The Rockets introduced the newest member of their team Tuesday and he's a talented and intelligent 27 year old named Luis Scola. The 6 foot 9 inch power forward helped Argentina win an Olympic gold medal in the 2004 games. He also has been the MVP of the Spanish League twice.

From Scola's perspective this is a dream come true. He says he's been dreaming of this day since he was a small child. From the Rockets perspective though ..... it's the fullfillment of a wish that General Manager Daryl Morey has had since he took the job. Specifically .... Morey wanted to acquire a power forward who was still in his prime. "Not a re-tread," as he told me today. He got exactly what he was wishing for with Scola.

I went to Tracy McGrady's youth basketball camp today to see what T-Mac thought about the signing ..and Tracy admitted he didn't know much about Scola. He did say however that Tim Duncan knows Scola and knows of his talent ...and Duncan speaks very highly of him. Tracy said,"If Timmy says it's a good pickup ....then I believe he's a good pick-up."

Head coach Rick Adelman likes what he sees in Scola. Adelman likes the way the 6-9 player runs the court for a big man. Plus, he says he's so enthusiastic about this move. "I see nothing but upside with this guy," Adelman told me. Adelman also added that the team really needed this. They needed a power forward in the worst way and he believes that of all the power forwards available .... Scola will be the best complement to Yao's game.

So is Scola really the missing piece?? Who knows. We won't know for sure until the real games begin .....but there's no getting around the fact that the Rockets ... on paper at least ... became a better team today.

Leave a comment

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.