Exactly. Is he as tall as we might prefer? No, of course not. If Chuck was 6'8"-6'9" or taller, we wouldn't have been able to get him. He's going to fit in great with our young big men.
Chuck has not slowed down. Teams just don't know how to use him. If you give him minutes, he produces at the same rate as he always has.
He's got more sand in his pants than all our bigs combined. Spot minutes for Chuck for defensive purposes at Vet minimum plus great teammate, you do this deal all day everday.
Well, in that regard, we did let Smoove walk. EDIT: I googled "Chuck Hayes DeMarcus Cousins", hoping to find an article about how much the latter admired the former's grit, leadership, big brother-ness, whatever, while both were on the Kings. Alas, I can only hope.
He can show everyone how not to shot a freethrow Just kidding, glad to see Chuck back with the good guys!
While I love having Chuck back, I do not believe he is here to see any game time. He is here for his knowledge, practical experience, and locker room presence. I would not be surprised to see him transition to coaching.
With Dwight suspended for the 1st game, I would not be surprised to seem him get significant time off the bench. I remember Morey saying something on a broadcast about not signing players just to by locker room guys. If they are taking up a roster spot, they better be able to play. Chuck fills a specific but very important role on this team.....he can guard almost any big in the post, which is where Griffin abused us in the LAC series and LMA lit us up in the Portland series 2 years ago. Ideally, you want Dwight and Capela to protect the paint while someone else takes care of the post defense. Other than DMo (who still can have foul issues), we needed a guy that can't be moved.....that's Chuck.
Chuck Hayes is a solid signing for the Rockets. Vet leadership, professionalism and a good post defender. When Aldridge and Griffin are destroying the Rockets PFs (Dmo, Jones) in the post in the playoffs, having someone like Chuck Hayes to be able to throw at them is a nice option. One of the key things lost when Josh Smith went to the Clippers was PF defense and Hayes adds that back. On the offensive side of the ball a couple of underrated aspects to Hayes. 1) He sets STRONG picks. 2) He moves the ball. Good passer and if the Rockets wings cut to the basket he can find them on those plays. That's an aspect the Rockets didn't have with Dorsey.
Also, today's NBA is more geared towards "small ball." Hayes can play C in small ball lineups and be able to "move his feet" on switches. Considering todays landscape in the NBA and it's current trends, you could make a case Hayes is MORE valuable TODAY then a number of years ago on the Rockets. Bottom line though is, Hayes provides a nice "skill" (post defense), that the other Rockets PFs don't have. And when you are filling out the back end of the bench, it is better to fill it with specialists for certain situations.
