Ime Udoka after Alperen Sengun’s 45-point explosion against Spurs

Ime Udoka after Alperen Sengun’s 45-point explosion against Spurs

You talked about before the game that what you wanted to carry over from Phoenix to this game was the physicality is that what you’re seeing from Alie tonight yeah Alie and a bunch of others um you know guarded exceptionally well in the second half um you know and uh

Specifically Dylan you know on WE minyama to hold him scoreless in the second half and uh you know don’t always get a lot of credit when you’re not scoring but what he did for the game the way he impacted it and I think it was great um 15 steals only 15 fouls so

We’re playing physical uh aggressive defense without fouling and those turnovers I mean turnovers for them turned into fast break points for us so a perfect formula can you just discuss the overall dominant game that um Alie had for you guys yeah I mean he’s going against one of the best defenders in the

League and a lot of times kind of got to go right at him and make him work you know and I think guys did a good job of with their reads and outlets tonight um didn’t have too many blocks he got a few on alpi but um um other guys off ball

Did a good job and then Al kind of loosened him up there and got some fouls and he was not as aggressive there and he took advantage of it so um all over the place you know from the top of the key um elbows on the post he in the

Pocket on the rolls he was doing a great job and Dylan making him work on one end alpie making him work on the other I think uh was a great combination for us tonight you mentioned going right at him uh alpie got an early shot blocked and

Didn’t go at him for 5 10 minutes were guys getting talking to him about it were you to go at Wy yeah the main thing is is getting into his body you’re not going to go off one leg and go over around him you got to get into his body

Take his legs there um but we want to get Alp not just obviously in the post up where he has decent link there we want to get him on the move a little bit um I think Fred and Jaylen did a good job in the pick and roll um initially

You know baiting him to step up they hit a few shots and then Al on the roll got into his body a little bit better there so moved him around quite a bit and then once that happened he got the fouls he started to post up a little bit better

So um yeah just kyp understanding who he is and with that length you’re going to have to do it a different way yesterday in practice you talked about you know the steps that jayen has taken you know going through Jes and progression um was this game you know the the type of like

Performance that you wanted to see with him you know getting his teammates involved especially the way he was able to run that Twan game open yeah it’s more the same I think we are you know more much more dangerous when we got multiple guys attacking in the pick and

Roll and uh he had really good Gam obviously and in Phoenix and tonight was more the same I missed some open threes we as long as he’s taking the right shot U you know we’re not as concerned about that but um was aggressive there and and

The same thing once he kind of got got into that mode of hitting some jump shots and brought the bigs up he actually got to attack the basket a little bit better there so um great job threw some excellent passes to guys pocket pass to alpie but yeah we’re

Going to need that from him the rest of the way cuz uh you know when he’s doing it when Dylan’s doing it when Fred is doing those guys it it makes us much more dangerous to have multiple attackers didn’t take a shot in the second half how much did Dyan just take

Him out of everything he wanted to do yeah it was a main thing doing this work early um you know no matter where he was on the court top of the key on the elbow he had a body on him the whole time uh denied a bunch of catches pushed him off

His spots and then um you know even on the post he was he was fighting them pushing him off the blocks some there and then we had good help and rotations behind it so loved our um versatility on defense uh I think our rotations were on

Point we were switching a bunch of their actions and Fred and Jaylen were on them briefly and our bigs came over and kind of kicked those guys off so it started with Dylan for sure and then the rest of the team at it as well after Saturday’s

Game cam was a little bit frustrated by the way that he played how good was it to see him bounce back tonight yeah it was good he sees a guy that’s obviously going to have a short memory as far as that missed wide open shots against

Phoenix and to your point um you know puts in the work and stays very confident so you could tell obviously came out and knocked down the first shot and then got out in transition and where you know he’s a beast there so um I think he got some easy things to fall

Early um stayed confident as always I’m not really worried about that with him it’s just continue to play the right way take the right shots and not force it when you’re not doing as well as you can be but uh making the right reads for the team you talked a lot about scoring

Obviously like to see him defensively with the five Steals and just being in position up yeah he was great he you know he we had Jabari and Dylan on wanyama for the entire evening if he got switched on him he did a great job guarding him in the post but I think it

Was perfect uh helping off of Shan and uh Wesley and some of those guys and so played the perfect game helps side made uh made great rotations when he needed to and he was very active and so um it’s just more progress for him we can have

That versatility to put our guys on webman and him not be a you know a deficit on the weak side he was making great reads great plays helping off the guys getting in their rebounding and and got all the steals of course than thank you thank you

Houston Rockets Fan Information Source

Ime Udoka talks to reporters after the Houston Rockets beat the San Antonio Spurs on 3/5/2024. Alperen Sengun exploded for a career-high 45 points, 30 of them in the second half, going at Victor Wembanyama. Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green also played well and Udoka praised Dillon Brooks for his defense on Wemby.