I like jeremy Lin over Dragic because he has a winner's mentality. He has the mentality of being the go-to player and we really need that right now. Sure he might turn over the ball too much and isn't as good as he thinks he is, but in a time where we are rebuilding our team, we need to foster a player like this. I like to go back and refer to that game winning shot he took against Toronto. Can you see any other backup point guard having the guts to do that? That's what we need right now.
In short, my opinion of Lin is, he's overrated. Lin got hot at the perfect time carrying a bad team short of it's stars due to injury in one of the worlds largest markets, so he blew up. Lin was a nice story, credit given and yes the Knicks started winning, but...I totally believe a large part of his success was due to the system, though granted he played out of his mind as well. Even with that nice run, I never truly believed it would last or Lin was as great a player as he was made to be. I'm just not buying into this guy. Maybe I'm wrong, but no way would I give him more than say 3 or 4 million. If the Rockets are truly offering him 8 mill plus, they may as well sign Dragic for what he wants and that is too much as well. There may be a day where I eat some crow and that's fine, but for me Lin still has much to prove.
The "Les just wants a popular player" conspiracy theory contradicts the fact that the Rockets' made the relatively unknown Omer Asik their first free agency target and only reached out to Lin after Dragic didn't accept their offer. If the team cares about the marketing potential of a player more than basketball talent, or even if they just assign significant weight to it when making personnel decisions, I really don't see how guys like Omer Asik (and Marcin Gortat a few years back) fit into the marketing picture-- perhaps they are great at attracting fans of goofy-looking giant white guys? Hell, if they cared a great deal about marketing to Asian fans, they would have kept Lin at minimum wage even as a 15th man over Jonny Flynn (who is only popular among Syracuse fans). A simpler explanation is this: In the Rockets' analysis, they find that Dragic and Lin have roughly future value to the team. So, they have offered each the same $ amount. They went after Dragic first because he's their own FA, they know him better and don't have to deal with the risk of NY matching HOU's offer. Both these guys have similar roles, similar skill sets, have similarly performed well during a 1/2 season run as starting PG. Dragic's performance was better and less mistake prone, but he was in his 4th season in the NBA while Lin was a 2nd year player.
I think Lin and Dragic both seem to potentially have high ceilings but you really only have a small sample size to work with when you evaluate both players performances. Granted Lin was playing well over a stretch of 30 odd games and Dragic was nearly at the same amount, they both proved they can start in this league. Dragic seems to be further along than Lin is in terms of development though and is a better 3pt shooter. Lin seems to be more streaky to be honest. I wouldn't mind rolling the dice on Lin and Asik, then trying to flip Lowry and Martin. I wouldn't mind keeping Scola to be honest. Hopefully we get this all figured out soon..
WHAAAAAS UUUUUP! PAY ME b****ES! BETTER GET THAT CALCULATOR OUT MOREY BECAUSE YOU NO LOOK YOU BUY. YOU DISGRACE MY HONOR BUT BIG CONTRACT FIX IT. (SAMURAI VOICE)
I still do not buy into the Lin hype. Those hot streaks can do wonders to someone's confidence. But I just do not think that he will continue his hot streak.
I do not know if anyone here has mentioned this but one nice thing about getting Lin onto the team again will be the fact that chances are good that the networks will televise a lot of Rockets games nationally. For a guy like me (Rockets fan living in Upstate NY State) seeing the Rockets a lot without paying through the nose for the NBA package would be awesome! :grin:
Let's also not forget that Lin also prior played NO significant minutes during NBA action. For a year and a half he was relegated to the bench, then all of a sudden he is expected to play 40+ minutes a game? He might as well have been considered a first year rookie that season.
I think the "Les just wants popular players" concept applies only to Lin (short of getting the Dwight Howard level star). They would want him both as a new connection to partially fill the void they lost in Yao and for the fact that he's turned out to be a good player who can fit where they are now likely in a position of need -- and a player that they let get away. The Rockets thought enough of Lin in the first place that he was here for a while and was one of the last cuts. I think he's a partial exception to the rule of only getting the best players to make the team a winner...and that they perceive Lin as a player who can fill both roles. The Rockets likely see it as a multiple level "win" situation. No conspiracy that I personally see anywhere...they're just seeking what's best for the organization. Funny, though. Lin likely never have had the chance to show what he did without going elsewhere first. Had he stayed in Houston, I wonder how many minutes he would have played even after Lowry was out. Probably not enough to have ever done what he did in New York.
Signing Lin for Chinese $$$ Signing Asik for Turkish $$$ Signing Dragic for whatever $$$ Tsk tsk tsk Rockets. Explains why they want to get rid of Lowry, no one wants to pay to see Lowry.
If you guys look back to Dragic's 1st, 2nd and 3rd seasons, you'll see the same level of tendency for mistakes, turnovers and inconsistency that Lin exhibited at times and a lower level of production. Essentially, Dragic was a player who was overall rather mediocre most of his career until the last 1/2 season. There is a reason why the Suns GAVE UP a 1st round pick to trade him to Houston for Brooks just last season. What we really have are two guys who were just beginning to figure out the NBA game and have the potential to be excellent PG but only if they keep up/improve upon the potential they exhibited during their respective hot stretches.
Dragic was good in year 2, good enough that the Suns organization believed he would be the heir apparent to Nash. And he had a great playoff game that validated their sentiments. He simply struggled last year with his shot (as his fg%, FT%, and 3pt% dropped hard) when he was in Phoenix. But he DID show signs of huge potential. The guy finally showed what he can do with huge minutes. Regardless, he has had a longer history of play for us to judge on, both as a backup and 2 months as a starter, not simply a flash in the pan. STILL, nobody thinks he's worth the money he's asking. Lin had ONE MONTH of great play, and started to tail off a great deal before his injury. And you're paying him the same? The problem isn't signing Lin. The problem is signing him to that huge contract, when he only had ONE (read that again, ONE) month of great play.
I think "risk" is a good word here when it comes to both Lin and Dragic. These guys are not "prospects" like the rookies you just drafted, but not yet established veterans, either. Had their run of excellent play lasted more than 1/2 seaosn, I'm sure the Rockets and other teams would line up to pay them 8 figure salaries. Right now, though, you have to balance between the potential they showed and the risk that they can't keep up what they started. The following song reflects the career stage that Dragic and Lin are both in: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IlV7RhT6zHs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
How did Lin's stock drop so much in the past few months on this board? I recall that people were roasting the Rockets for letting a "star" slip out of our hands. Now this board doesn't even want to sign him to a deal that pays this same guys $7.5mil/yr? And believe that we're only offering him for his supposed Chinese connections? Has a player's value in the minds of fans drop so much so quickly? Pretty impressive I must say. Maybe this will convince Les to sign Lin, because people obviously care way too much about the guy.
