February 7, 2025 • 10 mins
Houston is one of the best road teams in the league with 17 wins, but the Rockets have struggled recently, losing their last four on the road. Anthony Edwards handed the Rockets their latest defeat Thursday, recording 41 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 127-114 victory. The Rockets began the fourth quarter with a six-point lead but were then outscored 35-16 over the final 12 minutes. "The scoring droughts in the fourth have hurt us," head coach Ime Udoka said. The Rockets are second in the NBA in rebounds per game, but the Timberwolves outrebounded Houston 47-39. "Defensively, we've slipped in a lot of areas, rebounding, guarding in transition. So when you're not scoring to the level that we need to be, you have to be even more stingy on the defensive end." Point guard Fred VanVleet suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter of February 2's loss to the Brooklyn Nets, and his return to the floor is undetermined. "[VanVleet] is maybe the most important player as a point guard to get us organized," Udoka said. "Experience is one thing, but the IQ that he has and the understanding of when to be aggressive, when to get guys shots, when to get guys into certain spots is definitely missing." The veteran guard has seen a dip in production, marking 14.6 points per game, which is his lowest in the last six seasons, but his leadership is vital to the Rockets' game plans. "Teams want to attack us certain ways or switch up matchups and schemes. He's really good at diagnosing those and getting us in the right sets," Udoka said. With VanVleet out, Reed Sheppard has been able to garner more playing time, recording 17 minutes against the Timberwolves. "[Sheppard] needs to continue to improve in the IQ department... It's a young guy in a different position. He didn't always play the point guard, played off-ball a lot, and now he's being asked to be a secondary handler." The NBA trade deadline passed Thursday afternoon with the Rockets making minor moves, including acquiring center Cody Zeller from the Atlanta Hawks and guard Jaden Springer from the Boston Celtics (the Rockets have waived Springer). "We have a lot of depth and a lot of growth that we've seen this year so far...We want to see who we are going forward in real pressure situations, playoff situations and meaningful games down the stretch," Udoka said.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Speaking of sleep to prov I don't know how well
Imaya Dokas left, but let's find out right now. He
is the head coach of your beloved Houston Rockets, and
he joins us here on Sports Talk Samary coach, Good morning,
restless night, or did you sleep okay?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Pretty restless night? I get it, I get it.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Hey, these are sometimes these interviews are fun to do
because things are going great. Unfortunately, squads dropped five in
a row. Give us a couple of takeaways from last night,
and I guess number one thing are from our audience today,
e May is that we've had some tough fourth quarters.
So what do you attribute that to?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, the scoring droughts in the fourth have heard us
for sure. But you know, we look at the totality
of the game and so many things that we are
not doing correctly, especially to start a game with specific
game plans and personnel. And you know, a guy like
Anthony Edward's coming off a forty nine point game the
previous night, to let him come out as comfortable as
(00:53):
he was in the first quarter and get going. You know,
it's hard to slow somebody down when you know you
have eighteen in the first quarter. Eight three throws, wide
open threes, and obviously won a game plan to be
more aggressive with him, take away certain looks, and we
didn't do that from the start. And then in the
fourth quarter he took it on the shoulders to lead
his team and some of the same things that hurt
(01:14):
us in the first quarter we did better than the
second and third against him. Crept back in and fourth.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
You have never made excuses for us, but I want
to ask you it factors. The number of games played
this month has been all the road games. It's a
sure number of games, Fred being gone the last handful.
