By the time the Houston Rockets hired Ime Udoka in late April as their next head coach, the plans for revamping the team’s defensive system — and, in many ways, the organizational mindset — were already well underway.
During the 2022-23 season, the period Udoka spent away from the league, he consumed basketball differently. It was nearly impossible to enjoy the games as a fan, given his propensity for perfecting his own craft, so each game essentially was its own individual film study.
From his brief time in Boston, notably the second half of the 2021-22 season, he understood what it would take to construct a high-level defensive team in Houston: aggressive guards, lengthy wings and versatile bigs. It also would require a diverse collection of assistants who not only understood the value and importance of veteran leadership and defensive efficiency, but also how to impart that knowledge to players.
This past summer, the Rockets brass, led by general manager Rafael Stone and with key input from Udoka, retooled the roster. It took a large chunk of Houston’s available cap space, but Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet, two hard-nosed veterans who had been key cogs of vaunted defensive units elsewhere, were added. In addition, Jeff Green’s versatility, even at age 37, was seen as valuable, and Aaron Holiday and Jock Landale were viewed as solid depth pieces. Amen Thompson, one of the more physically imposing and explosive rookies in recent memory, was selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and joined Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr., members of the previous draft class who have shown promise.
Throughout the entire process, from July all the way into September, the consistent theme, in a nutshell, that permeated Houston’s coaching staff was that defense could travel. Offensively, there was the understanding that there would be an adjustment period that might lead to inconsistent play, having to add two new starters to a young core that had struggled for a few seasons. Udoka had long been a proponent of spacing and 3-point efficiency, and there was still room for improvement.
But defensively, there were a plethora of controllable factors — effort, aggression, communication — that were easily attainable and applicable more so than made or missed baskets. It was the one area of the game that could be solely dictated on their terms.
That’s been the case for the Rockets a month into the 2023-24 season. From a standings perspective, they are a .500 team having recently gone 0-3 on a West Coast trip, but no one who has watched them would mistake them for an average ball club. This is a team that isn’t making it easy on any opponent it comes across. Over the weekend, both the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers escaped in the game’s final seconds, and the Golden State Warriors won by five on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Rockets — currently fifth in defensive efficiency, per Cleaning the Glass — are competing at an elite level on that end of the floor, and that’s giving them a fighting chance, regardless of what their offense looks like. Houston is able to switch matchups on the floor, and opponents that view certain players as mismatches as a result (the Rockets are the fourth-most targeted team in isolation) are figuring out very quickly that perception isn’t reality.
At the heart of it all is Udoka, the 46-year-old trying to reshape Houston’s basketball image. The Rockets coach sat down with The Athletic to dish on all things defense, lessons from Gregg Popovich and much more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Last season when you weren’t on the NBA sidelines, did you find yourself studying league defenses more than usual?
Once you become a coach, not any more than usual, but you don’t watch the game the same anymore. You don’t really watch it as a fan and just look at it. You always are seeing things. It’s funny because people say that you can’t really relax and watch the game without thinking of things that you see or would do differently. So yeah, I would say some of that. I wouldn’t say any more than usual, but more so the norm nowadays.
During that time, did you see anything about defense that was changing or even slightly different from when you were in Boston?
I would say it’s a copycat league. A lot of teams, as they finish with smaller lineups, the defenses do the same thing. You’re trying to find more switchable guys. Obviously, it’s a luxury if you can have a five man you can keep out there that can punish them on one end but switch and guard on the other end, especially when teams go to small lineups. In general, a lot of the switching is giving teams trouble. We try to make teams beat us one-on-one and take them out of their original sets and plays. You try to figure out, more so thinking offensively, how can we attack these switches that teams tend to do at the end of games?
What was the mental process like for you preparing to coach a very different set of players? The group you had in Boston was on the verge of an NBA title. How did you temper those expectations, if at all?
For me, the expectation is the same, the standards are the same. You want to play at a certain level, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a championship-level team or a young team. You want to build those habits and fundamentals from Day 1. … In Boston, it was a three-year age gap, for the most part, across the board and some success they’ve had, but the same habits that needed to be broken there are the same things that come with our young guys. I’m not going to treat them any different. I’m not going to hold them to a lower expectation. We’re going to push them hard. And to their credit, they’ve adapted and responded well and quickly.
Ime Udoka is bringing the same defensive philosophies he used in Boston to Houston. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
What were the early days in the Bahamas like before training camp, laying down the foundation of what you wanted to see from a defensive standpoint?
Just not skipping any steps from Day 1. Based on our last three years, I’m not going to treat guys any differently and cut any slack or sweep anything under the rug. We had those conversations early where we needed to get better and we needed to expedite the process. We’ve added some veterans. We have a new philosophy and some different styles of coaching. Now, we want guys to buy in. I said in my press conference, youth is not an excuse. If you make a mistake, I’m not going to sweep it under the rug because you’re young and you can make the same mistake over and over and over. They understood that from Day 1, and that’s just who I am. But to everybody’s credit, they’ve grasped everything we’re trying to do. We’ve really improved, but obviously we’ve got a ways to go, and we can get a lot better. That’s the great thing for this group — to see how much we can still improve.
