Trust me, it shows. When a game is "sold out" (first game only), and the entire lower bowl corner section is completely empty during the entirety of the second half, it's pretty obvious that rockets fans are beyond lame. The snack bar wasn't empty during the second half of the game, I'll tell you that.
It's because of Morey's wheeling and dealing. Fans are always on the look for "upgrades." On the other hand, Knicks fans are delusional psychopaths.
You're just as bad as LOH's. You draw a line in the sand, and generalize everyone into 2 groups - us/them. Who's the lame "fan" here? Why don't you just stop reading and posting here (or do you have no where else to go) ?
I said this earlier. He was the only person that appeared like he actually wanted to win, made a lot of things happen. Omer looked really tired which is never a good sign. Harden honestly looked awful out there you could tell that he was sick. Parsons was aggressive as well although he made a few dumb decisions. Patterson is still soft unfortunately.
I wish Kevin McHale's daughter well, but I hate that it's sort of the reason why we can't fire him right now. You can't just fire an assistant coach in Sampson without the head coach, that would be unprecedented. But truth be told, Lin's struggle, I think, has a lot to do with the current coaching staff. The McHale Administration just isn't right for him. I was pissed that the Lakers got D'Antoni because I was hoping that was the next coach hired. As long as McHale or members of his staff are coaching the Rockets, Jeremy Lin will not shine.
I think that maybe McHale was kept as our head coach because the front office wants a hard-nosed, old-school head coach who will instill a sense of discipline in all of our young players. Yes, McHale's coaching leaves many of us scratching our heads, but maybe somewhere down the line if our team as currently assembled is still intact (and perhaps under a different head coach), the positive discipline instilled upon them by McHale in his time here will remain with the players.
I was ambivalent about no D Antoni. Yes, his style is perfectly suited for this type of squad: fast tempo, high scoring, PG oriented. However, Lin played far too many minutes, and ultimately burned out. However, given the alternative: Mchale and now sampson, Morey looks like an idiot for not even speaking to him. It doesn't seem to occur to morey that he can pursue coaches with the same zeal he seems to reserve for player acquisitions.
Well said as a mater of act that you are one of the veterans on this board. Yes, Lin has flaws and is still in his shooting slump but people tend to overact and hate him for his bad shooting. Cut the kid some lack already. I'm going to get killed because we're being called the LOF for defending him. I'll be the one who admits that his shooting is bad but I mean the team is still young and inexperienced, give them some time to mesh.
I've been around here since this place was Clutch City in like 1996 or whatever it was. Clutch has done such a great job with this place, we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude. Been a Rockets fan since Ralph/Hakeem. I like Lin, I will admit that. So, I might give him more benefit of the doubt than some others might. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. Lin has plenty of fans and plenty of haters. It's no big deal, that's just how it goes. I have followed Lin since last year and what I saw was that he was clutch and had the inner drive to excel. But he also may be a bit sensitive, or just adjusting to his new status, so it might take him some more time to find his niche here in Houston than we thought. Those are just my own opinions. I make videos on Lin and the reaction to him on YouTube is the same as it is here -- he's either the greatest thing that ever lived or he's the worst piece of trash in the garbage pail. Doesn't seem to be a lot of in-between. As I mentioned in my last post, it reminds me of how people treat Cam Newton, Tebow, etc. Very polarizing. I think it's just natural because all of these guys get a lot of hype, so they tend to be the lightning rods for criticism. Lin just has to find a way to shrug off the criticism and play his game. He's kind to find his "happy place" mentally and stay there through all of the stuff going on around him. Once he does that, and once he gets more acclimated to his new teammates and the new system, I think he'll be fine. Same for taking on the expectations of his new contract. And I don't think his legs are what he wants them to be yet, either. For now, it's struggles. His stats aren't too bad except his shooting is awful so his points are down. I think he'll be fine, but it will take a few months or maybe even this whole season. We'll all find out soon enough, I guess. If I could tell him one thing, it would be: "Relax. Screw the haters and play your game. Let it flow." That's what I liked in the Utah game. He just attacked and took his shots. Don't be afraid to miss, just shoot. Play your game. Roxxy -- Exactly. Lin was the only guy really attacking (well, maybe Chandler was too, but he was less effective) and busting his rear end. There were a number of blown assists (Asik comes to mind), but Lin had good flow and was dictating to the defense. That reverse finish over Millsap on the break was awesome. That's what he needs to do. He's an attacker. So attack.
unless he plays like Chris Paul or some other all-star pg, people are always gonna find stuff to gripe about. Looking at the big picture, he's getting everyone involved with assist, he's grabbing rebounds, he's getting steals, overall defense has been good to stellar, he's keeping the turnovers down, about the only thing holding him back is the shooting %age. If he gets that up, he may as well be a borderline all-star point guard, which is a high standard to reach considering it's his 2nd year getting any minutes.
I think there may be some truth to what you're saying. We all heard the "Lin hasn't worked hard enough to rehab his knee" and "the basketball side didn't want him, the owner did" stuff. But this happens to a lot of guys, not just Lin. My guess is that Lin got caught up with his Asia tour and new endorser obligations and may not have given the first impression he wanted to give to the basketball side of the Rockets. That can be overcome. I think Lin has to prove himself one more time in the league. He proved himself last year, now he needs to do it one more time then I think his teammates and coaches will lay off of him for good. Last night after that reverse finish over Millsap, Utah took a timeout. You could see Sampson high five Lin and say something like "That's the way to play!" to Lin. So, I think the coaches want to see him succeed and excel. I'm just not sure they trust him fully yet. Same could be for his teammates. Is it fair? Not really. But it happens. The paradox for Lin -- or anyone else in this kind of situation -- is that the more you think about it, the less effective you will be. You need to stop thinking and just play. But that's hard when you might feel those around you don't have your back. I think Lin will figure it out. He's already starting to. I'd just tell myself that there's basically no way I'm getting benched for Douglas, so it's time to just let it all hang out and show people what you can do. Lin needs a "f*** it" internal mental button, like Kobe and other stars have. Just silence the noise and do your thing.
It's like going through the talking points to justify why Lin is struggling. Coach, racism, Harden, teammates, etc. It's really simple honestly, dude needs to hire a new shooting coach and be more aggressive. Only Lin can stop Lin!
Gee wiz The excuse making in this thread is unbelievable. When Rafer Alston was shooting 30 sumthin' percent NOBODY was blaming coaching at the time. As a matter of fact, Van-Gundy and Adelman were getting hammered for not benching the guy.
Lin is playing pretty darn well except for his shooting. Top 10 in steals....prior to the last game when everyone but Lin laid down he was in the top 10 in assists....his assist turnover ratio is in the top10 in the NBA....And look at his defensive stats, pretty good. The only thing he's not doing well is shooting. He will get past this. If he scores 15 points a game and continues doing what hes doing in the other aspects of the game he will be a top 5 point gaurd. That makes him a pretty good player. I watched him in NY, it was not a fluke. The difference now and then is in my eyes, when he was in NY he played with Joy. Here i think the pressure is getting to him.....give it time.... This team is young and has a chance to be good.....but its not going to happen overnight.....give this another month then lets see where they are at.....
It's hard not to look at the coach when last year if you watch Lin succeed in D'Antoni's PG featured system where Lin handled the ball and ran pick and rolls on every possession to this year giving up the ball to Harden after passing half-court and then running to corner to camp out at the 3 point line. Those of us who watched Lin last year already knew that Lin wasn't a spot-up jump shooter. Lin should get blame for some of his poor play but the coaching has not been utilizing Lin to his strengths. It is completely understandable why the coach is giving Harden the ball over Lin though.
