April 24, 2025 • 12 mins
Ime Udoka Joins The Show After Rockets Fiery Win To Take Game 2
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Rockets Warriors tied to a game of piece to discuss
last night's impressive victory over Golden State. Let's say hi
to the head coach of your Houston Rockets one nine
four over the Golden State Warriors, Ema A Doka with
Mann and Ross coach, thanks for joining us. Congratulations on
the game. Can I ask you because look our audience
(02:41):
and basketball fans, we despise Draymond Green with all of
our heart and soul. Emay, and it feels like you
guys will do some John occasional on the court. What
are those conversations like? Can you say or they have
to can be kind of like uh PG related and
can't really bring them up on the air.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
No, it's nothing crazy.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
We have the history of obviously playing coaching against him
and we work together with USA Basketball, so I know
him very well and more just John.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Back and forth, nothing crazy.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
We have respect for each other, like I said in
the relationship, and so I know who he is, he
knows who I am. Obviously he played in the finals before,
and so just a little back and forth, friendly banter.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Nothing crazy. That's too bad.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I'd like you to punch him, but that's a different issue.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
For different time. Coach, it may look like it because.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Of how he or I are talking to each other,
but it's nothing crazy, all right, Well.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
You are more restraint than I do, honestly. Congratulations with
the wind. Last week Jayalen Green's coming out party, he
mentioned post game that Game one felt really big. The
arena looked bigger, the court looked bigger, the rim. That's
not uncommon for guys. You've coached a lot of guys
that have made this subtle adjustment between game one and two.
So for those things come out of his mouth and
(03:54):
the way he played couldn't have been a huge surprise
to you.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
No, I think you know it's different for everybody, and
we can talk about it, prepare for it, and you know,
have all that time during the week for guys to
share their experiences, but you have to go through it
for the first time, and you know, it's basketball at
the end of the day, but everything is amplified and
magnified and the physicality goes up and everything becomes more
(04:19):
more important every possession, and so text guys sometime you know,
whether it's a quarter, a game, whatever it is. And
once we saw some things on film and saw the
looks we had and understood how they were guarding us.
We had a good feeling that he'd have a bounce
back in our team with as well.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Was there anything to your eye now that you've had
a chance to look the game film that they did.
Was it more in the adjustments on your end do
you think are on their end? And obviously when you
lose Butler like they did in the course of the contest,
it it removed their rotation around. Was there any other
massive changes that you could tell our audience that you
saw between the two games.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Well, first of all, you know, when you make shots,
that helps, and so we ended at the same level.
You know, scored ninety five in the first game of
ninety four in this game and early in the eighties
and before they had some late buckets. But so we
defended at the same level, and we knew if our
offense woke up and came to life a little bit
and we'd be.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
In good shape.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And so for us, it was about being more particular
with our spacing, not getting this stagnant, trying to hunt
matchups and just get back to normally what we do,
which is taking advantage of oupy inside or alp being
different spots Jalen and our whole team, you know, doing
it as a unit, and I think we got bogged
down trying to pick on matchups and got a little stagnant,
which it benefits them. They're geared toward hiding guys on
(05:36):
defense and loading up and all those things, and when
you're looking at a bunch of bodies and the way
they create turnovers, I think that benefited them. So we
got back to more of our norm tried to get
stops and get out and run the execute and transition
and then take care of the ball.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And that was the formula.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Took care of the basketball. Email your squad hit free throws.
I thought of men Thompson was really on the cusp
of having a big night offensively until the foul trouble
became to play. Did you feel the game was officiated
a little differently from games one to two or was
it pretty close in your mind?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
No, it was pretty close. I think they've let us
both be physical.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know, it happens in the playoffs anyway, and we
are two of the better defensive teams that play with physicality,
and so nothing different there. You just have to adjust
the times if you have the foul trouble, and you
know we went with we went with them in with two,
run them back first quarter Dylan as well, and they
you know, picked up their third and so we can
go to some other lineups are bringing Aaron Holliday and
(06:32):
some guys that we did, or go to some zone
to protect guys.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
And so I think it.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Was officiated pretty similarly both both games. Like I said,
just have to adjust when you have the foul trouble
and not get the super fouls off ball.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
How would you assess two games into what you've seen
from men and Thompson And you talked about maybe, you know,
playoff experience and lacking it seems almost like in a
reverse way, you'd have to prevent am In Thomson for
getting too excited for playoff basketball.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, he's been good.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I means he obviously can be much better, and the
fouls are a big part of it. He's going to
impact the game as long as he's out there on
the court on defense that offense.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And just like I said, I.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Have to be smart with the reach and foul when
you have one already in the first quarter, the one
he got on the rebound and then he'll get going offensively.
