I have a feeling the Knicks might make a bid for him once the "ridiculous" contracts are up, which they will all end when Lin's contract is up. The knicks certainly have the cash resources once Melo and Amare are gone to outbid the Rockets. We will see...
This is the major reason for all the close and lost games after the trade. PPat, Morris and Toney Douglas had been providing 28.3 points per game before the trade. Since then we have only been getting 18.2 per game in the last 6 games from their successors, a reduction of about 10.1 points per game. TRob has only played 6 games since he joined the Rockets. Last night in the Phoenix game, we lost by 2 points. The PFs (DMo and TRob) and the backup PG (Beverley) produced a total of 8 points. The GSW game, we won by 6. The trio produced 9 points. The Dallas game, we lost by 4. The trio produced 15 points. The Orlando game, we won by 2. The trio produced a total of 32, of which only 2 points were by TRob. The Bucks game, the first game TRob played for the Rockets, we lost by 2. The trio produced 18 points, of which only 2 points were by TRob. While we blame individual players for lost games, should we be looking into the big offensive hole in front of us and think how we can fill it up quickly before we lose more games unnecessarily? Bear in mind that expecting Harden and Lin to make up for the reduced points like they did in the last game against the Thunder would be an unrealistic expectation, especially after 63 games into the season. Fatigue and minor injuries do add up. Keeping both Harden and Lin, and every core player, healthy may be a more pressing concern than any time before for us to safely secure a playoff spot.
I'm a Lin fan. Not LOF. I'm rooting for the guy to succeed in the league, whether as a starter or as a backup. He does not, as of yet, have the handles or the situational awareness/play making ability that mitigates a weaker handle to be the focal point of an offense. Even if he develops it, PG-centric offenses are also easier to shut down/contain if you have a good defense. Think of what Miami did to Rose (in the playoffs) and Lin (remember the Miami game?*). I think that some Lin fans are way to high on the guy and are too easily trolled by LOH and LOFH. It is true that Houston does not have the personnel to run the bread and butter plays of Linsanity that put Lin in the spotlight. But in my book, Lin doesn't have to be the Linsanity guy to be considered successful. Linsanity, if it can be duplicated, would be a Max contract guy and won't play for long considering all the hard fouls he took during that stretch. It is NOT sustainable. He still takes the hits today, just not as frequently as he used to. I'd be fine if his ceiling is Andre Miller, I actually think it's much higher, but I mention Miller because he is a decent point guard who's relatively healthy and hasn't missed many games in his career and is on a decent contract (Miller makes $5 mil). Lin had to play his ass off to make it in the league and my worry is he feels that any effort less than all out would mean that he regressed. Some Lin fans want to see him burn more brightly and sooner, without realizing that he may have a shorter career unless he changes his style of play. For me, I'm OK with him being a solid contributor on a decent contract if that's better for him and his family. Nothing wrong with being a solid contributor who can give you flashes of excellence every now and then without putting his body on the line just about every drive. Though, in the playoffs during championship contending years, I'd like to see him go all out. I think the type of offense Houston is running mitigates his weaker handles right now and utilizes his strength which is ability to penetrate and dish. If he improves his ability to finish, his game can improve tremendously. The downside with the current system is that it also requires him to be a spot shooter at times which is not currently his strength. I know the stats show improvement over time but he isn't a good shooter yet. I like that Houston is a place where he has the opportunity to improve his game. I think Lin is doing alright for his contract. Plays better than the $5mil he is getting paid, or about as well as a replacement Houston can get for $8.3mil cap hit for his combination of offense and defense. I'd like to see less boneheaded plays as we go forward. Lin may not be the answer at PG for Houston when they get around to contending for a title, but there's no indication right now that he won't improve by the time Houston contends. Even if Lin is traded or leaves Houston, I think he'll look back and see this as a time when he got a chance to expand his game instead of repeating the type of plays where he gambles with his health. I think people just need to be patient and LOFs need to ignore the trolls. Too much of the doubt and cynicism has to do with his lack of basketball pedigree. Too many of the unnecessary LOF claims about Lin's greatness or potential are reactionary to trolls. Just be patient. The guy is making the most of his chances and I don't see how he won't continue to improve. *I didn't appreciate people saying Lin was "exposed" after that Miami game, as if he was exposed as a fraud. Why can't he be a developing player with upside?
I don't get the LOH's. I don't think they are that many though, just a few. A lot of people are reacting to the LOF's who object to any criticism and push some of them into LOH's. People are just weird. I think the biggest legitimate complaint with Lin is that he is inconsistent. And that's what you get from a young player. But the organization clearly believes in Lin and he will get this year and next year to improve as he has shown a lot just this year. Lin had a really bad start to the season and I think that is a bit of the bias is hangover from that. When you play poorly to begin with people will tend to hang on to that. But if Lin plays consistently well all that will disappear.
Well first i want to thank you guys fro talking about bball instead of hate and nonsense... now to your reply....hes shooting a high percentage over what the last month from 3 point land isnt he? Youre right Harden can draw a foul.....Lin doesnt shoot much though....and he should shoot a bit more i think....perhaps 12 to 15 a game..... last night didnt play well...hes simply not consistant....he played poorly last night....BUT he has more good games then bad and Im thinking hes a pretty smart guy with a great work ethic....he will become more consistant im sure next year....next year is the year the rockets start to get there and i think Lin will be a big part of that I also think maybe Mchale has learned not to sit Lin in the 4th because if he was going to it should have been last night......
