A 4 and 1 start to the season is cause for optimism, but at the same time many have pointed out some glaring deficiencies so far. Slow starts, lack of perimeter defense, and the general ineffectiveness of the Asik/Howard lineup have been most noticeable. However, before we overreact(myself included), one thing to point out is that we have yet to see our planned starting lineup nor regular rotation for a single game yet. There is a reason why Beverley is the starting PG and his complement next to Harden is only half the story. The other half may be his fit with the Twin Towers lineup, as an extra shooter needed for spacing and ball hawk defensively. We've seen plenty of the Asik/Howard pairing to make some observations. 60 minutes OffRtg 92.3 DefRtg 95.7 NetRtg -3.4 http://stats.nba.com/teamLineups.ht...=1&rowsPerPage=63&sortField=MIN&sortOrder=DES Out of the top 25 most used pairings so far this season, the -3.4 net rating for Asik/Howard has been the worst. Out of the top 35 most used pairings it is second to last. Anyone who has been watching the games can attest that this passes the eye test as well. However, even though we've rarely seen this yet, when you add Beverley as a trio: (microsamplesize alert) 8 minutes OffRtg 94.9 DefRtg 73.3 NetRtg +21.6 http://stats.nba.com/teamLineups.ht...=1&rowsPerPage=25&sortField=MIN&sortOrder=DES Not saying this means anything, since the sample size is so small. However, maybe we(me) should hold judgement on some of these lineups until we see the planned rotation in action first before jumping to conclusions. This is further cause for optimism, since we are winning so far despite this. Look for a debut of our regular rotation and planned starting lineup for the first time this season tomorrow against the Lakers.
In short, Asik and Howard combination is not working well, but in the small amount of times that they played with Beverley, they've played well together.
It actually makes a lot of sense and I agree with the OP. Injuries to Beverly, Casspi (and Harden to a lesser extent) have made it difficult to gauge we're we are at. We obviously saw glimpses in preseason of what our potential can be and are still #1 in the conference, but we have struggled against some weak teams. It'll be nice to see our regular rotation because it'll help expedite the chemistry building process, lessen the wear and tear on our superstars, and help the players get comfortable with their established roles and expectations. After the rotation settles we get comfort, consistency, and chemistry which will which should help with switching and helping on defense and not turning it over as much on offense. The bottom line is this team is already good with arguably as much potential to improve over the year as any other young team.
I've said it before, if we stick with the TT starting lineup, you have to start Beverley because he spaces the floor much better than Lin. We also don't have the interior space for 2 attacking guards, which minimizes Lin's strengths. I'm not a believer in small sample sizes, but if those numbers of the Bev/TT trio hold, my goodness, no one can score on us!
The 1st quarter blow out by the clippers and bev only played 10 mins as a starter against the bobcats skews the stats...
I know preseason stats are in the neighborhood of small sample size, but during the preseason games vs MEM and SAS, I thought the Bev/TT lineup was one of the bests. Put stops to the other team and got us rolling on a crazy offensive run. Matchup might have a lot to do with its success too, but if that lineup works and could get us off to both an awesome defensive and offensive start, we won't have to worry too much about playing from behind or late into the 4Q. That's the goal.
OP is on to something Mchale and the coaching discovered: TT + Bev = Lethal defensive combination. What we have seen in the few pre and regular season games are just flashes on how great this team could really be. When it becomes a well-oiled machine (TT+Bev followed by the potent bench of Lin, Garcia, Casspi + one of Howard or Asik) this league won't have a chance.
No. Lin is shooting the threes better than Beverley this year. Yes, small sample size, which is exactly what the sample size of Beverley/Twin Towers is. Additionally, Lin is a better career steals per 36 man than Beverley is. So, the "ball hawk" argument also goes out the window. As Jason Friedman pointed out in an article: http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/point-counterpoint In their only game played together for any time, against Portland, Lin had the superior defensive rating and net rating. To summarize: Lin is shooting the ball better from deep than Beverley is, and he is getting more steals, also. The one thing you can say in Beverley's favor is that he is turning the ball over less. However, if you take the net number between assists - turnovers per 36 between the two (minimizing turnovers is key but dishing assists is also key), then Lin wins in that metric, too. The team can start Beverley if it wants. And I'm ok with that. But trying to fabricate "reasons" for why the move should be made based upon cherrypicked data likely will be met with more cherrypicked data. The team may feel they need Lin's scoring punch off the bench, even if they believe Lin is the better player. I could see that. If it helps the team, great.
