Exactly, he didn't really get a chance and the team didn't include him in their game plan. Morey's probably shopping Lin and Asik around at this moment.
Because bev's defense was so extraordinary in the first matchup against the Mavs? To me, both, bev and lin struggled yesterday. Coaches tend to use lin as the scapegoat. I would have had Harden and Brewer out there while BOTH Lin and Bev sat. no favoritism. but that's just my eyeball test.
Hey, we're just trying to win games here. I saw nothing wrong with how Lin was played yesterday. And, how the heck are so many people seemingly able to read McHale's mind from afar? Are they also able to do that in their work and personal lives too? Somebody teach me, so I can do it too!
It isn't that his D is poor, it's just that Bev's is better. It's all relative. Lin wasn't running the offense well in the 3rd quarter. That turnover on the Asik hand-off was killer. He just wasn't doing it. His job is to hit threes and penetrate the defense. When he isn't doing either then that's a problem. Credit Dallas's defense. I am a huge Lin fan by the way and root for him to do well. I am so sad he only scored 1 point. But you can't blame McHale here. Lin has a horrible game, nothing more to say. There was a lack of aggression from him that was disappointing. Even on the last play of the game, he was put in to get a steal. And he lost track of his man who was able to get to the other side of the court to get the inbound pass. So not only did lin lose position for the steal, but the guy took 1.5 seconds off the clock because Lin wasn't there to foul him right away. These mental lapses are what hurts Lin. He doesn't play a lot of minutes and it affects his confidence. He's got to get tougher. He will get tougher. But you can't blame McHale here. Lin's a grown man.
one can only hope!!! he deserves to go to a team where he has the trust and respect of the front office and coach...whether Lin can or cannot front a championship calibre team is unknown at this point, the worst part is not finding out and being suppressed by one of the worst coaches in professional sports
It psises me off how Lin always picks up his dribble. Holy crap there are 9th graders who know never to pick up their dribble. It's such a fundamental thing that is easily worked on....I wonder why noone's told him of this.
I've got a new drinking game since the drink every time Parsons pump fakes may be too dangerous to play. Drink every time Lin picks up his dribble, stops to looks around, then passes.
I recall it was the startinf five in for the last couple of minutes. D12 blew a couple of shots, so did Harden including a very important free throw., Beverley got the ball stripped .
Also, he was benched immediately after missing two threes, but he averaged 22 PTS. a game for the last 5 games, and his PER was 19.67 before this game. The ESPN announcer mentioned this. It's odd, players heat up and cool down during a game.
This, this, and this. Statistics don't tell the story every night. Jeremy was having a hard time getting anything going. Shooting, one on one break downs, even off pick and rolls. He looked tentative. Sometimes it doesn't take long for a coach (even a bad one) to notice body language, effort other small things. Should he have been benched so quickly and for so long? That's absolutely debatable. But the benching itself had justification.
somebody needs to lock up his new PS4, that's all i'm sayin'. in all seriousness, he did have a pretty short leash in this game, as compared to all other games this season. something is a bit off... either his right elbow is still injured (looks like he's been shooting 2-15 from downtown since that little elbow injury a few games back) and reluctant to shoot and passing up open 3's and pissing off the coaches.. don't know but he's been averaging over 30min/gm except for the blowout game vs. boston, so something is a bit off. will have to see how the next few games unfold, but the pattern of this game seemed inconsistent with what we've seen so far this season.
He's not the greatest coach for Lin but Lin will be OK if he continues to play well. I think the bigger issue is Harden scaling back his game to share the playmaking with Lin. Harden's points and assists have to go down in order for Lin's to improve just as Lin is sacrificing his points and assists to Harden. And it isn't superstar/role player stuff either, it's 2 different looks and players that can help the team produce with Lin for me being the better playmaker once he gets the chemistry with all of his team mates. Also Harden's D, or lack of it, makes McHale play Bev more who is more active on defense and a strong rebounder and doesn't "compete" with Harden on offense. But, for McHale, he just has to emphasize to the team, make sure Lin is in the sequences and then get on guys like Casspi when he tries to do too much. That's where McHale is lacking.
