Is Scola really this good???

[tha_rock220]

Right now he's averaging 27 points and 14 rebounds on 57% shooting. He's basically playing like he did in the WC's.

Will he be averaging a double-double at the end of the year?
Will his numbers drop big time?
Will he be an all-star?

I think his numbers will have to drop, but not drastically, and if he keeps playing relatively well he's got a shot at being selected by the coaches if the Rockets can start winning.

[HTown_TMac]

No way he keeps up the scoring, but during our scoring droughts.. hes the only one that can score, but we slowly stop going to him...

[dunleavyjr]

scola is becoming such a good scorer. problem is that he doesn't have the upper body strength to bang against stronger PF.

[College Boy]

I think he can finish with a double double. I don't think he will keep up with his current pace, but I do believe something in the neighborhood of 16/10.5 is not out of the question.

[rocketsballin]

i dont think he can avg 20/10 all season. i dunno maybe it's just me, but i've seen it happen a lot last season. it looks like scola keeps forgetting to BOX OUT HIS MAN!!! he just stands there looking at the ball waiting for it to hit the rim, while the guy he sposed to box out is already positioning himself around scola. since no one ever mentioned it i assume it was nothing, but now that its he's doing it agaain, im gonna keep a close eye on that. very annoying to watch

[DreamShook34]

No way he keeps up the scoring, but during our scoring droughts.. hes the only one that can score, but we slowly stop going to him...

Slowly? Immediately. I cringe every time AB waves him off to dribble haplessly through opposing Jerseys.

[Crackfool]

Suddenly that $50 million contract isn't looking so bad right now. He's definitely our MVP and crunch time man so far

[MaxRider]

Suddenly that $50 million contract isn't looking so bad right now. He's definitely our MVP and crunch time man so far

i thought he was our MVP last year

[fabio]

yes he is. Next question.

[Joseph17]

He's one of my favorite players, but I doubt he's going to continue like this for the rest of the year. I wouldn't want him to anyway. The good thing about the Rockets is that they have so many weapons on the offensive end. I would hate to see Scola average 27 because that would mean that they aren't featuring guys like Brooks and Yao as much as they should. I'm not worried about Martin because he's a system player that doesn't need to be featured to be effective. He'll get 20+ even when his shot is off. How would you guys feel about Scola coming off the bench and playing for Yao when he's out? I think that would be a good idea because that would allow the Rockets to have a go to guy in the post at all times. If I was Adelman I would probably have Yao, Hill, Battier, Martin, and Lowry as starters with Scola and Brooks getting starter's minutes off the bench.

[M4P]

I think he can finish with a double double. I don't think he will keep up with his current pace, but I do believe something in the neighborhood of 16/10.5 is not out of the question.

I was leaning more towards 18 - 19/10. He basically averaged that after the All-Star break.

[College Boy]

Yeah but I was hoping Martin could take some of the scoring load. But 18 to 19 is not unreasonable.

[Rodddman]

He's one of my favorite players, but I doubt he's going to continue like this for the rest of the year. I wouldn't want him to anyway. The good thing about the Rockets is that they have so many weapons on the offensive end. I would hate to see Scola average 27 because that would mean that they aren't featuring guys like Brooks and Yao as much as they should. I'm not worried about Martin because he's a system player that doesn't need to be featured to be effective. He'll get 20+ even when his shot is off. How would you guys feel about Scola coming off the bench and playing for Yao when he's out? I think that would be a good idea because that would allow the Rockets to have a go to guy in the post at all times. If I was Adelman I would probably have Yao, Hill, Battier, Martin, and Lowry as starters with Scola and Brooks getting starter's minutes off the bench.

I'd bench Yao before I'd bench Scola, but we all know that neither will happen.

Brooks doesn't need benching either; he just needs to develop his playmaking abilities. That starting five of yours is offensively challenged - definitely not an Adelman team.

