link Rookie Watch: Houston's Landry rockets into top 10 By David Thorpe ESPN.com (Archive) Updated: March 5, 2008 Comment Email Scouting Report: Carl LandryThe Rockets are making a playoff run with huge contributions from two of their rookies. And there's been a Brandan Wright sighting in Golden State. Here are my latest observations on the top rooks: • Al Horford made "2 plays" against the Celtics on Sunday, using his left hand to block a Rajon Rondo shot, then racing the floor to dunk an alley-oop pass over Ray Allen. There are no signs of fatigue from Horford, who was taking his game to another level at this time last season when he helped Florida win its third straight SEC tournament. • I liked how Kevin Durant immediately posted up a much smaller Randy Foye early in the game Sunday against the Timberwolves. And how he made plays in transition, including a late game-tying, race-and-finish layup. I envision Durant studying a DVD this summer, created by his coaches, of all his "poor shot selection" clips. It's going to be a really long show, but I'd expect KD to be a much smarter player afterward. • I can't figure out which stat is more impressive: Carl Landry getting 28 percent of his shot attempts from dunks (Dwight Howard is at 31 percent) or the Rockets going 21-5 in games he has played in (19-1 in games in which he played at least 12 minutes). • Landry's stats are impressive, but consider this: His teammate, Luis Scola, has shot 50 percent or better in 14 of his last 18 games. His worst performances in that span were a pair of 4-for-10 nights in which he still finished with double-doubles in both games. He averaged 12 ppg in that stretch and the Rockets lost only one of those games. Wow, that is efficiency. • Sean Williams, now dropping on the Nets' depth chart, is the latest rookie to learn the harsh realities of the NBA. The level of competition is supreme, not just from opponents but from teammates, too. Williams may feel he deserves playing time because he's a first-round pick (lots of first-round guys feel that way), but the two guys ahead of him, Nenad Krstic and Stromile Swift, are former first-rounders as well. • Al Thornton notched a double-double against Philly, but not the good kind. The 20 points on 11 shots was outstanding, but the 10 turnovers were something else. Thornton has been killing teams with his all-around game (see our video of him last week), but the Sixers decided to show him the teeth of their defense. They drew three offensive fouls on him and sent doubles and aggressive helpers at him frequently. Thornton is the feature guy on many possessions for the Clips nowadays, so this is part of his learning curve. A certain tall and thin rookie is smiling in Seattle. Top 10 rookies Here are my top 10 rookies 18 weeks into the season: (Previous rank in parentheses) 1. Al Horford, Hawks (1) 2. Kevin Durant, Sonics (2) 3. Luis Scola, Rockets (3) 4. Al Thornton, Clippers (5) 5. Jamario Moon, Raptors (4) 6. Thaddeus Young, Sixers (7) 7. Carl Landry, Rockets (NR) 8. Juan Carlos Navarro, Grizzlies (8) 9. Sean Williams, Nets (6) 10. Mike Conley, Grizzlies (10) • Click here for Thorpe's top 50 • Thorpe's previous top 10 • If Daniel Gibson can be a key player for a contender like Cleveland, then JC Navarro can be the same for any team hoping to win a ring. • It's been a season of steady play from Jamario Moon. And February was his best scoring month yet (10.8 ppg on 50-plus percent from the field) in which he shot and made the most 3s of his NBA career, making 37 percent of his 27 attempts. I'm not sure that Moon taking 3s is what the Raps are looking for because it comes at the expense of his activity inside (and also means that someone better at shooting is not taking the shot). I'm interested to see if this trend continues, seeing how the Raps are not playing as well as they had hoped this late in the season. • Thaddeus Young is doing exactly what most GMs and coaches want from their rookies. He's finding ways to contribute towards wins without dominating the action, which keeps the vets happy, too. In the Sixers' last five games, of which they won four, Young has averaged 9 ppg on 21-for-37 shooting -- not terribly impressive numbers, but very efficient. Factor in that he had 12 steals in those five games and you can see his value; he's not ruining possessions by taking lots of bad shots and he's earning extra possessions. Oh, and he had nine offensive rebounds in that stretch too. • Last week I compared Mike Conley to Tony Parker (not an original thought, I'm sure). Let's continue. It took Parker four years to figure out that he wasn't a good 3-point shooter. After averaging 196 attempted 3-balls in those first four seasons, Parker attempted only 36 and 38 in his next two seasons, and has attempted 41 thus far this season. Not surprisingly, his points average and overall field goal percentage are way up over these last three seasons, as Parker has realized that he's almost unguardable as an attacker. Conley, just as explosively quick as Parker and an excellent finisher as well, is just 13-for-48 from the 3-point line in his 30 games this season. And unlike Parker, he has no Tim Duncan to make up for some of those missed perimeter shots. Will Conley learn how to be a better shooter? Or will it also take him four years to figure out that he's better equipped at attacking the rim? • Three weeks ago, I commented on how impressed I was with what I saw from Brandan Wright in a pregame workout in Oakland. I guessed that on another team, he'd have a real role by now. Well, Don Nelson finally gave him a chance to play the other day (now that Andris Biedrins is out), and Wright responded with 12 points on seven shots in 19 minutes. He also added seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Then, a few nights later, he put up 13 and 7. The young man can play. There's a great lesson here, too: When you are not getting any minutes, you still must go out and get work done every day. So when your chance comes, you are prepared
I liked the little scouting video also. Though I wouldn't say Landry is a legit 6'9 with "very long arms". But somehow, he appears that way because of his leaping ability and feistiness on the offensive boards.
I thought he was 6'7" in bare feet.. maybe with shoes on it makes the difference up. He doesn't look much taller than Chuck when they are next to one another, but he does have an inch or two on him.
I read somewhere that he was 6'8 1/2, with shoes. He does appear even shorter than that to my eyes, but no matter. He's a beast.
Dude is 6'9" same size as T-Mac. Hmm wonder if T-Mac will have an effect on him. Wondering what his scoring ability is off the dribble.
Why is everyone so worried about an inch of height? He can clearly play the PF position, that's all that matters. Rockets got the steal of the draft and people still b**** and moan about little things.
david thorpe seems to be a big landry fan. did anyone catch that in his chat today he compared carl to charles barkley? i don't recall the exact quote, but someone with espn insider can go into the chat transcript and post it here.
Who's b****ing and moaning? I'm just pointing out that he isn't a "legit 6'9 with very long arms" as Thorpe says; that's not a complaint.
[rquoter] Andrew (Sugar Land, TX): Do you think Carl Landry can keep up his productivity with increased minutes and increased attention from opposing defenses? Why can't defenses seem to keep him off the boards and keep him from dunking? SportsNation David Thorpe: He reminds me of, gasp, Charles Barkely. Not as dynamic with the ball, but similar in strength and explosiveness at the rim. [/rquoter] Landry is featured prominently on the front page of ESPN's NBA section right now. That worries me a bit ... we need him to keep that low profile!
Landry finally cracked into Hollinger's PER ranking He ranks at 12 for 24.05 PER. He also ranks in top 5 in FG%, TS%, ORR. He can not hide anymore.
