NBA: CLINT CAPELA DISCUSSES HIS SEASON
29.07.2021, 15:39

Clint Capela recharges his batteries in Switzerland before starting a new season
Best rebounder of the last NBA season, Clint Capela is back in Switzerland. In Meyrin, the interior of the Atlanta Hawks offers its second youth camp and adds a first edition in Zurich.

Switzerland's most famous blonde lock is at home in Meyrin. Harassed by a marathon regular season of 72 matches picked up over five months, then three play-off rounds and a loss in six matches against the future champion Milwaukee, Clint Capela admits having ended the season (July 3) with a limp.

"I was hurt in the hand and in the heel", he explains. "I'm injured, but I'm fine. Nonetheless, I will have to go to Los Angeles to do some rehabilitation for my hand. " This passage in Switzerland therefore reads like a parenthesis of ten days. After Meyrin, the highest paid Swiss sportsman will go to Zurich for a German version of his camp. "No no, it will be in English," he laughs when asked if he will speak to young people in Swiss-German dialect.

To the participants of his camp, Clint Capela hopes to send them a message: "It's my mission, they must understand that everything is possible, but that it will not be easy. It’s possible to learn a lot and I would like to see some will break into LNA (=Swiss first division) or higher in the future. I would transmit to them this mentality - while not forgetting to have fun. "

It is legitimate for young people to watch a Capela at the top of his game with stars in their eyes. Recovered from a foot sole injury contracted while still playing with the Houston Rockets in early 2020, the 27-year-old Genevan had to whip to become essential with his new team, win the title of best rebounder in the League and make it to the Conference final.

"It was a pretty incredible season because of the covid, he analyzes. A real challenge from December to July. It did not start as we wanted. But after the break and the arrival of Nate McMillan as a coach, it woke everyone up a bit. We gained confidence and I gained responsibilities. We remained united despite the injuries that inevitably occurred. "

The beautiful story of the Hawks was interrupted in the play-off by that of the Milwaukee Bucks and its Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo. "Amply deserved", according the Genevan speaking of the title of the franchise of Wisconsin and the "Greek Freak". "He has always worked very hard."

In order to be ready for the preparation for the coming season at the end of September, Clint Capela will not exaggerate, while continuing to follow a preparation allowing him to respond to an insane schedule: " With increasing age, is necessary to be increasingly careful. I know I still have a big athletic margin. I can become more dominant and I can lose fat. Of course I want to defend my title of best rebounder and participate in the All-Star Game. "

While Clint Capela takes care of the youngsters at his camp, the Swiss team are preparing the European pre-qualifiers for the 2023 World Championship which will take place in August in Skopje. And even if he will not be present with his compatriots, Clint Capela will be the first supporter as he had been when Switzerland beat Serbia. "I want to play with Switzerland again, he concludes. If the schedule allows."

"My favorite landing spot for Avdija is Atlanta. The young Hawks desperately need a secondary playmaker alongside Trae Young – a special offensive player who had to carry far too much of the load for Atlanta last season. Avdija would give Young the opportunity to play more off the ball and use the threat of his deep shooting as a more dangerous weapon."

Luka is playing lights out and can't even legally drink alcohol yet.

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Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports, "Brandon Clarke had a private dinner yesterday [May 30, 2019] with Lloyd Pierce and Travis Schlenk."

"Atlanta Hawks Star Prospects: John Collins; Trae Young Other Notable Players: Kevin Huerter; Omari Spellman Schedule the Hawks for entry into the next tier in T-minus, oh, by-the-start-of-next-season. John Collins is coming for stardom in an Eastern Conference begging for new members, pre-Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis joining the Knicks, of course. Defense remains a struggle when Collins is on the floor, which for now, drags down his would-be peak. As Jeff Siegel wrote for Peachtree Hoops: "For the moment, Collins plays power forward in part because he's not good enough defensively to play the most important defensive position on the floor, which puts some limits on what the Hawks can do from a team-building and lineup construction perspective. The Hawks do have two rotation-quality NBA centers in Dewayne Demon and Alex Len, which further explains why Collins operates at the power forward spot for the vast majority of his court time. With that said, Collins currently has to be paired with a defensive center who is capable of spacing the floor offensively and, in turn, that allows the second-year big man to be the main dive threat in pick-and-roll." Collins' holes present real problems for Atlanta's lineup structure. But they're not damning enough to harsh his offensive progress and activity on the glass. Assuming his numbers hold, he'll join Karl-Anthony Towns as the second player to clear 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and one made three per 36 minutes before his age-22 season. View this in tandem with Trae Young's recent uptick, and the Hawks get real scary, real fast. The undersized point guard is a defensive pushover, but his finishing around the rim is better than advertised, he's a high-IQ table-setter, and the space he creates with his perimeter dribbles offsets his early shooting wrinkles. Besides which, Young is averaging 18.2 points and 8.1 assists while splashing in 38.2 percent of his triples over the past 30 games. Combined with the sweet-shooting Kevin Huerter, Atlanta is laying a gnarly offensive foundation that already needs to be reckoned with."