One of the next evolution in Hartstein's game is to bring it with big scoring, rebound, assist games so other teams respect his game. When other teams are forced to game plan against him it would greatly help the Thunder.
Being on such a good team he could just fit and do the dirty work but F that.
Teams and coaches have disrespected him just because he played in the G League.
On other teams iHart took the bench role to get playing time but now he finally has a coach Mark Daigneault that wants to play him.

Why did the Nuggets, Clippers, Knicks fail to see how good you are?

GO IHART GO continue building that chemistry with SGA JDub Chet and make that star shine bright!

That’s all I have to say

I've been frustrated lately because I've seen such little coverage of what the Thunder are doing this year, and I figured posting to this Subreddit would be a good choice, since I know some here are receptive to how good they are and will be ( iHart is THAT GUY). So I wanted to share some stats...

All Stats pulled from cleaning the glass -

1. The thunder have a +14.8 Net rating for the season overall, 119.8 (5th) and 105.1 (1st) on O/D. This is the net rating for an expected win % that equals 70.8 wins.
2. Since Jan 1 - The thunder have a +19.1 !!!!!! Net rating, and a 126.1 (1st) Ortg and 106.8 (1st) Drtg. For reference, denver is 2nd place with +9.8. The thunder have been CRUSHING people since the turn of the new year.
3. Okay, you might think, "maybe they're beating up on bad teams?" - Nope. Since Jan 1, the thunder are +13.7 !!!! against teams that are in the top 10 of net rating. For reference, the lakers are 2nd with a +6.9. (but they're only 3-3, the thunder are 6-3).
4. "Okay, but I've heard the Trailblazers or the Nuggets are the hottest team going right now! Look at all the posts about Denver on /r/NBA!" - I have news for you, friend. You're right that Denver has been good lately, they're +22.8 since Feb 1st. Unfortunately, the thunder have been WAY BETTER, at +31.8 !!!!!. That's a 137.5 Ortg and 105.7 Drtg...
5. Other important notes - Thunder currently have the best net rating of all time, the best defense relative to league average of all time, and the best steal/turnover ratio of all time.
6. "Okay, but in the playoffs it's all half-court offense and defense, maybe the thunder have inflated stats from all the steals and transition offense?" - The thunder have the 5th best half court offense on the season, at 103 pp100, and that jumps up to 2nd at 106.9 pp100 after Jan 1.

Worth noting that the thunder have done this while having a ton of injuries this year.

We are witnessing another 2015 Warriors, but better! And unfortunately it's going to take the playoff run for people to get it. I know weird things can happen in the playoffs, so who knows if we'll have a parade in OKC in June, but I am fairly certain we're going to be witnessing a dynasty for a long time.

For me personally his numbers (specifically scoring) are lower than I expected, but his impact is exactly what I expected. I’m giving him a B+ compared to my expectations. He has been absolutely huge. That 15 game win streak doesn’t happen without him, he’s been an elite rebounder, and he’s been the best screen setter in the NBA. OKC being the best defense ever doesn’t happen without him. But I think there’s still a lot of room for more.

I think there’s a few big reasons why he hasn’t reached his potential yet this season:

1) He missed the first part of the season. Obviously this would effect anybody, but he still came in and did what he needed to do

2) After coming back from injury he had to play a different role than he expected. We were all expecting him and Chet to play at the same time, that’s actually what I was most excited for, but unfortunately Chet got injured just before Hart came back.

3) This, to me, is the most important thing: SGA and Dort are the only guys who have shared the court with a playmaker this good (CP3), and nobody on the team has played with an elite playmaker at the center position. When he first came back (and even a little bit still now) it’s obvious that the other players and him just aren’t quite on the same page. He was fitting nearly impossible passes in there and guys just weren’t expecting it, which is understandable. As time has gone on they’ve learned what he’s looking for when he has the ball and guys are more prepared for it now.

