Ime Udoka Talks Houston Rockets Growth, Alperen Sengun Defense, Tari Eason Playing Like Kawhi & More

Ime Udoka Talks Houston Rockets Growth, Alperen Sengun Defense, Tari Eason Playing Like Kawhi & More

On today’s show we’re running back and highlighting key takeaways from a one-on-one interview conducted by Houston Rockets Courtside reporter Vanessa Richardson with head coach eeme udoka where he talks about what the veterans have brought to this Rockets team the growth and development of so many of the young guys on the roster he

Even comps tar een to a young Kawai Leonard and so much more it’s all coming up right here at lock on Rockets this is Mission Control Houston ignition sequence start throw it up to jayen Green Shon here in the short row oh my that’s the no look Jabari for three and the

Win look at T 15 seconds guidance is internal the Houston Rocket select amen Thompson and cam Whitmore one thing I have never done is not made the playoffs and so we want to take that step here as well six 5 4 3 2 1 what’s up and welcome to another edition

Of lock on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native houstonian and credential media member I’m also the host of locked on inba Mondays be sure to follow along on Twitter at JT Gatlin and the show of course at locked on

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Your lunch break in the gym thank you for being in everyday or and making the show part of your day every single day so for today’s episode we’ll be joined by weekly co-host Ali kajani here in just just a moment but we’re going to dive straight in and run back the

Interview that Rockets Court head reporter Vanessa Richardson did with head coach eme udoka let’s dive back into that right now all right here with Coach eme udoka coach when 2023 ended you told your guys don’t be satisfied with the 500 record how have you seen them respond to that I think they’ve

Done a good job all year we’re just really searching for a consistency and um I’m taking that mindset of where we could be instead of where we are and but your record is your record and that you know kind of says who you are and so uh

We want to be better in the new year a big part of that consistency has been both Fred and Dylan and adding that veteran leadership how have you seen that help your guys ingratiate into the league especially the younger ones yeah I think they’ve been invaluable to our

Group um you know not only the players but they’re extensions of us coaches on the floor um but everything from the day to day um advice they give off the court um you know but on the court work ethic professionalism you know winning mentality and everything it takes to be

A better team and so those guys have done that from day one they do it in different ways um you know some more vocally and some you know Hands-On and so just as a group overall you can throw Aaron and Jeff Green in there as well I think they’ve been invaluable to our

Group but it’s it’s more so the little things that they do and the things that the players see every day uh is what they’re trying to build those habits off of and you got some good bits to show example what do you want to see from Jen green as we get into

2024 just contined growth and consistency and you know Ive mindset that he always should have and so with him it’s about being confident at all times understanding how teams are trying to take him out he’s obviously leading scorer last year and and has done some great things in his young career but um

You know the buildup and being a well-rounded player that’s the main thing and so doing it all over the court and um you know not just relying on scoring or one thing to impact the game and growing in those areas and I think his competitiveness has gone up his

Attention to detail his effort and then obviously the scoring is always going to be there so always stay confident uh be aggressive and then take what the game gives you Jabari is doing a lot more than scoring he’s a better Defender he’s obviously active on the glass how have

You seen him develop all around the game confidence into your point it’s not just spotting up or you know sitting in the corner and relying on jump shots only the defensive versatility that he brings has really impacted our group in a in a great way um and offensively finding

Different ways to get it done obviously off ball and his spot up shooting is a a huge asset for him but you know we want him to post up find his mid-range shots where he can rise up over guys offensive glass has been the biggest Improvement I

Think in the last month for him that mentality of going after it every time and then um you know starting to make reads and handle and make plays for other guys so the goal for everybody is to be well-rounded so we don’t have to rely on one person it’s a true team

Aspect and you see growth with all of our guys like I mentioned with Alin and Jaylen as well but Jabar is taking a step as far as that as well how have you seen alprin grow from day to day he’s where he’s at now compared to the

Beginning of the season and it’s really cool to see yeah it was a quick jump initially I think you know obviously bought in on the defensive end and we wanted to really help him improve in that area and offensively he’s so skilled and I think he’s taken it to

Another level as far as his confidence um try to move him around do a lot of different things with them you know he’s such a great scorer in the post that teams really load up on him and he’s uh initiating offense for everybody else but you can move him around on the court

Put him at the nail was harder to double team him from there and we’ve only seen his confidence grow in the last uh you know month or so and so a big part of what we need going forward and the skill set and versatility of him has been

