Bill Simmons underestimating Morey and disrespecting Capela at the 2014 NBA Draft

Stop saying "we" please. This is a place for fans, not you.

 

Now you're moving the goal posts, but I'll play. If the Rockets lose, the most likely reason(s), aside from injury, would be poor 3 point shooting (compared to our "average") and turnovers. Not Clint. To be clear, just a best guess on my part .... no YULE C from me.

 

Looking at the 2014 draft, where would Capela be drafted in hindsight?

I think Embiid would go #1. His injury history is still potentially scary, but his talent would be worth the risk.

Besides that? Wiggins hasn't been a bust but he hasn't been as good as advertised. Aaron Gordon has shown some promise but has been pretty up and down. Jabari Parker has dealt with too many injuries.
Who else? Nurkic? LaVine? Randle? Not many great options.

I admit I don't watch a whole lot of other teams besides the Rockets. But I think Capela would be the #2 pick if you redid that draft- 3 at worst

 

I do remember at the time that draft was extremely hyped. And was considered the best in the last 10 years or so.

 

Wiggins and Parker were projected to both be stars. While their abilities have shown star flashes, their mindset is far from it. The only other guy a team might consider is Jokic, who was drafted in the second round,

While Clint has been spectacular and is a perfect fit for what we do, his offensive ability is still very limited. With a quality play maker to set up his talents he is extremely valuable, but without one not so much. Having said that, Parker and Wiggins look like losers, so it would come down to Jokic,Capela and Embiid IMO.

 

It's a place for super fans too.

 

How am I moving the goal posts? I've consistently stated from early on in the season that our weakest link is out interior defense and if we do not win a championship with everybody healthy that the cause will most likely be our interior defense collapsing. How is that moving the goal posts?

 

I still think it's way too early for all the players mentioned. Everyone was drafted pretty young and only have a couple of full seasons under their belt. We really can't make any conclusions, even for Capela.

 

This is another example of a raw player that fell into the right situation/team. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad he's found his place in the NBA on this team but if he were on any other roster, Capela wouldn't be the player he is today.

 

I still don't quite understand how anyone can negatively evaluate Capela based on the facts at hand:

-from the get go, showed ambition by not accepting being an euro stash once drafted. This was a sign of mental toughness, ambition and lack of intimidation.
-absolutely dominated the DLeague, making those fools at the lower level look like the Jazz in these playoffs...
-showed ability to stay with perimeter players on switches almost from the moment he stepped on an NBA court
-increased his output when given more minutes commensurate with per36 projections
-significantly improved FT% by his 3rd year (still has a ways to go here)
-improved his production when given more minutes in the playoffs of his first year as a significant contributor (last season)
-made the big leap during his age 23 season

Again, these are all facts. So we are not talking about subjective evaluation of his physical tools, which to my eye test, are many. Agile, fast, quick leaper, soft hands, good touch around the basket, ferocity, aggression, reflexes, length, ability to learn quickly and apply what he has learned. This dude has a LOT of tools, not to mention that some of the facts show his disposition is of a winner and somebody that will not back down under pressure. On the contrary, it shows a guy who when things get tougher, tries harder to succeed.

As a comparison, I think Zhou Qi has some incredible physical tools that might help make him an elite defensive force as a 4, but his mental disposition is one I question. I've never had that concern with Capela. I might be wrong, and he might be driven only by money, only to become complacent once he becomes filthy rich, but that is a risk you have to take with almost any player.

 

Yeah, but you're just a super troll.

 

I had told myself not to argue with you since you didn't answer my question and actually posted one instead of giving a simple answer. But, man, you went too far.

Just to be clear once again. I don't mind your opinions. I don't even mind you trying to be right all the time. It amuses me. But I'm seriously concerned about your ability to see the world. You clearly cannot see how bad you make yourself look. You tried to say "I can say I'm wrong" than you go on and mention two situations where you were actually right? So, you're basically saying that you can be wrong when you change your opinion, because you were right all along? Not reading too much in your words, you absolutely did that! If you think you didn't, do read again!

So, let's say Capela get his big paycheck (he will) and (for whatever reason, dating a Kardashian maybe) he starts sucking, will you say you were right all along? It's sad, I'm telling you, and I'm a bit concerned. Maybe this crow is just too big for you to swallow.

And no, I'm not saying we'll win it all this year and Capela will be the second coming of Hakeem. He isn't, he's just the best C that we could have for this role. Heck, he's arguably been the second best C through the whole playoffs this year given role and fit, after AD. He's good, period. He's the equivalent to Draymond Green (sorry Clint) in our team, a role player who's the key for everything we've built for the past two years. Would he be this good in any other role/system? Probably not. Would there be a better player today to play his role in our team? Arguably not. That's how I see it. Now, go check a doctor, I'm concerned about you.

PS: since I've already broke my promise, let me go further. NOOOOOO, Dwight and myself (I could sit on the bench just like Wiltjer) wouldn't make the Rockets better in comparison to Anderson. Giving the 20M straight to Wiltjer (or to me, which I'd prefer) and letting Dwight go was all we needed after the atrocious 15-16' run. Anderson is a zero for us, Dwight would be a minus, once he'd have slowed Clint's development.

 

Morey smart. Do the work to scout 2nd rounders. 1st round picks if not lottery picks in my opinion expect more money than deserve. The second rounders are hungrier to prove themselves... especially overseas guys and will work harder and turn to key role players... possibly superstars on the cheap.

 

I dont know...maybe because the goal post used to be..."we will not be a playoff team with clint capela as our center." Or something along those lines, anyways.

 

If you're saying that our interior defense, falls solely on Capela succeeding or not... that's mighty high praise.

Basically we suck defensively especially in the paint without Capela and with him we're as dominant as we're ever going to get. Glad you've finally come around!

On another note: Can we finally proclaim that Bill Simmons is overrated as a basketball analyst?

Sure it's easy to throw praise at franchises like GSW, Boston, Cleveland, etc. but they've done it with multiple players that have been selected somewhere in the top 10 of the draft by their current teams.

How many top 10 picks do we have that were actually drafted by the Rockets? The answer is 0.

Basically this team was manufactured from scrap... WITH scraps! That is one hell of an accomplishment Bill. Now find a way to throw shade on that sh**.

 

Here is that draft for easy statistical comparison:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2014.html

 

With Scrap is a bit misleading, here is the draft position of the roster:

J. Harden, #3 Overall, 2009
C. Paul, #5 Overall, 2005
N. Hilario, #7 Overall, 2002
E. Gordon, #8 Overall, 2008
G. Green, #18 Overall, 2005
R. Anderson, #21 Overall, 2009
C. Capela, #25 Overall, 2014
P.J. Tucker, #35 Overall, 2006
L. Mbah A Moute, #37 Overall, 2008
T. Ariza, #43 Overall, 2004

 

For gars. And you're snagged.

 

Yes. I will say I was right all along if Capela gets a big contract and them starts sucking. Your darn toot'n I will.

But if that happens I don't think it will be because he got a big contract. I think the more likely reason is he tops out his potential and then slightly regresses with his FT shooting. Just enough to make him unplayable at crunch time in our system.

 

Oh I see. Let's make all quotes static from all previous seasons. Ok. How long you been around. I wanna pull up your stuff from a couple years back. Because nothing has changed, you know, between then and now. Right?