True or False: Clint Capela is this team's second best player

In the list of 16 starting playoff centers, he doesn't command space as well as pretty much all of them. The 24mpg thing, I have to go with what MDA says about his motor. That's from him. What I see is somewhat a mechanical/leverage issue, even with his sheer lack of strength to some of the top. He doesn't seem to know how to use his body to prevent other's from taking his position and his rebounds. Maybe partly McHa'es "Butt down" advise, and maybe he's on his toes too much, and maybe he just doesn't embrace the contact and seek it out as much as most NBA centers do.

 

McDaniels and two seconds was basically the deal. We wouldn't yield a protected first. Dallas did. Their picks and player were better than ours. I can't prove it until it becomes public. But MDA wanted him. And may still want him.

DMo didn't overplay his hand. DMo was loyal and naive. He allowed MDA to convince him that he wanted him and he held off on other desks with the expectation the Rockets were going to make good on an offer that he could've signed early. That gave us time to sign Anderson and then it was a new bball game.

DMo did what he had to do to bring the issue to the fore. Commissioner got involved. Both sides told their story. And we were penalized. We weren't allowed to sign him and had to let him go. Hate to tell you this because you ain't going to believe it. But that screw-up by our front office may cost us a championship this season. That I'll never be able to prove. But neither can you disprove it. We need a big in the worst way right now.

 

Command space? He commands gravity as if you slack off of him he will finish around the rim either by alley op or putting in. Aside from DJ, who else is going to be able to score efficiently? Sure it's part of the system and playing with Harden, but Capela still has to be able to score to make the PNR effective.

I think Capela is worth more to the Rockets than other teams, but he fits like a glove. Him and Harden draw their men tight to them while shooters space the floor. I don't think Capela is the second most important player but he plays a very key role in the spacing of our offense, much like Anderson does on the perimeter.

I guess we'll go with MDA's cryptic comment about motor that I've never heard, not saying it didn't happen. Just from the eye test, it seems Capela is the one who runs down the floor the fastest and most often.

But then how does Capela rebound better defensively than Steven Adams? Is it Westbrook taking Adam's extra few rebounds as I would argue Harden does the same thing. How does he rebound better defensively than Robin Lopez, a big traditional center? Same with Nene. Same with Kanter. All big guys who know how to get position and are stronger. Take a look at basketball reference and all the rebounding metrics, per 35, per 100 possession, it all says the same thing.

I'm sorry that doesn't add up based on actual data. I think you just simply are incorrect about Capela's rebounding while correct about Capela's overall positioning.

 

LOL. How convenient.

Nope. The free market decided DMo wasn't worth a contract. Ryan Anderson had nothing to do with anything as DMo still couldn't get a contract as RFA from another team besides the Nets. BJ incompetently structured the contract and we easily matched..... That contract was a joke and screamed "I'm not durable" enough. How many years were a team option again? LOL. Come on.... just stop.

The bolded is delusions of grandeur as TJones outplayed DMo during the stint on NOP, which is the cherry on top.

 

Simply not true. We made promises. DMo didn't sign offer sheet. Money was there. Not a good scene. Especially when Silver got involved.

 

LOL. We made promises? How vague and mysterious... Morey is a businessman not a promise man who would overpay for a player in RFA.

The fact that he settled for a puny 1 year deal speaks volumes of BJ's incompetence and how the league views DMo as a basketball player.

 

That's all you get for now. You'll have to wait for the rest of the story.

 

I was talking rebounding and positioning on defense. He's perfectly fine as a lob threat for Harden. But he has weaknesses.

MDA didn't say he couldn't play his role in the offense; he said he couldn't do it for as long as he'd like ... thus the 24 mpg.

I like him. He is a fit on offense. But, he's not a "glove" for this team until he can play more minutes....and actually get the 12 rebounds/gm and the 2 blocks per game that you guys keep saying he does on some mythical 36 per at bball reference stats page....which is TWELVE minutes more than he plays.

