Ime Udoka was direct and unapologetic on Friday night time after a loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves: Houston’s offense was effective, Houston’s protection was not, and permitting 136 factors to finish an eight-game profitable streak will not be a template the Rockets can deliver into the postseason.
The core subject, Udoka mentioned, was a whole incapability to protect anybody one-on-one for many of the night time. “All recreation it felt prefer it was simply layup line — just about all their guys put their heads down and received to the basket at will. Even with the 10-point lead, our protection wasn’t adequate. We had 73 at halftime, that they had 69. We’re scoring no drawback however didn’t put up a lot resistance on the opposite finish,” he mentioned.
Udoka ultimately turned to zone protection within the fourth quarter in an try and gradual Minnesota’s drives. He acknowledged the adjustment helped to a level. “It halted a few of their drives, however they hit some powerful threes — 15 for 30, 50% — although rather a lot have been contested off the dribble you can type of reside with. It did an excellent job at the least turning them from attending to the basket like they have been,” he mentioned.
On Amen Thompson’s career-high 41 factors — a efficiency constructed nearly totally on relentless aggression on the rim — Udoka framed it as a symptom of a wider defensive drawback quite than a single matchup subject. “He’s attacking the basket just about at will. He did what 5 of their guys did — step to the basket constantly, put strain on the rim, then make the correct reads when he will get there,” he mentioned. “We simply needed to play higher protection general as a group, one-on-one.”
Houston shot simply 4-of-19 from three on the night time, a determine Udoka addressed actually. “We received some respectable seems to be. We’d prefer to get extra, particularly with them packing the paint going after Alperen and Kevin. However we received to the basket a ton — nearly 70 factors within the paint. We missed the nice seems to be we had, simply didn’t get sufficient makes an attempt,” he mentioned.
Closing with a big-picture evaluation of what the loss means, Udoka was blunt. “Tonight it simply felt like open health club. Each groups going backwards and forwards, scoring too simple. We don’t wish to be in a shootout each night time. We really feel if we’re scoring, we must always be capable of put up some resistance on the opposite finish. And 136 is method too excessive,” he mentioned.
Houston stays the fifth seed within the West at 51-30 and hosts Memphis on Sunday, with Udoka hinting that relaxation might be on the desk if the seeding image is settled earlier than tip-off.
