Ime Udoka is Doing His Best Impression of Infamous Celtics Coach

The Rockets have tried to get players Udoka used to coach in Boston, and that sounds very familiar...

Oct 23, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka reacts during the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported the other day that the Rockets were eyeing Derrick White this offseason before he agreed to an extension with the Celtics. That's not a concern for the Celtics now, but Houston's interest in White is another element of a pattern that's been going on ever since the Rockets hired Ime Udoka as their head coach.

Since they hired him a year and a half ago, the Rockets have been tied to Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams III, and Malcolm Brogdon. What do they all have in common? Udoka either coached them in Boston or had planned to.

It's abundantly clear that Udoka wants to coach players that he succeeded with because of how far they went together. It makes sense but also begs a question.

Who does Udoka think he is? Rick Pitino?

It has been long enough now that the younger generation of Celtics fans don't know about the Pitino era. While being one of the very best NCAA basketball coaches ever, Pitino lives in infamy in Boston. In short, he was the Celtics' greatest disaster the franchise has ever had. That's right, kids, he was even worse than Kyrie Irving.

What made him so bad? Well, that's a long story. The focus is on how his past actions in Boston correlate with Udoka's since Houston hired him. Pitino committed many sins in Boston. One of the most glaring was acquiring players he used to coach back at the University of Kentucky.

Pitino already had a Kentucky alum he was familiar with when he first joined Boston: Antoine Walker, who was entering his second year in the NBA. He then made it his mission to get more University of Kentucky alumni.

That included not-too-harmful trades, like acquiring old-school Celtics fan favorite Walter McCarty, but other moves proved to be costly, like drafting Ron Mercer with the No. 6 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft over Tracy McGrady.

During his first year in the NBA, the Celtics had four Kentucky players on the roster, all of whom Pitino coached beforehand. While other moves he made for the Celtics proved to be worse, going with players he coached with in college was not a smart strategy since the NBA is an entirely different ballgame.

Now in Udoka's case, it makes sense that he wants NBA players he previously coached at that same level because they went pretty far together. Compare that to Pitino, who wanted NBA players who thrived under him at the collegiate level, which is completely different and far from foolproof.

Trying to get the players he coached in Boston is a sign that Udoka understands that he let such a golden situation slip through his fingers. He had a championship-caliber roster on his hands, and without ripping this old wound open too much, he gave it up, and now he's coaching a Rockets team with an uncertain present and future.

It's not like Houston is in the worst spot, but it may be a while before they reach a level close to where Boston is if they ever do. Borrowing one of Rick Pitino's strategies is apparently the best way Udoka can rectify the situation until further notice.