Better idea, Howard and Harden should come off the bench too, so with Lin, Harden and Howard, we can beat all other second units. Yeah!!!
You did not watch Lin with Melo, and your assumption that Lin doesn't play well with stars is just a meme that haters who have not watched him play floated out there. Now, anyone sees Lin miss a shot or two feels that Lin can't shoot 3s or play defense, or can't play with stars when it isn't true. Lin played very well with Melo and when Melo came back, the Knocks went 7-1 with 5 of those games being complete blowouts with Lin and all the starters sitting in the 4th. His 3pt % was excellent the second half of the season and now you have people saying its easy to shoot 40% from 3, and if Lin doesn't shoot at least 40% from 3, he should go... Are you kidding me?! And defensively, Lin is good. I just don't get why people talk negative about our own player who helped us get to the playoffs, without even watching more than a handful of games.
As a Lin fan, I'm not entirely opposed to it. But Because Howard changes everything, it's hard to predict how the team will pan out next season. A lot of people are making big assumptions, but adding a superstar is not as easy as some people may think. I wouldn't put TOO much stock in observations from last season. We simply have no idea what kind of effect Dwight will have on the team. I agree with Fighton, when it worked, the Lin-Harden/Rush-Hour backcourt was a thing of beauty. At around Christmas last season, we were blowing teams out of the gym. Then later, that OKC game ended up as my personal favorite last year. It showed us what the ceiling of a Lin/Harden backcourt could be, and it's pretty damn high. Before Howard came, I favored Lin over Beverly because Harden simply got worn down last season. Some of his stats (especially FG%) went down as the season went along, he stopped doing that nasty Euro-step and started ISO-ing more. The ball got stickier. So I thought having Lin initiate the offense more to spell Harden was a good idea. Of course with Howard, it is literally back to the drawing board. Dwight's addition could slow down our pace and easing Harden's significant load. Or it may not. So let's see how training camp goes and then the season.
Best PG on the team should start. We all know Bev plays with high energy and is super pesky on defense but that always leads to fouls. If you watched the first summer league game from this past Sunday, he picked up two quick fouls playing D in like a minute at the start of the game.
oh, I watched the games. Lin is a clown! How many undrafted players in the current era went on to get a 20 million dollar contract?! I can't think of one over the last decade. you know why. there is so many analytics and video evidence that gm's better assess a player's talent and potential. My honest belief is that morey only took the gamble on lin because at the time we were not even close to the 90% minimum salary. Maybe Lin does get stronger, maybe Lin will be able to shoot the three consistently and defend the drive. Maybe, just Maybe Lin will only get marginally better(he is a great guy but that is not everything). Lin is a good bench player. A solid back up. but that is all. sorry to rain on your parade.
you would think this concept is common sense but then again common sense isn't so "common"....especially on the GARM. obviously Morey/McHale would've made this adjustment if it was the winning rotation. this season's going to be really eye opening with a full season under the core's belt and more chemistry. i'm thinking mchale will have a better game plan/sets now that we have howard and more defined roles. as a former big, hopefully he'll have some great offensive sets unlike last year where the ball just moved to to the weak side. contrary to popular belief, i actually think lin will get more defined ball handling duties as a pg and play better off the ball and orchestrate the offense with a parker like style where he cuts and curls. harden will still be pretty ball dominant as he should.
Is Bev even that much better at 3 point shooting than Lin? Regardless, I've said this in other threads and ill say it again. The point guard won't just be used for spot up shooting. You need a point guard who can also attack and facilitate. Harden can't and shouldn't have to take on the scoring load and be responsible for facilitating. It's just too overwhelming and will result in more turnovers by him like we saw a little bit last year. Besides, if Harden is putting so much energy in basically creating all offense for the team he'll be gassed on defense. You need Lin as the starter to set the tone and name sure Harden doesn't have to create everything. What I do believe, however, is that Mchale should shuffle their minutes a little like he did later in the year. Either Lin or Harden should always be on the court and I think the Lin/Bev combo had some positive effects although we didn't see enough of it to really judge. Besides, even if Lin is 6th man, he'll still get his 27-30 minutes a game and therefore will still have to play with Harden for almost 20 minutes anyway since Mchale plays Harden 38 min (hopefully he doesn't do that this year and tries to conserve him a little). I just think that these are your two best guards and they should learn how to play together, not inhibit one another's effectiveness. They improved on playing together throughout the year last year and with a whole off-season should be even better. And if Lin can sustain that near 40% he was shooting from 3 next year, this shouldn't even be a discussion.
First of all, not a Lin hater. Lin is a 32-33% 3 point shooter, his shot has never been his strength. His game is basically getting to the rim & dishing off. Defensively, Lin is average to below average. Yes, he was part of a team that made it in the playoffs. I have watched the Rockets for over 40 years & consider myself a good judge of talent. Lin basically is an average player who got hot for a month in NY. I hope he does well, but my basketball knowledge doesn't see him as a starting caliber player in the NBA. Just my honest take, no hate at all.
