^ According to 82games.com, last season Chuck got 10% of his inside shots blocked. Jermaine O'neal had 15% of his inside shots blocked. Kevin Garnett had 11% of his inside shots blocked, and Chris Bosh had 10% of his inside shots blocked. The only reason it seems like Chuck gets blocked a lot is because he only attempts shots around the basket.
chuck is great for hustling his ass off and our team last year was in desperate need of that... BUT, while the stats show he has a net positive influence on the court, you have to understand that everyone else on the court knew chuck couldn't score so the others on the team made up for it. the stats don't show that part of it. chuck benefitted from playing next to yao and having tmac bail them out time and time again. thats why they were the most efficient starting 5 in the league. yao and tmac overcompensated for the rest of our scrubs last year (alston, hayes). if that stat was so important, we would've at least beat utah... oh ya... we had trouble scoring against the jazz. hmmm... i'd like to see him come off the bench and bring some real hustle. otherwise, i sure hope there is another PF starting for us when the season starts.
I like Hayes as well ! But he has serious limitations- too short for his position-foul prone- almost no offensive game- I do however think that he has potential to improve but as a general team player rather that our Power Forward. The way the game is played to day he can still contribute.
Yes, Heyes cut and finished well last season. His offense was not that bad as some people claimed. We better keep him.
I waited a while to respond to this post cause I figure yall are going to blast me no matter what I say. LOL Anyway... For most posters Chuck is not at all bad, as a backup PF. Their main concern was him being the starting PF at 6'6". The "offensive liability" part they all complain about is valid, but only in a post up, slow down offense. Also, half of the complainers didn't watch the Utah series, because if I hear one more person say Boozer beat up on Chuck I am sending them videos. In Game 1 and 2 of that series they did leave Chuck wide open quite a bit, and if I recall correctly... didn't he have a double double in game 2? The last two games of the series, when he didn't get any rebounds, you all need to watch Chuck more carefully on the rebounds... the Jazz were literally holding his arms at some points or climbing his back to get the rebounds around him. Not a whole lot you can do about that. He should have thrown a couple of them to the ground, lol but that may just be my blood-thirsty nature showing through. I agree with what someone said about Hayes in Adelman's offense. In JVG's offense Chuck's job was to "stay out of the way" or "see if you can sneak in underneath" That's it. Jeff did NOT want Chuck to shoot jumpers, hence the fact that he did not. He even said in at least two interviews that Coach had told him what his job was to add a spark and hustle for rebounds, not scoring. He was only to set screens and roll on that end of the court. So when he was forced to take any jumpers like with the shot clock winding down it was against his "do what the coach tells me" nature and you see him hitching and hesitating. To add to that, I have no idea how the hitch in his free throw got so bad... it was really slight in college. Also, Morey said, and this is a paraphrase "We may get someone in here to take the starting PF spot and Chuck out-hustles and out-plays them" That tells me that they (like me and probably like Chuck) never expected him to be starting last year. But he outplayed Novak, outplayed Juwan, and it worked out that he was the best fit at PF. Scola undoubtedly has more upside than Chuck as far as experience and talent, but its all about who wants it more. Though this all may be a moot point, because with all the trade bait that Morey has to work with now, Hayes may not end up being on the Rocket's roster. My bet is at this point they (Chuck and his agent) are holding out on signing the contract to try and make sure that the Rockets will keep him in Houston. If he waits to sign, its a lot harder for Morey to move him. Right now, he's technically still a free agent, so if Morey wants to deal him it will have to be a sign and trade, which gives him more leeway in negotiations because he would have to do the signing to make it official. At least that's what I would do if I were him and wanted to stay in Houston. Eventually something is going to have to give, but for now, I would imagine hold your cards is the play at the moment. Shew, sorry this post was so long, I got carried away. For those that are going to slam me, go right ahead, I don't want Chuck to start unless he is the best person for the job, and if someone else earns it or Morey thinks someone else can fill it then so be it. But to say that he can't do anything is disrespecting someone who worked his butt off on the court for the Rockets last season and as Yao put it after game five of the Utah series "I don't know if we would have won the game if chuck hadn't taken that charge (paraphrased again, but you get the drift)" How much would you all have hated it worse if we didn't even make it to game 7? I cannot wait for the off-season to be settled and the pre-season to begin. I just hope that Hayes is still a Rocket when its all said and done, I will hate to have to follow two teams next season... just watching the Rockets wore me out this past year!
Wrong again and again! Chuck can't guard boozer, and can't get the boards, JH is worse. That's why JVG put Yao there even he is kind of abused by boozer. that's the only choice at that time.
That's not true! JVG knows his players better than you and me. He knows who can stop boozer-nobody. Even Dunken, if he can't get help from zone defense.
He is short and has no shot. Any further questions? Honestly, I love his hustle and he is obviously a "natural" rebounder. Realistically, however, he is a bench player.
BTW, a lot of guys say he is the best fit for Yao. Wrong! the best fit for yao is Ben Wallace, or Garnet, we just can't get them. But Scola will be a slightly better fit.
Because a 6'6 PF that can't shoot, can't post, can't get his own shot period, can't dunk, can't block shots and can't stay out of foul trouble should not be starting for a championship contending squad.
Hayes is a great bench player, but realistically on a contender he is playing Paul Milsap minutes, not Carlos Boozer minutes. His lack of any mid range game and poor free throw shooting, in addition to being undersized (though he plays bigger than he is) are all problems. Like I said, a great bench player, but power forward and PG were clearly our weakest spots last year, especially our lack of a contributing bench.
Like semi quote from our old coach who I still sort of miss, those who have a problem with Chuck Hayes, have a problem. Chuck Hayes is not as big of an offensive liability as many people mention, does he have a jump shot nope, can he shoot free throws, but there is a reason why he doesn't stand around 15+ feet from the basket unless he is there setting a screen he is always under the basket, which complements his strengths. It would be one thing if teams had the options to force 15 footers but our offense is too good for that, and the ball does not need to be in his hands for Chuckie to be effective, isn't that what we need most on this team now more than ever, with the likes of Mike James, Steve Francis, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Bonzi Wells? If teams are dumb enough to cheat off and go double up off of Chuck Hayes he is always cutting the lane or setting an off screen to free up either himself under the basket or an open perimeter shooter. Now with all that said if there is a chance to upgrade the team shouldn't hesitate. By the way those who say Chuck Hayes is a foul trouble, there is a strong reason for that, that is to keep Yao from doing that. Chuck Hayes was one of our most reliable guys on our team in the playoffs. Keep Chuck!
So where are the strong? And who are the trusted? And where is the harmony? Sweet harmony. 'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry. What's so bad 'bout Hayes as our Power Forward? Ohhhh What's so bad 'bout Hayes as our Power Forward?
You could put Yao up at the high post and Mutumbo at the low post for a few series and then try Yao and Mutumbo on the left block and right block. Tell Yao to stay away from the flying elbows and stay away from Mutumbo's area and he should be ok. lol
