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The Houston Rockets still have a long way to go in their series against the Los Angeles Lakers. They have to figure out how to contain LeBron James and how either Reed Sheppard or Amen Thompson can effectively run the offense. Coach Ime Udoka knows that there will be a lot of challenges in the road of the squad led by Alperen Sengun. So, he is implementing a very rough coaching philosophy to make them all grow faster in the NBA Playoffs.
What is Udoka and the Rockets' coaching philosophy
If the Rockets aim to escape the Lakers in this NBA Playoffs series, they will need to make history in every facet of the next two games. Unfortunately, they do not have veteran stars like Kevin Durant and Fred VanVleet who can lead them on the court. This is why Coach Ime Udoka enforces a very rough coaching philosophy on his young core of Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr, Amen Thompson, and Reed Sheppard.
Smith Jr. outlined how this hard-nosed approach in the NBA Playoffs have affected the young Rockets, via Sam Amick of The Athletic.
"He knows our team is good enough to do big things, and to do special things, but sometimes the mental side isn’t there. And I think he is growing in a sense as far as just having that patience, but at the same time, it’s like urging us and pushing us to grow up. I think it definitely is different for him, just having young guys who maybe don’t know the things that you’re expecting to know you know," the Rockets forward said.
The Rockets have seen some fruit come out of how Coach Udoka treats the team. Their defensive rating of 113.2 which was ranked sixth in the regular season rose all the way up to a 106.3 defensive rating. The next challenge will be seeing if their offense can improve given his philosophy because their effective field goal percentage regressed from 54.2% in the regular season to 53.3% in the NBA Playoffs.
Coach Udoka knows that this system works and it is why they have a chance against the Lakers too.
"I am who I am, and you can only be who you are. Guys respect that, and they know that by now. But in certain moments, certain situations, it’s like I said, ‘Grow up.’ We wanted to show growth or progress in certain situations, and I think they did that," Coach Udoka declared.
There is only one way to find out if this philosophy works with the Rockets. It all relies on seeing if they win Games 6 and 7 to clinch a NBA Playoffs second round berth against the Lakers.
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