Does anyone think that Luis Scola should have more of a playmaking role on offense ? Seeing Houston Rockets games, I realise that Luis Scola scores most of his points by putbacks and by dishes from other players. He scores pretty well, considering that he does not have any plays run for him, where he can create for himself. Now that Yao is out, T-Mac is basically the sole playmaker on this team. He still manages to involve his teammates very well. But since he isn't nearly as explosive and has an erratic jumpshot, he struggles to score efficiently. He also struggles to go to the FT line, which in my opinion puts him a tier below Kobe, Lebron and maybe even Dwyane Wade. Back to my original point, Having seen Scola play in Vitoria and on the national team, I know his offensive abilities. In my opinion he has a top 10 back-to-basket game in the NBA. He posseses great agility, ball handling, court vision and touch around the basket. It is hard to compare him to any current NBA player, because he plays in a very unique way. Currently, his role on the Rockets does not perfectly suits his abilities. He is basically a finisher and garbage man. Considering that this is a totally new role for him, I am very suprised and satisfied that he is able to as good as he does. Especially with Yao Ming out, I'd definitely propose that Scola should have more plays for him where he can operate one on one in the high or lowpost and be a playmaker from this position and find the open or cutting player. With TMac, shooters like BJax, Battier and Head and finishers like Landry around Scola, he could operate one on one in the post and if he gets doubled he is easily able to punish them with his abilty to pass it to the above mentioned guys. But this hardly happens, which I think has to change, if this team wants to make run in the playoffs especially with Yao out.
Scola has had more opportunities to create baskets for himself since Yao went down. I don't think he's a top 10 back to the basket player. He has some nice twisting, up-and-under moves, but he lacks the size, strength, and athleticism to be a consistent low post threat at the PF/C position. If we tried to force the offense through him, I expect his FG% would drop and his turnovers would significantly increase. It might also impact his ability to make hustle plays when rebounding and playing defense.
scola never finishes strong he always does those twisted layups to avoid the defender and usually ends up missing the layup. Hes not as atheletic as Mandry to go over and dunk it on the defender. If he would actually go towards through the defender instead of around he would finish alot more of his layups and at least get to the line. I have only seen Scola dunk once this whole year.
Scola doesn't finish at the rate that he should be finishing, and he also puts his head down when he dribbles which is the cause for the unnecessary turnovers he keeps giving
Could Scola hit his FT and his open jumper with more consistency? When Scola is on, he hits 8/9 open jumpers. When Scola is off, his jumpers dont hit the rim. There nothing wrong about Scola's FT form or release. But I think Scola is just too casual before shooting the ball.
I would like to see him get into more of a rythm offensively. He mainly shoots 15 footers, putbacks and assisted layups. Him posting up and getting a better feel for it, will pay dividends come playoff time - although he really needs to cut down on the turnovers. He may well be better served to come off the bench as a changeup to the T-Mac/Landry show. We can surround him with cutters like BJax and Head, and run an inside-out offense with him posting up and passing out of double teams. And if you haven't noticed, he routinely gets double teamed when he receives the ball in the post.
I actually believe that his post up moves are beyond fundamentally sound which in this days NBA, puts him in the top ten. But I'll agree that his athleticism and moreover, his slow dribble moves expose him to weak side and even primary defensive assignments which in-turn will increase his turnovers and hurt the offense overall. I do hold out hope that these issues can be mitigated as he acclimates to the nba style defenses. But, that's not happening in the last 2 months of the season. It will probably take this off-season to develop some stand quick-step moves to get him into his comfortability zone and allow him to show off his fundamentals.
I believe Scola will be very good next season. The NBA is different from any kind of basketball being played anywhere in the world, and Rick's offense is not the easiest to learn.....Him and Mandry should make for a very good tandem next season, with a season and a summer for total acclamation to the NBA and what Rick needs, along with their abilities, SHOULD make for a fun season next year, barring any major injuries. (which seems not to even be an option for this ball club)
The problem with Scola in the post is when players don't go for his pump fakes and wait for him to go up. He doesn't have that great of a vertical and players his size can block his shot.
Scola is a lot like Duncan in that you don't see anything flashy. He quietly racks up the rebounds and the points. Before you know it, he's got a double double.
scola does have problems finishing but that's a separate issue from his post moves which are impressive even for the NBA. OP makes a valid point about there being utility in exploring scola's passing more on offensive sets. that's something that RA might consider as for scola not finishing. that's entirely a byproduct of the adjustment to the NBA. no where in the world are guys as quick and athletic in the NBA. even a world class athlete like scola needs time to adjust and figure out much he can do. the hardest thing for college and international players is getting used to the speed and vertical game of the NBA a lot of things that would be dunks or open shots are blocks in the NBA. scola did try to go up hard a number of times earlier this season and preseason only to be blocked. when he misses layups it's because guys got there quicker than he anticipated or mid shot, defenders are already in the air to block and he needs to adjust. that kind of stuff will only get better as scola plays. every miss is a learning experience he wont repeat. by next year finishing wont at all be an issue. of course you can say by comparison that landry doesn't seem to be suffering from any adjustment period. that's what makes landry so special. it's rare you get a rookie come able to finish like he does consistently... even more impressive is how landry finishes with contact. scola wont ever play above the rim like landry but he'll be an extremely consistent finisher around the rim in time. if you watched him in international ball what is amazing about him is the fact that scola's actually only exploiting a portion of his arsenal. as good as he is, he has a huge amount of upside
