3rd Scorer Proponents

[moofs]

Frequently during the season I stated that it looked like Scola could be the third scorer everyone here wants so badly. I should have asked this far earlier given the nature of the board since we were eliminated, but why do so many people not think that Scola could be that scorer?

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/luis_scol ... plits.html
SPLIT G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF REB APG SPG BPG PPG
As A Starter 39 39 29.1 .531 .000 .686 2.3 5.3 7.7 1.4 0.8 0.3 13.0
As A Substitute 43 0 20.7 .495 .000 .633 1.9 3.3 5.3 1.2 0.6 0.1 7.9

SPLIT G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF REB APG SPG BPG PPG
In February 13 13 25.3 .629 .000 .606 1.4 4.5 5.9 1.5 0.9 0.2 11.7
In March 15 15 30.5 .474 .000 .722 3.3 5.5 8.9 1.0 0.9 0.4 13.4
In April 9 9 31.4 .524 .000 .727 2.2 6.8 9.0 2.0 0.8 0.3 14.0

Against UTA 3 2 37.3 .467 .000 .704 2.0 7.3 9.3 2.0 0.7 0.7 15.7
Against PHO 4 2 30.5 .577 .000 .500 2.5 4.8 7.3 1.5 1.2 0.2 15.8
Against LAC 3 2 27.7 .714 .000 .778 2.3 5.3 7.7 1.3 0.3 0.0 14.7
Against CHI 2 1 30.5 .542 .000 .625 5.0 2.5 7.5 2.5 0.5 0.0 15.5
Against SA 4 1 23.8 .528 .000 .667 2.0 3.0 5.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 12.5
(only listing teams he did better against that had real PFs on their roster)

(I'm still in favor of improving our outside shooting and guard depth if at all possible - Barry was a BIG step in that direction, imo)

p.s. I'd rather like to get BayBaller and Rocketsterps' takes on this since you two have both been pretty adamant about it. I think BayBaller might have already answered me on this once actually, but I forgot what he said....

2008-09 Championship Depth Chart
1) Rafer Alston/ Aaron Brooks/ Steve Francis
2)Tracy McGrady/ B. Barry/ Steve Novak
3) Shane Battier/ 3rd scoring option that defends?/ D. Greene
4) Luis Scola/ C. Landry/ C. Hayes
5) Yao/ Mutombo/ Joey Dorsey

[jove9]

He can't be our third scorer because his name isn't Ron or Lebron or anything even resembling "-ron."

Duh.

EDIT: For clarification purposes, I agree with you. Scola could very well be the third scorer we (fans) are looking for.

[KiDdFrESh]

I think he will be.

[Roxflynorth]

Scola's jumper late in past season was not very promising and it is not wise to put any more load on his shoulder. Assume someone offered Landry a full MLE which the Rockets could possibly not match his offer sheets, we could chase Ricky Davis if he is still available. RD played more mature past few years and no matter last year he played for a contract or wise his talent is unquestionable. Assume Landry was retained I believe Morey won't make big movement. First of all, our expiring contracts probably not enough to net a 3rd options or we might need to overpay some guys with rich and long contract which could push our salary cap into very tough situations for years to come. Secondly, I know most of us would be upset if we didn't make high pitch in the offseason, but hey this team owned a 22-game winning streak and could dig deeper into the playoff if Yao didn't suffer a season-ending injury. I watched couples of summer league highlight and I was very high on our draft picks especially Greene. He has a lot of upside and I could see him developing into 3rd options in few years to come. Greene could grow as best into a sub-par all-star or as worst into a journey man. RA always has good reputation in utilize young players' talent and I believed Greene would turn into former than later.

[moofs]

Scola's jumper late in past season was not very promising and it is not wise to put any more load on his shoulder. Assume someone offered Landry a full MLE which the Rockets could possibly not match his offer sheets, we could chase Ricky Davis if he is still available. RD played more mature past few years and no matter last year he played for a contract or wise his talent is unquestionable. Assume Landry was retained I believe Morey won't make big movement. First of all, our expiring contracts probably not enough to net a 3rd options or we might need to overpay some guys with rich and long contract which could push our salary cap into very tough situations for years to come. Secondly, I know most of us would be upset if we didn't make high pitch in the offseason, but hey this team owned a 22-game winning streak and could dig deeper into the playoff if Yao didn't suffer a season-ending injury. I watched couples of summer league highlight and I was very high on our draft picks especially Greene. He has a lot of upside and I could see him developing into 3rd options in few years to come. Greene could grow as best into a sub-par all-star or as worst into a journey man. RA always has good reputation in utilize young players' talent and I believed Greene would turn into former than later.

Why are you so worried about his jumper when he's shooting 52%? The worst he shot over the last 3 months was 47.5%. I'd take that.

