I think Hardenstein was dealt a raw hand this game why was he the SF? It took away from a lot of his strengths the previous game and he will obviously struggle defending the SF spot. I dun have a clue why NBA teams play guys out of position Hartenstein obviously a PF/C just like DMo for 3Mo.
Melton is expected to be rusty he didnt play for 1 year. Looks like a stud so far reminds me a lot of Beverly actually
Melton: I've seen enough. He is a keeper and should be on the rotation. Hartenstein: Ditto Qi: Ready for 5 mins per game. Maybe next year he will be on melton and Hartenstein's level. Duval: good defensively and thats really about it. Made some boneheaded plays. Hunter: dude finally had a good game against scrubs. Still not enough to secure a spot IMHO. Onuaku: We will see next game looks like he is in danger of being cut though Rest: Not really worth paying attention to
Not gonna say your opinions are wrong but Hunter was good in a bad way if that makes sense. Was out of control most of the game and got his numbers along the way. Melton, I agree with you 100%. Very athletic, quick, and unlike Hunter, he has great body control while playing fast.
Melton & Hartenstein are the only quality players as far maybe cracking the rotation. Everyone else is a G league player. Is Gary Clark going to play at all this Summer League ?
I like the way Melton finishes around the basket. It's impressive. I'm glad he shot the ball better too. Defense is his calling card. Even if he turns out to be a 2 guard who can pass and defend, instead of a pure backup 1, it's more than enough to be expected from a 46th pick. Give Clark and Deng a go. I still believe that Deng and Trevon should be signed on 2 way contracts, instead of RJ and Markel. Morey and Tilman will regret passing up on them.
Joe Chee's longball has looked good in these first 2 games. Still doesn't look ready to help, but he looks better. Hartenstein may be ready to be a situational backup big, not much else at the moment. Melton is ready to help immediately if he can just shoot well enough that defenders won't abandon him entirely. The rest of his game looks rock solid.
So far, I'm disappointed in Melton's ability to finish (even in transition) and protect the ball while dribbling (against these non-NBA opponents), mainly because that's the two things I'm looking at the most...for measuring him against guys like Bev and Shandon Anderson (and a shorter Ariza). Obviously, with his defense, if he shows up hitting open threes at Bev/Ariza levels, then he's ready based on that, but I'll give him more time to develop into a spot-up shooter, as neither Bev and Ariza (nor Shandon) were consistent early. Typically, handles and finishing is less like to improve over time than shooting, though....considering they must improve from college to pros faster than the increase in defensive pressure they face. From his USC highlights, I wasn't expecting much, as you can see he exposes the ball too much while dribbling, so my hope is just that he gets better than guys like Bev, Shandon Anderson and Ariza on attacking and finishing. Would be outstanding if he can become as good as Cat at finishing and attacking the rim...hell, I'll settle for Luc level ability.
I'm still on the sign Duval train. So far in these two games everyone has had one bad one. Maybe Hartenstein is the only one that has been consistently playing well. Tonight's game will show us a lot. Either way Rockets are still 2-0 with a win vs the Warriors.
same, this kid is 19. He have a lot of potential give him 2 years in the G league to develop and will be a decent back up or starter one day.
I'm not a fan of the G-league. Especially for a player in Duvals situation. He has one of the best guards to ever do it on his team in Chris Paul. He needs to be around Chris as much as possible to learn. The Rockets are always sending their rookies off to play in the G league while other teams let their rookies compete with their teams. When was the last time the Rockets had a rookie compete for ROY? Rookies with his type of skill set need to be on a roster.
It is also because we havent had a first round pick in years, he wont get any PT even if he is on the roster because we just signed MCW. But yes i agreed with you that he should learn from cp3, maybe we'll sign him a 2 way contract but I highly doubt it.
Last time a rocket finished top 5 in ROY voting was Chandler Parsons, I can't think of any rookie who was good enough to contend for the award if he "was just on our roster", a side effect of not having a top 10 pick for over a decade.
Listening to a team rep (from philly I think) talk about their g-league team. It is located in the same building as the big league team. I think that is a great idea. Young guys get to hang with the big dogs. Make you work a little harder knowing that the big league is right there, inches away. Plus, lets big league guys mentor g-leaguers and show them how to practice, watch film, etc...
