Yao and McGrady have off night in Indy, but Carl cleans up in 4th
Friday, February 1st, 2008
by John
Yao Ming blocked Mike Dunleavy’s layup attempt with 4 minutes remaining in the Rockets’ game against Indiana. Although Yao ‘only’ scored 17 points in the game, this block was huge since the Rockets were still trailing at the time 99-97. Rookie Carl Landry scored a game-high 22 points to help the Rockets pull out a close game in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets started their 3-game road trip in Indiana realizing the pressure was on them to win all 3 of these games against teams who probably won’t make the playoffs (Milwaukee on Saturday and Minnesota on Monday). If they don’t win these very ‘winnable’ games, the Rockets’ chances of making the playoffs themselves will take a huge hit.
So you think they would come out determined to put the clamps on early against a struggling Indiana team that had lost 4 in a row and 14 of their last 18, right? Not so.
They ultimately got the job done by winning the game 106-103, but the star who pulled them through wasn’t Yao or Tracy McGrady. It was rookie Carl Landry, who came back to the state where he played college (Purdue) and was a monster in the fourth quarter.
Rarely do you see a rookie make his first homecoming (of sorts) and be the X-factor in a game in front of his college team’s fans, former college coaches, and teammates. But that’s what Landry did. Landry scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter and 3-of-4 from the line for 13 points.
There is no doubt there is something really special about this kid. That’s what we had heard from the Rockets’ coaching staff and teammates about Landry in practice while he bided his time on the bench earlier this season, and by what he has showed us over the past couple of weeks since getting some playing time.
Yao Ming blocked Mike Dunleavy’s layup attempt with 4 minutes remaining in the Rockets’ game against Indiana. Although Yao ‘only’ scored 17 points in the game, this block was huge since the Rockets were still trailing at the time 99-97. Rookie Carl Landry scored a game-high 22 points to help the Rockets pull out a close game in the fourth quarter.The Rockets started their 3-game road trip in Indiana realizing the pressure was on them to win all 3 of these games against teams who probably won’t make the playoffs (Milwaukee on Saturday and Minnesota on Monday). If they don’t win these very ‘winnable’ games, the Rockets’ chances of making the playoffs themselves will take a huge hit.
So you think they would come out determined to put the clamps on early against a struggling Indiana team that had lost 4 in a row and 14 of their last 18, right? Not so.
They ultimately got the job done by winning the game 106-103, but the star who pulled them through wasn’t Yao or Tracy McGrady. It was rookie Carl Landry, who came back to the state where he played college (Purdue) and was a monster in the fourth quarter.
Rarely do you see a rookie make his first homecoming (of sorts) and be the X-factor in a game in front of his college team’s fans, former college coaches, and teammates. But that’s what Landry did. Landry scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter and 3-of-4 from the line for 13 points.
There is no doubt there is something really special about this kid. That’s what we had heard from the Rockets’ coaching staff and teammates about Landry in practice while he bided his time on the bench earlier this season, and by what he has showed us over the past couple of weeks since getting some playing time.