[Essentially] Montrezl on 'not playing with energy'

Couldn’t get of the pine for MDA but as soon as he plays for a real coach you see the talent.

 

I don't think that is what he is saying. It doesn't sound like he was complaining just recognized we lacked something he could bring.

 

He hasn't learned to hit a 3 yet, so I don't regret trading him. I thought he would have it by now.

Good interior scorer and interior defender, mediocre perimeter defender. Nice to have. We'll live.

 

Yes, it’s silent.

 

Check his stats. He played more minutes under MDA than he did his first year for Doc. I liked him, but he and Bev both have some revisionist history issues.

 

we've been notorious for never developing young talent. Adding D'antoni guaranteed that.

From the limited minutes Montrez got, he converted a very high percentage of his rim runs off of harden's pick n rolls. I was impressed for a guy that seemed undersized at the time, but wasn't sure if he'd be able to reproduce that against regular rotation guys. Turns out he can very consistently ...

Somewhat of a tangent but the whole thing with people saying we gave up too much for the cp3 trade (for the closest we've come to a championship since we won it all) ...
1) Lou will and EG essentially played the same 6th man role for us (with EG being the better fit) and they kind of took away from each other's momentum, resulting in inefficiency for both of them
2) Patrick Beverly just couldn't alleviate any offensive responsibility from harden cuz that's not his game, and he really only thrived against star players ironically like russ who would get baited into engaging in personal battles. I'm still disappointed that guys like patty mills killed us in that spurs series. You woulda thought beverly wouldn't let that happen when he prides himself on taking on russ and dame with his "1st team all defense"
3) Montrez would've wasted away at the end of our bench for another year or two before leaving us.

The grass always looks greener after the fact. Like if we got Lou Williams back somehow, do you really think he'd be as productive playing alongside harden as that first year with the clips where before PG13 and Kawhi came he had the ball in his hands all game?? Did beverly actually gain anything besides more of a chip on his shoulder since leaving us?

Trez was the only one of the three that could've really helped us in the last couple of years.

 

On another note, Faried really locked him up last year in their matchup. He matched his energy & physicality and it was a rare game to see montrez look invisible. Too bad another energy 4-man got booted from the Rockets for no reason.

 

Cannot switch everything.

 

Poor man's Capela . . .

 

He played 1 minute more per game in almost 20 less games. Harrell played in a big man rotation that had Griffin and Jordan yet Doc still found minutes for him in over 75 games. What big did Houston have, besides Capela who should have been playing over Harrell? Let’s be honest, getting away from MDA was the best thing to happen to Harrell’s career.

 

I looked up his minutes the last time he complained publicly and thought I had it right.

I could see the upside with him and wished he could've stayed here also, but Nene was a beast for us then and was finishing games too, don't forget. But yeah, Clint's path was what it was and coach's system and the short playoff rotations were what they were, so his role was basically insurance policy/asset had he remained.

I get his confidence and why he felt underutilized, but I honestly don't think they did him wrong.

 

Switching on defense at high speed is not only physically taxing but requires b-ball iq. I just can't imagine Faried not being able to keep up.

 

His lateral agility is not same level as his vertical explosiveness. Faried hustles hard on offense and boards, not as much on defense.

Especially on perimeter where he looks heavy legged.

 

It doesn’t really matter now but Nene was best at a third big during the season. But it’s done now.