Worked alright for Harden, Westbrook and even Durant last year. I know this thread is about what is best for Lin so in that context you may be right. For Lin to flourish and be the star that his fans love he MAY have to be traded. As a fan of the Rockets collectively I'm certainly not ready to see that happen yet.
It's not just that Lin can't shoot 3's. It's that, despite his high # of steals, he's still an average defender at best. So if your starting PG can't make open jumpers, and you can't depend on him to defend opposing PGs at a high level, and he has the 6th or 7th worst TO% per 48 minutes among PGs, why play him starter's minutes? Lin is excellent at driving to the hoop and he's an above average passer, but that's pretty much it. Ball security, shooting, and defense are all below average. Your starting PG needs to succeed in at least two out of those three areas.
Lin is here to stay Lin is great passer but have no big man with post power to pass to. Asik has bad hand, PPat and Marcus have no post up. The only one that has some post up move now is Greg but he is still developing and Rockets has not given T-Jones some chance to shine yet. Imagine if we could get Tyson Chandler before or we could get Paul Millsap now thing should be different.
Er...given a choice of the big man with a jumper and the savvy secondary ballhandler, OKC did not think twice about it. They replaced Harden with a terrific spot-up shooter who works hard off the ball and are better off to be honest as there is finally more clarity. Also OKC (and current NYK) debunks an oft-cited aberration: that the primary ballhandler somehow is always the 1st option on offense. This is only a problem on the rockets because Harden is a ball dominant SG who is being played as a PG which is in my opinion completely wrong, as it is being amply displayed in the stupid half-court sets designed by Mc Hale. Harden may be PG-like on the fast-break or when running a PNR but his instincts are not those of a PG in the half-court where PGs will have to call for screens and try to break down the defense not to get his shot but the best possible shot for his team.
I was talking about last year's OKC team and Er...you are familiar with Westrook's most ubiquitous criticism, no?
I think the problem is not so much that Lin can't make open jumpers. It's more to do with catch and shoot that he sucks at. At least that's what I see from watching his games. I don't know if it's rhythm or what but his shooting form looks so much more consistent off dribble. Do any stat head have the shooting percentage of Lin as spot up and off dribble? Also he needs to have green light to jack up mid range jumpers. I know it's less efficient shot but there's no other way around when the team is shooting 25% from downtown. Tony Parker and Steve Nash shoot many more mid range than 3 pointers. But again, they always have proper screen set. Mchale needs to realize that.
That Wetsbrook is a glorified chucker who doesn't pass while averaging 8 assists per game? Yes, am familiar with that. but the point still stand. Harden's minute were staggered with that of the other two main ballhandlers because there's only one ball to share in 24 secs and when push came to shove, they deemed Harden, a very talented scorer, expendable because of the fact that they don't need two ballhandlers, no one does.
I said this before and I'll say it again. Lin will develop best in this environment. He has massive potential. Right now he's forced to play to his weakness which is a good thing for a young NBA player. He will develop a more all around game and flourish with Harden to be the deadliest backcount given that he will not be traded. Mark my words. You let him go because of kneejerks and dumb basketball fans who doesn't know how to analyze games, both side will regret it in the end. Lin fans will see his guy skyrocketing in his stats shortly but will watch him regress hard later when he's older because his first step won't last forever (Not to mention injuries with the way he plays). Rockets will AGAIN be the laughing stock for a while for letting the guy go like last year.
Ok. I'll grant you that. Let's say OKC didn't need 2 ball handlers. What about the Rockets? I'll admit I haven't read every page of this thread. What's your solution? And please, for my sanity, if you refer to Coach don't write Mcfail. Please?
This was posted in the ESPN Game Conversation Section. I found it interesting so I thought I would share it: Spoiler Reminder, this is a point of view of an audience. So don't bash me if you don't like it.
I saw that on a Chinese website yesterday I think Lin fans are posting it every where like it's the truth. Hard to take what seems like a bias Lin fans view of the game seriously IMO. His fans seems to be at full force defending him after the Bobcats game for some reason.
Response If Lin become a better shooter and take short jumpers, he can be a lot more productive even playing with Asik.
Here's a question for you since Asik is so often the scapegoat for those who want to point a finger away from Lin when looking for an explanation for his poor play. Who is better at his position right now, Lin or Asik? And spare me the "if Asik were setting better screens" mess.
And...he's not an objective bystander. Its coming from the viewpoint of a LOF ( he even admits it in his "analysis"). Taken with a grain of salt, tyvm.
