May 2, 2025 • 8 mins
Head Coach Ime Udoka Joins The Show Giving The Rockets Perspective Before Game 6
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
When I grab coach Imyodoka right now for a few
minutes before he gets ready for the team shoot around,
which will be getting ready for tonight's game number six
Rockets and Warriors will start it off at seven o'clock
on KTR each tip time at eight o'clock here from
the Bay Area. Coach, First of all, congratulations on a
spectacular win in game number five. They must win the
mantra obviously in effect. How are the boys approaching and
(00:22):
everybody feeling leaning into tonight's game in terms of coming here?
Two close games, two winnable games, and now you got
to get one here to send it hopefully back to Houston.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, guys, they're feeling confident, obviously. To your point, we
had some really close games and I had opportunities in
both of them, and it was time to flip the script. Obviously,
you got to win these games and then make a
few subtle adjustments to come out with a different outcome.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
The subtle adjustments, obviously, you want to keep those close
to the best as best you can. Have you been
surprised by the different number of lineups that Steve has
put out there against you guys so far in this series.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
No, I wouldn't say that. Obviously butler be an injury
was part of it. But you know, some of the
things we're doing with our matchups have given them some problems,
and so they want to put more threats out there
and you know, try to pick on out the and
pick on different guys and not have the favorable matchups
that we'd like.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
And so we've adjusted well to.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Them, and it's just a test match back and forth
our big lineups, there are small lineups and everything in between.
And obviously the team that adjusts on the fly quicker
and obviously in game will have an advantage.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
You're such a smart man when it comes to staying
away from social media, and for that I applaud you.
I cannot do that. So what I've done is looked around.
Everybody's given me their expert opinions on what's going to
have to happen for them to win the game, or
what's gonna happen for you guys. It feels like to me,
the overall sentiment is that Jimmy Butler's going to have
to have a bigger role offensively. You would like to
curtail that. What's the most effective thing you think your
(01:51):
guys have done to make him a non effect of
the last couple of games.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, attention to detail with what he likes to do,
but the main thing is keeping them all the free
throw on Obviously a game he had twenty seven year
twelve free throws, twelve or twelve there and other than that,
reguard him. Okay, I think he was seven for sixteen
from the field, and if you don't put him at
the free throw line, nine of his twelve or not,
not even on shots, they were just files. We gave
him off ball. I mean the one three pointer obviously
(02:15):
late hurt us. But keep him off the free throw line.
Stand down on the pump fakes and understand he's trying
to bait fouls is a big thing, and he has
his big games traditionally across the board when he gets
the free throw line and he can get his rest,
he can get everybody else set defensively, and so.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
We got to keep him off the line.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
ROCKETEC coach Emi Adoko with zero on Sports Talk seven
ninety coach. One thing that people don't really talk about
a lot nationally is when this series shifted from a
couple of days off between games to just one day
off in between games. I feel like that gives the
younger team in your squad the advantage. Would you agree
with that and just in general adjusting when a series
(02:54):
does go to the every other day.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, I think you know, the fresh your younger teams
of an advanta is there.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
You got the main.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Three players that are thirty five and over, and so
the way we want to be aggressive defensively and physical
and you know, have attention to detail on these guys.
You want to make a tough on them every possession
and so physically I starts to wear on you obviously
mentally as well, and the freshness goes away when you
don't have two days of rest.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
And so we like where we're at right now.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Like I said, we can duplicate what we did last
game and be physical there.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
And without fouling. That's a that's a benefit to us.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
And you would think part of the reason they shut
it down early was to try to get rested up
for this game.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
Jalen Green looked like you had a bit of a
knee issue at the beginning of the game. How is
he feeling and what are your expectations for him in
game six?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Oh, he's good to go. Jalen is always good. He's
gonna play through everything.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
He cut, cut baseline and bump kneed and knee with
Curry and so literally came out, got some ice and
heat on it, and it was good to go from there.
So the minor bump that he's gonna play through, as
you know, and just a quick stick in the.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Game EMA, the free throws were going down, the jump
shots were going down. Fred's had two really good games. Honestly,
to me, if you guys win this series, I don't
think it has to be out being Jalen by himself.
