AMEN THOMPSON TROTS back in transition defense a half-step too slow when LA Clippers guard Norman Powell catches a pass on the right wing and attacks during an early possession in the Houston Rockets‘ road win Sunday. Powell takes a couple of dribbles with Thompson on his hip, bumps him and gets Thompson to bite on a pump fake.
After Thompson watches Powell’s floater go through the net, he glances toward the Rockets’ bench.
It doesn’t happen often, but when the man Thompson is guarding gets a bucket on him, he tends to look toward the sideline to see how his head coach reacts. There isn’t much mystery.
“I am bothered,” Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka told ESPN.
That’s an understatement — and not an unusual state of mind for Udoka. As Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet put it, “Well, he is always pissed off.”
Udoka’s brow furls and his eyes narrow when he’s disappointed in any of his players’ defensive effort. But he’s particularly perturbed when Thompson falls short of the coach’s high expectations. It’s an especially seething sneer any time Thompson gets scored on.
“Imagine the most mad face ever, just staring daggers at you,” Thompson told ESPN after a Dec. 1 win over the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, who shot 2-of-10 from the floor with Thompson as the primary defender.
Thompson quietly admits he’s amused by the visible angst he sees from Udoka, who has a reputation for orneriness and is as physically imposing as any NBA coach, with broad shoulders on his 6-foot-6 frame. Thompson also appreciates it, considering it’s evidence of the confidence his coach has in his ability to be an elite defensive stopper.
“He’s not particularly happy when someone scores on Amen,” Rockets general manager Rafael Stone told ESPN. “In Ime’s world, that should be an impossibility. And if it occurs, it’s because Amen did something wrong.”
Udoka doesn’t expect that type of defensive dominance from every player on the Rockets’ roster. But the standards for attention to detail, intensity and toughness do not waver for anyone.
“That’s just the bottom line with him,” Rockets power forward Jabari Smith Jr. told ESPN. “He lets you play free, but he’s going to expect you to play hard. He’s going to expect you to defend, and if you’re not doing that, you’re probably not going to be in the game.”
Udoka’s personality has been a driving force in the Rockets’ rapid ascent from abysmal to awesome on defense during the coach’s 20 months on the job. Only Oklahoma City has a stingier defense than Houston, which allows 105.4 points per 100 possessions.
It’s a dramatic turnaround that has allowed the Rockets, who are third in the West standings and host the Golden State Warriors in an NBA Cupquarterfinal game Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT), to return to NBA relevancy sooner than anticipated in the franchise’s rebuild.
“Hard-nosed, no bulls—,” forward Dillon Brookssaid.
PHASE 2,” AS Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta termed it, started when Houston hired Udoka in April 2023.
The Rockets had bottomed out over the previous three seasons — all part of the front office’s plan — as Houston launched a rebuild when James Harden demanded a trade in 2020. But it was painful nevertheless, as the Rockets averaged fewer than 20 wins over the three-season span with defenses that ranked 27th, dead last and 28th in the league, respectively.
Fertitta’s expectation when he hired Udoka was that the Rockets would make the massive leap to being competitive again. Udoka had the coaching credentials, having led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals with the league’s top-ranked defense during his lone season as a head coach before being suspended and fired for violating team rules by reportedly having an intimate relationship with a subordinate.
But he needed veterans who knew how to win and could help create a new culture in Houston.
The Rockets’ front office had three free agency targets in mind before it began the coaching search: Brooks, VanVleet and big man Brook Lopez. They all fit Udoka’s vision as tough, defensive-minded vets. Lopez changed his mind at the last minute — after the Rockets had made salary-dumping moves to clear space to sign him — and returned to the Milwaukee Bucks. But the Rockets landed Brooks and VanVleet, signing them to deals worth a total of $215 million, providing Udoka a pair of relentlessly competitive tone-setters for the defensive turnaround.
“That approach just rubbed off on our whole team immediately,” Udoka said. “We can only say so much and teach so much and try to scheme around guys so much. But to have guys out there that do it on a nightly basis that have carved out their niche in the league with toughness and that edge, that defensive mentality, it was invaluable for our team. We needed it.”
VanVleet, whose résumé includes a championship ring and an All-Star appearance with the Toronto Raptors, serves as an extension of the coaching staff on the court and in the locker room. According to Udoka, VanVleet sometimes “goes against his natural inclination” and plays “the good cop” because the coach can be so harsh on young players.
VanVleet, like Udoka in his playing days, scrapped to earn a roster spot as an undrafted rookie and approaches the game with an “edge,” to use the coach’s term.
“He is a little grumpy old dude and half the time he always finds something to be mad at,” Udoka said, “and we need that with our team.”
