If you mean KG, foirget it. No one else has the 8X10 glossies of McHale that Ainge does. However, if you mean the Rox are one player (type) from legitimately competing for The Parade then you want Chris Paul or Deron Williams. Or Dre Miller. (Stephon will soon be on the market, if one believes the 'reports' - but I would rather RA playing 40+ mpg than picking Starbury's arse off the scrapheap.)
why do we need an athletic PF. Chuck can rebound. Scola can score. I thought the rockets should have traded for Hakim Warrick or Ike Diogu, but now I see we really don't need one. There really aren't many athletic PF who are consistent. Tyrus Thomas maybe, but Bulls wouldn't let him go. We had Stromile Swift, but he wasn't consistent. I think We're good.
like his hustle all you want, but the reality is the rockets NEED to upgrade over chuck hayes or once again were going to be exposed in the playoffs.
The Rockets are apparently just fine with their PF situation. This is what Feigen said in his blog the other day: If we need defense and rebounding, we got Chuck. If need someone with more size with a more well rounded offensive game, we got Scola. If we want to go small while not losing the rebounding edge, we got Bonzi. If we want to go small and put a dead eye shooter at that position for spacing, we got Shane.
What's funny is that not only guards isolate him but basically everyone he guards. However the outcome of the play usually is not what the offensive player intended. I agree with jopatmc, Chuck is an excellent defender. The reason many (even on this bbs) still don't acknowledge that is because he is 'undersized' and doesn't block shots. Here's one...Unless you're talking about a star player, what is that athletic PF going to do that will let us contend? He probably won't be as good of a defender and/or rebounder. But he will maybe block some shots and score some points. Is that all we need to contend? Scola'll adjust and give us the scoring. So you're saying that all we need is shotblocking? Yeah, like we did last year...Point guard is still our biggest weakness.
I just roll my eyes when people go on and on about us needing an "athletic PF". Honestly, how many "athletic" PFs are available that are better than Chuck and don't have a ridiculous contract? I can't think of even one.
How could you not like a player like Hayes. He's got the Chucky Brown and Carl Herrera attitude. I keep hoping Francis will show a little of their attitude... he's in an underdog position at the moment. Let's hope he responds like Hayes. Hayes clearly feels that as long as he plays, in his own mind, he will never "have arrived". It seems to have done wonders for his focus and drive. Of course, he probably never will be selected as an All-Star and won't have that to mess with his head, either.
I'd say he's athletic horizontally, not vertically. I think people generally tend to overrate vertical athleticism and underrate horizontal athleticism.
Funny how some people need to read an article telling them to appreciate Hayes rather than just opening their eyes and paying attention.
That's understandable. The contribution Hayes brings every game night is the kind that doesn't often show up on the box score, and too subtle for most fans to pick up. An article like this can only help highlight Hayes's contributions to less knowledgeable fans.
