Team record reveals the Rockets offseason mentality: Still trust Jaylen Green or have given up KD& Booker?

Translator's Note: This article was originally published from The Athletic, and the authors are Kelly Iko and Sam Amick. The data in the article are as of the original text as of May 12 local time (local time). The views in the article have nothing to do with the translator and the platform.

It has been six years since Mike D'Antoni directed the game on the sideline of the Toyota Center, but the pain of losing to the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 playoffs is still burning like a new injury.  

"We thought we could have beaten them," D'Antoni said in a phone conversation last month. "We could have won that series... You need some luck, some favorable penalty, and hit the key goal. The secret to the championship is that you have to have many factors to overcome that hurdle. It's just that fate is not on our side."  

D'Antoni was talking about his Rockets in 2019, but that also applies to current head coach Ime Uduka's team, who were eliminated by the same team in the tiebreak. As the Rockets usher in a critical summer, they were eliminated by the Warriors again, and the choices they faced seemed familiar. The team is now at a crossroads - whether to continue to train young players or pursue stars - this choice may open the door to progress and may lead to stagnation of development.  

In the 2018-2019 season, D'Antoni's team achieved regular season record of 65 and 53 respectively. In the first year, they lost to Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and head coach Steve Cole in the Western Conference Finals, and the following year they lost to the same opponent in the Western Conference semi-finals. Two weeks ago, Uduka suffered a similar fate, the second time he had lost to the Warriors in the playoff series in the past five seasons as a coach.  

The tiebreaker battle may become a turning point for this team. Uduka was frustrated. He thought he had found a way to defeat his opponent, and in his opinion, the opponent's team was not as strong as his own. What makes him even more uncomfortable is that this feeling is not the first time that it has happened - in the 2022 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics he coached were defeated by the Warriors three consecutive games while leading 2-1.

Despite disappointment, this playoff loss is a necessary experience for the inexperienced Rockets. Many young players on the team are on the playoff stage for the first time and this shouldn’t be their last.  

"Uduka has created an incredible team trait for them," Kerr commented on the rising Rockets, "Tough and tenacious, you know what kind of confrontation you will face when playing against them." Although Uduka's team is talented and full of fighting spirit, it is not yet ready to welcome such a stage. But this bodes well for the future, with Uduka's expectations for the upcoming offseason and next season growing day by day.  

"We have taken steps, which is not only reflected in the record, but also in the growth and perception of players," Uduka said. "As the coaching staff and the team, we always desire more - whether it is selfish or greedy, whatever you want - so we are not satisfied with such an ending. We feel that we should continue to compete, but there is a lot of learning experience that will help us move forward in the future. Everyone's goal is to get better and return with a stronger attitude. This is a crucial offseason for everyone." When the Rockets learned about their first round opponent on Wednesday afternoon, a familiar scene appeared in the training center: long after the training ended, Uduka was still having an in-depth conversation with Amen Thompson.  

Amen Thompson and Uduka understand each other, and they have similar personalities - top competitive genes and defensive instincts. Houston has no way to completely limit superstars like Curry, but hopes to offset their influence are largely placed on Thompson. This season, Thompson established himself as the Rockets' most comprehensive and aggressive defender. The 22-year-old was a substitute at the beginning of the season and Amen was transferred to the starting lineup in January after Jabbarry Smith broke his non-shooting hand during training. Since then, Amen has refreshed almost all the high-level defensive data at the end of the regular season, becoming Houston's most important defensive player and a core figure in Uduka's tactical system.  

"In many ways, he set the tone with Dillon Brooks, Fred Van Freit and others," Uduka said. "Since he entered the starting lineup, we have felt his comprehensiveness everywhere on the court. He is a player who can defend multiple positions. This may be one of the key reasons, because he can defend almost any type of player and is extremely destructive on the defensive end. We rely on him to complete these tasks throughout the season."  

Uduka has been able to work with Thompson and the entire Rockets because of his own career experience as a tough defensive player. In preparation for the first round of the series, Uduka and his coaching staff held what they called the "second training camp" a week before the first game. During this period, the tactical concepts were re-organized, key links were strengthened, and a large number of video analysis was carried out.  

As a player and coach, Uduka, who has experienced the playoffs, knows the key points of playoff preparations. He made his own game plan. But our first plan is always to develop the existing roster, and hopefully we can become strong enough with this roster. We have made progress in this regard and I am very satisfied with this progress. ”