Sure the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 6 router of the Houston Rockets was the LeBron James, but his co-star deserved credit too. JJ Redick deserves his due for re-adjusting when the Rockets came within one game of changing the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. Some of the credit for helping Redick goes to Ime Udoka too. The Rockets’ postseason journey came to a grinding halt in a 98-78 Game 6 loss to the Lakers, a first round elimination exactly like last year. That not only left the young squad to dissect a night where their offense simply vanished but puts Ime Udoka’s job security under pressure.
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Throughout this series, fans haven’t been on the Rockets head coach’s side. Even when they won two games, the players were praised but fans were putting the pressure on Udoka to pull a job-saving feat. After Game 6, his own player Jabari Smith Jr. is admitting the Lakers head coach put on a masterclass in defensive coaching and execution.
“We couldn’t generate no good offense,” Smith Jr. admitted bluntly during the post-game press conference. He in fact repeated that statement a lot. But his reasoning for it was entirely JJ.
He pointed directly to the Lakers’ tactical shift after losing the last two games, noting that they were “switching everything” and “loading up” to prevent the Rockets from establishing any rhythm. Redick’s defensive schemes left Houston a far cry from their regular-season standards. “So kudos to JJ. Kudos to them over there. It was tough on the offensive end for us,” Smith added.
Jabari Smith Jr was the only player to get into detail about why they struggled so much in game 6… “Kudos to JJ (Redick)” “we couldn’t get no offense going. They had a real tight game plan; switching everything, loading up, took care of the glass. They just came out really Show more
As an aside, fans are also praising the 22-year-old’s sportsmanlike response to the loss, including praising the opposing coach. For Jabari Smith, who only racked up 9 points and 3 assists after playing almost the entire game, this loss was about maturity and adjusting to elite playoff tactics.
The Lakers’ uncharacteristic defensive surge held the Rockets down to only 78 points. Despite a valiant effort to keep the game within reach defensively, Houston’s inability to find the bottom of the net proved fatal.
Jabari Smith Jr. detailed the painful breakdown of Ime Udoka’s failure
The primary catalyst for Houston’s stagnation was JJ Redick’s decision to utilize a switching defense (lost count of how many times Redick urged his players to do that throughout the season) that effectively neutralized the Rockets’ preferred sets.
Jabari Smith Jr. explained that common scoring avenues, such as pick-and-rolls leading to skip passes or “pocket” passes to Alperen Sengun, were completely cut off by the Lakers bigs. Smith also said that Sengun was forced into more one-on-one post battles without the benefit of double-team “floods” that usually open up perimeter shooters.
The Lakers, who had 23 and 15 turnovers across two games, finally brought it down this time. They instead forced the Rockets into “bad shots.” and prevented them from utilizing their signature elite offensive rebounding. Smith noted it is “hard to crash” when shots are not generated with proper flow.
But in the broader picture, Smith felt it wasn’t that they were outcoached. He felt they found their competitive edge too late, after Game 3. Before the game, he was keen to “represent the city well.”
Now the city is out for Ime Udoka’s blood. All series fans have been calling for his firing after another first round exit.
It’s not just Ime Udoka now. The Rockets players admitted the possibility of a trade-filled offseason looms. Either way, changes are likely coming to H-Town to counter JJ Redick next season.
