September 29, 2025 • 7 mins
Head Coach Ime Udoka Discussing Off Season & Where The Team Is At Going Into Fall Camp
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Matt Ross with you here at Tota Center for Rockets
Media Day twenty twenty five. We are joined now by
the head coach of your Houston Rockets. He made Doka
with us. I would say, how's your summer? It was
great for the most part, right, little R and R
and the then Fred and all that, But that thing's
been pretty good, right.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, overall a good summer in a lot of ways.
I've seen a lot of growth from our guys and
obviously I'll be on the big stage and some additions
and so overall happy.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
The injury obviously puts a little bit of sour tastes
in your mouth going into camp, but we have enough
on our roster. We'll figure out how to get done,
and we have the versatility to do it.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
We'll get to that in a second. I do want
to ask you about the trip to Turkey. He played
in the UAR of the euro League Championships, right as
what they call it. What is that competition like? And
what have you seen forgetting about that tournament? But just
what have you seen from Albie's offseason that has you
so bullish on him for.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Again this year?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
A tremendous amount of work he put in behind the scenes,
and obviously that showed on the big stage. Continued growth
and his trajectory has continued to go up from what
I've gotten here. He's growing in every area. Obviously made
it to All Star Game, helped us achieve what we
did last year, and had great carry over into the
summer into his work ethic and wanting to be better
and a great euro Basket tournament. So want that all
(01:19):
to kind of culminate into a great season here and
him continue to grow and do what he's done last
few years.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
And I think he's on the right path for that.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Is he physically much different or the kind of the
same body right now.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I think his conditioning was a lot better. You know,
you're playing kind of year round, and what he did
and what he had to do and showed to the
load and carry a lot of the load for that team.
He had to be in tremendous shape and the physicality
they play with over there, Like I said, all that
should carry over well into the season.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
But it looked like no fatigue.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
He had a lot on his shoulders and then obviously
delivered a high level.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
How collaborative is that is? How much is that you
talking to him and tell him things you want to
see from him, or him doing things on his own.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
A little bit of both out you see.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
You know, after the season you talk about areas of
growth going into your workouts in the summer, and then
the staff that was over there with him for a
month plus, they're working on specific things and then the
national team used them a certain way as well, and
so there are some similarities and the things they've done
and that we've done with him, and so you know,
it's not not familiar for him to do, but you
(02:21):
see things on both sides. The things he worked on
obviously carried over into this with his national team, and
some things they do you can implement here as well.
And so bottom line is he's a young guy that's
growing at a at a rapid pace and he was
rewarded with the All Star appearance last year, and we
want him to take another step this year.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Is there like constant contact or you try to be
more hands off?
Speaker 3 (02:41):
How do you approach that?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yes, both, it's it's your Like I said, the staff
is there with them. You know a majority of the
summer I went over for four or five days and
just kind of kind of you know, check them out
and spend time with him, but you see the growth,
you see the improvement, and you know at the at
the point when he's playing with this national team, you
just let him do what he does and you don't
want to buy them. And then after the tournament's over,
you you know, we reached out and caught up and
(03:04):
talked about how well he's looked and how well he's
played and the achievements he's accomplished. And so it's a
little bit of both give them our time away to
hear your voice all year, but at the same time
you're encouraging him and checking in and giving them kudos
for the accolades.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
When fans would call me, they'd say, Matt, what do
you want to see this year? And I think one
of the things you wanted to see is the growth
of Reed Shepherd in terms of more ball handling, more
time on the floor, and now the pressure is even
on him more. And I don't think you're saying now
with Fred gone, it's yours, but collectively you've been asked
multiple times about exactly how that role is going to
be filled and I think you used by committee. Is
(03:38):
that an appropriate term?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Oh? That's a way.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I mean, we have a lot of guys that can
you know, have grown and can handle and do a
lot of things to initiate offense. And that's the benefit
of our depth and versatility on our team is that
you don't have to rely on one guy. Fred shouldered
the load a lot, you know, the first year, especially
with the young guys, and we want to keep our
turnovers down and get us into specific things. But I
think year three four, for some of these guys, they've
(04:01):
all taken steps in that area and read going into
a second year, of the confidence that he's shown in
the offseason so far, we'll carry over well into the game.
