Steady Progress
Scola is beginning to show progress nearly a month into rookie season
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Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
MIAMI -- Nearly a month into his NBA career, Luis Scola knew exactly what he needed to do to get over his rough introduction to the league.
He had to stop thinking about it.
"I had a bad start," Scola said. "But it doesn't do any good to keep thinking about it. So I tried not to think about it too much. I just needed to keep working hard. When you do that, at the end of the day, something good will happen."
The rookie with the shaggy hair is beginning to make progress.
Since
forgetting about his rough start, Scola has shown steady improvement heading into Saturday's home game against the Denver Nuggets.
The Rockets power forward netted at least 20 points in back-to-back games last week, sinking an impressive 66.7 percent of his shots from the floor. He also recorded the first double-double of his career with a 20-point, 11-rebound performance against the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 17.
Scola's recent production provided the Rockets with reliable shooting option when Tracy McGrady was out of the lineup.
Now, Scola is trying to maintain those numbers upon McGrady's return.
"He's coming on," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "When teams are fronting Yao like they have been, he's going to get shots. He can make those shots. Luis is a huge factor when he's making shots because it loosens things up."
Scola wasn't hitting much through the first three weeks of the season.
Before going on his recent scoring binge, the forward was averaging a modest 3.9 points on 41.7 percent shooting.
On top of that, Scola had trouble staying on the floor because he struggled with fouls and finding his role within the offense next to Yao and McGrady.
Adelman said the forward looked like he was pressing too much early in the season.
"Luis' biggest problem is that he's got so much energy and he works so hard that sometimes he's going too hard," Adelman said. "He's just relaxed the past few games and we're hoping that's going to carry on over."
Since Scola has spent his entire basketball career overseas, Adelman and his staff anticipated that the 27-year old rookie would need some time to adjust to the NBA.
Through the first month of the season, Scola has been guilty of setting moving screens, something that isn't called in international play.
Scola isn't interested in discussing the challenge of making the transition from international basketball to the NBA.
"I don't really like talking about it because I don't want to make excuses," Scola said. "I want to play the best I can and help the team as best I can. Sometimes I play good and sometimes I play bad. But I try not to think too much about what the differences are or how hard or easy it's been. I just try to play."
Scola, though, did say that he routinely checks with referees and coaches to make sure he's doing things properly.
"I usually do that," he said. "I think it's a good thing to have conversations with the referees and coaches because it's a good way to learn and to have a nice relationship with everybody. Once a foul is called, there is nothing that's going to change it. So I just talk with them to understand what I'm doing."
Scola seems to be catching on.
Over the past four games, the power forward has stayed out of foul trouble and has minimized his turnovers. That has allowed the Rockets to keep him on the floor for extended minutes, where Scola has pulled out of his early-season shooting slump to become a reliable scoring option from the bench.
The Rockets expect Scola's offensive numbers to improve as the Rockets become more adept at running Adelman's high-motion offense.
"He's a guy that thrives on motion and movement," Battier said. "Whenever we have good movement, he's going to play a very good game. He's a really good player. He's going to be in the right spot and he's going to continue to improve."
Scola understands the only way to do that as he adjusts to a new league is to keep an even keel.
"Sometimes I'm going to play good and sometimes I'm going to play bad," Scola said. "Lately, I've been playing good. But I just have to keep playing hard and keep working hard. That's what matters most."
