Dan Langhi came into last nights GS game and was matched against Bobby Sura. The GS announcers were wondering why Sura didn't go to the basket with a taller player on him. The answer was - he couldn't. Langhi appears to have adequate foot speed to bother smaller opponents. This seemed to be true later when he was switched to Larry Hughes. Except for a sequence where Hughes lost Langhi on a weakside rebound, Langhi held Hughes to 6 points - ALL standstill jumpers from long range. I'm going to say something pretty outrageous, but it's the holidays and I know ya'all will be gentle. I wonder if a few years down the road Dan Langhi will grow into the "Kobe Killer"? (Not that Larry Hughes is Bryant's equal, but Hughes is a VERY athletic and talented shooter - and Dan wasn't drafted for his D!). A pleasant surprise in a disappointing game. The Kobe part is wishful thinking, but I think Dan deserves more PT. Especially with Walt and Bull struggling. In the next 4 games he would guard Sean Elliot, Rashard & Patterson, Finley and/or Nowitski, and Wally Z. Come on Rudy - go for it!! These are all tough tests, but Hughes is comparable to any of them. -------------- GATER [This message has been edited by GATER (edited December 24, 2000).]
Straight up!If I was Rudy, I would give more playing time, because the guy was simply fast enough to defend anyone, cause Dan's got the speed and I think, even if the player is half or one step ahead of him and taking the ball to the hoops Langhi which I think can reach and squat the ball. I also think he's got talent of Matt and Walt combine, when the season progress and getting more playing time.He is going to be a big threat in the league for a small forward at 6'11". ------------------ Rudy T. will find and fulfill Rockets destiny.
Langhi played Hughes well- as soon as I saw that matchup, I thought "oh damn, he's going to be torched." After all, Hughes is the type of guy who can torch anyone. But I wouldn't say Dan shut him down- he chose a strategy that worked for the time he was on him. Langhi backed off Hughes big time- gave him tons of space, to prevent the drive. That was basically intelligent ball- Hughes can drive the lane like nutty but he has no outside shot. Hughes would pause a moment, as if to say, "You're giving me that much space?" Then he would go around the pick and shoot the outside shot. Dan did a pretty good job of consciously predicting the pick, going under it, (likely Rudy's instructions) and still be able to jump and put a hand in Hugh's face with those ridiculous long arms of his. I am not convinced of Langhi's lateral speed yet, not at all. But he defended LH very intelligently. He did it the way Bullard would do- he backed off the player to prevent the drive and compensate for his own lateral speed, but the difference between him and Bull is he has the vertical quickness and hops to get a hand in the face when his man decides to take the J. On another occasion, Hughes faked him into the air very easily, but Dan still recovered quickly enough to do jump again and get a hand up for his next shot- he has that pogo-stick jumping ability. I don't think Langhi has shown he can be a great defender yet- but he has two major things that make him a good defender- he has hops, and he's tall as hell with long arms. He won't be a great defender until he can prevent being faked into the air, body up on a guy on the perimiter, stay in front of his man with lateral speed, and double-team intelligently. I'm totally with MManal and D.ofD- I am most impressed with his intense rebounding. He won't just grab a rebound- he rips it down. And he is always looking for the putback slam on offensive glass. God, I love that. There must have been at least four times he was going to hit the rim with his forearm/elbow looking to slam home the miss. Sacrificing that skinny body of his, flying through the air among the big boys. Love it. Did any of you see the post-game interview with Bullard? The interviewer asked Bull if Rudy kept him out due to injury or matchup. Bull says Rudy did it because of matchup- there were lots of fast little guys out there and coach thought Langhi could defend them better. This guy has the shooting ability of Wiz and Bull, but he can really jump, rebound, and plays with intensity. He is slowly earning his way into the rotation.
