1. He was with us earlier 2. We offered House a longer contract and he turned it down. That's on him, not us.
Vipers supersquad didn't come away with the win tonight . Hartenstein showed up though 28/17/5 with only 1 turnover ; 1-3 from three . 11/15 from the floor . Even if he's just getting dunk and rebounds .... that's the exact role he would be playing for us . I'm excited about this kid for next year . 20 years old , 7 feet , decently athletic , good work ethic .... and is producing in the g-league
The Rockets recall Danuel House Jr.: "Oh yeah, I remember that guy. He helped out a bit back when everyone was injured. Whatever happened to that dude?"
The level of competition between the G-League and the NBA is so crazy. Hartenstein can look like Shaq with a jumper in the G, while he'd be lucky to get even 2 points, in actual NBA competition.
Yup . But then again ... if you gave hartenstein the same minutes in the NBA that he's getting in the g-league .... I'm sure he'd average more than 2 points lol . The main issue is what is available for him in the g league vs in the NBA . Right now it looks like he's getting most of his points off dunks (alley oops) The PnR coverage in the NBA is much better. To successfully complete an alley-oop in the NBA hartenstein would (on average) have to get up higher and quicker ... because the rim protectors are much better . He also has more time to get off a jumper . But I mean id rather him be producing than not . Clint and dmo put up big numbers in the g-league consistently before they broke through at the NBA level . I think the fact that he's playing 35 minutes and averaging like 25/15 is good . He will work on his body and skills over the summer and I think he will be good enough to take over the backup spot . He's got a long way to go but I think the potential is there . At this point anyone saying he is a lifelong scrub doesn't have any idea what they are taking about . There aren't that many 20 year old seven footers . There are even fewer who can hustle consistently .
It's the fact that he can hit an open 3 that is going to give him a chance at the NBA...He's decent at a lot of things, but you at least need to be good to great at something to play in the rotation. So if he can hit that 3, he's good as a bench big. I don't see him ever being great at rolling or in the post, but you never know.
I dunno that if you are 7 feet tall that you have to be great at something to play . As long as he can play good team-positional defense and doesn't get burned too badly 1on 1 he will eventually find minutes .... even if he's just ok at offense . See omer Asik . IF hartenstein can just become a solid rebounder and defender he will play . Obviously I have higher hopes , but that's a baseline
I'm going to guess it's because he was on the team before Danuel House and he was actually willing to sign his long-term minimum.
The NBA game has changed so much in the last 5 years or so , traditional bigs are almost irrelevant. You gotta be able to play the pick and roll well on both ends of the court and be able to shoot and defend on the perimeter …. I think Hartenstein is kinda a throw back big who's making himself into an NBA style player …. His defense will probably be the deciding factor …. cause if teams just isolate on him every play , you cant put him out there. He does everything else "well enough". As for Clark (and the others) , I think they just sent them down to get them some court time rather than doing nothing for 3 days - got them back in time for practice and the next game. The more shots Clark can get up the better ….
I feel like with Hartenstein at this point its all mental. I'm not sure how more g league experience will help. Age might help, because with age might come maturity, and the maturity to say "f'it, can't be nervous about this anymore, try my best and see what happens". I think he looked a little better in his sporadic time his second stint playing here and there, even if the stats didn't show it. Wasn't quite as incapable of switching defensively and didn't seem quite as overwhelmed by the speed of the game. If he can acclimate to the speed of the game, there's definite NBA upside there...
Getting reps against professional athletes will help him more than sitting on our bench. We aren't a team that practices much to begin with, particularly at this point in the season. Unless Nene gets hurt it's exactly where he should be so he can keep developing his game. He is still really, really young. Capela looked comically out of sorts in his first appearances with us also (with superior physical tools) and he was almost exactly the same age Hartenstein is now.
