HOUSTON — Over the previous three seasons, the Rockets have been searching for an identity. They have a number of young players who are just starting to learn their way around the NBA and haven’t established what they will become.
This offseason, general manager Rafael Stone took a step back and looked at his young talent. He knew the team needed someone to establish himself as a veteran presence by doing all the hard work needed to institute a mentality that other teams would identify.
Dillon Brooks, who had played in Memphis before accepting that aforementioned role with Stone and the Rockets in July’s free agency, quickly made it clear he would let opponents know he is helping set the new culture and standard in Houston.
“When you come to play Houston, you know it is going to be a physical battle,” Brooks said at last week’s media day to open training camp. “It is going to be a challenge and not just a walk in the park anymore. It is a challenge every single time you come to Houston.”
“You have to learn to control your emotions and stay in the game, you can’t get yourself taken out in the first quarter,” said Rockets head coach Ime Udoka about Dillon Brooks who was ejected from the game against the Indiana Pacers. #Liftoff #Sarge @TheRocketsWire pic.twitter.com/MsLp9IPI1C
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) October 11, 2023
In Tuesday’s 2023-24 preseason opener versus Indiana, it took the seven-year veteran less than five minutes into the first quarter to stay true to his words while establishing that on-court toughness. Ultimately, Brooks was ejected after receiving a flagrant-foul two penalty for striking Pacers center Daniel Theis in the groin area.
One play earlier, Theis and Brooks were involved in a minor skirmish when Brooks received his first foul on an out-of-bounds play.
“On the previous play, Theis may have flopped, in his (Brooks) opinion,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said during his postgame press conference. “So, he does something on the next play. You can’t let that carry over. The same guy baited him twice.
“You have to learn to control your emotions and stay in the game, you can’t get yourself taken out in the first quarter,” Udoka said as part of his commentary on Brooks. “We love his aggressiveness and physicality, but reputations carry in the NBA, and people will look for certain things, and you have to learn to monitor that better.”
Dillon Brooks wasting no time 😭
He was just ejected for this play 5 minutes into the game. pic.twitter.com/JNmzC2dq2c
— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) October 11, 2023
In his own postgame comments, Brooks echoed Udoka’s sentiment about his reputation, and he believes officials may focus on him more because he plays the game aggressively.
“I tried to navigate a screen,” Brooks told media members postgame at his locker. “I might have tapped him below the waist. But he got right back up. I don’t know. It’s weird that every time it happens to me, I get picked on. I guess it’s part of reputation.”
When asked by the media if he feels like there is a target on his back, Brooks didn’t hesitate to respond.
“What is the name,” Brooks answered. “What’s my name? My name is ‘Dillon the Villain,’ so I guess.”
Coach Udoka took a positive approach toward Brooks being ejected, as it allowed other players — such as second-year forward Tari Eason and rookie Cam Whitmore — to play more minutes in the exhibition opener than what had been planned.
“(Brooks) was a guy we were monitoring, anyway,” Udoka said. “We were going to give him a game off somewhere, and maybe tonight was the game he got off unintentionally. We were going to give him three-quarters of run, just like we did Fred (VanVleet), but it got cut short. But it didn’t change any plans, we had other guys who stepped up and did well.”
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