What? Feelings? The Rockets are a franchise that is known for using the D-league to develop its young players. I actually think Clint would like a few games with the Vipers, just to have some freedom to try some new moves in an actual game. People shouldn't view a short assignment with the Vipers as a demotion. It's an opportunity to work on your game. To me Clint is looking frustrated. A few D-league games may be a welcome change. But, it's not going to happen. We need him with the Rockets right now.
He didn't play bad tonight. 8 pts, 5 rbd, 2 ast, no turnovers and 4/7 from the field in 24 minutes is solid. He had a little bit of a hard time again Merji though.
Capela barely played last year. Has more minutes in the playoffs than regular season last year. This is his true rookie year. He has hit he wall.
And he is likely to continue struggling because of his limited offensive skill set. He needs to develop some basic post moves and a mid range jumper, and work on hitting free throws. It seems to me that he doesn't have the desire to improve.
He played 38 games for the Vipers at 25 mpg, plus all of pre-season games. That's more than an NCAA season. This is not his true rookie year when it comes to havign professional level play, training and conditioning for a long season. That's too convenient of an excuse for me. He should know how to prepare. He was conditioning and playing as a pro all last year. I don't buy the rookie wall thing, despite Bullard saying it again during this game. Besides, TJones only got like 70 minutes more PT in his Rookie year, then started 72 games his 2nd year, and no one gave him that excuse when he with through inconsistent stints.
agreed. He's not accustomed to playing a full season...last year he had some fresh legs playing only a handfull of games with zero expectations. This year is different. Having Smith back should lighten Capela's workload which should help his game by default
HP, i disagree. While thos Dleague games help, it is not the same as nba level intensity, night in and night out. Not saying it is ALL the rookie wall thing, but that is part of it in my opinion.
His development has stalled a bit but he's still ahead of the schedule we had in mind for him when we drafted him. We were supposed to bring him over this year or maybe next, then start working on him as a long term project. I think he used his only NBA standard strengths - speed, quickness, athleticism - brilliantly to his advantage last season as a C. He doesn't have that advantage against 4's, and 4's are getting more quick, fast, athletic than ever. He's stopped enjoying the game a little bit, you can call it rookie wall or whatever kind of wall you want, he's hit a bit of a wall, perhaps overwhelmed by the big leap in his role since last season and teams committing to taking away his favorite moves. I still see him as a starter at the C position by the middle of next season, his overall development has been fantastic. His quick progress in year 1 more than covers his slow progress this season especially since he has Western Conference Finals experience. That's some awesome experience right there. With Josh back in town and Jones also giving us minutes, I think he'll start to flourish again.
Capela's issues are defensive. A more developed offensive game doesn't change his defense. Capela has the same issue Rudy Gobert has except worse. He's only good defending when he has space. When the opponent goes into his body he's helpless. He tries to move back to try to re-create the space he needs to contest shots, deflect passes, and be a defensive nuisance and the smart opposing players simply suck up the space all the way to the rim. At this point, I've got a huge question mark in my mind as to whether Capela is going to turn out to be a center. Granted he doesn't have hardly any offensive game to speak of except PnR but defensively I'm questioning whether he'll ever have the intelligence and the girth to anchor down the middle, hold his ground against smalls coming into him and also be able to choke down players that attempt to post him up. Right now I'm not seeing it. I'm afraid he could turn into a multi-year project that we keep trying to mold into a center but he can't hold the middle or we try to mold into a PF but he never develops any shooting touch. If we don't move Capela by the deadline, then this summer is huge for him and in my opinion will tell the story on his future here. He's gotta make huge strides this summer in his game. If he doesn't then if we haven't traded him by the end of summer then we need to start building him up to trade him out of here.
Frustrating to see him try to rebound with his fingers, fingertips.... for it to just get knocked out by someone so easily. Use your hands, arms, body, throw yourself up there and bring it down to secure the rock man! Throw your elbows out to deter future ball swipes if need be. Dwight tell 'em!