Great for our group but you don’t always want pick and roles and and isolations you can just go to him and he he draws so much attention that has benefited everybody what are some of the specific things that assistant coach Thiago splitter has helped alpie with you know

Just that you know thiago’s Brazilian but played in Europe for a long time so they have that commonality you know and that that mindset and Alin always talks about being coached hard like coaches doing Europe up and so obviously I’m going his coach the way I coach but

Thiago is a kind of a voice in his ear always reminding him of consistency and you know not being lazy with certain things and and striving to be better and so Thiago played a high level obviously a championship player with our time in San Antonio and he can really be

Hands-On and talk about examples and things he went through as a player knowing alpia is a lot more skilled in the scorer than Thiago was but he can um you know give him little pointers here and there and I think all of our coaches do that but it’s been really great to

See those two uh form a bond how are you seeing your rookies a in in cam kind of make the most of their minutes on a night to night basis yeah they’re always hungry and itching to play you know and then with us it’s a a matter of you know

We have real depth and some a log Jam at some of those positions and um you know obviously you have tari Jan Dylan Jabari and guys that are in the same you know position obviously al man had the injury early where it gave Aaron the chance to

Play but you know they’ve had you know a little ups and downs at times which most rookies do but um the injury thing was big for a in and now he’s kind of rounded back into shape and for cam it was really understanding what we’re looking for from offensive

And defensive standpoint and he’s taken that challenge on he had some good time in Rio Grand which really sharpened him up and you can see the improvement from there so he had the r might the r right mindset about going down there and playing and improving and you see that

Carry over to game so everybody’s path is different you know fourth pick 20th pick but like I said we have players in front of them that have done some great things and you know take their time be patient and not get frustrated and stick with the process and you can see it

Starting to benefit what have you heard around the league if you have it all about tar he’s so Scrappy I feel like coaches are H having to start to really like game plan for him yeah his unique ability to impact games um you know I

Think he’s number one on our team from a statistical standpoint of how he impacts game and winning games and winning on the court when he’s playing and so he does it in his own way it’s a guy that you don’t even have to call a play for

He’s going to impact the game obviously on the defensive end but offensively you know shooting the ball well um learning to grow in those areas and and and obviously the Steals and the loose balls and 50-50 balls all the things he comes up with are very unique he’ll get a

Crazy one every game that makes you kind of shake your head but uh you know I had a young kawhai Leonard and that’s he’s the closest thing that reminds me to what kawhai did back in the day of just taking balls and and getting those ones

That other guys don’t get and so those are plays that ignite the team give us a bunch of energy and it gets him going as well what are some of the challenges that come with an 11-day six-game Road Trip the same I think I look at it the

Same we were home for seven games got off to a little bit of a bumpy start and want to finish it off well but for us I think it’s building on what we’ve done which is you know finally get over the hump with some Road winds and uh there

Are always challenges I think for a younger group it might impact guys a certain way but we want to get that mentality of home or Road that’s play the same and hold up to our standard and I think the Vets have that mindset they’ve been there done that and for the

Young guys we want to see that carry over not just having the crowd at home and how they impact you just going on the road and having that same mentality so uh you know for me I don’t look it as much difference I don’t put it a whole

Bunch of stock in it but um you know the numbers are the numbers and we have to get better on the road and we’re looking forward to these six games New Year’s resolution diet no sugar that’ll be hard thanks coach all right that does it for the

Interview with emay shout out to Vanessa for a great interview with the Rockets head coach coming up we’re going to unpack and share key takeaways from what em Oka had to say about this Rockets team and this season as a whole we’re going to get there in just one

Moment first today’s episode is brought to you by Jace medical look I know we come to sports to escape from some of the crazy realities of real life but can we talk just for a minute about preparing for real life according to the FDA pharmacies are running out of

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Deliberate upon the Fantastic one-on-one interview conducted by Vanessa Richardson Houston Rockets Courtside reporter with head coach eem udoka and alyon there was a bunch of good stuff in this interview a fantastic one-on-one here with a lot to unpack so I’m going to let you kind of steer the bus here

For a moment where do you want to go first what did emay say that you that piqued your interest the most here his New Year’s resolution is to not eat sugar that’s what pequ my interest to most now um it’s a really it’s a lofty goal but I hope he hope he can