Yes, I think he's proven he can be a starter in this league (even if his haters insist that he can only be a starter for a crappy team and never a championship team). Unless he totally regresses (not likely given his work ethic and flashes of potential), he will at worse be average. I think he can be better than average with a possible upside of near-allstar and an outside remote chance at superstar, however unlikely. So I certainly think he can find a starting gig if the Rockets release him after this contract ends. That's another reason why I don't think he'll stay in a 6th man role that some are trying to pigeon-hole him into. Most 6th men, even JR Smith, aspire to be starters like Harden did. You want guys to be ambitious and hungry and never satisfied, to keep striving and improving. So it would be foolish to want a young guy who is satisfied being a bench guy or a 6th man, unless they're forced into that role due to injury or age. Jeremy has stated he believed he can be an allstar, whether you believe in his potential or not is besides the point. If he feels under-utilized when placed into a 6th man role, like Harden did in OKC, he'll leave just like Harden did. And if he's not underutilized, and that is indeed his ceiling, then why would you want him unless you can keep him for cheap, given the much reduced role? As long as he is at least average, which is more that possible, he can find a starting gig in this league since average means better than 50% of the PGs out there and there are 30 teams. Someone will want him and give him a starting gig offer. Personally, I think he's got quite a lot of potential and will probably end up above average at least. I just don't get the 6th man talk being pushed by some. It's intellectually lazy.
Preface this by saying that he's doing a lot better lately, and that he's not getting criticism from me, or from most people from what I see, about his shooting in the last month. Earlier on his percentages were much worse and he deserved the criticism. All that being said, him "taking the fewest shots" on the list and averaging the fewest points isn't exactly impressive. I also hate the, "_ does it too" argument. The facts are, if you look at the 30 pgs averaging the most minutes, Jeremy is in the bottom half for FG%, bottom ten for FT%, and bottom six for 3p%. Rubio and John Wall sucking at shooting 3 pointers doesn't mean it's okay.
This is what I've been thinking for a long time now. I hope in time that these threads will start becoming less and less common. On a side note I do get annoyed by both sides continually suggesting for Lin and Harden to be staggered. These two need to play as much as possible with each other if we're going to be successful.
Fortunately outside of writing a "Letter to McHale" nothing anyone says on this board actually impacts what will happen. So keep that in mind when you get annoyed next time I think Lin and Harden are playing together fine. Both of them are learning and honestly a lot of it is just experience - it takes time.
Correction: I found this line somehow missing from my post above: "The Dallas game at home, we won by 33. The trio produced a total of 27 points." All the stats and calculations in my last post as above are accurate.
I am very curious about people's opinion regarding Lin's defensive efforts. Did he play very poorly? Did he spend tons of energy defensively? Oh wait, people judges a player whether he is an all-star potential with his scoring alone. I do think Lin had sacrificed his game to try to adapt/buy into the current system and that is not a bad thing that he may develop into a more complete player. I hope people can give him more time before doubting his ability to help the team.
Repped. I'm really surprised by those stats. But then there are a few things you would have to consider. PGs with less points but more assists, e.g. Rondo Pace. Lin's stats are naturally inflated because of our fast pace. Can you normalize it? Also what is his ranking if we go by TS% on that list?
I think its way too early to project his ceiling. What I do believe though is that his numbers will improve every year. Think about it. Hes averaging 13 and 6, though inconsistently, basically coming off a knee surgery adjusting to a new team and with no shot. Think about how good he can be once he gets a consistent jump shot. Of course he will greatly work on his shot this offseason and well see a much more consistent Lin next year. I can see him averaging 14.5-15 ppg and 6.5-7 apg next year which is solid and he will only get better each year. As far as whether or not to have him starting, I like the conjecture of him leading the second unit, but weve seen that Harden and Lin have learned and played better together. The combination still isnt great, but once jeremy gets a shot itll open up more for them and theyll be better. So I still think jeremy will be a starter and eventually be a top 10 pg.
Good discussion from "reasonable" observers. I hope Rockets make at least the 8th playoff spot this year, so they can gain some playoff experience. Their loss to Suns hurt badly in this sense. I think Lin will and should reach 15+ points and 7.5 assists level next year if he is to reach an All-star level in his career. However, he really has to add some variety to his offensive game. His driving to the basket and stationery long jumpers are not going to get the job done; he has to add a step-back and shake and bake jumpers to his repertoire. Often, I feel like he could take short jumpers instead of driving to the basket and get blocked, but he doesn't do that. He also unnecessarily leaves his man to wide open sometimes. I agree his lateral foot speed is not all that great. Beverly's lateral speed is probably faster, but I think Lin's D is still above average for PGs. In Rockets, only Harden and Lin can create their own shots. Parsons is good as long as he doesn't think he's MJ.
Basketball is a team sport that relies on synergy of the 5 players on the court. It basically puts the best players (TBP) as the priority and place teammates around him to help support and propel TBP's advantages. It is the reason why Al Jeff was traded for a bag of chips becuase him and Kevin Love did not complement each other well, or why even the likes of lebron and wade did not excel until each learned how to play off the ball and developed as catch&shooters. Asking Lin to be that complement to Harden detracts from his strengths and highlights his weaknesses. Why would you take any young player who is still developing and put him in these situations? That is Sac-town style of player development, and the main reason why we were able to acquire 5th pick Robinson. Lin needs to be in a position to suceed. That means utilizing his strengths and covering his deficiencies until the youngster can improve these aspects over time. In this team, and as a starter next to Harden, Lin is being unfairly placed in the most difficult of situations. But like i've said before, The reason i mention lin in the roles of Terry and Crawford is that as starters, both did not fit their teams and were never championship contenders. When they realized Jet and Crawford's strengths and how they fit as key teserves, Dallas won and Clips are contenders. This is not a knock on Lin the player. I just believe that his skill set now and in the next two years as a Rocket and beyond would be in a role that bolsters his strengths.
