Good point Lou.. and coach A is doing a good job of gradually bringing the other 2 a long. Having a 3 head monster is not a bad deal.. Different situations will call for different rotations. T_Man
All this love for a no offense undersized defensive specialist is the remnants of the Evil JVG One Dimensional Empire. Defensive specialists are typically sitting on the end of bench getting sporadic minutes or backup minutes at best, unless their names are Dennis Rodman, Dikembe Mutombo or Ben Wallace!!!
I think even though Hayes is not good offensively, he is useful and can contribute against certain teams in the league. Hayes is a very good defensive player. However, when we play teams that very strongly offensively and likely to score alot (more than 100pts), Scola and Landry should be more useful because we need the offensive power to match them. It's difficult to stop or depends on defense alone against these fast and offensively potent teams such as GSW or phoenix.
Alright. I don't think it proves any such thing. In my opinion, our PF position has played pretty well for us this season. They aren't putting up big scoring numbers collectively, but overall I think they're making a solid contribution. And Hayes is a key part of that. To strengthen that point, 82games shows that our PF collectively have a higher PER than the opposing PFs, and that doesn't factor in the strong team defense we're getting from Chuck (and, increasingly, Scola). I agree with you on Golden State, because that's not the kind of team we'd be able to stop consistently anyways due to the matchups. I do think Chuck can be valuable against a team like the Suns, because they rely so heavily on the pick and roll. In my opinion, Chuck's our best pick and roll defender.
It's funny how you never hear the term "offensive specialist". For some reason, simply being a very good all-around defensive player / rebounder makes you one dimensional, while being a good all-around offensive player and poor defender doesn't. I never really got that.
I think Scola is right there with Chuck on PnR defense, I like how Scola attacks on the high side and traps the ball and then once that player has either reversed his dribble, stepped back or moved away he recovers to his man...very effective. Hayes should play, but I would rather Scola get the lions share, Landry and Hayes should play about equal.....at this point. DD
Scola has definitely improved, but I remember a couple games ago (don't quite recall the opponent) he twice allowed the offensive player to split through. Hayes offers some more versatility because he can show and recover, or switch on to the smaller player. And I think switching on pick and rolls tends to be the most effective strategy, if you have the personnel to pull it off.
You are right he is much quicker....I like Chuck Hayes, but man.....Landry looks good...so much athleticism...and Scola is wonderful to watch...so court savvy. Hayes....is great on D...but his offensive game....OMG...yeck. DD
According to a Chinese report, Yao is proclaiming that the Rockets have found his backup -- Mr. Carl Landry. I was quite surprised to hear that because to me Landry isn't even strong enough to defend opposing PFs. I thought he looked smaller than Hayes (in bulk) even he is listed at 6'7" (vs 6'6" for Hayes). So I looked up his measurements in last year's pre-draft camp measurements. To my surprise he was measured at 6'7.75 w/o shoes, 6'8.5 with. That changed my perception quite a bit. Maybe he is big enough as a PF, or even backup Yao a bit depending the matchup.
I'm hoping Landry can be something like Paul Millsap for the Jazz. Great energy, rebounding, and finishing. Size is overrated these days, in my view. Landry can get by as a center against most teams.
http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2008-01-21/09443431181.shtml Yao was so happy that Landry played so well against Spurs. He said Landry's rebounding and explosiveness around the basket makes him no longer worry about who's going to back him up.
Have you heard Steve Nash? Nash is a great all-around offensive player and poor defender, do you think he is one dimensional? I can say that most good all-around offensive player and poor defender are not one dimensional, and most good all-around defensive player / rebounder and poor offensive player are one dimensional. You can tell it from their salary. Hope this help. .
Why?? Because defense is arbitrarily defined as one all-encompassing dimension, while offense is deemed multi-dimensional? That doesn't make it right.
I'm sure someone has already pointed it out, but Hayes isn't just a "solid rebounder", he is a damn good one. He is without question, IMO, the best 1-on-1 defender on the team. ... That said, yeah, Scola does bring more to the table. I'm not completely sold on Landry being a solid rotation player yet, but I think it's clear he needs some more time to see what he's really got.