Accomplish that um I could never honestly no way honest I a crack open ASMR Dr Pepper right there on the mic sorry eay I can’t do it oh my God oh my oh my God Jackson um you honestly there’s a lot that really stood out to

Me um but I guess I’ll just start off with the first thing that comes to my mind you know hearing the video watching it again was just mention about tar een mentioned two things about tar e that really stick out to me mentioned one one

That he leads the team like in terms of a statist a team statistic they have in terms of uh impacting winning um and I thought that was wow like you know it’s great and I will say I mean he leads to team in plus minus so it makes sense

From like kind of if you want to look at NBA stats but just from a team perspective the stats they have he you know is you know has that you know ranking or that he’s leading the team um in terms of impacting winning on on that not on that note about tar

Leading the team from a a statistical perspective it’s worth noting that different NBA teams value different things statistically right the Rockets were at The Cutting Edge of statistics for a long time in valuing threes which is why you know they they developed myy ball and the Daryl myy style of

Basketball where they prioritized threes layups dunks and free throws Above All Else and that eventually kind of caught on as the rest of the NBA learned hey if we prioritize these efficient shots it’s going to look a lot better so that’s one example of like in how statistics analytics and kind of what

The Rockets analytics Department focuses on and they value different things so I know that there’s like an internal metric the Rockets really value like defensive rebounding as an internal metric to gauge how good of a Defender you are right they place a large value on defensive rebounding I don’t know the

Specific metrics I don’t know how they crunch these numbers those are all in-house and those are kept very very secret but I do know I’ve had a couple conversations with rockets coaches and Personnel before before this interview with eay where they’ve highlighted and they said yeah tar is off the charts as

Far as like our internal metrics are concerned he is that guy he impacts winning at a higher level than anybody else on the roster does and this goes back to as you know last season his rookie year he his productivity is through the roof so this isn’t a new

Thing it’s just cool to hear em be upfront about it and be like yeah from a statistical perspective he’s incredible dude there there’s possessions defensively where one in every six possessions he’s forcing a turnover I mean that that’s pretty astounding um that’s on average right so that’s pretty astounding to think about

Um now the second thing he said about tar that really impressed me was like he he’s the closest thing that reminds me of kawh Leonard and I was like wow I mean it’s a pretty remarkable thing to say and granted he was referencing T’s ability to have those steals throughout

The game where he’ll just kind of grab the basketball away from another player but we we’ve always talked about that comparison right in terms of their their hands um and just their size and body frame all the measurables about all the physical things yeah and so it just it’s

Fascinating to hear somebody who was involved in kawh Leonard’s you know stardom or growth in San Antonio speak that highly of a player like tar een so for me right off the bat those two things stood out yeah I mean I I I feel like and I highlighted this in a you

Know earlier this season at one point where I feel like like we almost kind of did a disservice early on by by kind of putting tar into a box and panting him into a corner to say hey you’re just you’re a three andd role player right

That’s that’s what you’re going to be as an NBA player cool tar I think might have more than that right he’s he’s only in a year two he’s struggled with some injuries this year after being an Iron Man last year playing all 82 games

So I just I do wonder if maybe eay sees more there and if there’s more there where eem is like hey I’ve got this guy who has a lot of the same physical attributes as a young Kawhi Leonard and and does a lot of the same kind of you

Know intangible things the hustle play things the the things you can’t really teach you know from a defensive standpoint some of the innate things that he just brings to the table and maybe there’s a way for eme to mold T I’m not saying tar is going to be the

Next Kawhi Leonard that’s that’s not what I’m saying but maybe there is a a pathway there for tar to be more than just your traditional everyday run-of-the-mill 3 andd role player even if he’s an Elite 3 andd role player maybe there is more to Tar een the

Player that Oka sees right now that he’s working on unlocking yeah I mean and that’s that was the first thing for me Jackson how about you what was the the immediately first thing watching the seven minutes what stood out to you you know he was asked about just

Overall a you know with each response that he had about whether it was Jaylen shingon Jabari he’s consistently pre in consistency that’s one of his key words he uses it all the time he tries to preach consistency and I do think that for a young developing team consistency

Is a good thing to be preaching right you you can preach all sorts of different things you try to get them to buy into different schemes offense defense whatever but it really is at the end of the day about consistency and that’s what eeme is striving to to get

These guys to achieve is he doesn’t necessarily need or want Jaylen to be a star right here right now in year three he doesn’t I mean alp’s been playing out out of his mind he doesn’t need Alp to to be him yet here in year three he just