Ricky Davis is a 29 year old chucker. Go to http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... sri01.html and look at his loss shares rankings. It's possible he could play a role with us I suppose, but it seems doubtful.

Aside from that I can't quite tell what you're trying to get at. Is the only reason you think Scola shouldn't be our 3rd scorer because his jumper "looked a bit shaky" at times?

[HTown_TMac]

While Scola will be improved next season his points will go up to around 14-15 IMO...
I don't think he will have very many plays drawn up for him unless he works on his post game, because he has the moves he just hesitates and doesn't finish. So while he has the tools to become our 3rd scorerI think we still make a trade for a more efficent scorer off the bench.

[King Roosk]

I've been thinking all along that Scola could be our 3rd scorer...in terms of ppg. The thing is we need a 3rd player who can create for everyone else, and I don't see Scola being that. We need someone who can drive to the basket and finish because too often our team settles for jumpers (especially when Mac starts settling for jumpers...if he's off, we're in trouble).

[moofs]

Crap. Does anyone know where player shooting percentages can be looked up by court location? I saw a site that had it once but can't find it. Seems like the court was broken into 3 sets of semicircles with 5 sections each or something like that.

[King Roosk]

Crap. Does anyone know where player shooting percentages can be looked up by court location? I saw a site that had it once but can't find it. Seems like the court was broken into 3 sets of semicircles with 5 sections each or something like that.

nba.com had something called hotspots that has exactly what you're looking for:

http://www.nba.com/hotspots/

[BaYBaller]

Hmmm... never been called out on these boards before. I'm not even sure I've even addressed this before. Scola will probably be our 3rd scorer next season (as in that he'll score the 3rd most points on the team next year), but he's not the answer. Right now he is scoring off things like put-backs, PnRs, cuts, etc. He isn't doing much creating for himself or other teammates. And when he does it's usually in the post, overlapping with our better post player in Yao. I do not see him being a dominant post player either, and improving dramatically is unlikely given his age and experience.

The ideal 3rd scorer would either be a lights-out shooter (a big SG or SF) or a slasher that can create off the dribble. I think the Barry signing was underestimated because he provides us with that big lights-out shooter on the cheap, improving our bench rotation dramatically at least in the short-term. However given the salary situation it's unlikely we're going to get anything ideal, which makes the Barry signing all the more significant. I like Scola (and our PF rotation in general, especially considering how much we pay them), I just don't think he's going to fill that 3rd scorer role that brings us a chip. At the same time I'm not an advocate of going out and trying to patch a leaky roof with the likes of an aging Ricky Davis. I like how Morey is managing the roster ATM, and it's likely we're have to either trade for that 3rd scorer or develop one of the younger players.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for moofs - http://www.nba.com/hotspots/

[moofs]

Oh. Probably some good old moofs confusion then. I was thinking you'd talked about it a lot, but pretty much agree with what you and Roosk have said about really needing more of a third creator.

One nice thing about Scola's post overlap (thanks both for the point to hotspots, been looking for that link forever!) is that he plays primarily on the opposite block and behind Yao.

[TMACFORMVP]

I've been thinking all along that Scola could be our 3rd scorer...in terms of ppg. The thing is we need a 3rd player who can create for everyone else, and I don't see Scola being that. We need someone who can drive to the basket and finish because too often our team settles for jumpers (especially when Mac starts settling for jumpers...if he's off, we're in trouble).

Exactly, I'd expect Scola to be our third scorer next season, but we need somebody that can create more pressure on the defense by creating their own shot.

[2fast4u]

He can't be our third scorer because his name isn't Ron or Lebron or anything even resembling "-ron."

Duh.

EDIT: For clarification purposes, I agree with you. Scola could very well be the third scorer we (fans) are looking for.

maybe we could pry ron harper out of retirement?

[TMU]

Good topic. Proves exactly why this 3rd-scorer concept is totally bogus.

[Julio]

I agree with a lot of things on this topic.
I have been, for a long time, very pleased by Adelman's decisions, but IMO he has been underusing Scola's skills.
Beacuse with his high basketball IQ and good passing, Scola should IMO be used a bit more as a creator (ie for guards slashing).
I'm sure that he has all the tools to be the 3rd scorer we need as a team.
I would say more of a 12-13 ppg than a 15-16 ppg guy, tough, but he's got the skills to be that scorer AND he now has one year of 1 ) playing in the NBA and 2) playing for RA, under his belt.
So, yeah, even tough he's not as skilled as we could want for a 3rd third scorer in strict terms of creating his own shoot, he should( if we don't make a major change and get another scorer) be our third scorer in place of Rafer, which would be a great thing.
And I do agree that we could use a slasher, a guy who could go at the basket and finish.