as poor as they played in that era, that team would outscore this current one lol, and 1999 knicks, he wasn’t fired after that either
They are connected though - the offense and defense and the difference between points scored and allowed. They don't play the game in a vacuum. They won 20 games the year before he took over - then they won 41 last year and are on pace for winning 50 games in the Western Conference this season. The offense actually has improved since he got here - even with bringing in more defensively minded players that have limitations offensively. The Rockets relative ORT has improved three straight seasons. The Rockets have improved offensively - with a very flawed offensive roster. The Rockets have also vastly improved as a team the last 19 months. Defensive? No - I am not friends with Udoka. Further, if I believed he was the problem I would be asking for a coaching change. The reality is that the Rockets are limited offensively, they do not shoot well - that is a major liability in the NBA in 2025. The fact that the Rockets miss open shots isn't because of Udoka's good or bad coaching. The offensive performance is relative to the talent on the roster. The offense is a biproduct of the offensive talent on the roster. The Rockets are a poor shooting team. They are one of the worst teams in the league at missing open perimeter shots. They are a poor free throw shooting team as well. They also are not great at breaking down defenders outside of Jalen Green. The offense will improve when the offensive talent improves. There is no magic trick that will make the offense sudden good without roster improvements on that side of the ball. Some teams are talented at offense - some at defense --- great teams play both at a high level. That type of talent isn't present on the roster in 2025. Again, the offense is more than 1% better than it was two years ago - and it is reflected in the AOR as it has markedly improved. You keep bringing up $200,000,000. The Rockets over paid two veterans because no one else worth a damn wanted to sign with a 20 win team. The players that they signed also were far better defensively and had serious limitations offensively. "[m]edium market for a coach that thinks it's tough to trash your trade value in public after every single loss regardless of circumstances or his share of the blame". It really sounds like you have something against him based on statements like this. As far as a superstar not wanting to join the Rockets because of Udoka. What I can tell you is that superstars are far more likely to want to join the Rockets today than 18 months ago when the Rockets were a 20 win team without a culture and with zero accountability. Unless something has drastically changed, players want to play for Ime Udoka - the players he had in Boston thought very high of him and the players on the Rockets have not made any complaints about wanting to not play for him. I could see reaching these conclusions if he had elite offensive players and the Rockets were not winning or they were underperforming. That isn't the case though. The current roster isn't very good offensively - it's just a fact.
I just point to what Silas offense is doing in Detroit … he’s not a good head coach but once players buy in or his offensive system it does work well
At least we agree the roster is not very good offensively. But we are scoring way worse than "not very good". I wish our offense was at that aspirational level of "not very good". We're 28th without the rebounds. 28th. That's atrocious. If we have the worst offensive talent in the NBA, I still expect to finish above some tanking teams. I don't see anything about the future differently than you do, but I totally disagree this is the best we could do since Ime has been here. He's done nothing and it's impossible to justify 0% improvement with talent. As I said, even if he inherited 13 g leaguers and signed $90m per season of players, I should expect that team to be 1% less horrific at offense after 1.5+ years. It has nothing to do with the calibre of our players. No improvement in half the game (offense) is unacceptable. The defense is pointless if he's that bad at offensive coaching and is so dependent on defense and historic rebounding to drive that net rating. One-way coaches don't win titles. It's exactly because of your very first sentence in the post: they are linked, excessive defense and excessive offense will lead to diminishing returns. That's as true for MDA and Don Nelson as it is for Udoka and JVG. Look who wins the titles: Mazulla Kerr Budenholzer Popovic Malone Lue Spo If they trade assets this summer based on Udoka's offensive advice, they'll just be bandaiding a flaw that will bury us anyway. Easier solution: one of Patrick or Stone will have to grow a spine and ask Ime why we haven't improved 1% without a superstar and tell him we need a lead offensive assistant.
1. I think it’s slightly insane for anyone to say Rockets were “better” at anything in the Silas years. Record and context and results matter. 2. Silas was probably a better coach than he appeared, but was hamstrung by tanking and featuring two irredeemably hopeless players (Wood and KPJ) as the featured star players.
Yes, forgot his tenure with Knicks. But we all know how his time with Rockets panned out, multiple 1 and done postseasons.
There's really only so much a coach can do. These are professionals, and it's their job to be competent free throw shooters. Many of the free throws missed are not necessarily all in the 4th after the "defensive effort" excuse kicks in.
On the bright side, most of the bunny misses are by Sengun and Tari. They are both elite at getting their own misses back.
FT% is not as important as FTA. We are 5th at FTA. Even at league worst FT%, it's still 74%. Getting to the line is the most efficient way to score, even if you are the worst FT shooting team in the league. The Rockets problem is not FT shooting. It's FG shooting. They are 29th in 2p%, 26th in 3pt%, 28th in eFG%.
Are the Rockets just TIRED from the early part of the Season? One would think the All Star Break would have helped that Rocket River
Great writeup, but I believe this part is mistaken, there is shooting talent on the team that doesn't get consistent playing time. This is more like the offense is limited by whom Ime plays . DD
There is no reason to keep using tired as excuses. All teams play the same amount of games. It's a coach's job to manage the time each player plays in games, and to limit minutes on guys who regress from being "tired" as you say.
Fans just do not understand the importance of FTA (or OREB) to success of this offense. It is not a fluke that Rockets dominate in these areas. And FG% has been Rockets Achilles Heel all season, not addressing this at trade deadline still fills me with consternation.
Anybody interested in making a graph of how FG%, 3P%, FT% has changed over the course of the season? It would be interesting to see if the "tired" legs are a factor.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/which-team-has-the-most-back-to-back-games-for-this-season I think it’s a combination of injuries, that stretch of back to back games before and after the all star break … and the players who get fouled most on our team Amen and Alpi are not great FT shooters …
Tired isn’t just about the physical body. There’s a mental and psychological aspect of the game as the season is long and grueling. This is why mentally tough teams are the better teams. Given how the Rockets give up leads the whole year or has mental lapses on the court while playing a very grind out style of defense and uptempo offense, they may be psychologically fatigued.
Many fans on this site use TS% as a measure of player performance. This equation takes FT% into account. Missed FT’s means less efficiency as it takes into account how many points a player scores per possession. Your argument would run contradictory to this formula then and countering all those who support TS%. Besides how can you say missed FT’s are not important where just making 50% more FT’s in some of our games could be the deciding factor between winning and losing?
Alpi's flat-footed, legs-spread-wider-than-his-shoulders FT stance looks like he's the most popular boy in some Turkish prison's communal shower.