Wants these guys to be consistent and that’s why when they’re not consistent that’s the first thing he highlights right we go back to the Chicago Bulls loss how the first thing he did was rather than he he gave alpie his flowers for his dominant fourth quarter and

Overtime performance and all that but he also highlighted the fact hey the dude did flat out didn’t show up in the first half right that’s unacceptable and that’s we can’t have that he decided to show up at halftime and we he was able to play the way that he normally plays

So I do think for eay consistency has been his number one message across the board for all these young guys it’s just it it varies you know person by person how do you get consistency with Jaylen green how do you get consistency with shenon with Jabari right the ways to get

Each of these guys consistent is different but I think that messaging has been clear across the board absolutely and I I just think it’s so fitting how you’re bringing up Jaylen green as the number one jayen green hater among Rockets Twitter so I think um I think it’s Fant fantastic to uh to

To hear n I’ll go I’ll go on a tie raade here man on the show I look I I you know what I I I never alecon I never I never use the block button on Twitter I to up until January 10th or 11th I can’t remember if I started blocking accounts

On the 10th or the 11th up until one of those days I had never blocked a single account that’s not true I blocked Warriors World on Twitter once because it was just it a that’s a crappy Warriors account oh wow um anyways never blocked any accounts I don’t care you

Can you can come at me you can say you can throw all the negativity at me but I just I got sick and tired of it man I I hate you know what you know what word I hate more than anything else these days alecon I hate the word agenda so much

Agenda is like my trigger word now if you say the word agenda to me in a reply to a tweet and it’s not a joke I am blocking your ass so quick now I’m sick and tired of it it’s it’s a bunch of 14year olds on Twitter bunch of pre-teen

Prepubescent idiots who just found out their new buzzword their new word of the day calendar and they’re like you know what this guy’s got an agenda against Jaylen green this guy’s got an agenda this agenda my only agenda is I want to see the Rockets be a good basketball

Team that is my one and only agenda I don’t care if it’s Jaylen who’s the best player I don’t care if it’s alpie it could be Aaron freaking holiday for all I care I want to see the Rockets be a good basketball team that is my own

Sorry I had to I had to get that one off my chest that was bothering me you know you know Jackson just did Jackson just did his best em Oka impersonation whenever he’s mad at halftime if the Rockets aren’t playing hard enough so just just straight up

Tearing into him chewing him out you know the uh the uh you know what does he call it sometimes he calls it words of encouragement with a Sly smile he’s just like yeah some words of encouragement at halftime look coming up we got so much more that we want to talk about from

This uh one-on-one interview with the actual head coach of the Houston Rockets eeme udoka uh we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by prize pick prize pick is the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America they’re the easiest and most

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First deposit match up to $100 priz picks is daily fantasy sports Made Easy and final segment here at locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball all right alyon uh when asked about Jabari Smith Jr and his growth and development I I I have to like the the

Way that eeme responded and I don’t even think eem is doing this like intentionally but his response was comical to me because when asked about you know jabari’s growth and how he’s looking this year eem said well confidence is a main thing I’m paraphrasing here but he goes it’s not

Just spotting up or sitting in the quarter offensively finding different ways to get it done you know whether he’s you know he says off ball and spot ups are great and they’re great assets but we want him to post up and find his mid-range shots attacking the offensive

Glass has been huge huge um and it’s been a big Improvement for him and just that first line of just you know saying that with Jabari specifically it’s not just spotting up or sitting in the corner damn if that wasn’t all Jabari did his rookie year and I just it feels

Like every time eate talks about his approach his belief with any of these players it just seems so counter to how a lot of these guys were utilized previously and I I really am happy that Jabari has found his confidence again he’s got a coach who really believes in

Him Now who empowers him to do different things on the basketball court and that’s why we’re seeing Jabari you know have a phenomenal year too here uh you know he hasn’t quite taken a a star level leap but he is an impactful a highlevel impact player right now in

Year two and that’s only going to get better as he grows he’s become you know a walking you know 10 plus rebounds every game he’s a very versatile Defender watching him you know guard Demar D rozan in that game against the Bulls was incredible he had some Sensational defense playing against D

Roan including the clamps on that possession at the end of regulation uh and his three-point percentage he’s up to almost 39% just a hair under 39% shooting for the Year this is the Jabari that we thought we were drafting number one overall and I think a big part of it