What do you attribute to some of what has turned
out to be a subpar start of the month of February.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Well, slipage in a lot of areas. Obviously defensively, we've
slipped in a lot of areas. They're rebounding guardian transition,
and so when you're not scoring to the level that
we need to be, you have to be even more
stingy on the defensive end. Obviously, injuries happen and alper
miss those games. Fred has been out now, but we've
(02:02):
relied on our depth when we've been hurt all year,
and everybody has to go through the scheduling thing. So
we started the road trip off well against top tier
teams and had some letdowns against lester teams, and so
don't attribute it to the road record road games or
anything like fatigue like I said, everybody's going through at
this point in the season, but just slippers it.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Overall.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I think we're number eighteen or nineteen in defense in
the last in the month of January and early February
so far, and obviously top five all year in the league,
number two most of the year, And obviously that's hurting
us there in the fourth quarter, scoring drouts, like you said,
doing things that didn't help us get the lead throughout
the game. And that was the case last night, where
(02:45):
the ball movement was great. We only have one Assistan
in the fourth quarter and have six points in the
first six minutes and Edwards is going, so it's a
snowball effect.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
There is certainly a little bit of the Greg Popovich
coaching in you, because you have called a few timeouts
early third quartering games. That's that's something that I always
felt like Pop was great at doing that when he
was coaching the Spurs. You do it as well on occasion.
What's that like, is it just like you just you're
so exasperated you have to call a time out to
(03:16):
correct things right away, or is that something that Pop
said is don't let things linger, because you know, it's
really strange that you come out of the second half,
you see one or two baskets and you're calling time out,
sometimes forty five sixty seconds into the third quarter.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, obviously, to start the game, we watched the extensive
pre game tape to see what we want to take away,
see what tendency is and players they're running and you know,
and so at halftime we go into adjustment mode and
watch the things that hurt us in the first half,
things we did well, and a lot of times, I'm
trying to reiterate that point. If we showed, you know,
five six clips of something that hurt us, and we
(03:51):
come out right in the third quarter and do the
same thing, obviously you need to redirect the attention, get
their focus back, and you know, being that we just
talked about taking these things away, that's basically what it is.
And so everything's different, you know, different circumstances. It's not
just one thing. But yeah, that's a lot of the
time we have made adjustments and talked about certain things
to take away at halftime, and when we don't come
(04:13):
out and do them, you have to let them know
about It.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Feels like, especially in these close and late situations, Coach,
you guys are missing Fred van Vliet.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Yeah. I think regardless of late game and anytime the game,
he is maybe the most important player as a point
guard to get us organized. And you know, obviously experience
is one thing, but the IQ that he has and
the understanding of you know, when to be aggressive, when
to get guys shots, wanted to get guys into the
certain spots is definitely missing, and so opportunity for other
(04:44):
guys to play that role and step into that role
and learn and grow on the fly. But definitely something
that's missed at times, especially you know what teams want
to go zone against us, teams want to attack us
certain ways, or switch up matchups and schemes. He's really
good at diagnosing those and getting us in the right sets.
And so you can only do so much, you know,
dead ball situations, timeouts and those things. But on the fly,
(05:07):
you know, make or miss and we want to push
out in transition. He's really good at finding mismatches, attacking
and understanding how to get guys involved.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
ROCKETEC coach Imiadoka was here on Sports Talk seven ninety
an uptick in minutes for Reed Shepherd. What have you
been seeing out of him that you like and things
you want him to improve?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, it was aggressiveness is confidence, you know, being the
threat that he is out there hunting those shots. I
think it's very apparent how teams are guarding him and
the attention that he gets already just off of you know,
reputation and who he is and where he got drafted
in those things, and so you know, wanted to get
him some live game action. Obviously played probably his best
game overall in Brooklyn. Obviously needs to continue to improve
(05:49):
us in the IQ department with the rest of the guys.
