in fact I was calling for the starters to sit out... when the second unit was up by 8, playing so well in a past game...
42 A to 37 TOs= Harden 9 games 14 steals 60 A to 23 Tos= Lin 9 games also has 21 steals i rather have Lin at point IMO cause most of Lin Tos are from Asik not catching the ball
Especially since the refs were told to reduce the number of fouls this year because it slows down gameplay.
But eyeball doesn't see numbers. Numbers can't dunk a basketball. Coach is an oldschool guy. Give the ball to Jordan and let him swing for homeruns. If that doesn't work, that means this team isn't very good. Bring out the whipping boy.
Harden certainly has the ability to play the PG spot. He has good handles, playmaking ability, and is the max money guy. It's really the choice of the coaching staff who should be making the plays. Up to this point, Sampson displays favoritism for a Douglas-Harden backcourt. Obviously, this poses is a threat to Lin's game because Lin is the designated starting PG, and Harden is taking over the role of both SG and PG. In several games now, Sampson doesn't appear to give too much thought to Lin's game and, in fact, practically demands Lin sacrifice his game, despite Lin's talents or regardless of how well Lin plays during the game. While Rockets may have acted in good faith to attract Lin to the Rockets, it appears that Coach Sampson in particular has doubts on a Lin-Harden backcourt and that any visions of a lasting Lin-Harden backcourt is now in jeopardy.
I don't think it is in jeopardy, because Sampson is not the head coach, this little fiasco that he pulled last night with Lin is grabbing major headlines, and it is not pretty, they already have enough heat coming from them from White, so they don't need that. So we will see.
All right, jftfgykLIN. I respected what you had to say. I said as much. You're going to accuse me of bias? Me? I didn't follow a specific player to this board and I don't freak when the game is bigger than him. My username doesn't include said player's name in all caps. But it's I who has a bias. My only bias is that I want this team to play well. To win. And play collectively. And for we as fans to show a little patience. Both Portland games should have been wins. But please, tel me how I am manifesting a bias. I get disappointed when the team loses winnable games but then coming here reading fans calling for blood because their favorite player didn't get to play in OT is, how did you put it, biased. Remind me how OT in h-town went with Lin and lillard.
your biased... because there is a lot more than just Lin fans saying Lin should have been in in OT you just choose to see it as LOFs making that call... when I see a whole lot of NON 2012ers posting up... just go back into the game thread and read the last 20 pages... Like I said as a LOF, I didnt want to see Lin go back in the game or any game for that matter, and sitting at the 3 point line... waiting to take a shot. that makes him useless... because he is not a spot up shooter... as a fan of this team you should be up in arms about that too... because if your not going to use him properly... you probably should trade him for a bag of chips...
You mean the coaches that are letting Delfino handle the ball? The same coaches that are making one of the best system players run ISO-ball non-stop despite it clearly being unsuccessful and inefficient? The same coaches that are parking one of the top slashing PGs last year into the corner pocket when he's terrible at spot-up shooting? The same coaches that have a hand-off system around the perimeter that has clearly accomplished nothing other than burn the shot clock? The same coaches that benched a PG who was leading the team to a blowout win in favour of a PG who has one foot out of the door of the league? Those coaches?
When Lin plays a good game like yesterday, he has to the guy handling the ball and creating a better opportunity for Harden. Harden will knock those shots down if he gets the open look. Go to Harden's ISO in every possession is too predictable an offense to work. Sorry to say that but Harden is no Kobe, Lebron or T-Mac. At least he is not on that level right now to knock down clutch shots when defense is all over him. He needs a better look at the basket. Remember he is also not as tall as these guys so when opposing team collapse on him, he may not be able to see and pass out of double team every time. So a lot of time he has nowhere to go and has to force go 1 on 5 and result in a lot of turnovers. At this stage of his career, you can't ask him to do everything on the offense, he is not there yet.
Look Harden is a good basketball player, but he is certainly not all of that. Harden is only going to do Harden. I have not seen leadership from him on the floor. He constantly goes into his iso show with 4 defenders, and he still trying to shoot the ball and look for the foul, which doesn't happen, then another play is blown with a turnover. Not smart decision making, not smart basketball. The warning signs are the are there so people need to pay heed.just sayin
Have you know, it's not proper Heroball unless you dribble into 4 defenders. We're tying to get into the ESPN highlights here. Think about the votes!
Strategically, playing Harden as the PG is generally a poor decision. Passing PG's are most effective when they can get the ball to their best scorers. Harden is already the best scorer which means passes will invariably be to an inferior scorer (less effective) Driving PG's are most effective when they can use the Drive to either score, or pass to open shooters. For Harden this is a worst case scenario. As the best scorer on the team, opposing teams are Already keying in on him, which means immediate double teams when he gets the ball, or putting their best defender on him with help defense nearby. This makes it not only more difficult for Harden to score, but more difficult for Harden drive, and more difficult to pass. As for the Lin/Harden mix, strategically it makes the most sense to have Lin operate as the PG whether you believe Harden is a superior passer or not. This is true for several reasons... 1) Harden is a superior spot up shooter. Lin passing to Harden to spot up shoot is far more efficient than Harden passing to Lin to shoot. 2) With teams putting heavy coverage on Harden, it makes it easier for Lin to facilitate to other players than if the ball is in Harden's hands. 3) Harden is good at moving OFF the ball. The limitations of the NBA Rules on defensive coverage greatly rewards players that can effectively move off the ball to slash, pick and pop, or to spot and shoot. Since defenses MUST stay within a fixed distance of their Man, Harden operating OFF the ball allows him to criss cross the lanes and move along the perimeter using other players as incidental screens or to team mates that can help generate additional screens and PnR opportunities once a pass is recieved. Just the presence of Harden Off the Ball makes defensive coverage more chaotic and opens additional passing opportunities for Lin to find open team mates even when he does NOT pass to Harden. By Harden playing the PG position when Lin is in you are not only making his passing and scoring LESS effective, but you are taking away his slashing game, his spot up shooting, and his off the ball game. In terms of Lin's performance, having Harden play PG results in taking Lin's facilitation out of a significant portion of the offense and creating more situations where Lin must spot up shoot (his least effective offensive tool), as well as reducing his shots off the dribble (his highest percentage scoring). In my opinion, not only should Lin be the PG when Harden is on the court, even when Lin is OFF the court Harden should STILL probably not be the PG unless the only other option is a truly inferior facilitator. I suspect even having Parsons bring the ball up would be offensively more efficient than having Harden play the primary PG role. I'll leave up to the individual whether they think TD is sufficient to play the PG role while Harden is on the floor. :grin:
Also, Harden is the worst defender in the starting lineup, maybe rotation. How many times have you seen him just slap at the ball instead of moving his legs or contesting the shot? If he's a max contract player, then he needs to be known as a great defender, up with the likes of Kobe, Lebron, Chris Paul, etc. It would have been nice to say "Batum is on fire. Let's put Harden on him to slow him down."
I hate this stupid obsession of having a sg,sf, and even pf try to play the pg. I'm talking about dribbling the ball from one end to the other end. That takes a chunk out of your stamina. Pg in critical plays is ok but not the whole time.Lebron don't even do that, that experiment failed.
Harden has all the tools to be a good PG and so does Kobe Bryant but they are shooting guards for a reason, Knicks fans have lived through the Melo Point-Foward experiment which was a failure but at least it was necessary because the only PG on the roster at that time was Tony Douglas. When Lin emerged and the subsequent Felton signing Melo was able to play his position better and focus on getting buckets.
