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

You must be confused. Let me clarify for you. There was never a debate as to whether Clint was good or if your evaluations were off. That was established a LONG time ago. We just wanted to read that little peanut brain admitting it was wrong. Sounds like you did your best to avoid that but overall, defeat has been acknowledged. Bon' appetit, crow boy!

 

Don't read more into this then what I wrote. Two games doesn't mean I'm convinced. I'm not. But.....I'm giving full credit to him every chance I get. Because he is a Rocket and I want him to succeed. And I'm going to give him every ounce of credit I can any chance I get.

My posts have never been nor will they ever be about me being right. I simply dole out my thoughts and opinions as I see them. No different then anybody else that loves the game like I do.

It's actually funny to me how childish members like you make everything concerning my commentary and opinions. LOL. You act like of i admit I'm wrong it's a huge deal. That's what immature people do when they have a personal deficiency or character flaw. They accuse other people of having the problem they have.

I don't mind at all bring wrong and don't mind feeding up to it.

For instance....several years ago when the Bucks signed Larry Sanders to a long-term deal I warned that it was a dangerous contract and it could boomerang on them. The next season he was playing out of his mind and I fessed up to being wrong about him. Since he was playing so well his context was actually a bargain. A short while later it all fell apart. My original assessment was actually right. I admitted I was wrong but I really wasn't. So now I admit I was wrong about being wrong and changing my mind about Sanders.

There are more Sanders stories. Lance Stephenson is a similar story. I was right originally. Had Rubio change when I felt I was wrong. And then had to change back to my original opinion on him.

I learned a big lesson about that. And that is to be a lot more deliberate in regards to changing my opinion. I also have learned over the years to be more cautious about giving my opinions. I watch my words a lot closer now.

So I'm being cautious about Capela while giving him all the credit I possibly can. I tell it like it is when I see what I see. Doesn't matter who it is. I've opined about Harden.....both the good and the bad. Lebron, etc. All of them.

I've been around too long for posters like you to bother me. I've outlasted hundreds of guys like you that have come along with a passing fancy about basketball when the team is winning. Only to watch you melt away in the darkness a few years later. There will be more of you when you're gone. Saying the same stupid stuff. Not really talking basketball but rather trying to keep score on who in your pointy mind wins an opinion discussion on a message board.

I'm simply not here for that foolishness. I'm here because I like basketball a lot and have for over 40 years of my life starting when I got Sam Lacey's and Scott Wedman's autograph in the tunnel of Kemper Arena at halftime DURING a game they were playing against Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, and the rest of the Washington Bullets. Incidentally that Kings team had a very young player named Mike D'Antoni but I was so little I had no clue who he was.

So make no mistake here. It's two games. Full credit given. I'm waiting and watching. This series is most likely over. And I'm surprised somewhat that we kicked then both games on the road. I respect Bzdelic even more now. He really changed this series. And Capela has been the key. (And I'm actually slightly concerned about calling this series. Why not? CP3 is. And that's smart. I've seen it turn around just like he said he had been a part of a 3-1 turnaround.)

But we've got the Warriors next. I've said all season I don't know if we have the right matchup for Draymons, who, despite all his antics, is a basketball force of nature.

We'll see what happens.

 

Great analysis

 

So am I misreading or are you seriously saying just two games?

So make no mistake here. It's two games. Full credit given. I'm waiting and watching.

It appears he is getting no credit for his regular season or previous 2018 playoff game.

 

Jordan is old and about to lose his athleticism the discount will be based on his current play and not a few years down the line. If you look at Deng for example he signed a 17M deal which is a discount for a star but then it turned out he was too old and worn out from playing under Thibs. We dont know how well Jordan will age but considering how he is just dependent on his athleticism he might turn into a scrub when he loses a step.

Harden is still young he has a decade of greatness left you don't want to close his window prematurely by having old guys making big money who will be overpaid in a couple of years.

 

Here's an example of reading things into words that aren't there. I said it was two games playing at this level in the playoffs on the road in an extreme hostile environment. I said NOTHING about giving him credit or not giving him credit for his contributions to a mundane first round playoff series against a flawed inferior opponent team that there was never any doubt we would win but that no Rockets player performed outstanding in. Yet somehow you come up with I don't give him any credit fur anything he's done before the last two games. Go through my posts. You'll see when I gave him credit for good performances. I gave Terence credit for his good performances too. So what.

