If you want to look at it that way that's fine. If you want Harden to be the main playmaker, then the Rockets need to trade Lin cause he's not the spot-up shooter this team needs in that system. Maybe try to get Gary Neal (note: Courtney Lee/Harden backcourt would have been fun). But forcing Lin into situations where we all know his shot isn't going to fall isn't the smartest thing either. I'm not saying the team should build around Lin or even center it's plan on Lin. Utilize the players on hand properly or get rid of them. Forcing a system on players as opposed to fitting a system around players is a rookie coaching move. If both McHale and Sampson are just going to ask Lin to take 50% of his FGA behind the 3 pt line, then we need to bench/cut/trade him. Cause he's just not gonna make those shots well enough for it to be worth it. Does forcing him into those situations make him a better shooter? If you want put Delfino into the starting line-up as the 2 guard and Harden as the 1. Then Lin can come off the bench w/ Morris. That sounds more reasonable than what's going on now.
See my previous post. Harden loves having the ball in his hands, not as a pg in the traditional sense but as playmaker that attacks the basket and creates for others. It's what he excels at. So yeah Lin better shoot a 1000 3's after every practice; Jordan and Kobe had PGs that could hit the 3's and it made life easier for them.
No one was open. When the ball is inbounded to Harden and players like Parsons, Delfino, Lin make their move...there is now 5 seconds left on the clock. This means that even if he passes to Lin (who has Wade on him btw) that Lin has now about 3 seconds to make a play to get someone open. It was either this or throw to anyone else to take a contested shot. The options the rockets had at the end of the game were.... *Delfino contested 3 *Parsons contested 3 *Lin contested 3 *Harden contested 3 He didn't ignore a play because the play did not work and everyone was covered. If the play was for Lin to create something with 5 seconds left on the clock then it was a horrible play, because with only 5 seconds left usually only the guy with the ball is going to be able to get a shot off.
Personally I think Harden is more than capable of sharing the PG duties with Lin. Harden isn't the better playmaker than Lin he just isn't. So right now we are getting diminishing returns from Harden & absolutely no returns from Lin. If they want to go all in on Harden as the playmaker 80% of the possessions then move Lin. From what I have seen from last nights games is that they have Lin playing more minutes on the court without Harden with Carlos. But then Carlos Delfino brings the ball up over Lin I died when I saw that is Carlos a playmaker now...Like wtf.
cmon even lebron makes mistake every game...why should the coaches be the exception from that? thats the whole meaning of being human that is- imperfect...humans are creatures prone to mistake making:grin:
Personally I think Lin is a one trick pony but he's young and if he's hungry enough to get better he'll start working on his J's. He'll be open for 3's plenty of times with a player like Harden getting doubleteamed a lot.
I really think they want to Lin to develop spot up shooting and Harden to work on playmaking. Lin didn't defer as much in the first two games and it looked good when they were helping each other out. The coaches are clearly trying to figure out the offense still, and if you have Lin getting his shooting back this really makes the rockets even more dangerous. And if no one really hasn't noticed they give Lin a little more of the reigns in the 4th quarter. I dont know if its a stamina thing or they want Lin really going off later on in the game but they clearly want Lin to just hold back until the 4th. Either way he doesnt seem to play aggressive at all until later on in the game. Harden is just being Harden all game, and if he can improve on his TO we should still be good running things the way we are now.
Harden is slowly evolve into Tyreke Evans in his rookie season. He's playing as a scoring PG who's inefficient but can put up numbers due to heavy minutes and high usage. And his defense is atrocious. If this goes without being corrected, we are going to waste that max contract. It's still early, so hopefully everything works out.
Yes, and Lin is being turned into Derek Fisher but not clutch at all. Wish Sampson would tell us what it is they think they're doing.
Wait so the entire plan is dependent on Lin making 3's? As I said in my previous response to you, if that's the case, we need a new PG. Trade Lin cause it's not as if his 3's are just going to start falling. You talk as if Lin doesn't work on his shot. We know he does, we have evidence he does, just not the results. The dude prob practices like 1000 a day. Shot mechanics aren't so easily fixed mid-season. He is not going to hit anything more than 32-35% at any point this year. right now for this season its 30%.
The game was lost prior 18 seconds. The game was lost when Harden and Lin came in the game. Why? The backups were passing and moving the ball. Go back and watch, you will see the ball moving and everybody getting touches. I know Harden supposed to be our superstar, but the whole sharing the ball stops when he is in the game. He initiates and decides what to do with it. We all know that he is not Lebron's caliber yet, but it seems that the coach wants him to believe he is.
Your right on some point but..... you can't look at it that way, you can't leave the bench in til the end even tho they've played well, even if the starters are struggling you still put them in the last 6 min.
