Ime Udoka: What Could Have Been

by Timothy Varner

A 52 point triple double can take your mind to weird places. It has me thinking about Ime Udoka.

When Ime Udoka arrived in San Antonio there were suggestions that he was Bruce Bowen’s heir apparent.  The Portland coaching staff often touted Udoka as their top defender and LeBron James once listed him as a difficult one on one match up. And then, of course, there was the legendary Gabe Muoneke account of Ime as the Afr-I-Can who can kill his Fu-fu. The Blazers coaching staff was fond of describing Udoka in this way:

Regarded by his coaches as Portland’s best perimeter defender, Udoka has drawn the toughest assignment in most every game. In the first 40 days of the season, for example, Trail Blazer Coach Nate McMillan called on Ime to defend some of the NBA’s greatest offensive threats, namely LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson, Vince Carter, Lamar Odom, Michael Redd, Grant Hill and Rashard Lewis.

“They’re all really tough assignments, ” Ime says, “but what I appreciated about it is that guarding them reaffirms for me that I have been prepared to play in this league. Yes, they’re great players, but I haven’t felt overwhelmed in playing them.”

“What I like about Ime’s defense,” says McMillan, “is that he doesn’t fall for a lot of head fakes and shake and bakes. He’s learned sound defensive fundamentals,” such as keeping his feet on the floor, moving quickly laterally, and keeping the player with the ball in front of him.

Blazer assistant coach Maurice Lucas likes Udoka’s versatility. Lucas told the Portland Tribune’s Kerry Eggers, “It’s surprised me, the multiple positions he can play. His basketball IQ is real high.”

Udoka has hard time finding the court these days, and he was upstaged by D-league standout Malik Hairston on Tuesday night. He’s averaging 13 minutes a game this season (which seems high to me), a 7 minute dip on his career average. After Tuesday night’s contest, the rabid contigency of the Spurs faithful were calling for Malik Hairston to replace Udoka in the depth chart.

What does this have to do with LeBron James?

Not that James can be defended, because we know he can’t. But when Udoka first signed with the Spurs I had visions of Bowen and Udoka tag-teaming to slow players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in the conference and league championship rounds. I no longer maintain such visions. Bruce Bowen has been replaced by Michael Finley in the starting line up; Ime Udoka is always teetering on the brink of a DNP-CD. Neither player has enough offense to warrant long minutes, and both players have lost a little something on defense. This last point is often overstated with regard to Bowen, who is still capable of great defense in spot duty. But since his arrival in San Antonio, Udoka has been more effective as a small ball four than lock down wing. And although I don’t think Hairston will replace him in the rotation, I’m confident such a move would not signal a drastic drop in production. Hairston, ironically, has more promise as a swing defender.

In other words, I’ve always feared that players like Bryant and James could take any given game during a playoff series. In past seasons, however, my confidence in the Spurs ability to slow these players was bolstered by the Bruce Bowen option. This is no longer the case. The Spurs will have to find another way around the aforementioned scoring greats if they are to win a title this season.