What would have happened had we NOT signed Jeremy Lin?

Lin's year was okay. Simply, it wasn't anything spectacular.

Did he cost us a fair share of games? Yes.

Did Harden? Definitely.

Do I think our offense is better suited for a faster point guard that can shoot consistently? Damn right.

In my opinion, with some development in passing, Aaron Brooks would THRIVE in our starting line-up.

We're all about penetration, spacing and hitting the open shot. He does all of that. The way he gets to the hoop and passes out is beautiful. Not only that, AB can score at will and create his own shot. Lin cannot do that yet.

I like Lin as a person, but I think there is something behind the argument that Toney Douglas, Patrick Beverly and AB run the offense better and offer a stronger threat.

Ideally, I'd like Lin to come off of the bench, but that's not happening.

Our playoff outcome would have been different with a guy named Patrick Patterson. Morey can kiss my ass for that one.

Potential? Fine, but when? Trob has rotted on the bench and it looks like he is YEARS away from a go-to move, a legitimate jumper and some maturity.

That trade was unfrotunate, execept for Cisco, who we all know Morey will look to rid.

 

I love how everyone uses the Morey quote to defend Lin. Morey is the freaking GM of the team, what do you expect him to publicly say? What does Lin do on the court that most every starting point guard can't do? I like point guards who play good D, don't turn the ball over, plays with high energy and is a facilitator. Lin is none of those things. I think Lin has the skill set better suited to play Shooting Guard rather than Point.

 

AB had one good game in the series. Last night Lin was the third PG in rotation, until Jackson went off at AB. Lin was then getting extra minutes, and he did better defensively on Jackson.

That's also why Lin was the ahead of AB in second half. The commentator emphasized mchale wanted to contain Jackson.

With Beverley in foul trouble and AB struggling, Lin was much needed. He just got some rust, and OKC was in a different mode last night.

 

Why don't you list for us the games this year that Lin has "costed us"? Because for every one of those I am sure can list 3 in which he was crucial to the win.

 

Hou vs LA .. Hou needed to get the win to stay 7th seed, Lin did nothing but drive in and turn the ball over.

 

Thats just blind hate. Lin played great D this year and was a candidate for defensive player of the year at the half way mark as mentioned on NBA.com. He plays with tremendous energy and led the team in assists when he split PG duties with Harden on the floor. If you want to say he needs a more consistent shot, clearly that is his weakness... But defense, energy, and ability to facilitate are not.

 

You are going to pick that game out of all games? Dude you need to rewatch that game. Li. Had a staggering 2 TOs that game while dishing out 8 assists. You know Harden ISO'd for 5 minutes in that crunch time 4th q and took a miracle Parsons 3 to get it to OT when Harden ISO'd some more... That game led to the epic Mchale meme thread on here.

 

Haha I second this one

 

Better question, what if Lin had been given the freedom to play HIS game like in the Linsanity days, instead of relegating him to spot up shooting duties much of the time, rarely with an opportunity to get into a rhythm? Then insult to injury, whenever he did get a fair chance to get hot, how was he rewarded- getting pulled, & sitting on the bench until he gets cold again.

McFaaaaaail!

 

Then they would have had either Lowry or Dragic stay.
We would be looking forward to playing Memphis tomorrow.

 

If his defense was so great, don't you think he would have stayed on the floor longer than he did?

 

Per 36 he averaged 15 and 7 with a strong upward trend in the second half of the season. He had a good year, and people seem to forget how important he has been for this team. That being said, I agree he needs to massively improve this offseason

 

So, Lin being mentioned as DPOTY is hilarious. Just because its mentioned in an ESPN article doesn't mean the writer has a clue what he's talking about. Sure Lin led the team in assists, but that's what point guards are supposed to do and 6.1 assists per game for a team that runs as much as the Rox is really nothing to be excited about I don't know how many games you watched this year, but Lin is not a high energy guy. He's great at getting to the rim, but that in and of itself doesn't make him an high energy guy, the whole team just stands there when he's on the floor. The guy is not a facilitator at all. Facilitators make the guys around them better and don't have an assist to turnover ratio in the playoffs of 1-1. That is simply inexcusable for an NBA point guard. I'm just being honest about what I'm seeing on the court, no blind hate here.

 

It's his first year starting, be patient; with his work ethics, he'd only going to get better. PG and center are two hardest position to learn in the NBA. He is not a very high energy guy but not low, he steals and runs. He is certainly a very good facilitator, just needs the ball in his hand more.

 

We wouldn't have to read this thread.

 

This. Lin was used more as a facilitator this year than he ever was in NY and the amount of minutes he played were limited. It was obvious the Rockets and McHale wanted to solidify Harden as the #1 guy and played him in the role of a legitimate star. I think Lin's development as someone who can run an offense took a back seat, but he did pick up some skills in learning how to play off the ball more.

I think it burnt us in the playoffs though. The offense needs re-tooling as it's evident you cannot depend on Harden alone in crunch time.

Parsons and Lin need more responsibility. And Harden is not good enough yet to play him as a PG and let him facilitate the offense at all times. His passing needs a lot of work. Lazy and errant passes cost us a lot.

They ALL need to work on their game. Honestly Parsons and Asik were the too that have more or less gotten close to the level they need to be at at their respective positions. Lin and Harden have more work to do.

 

Given Lin was the leading the team in assists, our 3rd best scorer and second in steals for this team, I'd wager we probably win less games.

No way to tell but given trading Lowry was key to landing Harden and no other PGs that we'd be able to land in time, I'd definitely put us as lossing a few more games without Lin.

 

Lin, his own entity, did fine.

But if you're comparing Lin vs. No Lin, we'd fall off big time. If we're comparing Lin to what we could've retained(Lowry or Dragic), then yes that is a drop off.

Dragic/Harden would have been a devastating backcourt.

 

He was coming off an injury and we needed offense. It was obvious he couldn't drive in the lane or play his game for the minutes he was in there.

Not to mention, it looked like he got benched after his turnover. And if that's the case McHale needs to stop that crap. Let him play. Not a way to boost confidence. Everyone else committed boneheaded errors, turnovers and made bad plays. No reason he should be singled out.

It definitely seems like Lin has a shorter leash than anyone else on the team. Then again maybe McHale is playing a tough mental game and is his way of trying to get Lin to limit mistakes by being harder on him. I don't know if it works with his personality though.

 

There's no way we would have more wins without Lin. As much as I wanted, Lowry wasn't coming back (and he got us Harden anyways). Dragic wasn't getting his player option. We really would have started the season trotting out a starting lineup of Harden, Parsons, Asik, PPatt..... and Toney Douglas. As wildly inconsistent Lin has been you can't tell me we would have more wins with TD and I guess Bev later in the season. I liked TD but there's a reason why the Knicks would rather continue paying him even as a Rocket than retain him.