A lot of ppl, including myself, have taken note of what a bada$$ Carl Landry remains and pine for the days when he was doing some of that for us. I've always been interested in his growth as a player. If I recall correctly, Landry pretty much just dunked when he first joined us. I don't remember much of a post game. By his third year, he was second only to Lebron in 4th quarter scoring! And he's one of the most efficient post scorers in the game now. How did he go from point A to point B? Anybody remember?? That development took place right here - as a Rocket. Was he working with CD a lot? Is this something one of our gazillion PF's can duplicate? Does Carl possess some physical gifts that our young, big men don't?
He rode pine. He learned in practice. He didn't develop bad habits in games. When he finally did play, he was put in situations he could win. His minutes were limited so he could go full out. Now if only the Rockets would do the same with Jones and Motiejunas.
His J became more consistent and with more range, but the core of his success always came from his athleticism and energy. You can't teach what Landry had, but you also couldn't teach what he lacked, height, which is what keeps from being consistently good on both ends.
How did he go from point A to point B? I, like the 98% of posters here, didn't watch him in college, but I'm willing to bet he was already skilled coming into the league. His mid-j was always there, his quickness was always there; he just did what every rookie big man should do when given a chance to play: try to gain the coaches' trust by going all out and being an energy guy. Was he working with CD a lot? I think CD workouts are overrated, he's no magician and we shouldn't expect him to be. Is this something one of our gazillion PF's can duplicate? I think that Morris resembles his game more, he has the quickness and has good touch around the rim, we've yet to see if he will be able to draw contact at such a high rate. Maybe Terrence too but we haven't seen him post up much yet.
I remember his first time Landry saw some action. I think it was garbage time where he scored like 4 quick points, including a very impressive pump fake drive and dunk. Everyone was talking about him the next day. Landry was a BEAST from day 1 to his last day as a Rocket.
Landry is highly skilled, very strong with good vertical. He's statistically highly efficient player in college. He had ACL injury in college and redshirted, and it makes him dropped to second round. Similar players are Blair and Lillard. Given Morey's track record, I'm surprised him not taking Faried last year. Faried was long been the favorite of the statitical analysts, and he performed exactly like his translated stats indicated.
Imagine that, it would be a freak show. Coupled with Parsons, Patterson, Lin, Douglas and Asik, that would have given birth to the ugliest offense of the league.
Landry had an uncanny ability to finish at the rim despite his lack of reach and height. He's a better finisher than all of our current forwards
His strength and vertical is excellant for a PF. He's the same height as Thomas Robinson, but Landry has better max vertical and bench press marks than Thomas Robinson in predraft measurements. That's not easy considering Thomas Robinson is exceptionally good in those departments.
Instead we have Morris and Parsons, not too shabby either. And no, we couldn't have had both Leonard and Faried. Faried was picked before Parsons. Leonard picked just after Morris.
I recall him saying training with the Rockets added a few inches to his vertical, as well as explosiveness. I think it wasn't just regaining his previous athleticism after injury either. I'm hoping Morris is following his footsteps of getting better by fighting for, not given playing time. And that DMo will do the same.
One thing many people tend to gloss over when comparing player development, but Landry was 24 years old as a rookie. He had more skills coming in than any of our rookies since. Parsons came close, entering the NBA at 23. And you can see how he gelled with the team better than anyone else. Patterson and Morris are still only 23. Jones is 21. And DMo still has the whole culture gap to deal with, oh an he just turned 23. Jones is
We picked Morris at 14th, right before Leonard at 15th. We also traded for Motiejunas at 20th, who was right before Faried at 22nd.
Lets not forget the competition and practice time he had with Luis Scola. The Scolandry combination put some nice numbers up in games .
