Rockets Head Coach Must Take Championship Leap

The Houston Rockets aspire to win a championship this season, and the front office has brought in Kevin Durant to help them accomplish that goal. He's the final piece needed for the contender puzzle that general manager Rafael Stone has been working on. While Houston still needs to see how all the pieces fit together, there's one man responsible for getting them to fit: head coach Ime Udoka. While the Rockets hope many of their young players take a leap, they also hope their young coach takes a leap.

As Udoka enters his fourth year functioning as an NBA head coach, he has already created a reputation as one of the league's toughest coaches. Gaining experience as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs gave him the foundation of hard work and professionalism he took with him to the Boston Celtics and the Rockets.

His players adopt pieces of his personality as well, taking on his toughness and confidence through their actions in games. The Rockets refuse to let teams 'punk' them, and they rely on being the tougher, stronger team to win games.

Udoka has always been an elite defensive coach, turning Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green into competitive defenders. Houston's roster is tailor-made for him to use waves of lengthy wings with athleticism like Tari Eason and Amen Thompson.

However, the Durant trade gives him another layer, as Udoka now must have a more solid game plan offensively.

The Rockets depended on their elite defense and rebounding to beat opponents this past season due to their poor shooting. When the offense struggled in the playoffs, Udoka doubled down on dominating the glass with the double-big lineups featuring Sengun and Steven Adams.

That strategy didn't work, and the team added Durant as a result. Durant is a natural scorer with the ability to hit shots from any spot on the floor. Outside of Sengun and, to a lesser extent, Thompson, no one else on the team has the elite shot creation needed to be a catalyst for the rest of the offense.

The Rockets can't afford to leave Durant out to dry and expect him to save the day if they repeat some of their multiple-minute scoring droughts from moments during the season.

Part of the futility was on coaching, but most of it was not having a consistently dependable offensive player to hit shots exactly when the team needed them. Durant's addition makes things easier for Udoka, but it's still up to him to get Durant in spots where he can do damage along with the rest of the team's talented players.

If Udoka can guide Houston's offense to another level, the team will be set to compete for a championship against some of the league's top teams. The Rockets' ceiling could be limited if the offense isn't addressed in a major way. They'll need more shooting, and they'll need an evolution by the head coach.