I’ve been a fan since the early eighties and I haven’t liked a Rockets team this much since the championship teams. They hustle and grind and don’t give up. What they lack in talent, they make up with determination. They might not have the talent to go the distance, but they have heart. What a difference from the last few years.
I love how Udoka has changed the franchise. He is just doing normal things - holding players accountable while supporting them, rewarding good defense and good attitude, not playing favourites. And getting everyone focused on defense. He has given us a new identity. I love this new identity. 13-9 BABY!
13-9 and it could very well be 16-6. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we could improve this much this fast. Just crazy.
The Udoka effect. This team doesn’t quit. Udoka won’t allow it. If you aren’t giving max effort- you will be replaced with someone who will. Thankful that the Fertitta’s made the right hire in Udoka. Couldn’t have asked for a Better start to this new era of Rockets basketball
Ime got this team going in the right direction for sure. With the way this game started this could have been an easy road loss, but they were having none of that.
Post championships favorite teams: 2009. 2011 (with Gogi and Lowry). 2012( Teen Wolf's first year here). 2017. 2023
Hell yes. I have to admit I wasn't a believer. I really thought the Udoka hire was a good one, but I thought Brooks and VanVleet were salary cap fillers. Brooks, Fred, Uncle Green, Udoka - it really takes all of them together to turn this team around. The alternative is Detroit. You need those guys that know how to win and will hold the rest of the team accountable. Otherwise you have entitled AAU ballers.
The first thing I said to a friend was I pray the franchise let him take over and do whatever he wants ala Spo in Miami. It's hilarious that just simply playing the hot hand, taking players out when they aren't performing/giving effort is such an amazing foreign unheard of concept to Rockets fans after the past 3 years of pre-school coaching from toddler Silas. It didn't even take 20 games to prove the whole 'coaching doesn't matter we're trying to lose' crowd of the past few seasons horribly wrong. Coaching does matter. A lot. The Rockets are literally exhibit A. And it's f*cking beautiful.
I like that Udoka will bench you if you start pouting and give minimal effort on defense. It's not about scoring, it's about playing consistent defense because that's our identity.
Right now Udoka is the arguably the best coach in professional sports. How many other coaches can get this kind of effort from this group?
The veterans have the flavor of that 04-05 team with Sura, David Wesley, and Jon Barry. Hungry and balling hard. Hope we see an 8-game win streak this season. Landale is Juwon Howard
I'm impressed with Udoka so far, he's proving to be a home-run signing, the pivotal one in our rebuild. I thought he was good, but this is beyond my best case scenario good. His game magement is excellent, very few mistakes so far. He's holding a standard and abyding by it, and it shows, especially on the defensive end. His interviews are a great listen, and he truly looks like a man on a mission right now. He has us playing great. This team is all kinds of surprising. We're winning with defense, playing tough and on a playoffs-like pace. What? This early? We're playing great ball, and staying above .500, even with Jalen's horrendous offensive play, Amen's inability to be on the court, and even with subpar shooting and no dependable backup C. The vets are obviously huge additions, and they play their roles to perfection. And the youngsters are playing much better than before, especially Alpi, Tari and Bari. Last night, even when We went down 15, I somehow felt relaxed because I trust this team to play through the funk and rise up. And when I saw how Ime looked like storming on to the court after his 2nd TO in the 1st quarter, I thought he was going to KO someone, with how mad he was. After that We started to steadily erase our deficit, and then close them out at the end. That is a sign of a seriously good team, and I'm confident that the guys that are struggling right now, will eventually break out of their funk and play much better. I'm truly excited to watch every single game, and to see how We develop through the season. And hopefully our youngster get their feet wet in the playoffs this spring. That would be huge for their developement, and a great opportunity for us to see which are worth keeping and building with.
Well said. Just goes tp show we had talent. Just a terrible coach and a malcontent in KPJ. Ime trusts Sengun which Silas didn't. He's also not afraid to bench Jalen when he deserves it (which unfortunately has been a lot lately). Fun team to watch which has not been the case in quite a while
