Which Houston Rocket player are you most impressed with this year?

Dikembe Mutombo!

 

Either Rafer or Landry!

Scola is great but the expectation was high when he started.
Rafer and Landry both definitely surprised most of us

 

I'm going to agree and say Carl Landry is the most impressive player this year so far based solely on expectations. Luis Scola is a guy we traded for, who obviously had a lot of experience playing basketball at a high level and was expected to be a contributor to the team, which he has done and done well. Carl Landry to me is just as impressive as it gets. Consider this guy wasn't even very good at basketball just 3-4 years ago and now to see what he's blossoming into is really something special and an attribute to how hard he's worked. I for one was among the majority of fans who questioned why we not only drafted him but actually traded up to get him when there seemed to be other notable guys available who played his position. The scouting reports said he wasn't very athletic, lacked any explosiveness... I thought he sounded like another Juwan Howard. Man has this guy been impressive to me, just the way he plays. He will dive for the loose balls, and it seems like he just plain out-muscles most of his opponents.

Carl Landry!

 

It has got to be Landry, hands down.

 

Its got to be Rafer... Why?

This was the guy that everyone wanted to crucify (and rightly so). He was not even going to be on the team this year. Remember all of the people swearing that he would be traded. He has gone from the Rockets problem to an intregal missing piece to the puzzle.

Although Landry has impressed me, the guy was an unknown coming in. They guy even though he was a 2nd rounder was the 2nd most athletic guy in the draft. Even though he has far exceded my expectations he was neutral in my opinion vs Rafer who was well below expectations.

Scola came to us with a great pedigree so I expected him to shine however he has also exceded my expectations.

 

For me its Rafer no doubt...

 

I would have to say Landry because none of us expected anything from him. He's more valuable than anyone coming off the bench and allowed us to trade Bonzi (Bonzi is sucking in New Orleans, Mike James is getting more minutes).

 

Good thread, I think it poses a fair question. While I understand all the love for Scola and Landry, the answer HAS to be Rafer in my book.

I was onboard the "Rafer is toast" ship. I was a huge advocate for the Mike James deal and Francis signing. Obviously neither of those have worked out. I was against drafting Aaron Brooks and I thought Rafer was done. Needless to say, I couldn't have been more wrong about the PG situation this year. Oh yeah, did I mention I still think the Bobby Jackson trade was a bad idea?

Rafer has been playing out of his mind all year. He's been borderline scary good and consistent for the first time....well, ever. He's exceeded all of our expectations. For that reason he gets my vote.

 

Scola and Landry. Both are impressive and bring lots of energy to the team. I think right now Scola as starter and Landry as backup is best as Scola is more polished. Can you believe it just one year ago the PF was a weak spot now PF is one of the strongest positions for the rockets.

 

Isn't it nice that this is such a tough decision? Seriously, who would've thought before the season started that we'd have any chance without Yao? Rafer has been huge, Scola has been a solid starter as a rookie, Landry has put up big minutes and energy, Battier has been consistently good,...I'm excited to see what this group of impressive players will do from this point on.

(I voted Landry because I had no expectation for him, so I was the most surprised and impressed by him)

 

Landry and Scola are obviously great surprises for me, but still can't believe how well Rafer has been playing. I now have confidence in him when he takes shots, which is something I've never had since hes been on the team. As much as anyone else, if not more so, his solid play as of late is a huge factor in our team playing as well as they have.

With that said, those teardrops still terrify me

 

which one? Scola/Landry/Rafer?

Scola: Expectation was high
Landry: Expectation was zero.
Rafer: Expectation was actaully LESS THAN ZERO, and he's turned whole thing around and proved 90% of the rox's fans are wrong.

Answer is Rafer!

 

You should've made an option of "Scolandry," because both of those guys have turned into a two-headed-scrub monster. They're two talented "scrubs" that have skillzzzz. This is what we've been missing the last few years, and the Jazz and Mavs series should've showed that when Juwan was out and Ryan Bowen was the starter...

I have to admit, I didn't expect much out of Scola early in the season when he was obviously still trying to adjust to the American game. I didn't even expect Landry to crack the rotation, even though from I've heard about him, I thought he should've atleast be given a chance. But now with the emergence of those two, our team has taken on a whole new level and attitude when they're on the court.

Oh, and Reefer (pun intended) has been doing a good job, well deserving of an applause atleast.....anyone else think that?

Clutch?

 

Landry was much more of a surprise than Scola, I expected Scola to be a major contributor. I didn't expect anything from Landry. I thought he was a bad draft choice. I was wrong.

 

This team would be no where without Rafer.

 

Everyone listed there other than TMac are impressive. But I like to add Hayes so I choose Hayes. His attitude and leadership impress me.

 

I could not agree with you more! So I just voted "everyone".

 

Landry for sure, i didn´t expect him to contribute a lot, while i still expect more from Scola.

 

Landry. No one saw this coming this soon!

 

Scola.

He shot a higher percentage in Feb than Landry. He impressed the hell of me. He is good. He is obviously good and what I love most is that Spurs, who have been scouting on him for so many years, gave Scola to us for free.