You're saying he jumps, but just jumps late. I'm saying he is not jumping as much (per minute) as he did or should on everything on the defensive side, like it tires him out to be a pogo stick once again....so can only do it on the offensive end. He doesn't always jump as the anchor (non switch situation) He doesn't always jump on rebounds He doesn't always jump on help from weakside He doesn't always jump in primary low post defense v low post moves basically, he doesn't always jump to contest when he can hell, he doesn't always crash the boards, when he is switched away from the action On less minutes in previous seasons, he would do this much more just no longer the Capela the Pogo Stick on defense. That said, vets often operate opposite to Rookies...where Rookies often hit a wall, vets have conditioned themselves to get stronger as season progresses with better wind ... ie., playing (in itself) conditions them for more stamina.
So you're the type to consider say.. a Cousins..a real superstar? Lol. You undermine high IQ and elite athletism and efficiency like that? Blahhhh make me sick
Let's hope this is the case . It makes sense , and honestly ... he took a huge step up in the playoffs last year . He had the offensive stats and the winning record all season ... but it was in the playoffs , IMO, that he arrived as a defensive monster
In order to become a superstar, he has to take a team on his own back and create his own shots. If Harden can make him an Allstar, all power to him.
Tim MacMahon on the Lowe Post podcast about the Rockets a few weeks said Capela came into this season overweight and out of shape.
Agree. He has to be spoon fed on offense and has no moves and poor shooting. Defense and rebounding took a step back this year too. Hope he gets back to last year playoff form.
I think the biggest answer to this is opposing teams switching him out on the perimeter all the time. Can't jump and contest shots in the paint when your standing behind the 3PT line on a shooter. Same problem with his defensive rebounding.
He is pretty poor on defense and rebounding this year. It's also a league-wide consensus he's a fabricated star because of Harden (mainly) and CP3, it'll be hard for other fans to vote him in. He really needs to work on his blocks too, he has the potential to get a ton of blocks per game but he often has the improper timing which leads me to believe he doesn't watch enough tape like Dikembe on players when they shoot their shots. We're an especially poor rebounding team, if you put a center like Steven Adams on this team, he'd average close to 20 rebounds per game (because there won't be a certain PG stealing all the rebounds).
You do know Steven Adams is statistically a significantly worse rebounder then Capela right? Adams has never averaged anything over a 19% defensive rebounding percentage, which makes him a relatively poor defensive rebounder. Now it's debatable a lot of that is due to the Thunders scheme of letting the guards (WB/George) get rebounds and push the offense, but still there no proof that Adams would be a better defensive rebounder then Clint in our system. We let Harden and Paul get a lot of defensive rebounds as well, we also switch our center to the perimeter an obscene amount of times which seriously impacts our bigs ability to get defensive boards. Adams is just a very good offensive rebounder, and that has always averaged out his total rebounding numbers to look good overall... But even then, Clint is still averaging a higher offensive rebounding % then Adams as well this season. So all in all Capela's statistically a significantly better rebounder then Adams.
Thank you. If we're going to have a sensible discussion about defensive stats involving Capela, we need to separate possessions where he plays inside from possessions where he gets forced out to the perimeter by a switching defense dictated by the coaches.
I think it's single-handedly the reason we went from top 5 defensive rebounding team to bottom 5. I think it has had the largest effect on our defense as well over any other changes made. Teams seem to have zeroed in on switching Clint out the perimeter HARD, like to the point that it's done nearly every play... and the man is still averaging a 24.5 defensive rebounding % and 5% block percentage this season. We need to focus on keeping him in the paint more.
Couldn't agree more. I've been super high on him since I saw his progress from rookie to sophomore season. He's like Harden or Hakeem in the way that he brings several new things each and every year to date. One of my favorite things about him lately is watching his growth at the FT line. There are players that never make that kind of progress. If a big man can't hit FT's he almost never gains the ability to do so. That he's hitting as he is lately proves to me that Capela works as hard as any player in the league at improving his game. And it pays off like crazy. Capela's totally taken away the "hack." His FT shooting is looking smoother and smoother and more and more confident and he never shrinks under pressure. It's only for fear of sacrilege that I don't outright liken him to Hakeem. We have no idea what this guy's ceiling is because he skyrockets every year by comparison to the year before. I think he's already part of our 'big three.' He's practically a 20-10 center and literally nobody could have predicted he'd come that far. Barring injury I don't think anything's going to slow him down in his self-improvement. Harden's obviously our best player by miles and is looking a lot like an MVP again, but Capela's my favorite. I love underdogs that outperform expectations (shout out, @CBFC) and nobody's done that better or more quickly than Capela in a dog's age. This is another thing I really appreciate about Morey. He seems to really excel in finding diamonds in the rough (he found Beverly in Russia IIRC) that aren't on anyone else's radar. I accredit that to his unbelievable work ethic. No GM's going to bat 1.000 but I really believe he's the hardest working GM in the league by a pretty good margin.
We have to understand that if we consistently switch, there will always be a "worst defender" opponents can and will target. We got rid of Ryno. Then we got rid of Melo. Clint was next up, not because he's as bad as the other two, but because getting him out of the paint is the next best thing, from an opponent's point of view, to isolating a slow-footed defender. So, basically, Clint's absence from the paint is the best our opponents can do. And, frustrating as that is, it might be an acceptable regular defensive problem, relative to what our regular defensive problems used to be, or to what they could be. For example: If teams are targeting Clint, that can be read as a sign that Harden isn't a sufficiently poor perimeter defender.
I think the trainers need to concentrate on Capela's stamina from now on. It seems to be an issue and I don't care if he's a center, he needs to be able to play 30-35 minutes a game.
I get that he’s spoon fed by Harden and CP, but catching those passes and finishing with his rate around the basket is really impressive, and wouldn’t be easily replaced.
Credit to JJJ for his talent.....but here is an example where Capela just doesn't have that "quick jump" explosion.
