OK, so you're saying that everything you just wrote does not matter to Les Alexander. I'll agree with you again. Now between you and me, my main interest is in the Rockets winning as many games as possible. Yours is something about the fans and marketing?
It's funny that the people who are saying Lin off the bench is better for the 'team' are mostly the same people who have been trying to tear Lin down from day one and the same people who've claimed that Linsanity was a 'fluke.' Great trolling though, pretending that really all you care about is the team, but hey if it helps to drown Lin, all the better for you guys. Which is exactly McHale's philosophy. Misused Lin throughout last season and now he's going to put him on the bench. Soon it will be Beverly finishing games, and Lin's minutes being cut more and more. All because your and Mchale's egos can't take the fact that you were wrong about Lin's talent and potential. The lengths people will go to to avoid having to look in the mirror at their own prejudcies. Sad and sick. If Lin's still here I expect him playing only around 20-23 minutes a game by the end of the season. Yeah I can see how that's better for him, instead of playing 30-36 minutes like the rest of the starters. Because we know how much Lin has improved and what we absolutely cannot have is him putting up strong numbers that might prove you all and especially McHale were wrong all along. Team first, my ass. What a bunch of liars.
Yeah, I think DH12 would want Lin to start with him. The idea of playing Lin as 6th man has more merits if we are still playing last season's roster. Things has changed when we got DH12, he won't be happy to be in a role of blue collar rebounder/defender mostly.
My main interest is the Rockets being as successful as a basketball team as possible, long and short term. This is why I'm open to Lin either playing primarily with the 1st or 2nd unit. However, as a real life manager I also view the game through the lens of a businessman, which is why it seemed odd that McHale would start Beverley during a NBA promotional tour in Asia. That was my original post and what I noted, that it made little sense to start Beverley in Manila. McHale could achieve the SAME results in terms of play time, line ups, and experiments on the floor while still having Lin start. In other words, by announcing that Beverley was the starter he essentially manufactured a controversy where there was no need for one, potentially hurting the Rockets as a business enterprise. While it seems somewhat disingenuous to start a player for marketing/money purposes, teams do this all the time. They feature high profile players even when it's not always in the direct interest of teams to do so. They put players on the floor even when it doesn't always make sense on the court because that's what the fans pay to see, especially during exhibition games which is essentially what preseason games are... exhibition games. And in the end, the guy who signs the checks is the guy that McHale needs to keep happy.
Are you for real? Seriously? Ok, sit back for a minute, breath - think again. Most people on this board a Rockets fans. They want their team to be as good as possible - and they want every player on this team to be as good as possible. Why? Because it helps their team win, and that`s what Rockets fans care about. Being wrong about a player? Hell, I´ve seen plenty of fans happily eating crow on here when they have been wrong about a player - recent Texans example would be Kareem Jackson. McHale? He wants to win. Why? Because he needs to win to keep his job and continue working as a caoch. He wants a championship or two. If he misjudged a player, he will correct this mistake. He is not on a personal vendetta, he is trying to get the best team out there. I don`t care if someone is a fan of one player first and foremost. Good for them, I like some players more than others as well (I really like Lin for example...). What I don`t like is their fans b****ing and whining about the coach, the team, the fanbase or other players, because anything is not going perfectly for their player. Sometimes a good player has to sit on the bench - sometimes it is good for a star to lead the scond unit - sometimes it might just be a numbers game. Lin takes this like a man - for him the team always comes first. He is humble. I like that about him. Now as his fans, people on here should try to take his example and act accordingly.
What controversy? You mean on CF? McHale didn't manufacture a controvery: CF manufactured a controversy. Specifically, unhappy posters manufactured a controversy. Let me clarify: unhappy-after-a-win posters manufactured a controversy. It's nice of you to look out for McHale's welfare like that. I'm selfish: I just want him to win basketball games.
LOL @ all this complete bullshet. There was no controversy other than Lin fanboys on the internet throwing hissy fits. Les or anyone else that attended that game for that matter probably didn't give two ****s about Lin starting what not. You act as if Lin didn't even play in this game when in fact he played quite well for 20 minutes of the game as the main offensive contributor on the court. No matter how much you exaggerate, Lin starting or not today had no impact on the grand themes of things whether it is business, global agenda of the NBA or whatever. It basically came down to Lin fanboys making somehting out of nothing.
The counterpoint to this is that the pacers are a really good defensive team, and he might have wanted to see how the starting lineup with beverley works in a worst case setting. This would be the only plausible preseason game to try that in, balancing business and basketball reasons.
i think you're assuming too much of mchale. not a knock on the guy, but he's a basketball coach. it's not his role to think through his choice of starting lineup in these terms. he should and is only thinking about the team on the court. was this a pr blunder? heck yeah. should you expect a basketball to coach to understand pr? nope.
IMO, Lin & Beverley are both great 6th men and neither is an ideal starter. Beverley brings great toughness and spark off the bench. He creates havoc on defense. He doesn't have great range, not ideal with Howard down low. Lin is best with the ball in his hands, unfortunately for him, Harden is better doing the same thing. I don't buy into this theory that having Howard will make Lin's outside game open up, he's not an outstanding long range shooter and his game is so much more than just standing around shooting the open shot. He needs to create and work off the PnR to be effective. We have two great 6th men. I don't care which one we start. I do think Beverley might need to finish.
Please not everyone likes Lin. We've had posters say they would take any other PG, but Lin. And Lin fans aren't the only one's b****ing about all those things either.
What he meant was McHale might hear something from the management. Look, if Lin is not on the roster, Rockets will be much less likely to do a Asian preseason tour. It make sense for NBA to pick a team with a player of Asian descent to go there. Rockets do have a responsibility for league promotion in these few preseason games. But, this is just one preseason game. If Lin don't start in Taiwan, then it will be a true controversy.
For those of you saying that you can't win a championship when there's competition at the point guard position, and that splitting minutes hurts the chemistry of the team, and that the better player shouldn't come off the bench, etc. I'd just like to remind everyone that our very own Houston Rockets won a championship with Kenny Smith and Sam Cassell getting roughly equal minutes at the point. Many would (and did) argue that Sam Cassell was the better player, but throughout his career as a Rocket he continued to come in off the bench to ignite the second unit. It can be a very successful formula, as the Spurs have shown with Ginobli. Bringing Lin off the bench in now way implies that he is "less," it just might be better for the team. Or maybe leaving him as a start is better. That's why they're trying it out. No need to panic over chemistry just yet. It's a very long season and we've still got nearly a month of preseason action ahead. Even with bad chemistry this team is going to make a lot of noise. Just take a deep breath.
I didn`t say that everyone likes Lin - sure there are some people who don`t like him because they think he is overhyped and others who don`t like him because of his fans on here. I said most people on here mostly want their team to win and the players on the team to plays as well es possible. Those heated debates usually start with LOFs or some trolls that try to provoke LOFs. Before Lin this forum was a lot more civilized and friendly, and a lot of people here don`t like the change. I don`t like being called a liar with a big ego and full of prejeducises, which is basically what jetfuel called anyone who support this move of trying to have Lin as the 6th man that leads the second unit. And that`s why I called him out - without any cusswords, and without any disrespect.
McHale, the former GM and NBA commentator, understands PR just fine. He's not so big on the caring about it angle.
