Harrell has such good mitts, he catches just about every pass then he's almost automatic near the rim. Always on the move as a roll man that an assist is a close guarantee. Hardly any fumblerooskies...
Even when he gets the ball in transition and there's absolutely no one around him to challenge the dunk, he still plays like this:
i've been thinking he looked kinda skinny out there, actually. his arms looked smaller than i remembered. but then i was like...you don't really play ball with arm strength, anyway. and he gets worn out by big centers even when he's heavier, so why not trim down a bit, still be able to out-physical most pfs, and be more mobile in the process?
If he is 237 like he says, at his true height (is he 6'7"?), then that is enough beef for today's NBA. Of course he would still get manhandled down low by the Joker, Drummond, Embiid and one or two others. But playing toothpicks like Christian Wood, he has the beef advantage. And of course he is quicker than just about any Center I can think of in the league.
If it helps him stay in front of wings this will be a big plus. Playoff basketball has just turned into head hunting contests and with a whole bunch of talented and big 3's attacking you. If harell can stay in front of guys like Leonard, Tatum, etc then that is far more valuable then having him to try match up with the Jokers of the world who we already know he's not going to do well against
He's gotta try to develop a mid-range or three point shot if he wants to take his game to the next level, to be honest. At his current skillset, he's limited to just being pure energy+dominating the paint.
Huh? He’s hit a number of mid range J’s this year that we’ve been commenting on he did nothing like that last year. Can he develop it more .... sure everyone can keep working and get better. Just seemed an odd statement when he’s been shooting a number of them and making a decent number of those. Has a decent looking form with them as well.
Give me the numbers, then. He's not taking plenty of those shots and teams are leaving him wide open so it's a super small sample size. Let's see what happens when teams start guarding him face up and he doesn't have 5 feet separation. How many mid-range shots has he made? If I'm the other team, you can bet that I'd rather force Montrezl to shoot that mid-range than let him sit under the paint. On a scouting report, I can guarantee you no team has Montrezl Harrell as a mid-range threat... No one is paying Montrezl to be a floor spacer or else he would easily have $20 million dollar per season offers.
Agreed, I heard he was almost exclusively a P and R scorer, but he's shown us a really nice looking face up mid range jumper that has been money this season. I like what I see. He's a more versatile scorer than advertised. Article to this point: SPORTS Newsletter: Lakers newsletter: Montrezl Harrell finding more freedom across the hallway Lakers center Montrezl Harrell drives to basket against Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith during their Christmas Day game. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press) By DAN WOIKESTAFF WRITER JAN. 5, 2021 6 AM Hi, this is Dan Woike, Lakers beat writer for the Los Angeles Times, here with your Lakers newsletter. It’s been a year since Montrezl Harrell’s frustration boiled over. His Clippers had just gotten waxed by the Memphis Grizzlies, and Harrell felt like he needed to set everyone straight. “We’re not a great team,” he said. “That’s the one thing y’all need to get out of your mind. We’re not a great team.” The postgame skewering highlighted the Clippers’ chemistry problems, as a player who wasn’t one of the established stars was calling for more effort — a not-so-veiled shot at the team’s stars. It didn’t play well in the Clippers organization, even if it was true, as people with the team said Harrell wasn’t exactly a model of accountability either. In the 12 months since his locker-room callout, Harrell has a new team — he didn’t have to change addresses — and the same-old game, giving the Lakers life when they need it with his high-efficiency offense and unrelenting energy. The Lakers’ Montrezl Harrell is fouled by the Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan during their game Dec. 30 in San Antonio. (Ronald Cortes / Getty Images) “It’s definitely a great feeling to have chemistry and the camaraderie that the guys have with one another already early in the season,” Harrell said. “Honestly, the only thing I think that’s going to happen is that it’s going to continue to grow. Guys, it’s a great vibe. It’s a great energy around us, man.” Energy can be a bit of a dirty word in the NBA — the not-so-subtle implication being that your success is tied to simply playing harder than anyone else and not because of talent. Lakers center Marc Gasol bristled at the association for Harrell, saying his skill is too great for the “energy” label to be so prominent. The Lakers have certainly entrusted Harrell to show more all-around skill than he did with the Clippers, for whom he was primarily a pick-and-roll partner and occasional face-up player. With the Lakers, he has expanded his game and shown that he can make midrange jumpers out of post moves — he’s made five already this season. “Trez is gonna have it in the post, [and] if a player is just gonna back up on him, it makes it harder to score at the rim,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “So in some ways, in everything you do, you have to take what the defense gives you, and he’s shown the ability to knock that shot down. He has the green light to take it.” Harrell praised the Lakers’ freedom within their offensive system, a freedom that makes him comfortable to square up and shoot from 15 feet if it’s the right play. “It’s really just being able to just play my game and just not being kind of told, ’You always got to be this, this or this.’ It’s kind of been the system I’ve kind of been playing in for a while. It’s got to be threes, layups or let’s get free throws. But that’s not like that over here,” Harrell said. “They play to the stye of everybody’s game, and we’re not looking at anybody that you have to do this, you got to do that, man. We play basketball over here. It’s a free-flowing game.” Harrell’s impact on the Lakers primarily will be on the offensive end, and as long as Gasol and Anthony Davis are available, the Lakers will have other options when they need a defensive presence. Harrell is in a role in which he can do what he does — no more, no less — and it’s seemed to be just what the Lakers need.
He seems to be hitting roughly half of his midrange shots, although he doesn't shoot a lot of them. https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/montrezl-harrell-shot-chart
He had several good defensive rotations last night. Holiday hit a 3 over him one on one vs him, but I thought his defense was very good on the isolation. I think Vogel is doing a good job in putting him in places where he can succeed.
Don’t really like Harrell’s body language. I know he seemed pissed off at THT during the game. Not sure what happened.
