Mirroring past NBA firings, a struggling Rockets squad and identical season record raise questions about Udoka's future in Houston.
After a relatively mediocre, maybe even underwhelming season, many Rockets fans are upset with one thing in particular. From rotations and starting lineups, to play calling and execution, all of the blame falls on one guy: Houston’s head coach, Ime Udoka.
While it might seem incredibly unlikely for a team to fire their head coach at this point of the season, it’s not unprecedented. It might be getting more common and acceptable in the NBA.
Just last year, the Memphis Grizzlies fired their head coach at this exact point in the season. And I mean exact.
On March 28th of last year, the Grizzlies’ recent losses had dropped them out of a top four seed in the West. They dismissed Taylor Jenkins despite him having the most wins in their franchise’s history, and a 44-29 record that season.
Now, on March 28th of this year, the Rockets also have a 44-29 record. Like the Grizzlies last season, Houston has recently dropped out of the fourth seed.
To further the similarities, Memphis struggled against the teams above them in the standings, going 3-6 up to that point of the season, according to Teresa M. Walker. This year, Ime Udoka’s team has only gotten one win apiece against the teams above them in the West.
They have a 5-10 record in those games, for the exact same 33.33-percent win rate against potential playoff matchups. 1-2 against the Thunder and Lakers, and 1-3 against the Spurs and Nuggets. There still is a chance to win the season series versus Minnesota though.
An even more extreme example of this late season dismissal was the Denver Nuggets. On April 8th of last year, they got rid of their championship winning head coach with only three games left in the season. Just baffling to everyone.
They had three more wins and three more losses compared to Houston and Memphis, but their 47-32 record was good enough to keep them in fourth place all season long.
While the Nuggets have more or less been able to maintain their level of play under a new coach, we’ve seen the Grizzlies completely blow their roster apart, leaving Ja Morant as the last man standing (or sitting) on a lottery team.
I find it hard to imagine the Rockets have any desire to dismantle their roster and would prefer the Nuggets path if they were to part ways with Udoka.
While I understand frustrations from fans, it’s important to think about the future, rather than making an impulsive decision. If you want Royal Ivey or someone to be the interim head coach for the remaining games, then maybe pull the trigger.
But how much will that change this season? In reality, it’d just bring unnecessary drama. Plus there’s typically more head coaches available in the offseason, making the whole process easier.
So while it’s become more common for coaches to get canned this late in the season, even highly successful and respected coaches, I’m not sure how much sense it makes right now. Ime detractors might have to wait a while longer.