[Kimbell] Udoka plays highlight videos of the Rockets getting into scuffles at team meetings

heypartner · Dec 13, 2024

MadMax said: ↑

I’m an old head (who never like my short shorts and pro keds - Gambino).
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Not many people know this

cheke64 · Dec 13, 2024

pmac said: ↑

I too would like to see the Montage of Mayhem

No friends on the court
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Rumor is he threw some of the affair clips. I wanna see the pawgs

ElPigto · Dec 13, 2024

I need @DreamShook to come in here with the usual picture being so thankful for being given Udoka as a coach.

rocketchamp · Dec 13, 2024

Rafael Stone top 5 GM

Losmi_34 · Dec 14, 2024

Am I dreaming or is the media finally riding our rockets?

We went from being a laughingstock of the league, to now be described as modern Bad Boy Pistons, and it directly coincides with Ime coming here. He has his flaws but the man definitely turned this franchise around. So happy to have him lead this group.

JW86 · Dec 14, 2024

J.R. said: ↑

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5990739/2024/12/13/ime-udoka-rockets-nba-defense/

Ime Udoka saved the best highlights for last.

After nearly 45 minutes of in-depth Houston Rockets analysis on his pre-training-camp PowerPoint presentation, with players soaking in their coach’s messages like students in a basketball classroom inside the team’s practice facility, the montage of mayhem began.

First, it was the clip of Udoka telling LeBron James and his Lakers to “stop whining like little b—-” back on Dec. 2, 2023, when the then-first-year Rockets coach started a NSFW argument with one of the greatest players of all time that led to Udoka’s ejection. Then came the dust-up in Milwaukee on Dec. 17, 2023, when resident Rockets villain Dillon Brooks and Udoka were ejected in the final minute for their aggressive dispute of a late call. The tape of 15 separate altercations from their previous season kept running — and entertaining them all — from there.

“It’s his personality,” Rockets guard Fred VanVleet said of the presentation and Udoka’s role in it. “He’s a confrontational guy, a fighter, so it was funny to watch them all in order and see the build up. But it’s about building that identity as a group and as a team. We’re built on toughness and just not taking any s— from anybody.”

The fisticuffs weren’t the featured part of the film, though. Udoka had gone into great detail about the defensive improvements that had been made, how the Rockets went from among the league’s worst in every relevant category before his arrival to “top six,” Udoka said, in his rookie Rockets campaign.

The message, in essence, was that they needed to get even better on that end if they were going to become a perennial playoff contender. But to get there, it would require a commitment to the motto Udoka constantly preaches — “No friends on the floor” — and that was on full display during those fiery moments.

“We started to look at the frequency and the dates (of the incidents), and there was something every week from January on,” Udoka told The Athletic recently. “The broadcasters would say, ‘Here goes another dust-up with Houston. It’s becoming an every game thing now.’ So that mentality had changed. And I told the guys, ‘You have to earn the respect of the league and not take a backseat to anybody.’”

Meet the all-gas, no-brakes Rockets, this modern-day version of the “Bad Boys” Pistons that is as feisty and unapologetic a team as the league has seen in quite some time.

…

To hear the Rockets locker-room leaders tell it, it’s Udoka’s direct nature — and direction — that makes it all work. If you ever see him covering his mouth for the cameras during a break in the action, he’s likely ripping a Rockets player for a defensive mistake that simply can’t be tolerated. His candor can be caustic during postgame news conferences, too, like the Dec. 5 session in San Francisco where he said his team looked “soft or scared” after a 99-93 loss to the Warriors that would be avenged just six days later.

“It’s very rare in the NBA,” VanVleet said. “Most coaches have to dance around the egos and the fragile personalities that the NBA can bring. We’re all high-strung, emotional, egotistical, highly paid guys, so to have a coach who really just says it straight and blunt is refreshing for me, honestly. That’s the way I grew up, and that’s the way I’ve always had most of my coaches throughout my life before the NBA.

“For a young team, it’s amazing because it just sets a good … foundation for guys to grow and get better. But I would say he earns that right too. … He’s not just motherf—ing guys for no reason. He earns that relationship and that trust as a leader every day leading the group, leading the coaches, leading the franchise.”

Jeff Green, who worked with Udoka while with the Nets and signed a two-year deal with Houston in 2023, was no stranger to his style.

