I'm conflicted on this one. I certainly don't think Silas is a great coach, but I also think there is way more organizational adversity he has had to overcome than just "I thought I was coaching Harden and Westbrook and now I'm coaching a rebuild" - but at the same time I think the Org has mostly done what they had to in order to set this franchise up for lasting success. Not all the risks have panned out and I think it's fair to criticize Stone for that, but I liked where they chose to place their risk and where they have been more conservative. I joke sometimes that it's better to be lucky than good and while that is always true in the short term, good always wins out in the long term because your luck always runs out. I think generally Stone has been good so far. Back to how to this relates to Silas though - I think the organization saw opportunity to kick start the rebuild last year by taking a shot at a foundational piece(Green), trading for a relatively low risk high level offensive player(Sengun), and snagging two high upside picks(but also high risk) in a defensive ace(Garbua) and Josh Christopher. I didn't see that as a problem risk wise at the time however after watching us struggle ESPECIALLY earlier in the year I think Stone probably did make it really difficult if not impossible for Silas to be effective with FOUR 19 year olds being added to a roster that also had KPJ, Tate, and KMJr. The difference between having a couple of young players on a roster of vets(guys who know how to play) like the situation Barnes, Cade, or even Kuminga entered into is A LOT different than having 7 or 8 relatively inexperienced NBA players trying to get playing time and not really having strong fundamentals or enough vets to show them how NBA team concepts should work. Take an offense - 5 guys need to be able to make reads at the same time and work as a team. That requires getting a lot of reps as a group to solidify the dynamic of a specific set of guys working together but it also requires everyone to understand how to set a proper pick, where to set the pick, how to read defense's approach to the pick, how to respond to the read, how to read your teammate's motions through all of that. Jalen Green running through picks set by experienced vets puts the focus solely on Jalen Green's decisioning in that moment but if that vet is replaced with a guy who may also be struggling with how and where to set the pick, then it makes it harder for Green to understand in real time where he screwed up and where his teammate screwed up so learning opportunities become delayed because of the reality that multiple parts of the system have failed at once. Take into account all those decisions happen in the span of like 14 seconds and now we are back on defense doing the exact same thing defensively and it's a bit of mess to fix that in real time. That was Silas' impossible mission because every lineup all season he trotted out had at least 3 guys with less than 2 years of experience under their belt(and most players make their improvement 'leap' somewhere between year 3 and 4). There are no Xs and Os that will overcome poor execution and Silas had the task of not really being able to coach because he had to focus on development to execute even the most basic offense and defense fundamentals so he could get to a place to start deploying a strategy. When we saw the team improve throughout the season - it was because they threw out the strategy and playbook he brought in for Harden and instead focused on development of fundamentals - that was it. Everything Silas is saying this year is - we are going to dig into the playbook MUCH harder this year and I believe it's because of the reasons I mentioned above. Now - all that said it is not lost on me that Duncan and Hollinger just ranked Silas as the 2nd worst coach in their coaching rankings a few weeks ago. I believe their comment was - it looks a lot like Silas just rolled a ball out there and told the guys to play. I think that's because he wasn't able to get into real coaching this year because of the overwhelming qty of young players in the roster and they also noted and as been confirmed by most reports - Silas is very well respected around the league as a coach and developer even if the results so far in Houston don't prove that. Doncic in particular has noted what a strong influence Silas has had in how he has developed his game. ...so that's where I'm at. I think we gotta give Silas another year- see if he is able to get these young guys running a real system on offense AND defense and hopefully some of these basic execution issues that made Houston frankly unwatchable early last season(and relatedly much more entertaining as the season wore on) will be less prevalent. Worst case is, Silas is indeed terrible and we are taking another high lotto pick in a better draft and maybe we didn't develop our young players as much as we could have. Best case is, he is really good if maybe a little unlucky in the quality and quantity of young players he was given early in his first coaching gig and his "back to basics" approach with this group will yield better long term results for the franchise. To everyone calling for his head though - creating a culture around quick results is the most surefire way to be the next Sacramento Kings and be stuck in a rebuild for decades. Dynasties are built around cultures of doing things the right way despite the results that come with poor luck. I would say heading into only our 2nd full year of a rebuild, we really shouldn't have highly visible expectations. We are going to have to measure progress in small ways outside of the win/loss column for a while. Houston fans after a decade of success have frankly forgot what that looks like.
It’s not just about the win-loss over these two seasons with Silas. There was a clear incentive to tank and the roster is not good. But my concern with Silas is more about the lack of discipline and accountability on the team. It’s not good. also I don’t see him as a good X’s and O’s Coach so far. His rotations are headscratchers and while player development has been positive, giving a coach a lot of credit for young guys getting better (which is inevitable if they play minutes) is not good enough. Also our defense is just so bad some of the blame needs to go to the coaching. This is a big year. If we don’t see significant improvement from the team (and not just W-L, but also the discipline thing), he needs to go. He’s got one more year for me. Obviously a lot will come down to how well he and Green work together, but we’ve got to be clear eyed and sober about the product on the floor this year. We need to take a solid step forward.
