I may not be the greatest basketball mind; but I cannot for the life of me fathom the fascination I have seen from some around here about getting rid of Clint Capela.
This guy is literally rooting for us to not win a championship so he can continue to **** on Capela. Unbelievable
Garbage is signing MCW, Ennis, trading for Knight, Chris's, etc. Get real. Yes! We would be better positioned to win a championship if we'r had traded Capela. G.e.t. r.e.a.l.
(1) I know you are convinced the Rockets can't win a championship as presently constructed. You are simply wrong. The Rockets are widely considered one of the top 2 teams capable of knocking off the Warriors, and not by Rockets fans. (2) The Rockets are trying to a win a championship this year. They can't afford to not be all in in the middle of Harden's prime and when Chris Paul appears to be tailing off. Capela is better than all the guys you mentioned.
(1) I sincerely hope you are right and I'm wrong. I worked be very happy if that happened. (2) We are trying. But we have shot ourselves in the foot several times by entertaining Harden as co-GM. Players (and most coaches) make poor GMs. Because of their personal connections to other players. It's fine to include your franchise icon in personal decisions. But you gotta do a better job of educating him on ther long term affects and what we'r really need, how we need to play, to win it all. No, Capela is not better than all those guys. He's not better than that combination of assets and players we could have acquired with those assets. Sorry. He's not even better than a recovering DeMarcus right now.
This thread is funny. You absolutely DON'T need a center to shoot 3s in this league to be successful, especially when your entire team shoots the most 3s in NBA history. You need at least one guy in the paint for some easy buckets and rebounds, both offensive and defensive. Thon Maker is not impressive. He's just another center in this league who isn't strong enough or talented enough to be the offensive and defensive presence that Clint has become. Stats don't lie, nor do games where Thon is constantly outplayed by every center in the league. I've even seen Leonard of the Blazers (fans despise him in Rip City) out work Thon defensively. It's time to give it up and recognize that Clint has arrived. He scores without plays being set up for him, moves without the ball well and anticipates the lob that our guards toss up. He blocks shots and sets great picks. Thon maker doesn't have his skill set. It's not close. Admittedly I doubted Capela in the past. I called him "stone hands" when Dwight was our starter. And then, I admitted I was completely wrong (just like I was wrong about Kyle Lowry being inferior to A. Brooks at the time...mistake of judgment) Anyway, Dwight *COULD HAVE* been the perfect center for this offense. If he had accepted his role as a rebounder and taken advantage of ALL the lobs Harden throws, our center spot would have been immensely stronger. But, as we saw, Dwight wanted to be the man and didn't develop any post moves other than a weak baby hook. He didn't take advantage of learning from Hakeem and he didn't even try to roll to the rim for Harden to give him an easy dunk. We're blessed to have Capela. While not as strong as Dwight, he's quicker and has developed his coordination. IMO, Clint has THE BEST hands for a center in the NBA. He's also the quickest off the jump, including the second jump on a miss, and outruns every center down the court. Clint/EGO and Tuck are the Rockets' x-factors. If Tuck can limit Durant and Capela out works Boogie with speed, the Rockets have a better chance to beat that team in Oakland. Eric Gordon is SUPER important for us because of those timely 3s. If you recall last playoffs against GSW, EGO won 2 games for us with clutch 3s. We'll need that. But again, Clint is the best center in the league for what the Rockets do on offense and defense. Name another center who can switch on defense like Capela. We'll wait...
Always refreshing to read good stuff that's gotten littered with garbage as of late. hope all is well Cod
Love you Codman. Hope and pray all is well. But Capela cannot switch defensively to cover the Warriors. We need Ariza/Luc/Bruno/ARandolph/Udoh/ others for that. Capela cannot switch well enough to cover several teams. He may be ok on switches against the Jazz. But this is just the first round. If they go double big on us for the series he's going to be in trouble. (But the narrative here will be upper respiratory infection hurt him, which will be the excuse when the Warriors takes us out again). You may not need a shooting center to win a championship. But to go through the Warriors to win a championship you absolutely have to have a center that shoots the 3 effectively. The only way you win a championship without a shooting center is if another team with a shooting center takes out ther Warriors for you or the Warriors suffer a major injury. We're down to rooting for an injury to one of Steph, KD, Klay, or Draymond.
Appreciate it. Have stayed away from the Ears communication. It's hard not to spill some beans, but I love just talking hoops with you and Clutchfans posters. Either way, this Thon Maker discussion is ridiculous. Any GM would take Clint over Thon if given the choice. Capela vs. Boogie or AD would be a good discussion, but I can't name many centers I'd trade Clint for. I love LaMarcus Aldridge, too. But, with his age, despite still getting it done, Clint's athleticism fits right in to what the Rockets need. Plus, James is good friends with Clint. That chemistry is so important now. James and Thon wouldn't work because Thon can't consistently grab the oop like Clint, nor does he have the desire to run down the court with the guards to beat an opposing center.
I don’t think Harden is involved in any way in personnel decisions. That’s not how Morey operates. *could have* No team is better than what they “could have” been. And, in any case, the players you listed don’t impress me all that much as an option for this year. Lopez would have been interesting. Cousins doesn’t fit.
How out of touch with the NBA and certain players can 1 person be? Holic keeps pretending he has elite basketball knowledge when he’s really nothing more than GARM comedy relief or someone nobody takes seriously. Holic swears he’s when in actuality he’s
Love to you as well. But, did you watch the playoffs last year? Clint was great at switching and making Durant and Klay take tougher shots. He has the speed to keep up. Boogie can't do the same with CP or James. Clint made a HUGE difference in that series because the Warriors have one big (looneyToon) who is inconsistent. Whenever KD had a pick and roll, Clint stayed on him and while Kevin still scored a ton of points, they weren't open shots. He had Clint right in his grill. I don't believe KD is going to shoot like that again this year. I also don't agree that you need a 3point shooting center to beat the Warriors. You need a big to grab the ball in the paint and dismantle Draymond. We have enough guys launching 3s. If you took Clint outside, we would lose by 20 or more every time because there would be few offensive rebounds or easy buckets. More importantly, having Clint in the paint forces the Warriors to commit to him instead of staying around our shooters. He's a decoy in many cases. James will drive and defenders will jump, thinking he's looking to score. And then, Clint gets the handoff and the opposition starts getting flustered. Agree to disagree but Clint is perfect where he's at. Let Faried take the 3s. NeNe and Clint are the big guys who need to take care of the rim