Looking for new hope
Amid 19-game skid, Silas searching for chemistry on court and going back to basics
Try as the Rockets might to ignore the losing streak or to understand how their season came to this and how snake bit they have been in so many ways for so long, the streak is still there, undeniable, inescapable.
It brings a weight they carry and must overcome as much as the shortcomings that have led to 19 consecutive losses and in some cases, remain even as their regulars have at least returned to the lineup.
The streak always hovers over them.
“I would look at you different if you weren’t frustrated after losing as many games as we did,” center Christian Wood said.
“You just have to stay with each other, take it dayby-day. I’ve never been a part of something like this. It is very frustrating.”
The Rockets might want a chance to start over, to look at the return of Wood, John Wall and Danuel House Jr. as a new beginning even if the damage from 11-29 record remains.
That could make sense with Sunday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, rescheduled from when it was supposed to be the season opener but could not be played because the Rockets did not have enough players — a sign of things to come.
There is, however, no starting over until there is a win. Until then, for the Rockets, the toughest thing to overcome to end the losing streak is the losing streak itself.
“Like anything … whether it is a losing streak, family stuff, just any kind of negative thing going on in your life … it definitely does weigh on you,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “It weighs on some of the decisions you make. It weighs on your ability to perform your best. At some levels, kind of sometimes makes people feel sorry for themselves. It is just a hard thing to go through.
“I do believe the streak weighs on all of us. We just got to break through it.”
That was most obvious in the fourth quarter in Friday’s loss to Detroit when the Rockets offense bogged down, going four and a half scoreless minutes with the game on the line and the dual issues of desperation to get a win and a lack of continuity and chemistry were most debilitating.
The offensive flow, and with it, much of the ball movement that was evident to start the game, were gone when needed most.
“Getting to that ball movement, second action stuff, we didn’t get to quite as much,” Silas said. “That’s just a habit we’re going to have to continue to hammer home as far as explore the offense all the way through. If we have an early attack, making sure that we’re spaced correctly, have some sort of action that puts pressure on the defense and if we don’t have it, moving it to the next situation.”
That is the first basic goal of the Rockets offense, to draw two defenders and move the ball. But with a starting lineup, the Rockets’ 27th in 40 games, that had never played together, there has been little chemistry developed through what is half of a normal season.
“It’s going to take time to mesh now,” said House, who played his second game since missing five with a knee injury. “That comes with the territory.
“It’s just chemistry. The chemistry is off. That’s it. We’re going to get it together. It’s just a learning curve we’re going through together.”
Because of that, Wood went from scoring 12 points in his first nine minutes to taking just four shots — including two to beat the buzzer — the rest of the game.
“Everybody notices it,” Wood said. “People see it. It’s frustrating that we haven’t had a lot of games together. We can only focus on what we can control, and that’s playing together right now so we have to figure it out.”
Even the Rockets’ practice on Saturday — though limited the day before a day game to start a back-to-back — demonstrated how far behind they are in a season filled with injuries and absences and with so little practice time in the compressed NBA schedule.
“We cleaned up some things in the offense,” Silas said. “We got some shots up within the offense and did a little 3-on-0 breakdown where guys make reads and form that marriage between screener and ball-handler.”
That agenda is telling. It normally would be part of a training camp practice with some refresher time during a season. With the Rockets having so rarely had their starters on their feet at the same time, it is work that is still necessary.
“We’d probably be doing it, but it wouldn’t be new,” Silas said. “It would be stuff we’ve done before and stuff they kind of grasped the concepts. We went over … our reads. It’s like basic stuff. If they go under, this is what we do. If they are looking to switch, this is what we’re looking for. Simple, simple stuff, training camp stuff.”
Still, that work can offer reason for hope, moving a step closer to where the Rockets expected to be and perhaps to that long-sought win.