Rockets Grind Out Win Over Wolves

Scola and Hayes lead Houston to 97-84 victory

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - These are the nights when it pays to have guys like Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes on your team. Check that. Every night is a good night to have such a pair adorning your roster, so perhaps it’s more accurate to say that these are the nights when their presence is especially noticed and appreciated.

For the better part of the first 36 minutes of play Wednesday evening, the Rockets appeared disjointed, dysfunctional and discombobulated. They turned the ball over a whopping 20 times through three quarters and only led the Timberwolves – a team that came into the game having lost ten in a row - by a single point heading into the final frame.

So with all hopes of an aesthetically pleasing win long since dashed, Houston put the game in the hands of its hard hat-and-a-lunch pail crew (aka Chuck and Luis) and allowed them to carry the team to a 97-84 victory. The two burly forwards combined to provide 31 points, 26 rebounds and boundless energy during a game in which the Rockets were sorely in need of the latter, especially after having arrived in Minneapolis at 2:30 AM following a high-intensity game against Phoenix the night before.

“I thought we were really sluggish in the first half especially,” said Rockets’ Head Coach Rick Adelman. “We turned it over; we had 14 turnovers at halftime and that’s about what we average (per game). I just thought we weren’t into the game. I was just trying to push them. I told them, ‘They need a win, well we do, too.’ We had to respond after last night and every road game you get like this on a back-to-back is huge. We had to just keep persevering and our guys did it.”

They did it by following the example set by their duo of dynamic, if earth-bound, power forwards. Hayes set the tone on the defensive end, living up to Shane Battier’s classic quote from the day before when he stated that, “Three-fourths of the earth is covered by water – the rest is covered by Chuck Hayes.” Suffice to say the Timberwolves certainly wouldn’t quibble with that assessment after seeing The Cooler in action, though they might feel as if Battier was selling his teammate a wee bit short. In addition to his 10 rebounds – 5 of which came on the offensive glass – Hayes racked up 4 steals and 4 charges taken on his way to leading all players in plus/minus with a +19.

Meanwhile, Scola’s non-stop motor served him just as well, as the Argentinean sparked his club with a game-high 16 rebounds (7 offensive) and 20 points, many of which seemed to come during the game's most pivotal moments. All in all, it was precisely the sort of performance the Rockets needed on a night when they encountered so much difficulty trying to find their rhythm.

“When Luis gets it going, he works so hard that if you don't match his energy and effort you feel bad,” said Battier. “That is the good thing about this team, we have a lot of effort guys that you can draw from."

Scola essentially echoed that statement by deflecting the praise coming his way after the game, intead choosing to say it was simply his turn to play the role of team energizer.

“There will be days when I don’t have (energy) and I’ll have to feed off somebody else’s energy. I think that’s pretty much the basis of a good team and a good teammate: when you’re a little bit down, somebody else is ready to pick you up a little bit. Every now and then everybody else is a little bit tired and you are the one who kind of pushes it because you have a little more energy. That’s how a team works.

“We need this game. This type of game is very important for us. It’s the games we can’t afford to lose and these types of games are the ones that are going to put us in the playoffs so, for me, this game is the most important game of the week. I was talking to myself about it and trying to fire myself up a little bit because I think it’s really important. If we are able to win (against) all these bottom of the standings teams on a regular basis, we’re going to have a lot of wins. And then, once in awhile, we can beat the good teams, especially at home, then it’s going to put us in a positive record for sure.”

That formula for success has worked thus far as the Rockets now sport a 7-5 record heading into Friday's challenging match-up with the Eastern Conference leading Atlanta Hawks. And though Houston's brutal schedule promises to get no easier in the days and weeks to come, the club should find solace in the fact that, as long as its pair of blue collar forwards are banging bodies and doing the dirty work down low, momentum is always just one charge, rebound or tip-in away.

For that's the beauty which lies at the core of what it means to have guys like Hayes and Scola around: when the power is out and little is working as it should, they are the energizers ready, willing and able to get you through the night unscathed.

And it's nights like those - and nights like these - which remind you just how valuable they truly are.

QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
It was a good win for us after last night. We had some real dry stretches but just a really solid fourth quarter at both ends of the court. The team needs a win and we were able to just hand on.
(rebounding): Our guys have been doing that. We’ve had some off days but one thing we usually do is play hard.

(energy): I thought we were really sluggish in the first half especially. We turned it over; we had 14 turnovers at halftime and that’s about what we average (per game). I just thought we weren’t into the game. I was just trying to push them. I told them, ‘they need a win, well we do, too.’ We had to respond after last night and every road game you get like this on a back-to-back is huge. We had to just keep persevering and our guys did it.

(Luis): It could be seven straight games and he’s not going to change the way he plays – that’s just who he is. He just keeps playing and working. He must have got four or fives baskets just because of the offensive boards. He gives us energy, especially off the bench in the first half we really were sluggish. We got nothing off the bench. And in the second half, I was going to go back to Luis and Chuck, I was just waiting until the last six or seven minutes and I was going to let them finish.

