Sampson is running our team very well. The offense is particularly efficient. The problem is our defense sucks.
I like his flexibility and positive attitude towards players he doesn't have the father attitude like McHale, he is more like the older brother
I don't think its as chaotic as you're making it out to be. And I don't think the psychology of a player is worrying about whether he'll be finishing the game in the 4th quarter. They're supposed to be playing "in the moment". That means play your role as best as you can, prevent the other team from stringing together runs against you, and if you're a starter you'll likely be finishing the game. Giving a young player guaranteed minutes, regardless of how the game is going and how well others at his position are playing, is not providing the appropriate incentives for him to improve on his weaknesses and play harder every minute he's on the floor.
I haven't looked at the numbers but just from watching the games I think the half-court defense has been pretty solid for the most part. Guys seem to be on the same page on their pick&roll coverages and overall their don't appear to be a whole lot of missed rotations. Harden is just a poor/lazy defender - can't fault the coaching staff for that. What I think the Rockets have really struggled with though is transition defense and while it isn't the lone problem (Harden not challenging guys at all...), oftentimes the floor balance is just off due to guys crashing the offensive glass. Historically only few teams have been able to be good at offensive rebound rate and defensive efficiency. That's why some coaches (e.g. SVG, Doc Rivers) don't like their teams to crash the offensive glass at all and rather put an emphasis on getting back on D. Just looking at these last few years, it seems as if teams that have been good at both ORR and DefEff have had really good rebounding frontcourts (Noah-Boozer-Deng, Bynum-Pau-MWP, Gasol-Randolph-Gay, Pekovic-Love-Kirilenko) and while I haven't looked what those teams do from a floor balance perspective, I would guess that for the most time they simply (don't need to) send as many guys to crash the glass to secure offensive rebounds. Shooting fewer 3s and playing at a slower pace might also be a factor.
Agree with this. You bring Lin to be your starting PG. Are you going to let him develop in that role? It seems like he's being treated as a rookie player/role player that has to earn time. I'm sure he's confuse also, although not complaining. Harden even Parsons, even though they had bad games continue to play.
They're not going to fire a guy after he took a leave of absence to care for his dying daughter. Jesus. The earliest McHale gets let go is next offseason, and maybe not then.
Guys it's just a match-up thing, that's it. Nothing more. Jeremy Lin is not worried about any of this that you all are talking about. He didn't look too confused when he was on the side cheering his team on.
I am pretty sure that is illegal as well to fire someone like that, but I don't think McHale has really proved himself as coach or really gm.
As I said he's not complaining and agree he shouldn't play in certain situations, like last night when you go with the hot hand. It's about how it seem like he's the only one who seem to have to fight to get minutes while some of the other starters don't have to. I just don't think it's fair to him while recruiting him to come be your starting PG with a young group of guys and not really giving him that time to develop on the court. But life's not fair so he'll just have to work and play harder.
It's a matter of balancing trust and reward. I do believe it's quite chaotic. NBA players have played enough basketball games in their high school and college careers to know that the final quarter is the quarter to be playing in. It is important for players to know that despite playing bad in the first three quarters they have the coach's confidence to play well in the final quarter. Where does a player find the confidence to play well in the first 36 minutes if he doesn't know if he has the coach's trust to play in the final 12? You mention yourself that If a starter doesn't know whether or not he's finishing the game, doesn't know whether or not the coach actually trusts him, how can he play well in the first three? You say that giving a young player guaranteed minutes is not providing the appropriate incentives for him to improve on his weaknesses and play harder every minute he's on the floor. So would you say James Harden should've been benched in the last 5 minutes? The issue I have with Sampson is that he's a walking hypocrisy of bull****. He says he supports Lin, gives Lin props, but doesn't extend to Lin the same level of confidence he gives Harden. Moreover, he has said blatant falsities in the past - Toney being a better defensive player than Lin, for example - that further brings into to question his capabilities as a coach. If Jeremy Lin is bench at the end of games and James Harden isn't when both players are playing terribly, what does that tell you? What does that tell Jeremy Lin? Doesn't it seem mighty unfair that Lin has to fight it out and doesn't get the same benefit of doubt as Harden? I'm not saying Jeremy Lin deserves guaranteed minutes. I'm saying that the current status quo is a cowardly way by Sampson of playing nice to all parties involved without getting his hands dirty. He needs to man up and either bench Lin and never let him end games, or extend to Lin the same trust he places in James Harden.
Harden is a much better player than Lin, no doubt. But just because one player is better than another, he gets a longer leash? The Rockets brought Lin in to be their starting PG. They brought James Harden to be the franchise player. There is a difference in expectations between the two players, one which I think is appropriate of their current skill level. While Harden is a better player than Lin, the expectations are higher as well. Just as one would never bench a player - who is projected to be our franchise player - for not playing well, one should also not bench a player projected to be our starting SG either.
For people saying Harden redeemed himself for the final 5 minutes. Well, Lin didn't even get the chance to play in the entire fourth quarter, so who knows if he could have also redeemed himself?
This is why there are so many arguments over Jeremy Lin. Lin fans want to shove him down our throats in every situation. Even when it's the wrong time. Jeremy Lin had been going Linsane for the past three games. You reduce the guys minutes for one game because of match-ups and people go crazy.
There was one game where he made pretty bad choices at the end. It was a game where the other team was at the FT line, and got their own offensive board off a missed FT, and he didn't have rebounders in the game, despite having a timeout at his diposal. The Heat game maybe? Where Harden shot the contested 3. That whole ending was a coaching failure.
PG*, my bad. Just give the players a modicum of consistency so they can get into rhythm. That's the biggest issue I have with Sampson as a coach.
