Ime Udoka after Jalen Green’s 42-point explosion in Washington

Ime Udoka after Jalen Green’s 42-point explosion in Washington

When you left Jaylen in after that last timeout were you letting him go for a season high career high whichever it would be no he he uh was at the free throw line so I was going to get him out when he was shooting the free throws so

Not after either um no just in general in those last couple minutes no no no I just didn’t want to do a whole sale sub at at 353 on the clock seen a lot happen in the league and um you know four minutes 19 points you know Tracy McGrady

Scored nine points in 30 seconds so no I wanted to I didn’t want to do wholesale and then I little by little took two out and then when I did want to get him and Jabari out he was at the free throw line so he stayed in the next two possessions

Coach you took a three-point lead into the halftime and then it seemed like you all stayed in the locker room a little bit longer than normal what was your halftime speech to them you came out and I scored them I think it was like 77 to

58 yeah we did but you know my my message was we’re playing with the game messing around with the game you know we’re scoring high enough clip but we got a guard um and so U didn’t come out great you know got Technical and they

Went on I think went up five at that point but um so we didn’t come out great but then flipped it from there so maybe it was my technically helped them get that um motivation going but yes to your point I think 4125 in that third quarter

You know finally turned around after a slow start coming out and just you know it’s it’s what I was talked about before the game the natural let down sometimes with guys not playing and you know they shot above their means for the first half I think they’re 10 for 18 at some

Point and finished 15 for 39 so they went five for 21 second half and that kind of came back to uh the norm but you know you got to help them out and teams are confident when guys aren’t playing they’re going to step up Carefree and we didn’t do a

Great job of contesting early it’s kind of buried in the stat sheet but jock landale had a career high seven blocks what did you think of his effort tonight yeah it was great I think we acknowledge Him in the in the locker room there about that and he was part of the unit

That really got us going from an energy standpoint so um you know meeting guys at The Rim you know making the right play in there and um deterring shots as well if he didn’t block it and so I think uh him Aaron that group that came

In kind of built the lead up there when Fred went out um tweaked his ankle a little bit and so they were great with the juice combin them with Jaylen Jabari and it was a good unit that really had the right energy that we were lacking

Early jock was a big part of that you’ve been talking a lot about Jaylen reading defense as well when they switched to the double team the trapping of him how do you feel about the way he he didn’t get impatient with it but played aggressively anyway yeah it was good I

Think he picked his spots he invites that and he knows if he just makes a crack Pass to the pocket you’re going to have numbers behind it so found Jo Jabari and some guys in there and from there you know we had layups are wide wide open kick out three so if they’re

Going to try to take you out um you know you can be the bait there and get everybody else looks that’s great um but at times he also rejected and beat the double team in time so wasn’t too aggressive to try to get around it he made the right play whether that was

Driving or are passing it and showed more growth because he’s you know him and others have struggled at times against double teams early in the season what did you think amen did well tonight to earn his career high 25 yeah activity I think um especially when they go Zone

He’s really good in the middle you know you can pass and you know one dribbles right at the rim and so he did a good job there but um his activity was great I felt him on the offensive glass kind of cleaning everything up when we were

We had some lows early you and so one thing we did really well against him was rebound offensive rebound last game and he was a big part of that and so yeah just more of the same I’m taking advantage of opportunities and playing with different lineups and um he’s been

Great in the pocket setting screens and rolling like I said he’s so athletic he catches in there he can make the play and be right at the rim and so learning different ways to impact it and continue to grow coach Jon came out came out hot in the first quarter but then they

Started to double him in the second and third quarter Midway through the third quarter he had only had three shot attempts and then he went on a personal 70 run but during that time he was also making sure his teammates got involved is that the EV tion that you’re seeing

From him yeah that’s what I kind of spoke about where he was uh making the right read regardless and then if you’re rolling like he was teams are going to try to take you out you just have to make the right play and um use yourself

As bait to get everybody else shots and so he hit the guy in the pocket he made the right play play if he got it back he attack sometimes he tried to split it and beat the double team he still did that well so yeah he didn’t force

Anything let it come to him and um made the hockey assist in addition to the in addition to the things you’ve talked about about how much of what we’re seeing from him these last few weeks is just confidence that he just feels better that’s the main thing regardless

Of whatever reads or whatever you have to be confident to knock down those shots or take them if you make or miss a few and he’s done that and so we always stress taking the right shot regardless of the result and um when he’s taking those shots without thinking about it

You know reading the defenses and being aggressive especially the pace that we’ve picked up and played with that faster Pace I think it that gets him in the open court he sees some easy ones go down and then the basket kind of opens up for him and so

Uh yeah we’ll live with the results if he takes the right ones and that’s across the board but he’s really um been aggressive and you can see a confidence Skyrocket with one or two goes down coach another player that’s uh probably going to get buried in the stat sheet is

The way the Jabari Smith played tonight he had another double double what is it about him just doing that dirty work yeah especially at the five now so you know I don’t think you you get buried when you got 18 to 14 but you know him

And like I said him and jayen were a big part with the second unit guys that came in and brought the energy and so um you know quietly went about his business um you know four offensive rebounds and all the things he does besides switching and guarding some bigs

And you know rashan Holmes kind of a loow down there on the Block so he did a good job fighting him there but yeah I thought he was really good with the Jaylen and the backups and that that unit really got us lead in the third quarter thanks Co thank you

Houston Rockets Fan Information Source

Ime Udoka talks to reporters after the Houston Rockets beat the Washington Wizards on 3/19/2024. Jalen Green exploded for 42 points (tying a career high), hitting 7 three-pointers, while Amen Thompson (25 points, 10 boards), Jabari Smith Jr (18 points, 14 rebounds) and Jock Landale (7 blocks) all came up big.