Ime Udoka Breaks Down Rockets Losses vs Lakers

0:00Bubble Wall is here from 2311 Racing. You know it's slower than a pace car? Waiting at the car wash. That's when I fire up Chamba Casino. It turns those slow minutes into fast fun. With new games every week, you'll never get bored. Next time you're stuck in the slow lane, speed up with Chamba. Play now at ChambaCasino.com. Let's Chamba. Sponsored by Chamba Casino, no purchase necessary. VGW Group Void, where prohibited by law, 21-plus terms and conditions apply. Hey, I'm Josh Spiegel, host of the podcast, Lunatic in the newsroom. If you enjoy journalism that drifts into mild panic, wild overthinking, and a guaranteed nervous breakdown, Lunatic in the newsroom is for you. It's news like you've never heard before. The only newsroom with a panic button, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and gasp and horror as the show spirals completely out of control. It's not just news, it's emotionally unstable. Lunatic in the newsroom. Listen today. Hi, this is Alex Cantrowitz.

1:01I'm the host of Big Technology Podcast, a long time reporter and an on-air contributor to CNBC. And if you're like me, you're trying to figure out how artificial intelligence is changing the business world and our lives. So each week on Big Technology, I bring on key actors from companies building AI tech and outsiders trying to influence it, asking where this is all going. They come from places like Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and plenty more. So if you want to be smart with your wallet, your career choices, and meetings with your colleagues, and at dinner parties, listen to Big Technology Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Mac Thomas Show with Ross. 102 on Sports Talk 7, let's spend 10 minutes right now with head basketball coach of your Houston Rockets. His name is Emei Adoka, Rockets tonight taking on the Atlanta Hawks. And this Hawks team coming in has won 11 consecutive games. Rockets could certainly like it to get in the streak like that going here sometime soon. Emei, thanks for the time. Tell me about how awesome that third quarter was for you guys.

2:04Came back after being down double digits, and I really thought it was a turn of the corner. Did fourth quarter, what was the difference in your mind in those final 12th, as compared to what you saw out of those opening minutes of the third quarter two nights ago? Well, I would say our energy efficiency was way better in the third, obviously getting down. We battled back, and that was a good sign, but defend at a high level, holding them to 22. Obviously scoring 37 is a great number for a quarter. The fourth quarter to start, it was a few bad plays in the road, turnovers, led them out to easy baskets, and kind of went on, I think they went on 13 to 6 run to retake the lead. After all the work we put in the third, it was a little disappointing to come out in the fourth and kind of give it right back. You know, the turnover count was significantly lower than it was from Monday, but it meant it felt like every one of them turned out to be leak outs into baskets for the Lakers. That's at least the way I saw it. Yeah, you have 12 turnovers, they scored 23 points off those, and they're 8 for 10 and fast break points.

3:05That was a big part of it. And so a lot of live ball turnovers that got out to the layups, you know, you want the dead ball ones, if you do turn it over, you want that throw out of bounds or a travel or whatever the case may be instead of a steal, at least to a easy, uncontested break. And so, to that credit, they were efficient in those, although we had the number lower, it was just the types of turnovers that were heard us. Did you feel like, man, with a man being as efficient as he was, Alpe was 10 of 15, that was, it was, you needed something of a bounce back in that and get to get Alpe out there and tell me honestly, the disappointment level for losing those two games at home and then obviously now, unfortunately, a little bit of separation between you and the Lakers for that three spot in the West. Yeah, we had an opportunity to go the other way, especially how tight the standings are. And, you know, we at least want to win one and win the season series of tiebreaker and put ourselves in a little bit of hole there, but have time to kind of dig ourselves out. We're two games behind and lost column, so get on the streak like you mentioned, start to play more consistent basketball and finish here on the right note.

4:07We're going to get ourselves right back in contention where we want to be. You may already got to double digits for the first time this month. Unfortunately, he just has one three pointer to his credit. This is a prolonged slump for him. Is this a deep dive into shot selection? Is it to where the balls leave in his hand? Because I always have the from belief of, I can usually tell when the ball leaves a hand if it's going to go in because of the rotation or where it was shot. What's in his mind right now? Because obviously, the deepest funk he's been in quite some time. Yeah, it starts to become mental at some point, you know, like I always said, with young guys, you have your ups and downs and Jabari played his way out of it and he's been playing great basketball this year. I'm a piece I have to deal with this somewhat at times, and so you want to do other things that inject yourself into the game, not just rely on three pointers going down, you know, cause some havoc on the defensive end like he does, get some easy baskets, you got some out in transition, get to the free throw line, some putbacks, you know, get on the offensive last things of that nature so you're not just relying on three point shot. But honestly, it's the same great looks he was getting all year when he's shooting 45

