IMO that's the big question that will determine to what level Lin will be. If he develops his outside shot, he will be good. If not, then it will be difficult long term to stay in the league. Having said that, there's tons of players that have developed their game over time. Tony Parker couldn't shoot from the outside when he first started and now he's pretty good. Jason Kidd couldn't shoot from outside but now he's a decent 3 point shooter. During 2009 to 2010, he shot greater than 40% from 3's.
Going by Lin's Synergy stats this season, spot up shooting is actually his best offensive weapon so far. It's a small sample size, so take it with a grain of salt, but he's averaging 1.13 PPP (10th in the league), and shooting 7 of 18 (38.9%) from 3pt range in spot up situations. Whether he can keep this up remains to be seen, but thus far it's definitely not a weakness.
Shooting, unlike things like court vision and bbiq, is something you can improve by practice. Not everyone can be a Steve Novak. But most people can improve. Lin's shooting form is not smooth like those great shooters. So he might have to work on the mechanics in the offseason. Like many posters have pointed out, he should not be used primarily as a spot up shooter. That's wasting his strengths. He needs to attack and dish. That said, playing alongside Harden, another good play maker, Lin needs to improve his spot up shooting. There's no other way around it.
SO TRUE! He shot 5-10 beyond the arcs off Picks last season for the Knicks. And it dosn't include several step-on-the-line 2 points shots too.
I view the whole Lin-Harden questions and the offense in general as a work in progress. I believe that the coaching staff took the easy path to a reasonable offense and just installed their best play maker, Harden, as the focal point of the offense. An easy choice. However, I do expect the team to gradually change its tactics as the players become more comfortable with each other, and the coaching staff better understand the players. Also Morey needs to see which positions need to be improved, and who are the best candidates available on the trade market. A more reliable three point shot would certainly benefit Lin. I do not believe that anyone will argue that point. His short stint in starting lineups has not given him enough time to mature as a player. The more complete his game is, the better he will be.
No surprise to me after I knew this : after 7 games... # NAME Spot-Up RNK 1 I.Thomas 1.62 － 2 Calderon 1.59 － 3 Lillard 1.59 － 4 Mo Williams 1.54 － 5 Lowry* 1.33 － 6 K.Irving 1.33 － 7 Westbrook 1.29 － 8 CP3 1.25 － 9 J.Teague 1.17 － 10 Lin* 1.13 10 (the ONLY one who is capable to be being ranked) 11 G.Dragic* 1.09 － 12 Ridnour 1.08 － 13 B.Knight 1.05 － 14 Lawson 1.04 － 15 Felton* 1.00 － 16 J.Holiday 1.00 － 17 Rondo 1.00 － 18 D-Will 1.00 － 19 T.Parker 1.00 － 20 D.Collison .89 － 21 Hinrich .89 － 22 Jennings .89 － 23 S.Curry .87 － 24 Conley .86 － 25 George Hill .84 － 26 D.Harris .71 － 27 Chalmers .67 － 28 K.Walker .31 －
When he stands with two feet set and shoots, he comes up short. When he has time to step into it, like Jason Kidd does, he makes.
Lin is a very good player and should not be limited to what he can do. The ability to shoot the 3 consistently will only expand his game. He will have the option to either shoot the ball and if the defender tries to close that gap and force him dribble the ball, he can then use his driving ability. It is not wasting Lin's strengths, it is enhancing it. Why would anybody want Lin to be a one dimensional player? Rondo did not shoot well early in his career. So what did the defense do, just sag of him, let him shoot and not let him drive which made him less effective. Once he started hitting them, he became unguardable. We discussed this on a different thread and you seem to feel that this is a finished product with regards to our plays. Since Harden has the least playing time with his teammates (he missed all of the training camp), I think the staff wants to get him more acclimated with the tendencies of all the players and the designed plays. It is very difficult to come up with conclusions at this early stages of the season.
I feel the same way. We should see changes gradually into the season. They will play around with the touch ratio between Harden and Lin and see which way is better.
I agree that it's too early to tell what the offense will be, but if Rockets are committed longterm to Harden being the primary ball-handler (and he is the better player), then Jeremy becomes somewhat redundant unless he comes off the bench. It would be better to trade him for a quality shooter.
2-7? where is that from? Harden is 11-43 at 0.256 from 3 point line. Lin is 8-26 at 0.308. Still small sample, but that is what you need to rely on as for now. :grin: Harden shot way better last season though. I think he's forcing too many 3s this season. But as for now, Lin is actually a better option. There is a reason why they made Lin shoot that 3. They want him to become a clutch shooter as well, well at least they hoped. I will give him more time, he has clutch sense in his genes, he just need to develop that shooting
I think they are giving Lin a chance to develop other games, and see if he has the potential to go along with Harden. If he still doesn't pan out by next season, they probably will trade him.
Regarding Harden vs Lin's playmaking: Harden did two pick and rolls at the end of the fourth that led to 3's by Morris and Parsons. Harden is the better PnR player no questions asked. Lin's playmaking is good but too often he'll turn it over and or get trapped with nowhere else to go. At this point I trust Harden with the ball more than Lin.
