There are no guarantees on the NBA calendar, and that was made very clear on Monday night with the way the Houston Rockets tripped up on a banana peel and lost to the Chicago Bulls, 132-124, despite Kevin Durant's 40-point night. The Rockets were playing from behind all night long, and while they did mount a furious comeback to make the game close, even taking the lead at one point late in the fourth, they lost steam in the end and fell to 43-28 on the year.
Rockets head coach Ime Udoka lost his cool at the end of the game as he got himself thrown out with the game out of his team's reach after Durant was whistled for an offensive foul off the ball to seal the game in the Bulls' favor. And his foul mood persisted well after the final buzzer had sounded, as he let loose on the poor effort his team showed against a lottery-bound Bulls squad.
“Poor start, disrespected the game, not prepared from the get go. Just non-aggressive, following them around, watching them shoot. They had nothing to lose, they were gonna fire away. Obviously, to give up 41 points in that first quarter is disappointing. It was one quarter that killed us. Weren't prepared to play at all,” Udoka said in his postgame presser, via Fullcourtpass on X (formerly Twitter).
Rockets fans have just about had enough with Ime Udoka
Rockets fans made it clear that it is Udoka's responsibility to get his team prepared against an inferior team (on paper).
“well Ime if you were a good coach, maybe you’d get them prepared beforehand so they wouldn’t look bad. your coaching disrespects the game,” X user @shaef__ wrote.
“You been saying this for the whole season. If the players is not listening to you maybe you are the problem,” @defnotsmoj_ added.
“This the s**t that pisses me off. YOU are the COACH. YOU have to get YOUR team ready to play on ANY given day. The constant lack of accountability while also trying to downplay the opponent is maddening from Ime,” @_maxclark furthered.
