Dragic also mostly shoots 10-12 times a game. In this particular game he shoot more, because Bledsoe was out and he had to carry a greater offensive load.
Looking at Dragic and post-Gay Lowry, really the only true conclusion one can make is that... Morey is a genius when it comes to judging PGs. Makes me wonder if in two years, we get a thread that says "The Lin-Beverley vs. Cannann Tracking Thread."
bu.. bu...but, he fits the second unit better. We don't want a ball dominating PG playing with Harden, and we need a play maker coming off the bench.
Dragic is just killing this year. We really messed up letting him go. We would be a legit championship threat with him.
Love Dragic.. don't think Lin is as good as him at the moment, but Dragic has had more years to refine. He wasn't as good as Lin with as many NBA games played.
You have to remember that Dragic could be here with Dwight. I'll also be the first to admit that when Morey didn't resign Dragic I thought we were losing a solid but replaceable player (salary wise in production) and I was wrong. While I was a huge Gogi fan while he was here (most were) i didn't see him breaking out like this. PG-Gogi SG-Harden SF-Parson PF-Jones C-Howard That's one of the best lineups in the NBA. Not to mention we would still have Asik+assets to flip for a stretch 4.
He takes more shots than Lin for sure, I'm looking at his stats for December in games. Before this game he shot 15, 14, 9, 9, 13, 15, 18, 11, 14, 18 http://stats.nba.com/playerGameLogs.html?PlayerID=201609&pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=25 Taking out some of Lin's injury less than 30 minutes played games he shot. 10, 9, 12, 13, 10, 10, 11. In his 2 30 plus-scoring games he shot 19 and 17 times. I don't watch Pheonix but it seems Dragic shoots more. He seems efficient and he's playing great, but Lin doesn't seem to be as involved in scoring or anything as Dragic is. I think Lin should impose his will more and Harden should share the playmaking/scoring more. But it is up to Lin to look to score or playmake more and demand that from Harden because he is a PG. He still is relatively inexperienced, he hasn't played a lot of NBA games. Hopefully, it'll come in time for him.
How do you know he would be breaking out next to Harden? How does Lin play when Harden is not in the game? He seems to put up some pretty impressive numbers and play a much bigger role from what I've seen. And he has nowhere near Dragic's experience yet.
Next to Harden, Lowry and Dragic would not do as well as they do running the show for their teams. That's what bothers me the most, that even with a great PG, it would still not bode well for us!
Have you watched Dragic? He's a very confident player who will take his shots. Obviously, he wouldn't be getting as many playing next to Harden and Dwight but I firmly believe he would assert himself on offense. That's just how he plays the game. I was purposely not mentioning Lin while giving Gogi his props because I really didn't want to get into that discussion but I will since you're being sincere in your comments. Lin defers too much and doesn't assert himself all the time. Too often he's ok with standing around and watching. Is Lin a better player without Harden, absolutely but that's because he's also a ball dominant guard. The issue here is we'll always be better with the ball in Harden's hands then Lin's because he's a much better player. That's not a knock on Lin because Harden is arguably the best SG in the NBA. Dragic is just a better player then Jeremy and I feel he would be a much better fit for this team. however, we don't have him anymore so hopefully Lin continues to improve and contribute while he's here
I think what you're missing is, at this point in the construction of the roster and the ambition of the Rockets organization, we would be better off with this Dragic, who's beginning to hit his prime, instead of waiting some more years for Lin to develop. Our window of contention for this core of Harden+Howard is 3 years (or length of Howard's contract). So why wait for Lin to develop at a level we need for contention and figure out how to play with Harden when Dragic has shown improvement and an ability to play with another ball-dominant guard (Bledsoe). Dragic just fits better with our window of contention, and this is not a diss on Lin.
Houston is no where a champion contender if the go to guy play like this. Lin is not a factor why we lost most of the game this season
But most of the team is developing, not only Lin. Harden is developing too. He's not ready to lead any team anywhere yet, he has a lot of developing and maturing to do as a player and superstar. Parsons also is developing. T Jones has even more developing to do so I think you have a core of guys with Dwight, who is something of a veteran, all developing together. The window of contention isn't now, it's at least a season or 2 from now and we still have a good amount of season left to see where the team is going to go with who we have on the team. Next season the guys may play a lot better together, we'll see.
I haven't seen much of the Suns, I'll be watching him. I agree totally with you, Lin has to eat some pepper and assert his will. But he needs some support, Dwight telling Harden that he wants Lin to be more involved in playmaking and get more touches, the coaches saying that too. Still in all, watching Brooks, he doesn't defer so much. I think Lin will defer less in time and actually become the aggressive player he could be. I think he tries not to make TOs and other mistakes to make McHale and Sampson happy so he's fighting more than just ball-dominant Harden. But your last sentence says it all, Dragic is no longer a Rocket so now it is up to Lin to find his way and play more up to his capabilities.
They are a fun team to watch. A lot of solid players that were basically expected to be in contention for the #1 pick in the draft playing hard. I just think he needs to go out and do his thing and not worry about what Dwight, Harden or the coaches think. I don't mean being selfish but I mean initiating his own offense in spots early and not being passive. He has proven he can get to the basket and I can promise that if he's getting to the hole and scoring or creating for others nobody will be complaining if we're winning. I know he's a team guy and that's respectable but I want to see the Lin in the 4th quarter that brought us back against Memphis as opposed to the one that played the first 3 quarters of that game. Reality is that we need everyone contributing if we need are going to make any sort of a playoff run.
Watching Phoenix Suns gives me the same feeling I had when I was watching Major League. New players and new coach who are expected to lose as much as possible. From the moment we got Harden I regretted Dragic didn't take that team option because R&G fits his style and he was rotting in Phoenix. But right now I'm happy for him he's not in Houston anymore because he couldn't develop his talents next to Harden. I'm still a Houston fan of course, but sometimes Harden makes me so mad :/
I'll check out the Suns game then, I check out a lot of basketball games on streams. As for Lin, I think he's gone back to being in his head. Mid November he was playing better ball, not in his head so much. It all may start with his shot. It seems when he makes a few shots the rest of his game comes together. When he looks to set up team mates, not so much.
