lol this is like pre rockets SPURS all over again. If you noticed seem plays. What happened to staggering these 2?
I agree but how many screen did they give Lin per game? How many pnr? the answer is next to none. i am sure mcfail saw Lin ran the O in Ny. and we don't have any of those here. either hate or conspiracy. or both by mcfail
Yah, TD riding the pine really doesn't make a lot of sense. He should definitely be getting minutes on the 2nd unit at least. On another note, this was posted in another thread... Makes me wonder whether this losing streak is all about fatigue...
I have been saying this from the third game of the season. Seldom is a players game as hamstrung as Lin's is over a certain skill. Lin is very quick, makes good snap decisions and has good size. However his inability to shoot just means teams sat on him, closing his penetration and nullifying his passing and sometimes ruining the teams tempo. Further complicating the situation is that the Rockets lack elite 3 point shooters that may take pressure off Lin. Other than in transition the only good looks he sees are from picks set by Harden (an elite screener). Last, the Rockets offense require good perimeter shooters. One of the misconceptions about the Rockets is that they want Lin to shoot stationary 3's. what they really want is him to hit enough of them 36-38%) so that defenses have to flood him on the kickout and he can drive, pass or shoot the three. Ultimately it gets the defense off kilter. I know I get ridiculed for it but if Lin could only shoot 38% from threes I really believe the Houston system would be ideal for him and he would put up 18/8 figures, which obviously are fairly special.
What we need is chemistry. and when u play your pg as a sg. Sg as a pg. sf as a center etc.... there won't be any chemistry. Just like the fakers. they have all superstars and still not a 500 team.
I agree until he gets a better shot (next year hopefully) this is what he is. He doesn't need to be more aggressive, or learn how to play second fiddle or any of that rubbish. He just needs to be a better shooter. There is a reason why he isn't getting to the FT line as much because he could use his quick first step to get around screens & absorb contact. But Rockets can't set screens for him because teams just go under it daring him to shoot so his driving game is gone. 38% is overly ambitious. He just needs to hit what he was hitting last year so that teams respect his shot. If he could hit like 33% of his three's he would be putting up better numbers. He would likely be averaging 14-16 points on 12-14 shots (right now he is at 11 shots a game) For Lin to average 18 points a game he would need to take on average 15 to 16 FGA a game. I don't see Lin averaging that many shot attempts a game. Harden on this roster, Parsons improving next year, ideally upgrading at the PF spot there will be a lot of shot attempts to go around. To be honest I would rather he have less shots a game & just focus on passing, playing defense, running the offense & taking the occasional shot (like Mike Conley does for Memphis).
Again, nothing personal but I completely disagree with the notion that Lin can't shoot jumpers. Lin is an effective shooter when he creates his own shot. 99% of the time, Lin isn't allowed to do that within houston's offensive sets. He's forced to spot up, and it's almost always from beyond the arc. Lin is clearly uncomfortable with this role; he would obviously prefer to play a traditional PG's role where he is far more ball dominant. The coaches have paid some lip service to getting the ball in lin's hands more often, but it seems clear that they have changed their minds and prefer harden to initiate and/or finish most every play at his discretion. I don't see anything changing significantly as far as lin's contribution is concerned as long as the current coaching staff is in place.
The coaching staff has an overwhelming preference for harden to have the ball in his hands to make decisions, and that is usually to shoot. They've paid lip service about getting the ball to lin more often, but this is clearly not happening. The coaching staff has let it all ride on harden this season. This is not an equal opportunity offense.
I think he needs to be 6th man. Not because of who is better and who is not but because of fit and need. Manu Ginobili is the best 2 guard SAS have had over the past decade yet he comes off of the bench. Lin needs to have the ball in his hands and the freedom to do what he wants. I think this is what DM had in mind when he signed him and prior to trading for Harden. Patrick Beverly or Douglas are better on the ball defenders and both are superior 3 point shooters. Either fit better as the running mate for Harden and either would do more to keep defenders honest when they are at the 3 point line.
