Rockets' Young Corps Leaves Daunting Challenge For Stephen Silas In Final 24 Games

The third year of coach Stephen Silas' tenure with the Houston Rockets may have been his hardest.

He hoped the Rockets would be an improved team during training camp in September. But five months after Silas declared improvements on both ends, the Rockets entered the All-Star break with the league's worst record at 13-45. 

The main factor in Houston's struggles has been youth. Silas revealed finding an equal balance in coaching a young team can be daunting. But the final 24 games of the season could become more challenging, given that the Rockets now have little to no veteran presence on the roster.

"It's a difficult thing," Silas said. "It's something I think about, as far as how far I go and how much I let go." 

"But I do owe it to the players. I owe it to the organization to coach them and not allow poor play throughout the group. Not addressing it is doing these young guys a disservice — and I will not do that."

The Rockets have become the youngest and most inexperienced team in the league. In its final game ahead of the break, the average age of Houston's starting lineup was 21.8.

A week before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 9, Silas said someone showed him a University of Houston Men's basketball game, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, where his team was younger than the five starters who suited up for the Cougars.

With the exception of John Wall, general manager Rafael Stone had hopes of retaining the remaining three veterans acquired at the deadline. But in a week, the Rockets had bought out two players.

Houston parted ways with Danny Green on Feb. 12 and Justin Holiday two days later. 

Frank Kaminsky, K.J. Martin and Jae'Sean Tate are the elder statesmen within Silas' rotation. But Kaminsky's future with the team will remain uncertain until March 1. Boban Marjanovic, 34, is the only player on Houston's roster over 30 years old.