Growing through pains and (plenty of ) gains
Yurtseven gets contract, tougher competition during summer league
There was a time when summer league was carefree for Omer Yurtseven, when the 7-foot center could load up on points, rebounds and victories, seemingly without breaking a sweat.
That time was a week ago, when there were 27 points and 19 rebounds one night in a Miami Heat victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and then 25 points and eight rebounds the next night in a victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Summertime, and the livin’ was easy.
A two-year, $3.5 million contract followed from Pat Riley ... as did a harsh reality.
The affable Turk had made opposing scouting reports. And a bunch of equally hungry prospects weren’t about to let some two-game wonder glide through the second of the Heat’s two summer leagues.
That’s not to say that what Yurtseven accomplished in the California Classic hasn’t been mirrored to a degree at the NBA Las Vegas Summer League, just that the pushback has been considerable, reminders offered that it will be substantially more of a challenge once the games count for real.
“Especially now, when teams have really scouted him, he’s not catching anybody by surprise now,” said Heat assistant coach
Malik Allen, who is guiding the Heat’s summer roster. “But he has answered the challenge and it’s great for him. He’s getting beat up. He’s having to play through contact, and that’s what this league is about, as a big, especially somebody with his skill set.”
The numbers have remained gaudy in Las Vegas, 23 points and 11 rebounds against the Memphis Grizzlies, 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Utah Jazz, and then, Saturday, 21 points and seven rebounds against the Atlanta Hawks.
But the stats in those last two games came in losses. And now, with bruises as reminders. Welcome to the NBA, kid.
“In terms of the physical part, he’s where he needs to be,” Allen said of Yurtseven’s 7-foot, 265-pound frame.
“You can always get a little stronger.
It’s just a matter he experience the physicality of centers. And the good thing about summer league is you have centers, where you might not have as many of those in the league anymore, once you start playing in the regular season. So he’s getting that experience of what it’s like to get bumped and laid on for a full game.
“And that’s what he needs. That’s part of the process; it’s what he needs. And especially now, as we keep going in summer league, as it wears, it’s part of the mental part, too, that he’s growing in. These experiences are just invaluable to him, that he’s going to get, that he’s going to be able to carry with him as he keeps going.”
At 23, Yurtseven has experienced plenty already. He first played professionally in Turkey before then playing at North Carolina State and Georgetown. Along the way, there was time with Turkey’s national team, as well as in the G League.
But these past two weeks, from beating up on the undersized in Sacramento to battling against the NBA-level bruisers such as Xavier Tillman and Udoka Azubuike, have offered the exact type of gamut needed to prepare for the next level, the real NBA.
“There’s been all kind of body types,” Yurtseven said, as the Heat looks ahead to their Tuesday summer-league finale in Las Vegas. “There’s been all kind of body types. There’s been short and bulky and strong, and also length that I had to play against. When teams go short, it’s being able to adjust to that and also the regular matchup, big man versus big man.
“So getting that experience and getting that feel and that physicality has been really beneficial. And being able to make those bigs stretch out [with Yurtseven’s 3-point shooting], and then having that lane open for the guards, I think that’s something that can help any team at the NBA level.”
At various stages of his basketball career, being big was enough to be productive. Then came this meat market in Las Vegas, where size has come in bulk.
It all has been a lesson on how to avoid becoming tenderized, while also moving into prime position heading into a training camp that now is only six weeks away.
“I think it’s been a lot of learning, like watching the film and taking it all in,” Yurtseven said. “I’m still making those adjustments inside the game. All the coaches have been in my ear and also, OG, Udonis Haslem has been with us like for the last two, three games just giving advice.
“More reps and more reps, it’s just going to translate into the regular season.”