I love the balance scoring, and obviously you want to
get everybody involved, but that hadn't been as pleasing about
(04:20):
box score for you to look at to see so
many different guys contributed in that game five victory.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
No, definitely, I.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Think we've always been really good when we have balance
and anybody can could be the leader, you know, as
far as scoring that night, But to your point, he
had fifteen nine to nine. Obviously you're not scoring a
ton like he has in the thirties, but the nine
as sister because of the double teams and attention he draws,
and he's making the right play there, and so starts.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
All in double figures.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You had Aaron with nine off the bench, Tari with nine,
Jabari with seven. Those guys all obviously played a significant role,
and so we're hard when we come with that, with
that balance and coming those waves, and so anybody's night. Obviously,
Dylan with twenty four, I'm in with twenty five and
with twenty six is huge. But our team really attacks
well together and when the ball is moving around the gym,
(05:07):
guys are all sharing the ball and finding those shots.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Like I said, it makes us that much harder.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Look, you need to win, you need to win a
game based off of forty eight minutes. But there were
two stretches in game four here that really hurt. The
early start and then the eighteen to one start for
them in the third quarter. Obviously you want to erase that.
Is there anything do you chop up games like that?
I've actually before, but do you think about those five
or six min integral parts of games that go, Hey,
(05:34):
this separates us from winning a close game like we
can do against his Golden State team.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Definitely a big part of this series is to avoid
the runs. They're a big momentum team. That it's going
off of turnovers and things of that nature, putting them
at the free throw line, and we did all the above. Obviously,
it started the game, we had too many turnovers that
got out ran, and then to start the third quarter
it was a little bit more of the same. But
love how we bounced back last game. Obviously four twenty
(06:00):
four in the first quarter, so we guard extremely well
and we were obviously scoring at a high level, so
bounce back from that. I loved how the starters came
out there and then did the same thing in the
third quarter.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
It's been a very physical series, a lot of trash talk,
which I'm sure you love, and there's been a lot
of reviews for altercations. But what is it like for
you as far as talking to the team about you
want to keep that physical and mental edge, but you
don't necessarily want to give up free points with technical fouls,
and you also don't want anybody getting ejected.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, it's a balance.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
If you understand both teams are being aggressive, you can
play physical without being dirty or anything like that. And
so for us, we know who they are, they know
who we are, and you got to avoid the antics
from certain guys and not get caught up, and then
I think our guys have done a decent job of that.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Overall.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
There's going to be some physicality and things that happened
as far as that, but for the most part, if
you do get a technical or something, you move on
to the next play. But not getting baita into things,
that's the main thing, and so big, big theme going
into a series was not getting caught up in certain
things by certain players, and I think we've done a
decent job of that.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
For let your run coach Pop announcing officially he's going
to step down as head coach. I know you have
been in contact with him over the last few months
and his recovery just from a what I learned from
the guy as a coach, as a as a as
a man, that it's you know, been a huge part
of your life. Just a thought or two about the
legacy that he will leave San Antonio as a as
(07:26):
a coach of a multiple time championship team.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, you know, a bittersweet obviously, and and you know
I talked to him last week and knew it was coming,
and so for him, just happy that he's you know,
moving on at peace and can spend time with the family,
and he's in a good place, and so yeah, I
mean he means everything in my career as far as
as a player. You know the place I played for
the most of my career, two and a half years
(07:50):
there and.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Then spent seven as a coach. But yeah, the lessons.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It's funny you take these lessons, you hear about them
all these years, and then just random times in the game,
you start thinking about things that he's either said or
the things you've witnessed with him, and they go go
into your mind in live game time, and so so much,
so many things. Obviously the best to do it, in
my opinion, and I got to learn from the best
and his honor.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
And like I said, well we'll continue. I'll go visit
him after the season and we'll continue to do what
we've always done, have that relationship. But you know someone
I owe everything too, honestly, he may thank you for
the visit.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Best of luck for you in the squad tonight and
looking forward to getting us Game seven back in.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Houston, Texas. Thank you, you got it.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
You may and Doka with us here on to the
Matt Thomas Show at Ross and they are about literally
about to step on the court for shooter rounds. We
appreciate him grabbing a few minutes of his time before
they do that.
