Ime Udoka on Jabari's return, Rockets win over TWolves 2/21/2025

It's nice to have a special player that can get buckets at the end.

 

game ball goes to Jalen and Jabari…Sengun did everything he could to lose us the game, but he could not overcome their combined greatness

also shoutout to Aaron Holiday for that little 8-0 run he had

 

Come on breh. Don’t be a tool. Jalen had a very good game and Jabari had some good moments. Nobody was perfect.

 

Some people whine about not having a star, others actually put their head down and work their hardest whether coach complains or not. Thank you Jalen.

Good to see Ime walking back his irrational criticism of this team's identity which should have just been a criticism of their performance under Ime-induced fatigue. This team is hardworking by nature.

 

Does anyone know of the Rockets have a designated Sports Psychologist to work with players like Reed, Cam, , Jalen (on consistency) and Sengun (missing bunnies) etc.?

or is it just Ime and the main coaching/development staff that we all know?

 

sengun doesn’t look right to me, doesn’t have the same lift/bounce as last year. it’s really noticeable around the rim. maybe it’s the lower back

 

John Lucas? I don’t know if he’s still here.

 

Those 8 turnovers were brutal, but he was a key part of the defense.

Sengun used his size and mobility (yeah, I said it) to body up and help contain Edwards. He forced Edwards to give up the ball or stay attached to him, contesting shots near the rim and making scoring tough. When Sengun sat and Adams checked in, Edwards got a few easy layups, and the Timberwolves took the lead.

 

I think they have a guy named DR. FINK that worked with Royce White.

 

Making 50% of the threes tonight covered a lot of mistakes. Too much lollygagging back on defense after a foul not being called. Tari had a bad game after looking good recently. Jalen had a great game and the Rockets still almost lost.

I'm liking Amen as a guard with Brooks and JSJ. I suspect same would be true with Tari instead of JSJ most of the time (i.e., when Tari isn't having this bad a game.)

 

That's one of the longest post-game press conferences Coach Udoka has had, at least that I can remember. He also did a very brief sideline "availability," which are rare indeed. Likely both due to being on ESPN. It's nice that we won before a larger audience than we usually have.

 

Despite scoring 24, this might have been Sengun's worst game of the season on offense. 8 turnovers is disgusting, and on top of that he missed far too many easy baskets around the rim. He's had worse shooting games this season, but they generally came with more assists, fewer turnovers, fewer wasted possessions in general.

I don't know what happened to his rim finishing. He looks to me like he lost some of what little vertical pop he had, maybe he put on too much mass even if he did get stronger in the process?

I'm willing to be patient because I think he's done some other things better this season (especially rebounding) and is facing more defensive attention as well--but if he doesn't get his layup game fixed I might have to join the chorus of Sengun haters at some point next season. He's got to at least get back to his career average efficiency (57% true shooting). You can't have a big man out there shooting this poorly.

 

Rockets don’t have a proper backup for VanVleet yet. Jalen or Amen could get there. Reed maybe. It’s a bit of a conundrum because without VanVleet the offense seems to open up more but when they really get pushed by a defense in the half court they look a little lost.

 

Agree….also think the ASG had a negative effect on Amen and Alpi where it took awhile for them to start giving the type of effort needed to win a NBA game. Amen wasn’t hustling like he usually does and Alpi set a career record for turnovers. Sad that the ASG teaches players the wrong things about discipline and effort.

 

Hopefully it's like a one season lingering back issue that goes away.

You can tell most of his finishes are short. He isn't generating as much power throughout his body to get up and finish.

I pray it's a one season thing that will correct itself over off-season rest.

 

There’s a first for everything….I agree with you Orem!!! As my last post stated, simply blame it on the ASG where bad habits are formed by being taught to give zero effort. There were several rebounds for Alpi’s taking that scrub Garza from Minny kept getting over him based on simple aggressiveness and effort. Alpi was lazy and not being his usual aggressive self. We can’t afford that, as we are a small team thanks to not taking Clingan or Edey. I enjoyed last night’s game, but it is crystal clear what this team’s weaknesses are and that we are still a player away (thanks Stone) from competing for a title.

 

Are we sure it’s not that teams just know how to defend him better and Sengun hasn’t added anything new to his game to compensate?