ClutchFans Game Thread: Hornets @ Rockets 10/12/2012 (PRESEASON)

LOL.... Lopez was probably cursed in 6 different languages and 13 dialects.

Lin was cool about the foul and said it didn't hurt much, glad to get the FTs

 

I think he's using the preseason to learn how to work with his new teammates and his own decision-making. The latter was one thing he mentioned he wanted to improve. I don't think he wants to go all out in penetration with a knee not quite 100%. However, I'm a bit disappointed that his outside shots haven't been falling. Where is the shooting improvement his shooting coach talked about?

 

And when he shoots instead of passing, he's not a true point guard

I like that he's using these pre-season games to practice making plays for his teammates and getting into each other's head.

 

name those languages & dialects other than mandarin & english.Start rit now

 

You say you're not being unfairly critical of Lin, yet when someone points out both his strengths and weaknesses you highlight the criticism and say "I agree"?

Maybe you're being unintentionally biased. And this is coming from a neutral fan.

 

Yeah, last season, people called him a "shoot first PG" as a criticism. Now he's passing first, he's criticized for not shooting enough. People need to make up their mind.

 

Well, they have to complain about something.

 

Lin's 2-6 FGA/FGM tonight was unimpressive, but he got to the line and shot 6 FT in 23 min, which is equivalent to 9 FT per 36 -- how is that 'average'? I have no idea what some of you are looking at.

Among players with 25+ mpg, Lin was #3 among all guards with 7.8 FTA per 40. He was #1 in that category among all PGs. To give a sense of how Lin drew a foul when he shot the ball, his FTA/FGA was .48, which was #3 among all guards (James Harden was #1 with .59), and #6 including ALL positions (the top places were held by Tyson Chandler and Dwight Howard). And he got to the line tonight too. Some ppl here don't seem to appreciate how huge it is to be able to get to the line consistently like that.

 

Spanish, French, Cantonese, Pekingnese, Shanghainese, Hakkanese, Tagalog, Portugese... lol...

 

I think people know. DMorey's mentioned it a couple times too.

I just don't want this thread to turn into an all Lin thing. It always gets ugly.

 

9 points out of 6 FGA means 75% True Shooting % (9/12) right? That's very high efficiency. FTs are not sexy, but they can win games.

 

I mixed up per game stats with per 40 stats. Fixed.

 

A lot to like from what I saw today. Whoever said Jones doesn't have a NBA body is mistaken. The first thing about Jones that surprised me was that his voice is so soft he sounds like precisely what he is a child. But his body doesn't look it he looks like a man. Man child to be exact. I agree that the starting spot is Ppatt's to lose. I'd rather Jones got it because he outplayed him not because Ppatt started to regress & we had to start Jones. I really wan't to see Royce play hopefully we get to see it Sunday against the Spurs. Also hopefully Lamb is better as well. Omer is a monster. I loved him in Chicago & I love him even more as a Rocket can't wait to see him play against Noah & the Bulls. Parsons has really come into his own even more. He is being a lot more aggressive I love what I have been seeing from him. Martin was good also everybody talking about getting rid of him is mistaken I think we are going to really need him this season offensively & to keep the defense honest. I was stocked to see D-mo really get into the flow of things. He is a good passer & i think there will be a period of transition for him but I was encouraged by him towards the end. Finally Lin. I think he played great to be honest. There has been a lot of improvement thus far from last season in regards to his play. Namely, his transition play has improved a lot, last year in transition he was terrible because he was turning the ball over a ton and all the times he ran the fast break I was waiting for him to turn it over and he didn't. The same goes with the first pre-season game. Lin has been out there making plays, getting guys involved, moving the ball & playing well with Omer. Everybody in the NBA knows he can score, by him moving the ball & just being a floor general but scoring just enough to keep the defense honest that is key. I always disagreed with the notion that Lin was a scoring pg, I think he is a great scorer but his ability to set teammates for high percentage shots is remarkably underrated. He didn't attempt any 3's tonight I am curious to see if he has his range back. Also, he went 2-6 from the field but he had the common sense to see that when his shot wasn't falling move the ball & get to the line. A lot of other PG's would just keep chucking. Also, what I liked from his was that when the opposing team went on a 7-0 run he immediately made something happen to end that run so that the Rockets can score. I can't remember what team I was watching a few days ago but the one team went on a 14-0 run & the opposing teams PG did nothing to take control of the game. That is not a good look. Anyway it is just pre-season want to see how everybody does in meaningful games. But what I saw was encouraging.

 

An aggresive critic is always looking for a bone in an egg.

 

Exactly. Lin is not going balls to wall right now for obvious reasons it's still early in the pre-season I'm surprised some people are expecting him to play as if it's regular season why should he go all out and risk injury? I believe he will step up his game once the regular season starts.

He doesn't have to try to make a name for himself right now like he did all of last year he's pretty much guaranteed the starting PG position, now's the perfect time for him to try to get to know his teammates better by distributing the ball to them. 2-6 who cares? He gets to the line when it counts and he's making good assists as well.

 

Nope not how TS% work

its 53% for Lin tonight which is decent

anyway, too small of a sample size, great he got to the line despite going 2/6 from the field.

 

52 TS%

 

The reason I posted that is bc I think the whole 'true PG or not' discussion is rather silly, as it narrowly defines what is worth paying attention to, at the expense of important aspects of a player's game. Just bc the lameass announcers are using terms like pure and true PG doesn't mean we have to talk about PGs in those terms. Let's move past Clyde Drexler level of analysis.

 

Good recap, roxxy. You are spot on about Lin in transition. He made good decisions and showed great court vision despite what some offseason articles said.

His chemistry with KMart and Parsons was awesome.

And when we need him to score, he will.

 

That's funny it's usually the other way around, you play team ball and your openings will come. Some people will never be satisfied, If he shoots like crazy then he's a hog and needs to get his teammates more involved.

Personally, I think he's gelling with the team at the right pace as others have mentioned he's deferring to the more "experienced" players on the team and taking this opportunity to get to know them better on the court. You don't do that by imposing your own game, especially at this stage.

Lin seems to be the type of guy that doesn't care how many or little shots he takes as long as the team is playing well and winning.