Is Clint Capela really the answer at the C position?

No one gives a rats *** about Dwight Howard. Except maybe his mom.

 

Dwight does.

SIL

 

I’m sure he does

Dwight has always cared about himself....first

 

He might be better than James Har_en might as well moved him to point.

 

Serious question....... Did capela grow a few inches?

Seen a picture from practice and a lot taller than nene and taller than Ryan who is listed at 6'10"... c

 

Good to see him having a good game against Gobert. This should help his confidence.

 

I like what I've seen so far.

Per 100 posessions (amongst player who have played 100 minutes or more)

1st - in offensive rating (highest FG% in the league)
2nd - in defensive rebounding (1st is Whiteside)
9th - in defensive rating
10th - in blocked shots

Advances stats (amongst players with 100 minutes or more)

9th - in all of offensive, defensive and total win shares. 7th in win shares per 48
9th - in DBPM
16th - in BPM
17th - in VORP

His defensive rebounding, finishing at the rim and FT improvement has been great so far in the first 11 games of the season. Hope he keeps it up!

 

Why center Clint Capela could be the Rockets' X factor this season

...At 20, after graduating from the academy to play for Chalon in the French Pro A league, Capela was drafted 25th overall by the Rockets.

After spending most of his rookie season in the D-League, Capela established himself as a solid role player with the Rockets behind All-Star center Dwight Howard, the same dominant big man who once wore No. 12 for the Magic and had captivated him in those highlight clips.

Howard's relationship with the Rockets, and James Harden in particular, was rocky by the time Capela arrived in Houston. Howard's reluctance to accept his role and desire for post touches disrupted the flow of the offense and ultimately led to a divorce after three years.

Capela is sort of the anti-Dwight. He has no problem with an offensive role that consists primarily of running the floor, setting screens, rolling hard to the rim and rebounding. He understands the value of the vertical spacing he provides.

And you'll certainly never hear Capela complain about a lack of post touches.

"Nah, that's not his personality," says Rockets assistant coach Roy Rogers, who works with Houston's big men. "Clint's a team-first guy. He understands his role on the team, and he accepts his role. He's excited about his role."

Part of the behind-the-scenes drama that season was the front office pushing then-interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff -- Kevin McHale was fired 11 games into a disastrous 2015-16 season -- to give Capela, then a raw 21-year-old, more minutes at the expense of Howard, an eight-time All-Star on a maximum deal.

The data backed up the move: The Rockets had a net rating of plus-3.1 points per 100 possessions when Capela played, compared to plus-0.2 with Howard.

"The reality was we were beating teams much easier when Clint was out there," Rockets GM Daryl Morey said. "We were really, really good when Clint was playing."

JOHN LUCAS HAD concerns about Capela upon being hired as the Rockets' head of player development in the summer of 2015. The franchise was counting on the raw big man to play a much more significant role, but he was standing in his own way.

Capela feared the free throw line.

"A lost young man. Lost," Lucas, the No. 1 overall pick by the Rockets in 1976, said in his raspy voice.

Capela had missed the first 15 free throws of his NBA career (as well as his first 11 field goal attempts) and finished his rookie year 4-of-23 from the stripe, though he did make 15-of-29 during the Rockets' run to the 2015 Western Conference finals.

Capela shot 37.9 percent on free throws in his second season, worse than all but four players in NBA history with at least 150 attempts in a season. Capela says he played hesitantly because he didn't want to be fouled, hating the isolation and humiliation that came after.

Lucas made Capela his project. Beginning with 6 a.m. workouts in Las Vegas in early July, Capela took thousands of free throws under Lucas' supervision. They honed Capela's technique via repetitions and video study.

But Lucas focused most on Capela's confidence and mental approach. To push Capela to achieve his potential, Lucas needed to get to the root of his problems.

"Basketball isn't a skill thing. It's a confidence thing," said Lucas, adding that he knows Capela is pressing when he sees the center biting his lip. Capela said it's a habit he's unaware of.

What had worked for Capela as a young boy was holding him back on the basketball court.

"If you believe that you can get it done, then your mind will take you," Lucas says. "He was trying to be perfect."

WHEN CHRIS PAUL arrived in Houston in a summer blockbuster with the LA Clippers, Capela knew what to expect:



Sure, the spotlight in Houston shines on the pairing of perennial All-Star facilitators in the backcourt. However, for the Rockets to have any real hope of dethroning the defending champion Golden State Warriors, they'll need Capela to be their poor man's Wilt Chamberlain.

