I thought Hartenstein was terrible last year, but he was much better today. In a related story, Onuaku is still terrible.
Agree, but Zhou has great length, shot blocking instincts, and some range on his shot. All I'm saying is he has a chance to develop his game and if he's still nothing great in 1-2 years then so be it.
Yes, you're correct. Will there be room for him, if other players from the summer league break through though? I want Zhou to succeed. He has to work very hard in the off season.
Not sure, but he has a unique skill combination that would make him an interesting piece for our bench if he can develop them to NBA standards. I'd like him to succeed as well.
Can Hartenstein be the stretch 5 that we need? If so, we can have a twin towers on our hands with him and Capela.
This kid has the potential to be an inside outside force that has defensive potential, how did he slide to the 2nd round? A true big that is coordinated, athletic, can shoot, rebound and play defense. Bare minimum he serves as first big off a bench somewhere.
Not a knee jerk reaction to one summer league game. Just watching some videos and today’s game, you don’t see many bigs that have that many tools. He could completely flame out and be a head case, but if he taps into the potential he seems to have he can be a key part on a team. Was it production or what that kept him low in draft?
And not only that, but bigs usually struggle in SL. Scouting these games is like scouting a dirty JC game in Compton. Guards look a bit better, bigs look a bit worse.
Am I the only one that would not only take him over Zhou Qi, but is also hoping he replaces Nene next year as CC's backup?
For anyone that watched the full game yesterday, he has clearly advanced beyond Nanu and Zhou. He has a shot at being the full time backup C this year. This will either motivate Nanu and Zhou, or they will be long gone. Daryl Morey strikes again. Hartenstein is looking like a Steven Adams(ish) C with a corner 3-ball. LOOK OUT.
More important is can he switch on defense? This is Harden/CP’s team and the style of play won’t change the next 4 years. Unless he’s a knock down three point shooter, he’ll have to play a backup 5 role if he can even earn a spot on the rotation. It’s all about his pick and role ability or pick and pop ability as a shooter at that end. That’s just offensively. Defensively, we know it’s all about switching. Teams are exploiting this more and more. There’s just no place anymore for bigs who are a liability in this area. He seems to have some athleticism and decent length so we’ll see. Hope he gets a chance which is low probability with D’Antoni.
Thanks man, figured something had to be off. Don’t wanna get hopes up but this kid has a lot of tools, hoping he can be a contributor and maybe turn into more
Give him some burn with the Rockets this year and see how he does. Nene is all washed up based on what we saw last year and we will need another backup five pretty soon.
From what I saw yesterday, he has definitely improved. Looks farther along than Nanu or Zhou. I don't think he will ever be able to play against Golden State, but that's ok. There are 28 other teams and it's a long season. The Rockets need to convince another team that Nene can still play and/or mentor a young center. He too limited at this point. No back to backs, can't play against the Warriors, and he may start to block some of our young guys from getting time. Either way, its time to sign Hartenstein.
