{"id":147295,"date":"2025-07-04T18:42:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T18:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/147295\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T18:42:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T18:42:19","slug":"as-rockets-roster-improves-ime-udoka-focuses-on-attacking-zone-defenses-creating-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/147295\/","title":{"rendered":"As Rockets\u2019 roster improves, Ime Udoka focuses on attacking zone defenses, creating space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each offseason, Houston Rockets<\/a> head coach Ime Udoka takes his staff on a coaching retreat. The idea is for everyone to come together for an extended brainstorming session, which features plenty of film watching from across the NBA and other leagues.<\/p>\n

In the 2025-26 offseason, there\u2019s a particular point of emphasis, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic<\/a>. \u201cThis offseason, improving the Rockets\u2019 setup against zone defenses and creating space has been a strong focus,\u201d Iko writes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In his piece, Iko illustrates a few different possibilities<\/a> for 2025-26 that weren\u2019t available in 2024-25. The gist of it is that the length and floor spacing of offseason additions Kevin Durant and Dorian Finney-Smith gives Udoka tools that he didn\u2019t previously have. Both shot well above 40% from 3-point range last season, and Durant can also carry the load as a playmaker.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the signing of veteran center Clint Capela<\/a> provides the Rockets with elements of vertical spacing and gravity that they lacked in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

Even with their halfcourt limitations on offense<\/a> last season, the Rockets finished 52-30 and at No. 2 in the Western Conference standings. That was in large part due to Houston\u2019s top-five-rated defense<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Now, the hope is for the additions of Durant, Finney-Smith, and Capela (along with a greater role for second-year guard Reed Sheppard<\/a>) to lift the offense to similar heights.<\/p>\n

More: \u2018Embarrassment of riches\u2019: The Ringer on Rockets\u2019 2025 offseason<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Ime Udoka turns focus to attacking zone defenses, creating space<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each offseason, Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka takes his staff on a coaching retreat. The idea is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3794],"tags":[7,984,374,292,194,4066,1272,6099,938,300,6,671,1081,211,604],"class_list":{"0":"post-147295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-rockets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-clint-capela","10":"tag-dorian-finney-smith","11":"tag-houston","12":"tag-houston-rockets","13":"tag-houstonrockets","14":"tag-ime-udoka","15":"tag-kelly-iko","16":"tag-kevin-durant","17":"tag-lakers","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-nets","20":"tag-reed-sheppard","21":"tag-rockets","22":"tag-suns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114796438937968183","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}