Answer me this. Since you think you know that Capela is a good/great player and I'm so wrong about him and won't ever admit I'm wrong.

Tell us how well he's going to perform against the Warriors. You know, since I'm wrong about him and you're so right, and you know how good he is.....go ahead and define for us how well is he going to play in a playoff series against the Warriors. Is he going to anchor our paint defense effectively enough for us to have a fighting chance of taking that series? Is he going you be able to play extended minutes against the Warriors like he is against the Jazz? Is he for sure not going to get gassed chasing them around and getting back down defensively? Is he going to continue to mettle up physically against them and not get pitched around like a Kleenex? Is he going to be effective against them when they send multiple cutters though the leading and multiple players dribble driving down on him? Is he good enough to stay out of foul trouble early against them? Will he be good enough defending their pick-and-roll?

Riddle me this. Is he going to be effective enough against their defense in our pick-and-roll play?

Mr answers to all these questions is simply I don't know. I hope he plays great. But I don't know if he will or not. And I still have serious doubts that he will be able to handle their speed, strength, and the pressure. So add long add I have those questions why should I pronounce that I am wrong about him?

On the other hand since you know you're right about him why should you not be willing to state how he's going to do in that environment?

Since you are so convinced that Capela is a real force out there surely you know the answers to these questions already. Go ahead and tell us please.

Waiting.....

 

You had doubts he’d be able to handle the Jazz as well. He’s already proven himself to be FAR better than you gave him credit for just a month or two ago. Not a “little” better. Far better. Literally everything you said you didn’t like about him he showed to be a strength in this series. Endurance. Not getting into foul trouble. Running the floor. Great hands. Rim protection. Rebounding.

I’m just confused what more you want from him. Can you name just 5 centers who you’d rather have than Capela against the Warriors?

 

Calm down....it’s why I asked if I was reading your comment correctly.

I have no idea how he will play in the future. All I know is how he has played up until today. He has been very good and effective in the playoffs and the regular season this season. He has done his job. Will he fail at some point in the playoffs? Considering every player does, I assume he will.

I am currently enjoying his hustle, his enthusiasm, his teamwork, his joy, his effort. I am not spending my time waiting for him to fail. Hopefully he’ll continue this nice stretch of play. But if he stinks it up in a game or two, so be it.

EDIT - adding comments from people that matter and know a lot more than me

"I can't exactly tell you what I said to him," Harden said with a smile. "He's put himself in this position to go out there and play at a high level and do the things that we ask him to do every single night. I mean, he has our back, and it feels good to have somebody have our back like he does. He doesn't get a lot of credit for it."

"It's so many things that happen throughout the game that don't show up on the stat sheet," Paul said of Capela. "It shows how selfless he is."

"He makes winning plays," Snyder said of Capela, which is about as lofty a compliment as an opposing coach can give a player.

 

I wasn't a believer in giving him the max before but now? Pay. This. Man.

 

Yes I had doubts against the Jazz. And he's aced the test so far. Couldn't feel better about his performance.

He's showed it for two games durvasa. What I want is very basic. Hold down the defensive paint. That's all. Be a defensive force that the opponent has to contend with that consistently waters down their offensive efficiency in the paint.

We're playing a team a team with the 20th ranked offense in the Association in terms of points per possession. And they're missing their main playmaker and running a rookie at the point in the second round of the playoffs. These guys ain't the Warriors. For us to have a chance to beat the Warriors and win a ring Clint has to continue to play up to this level over the course of a 7-game series.

