He is sorta like Manu when he drives and makes up a shot that goes in. The angles these guys use to contort their bodies is something to behold. I am glad Scola was picked up.
It amazes me too... seems Scola 's footsteping is not much faster than Yao... I guess it works for him because there's no double teaming.
Yeah,Landry had the big knee injury but still looked good in March Madness. ....right there with the best the Big 10 had to offer. He seems to be getting his explosiveness back.If not for that knee,he's definitely a 12 - 20 pick draft day to play the 3/4 in the Association.
This is an off the subject question that I hope someone can answer me. I will be in H-Town for the Foofighters concert and would like to know if the Rocket's Shop is open during a concert event at the TC?
He missed the last three games of junior year with a torn ACL and then had another knee injury and missed all but five games in 05/06 due to an injured knee and was redshirted. The type of knee injury he had really takes at least a year to fully heal if it does, but he wanted to play and may have caused he knee to take much longer to heall all the way. Thus his explosiveness wasn't what it was in his senior year. He still put up good numbers but his athleticism dropped off. I thought I read somewhere he probably returned to early back to purdue an it affected his explosiveness. He was much slower and it hurt his position in the draft because he just didn't look as athletic as he was before the injury. I also remember somebody readin that Landry had a complete seal of a approval on his knee but he still needed to get his legs into game shape. This what he had to say about coming back from his injury, "The hardest part of the rehab process was the mental part, just getting back on the court and knowing that you can’t cut like you used to, knowing you can’t jump like you used to,” he said. “That probably took the longest for me. Going into the training room and doing sets on the leg press machine and things like that, that was easy for me. But just knowing that I couldn’t make that move again, or I couldn’t shoot that jump shot, and jump the way I used to for that rebound, that was the hardest part for me.” Anyway everytime I see him he looks a little bit healthier and more athletic. So I would say he was still getting back in shape but also he probably had rookie jitters early on. Anyway it appears that is overwith and tonight the kid reminded me of a young Boozer. ANd if he gets in the gym and adds 10 pounds of muscle and develops his shot so that he has Scola range I suspect he will have a long career. If I were the Rockets I would give him limited minutes and sign him at the end of the season to a 3 year deal so that have his bird rights.
I have seen some flashes from this kid in his brief appearances, but he put a major skill set on display tonight: quick hands, explosion off the floor, a nose for the ball, lateral quickness, and serious aggressiveness. Wow, he looked like an NBA player to me. Hayes is a nice kid and good rebounder, but Landry looks like the real deal, at least tonight. I want to see more of him.
Those of you calling Scola slow are WAY WAY WAY off base, he is not slow at all and is relatively quick. But where he is REALLY quick is with the ball, he makes great quick moves and gets the ball up to the rim at odd angles before the defense can react. Scola is a very very good player, and has a very good basketball IQ....he is a joy to watch. DD
I have to disagree with that. If anything, I would say he is deceptive but definitely not quick. Kinda how Sam Cassell had that herky jerky thing going that made him hard to guard. It wasn't really quickness like a Tony Parker or T.J. Ford but it threw off the defense because it is was so unorthodox.
Ah, ok, I agree with you there..... I just think he is quick with the ball.....very deceptive, he plays at a different rythmn, and he constantly hustles. But I see what you mean. DD
Landry should get more playing time because he showed something tonight that this team lacks -- athleticism. That is a good quality to have in a PF playing next to Yao.
Didn't even think of it that way. A different rhythm...as a very big music person I must admit that I like that analogy a lot. That is exactly what he does. He is just on a completely different beat than every other player on the court which makes him unpredictable and hard to figure out. He shoots, jumps, and spins when you least expect it. Very strange to watch but refreshing. I can't imagine what it would be like to guard a guy like that. Maybe Scola has basketbautism.
I can understand all the calls for more PT ... but that's premature. Landry is still too small and will get eaten up by most of the athletic PFs we have in the Western Conference. I'm perfectly fine with him getting minutes in games like this, showing us what he's got and getting some valuable experience. Then over next summer he can work on adding about 20-30 lbs to his frame so that he doesn't get pushed around on defense so much, and we'll be looking at a quality rotation player. I just love his attitude. He has the mentality of a true banger - attacks the rim aggressively, has excellent positioning for rebounds and a great nose for the ball ... almost Chuck-like, and has the athleticism to be a great weak side defender/shotblocker. Once he becomes useful on the defensive end, he'll be another great complement to Yao Ming. It'll be even better if he can establish NBA 3 point range and help space the floor even more on offense. At the very least, it's great to have quality young players with real talent waiting in the wings ready to take over the future of this franchise.
landry is undersized brooks is undersized Hayes is undersized so what? Landry has mad hops and is more complete than hayes. I say bench hayes.
Disclaimer - the last couple games we have played have been against JV women's teams, so all this might dissapear as soon as we are matched up against a quality opponent. However, I really like our crop of young players (Scola, Landry, Brooks). It gives me great hope for our team in the years to come. I love that they're starting to get some game action this year - and even contribute. But can you imagine how good we'll be next year and beyond with these guys honing their skills and becoming valuable parts of the rotations? Damn, could be scary good!
poprocks, not to be a downer to a great night by Landry, but you need to chill with the kool-aid and keep it in perspective. The guy had one good night against arguably the worst team in the league. Not to mention that this game was a blowout early, although I don't think that was much of a factor in his performance. All of that aside, Landry absolutely showed signs of what he could become. He can rebound, is quick around the basket, not shy about going up with the ball and putting it down. I haven't seen much of a shot from him, but it can't be any worse than the one Chuck Hayes doesn't have. Hopefully he earned more minutes tonight.
He looked good on offense, but pretty bad on interior D -- too small and not strong enough. Hayes is small, but is much stronger and has good defensive skills. I hope Landry can develop his perimeter skills so he play some SF.
