Great article. It's a shame he doesn't get more wide recognition by the media. Recognition will come with success though, so unless the Rockets win a championship, Chuck won't get the recognition he deserves. Bruce Bowen was nowhere considered an elite perimeter defender until the Spurs won a couple championships and people saw what he could do on a grand stage. The same will go for Chuck.
I really hope Chuck's learned how to shoot free throws better because we're going to see a lot of hack-a-chuck this year. Teams were doing it to Ben Wallace to get his world-class defense off the floor. If Chuck keeps shooting 40% we're screwed.
He shoots less than a free throw per 40 minutes under Adelman. Even if he averaged 1 free throw attempt per game (unlikely), the difference between him going from 40% to 70% is just 0.3 points per game. I don't think that's going to save our season.
But it may salvage our dignity. How an NBA-caliber player could shoot free throws the way Chuck does is unbelievable.
If teams start hacking him, he'll take a lot more. At 40%, Chuck is going to have a lot of empty trips at the line, destroying our offense. That's the point of a hack-a-whoever, to force the other team's worst FT shooter to the line as much as possible.
Why does everyone always say that in a thread about Chuck? MrButtocks, the only way they would pull out hack a chuck is if he starts frustrating them defensively at the end of the game.
we're going to need chuck to be even better than what he has been in years' past. and hopefully he'll step up. maybe chuck will finally get those attention that he should have been getting.
I believe the impact of Chuck's low FT% is not so much the 0.3 points the team is missing, but rather in Chuck performing "defensive driving" in the post... he seems to be hurrying his shots in order to avoid getting fouled and the humiliation associated with FT shooting. I think his FGA and FTA per possession has declined as his FT% declined, and more important, as the "hitch" in his motion becomes more prominent. Whenever Chuck shoots FTs, he has a facial expression that looks like he is doing so without pants on and he just came out of a freezing pool.
Does anyone remember Chris Dudley's free throw. That thing was hideous as well... maybe worse looking than Chuck's. I tried to find it on YouTube a long time ago, but never could.
I think it's safe to say Chuck will be associated with the organization for a VERY long time. He does have a degree in Broadcast Journalism, after all.
Chuck, Scola, Battier, Ariza, AB. Morey is right, this team is better than people know. Landry, Lowry, Budinger, Andersen, Pops. I really like our team from top to bottom. It wouldn't surprise me if we only won 30% of our games, but I also wouldn't be surprised if we won 70% of them. Lots would have to break right for us to have a great season for sure, and Chuck being consistently dominant on defense is one of them. Another would be for him to be much improved, i.e. passable on the offensive end. And then AB will, of course, have to have a breakout season. Scola and Landry will also have to pick their games up a level. Ariza will have to make huge offensive strides. Budinger will have to contribute his first season in the league. Andersen will have to somewhat figure out NBA defense and quickly. Frankly our whole team will have to be stealth MVPs.
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