Indazone
12-14-2009, 08:35 PM
This dude is so humble...doesn't even know how good he is.
TORONTO — Carl Landry was stunned. He knew he had been scoring but had no idea about the company he was keeping.
The list was filled with MVP candidates, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year and Carl Landry.
Landry ranks second in the league in fourth-quarter scoring, averaging 6.6 points per game. He is behind only Dwyane Wade, tied with Jason Terry and ahead of Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.
“Wowwww,” Landry said. Moments later, however, he spoke of his late-game success as nothing worthy of surprise.
“That's just the time that I play,” he said. “Two, three minutes left in the third quarter, that's when I'm getting in. I think it matters who's in the game at crunch time. Coach (Adelman) and the coaching staff put trust in me to be in there. It's a good feeling.
“I still can't believe some of the success that I've had thus far. Hopefully, that doesn't ever hit. I'm staying humble. Hopefully, I can keep it that way.”
On the ball
Though the Rockets might not have guessed that Landry was running with such fast company, there was no surprise about Landry's late-game production. On a team with no incumbent go-to player, the Rockets have increasingly put the ball in Landry's hands, expecting him to score or draw fouls.
Landry is second in the NBA, behind James, at drawing fouls in the fourth quarter. He is third, behind James and Wade, in free throws attempted, and second, behind Zach Randolph, at grabbing offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
He has made 45 of 82 shots (54.9 percent) in the fourth quarter and 55 of 63 free throw attempts (87.3 percent). Landry and the Rockets, however, believe there is room to improve by better reading the defense on him.
Playing the role
“He can shoot it, he has quickness and he's a great free-throw shooter,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said of choosing Landry for this role. “He has all the things you want to go to. The more times he is put in that situation, the better he's going to be. He's especially good when he gets the ball going to the basket to finish. They pretty much have to foul him. He's an ideal guy for us to go to.
“He's like any young guy. He has to figure out who's guarding him. If there is a bigger, stronger guy guarding him, he's got to use his quickness, a lot of times facing up and attacking, not try to bang and bang and bang. He can go in and make contact with people, but then he's got to roll off and use his quickness. He's doing a good job with that, doing better.”
Adelman compared the benefits of Landry's fourth-quarter free-throw shooting to Yao Ming's. Forward Shane Battier, who has been defending the other members of that fourth-quarter scoring list, said Landry brings another, less-obvious talent.
“Physically, he's got amazing strength and endurance of strength,” Battier said. “In the fourth quarter, when most people can't jump as high as they can in the first quarter, Carl can still elevate and finish and finish through contact. It's a pretty amazing trait. It makes him pretty unique.”
He's only just begun
But Landry said this is just a start, part of his expectations for his third year when he said he was scheduled for a breakout season. He has spoken of being more well-rounded, particularly defensively. But he has seemed to lock down a role as the Rockets' closer.
“I'm learning,” he said. “I'm not going to say I've learned. But I'm learning every day and starting to get better. I'm learning to take my time in the post and make better decisions. You don't have to score the ball every time. Read the defense, value every possession. It's more critical in the fourth quarter because one possession can determine the outcome of the game.
“I'm always a cool, calm, collected type of guy. I'm never really nervous in any situation. I think that helps. I'm just trying to adjust to being that type of player on this team because the last two years, I played with Tracy (McGrady), Yao and Rafer (Alston), veteran guys to where I was just a role player, happy to contribute in a role player way. Now it's my third year and I'm trying to take it a step further.”
In one respect, nothing has changed. Landry still comes off the Rockets' bench. Games, however, are won and lost in the fourth quarter, when players like Wade, James, Anthony — and Landry — take over.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6767449.html
TORONTO — Carl Landry was stunned. He knew he had been scoring but had no idea about the company he was keeping.
The list was filled with MVP candidates, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year and Carl Landry.
Landry ranks second in the league in fourth-quarter scoring, averaging 6.6 points per game. He is behind only Dwyane Wade, tied with Jason Terry and ahead of Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.
“Wowwww,” Landry said. Moments later, however, he spoke of his late-game success as nothing worthy of surprise.
“That's just the time that I play,” he said. “Two, three minutes left in the third quarter, that's when I'm getting in. I think it matters who's in the game at crunch time. Coach (Adelman) and the coaching staff put trust in me to be in there. It's a good feeling.
“I still can't believe some of the success that I've had thus far. Hopefully, that doesn't ever hit. I'm staying humble. Hopefully, I can keep it that way.”
On the ball
Though the Rockets might not have guessed that Landry was running with such fast company, there was no surprise about Landry's late-game production. On a team with no incumbent go-to player, the Rockets have increasingly put the ball in Landry's hands, expecting him to score or draw fouls.
Landry is second in the NBA, behind James, at drawing fouls in the fourth quarter. He is third, behind James and Wade, in free throws attempted, and second, behind Zach Randolph, at grabbing offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
He has made 45 of 82 shots (54.9 percent) in the fourth quarter and 55 of 63 free throw attempts (87.3 percent). Landry and the Rockets, however, believe there is room to improve by better reading the defense on him.
Playing the role
“He can shoot it, he has quickness and he's a great free-throw shooter,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said of choosing Landry for this role. “He has all the things you want to go to. The more times he is put in that situation, the better he's going to be. He's especially good when he gets the ball going to the basket to finish. They pretty much have to foul him. He's an ideal guy for us to go to.
“He's like any young guy. He has to figure out who's guarding him. If there is a bigger, stronger guy guarding him, he's got to use his quickness, a lot of times facing up and attacking, not try to bang and bang and bang. He can go in and make contact with people, but then he's got to roll off and use his quickness. He's doing a good job with that, doing better.”
Adelman compared the benefits of Landry's fourth-quarter free-throw shooting to Yao Ming's. Forward Shane Battier, who has been defending the other members of that fourth-quarter scoring list, said Landry brings another, less-obvious talent.
“Physically, he's got amazing strength and endurance of strength,” Battier said. “In the fourth quarter, when most people can't jump as high as they can in the first quarter, Carl can still elevate and finish and finish through contact. It's a pretty amazing trait. It makes him pretty unique.”
He's only just begun
But Landry said this is just a start, part of his expectations for his third year when he said he was scheduled for a breakout season. He has spoken of being more well-rounded, particularly defensively. But he has seemed to lock down a role as the Rockets' closer.
“I'm learning,” he said. “I'm not going to say I've learned. But I'm learning every day and starting to get better. I'm learning to take my time in the post and make better decisions. You don't have to score the ball every time. Read the defense, value every possession. It's more critical in the fourth quarter because one possession can determine the outcome of the game.
“I'm always a cool, calm, collected type of guy. I'm never really nervous in any situation. I think that helps. I'm just trying to adjust to being that type of player on this team because the last two years, I played with Tracy (McGrady), Yao and Rafer (Alston), veteran guys to where I was just a role player, happy to contribute in a role player way. Now it's my third year and I'm trying to take it a step further.”
In one respect, nothing has changed. Landry still comes off the Rockets' bench. Games, however, are won and lost in the fourth quarter, when players like Wade, James, Anthony — and Landry — take over.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6767449.html