Looking at a bleak season, Luis Scola is the one bright spot on the Rockets. He is putting up All-Star numbers and should be deserving of an All-Star Spot.
Houston's Luis Scola: All-Star?
By: Stephen Brotherston Last Updated: 11/20/10 3:57 PM ET | 1890 times read
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When the 2011 NBA All-Star Ballot was published, the Houston Rockets were well represented by forward Luis Scola, guards Aaron Brooks and Kevin Martin, and center Yao Ming.
But with injuries having a major impact on the Rockets this season, Rocketscast, in a recent nba.com/rockets podcast confirmed "Luis Scola has been the best Rocket by far this season."
Also: "The Rockets' go-to-guy right now and he has been just phenomenal. Really just an extension of what he did for Argentina during the World Championships."
This summer, Scola led the FIBA World Championships in scoring with 27.1 points per game and led Argentina to a fifth-place finish.
"Luis, he is one of the best players in the world," said the Rockets five-year veteran center Chuck Hayes. "He might not get all the lauding in the league like he does in FIBA, but pound for pound, he is one of the best players in the world."
Scola is coming off of his best NBA season so far, a season that included 32 double-doubles, a 20-point, 20-rebound game, 26 20-point efforts, three 30-point performances, and a career-high 44 points on 20 made field goals last March. But his game has not surprised the people who know him well.
"I played with (Scola) for three years in Spain, he is one of my ex-teammates and a great friend," explained Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon. "Last year he could have done the same things, it is just sometimes other people don't realize it. He had a lot of 20 and 10 games last season. He played unbelievable and I think he was underrated. People didn't talk about him and he was great. He signed a new contract this summer and he deserved it. He is a great worker. He works hard every day and plays hard every day. He can do a lot of things. I don't know why sometimes people don't pay attention to him."
This season Scola has upped his numbers yet again averaging 22.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks over his first dozen games, improving his scoring average by 6.4 points a game. But his coach says this is nothing unexpected.
"(Scola) has always been able to score and he has rebounded very well (and) just played at a high level," explained Head Coach Rick Adelman. "(This year) he has been shooting it very well and getting more opportunities to post up. This year we have trying to go to him a little bit more, we need somebody to score inside. He is our best guy right now."
His teammates explain what has changed for Scola.
"Nothing," said long-time Rockets veteran Shane Battier. "Same old Luis. One of the toughest guys that I have ever played with. He is just scoring a little bit more so people are playing more attention. He is one of the best players in the world."
Scola was low-key when asked about what has changed for him this season.
"I am having more opportunities (this year), but I think I got better too," explained Scola. "(This summer) I was working on everything of course."
But in a crowded field of star forwards in the NBA's Western Conference, can Scola gain the All-Star recognition his early season numbers suggest he deserves?
"Why not?" says Calderon. "I think that (for his) position and the numbers he is putting up, there are not too many guys who can do that. Sometimes people do not realize how well he plays. He doesn't have the big name like some guys, but he is a great player. If he keeps playing this way, he is going to be there."
"(He has) to continue to do it," observed Adelman. "Obviously I don't know if Argentina has the same depth as China does, (in reference to Yao Ming's popularity) so we will have to see. If they do, we might have two starters (in the All-Star game)."
But Shane Battier had the most practical answer.
"Luis is playing at a high level, but we got to win a few more games before we can talk about that."
Fans are not required to be practical when making their All-Star choices however, and before making their daily selections for the NBA All-Star team, they should be taking a look at what Scola has been doing this season.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17963
Last edited by Indazone; 11-21-2010 at 02:27 PM.
Might be deserving, but will be tough. The all star caliber front court players in the west is always deep. And if the Rockets continue to struggle, that hurts his chances. If you're on a really bad team, you probably need more than all star "worthy" stats. Probably need superstar stats to make the ASG if you play for a bad team.
Duncan, Gasol, Dirk, Carmelo, Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, Gay
Scola has a good chance to get in with the Chinese vote but I still don't see it.
A foreigner leading a team to a .250 record doesn't get voted in. Good individual season so far, though.
Trade him before he becomes trade fodder due to injury or increasing age. Trade brooks and Budinger too.
then another foreigner not playing at all will be voted in instead.
Scola has been a beast for many years in this league. Obviously he hasn't scored this much before but he has been a top forward since day one. Always playing hard and unselfish
Nice article, but didn't anyone else notice how Adelman takes a swipe at his own center?
He basically said: "Yao sucks, he's only in the All-Star game because there's a lot of Chinese people".
No offense because I think Duncan is a top 10 all time player ... but Scola deserves it over Duncan based on individual play ...
But that won/loss will give voters pause ...
Should be:
Pau, West, Milsap, Scola and Dirk based on production.
Factor win% and it should be:
Duncan, West, Pau, Aldridge and Milsap
duncan was even a top5 of all time in his prime but the current version of him is not even half the player the best of him was. duncan only struggles to maintain his status, barely collecting a double-double season average, which is an epitome of the declining spurs.
hard to argue against those numbers. even though odom is playing his best ball ever he will likely get jobbed out of a spot.
Maybe, but cracking top 5 all-time is tough.
MJ, Magic, Kareem, Wilt, Russell and Bird ...
Bird is the only one I would consider taking Duncan over ... and then there is that Rapist fellow on the Lakers ...whose resume rivals duncan ...
Remember KG has more double doubles all-time than Tim and he gets no love in this convo ...why?
Because Tim has more rings. Kobe has more rings than Duncan ...hmmmm
Will Okafor make All-Stars?
Chinese will make sure he gets it.
Every year there are 3 or 4 players who put up good numbers on teams with no real go to talent... and i cant remember one making it in. This year wont be any different.
Not with Bynum coming back soon.
Im not sure if the bolded part is serious on your part, but ill answer it as if it was. The reason that Duncan gets more love than Garnett, despite KG having more double doubles... is that Duncan has 4 times as many championships. If Duncan had 5 and Garnett had 4, then you could make a case for Garnett > Duncan because because of statistics and the fact he had a similar impact on both sides of the ball.
You also shouldnt lump in and treat all championships the same...thats an extremely simplistic way of looking at it.... like it or not winning a le as the main dog >>> winning a le as the second option or winning a le with two or three equally dominant team mates. History will tend to view the former a lot more favourably.
Best players on bad teams trend to look like all stars. He's just a glorified role player, though.
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