Fair enough. But let's not act like the PG isn't one of the most hardest positions to learn in the NBA & he isn't even playing the point. He worked this summer to improve as a PG & then the staff makes a trade for Harden & shift him over to the SG spot. His skill set is not being used at all the coach admitted to that. Those are facts that are indisputable. Say what you want about his talent level or his contract but you can't pretend like he is actually being put in a position to be successful because he isn't.
It's really idiotic to single out one player. None of the starters are playing well. Asik, Parsons, Harden and Lin are all shooting the ball miserably. Harden's TO rate is astronomical. Asik rivals roberto "hands of stone" duran and kwame "don't pass me the ball" brown for bad hands. He's barely shooting 40% and 100% of his shots are at point blank range, ie right under the basket. Part of this is due to inexperience. But a lot of is due to stupid game plans which force each player to do things they're not very good for the sake of an idiotic "system."
None of the key starters are. Harden is running out of ideas in these endless iso's. He's chucking up a lot of bad shots and holding and dribbling the ball for far too long. Harden, Lin, Parsons, they all know how to play basketball already; the "coaching" they are receiving right now is counter-intuitive to quick and automatic reactions. These three guys are great players already, who can intuit decisions far more easily and far quicker, than they can THINK through a diagrammed play. These players need a system which keys in on each of their strengths, which are ball movement, cuts to the basket, lots of transition scoring, and LOTS of sharing, keying off Lin's passes primarily and Harden's passes secondarily. No sane, rational person thinks a 70% harden iso/30% asik post offense can yield optimal results. Harden's iso's encourage complacency and asik's fumbling hands and inept shooting are sure to play right into a lazy defense's hands, yielding many turnovers, and many bricked shots.
It really is baffling to me. Most of the offensive sets are trying to get the ball to Asik when that is not his strength. Harden is being overexerted when there is a capable point guard who can dish him the rock and that way defenses won't be all up on him at the beginning of the shot clock. Because of this overexertion, he's not playing any defense at all. Lin has stepped up and played great defense but to the detriment of his offense. Plus, they're relegating him to a spot up shooter role, which he was never good at in NY. It's just glaring how bad the coaching is on the team.
I don't think fan's expectations are unrealistic. I think the coaching is unrealistically inflexible. Trying to force square pegs into round holes is not good coaching.
Actually, they are quantifiable. And I have listed in NUMEROUS posts the actual quantifiable statistics. For example, if you want to talk about his defense, according to Synergy Sports, with a score of 0.71, Lin is currently ranked as the #30 lowest Points Per Possession allowed in the Entire NBA. He is also ranked #5 in steals in the NBA. If you want to talk about his TO's, his current TO's per game is under 2.7, with an assist to TO ratio of better than 2. His TO's per 100 possessions have dropped from 21.37 to 12.25, a decline of close to 40%. His rebounding rate per 100 possessions have increased from 6.6 to 7.2 rebounds. As for other quantifiable stats, I could go on, and on, and on. Feel free to peruse the many threads where I lay them out in exquisite, eye-squinting detail.
Lin's putting too much pressure on himself. He's a cultural icon now, and he has to cope with that while playing in a league in which he feels every other PG is out to get him. In the end, once he gets through this first season as a starter, all this will make him a better player.
I think Lin is unfortunately starting to internalize this cultural projection of him as an "Asian" player. Lin is a great talent, period. But he is facing a world which thinks in racial terms. It's stupid but it's the world we live in.
Unfortunately the coaching staff on the rockets are doing nothing to aid his development by forcing him this early in his career to play as a spot up 3 point SG, which he isn't. They are not creating plays for him or encouraging him to maximise his strengths. Instead Sampson resorts to the same pathetic, tired cliche of 'He needs to be able to go left more,' yet no such requirement for Harden to 'need to be able to go right more.' You might as well force Asik to play as a PF and then complain about his lack of a post game.
If he was able to rise above it in college, he should inevitably rise above it now too. He's been through this before; it's just more intense now. But he's also a more mature young man now too.
Jeff, Great thread... This time is actually doing a lot better than I expected seeing that you basically have all new players accept for about 2 guys. You also have 3 guys who have never played with each other before. 1) Hardin and Asik are adjusting to being starters... 2) Lin is coming off an injury On the other hand I can't figure out how you guys feel PPat is soft.. When Asik is on the bench he's basically 1 against 3 on the boards, seeing that everyone else is playing on the perimeter. When they played the Heat he was killing Shane on the boards, unfortunately his teammates decided to pass on him in the post. But as Jeff stated this is a young team with a lot of growing pains... So let's just step back and watch the youngsters grow.. T_Man
Man it's post like this that stirs people up... Jeff created a nice thread and then it turns too a "You do too" crap... Maybe, just maybe the coaches see Lin's weakness and are trying to help him improve... T_Man
Or, perhaps sampson is too dumb to realize he should be talking about this with lin one one one, rather than sh#tting on him in public to the press every chance he gets...
That's funny because you attacked me first(am I lying). Your just a chinese that will say anything to protect lin. He did shoot an airball in the most critical point in the game, fail! He did shoot 20% last game, fail! 24 yr old virgin is not normal unless your a religious freak and I think him getting laid would help alot it certainly wouldn't hurt his game anymore than he's playing now! I still say your around 5'6, bowl cut, glasses with an overbite that's probably afraid to talk to women too. By the way I'm Asian. Why won't you admit he's playing like poo.
Omg, are you gay for lin??? Jesus stop making excuses! The radio, espn, fans, analyst all must be wrong then because we all think lin is struggling something fierce! Just because he's getting 1 more steal or 2 more rebounds doesn't excuse signals and 20% shooting!
In all your post all you do is complain about the coaching staff... Simply because they are trying to help Lin become a better player.. First off read the OP's post and what he stated... It was a reality check about the team in general... Second, Sampson is not going to change the offense, he's not the head coach.. His job at this point is to keep things intact until McHale gets back. Third, his criticism of any player is to help them get better... I've seen JVG criticize players worst than that... T_Man
