Adelman impressed with potential of newest Rocket

[Spurs Brazil]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/4968818.html

Adelman impressed with potential of newest Rocket


By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

LAS VEGAS — Word bounced around the Cox Pavilion gym rapidly, from agent to general manager, general manager to scout, scout to coach.

In a room like this, no crossover dribble is ever as quick as a rumor. But this one had some juice to it, more than the usual free-agent signing or even fresh trade rumor.

This appealed to the insiders and the experts. The Rockets had landed the draft rights to Luis Scola, giving up only a player who said he didn't want to play for them. And the talk started, especially after word spread he would buy out his Tau Ceramica contract and make the jump to the NBA five years after the San Antonio Spurs drafted him.

In Buenos Aires, Scola went through a "crazy" few days of phone calls, meetings and a physical, quickly agreeing to the Rockets' contract offer of three years, $9.3 million (not including the Rockets' $500,000 payment toward his buyout).

By Friday night, the trade was approved. By Saturday, the 27-year-old power forward was making arrangements to arrive in Houston late Monday night and begin the career he had imagined since he began playing basketball.

"I've been waiting to be in NBA since I remember, not just last five years," Scola said when reached at his home in Buenos Aires. "I think it's the best league in the world. I always wanted to be playing with the best players in the world.

"As I started playing and growing, I felt like I got a little closer every year. I just needed a chance to play in the league and make a good career."

Scola, 6-9 and 230 pounds, has that chance. And as scouts and general managers who have watched him for the past decade, especially as a part of Argentina's powerhouse Olympic champion national team, spoke of him, they described a passion, toughness and most of all, a good fit.

"He's really interesting," said Mavericks general manager Donn Nelson, who has scouted Scola for more than 10 years. "He's athletic. He's got the Argentinian toughness. Early on, he didn't have the outside shot, but that's there now. He's a really nice pickup.

"I think he's a fit. He knows how to play. He's a really nice passer. There is an art to knowing how to get out of the way to let other people do things. He's a glue guy, just an all-around good player. He knows how to play, plays hard all the time, does what it takes for his team to win.

"I was involved in coaching him in some of the international teams. He was on some of those first teams to come over. I really liked him then. I thought he needed some time over in Europe. He worked on his game, added the outside game. And he's always been one of those really engaging personalities. He's a true winner in every sense of the word."

That has made Scola a coveted prospect. The fit became a topic of conversation since the trade.

"If (Rockets coach Rick) Adelman does anything like he did in the past, the passing game, the movement, Scola will fit great," said Ryan Bowen, the former Rockets forward who practiced with Scola last season. "He's a great passer, he moves and he hits the midrange jumper."


Adelman's impressed
While the Pistons, SuperSonics, Cavaliers and Rockets vied to get Scola's draft rights from the Spurs, Adelman watched tape and was impressed enough with what he saw for Scola to become the Rockets' priority.

"I've watched him on tape a lot," Adelman said. "I just think he is a very active player, plays every possession hard. He passes the ball well. I just like the activity more than anything else.

"He's different from a lot of guys because he is always playing, always moving. He's one of those guys if someone makes a play and gives it to him, if he doesn't have it, he gives it to the next guy. That's what I saw on that team they played on in Argentina. He always made the right play.

"That was the advantage I had in Sacramento. We had some smart players. If they're smart and willing to give it up, the offense flows. When I was in Sacramento, people didn't talk about it, but we were a pretty good defensive team. In the playoffs we had a very good defensive team because we were smart. If you're smart offensively, you can be smart defensively, when you put a gameplan together."

As it became apparent that Scola and the Spurs would not get together and San Antonio was ready to find a trading partner, the competition for him began across the NBA. But he was far from a discovery to the people repeating his name around the summer league.

"I've been watching Scola since high school," said Brent Johnson, in his 10th year as a Rockets scout. "He is a very, very intelligent player, fits our new coaching style because he is a big man that can pass, very physical, can score in the low post. He is probably the best (power forward) in Europe. I'm really excited about what Rick can do with him. It's going to be unbelievable. Scola really fits.

