At long last, the Houston Rockets are finally back where they want to be.
The ultimate culmination of the franchise’s meteoric 2024-25 campaign was realized on April 2, as the Houston Rockets secured a ticket in the 2025 NBA Playoffs
Stamping a 143-105 wire-to-wire victory over the visiting Utah Jazz, they are finally back in the contention picture for the first time since 2020.
And for Jalen Green, it’s only fitting to give Ime Udoka the flowers he deserves for being the man behind the team’s success this year.
For the past couple of years, the Rockets have been stuck at the league’s basement.
The franchise took a hard reset starting in 2021-22 when superstar James Harden demanded a trade and was ultimately transferred to the Brooklyn Nets.
Failing to win it all in the Harden era, Houston sought a bright future with full-scale rebuild. But starting from scratch hasn’t been easy.
Under the leadership of Stephen Silas, the Rockets were beyond horrible. For the three seasons that Silas was at the helm, they only clinched a total of just 59 regular season wins.
Despite parading a promising core composed of Green, Alperen Sengun, and Jabari Smith Jr., the Rockets failed to show significant progress over the given stretch, prompting the organization to tap Ime Udoka as their newest head coach before the 2023-24 outing.
With Udoka, the Rockets have tremendously improved from having a 41-41 card last season into a 50-win team that currently stands as the No. 2 club in the Western Conference.
His hard-nosed guidance successfully injected confidence, maturity, and winning mentality for the youthful squad, propelling them to where they are today.
“We had the talent, but [Udoka] was the head of the snake,” Green said about Udoka after their win against the Jazz.
“Just coming in and bringing the dog out of us, and bringing that culture to us, and getting guys to play hard.
“That first year (last season), he taught us all a lesson. If you’re not going to play hard, you’re going to come out.
“That’s habits we had to break, as young guys on the worst team in the NBA for two years.”
Joining Houston is a blessing of sorts as well for Udoka.
After leading the Boston Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals, the 47-year-old had a scandalous exit from the franchise.
Since he entered the H-Town, Udoka managed to find redemption and stability he needs. Now, he and the Rockets are slated for take-off en route to the Playoffs and go for the franchise’s potential title No. 3.
“I feel like he’s helped us a lot in that direction and it’s only up,” Green added regarding Udoka. “We keep growing and we take it seriously now.”
With less than two weeks left before the postseason officially kicks off, we can only be thrilled to anticipate the promising Houston squad showcasing their brilliance on the league’s brightest stage.
