Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka sounds off on first-round exit from the 2025 NBA playoffs.
Many experts were skeptical of the Houston Rockets despite the organization finishing as the second seed in the Western Conference.
The biggest reason was the Rockets’ young core, as it was many players’ first playoff run of their careers. On top of that, the organization pulled the short end of the straw facing the Golden State Warriors.
Although the Dubs were the seventh seed in the conference, they had a wealth of playoff experience, which ultimately helped the team in dominating the crucial Game 7 matchup between the two sides.
Losing in the first round is always a bad feeling regardless of what seed a team has finished. However, the pain magnifies when a higher seed succumbs to a lower seed.
Keeping that in mind, it wasn’t a surprise that head coach Ime Udoka didn’t mince his words when he described the team’s early playoff exit.
“Some growth. Some good. Some bad. Obviously, a poor ending to play one of our worst playoff games in Game 7. We had a few bad ones early and kind of corrected ourselves in a lot of ways, on both sides of the ball.
“Then, to come out a little flat is obviously going to leave a sour taste in our mouths, for sure. But, you look at the big picture, the growth we made… we just said no moral victories or whatever, we can be much more consistent,” Udoka said.
Considering the history between the Rockets and the Warriors, this series defeat will sting more for the fanbase. However, what’s done is done and the only thing that the Rockets can do is continue to keep moving forward.
A young core can be a double-edged sword for an organization. The lack of experience gets compensated with a huge upside in the future.
OKC Thunder’s growth in recent seasons is the perfect example of it. With that said, coach Udoka did believe there were some positives for the Rockets.
“Getting to the two seed and 50 whatever wins and the growth the guys have shown, we kind of have a blueprint for where we want to be and the standard on a year-to-year basis.
“But, all that doesn’t really matter when you go out with a chance to move on obviously and, like I said, kind of lay an egg in our last game. It’s going to sting for a minute,” coach Udoka concluded.
Despite the early exit, the silver lining for the Rockets was the fact that they ended a four-year playoff drought.