5:09plus and he just has your ups and downs, but he has to stop overthinking it. I think that guys will start to hesitate and pass up open shots trying to get something better. You know, stay the course, trust the work that you put in and you'll shoot your way or work your way out of that slump. How did you feel about the way that you guys handed Luke would handle Luke a donchage for a couple of games? Cause to me, it seemed like a lot of times it was pretty good defense, even though you look up, he had a 40 point triple double. And then I guess at least she didn't give up 60. Yeah, you know, he's a tough shot maker. He was efficient with the shots, but other than the first game where we had some miscues and he got some wide open threes, he didn't get the same open looks in this second game. I think, you know, he made really tough contested shots in the lane that you kind of want to live with. And we did a really good job on him on Christmas day and make making him miss the same shots. And so very efficient. That's why he's one of the best and legal vegan scoring is because you can do that on a nightly basis. But the other things were, you know, the three point attempts being the 17 and then the

6:12free throws being a 14. That's way too high a number and obviously it's the same thing he did against Miami last night, 17 attempts and 15 free throws. So consistent with what he does and that's why he's a lead score. Rocket set coach, Emanadoca with us here on sports talk 790. We know that every game at this point of the utmost importance. Do you feel like as a coaching staff and around the team are you guys trying to get into playoff mode or trying to try to keep things a little bit normal? No, you have to ramp it up and understand that after all, Star Breaker goes very quickly and let alone the standings of how tight it is this year, you know, and when you've given some games way early, you have more sense of urgency, you know, later in the year. So for us, you already have to kick into that no doubt, I think in general, we understand what's on the line. Now the rest of these games you want to get to that mode as quickly as possible, but also, you know, understanding that this that you can go from three to seven pretty easily and get on a good streak ourselves. This Atlanta team where I think we're catching him, you may have the absolute wrong time.

7:13They have one 11 consecutive games. Not only the winning games you may be as you know, they're blowing people out. What's what's the elixir that's working for them right now? They've been number one on offense and number one on defense in the last, you know, just on their streak 11 games. I think Jalen Johnson's playing an extremely high level, but they're playing fast, aggressive, you know, shooting the three really well and then they're great on the boards. And so that's always a, you know, formula for success. You shoot the ball well fast and transition and crash the offensive and defensive glass and they've done that. You got against when a couple of back-to-backs now left to go before the end of the season. It feels like we were always wondering into these things. Is Dory going to play tonight or tomorrow? I guess we're going to try to figure that out at this point. Dory going to play tomorrow. Okay, so Dory is out tonight. And how's, it looked like Alpief was pretty fresh. There's a couple of games of back spasms. Those things are going to always pop up. But he looked very nimble and was able to really be as effective at least scoring for you when you needed him to a couple of nights ago against the Lakers. Yeah, he's feeling good. I think, you know, had it been the playoffs, he could have played the first Laker game,

8:17but you want to give him that rest to make sure he's 100% coming back. And so, yeah, he looked really good. Obviously a very efficient game. 27 points, 10 assists. And, you know, very efficient, 10 from 15 shooting. So great mouse back night for him. And obviously you're going to need him down the final stretch. And lastly, I meant Thompson continues to give you lots and lots of minutes. He is scoring has gone up. He's 26 for you. How's he, how's he holding out during all this? I know he's young and spy, but it feels like he is really taking a lot of bumps here. A lot of, probably a lot of cold tubs after games these last few weeks. Yeah, he's definitely meticulous with the recovery, you know, getting the needles and massages and everything taking care of his body. But yeah, we laid on him in several different ways. Obviously the scoring has been great. His bump there, but the rebounding assist numbers, no turnovers last game. And then defending, you know, the best player on the nightly basis. It's a lot of work. And so he takes care of himself to be prepared for that and has really relished in this role. And I think that's what he's looking for.

9:17That's what we need from him. And he's in the 40 winner range consistently, but still does at a very high level. How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step one, go to chamba casino dot com. Chamba casino dot com. Got it. Step two, collect your welcome bonus. Come to pop a welcome bonus. Step three, play hundreds of casino style games for free. That's a lot of games all for free. Step four, unleash your excitement. Chamba casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the tumble life. Visit chamba casino dot com. No purchase necessary VGW group void for prohibited by law 21 plus terms and conditions apply.