Stephen Silas sees patience as key to success for young Rockets

As the Rockets prepare for their final preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, Houston head coach Stephen Silas knows that his team still has a lot of learning to do to accomplish the goals he has set for them in the 2021-22 NBA season.

“It is not going as quickly as I want it to, but as a coach, it never goes as quickly as you want it to,” Silas said after Wednesday’s practice at Toyota Center. “It’s a work in progress, for sure.”

What has plagued Houston this preseason is the unfamiliarity that each player on the young roster has with each other. The Rockets have practiced and played together for under a month, and a lack of communication is causing issues on the floor when it comes to spacing.

The young core of Rockets has turned the ball over an average of 22.3 times per game in three preseason games. However, some players and coaches view that as simply growing pains that will eventually work themselves out, once the group gets more reps together.

“We are a new team getting to know each other every game, and we want to learn from it,” Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. told reporters during his postgame press conference after Monday’s exhibition loss at Toronto. “We are trying to learn each other and learn each other’s spots.”

With next Wednesday’s regular-season opener at Minnesota rapidly approaching, Silas plans to use the last preseason game to evaluate his potential rotations, rather than the final roster spots. “I want to play it as close to a regular-season rotation as possible,” Silas said.

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