Share your thoughts about the game! Here’s what I saw in our second game. I tried to follow things like: closing out on shooters, getting and converting and ones, switching well on defense, hustle plays, making bad turnovers, putting up bad shots, etc. Caution: If someone shows a skill in the summer league, then we can only hope that they can show this in the league. Maybe they can and maybe not. Williams-Yeah, he was all over the place this game. Trying to drive every play and didn’t convert at the rim tonight. Can he make baskets at the rim in the L? Will he get those foul calls for driving in the NBA? Looks like he is pressing to get noticed in order to get a contract (either from us or someone else). He won’t need to create his own offense much on this team-CP or Harden will get him easy looks. Sign him already. The funniest part (and most confusing) was when Williams swished a 3 early in the game and the announcer called him Cassell Jr (he was playing for Cleveland and also wore #14). Qi-A horrible offensive performance but I thought his D looked pretty good tonight. Apart from his blocks, Qi alters shots in the lane with his help D. On one play, Qi was beaten off the dribble by his man and then followed him to the basket and got a block. Qi looks fast enough to switch and understands when to do so. He switched D on the pg (I think it was usually Felder) and prevented him from doing anything with the ball on at least 2 separate occasions. The biggest D problem I saw tonight (and probably Fri) was that Qi sometimes leaves his man open for 3. Maybe that’s something he just needs to practice more. Also, the 7 fouls was pretty bs; some of those weren’t fouls at all. Offense can improve, only shot 3’s tonight. Once he gets the offensive system down (and gets feeds from CP and Harden) then he’ll be fine. His clips show that he has a midrange shot or possibly post-up game we just haven’t seen any of it in summer league (this may not fit our offense, however). Onu-He had a lot of turnovers today. I don’t know why he’s trying to drive on his man. Onu is pretty steady, he rebounded well today and his passes were fine. Can he be a backup C this year? Long-He played very little this game. He does hustle, like when he drove to the basket, missed a layup, and then converted off of his own offensive rebound. If you-know-who comes then Long will probably have to be included in a package for salary purposes. Uthoff!-He didn’t play much either. Hustles and seems to know where to be to around the ball (3 rebs in 6 minutes). Uthoff would drive and then dish the ball out, he wasn’t forcing up shots. I want to see more but he’s probably tradesville. Harty-Hartenstein didn’t do much in the 2nd quarter but then played really well down the stretch in the 4th. Based on my notes it was Harty, Qi, Troy, CJ, and Taylor who brought us back from 69-78 to 88-88. We need Harty to be able to finish at the rim! If he could dunk or score at the rim then he’d be so much more valuable. He could handle the G league this year but we probably just stash him due to roster spots. I liked a lot more of what I saw from him this game over last. He and Qi out there at the same time are twin towers. Harty is only 19! C Johnson-He played really well this game. CJ understands the system from playing in the d-league and does all of the little things that help our team. If we need another SG then he has a shot. Peak-He didn’t play much but I liked what I saw. Made a great layup over 2 defenders with 8:48 left in the second quarter. Drained a 3 pointer and then made Cleveland turn it over on the next trip down the court. They say he's a good defender and I thought he showed that tonight. Jones-He drained a 3 and has a great looking shot. Otherwise kind of meh tonight. Taylor-Showed that he can score whenever he wants against guys on Felder’s level. Taylor is super quick and plays under control even though he’s so fast. Ten assists and zero turnovers first game, 6 assists and zero turnovers tonight. I want him to be our backup PG. Cam-Played very little tonight, they put him in a for a little bit at the end of the 3rd and start of the 4th. Didn’t get a chance to do anything tonight but I still think he should make our 15. de Paula-His stats look horrible but I didn’t think he looked that bad. He didn’t turn the ball over but also didn’t contribute much with scoring or creating offense. He is tall and only 21 so maybe he creates some interest with another team. It might be good that we lost tonight, as the top 8 teams get a bye in the tournament. We don’t want a bye, we want to play as many games as possible. If we had won tonight then we would have been tied with two other teams at 2-0. We want that extra game! D’Antoni said this at the game (paraphrasing): “The most talented guy isn’t what’s important from these players. I want a guy that’s not going to make a mistake and knows his role.” Was asked if he was looking for a guard that could help with D and he said yes (whatever that means).
Matt Jones could be a nice end of bench guy for us after some Gleague seasoning. He knows his role and that is to be a 3&D guy which he does well.
Question re the stash comment: I was under the impression that once a player plays summer league the options are sign him or lose his rights? Or is that just some rubbish I read somewhere? @BimaThug ??
Taylor had a massive game.... Troy Williams is a valid scorer off the bench. Onu and Hartenstein are coming along...... Chris Johnson a good veteran Cleveland got us.
Williams - looks good, constant hustle and effective on both ends Taylor - looks like the only decent PG on the summer league team and the team sucks without him on the court Joe Three - was off on offense but still impacted the game. He is slow laterally and was shut down completely any time he tried to drive but still... I like him and he definitely has potential. Cam Oliver is wasted standing around at the three point line but I kinda think they are hiding him. Not sure he can guard threes out to the 3pt line. Onu looks not very good and I don't see any way he plays on a DeAntoni coached team due to his poor shooting and free throw shooting. He does have a decent knack for passing but I just don't think he has a place unless we have an injury. Uthoff - Seems to know how to play and I get the sense they are hiding him too. Long - seems to be a much better fit on a DeAntoni team than Onu, he can shoot and drive and shoot free throws. C Johnson, Peak, Jones - seem like G league type guys Hartenstein - Looked better than the first game and obviously has some potential. Was a big part of the run at the end of the game. dePaula - looks like crap and I just don't see him getting anywhere near an NBA court
To me it seemed like uthoff and Oliver only played just enough to give the guys a breather..... but I see that Oliver can rebound in bunches.... I liked Long's potential but I'm not sure... something seems off with his game too.... almost disinterested......
Rubbish. Remember when Lior Eliyahu played for the Rockets in summer league? His draft rights were later included in the Budinger trade with Minnesota for their first rounder that became Terrence Jones.
From the end of last season to the SL, I think we have depth in our roster with Troy Williams. He's playing to earn a roster spot.
Thanks!! Where did I get that impression? To answer my own question: I did some research on it. Draft and stash rights expire the year after a players draft eligibility would have expired (ie younger players entering the draft can be stashed longer) Is it that players who play in the US cannot be stashed? I confused that with summerleague i suppose?
The Rockets should find a way to keep Long on the team. He has very good range for a big man. I believe he shoots high 30% three pointers.
( My video still has some playability ) Good times. But damn I havent made any Rockets vids SINCE then almost lol.
Chinanu Onuaku looked really bad to me, especially on offense. He looked a lot like Dwight, an even worse version of Dwight
Isaiah Taylor is impressing me. Obviously it's only two games but it seems to me that he is the best and highest IQ player on the court every time he is out there. Insanely quick and a great passer.
It will be interesting to see if he plays a lot tonight, or if they let the scrubs play. Taylor has become my favorite player to watch over the last two games. Would love to see him cap it with another great performance. The other guy i'm eager to see more of (obviously it's fun to watch Joe Chee, but he's gonna be a project) is Hartenstein. This guy looked really good in the 4th quarter on Sat. night. With his size,his shooting, agility, rebounding ...it made me want to see more. Clearly he was just getting the jitters out Friday night. I'm sure he'll get a lot of playing time tonight.