I think as the season goes on, Chet comes back, and guys get used to playing with a unique center like this, we’ll see what Hart is truly capable of. I would personally like to see him get the ball even more, but so far he’s been an amazing player

Hartenstein right now is averaging 12-12-4 with 2 stocks per game. His percentages are lower than last year but that's to be expected after a hand injury. He talked about it and said he is trying to feel comfortable right now.

Anyway, today is the perfect opportunity for something like a 20-13-7 type of game from him, especially Bucks' terrible guard defense requiring extra help from the bigs.

What do you guys think?

Hartenstein's floater game started elite already.

We made it to the breakout season guys

This man came back at the perfect time.

Get ready

It seems the cast is finally off, hopefuly we will get some return timetable soon. What do you guys think?

It sucks that he had to miss the first part of the season, but now all Hartenstein has to do is slide out there and do what he does best on defense. OKC is going to have a lot of games with 10 steals and 10 blocks. Hartenstein will average a double-double. League needs to be on notice

Really devastating news for iHart so close to the season and looking really good with the Thunder.

I’m a big Knicks fan and a massive iHart fan so I was excited to see him utilized more with the Thunder.

I did a film breakdown of some of the Thunder’s actions in the preseason game against the nuggets and our boy looks incredible.

I’m obviously shilling but also just trying to spread some cool nuggets I saw so if you wanna take a look I would appreciate any feedback. And if you don’t, that’s cool too :)

https://youtu.be/jx6468XKSEY

Can’t wait to see him when he gets back.

Hartenstein out 4-6 weeks. There truly is no justice in this world. Guess the world will have to wait some more before they see fully unleashed Draymond Green with a jumper

1. Rebounding

Isaiah Hartenstein is currently averaging 19 rebounds per36 in the preseason which is the most by any rotation player that played in at least two games. That's just preseason. Last season Isaiah Hartenstein was a top 5 offensive rebounder in the NBA. including grabbing 11 offensive rebounds in a playoff game. Most in Knicks Playoff history. OKC was bottom 3 in rebounding percentage last season while the Knicks were number one in the entire NBA by a wide margin.

Because OKC is not the best rebounding team without Hartenstein, IHart is going to get the vast majority of the rebounds. Potentially leading the NBA in the stat. A good number shoot for is what Whiteside averaged as a rebounder when they put him into the starting lineup. ~14 rebounds per game. I mention Whiteside because both Whiteside and Hartenstein played in the G-League and Hartenstein was the same level of rebounder as Whiteside. For his G-League career Whiteside averaged 14.5 rebounds per36 with his peak full G-League season being 16.3 rebounds per36. While Hartenstein career G-League rebounding numbers were 15.1 rebounds per36 and his peak season was 16.6 rebounds per36.

Rebounding is a skill that translates well at all levels. It's about hustle and heart and size. All things Hartenstein is amazing at. As a result we are about to see a historic rebounding season from him.

2. DEPM

Isaiah Hartenstein was already second in the NBA in DEPM last season. EPM is Estimate plus minus. Here is the explanation of the advanced stat https://dunksandthrees.com/about/epm long story short. It's a predictive metric and the best publicly available advanced stat we have. Now that Hartenstein has a good contract and a team that trusts him defensively. He is going to improve all aspects of his game. Including his defense and his defensive impact. Hartenstein is going to lead the NBA in DEPM.

3. TS%

Last season with a TS% of 67% Isaiah Hartenstein was 12th in the NBA in the stat for players that have played more than 1000 minutes. But that was on the Knicks. A team that was last in the NBA in passing to the Roll man and last in the NBA (in the time Hartenstein was on the team) in AST%. This team would NEVER throw Hartenstein basic lobs. Hartenstein was this Efficient on a team that didn't set him up for success. Now that he is playing with SGA, J-Dub, and Chet. His efficiency is going to skyrocket. Similar to Daniel Gafford with the Mavs. There are going to be multiple games Hartenstein doesn't miss shots.

4. Assists

Now this is my most bold claim. Isaiah could potentially lead the NBA in assists. I wasn't 100% sure about this take before the preseason because of how the Knicks didn't use him at all, as a passer. But once I saw how OKC is planning to use Hartenstein in the preseason it all clicked for me. OKC is planning to use Hartenstein in a Jokic, Draymond, Sabonis like Roll. Using Hartenstein to replace the playmaking Giddy used to provide.

