Imme Udoka. The head coach of the legendary Boston Celtics was the hero of the rescue of the Murcian team in the 2011-2012 season in the ACB
There are 9,670 kilometers separating Murcia from San Francisco. Two and a half weeks have passed since the last UCAM game and nearly four months are missing until the next one. But today the UCAM ‘plays’ at the Chase Center. And it’s that today begins the final series of the best of seven games to settle the NBA champions, with the Golden State Warriors having court advantage against the Boston Celtics, who return to the final 14 years later. Not to miss a detail is Alejandro Gómez, a follower of the Celtics and an admirer of Red Auerbach, one of the most important figures in American basketball since Boston. But not just for that.
The tenant of his bank, and who has led the ‘proud greens’ to the promised land, is Ime Udoka. The Boston Celtics coach, who made his NBA debut this season as head coach after spending the last nine as an assistant, will make Murcian fans very attentive to what they are doing themselves. And it is that Udoka is one of the players who, despite having only played 19 games at UCAM, is one of the most important in its history, as much of the credit for the painful save of the year 2012 is credited to him.
In 2011, UCAM returned to the Endesa League, and quitting being a lift team was the big challenge. But after 15 days with four wins, he was relegated. One of the signings to turn the situation around was Udoka, who made his debut in Murcia and missed 10 of his 11 shots. In four games, his cumulative rating was negative.
But with the substitution of Quintana for Guil on the bench, something ‘clicked’ in him. Of the remaining 17 games, they would lose just ten points in one and UCAM would win nine of their next fifteen games, including the dramatic final on-field game with Estudiantes.
League leader of a team without character (to the envy of more than one veteran of that squad), Ime Udoka was the key player in the metamorphosis of a UCAM Murcia team that has played in the Endesa League for eleven consecutive seasons. International actress Nia Long’s husband, a semi-retired Udoka, arrived in Murcia to save UCAM from disaster and won a crowd singing MVP, MVP’ in the last few matches.
Alejandro Gómez was clear that this was his top priority for next season and his extension was on track, but Udoka, who had intended to become coach, was given an irrefutable offer. Gregg Popovich, the coach with the most wins in NBA history and the third with the most championships, wanted him on his “staff.” I couldn’t let a train like that drive away.
With responsibilities on the bench for the San Antonio Spurs, with whom he won the 2014 championship, he became one of the most sought-after assistants in the league until his big break came.
Today Udoka enjoys the professional recognition of the entire American “mass media”, but this has not been the case all season. This was his debut as head coach and he has done it as the risky bet of the also newcomer to the position of general manager, Brad Stevens, the Celtic bench’s tenant for the last eight seasons.
The pieces took time to fit together for a team with some of the best youngsters in the league, in the case of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, to make the final jump. For many moments of the season, Udoka seemed to come out and his resignation was more than demanded, as the chairman of the coach of the most legendary team is hot.
But just like in Murcia, everything ‘clicked’ in the long run. The Boston Celtics were the best team in the NBA after the All-Star weekend break, reaching this final after beating the Milwaukee Bucks, the current champions, in the final two rounds of the ‘Playoffs’ and Miami Heat, leaders of the East.
A former UCAM player is on the cusp of helping the Celtics win their eighteenth championship, the championship that will break ties with their closest rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, as the most successful franchise. Opposite, by the way, the Mexican Juan Toscano, who did the preseason in Murcia in 2017 and is one of the last Warriors bench players.
Source: La Verdad
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