He's incredibly raw, as raw as i have ever seen and NBA prospect. to slam him for looking nowhere near ready would show you have no idea about where he is at. a 20 year old big with the physical tools he has could be anything, but right now he has to develop and it could be 2-3 years before we see him being a reliable NBA contributor
Definitely showed jitters out there, but as you mentioned, he's a rookie, so that's to be expected. But when you mentioned 20 seconds in a playoff elimination game (I know, it was just an example), the only way I would expect Capela to be in the game at that critical point would be if Howard, Smith, and Motiejunas fouled out and we had no other available bodies at PF/C positions.
Do you know that Capela is 20 years old? When i was 20 years old I was too scared to even go to a party and talk to people, let alone play in an NBA game. Not every player is a LeBron James or a Kobe Bryant, players take time to get used to the game. Even JAMES HARDEN didn't really come around until his third or fourth season although he has so much talent. Some of you guys need to chill out and be patient, Capela is here for the long run
D MO looked hopeless for over two yrs. There have literally been dozens of times DMO looked hopeless. Fortunately we stuck with him. and we need to not panic on Clint. duhh
well i was talking about years down the road. for example we invest a lot of time developing him, only to end up with nick anderson moments at the worst possible times. i'm not saying that's gonna happen based on his limited minutes in 3 games here so far. just sort of wondering out loud how the front office selects and then decides to hold onto players with regards to mental makeup and if they have that 'ice in their veins' or not
While Howard is injured and no new upgrade with out bigs I don't mind Capela cutting some into Dorsey or even j smiths time
Clint Capella has a -26.5 PER in his first 18 minutes as an NBA player. Not that this is particularly meaningful, but just out of curiosity I was curious to see if any other player ever managed to play that poorly in a brief stint of playing time: http://bkref.com/tiny/K7slT If Clint doesn't play another minute this season, he'll own the worst PER rating of any player who played at least 10 minutes in a season: Code: Rk Player Season Age Tm G MP PER 1 Clint Capela 2014-15 20 HOU 5 18 -26.5 2 Darius Johnson-Odom 2013-14 24 PHI 3 15 -23.0 3 Vitaly Potapenko 2006-07 31 SAC 3 13 -22.1 4 Chris McCray 2006-07 22 MIL 5 12 -20.7 5 Cuonzo Martin 1996-97 25 MIL 3 13 -19.9 6 Don Reid 2002-03 29 DET 1 10 -17.3 7 Glenn Hansen 1977-78 25 TOT 5 13 -16.4 8 Russ Smith 2014-15 23 NOP 6 29 -16.4 9 Will Conroy 2012-13 30 MIN 4 20 -15.2 10 Sean Higgins 1997-98 29 POR 2 12 -15.1
Capela plays with physicality on D, needs to practice his offense, overall in a couple years I could see him as a decent 7th or 8th man on the Rockets.
D-League has been a great help. But it only goes so far. His nervousness comes not so much from playing in bona fide NBA games, but his lack of playing time with his teammates. No matter how much Harden wanted to help ease his nerves by getting him some easy buckets, everyone should realize he has almost zero practice time with the roster. That probably won't change for the remainder of the season, since practice time is limited due to the schedule. But that is huge. Comfort easily comes from having extended practice time with the team. Without that, even they seem a bit like outsiders, rather than the bond that comes from practicing together. Then he begins to feel that brotherhood. And with it, much more relaxed. I expect him to "seem" much more NBA "ready" after a camp next season with the regulars. If he has the opportunity and is smart, he'll spend the summer with some of the Rockets players who stay here and play here then (don't know if Fonde is still a tradition or not). He'll actually develop more than one might imagine with playing scenarios like that. Hakeem made strides when playing with Moses during summertime. Players from around the league like to play here in the summer.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>.<a href="https://twitter.com/CapelaClint">@CapelaClint</a> working with <a href="https://twitter.com/DR34M">@DR34M</a> today at practice. <a href="http://t.co/TrEZqitZcE">pic.twitter.com/TrEZqitZcE</a></p>— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/560158613121925120">January 27, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not to sound like a dick but is working out with Hakeem really that beneficial for him? I know it's great he can get some insight on how to play as a big in the NBA from a legend but that's like getting Calculus tutoring when you're just learning how to divide.
Why did he insist on coming over again? Love that he wanted the challenge but you have to be realistic. Should have just gone to a better Euro team.
Who knows? The same could have been said of Hakeem playing against Moses Malone. What if Malone had said, "Come back when you grow up," to Hakeem? Capela might have even started BB earlier in life than Hakeem. It would be better to try to dye the cloth and see if the color takes, rather than keep it stored where it won't come in contact with the dye. I say give him as much opportunity as one can and see what happens. (And I don't mean playing time during this season. I mean encourage him seek out playing against other NBA players during the summer, etc.; on his own time, as well as when the team has official practices. It's not just insight one learns. Ideally, he should be playing against NBA players during the summer -- just like Hakeem did against Malone. Best to learn swimming in water... not on dry land. He might be really taken to school. But that's how one learns and develops. If he has a passion for the game, he'll seek out such opportunities.
