JJ Reddick has 'coached circles' around Ime Udoka in the Lakers-Rockets playoff series - NBA

Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor and NBA contributing writer Tom Haberstroh highlight the many ways that coaching has failed the Rockets in their playoff series against the Lakers. Check out the full conversation on “The Kevin O’Connor Show” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

I just feel like JJ has coached circles around Ime Udoka in this series, and the Lakers have executed at a simply higher level as well.

But I, I just Look, I’ve been critical of Ime, Tom.

I mean, the Rockets ended the season with some wins.

Th- they’ll seem very fake when you’re down 2-0 against the Lakers without Luka and Austin Reaves.

Just, just hard to fathom.

But it’s really not that hard to fathom when you consider Ime Udoka’s just not that good of a coach, and he has no idea how to coach offense.

How is it possible that Ime Udoka does not have a solve for KD getting doubled?

It, it looks like it’s the first time that that’s happened.

It’s simple.

It, it– And, and, like, Reed Shepard is a, is, is, is an antidote to those double teams because he’s an excellent three-point shooter and a guy who can play make for others, and he was glued to the bench.

Free Reed, okay?

We need, we need more Reed Shepard, not less.

When they can’t score above 100 points, this is an absolute opportunity for them- And real quick on that, Tom.

I- Ime, Ime fa- at fault there, but also KD.

There’s the play in the first half where Reed Shepard is ki- like, a, a three-on-two on the break, and Reed Shepard took a three instead of dribbling into the paint to try to draw a foul or get a layup at the rim.

And, and KD kinda snapped at him after he took ma- took and missed the three-pointer.

So it’s like, also, KD, hey, you get a guy who makes 45% of his threes, and you need his spacing.

Maybe support that guy a- and be more of a leader.

So I think on KD, too, with the Reed Shepard stuff.

Yeah.

it’s clear that these guys don’t play for each other.

they I don’t think they like each other in the sense of, like, when you look at the, what happened with Alperen engn and, and KD at, at the All-Star break.

Right.

and, and the burner accounts, where it just seems like everything around this team feels just like it, it stinks.

It stinks.

And Ime Udoka, against this short-handed Lakers team, they should be up 2-0 in this series.

They absolutely should be.

LeBron James has gone old school, just backing Amen Thompson down in the paint, Tari Eason, and just controlling everything offensively.

And they haven’t figured out a counter.

They can’t double.

They’re not rotating.

This is LeBron James right now, and we did the big number on this yesterday, LeBron has 16 post-ups in this series so far, which is more than any other team in the NBA.

You combine Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, and, and Alperen engn.

He has more post-ups than any of those guys combined.

he has more post-ups than the, than four NBA teams combined in this postseason.

And it’s like Ime has no counter.

He’s got no way to, to, respond to an old-school basketball trick that LeBron’s like, “Yeah, I’m absolutely gonna back down this guy and control the defense in ways that they don’t know how to respond.”

And yet on the other side, KD is getting doubled every time down the floor, and it looks like it’s the first time he’s played basketball.

And that’s the difference here is that LeBron, at this age, has been able to control everything like he is a, a, a master chess player.

And everything that I see on the other side is that the Houston Rockets are playing checkers

JJ Reddick has ‘coached circles’ around Ime Udoka in the Lakers-Rockets playoff series

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