https://theathletic.com/3003161/202...dges-blowup-and-the-rockets-crazy-turnaround/ 3) Wait; the Rockets have won seven straight? The Houston Rockets? Luckily, Stephen Silas has seen this before. The son of Hall of Famer Paul Silas has spent his life in the game, learning needed but occasionally brutal lessons about running teams, as his dad did to the tune of 875 games behind the bench over three decades. “I’ve been sitting next to the man over the years,” Stephen Silas — who apprenticed on NBA benches for 20 years before getting his chance in Houston in 2020 — said by phone Thursday when asked how he held up after his achingly young team got off to a predictable, but no less painful, 1-15 start. “It’s the knowing kind of where we are as an organization, as far as playing a bunch of young guys, trying to learn and grow, trying to teach these kids how to play and play in a way that’s a winning way,” Silas said. “While also letting them make mistakes, learn from being up six and losing your lead, and trying to scratch back and hang on. It was more the circumstance that really helped me as far as keeping a level head and understanding where we are as a group and where we’re trying to get.” Silas came to Houston thinking he’d be coaching a veteran team led by James Harden and Russell Westbrook. That lasted… not long at all. Westbrook went first, traded to Washington for John Wall five weeks after Silas’ arrival, before he’d coached a game. Harden then instigated what can only be described as a work slowdown, to the point where he was barely functioning on the floor with his young teammates through the first eight games of last season. After Harden was sent to Brooklyn in January as part of what became a four-team deal, Silas had to coach a roster full of 20-somethings — a group that only got younger when Houston took 19-year-old Jalen Green from the G League’s Ignite select team with the second pick in this year’s draft, then added 19-year-old forward Usman Garuba and 20-year-old swing Josh Christopher with their other first-round picks. They also traded two future firsts to Oklahoma City to move up to take 19-year-old center Alperin Şengün with the 16th pick. Add the organization’s mutually agreed-upon decision with Wall to keep him off the floor while it tried to find a trade partner for him, and Silas was asked to compete in the West with talent greener than Fenway’s fabled Monster. This didn’t stop the inevitable anonymously-sourced story during the worst of his team’s bad start that said his job was in jeopardy. But Silas stuck with it. His young guys stuck with him. And, incredibly, they’ve rewarded him with seven straight wins, including over the likes of Brooklyn, Chicago and Charlotte, going into Friday’s game with the defending champion Bucks. All but one of the wins have come without Green, who’s been battling a hamstring pull. “Ultimately, one of my dad’s quotes, that he has so many of over the years, is ‘when you’re an NBA coach, you’re in the win business,'” Silas said. “Knowing that, regardless of the circumstance and (what) all of the other things going around the group are, you are in the win business. Making sure you’re doing things in a winning way and making sure you’re preparing these guys on a daily basis to prepare to win is the job. Obviously, we weren’t having a lot of success. But all of the lessons we were learning and me staying steadfast led us to where we are now.” The Rockets’ reversal began with a lineup shakeup, a likely collaboration between Silas and the Rockets’ active front office. Houston had started the season with Daniel Theis at center and Christian Wood playing power forward, which jacked up its spacing. Things didn’t fare much better when the Rockets played Şengün alongside Wood. At 1-15, Silas changed things up, going with four smalls around Wood. That meant putting veteran Eric Gordon in the starting lineup alongside Kevin Porter, Jr. and Green. Porter’s been in and out of the lineup with injuries, too, but is averaging almost eight assists a game in his past five games “The numbers were showing we weren’t having success when we were big,” Silas said. “The eye test was showing we weren’t having a lot of success. We were losing. The hard part is I really value Theis as a player and as a person. I don’t want him to feel like he was the reason we were the way we were. … It’s just easier to play five out when you have Christian at the five.” The resurgence was further goosed by Garrison Mathews, the undrafted third-year guard out of Lipscomb who’d spent most of the previous two seasons playing with the Wizards before signing a two-way deal in Houston just before the start of the season. He shot 39 percent on 3s over two years in Washington while also showing an unexpected proclivity to launch himself into offensive men trying to screen him and draw a bunch of offensive fouls (something he’s brought to Houston — he’s currently second in the league in charges drawn per game, at 0.55, just behind Blake Griffin’s 0.72). During last season, Washington offered him a two-year extension with some guaranteed money, per sources, but Mathews turned it down. And once July 1 rolled around, the Wizards became occupied with the very complicated, five-team deal that ultimately brought in Spencer Dinwiddie from Brooklyn, along with Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell from the Lakers, for Westbrook. And while Mathews waited, the free-agent market for guys on his level dried up quickly. Cleveland and Boston had interest, but the Celtics had a roster crunch and could only offer Mathews a two-way deal and a season in the G League. Mathews didn’t have much of anything until the Rockets came calling in October, and all they had was another two-way offer. With nothing else cooking — Mathews was contemplating going into law enforcement if he couldn’t hook on somewhere — he took Houston’s offer. Mathews was inactive the first 13 games of the season. But as Houston downsized, he got elevated into the rotation. He played 27 minutes as the Rockets’ sixth man when they finally won another game, on Nov. 24, knocking off the Bulls. They haven’t lost since. Mathews has started the past six games for the injured Green, making at least three 3s in every game, shooting 44 percent (24 of 54) behind the arc. He scored 20 in 38 minutes against the Hornets. and 19 in 33 minutes against OKC. His current on/off numbers are a ridiculous +20.3, per basketball-reference.com. “We were planning on putting him in there, but I didn’t know it was going to end up the way it has,” Silas said. Small sample size? To be sure. An outlier? Probably. So is this win streak. But it still beats the hell out of 1-15. So when does Silas storm into GM Rafael Stone’s office and demand a new contract? “I’m worried about Milwaukee,” Silas said with a laugh, the laugh of a man who’s been around the game too long to be surprised by very much.
If the Rockets can beat the Bucks today, all the praises goes to Coach Silas. This is a BIG, Experienced Team so we need some great shooting, tough rebound, limit turnovers and show this offense system works.
Did anyone ask him in the postgame conference why he did not play Sengun the last 10 min.s? I'm very curious to learn his reasoning.
Only time you play Theis is at the 5 with 4 shooters around him. That's it. Which means, for the most part, he needs to glued to the bench.
I refuse to believe that any coach in the NBA can see what's happened this year and think that starting Theis with Wood and Tate gives the rockets the best chance to win. I just can't allow myself to believe it.
do you also believe there are not thieves and corrupted people in the world? who smile and leave an impression of good people but take bribe under the table? if politicians and presidents can be corrupted so can the coaches Silas has a small salary, its not out of possibility thesis is paying him % of the future contract or some similar arrangement...perhaps cuban is paying him to ruin the rival franchise
