players don't fit really go together on a team.

 

Too much is being made of all of this.

Sengun practices hard and for the most part plays hard - he is a professional and has pride.

I don't really overly care about whether a 22 year old looks sad or happy sitting on the bench during a comeback that he isn't involved in. It isn't like he said or did anything - I am sure he was upset he wasn't in the game, and hasn't played better early this season. He is a competitor. I will give the benefit of the doubt to a guy like Sengun that has gotten better, that has played hard, that works on his game and does what is asked of him on and off the court.

As for Udoka - he has a team from management that is really poorly constructed. He doesn't have perimeter shooters - his job is hard.

 

I agree somewhat. Alpi did exactly what he was asked to do over the summer. He got stronger, got massively better at FT shooting and looks to have an improved 3 pt shot. He is just starting out slow either because of nerves or because other teams are playing him differently. He will adjust. Amen is the same way. Did what was asked of him. His jump shot looks much better. He is bigger and his handle is better despite the TO’s still being too high. He basically has played about 60 professional basketball games, so I’m not too concerned about that. Sheppard was the right pick for this team, but is struggling like most rookies against the superior NBA athletes. We don’t need to be a 4 or 5 out team to be effective. Jabari shot 38% from 3 last year and will get more confident as the season goes on. Jalen looks to have turned the corner, but he still needs to get more consistent from 3. We have a deep and talented team that might need tweaking, but I think we would have won virtually every game with better rotations from Ime. We are that good defensively.

 

This dude is supposed to be a leader. The most polished player on the team. Guys gravitate towards him and everyone genuinely likes Sengun, but if you're going to act like that I can see this team turning on him quick. I noticed a change with his on court demeanor after the contract. He's now got his nose pointed up and seems to be expecting something instead of just going out there and busting ass and being a good teammate like he has been up to this point. Its as if he thinks the rest of the team should defer to him because of his money. Nah. Consider that money a "thank you" for what he's done so far and some injury insurance, but it doesnt come with any added advantages on a team full of talented young players. That number can easily become a line item on a trade.

 

I do like watching this guys videos, but this is kinda his schtick to be overly upset and angry. He always does have some valid criticism mixed in, but all the points he showcases aren't really on Udoka. This is just a young team making a lot of small/minor mistakes.

 

That’s ridiculous. You are deriving all this from a guy that has done nothing but busted his ass for this team. He is off to a slow start and is savvy enough of a basketball mind to know when his coach is treating him like s**t while coddling vets that are playing much worse than him. He had 14 pts and 10 rebounds when he was pulled. He is not handling the double teams and reacting slower than in the past. He will adjust and improve year or year like he has his whole career.

 

You're really passionate about the team and I definitely don't like it when players act that way but also dude sometimes 22 year olds are really stupid about emotional things like that and it's more like a blip than a pattern.

As long as he apologizes by being the opposite of that in the future, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If it becomes a pattern, then panic lol.

 

Im not in the business of excusing away prima donna behavior from players who have been tasked with leading this team. Funny you brought up Embiid above -- when was the last time Embiid started a season shooting below 40% and being a sieve on defense? I've seen Udoka jump Senguns ass more in 6 games than ever before. Coincidence or maybe with a fat new contract comes fat new team expectations? When a game turns into a 3&D affair by virtue of getting your sht pushed in for most of the game you cant run Sengun. You cant just exchange baskets. You NEED the 3 ball PLUS lock down defense to even have a chance. Guys who can make plays from all 3 levels. Udoka putting in the best 3&D lineup we had was smart. It worked even if we fell short. I might give myself room to say Udoka could have used offense/defense subs to allow Sengun to give us something offensively late in the game, but he rewarded those guys who played hard and never gave up. It was a timeline defining moment if you ask me.

 

I think you're missing the point. It's the same way James Harden pouted on the bench when the Rockets made their infamous come back against the Clippers in the Playoffs.

The TEAM is making a comeback, the TEAM should cheer each other on. Do he only want the team to cheer him on?

Does it sound minor and petty, yes but it's the little things that adds up