Lin has been balling since the all star break.... 15/6/1/3 while shooting 48% from the field, 40% from 3 and 80% from the line.... his defense has been fine and he has fit in far better since early in the season.... would like to see his ft attempts go up a bit........ but he is solid and improving.
Your "eye test" is flawed because you are biased and have a preconcieved opinion. As far as Harden being the leader, it is an alpha business and Harden is the alpha male in the situation, and numerous players such as Delfino, Parsons and Robinson have all commented on Harden's leadership....
It's a different kind of leadership between Lin and Harden. Harden will always be the one carrying the team during crunch time. But Lin is the vocal leader who would rile players up to play. Lin keeps things together while Harden finishes the deed. Harden leads by example, Lin leads by motivation. I don't get why people debate who is THE leader of the Rockets. It seems simple to me: during crunch time, let Lin talk and give Harden the ball. I think it's a beautiful thing to have two different kind of leaders instead of one.
Lots of kinds of leaders in the world. Leaders by competence, spiritual leaders, moral leaders, they all have a role. It's rare that you see a person who has all the leadership qualities in one package. I don't think this team has a single leader and I think that's okay. Sometimes people want a "single" leader just so that they can point and say that they are singularly responsible for success. Harden may have been the biggest part of game wins in terms of the box score, but he doesn't go anywhere without the rest of the team stepping up to help win games. How much of that is attributable to players like Lin, Parsons, and Delfino is anyone's guess.
Why do people make it so complicated? This article told me one simple fact: Lin is a good player, and a greater person. It is a good feeling to root for a person like this.
Harden's the unquestioned go-to-guy on the team. He takes the big shots and the offense goes through him most of the time. But he's more of the quiet and lead-by-example sort. He doesn't say much, but the team gains confidence knowing they have a superstar to ride on if the going gets tough. Lin is more vocal. I see him talking to guys and rallying them on the court all the time. He makes an effort to connect with people, and that's highlighted by the article. I think those leadership styles complement each other well and the team is lucky to have both.
Earlier in the thread, someone claimed Captain America was the undisputed leader of the Avengers. I have to say that's doing a huge disrespect to Iron Man. This forum has really gone to **** with all these CAOFs flooding in.
Oh what? Thanks for those stats, I wasn't even aware he had improved that much. Its in only 30 minutes as well
Lin going into stealth Linsanity mode. Perfect timing peaking right into the playoffs. Only thing missing is his turnovers, needs to get it up so he can go full Linsanity.
