Also, I haven't watched all of the game footage, but it looks like Scola was matched up against Tayshaun Prince... and I think Scola won that battle.
I don't know, if you call not having skills averaging 18 and 10 for a career like Juwan Howard I wouldn't mind Scola not having skills!
So you're saying he's not impressive because he made open shots, ran the floor, made deep jump shots, hit the offensive glass, and finished on the break?
And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the defense sucks in the NBA and that I doubt that "any old team" has the athletes that the U.S. has.
I think what many of you are doing to Scola is the same thing people do at the beginning of every year. They build guys up to be more than what they are (or even need to be) and then, when they don't become superstars, there is this crushing disappointment. Scola will be a very good compliment to this team, but he is not going to be a go-to guy on a regular basis. The Rockets don't NEED him to be that. They just need him to hustle, hit open shots, rebound and play solid defense. They don't need a superstar. This isn't a video game. Not every player is destined to average 20 points a night. In fact, it is important that guys like Scola exist to help set the table for Yao and TMac and make their jobs that much easier.
At the very least, the Rox have another guy who can create his own shot. Who besides Yao and Mac could do that last year?
wow, he's like an offensive chuck hayes, always getting little feeds and passes from the high post and finishing around the basket.... Yao - Scola will be THE international towers of the NBA.
I'm a believer. He's among the faster PFs in NBA, not in term of absolute speed, just the overall quickness and the ability to change speed/direction with the ball are all very impressive. Very nice footwork. Polished scoring skill set including jump hook, solid midrange jumper and gorgeous spin move. In a key possession I have no problem let him 1-on-1 as long as he got decent position when he catches the ball. Our opponent can't afford to put their best inside stop force on him anyways. With that midrange jumper I can see him playing lots of high post pick and roll with TMac. He can definitely replace the JHoward we saw in the span where YM was out and TMac led the team to a 21-10 record. Very smart player. One of the better passer in our team. Perfect fit to Adleman's offense system. I could see him have lots of foul trouble in his rookie year though. That would probably be the main reason to limit his minutes. As much as I love chuck, Scola does offer a whole lot more offensively and wasn't that bad defensively. A obvious choice for the starting position. All in all I'm extremely happy to see him being capable of score against elite PF in low post.
Well....sort of. I am saying he's not as impressive as some are making him out to be. At the NBA level, where players are incredible athletes AND can do the things you mention above.....it's just not that big of a deal to see Scola play. He did what he was supposed to do in a basketball game. Nothing out of the ordinary. THAT's what I am saying. In another thread, I said he was solid, has good footwork, good spacing, etc. But that's just it.....solid. Nothing to write home to mom about. I just don't get all the excitement and hype that seems to be running rampant here. I think Jeff's post up above expresses my sentiments further, and probably better as well.
I understand what you're saying, but someone watching Duncan on the offensive end could put forward the same criticism. Seemingly routine and unspectacular, but over a stretch of several games you appreciate the consistent excellence he brings.
I really want to see Scola taking that high percentage shot. Dunk the ball man!!! If you want to play in NBA you need to learn how to dunk the ball!! Got to come down now!!!!
there are no comparisons to duncan at this point, but scola's on-court iq and team play is impressive.
Why you say that?, you can the best player in the NBA, without dunking, if the dunk is worth more than a layup then you dunk, but is the same.
