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ITL reacts to another Rockets loss and breaks down Ime Udoka’s strong comments about the team’s performance.
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00:00The mention of the Houston Rockets and their unfortunate loss to the Chicago Bulls in the
00:06first of a four-game road trip. It was 126, 121? 124, 116. 124, 116, something like that.
00:14132, 124. Yeah, I was about to say, nah, Chicago put it somewhere in there. At some point,
00:20I was just like, unbelievable. This was, what was your ultimate takeaway from this game is
00:25the question I have. 713, 572, 4610. Because there's a lot of different places that you can
00:29be, and I want to explore the various portions of it. Because I don't think all of it was
00:33bad, but there definitely was some stuff that was bad, including the coach himself.
00:37Which I do wonder, do we need to just go ahead and fully go to...
00:40Well, he managed to blame the players again afterwards. He sure did.
00:43It's weird how that happens. He sure did. When they lose, it's all about the players not having
00:46the effort and stuff. And when they win, hey, great job. Yeah, out there being soft.
00:50Yeah. Oh, do you have the audio? Do you have the audio? Yeah, let's play. Let's hear.
00:54Let's start from here. Because they did go down early. I mean, this is what I would have
00:58called a magnets game where it felt like there was magnets in the rim. Every time the Bulls
01:03put up a shot, that thing went clean through. Every time the Rockets put up a shot, it just
01:07refused to go. Yeah. And so maybe you look at that and you go, all right, well, that's
01:13just the way that this fell, and that's why they fell into a deep hole. They ultimately
01:16try and claw it back, and then they can't get it done at the end. That's the larger story
01:21of the game. Right. When you ask Eme Odoka what went wrong, there's one place and one place
01:25alone where he lays blame. Poor start. Disrespect of the game. Not prepared from the get-go.
01:33Just non-aggressive. Following around, watching them shoot. You know, they have nothing to lose.
01:39They're going to fire away. And obviously, to give up 41 points in that first quarter
01:43is disappointing. It was one quarter that killed us and weren't prepared to play at all.
01:48And there's a lot of this. Disrespect of the game. Standing around, watching them shoot.
01:51I mean, that points directly to the player. Hey, man, it was the players. They just
01:55weren't ready. Well, getting them ready, of course, is your thing, but that might be a
01:59different discussion. But ultimately, he wasn't wrong. You know, he wasn't wrong about the
02:06first quarter. That is a tough thing, because even the effort to get back into, we all know.
02:10You know, and then you maybe settle in and things balance out and all that. He wasn't wrong
02:14about that. But I said in spurts, because then we had a spurt where we're looking at
02:20him and like, all right, you know, Durant, Sengun, a man, you know, really, really, really
02:26doing the job. Just clawing their way back. Yeah. I mean, this is a game where you had
02:30a 40-point score, a 33-point score. In fact, Sengun with a 33-13-10 triple-double that just
02:35falls by the wayside in the midst of all of this. Man, they absolutely actually saw adversity,
02:42and they said, all right, bet. And they answered the call up until the very end
02:46where they just kind of squandered it. It wasn't even one of those, damn, you just
02:50didn't have quite enough to make it in the comeback. They made it all the way back
02:53just to give it back away, which was frustrating as well. Well, and that's funny you say that
02:57because I said he was right about it. I mean, you give a 41 in the first quarter,
03:01that's a steep hill. Also right, they clawed their way back. They took the lead. They were in it
03:06at the very end. But ultimately, if you had to say, okay, this is what ultimately lost them
03:10the game. It was closing out the game. It was closing out the game defensively.
03:16You know, and I could just sense, oh, Reggie's going to talk about Reed Shepard's defense.
03:23Reggie's going to talk about Reed Shepard. And you would be right. He was bad. They attacked him.
03:26Oh, yeah. The final bucket that salted the game away from Matas Buzelas, who,
03:31if you don't know him, is a cold white boy right there, I will say.
03:35What they did was they just, we know we need to run some time, so they just dribbled the ball,
03:38and then they went, well, we need to go get something. That's my bitch.
03:41But here's the thing. They were like, Reed Shepard, I'm attacking right here into your chest
03:46and lay up. But here's the thing. While you're right on that one possession,
03:50they were already down, I think, three at that point. That'll be the icing game.
03:55And, you know, Josh Giddey, what you call it, who was it that didn't close out? I can't remember.