"The only way [to overcome the Warriors] is to develop near-elite two-way players," Morey said. "I think Clint has that potential. He's on the way. He took a big step forward last year. It's a lot to put on one guy, but we need one more step, at least."

Despite splashy moves like the trade for Paul, Capela remains the Rockets' X factor: the one young player on Houston's veteran-heavy roster with the hope for dramatic growth.

Capela's scoring and rebounding averages increased significantly in his first season as a full-time starter, comparing favorably to the age-22 seasons of Rudy Gobert and DeAndre Jordan, the league's premier centers in the rim runner/rebounder/rim protector mold.

This season, Capela is off to a hot start as an analytics All-Star, ranking fifth in the league with a 28.6 Player Efficiency Rating, higher than teammate James Harden and defending champions Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.

​

"To me, it's just a matter of time," Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I'll be very surprised if he doesn't become, if not the best center in the league, one of the best. I'll be shocked."

The hiring of D'Antoni, signings of shooters Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon and shift of Harden to point guard were all factor's in Houston's 55-win 2016-17 season. But D'Antoni said Capela proving himself as a quality starting center (and passable free throw shooter) was "probably the No. 1" reason for the Rockets' rebound season.

"He was just kind of thrown into the fire once Dwight left, but he took it and he ran with it," Harden said. "He's listened, he's worked hard every single day in the weight room, and he just got better. Defensively, he got better. Offensively, he's so mobile and skilled. His touch around the rim has got better. He continues to work.

"He's over there working on his free throws as we speak. He won't stop."

IF THE ROCKETS plan to keep Capela -- he's expected to get a massive raise from the $2.3 million he's making this season when he hits restricted free agency this summer -- it would push the Rockets into the luxury tax, which new owner Tilman Fertitta is on record as willing to pay for a title contender. Without hesitation, Morey said he considers re-signing Capela worth the cost.

"We'll have him here as long as he'll have us," Morey said. "He couldn't price himself out."

But Morey wants more from Capela. Asked in the preseason how he hopes Capela will improve, Morey takes a few minutes to answer, basically touching on every aspect of the big man's game.

"I mean, if you're going to be an elite player, it's a long list of stuff you've got to do," Morey said.

D'Antoni just wants to play Capela more. Capela, who at times showed signs of fatigue, averaged 23.9 minutes per game last season, but D'Antoni said he expects Capela's endurance will improve as a result of his offseason strength and conditioning work and natural physical maturation.

"He can get a little bit better at the foul line, and he can get better with his endurance," D'Antoni said, and Capela's free throw percentage has soared to .783 this season. "When he does that, when you say what the modern center should look like, it'll have his picture there."

The Rockets love Capela's kind, gentle soul off the court. He's a bubbly personality whose goofy, off-tune "Acapella with Capela" videos are a hit during timeouts at the Toyota Center. He truly cares about the community, as shown when he used his Twitter account to help coordinate Hurricane Harvey rescue efforts.

"A fine young man," Lucas said, "the kind of guy you would leave your house to and not worry that there's going to be a whole bunch of parties."

But Lucas, who helped guide a young DeAndre Jordan through a similar evolution, is pushing Capela to develop an edge and a nasty streak, the next step in the building of the big man's confidence.

"I don't know any superstars that aren't kind of a jerk," Lucas said. "He is a poodle becoming a pit bull right in front of your eyes."​

 

Unless you want to win, it seems.

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21338891/why-center-clint-capela-houston-rockets-x-factor-season

 

I'm.talking strictly at an ability and talent level. His negatives, outweigh any strengths he poses. Not sure why it's so hard to comprehend.

SIL

 

[edit] nm...

 

Doesn't attitude and winning factor into your ability and overall talent?

Seems pretty simple to comprehend to me. One helps you win, one doesn't.

 

Now that the Mavs are crappy, we keep getting former Dallas writers re-assigned to the Rockets beat.

 

No talent and ability are god given and work ethic, that other stuff for is intangibles.

Your 2nd point, yes. Clear as day, Capela all day and night.

SIL

 

What about a guy's ability to not be a whiny b!tch about how he is used and a terrible locker room presence?

 

Intangibles are "god given and work ethic" too. Several ways to skin a cat. So called intangibles probably require more work ethic to develop than all of the above. In other words, your logic is truly a cyclical ride of r****dation, shouting brashly from the mountain tops of Clutchfan's turdiest posts.

 

I think capela might be moreys best draft pick

 

That's called being a cancer.

That doesn't make the less talented.

SIL

 

What does this mean?