One thing I'm extremely impressed with Scola, is his endurance throughout the course of the season. He has played in all 82 games without an injury and played those games at a clip of 25 minutes per game. Usually rookies hit a wall halfway through the season because they are not used to such a grueling schedule, even the European ones because their seasons are much shorter. Take in the fact that he plays the game at such a high intensity level and I'm actually shocked he hasn't missed a game or even had an injury. Take in the fact that he shoots freethrows at roughly below 70 percent, shoots field goals at 51%, and averages 6.4 rebounds per game, and plays the game with the heart and desire of a champion; he has easily surpassed every single Rocket(including Yao and especially T-Mac) as my favorite Rocket. In fact ever since I've seen the way Scola plays, I'm starting to DESPISE McGrady and his lackadaisical, sissy, and immature attitude. Injuries or not, at least hustle and give your best effort. I'm sorry to include that last tidbit of T-Mac but I'm very frustrated with him, and don't say I hate the man. I've supported and defended him endlessly since he has came over, but enough is enough; it's time to produce. Anyway.... VIVA LAS SCOLA!
I'm sure somebody will take this out of context and start crying but Scola is playing better RIGHT NOW than Yao was playing entering last year's playoffs. If this team faces Utah in the first round I don't see why anyone would think the Rockets don't have a better chance of getting past the Jazz than they did last season considering Yao was a libability for much of that series due to the match up issues and the whistle swallowing officials.
The Scola/Landry/Hayes combo works great. Looking forward to even more dynamci play next year. What we need are: A swing man who can drive and create easy baskets from the bench (a swing man, if you will, to spell Tracy). A younger big man to spell Yao (especially since it's likely that Mutombo is going to retire after this year). More consistent play from the point. Rafer's actually been good this year but he still has a few too many games where he is a pretty crappy shooter. I like that Brooks seems to be finding his shot over the last couple of weeks but we'll need more of that off the bench next year, and more consistently. Anyway, back to praising Luis! SCOOOOOOOOOOLA!!!
Yao was coming back from his foot or knee injury then wasnt he? I dont really remember but i still think he was contributing 20 and 10 night in and night out?? But Yao protects the paint much better than Scola, and is very underrated in this aspect. It's just Utah was a bad matchup for us because their players are all spread out in their offense.
The one thing I can say about this (and it kinda is an aside...) is that Scola kinda puts Yao into context. Everytime Yao goes for low 20ish points and 10ish rebounds we say "eh, just another day at the office". Now that Scola has started to put up 20/10 games, I'm amazed by them...and also at the seemingly effortless way Yao can pull off 20/10 games. Scola's great games have made me appriciate Yao's average game...
the good thing with our 3 pfs, is that they add to the table that the others don't add. it'll be fun how rick will uses combo (yao and landry/hayes/scola) on certain teams. yao/landry yao/scola yao/hayes each one of them compliments yao very well, but very differently.
I'm proud of the way he has done in the last few games with the exception against the Nuggets but he did put in an effort then too.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/W2Ks62tSgxU&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W2Ks62tSgxU&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> Warrior Indeed[/SIZE]
If Scola can "breakout" during the playoffs and become our 20/10 low post player, we'll have a good chance of winning the series and Houston will have Twin Towers once again.
I think we're going to see Scola take his game up a notch during the playoffs, too. He's the only one on the team who knows what it takes to win championships, and I'm betting he'll show up big.
To be honest, I expected him to start fizzling out by the second half of the season due to his heavy playing schedule over the summer and his being an NBA "rookie." But he completely proved me wrong. The guy's a tru warior.
I also believe Scola is going to take up another level come the playoffs. This guy has been in a lot of big games and he will be ready. Go Rockets!!!
Yes. He was still trying to get back into form from the leg injury. He was putting up better numbers than Scola but he was turning the ball over a lot, not being very efficient offensively and get burned on defense often. That was before the series with Utah were Boozer made Yao look like he was wearing concrete shoes. I think had Yao been in top form he would have produced enough offense to counter Boozer but he just didn't have enough time to get back in shape and get his rhythm. The difference with Scola is that he seems to get his numbers while being more of a role player. When a guy like Scola or Landry can give you a double/double effort without taking too many shots from other guys it is so much more valuable. Of course, his defense against the Jazz will be much more valuable than Yao's. Again, this is regarding a series against the Jazz. I am by no means saying Scola is better than Yao. He is, however, a better matchup against PF/C who can shoot 18ft+ out and drive to the rim.
He's the difference. He's the saviour. He's the source of energy. He's the chosen one. He's the new franchise. He's Scola the warrior.
