THANK YOU At least there's some people here that can tell Lin wasn't joking about what he was saying. Seriously, this is how/why Dwight Howard managed to jerk the media around for a year in Orlando. Everyone who knew anything knew he wanted to go from the day training camp started. I mean, wow. Like David Chase said, does everything have to be explicitly stated in the most point blank, obvious terms these days for people to understand a message?
One viewpoint makes fans bitter and causes them to throw temper tantrums every other game which distracts from quality discussion. Don't know how you can say they are equivalent in that regard.
Damn it, too much Jlin this, Jlin that....... After 3rd season, Jlin should really quit basketball and go back to Harvard to attend Law school or MBA, making his $8Mil/year afterward and shut the F8k up to those who complain his salary Or if he is really fed up with money, run for president instead, it should be more entertain to all
I agree with you Durv, it's better to assume for the better unless there's reasonable cause not to. It creates too much unnecessary drama since we don't have any inside info. That's how conspiracy theories starts!
I'm not trying to blow things out of proportions but I really think J.Lin is trying to say to Harden in the above bolded quote, "trust me man, like I trust you". I don't think there is any negative vibe between Harden and Lin, but I do feel Harden is often reluctant to defer to Lin or pass early to him. It may be lack of trust, it may be marking the tree that it's his, it may be a combination of both but if Harden gave Lin more respect and trust, he may find that Lin and the team will play better as a whole.
How do you know what he's feeling inside? How do you know the extent to which it is bothering him? Can you admit that you don't really know, and you're just guessing as to how much this is weighing on him? That you're extrapolating what his mental state must be based on how you yourself feel about the situation?
Yeah I have never once see Lin give it to Harden and Harden giving it back to lin for a play. Only gives it back to him when he's stuck or have no other smart options. Neither does Chandler lol.
Habs didn't accused Jonathan Feigen twist anything, he said Jonathan "downplaying" what Lin said as just being joking around with the reporters. I thought there was something more to it then just a joke as well. Lin was probably not happy with the 4 quarters playing time, and said it in a joking manner as not to rock the boat, but get his feelings known at the same time? I don't think this is Lowery 2.0 though.
According to NBAWOWY.com, Harden has assisted Lin 49 times out of his 277 total assists when sharing the court with him (so, 18% of his assists). Jeremy has assisted Harden 54 times out of his 351 total assists when sharing the court with him (so, 15% of his assists). In other words, a greater percentage of Harden's assisting passes have gone to Lin than vice versa.
NBAWOWY shows the total number of play-ending actions for each (i.e. AST + TOV + FGA + 0.44*FTA). As a percentage of total team possessions, it was 37.4% for Harden and 31.6% for Lin. Harden has the ball more than Lin, for sure, but its not this huge difference that some people make it out to be. Both players should be utilized as playmakers to take full advantage of their strengths. That's what Lin said in the interview, and I agree with it. Like any young player, Harden has room for improvement. But this idea some people are promoting that he's a selfish player who's reluctant to pass the ball to open players is bogus. You don't rack up as many assists as he does while being a gifted scorer unless you have considerable instincts/desire for finding open teammates.
You proposed a conspiracy theory that since Feigen is the only beat reporter that he was intentionally mischaracterizing Lin's comments. Clutch says he was there, shot video to prove it, and he agreed with the characterization. That's two people's word, who were actually there and interview Lin regularly, to the word of some fan on the Internet who's been a member of this forum for two months. Tough call.
Thanks for pointing it out. Lin's response was perfect. Nothing anyone -- his teammates or coaches -- should/would object to or disagree with.
This is true all the way... I wish people will stay away these types of conversations... But, what Mchale did today is not right... we should NOT be risking our playoff chances just to develop a few rookie bench players ... for what? for the playoffs? are we guaranteed a playoff spot? are we gunning for a championship now? at this point in time rookies will be better developed in the offseason... We have never been in the playoffs for 3 years... getting there should be on top of the priority list... for the whole season, Mchale was benching our starters because he said we just want to win... but now when winning is most important, we start developing rookies? talk about inconsistencies.... SMH
I don't think Harden is a selfish player at all, and he is a very willing passer when he trust you can hit the shot. But I do think he was hesitate to pass to Lin, when Lin was wide open at the 3 point line sometimes, I think it was mainly due to Lin's crappy 3pt % eariler in the season.