His issues are more defensive, as you point out, because that's the main skill we need from him now. As everyone and their uncle knows, defense is our Achilles heel. When Dwight's out, and Donuts, who's a decent team defender that is often good when he's healthy, not that great at man defense by any means, but not awful, with health going forward this season being the big unknown, damn right we need Clint to become a solid, consistent defensive force. As you and a whole bunch of us have said numerous times, he needs to bulk up, and when we got him, I thought he had the body to do that and remain effective, and still think that. He doesn't have those chicken legs McGrady has. In fact, his body reminds me of Dream during his redshirt year when he first came over, who was skinny as a rail, but clearly had the physique to carry a lot more weight. Folks can look for images of Hakeem then and see for themselves. Coach Lewis wisely held him out a year to both work on his game and to build himself up. You can look at Capela compared to last season and see he's made an improvement there, but still has a way to go. We want an improvement with his offense, obviously, and I'll think we'll see it, eventually, but I agree that this off-season will loom large as an indicator of whether Clint will turn into a genuine 5, rather than a 4/5 who comes off the bench for defensive purposes due to his limited offensive game and inability to keep from being pushed around in the post. If he can, Morey will be doing handstands on his desk, or perhaps on the stage of Batman's theatre. He's bumping up against the wall a bit, in my opinion, but it won't impact his game as much as it would your typical rookie, thanks to his experience from last season, again, in my opinion. I'm excited about the guy's potential. I haven't lost that loving feeling. The cat's going to become a righteous player for the Rocks. What and see. Regardless, nice post, Holic. I'll add that my bet is Morey doesn't have the slightest intention of moving him by the deadline. He'd have to get a stunning offer that required Capela to even consider moving him.
His issues are more defensive, as you point out, because that's the main skill we need from him now and he's not where we need him to be with his D. As everyone and their uncle knows, defense is our Achilles heel. When Dwight's out, and Donuts, who's a decent team defender that is often good when he's healthy, not that great at man defense by any means, but not awful, with health going forward this season being the big unknown, then damn right we need Clint to become a solid, consistent defensive force. As you and a whole bunch of us have said numerous times, he needs to bulk up, and when we got him, I thought he had the body to do that and remain effective, and still think that. He doesn't have those chicken legs McGrady has. In fact, his body reminds me of Dream during his redshirt year when he first came over, who was skinny as a rail, but clearly had the physique to carry a lot more weight. Folks can look for images of Hakeem then and see for themselves. Coach Lewis wisely held him out a year to both work on his game and to build himself up. You can look at Capela compared to last season and see he's made an improvement there, but still has a way to go. We want an improvement with his offense, obviously, and I'll think we'll see it, eventually, but I agree that this off-season will loom large as an indicator of whether Clint will turn into a genuine 5, rather than a 4/5 who comes off the bench for defensive purposes due to his limited offensive game and inability to keep from being pushed around in the post. If he can, Morey will be doing handstands on his desk, or perhaps on the stage of Batman's theatre. He's bumping up against the wall a bit, in my opinion, but it won't impact his game as much as it would your typical rookie, thanks to his experience from last season, again, in my opinion. I'm excited about Capela's potential. I haven't lost that loving feeling. The cat's going to become a righteous player for the Rocks. What and see. Regardless, nice post, Holic. I'll add that my bet is Morey doesn't have the slightest intention of moving him by the deadline. He'd have to get a stunning offer that required Capela to even consider moving him.
He isn't a rookie anymore technically, but he sure as hell is being treated like one by the refs. People hack at him at every opportunity, and it doesn't matter how much arm they get just so long as the ball ends up sputtering out of his hands. He won't get the calls. Being a lousy FT shooter doesn't help either. I thought in last year's playoffs he had the makings of an Ibaka type that should be able to get to the high 60's with his FT%, but it looks like all that time around Dwight has rubbed off on him too.
His problem is defence but he's young. Young Centers dont' usually have good defence. Give it more time. He has a lot to learn about positioning. He may get it or not, but it's way way too soon to write him off. But what is evident is that he doesnt' have the great instict of elite defensive Cs. They usually show understanding of position from their even rookie year. He is a shotblocker but not a defensive C right now. But a lot of Cs develop that understanding in their carreer. However he must by now grow some skills and offensive moves. A hook, a post move something.
He's hit the wall so hard. It's discouraging. It honestly looks like he's doing nothing right, whereas before he did everything you wanted out of a backup center. He strength is still an issue and he should work with Deke in the offseason on his defensive rotations and positioning. You don't need to be an athletic freak to protect the rim. Clint is, but he's not doing it.
I'm not worried. This guy wasn't supposed to contribute to this team for 3+ years after he was drafted. He basically didn't play at all last season. He has by far surpassed my expectations.