What are you talking about? Lin has been a better 3pt shooter than Beverley since the second half of last season. Somehow people assume that if you are a lesser play maker, you must be a better spot up shooter. What is encouraging so far this season is that Beverley's finishing around the rim has been getting better. That adds a dimension to his offensive game.
Shooting % does not necessarily equate to floor spacing. In fact, Lin's high 3pt% so far this season may be a function of teams leaving him wide open - a symptom of a LACK of floor spacing. So on possession that do not end with Lin taking a shot, the lane is being further clogged for his teammates. No team in the NBA is going to respect a 5 game sample size, so it is up to Lin to keep up his 3pt%, which will eventually lead to teams respecting his shot -> more floor spacing. Indeed, so far with the Lin/Asik/Howard trio, it has produced one of the worst offensive ratings on the team: 51 minutes OffRtg 91.8 DefRtg 97.8 NetRtg -6 Beverley on the other hand is on the scouting report already as a shooter. Over the course of his entire season last year, he converted in the top 90 percentile on his spot up opportunities according to Synergy stats - which puts him in elite company. Teams respect his shot, which means irregardless of his percentages over a 5 game span, his defender will have to stick close to him -> more floor spacing. With such a forward thinking front office, and analytical general manager, we as fans should also strive to view the game with a little more sophistication beyond the "OMG LIN SHOOT 43% THREE IN 5 GMAES FUUUU!!!11" argument.
I'm not sure how that data came about, but here is the only info needed from the play by play for context on the Howard/Asik/Beverley trio: Bobcats 1st qtr 12:00 to 6:01 = 5:59 Rockets lead 9-8 = (+1) Blazers 1st qtr Rockets trail 10-14 = (-4) 6:07 to 4:09 = 1:58 Rockets trail 15-19 = (-4) net +0 So the trio in 7:57 has been (+1)
Again, no. Lin has shot the three better than Beverley for the entirety of Beverley's career as a Houston Rocket. And I'm sure teams know that this is the case. As I'm sure they know that Lin was coming off of knee surgery at the beginning of the season. Your arguments, then, are not convincing to me. Neither the floor spacing nor the ball-hawking one. Which says nothing of the defensive or net rating stats I mentioned from the Portland game. What your post felt like, to me, was an attempt to justify starting Beverley over Lin based upon uncompelling data. And making jokes about my attitude towards your data isn't necessarily helping your case any, I don't think. If you're going to make a thread like this in the future, my suggestion to you would be a simple one: "Try harder". Or else be prepared to receive the type of critique of your data that I gave you.
MEM preseason game yes the SAS preseason game no... in the SAS game we won because harden got really hot in the 3rd quarter and blew out the SAS... SAS then went to their bench players in the fourth quarter... but the 1st and 2nd quarter was really really ugly...
Read what I wrote very carefully: I am not trying to justify anything beyond a wait and see approach. Beverley is the planned starter: fact. We have yet to see the planned rotation in action: fact. Let's wait and see how it does: the point of this thread. Everything else is made up paranoia by his hypersensitive groupies. Indeed, the words "Jeremy Lin" were not mentioned a SINGLE time in the OP. Yet you have his minions rushing in to defend his honor as if some maiden in distress. It makes it very hard for Lin fans like myself to root for him objectively when I have to deal with all the ancillary garbage of his religious/racial zealots.
Just to add, this is not because of Bev or Lin starting, I think this is because of the TT starting... our interior defense is good but we could not get our offense going... if the opponent gets really hot from the outside in the first quarter, they will almost always blow us out as long as we keep sticking to this TT starting line up... this what I propose... start with: bev- harden-parsons-casspi-howard 3rd quarter bev-harden-parsons-asik howard
Because Beverley is in the 90th percentile for spot up shooting over the course of an entire season. You'd have to be a ****ing moron not to guard that. NBA coaching staffs, in general, are not ****ing morons.