I used to think the same. Until I rewatched the last seconds of the game. Parsons in-bounded the ball to Harden and then he hurriedly went to the other side of the court. At the same time, Lin went up to get the pass from Harden. But Harden just looked at Lin. Patterson tried to make a screen, but it didn't work. So Delfino wasted some valuable seconds trying to get free from his defender. There was some space between Lin and Parson's defenders. I think CP25 could have made the shot. I've seen his clutch shot before. Harden didn't have the good look to shoot that contested shot nor the hot hands. CP25 was 5 for 10 beyond the arc if I remember it correctly. I'm guessing play was for Parsons to shoot the ball. It was suppose to be like this: Parsons in-bounds the ball, then Harden takes the ball, Harden passes the ball to Lin while Parsons go to the other side of the court, and then when Parsons is set up, Lin passes the ball to Parsons, and the is when Parsons takes his shot.
At this moment when he looks at Lin, there is 5 seconds left on the clock. There is not much to do with 5 seconds when a play is broken but to just give it to your best player and hope for the best. Perhaps, even then the shot would have been defended. That is what I am saying, no matter who the ball goes to it was going to be a contested three. The Heat played it as well as they could. So people blaming Harden and saying he was greedy I strongly disagree. When Harden looks at Lin there is 5 seconds left and that is when he likely knows there is not enough time to do anything else but try to create for himself and go for the three. If the Rockets had got the rebound after the Wade miss then it would have really opened up the playbook and the possibilities. As it were, the Heat just stayed on the shooters and did what they had to do.
Pretty sure you're wrong. It was either a misdirection play for Delfino or a double-option for either Parsons or Delfino. Parsons was taken away, so Harden made the right choice not bassing the ball to Lin. Delfino brain-farted and for whatever reason couldn't get open, so Harden had to go ISO.
This site is absolutley insane. I cannot believe that there are at least 4 threads talking about how awful Lin is. I have never seen a place that is always looking for someone to fail as much as people on this site. I have to give Lin props, he is bombarded everyday about negative press, but he keeps on going. I wander how many of you could stand up to this negative pressure if you were in his shoes. First, Lin is good PG, he is not a SG. He is playing out of his element right now, and I am pretty sure, he will figure things out. Lin has actually stepped up his defense on steals, blocks, and assists, since he has been playing off the ball. Nobody gives him credit for that. Also some of the things that are said about him are completely inhuman. Internet is a wonderful thing for some of you, because your hate just comes right through. People talking about trading Lin, fine. Personally I think he will end up in LA with D'tanoni eventually, which is a win for Lin, because at least he can play his game. Harden has feet of clay too, but your hate for Lin has caused some of you to overlook this fact. Call me a Lin lover, call me whatever you want, but this site is really getting out of hand with some of the things that are being posted. I am sure this site once was a legit site with legit observations about players and their game. There are still some on here with very good observations and points whose opinions are not abscured by unnormal hate of a player. I would say for the most part, this is a hate site. Perhaps the moderator needs to perhaps think about cleaning it up. No worries, I promise you I won't be venturing here anymore. This is a place of pure hate. Peace Out
Harden got the ball at the 7.0 seconds mark. Then Lin got close to Harden at the 5.2 seconds mark. At the same time, Parsons was halfway to the other side of the court basically the middle of the court. But, Harden kept the ball. If only Harden passed the ball to Lin, he (Lin) could have dispose the ball at the time Parsons is ready to shoot the ball. Parsons was ready to shoot at the 2.8 seconds mark. That is long enough for him to shoot a good look shot. But Parsons was the better option between the guys on the floor. Harden was not hot nor does he had a good look to take the shot. Parsons defender was standing at the Houston Rocket's logo. I am not sure how far that is, but I'm pretty sure that is far enough for Parsons to make a good shot. James contested his shot earlier in the game but Parsons nailed the three pointer. I agree, but the game was full of bad calls late in the game. The fifth foul on Morris should have been a jump ball instead of a foul. Then, he could have stayed in the game and things could have been different. But nonetheless, that was their best game for this season. I never expected them to fight all the way until the finish line. I was expecting them to get blown out. The 20-5 lead reassured my expectations, but during the second quarter, they started working. Still proud of them though.
If you watch the video provided by the opening poster, you'll see at the 4:13 mark what Sampson drew for our team. He clarified to Lin what was going to happen. As you can see, Sampson pointed from the right side of the court and then moved his finger all the way to the left side of the court. Then he swiped his finger to the ring. Watching the last seconds of the game, you'll see that Parsons in-bounded the ball. Then started running all the way to the other side of the court. Just like what Sampson did using his finger when he was clarifying the game plan to Lin. The only thing missing was the ball to Parsons and he could have made that shot.
Watching the last play again, it's super clear that Harden is too busy thinking of hero ball. It's disgusting.