He's missed some easy shots around the basket obviously in
Game one, miss a few dunk putbacks. But the way
he impacts the game is not just by scoring. Obviously,
he's doing a great job on Curry initially hounding him
and all the other intangibles that he brings to the table.
(07:31):
So that'll all come in time. You know, the ups
and downs of a young guy being in the playoffs
for the first time show at times, but he's not
relying on scoring only to impact the game.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Rockets Heads coach Imo A. Dooka was here on Sports
Talk seven to ninety and back to Jalen Green quickly,
What were your conversations like him with him in between
game one and the performance in Game two.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Oh, the message was simple, like it was going into series.
Be aggressive, stay confident, and don't second guess.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Take the shots that are there.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
They're guarding a certain way, and he like he kind
of kind of saw that, we all saw it on
film obviously, and went over as a team. I think
be impatient is a big thing. You know, you get
you get the master up that you like, whether it's
a big or small, and you kind of rush into
the crowd and they're all loaded up. You got to
step back, survey a little bit, and let everybody get
to their spacing and then attack from there.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And he did a great job of that right from
the start.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
And so that the spacing, everybody being deliberate about, you know,
giving him the room to work, but also him taking
the threes at which he took eighteen. And when they
go under or they're trying to protect him from driving,
you have to take those shots that loosen them up,
and he did that obviously, make an eight of eighteen.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
How bad did you need those tarres and three pointers
of fall? I know he struggled in game one from
perimeter and gave a guy who gave you a couple
of early ones in the game two, which are obviously
made a big difference. And how about this coach, did
you know why to wire wins don't happen very often
in the NBA? You got one last night in a
playoff game.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah, it was big for Atari, I think for us
in general. He hadn't been shooting it well lately, but
he had wide open looks in game one, going over four,
and so when you only make six for twenty nine
as a team or whatever it is, you need anybody
to knock him down.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And he you know, he took the on this song
and did that.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
He had two really good days of work just watching
him shoot and watching his preparation. He was basically on
fire in the shoot arounds and practices. And so I
told him that, I said, how good a shot looks,
and stay confident and be aggressive and came out and
made though so great carryover from what he did in practice.
No lack of confidence there, understanding the shots he's going
to get as long as we get to our spacing
(09:38):
and they make the right reads.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And so that's a big thing there.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Obviously with the Wire to Wire, Yeah, we came out
and did the same thing we did in Game one,
which was jumped out to early lead. Different those we
maintained it and extended at times, and so yeah, we
take care of the ball.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Get shot.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Although we only had eleven offensive rebounds of the post
to twenty two in the first game, give yourself those
second Champs opportunities. You can maintain those leads, and so
doing a great job overall on both both sides of
the ball.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
You've been able to win a couple of challenges late,
including one yesterday in the playoff game. Have you and
your staff, the guys that you trust with the video replay,
even taking in a step further to say, hey, it's
a playoff game. If we're going to challenge something early,
we better Dan be ready to win this one, because
you know, these things are so valuable and you want
to certainly have one in your back pocket, maybe in
the third or fourth.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Quarter of a game. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
It is crucial to get those early ones if you're
going to challenge knowing you may.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Need it down the line.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
You know, maybe in the regular season you wouldn't challenge
something that you know that might be marginal. But I
think we got a good grasp of what they call
and obviously looking at the play before the play to
determine if it was a foul or something that initiated
that contact and so. But at the same time, a
few games ago, I would have thought the charge was
a charge and then I saw that one myself, and yeah,
(10:56):
and so you know, it's always a little bit of
judgment and based on camera. Ang is a big part
of it. And so our guys got twelve different angles
behind the bench. They have to look quick and see
everything and trying to judge if it's something precurring precluding
the play. But I think we do a great job overall,
and like I said, every possession is important, so we'll
be more resisent to take the challenge early.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Last question, May You've got a lot of young men.
