The Houston Rockets return to the Toyota Center on Thursday to host the New Orleans Pelicans in their first game back since being eliminated from the NBA Cup. The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Rockets 111-96 on Saturday. The Rockets and Thunder have two of the three best records in the Western Conference, so the semifinal matchup might have been a potential playoff preview. "It's good to have those high-pressure situations," head coach Ime Udoka said. "The pressure of win or go home" is good experience for the young core of the Rockets, who haven't played in those types of games since the NCAA Tournament. The Rockets have had four days off but will now host a Pelicans team dealing with multiple injuries, with Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Jose Alvarado, Karlo Matkovic and Daniel Theis all ruled out. "This is a classic trap game with guys missing," Udoka said. However, the Rockets might be without Tari Eason, Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun, who are all listed as questionable. Rookie Reed Sheppard could return to the court after not playing any minutes the past two games. "We're not worried about Reed at all," Udoka said. "He's a young guy going through a lot of things right now," but "we want to get him back in the mix."
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right, I'll take a few minutes to talk to im Adoka,
head coach of your Houston Rockets, Rockets and Pelicans tonight
inside Toyota Center. Coach, it's Matt, thanks for joining me.
Congratulations on the NBA Cup. I know that their end
result was in the semi final game is not what
you want to Oklahoma City, But what do you take
away from the experience of not only playing those games,
(00:20):
but the knockout win against Golden State and just being
around the LV atmosphere for a few days.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I think it was great for our team, especially a
bunch of young guys that helmet had playoff experience or
at times meaningful games.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
It's good to have those high pressure situations. You know.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The atmosphere was different somewhat like All Star games, last
playoff game, and so that's great for a guys experience
that for the first time.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
But the pressure of the winner go home.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
You know, guys haven't had that since you know, NCAA tournament,
if they've been at college at all.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
But it was great for our guys experience wise.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I think an achievement for us obviously fell a little
bit short, but the achievement and experience will help us
out down the road.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
And the fact is, I don't know if it's fair
or not, but when you play these extra games, you're
playing against the upper echelon games and they do count
towards your standings. Is there anything of adjustment you would
make to this NBA Cup if they were to ask
your opinion about who you play, how you play in
the event itself.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Well, I say, for me, I enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I think it takes away some of the monotony of
the early season.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
You know, it gives us something to go out there.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
But like you said, they all count except for if
you make the championship game, but still high high seating teams,
teams that are in front of us, and obviously Golden
State and Okay see or two of the best.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
In the Western Conference.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So a good test for us across the board.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
What was it like, especially for some of the younger
guys to face. I mean, you're gonna wind up playing
Golden State five times. You're gonna have another game with
Oklahoma City you already had, now you get two more.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
So with them.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
What's their take of this experience? Because let's face it,
tari A men, you know, Jalen for the most part,
have not played.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
In these types of meaningful games.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Did you see something from an energy stand point, from
a focus that maybe you wouldn't have normally seen in
a regular say November or December play regular season game.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, they saw the atmosphere in the environment. Obviously you
want to win the Cup and you know, not only
financial reasons, but regging rights and all the all the stuff,
especially in the second year. So I think our guys
got extra motivated for it. You could see Golden State
and some of the teams that didn't make it how
disappointed they were, so understanding that it's it's a big
(02:27):
deal to guys already, and so for them it was
a great experience. Like I said, you know, a must
win game against a team that's had some success against us,
Golden State, and a high pressure game here to get
that win at home was great. And then obviously our
first half against so Okay See was pretty good and
then we kind of lost it in the second half,
but saw some things that worked well for them, a
team that we could see down the road as well.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
So, like I said, anytime you.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Can play those high level teams in the conference gives
us great experience and exposure and chance to feel that
pressure of a playoff atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Highlight the time off games and I know there you
play a bunch of games in a very short period
of time and you have a little stretch. Your injury
report is rather lengthy tonight. How are How's tari out
being Steven Adams right now?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
They felt okay this morning it will be a game
time thing. And you know, went through some stuff a
shoot around this morning. So Steven the swelling went down
pretty significantly in the ankle, So we're hopeful with him
and Tario.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
It's it's a weird thing with some guys.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
The more time you get off at times, the more
achy they get, it feels like. And so you know
that that pattern got broken a little bit with the
with the.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
N season tournament.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
But back to the regular season games now and the
rest was needed, but we're ready to get back after
it tonight.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
This New Orleans team is I mean, you can't even
scout them because they're missing three key cogs. You do
not want to have any sort of let down because
you have been playing all these excellent teams to play
a New Orleans squad that's five and twenty two. That
has to be probably part of your message before tonight's game.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Absolutely, this is a classic trap game. You know, guys missing,
but they obviously got Deshontain Murray back, McColl him back.
