Luis = Most important player

He was comparing him to Landry.

 

My bad. I thought it was Luis vs Chuck.

 

I think the vast majority of us would agree McGrady is our most important player and we can't win without him. However, I was considering DaDa's question in terms of McGrady being a given and which one of our role players is the most important player. We all know that if McGrady is healthy we have a chance and if McGrady is not healthy we have NOCHANCE. However, if McGrady is healthy, we still have NOCHANCE if Rafer doesn't hit his shots and Scola gets into foul trouble. Outside of McGrady being injured the next most important factors to our team's success this postseason is going to come down to Rafer's shooting and Scola's foul troubles. That's why they combined are the most important players.

The other thing that we have noticed about McGrady this year is the teams resilancy when he is out of the lineup. I know Seattle is garbage, but we blew them away without him or Yao. You have to acknowledge that when McGrady is out and we've got to rely on the boys, that the balls moves so much better and we as a team are actually tougher to defend in a lot of respects........once again as long as Scola is not in foul trouble and Rafer is effectively hitting shots. Now, I do not believe that this will hold true for the playoffs as better, more athletic, faster, smarter teams go up against us. So McGrady is important if not from the standpoint he is a good basketball player with great vision and great size. Without him we are very, very small and we are in trouble making plays since he is our primary crunch time playmaker.

In my opinion, the differences between Adelman and McGrady have to come to a head this offseason. Adelman's system is predicating on not relying on one guy to make every play. Adelman's system is predicated on sharing the basketball and moving the basketball and a true team focus that decreases the risk of having one or two big stars that are relied on constantly to make a vast majority of the plays. Adelman's system is designed such that if a couple players get hurt, other players can step in and take up the slack. Adelman's system is designed to minimize the loss of superstars due to injury and to keep the team playing at a high level no matter who is out. His system is designed to keep the team afloat even with multiple injuries. McGrady handling the ball 90% of the time and the play ALWAYS being predicated on him creating something with the ball when he is in the game IS NOT Adelman's system. Adelman's system is predicated on putting 5 guys in a position that any of them can beat you and to cause defenses nightmares by trying to figure out who to guard and help on.

Barkley is right. McGrady is a ball stopper. It's not that he shoots all the time. He doesn't. He's unselfish in that regard. Where McGrady has missed it this season is being selfish in regarding to stepping out of the play and using himself as a decoy to help create space for the other guys to make a play without him. McGrady won't do that. He won't go down the sidelines and spot up. He won't let Rafer/Brooks/BJax handle at the top and run around like RIP making cuts and just being another cog in the offense. If he would do that and truly accept his role in the Adelman offense, then this team would go to the next level.

And frankly, this is where Scola is shining in the Adelman offense. He's a guy with a multiplicity of skills, he's got the post moves, he's got the jumper, he's got the ability to move without the ball, he's got the ability to pass, he's got the ability to take whatever the defense give him, throw it out to the corner, or dribble drive and pass off, throw it out to the open 3 point shooter up top if he gets doubled, or take his man to the paint and twist and turn himself into a pretzel getting around his defender, and he has the ability to go find space, fill it up, and create space for others, then turn around and cut to the rim to receive and finish, not just stand around waiting to receive the basketball.

Mcgrady, for all his greatness, and he is most definitely a great player, should be leading in all the things that Luis is leading in, not standing around "proud of my guys" for doing all those things. He's gotta do them too and more and better to remain the leader of this team. Otherwise, Adelman's system is going to pass him by and make him not nearly as effective.

Rafer's shooting becomes so critical because of McGrady constantly handling, creating the obvious double off Rafer and forcing Rafer into that role. Rafer is not a shooter, that's just all we can say. Dude has gone over and beyond trying to make himself a shooter, he has improved by leaps and bounds, he's done everything he could possibly do. It's not his fault. He's just not a gifted shooter. McGrady oughta be able to realize that and work more in Adelman's offense to allow Rafer and the rest of the guys to penetrate and do other things besides stand around and shoot it after McGrady takes all the credit for drawing a double. (That is where McGrady is selfish. He either wants to score the ball or get the assist. That is what we called a stat hog when I played 20 years ago.)

Adelman's offense is putting guys out there that can can pass and dribble and shoot and finish. When you control the ball 90% of the time, and you force guys into a single role, then you are limiting the options of the offense and in limiting the options you are limiting the effectiveness of the offense most of the time. Your stat sheet may look amazing, but it's not boosting the team like it should.