They now have two playoff games under their belt, but
they're about to hit the road for the very first
time in a playoff game. How much of the message
changes from when you maybe talk to them earlier this
week when they were about to play their first postseason game.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I mean, the whole court advantage is great, but we
have to go on the road to win games, regardless
of the series. And so for us, it's more of
the same that we did to start this season. Struggled
last year, you know, on the road, and our message
to our guys this year was come out and be
a different team on the road, and we've done that
right from the get go.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So at the end of the day, like.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I always say, it's just basketball, and you keep it simple,
and you know, once the ball is tossed up, it's
whatever to take the crowd out of it, take a
motion out of it, and just play it, play your game,
and so that'll be no different going to San Francisco.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Thank you for the visit, my friends. Congratulations, I'll see
you tomorrow. We'll get up to San Francisco and best
of luck this weekend in Golden State.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Thank you, thank you. You may have Doka with us
here on Sports Talk seven y
Rockets Warriors tied to a game of piece to discuss
last night's impressive victory over Golden State. Let's say hi
to the head coach of your Houston Rockets one nine
four over the Golden State Warriors, Ema A Doka with
Mann and Ross coach, thanks for joining us. Congratulations on
the game. Can I ask you because look our audience
(02:41):
and basketball fans, we despise Draymond Green with all of
our heart and soul. Emay, and it feels like you
guys will do some John occasional on the court. What
are those conversations like? Can you say or they have
to can be kind of like uh PG related and
can't really bring them up on the air.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
No, it's nothing crazy.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
We have the history of obviously playing coaching against him
and we work together with USA Basketball, so I know
him very well and more just John.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Back and forth, nothing crazy.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
We have respect for each other, like I said in
the relationship, and so I know who he is, he
knows who I am. Obviously he played in the finals before,
and so just a little back and forth, friendly banter.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Nothing crazy. That's too bad.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I'd like you to punch him, but that's a different issue.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
For different time. Coach, it may look like it because.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Of how he or I are talking to each other,
but it's nothing crazy, all right, Well.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
You are more restraint than I do, honestly. Congratulations with
the wind. Last week Jayalen Green's coming out party, he
mentioned post game that Game one felt really big. The
arena looked bigger, the court looked bigger, the rim. That's
not uncommon for guys. You've coached a lot of guys
that have made this subtle adjustment between game one and two.
So for those things come out of his mouth and
(03:54):
the way he played couldn't have been a huge surprise
to you.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
No, I think you know it's different for everybody, and
we can talk about it, prepare for it, and you know,
have all that time during the week for guys to
share their experiences, but you have to go through it
for the first time, and you know, it's basketball at
the end of the day, but everything is amplified and
magnified and the physicality goes up and everything becomes more
(04:19):
more important every possession, and so text guys sometime you know,
whether it's a quarter, a game, whatever it is. And
once we saw some things on film and saw the
looks we had and understood how they were guarding us.
We had a good feeling that he'd have a bounce
back in our team with as well.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Was there anything to your eye now that you've had
a chance to look the game film that they did.
Was it more in the adjustments on your end do
you think are on their end? And obviously when you
lose Butler like they did in the course of the contest,
it it removed their rotation around. Was there any other
massive changes that you could tell our audience that you
saw between the two games.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Well, first of all, you know, when you make shots,
that helps, and so we ended at the same level.
You know, scored ninety five in the first game of
ninety four in this game and early in the eighties
and before they had some late buckets. But so we
defended at the same level, and we knew if our
offense woke up and came to life a little bit
and we'd be.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
In good shape.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And so for us, it was about being more particular
with our spacing, not getting this stagnant, trying to hunt
matchups and just get back to normally what we do,
which is taking advantage of oupy inside or alp being
different spots Jalen and our whole team, you know, doing
it as a unit, and I think we got bogged
down trying to pick on matchups and got a little stagnant,
which it benefits them. They're geared toward hiding guys on
(05:36):
defense and loading up and all those things, and when
you're looking at a bunch of bodies and the way
they create turnovers, I think that benefited them. So we
got back to more of our norm tried to get
stops and get out and run the execute and transition
and then take care of the ball.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And that was the formula.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Took care of the basketball. Email your squad hit free throws.
I thought of men Thompson was really on the cusp
of having a big night offensively until the foul trouble
became to play. Did you feel the game was officiated
a little differently from games one to two or was
it pretty close in your mind?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
No, it was pretty close. I think they've let us
both be physical.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know, it happens in the playoffs anyway, and we
are two of the better defensive teams that play with physicality,
and so nothing different there. You just have to adjust
the times if you have the foul trouble, and you
know we went with we went with them in with two,
run them back first quarter Dylan as well, and they
you know, picked up their third and so we can
go to some other lineups are bringing Aaron Holliday and
(06:32):
some guys that we did, or go to some zone
to protect guys.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
And so I think it.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Was officiated pretty similarly both both games. Like I said,
just have to adjust when you have the foul trouble
and not get the super fouls off ball.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
How would you assess two games into what you've seen
from men and Thompson And you talked about maybe, you know,
playoff experience and lacking it seems almost like in a
reverse way, you'd have to prevent am In Thomson for
getting too excited for playoff basketball.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, he's been good.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I means he obviously can be much better, and the
fouls are a big part of it. He's going to
impact the game as long as he's out there on
the court on defense that offense.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And just like I said, I.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Have to be smart with the reach and foul when
you have one already in the first quarter, the one
he got on the rebound and then he'll get going offensively.