You know, Murphy's some really good shooter and there, and
so they have some great defenders Herb Jones as well,
and so still a very good team on paper. They've had,
you know, a ton of injuries, so it had not
a lot of continuity, but we know they're still dangerous
and so for us, you know, after a lengthy break
(04:14):
team with some guys missing, that's all the all the
stages for a letdown. But we try to avoid that
obviously and get back to what we're doing and continue
to build throughout the season. So that's that was the
message to the guys today was a lock in focus
on what we need to accomplish, and the couples behind
us is get back to conference basketball.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
A couple of questions for I let you Ron asked
from listeners. One about Cam went More his time down
at the RGV. He's back with you now, what experiences
does has he told you about that time down there,
and is there a possibility for him especially if you've
got some guys that are less than a hundred percent
getting a little bit of playing time in the next
week or so.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, for Cam, I think it was it was a
great experience, much needed. He needed live game reps where
he wasn't getting this many minutes or not in the
rotation at times with us. So for a young guy
that needs to develop and continue to grow as the
game's piled on and the practice is lesson, he needed
to get that live, live game action, and so it
was great for him to get down there, get some
(05:09):
work in, kind of reiterate the points that we want
him to work on while he's here with us, and
obviously with guys in now. He was obviously in the
rotation at the start of the season, so have a
ton of confidence in him. It's, you know, a logjam
at that position, so he's trying to find extra minutes.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
For Tari I'm in and these guys.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
It's gonna trickle down to some of those guys, but
obviously confident and we've seen what he can do when
he's locked in and focused, and if the opportunity presents itself,
we have all the confidence putting them in and seeing
them work.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
You know, you may I have seen it firsthand.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
You're in a personal communication with your players as exemplary,
And I'm curious what conversations you've had with Reid, in
particular a couple of DMPs for him the last two
week or so, he has not been able to find
his shot right now at the NBA level.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
What are your takeaways from him? What is he addressed
with you?
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And I'm sure he wants to get back in your
rotation as soon as possible.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, with Read, it's a matter of getting the opportunity
to get out there and play consistent this and get
some some reps in. And for him, he's a young
guy that's, you know, going through a lot of things
for the first time. Teams are really focused on him
when he comes in the game. His reputation has kind
of preceived himselves. So third pick and the shoot her
and all those things, and the accolades he has, so
guys are guarding them tight. Our thing is stay confident,
(06:16):
learn from every experience, and take advantage of all the
opportunities you get. And so for him, we're a guy
that we're not worried about Read at all. He'll he'll
figure it out when he does at his own time,
but the chance to get him offertunity and reps out
there is big for him every time he gets a
game action, and so I want to get him back
in the mix. Obviously very confident him as well as
a young guy. But you know, those high pressure one
(06:37):
off situations in the n season tournament. You know, we
felt comfortable with another lineup, and that doesn't take anything
away from reader's more so to the depth of our
team and what we liked against Golden State and okay,
see specifically.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
How much pick a ball did you play the last
forty eight hours.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Two and a half hours yesterday? So got a good amounting.