The physicality of the game. I think he's improved his
body and his understanding of what it takes from the
physical aspect to be successful, and so he's worked on
all those things and this really showed up well so far.
So the opportunity is going to be there regardless with
(04:21):
Fred out if. Obviously we'll be expedited a little bit.
But you got Amend, you got him, you got Katie,
you got outp, you got different ways we can do it,
and I think we'll figure out how to get it done.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Does something come go away from a men's game when
he's got the ball in his hand. If let's say
you said you're on our starting point guard, you're going
to play twenty five twenty eight minutes in that spot.
There's some there's things about his game he loses because
he's handling such other ball responsibilities.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
No, I think what he does he does naturally. He
gets a rebound, he pushes it. He's a one man
fast break. That's not going to change. You just have
to have a different mindset at times about awareness of
who's on the court and who you want to get
the ball to in different spots. And so that part
it's been in Fred's hands a lot, but he has
to take that step anyway. He's played a lot of
(05:06):
point guard in his career, and so just thinking differently
at times about attacking versus getting guys involved.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
You mentioned the turnovers and with Amen Thompson, what is
it like for you to try to have him be
himself to try to make plays, but also you don't
want you don't want to limit him and what he
can do with his creativeness, but you also do want
them to take care.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Of the ball.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, I mean that's an area of growth for all
the young guys and young guys across the board in
the league for the most part, and so you know,
getting shots and not turn the ball over is obviously
has been an achilles hell before we got here, but
we've really improved in that area and that's helped us
record wise for sure. And so fred being one of
the best assist to turnover ratio guys in the league
has definitely helped us. But these guys will have the
(05:47):
opportunity to have taken the next step now. And so,
like I said, you don't want to take away from
some of the natural things he does, but he has
to then have the understanding of getting guys involved, get
us into certain sets, game time, score situations, and some
of the things he hasn't had to experience so far.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
We'll let you go on this. I always love the
behind the scenes stuff with Katie. Were you in the
room when you got the phone call so the deal
was consummated. Were you maybe on a beach, were you
at home? And take us through that and how intimately
involved you were in those conversations to you know, gets
to look at part of it is making the trade work,
but also part of it is Katie coming here.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
You're going to be this missing piece or our puzzle. Yeah,
we're all together. When we found out it was most
likely done. You know, was a long process that a
lot of conversations behind the scenes, but you know, excited
to have a guy. You miss the guys that are gone,
and you know what they meant to the program and
what they've done in those years, and so it's a
little bittersweet as far as that, but you understand what
(06:40):
you're adding as far as a unique talent and some
of the areas we struggled in as far as closing
and consistent scoring, he addresses those. And so a guy
worked with a ton over the past few years, you know,
in Brooklyn and Team USA, and then obviously played in
coach against him a ton as well, and so understanding
what he does on the court, some of the things
he does in the sleep will obviously benefit us. But yeah,
(07:01):
it was uh, you know, ups and downs, and sometimes
it looked good, sometimes it didn't. Eventually got done, but
a big part is that he wanted to be here
and that's what made it work.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Is he gonna play pick up ball with you or no?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
No, he owns a team, a pickupball team.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Oh wait a minute, the little things you learn, yes, okay,
tell you, tell him to hire you, to put you on
the team.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
We actually started back in Brooklyn, back in those COVID
days when you couldn't go out, and so that's where
he kind of got the itch, and so I was
playing with Steve Nash and the whole coaching.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Thanks, we appreciate it. Thank you you made a doka
head coach your Houston Rockets. Whether it's here on the
show eleven thirty six, take a short time out more
to come here from Tutter Center.
