You have to take into consideration how a defense works: 1) Initially, the point of attack defender (usually PG or SF) tries to disrupt the offense. 2) The team then functions as a net protecting the paint from penetration. This is mostly SG/SF/PF. 3) The POA and wing defenders will try to funnel drives to a rim protector where their shot will be heavily challenged. This is one of 2 key functions of the rim protector. 4) If all else fails and the defense breaks down, the rim protector will try to erase the mistake. This is the second of 2 key functions for the rim protector. We essentially had none of these things last season. If you're missing one of those things, you can forget about being a top 5 defense. If you're missing 2 of those things you can forget about being top 15. We had none of those things. The PG had an open door policy. The net (team defense) was a mess. The rim protector was left with an insane amount of attacks while not having the requisite experience to deal with an average number of attacks. It was impossible to be any kind of consistent defender last season other than a disruptor (which is where Eason excelled). In fact, we didn't even have a good backup C to help with this. Things are radically different now. Before anything ever gets to Sengun, there will be a competent first (FVV, Brooks) and second (team) line of defense. This will dramatically reduce the number of drives that Sengun will have to deal with. Without any individual improvement to his defensive game whatsoever, Sengun would be a significantly better looking rim protector next season and this would show up in his advanced stats. Assuming Sengun improves in season 3 (reasonable expectation for a big man) and within a much tighter defense he's almost sure to look better defensively and foul less. Further Londale - although not a great rim protector - would have been the best rim protector on our squad last season. So over the course of 48 minutes our interior defense is going to improve significantly. That still leaves room for one more avenue of improvement: things like Sengun getting stronger, maybe taller, playing in some double big lineups and learning some key fundamentals from Udoka and staff (Splitter was a much better defender than his footwork should allow). I'm optimistic about it. Sengun will still need another 2-3 years to reach his peak as a rim protector so there's a lot of hope there. Also, Sengun is often compared to guys who struggle to average half a block in 30 minutes. However, he averaged roughly a block every 30 minutes. So if the team defense is functioning well his blocks will move from being empty stats to effective stats. Looking forward to how things go. It's a good sign that Udoka was comfortable going with Sengun at starting C except in the case of a DPOY-candidate and former champion in Lopez. He must think quite highly of Sengun's potential under his tutelage.
Like I said, he's no Brook Lopez, but I'm totally fine with him backing up Sengun and getting a good 20-22 minutes per game overall. He seems like a well-rounded player, not a bad defensive player at all, and if Ben Sullivan can get that shooting to go back to around 33% like it was last year he'll be able to space the floor a bit. Being already in his prime with 7 years of pro experience already under his belt, third year in the NBA, he should be able to step in and contribute right away and earn minutes from Udoka. I can see him immediately establishing himself as one of the better backup centers in the league, and that may be just what we need depending on how high we are on Sengun as a future offensive anchor--a dude who can step right in off the bench without missing a beat and hold down the backup minutes without demanding a larger role that puts Alpi on the bench. I always love these hustle guys. Perfect upgrade over Garuba on the "Goon Squad".
Sabonis went off for 27 pts, 9 rebs, and 9 ast in that game. Landale had 17pts 6 rebs, 3 ast. That was probably Jock's best games of the year and one of the few he scored in double digits. Maybe he'll get more opportunities/minutes with us, but we'll see.
I missed that the Suns replaced Jondale with Drew Eubanks ... at the vet minimum. Isn't that kind of the same player?
Very similar, but I think Landale is the better player, or at least has the potential to be better. He's a couple inches taller and is a willing shooter. I'd guess it was mainly a cost-cutting measure for Phoenix, and perhaps Landale communicated to them that he wanted more minutes than they're willing to give.
I think he is a functional, hard working and soft touching 6’11 center. He is a hard worker but he is not a shot blocker that not who he is. Why did we sign him? He is offense center as SENGUN
Again, I think Landale is actually a pretty good defender, although you're right he's not a shotblocking rim protector type. But as for the "why", if I were to speculate, I'd guess it has to do with Udoka's Spurs connections vouching for him. (Landale started his career with San Antonio--not while Ime was there, but I'm sure he still talks to all those guys on Pop's staff.)
I think he is a Theiss, and will be traded at the deadline. He has length so that helps but he is not a rim protector, we do not need another offense center. Landale is a guy who will hustle, tough and has a soft touch but there were other options for 8 millions
Eubanks is possibly a better player... more athletic, better shooter and better rim protection. (Hard to admit as a proud Aussie!) Unfortunately Eubanks signed with PHX before we signed Landale. Landale might be a better culture guy? He only took up the sport at age 15 and has an undeniable drive to succeed, and a high level of self belief.
Why did we sign him? Jabari could have played small ball center. Uncle Jeff Green could have been a small ball center. Losing Lopez hurts this team chance to make the playoff, maybe at the trade deadline we can trade for Myles Turner
What's interesting about Landale, the more I research him the better he's looking so far. He was a 2nd team consensus All-American at St. Marys, worked his way into the league from Australia and international teams, played two games in the G League, and killed it. And on the Sun's playoff run, he was the second-best player in Raptor in his lesser minutes, over Durant, Paul, and way over Ayton, so that tells me he performs well under pressure. He's looking like a sleeper pick right now, we'll see. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/nba-player-ratings/?player=Jock Landale&season=2023
Pretty good write and video from Jock about his deal. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...-houston-rockets-move-hard-work-only-ramps-up
