I was thinking about our 'bigs' rotation last year. Why didn't we use chuck more? Having chuck back up yao would have been an option?
Because Yao played a lot of minutes? When he plays around 35 min a game, that only leaves 13 min at center available.
When Chuck was starting with Yao (granted it was Chuck's earlier days), he was horrible on the offensive end. Teams would leave him alone and double Yao almost every possession. Combined Chuck with Shane, Rafer, you had 3 starters who really can't score. With Scola/Landry, we had a good PF rotation, so he was the odd man out who's only purpose was for special "defensive assignments" This year, he is showing flashes of not being afraid to score and its possible with Yao coming back, the Rockets will shorten Yao's minutes and Chuck may see more minutes because DA defense sucks.
Wow, how long are people going to keep this bull**** up? Teams double team Yao, period. They double him with Scola. This whole myth of The Rockets are playing "5-on-4" with Chuck in the lineup is so tired. When Yao started with Chuck, Chuck took the defensive pressure off of Yao. He kept him out of foul trouble by blitzing the guards and limiting penetration. On a miss, this allowed Yao to get easier rebounds because he didn't have to always come over an help when players penetrated the lane. And the opposing team didn't get many open looks from 3. With Scola/Yao, The Rockets give up a lot of open 3s because Yao has to come over to help in the lane, which leaves wide open shooters on the kickout. And if you want to talk stats, Yao averaged MORE points WITH Chuck Hayes than he has averaged with Luis Scola. And for the record, you want your best post player to be double teamed so it will open up the game for everyone else. McGrady also had a CAREER BEST 6.5 Assists Per Game starting with Chuck Hayes and scored 24.6 ppg to boot. When Yao comes back, Chuck should not be backing him up, Chuck should be starting along side him.
I feel like Adelman didn't really understand how good/smart Chuck is in close games or during big possessions. Once the playoffs rolled around and the screws started to tighten he made sure to have Chuck on the court as much as possible. I think even if Yao had not gone down and Deke not retired/injured we would still see more of Hayes on the court this season.
They demoted Hayes into a situational specialist. Same with Deke. It was just the direction Adelman went. Deep down Adelman knows and has stated numerous times how vital both Deke & Hayes were. They always came up big. He simply refused to go that rout on a regular basis. Philosophy. Simple as that.
ugh... with all due respect, this argument sounds so... unconventional... yes, Teams double team Yao, regardless who plays our Power Forward. But I hope you are not saying that with Chuck in, he is able to take advantage of Yao's double team as well as Scola does? When team double Yao, Scola is capable of making them pay. Hayes? Not so much. How is the 5-on-4 argument not valid then?
