And the fact that he is sucking and starting I wouldn't be surprised if one of our bench warmers are wondering "why is he starting and putting up dismal numbers?" "I should be given a chance" some people on here are arguing that Royce needs to earn his minutes. Well Lin needs to earn that starting job. And so far.... He's not.
IMO a number of factors at play here.. 1) he has altered his shot because of the knee injury and has not regained his form.. 2) he's on a different team with a somewhat different offensive system..3)the responsibility of starting, and being consistent over a season is a lot different than flashing on adrenaline as he did in February..4)the league has figured out some of his weaknesses and adjusted.. BUT he's a smart kid and based on his willingness to accept and discuss his struggles it tells me he is working to overcome each of these issues.
If the organization wants to help Lin regain his confidence, the coaches should design some plays for him. He is good at pick and roll. They should practice that everyday until they can do it in the game. It's ridiculous that they had a month of training camp with Lin and don't know how to set a screen for him. Come on Rockets, make good use of your investment!
Lin runs pick and rolls in game. He's a terrible shooter and has seemingly lost his ability to attack the basket so he is actually pretty bad in the pick and roll.
The opponents are already giving Lin like 10 feet of space to shoot the ball, that's way better than any pick and roll look.
It's not about confidence. People blaming the coach for having a short leash is ridiculous b/c his job is on the line too. The team sucks, the coach will be blamed/fired and so on. His job is to find players who will perform at least adequately. Look at Jim Harbaugh and Alex Smith, and Smith has a 104 QB rating. Coaches' bottom line is winning. Lin isn't even performing right now. Like I said, when you shoot 33% for this long of a stretch, something is wrong. It's either technique or something. It's about time he locks himself in the gym and just shoot and shoot and shoot until his wrists bleed. Period. That's all he can do. He should hire a personal shooting coach (or fire his current one if he has one) and keep practicing. I suggest maybe take a week or 2 off and just work on his shooting mechanics and rhythm. Ask Sampson and Morey and I'm sure they'll authorize it. And Lin isn't good enough to get himself out of a slump (if it's even a slump, he was never a good shooter to begin with) by driving/penetrating/getting to the FT line. Only elite players can get themselves out of their own slump even if their shot is off. Lin isn't that. He desperately needs that jumpshot or else there's no spacing for him to operate. I don't think it's as simple as having a longer leash on him, and running more plays for him. He's not a Lebron James or Kobe or a Harden where your offense runs through him, where he's able to create without a jumpshot. If he was sucking with his shot but able to get to the paint at will, then I'm sure his poor shooting wouldn't be much of a problem. And it won't be just one game, or 2 games. Lin is going to need to string together a month or 2 of good play to regain my confidence. Anybody can have a few good games here and there. The thing is, Lin isn't a "good" shooter to begin with, judging from his career fg%.If you take out his 5 game start with the Knicks, he's basically a sub 40% shooter.
The thing is lin needs to realise that he is not an important player since they have signed Harden. Harden has been great so far so lin just needs to adjust his game and learn to be in this system. He is still young and he still is in the process of learning new things.
Not sure why some people don't know why Jeremy Lin is getting bashed right now. It's because we got ride of Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic for him. That's a huge reason and many people felt it was a downgrade when it happened.
Such a nice guy, and he owned the shooting issue like a man. While I do think he'll improve, I don't think he'll ever play up to his potential relegated to a spot-up shooter camping out on the 3pt line. I just don't like his place in that offense.
Win First It's like catch 22. Coaches want to win games so do the players. But sometimes that can come at the expense of certain players' development, which ultimately can impact the future of not only the certain players but also the team. Yet, how can anyone argue against when a coach makes a decision to bench a key player who is in an obvious slump for matchup reason? Clutch, what do you think?
The rational Rocket fans aren't bashing him for other reasons. We're bashing him for his play, just like we bashed Rafer/Ariza/Wesley/Maloney/even our stars in McGrady/Yao. He's a HUGE downgrade from even Rafer Alston. Look, Lin is going to start the rest of the year, and we're not contenders. He's going to have a full year to prove himself with this team. So he still has a long time to get himself out of this rut.
