# My thoughts on Luis Scola



## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

NBA TV has been showing the Euro League Finals recently, which is in the best of 5 format, and the series ends up goinga full 5 games. The Euro League Finals have been over for quite awhile now I believe, but they are just now showing them on NBA TV. Anywho, Scola plays for Tau Ceramica, one of the teams in the Finals, so I got a decent glimpse at what type of player he is. I saw good chunks of 4 of the games, with Game 2 being the only one I didn't see any of. By good chunks, I mean 2-3 quarters, not 5 or 10 minutes of the game. Aside from briefly seeing him in the Olympics, this was my first chance to see him in action, and since the board has been slow, I thought I'd give my impression on him. Keep in mind that this is based off of 3-4 games, which is certainly not enough to make a completely accurate assessment of a player, but I thought I saw enough of him to make it worthwhile.


To be short and sweet, I wasn't all that impressed with him. Keep in mind my expectations were fairly high for him, but he really didn't do anything to make me say "Wow, we missed out on him." The good that I saw is that he has an awesome touch on his shot around the basket. His shots in the paint had a great height, and he even shot the ball over 2 guys a few times and ended up making it. I think that part of his game would translate well, because he wasn't just throwing laser beams at the rim over bigger players, he put a very nice arch on his shots, and he was pretty much money when he got the ball down in the paint. Another positive I saw from him was his energy, as you would expect from another guy from Argentina. Very good energy, very good effort. That would translate well into the NBA most definitely. Now, the bad. Defensively, I was disappointed in what I saw. He was committing absolutely horrendous fouls on the perimeter, and if I remember right he was in foul trouble in 3 out of the 5 games, including the decisive Game 5. Another thing defensively, he didn't look like a good rebounder, and he certainly wasn't a presence in the paint defensively. He's not a shot blocker, which is alright, but the thing is I saw him several times not even rotate over to the guy driving to the basket. Not everyone can be a great shot blocker, but you should at least expect some help defense from your big man. Also, I didn't see him even attempt or even think about attempting a shot outside the paint. 


Take it for what it's worth. I'm sure there are plenty of guys who just visit this forum who can speak infinitely better than I can about Scola, but those were my thoughts. From what I saw, his role would be sort of an energy boost and instant offense off the bench. Anything more than that, I just don't see, but I'm pretty sure that would have basically been his role if he had been on the roster this upcoming season.


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## Long John Silver (Jun 14, 2005)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> From what I saw, his role would be sort of an energy boost and instant offense off the bench.


I agree with everything you said, but remember what was expected from Manu in his first season...


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Long John Silver said:


> I agree with everything you said, but remember what was expected from Manu in his first season...


I had the feeling someone would come back with this. 


The difference between the two is that Manu's physical attributes allow him to be something more than just a reserve. He's not a SG in a PG's body, he's a SG in a SG's body. He's got the athleticsm, he's got the height. As for Scola, he's not big enough to be a full fledged starting PF in this league IMO. How many undersized PF's are there in the game today that have larger roles? Well, Elton Brand, but he has a huge wingspan and is athletic. Again, take it for what it's worth, it's not like I was doing a full fledged scouting report on the guy, and it's not like I watched an entire season's worth of games from him, but from what I've seen and even heard from others I don't think he projects to be anything more than a very good spark off the bench in the NBA.


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## DaBobZ (Sep 22, 2003)

Your description is pretty accurate Koko, I've seen a little more of Scola but he isn't a good defender still with his energy I'm sure the teachings of Pop would have a great impact on his D game, he'd be a Malik sort of defensivly after one or two years IMHO. He'll never be a great shot blocker and he rotates poorly but he's a great hustler and gets a lot of steals, then again you would expect this from an Argentinian. As you said his moves are nice in the paint but he has no jumper. He could bring some good energy off the bench in a nba team and would score 15 pts a night in a starting role but I never expected him to be a decent post defender in the nba, he's a Radmalovic in defense nothing more.


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## Zalgirinis (Feb 18, 2003)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> NBA TV has been showing the Euro League Finals recently, which is in the best of 5 format, and the series ends up goinga full 5 games. The Euro League Finals have been over for quite awhile now I believe, but they are just now showing them on NBA TV.


It wasnt Euroleague finals and Euroleague has Final Four and not series. Tau Ceramica - Real Madrid were playing in ACB Finals (Spanish League), so that were the games you saw probably. Tau lost 2-3, in the last game leading by 7 points with 50 seconds to go. One of horrible losses ever.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Zalgirinis said:


> It wasnt Euroleague finals and Euroleague has Final Four and not series. Tau Ceramica - Real Madrid were playing in ACB Finals (Spanish League), so that were the games you saw probably. Tau lost 2-3, in the last game leading by 7 points with 50 seconds to go. One of horrible losses ever.



My bad. I had the feeling I had some of the info wrong.


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## flip-flop (May 17, 2005)

I'm from Europe and have been watching this guy for last 2 years in the euroleague. I like his game and his high motivation in a important games.
I read your critics on Scola's game and I agree with your thoughts on his bad defence play. But his foul troubles are not not only because of his defence play - I think it is also because ofhis character. But, on the other hand - offensively he is pretty good. He can easily play either PF or C against the players his height and he can hit some outside jumpers. 
To sum it up - I think he would be very usefull player for spurs (and I don't see a player like he in Spurs's current team).


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

Zalgirinis said:


> It wasnt Euroleague finals and Euroleague has Final Four and not series. Tau Ceramica - Real Madrid were playing in ACB Finals (Spanish League), so that were the games you saw probably. Tau lost 2-3, in the last game leading by 7 points with 50 seconds to go. One of horrible losses ever.


Is Louis Bullock really that good? Is it me, or does it seem that all the good scoring college NCAA players who are like SG's in PG's body when it comes to the NBA, come over to European leagues and dominate? Why is that? Justin Hamilton couldn't even make a roster, and someone told me in one of the summer leagues against poor competetion did TERRIBLE. And yet he was the best player in Game 5 of the ACB (about as good as Macas or better). And of course Bullock who dominated, yet couldn't make an NBA roster? 

I just don't understand these leagues sometimes. Are these guards just unluck in not getting a chance in the NBA? Is Bullock actually a very good player, and possibly a starter in the NBA?


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Nikos said:


> Is Louis Bullock really that good? Is it me, or does it seem that all the good scoring college NCAA players who are like SG's in PG's body when it comes to the NBA, come over to European leagues and dominate? Why is that? Justin Hamilton couldn't even make a roster, and someone told me in one of the summer leagues against poor competetion did TERRIBLE. And yet he was the best player in Game 5 of the ACB (about as good as Macas or better). And of course Bullock who dominated, yet couldn't make an NBA roster?
> 
> I just don't understand these leagues sometimes. Are these guards just unluck in not getting a chance in the NBA? Is Bullock actually a very good player, and possibly a starter in the NBA?



That's the same kind of stuff I was wondering. Luis Bullock did look pretty good out there, but I'm guessing that as an undersized SG he probably isn't quick enough to get away with it in the NBA.


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## Chef (Nov 24, 2002)

Bullock is an awesome shooter&scorer. If Brunson and others are playing in the league he should be starting


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