Ben DuBose

That's not me throwing shade at Shingun.

I acknowledge he was definitely playing hurt tonight, but it does show that Capella lifted them in his minutes.

And yet it feels like even when Steven hasn't played this year, Capella has largely played token minutes.

He's been the backup center in the first half, but if Steven isn't available in the second half either, well, typically they'll do a combination of extended Shingun minutes and small ball Jabari at the five.

And what I'm wondering after tonight, is this a point where the Rockets should give Clint Capella a longer runway?

I did some checking in today and folks inside the building will tell you like Clint has much more gas in the tank than people on the outside thought going into this year.

Like they are really impressed with physically how his body looks and what he's still able to do at 31 years old now in his second decade in the NBA.

What I heard internally is that Clint still needs to get better at learning the playbook and what the expectations are for the Rockets.

He hasn't been here in the Emeu Doka era.

So in contrast to some of his teammates that have been in the system for a while, this is all new terminology, a new system for Clint.

And so in the super high leverage minutes...

Emay is still learning to trust Clint.

But I'm wondering if now with Steven out and Jabari, you know, he played better tonight, but it's been a bad month for Jabari overall.

Is this a point in which Emay Udoka may have no choice but to rip the Band-Aid off and trust Clint Capella a little bit more?

Because athletically, Dave, he looks good.

Like, he's a loft rat, as you mentioned.

He protects the rim.

I think he has some synergies with...

with Reed that helped mitigate his deficiencies on the defensive end, Reed that is.

Like, I know it's not easy for a coach like Ime Udoka.