So what should he quard Okur? Are you kiddin' me? Man Okurs is a center who has a great long range shot. He's also quicker. I know boozer beat Yao but Okur would probably do the same. Hmm I;m not sure if Scola could stop Boozer. That's easy that's Boozer better but Scola would be probably better than anyone on our roster.
From what I've seen of Scola's play in international ball, it would appear that Luis would match up much more favorably to Boozer than any other player we've had on our roster in a long time. Luis would seem to present a much greater challenge to Boozer's habit of shooting over and around less aggressive power forwards (*cough* Juwan Howard *cough*) who don't play well against Boozer's physical style. While Boozer does have a reputation of being a bruiser, I think Scola's won't-back-down, physical approach will throw him off balance and you won't see 40+ point outbursts against Luis' style of defense. Additionally, I'm in hopes that the mere presence of Scola will allow other the other defenders (Yao/Mutumbo/Butler) to play more (read: better) help defense, but of course that remains to be seen. Although Boozer did present a problem to us in the playoffs, I'm far more interested to see how the addition of Scola will affect the Rockets' defense of the other premier PFs (Duncan, Nowitzki) in the western conference. -Turbo
again, very good points. but i have a feeling that we are all underestimating yao's true abilities. i think that yao had been both beneficiary and victim of jvg's style of basketball. if u look at yao's improvments over the years, it's that he's always been able to improve on his weakest areas. i don't think i can convince anyone that yao's gonna have a legendary 2007-2008 season before we all see him play this brand new style of basketball, but i believe yao is having a gigantic opportunity on his hands. u can never have enough faith in life.
Thanks for the info. Did we lose the SERIES when Boozer was easily scoring 30+ a night? Well, maybe we should put some kind of thought into making it more difficult for him. That series was no fluke, Boozer and Okur exploited our defensive weaknesses. The only reason the series was close is because Okur and Kirilenko couldn't make a basket in the first few games. The games we lost were NOT close.
When Scola match up with Boozer, Boozer will not be able to defend him. In addition, Boozer needs to spend his energy on defense, and it will affect his offense.
human beings are capable of miraculous things. just because yao is big and slow, does mean he won't become big and fast. Mind over matter, an eternal truth. the question is whether yao will believe that he himeself is capable of miracles... and when he's ready he won't have to.. and don't underestimate the fact that he's a married man now.
Personally, I'd rather come up with a better strategy for defeating the Jazz than hoping for a miracle. Yao will NOT get faster, particularly at the end of a long season. I must say that I'm enouraged that Adelman's use of Yao in the high post may prove to be an effective way to counter Okur's defense.
here is your orginal post. first, he did not score everytime he touched the ball. second, when he scored crazily we won half of those games even the base is so small (7 games). it seems to me it's not very tough. like you said, the key is not boozer. definitely boozer carried his team to the point they had a chance to win games vs us. the other players on utah team hurted us more.
Having not seen Scola play in the NBA, and only going of what we know from reports, international play, etc...we should be much better equipped to deal with Utah with Scola then without. Yao shouldn't have been guarding Boozer in the playoffs last year. Sure, Boozer did good against everyone and sure, that's easy to say in hindsight, but that's how your measured...in hindsight....of course we may think differently had we won that series...but we didn't. Chuck's a great defender, but can only do so much. He is limited because of his size and his offensive inabilities (i.e. the opposing player doesn't have to expend so much energy playing both sides of the court). And, most importantly, we just have an extra body. The biggest concern about Yao, though he has improved considerably, is foul trouble. And high on that list, again even though he has improved, is stamina. Heck, you can now play Scola at the 5 and Hayes at the 4 against Utah if you want while Yao is resting. All sorts of improvements. And then will Utah take a step backwards? Sure, they added Morris Almond, but he's rookie. Sure Ronnie Brewer is a year older. And sure, Deron should continue to either improve or just be the steady all-star/near all-star level PG he is. But can Boozer play more than one season like he did last year - without getting injured, or losing focus, or something. And they will miss Fisher more than you think. The guy was still clutch for that team. He hit some big 3's against the Rockets and Warriors. I guess given his talent level, AK47 can't play much worse, but given his fragile psyche, don't expect him to return to his earlier years form. I think Utah gets worse. I think Houston gets better.
JVG's pessimistic approach to basketball was the main cause of rockets' past 2 playoff failures. however he should be remembered forever by rox fans as the... well, there is a saying that if u have never been through hell u will not possess the ability to create heaven. so thank u, Satan Van Gundy!
One thing JVG, the "defensive genius", didn't try enough was zone defense. When your 1-1 matchup doesn't work in your favor, you normally go to zone. Even if 1-1 matchup is fine, sprinkling zone at times will do enough to confuse your opponent. That's why football teams mix in run and pass plays, even if they are really good at just one of them.
Many fans blamed Yao for defending Boozer or Okur. Really, if we can make the rhythm of ourself, everything(include defensive and offensive) will be OK. This is a team problem, not anyone in the team.
Let's welcome the new coming season, new players, new coach, new GM...... Next year, someone will post a thread like "How will ** match up with Duncan?"
Cool, well, then let's not guard him at all! I mean, it's not very tough to beat the Jazz, right? We'll just let Carlos Boozer do the exact same thing to us and expect different results this time. Boozer didn't just carry his team to the point that they "had a chance," he carried them to the Conference Finals. He's good, period, and Yao Ming can NOT defend him. That's why this thread was started-- Can Scola do a better job of keeping Carlos Boozer from scoring all over us? Furthermore, do we now have the personnel to guard Boozer effectively without leaving Okur wide open? Guarding Boozer might not be THE key to beating the Jazz, but it is A key to beating the Jazz. Personally, I'd rather not be embarrased by Boozer again this year. I agree that having a more potent, unpredictable offense will be the most important key to getting farther in the playoffs this year, but you must remember that the Jazz played both Yao and TMac very effectively last year. The Jazz know how to play the Rockets, and I'm not terribly confident in putting our season's hopes in the hands of Francis, James, and Wells. We have to do more to disrupt the Jazz's offense, and their offense starts with Boozer.
Everyone seems to be forgetting (or they didn't notice as it happened) that Chuck did a great job when he was actually guarding Boozer. He crowded him so he couldn't get off the jumper, and was quick and strong enough to bother his power game. I highly doubt that Scola could do a better job on him than Chuck. One interesting wrinkle is that Scola could probably guard Okur on the perimeter, while Chuck guarded Boozer. So when Yao rests, we'd have a much better alternative that what we had last year. Unfortunately, though, Scola's arrival is not going to magically help Yao guard either Okur or Boozer.
The matter is that Boozer cannot guard Scola effectively either. We lost to Utah more because of offense. I believe Yao will be very happy to play with Scola.
Let's make this our mentality by the end of the regular season: How will the other teams match up with us? When talking about mismatches, who can guard... ...a 6'8 swingman who can score from anywhere on the court, or ...a perimeter-shooting, low-post-scoring, high-percentage free throw-shooting, good passing 7'6 center, or ...a finishing-around-the-basket power guard, strong enough to take on small guards and quick enough to take on bigger forwards (as seen in the Spurs series), or ...a guard, that when healthy, has arguably the best crossover in the league, and can easily break down defenses with his penetration skills? On top of all that, we have surrounding three-point shooters, cutters, hustling players, and other scorers who can find their own shot. If our offense reaches its full potantial, the other team will be too busy defending us to worry about their own offense. BTW, I don't think Boozer is all that good anyway...