[fabio]

He's one of my favorite players, but I doubt he's going to continue like this for the rest of the year. I wouldn't want him to anyway. The good thing about the Rockets is that they have so many weapons on the offensive end. I would hate to see Scola average 27 because that would mean that they aren't featuring guys like Brooks and Yao as much as they should. I'm not worried about Martin because he's a system player that doesn't need to be featured to be effective. He'll get 20+ even when his shot is off. How would you guys feel about Scola coming off the bench and playing for Yao when he's out? I think that would be a good idea because that would allow the Rockets to have a go to guy in the post at all times. If I was Adelman I would probably have Yao, Hill, Battier, Martin, and Lowry as starters with Scola and Brooks getting starter's minutes off the bench.

gotta admit it's strategically surprising. I can imagine a scene like this:

OPPONENT COACH: So we have to find an answer to Rockets best scorer, rebounder and most consistent player...
OPPONENT COACH'S ASSISTANT: Sorry coach, but I've information that says he'll be a reserve playing when Yao is out and they'll leave people chucking shots on the court
OPPONENT COACH: Damn, that was smart, there's no logical answer for that, WE'RE DOOMED! (the face belongs to the coach)

Now out of jokes, you even mention Scola and Brooks... what's the point? Brooks will never pass the ball to Scola anyway, not to mention first unit won't score and second unit will be scored at will. Seriously, I've trouble to find a more unbalanced rotation, as hard as I try can't think of any, unless we go on LSD mode and Yao plays PG and Brooks C. IMHO, the only rotation that makes sense at this point is Martin and Brooks not playing together, doesn't matter who starts and who plays off the bench, as long as they don't play together, unless it's just short stints. If you have Brooks and Martin shooting, and shooting and shooting, and then shooting more, damn right you'll need the best FC possible to try to grab a board. And it's not exactly as if the experiment is working, results at sight

[Joseph17]

He's one of my favorite players, but I doubt he's going to continue like this for the rest of the year. I wouldn't want him to anyway. The good thing about the Rockets is that they have so many weapons on the offensive end. I would hate to see Scola average 27 because that would mean that they aren't featuring guys like Brooks and Yao as much as they should. I'm not worried about Martin because he's a system player that doesn't need to be featured to be effective. He'll get 20+ even when his shot is off. How would you guys feel about Scola coming off the bench and playing for Yao when he's out? I think that would be a good idea because that would allow the Rockets to have a go to guy in the post at all times. If I was Adelman I would probably have Yao, Hill, Battier, Martin, and Lowry as starters with Scola and Brooks getting starter's minutes off the bench.

I'd bench Yao before I'd bench Scola, but we all know that neither will happen.

Brooks doesn't need benching either; he just needs to develop his playmaking abilities. That starting five of yours is offensively challenged - definitely not an Adelman team.

Yao coming off the bench wouldn't be a bad idea either. I would rather have an energy guy like Scola coming off the bench than Yao, but that could work. Brooks isn't a playmaker and I would hate seeing him try to be one when he really isn't. He would be better with a Jamal Crawford type role.

[Joseph17]

He's one of my favorite players, but I doubt he's going to continue like this for the rest of the year. I wouldn't want him to anyway. The good thing about the Rockets is that they have so many weapons on the offensive end. I would hate to see Scola average 27 because that would mean that they aren't featuring guys like Brooks and Yao as much as they should. I'm not worried about Martin because he's a system player that doesn't need to be featured to be effective. He'll get 20+ even when his shot is off. How would you guys feel about Scola coming off the bench and playing for Yao when he's out? I think that would be a good idea because that would allow the Rockets to have a go to guy in the post at all times. If I was Adelman I would probably have Yao, Hill, Battier, Martin, and Lowry as starters with Scola and Brooks getting starter's minutes off the bench.

gotta admit it's strategically surprising. I can imagine a scene like this:

OPPONENT COACH: So we have to find an answer to Rockets best scorer, rebounder and most consistent player...
OPPONENT COACH'S ASSISTANT: Sorry coach, but I've information that says he'll be a reserve playing when Yao is out and they'll leave people chucking shots on the court
OPPONENT COACH: Damn, that was smart, there's no logical answer for that, WE'RE DOOMED! (the face belongs to the coach)

Now out of jokes, you even mention Scola and Brooks... what's the point? Brooks will never pass the ball to Scola anyway, not to mention first unit won't score and second unit will be scored at will. Seriously, I've trouble to find a more unbalanced rotation, as hard as I try can't think of any, unless we go on LSD mode and Yao plays PG and Brooks C. IMHO, the only rotation that makes sense at this point is Martin and Brooks not playing together, doesn't matter who starts and who plays off the bench, as long as they don't play together, unless it's just short stints. If you have Brooks and Martin shooting, and shooting and shooting, and then shooting more, damn right you'll need the best FC possible to try to grab a board. And it's not exactly as if the experiment is working, results at sight