"Just maybe Lin will only get marginally better.." So, no other pg improved more than marginally in the NBA? The facts dispute what you're saying. History refutes what you're saying. Logic dictates that what you're saying is ludicrous. Lin has already started on two teams with winning records. So, if Lin shoots at 37%+ from 3, defends the dribble drive against fast small guards in addition to what he alteady does well, hes at best a solid back-up? You are biased if that's what you think. What does he need to do to have people stop knocking his game? Be an all-star?? It's preposterous how close-minded people are when it comes to Lin. Lin dominates summer league -> means nothing Beverley gets 7 pg's, has a rookie put up 26-8-6 on him -> he's solid Umm. Yeah, okay.
I like how the OP sets up a straw man and then provides a biased solution of his own to a nonexistent problem. At any rate, if the coaching staff thinks Lin would work as a 6th man, then I don't think he or anyone else would have a problem with it unless it didn't work for whatever reason. The most important thing is to get your best players on the floor for the most minutes, and plenty of 6th men play "starter"-level minutes. As others have pointed out, there's no reason that Lin and Harden can't play together. There was a period where all they were doing was running the PNR off of each other and they were destroying the other team's D because they couldn't handle two penetrating guards with such different styles who were willing to pass. The help D didn't know where to go or went to the wrong person, and then guy left open was given a free path to the basket or an open shot. The problem was that other teams eventually zeroed in on this approach and cut off the high PNR prematurely - it wasn't that it didn't work, it was that there were no other options available. Parsons is a fantastic 3&D player and cuts to the basket very well, but he can't create his own shots. The rotating PFs were generally always out of position or placed to make the low-percentage long-range 2. And Omer, well, we all know what happened when they tried to include Asik in the action. This is, by the way, why I don't think putting both Asik and Howard out on the floor together is such a horrible idea. The offense that the team ran last year was makeshift and done out of the necessity of not having a training camp or established offensive strategy. This year, they have the luxury of both, so they don't need to go with a very basic pattern that everyone is familiar with (i.e., PNR or spread the floor and see what happens). Asik isn't that great of a finisher, but he has shown a willingness to run to the offensive side of the floor and set up screens, even at the high corner. We all know that Howard runs the PNR extremely well (regardless of whether he likes to do it or not). It's not that hard to envision an offense that utilizes early high screens by both players to set up something like a second elsewhere on the court. The Spurs run a variation of this that utilizes both a double screen and a double cut to force the entire defense to either rotate completely out of position or give up an open shot somewhere along the way. God forbid we all let the coaches and players actually go out there and play some games before jumping to any conclusions.
Did your 40 years of watching basketball allow you to notice Lin's completely different roles on his team between his average year in Houston as opposed to when he "got hot for a month in NY"?
Lin can't defend and shoot open 3's. he's a better on the ball player so you can't play him with a pointSG James Harden
Really? Not starting caliber? He was 13.5 and 6 playing next to a ball dominant star SG. And yea his 3pt might be at like 34% but it would've been like 36-37% if you took out those atrocious 2 months. Fact is he was a 38% 3pt the last 3 months and he'll probably be near that this year. And overall he's at 44% shooting which is actually pretty good when compared to other point guards. But most importantly, not starting caliber? Come on, I get that he didn't meet everyone's expectations but you cannot seriously say he's not starting caliber when he gave decent production even though his main role was taken and he was playing 2nd or 3rd fiddle. I can name at least 8 starting point guards he's clearly better than and about 4-5 he's about the same level as. Can you even name 3 backups who are better? You could argue he's an average to below average starting point guard right now but to say he's not starting caliber is pretty ridiculous. Most LOHs wouldn't even say that
Yes, that is exactly why he isn't a good match playing with Harden. Lin is a career 33% 3 point shooter, averaged that in college & his first 3 seasons in the NBA. Last season, almost half of his made shots were at the rim. Teams have figured him out, lay off of him & force him to beat them with his outside shooting. You mentioned that Lin lit it up in the Summer League, I'm sure they allowed him to be the primary offensive option playing & going against back up type players. His problem is he isn't good enough to play that role going against the top NBA players. Playing with a better player like Harden, Lin's role is more about playing off of his game. Now you tale away his strength of going to the rim & put more focus on his outside shooting, you have an average to below average player.
Would like Lin to start. But I think if he plays the 6th man role along side with Asik on the bench, Houston will be very hard to beat. It's like there is 2 complete team in one. Imagine trying to beat Harden with Howard, and then try to beat them again with a second Harden(Lin) and second Howard(Asik). Plus, you can switch Bev. out early and extend Lin's minutes. Sorry Bev. fans, but I don't think Beverly is as good as Lin. Yes, Bev played good for 3 games. LOL 3 games. And how many good games did Lin played for NY? Beverly is nowhere near Lin's level at this point.
I'm not sure where this idea of Lin can't defend come from. The guy is an average to slightly above average man-to-man defender that has trouble against quick point guards like Westbrook and Parker, which frankly in this day and age just about anyone will have trouble guarding them without proper team defense. His fault is doubling the ball handler too much and leaving his man open, which I'm not sure if that is his tendency or the team's defensive scheme considering Parsons and Harden also do the same thing. For example, Lin defends Jennings really well in the final possession shown here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fByU-H8qRhE As for your second point, Lin can shoot open 3 at a decent rate at 37%. He did that for half a season. So yes he can definitely shoot the 3's at a point where he's not a liability on the court.
I don't think Lin should be a back up, he has to be traded. but I hope he improves his shooting and defense if he stays.