Want to post the Frank Blinebury Hang Time piece for your thoughts. http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/11/22/linsanity-is-jeremy-on-the-bench-late/ LINSANITY IS JEREMY ON THE BENCH LATENovember 22, 2012 · 12:15AM HOUSTON — It’s becoming a habit. For the second time in four games, Jeremy Lin spent the decisive minutes on the bench. Talk about your Linsanity. First he watched Toney Douglas try to stem the tide against Damian Lillard during overtime of a loss at Portland. Then at home on Wednesday night, Lin simply watched all but two minutes of the fourth quarter as Douglas lifted the Rockets to a 93-89 win over the Bulls. “I’m happy because we lost three in a row and needed a win. That’s for sure,” Lin said. Team camaraderie aside, the Rockets need their point guard of the present and future to be able to stay on the floor to run the offense down the stretch. But to do that he’s going to have to make significant defensive strides. When the Blazers were making their comeback in the fourth quarter last week, Lillard drove around and shot over Lin as if he wasn’t there. At the start of the final period against the Bulls, it was Nate Robinson who got on a roll and devoured Lin. Acting Rockets coach Kelvin Sampson watched Robinson stick a 3-pointer in Lin’s face and then drove for a dazzling 360-degree layup when he had enough and turned to Douglas. On one hand, it was Nate being Nate, taking off on one of those sprees that has occasionally made him a marvel in the league. On the other, it was Lin being Lin, bedeviled and bewildered defensively. “You have to go with your instincts,” Sampson said. “You’re not always right with that stuff. But I felt like Toney gave us our best chance to win. Yeah, a much better matchup with Nate.” Lin’s troubles putting the ball into the basket this season have been well known. He shot just 2-for-9 from the field against the Bulls and is now 42-for-126 (33.3 percent) on the season. It’s one thing to try to straighten out a wayward shot. That’s an individual thing. But if he has to constantly be replaced for a capable stopper on defense, then he’s not going to be on the floor to play quarterback on offense and isn’t helping at either end of the floor at crunch time. The Rockets need a guy they invested $25 million in to be more than a part-time player and a late-game spectator. “Yeah, I think that’s for reasons of defense,” Lin said. “I’m not really sure. Ask Coach. But I think it’s a defensive thing. I didn’t do a very good job of making Nate Robinson uncomfortable. I’ve got to do a better job.""
I'm sure there are many developing players that get benched or sent down to the D-league. Lin is still getting a majority of the minutes despite his mediocre play which is good. If Rockets had a better backup pg, I'm sure Lin would see even less playing time.
Crossover I'm with you on this. I sincerely hope Lin finds his mojo. It is basketball after all, and streaks come and go, even for Kobe. Ant Rockets fan who is not completely biased can see he's just choking on shots that are part of his game. Then I sense pressure and he tries to do too much. i.e, getting tangled up under the boards with the ball.
If Lin needs to be given time and develop as some say. The rockets have a farm team down in Rio Grand Valley where they send players to polish and develop their game. Lin should request to go down there and fix his game.
Just my luck, I miss the game and they win. Had to read the summary columns and watch some of the highlight clips. Looks like the negativity is piling on and on for Lin… benched all but 2 minutes of the fourth quarter eh? Douglas slowly getting the same opportunities and support that Lin got back in NYK with D'Antoni, and to add salt, hits a critical 3 with a little over a minute left to help the team win the game. Based on the coach's comments, and Lin's comments, there seems to be at least some mutual distrust. Even Harden is giving props to the backup PG. Curiously, up to now Harden hasn't really said much, if anything at all, in terms of support or wanting to play alongside Lin. Lin seems to have nowhere to turn now but himself. Must be pretty effin lonely in his position, without anyone else to associate with and gain support from, in terms of life experiences and cultural paradigms that the majority of players in this league benefit from. There certainly aren't any Ivy Leaguers in his position, and definitely no Asian American players. The next game is against NYK. Benching Lin on his way to a triple double several games ago may have been signs. But if this coach wants to finish Lin off for good, it'll be easy as the game against NYK will be the perfect game to do it. Melo and his posse are already licking their chops, waiting for final closure. And the last nail will be Douglasanity. Just finish Lin off now when he's most vulerable. It's just too easy.
err Jeremy is actually great at pick and roll, he's managing to find excellent passes into the rolling big man, and if Asik was more athletic and could dunk it in instead of laying up all the time, Lin would have more assists. Jeremy's problem is when both defenders leave him for a shot, he doesn't take it and he drives it further into the lane and getting into trouble, or when the big man shows hard and forces him away the lane and from making the pass.
Very insightful post. Props to you! Any team sports rely on team chemistry, which is built on players mutual rapport and good feel about each other. Basketball is no different. Hmmm, let's see... Just trolling for fun now... Saint Jeremy and Strip Club Harden. Don't see them two hanging out together off the court. Just saying.
