Basically Lin stopped being a pushover tonight. This is what you want him to do, dictate his playing style on offense. Not settling for what the defense wants, resulting in bad shot selections.
Entirely different situation and circumstance. We all know he's a great scorer when he's forced into being the #1 option but the real task is getting Harden and Lin to coincide with one another. That and fixing our ****ty defense. (Sign JJ already)
Problem is the coaching staff. Lin will play however the coaching staff wants him to play. Unfortunately that is camp in the corner. We've all seen in the past how Lin took over the game at certain times, and then the coaching staff would bench him.
This is a stupid argument and I can't believe you're trying to use it. Lin has a much better track record than Delk. This is something he's done almost every time he's been the primary ball handler. If anything, this game is a testament to who Lin can be if he can knock down the jumper. Everything predicates on that, because defenders will have to play close if he can make that shot. That opens up driving lanes, passing lanes, everything. Whether that results in the stats you put up, I could care less. I just want him breaking down defenses and cause havoc.
The way the rockets should play is the same way the Thunder 2nd unit played when maynor was healthy, with lin just being a much more aggressive version of maynor. The key to that though was really collison screening for harden on and off the ball. If we could get one of our rookie PFs to fit in that role it would be ideal. Especially since they are all much better offensively than collison, so it would be yet another threat
I think your off base here. Some players need to go in thinking, the only way we're going to win, is if I'm being aggressive and being the alpha dog. Harden is clearly the best player on the team. I'm not sure if it was a coaching decision that made Lin's playmaking secondary to Harden, or just the fact that the beard dominates the ball more naturally, but the end result is the same. Lin doesn't get enough touches and doesn't get to lead the team from an emotional standpoint. It's like if a prime Kobe joined the 97 Bulls. Kobe would've fallen in line with Jordan's lead and Kobe's game would've suffered.
You really need to be more reasonable when it comes to defense. It takes a LONG time to develop serious team Defense, and it was the Spurs, one of the BEST offenses in the NBA. Not to mention the Spurs made a TON of contested shots. It's not like they were caught flat footed a ton. Some plays, yes, but not a ton of them. Not to mention some of Parker's ridiculous play, like driving past 3 defenders and scoring. Think of Defense as work in progress.
the way the rockets are playing now is the same way thunder 2nd unit played when reggie jackson was in for maynor. They basically told reggie to get the hell out of the way and stand in the corner (which is the right thing to do because he sucks). If this changes, Lin is more involved, lin kind of lifts the burden on harden, this team will be interesting
I think the coaching staff is being told to minimize Lin so that Harden can shine. Morey knows that his job is on the line ("two years", says Les), so he is determined to pump up Harden as much as possible. If Harden looks good, so does the GM who acquired him.
What was Tony Delk's first 50 starts like? Did they contain multiple games in which he played like an elite player at his position?
Douglas played pg most of the night as the primary ball handler and Lin got a ton of his points getting 3's. Even in NY, alot of analysts commented that hea actually more of a scoring guard than a traditional pg. When he started dropping 3's it opened up his game tremendously. Seems like the analysts have been on to something with his 3 pointer being a key factor here. Great game by Lin. Hopefully this is a start to him making more strides in his game to take this team to the next level. I don't think anything changes with their gameplay when Harden returns. It just means that Lin needs to keep his confidence in his shot going and he can also create in the p&r more as well with harden off the ball more too.