We never fail, played some pros and got dominated.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Wait a minute, who did you all play? Can you say?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I don't even know?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Honestly, it was summer fails guys and they're pickleball pros
and it got ugly quick.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
What come on now? Yeah, but I mean you're you guys?
Are are y'all? Are unfl always partners.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Most of the time? Yeah? Yes, yes, so we do.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
The chemistry is okay, I'm assuming yes.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Oh good, we're a little we're a little dejected after,
but we'll bounce back next time.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Very good. Thanks coach. We'll see at the arena letter tonight.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
You got you may have Medoka with us here. Those
guys are pickleball a haul like see if you're playing.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
No, it's like the one fat I haven't gotten into.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
You know, where it got super popular was for the
everybody in the bubble because they were playing at Walt
Disney World.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
They couldn't couldn't go anywhere.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
And so because to me, it's only cropped up in
the last like year, year and a half.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Oh yeah, yeah, they I first heard about it at
the Ironically enough, you know, Scott Foster is one of
the officials in the NBA. Yeah, he ran the pickleball
league for everybody down in the in the bubble. He
is a he is the og of pickleball. And Scott
that's the one that none of the Rockets fans.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Like, nobody. Nobody likes Scott Foster.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
But so he he like was the he was the
kingpin of the.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
He ran the league.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, and that's where everybody in the NBA became fans.
Because I mean, if you've seen May he may could
probably run a full court and have a zero problem
playing a full game of tennis. But this pickleball thing
is they're infatuated by it. I would not want to
cross May in a dark alley at any point. Man,
he's my guy, that he is, you would. It's for
someone who appreciates a good quote he made. He's very monotone,
(08:40):
but his when he wants to tell you something and
pass the message along, he does.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
It a couple of times. Like I've been this year
to watch them play. He he gets on them man
like he I was okay, So I went to the
season opener the uh, which was not a Charlotte ye,
not a good showing right. He tore them apart of it,
like and look, normally you don't see that at the professional.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Very few coaches can get away with it.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
You don't see it really at any level of you
don't see it in public much at the professional level
of really any sport. And to watch him, I remember
there was once I think Shongoon like had had a tough,
like defensive possession or something. He called a time out
and he met Shingoon like before Shanoon even got to
the bench and just tore him. And I appreciate that,
(09:28):
and I appreciate it more that like he's gotten to
the point with this team where he knows they can
take it.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Yeah, like that, that speaks.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Because very few coaches in the NBA, and I don't
know if it's the same thing in Major League Baseball.
Very few coaches in the NBA can get away with
that because it is such a players league.
Right, I'll take a few minutes to talk to im Adoka,
head coach of your Houston Rockets, Rockets and Pelicans tonight
inside Toyota Center. Coach, it's Matt, thanks for joining me.
Congratulations on the NBA Cup. I know that their end
result was in the semi final game is not what
you want to Oklahoma City, But what do you take
away from the experience of not only playing those games,
(00:20):
but the knockout win against Golden State and just being
around the LV atmosphere for a few days.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I think it was great for our team, especially a
bunch of young guys that helmet had playoff experience or
at times meaningful games.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
It's good to have those high pressure situations. You know.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The atmosphere was different somewhat like All Star games, last
playoff game, and so that's great for a guys experience
that for the first time.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
But the pressure of the winner go home.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
You know, guys haven't had that since you know, NCAA tournament,
if they've been at college at all.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
But it was great for our guys experience wise.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I think an achievement for us obviously fell a little
bit short, but the achievement and experience will help us
out down the road.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
And the fact is, I don't know if it's fair
or not, but when you play these extra games, you're
playing against the upper echelon games and they do count
towards your standings. Is there anything of adjustment you would
make to this NBA Cup if they were to ask
your opinion about who you play, how you play in
the event itself.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Well, I say, for me, I enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I think it takes away some of the monotony of
the early season.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
You know, it gives us something to go out there.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
But like you said, they all count except for if
you make the championship game, but still high high seating teams,
teams that are in front of us, and obviously Golden
State and Okay see or two of the best.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
