For Silas, tanking talk is a nonissue
Between the pain of the losses that could have gone another way or the elation when the Rockets broke through to defeat the Mavericks on Wednesday, it had not occurred to coach Stephen Silas that someone might suggest his team could benefit from losing.
General manager Rafael Stone had said in a radio interview Wednesday that the Rockets’ stockpile of draft picks makes it unnecessary to concern themselves with their position in this summer’s lottery, reiterating a point he had made after the trade deadline.
The idea could be moot. The brutal remaining schedule could keep the Rockets in the bottom three heading into the lottery, where they would have a 52.1 percent
chance of remaining among the top four picks, as is necessary to keep from sending their pick to the Thunder. After Wednesday’s win, which snapped a five-game losing streak, the Rockets have the NBA’s secondworst record (14-37).
Silas, however, considered all his team has been through since before training camp and through the never-ending run of injuries and roster changes that forced him to use 34 starting lineups in 51 games and was stunned that the idea of trying to win by losing could even be entertained.
“Oh, yeah. I mean, staying up late watching film and having these guys come in for shootaround, grinding, fighting, and the disappointment that you feel after losses and the elation you feel after wins … that is not even a thing at all. It’s not,” Silas said, never even spitting out the word tanking. “Growth from this team is doing what we can to play well, controlling what we can control.
“I would say if you’re really watching this team closely, you would understand we are where we are mainly because of a lot of other things besides basketball, whether it’s injuries or COVID or trades or whatever else. It’s not … guys not going out there and giving their all or my coaching staff and I not giving our all. We’re trying to win every single game. I think you see this with the disappointment that our guys have, with the fight that they have, my reaction to games. I don’t even know if that needs to be squashed or not. It’s a non-issue.”
That would have been obvious with the Rockets’ reactions when they fell short against the Suns on Monday and broke through against
the Mavericks on Wednesday. But they said it was about more than the immediate gratification that comes with a win or avoiding the disappointment of a loss.
There is some of that with athletes long moved to compete. But if the idea of pursuing a better draft pick is about building a better team, so are the efforts in the remaining weeks before combine, lottery and draft.
“It’s important,” guard D.J. Augustin said. “This league is all about winning. For us to get that win (Wednesday) night and continue to try to win the rest of the season is a big thing for us and a big opportunity for the young guys. Coming off all the losses, to build off that and keep winning and bring in some wins for the rest of the season, it would be a big confidence boost going into the summer and next season.”
It would be, to use the term Rockets center Kelly Olynyk learned well in Miami and mentioned repeatedly
Wednesday, a way to build “culture.”
“That’s kind of a word that’s thrown out,” Olynyk said. “Obviously, being four years in Miami, that’s something they hammer down, are real into. Just the atmosphere and chemistry and togetherness and the teamness of an organization is what brings that.
“I think we have a ton of talented guys here. If we can put it all together and we’re all pulling rope in the same direction, you can move mountains and heavy objects. I think it’s about all coming together and making sure we’re doing the right things for each other, and I think you’ll see some positive things come out of it.”
Besides demonstrating he speaks fluent Pat Riley, Olynyk described the reasons for determination to win even with the usual goals that normally come with that out of reach.
“Every game for us is all about building habits and playing hard for one another,
just learning, learning how to win,” guard Avery Bradley said. “That’s going to take time, but the effort, the attention to detail was really great. I feel like we really executed Coach’s game plan.
“We’re coming along really well. Right now it’s just about giving effort and playing hard for one another and playing hard for Coach. It has been a rough year, but right now, it’s all about improving every single game.”
Also, winning is more fun.
“It feels good,” Silas said after topping his former team. “It’s a good win because they’re a good team. They were rolling. To beat a quality team like that feels good. It definitely feels good. We don’t have as many wins as I’d like, so I guess it feels better than losing.”
For the Rockets, that is enough.