The Battle of Rebuilding Teams Was A Fun Blast To The Future

From the young prospects featured in Houston vs OKC to Montrezl Harrell’s brute force, I broke down everything from last night’s slate of games.

The Miami Heat Might Be In Trouble

With Bam Adebayo set to miss the next few weeks with a thumb injury, the Miami Heat are in trouble. Not only is Adebayo one of the best players in the NBA, but his impact is something that no other player on Miami’s roster can replicate.

The Heat’s main problem this season has been depth. Miami doesn’t have reliable options off their bench and that problem will become even more glaring over the next few weeks.

The Heat already rely on their star players a lot. With Adebayo out, they need Lowry, Herro, and Butler to be picture-perfect to win games. They need role players like Duncan Robinson, Gabe Vincent, and Max Strus to give them production.

It’s not an ideal situation, but this will be the defining moment of Miami’s season. If they can survive this period, going somewhere around 0.500, then they can remain near the top of the East. If not, they risk falling in the standings and that might end their chances at a title.

Recapping The Rockets vs Thunder Youth Bowl

The Rockets and Thunder played each other for the 4th time last night. Both teams are in the same situation; rebuilding. Both teams are incredibly young, featuring a lot of young talent that needs maturing. It’s always fun to watch these games, not because of the level of play, but because of all the potential on the floor.

We still don’t know what these players are going to become. So these types of games, which feature an abundance of players to keep an eye out for the future, are exciting. Let’s break down all the best performances from this game.

Jae’Sean Tate (HOU)

Jae’Sean Tate, similar to last season, has been quietly great for the Rockets. After earning an All-Rookie First-Team selection last season, Tate has continued to play at a steady pace. Last night against OKC, Tate did the opposite of steady.

32 points (career-high) – 10 rebounds – 7 assists – 7 stocks – 73% FG – 9/10 FT

That’s one heck of a stat line for a player most people haven’t heard of. Let’s take a look into what Tate did in this game to make himself so effective.

Scoring

Tate’s offensive game is simple – get to the rim. Similar to Zion Williamson, Tate’s offensive game isn’t pretty. His drives to the basket involve a lot of brute strength, but he’s very good at finding angles to the rim.

Tate often started on the perimeter, but then methodically worked his way to the basket. He used fake hand-offs to his advantage, catching the defense off-guard as he worked his way down low. Again, it’s not the prettiest thing in the world. But, it’s effective.

This basket late in the game sums up Tate perfectly. He fakes the hand-off action with Eric Gordon and then muscles his way to the rim. This is what Tate did all night long to OKC.

Playmaking

Tate has never been a playmaker in the NBA. He’s pretty good for his position (assists for career stat), but it’s nothing eye-popping. However, Tate did a lot of playmaking in this game.

He played off of Garrison Matthews well, capitalizing with a few well-run off-screen actions. Tate also had a few nice passes when he was playing in the post, like this one;

Tate tries to post up the smaller SGA, but OKC sends immediate help. Tate spins baseline and makes a nice pass in close quarters to the cutting Armoni Brooks, who scores.

I think it will be interesting to see if Tate continues to develop as a passer. His skill set as a driver and low-post player would make it pretty easy for him to generate good looks for his teammates.

One thing I want to see Tate do more often is dribble handoffs. He looked very comfortable doing them with Garrison Matthews, and it fits well with his style of play.

Help-Side Recoveries

And finally, defense. Tate had a career-high five blocks and had 7 combined steals and blocks. What impressed me the most about this night was how well he played help defense.

His help-side recoveries were superb, as he did a great job covering for his teammates when the ball got into the paint.

All of Tate’s blocks in this game were great examples of help-side defense, but this one was emphatic.

Daniel Theis doubles the ball-handler on the perimeter, leaving Robinson-Earl open on the roll. Tate rotates over immediately from the corner and denies the shot.

It’s great instincts and timing, not to mention at a pivotal point in the game.

Jae’Sean Tate put it all together in this game. It’s been great to see him improve as a defender, making him a much more well-rounded player. He’s learning how to use his brute force and physicality better, and I think he has some upside as a playmaker.

Tate played the best game of his life last night. He’s been one of the Rockets’ more consistent options this season and should have a promising career in H-Town.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (OKC)

Robinson-Earl was the 32nd pick in this past year’s draft coming out of Villanova. The power forward is a unique prospect, someone who can do it all. He’s fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball. He’s a solid defender who can also stretch the floor on offense. Think of him as a more human Evan Mobley.

Robinson has slid into the starting center role for OKC and played quite well. He put on another solid performance last night.

Playmaking

Out of the pick-and-roll, Robinson can act as a secondary playmaker for an offense. His combination of height and vision could make him one of the better passing big guys in the NBA down the line. Earl had four assists on the night, including this dime in the first quarter;

The Rockets leave Robinson open on the roll. The Rockets help-side defense collapses onto him and he calmy skips it over to Tre Mann for the open 3-pointer. If he can do that a few times a game, it’s so much harder for defenses to guard those pick-and-rolls.

Defense

Robinson-Earl is a very solid defender. His length and agility make him a solid perimeter defender, able to stay with most players far from the basket.

Like all Villanova players (shoutout Jay Wright), Earl has been a capable defender from day one and is a viable option for OKC. This 2nd quarter defensive sequence was beautiful.

Robinson-Earl is switched onto Eric Gordon on the perimeter. Gordon attacks him, but Earl stays on his hip well. The Thunder collapse on Gordon, who drops it off to Kenyon Martin Jr.

Robinson-Earl makes a great contest, but the shot still goes in. However, Earl did everything right in this play. This type of defense gets you a stop more often than not.

I like Robinson-Earl a lot. While his name sounds like a type of tea bag, he’s a very enticing player for the future. His combination of basketball IQ, athleticism, and length is rare. Earl can move around the court a lot and play a lot of different roles for OKC.

One night, it could be more about his offense. Another, it could be about his defense. He can fill any role OKC needs him to fill, which is unique for a rookie.

Robinson-Earl is a very fluid player and he’s one of the best young talents on this OKC team. I’m excited about what he can bring to the table in the future.

There were a lot of other players who played well in this game, like Armoni Brooks (HOU) and Ty Jerome (OKC). However, these two players, unknown to the NBA community, really stuck out to me.

Montrezl Harrell Is A Monster

I’ll admit it. I have never been the biggest fan of Montrezl Harrell. While he is a force to be reckoned with down low, I never thought he was a valuable player. He was an undersized center who struggled on defense.

But sometimes, you have to admit when you’re wrong. Harrell has been having a great season with the Wizards, a big reason for the surprise season they’re having.

Last night against Minnesota, Harrell dominated the Timberwolves. Let’s watch Hulk 2.0 wreak havoc on countless villages disguised as Minnesota defenders.

A Whole Lotta Dunks

Harrell made 11 field goals last night. An astounding 10 of them were dunks, as he just feasted around the rim. Even more, about 1/3 of Harrell’s field goal attempts this season have been dunks.

Harrell has 64 dunks this season in 588 minutes. Only Rudy Gobert (70 dunks in 660 minutes) has more jams than Harrell.

Here were just a couple of the dunks Harrell had in this game;