Matt Ross with you here at Tota Center for Rockets
Media Day twenty twenty five. We are joined now by
the head coach of your Houston Rockets. He made Doka
with us. I would say, how's your summer? It was
great for the most part, right, little R and R
and the then Fred and all that, But that thing's
been pretty good, right.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, overall a good summer in a lot of ways.
I've seen a lot of growth from our guys and
obviously I'll be on the big stage and some additions
and so overall happy.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
The injury obviously puts a little bit of sour tastes
in your mouth going into camp, but we have enough
on our roster. We'll figure out how to get done,
and we have the versatility to do it.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
We'll get to that in a second. I do want
to ask you about the trip to Turkey. He played
in the UAR of the euro League Championships, right as
what they call it. What is that competition like? And
what have you seen forgetting about that tournament? But just
what have you seen from Albie's offseason that has you
so bullish on him for.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Again this year?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
A tremendous amount of work he put in behind the scenes,
and obviously that showed on the big stage. Continued growth
and his trajectory has continued to go up from what
I've gotten here. He's growing in every area. Obviously made
it to All Star Game, helped us achieve what we
did last year, and had great carry over into the
summer into his work ethic and wanting to be better
and a great euro Basket tournament. So want that all
(01:19):
to kind of culminate into a great season here and
him continue to grow and do what he's done last
few years.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
And I think he's on the right path for that.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Is he physically much different or the kind of the
same body right now.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I think his conditioning was a lot better. You know,
you're playing kind of year round, and what he did
and what he had to do and showed to the
load and carry a lot of the load for that team.
He had to be in tremendous shape and the physicality
they play with over there, Like I said, all that
should carry over well into the season.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
But it looked like no fatigue.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
He had a lot on his shoulders and then obviously
delivered a high level.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
How collaborative is that is? How much is that you
talking to him and tell him things you want to
see from him, or him doing things on his own.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
A little bit of both out you see.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
You know, after the season you talk about areas of
growth going into your workouts in the summer, and then
the staff that was over there with him for a
month plus, they're working on specific things and then the
national team used them a certain way as well, and
so there are some similarities and the things they've done
and that we've done with him, and so you know,
it's not not familiar for him to do, but you
(02:21):
see things on both sides. The things he worked on
obviously carried over into this with his national team, and
some things they do you can implement here as well.
And so bottom line is he's a young guy that's
growing at a at a rapid pace and he was
rewarded with the All Star appearance last year, and we
want him to take another step this year.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Is there like constant contact or you try to be
more hands off?
Speaker 3 (02:41):
How do you approach that?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yes, both, it's it's your Like I said, the staff
is there with them. You know a majority of the
summer I went over for four or five days and
just kind of kind of you know, check them out
and spend time with him, but you see the growth,
you see the improvement, and you know at the at
the point when he's playing with this national team, you
just let him do what he does and you don't
want to buy them. And then after the tournament's over,
you you know, we reached out and caught up and
(03:04):
talked about how well he's looked and how well he's
played and the achievements he's accomplished. And so it's a
little bit of both give them our time away to
hear your voice all year, but at the same time
you're encouraging him and checking in and giving them kudos
for the accolades.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
When fans would call me, they'd say, Matt, what do
you want to see this year? And I think one
of the things you wanted to see is the growth
of Reed Shepherd in terms of more ball handling, more
time on the floor, and now the pressure is even
on him more. And I don't think you're saying now
with Fred gone, it's yours, but collectively you've been asked
multiple times about exactly how that role is going to
be filled and I think you used by committee. Is
(03:38):
that an appropriate term?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Oh? That's a way.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I mean, we have a lot of guys that can
you know, have grown and can handle and do a
lot of things to initiate offense. And that's the benefit
of our depth and versatility on our team is that
you don't have to rely on one guy. Fred shouldered
the load a lot, you know, the first year, especially
with the young guys, and we want to keep our
turnovers down and get us into specific things. But I
think year three four, for some of these guys, they've
(04:01):
all taken steps in that area and read going into
a second year, of the confidence that he's shown in
the offseason so far, we'll carry over well into the game.
