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Scola thread...
Think they could use him? Scola trade becomes a facial
Buck Harvey
They were playing in Japan in 2006, at the World Championships, and the Argentines should have taken it easy that day. They were matched against New Zealand.
But they never take it easy while playing basketball. So Luis Scola dove for a loose ball, and he hit the court with such force that he lost teeth. The next day Manu Ginobili laughed and went looking for bite marks in the wood.
They were good friends and better teammates, and in those days they thought they might also play together in San Antonio. But then came the trade. Outside of a few moments last season, they were the only ones with regrets.
But now?
After Sunday?
Ginobili and Scola had dinner Saturday night at a San Antonio restaurant, and they didn’t talk about what could have been. They’d been over that ground too many times.
So had the media and fan message boards, especially after a game early last season. Then Scola stuck 20 points on the Spurs, and Gregg Popovich reacted accordingly.
“It kills me to have him on that team,” Popovich said. “Enough to make you spit.”
The Spurs had sacrificed talent for money, with a rival benefiting. The trade would have festered within the Spurs organization last season, especially when the Rockets put together a 22-game winning streak, except for what followed.
Then, led by Tracy McGrady, the Rockets again wobbled out of the first round. The Spurs went to the Western Conference finals, and their problem then wasn’t the Argentine who had been traded; it was the one who was limping against the Lakers.
Not much changed this year, as the Spurs survived with a patched-up lineup and the Rockets endured everything from a gunshot wound to a midseason switch of point guards. But then came Sunday, when the Rockets took away first place from the Spurs.
Now, what the Rockets took away a year and a half ago means more. Scola gives the Rockets the toughness they didn’t have before, and he complements Yao Ming, and he slipped free Sunday for the game-winner.
Afterward the media circled Scola, and Brent Barry smiled nearby and motioned toward his latest Argentine teammate.
“Think they could use this guy back here?” Barry asked.
Scola reminds Barry of a former teammate. Barry has called him a taller Manu.
But Barry goes further than that. He doesn’t think there’s been a better power forward since the All-Star break.
The Spurs’ trio can’t argue after Sunday. Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner and Drew Gooden combined for six fewer rebounds than Scola had.
To go with his 17 rebounds, Scola added 19 points. Then there’s what happened with 11 seconds left, when Scola went to the basket, took a Yao pass and won the game.
Scola shrugged afterward. “I just saw ball coming toward me,” he said.
He wasn’t perfect Sunday. After Tony Parker missed inside in the closing seconds, Scola grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled. With only 0.3 on the clock, Scola said he had the following strategy: “Make the first one and miss the second one.”
He instead missed the first, then line-drived in the second.
“Apparently,” he said, “I’m not very good at it.”
The Rockets will live with that. Scola is a smart, rugged player in his prime, and he has a good midrange jumper. His salary is a bargain, and, better yet, he’s healthy.
As both the Rockets and Spurs struggle with injuries, Scola has yet to miss a game in his NBA career.
Maybe all of that went through Popovich’s head as he slammed the scorers’ table Sunday and screamed at Duncan and refs alike. Popovich sure looked spitting mad again.
Still, it’s what comes next that should worry Popovich and the Spurs. With McGrady gone, the Rockets have gone 16-4. They are still learning how to win, with a different point-guard rotation, and Sunday suggests they took a big step.
So if they bump the Spurs into the 4-5 playoff seeding, and if the Rockets advance, then the trade will change a few things.
There will be new bite marks, and they will be on the Spurs.
Scola thread...
Perfect
Thanx for rubbing it in Buck.
this article kills.
Just imagine if Holt made R.C and Pop package Ginobili to get rid of Jaren Jackson's contract back in 2000-2001.
The Scola trade still hurts.
So in essence we gave Oberto and Bonner the same money Scola wanted in the summer of 07? yay.
Buck =
What a great ing trade. Props to all the Holt Catsuckers who loved that ing trade.
I was thinking whether to rub it in.
The Spurs lost this game period. Scola did not take it from the Spurs. It was a missed defensive rotation by Duncan (of which he doesn't make many). Big deal that it was Scola. It's not as if he's a Tim Duncan player, and we missed out on a franchise player. The guy's good but he's not great. He's comparable to many good players in the league. Yes, it would have been nice to have him just like it would have been nice to have many other players we have wanted to keep. However, let's not overeact.
Anyways, Manu would have taken it to Houston tonight. I think the Spurs will remember this game and how they let one slip away, and they will use it as a motivator for the next time they meet.
Spurs will win any 7 game series against the Rockets if we have to play them. A healthy Manu makes a huge difference. And all we needed today was a little difference.
Spurs would be beast with Scola, and quite possibly the favorites.
Couldn't have they just not gave Bonner the 3 million a year and instead used it for Scola?
For all the people who said he could not rebound.Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner and Drew Gooden combined for six fewer rebounds than Scola had.
Buck better watch his mouth and watch what he writes before he gets O'Keefe'd.
The Express News has a hard enough time with revenue as it is, a little pressure and they'll trim their budget free of extraneous columnists.
I can see why one may feel a bit bitter about Scola playing in Rockets uniform, I do too sometimes.
However, the spurs are the MOST successful franchise in sports for a reason! And it was that same reason that led to the trade of Scola's rights.
I can live with those bad calls, last time I checked Scola hasn't made it out of the first round. And even if he does so this year, he still needs to bring at least two rings to Houston for me to start thinking hey we may have to change our principles here.
Oh the irony...God forbid he offers an "objective" and realistic viewpoint of the situation
Your logic makes no sense. I get annoyed by people who claim how far a team has gotten somehow is indicative of a single player's merit.
Is that two articles in a row that Harvey has mentioned "message boards"? At least he's halfway sourcing his articles these days.
And oh yeah, that trade has turned out worse than I imagined. And at the time I thought it was the worst trade in franchise history.
Thanks Buck for noticing how today I posted how good the Rockets are without McGrady.
Please it's a column. There is nothing objective about a column.
It's a riddle wrapped in an enigma.
For one the Spurs have been one of the most successful franchises because of Tim Duncan mostly. You can't tell me the Bulls were the most successful in the 1990's because of Jerry Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf.
Secondly trying to justify Scola not being capable of helping this Spurs team because he hasn't made it past the first round with the Rockets is just dumb.
Joe Pesci?Please it's a column. There is nothing objective about a column.
It's a riddle wrapped in an enigma.
No, because the point of the trade was moving Butler's salary.
I'm just concerned for Buck and his family.
I've been critical of the Spurs handling of Scola from day one.
But I hope Buck realizes that the same people who were instrumental in cutting off their own noses to spite their face when dealing with Scola are still in charge. This is a one horse town, Buck's not too big to be galloped over.
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