So, in one sense, Luis could be the most important player, because he seems to be one of the few that truly understands that he has options and how to take advantage of them the most by taking whatever the defense is giving him on that particular play.

 

T-Mac is hands down the most important. Scola and Battier are a toss up for 2nd most important. Both Scola and Battier do all the little things that don't show up in the box score. Without T-Mac in the wild west, the rockets would be lottery bound.

 

^^ thread closed.

 

I was thinking about this the other day, in fact, I wrote in a thread that Scola is the only one on the team that has won a championship (actually a MVP). That's something. I expect him to elevate his game when the playoffs start. Last year many Rockets de-elevated their games with a predictable result. Yao became a turnover machine, Rafer couldn't hit the gym wall, Luther either, and TMac despite a few sterling performances was very inconsistent. I expect Scola to be solid when the dance starts. Hopefully, the other players learned from last season. Hustle, attitude, determination are key in the playoffs. Scola has them all.

 

Hayes is a premier defensive player. Luis is a pretty good offensive player, but he's a not a "9". What would Boozer or even David West be on offense in your book? A 14?

 

Disagree. The Rockets will probably play better TEAM BALL definitely but you gotta have a go to guy to make it work in the long run. Teams will eventually figure the team out without double teaming anobody. Plus McGrady is more irreplaceable as we have no one one the bench that is even close to his skillset. Scola goes out and we still have Landry and Hayes. I also think you overate Scola's defense which is pretty good IMHO.

 

The best player is ALWAYS the most important player. Or else he should not be called the best.

If you mean Scola is the most important ROLE player, then I might agree with you, although there is a guy named Battier who's pretty important too.

 

Scola and Battier both are solid team players.
Having two of them creates something special.
Especially when both are doing well offensively.
They are team.

Since Scola is the newer addition it looks like he is most important,
but I think its the combination. And don't forget Landry, Hayes, Rafer, Head, etc... they all get on board when things start rolling. Even our superstars get on board, onto a chemistry that is "team" that Scola and Shane, I think, are the lynchpin of.

And to address the question, how could a mere "team" player be more important than a superstar? Well... consider Rudy Gay vs Battier, or Kevin Durant vs Scola. I don't think JVG is the only person who understands the importance of Battier and Scola. That we won 22 wasn't as much as a fluke as people think. It was a blue collar streak, and it was done by blue collar players.

And another thing about the team player vs the superstar. There is a built in bias against the superstar in this thread, intended or not.
Scola and Shane, b/c they have more modest game domination skills, i.e. they can't take over a game by themselves, we see their fate as tied to the team's fate; whereas our superstars seem to almost have an independent existence b/c the are good enough to kinda act independently. So, we sort of pigeon hole our superstars into not being team players simply because they are so good.

The more I think about it, Scola, I'd say, is our best all around team player. And the more I think about it, the more I agree that he is the most important player on the team. I see what you are getting at. Scola is a winner. If basketball is a game of ups and downs, Scola contributes the most to keep us most often on an up IMO.

 

you've gotta be kidding me. maybe im just not clear what the object of "no chance" is in your statement, but if its winning basketball games, i think the rockets have a better chance with tmac/no scola than with scola/no tmac.

your statements are all over the place but if what you're really trying to say is the luis scola is our most important addition this year (besides adelman) then i agree 100%. if you're saying luis scola is our most important role player, then i'll disagree (shane and rafer are both just as important for different reasons) but say you have a credible argument.

but if you're saying that this team would win more games with scola, without tmac, than we would win with tmac, without scola, then i say you're out of your mind. we won one game with scola/without tmac. how many games has tmac won over the years without a scola on his team? this team i definitely equipped to handle losing mcgrady, but thats a credit to adelman. we probably could've beaten seattle without tmac, yao, and scola.

 

jopatmc...all I can say is...wow. you nailed it on the head right there.

Great post.

Everybody should read that. End of discussion.

 

No why Tmac hasn't had a back problem this year?

Because Luis Scola & Carl Landry have been the "backbone" of this team. Tmac wins a couple of games by himself for the team occasionally, but the beast "ScoLandry" and our relentless defense are what wins us games on a consistent basis.

 

Fixed...sigh.....

 

A team where Scola thrives is a good team.
A team where TMac thrives is any team in the NBA who hands him the ball.

And thats no dig on TMac. Its just I think something akin to the point that DD was making.

The player closest to the "heart of the team" might very well be the most important player. To me, Battier and Scola are that. And Scola a bit more than Battier.

Interesting discussion.

 

Because he went to a bodyworker who gave him arches in his feet.