Ime Udoka after Rockets 9th straight win, beating Blazers

Ime Udoka after Rockets 9th straight win, beating Blazers

Tick Tock um I’ve never been in here I’ve been up there but I’ve never been here jayen to turn around a rough start is is that another sign of growth yeah it is I think that’s we we said to him in front of the team um you know he was

Kind of forcing a little bit early I looked a little anxious and then kind of grinded it away started taking the right shots making the right plays and um it was it’s not always going to come out you know right from the start on fire and our team was like that in general

But uh for him to kind of grind through he had some big rebounds big defensive plays and play the right way it was huge for him to really come out in the second half like that in the past he would struggle to recover from from starts

Like that when did you see that start to turn around oh um I you know in the third quarter I mentioned take to take great shots I think I mean like when did you see like him be able to like shake off bad starts tonight or in general in

General I mean he’s been on a hot streak so it’s not hard to get it back going you know uh like I said he was taking the right shots early forced a few but um with those misses he stayed confident you’ve been scoring at the clip he has I

Don’t think a bad shooting half is going to deter your confidence as far as that so um yeah it was it was in general I think he’s just been really playing really well obviously and so tonight um really talked to him about halftime about letting the game come to him

Taking the right shots not forcing anything still finding his teammates playing the way he has been and you got to go in the second half coach do had 15 points in the first quarter how was he able to come in and really set the tone

Yeah it was huge um you know his energy really got us back in the game and so you know 15 points in that quarter but he had offensive rebounds few block shots um his energy has been great for the last month or so and um we really needed tonight with Fred Dylan and

Jaylen struggling a little bit to score all the offensive rebounds the second chance points us having 14 tonight for 20 second chance points really got us back in the game we were down at with the deficit early at what point is it not a streak and just who a guy is uh

Who who that player is at that point referring to who like just just in general with a player like you mention like J’s obviously on a hot streak at what point in general when you when you like a sample size turns into that’s just who the player oh you look at his

History I mean you know 22 points a game in the second year in the league so that tells you guys’s a really good score uh it’s all about efficiency and you know playing a certain way some things that we like I said we’ve asked them to do

Different from in the past and so you got to be more efficient when you have other handlings other options to go to with alprin and and Fred handling so he took him a little bit of time but yeah we’re never doubting his scoring you either go through slumps and hot streaks

That happens the guys but um yeah his scoring is is kind of who he is in second by second nature is now how he does it and the way he goes about it which is a little bit different found a jayen found a man on a couple cuts along

The Baseline there the in play the kind of Chemistry Between them do you see that as something that’s growing and improving here by the week yeah I think a men is um you know in general he’s really good in the dunker spot working the baselines um you know we used him a

Little bit differently tonight with the fiveman on him not just screening but he was initiating offense a little bit more but yeah he’s he found that sweet spot started off with Alin you know working with him in the dunker spot but um him slashing offensive rebounds he has six

Tonight those things when your shot is not falling he impacted the game that way but I think guys look for him down there and know he’s really good in that spot and he he rewarded guys tonight last week in Washington your halftime speech was when your team came out slow

You told him stop playing with the game what was the halftime speech tonight where you all came in turning around the second half to 41 points yeah the shots are going to fall we were 3 for 18 from three a half um the shots are going to

Start to fall I mean we still shot only shot 39 tonight and 31 from three so didn’t improve greatly after the half but um you know we got wide open looks and that’s all you can ask for the thing we talked about was defending at the

Level we’re capable um they had 51 in the first half and only scored 20 or 41 in the second half so we can always rely on that when shots don’t don’t fall for them to score 92 and 20 and 21 in this third and fourth quarter shows that we

Can ramp up our defense when we need to on a night where you have injuries and absences what did you like about your bench’s mentality and the next oneup mentality yeah I think they all came in and gave us a spark like I said you when

You have a rare off night with Fred jayen and Dylan shooting the way they were early especially in the first half it was good to get that spark J Sean came in with the physicality um Aaron got something going a little bit and then obviously jock with that 15 early

And so um no matter who it is Jeff hit a few late as well um we rely on everybody especially with Jabari out with Alin out with Cam out T we’re missing a lot of guys um and so we’re doing that as a team so until jayen and the scores get

Back to hot Street there a whole lot of games against top teams at their place lately a couple but not a lot you kind of want to see how this improved play Will Travel how it matches up um in a couple nights yeah I think uh obviously

LKC is a barometer game I mean they’re playing as well as anybody especially in the west um but you know we we play Chicago and Cleveland and Sacramento they play some some good team teams and we’ve done a good job within this streak so it’s about putting a consistent game

Together against a high high quality team um I think we played three really good quarters up there and got away from us in the fourth um and then we beat them here at home so be a good test for us and just want to continue to play consistent basketball like we’re doing

Regardless of the opponent coach phip said uh dur pregame that Fred is one of the last of the true point guards in the league when he was struggling like he was tonight were you able to see that at towards the end of the game when he was

Able to hit those two big three-pointers and keep the team in the game yeah he’s going to keep his head in the game um he was you know didn’t have a ton of assists due to us shooting poorly but he was making the right plays and

Guys were missing so that’s all you can ask as far as that uh what we did try to do is take them off the ball a little bit more they were switching a lot um and that gave us some trouble in the first half but we took him off the ball

Some backside actions that got him those looks and so that’s the luxury with him he can play on or off the ball and when a guy like Jaylen or our man is initiating we like to move him around a little bit and that’s when he hit those

Big shots help the confidence of the team when you have different people that can come in and and contribute especially with the short-handed how much that help you guys yeah it’s huge for us and like I said um we rely on you know certain guys to be consistent do

What they do on a nightly basis but when they’re not um it was great an example jock tonight and and the others you know the three bench scorers last game and so they gave us a great boost and uh you know our guys are going to consistently

Do what they do but when they don’t it’s great to have those other options and know like I said our depth is real even with those four guys out we still have nine or 10 we can throw out there and be confident yeah you’ve been so relying on

Fred for so much of the year on a night where he doesn’t shoot it well and he’s in foul trouble to win the minutes when he wasn’t on the floor how important do you think that is moving forward yeah it’s good to see that uh you know he’s

Done so much for us as far as getting us into offense and obviously scoring but um when we brought Aaron in there was no hesitation there and like I said jock really stepped up with that group but um yeah it’s going to be needed everybody

Goes down at some point or is in foul trouble and it’s good to see other guys step up but um Aaron’s done all year as well with I’m in being out for the 20 plus games he shows he’s capable of it so got a good chance tonight and that

Second unit performed well thanks thanks Co thank you thank thank you

Houston Rockets Fan Information Source

Ime Udoka talks to the media after the Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers on 3/25/2024. Jalen Green scored 27 points and Jock Landale hit 6-6 shots for 17 points and 9 rebounds. The Rockets have won 9 straight games, including 7 straight without Alperen Sengun.