Scola Essential To Rockets -- March 13, 2008, by Stan McNeal, SportingNews
Luis Scola learned he had become the Rockets’ starting power forward at a shootaround in late January. “Coach told me to go over there with the whites (jerseys). If you wear a white jersey, you’re a starter,” Scola said during a phone conversation Wednesday.
No big thing. Tracy McGrady was due out that night with the flu, and coach Rick Adelman was looking for someone to help give the team a quick start. Out went Chuck Hayes, in came the energetic Argentinean.
Twenty games later, Scola is still starting and the Rockets have become a very big thing.
They have had not lost since Scola joined the lineup at power forward. Their 83-75 victory at Atlanta Wednesday night stretched their winning streak to 20, matching the second-longest streak in NBA history (Bucks, 1971). Not bad for a team that began the new year 15-17 and wondering if it even would get into the playoff race.
Don’t expect Scola to take much credit for his starting having much to do with the Rockets’ winning streak, though. “It wasn’t a big deal when I was a backup and everyone was asking me when I was going to start, so I can’t make it a big deal now that I am starting,” he says.
Scola, 27, credits the Rockets’ rise to good defense (the Rockets are holding opponents to 41.3 percent shooting and 89.3 points during the streak entering Wednesday’s game), sharing the ball (“When someone isn’t hitting, we have been finding someone else to step in,” he says.) and becoming accustomed to Adelman’s system (“We had new players, a new coach and a new system,” Scola says. “It was only a matter of time before we started coming together”).
Scola may be an NBA rookie, but he is no stranger to success in pro hoops. He was MVP last summer at the Tournament of Americas, despite Argentina’s loss to the U.S. in the championship. He was the leading scorer for gold medal-winning Argentina at the 2004 Olympics. He twice was named the Spanish League MVP during his seven seasons with Tau Ceramica.
Though this is his first year living in America, Scola has no trouble communicating in English. Check his answer to a question I asked him Wednesday morning, and you can see he has learned to handle potentially sticky questions from the media.
Me:
“Which would mean more, winning the Finals or Olympic gold this summer?”
Scola: “I want to win both.”
The way the Rockets are going since Scola became a starter, he certainly has an opportunity for at least one of the two.
One reason that Scola doesn't get much attention from the NBA media (although a lot of commentators love him), is that he's not a "sexy" player. He's great, but he won't go for the hot slam dunks like Durant. 