In the Western Conference.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So a good test for us across the board.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
What was it like, especially for some of the younger
guys to face. I mean, you're gonna wind up playing
Golden State five times. You're gonna have another game with
Oklahoma City you already had, now you get two more.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
So with them.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
What's their take of this experience? Because let's face it,
tari A men, you know, Jalen for the most part,
have not played.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
In these types of meaningful games.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Did you see something from an energy stand point, from
a focus that maybe you wouldn't have normally seen in
a regular say November or December play regular season game.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, they saw the atmosphere in the environment. Obviously you
want to win the Cup and you know, not only
financial reasons, but regging rights and all the all the stuff,
especially in the second year. So I think our guys
got extra motivated for it. You could see Golden State
and some of the teams that didn't make it how
disappointed they were, so understanding that it's it's a big
(02:27):
deal to guys already, and so for them it was
a great experience. Like I said, you know, a must
win game against a team that's had some success against us,
Golden State, and a high pressure game here to get
that win at home was great. And then obviously our
first half against so Okay See was pretty good and
then we kind of lost it in the second half,
but saw some things that worked well for them, a
team that we could see down the road as well.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
So, like I said, anytime you.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Can play those high level teams in the conference gives
us great experience and exposure and chance to feel that
pressure of a playoff atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Highlight the time off games and I know there you
play a bunch of games in a very short period
of time and you have a little stretch. Your injury
report is rather lengthy tonight. How are How's tari out
being Steven Adams right now?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
They felt okay this morning it will be a game
time thing. And you know, went through some stuff a
shoot around this morning. So Steven the swelling went down
pretty significantly in the ankle, So we're hopeful with him
and Tario.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
It's it's a weird thing with some guys.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
The more time you get off at times, the more
achy they get, it feels like. And so you know
that that pattern got broken a little bit with the
with the.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
N season tournament.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
But back to the regular season games now and the
rest was needed, but we're ready to get back after
it tonight.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
This New Orleans team is I mean, you can't even
scout them because they're missing three key cogs. You do
not want to have any sort of let down because
you have been playing all these excellent teams to play
a New Orleans squad that's five and twenty two. That
has to be probably part of your message before tonight's game.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Absolutely, this is a classic trap game. You know, guys missing,
but they obviously got Deshontain Murray back, McColl him back.
You know, Murphy's some really good shooter and there, and
so they have some great defenders Herb Jones as well,
and so still a very good team on paper. They've had,
you know, a ton of injuries, so it had not
a lot of continuity, but we know they're still dangerous
and so for us, you know, after a lengthy break
(04:14):
team with some guys missing, that's all the all the
stages for a letdown. But we try to avoid that
obviously and get back to what we're doing and continue
to build throughout the season. So that's that was the
message to the guys today was a lock in focus
on what we need to accomplish, and the couples behind
us is get back to conference basketball.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
A couple of questions for I let you Ron asked
from listeners. One about Cam went More his time down
at the RGV. He's back with you now, what experiences
does has he told you about that time down there,
and is there a possibility for him especially if you've
got some guys that are less than a hundred percent
getting a little bit of playing time in the next
week or so.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, for Cam, I think it was it was a
great experience, much needed. He needed live game reps where
he wasn't getting this many minutes or not in the
rotation at times with us. So for a young guy
that needs to develop and continue to grow as the
game's piled on and the practice is lesson, he needed
to get that live, live game action, and so it
was great for him to get down there, get some
(05:09):
work in, kind of reiterate the points that we want
him to work on while he's here with us, and
obviously with guys in now. He was obviously in the
rotation at the start of the season, so have a
ton of confidence in him. It's, you know, a logjam
at that position, so he's trying to find extra minutes.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
For Tari I'm in and these guys.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
It's gonna trickle down to some of those guys, but
obviously confident and we've seen what he can do when
he's locked in and focused, and if the opportunity presents itself,
we have all the confidence putting them in and seeing
them work.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
You know, you may I have seen it firsthand.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
You're in a personal communication with your players as exemplary,
And I'm curious what conversations you've had with Reid, in
particular a couple of DMPs for him the last two
week or so, he has not been able to find
his shot right now at the NBA level.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
What are your takeaways from him? What is he addressed
with you?