"We're getting a lot of compliments. I think he's going to be a surprise for people who don't know. People in the basketball world, they all know. People have been watching him all this time."


Championship aspirations
This is what Scola had imagined all this time, too. He said he was flattered to hear about the talk in Las Vegas.

"I'm willing to work hard every day, and I'm willing to help," he said. "I don't know what else to say. I think those are the most important things. I'm motivated to work hard and help the team win games. The players there, they know the team, the city, the fans, they are the real players of the Rockets, but I will try to help them win more games."

His national teammates, Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, have won NBA championships with the Spurs. Scola said it was too soon to talk about that, but with one dream realized, he seemed ready to imagine another.

"If we win a championship," he said, "I would be the happiest person in the world."

That would really be something to talk about.

[ploto]

In Buenos Aires, Scola went through a "crazy" few days of phone calls, meetings and a physical, quickly agreeing to the Rockets' contract offer of three years, $9.3 million (not including the Rockets' $500,000 payment toward his buyout).

There it is- finally in writing. All it took to sign him.

[Marcus Bryant]

In Buenos Aires, Scola went through a "crazy" few days of phone calls, meetings and a physical, quickly agreeing to the Rockets' contract offer of three years, $9.3 million (not including the Rockets' $500,000 payment toward his buyout).

1st year salary of $2.8 mil.


As it became apparent that Scola and the Spurs would not get together and San Antonio was ready to find a trading partner, the competition for him began across the NBA. But he was far from a discovery to the people repeating his name around the summer league.

Other than the Spurs being willing to hand over a quality talent willing to sign a relatively cheap NBA contract in exchange for a combined $6.8 mil in payroll savings and cash to a divisional rival, perhaps their view of Scola has been the correct one all along. It's rather obvious that if the Spurs thought he would blow up in the NBA they would have found a way to bring him in earlier. As much as the forum doesn't believe so, the Spurs knew on the basis of prospective talent that this deal is one-sided. The Spurs have been willing to make mistakes before (Josh Howard) when other considerations were at hand. If Scola struggles to transfer his game to the NBA and Butler's bad habits and speech impediment cap his growth then the wisdom of the trade will look a little different in hindsight. We'll find out soon enough if their assessment was correct.

[SpursIndonesia]

Oh well, it's quite clear now, the Spurs simply view Scola as an unfit acquisiton for them, 9.3 mil for a player with his credit is simply peanut if a NBA team really wants him in the 1st place.

[ploto]

VITORIA, Spain - It is a matter of hours before Tau Ceramica's Luis Scola is free to sign for the Houston Rockets.

On Thursday night, Houston worked a trade with San Antonio for the rights to the Argentinian power forward, with the Spurs having selected Scola in the second round of the 2002 draft.

Scola, 27, one of the best players in Europe for the past several years, has one more year on his contract at Tau and is understood to have a buyout of close to $3 million.

"In the next few hours, the player's agent will get in touch with the club to negotiate the details of the player's exit," A statement placed on Tau Ceramica's website on Saturday morning said.

"Obviously, Houston bought the player's rights and sent an offer," Scola's agent Claudio Villanueva said. "Everything could be completed today."

Tau have been one of the leading teams in Spain and Europe for several years, and Scola has been their inspiration.

He was a key member of the Argentina squad that captured a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.

Tau do not want to lose the player.

"I have said many times that he is the most important player in the club's history, so to lose a player of this calibre would logically be a problem," Club president Josean Querejeta said. "He is also one of the most important players in Europe, but in the past we have been able to overcome the departures of (Andres) Nocioni, (Jose Manuel) Calderon and (Arvydas) Macijauskas.

"The player has told me that he has an offer from Houston and that he wants to accept it. He says that he is very sorry but that this is his ambition. We thank him for his behaviour and we support him."

Querejeta warned Scola and his agent, however, not to expect a reduction in the buyout.

