CNNSI - Players who will exceed expectations (David Andersen)

And who will be starting in his place? Joey Dorsey? Pfffff...

 

Chuck...

 

Iｄon't think this is the right choice for rockets.

 

It usually takes international players some time to get acclimated. I expect Andersen to be like Scola in at least the first half of this season -- inconsistent, kind of lost.

 

The Hayes hype on this board is just way too much. As much of a great man-to-man defender Hayes is, he's not a help defender. He cannot patrol the paint. HE'S NOT A STARTING CENTER. PERIOD.

There's a reason why the team puts Scola at center when Yao is injured. And why Morey prefers Anderson as Deke's replacement over Hayes.

 

Can we give the guy a training camp and a month or two of NBA court time before passing judgement?

I have a feeling we will be pleasantly surprised by this guy and the whole team for that matter. He can shoot the mid range jumper with consistency, I don't care where you are playing and against whom, if you can shoot it you can shoot it. Rick will put him in positions to get his shot off and he will knock them down. The other guys will start to look for him once they see he can really shoot it. He will be a solid player for us and a good role player next to Yao and whoever that other 'star' player is.

 

Please point out when Scola started at center when Yao was injured. I don't remember that. Landry has never started over Chuck, meaning Scola never slid over to be the starting C. Unless I'm blanking out on that one.

After Yao went down in the playoffs last year, Adelman chose to start Chuck Hayes.

The plan is for Andersen to start. But if he's not up to speed by the time actual games begin, I believe Chuck Hayes will be plan B.

 

This makes DD cry.

 

And I need to add, this is just flat out wrong. Chuck Hayes is one of the best help defender bigs in the league. Not just once, but twice, Chuck has provided game winning help defense in the playoffs on a final defensive possession (against Portland, and a few years back against Utah).

I remember a game last season against the Hornets, when Chuck was huge in stopping Chris Paul's penetration into the lane. Rick Adelman even singled him out for it after the game (when asked about Luis Scola!):

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Rockets_Rebound_in_Big_Way-289541-34.html

 

durvasa makes great points. There will obviously be growing pains for Andersen, as there was for Scola. Andersen will become the type of offensive center that we saw on past Adleman teams.

After the dust settles, we will see Andersen start most games and, when the match-up dictates, the Chuck Wagon will start against opposing centers that need to be 'bodied-up'.

 

The Plan SHOULD be for Chuck Hayes to start and IF Anderson were to earn it, give him the starting job. Chuck starting against The Lakers was crucial in going to a 7th game and he drew a game winning charge against Portlan, so that in itself should make it his job to lose. They reward Trevor Ariza with a big contract after having a couple of good playoff series. They should reward Chuck with the starting job since he had a couple of good playoff series.

People act as if Anderson is this great find, much like Scola. I mean lets be serious here. The Spurs wouldn't have given up Scola if he fit their team. Popovich was not going to play him because he doesn't play defense. Scola would not start for every team in the NBA. He is in good with Adelman because Rick Adelman has never and will never be a defensive coach. Anderson would also not start on probably any other team in the league.

In all honesty though, I would not be surprised to see the starting lineup either by the All Star Break or even at the beginning of the year IF McGrady can play:

C-Scola
PF-Ariza
SF-Battier
SG-McGrady
PG-Brooks

 

Actually, he did for I think 2 games while Yao was out. He started at C against The Knicks and had 25-28 points and gave up 38 points to David Lee and somebody else who I can't remember. I made a post about it actually.

The guy is a disaster defensively at PF, I don't know what they were expecting at C

 

You're right, he started against the Pistons and Knicks last January. Rockets decided to play small against those small-ball teams.

 

Let's see what the Aussie can do.

 

Durvasa, andersen isn't close to scola as far as competing and toughness. If you remember and I know u do, scola missed a lot of mid range jimmy his rookie yr, but last yr he was on auto pilot ffom that range. I'm not hoping bad for the guy because he's a rocket, but like I said, I watched 20 games in a weekend with this guy and he's not what many think he is on this board. Think Sean Marks.

 

I expect him to struggle initially, regardless of how good he is. What he does after that would be total guesswork on my part (as I've never seen him play). You could be right. Or maybe the Rockets scouts are right, and he's something better than Sean Marks. We'll see.

 

Beat me to it.

I guess to some people "help defense" means shot blocking.

 

I don't think Ariza has any chance whatsoever against 80% of the PF in the league. Length and athleticism don't help much when you're giving up 40+ lb to the guy you're trying to guard. Ariza, from what I have seen, has trouble guarding stronger SF so he will get eaten alive in the paint.

I think Chuck's best shot of remaining the starter is for McGrady to come back healthy. McGrady got Chuck a lot of easy baskets plus having a real scorer at SG is going to make it easier to have less of an offensive threat at C (Hayes).

 

I agree. McGrady and Hayes work well together on the Pick & Roll game. I continue to harp on it though. Rick Adelman doesn't run pick & roll very often and both McGrady and Hayes suffer for it.

As for Ariza, I also agree. However, didn't The Lakers start him at Power Forward for a stretch? I could be wrong. That was when they started both Odom and Ariza. Then when they started Bynum, Gasol went to PF.

 

The Sean Marks comparisons are insulting - only because Marks
is a New Zealender.