In a rare showing at Houston Rockets annual media day on Monday, all 14 players who are expected to be on the roster this season made a pass through the press room. While not evident of anything really, it felt significant simply because the words out of the mouths of virtually every player, from the stars to the bench, matched.
“Playoffs.” That was the answer of every player who was asked what the ultimate goal of the team was this season. After a 41-41 campaign in Coach Ime Udoka’s first season, just missing the play-in tournament, it was clear nothing short of reaching and performing well in the postseason would be considered a success for the 2024-25 season.
How they achieve that is another question. Arguably, this is one of the NBA’s most loaded young rosters with guys who could be at the end of the bench for the Rockets but could perhaps start elsewhere. And while players like Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun continue their rise (nevermind veteran Fred VanVleet and youngsters Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore and Jabari Smith, Jr.), no one has set themselves apart as a singular marquee star yet. The success of this team is likely to be a collective effort and the players know it.
It is specifically why Green organized a minicamp of sorts in Los Angeles over the summer. Players also said they have spent lots of time together here in Houston and, more recently, at the team’s new Memorial Hermann Training Center. Being together over the course of an offseason is made more important by the fact that the roster remains virtually unchanged from last season. With the same system and coaching staff in place, continuity will be vital to increasing that win total.
But there is also the question of identity. With so many young players populating the lineup over the last few years, it can be difficult to define just what kind of team you are even with a tough, smart coach like Udoka. Towards the end of the 2023-24 season, the Rockets not only began to win games at a greater rate, but they started to form the genesis of a culture on the floor built around toughness and determination, certainly a reflection of their coach and guys like Dillon Brooks and VanVleet. That should be underscored this year with the addition of center Steven Adams, improved health for Tari Eason, and maturation for Thompson.
Brooks, in particular, has brought a grit to the team that is well known around the league, enough to get him something of a reputation with officials. But, the Rockets swing man doesn’t intend to change, “You’re gonna see a lot of, I wouldn’t say ‘villainous things,’ but a lot of me being me,” he explained. That attitude has clearly rubbed off on all the Rockets players who talked about wanting to show toughness on the floor and an unwillingness to back down.
Even rookie Reed Sheppard echoed his new teammates’ words by saying what his mother often told him. “‘Don’t be soft,’ that’s what my mom said,” he explain, adding, “I think Coach Udoka says that too.”
Indeed Udoka’s fingerprints are all over this Rockets team from their words to their feisty nature on the floor. Their next task will be turning that intensity into wins and, ideally, not just in the regular season.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