04:03Was it Jabari that didn't close out on that one? Then Buzelas hit another big deep three.
04:08Shingun was just put in a dice. He was diced up. So, yes, it was Reed Shepard, but it was
04:14that
04:15whole defense, man. I mean, they took control of the game late because of a complete defensive
04:20breakdown. That included Reed Shepard.
04:24It feels like of late for the Rockets, there's been a lot of things that I might be able to
04:28let
04:28slide if they were in a vacuum, but they just kind of all stack up because there is something to
04:32be
04:32said for. The Chicago Bulls play a very particular style of basketball right now, which does not
04:38quite fit. Like, there is a world in which this game could go a lot differently, and if there's not
04:43the same context that there is, I go, that's kind of a styles make fights type thing that happened
04:48there, and you go, yeah, it's not something that you like, but it happens. I think the way that
04:53this thing is unfurled and the way that we've been talking about this Rockets team leading up,
04:56those possessions are deadly. I'm sorry. I have a hard time moving off of E-Man.
05:02I know.
05:03The luster has very much worn off of E-Man Udoka with this team, and I say that understanding that
05:09it's also the team that you've seen claw back, but this is a team that you wait 60 games in
05:13order
05:13to actually start Reed of your own volition. This is a team that you look at and you go,
05:17how many times do you have to talk about getting your guys ready for this? And when you talk about
05:22getting this ready and not trusting, not respecting the game, maybe you could say, all right, they
05:26weren't ready for the grind that was going to be an up and down basketball game. Maybe you say that,
05:30right? They weren't rotating fast enough. They weren't just fully committed to balls to the wall
05:35defense. The thing that I saw was, hey man, did we not have conversations about this to get them
05:43ready for that particular style of basketball game, right? Like, were we not prepared for this game
05:48being that? I think I still bring that to E-Man Udoka at times. And I know that there, you
05:53know,
05:53there is a personal responsibility that hits with the players, but the players still found it within
05:57themselves to draw themselves back into this.
05:59Right. And the thing about it is when you're having a season like they had last year, when they end
06:04up
06:04being the number two seed and they're playing really good and Shangoon is an all-star and
06:08they're, they're doing, you know, they're, they're winning a lot of games whenever you, the head coach
06:13gets up there after a loss and says, well, these guys just didn't, they weren't prepared. They were
06:17letting them have shots. It doesn't, it doesn't seem like he's just putting it on the players, but when
06:22you do it consistently this year, when you're struggling and you're trying to find a, you know,
06:26you're trying to find something and he's doing it that much more often, then it really starts to
06:30resonate a little louder. Like, okay, he's just blaming the players. And even if it's not quite
06:34blaming the players, it's going, is this your one button? It's also, cause maybe, maybe it's
06:39unfair to go like, he's just blaming the players because he doesn't know what to do. The question
06:42that I then have is if you're finding that this has not worked as a, as a method to inspire
06:47your players, what is the other method, right? That's part of coaching and that's part of any
06:51job. If, if one way of getting it done, it isn't working. If one tool does not seem sufficient
06:56for the job, we need to find another tool. And this is, you know, game what in the season
07:01for them? Game 71 where we're going, guys just, they don't have, they don't have the passion.
07:08They don't have the energy. What's the, what's, what is another way to get them to that ultimately
07:12needs to be your, your, your, uh, I don't know, resolve as a coach, because this can't be the way
07:17that we keep going about this. And admittedly not great bulls team, but a team that came out with
07:22the, with the effort and energy on this particular night. Um, you can't, you can't be getting up and
07:27tripped up by them, especially when you already did the tough work of getting yourself back into the
07:31game. When it comes down to a few possessions, your guys got to be able to get over this.
07:34And the last few possessions does point more to coaching as well. Uh, that's why I said,
07:38yes, Reed Shepard was a target. There were a lot of guys that were missing on defense and that's
07:42not necessarily, I mean, it is effort, but it's also scheme and what you're, what you're, you know,
07:48the messaging is just not sticking. And we've talked about it, how sometimes they look checked
07:52out a couple of weeks ago and, and all that. Then they bring in a Reed Shepard in the starting
07:56lineup. And by the way, this was also, you could argue one of those days where you had to find
08:00another way you're talking about, you know, find another method. Well, they were five for 28
08:05from three point range between Shepard, Jabari, Tari, Aaron holiday and a Kogi. So they were not
08:11making shots either. So that's where you have to do that method that you're talking about. Okay.
