I kno ill probly get blasted for this....but im a huge fan of the chuck wagon. his worth to this team really is understated. hes an amazing defender for his size and a decent passer in the right situation. You kno what your gonna get... defensive tenacity and no complaints.... having said that. i kno that we are in major need of size. most people agree that andersen isnt ready to start for this team because of his lack of nba experience, but the next tallest player on our team would be Pops. He's not 6'10", hes 6'9", but he has long arms and a better leaping ability than anyone else on our roster (yes, better than ariza or maybe equal to dorsey). he can D up bigger players, run the floor with our guards, and bring that help defense shot blocking that we desperately need on this team...he also showed that he does have a little range(for those of us who watched him play this summer, and also took note of the 3 jumpers he made in preseason). not to mention that hes more of a dunk-aholic than landry. i really feel that he's got the size and athleticism to be our run and gun center. size is not an issue with Pops when the alternative is chuck(i love chuck, but i really dont want a 6'6" starting center). who would you rather see starting next to scola?? p.s.... pops might actually win us a few opening tips this season, not that it matters
I doubt it. Pops is athletic and exciting to watch but he does not have the basketball IQ as the Chuckwagon... However I think Pops will get plenty of minutes though.
i would say yes: pops over chuck for offense when we do not need a very defensive center... but for opponents against kg, shaq, duncan, or gasol... etc... = i choose chuck! i hope pops is not just good now to get on the team, and them lose that INTENSITY we all know and love!
i said the same thing, but we need as much scoring off the bench as we can get, and i really dont see it coming from anywhere other than landry. lowry is a defensive specialist, im not putting any scoring responsibilities on chase, andersen isnt going to light up a stat sheet. landry is our spark off the bench, and we need him to be in whenever scola is out to give us some sort of post presence.
I like Chuck as our starter for the interim with Pops as our backup. If Pops proves to be a consistent offensive/defensive threat during the regular season then perhaps I'll give him the green light
Well there's the obvious team defensive liabilties when Chuck is not in there, but to tell the truth if Pops was starting he'd have 3 fouls in the 1st quarter, if he was giving any effort, so... why not?
In a word... no. We've seen what this team looks like minus Chuck. I'm definitely a Pops convert, but our defense just falls apart without Chuck to anchor it. Keep the rotation as it is, making changes only when a specific matchup favors something different.
Why? We need players that can score off the bench and I think Pops can put up a few more points than Chuck Hayes so I rather have Pops come in the game as a bench player. No need to have Pops start if so, we really do not have any scorer off the bench besides Lowry and Budinger.
Agreed. Pops may be more athletic and flashier, but Hayes plays superior team defense. Adelman or Morey gushed about Hayes's value to the overall defense numerous times this preseason. The question I have, though, is which frontcourt player works best with Hayes. I'm not sure how good Scola and Hayes will be - I think Landry/Hayes actually complement each other better. OTOH if Andersen proves he's NBA-worthy, I can see Adelman giving meaningful minutes to a Hayes/Andersen frontcourt later this season. My other question is how many minutes will Hayes be asked to play this season. After all, it's been a few years since he's been asked to play more than spot minutes. Will he be able to remain effective when he's averaging 35+ minutes for an entire season? I guess we'll find out soon enough.
What is more likely than Pops starting at center is Scola starting at center. Then you could have Landry at the PF and get both of those guys out there at the same time.
Chuck has to start for us to have a chance to be successful. Pops should come off the bench and I suspect that Pops will be solidly behind Chuck in the roation, supplanting David Andersen, as our primary backup center. Andersen will go into the rotation with Scola and Landry and will be used to backup both guys when they are in foul trouble. There will only be occasional minutes when we see Scola and Landry on the floor together because their combined defense is terrible, terrible, terrible. So the only minutes they will see together is when our opponent runs out two big stiffs that have no offensive low post ability and the opponent's guards are primarily outside shooters and not penetrators. Those moments will be rare. Adelman is going to discover that, barring a trade for another center, he is going to need at least one of Hayes or Pops on the floor for most of the game minutes.
If you watched any of those last four games against Lakers then you would know why your question is dumb and why chuck should be starting over anyone else.
If Hayes plays 35 minutes a game this season, then I hope the rockets get lucky with the ping pong balls in the summer. Hayes is an incredible defensive player, but now that Yao and Deke (the rockets only legitimate shotblockers) are gone for this season, I see every team attacking the rockets rim at any chance they get. I also don't see Hayes playing 35 minutes with him being in foul trouble against certain teams. People in here are actually comparing Hayes to Wes Unseld, I need not say anymore as to how much some rockets fans value him. I hope their right, but the rockets are going to have to put points on the board to win games.
The Rockets will struggle finishing around the basket with a lineup of Brooks, Ariza, Battier, Scola, and Chuck. Other than Ariza, all are vertically challenged in one or way or another. And Ariza is an uncoordinated finisher off his own dribble too, from what I've seen in the preseason. Pops is ideally suited as an energy guy off the bench, but I can see Adelman starting him if he continues to play well.
i like pops but hayes should start and i would rather have pops the first option off the bench. Anderson shoots well but i have an epileptic seizure every time i see the other team get an offensive rebound. Also chucks passing is underrated or not even rated even though i have no video to prove that.
