If the Rockets had Irving or to a lesser extent Wall, then we would be in a better off position now and for the future. That's reality. I love Lin. He is a great player and human being, but he has some huge flaws that he'll have to work on. I will agree with you here. As a floor general, Lin is excellent. But in terms of scoring the ball and dominating one end of the floor, Lin is not as talented as Wall or Irving.
Delusional. Because if you actually watch basketball, they are exponentially better than Lin. Although, Lin is still really good. Kyrie is beyond both of them, though
Geez, how can anyone compare Lin/Wall to Irving? Kyrie is headed for HOF career. Even given Lin's shaky 3pt shooting, he's actually better than Wall. Wall is a more dynamic athlete than Lin but has flaws just like Lin. Wall is hovering around .410/420 fg% and .790 ft% career-wise. And if he shot 30% 3s, it would be big improvement. Irving has always shot .470 fg% which is pretty damn for a veteran point guard but just ridiculous for a 19/20yo rookie. Plus .400 3pt% and .850 ft%. By the time he's 23, I could see him putting up 50/40/90 every year. Dude has the potential to be top 3 player in a few years.
Jlin has excellent court vision and makes some of the best passes in the league. But his ability to create his own shot isn't as good as I thought it was, when you compare it to last year's Linsanity in NYC. Last year, his fg% efficiency was a high point. I still believe his natural fg% would be in the .450-.500 range. His jumper needs to improve. That soft high arc is cringe-worthy. During his recent hot streak, it was flattening out but last game, I saw it at least once. But once the jumper matures, his true fg% will show. It's gonna take time and maturity. For now, he's a rhythm player. I think making him a sixth man, would be an awful move. Good sixth man, like Crawford, Ginobili, Harden, were players who could create their own shots.
Didn't agree with the article's author about Lin's ceiling: that Lin will never be a star in the league. I think he's going to be an all star for a long time. He is going to be much better than Wall, for one. Kyrie is already the 2nd best PG in the NBA at age 21 or whatever. I really doubt Lin ever closes the gap. Kyrie will be a 1st or 2nd team all NBA point guard for like 7-8 years.
Lin can create his own shots and had been doing that until he came here. Go back and see some of his games in Knicks, GSW and Harvard.
I never said he couldn't create his own shot. If he couldn't, he would be just plain awful since his jump shot isn't particularly reliable. It's just not as good or reliable as during Linsanity. One of the barometers that I always felt was a good indication of when he's on, is his FTAs. During Linsanity, he had lots of And1s and he was shooting a lot of free throws. To recapture Linsanity, he needs a reliable jump shot, which then leads to easier drives to the basket and more fouls.
Irving>Lin>Wall Wall can only play at one pace which is his major flaw atm but he'll learn and improve.
wow that really bothers you? "I hate it when james harden doesn't get a call and he just stands there lookin like a @#@#@#"
do you even know how terrible john wall is as a shooter? last year .071 3pt%. wow you really think wall is better than jeremy lin?
This is true, Morey confirmed this on Rocketscast live with Jason Friedman and Craig Ackerman. He also talked about aggressiveness (members complained that Lin just needed to be more aggressive) and that it's easier said than done. Starts at 3 1/2 min mark. http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/rocketscast-live-ask-gm
I'm wondering if Wall would be required to play the role Jeremy plays here if he were to somehow become a Rocket? His stats would plummet unless the offensive style is dramatically changed.
I saw this before but just watched the beginning again while waiting for the Oscar's. Still find that life size Jared Jefferies funny. Thanks!
His jump shoot is as reliable as Hardens. The only different is when Harden doing 1 - 11, he will continue stay on the court and continue getting the ball. When Lin does 0 - 4, he is benched. Don't get me wrong, Harden is an elite player, but Lin isn't bad either. Lin should not get this kind of treatment from McHale. McHale knows Lin isn't going any where, so I don't know why he is not allowing Lin to grow.
Appreciate the article. That's the reason I'd have Sloan as the coach who played the HOF Stockton a lot of the ball, by design. By watching Rox games, I don't see McHale instilling proper concepts to Lin and the team though what to do. And his 29pt/9TO comments is focusing on the wrong angle of the problem. Lin has great court vision but lacks far behind at properly delivering good passes to reach what he 'see'. This is mainly due to his ball handling ability that needs perfection just like Nash's early in his career. He showed flashes of keeping his dribble alive which Magic praised during Linsanity but it's not consistent yet. As a result, he does a lot of jumping in the air then finding people and passing not in the best angle or timing unless it's fast break or lob passes. However, all this needs further experience both on and off court to improve. His development would be greatly held back if he were not allowed to make mistakes by trying. In fact, Harden has been given the chance to learn to be a better ISO scorer by committing mistakes throughout the season, which I think a young upcoming superstar needs, even though the team records may suffer. Maybe McHale cannot handle it if he has to give such freedom to two young upcoming players at the same time. Idk. But still, I cannot blame Lin if he felt neglected, as the less favored kid in family.
You have got to be kidding. Harden has a sweet stroke, MUCH better than Lin. You ask why he's "only" at .454. Last year, he was at .491. Pretty simple. He's now THE MAN. Defense are gonna be gear towards stopping him. Even then, he's learning to adjust. I believe he was like .420-430 earlier this year. Getting better all the time. Another sign of great shooters is that they are good/great free throw shooters. Harden is a career .850 ft% and only getting better. Last year he was at .390 3%s, I do think he will improve to .400 as he enters his prime. Even visually, he can see how his shot "rips" the net to see that he has an excellent jump shot. Lin has the talent but he needs to work a lot harder to reach his potential. Some guys like Harden are just more gifted from the beginning.