link Like many here, I think its the correct decision to put Hayes back in the starting lineup. Looking at per-minute point differential for certain combinations of players on the season illustrates this (off48 is point scored per 48 minutes, def48 is points allowed per 48 minutes, net48 is point differential per 48 minutes). Starters w/ and w/o Chuck Code: [B]player combination min off48 def48 net48[/B] Alston-McGrady-Battier-Yao w/ Chuck 220 99.6 76.0 +23.6 Alston-McGrady-Battier-Yao w/o Chuck 204 104.3 94.6 +9.7 McGrady, Yao w/ and w/o Chuck Code: [B]player combination min off48 def48 net48[/B] McGrady-Yao w/ Chuck 248 98.6 80.0 +18.6 McGrady-Yao w/o Chuck 293 99.2 98.3 +0.8 Those numbers are kind of eye popping to me. Like JVG says, it's not about which players are the best but rather which players work the best together. It seems pretty clear that Chuck just works well with the starters.
I think Juwan can still be a valuable part of the roster. I expect JVG might trust him more (for better or worse) in the postseason. I'd be suprised if he doesn't get at least 25 minutes per game.
Juwans trade value wont suffer. most GM's saw how well he steppedup in yao's absence. Yao's return is good not only for hayes, but for tracy and alston. yao is the piece that will put us over the top. i cant see any center stopping him in the playoffs. he will dominate big time. only center currently that can be considerd in he's league is the current motivated shaq. shaq is beasting in Wade's absence.
I've said from day 1 of this season that Juwan would be serviceable to this team and I still stand by that now that Yao has come back. A Mutumbo/Howard second unit combo would be nice.
I can look at those numbers and appreciate what Hayes brings...but the Rox are going to go nowhere in the playoffs facing Brand, Boozer, Amare, Duncan, Dirk with Hayes leading the charge against those guys. Sorry, not going to happen. The one thing I have maintained in all my hatred for J HO, is that he does have the fundamentals of D down enough to not get destroyed nightly by those guys. He may be slow footed but he wont be out of position much, and he wont get posted mercilessly. And he can drag them out of the paint putting up the Elbow shot. Just my opinion.
Wow... eye popping stuff indeed. Thanks for sharing durvasa. But the thing I'm really curious about is how do we value Chuck's contribution contract-wise this summer?
Problem is that Jho is a post player same as Yao, their offensive games are redundant and of course you want Yao to be on the floor more then Jho. Hayes is the lunch pail dirty worker guy that Yao needs beside him. Yeah it seems that Hayes is outsized against the talented ladened 4's in the West but i'm still optimistic that it won't be that much of a mismatch in the playoffs.
The double-digit scoring from Hayes is very surprising. Almost David Lee-like in those 3 games. Holy moly that's some impressive points allowed on D numbers and point differential. Credit to JVG for realizing the working combo (though numbers like that make it an obvious move) Chuck Hayes never stood out to me as a guy making an impact, even though its evident he's working hard and always active. The more I see him though is the more I get it and understand how valuable he is, and am big time appreciating his contributions. Not sure why I took so long to warm up to him, considering my style of ball is very similar to Chucks- undersized but getting by on activity, offensive boards setting screens, scoring primarily from receiving passes while cutting, and ESPECIALLY the blown layups
We'll have Chuck's early bird rights, so that means we can offer him up to the MLE without touching the other exceptions.
Chuck Hayes is our modern version of the original Chucky. No one thought he was much either, but he was a big factor in our second championship.
most likely Rockets won't be able to spend over 1.5 million on hayes if they want to re-sign deke/hayes and then use the mle to add a free agent since they'll be restricted by the luxury tax threshhold.
How many elbow jumpers does Yao take? When Yao is in the game, JH becomes a jump shooter and his post game goes away. They fit together fine on offense, it's defense where Yao & JH have most of their problems.
Maybe, but Juwan has demonstrated he can still contribute. I might even be okay with Juwan being our backup again next year if that means we can draft a point guard this season instead of a power forward. I think pg is our glaring weakness. Chuck/Juwan can get it done on the boards.
We need to keep developing out young players like Chuck Hayes. Hayes is JVG favorite, even though it's only his 2nd year.
You think Chuck can still develop? I don't know about that... he may have reached near his peak already. His prime stats may be, IMO: 7 Pts, 8 Rbs, 1 Stl. Maybe he will develop driving to the basket... he was doing that some in the Nets game. I don't think he'll ever develop a jumpshot though.
I would hope that he can develop a 15 foot jump shot...but maybe it is good that he doesn't have one, and continues to dive to the hole. DD
Hey wait, we all know that JVG can't develop young players and won't play them anyway. Lets not create some type of cognitive dissonance regarding that JVG myth...