This is exactly correct. Lin is playing the: "bring the ball up and hand off to harden then go stand in the corner" position.
With harden playing 40 mpg, lin won't have the ball in his hands any more than he does now as a sixth man.
Ive always advocated running the ball thru Lin...however...Lin cant ever be a good PG without proper direction and guidance...right now...he isnt playing better than Beverly...Lin needs a good coach to get better...and right now he is learning lots of bad habits..and wont really grow into a better player...
Mchale is fully committed to playing harden 36+ mpg and letting him make plays on each possession. I doubt bringing lin off the bench affects this "prime directive." I'm curious, if we can assume that Morey brought lin in to be a traditional, ball dominant point, then what does he make of the situation now where lin is out of the play more often than not, and perhaps taking only 5-10 shots a game?
this is an economics problem of comparative and absolute advantage of PG skills. Rockets will be better offensively if Lin plays PG and Harden plays SG. By having Harden play PG, Lin's deficiency basically makes the Rockets a 4-man offense.
I think the problem is rigth here... we have 1 of the best back courts in the league yet our coach is a HOF PF.... do the math... we need a coach who knows guards so that we can maximize our guard advantages...
Saw this post on Lin's fansite from someone at the game today: "Beginning of the game: As the game began the first thing I noticed was Lin's style of play. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Lin's job was just to pass the half court line and pass it to someone else. Yes! That was all he looked to do. He would be searching the court (looking around) for whom to give the ball to. And I don't mean like, who to pass the ball to and make a play, but someone to GIVE the ball to for them to make a play. I know many of you blame Lin himself for this, that he should be more aggressive etc… But I will defer with that conclusion. I don't think it's Lin's fault completly. Let me explain. In the third quarter, even though Lin wasn't controlling the offense completely, he looked,seemed and was much more active in everything. He got outspoken and began giving orders to different players like Asik and Morris etc… He was getting back in the game, but in a shooting foul play Sampson called Lin and began to talk to him. As he was talking Lin replied back while Sampson began walking away and said something at the end. Lin turned around and had this "whatever," look. Not a "whatever" as in I don't care. But more like, "You guys don't let me do anything, whatever look." Needless to say he was benched for the whole fourth quarter. I'm not saying it was because of that because Sampson didn't see that but still he was benched the whole fourth quarter. One thing I want to point out. Maybe you are thinking, "Why you say Sampson, don't you mean McHale"? Well, no. I meant Sampson. There was one instance when I thought to myself, "Wait, who is the coach"? Because half the time Sampson was the one standing up and walking around and talking to the guys while McHale was sitting down. It seemed that Sampson was as, even more involved that McHale was. I don't know much about coaches and assistant coaches but it seemed really weird. Does that happen often? I sure haven't seen it. Unfairness: As the season went by I started to defend McHale and the coaching staff. I thought some people were overacting. But as I watched the game there was something clear as day. At the beginning of the game, Harden had 3 blocked shots, like 3 turnovers on top of that and he wasn't making a basket. So what happens? Well, obviously you keep Harden on, duh! But what if is Lin? Well, if Lin get's blocked twice… you take him out, duh! Of course, this is not the main issue. The main issue is the coaches expression. When Harden forced a charge when he had an open man in the left corner the coaching staff starts clapping. When Lin was aggressive and something bad happened the reactions were totally different. More like when you think someone is bad at the game so you don't want him to do much because you don't trust him. And then he makes a mistake and you shake your head thinking, "why didn't he pass it to the other guy…"? Well, that was their expression when Lin made a mistake. Needless to say, Lin doesn't get the same treatment that Harden does. AT ALL! Lin is like that kid that you need to play with because you are missing one player but you really don't want to play with him. That's Lin to the coaching staff." This confirms what I've thought for a while. Sampson and McHale simply don't like the kid. Please just trade him and make life easier on everyone.
