Clint Capella vs. Onyeka Okongwu

[Expedite]

I think that the action under the low post is the best part of basketball.  Under the low post is the center's territory. 

How does Capella compare with Okongwu?

Who is the better center, Capella or Okongwu?  

Are their skills sets similar to each other, or do they have different strengths and weaknesses?

[sillent]

Clint started the years he has started for a reason. He's bigger, knows the NBA because of his vet experience and low maintenance as far as needing to tell him what positions he needed to be in and etc because of this experience. He has a high motor and at this point is who he is.

Onyeka has had the luxury to learn from Clint but also brings his own intangibles to the game and is more versatile. He can guard on the perimeter 1 - 5's, he's expanded his shot (and actually has a shot), he is a lethal offensive rebounder and has a nice touch in the post. He also has a high motor but is and has been expanding his game every summer (which shouldn't change anytime soon). Onyeka Okongwu's willingness to be one of the best shot blockers in the league as well as all of his other game expansions should put him over the top.

This is probably the year we notice that OO has surpassed Clint and therefore should start which is why we may be looking to shop Clint because Clint is still good enough to continue to start.

Being a student of the game I can see OO surpassing Bam Adebayo although most onlookers will attempt to have my head for that comment (we'll see in 3yrs or less).

[Diesel]

Let me give the less bias opinion.

Clint is head and shoulder's better than OO.   Period.  

OO...

OO has potential.  He's a great shot blocker.   He's pretty good in space.   He works well against bigger defenders because he can get into their body.  OO has a pretty good motor. He has some range on his shot. 

BUT...  OO has a lot of work to do on the offensive end.  He's very mechanical on the PNRs.  He has the best pNR PG ever setting him up and from time to time he still brings the ball down after catching it high.  OO is good versus a few big bigs but his defense on active bigs is different.   Al Horford and RObert Williams gave him the business in the playoffs.   He never has a good game vs. Bam.  Guys that can move to the basket not name Giannis gives him the most problems. 

Overall though, he's learning and he seems to learn quickly.  He's even developing range on his set shot. And he stopped Jumping at every upfake.  

 

Clint...

Clint is the best PNR 5 in the game.   He is a wizard on the PNR.  He works seamlessly with Trae (they don't have to speak or signal).  It's no wonder that LUKA specifically asked for Clint Capela. Luka recognizes that with a force like Capela, they would be unstoppable.  Clint is a great POA defender.   The best thing about Clint is that he knows where everybody is supposed to be on defense.  So he can QB the defense.  He has the best motor of any 5 that I have seen play.  He's the Dennis Rodman of Centers.  His rebounding is textbook.   He has shown that he is a warrior playing head to head against Gobert, Jokic, Bam and Embiid.  He doesn't give up much to those bigs like you would expect. 

BUT...  Clint does not do well in a switching situation.   He gives up too much advantage when he is asked to go out of the post area and guard a smaller player on the perimeter.   Smaller faster players at this time in his career can get passed him.  The worst sin on Clint is the missing of bunnies and the low FT%.  For somebody who can catch and finish as well as he can, his fingers are too long and he has never learned to shoot from the hands/fingertips.  So he almost palms - pushes  the ball on a shot.  Offensively, he does not give you range... so he clogs up the middle.   It gives players like DJ less room to operate because CC's man is not going to follow him out of the paint. 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

Stat comparison:

https://stathead.com/basketball/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&seasons_type=forall&year_min=2023&player_id1=capelca01&player_id2=okongon01

 

[sillent]

40 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Let me give the less bias opinion.

Clint is head and shoulder's better than OO.   Period.  

OO...

OO has potential.  He's a great shot blocker.   He's pretty good in space.   He works well against bigger defenders because he can get into their body.  OO has a pretty good motor. He has some range on his shot. 

BUT...  OO has a lot of work to do on the offensive end.  He's very mechanical on the PNRs.  He has the best pNR PG ever setting him up and from time to time he still brings the ball down after catching it high.  OO is good versus a few big bigs but his defense on active bigs is different.   Al Horford and RObert Williams gave him the business in the playoffs.   He never has a good game vs. Bam.  Guys that can move to the basket not name Giannis gives him the most problems. 

Overall though, he's learning and he seems to learn quickly.  He's even developing range on his set shot. And he stopped Jumping at every upfake.  

 

Clint...

Clint is the best PNR 5 in the game.   He is a wizard on the PNR.  He works seamlessly with Trae (they don't have to speak or signal).  It's no wonder that LUKA specifically asked for Clint Capela. Luka recognizes that with a force like Capela, they would be unstoppable.  Clint is a great POA defender.   The best thing about Clint is that he knows where everybody is supposed to be on defense.  So he can QB the defense.  He has the best motor of any 5 that I have seen play.  He's the Dennis Rodman of Centers.  His rebounding is textbook.   He has shown that he is a warrior playing head to head against Gobert, Jokic, Bam and Embiid.  He doesn't give up much to those bigs like you would expect. 