“He wants guys that are going to play hard,” the 38-year-old forward said. “And if you don’t, you sit down. I mean, point-blank. It’s that simple. … Guys know that, and they don’t want to get out of the game. So in order for that to happen, you have to change your approach. You have to change your ways to the game. And you have to be Houston Rockets first — no friends on the floor. And Coach Ime lives by that.”

…

Not long before Houston tipped off against the Kings in Sacramento on Dec. 3, as Stone and this reporter shared a laugh about the preseason PowerPoint that spoke volumes about Udoka’s intense personality, the team’s front-office head unknowingly jinxed the night ahead.

“It’s been pretty quiet this year,” he said.

A few hours later, after a no-call against Şengün that infuriated Udoka, he would be ejected for his profanity-laced pursuit of official John Goble late in the loss. Şengün was tossed too. Eason, who heard a heckler on his way off the floor, even started to run up a nearby ramp toward the stands before he was stopped by security. Udoka kept the chaos coming in his postgame news conference, relaying how he’d told Goble to “get some f—ing glasses.” League fines ensued for all.

But Stone, when asked about the events of that evening days later, was unbothered. Amused, even.

Just another day with these rowdy Rockets.

“I’m 100 percent comfortable with everything he’s said and done,” Stone said. “It’s understood. He ain’t gonna back up. And I don’t want him to. We all collectively deal with the consequences. But the consequences of backing up, I think, are a lot worse. So we’re going to be what we’re going to be about, the things we’re going to be about, and we’re going to stand our ground organizationally.

“Player by player, coach by coach, front-office guy, ownership — everybody. If we say we’re gonna do something, we’re gonna do it. And if you’re trying to push us around, that’s not going to happen.”
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Love it, but at the same time we shouldn’t be the team that has an Eason almost going into the stands or Brooks getting into it with little guys, which then take us out of the game. Brooks has been great lately though.

And you should know when you read this that 100% Harden was not going to be thriving under such a coach and would not put up with it. He’s just not, and that’s fine. He couldn’t handle McHale who was likely much nicer than Ime.

Though the issue with McHale was also not backing it up so Harden never respected him, with the famous dance meme in the huddle as a good example, but with Ime he might have at least respected him so could’ve eventually come around to it.

But while a FVV welcomes it, Harden highly unlikely likes that coaching style. And while I like a guy who rewards hard work and I’d love a coach who values that, I don’t know if I could handle a coach like Ime either.

PhiSlammaJamma · Dec 14, 2024

The fire and aggression needs be on offense too. Do that. And we move up another level. Attack the rim.

Shark44 · Dec 14, 2024

The "no friends on the court" really appeals to old school ballers like me.

Sports is a competition, not a cotillion dance (older folks will get the reference). Bringing back that mindset and toughness is not only good for the Rockets, but good for the sport in general.

I'm tired of the wining b****ing superstars, and love OUR coach being the one to call out Lebron's Lakers.

After the Silas years, this is such an uplifting change.

CrixusTheUndefeatedGaul · Dec 14, 2024

This team has the right coach and the mix of players young and old to be exciting. Too bad ticket prices are going through the roof if you want to catch them live.

Rashmon · Dec 14, 2024

No friends on the floor...

Rashmon · Dec 14, 2024

JW86 · Dec 14, 2024

Rashmon said: ↑

No friends on the floor...

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Glad our guys have not taken it this far, which is simply stupid.

TheBeastSystem · Dec 14, 2024

Junk it up

ApacheWarrior · Dec 14, 2024

Daily Rockets video sessions

SamFisher · Dec 14, 2024

[Amick] - people are taking clips of me talking about stories I wrote and putting "[Kimbell]" around them for some reason.

Believe It! · Dec 14, 2024

Hell fkn yeah

jb86 · Dec 14, 2024

Say hello to the Bad Guys

Hank McDowell · Dec 14, 2024

Reminds me a lot of Stephen Silas. Just aggressive as hell all the time, slapping fools, take no prisoners piss all over everything basketball.

prs325 · Dec 14, 2024

Where’s this 45 min montage of mayhem they were alluding
The public would like look-see

daywalker02 · Dec 15, 2024

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[Kimbell] Udoka plays highlight videos of the Rockets getting into scuffles at team meetings

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[Kimbell] Udoka plays highlight videos of the Rockets getting into scuffles at team meetings

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