I just saw the stats this game and went through the logs to check it, and sure enough... Lillard vs Lin 3/9 0 assist Lillard vs Douglas 6/9 5 assist That doesn't even tell the whole story on how much Lin was better on Lillard than Douglas was. My "eye test" that ludicrous stretch late in the 4th quarter when Sampson inexplicably subbed in Douglas for Lin for a few plays? Lillard immediately got two wide open uncontested 3s, one of which he barely missed, lucky for Douglas, before Lin returned. Apparently that wasn't "eye test" enough for Sampson. So yeah, okay, Mr. Sampson, let's chew Lin out for his "poor defense" only holding Lillard to 3/9 shooting and 0 assist. *facepalm* Yeah, whatever. I mean, I am keeping count on the other thread. Everybody who says Douglas was playing for defensive purposes because Lin was getting torched by Lillard? You are all marked permanently as blind LOHs. Seriously, it's even somewhat understandable when fans are blind. How can coaches get away with being blind to this degree? Where is the accountability?
I wasn't exactly pissed, still a good game, still a young team. But using defense as an excuse for benching Lin is inexcusable, Sampson needs a told-off from morey.
Said it before and will say it again. Drop TD.. and let's use Machado as our back up. That dude is a beast. Lin/Machado >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TD/Lin Anybody else agree?
Agreed but our coaching staff would probably have Machado camped out in the corner to spot up for threes instead of running the offense. Also they say it doesn't matter who starts the game, it's finishing that's important. Considering TD finished and played all of the OT maybe he'll be our starting PG next game. Might as well since finishing is more important than starting.
I called it a while ago. Sampson simply doesn't rate Lin as a player. I don't know on what clueless, non-existent planet you need to live to think that TD is a better defender than Lin when Lin is one of the best defenders on the team and currently one of the best PG defenders in the league this season. Coaches live or die by their judgement. Sampson gambled heavily on TD in this game and lost. One can only hope he has LEARNED from this. The problem with people talking about Lin's defense is that they are heavily prejudiced by their confirmation bias. When someone makes a contested shot, it's not, good player made a contested shot, it's 'Lin got burned.' When a PG makes it to the rim of a good pick and roll, it's not, 'Lin was picked and there was no help D,' it's 'Lin's not athletic enough.' I can understand this kind of attitude from amatuer fans, but a coach should know better. There are going to be morons all over the internet tonight, who didn't see the game, and will look at the boxscore and go, 'Lin got torched again by Lillard, he's a rubbish defender.' When actually, Lin's overall defense on Lillard in this game was excellent. But that's how these dumb stereotypes get built. From idiotic sheep mentality and people who rush to clueless judgement not even having watched the game in question. Sampson seems to have both into all the negative stereotypes about Lin. He chews lin out at every opportunity. His bias against Lin is very obvious if you've got your eyes open. As for a proper analysis of Lin's defense. Torocan explains it way better than I ever could:
Sampson just a biased wannabe coach who doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the NBA. He should go to coaching high school since he can't even win a college championship. Pathetic trash NCAA coach, you in the big leagues homie and you don't belong here.
I look forward to Mchale returning. He has more confidence in Lin than Sampson. What the Rockets are missing is leadership and i think Lin is the best candidate to be the leader. 2 times this season now Lilliard got the best of Lin which can not happen from a rookie!!!!!! Harden has been given the chance to take over and be the finisher, but he has not done it against Miami and Portland. Another mistake by sampson was substituting for defense against Batum and Lilliard. He took out Parsons and put in Morris to guard Batum and he took out Lin and put in Douglas to guard Lilliard which were bad moves. They take it as insults if you imply "he can stop me" and played even better!!!!!!
SOLUTION: TRADE. JEREMY. TO. THE. LAKERS. DELFINO + LIN + PATTERSON = GASOL DO IT. IM CAPSLOCKING COS IM A BOSS.
did anyone else notice sampson chewing lin out on the sidelines for a while, i believe while FT's were being shot
At this point has Lin hit any shots in the clutch for the Houston rockets? At least Harden is scoring consistently. Mistakes are being made by everyone on the team but Jeremy Lin is not playing up to expectations in big moments of the game bottom line. He is not aggressively doing anything late in games. If you disagree with that then your officially on your knees with Jeremy Lin standing in front of you with his pants down. GTFO!
It does look like he does that quite a lot (chewing out Lin). Maybe we can give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was talking about the team and passing instructions down through Lin since Jeremy was running the point. But my contention remains that he doesn't think much of Lin as a player, as evidenced by him preferring TD to play all of the overtime. He really stuck his neck out on that move, and he might end up losing his head (job) if he keeps doing that.
From the last few games, Rockets had led in every one of the game. Some leads were double digit and dissappeared late in the 4th. Conclusively, there is nothing wrong with our offensive plays nor our defense. What couldve gone wrong? BAD COACHING! If Finch were the headcoach, results might look different. Let's face it. Sampson is McHale's man and Finch is Morey's. Sampson is a defensive minded coach who made many 'rookie' mistakes. He started packicking when opposition made runs, and he went back to his primal self, which was play defense. This is why he saw TD was a better player. He forgot what was working nor was he adjusting accordingly. McHale or Morey need to remind him that, for now, he is an interim headcoach and not just a defensive coach! Young roster + inexperience coach = heartbreak losses This loss to Blazers really hurt and will forever tainted my opinion about Sampson. He just cracked under pressure....no excuses!
I can't wait till Sampson leaves Lin in the game and he just disappoints all of you Lin lovers. This guy is pure trash and every point guard in this league is ready to prove it including Jeremy Lin.
