Yet, as with the Rockets themselves, shorthanded yet surviving in their Western Conference semifinal series against the Los Angeles Lakers, looks deceive and assumptions have been wrong.

Hayes, however, does not mind. If anything, he said the misconceptions help. When stepping in for Yao Ming and matching up with two-time All-Star Pau Gasol, Hayes is easy to overlook. But he said he can use that to his advantage.

"All the time, they feel like it's an easy bucket," Hayes said before the Lakers' 118-78 win in Game 5 on Tuesday night. "They underestimate me. It's up to me to prove they have their work cut out for them."

The doubts can be obvious. When Hayes is on the floor, the Rockets often switch on screens, leaving him to defend point guards from Steve Nash to Chris Paul. Most will take a look at his thick legs and immediately call for teammates to clear out so they can operate one-on-one, only to have Hayes usually and inexplicably cut them off.

The Lakers' strategy has seemed to be to go to Gasol, a wise course against any defender. Hayes, however, has gotten that treatment since he began to get playing time in the second half of the 2005-06 season, when he beat out Stromile Swift and proved to be a difference-maker as a defender.

Role is defined

He started through much of the next two seasons before he was supplanted in the Rockets' rotation by Luis Scola and Carl Landry. But he has continued to hold on to a role as a defensive stopper, stepping in when high-scoring forwards get on a roll.

He drew a charge to clinch Game 4 of the Portland series and set the tone early in Sunday's Game 4 against the Lakers. The Rockets won the game to tie the series 2-2.

"He's got very quick feet, he's smart and he's stronger than hell," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "You don't back him down. He's got strong legs and he doesn't give an inch. I had Buck Williams, the same way. You don't push him around. He didn't look that strong. Chuck doesn't, either. But he is. He has a very low base.

"When guys try to back down, it's a lot different when Yao is standing 7-6 and stands so high. Chuck is down there lower than them. He sees the plays coming. That makes all the difference."

Sneaky player

It helps that opponents often don't see Hayes coming, whether he is sliding over to draw a charge or taking on the toughest front-court assignments. As a player who rarely scores - he entered Game 5 averaging just four-tenths of a point - he is relatively unknown, even to other players.

"He guarded me," Rockets guard Ron Artest said of his first encounter with Hayes in a game in which Artest scored 30 points to force Hayes to take a turn against him. "I was like ?Wow, this guy can move his feet.' When I first saw him, I was like ?What kind of player is this guy? He's short. Is he a small forward? Is he a center?' I asked my teammates in Sacramento, who is this guy, Chuck? Can he play? What does he do?' They were like, ?He just plays.' When I played against him, I was like, ?Wow, he's a solid player.'

"He's been guarding Yao in practice. When Dikembe (Mutombo) wasn't here, Chuck had to guard Yao. Yao scored on Chuck, but it was still a challenge. If you can guard Yao, you should be able to have some success against other centers."

And this is not where Hayes is the most surprising.

At the end of every practice, the Rockets engage in a halfcourt shooting contest. During games, Hayes rarely shoots from beyond the shadow of the basket. Free throws are an adventure. From halfcourt and beyond, however, he is a force.

"Aaron (Brooks) wins the most often," Hayes said. "At the beginning of the season, though, I was hot. Trust me, I'm a close second. And if we go to the free-throw line on the other end, that's me."

If that is expected, it also is typical of a player and team of unknown, overlooked players trying to overachieve. As usual with the Rockets , so much of what they do and who they are starts with the guy in the middle.

"We got a bunch of underdogs here," Hayes said, "a bunch of scrappy guys.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com