I think you misunderstood my post. When I said that he should come off the bench I didn't mean that Scola should ONLY play when Yao isn't in the game. I meant that he should be in the game for the 24 minutes that Yao isn't in the game because the Rockets don't have any other post options on the roster. If you give Scola 35 minutes a game and Yao 24 minutes a game, their minutes would obviously overlap and they would be on the floor at the same time. Their minutes should probably overlap in 4th quarters when the game is on the line. I also didn't mean that Brooks should only play when Scola is in the game. I just think he should be used as a scorer off the bench and not as the Rockets main playmaker.

[Aaron Brooks]

[fabio]

He's one of my favorite players, but I doubt he's going to continue like this for the rest of the year. I wouldn't want him to anyway. The good thing about the Rockets is that they have so many weapons on the offensive end. I would hate to see Scola average 27 because that would mean that they aren't featuring guys like Brooks and Yao as much as they should. I'm not worried about Martin because he's a system player that doesn't need to be featured to be effective. He'll get 20+ even when his shot is off. How would you guys feel about Scola coming off the bench and playing for Yao when he's out? I think that would be a good idea because that would allow the Rockets to have a go to guy in the post at all times. If I was Adelman I would probably have Yao, Hill, Battier, Martin, and Lowry as starters with Scola and Brooks getting starter's minutes off the bench.

gotta admit it's strategically surprising. I can imagine a scene like this:

OPPONENT COACH: So we have to find an answer to Rockets best scorer, rebounder and most consistent player...
OPPONENT COACH'S ASSISTANT: Sorry coach, but I've information that says he'll be a reserve playing when Yao is out and they'll leave people chucking shots on the court
OPPONENT COACH: Damn, that was smart, there's no logical answer for that, WE'RE DOOMED! (the face belongs to the coach)

Now out of jokes, you even mention Scola and Brooks... what's the point? Brooks will never pass the ball to Scola anyway, not to mention first unit won't score and second unit will be scored at will. Seriously, I've trouble to find a more unbalanced rotation, as hard as I try can't think of any, unless we go on LSD mode and Yao plays PG and Brooks C. IMHO, the only rotation that makes sense at this point is Martin and Brooks not playing together, doesn't matter who starts and who plays off the bench, as long as they don't play together, unless it's just short stints. If you have Brooks and Martin shooting, and shooting and shooting, and then shooting more, damn right you'll need the best FC possible to try to grab a board. And it's not exactly as if the experiment is working, results at sight

I think you misunderstood my post. When I said that he should come off the bench I didn't mean that Scola should ONLY play when Yao isn't in the game. I meant that he should be in the game for the 24 minutes that Yao isn't in the game because the Rockets don't have any other post options on the roster. If you give Scola 35 minutes a game and Yao 24 minutes a game, their minutes would obviously overlap and they would be on the floor at the same time. Their minutes should probably overlap in 4th quarters when the game is on the line. I also didn't mean that Brooks should only play when Scola is in the game. I just think he should be used as a scorer off the bench and not as the Rockets main playmaker.

gotcha, and yes, I misunderstood you. Still, Scola isn't a playmaker, but somehow a "deluxe" garbage man, it's not like Brooks or Landry pass him the ball, he's getting more points from offensive rebounds, hustling and some passes from Yao and Battier than from the guards, so it's not like his taking much offensive plays from the team, but he converts already missed options. Even then, the problem with Scola playing less is Rockets will miss a lot of scoring, and if you add Brooks, you're taking almost 50% of Rockets score in just one move. And to make it worse, as I said, if both of them come from the bench, they will be absolutely killed in D, no matter how much they score. Either way, a lose-lose situation.

[Joseph17]

I didn't say that he should play less. I think he should play as much if not more than he plays now. I think Brooks should play less because we already have a scoring guard in Martin and Brooks obviously isn't known for his playmaking abilities and his defense.

[GoLakers2011]

Not even close.