Clint Capela/Artis Gilmore's Drop Step & Jump Hook

I'll start off by saying Clint Capela was our best choice on offense last year. He shot 64.3% from the field, but only played 24 minutes per game. I think his percentages can easily come down some and make him an overall bigger threat out there. Like a higher volume threat that opens up everyone else on the regular.

So I was watching old film of Artis Gilmore while thinking about how dominant Hakeem was. Hakeem had a million moves and what he did just isn't very easy. He was a master. Clint is no master, but neither was Artis. What Artis was, was effective.

His drop step (please note that Artis is a lefty and Clint is a righty so everything would have to be flipped):



So Clint would have to get the ball on the left block for this move to work. You fake once inside, drop step outside and move towards the basket. The mechanics are simple and effective. Clint is a hard worker, so if he does this move 100s of times a day, he'll have it down. It's subtle, but there are two moves here. The second is a shot from close when the defender doesn't bite on the fake.

If he masters this move, so what.. people will learn how to defend it. True, but there's a counter to this move. The turnaround in place jumper.

Two examples of the turnaround jumper from either side (again flip everything, notice on one side he shoots one handed, the other with two)



He always turns baseline in every move, but the simplicity of it works. There's counters for the moves so if the defender tries to get in close, you go to the basket with it. If he gives you room, shoot over him.

How's he going to get the ball in the pick and roll? The Spurs cut off the basket from us last playoffs because every time we went to the basket, we were trying to dunk the ball. Sometimes Clint needs to stop short if that's not open and wait for the ball on the low block. Other times, the point guard will get to the basket only to discover it's well defended and Clint can bail out the point by sagging. So if they clog the paint, take the low block and make a quick post move.

Yes, it's not as efficient as a dunk, but the dunk won't always be there. Time to add some caveats to Capela's arsenal.

 

Do we need to discuss how you don't have enough time? I've had this conversation with a few drama queens, but never a man. What do you need from me to feel better?

 

Yes, Deandre Jordan is the best choice on offense in the league. If you can get him a lob, he's money. That play is absolutely the best offense in the NBA. How much else can he do? Not much, but IF he's available for a lob, you give him that ****. Are you thinking when you type? When you read? Did I ask Clint to run the offense? Hell no. Just add a couple of moves to his arsenal because he's money when they can get it to him. High percentage offense good, poor percentage bad. Confusing or something?

I clearly set out a section at the bottom of when to get him the ball on the low block. Did you read that or fast forward through it and just hit reply?

 

Yeah, let's play keep away from the highest percentage shooter? WTF? He's the first option in a PnR because if he's left open at the basket, he's money. I'm trying to make him valuable when the rim is protected.

 

Yeah, because sarcasm defeats basketball fundamentals every time, right?

Somebody out there is bound to still like the game right? That's why we're here aren't we? Because we love the Rockets? And we like discussing improvement?

 

All the antagonism tells me I'm on to something. When people try to pigeonhole you, there's an opportunity. There's space. If no one thinks you can do it, proving them wrong is what the game is about. Gotta love basketball for that. Do what they think you can't do.. well.

All this offensive opportunity is there for Capela when teams counters and guards the rim. All you idiots seem to think that you should keep hammering into the defense the same way and hope it works. News flash, it stopped working when the Spurs made it a priority. Any smart coach in the league will copy, but another news flash.. we're still a PnR team. Gotta adjust or become a dinosaur. The smart man/woman looks for opportunity when the way is blocked. I have an answer, ya'll got nothing. Otherwise you'd come up with something.

I look forward to innovators and innovation. Quips without any actual reasoning is asinine.

 

Yeah, I agree. You don't want to clog up the paint in general, but this is specifically for beating a team that clogs the paint every time we run the PnR. That's what San Antonio did to us in the playoffs. They made Clint really ineffective when they did. They started out letting Clint go to the rim, but then Pop made the adjustment. There were two guys in the paint every time we ran PnR. Shots weren't falling from deep so we were SOL. My idea is to make us not SOL when teams clog the paint.

So the idea is that instead of rolling hard to the basket, Clint rolls to the low block for a very deep post up. If you look at the top post at the gifs, there's some wasted movement in those moves that can be simplified even more if need be. But to agree with your original idea on not crowding the paint, that's not really an issue here. I'm trying to get Clint out of the paint and on the low block. Does that make sense? Like Clint becomes more of a trailing roller in the PnR. Instead of going to the basket, you roll to the low block.