The Houston Rockets are the worst team in the Western Conference this season, and that might actually be underselling their many issues.
A troubling report emerged this week about the Rockets and head coach Stephen Silas. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst wrote that Silas was in tears at one point this season because he felt that he could not get through to the team.
“Houston had lost 18 of 19 games at one point and 11 straight games during another stretch,” wrote Windhorst. “At one point, Silas broke down in tears after a game because he felt he couldn’t reach his players.”
Silas, 49, is in his third season on the job but has failed to show any improvement whatsoever when it comes to getting wins. The Rockets won 17 games in 2020-21 (albeit in a 72-game season), 20 games in 2021-22, and 18 games so far this season. That adds up to an absolutely abysmal career tally of 55-175 (.239) for Silas.
Houston has one of the youngest rosters in the NBA, and that roster has formulated a lot of bad habits. Among them is excessive one-on-one play, which has led to the Rockets producing the worst assist ratio in the entire league this season. Multiple opposing players have spoken out about how Houston’s young players, such as Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green, do not play the game properly.
Draymond Green with some extended thoughts on Houston’s rebuild.
“It’s very easy to build bad habits. But habits are hard to break. You build bad habits and it kind of becomes who you are
“It’s important to try to play the right way.” pic.twitter.com/a8f0f2jYIx
— Michael Shapiro (@mshap2) March 21, 2023
Spoke with Austin Rivers postgame tonight. He had plenty of thoughts on Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr. and the Rockets’ rebuild.
“Somebody needs to teach KPJ and Jalen how to play the right way. … They need those vets.”
Can check out the full chat tomorrow @chron
— Michael Shapiro (@mshap2) January 9, 2023
Silas probably deserves some slack since the job is different than the one that he signed up for. He came aboard in 2020, only for franchise player James Harden to soon request a trade. One has to wonder though whether the tides might soon change for Silas and the Rockets with some interesting rumors emerging about the coming offseason.
H/T Bleacher Report
