Scola remember is just a rookie ...and he's battled hard and with great passion. Yes ..we all know he should dunk some of his inside shots instead of laying them up off the glass ....but Scola has proven that he is one tough basketball player. He's playing inside much more than he thought he would when he came to Houston ....but without Yao Ming ...Scola has had to take his game closer to the basket.
The other rookie who plays inside ...Carl Landry ... blocked a shot to win Game 3 just before the buzzer ...and he proudly displayed his missing tooth yesterday at practice. He lost a front tooth when his faced met the fist of Utah's Carlos Boozer in Game 3. He was scheduled to get it fixed yesterday afternoon. Landry says he's ready to go,"It's win or go home. We gotta win 3 in a row but we gotta take one at a time....and that's something we can do. We won 22 in a row so ...winning 3 in a row shouldn't be that hard but we have to take it one possession at a time ..and one second at a time in order to come out winners in this series."
I said at the outset of this series .... all three Rockets rookies have to play well in order for Houston to have a chance. Aaron Brooks has had flashes ...but with Rafer back he doesn't see as much court time ....but Scola and Landry will continue to play big minutes. If they both play well tonight ...and that includes hitting free throws after getting hacked by the Jazz ... the Rockets will head back to Utah for Game 6 on Friday.