Stephen Silas has plenty of reasons why he wanted to coach for USA Basketball in the qualifying rounds of the FIBA AmeriCup tournament.
Among them: his father.
Paul Silas died two years ago and, despite a long career as an NBA coach, he never got the chance to be part of the national team. So, when USA Basketball called his son about this opportunity — games Friday and Monday in Washington, then two more qualifying games in February likely with a different roster — he jumped at the chance.
“I'm coaching Team USA, which is amazing," Stephen Silas said. "That's one part of it. And the other part of it is my dad never was on Team USA. He played in the league for 16 years, coached for 30 years and all that. And, unfortunately, he passed away, but I know he would be super proud that I’m coaching this team.”
AmeriCup is the championship of the FIBA Americas region, and the U.S. is trying to qualify for the tournament that will be held next year in Nicaragua. The Americans play Puerto Rico on Friday and Bahamas on Monday, then go on the road to face those teams again Feb. 20 and 23. Silas will return for those games, though it's unknown how many players from this roster will be back for that window.
There are four groups, all with four teams, and three teams from each group will make it to Nicaragua. The U.S., Puerto Rico, Bahamas and Cuba are all 1-1 through one stage of qualifying.
Silas is just happy to be back on a bench. He spent three years as Houston's coach during a rebuild, going 59-177. And he was an assistant in Detroit last season, as the Pistons slogged through a 28-game losing streak on the way to a 14-68 mark.
“You learn how tough you are. You learn how much you love basketball, to go through the last four years that I’ve gone through in the NBA," Silas said. “I still love to coach and want to coach after all those losses. It really makes me understand how much I love the game and love to coach and to see guys improve. And I’m looking forward to my next opportunity.”
Silas has a long relationship with Patrick Ewing, the Hall of Fame player who won two Olympic gold medals for USA Basketball. They worked together as assistant coaches in Charlotte. And when Silas took the USA job, Ewing — the former Georgetown star player and then Georgetown coach, meaning these games in Washington are essentially a homecoming — was his first call.
“He’s an amazing coach," Silas said. “He played under Pat Riley and John Thompson and Bobby Knight and Jeff Van Gundy, all these people. His basketball knowledge is so deep.”
Silas basically hired Ewing for this job without telling USA men's national team director Sean Ford ahead of time. Silas called Ford after the fact and asked if it would be OK to have Ewing on the staff; Ford, as would be expected, had absolutely no issue with the move.
Keith Smart, another former NBA head coach and assistant coach who won an NCAA title as a player at Indiana, also is on Silas' staff for these games.
There are 12 players on the USA roster for these games and all 12 have NBA experience — some of it extensive.
Robert Covington has played 614 games in the league, Tony Snell has played 601, Frank Kaminsky has played 413 and Chasson Randle has appeared in 119.
Also with NBA experience: Henry Ellenson, Paul Watson, Jahmi’us Ramsey, Nate Hinton, Malik Williams, Dusty Hannahs, Javonte Smart and David Stockton.
Combined, the group has played 1,988 NBA games and scored 15,462 points in the league.
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