He can play D, nice foot work and athletic,with ( an incredible upside if he keep his head straight ) ,those things no.2 on your list can't do
I was just looking at the stats and isn't it crazy with all these centers that Capela is #2 in the league at shot blocking at 1.89?? I remember in the 90s when several guys were around 3-4 blocks a game. Just shows you how the game - rules, reffing and style - has changed even with the all the centers now.
Analytics have changed the game. Now people understand that blocks is sometimes a useless stat. Whiteside was averaging 3-4 blocks a game at one point, but he was nowhere close to being an elite rim-protector. His DFG% was average at best. Since then, his BPG went down, but he became a more effective rim-protector, instead of trying to block everything and constantly getting out of position on defense.
Agree and disagree. Back in the 90s and how the game was played, it was definitely a stat that showed elite defensive centers as Dream, Mutombo & Robinson were always at the top. Shot blocking is about much more than the actual block. Intimidation, anchor of the defense, defensive strategy to steer perimeter players towards them etc.
I can't even... Are you a Bosnian or something? Jokic is a FAAAAAAAR superior player than Nurkic. It's not even close. Different planets really.
Don’t want to admit yet that shot blocking has changed in general because of the style of play and not just analytics?
It absolutely changed no doubt. The principle of verticality alone helped players to become much more effective rim-protectors, thus the block numbers went down.
True, but nowadays it's much less of an indication of an elite defender, because of the game is played and called. Centers are trained to shy away from contact more and do not stay in the paint where centers in previous decades spent 90% of their time, if not more. If physical contact of those days was allowed, the averages of blocks would be up as well, though that's more of an argument that maybe guys were not necessarily great back in the day but simply got away with more.
If Capela stays with the Rockets and gets his minutes to 30 next year, along with marginal improvement. He will be putting up some monster numbers.
