I'm a long time reader, but rarely ever post. However, I feel compelled to post a defense of who I think is one of our most unappreciated players on the roster: Chuck Hayes. In almost prospective depth chart that has been posted, Chuck Hayes is considered the third to fourth big man off the bench. I think that there is something to be said for our rotation to include Hayes in more situations than people would think...I have him ahead of both Hill and Patterson in my ideal depth chart. I think because of the lack of offense that he provides, people begin to forget his importance (defense is never flashy). Because of this, people don't recognize his ability to be a shut down on the level of Battier, and his ability to guard the pick and roll with the best of them. This is a guy who has been a long term starter and a leader on and off the court. People talk about his diminishing effectiveness, but a lot of that had to do with Yao being gone, and Chuck being forced to playing out of position, in situations where he was an anchor rather than a team defender. I think with him being able to play more power forward next year, he's going to regain the effectiveness he had before last year. Situational insertion, certainly, but don't this guy out just because he's not good offensively. Defense is still one of the main priorities of improvement this season, let's not forget one of our best defensive players.
Not to mention our team no longer plays defense like it did just 2-3 years ago, with Adelman's system focusing more on offense, it would benefit our team to have a veteran with some defensive skills to go out and run the D, like another Battier, these two have to get pt imo for us to win...I see chuck shutting down pau in the wcf
everyone praises chucks defense as its lockdown but he is a situational player who is too short to play the 4 or 5 an entire game without becoming a liability with his dreadful offense. I don't think anyone under appreciates him, we all love chuck for what he brings in certain situations. If anything your overvaluing him and thats coming from someone who loves the chuck wagon... In conclusions unnecessary thread is unnecessary
He will always have a job in this league and on this team. He is one of our best defensive players and is a team captain. He earned it with his heart and work ethic. If he could develop a consistent mid range jumper, hit free throws and put the ball on the floor I would love him. I keep it real with myself, but I still really appreciate what chuck brings and brought for us last season in Yao's absence.
Kudos to Chuck Hayes... I'll never forget the time when Chuck had not played a single minute in a playoff game vs the Blazers and with less than 2 minutes left in the game...Rick subs in the wagon. Moments later in the clutch, Brandon Roy drives strongly to the basket. Only to be met by a planted Chuck Hayes. CHARGE! Rockets ball. Game Over.
I'm excited that he'll be returning to his role as situational defender. Not particuarly good as the every day center having to bang agaisnt 5's, but as the guy that can come in for 10 minutes to infuriate Dirk Nowitzki? I like..
even with brad miller in the roster, chucks would still get his mins, np. remember how he guarded KG, DIRK? wooha!
He's not a bad option for dirk, height doesn't really effect dirk too much (because of his behind the head moon orbit shot), it's really just a matter of never giving him easy buckets, if he hits those 15 footers, so be it really.
there is no way patterson or hill will be ahead of chuck in depth chart. last year was rough b/c of our lack of offensive options. we now have a more experienced brooks/lowry/ariza. martin with more time to grow with the team and a potentially healthy and strong yao. yao is the wildcard though. Barring any more offseason moves and our roster is set i think it will look like: Yao/Miller/ - each playing 25 mins tops - at least for the first 8 weeks. Scola/Hayes/Hill Ariza/Battier/Bud Martin/lowbrooks/bud/taylor brooks/lowry We have Anderson and Jefferies as insurance. Don't be surprised for Patterson to play some D-league to start. This is a good team as is and is missing 1 key piece. However, it's a very deep team that is set for the playoffs 55+ wins and WCF. Bottom line: Chuck is in for his lockdown D and amazing help defender skills.
Gotta love some Chuckwagon! He's been one of my favorite Rockets. What he doesn't have in height, he surely makes up in weight. He also has a nose for the ball for his size.
Feigen in his latest blogs: [rquoter] Miller's addition will likely return Chuck Hayes to his role as a power forward/defensive specialist. Odd to say, but the Rockets missed Hayes last season. It puts to mind a Bruce Springsteen tour many years ago when he was in his LA/Julianne Phillips/Human Touch/Lucky Town phase. I mentioned after the show that I missed Roy Bittan, the piano player from the E Street Band, which did not seem to make a lot of sense since Bittan was actually still with Springsteen on that tour, playing keyboards in that Shayne Fontaine version of the band. But I missed him, anyway. He was no longer in his previous role, featured and at times starring. Hayes was that way last season. As a starting center, he would have some good moments, but he needed all his defensive abilities to make up for the shortcoming of being so short. He sort of blended in to the mix. Even with all the extra playing time, he was missed at power forward, where he could enter the game when a Dirk Nowitzki or LaMarcus Aldridge was going nuts and the Rockets needed a defensive hammer. In some ways, that's an even tougher job, playing only when a great scorer is going great. The Rockets did not have that last season. It's a much smaller role. It does not come up every game. But it was, at times, valuable. With this week's move in the middle, the Rockets not only added Miller, they regained Hayes. [/rquoter]
it is amazing how many of us forgot about Hayes' abilities and automatically locked him at the end of the bench and had HILL and PATTERSON ahead of him in the depth chart... Shame on me! I think his effectiveness wore down as the season wore on due to that sore knee he was playing on...
...people might think I'm crazy, but I thought Chuck really has improved his finishing at the hoop a lot recently. He's still a limited offensive player, but he has notably done a better job and working the baseline a la Carl Landry and getting himself in a position for a high quality shot. If he were even a few inches taller, he would be soooooo much more effective.
His taking a charge from Deron Williams in the playoffs will go down in the annals of Rocket lore as one of the all-time epic plays.
