Luis Scola is a international recognized great basket ball player. Last year, Luis Scola lead the Argentina national team won a silver metal on the FIBA Americas Championship, without Ginobili. He even outshined all MBA all stars and became the MVP of the championship. My question is that why Luis cannot be a focus point of the Rockets? Is he really not good enough or are we not using him right?
He can't be because he's a role player, a good one but still and there already aren't enough touches for the big 3 as it is.
Because international basketball is not NBA basketball. Scola can't finish over people and he's not quick enough to consistently get around people in this league. He is not a great shooter no matter what some people think. He's also a poor defender by NBA standards. Not quick enough or long enough to defend his position. His role in this league is to be a scrappy role player.
He's a 50% shooter and a good deal of his shots come from the outside, what are you talking about? He's a fantastic shooter and he should get more shots on this team. The real reason is because the Rockets have 3 legitimate NBA power forwards and his minutes aren't where they should be because of it. And I'm not even sure what can't finish over people means. As in, he can't dunk on people? I say that's not his game, and he does have the hops to do that just that he's more of a finesse player. If you mean he can't finish in the lane over bigs then you are just wrong. It can take a few years to really get assimilated into the NBA when you have been a life long overseas player. You are seeing more and more of his total game this year. And frankly, I'm loving what I see.
If NBA is that superior over international basketball, why doesn't the NBA just send a few random players to the Olympics and get the gold medal back? No, they actually bothered to send its best of the best of the best, and make them work together.... There is something wong but I am not smart enough to tell what it is.
How do you not see it? The Europeans send what players over to play in the Olympic? That's right... NBA players. And those NBA players are not scrubs either... they usually carry their respective team 99% of the time.
Scola is an amazing role player, even a go to player during stretches. However, he cannot be "the" go to guy. He is great at what he does but he is not a superstar.
too many mc's not enough mics. When the rockets need him to step up, he will. He is great, he is great jejejejejeje. sorry, luis has the most memorable ever. jejejejejeje. Ok I will stop.
All I have to say is Scola is MUCH better than VSpan who led the Greeks to equal success over the US team, right.
i think its both, houston isn't using him correctly AND he can't be THE guy. His lack of defense and the opposing athleticism in the NBA keep him from being a great player. The defense is self-explanatory, and the athleticism hurts him because he's not an above the rim player, uses fakes and spins, in a less athletic Euroleague (or against players who aren't familiar with him (like against Team USA) he can be very succesful, but here a nice fake or spin doesn't work 100% of the time because a lot of opposing players can recover in time because of speed or length. This means Scola can't get his whenever he wants, he needs to pick and choose, which isn't the mark of a great player. That being said, he's great around the rim and he cant hit his open jump shots. In the past the Rockets haven't put him in those positions so he can be succesful, but lately it seems like they are. The problem now is just not enough minutes to go around. If they played him last yr like they are doing now he would have averaged much better numbers.
Different games. Fiba is more like college with a few add ons. The nba is played in tight spaces with atheletes. Fiba is cool, but the nba is another level. Scola is A.C. Green except he's not as good of a defender. He's a solid player.
scola is one my favorite nba-ers. if you ask why he can't be the focus of an offense, i'd give you one of the many answers. all superstars can finish with either hand. there isn't much difference for them. scola has finished around the hoop using his left hand TWICE this season (incl. one tonight); and i swear those were his ONLY 2 times since he entered the nba.
Scola does great in offense with his fantastic moves and his mid-rang jumpers, but he's pretty bad on the defense end as a result of his softness. In fact, not only does scola have the softness but all the other international players have that short coming. As an international player, yao is also very soft but he's still able to block some shots with his size, even though yao nearly can not jump as high as my dog does. My dog can jump over a desk as high as yao's knee, but can yao jump over the height of his knee? He can't even jump over the height of his ankle I'm afraid, so he always falls down when others put their feet into his way intentionally or unconciously. Yao can't keep both of his feet in sky for even one mini seacond. However, Yao is the leader of his national team where there are also some more athletic guys like Yi, at least Yi can jump or even kiss the hoop. Yao shines in FIBA games while relatively sucks in NBA, and scola for the same matter. But the American rosters sometimes seem to lost their capabilities and confidence in FIBA games. Even though Dream VIII won a gold medal this summer but it still cannot disguize their bad performances there. It's not because our players are not far better than the international ones but that we are not accustomed to the FIBA games, and they don't fit ours as well. The international teams always enjoy playing 3-2 or 2-3 zone defense while we prefer man on man. (we have changed a little bit though, we were forced to do so.) In the FIBA games as we all know, centers can stand in the paint all the time because they don't have to suffer the defensive 3s violation. And their 3pt line is so close to the basket that even yao is able to hit a three there. FIBA and NBA are simply two different games, it's not wondering that Michael Jordan was so mediocre at baseball so it's not amazing either that NBA players are not as great when they are to play FIBA games, or is it the other way round? No one cares how much fame you have as a FIBA star, what they care is what you can do here in NBA. The world's champions are the NBA champions instead of the so-called winner of various international prixes.
i just want to know why doesn't he dunk??? Him and Yao are always laying the ball up when their open. it should be a dunk.so sad
As some have already said, Luis is a hustle type player. He isn't a good defender and he isn't a playmaker. This is why he should be coming off the bench. When he is starting, The Rockets have one of the weakest frontlines in the NBA, because he and Yao aren't good defenders. Luis should be spearheading the 2nd unit with Landry, Artest (when Battier gets back), Wafer, and Brooks. Why Rick Adelman does stuff like play Chuck Hayes at Backup Center is beyond me. I would start The Chuck-Wagon and let him and Battier set the defensive tone. Hayes can't stay in for long, he will play tough defense and absorb fouls that would normally be charged to Yao, then you bring in Scola to work against the other teams backup players. If you put Scola in there to start, he is constantly being matched up with guys like Garnett, Nowitzki, and Duncan, guys who he just cannot guard.