"The buy-out clauses are there to be followed," Querejeta said. "Evidently, if he pays the buy-out clause there's nothing to discuss because he is within his right of leaving."

If he is able to clinch his move, he would become the sixth player from Argentina currently in the NBA.

Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto are on the books with the NBA champions, San Antonio.

Nocioni, Scola's former teammate at Tau, just signed a contract extension with the Chicago Bulls, and Detroit traded Carlos Delfino to the Toronto Raptors this summer.

Walter Herrmann is also in the league after a fabulous rookie campaign with the Charlotte Bobcats.

"I understand Luis' dream to play in the NBA," Querejeta said. "We have spoken about it many times. He has had an exceptional period at the club, both in a sporting sense but also because of his human qualities.

"He's the most important player ever in the history of the club."


http://www.sbrforum.com/Headlines/NBA/47737.aspx

[Marcus Bryant]

Remember when the greatest player in Australian basketball history won a title with the Spurs?

[ShoogarBear]

If Scola struggles to transfer his game to the NBA and Butler's bad habits and speech impediment cap his growth then the wisdom of the trade will look a little different in hindsight. We'll find out soon enough if their assessment was correct. I disagree.

If Scola and Butler don't pan out, then the Spurs will have been correct in their future projection of their worth. However, they still deserve criticism for not getting even close to value based on present assessment.

Scola and Butler were assets which they turned into nothing when they should have gotten something (like a first-round pick). Not only that, they gave them away at zero risk to a divison rival. There's no way the Rockets can lose on that trade, unless Scola turns out to be an awful locker room cancer.

If Portland today traded Oden for a 2010 second round pick, and Oden immediately goes on to be the greatest bust since LaRue Martin, does that still mean that Portland made a good trade?

[Pero]

Remember when the greatest player in Australian basketball history won a title with the Spurs?

Bogut played for the Spurs? :lol

[Marcus Bryant]

Bogut played for the Spurs? :lol

Well, at the time.

[Marcus Bryant]

I disagree.

If Scola and Butler don't pan out, then the Spurs will have been correct in their future projection of their worth. However, they still deserve criticism for not getting even close to value based on present assessment.

Scola and Butler were assets which they turned into nothing when they should have gotten something (like a first-round pick). Not only that, they gave them away at zero risk to a divison rival. There's no way the Rockets can lose on that trade, unless Scola turns out to be an awful locker room cancer.

If Portland today traded Oden for a 2010 second round pick, and Oden immediately goes on to be the greatest bust since LaRue Martin, does that still mean that Portland made a good trade?


I don't buy that the market was that high for either of them. Both were on the block for some time and the Spurs were asking for a 1st round pick back in Scola's case. In Butler's case, the Spurs were close to offering him for free and even the Nets passed on him. Yes, sending them both to a division rival is still not that palatable. Frankly I'd rather the Spurs have kept them and seen if the market was wrong.

[Fast Dunk]

Sour grapes!!

Scola will ass rape the Spurs abusing them day in and day out!

[ThomasGranger]

Sour grapes!!

Scola will ass rape the Spurs abusing them day in and day out!


:lol @ Cleveland fan talking about sour grapes.

[Mr. Body]

Dumb as shit trade. Of course the Spurs could have gotten more for Scola, in basketball terms, but they went for negative value - in basketball terms - because they stood to slash payroll.

[SequSpur]

WTF???? Is your opinion that if a player doesn't blow up and become an allstar they ain't worth a shit?

If you read the article, you will hear comments from top professionals in the basketball industry. Why the fucking hate? Is Scola going to be a 3/9.3 mill hall of famer???

I don't fucking get you all's knut sack riding of the Spurs organization.

This is a total fuck up. This was an easy fucking decision. You call Bonner in the office and say here is a minimum deal, take it or move the fuck on.

Call up Scola, offer him the 3 for 9 and everyone is fucking happy and you have a better lineup.

Scola is a fucking winner. If he has half of the mental toughness as Oberto and Manu then you go with him instead of Bonner.

