What happened to the good Capela who dunked over people and swatted shots?

He didn't play for most of the season, just 12 games (with 17 playoff games). So going off of games and minutes played he has basically rookie experience/fatigue only still. His body has never experienced this long of a stretch of games with his current amount of minutes.

Capela hasn't been doing much on offense but the rebounding and smart play on defense(he just doesnt have the body yet). Rookie wall(fatigue) + scouting reports = less wow moments from him but I'm still very happy with his play. He is a legitimate role player who has taken the starting position with consistent rebounding, defense, high IQ, smart passes etc.

Once he gets his stamina up, starts to bulk up he will be back to surprising us with awesome plays and great games.

 

He's 21 years old playing against starting power forwards in the NBA. He's doing a pretty good job all things considered IMHO. If he was coming in off the bench again I think he would have more better matchups and have a better chance to surprise the opposing player.

 

Let me get this straight:

Capela is tired, because this is the 1st season he's started
Beverley is still feeling the effects of a knee injury he had 1 1/2 yrs ago
TJones' midseason nerve issue last year is affecting his hops this year

but DMo is faking a sore back, despite telling the media he has a sore back

Is that right?

 

Incorrect.

The team is faking a sore back for DMo and have convinced him it is real.

Also you forgot in your list
Marcus Thornton has mangy hair which affects his shot some nights.

 

When DMo gets back, Jones gets his starting spot back or if we get another starting caliber PF, Capela needs to go back to the bench.

No room for him in the paint.

Defensively, he has a long way to go. Pretty nervous if he is the only big on the floor because he tends to over play the perimeter and leaves the paint wide open. Definitely needs to get a little more stronger and put on some weight.

 

"HE AIN'T EVEN THAT GOOD "- JAMES HARDEN ON CAPELA

 

He is getting invaluable experience. 21 years young and producing and getting better every single night. The struggle is part of the journey.

 

We don't need him anymore now that Raphiael Putney is our Kevin Durant.

 

His defense still seems hot

 

rookie wall... and he's constantly getting beat to hell without the benefit of a call - while getting called for every ticky tack thing at the other end of the court...

 

Imperfect data

 

rookie wall in his second season hmmmm

 

Always a PER of 18.38.
Was 25… 3 weeks ago.
Always not bad…
Near…
Porzingis 18.78
Howard 19.73
Alridge 19.96

 

In comparison with age:

Karl-Anthony Towns (class '95) 21.45
Nikola Jokic (class '95) 20.66
Kristaps Porzingis (class '95) 18.78
Clint Capela (class '94) 18.38

 

I think he just has a lot more to think about this year vs last. Once the fundamentals become second nature to him he'll be more aggressive. Right now when he's going up you can almost see him ticking off pieces of advice from a checklist. Making mistakes, the superstars and coaches are now less tolerant of. I think it's excellent for his development. As someone said earlier, he'll either get it or he won't but this is a necessary phase of his development. It's ok that he's making mistakes right now, it's ok that he still doesn't quite understand how to anchor a defense.

He's doing well. He's playing ultra safe, ultra simple and that's what he should be doing as essentially a rookie starter on a team that hopes to be a contender. If he were coming off the bench, he'd have more leeway as the bench tends to play more free-flowing basketball. Not many shots to go around with the starters when you realize Howard is only getting 8-9 shots a game.

It's awesome to know that there is at least one more level for him to improve just by continuing to add muscle. This experience is priceless. By year's end we're going to have 48 minutes of excellent play from the C position.

 

True. He also needs to play smarter, namely, careless passes. He needs to take his time and make solid passes, especially when advancing the ball after rebounds.

 

I wish we had the luxury to let Clint play in the D League for 15 or 20 games. I think Clint is capable of doing much more on offense. But, he needs time to practice and develop that part of his game. If he could play in games where he is the focal point of offense, then I think he could improve rapidly. I'm not saying Clint deserves to be demoted. I'm saying his growth on the offensive end of the floor would be helped by playing some D League games.

 

He just needs to turn from a boy into a man. I think every person has that switch they turn on in there life from playing the small push around victim, into the bully

 

He's been a significant contributor to our defensive woes for several weeks now. He misses too many assignments and counts on his athleticism to bail him out. That worked early on, but the nba adjusts.

 

He's exhausted, trying to adjust to the starter load. He'll adjust. A bigger issue would be why can KJ get on the floor? He's supposed to be a better defender than Ariza and by all accounts his shot has improved, why is John Blair not playing him