 

http://www.82games.com/1617/1617HOU.HTM

Nene was above Capela most of the season, but Clint has really stepped it up the past month.

 

Well certainly he has weaknesses, but is he a net positive?

Hopefully he improves his conditioning.

The per 36 and per 100 possessions are a means to compare players across various MPG. What does it say about Capela on a rookie contract who out rebounds both Adams and Kanter and their contracts? Adams will be getting paid +$20 million starting next season and Kanter +$17 million currently.

I think he fits like a glove as we have two headed center position with two very productive centers who score efficiently. If Capela averages 24 MPG when he's 4-6 years into his NBA career then there's an issue.

 

Clint was solid tonight in his first career playoff start. He showed us some things that we didn't even see from him in the regular season which is a great sign. Billy Donovan got caught saying "We can't play Kanter", due to Clint's play. @basketballholic said that the Rockets would struggle to make the playoffs with Clint starting at center, yet here he is holding his own against a formidable OKC front line.

That said, I think we can all agree that Patrick Beverley is the straw that stirs the Rockets drink. Clint has a bright future with this team, though.

 

^^^ @basketballholic also said Rockets were looking to trade Beverly this past summer as well as during this season and will continue to shop him this summer

At this point, its best to take what he says with a grain of salt. He just loves being wrong and taking L's

 

Context. I said we would struggle to make the playoffs based on last year's team with CC replacing Dwight. That was before free agency and was a direct response to people thinking we could just plug CC in for Dwight and be fine.

But go ahead and distort. And get excited about the first playoff win. Like somehow us blowing up a team that is more one-man-band than we are is something special. I'll read you peddling denial in a couple works because it's coming.

 

We did shop Beverley all summer and up to the deadline. I have no idea why a playoff win makes that not so. LOL.

 

In for a penny, in for a pound? Doubling down holic, what a clown!

 

Dollar cost averaging in your terms. Nothing has changed. Story didn't become false just because we won a playoff game.

You spin yourself RiceRockets Rice Round
Like a record playing Rice RiceRockets Rice Round

 

Clint Capela was a complete monster out there. He completely dominated Adams and Kanter on both ends. Incredibly impressive for such a young guy. Nene too.

It's funny, when our perimeter guys show a little bit of fight and prevent straight line drives, our bigs look WAY better.

 

Don't count me in on the one game celebration crew.

That being said, Clint played last night like he played all year, he's been very solid for us. He's still growing both physically and mentally as a player, dude ain't even 23 yet. He has only played a total of 177 games averaging 18.6 minutes in his NBA career so far (just a little over two seasons worth of games with limited minutes). Previous playoffs experience? Averaged a grand 7.7 minutes across 22 games (3rd stringer). This is his real year of experience being the rebounding and defensive anchor of a team.

Clint is a good rebounder, Clint is a good finisher at the rim, good shot blocker, he's got long arms, he's got light agile feet and is a quick jumper on offense and defense. Clint's biggest problems for the role he plays are inexperience and weight, he's going to grow out of both of those issues soon enough. I can see he's been both mentally sharper and noticeably stronger this season, he'll probably add another 20 pounds of cut muscle by the time he's 25 giving him the strength to be effective against the majority of bigs in the league. Barring any injuries he'll likely be a very good starting center for the next 8 years or so.

What I think we need to add is a BIG big man behind Clint to cover for his lack of strength when needed. Nene obviously has the strength but his defensive rebounding isn't cutting it, and while he has solid awareness positionally he just isn't a natural rim protector either. What I think we need is a guy who can get defensive rebounds, block some shots and hold the biggest the league has to offer. A Dedmon/Chandler/Mejri/Bogut/Len type backup big. It would create a dynamic at the center position that would be really tough against opposing teams. Combine that with focusing on better perimeter defense and I think we can fix our defensive paint problems.

 

Maybe Nanu can turn into that "strength big" in a year or two. He certainly has the strong base to be that kind of defender in the future.

 

I'm sure we offered him in deals for another star. It doesn't mean we don't value him. He's pretty clearly become our second best player.