Is how the coaching staff is actually utilizing him this year versus last season Jackson he shot 29% last year and above the big above above the break threes uh to a point where you know a lot of those threes were just him getting the ball and kind of throwing it

Up there cuz he wasn’t getting the ball in the rhythm of the offense right he was kind of spacing out uh not spacing out meally but just spacing out and being a floor spacer for other perimeter players to be able to create he never knew this year he’s

Shooting yeah this year he’s shooting 38% above the break and from what was his biggest weakness to now arguably his biggest strength as a shooter is above the break threes phenomenal big Testament to him and being able to kind of work on a shot but also a lot of it

Has to do with the fact that like you said he’s getting touches but it’s in the flow of what he wants he’s shooting 47% in the paint non-restricted area why is that important that’s some of those turnaround jump shots in the post that’s some of those elbow you know inside the

Elbow mid-range jumpers right that’s touching the paint he he’s getting to those spots where he’s good at and it’s allowing him to kind of you know get into get into a rhythm you last year I did a video on this I did a little film study that talked about alarin shenon

And Jabari smidth Jr how they would assist each other and they were both each other’s second most assisted kind of teammate right um just both of them really complimentary this year it’s it’s actually grown a lot more to a point where half of jabari’s uh assisted baskets are from

Alper and shenon and I just think that’s a testament to how well they’re playing together how I we talked about going into the season Jabar is the best postentry passer on this team probably now alongside Fred Fred is also one of those guys but you know you you you have

Two guys who are playing well off each other they’re running pick and roll you’re seeing Jabari run dribble handoff where he’s starting in the corner but he’s not staying there he’s starting in the corner and he’s lifting coming off of an Alp alpie screen or dribble handoff and getting into the mid-range

Or kind of getting outp the ball in the low post they’re playing really well a lot of good complimentary basketball and that’s a credit to e udoka but he’s absolutely right it’s also by Jabari finding other ways to impact the game which gets him going he’s not staying

Kind of just stagnant on both ends of the floor he’s not just staying stagnant on one side weak side defensively he’s involved in the perimeter which is why he’s also been effective and then rebounding has been off the charts he’s already had three 15 plus rebounding

Games this season only had one of those last season so he’s been great yeah some an immense amount of growth from Jabari Smith Jr which is great because my my take of him being you know the Rocket’s best player or best Prospect I should say uh was looking in Jeopardy there for

A minute uh as we were headed into the season which on that note when we were ranking prospects coming into the season right you and I both had Alper and shingun ranked fourth on the Rockets Prospect list and I think a big part of that was the defensive concerns with

Shingun because we didn’t we really didn’t know what this team was going to look like with a big man in the Middle with marks surrounding his defense because we the last year the Rockets defense all of it was swiss cheese it was awful we didn’t know if shingon

Could actually be a functional piece on a good defensive team and I think so far this year it we have learned that with the right pieces around shenon you absolutely can have a top five a top tier defense in the NBA with shenon as your man in the middle and that

Highlights what Oka said when asked about shingun and his growth just talking about the fact that he bought in immediately on the defens side of the basketball and that was an area that they that the coaching staff wanted to help him improve upon right away that they knew what he could do offensively

And that you know he has a lot that he can do there teams like to load up on him and e may talked about the different ways that they can utilize him right putting him with the nail and it makes it harder for teams to double team him

He generates high quality offense for his teammates all that stuff stuff that we kind of already know about Alp but it was the defense that was the biggest question mark and so for Alp to have you know really embraced eeme embraced his philosophy embraced his coaching staff

And got to a place where he’s not only you know at least passable on defense I think at times he’s been a a good to great defender this year for this Rockets team hustling you know they’re using him different ways right playing him more at the level of the screen

Getting you know aggressive some trapping schemes they’ve gotten really creative with placing him you know uh on Wing players to eliminate him having to guard in pick and roll coverages against certain matchups where he guards you know Josh giddy or whoever you know the non-shooters Dorian finy Smith uh with

With the Brooklyn Nets different matchups like that and that’s credit to the creativity from Oka to understand hey I’ve got a big man who might have some defensive limitations here and there so what do we do to mitigate those limitations right what do we do to put

Him in spots where he’s not going to be left on an island defend for himself which is basically what happened to him a lot last year you know I I I like to watch the opposing team Center whenever they’re interviewed after a game talk about Alper and shenon because it’s really

