As a starter, Montrezl Harrell is averaging 14 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1.3 blocks. He also has a 67.3% FG, 65% FT, a +/- of +18.9, and an offensive rating of 124. The Rockets are 5-1 in these games. In the 3 games that he's played at least 30 minutes, he's averaging 19 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 69% FG, 80% FT, with an insane +/- of +24.9 and offensive rating of 149. The Rockets are 3-0 in these games. Daryl Morey is one of the best at finding rotation players in the 2nd round of the draft. Montrezl Harrell is his latest steal. Would have gone in the lottery if he was 3 inches taller. Has a crazy 7'5 wingspan and an undeniable motor, and has obviously worked on his post game.
12 of 13 shots made, 28 points in 26 minutes last night against the 2nd best team in the east. Just amazing.
I feel bad for Dwight Howard that he did not realize what could have been with James Harden. Look and how solid Harrell and Capela have been just dedicating themselves to pick and rolls and rim running. Had to have those post ups!
Yep. They wanted him to be DeAndre Jordan, Dwight wanted to be Hakeem. It ruined the flow of the offense. Funny part is, he spent all season complaining about touches (even though he led the league in post touches), and is now getting less touches across the board in Atlanta.
He's been playing great. He had some great hustle, energy games before Capela went out, but he's obviously on a different level now. Very interesting to see how it works when Capela gets back. Will we see Capela/Harrell lineups (could work, could disrupt offensive spacing since neither has an outside shot)? He's obviously got to improve his rebounding. I don't know why he's not better at it. Rebounding plus developing a 35% 3 point shot, and then he'd be amazing.
He can shoot 3's, he just doesn't do it. He did it in the D-League last year, shot 37.5% from 3 the 2nd half the season. I just don't think he has the confidence to go out and start taking them yet. He wants to stay in his lane and slowly expand his jumper week by week. Plus, we need him in the paint. Maybe when Clint comes back, we could see him at PF for a few minutes and he can show off his range.
Really? Well makes sense he should stay in his lane for sure, but also given how this team plays, it'd be very interesting to see if he can hit in that mid 30's range on 1-2 threes a night. Not that it's a big sample size, but it does look like he's 6-11 from 16+ feet out to the three, and 1-2 from three. Definitely it's the great hands, affinity to score near the basket at high efficiency and rolls to the basket that should stay his forte. But in the playoffs and against better defensive teams, they'll take something away. If you're telling me Harrell can now, or eventually will be able to counter that by being able to decently hit a mid range jumper and 3s, that's a whole different level of offensive fit. Still needs to rebound better though.
I wish he could be a better rebounder, but I'm pretty confident he won't be. Hope he proves me wrong. If he can polish and tighten that jumper, he won't need to. He'll be playing with Capela, who is a great rebounder, and will spend less time standing around with C's. The way he closes out on shooters makes me interested in seeing him guard the 4, and he seems to reach in for fouls much less than he used to. Capela/Harrell. Could be our starter if they keep putting in the work.
He also saves people from burning cars. http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015...saves-driver-montrezl-harrell-houston-rockets
maybe someone can answer this question for me: is it possible for harrell to develop into more of a forward/wing? His minutes behind Capela and Nene have been dipping recently, but he remains a decent perimeter defender and it looked like he had (at least a threat of) an outside shot at Louisville...
He needs more minutes. Has trouble matching up with bigs with more size, but he's usually productive and I'd like to see him in the rotation.
Rockets center Montrezl Harrell has seen just 5.4 minutes the last three games, which includes a DNP-Coach's Decision in Wednesday's victory over the Clippers. Coach Mike D'Antoni said Harrell "deserves to play." Yet, the work of centers Nene and Clint Capela keeps Harrell on the bench. "Trying to play three guys, you just can't do it," D'Antoni said. "To be honest, it's a byproduct of Nene playing really well. Clint playing well and when they do that, it's hard to get the third guy in there."
This. He can still play center minutes off the bench, but in the long run the PF is his role, especially if he wants to have a chance of being a starter in this league at some point. He just need to develop a reliable outside shot (and his form is good enough to expect that imo).
D'antoni doesn't like 4s who can't shoot the 3 ball and he probably thinks Montrezl is too small to play the 5 against most teams. But hey, a lot of stretch fours you see today didn't enter the league with an outside jumper. If he works hard at it, it's possible he develops a reliable one and will be extremely valuable in the league.
