It's just a preseason game, but I think this quote from Adelman is telling. http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2009/10/rockets_124_raptors_112_a_hot.html [rquoter] Rick Adelman mentioned the obvious names and praised their play. You can easily fill in the blanks. The key, he said, was someone else. Take a guess. Don't skip down a paragraph. If you saw the game, the highlights, the box score, the game story or the notes, take a guess. Nope. It's Chuck Hayes. "The biggest guy was Chuck," Adelman said. "I put Chuck in the game in the third quarter to guard Bosh and he's our best defender, not only guarding Bosh, but suddenly the pick-and-rolls were not going so easily for them. He's such a tough guy for us, when we don't have him in the game, our defense isn't half as good." Bosh had 13 points in 16 minutes when Hayes came in the game. In the nine minutes they shared the floor, Bosh did not score. In Hayes' 10 minutes on the court, the Raptors made 7 of 23 shots (30.4 percent.) The rest of the game, they made 38 of 67 (56.7 percent). [/rquoter] We're going to struggle some nights defensively without a Yao or Mutombo to turn to against bigger teams. But when its all said and done, with players like Shane and Chuck still on the squad, I can't see us devolving into a bad defensive team. I think, somehow, we'll still manage to be top 10.
Chuckwagon works his tail off. The guy also knows what Shane needs from the team defense. Last year he was strong enough to keep Shaq out of the paint.
If Chuck was 3 inches taller would he be an even greater defensive player or will the extra height hurt his low center of gravity so that no one can back him down easily? I've wondered about that.
Chuck and shane truly are my two favorite Rockets right now. Those two put in the effort night in and out.. I do however wish their offensive capabilities would improve. Other than that, their attitudes are what I love to see on this Houston Rockets team.
Chuck Hayes may not have a position in any NBA team if our head coach was not Jeff Van Gundy back then. He definitely plays up to Coach's expectation since then.
Every coach he's played for loves what he brings. I think he would have found a place on some team. If Ryan Bowen can have a lengthy NBA career, so can Chuck.
Chuck definitely makes the game a little blacker when he comes in for either Andersen or Scola. So I agree he changes the complexion of the game.
I think Chuck give the game mad pimples when he comes in. Makes the game ugly, makes me wanna put a paper bag over the games face and bang it.
I don't know if he did mean 'complexity,' but I think it is true that Chuck coming in does make it harder for the other coach to figure out what to do. OTOH, it becomes less complex for the opposing coach when the Rox are on offense.
