On [Tuesday](https://247sports.com/college/ucla/board/103036/contents/tyler-bilodeau-at-nba-summer-league-notes-and-film-vs-kings-288339097/?page=1#M288339097) I wrote that Tyler Bilodeau's path to sticking in the NBA runs through everything besides the scoring: rebounds, steals, blocks, rotations, defensive switches. On Thursday against the Rockets, he went out and did a lot of those things, and impactful stuff that didn't show up on the stat sheet.
The Rockets beat the Nets 100-83 at the Pavilion, ending Brooklyn's run at the Summer League tournament, and Bilodeau finished with 10 points on 3-10 shooting, 2-6 from three, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocks in 23 minutes.
He played extended minutes in the first half, the longest stretch I've seen him get across the two games, and he earned them with his activity on the defensive end and his impact offensively. He was taking guys on the wing, and although he didn't nail the landing on a couple of moves, the misses didn't shorten his run. He had two tips where he kept the ball alive crashing the offensive glass, aggressively switching, and using his nearly 7'1" wingspan to disrupt the Rockets flow. He got beat off the bounce a couple of times, but for the most part he kept guys in front. While he was on the floor the Nets trimmed the Rockets lead.
His 2 blocks were impressive, and he made an excellent read on a rotation for a steal. Most of all, the mistakes from the Kings game were minimized. Sure, he still had moments where he got turned around in rotations and put his back to the ball, but those instances went down. It was apparent that he was locked into the postgame film session from Tuesday, saw what happened against Sacramento, understood what the coaches wanted, and applied it to the next game. His ability to learn quickly, adapt and adjust is the separator between really good young players and the guys who end up living at the end of the bench.
Bilodeau's improving lateral movement, from game to game, is the story. At UCLA, his sliding and recovery were much-maligned, and at times it really stood out in a bad way. But defense isn't only about how quickly you slide. It's how quickly you react and process, whether you can anticipate where someone is going. And here's my no science to back it up theory: Bilodeau grew up playing competitive hockey. Anyone who can stand up on ice skates and play a competitive sport has some unique lower-body tools, some twitch in their feet and legs that can be developed into something. You're telling me a guy who can ice skate can't learn to slide his feet? I can see a noticeable improvement since the start of last season at UCLA to Summer League, and it jumps out on the film. He's quicker laterally, and reacting faster. That's why I have so many different angles of him moving in the video. I'm fascinated by it, because I watched him look a step slow, dollar short and a day late guarding bigs at UCLA, and now he's switching onto pro guards and doing a decent job.
Thursday, Bilodeau did a couple things handling the ball I've never seen him do. He made a move on the left wing where he ripped through, took a couple of bounces, and hit a double step-back on a defender that ended with an in-and-out miss. The move was smooth and fluid, and he looked comfortable executing. Then he made a play where he caught it on the wing, took a hard dribble middle, went behind his back while using the other arm to move his defender off of him, similar to the way Michael Jordan did Bryon Russell in Game 6 against Utah. I'm obviously not comparing Bilodeau to MJ, but wanted you to get the visual of what I'm talking about. Kyrie does it a lot too. There are levels to professional ballhandling, and the nuance of that move is next-level stuff. He missed the layup, didn't quite have the legs to dunk it, but he made the move, and once you execute a move like that in a live game, it ups your level of confidence in your handle. The V-dribble drill in his pregame warmup against the Kings looked clean and tight. Put it together and it tells you he's been working on his ballhandling every day, because he didn't get many reps at UCLA or for most of his career.
Then there's his physicality, one of the more important revelations from Thursday that mattered for his future in the NBA. Early in the game, Nets first-round pick Mikel Brown Jr. was getting harassed by Houston's pressure and ended up on the ground in a mixup, and Bilodeau came in and moved guys out of the way, protecting his point guard. He could have stayed out of it. He didn't. Later he got into it with the Rockets' Isaiah Crawford, who was being physical with him on the block, and Bilodeau gave it right back to him. Crawford was very happy about it, security rushed the floor and both guys received double technicals. Crawford was ejected for how he reacted. Bilodeau stood there cool, calm, collected and stayed in the game. Don't let the smooth taste fool you, his clean-cut All-American looks and shooter's reputation may inspire players around the league to test him. But Thursday a line was drawn: he's not getting pushed around, he's going to push back, and he's going to do it within the confines of the game. He's strong, broad-shouldered, and plays a physical brand of basketball. He's someone you can count on in the trenches, which matters for culture and chemistry on a younger squad.
One more honest observation from my seat: he looked better than fellow Nets rookie Joshua Jefferson on Thursday. Jefferson is athletic, had 2 steals, and as a first-round pick he's going to get the first opportunities. But skill for skill, Bilodeau's gravity and his ability to stretch a defense are more advanced right now. The Nets close out Summer League with a consolation game this weekend.
He had a tough shooting night, but I'm not putting a ton of stock in a 3-10 from the field outing. As I wrote after the Kings game, when you extend yourself defensively at a level you're not used to, it takes away from your legs on the other end, and there will come a point where his defensive energy gets up to speed and stops taxing the offense. The bigger picture is his gravity. He came into the NBA with a reputation as one of the best shooters in the country, 51.8% from the field, 46.4% from three and 87.3% from the line in his last season at UCLA, and defenses can't help off of him. That spacing is his number one value whether the ball goes in on a given night or not. The comp I keep coming back to is 12-year NBA veteran Ryan Anderson, a dead-eye stretch four who had a lot of game, and Bilodeau moves more fluidly than Anderson. He also hit 2 transition threes Thursday, and the ability to knock down threes on the move at 6'9", before the defense can scramble and set, is a valuable NBA skill on its own.