I was kind of shocked he made them equal, but for the opposite reason. I would take Prigioni over Lin all day. Prigioni won't make the occasional big play that Lin does, but he's not going to kill you with costly turnovers and mental mistakes either.
Beverley, Terry Harden, Brewer Ariza, Papa Motie, Jones, Smith Howard, Dorsey Vs Beverley, Lin, Brooks Harden, Garcia Parsons, Casspi Jones, Motiejunas Howard, Asik So those are the rosters (for the most part) of course there was a lot of cuts and trades and injuries both years which caused the lineups to completely change. Honestly going into this season I thought we got worse, and if you where to tell me in advance that Howard and Jones would of been out for most of the season I probably would of bet on us missing the playoffs. But by miracle, Terry was productive, Dorsey was solid, we where gifted Josh Smith, the Ariza/Parsons switch turned out to be a positive, Motie stepped up nicely, and most importantly James the beard Harden came through big time with a MVP caliber season.
I also didn't expect our franchise player to lay an egg in the playoffs but even that happened. Why do we keep insisting that Lin was the main reason we failed?
Absolutely. If Harden was playing at this level last year we would have been lethal. You put Lin on this team right now and I honestly believe he would've made this team better. However, we had to explore the possibility of getting Bosh and I don't fault Morey for the deal. As far comparing the teams, this team is superior in a lot of ways. Last year's team was built on the foundation of youth and energy. This team is about maturity and competence. Give me the latter over the former every time. Harden's ascension to superstar, MVP-caliber player and Howard's new approach to the game will really pay off in the playoffs. Addition of the headband crew was immense and Jones' development have been key to our success. Now the test comes to how can McHale face Carlisle and then Pop afterwards. Will he be able to hold his own and not succumb to their strategy? Tune in tomorrow night..
I think this is a real possibility, tbh. Add me as another who prefers Prigioni to Lin for what it is we're trying to do. Lin more talented? Sure. But Prigioni never looks panicked or rattled, which I think will be key in the postseason. A big difference between this team and last year's (and the '12-'13 team too) is that they don't collapse or implode when things aren't going their way. They keep their heads down and stick to the plan, and I think Pablo is great for that. Here's hoping that doesn't change under the glare of the bright lights.
People can feel better about this year's team than last because people can now see the loss of last year's team to Portland and can see that team's flaws, but are still seeing this year's team through rose-colored lenses (yay, 2nd seed! ). Let's wait until the playoffs end before making thie final judgment. To me, this team is pretty good but flawed just like that the 2014 team, it just has different strengths and different flaws. The current team has much better defense and a much better Harden but it lacks perimeter dribble creators and we have no idea which version of Dwight Howard is gonna show up. The current team probably ranked somewhere between the 6th and 10th best in the NBA just like last season's team was. Unfortunately, in the Western Conference, this means you may still lose in the 1st round (even against a not so elite Dallas team). Hell, the Spurs and Clippers are arguable two of the top 4 teams in the entire NBA and one of them is guaranteed to lose in the 1st round. I do worry about Prigioni. His recluctance to shoot and inability (as a Rocket at least) to make shots will get exploited in a best of 7 series if the opposing coach is smart-- the same way the Rockets will no doubt try to exploit Rondo's inability to shoot and the same way that Popovich exploited Tony Allen's inability to shoot. More important, none of the Rockets perimeter rotation guys other than Harden is able to really create off the dribble even in a secondary capacity. I imagine Carlisle and other opposing coaches will load up on Harden and try to make the likes of Terry, Prigioni, Ariza and Brewer beat them off the dribble. Not the Mavs have the defensive horses to pull it off, but some better team may be able to do it next round.
The thing with Lin... he can play well (but rarely great), however when he makes mistakes they can be HUGE horrific mistakes (and he did...), so his contributions (1...maybe 2 games out of 6, and really they were only moments and not all game) seemed rather secondary. I don't know, I'd rather someone not make mistakes and lead to someone else making a good play, than someone who makes mistakes and sometimes makes a good play.
Lin is a mental midget with a low IQ No way does he make this team better in any form. Come playoff time he turns into a big coward. Lin is addition by subtraction Glad we can go into this playoffs without carrying all his baggage He just isn't that good not a difference maker I'd take Jet and Prigs over Lin any day and more so come playoff time
The two biggest difference for me are: Harden becoming a true superstar and Ariza. Ariza will be huge in the playoff with his versatile defense. Everything else just fall in place, including Howard willingly settling into the robin role.
It all came down to Harden becoming leader of the team, experienced players added to the the roster, and a deeper bench that contributes on a nightly basis. Also, finally McHale's stubborn ways of not playing rookies and now allowing them to play will benefit the team in the playoffs.