It's a young guy in a different position. Dunton didn't
always play the point guard, played off ball a lot,
and now he's being asked to be a secondary handler
with a man out there with out there and so
those things. Defensively taking on the challenge as well when
teams try to target him. We do have some things
that we could scheme around to take care of him,
but you know, you have to do your part as
(06:10):
well and not just get beat initially or or get
blown by and put up a little bit more fight
and he's done that. He's approved on both ends, I think. Obviously,
aggressive aggressiveness on offense and then taking on challenges defensively,
those are the main things.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
How did you spend the trade deadline day? Obviously, you know,
Raphel probably taking a lot of phone calls, lobbing a few.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
What was it like?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I know that you were asked about it yesterday before
the game and just kind of said, hey, we have
a good deep roster, like where we are. What was
your overall sense of how active or maybe inactive you
guys were on the on the trade conversation?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Well, I think, like I said, we have a lot
of depth and a lot of growth we've seen this
year so far. Obviously we've had a good start a
little slippage here lately, but I want to see who
we are going forward and pressure situations, playoff situations and
meaningful games down the stretch. So nothing we were really
(07:06):
looking for as far as that, but teams always call
obviously when you have the depth that we have and
the draft picks and the young talent teams are gonna
call and check in, no doubt, and you know Raphel
is taking calls all day and checking out the rest
of the league, the landscape boat league, and doing this
due diligence. But I would say it's more so uneventful
compared to some of the other teams than all the
(07:27):
moves that were made. But teams are checking in non stop,
and that's that's his job, obviously to monitor that and
take the calls and see what guys are talking about.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
I don't know if you've you know, look, you're young
into your coaching career as a head coach, but you've
been in the league as an assistant, played and obviously
now running things here in Houston. Steve Kerr mentioned he
would like to see the trade deadline maybe pushed to
maybe around the All Star break. Do players do you
get a sense that they get nervous about this kind
of time or is it just you know what, this
is just part of being an NBA player.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
A lot has to do with the experience and how
long you've been around and kind of get numb to it.
But it's definitely real. You feel it, you sense it,
you noticed it with guys. I think last year, we
were in Toronto doing a practice shoot around during the
trade deadline and everybody had a you know, sense of
nervousness about them. And then the deadline went past and
it was like big deep breath was exhaled last year
(08:23):
in Toronto and guys got back to our shoot around
and you know, and so you can feel it, you
can see it, no doubt. You know, real lives involved,
families involved, and and when you see Luca Dontons getting traded,
like everybody said, and everybody knows, anything's possible, and so yeah,
there is there's some real reality to that. I think
young guys might stress a little bit more than guys
(08:44):
who've been around. And you know, Fred, Jeff and guys
have been around, they say it doesn't even bother them
because they've seen it, been there, done that. But it
is a real thing and obviously affects people very differently.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You mentioned h Luca in your entire life being in
the NBA circles, and what you have been is that
the most astonishing move you've seen in your life is
being a professional coach and athlete.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, it was the probably the most surprising trade for sure.
I think you have somebody that's all in the NBA,
led the league and scoring just got to the finals.
You don't expect them to be traded, obviously, but you
don't know what's going on inside the organization and what
they feel is needed to compete and ever take a
next step. And sometimes those things are needed and are done.
(09:29):
And obviously I know Nico well the GM and then
we grew up together and so obviously something that they
have to deal with within the organization and they know
the ins and out outs of it more so than
the public, and so something that they really got a
good player back. Obviously, still have a deep team and
they have added more depth and obviously had a good
win against Boston yesterday.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Coach, thank you for the time, Good luck tomorrow against Dallas.
Goot a good practice in and we'll see you at
the arena tomorrow afternoon.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
That's it, Thank you, you got it.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
May book up with us here on the Matt Thomas
Show with Ross
Speaking of sleep to prov I don't know how well
Imaya Dokas left, but let's find out right now. He
is the head coach of your beloved Houston Rockets, and
he joins us here on Sports Talk Samary coach, Good morning,
restless night, or did you sleep okay?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Pretty restless night? I get it, I get it.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Hey, these are sometimes these interviews are fun to do
because things are going great. Unfortunately, squads dropped five in
a row. Give us a couple of takeaways from last night,
and I guess number one thing are from our audience today,
e May is that we've had some tough fourth quarters.
So what do you attribute that to?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, the scoring droughts in the fourth have heard us
for sure. But you know, we look at the totality
of the game and so many things that we are
not doing correctly, especially to start a game with specific
game plans and personnel. And you know, a guy like
Anthony Edward's coming off a forty nine point game the
previous night, to let him come out as comfortable as
(00:53):
he was in the first quarter and get going. You know,
it's hard to slow somebody down when you know you
have eighteen in the first quarter. Eight three throws, wide
open threes, and obviously won a game plan to be
more aggressive with him, take away certain looks, and we
didn't do that from the start. And then in the
fourth quarter he took it on the shoulders to lead
his team and some of the same things that hurt
(01:14):
us in the first quarter we did better than the
second and third against him. Crept back in and fourth.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
You have never made excuses for us, but I want
to ask you it factors. The number of games played
this month has been all the road games. It's a
sure number of games, Fred being gone the last handful.
