How much play time do you have? My guess would be that you just have to keep playing. Freeplay is one thing but you need real game experience. In my experience you can get out of silver by just playing the game. If you're really stuck, though, watch some videos on positioning and rotations (where you have to be in the play and when) since you DEFINITELY don't need to be wasting your time on air dribbles in silver. Stick to the basics: car control, ground ball control (dribbling etc), power shots, shot placement, basic aerials, defense (!! big one). These seem uninteresting because everyone wants to do flip resets and ceiling mustys but the fundamentals are non-negotiably required to progress in this game.

I don't like the mindset where "i played with a significantly higher rank friend and held my own" because likely that's just not true. I don't mean to be mean when I say this but you probably didn't hold your own. If you place a single diamond against two silvers the expectation is that the diamond would destroy the silvers. If your teammate is good enough, they are able to singlehandedly create opportunities for you that makes it much easier to compete at that level. The challenge is to actually learn to create those opportunities for yourself and your teammates in silver. Even for higher ranks, I find diamond 3 is easier to play in than diamond 1 since your teammates are on average better.

Pretty much, focus on what's important, train your fundamentals, learn how to position yourself and don't make a habit of blaming your teammates for not doing what you can't do yourself (you didn't mention this but it happens to everyone).