Brooklyn Nets: Luis Scola Believes He Can Offer Experience

As a seasoned veteran in the NBA, Luis Scola brings a heavy load of experience to the Brooklyn Nets. In an interview with Brooklynnets.com, Scola explained why he chose to come to Brooklyn and what he brings to the team.

At 36 years old, Luis Scola has spent nine seasons in the NBA. To mark a decade in the league, Scola is joining the Brooklyn Nets.

On why he decided to commit to the Nets, Scola stated that he always believed Brooklyn was going to succeed in the NBA. He also believes new management will help bring the team back to relevancy.

"“I’ve always felt that Brooklyn was going to be a force in the NBA… The owner is very committed to the team and I think there’s a big future, a bright future ahead of this organization.”"

Scola praised Brooklyn’s new general manager, Sean Marks. He referred to his good friend, Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs, as the one who gave him good references on Marks. Marks spent five years with the Spurs: one as director of basketball operations, four as an assistant coach.

"“Sean played a lot of years with the Spurs. Manu [Ginobili] is a close friend of mine and Manu was very close with Sean, too. We talked about him a lot and the way he developed his front office career, you can easily see that he knows what he’s doing. He’s trying to bring the Spurs mentality to this building. I think he has a bright future ahead of him.”"

In terms of what Scola has to offer to the Nets, he believes his experience speaks for itself. He also doesn’t think it’s necessary to change the way he plays.

"What I’ve been doing my whole career is probably what I’m going to do this year too. I’m 36, I’m not going to change the way I play. I think I can bring a lot of things to the team, I hope I can do that and definitely working for it."

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Despite that, Brooklynnets.com did note that Scola extended his shooting range recently. Last season, he shot at 40.4 percent from deep. Prior to last season, Scola was not a sharpshooter, nor did he actually take many threes. In fact, Scola averaged 0.2 three-point attempts or less per game every season with the exception of last year. Scola remarked that all he did was just take a few steps back, as he was already a polished shooter at long twos.

"“It’s true that did a change a little bit, but the truth is that I was already shooting a lot of shots, I just stepped backwards and extended my range. It’s not like I never shot [threes] before, I was a shooter – a long two-point shooter – so I moved the place I was shooting a little further down, but my game didn’t change that much, just the range a little bit.”"

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Lastly, Scola stated that his role on the team “will be twofold, leadership off the court — in the locker room, in practice — but also on the court.” The Nets are one of the NBA’s youngest teams. Scola, along with Randy Foye, are the only two players on the roster older than 30. Being a good influence on the Nets’ youth is important to the development of the team, and Scola can be one.