I know he's got an African last name , but he was born in Maryland... So his birth certificate is probably correct lol
Yeah. I hope he can become a productive backup for us in a year or two. I'm impressed by his developing offensive skill set. I hope he will become a good rebounder and shot blocker.
Capela been playing hard Im liking how he is developing my best guess is that Nene is only here this year and wont return next year to make room for Harrell to move up the depth chart. I can totally see Nene getting a huge contract for 2-3 years despite his age. But ugh Harrell needs to work on his defensive rebounding. Theres a trend of long rebounds and he literally just needs to hustle alittle bit more for those. I am totally fine with his offensive game. Chinanu is developing for next year to take Montrez spot in rotation.
Watching our games and comparing to other great offensive teams of the recent past, I've noticed there's an area where we are heavily lacking and that's having a big man who can pass the ball from the high/low post either at the 4 or 5. It adds a nice dimension to the attack. It could be someone who is good at reading cuts, but it could also be a drive and dish kind of big man. Capela, Anderson, Dekker, Harrell are insignificant passers. Nene sometimes shows flashes of being above average, but I think we don't put the ball in his hands at the high post often enough when he's on the floor. That might be something to think about for the playoffs where I expect Nene to play bigger minutes. When Nene is at the FT line he can drive from that distance, he can shoot it from there (stop n pop or catch and shoot), he has made good passes from there, and he is still leaving the path to the basket open for Harden/Lou. I'm talking about this in the Onuaku thread because I believe Onuaku can be that guy for us next season. He reads the game very well, he has a very high IQ. His passing has been impressive. I'm not saying it's difficult to find players open in the NBDL but the timing, precision and vision are noteworthy based on what I've seen. We already knew he's a very good rebounder. With that kind of anticipation, I assume he will end up a very good team defender as well. Rockets seem to be doing an excellent job developing him. Excited to see the kid play next season. Maybe he even makes a late/post season surprise appearance like Capela did his rookie season. Kid is 20 years old. To top it off, the guy seems to be adding range to his jumper.
When the Rockets drafted Nanu his passing is what surprised me the most from his highlight reels He looked like a Bogut type of player.
yea...he should/could've been getting more nba experience collecting scrub minutes right now at least...it seems like he's playing against kids on most nights in the D League already
Sorry but this argument has been dis-proven time after time. Capela, Motiejunas, Harrell, etc. have developed better in a shorter amount of time than if they had playing scrub minutes with the team. I think the dividends will be seen once he's become part of the rotation next year, especially if we don't re-sign Nene.
Nanu is actually GREAT use of the D-league. He is still young and raw, didnt really have an identity or fit into the big club coming in. All those extra bundles of minutes allows to establish himself, get more mature without immediate pressure. And he's a big guy that needs the conditioning, extra training and keeping with game speed. NBA teams dont practice much so young guys go to waste just traveling without doing anything
