Ime Udoka brought some baggage with him from Boston, and no, it’s not that. Focus up on what matters now. Basketball.

Taking the Boston Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals in his first season as a head coach, and watching them hoist the O’Brien two years later without him, begs the question, “How much credit goes to Ime Udoka for the Celtics’ success during his tenure and just how good of a coach is he?”

Well, some would say he began proving his chops last season when he coached the perennial bottom dwelling Rockets to a 19-game improvement and on the brink of play-in contention. But is that enough settle it?

As The Dream Shake subscribers know by now, I have been very patient with this team. I am probably the only person, besides his wife and mother, who believed Stephen Silas deserved one more season as Rockets coach.

In my defense, this was before the news of the internal dysfunction of his tenure became public knowledge. At the time, I wanted to see what Silas could do with some real veteran leadership and talent on his roster, given the absolute dumpster fire he inherited when he became head coach.

We can speculate, but now that even the players have expressed that the new regime has brought stability and structure to the team, any speculation that last seasons’ team would not have faired as well under Stephen Silas is probably valid.

But Stephen Silas is not the bar in which the success of Ime Udoka’s time as Rockets head coach will be measured. Udoka set his own bar in Boston reaching the NBA Finals in year one, and now has set the bar in Houston with the leap the team made last season.

So what should we reasonably expect from a Ime Udoka coached team in his third year as a head coach and his second season as Rockets head coach? The first thing that comes to mind is consistency. Can we see the same level of intensity and execution from all five players on the court for 48 minutes?

This is, in my opinion, the minimum we should expect. Production comes and goes, but effort is something we have seen that Ime Udoka has required of all his players. He hasn’t hesitated to sit any player on the team that he feels isn’t giving effort. Last season that included Jalen Green and Sengun, the presumed future stars of the team.

The question is – Will that be necessary? Have the young players on this team gotten the message, or more importantly, have they bought in to that message fully? If in year two Udoka is benching players for lack of effort then something is or has gone horribly wrong as it relates to the message being delivered and received.

In addition to consistency, we expect accountability, and given what we just discussed about Udoka’s willingness to bench anyone, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. With the wealth of talent on this team, the Rockets head coach has a good problem. Who to play, when to play them and for how long? Seeing as how the Rockets have not made the playoffs since 2020, fans reasonably expect for Udoka to figure this out as well. If consistency and accountability are present within the culture, then this problem will take care of itself. Whoever is consistent will play.

There isn’t much to criticize Udoka for after one season as head coach of the Rockets. But the sun will set on the honeymoon phase at some point. That moment will come sooner than later if the Rockets do not at minimum make the play-in tournament come next April. I believe this too, is a reasonable expectation.

Right now Ime Udoka is widely heralded as one of the best young coaches in the league based on two seasons as head coach of two different teams. But this season will really begin to tell the story of just how good of a coach he really is.

The regular visitors to this blog know by now that I am the ultimate optimist. I believe this Houston Rockets team will be consistent, I believe they will be accountable, I believe Ime Udoka will find the right rotations to propel this young Houston Rockets team out of obscurity and into the playoffs, even in a loaded Western Conference.

I believe Udoka truly is one of the best young coaches in the league and, much like when he was as a player, I believe he has a chip on his shoulder to prove that he’s been no fluke. I believe he wants to prove he can take another team to the NBA Finals and this time, win it.

His success equals Houston Rockets success. So it goes without saying, we are all pulling for you coach.

(I’ve thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the readers though the comments and would love to interact with you during my live podcast every week! Houston Sports State of the Union Podcast. Please subscribe wherever you enjoy watch live streams and get in on the Rockets conversation this season!)