Just a thought. I wanted to see a bit more of Deke at least a few minutes in games because of his rebounding prowness. He was also one of the high +/- players on the Rockets. Is he just there for Yao insurance or is there a scenario he could play? With Deke you lose offense but Deke can still block a lot of shots. He gives us a lot on defense. Perhaps a Deke Yao Scola Front Court for a few possesions...hehe. That would be interesting.
I think we should definitely use Deke more. Particularly on teams that are good rebounding teams, or teams that have good penetrators. If we're getting hurt on the boards or some pesky guard is just driving in for layups, RA should give Deke some run. Frankly, I don't think anyone is scared to take it right at Yao. But Deke on the other hand, hell his own teammates are scared of that dude.
I'm glad Deke is a Rocket again because I think he provides a great locker room attitude and is a great presence on the bench not to mention that you can't ask for a better practice center for Yao. But, unless Yao goes down for an extended amount of time, I'd actually rather see Landry on the court over Deke...I wouldn't be upset to see Deke, but I'd like to see Landry get some more minutes
I dunno...if we had a front line of Deke/Yao/Scola it'd be like we had a forest that the other team had to drive through to get to the rim. lol it would be ugly for them.
I think that even if he doesn't play, having him as a role model both during games and practice is good enough for both him and us.
That dude's cheer leading values deserve whatever he's paid!! always on his feet, cheering the teammates on - just brilliant!
I like him more on the bench because he is a very consistent cheer leader. . RA is not hesitant to play him with Yao. Thats somethig I enjoy watching.
It's hard to run a motion offense if one of your players can't even catch a pass half the time, much less do something positive after the catch. Deke will get spot minutes depending on the match up, but right now Scola is playing back up center most of the time.
We should play the big lineup against the short NBA teams. Like I could see that lineup giving Golden State all kinds of matchup problems.
i'd say deke is an insurance policy. no reason to make minutes for him when you have yao/scola/hayes night in night out. he is astonishingly serviceable for his age. i like him better as a coach anyways. he is always standing, i seriously think he stood up longer than adelman yesterday and he was always telling the kids on the floor something, or whatever inaudible advice deke felt necessary to share. one thing, i know a whole section sitting behind him probably wished he would sit down so they could see. coach deke....
Shoot deke stands up longer than JVG did lol...i love having Deke around, i think the team needs someone like him, almost like a father figure/mentor...
IMO playing someone only when blowouts are happening looks like an insult to the player. Remember the "We Want Steve" chant?
Well I'd still like to see him with about a 10 minute to 15 minute burn against teams we'd match up well with by playing him with Yao and Scola. Remember when you tried to play guys in hoops who were like 5-10 inches taller than you? You couldn't do anything. Shots got swatted around like ping-pong balls. You had to settle for taking 3 ptrs or long distance shots which likely just bounced off the rim.
His hands of rock in the post though really make it a pain. Most guys on this board are crying for Chuck's head for not being an offensive threat; Mutombo is 10 times worse LOL. That said, I'd much rather have Deke crashing the offensive boards than Hayes. While Hayes is a very good offensive rebounder already, Mutombo does have six inches on him.
That's one thing that you can't make up for with athletic ability. Height plain makes it hard to score on. Deke is good for putbacks and probably at a higher rate than Hayes.