I can think of one thing he does better than Harden. Defense. I'm not saying Harden isn't better than Lin. I'm just pointing out one thing Lin is better at since you said you can't think of anything.
There is only one master of the 3 and that's Larry Bird.... Love him or hate him, the man could play and flat out shoot... T_Man
Novak owes Lin for his fat contract. Fat is a literary term for someone who would probably be a high school bball coach or manager at a sporting goods store if it weren't for Linsanity. Novak shouldn't even be compared to Allen or Curry when 95% of his shots were assisted. Bad defenders will look like DPOY guarding Novak.
"Someday - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as gift on my daughter's wedding day."
Passing the ball, especially in transition is also one of Lin's strengths. He does average more assists than Harden despite playing fewer minutes and having the ball less.
The assist stat here doesn't really mean anything. Harden's .600TS% last season was 2nd on the Rockets, only behind Greg Smith. Whereas Jeremy Lin's .538TS% ranks below all other rotation players with significant minutes except if you count Morris. If one were to assume that everyone makes the optimal decision on each possession, Lin should be passing a lot more than Harden simply because it would be the better play. I do agree that Jeremy Lin is one of the best transition passers in the NBA. But I get that more from watching how he pushes the ball and zip quick passes more than from his assist stat. I also don't know how good Harden is as a transition passer though, because he's one of the best transition finishers in the NBA. And his Eurostep is basically unguardable in transition. If Harden has the ball in transition, the best play is generally him keeping the ball.
So then why isn't Greg Smith an All Star if his TS% is higher than Harden ? Because most of Smith's shots are dunks or layups at the rim. Harden gets most of his points from layups or free throws. Coaches wanted Lin to be a last option spot up shooter, in order to spread the floor for Harden to do his iso-thing. So there you have it, shot selection and player roles. Harden's eurostep is easily guardable once the scouting reports came in. Defenders simply swipe the ball off his knee and out of bounds. Or trap him in the paint to force him into a contested jumper, as he's not a willing passer. Referees no longer fall for the Beard's exaggerating contact by swinging his arms and ball at defenders.
well obv Lin would avg more assists than Harden. Harden is a SHOOTING GUARD while Lin is a POINT GUARD. Different roles dude. And it's better for Harden to just score himself on transition, the only other players worth passing to in transition would be Parsons for a three or Dwight for a dunk.
Harden is more than a willing passer. Hes just not a pg by nature and youre getting that mixed up. And his Eurostep is not easily guardable and his ability to draw fouls has been and will continue to be a great asset for us. You're shortchanging Harden pretty badly there buddy.
not sure how this thread became about Harden, but the dude is a top 10 NBA player.. so it's laughable some of the stuff that's being said.
yea his eurostep was unguardable last season, until the 4th when he got tired and was still forcing it. Hopefully that will never happen again.
Sorta. Just more efficient. On a different level. Harden has more of an effect on the game than the other two. Truthfully, Lin is on a higher level than Novak. His 3 point shooting wasn't that bad last season.
Just about all Rockets become worse offensively in the 4th. Harden, Lin, Asik, Parsons all had the worst shooting quarters in the 4th. Durant also shot the worst in the 4th(only quarter he's below 50% shooting). Lebron's % dipped from 58% in the 1st half compared to 51% in the 2nd half of games, although his 3rd quarter is his worst. Kobe and Melo also share this trait. Players get tired in the 4th and generally don't perform as well is just natural. Yes, it would obviously be better if Harden's fresher down the stretch, but his performance given the context was still excellent.
