This is a SPOT ON assessment. This is exactly why you dont want to have the ball in Lin's hands. You do not want him making decisions for you. Lin's poor handles complicates the matters even more for him.
Lin's problem is pretty easy. He has poor handles and he doesn't have confidence in his jump shot. Both causes him to panic and make stupid decisions. He also doesn't have this. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/24KTBp8qQIo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The issue with the Lakers is this: Whatever flaws there are in Lin's game, they don't seem to have a better alternative. The Ronnie Price starting lineup has not exactly thrived. Price is still shooting badly and, more important, the Lakers are still getting out of the gate slow every game. The Kobe as PG in the clutch lineup has its own struggles, especially yesterday. Kobe has his moments of brilliance, but often just jacks up contested jumpers and throw forced passes every bid as wild as the worst of Lin's. Kobe's crunch time play last night was largely the reason why the Lakers lost a significant lead in the last few minutes of regulation. The idea of either of these lineups-- surround Kobe with guys who are either spot up shooters or rebounders/finishers, guys who don't try to do too much and risk mistakes-- doesn't really work unless Kobe is just brilliant and mistake free in handling a huge workload. And Kobe can't do that anymore-- his personal offensive efficiency metrics have been poor despite his still considerable skills. The Lakers don't have the kind of defense to shut down opponents to the degree that win games with a Kobe-centered offense. They need Lin's penetration and Nick Young's heat check shooting, even if these are not perfect options. If the Lakers had a better, less mistake prone option to generate dribble drives, then by all means they should take that option. But as it stands, having some dribble penetration even with mistakes that Lin makes in generating them, is still preferable to having no dribble penetration.
I was curious when Kobe and the starters crushed the bench during practice which led to his tirade, does that mean Kobe with Ronnie Price, Jordan Hill, Ed Davis, and Wesley Johnson beat a lineup with Jeremy Lin, Carlos Boozer, and Nick Young? that's pretty bad...
Don't know what happened in practice, but in actual games, the Lakers starting lineups-- the current one and the one before the lineup change-- have almost always came out of the gate poorly and dug a hole in that first stint. Their bench lineups, both old and new, have been better than the starting ones. This is clearly Wes Johnson's fault since he has been in the starting lineup all season.
what's wrong with my signature? it's just not updated. When you have 2 or more signatures dedicated to Lin crazies, it just screams loud about your insecurity and obsession. Again, I do not personally mind because I don't even know you. But it's for your own well being as it is scientifically proven that people filled with hate are more prone to health issues.
Haven't you heard? All the best players have a PhD in some field not related to basketball. :grin: I think Lin is a hard worker. He will study game plan and work around his deficiencies and put in effort on defense by fighting through multiple screens and taking charges. That much you can count on. I don't think he will ever be a top 10 PG though he might be in production (in the right system) and efficiency. Lin fans often harp about how Lin plays better when he gets more minutes, they might be right, but for the wrong reasons. Lin plays better because when he stays in game, he gets more opportunities to pick and choose when to attack (ie work around his deficiencies). When he stays in game and he catches defenders off guard or he chooses the right play because of positioning of defenders, he looks like a genius. This is what Lin fans see. When he doesn't get minutes and the opportunities don't present themselves, he has to force issues, that's when he's at his worst. In a poker analogy, Lin is someone who plays when he has good hands and folds (no pun intended) when he has poor hands. Kobe will play any and every hand, which makes last game where he just started passing when he's on the cusp of breaking MJs scoring record so surprising. When people say Lin is passive and tell him to be more aggressive, he feels they are asking him to play poor hands. Having watched some Lakers games, there were many times Lin is able to get to the rim but can't finish with a dunk like your Westbrooks or Roses. He is not going to jump and attack the basket like they do. He also doesn't have the handle of CP3 or the shooting touch of Curry or Lillard. The things he's elite (or at least in the top 10 or near it in the past) is in the PnR and efficiency. Both of which are more about preparation and taking advantage of situations, which means the more he is in games, the better he looks, but only if the opportunities present themselves. Also, many fans don't really understand what is meant when people say Lin is fast. Morey has described him in the past as the fastest accelerating guard of anyone measured by SportVU. What he doesn't explain is that while other players have 5th gear and have higher top speed than Lin, Lin seems stuck at the 4th gear. In the 4th gear, he'll accelerate faster than someone trying to accelerate using the 5th gear, but his top speed is slower. Fortunately for him, basketball has a lot of stop and go situations where he can use this. This advantage is most obvious in the PnR which he didn't seem to run often here in Houston or in LA now. I'm rooting for him because of his story and he seems like a nice guy by most accounts, but he is limited. In New York, when he would lose the dribble he would do a quick hand off to Tyson or some other player and get it right back often in a position where the hand off and return sets up a PnR play which makes him look like a genius. In Houston and LA, he'd pick up the dribble with no one to pass to and he'd look dumb or he'd pick up the dribble and pass it off to someone else after a long pause who takes a contested shot making it look like the pass was a bailout (which it is). Unless he develops other skills or be in a system that takes advantage of his strengths, he will look like an awful player. In the right system he looks like he has high BBall IQ, in other systems he just looks passive and has low BBall IQ.
I had one signature about Lin. And you were complaining just the same. I only added the second one because the first one bothered you so much. I am not the insecure one. I have a great life and great health. I b****ed x1000 times more when Juwan Howard was around and my health just as good. Relax kid. I will be fine. I have been watching basketball since your mom was changing your diapers or longer I dislike Lin's game, not Lin himself. Since this is a Lin thread, I will continue with what I am doing until his game changes. Criticizing Lin's game clearly rustles your jimmies. For your own well being, may I suggest the ignore feature?
lol listen kid, I don't mind reading any sorts of intelligent comment about lin at all, whether it's praise or criticism. I'm just saying you seem to be obsessed because even Linman or King1 don't have their signatures dedicated to Lin fans. And my signature has 5 players in it, it's not the same. Oh and maybe it's you getting old but Juwan Howard had a decent tenure with us
Why is it that people who are player only fans like to insult other people's normal lives? I believe it's because they keep losing their basketball arguments and hate the truth. Zboy you don't need to tell any of these monkeys what kind of laundry detergent you use, we know you buy your own clothes. Real Rockets fans are Real people.
That and also insecurity. Notice how insecure he got as soon as he saw a Lin signature? Anyways, looks like I gave that kid too much benefit of the doubt. He thinks Juwan Howard had a nice tenure on the Rockets. LOL. There goes his credibility (not that he had much to begin with) down the gutter.
Relate my post to yours that I responded to. "He is that bad" There are plenty of games where Lin is "that bad". The same game that we both watched is not the game you will label him "that bad". Even contributed to the win. I apologize to those who did not get the drift of my post. I guess if the police is rounding up intelligent readers, you and tinman will be the first to be apprehended. (and immediately released for lack of evidence :grin
