Lin is versatile, he's great on the bench squad, and you can plug him in when one of your starters get hurt : Bev or Harden
All I know is from today's game, Lin is ridiculously good off the PnR. There is no answer to his handling off the PnR. He'll make a mid range, he'll shoot a 3, he'll draw a foul, or he'll bust out an assist. And the most brilliant part is it works and the other team have no answer and scrambled. That's when we build so much momentum at the 3rd and beginning of 4th.
I like Lin but he is just so damn inconsistent. It's a shame because people are ragging on McHale for misusing Lin (He does deserve some blame) but really there's no one to blame but Lin himself. It's frustrating watch him just coast through a game, not call for any picks, look totally lost, and overall just being passive out there. He needs to learn how to be on the attack mode 24/7. He's too good of a player to be performing like he has these past few games. He was awesome today though
If Lin defers to an all-star, it's most likely because that's what he's been told to do. It's not by choice. It happened with Woodson/Melo in New York, and it's happening here with McHale/Harden. Also keep in mind that neither the Knicks nor the Rockets are known for the quality of their coaching or decision making.
They want the D to. He has shown he can do it. Also I'm not saying it's Lin's fault or all his fault. Harden likes his role of facilitator and scorer. He doesn't fit the be a part of the team mold. He rarely ever passes the ball instantly after recieving the ball. He wants to dribble and check the field and make a great pass or dribble and make a great play/shot or dribble til 4 seconds are left and pass. So you can't blame that on Lin but a little bit you can. He has to look for his too. The problem is when Harden is out there and he does that he is not as successful as when Harden isn't suited up. Go figure. I don't know. maybe it's a maturity thing, maybe he needs more experience, maybe his faith makes him fill guilty when he takes matters in his own hand and forget about Harden so he defers to him. I don't know.
Can't understand why so many Rockets fans miss what is sitting in front of them: play Harden and Lin together. Commit to that backcourt. Use the remainder of the regular season to optimize the tandem's strengths and minimize their weaknesses. When you watch NBA observers outside of Houston comment on the Rockets, they talk about the Harden-Lin backcourt and how challenging it is for opposing defenses to deal with. When you have two guys who can get into the paint, shoot off the dribble, get to the line and pass, that team isn't guardable. The model for the Rockets is the Christmas Day win over San Antonio. McHale has messed around this year by elevating Beverley and failing to capitalize and build on what Harden and Lin achieved last year. The other failing of McHale has been his inability to integrate Asik into the lineup, but that's a discussion for another thread.
Lin was awesome today because he had a full green light to play PG. He can't do this every game, because when he shares the court with Harden, he isn't even the primary ball handler. The offense doesn't flow through him. Lin doesn't even play consistent positions. He rotates between starting PG, 6th man and SG.
In the 9 games without Harden, team totals were ORtg 109.55 DRtg 107.62 Net +1.93 Don't think this means anything though (sample size, too much fluctuation)
So we failed on making the TT work , and now we failed on highest scoring backcourt, what do we still have?
In general I mostly agree with what you're saying here. There needs to be a bigger allowance for him to run the offense. But, I don't think it has to be an absolute case where he runs it without Harden in the lineup, or runs it without the focus being on Howard & Harden. During that brief period in NY, everything went through him. Here in Houston, it doesn't have to be like that. The evidence is in the December game against SA, in the OKC game last year post ASB (although at that time it was just Harden & Lin), in the games where both Harden & Lin kept the team afloat or got the team back into the game, or games where he played PnR well with Howard and/or Harden. With all due respect to your original post (it was very good), my feeling is sometimes data analysis tend to be "dry" without taking into account the nuances that bind a team together. In addition, data analysis that isolates one player's stats and compares it to another tends to be exclusionary rather than inclusionary. They make a point, but I'm not sure if in the right direction. In your analysis, it puts the two at odds with each other. My viewpoint is that it can be a win win situation, where synergy can be built to optimize the team if the star players and Lin agreed to allow each others' games to meld, which may require adjusting their selfish preferences a bit. But this will also require coaching & Morey to change their mindset and approach to the current system - this is probably why some people argue that a better coach can help improve this team (I haven't totally given up on McHale...yet). I understand that stats are heavily used now to lead decisions and predict outcomes. But I think an unfailing dependence on them can also mislead.
I expected Houston to lose, didn't expect Harden to miss the game and Lin to take over. I am a believer in Lin's ability as a player, I'm surprise few people are. The kid puts himself on the floor literally like if every game was his last. And speaking of teams that he could easily start if Houston was not his play, San Antonio would have to be one of them.
I disagree with your assumption here. There's no attempt to ask the team to confirm to Lin, nor is Lin shriveling up or hiding next to a star. There is a broader game plan that is predicated around Howard and Harden, and to a certain extent Parsons. Lin has been a good sport and very willing to bend to fit into this broader game plan.
Certainly, he played aggressively and well. Increased minutes helped him too and he needs to have the ball in his hand to be successful, but let's be fair he has not put himself out on the floor as if it was his last game on many occasions. He was passive in many games when Bev was out, and that wasn't because of Harden either. There are times however, when the calls go against him though.
Ofcourse, ideally I would like to see more synergy between Howard/Harden and what Lin can bring to the table, but I think that ship has sailed a bit with McHale. As you've noted there have been games where they have been fantastic, but I do think at times it wouldn't hurt to allow Lin to step up and alleviate some of the pressure on Harden. That however comes back to Lin performing well of his own accord, but there doesn't seem to be much room to divert from Harden/Howard given the utilization (or lackthereof) of the 3 PGs. Not saying that we shouldnt be running through Harden/Howard, ultimately we go as far as they take them, but we could definately run more PnR with Lin, try to run more sets to get open looks for AB and all that.
Yes I totally agree, and especially with what you said about Harden fading towards the playoffs. I know he's young, but all these minutes and all the little injuries add up, and this team just can't afford to lose him come the playoffs. Thus, any minutes alleviated will be a big plus. I think Lin has done a good job trying to backup both Harden and Bev. It must also take a toll on him. I think there is some daylight here, and it is from the possible trades that may occur (although this may take till next year, and assuming Lin is still with the team, which I hope he will be). Depending on the player(s) that come with trades, it could change the rotations, chance the chemistry, even just a little bit that allows more of Lin's positives to impact the team in a bigger way. The defensive and 3pt shooting issues the team continues to struggle with, in my opinion affects the 3 and 4 spots deeper than it appears, which might even be connected in some way to why TJones plays better with Lin and Parsons does not. In addition, Casspi started playing out the year like a good combo with Lin (as Carl astutely pointed out). This combo seemed to have faded a bit, and it probably has been affected by the bench being mucked up with the Asik absense, and Garcia disappearing.
