Jones is still a work in progress, hopefully by next year at this time he will be making a major impact on this squad. I honestly don't think Lin would come off the bench.
He needs to shoot the damn ball like Harden. Look at Harden bricking and bricking. He doesn't give a ****. That's what Jeremy Lin needs to do.
Of course Lin needs to shoot. When he passes up open looks he gets benched. But let's not act like Harden has been bricking all season. Harden is in a slump. He still should shoot, because the team needs him to and because he has proven he can score the ball from anywhere.
well said but just a few serious delusions that need to be addressed: "his lack of athleticism"(referring to harden) - really? harden isn't athletic? c'mon, the man blazes through opponent defenses like they're made of water at times; more communication, more practice, is the key to to better TEAM defense, harden doesn't need to hidden or anything, the team as a whole needs to improve "he isn’t the playmaker or finisher Harden is"- ok, maybe harden might finish better than lin, but the fact that this guy basically implies that lins strenghts(scoring and making his teammates better) is crap compared to harden's is ridiculous i agree that both lin and harden are players who need to have the ball in their hands to produce, but i believe that they can learn to coexist. Making lin a 6th man is not a bad idea, but that's a solution that runs away from the problem, and ultimately, it doesn't allow the rockets as a TEAM to reach their full potential. For the rockets to become a serious threat, harden needs to let Lin take the reins over the offense. Yes, this could cost us a few games in the beginning, but the result, with harden playing off the ball more and lin directing the offense, will allow the team to run smoother. This will also erase some of the painful 4th quarters where we let harden run isolation at the top of the key and defenses are able to just mob harden and limit his production because THEY KNOW he will shoot. with lin starting the play, and harden finishing(whether it be a layup,dunk,jumpshot, etc) defenses will be more confused on how to defend us. This change doesn't depend on Lin or Harden becoming better, its a role change that will ultimately be benficial to the team
I didn't agree with everything but I thought it was mostly accurate. Nice read. I definitely agree with his stance on the PF position and maybe even the PG position. Patrick Beverly is a better defender than Lin and a better outside shooter. He may be a better fit in the starting line-up next to Harden then Lin.
Decent read, and puts things in perspective. During the game this afternoon around the 3rd quarter is sort of dawned on me how Beverly seems to be a much better back court partner for Harden. Im not sure Beverly's the ultimate solution long term, and I actually think the Rockets are going to make a run at bringing Llull over this Summer as well, but in the short, I wouldn't be incredibly shocked if he makes a compelling case to move Lin to the bench. I hope the coaches and FO aren't worried about what outside sources or Lin himself thinks about this. The Clippers have a borderline all-star caliber player coming off their bench with an itchy trigger finger, and Harden himself was a all-star caliber player even last year coming off the bench. I dont think its a bad idea at all. I do think Jones sort of fills the need on paper of what you would want in a 4 man in this lineup ON A GOOD DAY, but from what ive seen of Jones in RGV and earlier in Houston, he's very much a rookie with some holes in his game. Im perfectly fine letting him develop a little bit this year, but after the trade deadline, I think its time to insert both him and D-Mo into the rotation. Those two guys have the tools to be the future for this team in the paint.
Lin is a solid PG but the fact that he isn't as aggressive as he needs to be is a issue. Also the fact that our offense is devoted to running and gunning is a detriment to both Lin and Harden. I don't get what is up with the coaching, McHale is a legendary big man and has helped the development of star big men like Garnett, Kevin Love and Al Jefferson plus Asik looked pretty good early on and was developing an offensive touch, what the fudge happened? I can get why Patterson is off, that isn't the type of player he wanted to be even before McHale, and Morris, lacking the physical tools because they were trying to play him at the 3 like Melo did before he wised up. However, Asik's bad hands seem to have gotten worst compared to earlier in the season, Smith has the potential but it looks like all they taught him was that lame hook shot Patterson uses. My biggest fear is that they really believe that this type of playing style is effective and are not coaching their big men to do anything but pick and rolls or jack up 3s. Sadly the way most of these games are played I can't see anything to prove me wrong. The offense needs to try working the inside - out game rather then the same rush in for a lay up, pass or jack up the three offense we've been running. Or big men only score in the paint on rebounds or passes where the guards or SFs we have playing the Power Forward position can't score. I'm no expert but isn't one of the safest ways to score instead of throwing up shots or easy to block lay up having your big men extort some of their size in the paint?
Really... what does athleticism even mean??... I think a safe definition would be the combination of size, strength, and speed for a human being. - 6'5" - 220 pounds at 10.1% body fat!! - 6'11" wingspan - Thats very good for a combo NBA guard, much less a normal human being. 10% body fat for a professional athlete who is consuming 1000's of calories a day to fuel his body during the season is amazing. -Strength- I dont know what the guy benches, but I can tell you that when he drives to the lane, he's one of the elite NBA players in the league that can take contact from some of the largest human beings on the planet, and still have the core strength and balance to finish with the best of them. He might not be able to bench the same as Ray Lewis, but in the NBA & compared to normal human beings, he's a strong Mo-Fo -Speed- I dont know how he compares to Carl Lewis or Michael Johnson, but there are few players in the league that have the burst of speed he has off the first step, and in the open court. IMO, Harden has old man moves, but that seems to create an illusion that he's somehow making up for the notion that he's not a good athlete... which is absolutely not the case. Now Harden's defense... that has nothing to do with his athleticism. If we were in the playoffs in a game 7, Im sure James has that extra gear to force his body and mind to lock in on defense. During the regular season, its just not his strong suit, but he's not there to be Tony Allen or Dennis Rodman... his job is the score the ball like James Harden.
Maybe Morey's idea all along is, Play Ppat and Mmorris, then, of course, trade them before you have to pay them. Make that play for Dwight Howard, even if it means trading Asik in the offseason. Move Tjones and Dmo into the lineup at the 4. And deal with this year as it unfolds, for good or ill.
the author obviously just looks at the boxscores/stats and not the actual games. his shooting hasnt been great the entire season, but since he gets so many foul calls, he puts up points and people gloss over this point. thats great in the regular season, but once playoffs come around, the refs swallow their whistles and you go against the best defenses. what happens then?
Lin as a 6th man? Here comes the LOF rage of why Lin is the best damn thing ever and that Harden is holding Lin back. He once scored 38 on the Spurs.
I've been saying this all year. Lin needs to shoot 15 a game....it's what he needs to do...he does the rockets win
