Houston Rockets: 3 reasons why Stephen Silas shouldn’t be fired

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Kenyon Martin Jr. #6 of the Houston Rockets (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

Houston Rockets reason #2 why Stephen Silas shouldn’t be fired: Abysmal shooting

While a good roster can overcome bad coaching, a bad roster can obscure great coaching. Whether Silas is a good coach or not remains to be seen but there are some promising indicators from his first season at the helm.

The two most valuable shots in the NBA are shots at the rim and shots from behind the arc. Lay-ups and threes are the bread and butter of NBA offenses and the math bears this out pretty resoundingly.

Based upon the league average conversation of shots, a shot at the rim is worth 1.35 points and a 3-pointer is worth 1.1 points per shot. Shots from 3-10 feet (.856), 10-16 feet (.866), and 16 feet to the 3-point line (.816) are all worth under a point per shot.

In essence, if you want a good offense you want to be taking lay-ups and threes and that’s exactly what the Rockets have done. For the season, the Rockets have taken 73.7-percent of their shots either at the rim or from behind the arc.

That figure leads the NBA by 3-percent which is a sizable margin considering the league average is 64.6-percent. Stephen Silas has built an offense that is the best in the league at generating the best types of shots.

The Rockets’ downfall has been their complete and utter inability to hit shots. This isn’t an example of Silas building an offense that doesn’t play to his team’s strengths either.

The Rockets are not only the worst 3-point shooting team in the league, they’re the worst mid-range shooting team as well. The Rockets have the 4th worst offensive rating in the NBA and if it wasn’t for their offense generating the most valuable shots it’s very likely it would be the worst.

Stephen Silas’ offensive vision needs to be believed in. The Rockets are taking the best shots in the game but their roster has utterly betrayed them. Give Silas an average shooting team and the Rockets would challenge for a top-10 offense, it’s as simple as that.

Next: Reason #1 why Stephen Silas shouldn’t be fired