Word. I think European players care more about IQ than the American who care more about athleticism and those stuff. Scola isn't unathletic but he sure plays some smart bball.
The guy outplayed Kevin Garnet, if we had any PG or Center tonight we win. Luis is capable of doing more than he is asked. DD
AC Green is 60% of the player of Luis....you put Luis with that Magic team and he outperfoms AC Green by a lot. Luis is off the charts basketball IQ wise...off the charts.... DD
Nope, you put him with Magic and he is an 18-10 guy....with all his running and finishing on the break. Luis is miles better than AC green ever was....MILES.... And....AND...he gets laid. DD
Based just on the box score stats, leebigez has nailed the AC Green comparison. According to Kevin Pelton from basketballprospectus, Green is statistically the most similar player to Luis Scola. If Scola was on the Lakers, he'd be a role player alongside Magic, Kareem, and Worthy -- just as AC Green was. Scola has some post up moves, sure, but the Rockets almost never run a play through him. He's used pretty much the way Green was used. Hits the open midrange J when the other stars draw attention, he offensive rebounds and gets put backs, and he runs the court on the break. Green was a pretty good role player and a legitimate starter for many years; it's no shame for Scola to be compared to him.
Basketball is a lot more than statistics. Anyone making a statistical comparison is not adept at seeing the entire game that Luis has... He is so far above AC Green that it is not even funny. If you put AC Green on the Argentinian national team he would not be half the player Luis is... Luis is miles better than AC....MILES.....He moves better than AC, rebounds about the same, and has way more offensive game, and savvy. DD
You know another way they're similar? Scola has yet to miss a game in his NBA career. AC Green played 16 years and missed only 2 games.
Actually before Scola's first preseason game last October, Jonathan Feigen blogged about what kind of player Scola could be. In one of his comments -- and, again, this was before Scola played a single NBA game and had any stats to compare -- he said the following: [rquoter] I read that Rudy T compared him to Kurt Rambis. ... (In that case, Rudy would probably smack me for a DeBusschere comparison. But the former Lakers four that comes to mind is A.C. Green, though Rambis is more of a passer. -- Jonathan) [/rquoter] So Feigen, who's an informed basketball observer, was reminded of A.C. Green based on Scola's skill set -- not based on his stats. It turns out he was spot on.
LOL - spot on because that is what you believe.....but to me, Feigen was ill informed as to Scola's skill set. Scola is good defensively, he is good at moving without the ball, is great at finding and hitting the open shot, is great at positional rebounding, and is a good passer. AC Green was not nearly the complete basketball player that Scola is...he was talented, but more than anything his stats are inflated by playing with Magic..... Heck compare his per game stats on a per minute basis with Scola and you will see what I mean...Scola is better in fewer minutes. DD
DD- I don't see where the difference is. AC had some very good yrs. He was a hustle guy with a jumper. That's scola. He struggles inside vs long guys, but he plays with effort. Did I mention green made a all star game?
Based on a per-minute comparison, Green is the closest comparable to Luis Scola. Based on skillset, Feigen thought Green was a good comparison to Scola before Scola played any NBA games. If you look at how Scola scores his points on our team, it's pretty close to what Green used to do. There's some difference in style, sure. Scola's got those twisty, contorting layups. Green was more athletic, more of a dunker. But, productivity-wise, they're about as close as it gets. The real issue here is whether Scola is capable of taking on a bigger role in the Rocket's offense. The opinion of the Rockets appears to be "no". Morey was directly asked that question a week ago on the radio, and all he'd say is that Scola tends to have good games against Memphis. The Rockets aren't looking to make Scola a goto option, and I think they have a better handle of what his strengths/weaknesses are than we do.