What's the point of all this, durvasa? Is it not to win championships? I don't even care whether or not he's a star, superstar, or JAP. Doesn't matter to me. Can he holds the defensive paint against the Warriors so we have an opportunity to get past them? We need that answer. You tell me, do you want a starting center that we pay an ungodly amount of money for and he takes up a quarter to a third of the salary cap but against the Warriors or some other team we've got to beat to win a championship we've got to sit him down because he's not helping us stop them? Or worse yet, we just spin our wheels post season after post season like the Grizzlies, Jazz, Suns, Kings and countless others have done making huge runs like the MDA Suns teams but always coming up short when we get down to the end and our opponents grinds us down at the rim? And we're stuck trying to figure out how to neutralize Draymond on the interior? And yet we keep running the same combination out there because we're stuck with a spot, up shooter making $20 million that can't help us against playoff defenses and hurts our own defense along with a $25 million center that we have to sit in those circumstances like we're now sitting our $20 million man or let him play and watch Draymond dominates him year after year.

This is Clint's time. It's his last opportunity to show us he deserves that big payday by not folding under the pressure of the Warriors attack. Do you have confidence he's absolutely going to be that guy? I don't see how any reasonable, smart basketballer couldn't have at least some doubts.

 

I'm not confident that Clint is worth a max contract, if that's what you are asking. But he's much, much better than I expected he'd be at the beginning of this season. That we're even contemplating whether he's worth the max or not is a credit to how much he has improved. I'll worry about our cap situation and what to do long term after the season is over.

The Warriors pose such unique challenges with their "death" lineup, it's hard to know how it plays out in a 7-game series. A lot of traditional centers are taken out of the game against that team. Our "Tuckwagon" lineup can be pretty potent, and may turn out to be the better match up. Just have to wait and see.

And again, I'd challenge you or anyone else to come up with 5 traditional centers they'd rather have against the Warriors, on our team, than Capela.

 

When is Bill Simmons ever right about anything? No, really.

I do like that he did the Andre the Giant doc, but his hot takes are always wrong.

 

Agreed. He's taken a big leap forward this season. But until the last two games I didn't see the paint defense and the grit needed to win a championship. The last two games were great. We'll see if he has the mettle.

 

Clint has played well against Donovan Mitchell and I think (opinion) he will do fine against the Warriors. If we lose that series, it won't be because of what you have stated about your doubts about Clint.

 

Ok. Say on. If we lose what will be the reason?

 

It could be any number of reasons that get back to us not being better than the Warriors.

Clint Capela could play great and we could lose because the Warriors big 3 scorers are all hot in the series.
Capela could also have a rough series and we lose.
We could lose because the Warriors figure out that they can dribble penetrate with ease against all of our defenders.
We could lose because of foul trouble.
We could lose because we can't shoot 3s to save our lives and we can't slow down Golden State enough to overcome it like we did against Utah.

The Warriors are a more talented team than the Rockets. Losing to them doesn't require a specific thing to go wrong.

 

Get out of here. Makes too much sense.

 

Never agreed with you more than the first sentence here, though don't get why you pin it all on Clint in the second one.

The big problems I see translating against the Warriors:
1) We aren't shooting the ball well. We can overcome that against teams that don't kill you with offense, but the Warriors will build quick leads if we keep shooting like this.
2) Perimeter defense has been spotty at best. We have struggled against dribble drives in both series but neither team really exploited it the way Golden State can. I like Clint, but he's not Hakeem. He can't clean up the entire paint. Harden and others will have to do a better job keeping their guy in front of them.
3) Slowed down game. I just don't think we can beat the Warriors if we start the games off slow and deliberate with a "feel them out, play to win in the 2nd half" mindset. The Warriors will stomp us if we do that.

 

So assume that the Rockets do finish off the Jazz and assume they play the Warriors. Now, let's assume they lose to the Warriors. What will Capella have had to do in your mind for you to not blame him?

 

Doesn't require a specific thing to go wrong, no.

But if we lose there's going to be a primary reason that "we just weren't good enough". That's more hocus pocus.

If we lose because their shooters got hot and ours didn't.....over a 7 game series....It's because we didn't defend the shooters well enough. If we lose because they dribble drive us to death the real reason is we were weak defensively in the paint. If we lose because we they get to the foul line and we don't.....that's because we weren't good enough defensively to deal with their aggression.

I've been very clear all season about the Warriors. It's going to come down to the paint. It's going to come down to Draymond's defense versus our paint defense. Because the truth is we're as good as they are everywhere else. We're as good shooting, finishing, and defending around the arc. The question marks all point to the paint.