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And I'm sure he wants to get back in your
rotation as soon as possible.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, with Read, it's a matter of getting the opportunity
to get out there and play consistent this and get
some some reps in. And for him, he's a young
guy that's, you know, going through a lot of things
for the first time. Teams are really focused on him
when he comes in the game. His reputation has kind
of preceived himselves. So third pick and the shoot her
and all those things, and the accolades he has, so
guys are guarding them tight. Our thing is stay confident,
(06:16):
learn from every experience, and take advantage of all the
opportunities you get. And so for him, we're a guy
that we're not worried about Read at all. He'll he'll
figure it out when he does at his own time,
but the chance to get him offertunity and reps out
there is big for him every time he gets a
game action, and so I want to get him back
in the mix. Obviously very confident him as well as
a young guy. But you know, those high pressure one
(06:37):
off situations in the n season tournament. You know, we
felt comfortable with another lineup, and that doesn't take anything
away from reader's more so to the depth of our
team and what we liked against Golden State and okay,
see specifically.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
How much pick a ball did you play the last
forty eight hours.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Two and a half hours yesterday? So got a good amounting.
We never fail, played some pros and got dominated.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Wait a minute, who did you all play? Can you say?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I don't even know?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Honestly, it was summer fails guys and they're pickleball pros
and it got ugly quick.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
What come on now? Yeah, but I mean you're you guys?
Are are y'all? Are unfl always partners.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Most of the time? Yeah? Yes, yes, so we do.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
The chemistry is okay, I'm assuming yes.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Oh good, we're a little we're a little dejected after,
but we'll bounce back next time.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Very good. Thanks coach. We'll see at the arena letter tonight.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
You got you may have Medoka with us here. Those
guys are pickleball a haul like see if you're playing.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
No, it's like the one fat I haven't gotten into.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
You know, where it got super popular was for the
everybody in the bubble because they were playing at Walt
Disney World.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
They couldn't couldn't go anywhere.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
And so because to me, it's only cropped up in
the last like year, year and a half.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Oh yeah, yeah, they I first heard about it at
the Ironically enough, you know, Scott Foster is one of
the officials in the NBA. Yeah, he ran the pickleball
league for everybody down in the in the bubble. He
is a he is the og of pickleball. And Scott
that's the one that none of the Rockets fans.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Like, nobody. Nobody likes Scott Foster.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
But so he he like was the he was the
kingpin of the.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
He ran the league.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, and that's where everybody in the NBA became fans.
Because I mean, if you've seen May he may could
probably run a full court and have a zero problem
playing a full game of tennis. But this pickleball thing
is they're infatuated by it. I would not want to
cross May in a dark alley at any point. Man,
he's my guy, that he is, you would. It's for
someone who appreciates a good quote he made. He's very monotone,
(08:40):
but his when he wants to tell you something and
pass the message along, he does.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
It a couple of times. Like I've been this year
to watch them play. He he gets on them man
like he I was okay, So I went to the
season opener the uh, which was not a Charlotte ye,
not a good showing right. He tore them apart of it,
like and look, normally you don't see that at the professional.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Very few coaches can get away with it.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
You don't see it really at any level of you
don't see it in public much at the professional level
of really any sport. And to watch him, I remember
there was once I think Shongoon like had had a tough,
like defensive possession or something. He called a time out
and he met Shingoon like before Shanoon even got to
the bench and just tore him. And I appreciate that,
(09:28):
and I appreciate it more that like he's gotten to
the point with this team where he knows they can
take it.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Yeah, like that, that speaks.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Because very few coaches in the NBA, and I don't
know if it's the same thing in Major League Baseball.
Very few coaches in the NBA can get away with
that because it is such a players league.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.