This is a total fuck up of all proportions.

[SequSpur]

BTW, Bonner fucking sucks, I don't give a shit what he did in one year in Europe.

This was almost as bad as the Malik Rose contract.

[SequSpur]

Oh, I get it... Because Bonner can make 3 out of 10 3s, he should be an allstar in the Eastern Conference, so we should keep him...

The dude didn't play a fucking worthy minute in the post season.

[ShoogarBear]

This is a total fuck up of all proportions.It truly must be if it has Sequ carrying the Argentine flag.

[Fast Dunk]

Oh, I get it... Because Bonner can make 3 out of 10 3s, he should be an allstar in the Eastern Conference, so we should keep him...

The dude didn't play a fucking worthy minute in the post season.

I guess his "hustle" and some rebounds earned him that contract! LOL

[Johnny RIngo]

Adelman is a joke just like D'Antoni. They're both very good at running teams that end up being pushovers for championship contenders.

[SequSpur]

I guess his "hustle" and some rebounds earned him that contract! LOL

He must've won the Tim Duncan Wash my car contest.

[Roxsfan]

Sour grapes!!

Scola will ass rape the Spurs abusing them day in and day out!

just like bonzi did and will do again :elephant

[picnroll]

just like bonzi did and will do again :elephant
Hope springs eternal for Rockets' fans. This is their favorite time of the year. Has been since Jordan came back to play/

[Roxsfan]

Hope springs eternal for Rockets' fans. This is their favorite time of the year. Has been since Jordan came back to play/

Yeah, while you hope your team can repeat :rolleyes

[Marcus Bryant]

Yeah, Houston's the league leader in trades without results.

[Marcus Bryant]

Yeah, while you hope your team can repeat :rolleyes

I'll take 4 over 2 anytime. I'd also take 3 in the last 5 over none in the last 12....

[picnroll]

Yeah, while you hope your team can repeat :rolleyes
Maybe Scola can get you out of the first round. That would be exciting wouldn't it? :elephant

[Roxsfan]

I'll take 4 over 2 anytime. I'd also take 3 in the last 5 over none in the last 12....


still, no repeat and that imo is bad.

[Marcus Bryant]

First Van Gundy, now Adelman. Who will be the next retread to coach the Rockets?

[Marcus Bryant]

still, no repeat and that imo is bad.

IMO 4 > 2.

Man, the last decade has been cruel to Rockets fans. Small wonder picking up some of the Spurs' table scraps is cause for celebration.

[Roxsfan]

IMO 4 > 2.

Man, the last decade has been cruel to Rockets fans. Small wonder picking up some of the Spurs' table scraps is cause for celebration.

4 is greater than 2. Don't get me wrong, I like TD, manu,TP, and liked D.rob.....kind of weird to you perhaps. But if there is talent, I like it. I'm not like one of those extra-fanatical fans that think everyone suxs except their own team.

TD, must repeat at least once imo, b/c he has done EVERYTHING else.

and yes, I am excited to have Scola, I will admit that and yes our FO has been suspect over and over on 80% of the deals. But I will take my chances on Tmac and Yao + Battier and everyone else incl. bonzi and scola over Francis, Mobley, and Cato + everyone else :clap

Adelman may be a retread, but if history serves, a coach who himself is a former Rocket wins championships in Houston......Rudy T and now Rick Adelman :elephant

u never know

[cherylsteele]

Remember when the greatest player in Australian basketball history won a title with the Spurs?
You mean Andrew Gaze?

[cherylsteele]

Yeah, while you hope your team can repeat :rolleyes
Yet since the Rockets' repeat they have struggled to make the playoffs. Since the 1999-2000 season the Rockets have missed the playoffs 5 out of 8 seasons, when they did make the playoffs they got bounced in the 1st round each time.
Yes when you bring up those years 1995-1999. I know the Rockets did alright but they did lose in the 1st round twice.

