Houston Rockets Bring Attitude and Edge to the Court

The Houston Rockets have a new reputation as a scrappy team that’s willing to stand up to any aggressor, when they’re not being the aggressors themselves.

Nov 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks (9) dunks the ball against the Chicago Bulls during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets have started creating a new reputation that coincides with the arrival of their head coach, Ime Udoka.

One of the things Udoka preaches the most is toughness -- he refuses to allow other teams to out-tough his players. Whether they out-skill or outsmart his players is one thing, those are coachable attributes as well. But a player's toughness largely depends on their attitude and their determination to win. Udoka teaches his players that toughness has to come first before a player can truly display their skills and ability to affect winning.

The Rockets have fully bought into those teachings and have looked like a much more aggressive team than they have in the past.

During the first years following the franchise’s hard reset, the team looked passive. The highest-value prospects on the team focused only on their individual games and didn’t know how to play winning basketball. 

They allowed teams to ‘punk’ them regularly, which just means that teams could take the Rockets for granted when they played. There was little to no threat of losing, and opposing teams used the Rockets to get back on the right path if they had been struggling.

Houston isn’t getting ‘punked’ anymore.

Coach Udoka has made such a strong impact on the team, it seems the Rockets are the ones doing the ‘punking.’

There were several instances during the 2023-24 season when the Rockets got involved in an altercation with opposing teams. Players like Jabari Smith Jr., Jalen Green and Tari Eason in the games he was healthy for, pushed back against players who tried to disrespect them or their teammates. They would push, shove and get physical with players that tried to enforce their own toughness on the Rockets.

Obviously, Dillon Brooks is a leader of that energy. He comes with the junkyard dog attitude that Udoka has shown to appreciate. He already had a reputation for being a player that did not allow opposing players to have their way. He was more likely to cause an altercation than he was to stop or avoid one.

The confrontational spirit is one that the Rockets have benefitted from greatly. And again, this spirit comes straight from the head coach, who showed his teachings through his actions in their most recent loss against the Warriors. He was sent home early after his expletive explosion against the refs, and he took a hefty fine home with him. 

His best player, Alperen Şengün also got sent home early with an ejection and a fine. Finally, one of the team’s junkyard dogs, Tari Eason, took a deeper cut into his pocketbook after a verbal altercation with a Golden State fan.

These are examples of the toughness the Rockets have formed their identity around. If they play well or not, they’ve proven that they will at least not allow teams to treat their games like a circus. Last season they established this culture, now it seems that winning has started to come along with it.

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