[ClutchFans] Jeremy Lin after playing just 18 minutes vs. Mavericks

While you are right, the cap hit means everything to the team obviously. If it was 15 for the third year that changes a lot, same if it was 5 for the first two years.

With all of that said, your original theory that Harden is being pumped up is still really silly.

 

It's obvious to anyone but you. Harden is allowed to hog the ball as much as prime Kobe, in spite of not having Kobe's talent. We are pretending that the Beard is at that all-time level, which means we're inflating his reputation.

It's equally obvious why we are pumping up Harden: there is no doubt that his performance largely determines whether Morey keeps his job. So Harden gets to hog the ball and every other player suffers.

Some players are starting to express their unhappiness: remember Parsons saying how much he enjoyed the team play in our win over Utah, and Delfino loudly dropping hints about our predictable offense.

 

Haha yep true.

I find it funny that anyone thinks the organization is out to make Lin look bad. They want him to succeed, having Lin succeed would also look GREAT for Morey because many thought and still think that he over paid for him. So if anything Lin has been making him look bad because many people are wondering how much better this team would be had they kept Lowry or Dragic.

 

I think Les is giving Morey enough rope to hang himself.

 

So...

The best offensive player on the team is...not supposed to be the featured player on offense?

Harden isn't even hogging the ball because he's scoring and helping his team overachieve. This is about with a lot of the new posters here Lin not getting the ball enough or Lin not getting enough minutes.

Harden wants these guys to succeed, all his career he's been a unselfish player...but when his team goes down to start the game over and over again what else is he supposed to do?

Playing as a team is more than just passing the ball. You are filling in the blanks there. They could be talking about playing as a team on defense for instance.

 

OK, first post from me. I admit that I am an Asian LOF, so no need to bash me out on that one. But I do want to express my opinions on JLin as of now. Feel free to rip on me.

Lin is sucking balls as of now. As big of a fan of him I am, he is just not producing. He isn't even 1/4th as good now as he was on that Linsanity stretch which brought me back to liking basketball. Why? Because the Rockets playstyle doesn't suit his current playstyle.

But then again, if he really is a good player, then he should be able to fit any system, shouldn't he? LBJ was able to adjust from being a one man show to fitting with two other scorers. Harden was able to transition from being a sixth man to a first option.

This is why both Lin and the Rockets will benefit from NOT trading away Lin. This is because Lin is obviously trying to change his playstyle for the sake of the team. It's starting to show: he seems to be better at shooting the three. He isn't close to being what he needs to be, but he is making active efforts to being the type of player to complement Harden and make the Rockets organization a legit contender.

But this works for Lin's favor too, in the long run. He already has the basics of driving into the lanes and making quarterback passes. I see him as very unpolished DRose/Nash hybrid. Imagine if he can actually get a more consistent 3pt shot and become an able spot up shooter. This opens up a lot of doors for him as a player and for the Rockets as well.

And I think the coaching staff has very little to do with Lin's failure as of late. Everybody saw what he did last year. Even with the miniscule sample size, we all have to admit that he has a chance, albeit a relatively small one, to be elite. What coaching staff wouldn't want to utilize that? But (LOF moment), I think he actually DOESN'T want to play as he did last year for the better good of the team. This is because doing so would clash with a lot of what Harden has to offer. Lin wants the win, not the glory; hence he'd rather just fix his weak areas than to force the team to play according to his strengths.

And his dejected reaction in the interview shows that he really wants to improve. He's just disappointed he didn't get a better chance to do so that night. But I think it was just a mistake by the coaching staff and not a plan to destroy Lin. No need to worry though. Kid's been through way worse than this, he'll make it eventually. He just needs a little bit more time.

TL;DR
LOHs - Yeah, Lin is sucking. But give him more time, he's legitimately trying
LOFs - Lin is gonna become better by playing in this system.

PS: Even though I'm mostly a Lin fan, I have to say this team has CRAZY potential. Youngest team and not having a piss-poor record? Color me surprised. More power to the Rox!

 

Statistically, Harden is terrible against teams with lock down defenders.

Igoudala, Denver
MWP, Lakers
T Allen, Memphis (IMO the best perimeter defender in NBA)
Safolosha, OKC

Harden stats against them:

5-15 Denver
10-37 Lakers
4-18 Memphis
3-16 OKC
-------------------
22-86 25.6%

Let's face it. Harden will have difficult time scoring against those teams. Teams will put their best defenders on him. He is no longer the option 3 on OKC. Harden is a great scorer but he is not in the class of Kobe or prime Wade. At least not yet.

If we want to win against those teams, Harden will need to stop iso and defer more to his teammates.

 

Well said.

 

Why is there always an excuse for why Lin does bad? Can't y'all at least accept some flaws in the dudes game.

Yes, there are flaws in Hardens game, Parsons game, Asiks game but they have been playing just fine and at least average or above that most of their games.

 

You're right, but people won't understand unless they acknowledge that Lin did indeed face discrimination as a budding basketball player. Cos many people will just say Lin didn't get drafted because he wasn't good enough, and in spite of his accolades, nothing will change their minds. And when they think like that, there is nothing to discuss.

I mean if they concede that he's an AVERAGE NBA player, that means he should have been drafted or at least offered a scholarship. But he got nothing. So it makes sense that he got racism from both sides, those who love him for his ethnicity and those who want to put him down for it. But honestly, instead of blaming the people who love Lin for causing racism, I think the more damaging group is the side that marginalized Lin. Cos one is a positive and the other is negative, and I tend to lean towards the side with love instead of hate...

Wow, this post is kinda all over the place...my apologies.

 

Everyone knew this would happen. His sample size was so small and it was a fluke. The best pg on this team is Douglas and it really hurts to say that cause he sucks. I am rooting for Lin though. He needs to get his confidence back. He has the skill set but is too weak mentally it seems. I have yet to see one game with him as a Rocket that convinces me that he should be a starting pg in this league.

 

Just who are these 'Everyone' you guys keep talking about???

 

Certainly not everyone. I think Douglas' ceiling is far below Lin's. Currently the two are playing pretty much the same, and that's with the coaches not instructing Lin to be the primary ball handler. So you could say that Lin playing his worst position is the same as Douglas playing his best.

 

as far as point guard duties go, lin is miles ahead of douglas. Comparing the two right now is comparing Lin as a SG with Douglas as a SG, and Douglas is pretty much even with Lin even though Lin is not a SG.

 

Hope lin gets traded.

 

His stretch last year was too long to be a fluke but too short to call conclusive. I do think it did show his ceiling. Not all players reach their ceiling though. I agree that he needs more confidence and I too haven't seen too many starting PG-level performances from him this year (there have been some though), but I disagree that TD is better than him. I also think that it's the other way around: he's got crazy mental strength (cut 2 times, rose from the d-league) but unpolished skill set.

 

It is utterly ridiculous to think for people to decry that the rocket coaching staff is actively out to make Lin look bad.

However, it is resoundingly evident to me that the coaching staff do not think much of him as a starting pg in this league, and that he was probably forced upon them by the management. Unless they are explicitly told otherwise, they would much rather risk having TD play most of the minutes than developing Lin as a point guard.

 

Under Woodson Lin still played pretty well with melo back in the lineup. If he can achieve those numbers that's fine.

 

Agreed. He's adjusting so much that he's not utilizing his other strengths

 

Thank you for your comments. I really hope that all of the rockets fans understand your point; Lin is not perfect, but he is doing all his best to help the team, even changing his play style to fit the team. How many NBA players are willing to make this kind of adjustment?