Compare that to the Spurs who have made the finals 3 times (winning each time), losing once in the 1st round, advancing to the WCF 1 more time and the semis 3 times.

Yes when you bring up those years 1995-1999. I know the Rockets did alright but they did lose in the 1st round twice. I was comparing the 2 runs the teams to date. Longevity means alot, the Spurs have been title contenders for about a decade compared to 2 maybe 3 years for the Rockets.

[objective]

9.3?

lol, I guess all the board experts who swore up and down that Scola either

A. Demanded the full MLE because he's greedy!
B. Still had a buyout of 9-14 million
C. Maybe didn't have a buyout at all!

were geniuses.

Sure, Scola's salary demands have been known now for over a year, and Tau's buyout demands had been made public through articles for just as long . . . but some people couldn't see past their hate to simply use available credible information.

[Dennis Lindsey]

Yeah, keep on bad mouthing the Houston Rockets. See who I end up trading next! Manu? TD? TP? They're all fair game now. :devil

[Roxsfan]

:elephant :smokin^^

[objective]

You mean Andrew Gaze?

Was Gaze that much better than Heal in the lexicon of Australian basketball?

[sammy]

Bad trade! He was worth more than what we got! $500,000 was the buyout! We should've kept him at least for trade value instead we give him and Butler away for nothing! Mark my works, Scola will play well and it will come back to haunt us! This time the front office are a bunch of jackasses!

[Oh, Gee!!]

I don't know, do we want a 29 y.o. rookie?

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

1st year salary of $2.8 mil.



Other than the Spurs being willing to hand over a quality talent willing to sign a relatively cheap NBA contract in exchange for a combined $6.8 mil in payroll savings and cash to a divisional rival, perhaps their view of Scola has been the correct one all along. It's rather obvious that if the Spurs thought he would blow up in the NBA they would have found a way to bring him in earlier. As much as the forum doesn't believe so, the Spurs knew on the basis of prospective talent that this deal is one-sided. The Spurs have been willing to make mistakes before (Josh Howard) when other considerations were at hand. If Scola struggles to transfer his game to the NBA and Butler's bad habits and speech impediment cap his growth then the wisdom of the trade will look a little different in hindsight. We'll find out soon enough if their assessment was correct.


I'm with MB. I can't imagine the Spurs making this move unless they do not think Scola is going to make much NBA noise. You don't trade in your division if you think the move is going to help your rivals. Scola has always been a question mark it's seemed to me.

[Mr. Body]

I'm with MB. I can't imagine the Spurs making this move unless they do not think Scola is going to make much NBA noise. You don't trade in your division if you think the move is going to help your rivals. Scola has always been a question mark it's seemed to me.

At worst (for SAS), Scola is another Nocioni. At best, he's Walter Hermann. There's no way around it: the Spurs significantly upgraded a rival.

I figure the Spurs don't see Houston as a title threat - yet - and calculate that they can take the Rockets for the next couple years. They see a combustible mix of talent, no matter how good the coach is with diverse scoring options, and saw the trade-off between significantly advancing that in-state rival as no match to saving some money.

It's playing with fire. Houston was desperate for some good PF and interior strength and were looking to need to trade assets and spend some money to get probably inferior help, like Joe Smith or Melvin Ely, just about the only ones left at this point. Instead, like guardian angels, the Spurs swooped down and gave them the best PF in Europe and a decent, young, inexpensive big man, for some cash and a future second.

The Spurs just made the Houston offseason and gave them a very nice player for years to come. This trade is indefensible on pretty much every level. It was foolhardy, cheap, and may bite the Spurs in the ass. Even if it doesn't, it was selling for pennies on the dollar. Remember when the old owner of the Celtics made some trades explicitly to lower the operational costs of his franchise right before he sold it? This is exactly that kind of trade... It is damaging in basketball terms.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

This trade is indefensible on pretty much every level. It was foolhardy, cheap, and may bite the Spurs in the ass. Even if it doesn't, it was selling for pennies on the dollar. Remember when the old owner of the Celtics made some trades explicitly to lower the operational costs of his franchise right before he sold it? This is exactly that kind of trade... It is damaging in basketball terms.

