Stephen Silas on KPJ: "He can have the ball a little bit more..."

That's an excellent recap of a really depressing tenure in the Silas era! Hard to imagine someone doing worse. Like you said, we've seen improvements in Green but you expect that given his draft stock and skillset. Talented guys tend to figure it out. I guess the best reason I can see they've kept him around is, why bother changing coaches when you are trying to be bad anyway? Stone wants this team to suck so he can maximize draft capital, and mission accomplished.

The question to me is, when this team is forced to pivot next season and try to win (since we don't control our own pick in 2024), how do you switch gears? If you win the lottery, Wemby + Green + Smith is certainly a talented core. But there's no way that Silas is the right coach for that group. Who do you bring in if you want to actually win games?

 

Are we counting, say, a pass made to Sengun near the logo as a wide open shot opportunity?
These claims don't pass the eye test.
On the other hand, I'm sure we all can recall countless instances of KPJ blatantly ignoring open teammates in favor of heavily contested shots or layups.

 

Yup. In fact I'm so pleased with him, I want to make a baby with him every week.

 

At this point I genuinely don't know why people don't see it. There's STILL no ****ing structure to the way we play on offense. Silas has been exposed, he has nothing in his playbook, he just wants to rely on having a Luka type player to make him look good - KPJ isn't that guy (let's be honest, there's only about 4-5 people in the league who CAN play that role.) Most of our guys would be looking tons better if there were actual plays being run to put them in a better position. Whatever the **** Silas' "improvise as you go" offense is supposed to be, it doesn't work.

 

I agree on the backcourt guys playing off ball a lot, I don't agree that Sengun's really the answer though, not yet at least. He's got a long way to go before he's a point center Jokic style in all honesty, a lot of his passes have been sketchy this year, like he tries too hard at times to be flashy (and I'm not remotely accepting his fan explanation that it's the people receiving the pass' fault, part of being a good playmaker is knowing how to pass in a way that makes it EASY for the recipient.) I genuinely would rather draft Scoot than Wemby, move KPJ to the wing and then we're flying.

 

I think we need an offense PERIOD. Whether that's Princeton-ish or something else, we need structure. Even D'Antoni had structure up until right at the end where his creativity went and it was just Harden dribbling the clock out (making us an easy win for the Warriors because of how predictable we are.) That's my biggest issue with Silas, there's nothing. There doesn't even seem to be a philosophy or idea beyond 5 out and iso. We don't have a playmaker on the roster capable of making whatever the **** Silas is trying work, most teams don't. We can't even execute a competent pick n roll, something that I used to do constantly playing as a god damn high school teenager. It's embarrassing at times.

 

Sengun didn't even crack double digits last year. What expectations did he succeed?

 

Frank Vogel
Sam Cassel
Mark Jackson
Avery Johnson

 

Silas is not a real coach in some people's eyes, and they are becoming more.

 

Well, you're right if you're a "put-the-ball-in-the-hoop" fan.
Basketballwise, however, Sengun surprised more than a few with his BBIQ, passing ability, post moves, screens...

 

This can be corrected before you can say "flashy".
Sengun's very coachable; if Silas & Co. tell him to cut down on the Harlem GT thing, he will do it.

 

Maybe his goal wasn’t stat padding… Instead he know a good player makes other players even better and he did it more or less. That’s the answer for you.

 

There's a reason this team has looked almost unwatchable the two games Sengun's been out.

 

I always knew he was a tanking/rebuilding coach.... someone you bring in when the team has no hope that you dump once the team is ready to start playing for real.

You do that so you don't burn a real coach.

 

Actually, if Silas run his **** with Wemby instead of Fernando it might just work. Kpj Wemby pick and roll with Jalen as the scoring punch and Jabari 3 and D guy is only Tari Eason development away from being almost unstoppable

 

Silas is trash and is done after this season. We need a coach who actually runs plays.

And Wemby's way too good to be relegated to pick setter and roll guy. Any team that gets him should give him a chance to handle the ball in creative ways.