[…] Q. Were you able to enjoy the draft night and the results? A. “I was excited. Rafael (Stone, the Rockets general manager) obviously did a great job. We talked a lot about the kind of targets that he had. He had me watch a bunch of film on these guys. I knew who they all were. I was getting texts as it was unfolding. I was excited to get all four guys because I had done research on all for of them and studied them. We had talked a lot about them. “It all worked out almost as a perfect world for us as far as who we got and where we got them and now looking forward with them. Q. You have coach established veteran stars but spent the bulk of your career working with young, top prospects. LeBron James. Stephen Curry, Baron Davis, Luka Doncic. How do you feel about the way things have changed to sort of restart and rebuild with youth? A. “It’s good. It’s different than this time last year. I’m not sure anybody would have thought this would be the position we’d be in but we’re all excited about the position we’re in to have these young guys. I have had a lot of experience working with the best of the best when it comes to young players, first-year players, navigating the NBA landscape as far as being young, being talented but also having a lot of responsibility and being a big part of the team. “That’s one of the things I’ve really been thinking a lot about, them as a group but also how they fit in with the group we already have, guys that are established and making sure it’s seamless with the previous guys and the new guys and everybody’s pulling in the same direction.” Q. After the pre-draft preparations and first impressions of summer league workouts, do you see any similarities with Jalen Green and those players when they were at the same stage? A. “There’s a few things. There’s an almost quiet confidence they all have. LeBron had it when he first came in (and Silas was a Cavaliers assistant.) He just had a confident swagger but not in a loud kind of way. Luka was very much the same. Steph was supremely confident when he was a rookie but didn’t really wear it on his sleeve. They just had it. It was one of the things that made those guys really, really good. I see that in Jalen, his quiet confidence, and his ability to just know if he puts the work in, he’s going to be really good. “The other thing that kind of separated the previous guys I’ve coached and hopefully, Jalen fits into that, is the basketball IQ. Not necessarily watching film and being able to decipher the film, but the on-the-fly decision-making that’s just next-level stuff. Watching him in the G League and doing the research I did on him, I see some of that, the see-the-play-before-it-is-happening stuff. Those guys, they can use the athleticism in ways most guys can’t.” Q. In his case, he comes from a season with the G League program for elite prospects, played for Brian Shaw. In those initial practices, were there signs of how he might have benefitted from those experiences? A. “He definitely has a maturity about it. I’m sure B-Shaw and his staff helped along the way. Being in the bubble is not an easy thing. He learned a lot and learned about the NBA game. But he also had vets on his team, Bobby Brown, Jarrett Jack, Amir Johnson, who were showing him the ropes, telling him what to expect, all those things most guys his age (19) don’t get. “They’re with peers. He was with guys who have been through the fire and gave him nuggets that I’m sure he will draw upon as the season goes along. We have talked a whole bunch. He understands he has gained a lot by being in the G League.” Q. Alperen Sengun was also a professional before he was drafted. Does it show with him? A. “Yeah. He’s not rattled at all by anything that’s going on. He has basically seen it all at a young age (he turned 19 the week of the draft.) He played at a high level, been the MVP of the Turkish league. He has a professionalism about him which is refreshing for 19. “That’s one of the great things about these kids that we have. They all have a level of professionalism they have shown already as far as their work habits and their ability to listen, as far as their ability to connect with their teammates. They have all shown they are 19 but they are professionals.” Q. Did that remind you of K.J. Martin, who was 19 last season but always in a professional atmosphere (as Kenyon Martin’s son)? A. “That’s true and he has taken it to the next level with his work this summer. He’s been here all summer in the gym and he is helping these guys. He’s one of the vocal guys on the floor and one of the leaders of the summer league group. He’s always had that maturity about him and it’s grown.” Q. Assuming Usman Garuba will join you for this season, how do you feel it will work with four 19-year-old rookies, a 21-year-old point guard, and a 20-year-old forward on a team with established 30-somethings John Wall and Eric Gordon? A. “It’s very much about the people. If you have good people, and they all are, then it should work out well. If everybody is concerned with everybody doing well and everybody doing their best and the organization moving in the right direction, it should work out. “Obviously, in an NBA season, there are ups, there are downs, there are issues you have to deal with. But the people we are talking about on this team are really just some good people. There’s going to be conversations to be had and decisions to be made but I do trust the fact the culture is very much about the people and we have good people in this organization and on this team.” Q. Does it help that you saw John Wall interact with young guys, especially Kevin Porter Jr., last season? A. “For sure. I got to see it. I got to hear it. I got to learn from it. He’s one of the best. If we had guys who were not necessarily great people it would really be a difficult situation. I trust the guys. I trust the structure we’re putting forth.” Q. How is Kevin Porter Jr. doing this off season? A. “He’s doing well. He’s been in most of the summer. He’s been in the gym. He’s been working on his game. He’s been spending a lot of time with his teammates. Having him here in Houston and working with John Lucas, spending time with his family, he’s been in and out at times, taking some time to himself, was very important. He’s really done a good job with his time management. It all