What do you attribute to some of what has turned
out to be a subpar start of the month of February.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Well, slipage in a lot of areas. Obviously defensively, we've
slipped in a lot of areas. They're rebounding guardian transition,
and so when you're not scoring to the level that
we need to be, you have to be even more
stingy on the defensive end. Obviously, injuries happen and alper
miss those games. Fred has been out now, but we've
(02:02):
relied on our depth when we've been hurt all year,
and everybody has to go through the scheduling thing. So
we started the road trip off well against top tier
teams and had some letdowns against lester teams, and so
don't attribute it to the road record road games or
anything like fatigue like I said, everybody's going through at
this point in the season, but just slippers it.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Overall.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I think we're number eighteen or nineteen in defense in
the last in the month of January and early February
so far, and obviously top five all year in the league,
number two most of the year, And obviously that's hurting
us there in the fourth quarter, scoring drouts, like you said,
doing things that didn't help us get the lead throughout
the game. And that was the case last night, where
(02:45):
the ball movement was great. We only have one Assistan
in the fourth quarter and have six points in the
first six minutes and Edwards is going, so it's a
snowball effect.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
There is certainly a little bit of the Greg Popovich
coaching in you, because you have called a few timeouts
early third quartering games. That's that's something that I always
felt like Pop was great at doing that when he
was coaching the Spurs. You do it as well on occasion.
What's that like, is it just like you just you're
so exasperated you have to call a time out to
(03:16):
correct things right away, or is that something that Pop
said is don't let things linger, because you know, it's
really strange that you come out of the second half,
you see one or two baskets and you're calling time out,
sometimes forty five sixty seconds into the third quarter.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, obviously, to start the game, we watched the extensive
pre game tape to see what we want to take away,
see what tendency is and players they're running and you know,
and so at halftime we go into adjustment mode and
watch the things that hurt us in the first half,
things we did well, and a lot of times, I'm
trying to reiterate that point. If we showed, you know,
five six clips of something that hurt us, and we
(03:51):
come out right in the third quarter and do the
same thing, obviously you need to redirect the attention, get
their focus back, and you know, being that we just
talked about taking these things away, that's basically what it is.
And so everything's different, you know, different circumstances. It's not
just one thing. But yeah, that's a lot of the
time we have made adjustments and talked about certain things
to take away at halftime, and when we don't come
(04:13):
out and do them, you have to let them know
about It.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Feels like, especially in these close and late situations, Coach,
you guys are missing Fred van Vliet.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Yeah. I think regardless of late game and anytime the game,
he is maybe the most important player as a point
guard to get us organized. And you know, obviously experience
is one thing, but the IQ that he has and
the understanding of you know, when to be aggressive, when
to get guys shots, wanted to get guys into the
certain spots is definitely missing, and so opportunity for other
(04:44):
guys to play that role and step into that role
and learn and grow on the fly. But definitely something
that's missed at times, especially you know what teams want
to go zone against us, teams want to attack us
certain ways, or switch up matchups and schemes. He's really
good at diagnosing those and getting us in the right sets.
And so you can only do so much, you know,
dead ball situations, timeouts and those things. But on the fly,
(05:07):
you know, make or miss and we want to push
out in transition. He's really good at finding mismatches, attacking
and understanding how to get guys involved.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
ROCKETEC coach Imiadoka was here on Sports Talk seven ninety
an uptick in minutes for Reed Shepherd. What have you
been seeing out of him that you like and things
you want him to improve?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, it was aggressiveness is confidence, you know, being the
threat that he is out there hunting those shots. I
think it's very apparent how teams are guarding him and
the attention that he gets already just off of you know,
reputation and who he is and where he got drafted
in those things, and so you know, wanted to get
him some live game action. Obviously played probably his best
game overall in Brooklyn. Obviously needs to continue to improve
(05:49):
us in the IQ department with the rest of the guys.
