Udoka: Confident leader of the C's who can kick some serious ass!

Ime Udoka has brought an impeccable coaching background to Boston, and an undeniable toughness to the job that gives him the kind of street cred among players few first-year coaches enjoy.

By A. Sherrod Blakely

You don’t have to spend a lot of time around Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, to see the confidence he has in his ability to lead and be successful.

He looks you square in the eyes when you ask questions and doesn’t mince words when talking about the good and not-so-good aspects of his team.

When asked about reuniting with Al Horford in Boston after the two spent one season (2019-2020) together in Philly, Udoka is candid in his assessment that they didn’t use Horford well enough.

Horford worked well playing off of All-Star big man Joel Embiid but, “what didn’t work well was us putting him (Horford) in the best situations” said Udoka, an assistant coach with the Sixers when Horford played for the team.

Fast forward to this week.

Shortly after a down-to-the-wire preseason win (Boston’s second in as many preseason games) over Toronto where some of his younger players stepped up, “a pretty ugly win overall” was how Udoka described it.

We don’t know how well he will handle X’s and O’s when the regular season begins. We have no idea how he will deal with a losing streak which is inevitable.

But one thing that’s pretty clear right now.

This dude is not about that sugarcoating life.

Udoka is not a drinker, but he’s bringing the straight-no-chaser truth when it comes to this team and where they are and more importantly, where they are not.

The Celtics are not built to steamroll over teams.

Their success will be more about drowning foes with wave after wave of talented players who are going to, as best they can, channel their inner-Udoka which is a low-key, highly intense leader.

One of my favorite stories about Udoka was told by his former Nigerian National team teammate, Gabe Muoneke in 2007 when a fight broke out after a Nigerian win during the African Championships in Algiers.

“He (Udoka) was taking people out like in Mortal Kombat. Finish him! Incredible,” Muoneke said. “In the middle of the whole thing I heard Ime, literally in mid-swing of another opponent say, ”Watch back, Gabe” and he calmly, I mean calmly, smeared a guy who, as I turned to see his warning, jumped from the stands with a chair to probably kill me or knock me out to where the crowd would have. I mean, Ime caught the guy in mid-air with a fist and calmly continued his dispatching of oncoming people.”

Two things stood out about the story.

First off, Udoka is NOT the one to mess with!

But hey, it’s your jaw, right?

More to the point, Udoka is willing to fight - literally - for his teammates. And when you are the new guy on the job of leading a storied franchise like the Celtics, having that kind of street cred is huge in getting guys to buy into what you’re selling.

So far, Udoka has mixed and matched his lineups, getting a good look at what works and what groups are more like a work in progress. His best players, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown seem to be happy with him and the role they have. Romeo Langford and Grant Williams are a couple of the younger Celtics who look like completely different players who may be able to contribute when called upon this season.

And while it is just the preseason, it’s worth noting that Udoka has yet to lose a game, the kind of start you expect from someone who is confident in their ability to lead and be successful and when needed, can kick some serious ass if necessary!