On second unit, Carter-Williams welcomes taking on Paul
LAKE CHARLES, La. — With Rockets guards James Harden and Chris Paul preferring to work in scrimmages with the same group, as they will to start and finish games, Michael Carter-Williams received extensive playing time with the second unit during training camp.
That allows him to work against one of the league’s top point guards at all times, rather than off the ball if Paul worked in practices as the backup point.
“Oh, it’s great,” said CarterWilliams, who signed with the Rockets as a free agent in July. “I’ve learned a lot each day from those guys, two veteran guys that have been in the game for a while, two great players. I’ve learned … I got to compete every single possession to match their intensity each day, and then I’ve got to try to make them better.
“It doesn’t matter how good you are; you can always get better. I try to do anything, find anything, exploit any weakness they have so they can get better.”
In his sixth season, CarterWilliams can be considered a veteran, too, though he said, “I forget that sometimes. I try to learn something every day. How can I make the team better? How can I make our group and the team we’re playing against better? “It’s been fun. It’s been great. I was hurt for training camp the past few years, so to come out here and get a good training camp in and build some chemistry is real valuable to me.”
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said Carter-Williams has looked ready to be a fill-in at the point if Harden or Paul are out, but that the play is still to have Paul work as the backup point.
“We keep either James or Chris on the floor all the time,” D’Antoni said. “We’ll still stagger James and Chris so MCW will be off the ball more than he does in scrimmages. That’s just the way our team is made up. But if we needed him if someone got injured or was out of the game, he would be the backup point. He can play off the ball, too. He’s in a good spot. James and Chris like to play together (in practices) because they’re still learning what they can do.”
Rookie Hartenstein impresses D’Antoni
Rockets rookie Isaiah Hartenstein missed the final two days of training camp with a sprained ankle, but he already had shown enough as a backup for Clint Capela at center that Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said he “has played exceptionally well.”
Hartenstein turned an ankle in a shooting drill Thursday but is expected to return to practice Monday. The Rockets are off Sunday.
“I think it’s gone good so far, so it’s disappointing to lose two days and not be in training camp, but I’ll be OK by Monday,” Hartenstein said. “I think my being in the system (with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers last season) helped a lot. Just knowing what to do and knowing what the role is on the team helped a lot.”
D’Antoni said he was pleased with the play of several of his young players in addition to Hartenstein, citing Gary Clark, Vincent Edwards and Bruno Caboclo.
Eyes on Memphis as training camp ends
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni deemed the team’s first training camp in Lake Charles, La., a success but said the Rockets are ready to play against someone else with their preseason schedule beginning Tuesday at Birmingham, Ala., against the Memphis Grizzlies.
“We’re getting better,” D’Antoni said. “Every training camp, do you push them enough, do you push them too much? We have a couple guys with bad backs ( P. J.
Tucker sat out Saturday’s drills to close camp while Gerald
Green was cleared to participate). You just try to get through it. These are dog days. I’m sure they’re looking forward to Tuesday when they hit somebody else instead of ourselves.
“McNeese State’s been super accommodating. The Golden Nugget was super accommodating. There’s just enough distractions to not be super bored. I think guys are very happy.”