Offensively, there have been a few times where you’ve referenced the gradual adding of things into your schematic approach. But it seems like there’s always been a specific defensive game plan.
Yeah, but even with that, as much as we had our base set with the switching, like I said, that we kind of reverse-engineered it and switched everything on and off the ball so Alpi (Alperen Şengün) and guys would be more aggressive. Then, when we filled it back, they would still have that pick-up point and everything. So for me, it was more so adding defensive things as we go, as well, but we want to have our foundation down. It’s just game by game. You saw it in the preseason. We would do something well, and then every game has its own challenges. San Antonio kind of carved us up with the backdoors. We had a chance to see them again, twice in the preseason. We got better in those areas. So for me, it was always seeing the progress, even with the losses early or preseason success we had.
Was there a lightbulb moment early on where you saw, either from a game or stretch, how good these guys could be defensively?
The one I would say would be in Birmingham, Ala., against New Orleans. I felt we had almost 20 steals and a ton of turnovers, 27 fast-break points. When you’re that active and you’re switching — you see bodies in front of bodies — it showed the team how good we can be playing back with pace. When we turned our defense into offense, that was one that, for me, was like, OK, this is who we can really be if we played defense at a great level and get back and run on the other end.
Looking at this team on paper, especially before the season, you wouldn’t think Houston would be a top-15 defensive team, let alone top five. What about this core stands out defensively that makes that jump possible?
First off, you add Fred and Dillon, guys who are tough, hard-nosed, smart, high-IQ defenders who have had success. For me, I always looked at these guards; no matter who it is, if you have speed, athleticism, all these physical attributes, how can you not be an elite defender? That was really the mindset. For a guy like Jalen (Green) or guys not known to be defenders, it’s really changing the mindset because you have all the physical tools to do it. I said to Alpi, If you’re one of the smartest, cerebral, high-IQ offensive players, you can learn to play defense with your deficiencies. OK, you’re not an elite rim protector, (but) we’ll put you in a position to be better and use angles, use your hands and start to bait guys. You’ve seen (Nikola) Jokić and other guys who end up being decent defenders because they have high IQs.
I try to take the best out of our guys, the best qualities, and challenge them as far as that. But more so than anything is the mentality shift. Everybody has to guard. You don’t want to be the weak link out there on the chain.
You’re well known for holding your players accountable. Do you recall any particular film session or practice where you were unhappy with a certain defensive aspect? If so, how did you go about resolving it?
Oh yeah. First game, first practice, you’re always going to find multiple things regardless of if you win or lose. You can always be better, and you’re always striving for perfection. There’s a ton of things on film. I don’t think our guys mind getting called out, but it’s just what it is, equal opportunity. It doesn’t matter who it is, and that’s pretty much an everyday thing in the film session. Like, we’ll give you praise for the things you do well, but (we) still try to correct all the mistakes. That was pretty much from Day 1; they get who I am as far as that, and they’re fine with it.
You’ve mentioned Gregg Popovich as a big influence on the coach you are today. Is there anything in particular he did or said that’s ingrained in your brain and dictates how you operate?
Don’t skip steps. We had veteran teams every year, and we started from the bottom up like they didn’t know anything. If you’re doing that with veteran Hall of Famers who have won championships, obviously you’re going to do that with the younger team you need to build up. Seeing that was one thing, but it’s more the fundamentals, the basics and foundation. All those things about winning basketball, defense and being unselfish, those all have been said, but it was more so watching it and watching him coach everybody the same. Hold them to the same standard, if not harder with Tim (Duncan), Tony (Parker) Manu (Ginóbili) and the superstars. You push your guys harder, and everybody else follows suit. But I really think more about things that he’s done than anything he said specifically — and that’s 10 years of being around him — so there’s tons of those.
Ime Udoka honed his coaching style in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich. (Rocky Widner / NBAE via Getty Images)
Houston was 30th in transition defense last season, this year they’re No. 1 in the league. How?
I talked about our offense being our first leg of transition defense. Good shot selection, taking care of the ball … those areas, we were 27th or worse last year with efficiency, assists and turnovers. Obviously, that fuels fast breaks. That was the first thing: Let’s run good offense, and we’ll be better there. From there, we emphasize getting back and how good we can be in the half court. Let’s take care of transition and make teams beat us. We’ve done that, and we’re top of the league in people shooting in the last quadrant, the last six seconds. So, we have a lot of end-of-shot clock possessions because we’re switching and doing some good things. That trend will always bode well for your numbers.
I couldn’t let you get out of here without asking about Dillon Brooks. How important has his inclusion been in allowing you to execute certain things defensively? And how are those conversations between you two, seeing things you want changed and fixed?
It’s been huge. You bring in somebody who’s All-Defense, and that’s what he’s known for. It just rubs off on the group. (He’s) very versatile. Obviously, you can put him on anybody on the court. And even with the switching we’re doing, he’s still talking to guys. He’s still bringing the physicality. He might not have the matchup the whole game because we do switch a lot, but we know when it comes down to time, we can scheme around it so he guards those guys. He’s wanted to guard (Zion) Williamson and LeBron James and stay on those matchups, so we can tweak everything. It’s just a benefit and luxury to have a guy who’s as versatile as him.
(Photo of Aaron Holiday and Ime Udoka: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
