[Chron] Rockets Camp Report: Ron gets physical with Chuck, gives everyone a gold star

With Scola, a healthy/athletic Landry and the concept of playing Ron Ron at PF, Chuck's prospects for floor time are very limited. I like having him on the team because he's a good practice player and brings a useful skill to the table: Defense. But he won't be playing very often.

BTW, thanks for letting me back in the GARM.

 

Chuck weakness are both perception and real on the offensive end. Chuck does miss a good share of his open layups but he also gets himself in position for those layups better than most people which is why his shooting percentage is so high. I don't really have any problems with that other than an a occasionally curse word during a game.

The real liability for Chuck is that he has no jumpshot or post moves so other teams can totally sag off of him in pick and roll situation. The only thing stopping Hayes from being a full time starter in this league is a respectable jumpshot. He develops a jumpshot like Brand or Boozer, he would be a full MLE type guy.

 

I agree 100%.

 

I don't see this happening even close. Shane and Artest will be splitting minutes at the 3 (that's already 24 minutes) and the rest will probably be from giving T some time off (Barry will only play a couple minutes per game till PO).

also chuck has proven to play good def on bench centers as well

 

Once Battier gets back in the full swing of things, I expect Adelman will use him and Artest together at the forward spots for significant stretches. Also, Chuck's biggest strength -- his ability to switch defensively from post up players to perimeter players -- is well covered by Artest. As much as I hate to say it I don't see Chuck getting many minutes this year, barring injury.

 

Here are some interesting news on T-Mac and Francis from that same article:

 

I'm glad to hear of this postive relationship forming between Artest and Hayes, even if it just keeps opponents from laughing at Chuck Hayes freethrow shot, it's a plus.

 

This so true. A lot of people dont understand, or just dont realize what skills he brings to this team. He is an important situational player.

 

So you think when Shane and Ron Ron are on the floor together it will be mostly as PF/SF instead of SF/SG? I'm not so sure about that. Perhaps they will be paired most often when Tracy is resting and one slides to SG. If it turns out Ron Ron can defend and rebound against taller PFs for "significant stretches" as you say, the Rockets will be very tough to defend. Most PFs have little chance of stopping him.

 

The Rockets gain nothing from playing Artest and Battier together at the forward spots. The entire point of going small is to put more offensive weapons on the floor, because in theory, most smaller perimeter players are more potent than lumbering traditional big guys. It doesn't work in our case. Both Scola and Landry are light years superior to Battier offensively, so the notion is counterintuitive.

 

In the 4th quarter of a close game, I think Adelman is going to often value Battier's superior team defense and 3-point shooting over what Scola and Landry bring. If we take Yao, McGrady, and Artest as a given in the 4th quarter, then I think we'll see quite a bit of Battier in there as well. Of course it may not be technically correct to say that Battier and Artest are the "forwards" while T-Mac is the guard. I guess defensive matchups would dictate that.

 

Not at the SM position. Artest would be guarding powerforwards dude. Ahha, but you forgot about that though, huh?

 

Don't forget there will be some minutes to share for those guys at 5, since they plan to keep Yao's minutes down.

 

Chuck Hayes is a better player than either Outlaw or Evans.......period. It's not even close. And for anyone to suggest that Evans is a smarter player than Hayes, that's plain ludicrous.

 

thanks!

No problem on the seeding. As long as they are on my computer I am more than willing to open them up.

 

yeap, for his "ability" at the free trow line, i keep him at the team for years to come.

If he develops a jumpshot like brand, he be much more than a full MLE, he be brand lite. Thats like 8-9m of talent there.



On his ability to guard quicker players, i remember last season where he cant defend west. On his ability to defend, his like top 10 pf in the league, but his offense is like last 10 on the entire roster. If only he can add some 4-5 inch to his vertical, where he can dunk instead of laying up. I be so happy for him.

 

Cutting Yao's playing time by 3-4 mins/game won't help Chuck very much. More likely Landry will get extra minutes as Scola slides over to C.

 

I think Hayes over came the odds to make it, but many or some put his value to a team higher than it should like Battier. Hayes is a situational sub and if the rox thought as highly about him as on this board, they wouldn't have been drafting and trading for his position over the last 2 yrs. For those that said Outlaw wasn't a really good defender, ask Francis or any other guard whom Outlaw has run a 1 man press after a made bucket. Evans is just as poor offensive player, but he's basically a 10 reb guy.

 

Nah. He still wouldn't be able to put the ball on the floor and wouldn't demand a double team ever. Opposing teams just wouldn't dare him to shoot anymore. He would be a full MLE player.