BUT...  Clint does not do well in a switching situation.   He gives up too much advantage when he is asked to go out of the post area and guard a smaller player on the perimeter.   Smaller faster players at this time in his career can get passed him.  The worst sin on Clint is the missing of bunnies and the low FT%.  For somebody who can catch and finish as well as he can, his fingers are too long and he has never learned to shoot from the hands/fingertips.  So he almost palms - pushes  the ball on a shot.  Offensively, he does not give you range... so he clogs up the middle.   It gives players like DJ less room to operate because CC's man is not going to follow him out of the paint. 

 

 

Not for sure if that was completely less bias but good analysis overall.

[AHF]

18 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Stat comparison:

https://stathead.com/basketball/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&seasons_type=forall&year_min=2023&player_id1=capelca01&player_id2=okongon01

 

They are really more similar than you would think from a straight numbers perspective:

Biggest differences I see are maturity, size/strength, versatility, and range.  (With the former two favoring CC and the latter two favoring OO.)  For future years, I think CC is in his absolute prime right now and the biggest risk for him is if the game keeps moving to a greater and greater perimeter emphasis for big men.  OO should keep getting better and seems built for the modern game.

[KB21]

Clint is a good player for what he can do.  What he can do though is going to be a dinosaur in the game soon.  It’s going to be hard to function in the modern NBA with a big that cannot play on the perimeter.  
 

OO is the he model for the new age center.  He’s a player that can guard 1-5 on the perimeter.  He has inherent shooting ability that has not been encouraged during his career.  He can rebound.  He can rim protect.  He can be a pick and roll roll man as well as a pick and pop big.  

[aali34]

6 minutes ago, KB21 said:

Clint is a good player for what he can do.  What he can do though is going to be a dinosaur in the game soon.  It’s going to be hard to function in the modern NBA with a big that cannot play on the perimeter.  
 

OO is the he model for the new age center.  He’s a player that can guard 1-5 on the perimeter.  He has inherent shooting ability that has not been encouraged during his career.  He can rebound.  He can rim protect.  He can be a pick and roll roll man as well as a pick and pop big.  

He can also make quick decisions/reads with the ball

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[thecampster]

On 7/12/2023 at 9:00 PM, Expedite said:

I think that the action under the low post is the best part of basketball.  Under the low post is the center's territory. 

How does Capella compare with Okongwu?

Who is the better center, Capella or Okongwu?  

Are their skills sets similar to each other, or do they have different strengths and weaknesses?

I'm in the minority on the site as it comes to OO.  I like him, love his hustle but I see his weaknesses. You can't be that under tall and not shoot outside.  He needs a consistent pick n pop game from at least 15 to make up for his height. The biggest knock on Clint is he clogs the lane on offense.  OO is only a little better in this regard.  I'd be interested to see how Trae and JC would have been with Brook Lopez (or similar). Trae has to deal with bigs way more often than he should because Clint doesn't draw anyone at the perimeter.  Bruno...same story. 

 

If Bruno could develop a consistent 15-18 footer, he'd be interesting.  8 years ago Al Horford might have been the perfect center for Trae.  Who is better, CC or OO is a hard question though.  I like OO's effort and chaos more. His hustle plays.  CC plays center like a vet. He conserves a lot of energy. I'm not sure OO could play like he does for 30 minutes a night.  So I think CC is better but they are both flawed.  CC can't spread the floor, doesn't play the body well.  OO doesn't play super bigs close to the basket well, only spreads the floor a bit better.

[Peoriabird]

Capela's defense is so overrated on this message board.  Worst pick and roll defender on the team.  Bad 1 on 1 defender.  Average help defender.  The only advantage he offers over OO is rebounding.

[Gray Mule]

2 hours ago, Peoriabird said:

Capela's defense is so overrated on this message board.  Worst pick and roll defender on the team.  Bad 1 on 1 defender.  Average help defender.  The only advantage he offers over OO is rebounding.

For several seasons the Hawks had a weakness at center.  Then they traded for Capela.  He was and is so much better than the centers we had before that we were extremely happy.  As you stated, he is a great rebounder.  His biggest weakness is his ability to shoot.  He hovers just over 50% with his free throws.  He shoots line drives, not floaters.  

Occasionally he drifts outside but mostly he's stationed near the goal on both ends of the floor.  He should direct traffic from there.  OO has learned from Capela and has grown a lot since he arrived.