The physicality of the game. I think he's improved his
body and his understanding of what it takes from the
physical aspect to be successful, and so he's worked on
all those things and this really showed up well so far.
So the opportunity is going to be there regardless with
(04:21):
Fred out if. Obviously we'll be expedited a little bit.
But you got Amend, you got him, you got Katie,
you got outp, you got different ways we can do it,
and I think we'll figure out how to get it done.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Does something come go away from a men's game when
he's got the ball in his hand. If let's say
you said you're on our starting point guard, you're going
to play twenty five twenty eight minutes in that spot.
There's some there's things about his game he loses because
he's handling such other ball responsibilities.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
No, I think what he does he does naturally. He
gets a rebound, he pushes it. He's a one man
fast break. That's not going to change. You just have
to have a different mindset at times about awareness of
who's on the court and who you want to get
the ball to in different spots. And so that part
it's been in Fred's hands a lot, but he has
to take that step anyway. He's played a lot of
(05:06):
point guard in his career, and so just thinking differently
at times about attacking versus getting guys involved.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
You mentioned the turnovers and with Amen Thompson, what is
it like for you to try to have him be
himself to try to make plays, but also you don't
want you don't want to limit him and what he
can do with his creativeness, but you also do want
them to take care.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Of the ball.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, I mean that's an area of growth for all
the young guys and young guys across the board in
the league for the most part, and so you know,
getting shots and not turn the ball over is obviously
has been an achilles hell before we got here, but
we've really improved in that area and that's helped us
record wise for sure. And so fred being one of
the best assist to turnover ratio guys in the league
has definitely helped us. But these guys will have the
(05:47):
opportunity to have taken the next step now. And so,
like I said, you don't want to take away from
some of the natural things he does, but he has
to then have the understanding of getting guys involved, get
us into certain sets, game time, score situations, and some
of the things he hasn't had to experience so far.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
We'll let you go on this. I always love the
behind the scenes stuff with Katie. Were you in the
room when you got the phone call so the deal
was consummated. Were you maybe on a beach, were you
at home? And take us through that and how intimately
involved you were in those conversations to you know, gets
to look at part of it is making the trade work,
but also part of it is Katie coming here.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
You're going to be this missing piece or our puzzle. Yeah,
we're all together. When we found out it was most
likely done. You know, was a long process that a
lot of conversations behind the scenes, but you know, excited
to have a guy. You miss the guys that are gone,
and you know what they meant to the program and
what they've done in those years, and so it's a
little bittersweet as far as that, but you understand what
(06:40):
you're adding as far as a unique talent and some
of the areas we struggled in as far as closing
and consistent scoring, he addresses those. And so a guy
worked with a ton over the past few years, you know,
in Brooklyn and Team USA, and then obviously played in
coach against him a ton as well, and so understanding
what he does on the court, some of the things
he does in the sleep will obviously benefit us. But yeah,
(07:01):
it was uh, you know, ups and downs, and sometimes
it looked good, sometimes it didn't. Eventually got done, but
a big part is that he wanted to be here
and that's what made it work.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Is he gonna play pick up ball with you or no?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
No, he owns a team, a pickupball team.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Oh wait a minute, the little things you learn, yes, okay,
tell you, tell him to hire you, to put you on
the team.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
We actually started back in Brooklyn, back in those COVID
days when you couldn't go out, and so that's where
he kind of got the itch, and so I was
playing with Steve Nash and the whole coaching.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Thanks, we appreciate it. Thank you you made a doka
head coach your Houston Rockets. Whether it's here on the
show eleven thirty six, take a short time out more
to come here from Tutter Center.
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