When I grab coach Imyodoka right now for a few
minutes before he gets ready for the team shoot around,
which will be getting ready for tonight's game number six
Rockets and Warriors will start it off at seven o'clock
on KTR each tip time at eight o'clock here from
the Bay Area. Coach, First of all, congratulations on a
spectacular win in game number five. They must win the
mantra obviously in effect. How are the boys approaching and
(00:22):
everybody feeling leaning into tonight's game in terms of coming here?
Two close games, two winnable games, and now you got
to get one here to send it hopefully back to Houston.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, guys, they're feeling confident, obviously. To your point, we
had some really close games and I had opportunities in
both of them, and it was time to flip the script. Obviously,
you got to win these games and then make a
few subtle adjustments to come out with a different outcome.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
The subtle adjustments, obviously, you want to keep those close
to the best as best you can. Have you been
surprised by the different number of lineups that Steve has
put out there against you guys so far in this series.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
No, I wouldn't say that. Obviously butler be an injury
was part of it. But you know, some of the
things we're doing with our matchups have given them some problems,
and so they want to put more threats out there
and you know, try to pick on out the and
pick on different guys and not have the favorable matchups
that we'd like.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
And so we've adjusted well to.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Them, and it's just a test match back and forth
our big lineups, there are small lineups and everything in between.
And obviously the team that adjusts on the fly quicker
and obviously in game will have an advantage.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
You're such a smart man when it comes to staying
away from social media, and for that I applaud you.
I cannot do that. So what I've done is looked around.
Everybody's given me their expert opinions on what's going to
have to happen for them to win the game, or
what's gonna happen for you guys. It feels like to me,
the overall sentiment is that Jimmy Butler's going to have
to have a bigger role offensively. You would like to
curtail that. What's the most effective thing you think your
(01:51):
guys have done to make him a non effect of
the last couple of games.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, attention to detail with what he likes to do,
but the main thing is keeping them all the free
throw on Obviously a game he had twenty seven year
twelve free throws, twelve or twelve there and other than that,
reguard him. Okay, I think he was seven for sixteen
from the field, and if you don't put him at
the free throw line, nine of his twelve or not,
not even on shots, they were just files. We gave
him off ball. I mean the one three pointer obviously
(02:15):
late hurt us. But keep him off the free throw line.
Stand down on the pump fakes and understand he's trying
to bait fouls is a big thing, and he has
his big games traditionally across the board when he gets
the free throw line and he can get his rest,
he can get everybody else set defensively, and so.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
We got to keep him off the line.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
ROCKETEC coach Emi Adoko with zero on Sports Talk seven
ninety coach. One thing that people don't really talk about
a lot nationally is when this series shifted from a
couple of days off between games to just one day
off in between games. I feel like that gives the
younger team in your squad the advantage. Would you agree
with that and just in general adjusting when a series
(02:54):
does go to the every other day.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, I think you know, the fresh your younger teams
of an advanta is there.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
You got the main.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Three players that are thirty five and over, and so
the way we want to be aggressive defensively and physical
and you know, have attention to detail on these guys.
You want to make a tough on them every possession
and so physically I starts to wear on you obviously
mentally as well, and the freshness goes away when you
don't have two days of rest.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
And so we like where we're at right now.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Like I said, we can duplicate what we did last
game and be physical there.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
And without fouling. That's a that's a benefit to us.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
And you would think part of the reason they shut
it down early was to try to get rested up
for this game.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
Jalen Green looked like you had a bit of a
knee issue at the beginning of the game. How is
he feeling and what are your expectations for him in
game six?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Oh, he's good to go. Jalen is always good. He's
gonna play through everything.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
He cut, cut baseline and bump kneed and knee with
Curry and so literally came out, got some ice and
heat on it, and it was good to go from there.
So the minor bump that he's gonna play through, as
you know, and just a quick stick in the.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Game EMA, the free throws were going down, the jump
shots were going down. Fred's had two really good games. Honestly,
to me, if you guys win this series, I don't
think it has to be out being Jalen by himself.
