BaYBaller wrote:That 3-yr team option essentially makes this a 2-yr deal if his knees fall apart. I like it. Landry is overrated like crazy on this board though. Scola too.
Landry's currently rather overrated, but still a good player, and as you said his contract is a good deal as well.
Not following how Scola is overrated though ('course we've also argued on that one before). He's a 3 million PF that's a capable/average rebounder, smart defender (seems to be above average in team defense), and above average at offense (even if his number isn't called that often).
tisbee wrote:Not drinking the Kool-Aid on this.
Landry is the fourth PF on the team,NONE of whom are taller than the SG.
Yao has no back-up.
Alston's back-ups are the miniscule Brooks,the still injured Francis,and Strawberry "who needs to work on his PG skills".(But Barry can play the point you say,sure,and he'll do just fine defending Paul,Williams,etc.)
McGrady is still the only playmaker on the team.(Artest passes as a last resort,not as a first option.)
If Artest starts,the only player off the bench who can create his own shot is Head,who struggles finishing at rim.
All pretty valid problems the team still has, but they have to be taken in light of the benefits we have as well:
- LOADS of depth (REAL depth, not "Mike James, Steve Francis, Stromile Swift", etc)
- 3 big go-to options
- 5+ very effective role players (Alston, Barry, Scola, Landry, Battier, and to lesser degrees Hayes, possibly Dorsey, and Deke)
- 6 capable (though only 3 good-to-exceptional) outside shooters
- 3 offensive low post options (Yao, Artest, Scola), 2 guys good at feeding off others in the paint (Landry, Hayes)
- A GREAT defense - GREAT (I'll be freaked out if we aren't, given that we were awesome last year and UPGRADED)
- 2 big advantages we have on the Celtics is that, unlike Garnett, Yao actually plays in the post (though he's not as good on defense) and Artest isn't 49 years old like Ray Allen
- 2, possibly 3 playmakers (even if Alston isn't great at it, I'm counting Francis/Artest as a single "potential" there just for giggles)
- If Artest starts, we'll probably manage our minutes such that there are still 1 or 2 of the Yao/McGrady/Artest combo on the floor at any given time in non-blowout games
- Yao's backup is Hayes/Scola/Dorsey (unproven) and possibly Deke (if he's signed), same as last year, and possibly improved. We were all expecting the Dorsey/Deke deals to happen after Landry, so hopefully they're soon.
Also,
- Barry wouldn't be guarding Paul or Williams, he and/or Strawberry and/or Brooks would be guarding Brevin Knight/Ronnie Price/Mike James HAH/Mo Pete/Jannero Pargo
Re: Landry is the fourth PF on the team,NONE of whom are taller than the SG.
- Not many teams have a 6'10" sg. There's also the whole wingspan thing that was covered a lot last year (not that I know our PFs wingspan stats and am sure theirs is still less than McGrady's) I'm 6'3" but can be outreached by a LOT of people who are 5'11" and under (sometimes by people that are short as 5'7-8").
tisbee wrote:Here's why I've been whining for a tall shot-blocking big.
Last yr Landry had all of 7 blocks in 711 minutes. Hayes in a little over twice the minutes-1573-had 6 TIMES as many w/43. Scola had 19 in 2024 minutes.
Some more fun w/numbers. Following are Rockets at end of yr w/minutes,blocks/steals,minutes per block/minutes per block and steal combined.
Yao.........2044....111/25....18.4/15
Deke.........619.....48/11....12.9/10.5
Scola.......2024.....19/60....106.5/25.6
Landry......711.......7/17....101.6/29.6
Hayes......1575.....43/85....36.6/12.3
Novak.......264........3/2.....88.0/52.8
Battier....2907.....90/77.....32.3/17.4
Harris.......159........3/6.....53.0/17.7
T-Mac.....2440.....30/68.....81.3/24.9
Head.......1379......9/44.....153.2/26.0
Alston......2526....18/98.....140.3/21.8
Jackson.....498......2/13.....249.0/33.2
Brooks.......608......5/13....121.6/33.8
Francis......199........5/9....39.8/14.2
Wonder how many bar bets could have been won with:
Shane had second most blocks on Rockets
Shane had more blocks than Scola,Landry and Hayes combined
Luther had more blocks than Landry
Brooks had 2 less blocks than Landry in 100+ fewer minutes
Alston,Brooks and Jackson had 1 less block than Scola and Landry
Alston had less than 90 min more than McGrady
Battier aves better than a block a game,Hayes gets a block every other game,Landry every 6 games
As was stated in the other post, blocks, while nice, can be easily overrated. Charles Oakley was a great defender but never got many blocks. Wes Unseld (Who I'd compare Hayes to from what I know of him, as a rich man's version) couldn't have blocked Muggsy. Steals, while nice, can be overrated. Sure Scola didn't get many steals, but he picked up so many loose balls, who cares? Stockton used to average a ton of steals from playing the passing lanes, but wasn't really that great of a defender. Iverson's similar (though probably a better 1v1 defender than Stockton). For Hayes, he doesn't get many blocks because he plays defense from a positional standpoint - keep the guy away from where he wants to be and swipe at the ball (a la Malone) before he can get it up - which I don't think is credited as a block.
All in all, I don't think the situation is bad, in spite of the fact that we aren't a shot blocking or steal-heavy team. Those stats really aren't important. They're supposed to indicate how good your defense is in certain ways, but from all other stats, I'd say our defense is excellent, so why does it matter that those two stats are low?
That said, some of them are hilariously bad. BROOKS only had two less blocks than Landry?
