Houston Center disappeared in Game 1 after saying he wanted the Warriors

Capela Needs to be Big for Rockets to have a chance

Capela Needs to be Big for Rockets to have a chance
Clint Capela. Getty Images

Clint CapelaJason Miller

Clint Capela wanted to meet up with the Warriors in the playoffs this year. He said as much when he spoke to the media after the Rockets eliminated the Utah Jazz. He also was the one who said that the Rockets were the better team after Golden State eliminated Houston in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals last season. You have to love the confidence the young center has in his team, but with that boastful and cocky attitude must come performances that back it up, or at least contribute to his team's success.

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You most certainly wouldn't want to be a -17 while on the floor with only 4 points and 6 rebounds in 27 minutes on the floor, while the combination of Andrew Bogut and Kevon Looney combined for 2 more points and the same amount of rebounds in 6 fewer minutes of game time.

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Clint Capela needs to dominate down low if the Rockets have any chance of making this a long series, let alone winning it. When you compare these two teams that know each other so well and look at matchups where Houston should have an advantage, you immediately point at the center position. Golden State lost their all-star big man in the first round against the Clippers when DeMarcus Cousins went down with a serious quad injury. He was a force down low for the defending champions, and once he recovered from his torn Achilles tendon suffered last season, he was the dominating post presence that the Warriors lacked and gave them an element that they hadn't before had in the "Splash Brothers" era. In his last appearance against Capela and the Rockets in the final meeting between the two teams in the regular season, Cousins could not be stopped and was their go-to guy down the stretch as he put Capela on skates and scored multiple key baskets in the paint to close out the Golden State victory. He finished that game with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists in 32 minutes of action, while Capela had 13 points and 13 rebounds in 40 minutes on the floor. It's pretty simple when you look at that matchup in this series, with Cousins out, Capela should be able to dominate the paint defensively and clean the glass, while running the floor for easy baskets in transition against the slower and less skilled Golden State reserve bigs. After one game, that was obviously not the case.

Rockets Clint CapelaHouston Rockets/Facebook

We all know that Clint Capela is not an offensive powerhouse who gets his numbers scoring down low with a plethora of moves in the paint. The good news is he doesn't need to be with the system and team he has around him. Capela is at his best when he gets involved in pick and roll basketball with James Harden and Chris Paul that leads to lobs at the rim and dunks in the lane. He is an elite athlete at his size so when he gets out in transition there are not many big men in the NBA that can keep up with him. Most importantly he is an above average defender that has length and size to alter shots around the basket, he can defend on the low block and he rebounds at a high level even when the game is played at a very fast pace. We have all seen the numbers by now and know that when he is on the floor doing those things and playing alongside Harden and Paul, the Rockets are a championship caliber basketball team. When he doesn't, they may not be good enough to get out of the second round let alone beat the Golden State Warriors.

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The Astros are cooking! Composite Getty Image.

The Houston Astros have looked like one of baseball’s most dangerous teams in recent weeks, riding a hot streak fueled by dominant starting pitching and a red-hot offense that’s erupted for double-digit runs in four of their last eight games. But behind the current success, there are fair questions about whether this pace is truly sustainable as the grind of the season continues.

Yes, the Astros are winning — and winning big — but context matters. Many of their recent victories have come against struggling clubs like the White Sox and Athletics. Even matchups against the Twins and Guardians, while respectable, don’t exactly represent championship-caliber tests. That soft stretch of the schedule has certainly helped Houston pad its win column, but it may not be the best predictor of long-term performance. Houston will be tested in the upcoming series against the Phillies and Cubs.

On the pitching side, the numbers have been impressive, but how repeatable is it? With Lance McCullers Jr. sidelined for at least a couple of weeks, the Astros are relying on a patchwork rotation that includes unproven arms like Colton Gordon, Ryan Gusto, and Brandon Walter. While each has shown flashes, asking them to shoulder the load deep into the summer may be a tall order.

Offensively, Houston is firing on all cylinders. But scoring 10 or more runs every other game simply isn’t sustainable over a 162-game season. Regression is inevitable; the question is how the team responds when the bats cool down or the bullpen is asked to carry more weight.

Amid all this, rookie third baseman Cam Smith continues to shine. Just a few months into his major league career, Smith is producing at a level that suggests he’s not just a key piece of the future — he’s already one of the team’s most valuable players. His batting average sits just a point behind Jose Altuve’s, and his OPS is even higher. If the Astros were forced to choose two players to build around long-term, factoring in youth and contract status, the logical duo might be Smith and breakout pitcher Hunter Brown.

So what about the big picture? Is this team a true World Series contender?

Oddsmakers currently have Houston with the seventh-best odds to win it all, and only the Yankees and Tigers rank higher among American League teams. The core is still there, the experience is undeniable, and if the pitching continues to hold — especially with the anticipated return of Spencer Arrighetti and a healthy McCullers — the Astros have every reason to believe they’ll be in the mix deep into October.

But that’s a big “if.” The ceiling is still high, and with Cam Smith emerging as a star in real time, this team might just have another gear. Whether they can reach it when the competition stiffens, that remains to be seen.

There's so much more to cover! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!

The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.

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