I think at the start of the fourth quarter we got that lead and we kind of just picked it up from there. I think when Chuck and Luis came back in we seemed to take control at that point.

LUIS SCOLA

All I can say is that when I’m tired I try to play with more energy just to compete. If I get tired I fire myself up a little bit.

We need this game. This type of game is very important for us. It’s the games we can’t afford to lose and these types of games are the ones that are going to put us in the playoffs so, for me, this game is the most important game of the week. I was talking to myself about it and trying to fire myself up a little bit because I think it’s really important. If we are able to win (against) all these bottom of the standings teams on a regular basis, we’re going to have a lot of wins. And then, once in awhile, we can beat the good teams, especially at home, then it’s going to put us in a positive record for sure.

There will be days when I don’t have (energy) and I’ll have to feed off somebody else’s energy. I think that’s pretty much the basis of a good team and a good teammate: when you’re a little bit down, somebody else is ready to pick you up a little bit. Every now and then everybody else is a little bit tired and you are the one who kind of pushes it because you have a little more energy. That’s how a team works.

CHUCK HAYES

We came out in the third quarter and played well. We were moving the ball and hitting shots. But this the NBA and it’s a league full of runs. We went on an early run and they brought it back but we were able to execute down to the end.

SHANE BATTIER

"We got the pace more to our liking and that is when we were able to take control of the game."
"Last night, we lost to Phoenix but we fed off of Landry's big night. When Luis (Scola) gets it going, he works so hard that if you don't match his energy and effort you feel bad. That is the good thing about this team, we have a lot of effort guys that you can draw from."
"It is such a dangerous game. They (T-Wolves) have lost ten in a row. They had a couple of days off to work out a couple of things. They want to win. You have to play a good game. You can't look at the records and assume you are going to win."

TREVOR ARIZA

"It would have been tough for us if we would have lost this one. We felt we lost a game last night that came down to a couple of possessions. This game was important for us. We want to be a team that responds to everything and not let the emotions of last night carry over to tonight."

"They want to get a win. Teams like this are very dangerous. We don't want to be the team to fall to a team like that."

"It has been tough (transition from Lakers). It's a different role, a different situation. It has taken a little while to get to used to."

Wolves Head Coach Kurt Rambis

"We weren't mentally and physically ready to start the ballgame."

Guys coming off the bench - "Ramon did some good things good things out there. I thought Pecherov did some good things out there for a while."

On Al Jefferson - "He was energized and ready to play. He seemed more natural, and more his full self in the first half."

On the team - "I did my normal post game speech with them. I didn't feel like they were ready to play. They should have brought more energy. They played a team that played last night. They did in small pockets and short periods of time but they didn't sustain it. I don't hide anything with them (players), I tell them exactly what I think. A true professional is someone that brings it every night. We had our moments where we could have built up huge leads, but our guys just weren't willful enough in pushing them over the edge. All it takes is for them to get behind, and they have the tendency to let go of a ball game."

On the reasons for tonight's loss? - "It could be a lot of reasons. We will look at the tape, this team has a tendency to not understand the impact that little things can have and not allow you to continue your momentum or not allow you to stop the other teams thrust. It is all of the little things. These little grains of sand, that turns into mountains for us. Again, that is the mark of youth and inexperience. Good teams don't allow themselves to make mistakes."

Wolves Forward Ryan Gomes

Energy Level - "They out hustled us. They had a lot of offensive rebounds tonight. The last five minutes really sums up it all up. I think they got four offensive rebounds in a row so if we want to win we have to go out there and finish out these plays especially when we have the chance to win one at the end of the game."

Houston's back-to-back games - "I mean some teams play better on the second night than the first night so I don't want to use that, coming off a back-to-back, that it was a guarantee for us to win the game."

Second Half - "Yeah if you look at our last few games our third quarters has given us a lot of problems and tonight I think we did a better job in the third quarter. Guys came off the bench and gave us a lot of energy in Pecherov and Wilkins, so we did take a step forward in that direction, but as far as finishing the game off and playing the whole 48 minutes we are still a little bit behind in that aspect so in order for us to get off this 11-game losing streak we are going to have to do something, I don't know what it is, but we don't want to get accustomed to continue on to lose, lose and play 36 or 40 minutes of good basketball and then to come in here and watch tape tomorrow at practice and say that we should have done this, we should have done that. We have to go ahead and change individually before we can go ahead and change as a team."

Wolves Guard Jonny Flynn

"I think I am ready to play every game. I might have thought I was giving energy and I wasn't, but I am up for every game. I am a competitor and I come to play every day."

Turnovers - "On our behalf we have to cut our turnovers down. You want to be a team with 12 turnovers or less; those are possessions that you need and you see crucial possessions especially with a team like us that can impact the score at times. We need all of the possessions that we can have."

Fourth Quarter - "Our bench did a hell of a job tonight, we should have just let them play the rest of the game out. I think our starters weren't out there giving as much energy as we could have and our bench really held it together for us. I applaud them. I kind of take the blame for our starters not going out there and playing as hard as possible."

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