I hear some rumblings out there that suggest that Carl Landry can be just as productive as David West and some might prefer Landry due to his all-out hustle approach to the game. Carl Landry is very good, don’t get me wrong, but if I had to pick one player to be my starting power forward I would always pick David West over Landry. Obviously, the equation has changed for the future due to West’s injury concerns, to go along with his age and projected salary increase.
Carl Landry hustles more than David West and fans tend to gravitate towards the hustle players. I can’t even remember the last time David West dove on the floor for a loose ball. I agree it is refreshing to see from our current starting power forward. Also, Landry is more explosive than West and that results in more ferocious dunks and finishes.
I like Carl Landry and he is pretty good at a lot of areas in the game. However, in my opinion, David West is a little better in each cateogry. So in other words, Carl Landry is David West-esque or a poor man’s David West. Carl Landry has an array of post moves that enable him to create an efficient shot attempt to go along with a solid mid-range jumper and a solid free-throw rate conversion. David West does all of that but just a little bit better; he is more efficent from the post, perimeter, and from the free-throw line.
It is frustrating that sometimes West has the habit of not passing it out of the post, which is a shame because he has developed to be a very good passer. But Carl Landry almost never passes the ball once he gets it down low. You pretty much know he is going up with it when he gets anywhere close to the basket. He has recorded just 1 assist in his last 5 games. If Landry continues to become an offensive force, it will be interesting to see if teams start giving him some different looks defensively, such as a quick double team that would force Landry to make the correct basketball play and pass it to an open teammate. Landry isn’t used to such looks and to go along with his history of not passing the ball, it suggests he might have a hard time.
On the defensive side, West is no Kevin Garnett, but he is 6-9, a full two inches taller than Landry despite what online profiles might suggest. West has played fairly good defense on guys such a Aldridge and Nowitzki in the past. Landry provides little resistance to those taller players due his lack of size. This is the main reason why Landry is designed to be a backup big man in this league, albeit a pretty good one at that. His lack of size hurts on the boards as well. It is well-documented that Landry is a very poor defensive rebounder but a very good offensive rebounder. Those offensive rebounding numbers ca be very misleading however, since a lot of his offensive rebounds come fater his shot gets blocked and he gets his own board. He gets his shot blocked quite a bit down low due to his size. It hurts his field goal percentage but helps out his reboundig numbers in the process.
Carl Landry is a very good player. He can get 20 on any given night and can get his points in a variety of ways including getting out and finishing in transition. He can pay good defense against the smaller big men in the league and he will always give 100% and display a certain toughness about him. But if I had to pick between the two, I go with David West every time.
5 responses to “Carl Landry as good as David West??”
But, would you choose David West over Tyson Chandler?
I’d choose Chandler, because he is more efficient than West, especially in the pick-n-roll game which is more high percentage than the pick-n-pop.
Would you be opposed to Okafor and Chandler as your starting BIGS, with Landry off the bench? I wouldn’t!
L_REAZY
People really think that?
And Okafor and Chandler starting together would never, ever happen.
Good post but I would definitely say that Landry is the better low post player. His lack of size puts him at a disadvantage, but Landry can elevate much better than West, and dunk. He shot fakes very effectively as well, and spins and pivots impressively. West doesn’t elevate like Landry does, and that presents a problem for him because he likes layups, and since he’s already a bit undersized, that makes it easier for the taller defender to block the shot. It is more rare that you draw fouls when you are tossing up layups as opposed to Landry’s style, which is going hard at the rim.
Besides that, I agree that West is slightly better in each major category. All-around scoring, defense, passing, and defensive rebounding (unfortunately).
Championship teams always seem to have players like Landry coming off the bench to terrorize their opponents subs. If we can figure out a way to keep West and Landry, it make us much better.
landry’s post moves, hustle, and explosiveness to the rim are awesome. he is just a little undersized. he just gets overpowered by bigger big men, not for lack of effort. this is why he is a bench player in this league. if he was bigger, he could be an all star.
and chandler and okafor would be terrible imo. gotta have some offense down there.