It's a young guy in a different position. Dunton didn't
always play the point guard, played off ball a lot,
and now he's being asked to be a secondary handler
with a man out there with out there and so
those things. Defensively taking on the challenge as well when
teams try to target him. We do have some things
that we could scheme around to take care of him,
but you know, you have to do your part as
(06:10):
well and not just get beat initially or or get
blown by and put up a little bit more fight
and he's done that. He's approved on both ends, I think. Obviously,
aggressive aggressiveness on offense and then taking on challenges defensively,
those are the main things.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
How did you spend the trade deadline day? Obviously, you know,
Raphel probably taking a lot of phone calls, lobbing a few.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
What was it like?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I know that you were asked about it yesterday before
the game and just kind of said, hey, we have
a good deep roster, like where we are. What was
your overall sense of how active or maybe inactive you
guys were on the on the trade conversation?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Well, I think, like I said, we have a lot
of depth and a lot of growth we've seen this
year so far. Obviously we've had a good start a
little slippage here lately, but I want to see who
we are going forward and pressure situations, playoff situations and
meaningful games down the stretch. So nothing we were really
(07:06):
looking for as far as that, but teams always call
obviously when you have the depth that we have and
the draft picks and the young talent teams are gonna
call and check in, no doubt, and you know Raphel
is taking calls all day and checking out the rest
of the league, the landscape boat league, and doing this
due diligence. But I would say it's more so uneventful
compared to some of the other teams than all the
(07:27):
moves that were made. But teams are checking in non stop,
and that's that's his job, obviously to monitor that and
take the calls and see what guys are talking about.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
I don't know if you've you know, look, you're young
into your coaching career as a head coach, but you've
been in the league as an assistant, played and obviously
now running things here in Houston. Steve Kerr mentioned he
would like to see the trade deadline maybe pushed to
maybe around the All Star break. Do players do you
get a sense that they get nervous about this kind
of time or is it just you know what, this
is just part of being an NBA player.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
A lot has to do with the experience and how
long you've been around and kind of get numb to it.
But it's definitely real. You feel it, you sense it,
you noticed it with guys. I think last year, we
were in Toronto doing a practice shoot around during the
trade deadline and everybody had a you know, sense of
nervousness about them. And then the deadline went past and
it was like big deep breath was exhaled last year
(08:23):
in Toronto and guys got back to our shoot around
and you know, and so you can feel it, you
can see it, no doubt. You know, real lives involved,
families involved, and and when you see Luca Dontons getting traded,
like everybody said, and everybody knows, anything's possible, and so yeah,
there is there's some real reality to that. I think
young guys might stress a little bit more than guys
(08:44):
who've been around. And you know, Fred, Jeff and guys
have been around, they say it doesn't even bother them
because they've seen it, been there, done that. But it
is a real thing and obviously affects people very differently.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You mentioned h Luca in your entire life being in
the NBA circles, and what you have been is that
the most astonishing move you've seen in your life is
being a professional coach and athlete.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, it was the probably the most surprising trade for sure.
I think you have somebody that's all in the NBA,
led the league and scoring just got to the finals.
You don't expect them to be traded, obviously, but you
don't know what's going on inside the organization and what
they feel is needed to compete and ever take a
next step. And sometimes those things are needed and are done.
(09:29):
And obviously I know Nico well the GM and then
we grew up together and so obviously something that they
have to deal with within the organization and they know
the ins and out outs of it more so than
the public, and so something that they really got a
good player back. Obviously, still have a deep team and
they have added more depth and obviously had a good
win against Boston yesterday.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Coach, thank you for the time, Good luck tomorrow against Dallas.
Goot a good practice in and we'll see you at
the arena tomorrow afternoon.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
That's it, Thank you, you got it.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
May book up with us here on the Matt Thomas
Show with Ross
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