Chuck Hayes

Initially, I was never a fan of Rockets 6-6 center Chuck Hayes.

I mean, undersized post players are great stories – considering their work ethic, determination, etc. – but, long term? No, thanks.

But over the past three years that Hayes has been a Rocket, I’ve begun to study his game. Why, I wondered, is this guy getting heavy minutes for a contending team?

He can’t shoot. He can’t handle the ball. There are times when he struggles to finish layups. Where is the attraction?

And then I saw it. The way he defended pick and rolls. The way he boxed out. His great base that practically makes him immovable in the paint.

The mind-shattering screens. The sharp passes on cuts. The fact that, no matter what his size, he was never taken advantage of in the paint.

Chuck Hayes is the King of Intangibles. And for a stat-and-number geek like GM Daryl Morey, that makes him irreplaceable.

As others have caught on, so has the national media.

Check out this great piece from the New York Times, essentially analyzing Hayes’ effectiveness in the land of the giants: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/sports/basketball/14rockets.html?ref=basketball

It’s surely a sight to see, and definitely something to appreciate. I used to never be a fan of Chuck Hayes. Now I’m his biggest.

Chuck Hayes is the epitome of hard work, defensive know-how and a willingness to embrace doing the little things that never show up in the stat line.

The NBA definitely needs more of him.