- Cam Whitmore has become a productive scorer off the Rockets‘ bench, but he had to fix his defensive issues before getting regular playing time, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Coach Ime Udoka said Whitmore has improved his “awareness” and “recognition” in his second NBA season, and Whitmore agrees. “I just had to be locked in for real,” Whitmore said. “Sometimes I’m in la-la land a little bit, but that’s just on me. I owe it all to my (lack of) effort and laziness, but effort is free. It’s just something I had to do, dial in on it a little bit more and try to get on the floor with that.”