Reading comprehension wasn't your (or MKL's) forte was it? I said "*Sampson* probably thought Douglas could stick closer to him." Not *I*. I would have put Lin back in because 1) Douglas jacked up some terrible shots and 2) most of Lillard's points came when he got the mismatch off the pick.
some games you cant just stop a guy 1 on 1 when he is on fire. its a team effort. Parsons was way to slow to cover Lillard honestly. The only person quick enough was TD or Lin. I don't give a damn - read the box score ~ why would you BENCH LIN?! Harden got SWARMED. Its not even totally his fault it went pure ISO - You took away HARDENS BEST OUT. Sampson benches Lin (6Reb/11ast/1steal/2blocks/+5) for 2nd unit TD(2Reb/1ast/0blocks/-6)
Man stop it with this notion that Lin is slow footed somehow. He's on par with Douglas laterally and stayed in front of Lillard all night except when he was picked off by screens. On that last play of regulation Lin did let him deeper in the too the paint but still stayed in front of him and recovered for a decent contest. Lillard is just fire and too legit. Lillard still only went like 4-10 against Lin or something. Meanwhile TD had to go under the screens and let him knock down some long shots or either forced Parsons to switch on a mismatch. I don't understand why yall think Lin is a subpar defender or something. He ain't All D by any stretch , but he's solid and can atleast stay in front of guys.
Torching? He went like 3-9 against Lin and 0 assist until he got against TD's switching D and going underneath the ball screen. smh stop it with the presumptions and watch the game. You're like the Blazers commentators who kept saying Lin was getting constantly blown by even though it was clearly the opposite. And meanwhile Lillard let TD and Lin drive by him and he doesn't get any blame. Double standard a bit? I usually stay out of the race card thing, but even Lin admitted there are double standards underlying against him.
I hope so, If sampson took him up because he felt douglas could stop lillard, he loss the chess match again. Plus, as a coach, you should never show that you don't have faith in one of your money players. poor decision by the jv coach.
Whatever benefit Douglas's defense was giving us, WHICH WASN'T MUCH, Lin was MORE than making up for with heady plays at the offensive end. That play where he got Harden a good look at a three off the PnR was much more indicative of what we should've been doing.
This yo. TD is the better, more disciplined and instinctive defender, but Lin has also proved himself to be pretty solid. But the offensive contribution alone should warranted Lin to be in instead. Oh, and to the mention the dude getting paid $8/year n one of the franchise's faces. Sitting out the ENTIRE OT. Okay. Tell me in whatever scenario in the history of sports has this ever made sense.
You've only demonstrated that you can read selectively. The first sentence is true. He got burned at the end on that play by Lillard. That's ok, everyone gets burned. The question by the OP was why Lin wasn't in in the OT. I provided an explanation--not a justification. Note that I didn't say "I think Douglas would stick closer to him." The explanation was that Sampson probably thought he'd try to put TD on him. He tried, it didn't work and it hurt the offense. I am explaining why I think the coach did not play him. I disagreed with it. But for whatever reason people are only able to read anything that whiffs of criticism of Lin to be hating on him. Which is absurd since Lin's one of my favorite players. And I never thought Douglas should've made the cut over Livingston.
I watched the game just fine. When you put up 27 points and carry your team in the 4th, slacking on D is overlooked.
And did you see Lin forcing him to go 3-9 or whatever and staying in front of him and forcing him to pass it? Did you see TD going underneath screens on those high screens and letting him make 2-2 on 3 pts on him IMMEDIATELY and consequently get him on FIRE? And did you conveniently forget Lillard letting his man getting by him a couple of times on D too? Double standards man.
I'm not really sure where my double standard was. I said Douglas didn't do anything on D. And again, Lillard didn't need to focus on D, he was tearing it up on the other end of the floor.
Toney Douglas was gettin burned by Lillard multiple times in OT. Chandler's jersey is still smokin from the burn he got courtesy of Lillard. Why put Douglas in for defense when you end up switching on screen?