Good post…..let’s be clear that player development credit needs to go where it belongs and that is with John Lucas. Honestly haven’t seen much of anything else with Silas. Players respect Lucas, but clearly walk all over Silas. If Lucas weren’t here to provide some discipline this team would be “Romper Room” with the soft spoken non- motivating Silas in charge. He freaking cried when they lost twenty in a row a couple years ago.
Confused how you draw conclusions that Lucas is good at player development and Silas is bad ...when they are part of the same coaching team and coaching all the same players. So Green performing well in March is to Lucas' credit and in spite of Silas? Where do you draw that line?
thank you but this is just a lot of fluff stuff....silas is a fluff master himself...when hes fired he could replace iko at athletic and feigen whoever hes working for... no problemo...
Give me an example of any NBA team ever with a strong identity with 12 players with less than 2 years of experience.
I agree as well - I don't understand how one coach can get the praise and the other can get the scorn when both are working on the same 20 win team.
Wood, Gordon, Schroder, KPJ Wood, Fernando, Gordon, Mathews, Schroder, Wall, KPJ. Just gave you 7 of our 12 players with over 2 years experience in the NBA. Several of these guys played significant minutes. Add Gthat Green and Tate were 1st Team All-Rookie and there are no excuses. Funny thing is that he chose to play Gordon, Wood, and Schroder significant significant minutes all the way up to the last week of the season. Horrible coach and players continually give credit to Lucas for their after hours and off season workouts.
nice guy... prob a really good assistant to stand behind the head coach with a clipboard... but the guy doesnt impress me... His rotations are questionable... Either he's not giving good direction - or guys arent listening to him... either scenario is not good...
anything under 30-35 wins and im firing him next year. we'll have a lot of talent on the roster and it should be time to win a few ball games. the west is pretty weak right now and i don't expect it to be much better.
I thought Silas did pretty much everything that the Rockets asked for last season. He lost enough games to get a top lottery pick while keeping the players' frustration from boiling over. (aside from that one time involving KPJ and Wood, of course.) He gave enough playing time to the main rookies and let them make their mistakes. He especially allowed real improvements to be made by Green over the season. He gave the veterans enough minutes to keep them moderately happy. He also showcased their skills enough to attract other teams' interest. For the whole season, it was a balancing act, and I thought Silas did a great job. I'd expect him to do the same next season, as well.
its only fair to give him another decade, he got a raw deal, he came here thinking he gonna coach harden and westbrook, ended up keeping danual thesis warm for the celtics, otherwise a championship caliber coach right there.... @J.R.
Silas isn't the coach to take us to the promised land. But we're no where near challenging, so I think he stays for another season to assist development. (Hopefully like GSW with Jackson). If we move Abdelfattah into one of the vacant assistant coach positions, I can see him taking over as head coach in 1-2 years and hopefully follow on from the gleague success he's had with the Vipers (before another team hires him).
With Fertitta recently stating that he is fine with another mediocre season, looks like Silas’ job is secure for the future.
Reading is fundamental. I said give me an example of a TEAM this young with that kind of identity. The point is not that some vets are on the team, the point is that teams with an identity generally have 12+ seasoned vets who all know who they are as players - not 12+ guys who no one is for sure whether they even have a future in the NBA. The situation you are asking for isn't possible because identity comes from the roster - not from the system. Watch Coach Pop's teams very carefully and you can see how quickly he changes his entire system to suit the core of the team. One year they will take the fewest mid range jumpers in the league, the next they will take the most. When they had Timmy they were an inside/outside shut the paint down minded team. When they had DeRozan and Aldridge they were mid range specialists who focused to prevent 3s. Hell - look at the Heat. The team today doesn't have the same identity of the Lebron/Wade/Bosh ones of yesteryear despite the same coach. The Lebron led team was all about generating turnovers for fast break opportunities but they had nowhere near the grit and grind of this year's Heat team(who play more similar to old Zbo/Gasol led Memphis teams of the past trying to wear you down by bodying you up and making you work for every inch on the floor).
Funny thing is that he gave us (and management) exactly what we wanted in those back to back years - The leagues worst record and top 3 picks in both as a result. Several players have made huge improvements while playing for Silas (and the rest of the staff). Again, just what we asked for. Lose games while the players improve. Silas shouldn't be anywhere near the hot seat. After this coming season and a similar result - Sure. But not now when you wanted him to lose. People also need to take a look at the offensive statistics - #1 in FT rate. #1 in points in the paint, #1 in pace , #1 in points from 3 point range. I don't think anyone expected that kinda results , not even close to it.
