[Chron] Justice: Chuck Hayes Fever Grips Rockets

durvasa · Nov 6, 2009

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/justice/6706326.html

Chuck Hayes is the most remarkable player on the NBA's most remarkable team. How's that for an opening sentence? Good one, huh?

Don't believe me? Let's check in at Toyota Center and run it past some people who should know.

“Luis Scola and I were talking in the weight room this morning,” Shane Battier said, “and we both agreed Chuck Hayes is our favorite player in the NBA.”

How so?

“It's pretty amazing what he does,” Battier said. “He's a huge reason we've been one of the best defensive teams in the league the last few years.”

How about you, Carl Landry? Do you love Hayes as much as the rest of us?

“He's the perfect player,” Landry said. “He rebounds, plays defense, takes charges, gets steals. He does the dirty work.”

Is that right, Scola?

“It's a pleasure to play with him,” Scola said. “He plays hard. He does everything a basketball player should do. He's a great teammate.”

Surely someone disagrees. Coach Rick Adelman, are you ready to get rid of the Chuck Wagon?

“He's incredible,” Adelman said. “You watch him play that game (against the Lakers on Wednesday) against a 7-1 guy (Andrew Bynum). That guy is a really good young player. He gets 17 points and 17 rebounds. Chuck ends up with 14 and 14.

“When he's on the court, we're so different. Right now, he's confident and making some plays for himself. He's playing with a lot of freedom. I marvel at what he gets done against certain people in this league.”

Once upon a time, Hayes was one of the NBA's best-kept secrets. Only the Rockets seemed to know how good he was. Jeff Van Gundy fell in love with him midway through about one practice, and then Adelman arrived and did the same thing.

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Here is a transcript of what Chuck did in the Lakers game, from of pmac3 from Clutchfans. People talk about "intangibles" with players like Chuck. This shows that there are plenty of tangible things you can do on the court that doesn't show up in a boxscore, prompting Shane to say after the game:

"Chuck being Chuck," Battier said. "If you want a treat, watch Chuck Hayes for a game. He is fantastic at what he does."
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pmac3 said:

Transcript
-Bynum leaks out to the three point line as Kobe cuts to the lane but Hayes slides in and Odom is forced to pass it, an easy bucket is prevented.

-Ariza feeds Chuck down low who is covered by 3 guys so he makes a crafty bounce pass to Scola for the 15 footer.

-Hayes slides over to defend Artest on the drive and rotates to Odom as the lakers swing the ball around, no one picks up Bynum and he gets an easy dunk (Bynum scores but it’s not really Hayes’ fault)

-Bynum tries to back down Hayes who stands his ground and rebounds Bynum’s missed shot

-Hayes boxes Bynum way out of rebounding position, nearly out of the paint, and Ariza swoops in for the rebound

-Hayes takes the ball right out of Odom’s hands after a missed lay in which was defended well by Ariza

-Bynum attempts to back down Hayes to no avail. He misses the shot and is cleanly boxed out by Hayes, Scola jumps in for the rebound,

-Kobe comes down the court and tries to get it to Bynum, Hayes picks off the pass and it goes to Scola to start the break.

-Shane inbounds the ball to Ariza who passes to Hayes for a nice lay in.

-Chuck applies the right amount of pressure to Bynum under the rim and then backs off just enough to throw off his balance. Bynum blows the lay in.

-Chuck nearly takes the ball from Odom as he goes up for a lay up and forces him to miss the shot as it is tipped out of bounds.

-After a missed lakers shot Chuck runs the court and gets a transition lay in

-Chuck finds AB on a cut to the basket with a beautiful skip pass to the paint from almost the 3 pt line.

-Ariza misses a shot and Chuck wrestles with Kobe for a loose ball (we know how that ends) he picks up the foul call.

-Chuck comes out of the game [1st quarter, 3:11]

-Chuck checks into the game [2nd quarter, 6:56]

-Chuck cuts to the basket as Powell turns his head and Ariza finds him for a layup

-Chuck posts up and finds Shane near the rim on the baseline who puts up a nice hook over Odom.

-Ariza misses a three but Chuck fights for the offensive board and Powell knocks it out of bounds leading to another rockets possession.

-Chuck comes out of the game [2nd quarter, 3:28]

-[start of 2nd Half]

-Chuck picks off Fisher who can’t get back to defend AB on the 3 pointer

-Chuck fouls Odom trying to block Odom (come on big fella, you can’t do everything)

-Chuck steps out of bounds trying to drive around Bynum (see above)

-Chuck tips the ball back to himself after an Ariza missed 3, another rockets possession

-Kobe drives to the rim and Chuck just takes the ball right away from him, frustrating Kobe so much that he picks up a technical foul.

-Chuck fouls Odom again trying to block his shot, Odom scores and gets the and1

-Chuck passes to Ariza in the paint from the high post, he scores after a couple moves

-Chuck tips the ball to Scola after a missed Odom jumper

-Chuck snags the offensive board after a missed 3 by Ariza

-Shane pops the ball loose from bynum and Chuck grabs it quickly

-Just as Worrell makes a comment about getting the ball to Olajuwon, Chuck cuts to the rim and lays it in off of a nice Ariza pass (almost reminds you of the Drea…okay not really).

-Chuck comes out of the game [3rd quarter, 31.8 seconds]

-Chuck checks back in [4th quarter, 9:30]

-Bynum tries to back down Hayes (why not just give up at this point, it ain’t happenin’), another missed hook which leads to a Hayes rebound.

-Landry passes to Chuck from under the basket, he tosses up a hook that misses (nice form though)

-Bynum picks off Shane and Chuck quickly switches on Kobe preventing what could have been an easy 3 (something he continues to do on the Bynum/Kobe PnR for the duration of the game).

-Scola notices Bynum coming over to double and quickly dishes it to Hayes who cuts to the basket for a lay up.

-Chuck hits Fisher with a solid pick that leads to an open 3 for Brooks

-Chuck saves the ball to shane off of a Rockets’ he can’t quite handle it, lakers ball

-Chuck strips Kobe on the double after the PnR and steps out of bounds

-Chuck taps the ball down on the lob to Bynum at the end of regulation.

[Overtime]

-Bynum passes to a cutting Artest from the post, Chuck slides over and forces the miss

-Chuck gets the offensive board off of a missed shot and passes it out to Shane for a wide open 3, he misses but Chuck fights for that board with Artest and a jump ball is called, Hayes wins the tip.

-Ariza is doubled on the PnR, he finds Chuck open in the paint for a lay in

-AB cuts into the lane drawing the D and finds Chuck in the open space for a lay in.

-Bynum gets the ball right under the rim, Chuck makes the right decision and intentionally fouls him

-Chuck intentionally fouls Bynum again. He was coming late after doubling Kobe, unfortunately it’s his 6th foul and he has to leave the game. [OT, 24.7 seconds]
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[Chron] Justice: Chuck Hayes Fever Grips Rockets

durvasa JBB Rockets Fan

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[Chron] Justice: Chuck Hayes Fever Grips Rockets

durvasa JBB Rockets Fan

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