Playing undersized at the 5: a look at some numbers

He was starting to block more last year but I do understand where you're coming from.

I thought he did ok against the Lakers bigs in the playoffs. I think he has a problem of being a streaky player.

 

You're sort of right since wingspan/length generally mean more then height but here are the actual measurements from when they were drafted:

Landry:

Height w/o shoes: 6'7.75"
Wingspan: 6'11"
Standing Reach: 8'6.5"
Weight: 248 (listed on NBA.com at 248)

Millsap:

Height w/o shoes: 6'6.25"
Wingspan: 7'1.5"
Standing Reach: 8'9.5"
Weight: 258 (listed on NBA.com at 250)

So, technically, Millsap is not necessarily bigger but longer. Length is usually more important than height though. Landry has short arms for his height.

 

But Millsap weights more than Landry and that does play a part.

Thanks for pulling that up though.

 

Yes, it's pretty clear that Landry is a valuable trade chip. Scola isn't going anywhere, unless it brings us a wow-Morey-how'd-you-pull-THAT-off? type of player. Hayes can't score but the dude is a load on the defensive end, which is what we need to help cover David Anderson when he gets abused on D.

A lot of teams would clamor for Carl Landry and his energizer-bunny 24-ish mpg role. Plus he's got this and next year in the $3 million range.

 

We don't know that. According to NBA.com, the difference is 2 pounds and that is more than likely inaccurate. Landry has been working out and I'm sure Millsap has been, too. For all we know, Landry weighs the same or more than Millsap now.

The less disputable meausrements are wingspan and length, where Landry falls short against a lot of people that are of similar height, including Millsap. Length is generally more significant than height so you are right in a sense that Millsap is bigger. I just felt that longer was the better term.

 

Based purely on statistics and nothing else, we'll probably see this starting lineup on opening day:

PG: Brooks
SG: Battier
SF: Ariza
PF: Scola
C: Hayes

 

whats cato doing these days.

 

The question is not whether we can play undersized. We have proven in the past that we can. The question is whether we can play that way for the entire season and be competitive. Teams will make adjustment to our small lineup and it will be up to us to make adjustment to other teams' size which will be more difficult to do.

 

True. that looks like the line up. No news about Mr.Anderson. So I guess he not doing great.. and looks like he wont be able to defend NBA bigs.

but we will have huge problems with regards to offense with the aforementioned line up. . Battier and Hayes are offensively challenged.. and not sure what Ariza can do. I am not too high on that guy.. looks like we will need T-Mac badly..

I am desp hoping that Chase comes up good..

 

Its gonna be difficult.. for example.. Phil Jackson is talking about fielding this lineup..

Bynum
Gasol
Odom
Artest
Bryant

 

Durvasa, great post as usual. Here is what I see in terms of those stats u posted.

When the rockets go small, they're quicker to the ball and in hayes case, he's a better defender in space than Yao. So the rrox play better in pick in roll defense ande hayes,scola, and landry are rangy rebounders vs yao. The problems comes when a team pounds the inside and the rebounds are short in short areas. Also, check the conversion rate around the basket with and without yao. I'm pretty sure the conversion rate around the basket is much lower when yao or deke was in the game. With yao and deke, they're big guys and when they hold their arms up inside, guys pump fake and head fake,but when the other 3 are in there, guys just go straight up because they're small.

 

Durvasa, great post as usual. Here is what I see in terms of those stats u posted.

When the rockets go small, they're quicker to the ball and in hayes case, he's a better defender in space than Yao. So the rrox play better in pick in roll defense ande hayes,scola, and landry are rangy rebounders vs yao. The problems comes when a team pounds the inside and the rebounds are short in short areas. Also, check the conversion rate around the basket with and without yao. I'm pretty sure the conversion rate around the basket is much lower when yao or deke was in the game. With yao and deke, they're big guys and when they hold their arms up inside, guys pump fake and head fake,but when the other 3 are in there, guys just go straight up because they're small.

 

Tell Cato we want our money back.

 

I would love for the Rockets to face this lineup! We would give up a ton of rebounds, Brooks would need a lot of help on Artest inside, but I think they would get into foul trouble first.

 

I don't think the rockets played small last yr because they had to, they did it cause adelman always favors offense vs defense unless its in a crucial time. Deke sat on the bench for game after game as did chuck because they kill your offense on a offensive challenged team. When Adelman had no choice cause yao was hurt or a pf was killing scolandry,then we would see chuck. That's why I maintain guys like camby or turiaf makes more sense than having all 3 or 2 of the 3.Turiaf for landry and a guy would give the rox a shotblocker and a guy that will finish and can knock down the 15fter. Camby is the same excpet he's a better rebounder and bigger. Yeah he will struggle against shaq, but he's a great help defender and still aathelteic enough to rrun the floor and one of the best passing bigs in the league.

 

Very interesting stats.

It is clear, even without the numbers, that Hayes is our best interior defender. And it is not surprising that Landry is the weakest link on defense. Without accounting for strength of opponent, the Scola-Hayes combination seems to be the best we have for now.

I have a feeling that Andersen will be a good offensive player in the NBA. How much of a defensive liability he is will determine how much PT he will get.

The Lakers playoffs series showed us that size did matter. Whenever the Lakers big front court stepped up their intensity, we were slaughtered. Good thing there aren't that many teams that have a front court like the Lakers.

 

Sorry to be a pain in the backside here - but longtime Rockets fan, who just so happens to be Australian (and keenly follows Aussie players all over the place).
Anderson isn't THAT bad of a defender. He's not 'fleet footed' - but he's not SLOW either. He's quick enough to run the court well, and he has good size to 'bang' in the post.
His time in Europe helped him develop in that area - and I don't think he'll be a complete liability.

For mine, the biggest problem we face is the lack of a legitimate shot-blocker. I think Landry is the most expendable player that we have - I'd like to move him on and give his minutes to Pops (crazy idea) - Pops is at least Carl's equal as a rebounder, and is probably a superior defender with better length.

I guess we'll see what happens though!

 

Great thread. I think saying that Landry and Scola are poor defenders based on this data may be a stretch. We are comparing them to Yao, Deke, and Hayes. I'd like to see some league average numbers of some sort before I get too discouraged. I am also anxious to see how Smooth Jazz's quick leaping ability and brains develop on that end of the floor.