My instinct totally agrees with you. I guess I'm trying to find some defendable reason why the NBA Champions, especially a team like the Spurs that seems to almost over-calculate, and over-analyze personnel decisions, would have made what appears to be a hasty, poorly thought out, "damaging" decision.

It's really bizarre to me. That's why I haven't commented on it much. Friends of mine who follow the NBA all think the Spurs dropped their shorts on this move. History has proven the Spurs front office knows what they're doing, but if this was done just to save a few bucks, then folks are right in saying this move will likely cost the Spurs down the road.

[smrattler]

I already have my "Scola Sucks" t-shirt ready for the Rockets games.

In Houston, Scola starts at PF. In SA, he's coming off the bench with no promises of playing time. No way he wanted to risk that coming here. Not only does he want to start, Scola wants to be a big star. Not happening in SA while in the shadow of TD, TP (and being the second or 3rd best Argentine on the team).

I doubt he'll be this big time star player in Houston either, but at least he gets the starting spot he wants and should be considered the best Argentine player on the team.

[Oh, Gee!!]

I already have my "Scola Sucks" t-shirt ready for the Rockets games.

attaboy, way to misplace your anger and frustration.

[Mitch Cumsteen]

The only way any of this ever made sense was if Scola demanded something close to the full MLE and he was never going to sign with the Spurs. We come to find out that he could be had for the same money that they gave to Bonner? The same money they gave to Elson and Butler last year? $3M is piss in the bucket for an NBA salary.

What the fuck is going on? There must be something wrong with Scola in the Spurs eyes. Attitude, game not meshing with the system, bad breath, etc. It's the only explanation. Otherwise, even as a pure salary dump, this makes absolutely no fucking sense.

[Mr. Body]

What the fuck is going on? There must be something wrong with Scola in the Spurs eyes. Attitude, game not meshing with the system, bad breath, etc. It's the only explanation. Otherwise, even as a pure salary dump, this makes absolutely no fucking sense.

Turns out Scola is signed for the same figure he's been saying for two years now, and the Spurs were publicly lying about his buyout. The reports bandied about by the anti-Scola crowds that he didn't want to play for the Spurs are false - he wanted in the NBA, anywhere.

A highly questionable trade, as you point out. The only way it makes sense is as pure profit.

[urunobili]

WTF???? Is your opinion that if a player doesn't blow up and become an allstar they ain't worth a shit?

If you read the article, you will hear comments from top professionals in the basketball industry. Why the fucking hate? Is Scola going to be a 3/9.3 mill hall of famer???

I don't fucking get you all's knut sack riding of the Spurs organization.

This is a total fuck up. This was an easy fucking decision. You call Bonner in the office and say here is a minimum deal, take it or move the fuck on.

Call up Scola, offer him the 3 for 9 and everyone is fucking happy and you have a better lineup.

Scola is a fucking winner. If he has half of the mental toughness as Oberto and Manu then you go with him instead of Bonner.

This is a total fuck up of all proportions.

i agree... worst case scenario.. Scola ROY and first round loss to the Rockets with Scola averaging career highs outshining both T-Mac and Yao. T-Mac gives the kid a Rolls Royce after finishing his first round losing streak

[temujin]

Turns out Scola is signed for the same figure he's been saying for two years now, and the Spurs were publicly lying about his buyout. The reports bandied about by the anti-Scola crowds that he didn't want to play for the Spurs are false - he wanted in the NBA, anywhere.

A highly questionable trade, as you point out. The only way it makes sense is as pure profit.


Very, very, very bad move.
I would have bet double digits in points and 20 mpg by All Star break for Scola as a Spur.
And lots of rest for TD.

I distinctly remember the G7 Pistons 05 title press conference.
Q. "You are not the Spurs GM, but if you...."
A. "I guess not. Not officially, at least..."

Maybe this was the problem.