He's missed some easy shots around the basket obviously in
Game one, miss a few dunk putbacks. But the way
he impacts the game is not just by scoring. Obviously,
he's doing a great job on Curry initially hounding him
and all the other intangibles that he brings to the table.
(07:31):
So that'll all come in time. You know, the ups
and downs of a young guy being in the playoffs
for the first time show at times, but he's not
relying on scoring only to impact the game.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Rockets Heads coach Imo A. Dooka was here on Sports
Talk seven to ninety and back to Jalen Green quickly,
What were your conversations like him with him in between
game one and the performance in Game two.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Oh, the message was simple, like it was going into series.
Be aggressive, stay confident, and don't second guess.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Take the shots that are there.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
They're guarding a certain way, and he like he kind
of kind of saw that, we all saw it on
film obviously, and went over as a team. I think
be impatient is a big thing. You know, you get
you get the master up that you like, whether it's
a big or small, and you kind of rush into
the crowd and they're all loaded up. You got to
step back, survey a little bit, and let everybody get
to their spacing and then attack from there.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And he did a great job of that right from
the start.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
And so that the spacing, everybody being deliberate about, you know,
giving him the room to work, but also him taking
the threes at which he took eighteen. And when they
go under or they're trying to protect him from driving,
you have to take those shots that loosen them up,
and he did that obviously, make an eight of eighteen.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
How bad did you need those tarres and three pointers
of fall? I know he struggled in game one from
perimeter and gave a guy who gave you a couple
of early ones in the game two, which are obviously
made a big difference. And how about this coach, did
you know why to wire wins don't happen very often
in the NBA? You got one last night in a
playoff game.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah, it was big for Atari, I think for us
in general. He hadn't been shooting it well lately, but
he had wide open looks in game one, going over four,
and so when you only make six for twenty nine
as a team or whatever it is, you need anybody
to knock him down.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And he you know, he took the on this song
and did that.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
He had two really good days of work just watching
him shoot and watching his preparation. He was basically on
fire in the shoot arounds and practices. And so I
told him that, I said, how good a shot looks,
and stay confident and be aggressive and came out and
made though so great carryover from what he did in practice.
No lack of confidence there, understanding the shots he's going
to get as long as we get to our spacing
(09:38):
and they make the right reads.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And so that's a big thing there.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Obviously with the Wire to Wire, Yeah, we came out
and did the same thing we did in Game one,
which was jumped out to early lead. Different those we
maintained it and extended at times, and so yeah, we
take care of the ball.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Get shot.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Although we only had eleven offensive rebounds of the post
to twenty two in the first game, give yourself those
second Champs opportunities. You can maintain those leads, and so
doing a great job overall on both both sides of
the ball.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
You've been able to win a couple of challenges late,
including one yesterday in the playoff game. Have you and
your staff, the guys that you trust with the video replay,
even taking in a step further to say, hey, it's
a playoff game. If we're going to challenge something early,
we better Dan be ready to win this one, because
you know, these things are so valuable and you want
to certainly have one in your back pocket, maybe in
the third or fourth.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Quarter of a game. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
It is crucial to get those early ones if you're
going to challenge knowing you may.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Need it down the line.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
You know, maybe in the regular season you wouldn't challenge
something that you know that might be marginal. But I
think we got a good grasp of what they call
and obviously looking at the play before the play to
determine if it was a foul or something that initiated
that contact and so. But at the same time, a
few games ago, I would have thought the charge was
a charge and then I saw that one myself, and yeah,
(10:56):
and so you know, it's always a little bit of
judgment and based on camera. Ang is a big part
of it. And so our guys got twelve different angles
behind the bench. They have to look quick and see
everything and trying to judge if it's something precurring precluding
the play. But I think we do a great job overall,
and like I said, every possession is important, so we'll
be more resisent to take the challenge early.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Last question, May You've got a lot of young men.
They now have two playoff games under their belt, but
they're about to hit the road for the very first
time in a playoff game. How much of the message
changes from when you maybe talk to them earlier this
week when they were about to play their first postseason game.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I mean, the whole court advantage is great, but we
have to go on the road to win games, regardless
of the series. And so for us, it's more of
the same that we did to start this season. Struggled
last year, you know, on the road, and our message
to our guys this year was come out and be
a different team on the road, and we've done that
right from the get go.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So at the end of the day, like.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I always say, it's just basketball, and you keep it simple,
and you know, once the ball is tossed up, it's
whatever to take the crowd out of it, take a
motion out of it, and just play it, play your game,
and so that'll be no different going to San Francisco.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Thank you for the visit, my friends. Congratulations, I'll see
you tomorrow. We'll get up to San Francisco and best
of luck this weekend in Golden State.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Thank you, thank you. You may have Doka with us
here on Sports Talk seven y
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