[ClutchFans] Jeremy Lin after scoring 38 points vs. Spurs

You do this for a living don’t you, kholdphlames?

Helps that you’re smarter than average, too. That type of thing gets noticed around here very quickly.

But not usually for the better. I’d advise investing in a sneeze guard like the ones they have at those Chinese buffets if you hang around here too long…
I’ll give you two words that will forever ring in infamy in Houston Rockets lore (and which may serve as an object lesson for the point you make about essentially “flipping” James Harde’s and Jeremy Lin’s roles):

Tracy McGrady.

Kind of saw the same thing happen with him when he became a Rocket back in 2004. The Rockets wanted him precisely because, at the time, he was a premier scoring wing. Closer inspection revealed him to be a more complete player (at least offensively) than originally advertised. Said revelations led the coach to do almost exactly what you’re suggesting should happen with James Harden now.

I don’t want Harden as the steady ranch hand, personally. I want him as the hired gunslinger nobody wants to have a shootout with.

Before anybody tears into me, I understand that there were more than a few million-skillion reasons besides this why the Tracy McGrady Experience left a bad taste in practically everybody’s mouth…

…and I see no reason to believe that either Harden or Lin are not mentally equipped to deal with the need for them both to improve their individual games…

…but that is essentially the point. James Harden is the first “franchise” player the Rockets have had in about three seasons. He’s going to set the standard of performance and competitive legitimacy for the Rockets for the forseeable future, barring anything truly disastrous. He’s the carrot all the other Rockets are chasing.

Not a slight at Lin at all, but it is what it is.

If, as you so aptly point out, playmaking is Jeremy Lin’s particular (and at the moment, most viable) strength in regards to competitive consistency now and perhaps in the future of the team, why would you remove that responsibility from him (no matter how briefly you might suggest) in order for Lin to develop a part of his game that’s going to come down to how much work he himself puts into it?

You know, great players say all the time that individual improvements in their games came almost exclusively outside of the the team proper. Whatever they had to work on, they worked on on their own in order to bring it back in practice settings later and incorporate it into a team dynamic.

I said once that I had no feeling that guys played hard in practice, and I misspoke. What guys tend to do in practice is solidify expectations and responsibilities. They learn in practice to hold themselves and their teammates accountable for their performances in certain game situations and in certain playing styles.

Nobody becomes a better shooter during a team practice. A team practice reveals that you need to get better at shooting if you stink, and especially if you’re going to be asked to do that on more than one occasion. And since practice environments strive to mimic game situations, you’re not going to largely get better at something you don’ty do well under those conditions. The tendency, when you’re trying to get better at anything, is to overthink the details that you work on over and over again in order to improve that skill, and that “thinking” is the one thing you don’t have time for in a competitive environment.

Why I’ve said that you give the point guard role to Lin and the two-guard role to Harden is that, whatever flaws or shortcomings both guys have can be corrected and improved without sacrificing a lot of time building a winning formula for games.

And more specifically, I feel that Harden is the guy that should get the volume of SHOTS offensively, as opposed to handling the ball as extensively as Lin may need to until his off-ball shooting becomes more consistent.
I believe that improvement (individually and collectively) comes from continuity. There’s a saying that youth is wasted on the young. Well, in this case, Harden and Lin are both young enough to improve individually for still a few more years. And some certainty in roles helps accelerate that (both for them and for the rest of the Rockets).

Guys will know to keep moving and get open because Lin will get them the ball if they’re open (like a point guard should), and guys will know that Harden will slam the door shut on people if he’s focused on scoring baskets (like a great scoring wing should).

I suppose its apples and oranges right now, kholdphlames.

Nothing like a good fruit cake around this time of year to get you in the holiday spirit, hm?

I think it’ll be fun to see how it shakes itself out though.

 

When Harden come back, they need to let Lin dominate the ball and Harden be the second option.

 

What I love most about his stats is the 12/12 free throws. Jeremy does well when he's aggressive.

 

harden is the better and more dynamic player. He can still be productive and play at a high level off the ball. Where Lin seems like he needs the ball to do well. Hopefully McFail lets Lin run and create the offense.

 

Clutch are you going to post a video of his 38 points for those of us who missed the game

 

I don't know. Seems like you just described Linsanity under D'Antoni last year.

How did you not just described what Lin did on the Knicks last year. Maybe this is Lin and this is why McHale does it.

 

Oh wow. Way to totally oversimplify Mike Dantoni's offense. Not just you though, sidestep did the same. Both of you realize that the Spurs & the Knicks are currently running a lot of Mike Dantoni's sets. The Knicks for sure definitely are running MDA's offense, the spurs are running a Dantoni ish version of it. Just a thought.