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Houston center Clint Capela says the Rockets are better than the Golden State Warriors. What say you?
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David Aldridge: I say he’s wrong. But, it’s much closer than it’s been in a long, long time, and the Rockets should be confident after beating Golden State twice already this year.
Steve Aschburner: I say “Prove it.” Not on a random night in the middle of the season, when teams are navigating disparate schedules, travel, injuries and more, but when it counts in the postseason. It’s nice that Capela believes so in his team — you can’t beat somebody if you genuflect at their every mention — but saying it and showing it are dramatically different things.
Shaun Powell: I say he should wait until the Rockets actually beat the Warriors in a meaningful game — none of which will take place until late spring — before issuing bold statements. Have some respect — the Warriors didn’t reach the last three championship rounds by accident, and they still have their nucleus intact and in its prime. And last I looked, the major players around Capela haven’t won squat. That would be Mike D’Antoni, Chris Paul and James Harden. Notice that none of them said anything.
John Schuhmann: I appreciate Mr. Capela’s confidence in his team, though I question him disclosing that opinion on the record. The Rockets are a better team than any that the Warriors faced on the way to last year’s championship, but the Warriors are still the better team, because of their ability to play at an elite level on both ends of the floor. The Rockets did well to add defense and versatility last summer, but the champs still have more two-way players in their rotation.
Sekou Smith: Talk is cheap. Whip the Warriors in the playoffs and then I’ll listen to E.F. Capela. Right now, he’s just blowing smoke like so many guys around the league like to do these days. There’s no question the Rockets did the job in the regular-season series, sending the message that they intend to do everything in their power to keep the Warriors from making a fourth straight appearance in The Finals. And we should expect nothing less from a team with James Harden and Chris Paul leading the way and Mike D’Antoni at the controls. That said, I wouldn’t put any more stock in one of them saying the exact same things Capela said. Let your play do the talking come playoff time and then we’ll see who is ready for prime time and who is not.
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