Houston coach doesn't often raise his voice with young team but when he did this week...
Karen Warren/Staff photographerHis team had given him ample reason to express his thoughts at high volume and with unprintable language many times and he had accepted the invitation. But Monday’s shootaround, with the team’s losing streak at 13 games and Silas sensing either some distraction or worse, acceptance of their fate, brought an old-school tirade that got attention and perhaps led to the end of the losing streak.
“Coach got on us for not having our minds on shootaround,” guard Jalen Green said after scoring a career high 42 points in that night's 119-114 win over Minnesota. He then discussed their video study and other conversations that helped him. But teammates thought about the angry aria they heard as if it was still echoing in Toyota Center. “I think he did a great job of just making sure we were ready to play,” forward Jae’Sean Tate said. “It started in the pregame shootaround in the morning. He made sure we knew how important it was not to give into being defeated. I think he did a great job instilling that confidence in us. “You know that’s really not his coaching style or his personality, so when he does that, you know he means business. I think we responded well to it. When he does yell and gets production out of it, it’s good.” Garrison Mathews said he did not think Silas was different than he has been before. The circumstances were, however, making the timing right for an outburst. “We were on a 13-game losing streak,” Mathews said. “Any coach is going to be upset about that, and especially to come into shootaround the way we did and being lackadaisical and not be in tune to what we were doing, any coach would be upset. He lit a fire under us. When coach gets on you like that, people listen.” This might not have reached Bill Fitch as drill sergeant levels. He might not have gotten the dials on the Pop-o-meter spinning to reach the tough love Gregg Popovich treatment of a young Tony Parker. But this is 2023. And too many tirades directed at the team with the league’s worst record and the longest losing streak in the NBA this season could make things worse. Silas had seen confidence shaken. He saw open shots not taken, or extra passes no longer delivered. Customary NBA runs turned close games into blowout losses. Silas had sought to encourage and at times, lift sagging spirits.“It was about the importance of preparation, it was the importance of focus, it was about professionalism and what it takes to build winning habits,” Silas said. “It’s hard to balance. There’s a lot of patience that’s necessary. But when I get mad, then they got to know. If I come off at times as being happy or smiling or whatever, sometimes that message when it’s sternly delivered gets across in a different kind of way. They know that it’s important and I care about them doing the right thing.” Eric Gordon, the Rockets most veteran player, said the importance of preparing should have been understood, but sometimes needs to be repeated, especially with a young team.Gordon said in his 15 NBA seasons, Suns coach Monty Williams most often brought versions of Silas’ Monday blast. But he said Silas delivered the full Monty.To Silas, it was not about being able to deliver a broadside as much as knowing when. Timing and credibility are more valuable that volume, a lesson he said he learned early in his coaching career. “I think any coach has to pick his spots, for sure,” Silas said. “Don Nelson used to say, ‘You only have six bullets for the season. You have to use them wisely. You can’t come in every day question the guys. But six times a year you can completely go off if you need to.’ Finding that balance is something that coaches have been dealing with for years.” Silas has often referred to lessons learned from Nelson and other coaches he has worked under. But at least one coach would have spent Nelson’s six bullets in the first weeks of a season.
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