Stephen Silas Wants Expanded Playbook, Better Defense In 2022-23

At times during the 2021-22 season, when the Rockets (20-62) finished with the NBA’s worst record, there were questions from fans regarding Houston’s playbook, as well as the usage of young players.

As head coach Stephen Silas sees it, though, many of those factors were by design. The rebuilding Rockets were one of the league’s youngest teams last season, particularly in the backcourt — where 21-year-old Kevin Porter Jr. was a first-time starter at point guard. Major minutes went to 19-year-old rookies Jalen Green and Josh Christopher, as well, and all spent considerable time initiating Houston’s offense.

Given their limited track records, it was a lot to suddenly take on.

But in 2022-23, with all of those extremely young players having had a year of NBA experience (or a year in that role, in Porter’s case), Silas seemingly thinks the time is right to remove the training wheels.

Here’s what Silas told The Athletic’s Kelly Iko during a Q&A session at the recent NBA draft combine in Chicago:

There’s gonna have to be a carryover from that to this coming season as we add layers to what we did, because last year, as I said to you a bunch of times, we were basic. Hopefully this upcoming season, we’ll be able to go over that stuff the first couple of days of training camp and then move on to a little bit more detailed, more complicated stuff.

Silas also wants the Rockets to be considerably better on defense, where they ranked dead last in net rating during the 2021-22 season.

As with the playbook, he attributes much of that lowly ranking to age,

“I want to be a better defensive team,” Silas said. “We just have to be, and for young guys, that’s hard. Hard for them to grasp the defensive end and be able to anticipate what’s coming. To see a set develop and know where they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there and be there on time. I want to improve on the defensive end.”

Silas told Iko that he’s spent considerable time watching team defenses during the 2022 NBA playoffs, and there are clearly lessons for the young Rockets to learn. But the biggest factor appears to be time itself.