Luis = Most important player

Us inserting some players into our lineup has helped with player absences.

In 05-06 we had nobody, in 06-07 we added Battier, and now Scola, they are both very good role players who love to win, then you add that with yao and t-mac and you got a pretty good lineup, I just think we need a slight improvement at the PG.

 

Is this with or without Yao?

I'll go with Tracy McGrady.

 

I don't make much of a distinction between who's "the best" and who has the most impact on the team in terms of winning.

If we go back to Nov 1, and we have to play the rest of the year without McGrady, how many wins would you expect from this team? Now, compare that to what could be expected if we restarted the season, but without Scola.

Certainly, I need to give Scola some extra credit for being able to play every game. Durability has to be a factor. But, overall, I still think the loss of McGrady would have a greater impact on our win total.

 

As far as this season and the playoffs are concerned, with Yao out, the two most important players are Rafer and Scola.

If...........Scola stays out of foul trouble and Rafer gets hot with his shooting......we can still go places in the playoffs.

If..........either Scola gets in foul trouble or Rafer blows cold with his shooting.........we are out in a heartbeat.

 

Scola is great, but I'm sorry, you are WAY off on this one. There is a reason this latest run started after McGrady returned to the lineup (yes, before Scola began starting). There is a reason for such a large disparity in our record for four years with and without McGrady.

Tracy McGrady is still the most important piece of this team. We have more depth at Scola's position than at McGrady's position, also.

 

Preach on DA. I've been riding his coattails since we signed him. I knew he would be a tremendous upgrade over Juwan.

 

Ok, and McGrady (and Yao) was more important than Sura that year as well.

 

In fact, a strong case could be made that Battier is more important to us also.

 

DD, what is with you and European players?

I totally agree with this. Scola and Battier are the 2 guys that are the difference between winning and losing. Granted they are role players but their role seems significant. That extra lose ball or that important close out is what makes the difference.

 

Good lord, everyone (I swear we hear it from every telecaster every night the Rockets play) is completely blowing our record with Scola starting completely out of proportion. This turnaround began before Scola began starting; it has a lot more to do with an adjustment period to Adelman and new rotation players and to McGrady coming back to the lineup healthy.

 

Wait ... point out when Yao and T-Mac were healthy, Scola was not starting, and we struggled? You have to go all the way back to November. And is that a "Scola starting" issue, or a "new coach, new system" issue?

If Scola makes the bigger impact on winning, and that's what ultimately matters ... why wouldn't you trade Yao or McGrady for him?

 

Scola is without a doubt an important player in the team's success, but the quote-on-quote "most important" is still T-MAC. Everyone complains and whines about him because they know if he plays well with a fire under him, the team is very, very hard to stop.

 

I agree with you 110%...Scola is a player, flat-out, he can do whatever you ask of him. Same thing with Battier, their games are very similar. Scola is like having a Battier with PF skills and vice versa.

Now I've historically supported Rafer, and got on all of those who said Rafer was garbage...but...if we had a Battier/Scola with PG skills...watch out. Love skip but he is a role player, has very good areas and very poor areas. Battier and Scola are solid all around, no weaknesses to speak of.

Problem is there aren't very many PGs out there like this obviously...maybe JKidd at this point in his career, one guy that does come to mind who could fit the mold is on our roster at the moment...Stevie...albeit it would take a major pyschological overhaul in his case. He has the body type and athleticism still to be that type of point. Put three players out there with two superstars and good things will happen. Leave the role players to be backups.

 

What's the Rockets' strong point as a team? Defense. Who's the linchpin to our defense? That's our MIP.