kind of comes back to his game.” Q. With a team in transition like this, what are appropriate goals? Or what is the mission? A. “Goals is a hard word right now. The draft was last week. It’s all new. It’s going to take a little while to come up with the goals of the group. The things I’ve been thinking a lot about is the structure of how we do things and the accountability for everybody. And making sure, since we’re going to be young, making sure we have the things in place for these guys to succeed on and off the floor, so making sure our player development structure is on point. “Obviously, we have John Lucas, who is the best in the business at it. But making sure he has everything he needs for these guys to get better. We just want to put everything in place for them to be as successful as they can be, as well as the guys coming back from last year so they can play as well as they can possibly play and feel they are a part of something special, something positive and moving in the right direction. “Goals are somewhere in there. A lot of what I have been thinking about is the structure. I know I want to make sure these guys are put in the best position. Right now, that’s the goal.” Q. Have you had a chance to get away? A. “I went away for four days. We went to Cabo, Mexico. And I went and saw my parents for three days. Beyond that, I’ve been in Houston. And I went to Miami and saw John and Christian (Wood) and D.J. Wilson. I’ve been in the gym most of the time. That’s my vacation, being in the gym, watching these guys work and get better.” Q. How did John and Christian look? A. “Good. Christian has a really good routine. He has good people he’s working with. Same thing with John. When I saw John, he was working with his physical therapist. He’s beyond that now. He’s working on the court now. Looking forward to seeing them. A good bunch are coming to Las Vegas to support the team. That’ll be great.”
This is going to be good (the article). –– @D-rock first off, I have no idea how being sentimental was gleaned from this interview. Second, why would being sentimental keep you from becoming a good to great coach? I personally think he's done a good job of acknowledging emotional needs of players so that they can excel in Houston. I think that's step one in today's NBA. If he gets the team back to winning in the next two years, I think he deserves to steer them in the playoffs. That's where your greatness is usually going to get defined, not in an interview. Especially not where sentimentality is drawn into question as a negative coaching characteristic. I'm puzzled by your reaction and would guess that it was preordained, not gleaned.
Great to hear KJ, KPJ and Wood are verifiably hard at work this summer. Good to hear Wall is in Miami trying to showcase himself to the Heat , wish we could leave him there.
"Coach, tell us about John Wall." "He is like a god to me. Small 'g', not big 'G'." "In other words, untradeable?" "Bingo."
It was not good last season but no one would have done a good job under those circumstances. Now, he builds the offense and the defense with players he can count on being here and being self motivated. If he doesn’t do a great job this season, we should look to replace. He had time to get familiar, input into draft, get a lot of the core players working with him in the summer. Tbh I’m optimistic that he can take his Mavs offense and update it for Green/KPJ to run while splitting the usage. I don’t want to go back to the days of one player with heavy usage, it’s too risky and I hope he avoids it. Wood is going to make their life so easy with 3pt shooting and PnR we will go 5-out finally. Sengun addition will give us a pair of potentially elite PnR combos between the 4 of them with high post options, which is exciting AF.
only way you fire him this year is if he loses the locker room. this is a roster that still wants to be in the lottery. Not fair to him at all to just use him as a tanker for two years than dip. Stone isn’t like that and is going to keep Silas till he gets a real shot. Probably next year.
I will say this. Silas was hired for an entirely different job than he now faces. Anything less than years of opportunity is not fair to him and would be a detriment to the organization. Our core will be 22 years old in three years, which is still babies in this league. We are crazy young after the draft and KPJ and KMJ. It’s going to take time for both Silas and the players to grow. If we are smart and keep it together through the growing pains this bunch has an unbelievable amount of time to come together. The talent is there, but this game is as much about chemistry and experience as it is talent. Having five years together, both on the court and with the same coaching philosophy, and rolling out there at 24 years of age will be an advantage not many teams have ever had. The long game and unity will be just as vital to where this organization goes as anything.
I personally had some problems with some of the rotations that Silas has put out last year and wasn't exactly impressed. I do not know if there is ever a verbal agreement to tanking but sometimes i felt like Silas wasn't trying to win. Nights where John Wall shot 5-30 and wouldn't pass the ball come to my mind and Silas just wouldn't ever sit him. With all that said, I do think Silas deserves the benefit of the doubt and i really want to see where he can take this team now that there's a lot of talent on it. He really didn't have much to work with last year and it would be unfair to hold it against him. I hope he impresses me next season because i really really like him as a person.
The sentimentality remark was in relation to his comments and handling of Wall in toto. He absolutely adores Wall, we all know this. Even when Wall is a net negative on the floor, Silas is blind to it and refuses to modify his minutes or rotations. If Silas is able to get Rockets back in playoffs in year 2 then I will reevaluate.
Certainly, I mean for him to have a great coaching season within the context of what we're building. I don't think he did that last season, but it was especially difficult so I'm giving him a pass.
I think Silas has been in the business a long time and knows exactly what to say that is harmless and makes the situation coachable and keeps that asset as liquid as possible.
