Scola is a player you can build a championship team WITH. He is a player you can fit pretty much any offense and defense with. So efficient, so useful and so cheap . Unlike other star players (or ex star players) like McGrady and Yao, where you have to build a team ON. Love Scola, would love to know how JVG would've played him (not saying JVG > RA).
Tired of seeing that after this guy show of leadership and guts, we are crying all over the board about how yao is not involved and trying to demonize scola for stealling the show of him, and now we have a new one saying that scola flops all the time. Common sense says this. A second year PF is leading a quite veteran team in the Playoffs, Artes showed he can follow him, and so did the guards and Yao Ming, because the difference with those guys and the guys writing here, is that they now Scola is the best for the Rox to win, and some guys here, just want their guys to get the numbers. MUCHO HUEVO LUISITO!!! show em the door!!
That man was on fire yesterday and it always makes me laugh that we got him for this guy. The only thing Spanoulis every did was come on the screen at the Toyota Center and teach you a word in ****ing Greek. But I think Scola teaching Spanish is funnier. DE-FENS-A. They need to come up with with teach Luis English. Just joking
Scola is a beast. A hairy beast who is a really damn good PF. I'm glad he's a Rocket. You should see how much they hate him on the blazer's forum. It's good to finally have one of those guys on our team.
Scola's AWESOME this series. All the hustle. All the defense. I love the hairy guy. But the question is.... doesn't he get hot under all that hair while running as hard as he does??? Luis is not only a winner, he is a true BEAST!!!! theSAGE
luis brings it love him thats why i started this thread great TEAM win tonight lets close these young blazers out
Just noticed that right now Luis is our leading scorer in the Series at 16.8 Followed by Brooks at 16.5 and Yao at 15.8. Great balanced offense by the rox with other 3 players averageing between 14 and 10 points. (Artest, Wafer and Battier)
OLEEEE!! OLE! OLE! OLEEEE!! SCOOOLAAAA!!! SCOOOLAAAA!!!! (That should be the new scola chant at rockets games! just a thought)
this guy is a TRUE PROFESSIONAL, he works hard and is a REALLY REALLY good player. he does every little thing. pass rebound, defend, shoot, score. he is a GREAT player without athleticism. (shane battier and chuck hayes are true professional that works hard) btw i think the rockets have the nicest and most humble team in the NBA.
Very nice piece about the mind-meld between Luis and Yao on the court, in particular, and the other role players during the series - Houston's Figure Four April 27, 2009 3:44 AM Posted by Kevin Arnovitz After getting burned by Yao Ming for seven field goals in the first quarter of Game One, Portland has shifted its defensive course, devoting a lot more attention to Yao ever since. For most of the past three games, Portland has deployed what Doug Collins referred to Sunday night as a "sandwich” – one defender fronting Yao (usually Portland's center, Joel Przybilla or Greg Oden), and one playing behind him on the block (usually the power forward, LaMarcus Aldridge). Even when that sandwich has been open-faced, Aldridge hasn't veered too far away from Yao down low. The strategy has allowed the Blazers to contain Yao reasonably well (14 FGMs in the past 15 quarters), but it puts a lot of pressure on the rest of Portland's defense. With Steve Blake picking up Aaron Brooks as the Rockets get into the offense, that leaves only two Portland defenders to essentially zone up on the remaining three Rockets -- one of which is Houston's power forward, Luis Scola (and his backup, Carl Landry). Scola and Landry teamed up for ten buckets Sunday night, the majority of which were the direct result of Portland's defensive focus on Yao. This left the Houston 4s to find space and opportunities on the floor to make the Blazers pay. Here's a sampling of the kinds of shots Scola was able to get and convert Sunday night: [1st Quarter, 3:54 mark] This basket occurs in transition, but it still gets to the heart of the dynamic with Yao. On the defensive end, Yao pokes the ball away from Greg Oden on the left block. This ignites the break for Houston. Incredibly, Yao is the first man down the court for the Rockets, and he's open for business on the right block before the Blazers defense can get set. Brandon Roy is the first on the scene. He covers the entry angle into Yao until Portland's big men arrive on the scene. Roy's presence is enough to deter Aaron Brooks, who opts to pass the ball off to a trailing Ron Artest. There have been several instances during this series when, guided by my own prejudice, I assume Artest will muck up a perfectly good opportunity with an ill-advised chuck, but he's been relatively temperate. To that effect, Artest wisely returns the ball to Brooks in the right corner. Both Oden and Aldridge have caught up to the play, and both frantically find Yao as Brooks slings a baseline pass into Yao beneath the basket. Unfortunately for the Blazers, neither big man accounts for Scola, who is left by himself on the left block. Scola makes it easy for