'Taller' Landry won't back down
Standing two inches taller than his Purdue-listed height of 6-foot-7, Carl Landry still was undersized next to 7-foot Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman.
That was the matchup facing Landry in his first NBA summer league game for the Houston Rockets, and Damien Pierce of rockets.com writes that the forward more than held his own in Las Vegas.
"When I saw him, I knew it was going to be a real test for me," Landry told Pierce. "I figured he would let me know right away if I belong."
Landry held Chris Kaman to 5 of 12 shooting while contributing 14 points and four rebounds in the Rockets' victory.
Rockets summer league coach Elston Turner was happy with what he saw.
"He's already shown that he's pretty strong," Turner said. "He can shoot the ball and he can rebound. He needs to learn the system and work on his passing because we require our bigs to pass the basketball. He's got to learn how to react to what the defender does and that will take some time. But he can play."
In the preseason, Landry will compete with Chuck Hayes for the power forward position unless Houston makes a trade or finds another forward in free agency.
"I know I have a great opportunity here," Landry said. "I've got to run the floor, rebound and do the dirty work to get my team a couple of extra possessions. If I can do that, I could try to help this team win a championship."
Center of attention
Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com points out that other than head coach (two from 1969 to 2006), the most stable position in the Pittsburgh Steelers organization is center.
Former Purdue standout Chukky Okobi has a golden opportunity to become just the fourth Steelers starting center since 1977, following the retirement of Jeff Hartings.
"There's a lot of history, a ton of pride, connected to the position here, and it's going to take a great effort to (win the job), said Okobi, who has seven career starts in six NFL seasons. "But if you're the starter at center with the Steelers, you're part of something special. It's a great fraternity. I mean, guys get into the lineup, and they just don't leave. With this team, it's unusual to have a change."
Few cupcakes
Purdue's football schedule is ranked 16th toughest in the nation by SI.com, thanks to having seven bowl opponents and four teams ranked in the final 2006 Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Boilermakers' 12 foes had a combined record of 82-58 against Division I-A rivals last season.
"Purdue faces four teams that won at least 10 games last season," the analysis states. "The Boilermakers avoid Wisconsin, but they still must face the Big Ten's other three top teams -- Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.
"The schedule also isn't arranged favorably. The Boilermakers will battle Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan on consecutive weekends. That helps make up for the fact that Purdue also faces Division I-AA program Eastern Illinois plus six I-A teams that had losing records last season."
Thompson is a Journal & Courier sportswriter whose column appears weekly.
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