Important to see from a peer just a peer but a peer who plays the same position talk about you know Alpine how well he’s playing as a young player and there’s a few things that have stood out to me like consistently being heard um from opposing centers that’s alpie

Communicates defensively he may not necessarily have um you know the shot blocking acument where he’s one of the League’s best shot blockers um he you know he he may have some of his weaknesses but what he does and does well is he communicates he’s getting guys who are able to fight over the

Screen and fight at the level the screen in proper position to do so he’s staying at the level he’s communicating to the backline of what needs to happen hey I’m going to do this be prepared you’re hearing that from opposing centers and that to me is a very important sign that

I don’t expect Alper and shenon to be a top tier shot blocker but I do expect Alper and shenon to help fortify your paint defense and to be somebody who’s not just allowing layups and and open shots around the rim and he’s done an excellent job at that and I think credit

Also goes to emay udoka he said he said in the interview that they’ve been trying to help him improve defensively Improvement also comes when you’re utilizing the strengths of a player and they are absolutely utilizing his strengths in terms of his quick hands his ability to get low he’s really good

At getting low what when we mean by getting low it’s like bending his knees and kind of getting into the the pathway of the dribble right he does a really good job of doing that and so you know all credit goes to not just Alper and Shang but this coaching staff of putting

Him uh in those positions to be successful and um I’m happy to say I was wrong about you know putting him at Fourth because he’s more than proven that he he is right now the Rocket’s best Prospect and ultimately he can hold his home defensively and be somebody who

The Rockets can hopefully build around defensively as they continue to take these steps over the next few years same yeah I’m willing to admit that I was wrong I had question marks about the defense he came in proved everybody wrong and now he’s the Rocket’s number one Prospect number one Play number one

Player and number one Prospect highest future potential currently on the team no question about it right now he’s playing at an All-Star level he deserves all of the flowers um and it’s also worth noting that eay highlighted the relationship that’s you know the budding relationship between Thiago splitter and

And Alper and shinon e may bringing in Thiago another one of uh the SP former players former coaching staff you know roots in the Greg papovich coaching tree all that um a guy who played you know his fair share of overseas basketball uh in Euro league you know understands some

Of the philosophies from over there understands the way that alpie likes to be coached how he likes to be pushed hard by his coaches um and just you know little tips and tricks right about what it was like to play in a winning environment and see you know winning

All-Star caliber players up close like Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and Manu job during his time with the Spurs and being able to impart that wisdom and knowledge with Alp that’s I I really thought when Thiago was added as like a late uh you know a late addition to Em’s coaching

Staff I loved the addition and I knew immediately that that was going to be a big addition for alperin shenon specifically last thing I want to highlight here before we wrap things up Ali KH was uh ‘s commentary about uh aen and cam now you know just some generals

There you know just talking about hey they’re always hungry and itching for minutes uh they’ve got you know real depth at some of those positions so those guys just need to be ready they need to be patient you know they’re making the most of the minutes that they’re getting absolutely but he

Highlighted that cam had the right mindset going down to Rio Grand Valley to play with the Vipers and look for a guy that was you know mocked as high as you know number three number four in this past year’s draft a guy that had th thoughts and aspirations of being a top

Five top six selection a guy that slid all the way to 20 you could very easily see how cam could could have a bad attitude about the situation about him sliding about not being you know a premier uh rookie being featured on one of those bad teams somewhere in the

League where he’s just getting 35 Plus minutes a night and he gets to do whatever no instead my understanding with Cam both from you know talking to members of the Rockets coaching staff uh conversations with you know with with his trainer uh just everything that I’ve

Seen from cam is he absolutely is about the work right he constantly is striving to be the best version of himself self he’s an absolute Workhorse he’s a sponge he absorbs everything he can from everybody around him and that’s exactly what the goal was to send him down to

RGV so that he could refine his game so that he could work on things and we saw we saw him dominate with RGV right we saw some passing on display from him we saw him scoring in an elite level all of the above and he basically proved in a

Very short time span he’s too good for RGV like that would that became apparent within like five games it was like okay he’s too good for RGV got to bring him back up and the Silver Lining with the Dylan Brooks and tar e injuries is now it’s opened up minutes for Cam whitmor

And we’re seeing Oka continue to trust him with more and more of a workload and that’s why it’s going to be a really interesting situation once those two guys are healthy what do you do because I think cam Whitmore has earned a spot in the rotation so whose minutes would

