At the trade deadline, the 6-9. 248lb, high-energy power forward Carl Landry was traded from the Kings to the New Orleans Hornets for second-year backup guard Marcus Thornton.  The Hornets needed a boost for their playoff drive and Landry looked like an idea candidate to help this team.

"I am happy to be here," said Landry.  "I am getting along with my teammates pretty well and trying to learn the sets, defensive principles and things like that.  So far, so good, I can’t complain.

"I am back to the Houston Rockets mentality where whatever I did was just a bonus coming off the bench and just being aggressive offensively, and defensively not letting teams get easy buckets.  If a foul needs to be given, give a hard foul, nothing too hard but just bring energy to the team.

"(I am) diving on the floor for loose balls, taking charges, being aggressive on the offensive end, being in a defensive stance, winning the 50/50 balls.  If anything comes my way, nine times out of 10 winning the battle.  A blue collar type of player."

A 27-year-old "veteran" in his fourth NBA season, sometimes it seems like Landry has been in the league longer than he actually has.  It is easy to forget that he was drafted in 2007 by Seattle in the second round before being immediately trade to Houston.  The Hornets are his third team in four seasons.

"He is a vet who has been around the block a couple of times," said Jarrett Jack, who is on his fourth team in six seasons himself.

"(But) this is different than going anywhere (else). He is doing a good job feeling his way through.

"It’s different but he is doing a good job of making his presence felt and is definitely being a presence for us down on the block."

"Basketball is basketball," said Landry.  "You hedge, you do certain things on defense that just about every team in the league does.  You do things on offense that a lot of the teams do.  Each team might have their own little counter to it but it’s the terminology at the end of the day that makes things the hardest to pick up."

The Hornets have a rookie head coach this season in Monty Williams and as the well-traveled Jack describes, it’s different now in New Orleans.  The new players do not have the benefit of training camp and have to pick things up quickly.

"The biggest adjustment is understanding how we play defense," explained Trevor Ariza.  "Because even though we play man-to-man, it’s not really man-to-man, it’s zone.  So as soon as (Carl) figures it out, I think he is going to be great.

"We are a team that helps each other out on every play, every possession, nobody is left on an island.  In the NBA you just usually play man-to-man and your man is your man and nobody else’s."

"We saw the other night what he is capable of doing in a short stint," said Williams.  "What I have tried not to do is overwhelm him with too many minutes or too much stuff but the other night I thought he had a huge impact on our game and he is starting to pick up on our defense which is tough for a lot of guys without a training camp.  He doesn’t have time for that right now so I have to be tougher on him than I probably want to be so he can pick up stuff quickly."

"He is definitely a players’ coach," said Landry.  "Defense is first and defense wins games so I like that.  Just a great all around guy, I am really excited that he is my head coach and I hope I can learn something from him."

That Landry has been somewhat inconsistent over his first four games with the Hornets shouldn’t be a surprise.  While he is averaging 9.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 23 minutes, that is made up of two games averaging 15 points and two games averaging four points.  It will take some time for Landry to figure things out.

"It is still going to take some time as he goes through adjustments," said the two-time All-Star David West.  "But he is still going to help us.

"We got a good team of vets who will get him acclimated and get him the right information so he’s in the right situation."

"I think our team has come around Carl," said Jason Smith.  "(We have) helped him learn our offense, our defensive calls, the play calls here and there.  It has really been a good experience as a team for us to get a new player and really come together and help him get into the offense as much as he has and as much as he is going to be.

"He is going to be a big part of our team coming down the stretch and we have to have him have an understanding of what we do on offense and defense for us to be successful."

{AUTHOR_BOX}"Carl is a really good scorer coming off the bench for our team," confirmed Ariza.  "(This was) something that we needed and I was just saying to him that with the way we run our system our four-man is going to get a lot of opportunities to score and I think that’s his strong point and we are going to utilize that.

"It’s been less than a week since he has been here. I think as soon as he gets really comfortable, he is going to grow tremendously, probably in about another week."

A lot of the optimism for integrating Landry into the Hornets schemes quickly comes from how the players perceive their coach.

"(Coach) is very real, very realistic," said Smith.  "He definitely expects the best out of you.  He tries to get the best out of you in practice and game situations."

"Just organization," said Emeka Okafor looking for words to describe his coach.  "He is real detailed and wants to make sure everybody knows where they are supposed to be.  Not harder or more difficult just systematic.

"Whenever you are organized, it just makes it easier for people to buy in and understand and grab the schemes of what is going on."

The Hornets are in the midst of a tough five-game road trip that hopefully sees them coming back to New Orleans as a cohesive and effective unit.  With only a half game lead over the eighth-place Grizzlies, the Hornets can ill afford to lose too many games on this trip.

"(Coach Williams) has been letting us know that this trip right here, a five game road trip, that this is a business trip," said Landry.  "We can’t just let these games slide.  We got to take full advantage of these games and be ready because this can be a turning point in our season if we go on this road trip and don’t win the games we are supposed to win."

Traded to Sacramento at the deadline last season, Landry was quickly integrated into the Kings lineup and averaged 18 points over the final 28 games.  As the Hornets feature the All-Star David West at power forward, that kind of contribution probably isn’t possible to duplicate, but Landry has shown he can adapt quickly and become a significant offensive force when given a chance.  

If one listens to the complaints coming out of Dallas and Los Angeles following this trade, one can’t help but believe Landry will be a great acquisition for the Hornets.