Yao, by diving to the rack. Yao hits him on arrival for the layup. There are plenty of third/fourth offensive options in the league whose livelihoods depend on the disproportionate amount of attention given to their star teammates, but few tandems have developed the telepathy that Yao and Scola have over the past few months. Since Tracy McGrady's departure from the Rockets' lineup this winter, Scola has mastered the art of understanding precisely where he should be to take maximum advantage of Yao's presence -- not only in the halfcourt, but even on the break. Credit Yao for knowing how to capitalize on Scola's resourcefulness. [3rd Quarter, 6:43 mark] The trap on Yao doesn't always come from the Blazers' 4. Here, Travis Outlaw -- who is covering Artest -- joins Joel Przybilla to trap Yao along the right side of the baseline. They've got Yao locked up and will get a hard-earned defensive stop if they can sustain the heat. Battier is directly behind Yao in the right corner, guarded by Roy. That leaves Steve Blake and Aldridge to patrol the rest of the court. It's a gamble by Portland. You admire the pressure they're applying by smothering Yao in the baseline, but their tactic doesn't come without risk. Sure enough, Scola darts his way over toward Yao, then squeezes past Blake to set up beneath the right edge of the backboard. Scola is now in position to be on the receiving end of a treacherous pass from Yao along the baseline. Aldridge contests Scola's layup attempt, but Scola dekes him with a little upfake. The Yao-Scola symbiosis is evident again. [3rd Quarter, 3:47 mark; 4th Quarter, 6:37 mark] Houston doesn't have a lineup of dynamic scorers who can create shots out of thin air. When the Rockets succeed in halfcourt, it's generally because they work the margins of a possession -- "take what the defense gives 'em," in the parlance of color commentary. It's unlikely that Portland wants Luis Scola shooting open jumpers from 17 feet (whereas they're probably okay with Ron Artest launching from 25 with a defender in close proximity). They've made a calculation based on two undesirable choices: Guarding Yao one-on-one underneath, or giving Scola more room than he should rightfully have. These two buckets are near-perfect illustrations of the price the Blazers are paying. Both come fairly early in the possession, at :15 and :20 on the shot clock respectively. The first comes on a drive-and-dish initiated by Aaron Brooks. Aldridge has opted to stick closer to Yao (directly underneath) than to Scola (along the baseline to the right side). As Brooks enters the lane, he kicks the ball over to Scola, who nails the open 17-footer. It's difficult to fault Aldridge here, because he's abiding by Portland's defensive strategy. The same holds true in the fourth quarter on an inbounds play. The Blazers are sandwiching Yao along the baseline. The ball goes into Battier, who wastes no time in passing it over to Scola at the top of the key. There isn't a Blazer in close proximity to contest Scola. If Houston ultimately prevails in this series, Scola's ability to hit the open 15-to-18 foot jumper that Portland is ceding him will be among the primary factors. So far, Scola has drained 14 of his 27 shot attempts from mid-range. It would be unfair to ignore Carl Landry's fourth quarter basket at the 2:30 mark that gives the Rockets a four-point lead. Much like Scola, Landry finds himself unmanned by the Blazers, and flashes to the top of the key where he gets an identical pass from Battier. Landry's shot is huge -- as are Scola's -- and it goes to underscore how important the 4 is in the Rockets' offense. So long as Yao serves as the focal point of the opposing defense, Houston's power forward is in the spotlight. How well he cuts, shoots, and uses all that open space the defense gives him will go a long way toward determining how far into spring the Rockets will be playing this year. http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-133/Houston-s-Figure-Four.html
Scola appreciation thread I looked for the last Scola appreciation thread and was not able to find it so i thought i'd go ahead and make a new one. I just loved the way Scola faught against the Lakers. In game two, for the most part, the Lakers went after the heart of the Rockets which was Scola. They threw Walton, Odom, and Sasha, to fight him mentally but he never backed down. Its as if they realized that the engine was Scola and went to knock it down which then would have a pinball effect and knock the rest of the teams heart out. I felt bad for Scola bc no one really had his back except Landry who was sometimes there to stand by his side when the Lakers attacked him. I really wish that Morrey extends him soon and that Scola spends his whole career in houston bc he is my favorite player. To Scola!
Hey, thats a good nick name... and with the Argentine uniform he does look like the beast. Luis "the beast" Scola
Scola is the most consistent player in the Rockets bench. If you watch him in the post, he has some sick post moves and can score easily most of the time. Yao Ming has nothing on Scola down in the paint. Yao is a better shooter, but Scola does everything. He hustles, does the right thing and doesn't play dirty.
