Melton flashes potential in showcase
Rockets rookie guard shows improvement after lackluster debut
LAS VEGAS — Rookie guard De’Anthony Melton quickly adjusted to at least one part of the Rockets’ way of doing things. He took his 3s in his debut Friday. And when he missed them, he just kept firing away.
Even in summer league, that is a large part of the attitude that coach Mike D’Antoni preaches. But on occasion, the Rockets do like to see a few go in.
As confident as Melton remained as he made three of 15 shots Friday, when he knocked down a 3 from the corner Sunday, following it with another coming around a Chinanu Onuaku screen, he soon was driving and attacking forcefully to help key the Rockets’ 87-81 comeback win against the Warriors’ summer league team.
“To start off the game (on Friday), I was definitely a little bit nervous,” Melton said. “The more games I play, the more settled I’ll be, the more fluid I’ll play.”
Shaking off the rust
The Rockets found a combination in the second half that worked as they rallied from a 17point first-half deficit, with R.J. Hunter scoring 24 points to lead the way. But Melton’s solid bounce-back performance in just his second game had to be especially encouraging.
With a summer league roster that does not include a single first-round pick, Melton at least came close, with general manager Daryl Morey saying the Rockets had the 46th player taken in last month’s draft in their top 20.
Some rust was to be expected, with Melton sitting out all of last season at Southern California because of his connection with the FBI’s investigation of improper benefits in NCAA basketball. He had the draft combine and workouts before the summer league practices. But by halftime Sunday, he had made four of 20 summer league shots.
Yet he seemed more comfortable than Friday.
“When you think about Game 1, he couldn’t make a shot from 3,” Rockets assistant coach Brett Gunning said. “The thing we take from that is he kept shooting them. The confidence was there in Game 1. Tonight, to finally see a shot go through — he made that corner 3. He did a good job attacking, attacking the basket, made some big shots there in the fourth. And his defense has been there the whole time.”
Melton made five of seven attempts in the second half, scoring 13 of his 15 points, but he said his emphasis is on the defensive end, the strength that led the Rockets to select him and showed with four steals in his 23 minutes Sunday.
He will need to hone his shot, the shortcoming that made him available in the middle of the second round. But his shooting stroke is not broken. By the Rockets’ fourth-quarter run to the win, he showed an ability to finish at the rim that would be more available if he can consistently knock down open looks.
“If guys go over (the screen), now we got the roll,” Melton said. “I felt confident. I worked on it in practices and my workouts, so I shot it.
Pushing pace a must
Melton said he will look to get teammates involved after finishing without an assist Sunday. But he turned things around enough in his second game for the Rockets to have confidence in his summer league to-do list.
“No. 1, keep the defense at the level it’s at,” Gunning said. “No. 2, when we get the rebound, he’s got to go. We want to get the ball up the floor. That’s either him pushing it or him advancing it with the pace. He can be the guy that dictates our pace. That’s his main job. Then, end of the clock, if he’s in pick-and-roll, get downhill or get someone else a shot.”
Along the way, if he gets an open 3, he will be expected to take it, a lesson he picked up quickly.