Ime Udoka saved the best highlights for last.

After nearly 45 minutes of in-depth analysis of the Houston Rockets in his pre-training camp PowerPoint presentation, with players immersed in their coach’s messages like students in a basketball classroom at the team’s practice facility, the assembly of chaos began.

First, it was the clip of Udoka telling LeBron James and his Lakers to “stop whining like a little idiot” on December 2, 2023, when the then-first-year Rockets coach had a NSFW argument with one the greatest started player of all time, which led to Udoka’s expulsion. Then there was turmoil in Milwaukee on December 17, 2023, when resident Rockets villains Dillon Brooks and Udoka were sent off at the last minute for their aggressive argument over a late call. From there, the tape continued with 15 different arguments from the previous season – entertaining them all.

“It’s his personality,” Rockets guard Fred VanVleet said of the presentation and Udoka’s role in it. “He’s a confrontational guy, a fighter, so it was fun to watch them all in turn and see how they build up. But it’s about building that identity as a group and as a team. We rely on toughness and simply won’t put up with anything.” s- from anyone.

However, the fisticuffs were not the main component of the film. Udoka went into great detail about the defensive improvements that were made and how the Rockets went from being the worst in the league in all relevant categories to being in the “top six” in his rookie season with the Rockets before his arrival, Udoka said.

The message was essentially that they needed to get better in this regard if they wanted to become a consistent playoff contender. But to get there you would have to commit to the motto that Udoka constantly preaches – “No friends on the ground” – and that was clearly evident in these fiery moments.

“We started looking at the frequency and dates (of incidents), and starting in January there was something every week,” Udoka said The athletic one recently. “The broadcasters would say, ‘Here’s another fight with Houston.’ It’s becoming a thing in every game now.’ So that mentality had changed. And I told the guys, ‘You have to earn the respect of the league and not take a backseat to anyone.'”

Meet the all-gas, no-brakes Rockets, this modern version of the “Bad Boys” Pistons who are as feisty and uncompromising a team as the league has seen in a long time.

Read my article about the Rockets here.