After watching the first Rockets game under HC Udoka, it’s become apparent that adjusting to Udoka’s style will take some time and involve some growing pains.
I just wanted to get some form of context regarding his first head coaching stint in Boston. How long did it take for the Celtics to get going under Udoka, and what were some of their specific struggles early on?
January. Ime locked into his playoff rotation and just rolled out his top 8 the rest of the season.
Also health, players got healthy and the energy shifted.Good posts everywhere in here.
It took half-a-season. And the rotation was 8-deep, which took its toll later in the season.
The problem is HOU personnel is very young, whereas the Celtics under Ime were ‘just about there’ with 4-7 seasons in the League. I know HOU added Jeff Green and FVV and Brooks but their kids are still young.
I won’t be surprised if Eason, Smith, and Thompson look lost and piss off Ime all year. I also think they will all eventually get it. Sengun is a defensive liability and I don’t think that’ll ever change. Green, I’m not a fan.
Guys who don’t hustle will be called out. Expect that.
Just a couple things, I think you’re pretty much right with most of the Rockets young players although I’d add that Tari is the only one that I have zero worries for particularly that he is huge on hustling and playing defense. Green, I still think has potential to be in the Lavine/Beal tier of 2-guards but needs to take a step forward this year though.
To get to 33 plus wins though, they’ll definitely need to see their top picks to justify their selections, particularly with Jabari developing as a weak side shot blocker and decent shooter/self creator, Alpi being neutral on defense and Jalen becoming more efficient and not a liability defensively.
Eason has many fans on this sub. We’d love to steal him somehow.
Tari plus crap ton of picks for JB haha?
There is a lot of selective memory with Udoka. Celtics were very bad in the first few months of his tenure and then found a groove in the second half of the season and into the playoffs.
It’s been kind of frustrating IMO because people wanted him fired around Christmas time and then acted like he was the missing piece for the Celtics last season despite mazulla having more success in the regular season and similar results in the playoffs.
We looked awful for the first 40 games and I was about to hop on the blow it up wagon
Udoka’s system focuses on defense which relies on personnel. The problem with this is that the rockets dont employ the same personnel to pull this off. The defense relies on switching and having a roaming paint protector. I think this is hard to achieve with the current roster there