Johnson, Capela are helpful as old hands at summer league
The Rockets return two players — guard Nick Johnson and center Clint Capela — from last season’s summer league camp roster. That’s enough to help bring the long list of newcomers up to speed, although both have their own games to upgrade.
Capela is working as the primary center. Johnson is playing almost entirely at point guard, rather than the shooting guard spot he manned as a rookie in brief cameos off the Rockets’ bench and in the NBA Development League.
“You don’t have to teach things twice,” Rockets assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of the benefits of having at least some experience on the floor. “You can use those guys to set examples for everybody else. So when you’re putting in a drill, putting in a scheme, those are guys who have already seen it, taken a ton of reps at it.
“Put them on the floor, the other guys can watch them. It makes the teaching part of it a lot easier.”
There are benefits to teaching willing students.
“It’s tough, but it’s fun because they’re all eager to learn,” Bickerstaff said. “They all come in with the mindset to learn. We have a few guys that are on the roster. But other than that, guys are hungry to get a job, try to stick in the NBA.
“From a teaching perspective, they couldn’t be more wide open. From an effort perspective, they couldn’t be at a higher energy level. Seems like we have a pretty good group so far.”
Dekker: Welcome to Twitter, Mom
Now that Sam Dekker has signed his NBA contract, having completed the process on the slotted deal Tuesday, he easily could arrange for a service to mow his parents’ nowfamous lawn.
But that would defeat the purpose of the effort that became well-known when his mother tweeted a picture of her son pushing a mower two days after the Rockets selected him with the 18th pick of the draft.
“I don’t mind doing that,” Dekker said. “My mom wants it to be known she didn’t make me do that. I’ve always cut the lawn when I’m home. I hadn’t been outside for a while, so I wanted to get some sun. I just thought I’d mow the lawn.
“She tweeted it just thinking her friends would see it. Then it blew up. It must have been a slow news day. I didn’t pay any mind to it, but she kept telling me about it. I was like, ‘Welcome to Twitter, Mom.’ ”
Dekker said his mother found the attention on her Twitter account “creepy.” She picked up more than 1,000 followers with that tweet.
“She doesn’t even tweet,” Dekker said. “But that’s Twitter.”
First-round pick a big hit so far
First-round selection Sam Dekker left a favorable first impression after the initial summer league workouts, though nothing about his play differed much from the scouting report that led the Rockets to select him with the 18th pick last month. With one 6-9 exception. “He’s bigger than I thought,” assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “His first step is quick. He can get to his spot, get to the rim. Obviously, he can make shots. He’s versatile. Defensively, he knows where to be. Physical. A typical Big Ten guy.”