I love the balance scoring, and obviously you want to
get everybody involved, but that hadn't been as pleasing about
(04:20):
box score for you to look at to see so
many different guys contributed in that game five victory.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
No, definitely, I.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Think we've always been really good when we have balance
and anybody can could be the leader, you know, as
far as scoring that night, But to your point, he
had fifteen nine to nine. Obviously you're not scoring a
ton like he has in the thirties, but the nine
as sister because of the double teams and attention he draws,
and he's making the right play there, and so starts.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
All in double figures.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You had Aaron with nine off the bench, Tari with nine,
Jabari with seven. Those guys all obviously played a significant role,
and so we're hard when we come with that, with
that balance and coming those waves, and so anybody's night. Obviously,
Dylan with twenty four, I'm in with twenty five and
with twenty six is huge. But our team really attacks
well together and when the ball is moving around the gym,
(05:07):
guys are all sharing the ball and finding those shots.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Like I said, it makes us that much harder.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Look, you need to win, you need to win a
game based off of forty eight minutes. But there were
two stretches in game four here that really hurt. The
early start and then the eighteen to one start for
them in the third quarter. Obviously you want to erase that.
Is there anything do you chop up games like that?
I've actually before, but do you think about those five
or six min integral parts of games that go, Hey,
(05:34):
this separates us from winning a close game like we
can do against his Golden State team.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Definitely a big part of this series is to avoid
the runs. They're a big momentum team. That it's going
off of turnovers and things of that nature, putting them
at the free throw line, and we did all the above. Obviously,
it started the game, we had too many turnovers that
got out ran, and then to start the third quarter
it was a little bit more of the same. But
love how we bounced back last game. Obviously four twenty
(06:00):
four in the first quarter, so we guard extremely well
and we were obviously scoring at a high level, so
bounce back from that. I loved how the starters came
out there and then did the same thing in the
third quarter.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
It's been a very physical series, a lot of trash talk,
which I'm sure you love, and there's been a lot
of reviews for altercations. But what is it like for
you as far as talking to the team about you
want to keep that physical and mental edge, but you
don't necessarily want to give up free points with technical fouls,
and you also don't want anybody getting ejected.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, it's a balance.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
If you understand both teams are being aggressive, you can
play physical without being dirty or anything like that. And
so for us, we know who they are, they know
who we are, and you got to avoid the antics
from certain guys and not get caught up, and then
I think our guys have done a decent job of that.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Overall.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
There's going to be some physicality and things that happened
as far as that, but for the most part, if
you do get a technical or something, you move on
to the next play. But not getting baita into things,
that's the main thing, and so big, big theme going
into a series was not getting caught up in certain
things by certain players, and I think we've done a
decent job of that.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
For let your run coach Pop announcing officially he's going
to step down as head coach. I know you have
been in contact with him over the last few months
and his recovery just from a what I learned from
the guy as a coach, as a as a as
a man, that it's you know, been a huge part
of your life. Just a thought or two about the
legacy that he will leave San Antonio as a as
(07:26):
a coach of a multiple time championship team.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, you know, a bittersweet obviously, and and you know
I talked to him last week and knew it was coming,
and so for him, just happy that he's you know,
moving on at peace and can spend time with the family,
and he's in a good place, and so yeah, I
mean he means everything in my career as far as
as a player. You know the place I played for
the most of my career, two and a half years
(07:50):
there and.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Then spent seven as a coach. But yeah, the lessons.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It's funny you take these lessons, you hear about them
all these years, and then just random times in the game,
you start thinking about things that he's either said or
the things you've witnessed with him, and they go go
into your mind in live game time, and so so much,
so many things. Obviously the best to do it, in
my opinion, and I got to learn from the best
and his honor.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
And like I said, well we'll continue. I'll go visit
him after the season and we'll continue to do what
we've always done, have that relationship. But you know someone
I owe everything too, honestly, he may thank you for
the visit.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Best of luck for you in the squad tonight and
looking forward to getting us Game seven back in.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Houston, Texas. Thank you, you got it.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
You may and Doka with us here on to the
Matt Thomas Show at Ross and they are about literally
about to step on the court for shooter rounds. We
appreciate him grabbing a few minutes of his time before
they do that.
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