You reduce when it comes time to you know factor in the other two guys once they’re healthy yeah you know there was a half halftime interview a few games ago where assistant coach Raby was talking to Vanessa oh I have I have it I can play

It I have it I have it teed up for you I know you sent me this hang on so Royal Ivy was talk was asked about Cam and this is what royal iy had to say his energy his resiliency his effort the way he finishes his toughness everything I

Love Cam he’s going to be a heck of a player when it’s his time he’s going to be a heck of a player when it’s his time Jackson and I think right now after shooting 12 of 22 from three-point range over his last seven games it is his time

To be in the rotation and he’s earned it he’s playing well and I think something else that coach Ivy talked about was just his ability to finish and his hustle and his effort and that’s all you need they want him to play a role OK has

Talked about it I know you’ve heard it um pregame and postgame when cam learns to play his role and now he’s playing his role and playing within what they want from him in terms of a structured role as a role player right now now if

He can make shots if he can play off and cut and we saw that against Chicago where he had a few of those aloop he gets Miami at a few of those alley oops kind of attacking weak side Baseline if he continues to play that role there’s

No reason why he should not you know I I may be starting as a stretch but there’s no reason why he should not be playing more than 20 minutes a night and he just plays extremely well and he matches and compliments with Alp he likes to do offensively

In terms of movement he compliments him also by having another shooter out there who can not only shoot Jackson but has the ability to break down a defense and then also finish and actually finish around traffic around the rim and go up aggressively there was a play where he

Tried to dunk on I don’t know who it was he drew an offensive foul a couple games ago he tried to dunk on somebody but I love that mindset go for it dunk it be aggressive and and he’s doing those things he’s going to learn he’s as the

Playing time comes he’s going to learn but he’s too good of a player and he and he’s fitting in a KNE that you have right now offensively for him not to be able to play and one thing highlighted by one of our other weekly co-hosts Madison Moore uh he shared that he he

Noticed one thing about cam defensively from the Bulls game that on an early possession guarding d rozan d rozan hit him with a pump fake and got him in the air for an easy foul cam never fell for that pump fake again in the game and he says that’s the importance of getting

Minutes and learning through experience and I fully agree right cam is at a point where he needs the real game reps to understand where his mistakes are going to be how to improve and how to learn from a defensive perspective from an offensive perspective and offensively he’s at a place where he’s very

Plug-and-play at this point right he his his skill set compliments a lot of the other players guys like shingon and Fred Van vet who are great table Setters can just set him up to knock him down because that’s all he’s got to do is he’s got the quick trigger he’s got a

Good shooting for him he’s going to have his hiccups he’s going to have his mistakes defensively like the foul on Zack LaVine late that gave him the and one on the drive in overtime he’s going to have moments like that sure but I do think at this point with what we’ve seen

The potential is so skyh high with Cam you’ve got to let him play through some of those mistakes at this point so a lot from cam wh more more like can he play more oh you know so God oh that was oh my oh my that was a wow that was a I

Don’t even know what that was miss me I I don’t know if I I don’t know if I missed after that one man all right that that that does it um it it was a great interview again from Vanessa Richardson great one-on-one great job Vanessa eem

Udoka um let us know your favorite part of the interview let us know your thoughts on what we discussed from this interview but alyon you know the drill let everybody know where to track you down at man you can follow me on Twitter rockets inssider and you can find me on

Lock on Rockets that’s going to do it for another edition of locked on Rockets as always thank you so much for checking out the show if you haven’t done so yet yet please consider subscribing whever you listen to your podcast or on YouTube just search locked on Rockets be sure to

Like comment and subscribe give us your thoughts on what em Oka had to say about the Houston Rockets growth and development this season about the young core about him comping tar een to a young Kawai Leonard let us know in the YouTube comments but as always thank you

So much for watching thank you so much for listening and we look forward to having you back right here at lock on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets Basketball

Ime Udoka Talks Houston Rockets Growth, Alperen Sengun Defense, Tari Eason Playing Like Kawhi & More

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) is joined by weekly cohost Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) to discuss thoughts and key takeaways from Ime Udoka’s one-on-one interview with Houston Rockets Courtside Reporter Vanessa Richardson, covering a variety of topics like how Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks have helped change the culture, growth of players like Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and Jabari Smith Jr., how rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore are adjusting to the NBA, and what Udoka sees in Tari Eason.

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