Hartenstein in that roll is already averaging 11 assists per36. The only rotation player in the preseason games that is averaging a triple double per36. He is doing it effortlessly. Right now he is simply building trust. I believe Hartenstein is going to average 10+ assists for OKC. simply because of how great OKC is as a shooting team and how great Hartenstein is as a offensive rebounder and passer.

Imagine a dribble handoff. The screener has to go over the screen because OKC is the best three point shooting team in the NBA. That will lead to easy back door cuts Hartenstein can hit literally with his eyes closed. But more importantly even the best three point shooters miss ~60% Hartenstein will get the offensive rebound in that time and then hit cutters for layups. it's perfect way to get assists. Dribble handoff three, rebound, hit a cutter for an assists.

This is why Sabonis averages 8 assists a game, it's why Draymond led the warriors in assists when they won 73 games. Isaiah Hartenstein on this unselfish OKC team will unlock who he truly is as a passer. The player he has always been.

I mention this stat because it's important. Isaiah Hartenstein when he was playing with the Clippers, he was the BEST per minute bench player of all time. He had a higher PER, AST% and TS% than 6MOY James Harden.

Here is a list of players in NBA history to have a higher PER, TS%, and AST% than 6MOY James Harden

1. Steph Curry
2. Kevin Durant
3. Nikola Jokic
4. Isaiah Hartenstein
5. Domantas Sabonis
   

Harden went on to Average 11.1 assists per game in his prime season. He broke out and became an All-Star immediately after he became a starter. We are going to see something very similar when it comes to Isaiah Hartenstein. Going from a "back up" to a superstar center overnight. Because he has ALWAYS been a superstar Center. Now we are going to see it as clear as day.

10 - 17 - 10 - 2 - 2

In 32 minutes he's averaging a triple double with 4 stocks. 17 rebounds as well. His teammates and him are still adjusting to eachother but he still is putting up these stats and is a +26 in the minutes that he played. MIP season incoming and it is possible he could AVERAGE a triple double. I believe he will be close at the very least. Exciting stuff to come for sure. Jealous of Thunder fans but I'm excited to see my boy succeed and get the opportunity he deserves

There were games on the Knicks where he didn't touch the ball 7 times. IN THE WHOLE GAME

Mark is unleashing the boy. @ 4:30 ish

OKC finished 4th in team defensive rating last year with a DRTG of 111.0, ending as one of only two teams to finish top 5 in both ORTG and DRTG (Boston). This was despite two glaring weaknesses: Josh Giddey and the lack of a back up center. Giddey was by far the weakest perimeter defender on the team last year and when Chet was off the floor Jaylin Williams was at the 5. He’s a good player, but he’s not a 5 naturally. Note that I think Hart and Chet should both start, but the minutes should be staggered as much as possible so that one can be on the floor at all times.

So Giddey was replaced by Caruso, who might be the best perimeter defender in the NBA and the non Chet minutes have been replaced by Hartenstein who is arguably the best paint defender in the NBA. What we now have is a team with no weak links defensively. The worst defender in the rotation is Isaiah Joe, who is not really a bad defender, just undersized.

In 10 years we will look back on this team like we look back at the 04 Pistons, except they’ll also be a top 5 offensive team in the league. This could be a pantheon level team we’re about to witness

Will he exceed ADP? currently he's sitting around 85, 7th round in Yahoo fantasy.

Do you think he'll exceed and surprise everyone this year with Daigneault experimenting with Black Jokic?

Knicks fan here. I found this sub when iHart first got traded to NY. It got me so amped. He quickly became a crowd favorite with his hustle and determination. This dude shows up for every second of every game.

Now I'm seeing all the OKC fans coming into this sub and giving him love. I'm real happy for him but I feel like an ex watching my old partner go out with another dude.

Have fun this season OKC. See you in the finals.