08:15How are we going to get this done now? And you had three guys that were, that were just playing
08:18their asses off. Yeah. There is something also to say, and this is the thing that this is one of
08:23those
08:23things that kind of cuts into whatever belief I do have about the rockets, which I think I might be
08:28one of the more optimistic still, interestingly enough on the rockets, you can't have a game in
08:34which maybe we even go as far as saying this is a magnets game. This is one of those things
08:37that it
08:37just kind of happens. It's a make or miss league. And sometimes you miss shots while the other team
08:41makes them. You also then have to win in the margins. And this is a 63% outing at the
08:48free throw line.
08:49The easy buckets that you have, you missed nine free throws. They won by six or by eight points in
08:54this
08:55game, right? Like that, that ends up at least getting you closer to this. If that's going to
08:59happen, obviously the bench points is something that shows up, but I also just look at the way
09:03that your team is built right now. You don't have a bench. Yeah, you don't. And, and, and the bench
09:06was a big problem. As we all know, Texter pointed it out. I don't know if this is accurate at
09:1054 to
09:11nine bench points. It was something like that. I can double check that here in a moment, but I mean,
09:14yes, it was, it was very evident, right? It was a lot to a little, even if we don't have
09:19the exact
09:19number on bench points, uh, when it came to this, this, you know, this, this margin between the
09:25bulls and the rockets, but ultimately that's another issues that you have to depend so much
09:30on your starters. And I, I wonder if that wasn't some of the hesitation for email Doka on starting
09:36Reed Shepard. Cause you look at it now and who is your bench after the starting lineup? Um, you
09:41obviously have to do a little bit of, sorry, it's, it's Tari Eason who hasn't been scoring well right
09:45now. Doreen Finney-Smith is a guy that they still have to run out there, but he got eight
09:49minutes and that's a evidence of the trust that they have in him right in this moment. Josh
09:53Akogi is not an offensive threat. Maybe he'll knock down an open jumper if it's there for
09:57him. Aaron Holiday got the most minutes off the bench, but he all isn't consistently in
10:02their rotation. Clint Capella, who could get played off the court in certain circumstances,
10:06like you just don't have much offense off the bench. It is your starters right now. And if
10:11they're not shooting, especially Reed Shepard, if he's not shooting, I don't know. I don't
10:14know where you get all the points that you want from. Well, the other thing about that
10:18is you almost have to pick your poison because if you put, if you go back to Reed Shepard
10:23on the bench, then you're going to be looking at more 41 point first quarters in some, in
10:28some instances when it's not falling, because you don't have the offense, you know, the offense
10:31is a big problem to start and finish. If he's coming off the bench, it's, it's a quandary
10:35for him for sure. Dilemma, whatever you want to call it. But I think ultimately it is it.
10:40And it was kind of weird, you know, watching, watching Emei Adoka after the game, because
10:46I was just sitting here going again, again, it's just the players. When, when you lose
10:50it, it does a lot more pointing toward him, right? Yeah. And I know that there's big issues
10:55that we've talked about all season that you can't, that you can't do much about the things
10:58that you can't, they need, they need to hit the margin in this final 10 games. You need
11:02to find a way to be better in the margins because there's the large bucket things. You're not
11:09making sure that you're knocking down your open shots when you get those opportunities
11:13too, right? You can make sure that you're not blowing layups. And I think that those
11:18are things that maybe you can do to get yourselves into a better circumstance. It's, it's real
11:22weird because this should have been a shining example of the resilience of this basketball
11:26team. And ultimately, it looked that way for a while. Ultimately, that's not where you
11:29lay in. A few more things on this that made it really disappointing was on top of that
11:33missed opportunity to claw yourself back a game in the standings. Shout out to the other
11:38twin, also our Thompson and the Detroit Pistons. They solidified their spot in the playoffs.
11:44The first team that used to do that, but more importantly, they beat the Lakers, which would
11:46have given you an opportunity to get a game back closer to that third seed. Nope. Didn't
11:52do that. Ultimately lose the game, which really stinks. And it's currently in the sixth seed.
