2022 Rockets Summer League Thread

The NBA about to humble tf outta him. Funny how Chet fans act like his weight isn’t gonna be an issue. I also don’t think he’s as switchable as people make him out to be. The shot blocking and 3 point shooting are both real though.

 

Chet just strikes me as this prep school bully type. In his mind he psych's himself up and then broadcasts those affirmations to the world and that can rub some people like me the wrong way. Its ok to have confidence and look forward to your job, but his style just irks me as non traditional to how rookies enter the league "I'd like to someday be an all star, mvp, champion etc etc" is not the same as "In a few months I'll be the best player in the league" then to follow that up with his premature parade after his 1st summer league game and Im just really happy he's not a Rocket - would be hard to root for that personally. Im really impressed by how Jabari has handled himself and how he can be confident and humble at the same time. Chets low volume 3 pt shooting is ok, and as expected his instinct on defense is great, but he's just a support player right now. As are most of the rookies in the summer league. We'll see what each guy can do when the starters hit the courts in a couple months.

I think "Yamming on Chet" could be a segment on the TNT show this year!

 

If Chet is healthy, he has the highest floor in the draft. His defensive instincts are ELITE! He tracks the ball really well around the rim and that is something Mutumbo and Olajuwon had.

At worst he is Gobert, but we all know he has way more skills than someone who was unplayable in the playoffs.

 

Well I understand the people who say nobody can guard Embiid and Jokic.. but guys like Julius Randle, Trez, Zubac, Adams, and Bam are gonna abuse him. Those are just a few examples

 

I’ll make a bet with you that he wins as much as he loses.

 

He will be a fine defender. I dont think anyone has argued otherwise. He can hit the 3 pointer. He has some ability with the ball. As far as floors and ceilings go those discussions are always uber subjective so not sure this is the place for that type of drawn out convo, but I respect your opinion.

Just too extreme for me to cosign to a comp to either Dream or Deke this early. Those guys were chiseled from granite coming out of college. Chet has alot to prove yet. Im just not in love with how he handles himself and the quotes he's given so far and I wonder if the league will try to self correct the cockiness.

 

I think defensively there is a comp to be made to Mutumbo. If we are talking about overall defense, he will never be Dream. Dream’s footwork was unmatched. I’m speaking about timing and feel for blocking shots is all.

I think maybe a Porzingis comp on offense is appropriate.

 

Deke and Dream used to block 3-4 shots per game. Guys who at their apex had season long averages of 4.5 and 4.6 blocks per game. "Rim protectors" now get lauded for averaging 2 blocks per game. Overall output wont be the same.

You see some technique and timing similarities thats fine. All good shot blockers will share that I would guess. I guess KP is a decent enough comp for Chet on offense if you need one. We'll see if Chet becomes a 20pt per game scorer like KP was and hopefully he can avoid those injuries.

 

Apples and oranges in terms of the game style played now vs the Dream era. I think what people are saying is Chet could have the kind of impact relative to his peers that Dream and Deke had. The game is way too spaced out now to average 4-5 blocks a game.

 

I think all of his skills will translate just fine and he is going to be a fine NBA player. Garnett and Pau both proved that tall and skinny can work in the NBA. His health is what scares me. For whatever reason, I just get these Yao/Sampson/Oden vibes.

 

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/7/14/23207539/nba-summer-league-chet-holmgren-paolo-banchero

Which sleeper caught your eye?
Jonathan Tjarks: Summer league games, like everything else in Vegas, run together after a few days. The games are shorter while the rotations are longer, and terrible foul calls ruin the rare times there’s much flow to the action. The top draft picks are fun to watch but it’s mostly a steady stream of semi-anonymous players who are roughly the same size and speed, fighting for their basketball lives in contests their teams don’t even care about winning.

That’s what makes a player like Tari Eason, the no. 17 pick, by the Rockets, stand out. The LSU forward doesn’t look like everyone else. He’s 6-foot-8 and 215 pounds, he’s built like a tank, and he’s easily one of the best athletes in Vegas. A search through the other summer league rosters for players like Eason would mostly be in vain.

The few players who do have his physical tools are often content to coast. Not Eason. He’s built like a football player and he plays like one, too. The ball finds him every time he steps on the floor. He dunked through and over defenders, snatched rebounds in traffic, and muscled his way past anyone trying to keep him out of the paint.

There’s still a lot we need to learn about Eason, but there’s one thing we know after the past week. The NBA is a top-1-percent league and Eason is a top-1-percent athlete. It’s hard to see how he doesn’t get minutes for a rebuilding team like Houston next season. The excitement there is focused on no. 3 pick Jabari Smith Jr., but the most successful rebuilds happen when a team hits pay dirt later in the draft. The early signs are promising for Eason and that kind of hope is what everyone in Vegas is selling.

 

Neither Garnett nor Pau was that skinny entering the NBA.

 

“Russell Westbrook get them a lot”

~ “Bricks!”

 

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/7/18/23268383/nba-summer-league-paolo-banchero-chet-holmgren

Elsewhere, how do Rockets fans feel coming out of summer league? If it were me, I’d feel mixed, slightly concerned but tilting toward cautiously optimistic.

There are clear positives. TyTy Washington is one, but Tari Eason is a huge one. After falling to 17th in the first round, Eason was arguably the most physically imposing wing forward in all of summer league. He looked unbothered by anyone who got between him and the rim. His defensive switchability was on display, which will be huge for the prioritized players on Houston’s roster. He did his typical “total carnage” thing on the defensive end, blocking shots and disrupting ball handlers. He was even tolerable from 3 in his five Vegas games.

Your feelings on Jabari Smith Jr. likely correlate with how you evaluated him coming out of college. While it’s true that loosely organized or schemed settings like this are tougher for players who can’t really make hay without the ball in their hands, it is interesting just how much Jabari fell back into some of the patterns we saw at Auburn. Forty-four of his 69 field goal attempts were jump shots, and he managed to shoot just 37.7 percent from the field overall. He settled quite a bit, but at times you can see him really weighing whether he should attack the rim or take an early jumper. To me, these games were just further confirmation that this balance of shot distribution (and someday, hopefully, playmaking) will be a process that takes some time.

Conversely, we knew coming in that Jabari is an active and intelligent defender, and he lived up to that. Watch how aggressive he is here attacking switches, multiple times meeting the handler at the level of the action and forcing them to regroup.

I loved how much he talked when Houston decided to roll him out at the 5 spot, and I appreciate how dogged he is when getting low and guarding the ball. I’ve said it before, but if he defends like that and shoots the way we all know he can, he’ll justify being on the floor a lot this coming year.



I loved how much he talked when Houston decided to roll him out at the 5 spot, and I appreciate how dogged he is when getting low and guarding the ball. I’ve said it before, but if he defends like that and shoots the way we all know he can, he’ll justify being on the floor a lot this coming year.

 

Bumped this thread, from the third page, to remind everyone to stop talking about the Summer League.

 

never too early to plan