The NBA.com/Stats page provides matchup data when one player is being guarded by another player. It's only done on a per game basis, but for 5 games you can see how these two players fared when matched up against eachother. Game 1: https://stats.nba.com/game/0041700141/matchups/?OFF_PLAYER_ID=1626157&DEF_PLAYER_ID=203991 Game 2: https://stats.nba.com/game/0041700142/matchups/?OFF_PLAYER_ID=1626157&DEF_PLAYER_ID=203991 Game 3: https://stats.nba.com/game/0041700143/matchups/?OFF_PLAYER_ID=1626157&DEF_PLAYER_ID=203991 Game 4: https://stats.nba.com/game/0041700144/matchups/?OFF_PLAYER_ID=1626157&DEF_PLAYER_ID=203991 Game 5: https://stats.nba.com/game/0041700145/matchups/?OFF_PLAYER_ID=1626157&DEF_PLAYER_ID=203991 Summary: Code: FG FGA TOV AST PTS 1 KAT 1 3 2 2 2 1 CC 8 13 0 1 20 2 KAT 2 4 0 0 5 2 CC 2 4 1 1 4 3 KAT 3 8 1 1 10 3 CC 3 5 0 1 6 4 KAT 6 10 3 0 14 4 CC 6 9 0 2 16 5 KAT 1 4 0 2 4 5 CC 7 9 0 1 14 T KAT 13 29 6 5 35 T CC 26 40 1 6 60 The total series stats looks somewhat even, but man-vs-man Clint dominated this matchup.
That's why KAT was so salty. I swear, I've never seen a young player in his first playoff series so salty. Last night early when we started our run he made a shot and looked at the crowd and started doing the "calm down" motion with his hands while mean mugging. As they got down he started shoving guys, ramming his shoulder into them, trash talking after every play, staring down Harden on an out of bounds play... He was really overcompensating for Clint Capela pointing out his small hands.
Even if we don't look at the man-vs-man stats, overall Capela was at least equal to, if not maybe even better than, KAT in this series. That's crazy to think about. KAT was a #1 draft pick, is an all star, is seen as someone that Minny can build their team around... And Clint played him at least evenly or better. And it's not like Clint is that much older than him.
Forget DJ Remember when a certain poster called him JAP and that his production could be replaced by any of Dwayne Deadman, Chianainaua oanuanaku, Joe Cheese, Jeff Withey, Jared Uthoffetc SMH
KAT is an all star talent. What you saw in this matchup is the VALUE of "Playoff Experience." And Clint had that. Clint knew what it took to ratchet up the intensity and KAT wasn't able to meet that level. KAT will learn from this. This is why it is good for teams with young talent to just make the playoffs and experience it...even if they get destroyed. "Unfortunately, no one can be…told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself."
Another great example of why you can't trust stats. Rockets fans seem to just accept these numbers on their face lol.
I would slow the brakes on the comparison. There is a reason why KAT was the #1 overall pick and you can build around him. Clint played him extremely well and one could say to a stand still in the series which is very impressive. Clint though is too reliant on others to create for him offensively, KAT has no problem in that area. I would the gap between KAT's offensive game and Clint's offensive game is wider than the gap between Clint's defense and KAT's defense. Clint to his credit though knows exactly what his role is and executes his role on this team perfectly. That to me is really rare in a young player who was considered a major project coming out of the draft. Those guys usually try to do too much once they experience some success. KAT is going to get better from this series and will not play as tentative next year. Honestly as well as Teague played in the series if they Rubio KAT would have played better. Rubio would have hit him with so many correct passes into the post or on the roll when KAT had a mismatch rather than look for his own shot. Thankfully Teague did "iso" KAT which helped Houston tremendously. Unless they play Embid in the Finals the Rockets will not face another post threat like KAT in the playoffs (yes I am assuming the Warriors will beat the Pels) which bodes well for the Rockets switching defense.
When Clint Puts together a jump shot next year, he’ll be all star for sure. Remember, this wasn’t his first sport. What rockets great legend also started off playing Futbol? It’s all about footwork and timing in Futbol. He’ll keep building his repertoire. He’s got the right mindset.
Not sure if I can get behind "Cap" as a short hand way of saying Capela. I'll have to think on this - and once this thread gets going, I will provide my input.