11:56Yeah. That's another thing is that just like that, you're back in a place where you don't
12:00have home court advantage, which again would be another marginal thing that goes away from
12:04you in the playoffs. If the season were to end today, you still have a tough
12:08road test test because it only gets harder on Wednesday versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.
12:14830 ESPN. Big game. That's a big, real big game, especially when they could get some real
12:18separation. Your head coach has stepped up and called your boys out. What do they do in
12:22response? I will say though, I do want to acknowledge a couple of things. Alper Sangun
12:26put on a show for them Turkish people that showed up in Chicago. Like there's a whole bunch of
12:31Turkish fans in the, uh, in the United center that had the, uh, what was it? The, um,
12:36Fenerbahce jerseys on, uh, a, a, a, a Turkish soccer team. And honestly, just athletic club all
12:42the way around. But yes, I, I feel bad because that, that resurgence, that game from Alper and
12:48Shangun goes on, on, uh, I don't know, uncelebrated in this moment. Unrewarded that
12:55unrewarded is the word I was looking for that. If, if Alper Shangun is heating up to that level,
13:00I do think that that's a good thing ultimately for what this Rockets team is because he looked
13:03comfortable as hell. Glad you brought that up because as bad as it was, and we're talking
13:06about EMA and the defense and the closing out, et cetera. If the, the, the, ultimately I wouldn't
13:12change a damn thing about the starting lineup, even with, you know, the, the issues that you saw
13:16because you are, those other three guys are finding their niche. And, and, and if
13:20Reed Shepard knocks down three more shots, what was he two for nine, three for 14, I
13:27believe. Oh, three is what it's worse than I thought. He took a lot of them, which it was
13:31the nature of the game, right? They're over here knocking down threes and you're getting
13:34twos. At some point, the math is not going to work. But what I'm saying is like, if he
13:37just knocks down a few more shots, you can lament the first quarter, but it would have been
13:41a W and, and ultimately you're looking at those three guys, I'm in Shangun and Durant.
13:45And you're like, and okay, it still works. You know, even if he's not knocking down a
13:48lot of shots. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, that was very frustrating to not see, uh, Alper
13:53Shangun's, uh, you know, really good game rewarded. I still also, how'd you feel about
13:59the Kevin Durant push off at the end? Cause ultimately that was, that was a possession
14:03where, cause I think that this is one of the things also that EMA does is EMA is a crotchety
14:08old man in some ways. And one of the things that he's talking about when he's asked about
14:12how you felt the officiating, he's like, we're not going to respond to a soft crew was
14:16the words that he used, which again, I love that word. So this is another thing that,
14:21that upsets me or annoys me about EMA is I think that as much as you can have a head
14:27coach that is, you know, kind of surly, I do wonder if that feeds into the psyche of
14:32the team in general, where as a team, I know that they're not getting in trouble with the
14:37refs a whole bunch. Yeah. But does that then take some of the responsibility away from the
14:42players outside of the things that he is, he is, uh, you know, getting after them about
14:45because he's going to go out there and go, well, dammit, that's the rest when in all
14:48reality, I fully think Kevin Durant pulled pushed off. It was a clear push. How you got
14:52gangly ass arms. He got seven, seven foot long, long arms. And we saw all seven foot of
14:58them on Matas Buzelis's chest. Like, come on you. And you expect them not to call that soft.
15:03That's not a call. You making the time like that. Yeah. Well, that was, that was, that
15:10was Ryan Hollins on the broadcast. And I was just, I was surprised Ryan Hollins is going
15:13this hard behind that one. Uh, cause it's just like, you can't make it in this time. Like,
15:16yeah, you can don't make, don't, don't, don't do that. And I understand for Kevin Durant,
15:21it's frustrating for him because teams have just been draping themselves on him, but you
15:24know what the game is, man, that full extension don't get you cold. And ultimately that was a
15:28big time moment where you couldn't afford it. They call it. Maybe you get away with that
15:32sometimes, but if they call it, I don't think you can be mad at it. And that, that,
15:35that was an unfortunate moment at a big time where maybe you could have salvaged
15:39that game, but the Rockets move on to a big time test on Wednesday versus the
15:43Minnesota Timberwolves, a weird, weird game where there's a lot of negatives, but
15:46there's also like a really resilient game and, uh, you know, attempt at coming back
15:52in this one in Chicago, just not good enough for your Houston Rockets.
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