Dan Langhi has very good lateral movement and should be a solid defender for this team. At some point in the near future, Langhi should be the starting SF for this team. Forget the fact that he is a deadeye outside shooter and can put the ball on the floor; did anyone notice how active he is going to the offensive glass? After every missed shot, Langhi would be flying to the rim looking for a putback. He is very aggressive and active on the floor and looks to be one of those SFs that can become a very good rebounder. Langhi is a very nice fit for this team and just needs to get more and more PT. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
Well, as I'm in Houston visiting relatives for Christmas, I finally got watch my first Rockets game of the season. I watched Damn Lanky's game in the pre-season and was impressed by two things : 1) He is tenacious when he smells a rebound and doesn't seem to mind crashing the boards even though he's built like a straw. I saw more of this last night. 2) He has the sweetest jumpshot I've seen from a Rockets player since... well... uh... Mike Woodson! One thing I noticed from watching the game last night was that Langhi seemed to have Sura on him on at least 3 occasions. On 2 of those occasions he could've easily posted him up. I couldn't believe the Rockets didn't exploit this further. Lanky had something like a 6-7 inch height advantage on Sura, and I was hoping they'd use that to their advantage. Not to mention that Sura looked winded most of the time he was in there. I need to watch Dirk Nowitzki more, but I'm wondering if we could have a jr. version of him with Lanky. ------------------ I use smilies and I LOL -- I'm your worst nightmare.
Langhi can hold Hughes???????????????? Stop the madness ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
Once Langhi gets consistent minutes, I think it is going to be a struggle for Bull and Wizard to keep up. This kid can play, and is SUPER basketball smart, and believe me this team needs all the basketball smart people it can get. We have all the playground players covered, now we need someone to teach some intelligence..on the floor. DaDakota ------------------ If Mankind evolved from Monkeys and Apes, then why are there still Monkeys and apes?
I've loved Langhi's game ever since I saw him in summer league dunking on people and then staring them down. I laughed my ass off when I saw that. Langhi does have good foot speed for his size and is a smart defender. He stayed very far off Hughes and basically made him take that outside shot. I watched him before the game play one on one with Kenny, and he could definitely take advantage of other 3's in the post. Also he runs the floor and fills the lane alot better than Bull or Walt. ------------------
This is the first game I've really gotten to see this season and I went crazy when Langhi got in. I've heard so much about him, but he never played and so I had to see for myself what all the fuss was about . . . DAMN! He was /really/ timid at first, but as he began to loosen up, Langhi was kickin' a$$. I couldn't believe it . . . His Defense was "okay" . . . not worldbeating, but not as bad as I expected from what I'd heard and all the Bullard comparisons. Hughes couldn't drive on him, but his shooting was so good, it didn't matter entirely. Rebounding was raw, but intense. He got a few tough boards and flew in for some that he just barely missed. Scoring was there in spades. He had agility, shooting, everything . . . total package. Langhi was awesome . . . I can see why everyone is hyped on him. Now let's just get him in the rotation! I could see that MAYBE Rudy is holding him back to let him develop, then unleash him on the league next season. Langhi can create rotation probs with Rudy needing to get Walt and Shandon minutes at the 3 and KT and MT switching off at the four. WE WANT LANGHI!! WE WANT LANGHI!! ------------------ "I am who I am, who I am, well who am I?" -- Dave Matthews Band "Dancing Nancies"
Dayum!!! They would finally give this kid some minutes when I go out of town and miss a few games!! I wonder if Rudy will match him up with KG at all? ------------------ President of the Moochie Norris Fan Club - est. 99-00
I missed the game, but if he was daring Hughes to make an outside shot, he played smart defense. Hughes is an awful outside shooter, I'd rather let him try and beat me out there, then let him penetrate. Langhi looks like the type of guy, where if he was guarding the right person (short SF/SG) he could make a highlight reel type of block. With the streaky Bullard and Walt both sort of in a down-cycle, Langhi may get more PT. He'd serve real well pulling Duncan away from the interior tonight against SA. ------------------ The Serious Police are watching. Follow the rules or be assimilated. Shandon is underrated.
