ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Hornets 10/24/2012 (PRESEASON)

Greg Smith keeps surprising me. Everytime I see a box score when he's played, he's 5-5 or 4-4 tonight. Hope we keep him.

 

it will update when the season starts

 

Yeah well, "it's only pre-season", ring a bell?

 

No this is definitely fair. We shall see.

But honestly his defense has been really good particularly this game. And his ability to run the offense that Martin wide open lay up play was nice (lin to omer to martin), McHale runs some good plays. I can't be too mad at a player who is running a really nice office & is hustling on defense & grabbing boards.

But he needs to get his shot back because that is going to make it harder on his teammates to score & will affect floor spacing.

Once again it is pre-season, the same reason why people question Lin is because of small sample size & yet some are using an even smaller sample size to make judgements. A little bit laughable.

And that Asia tour comment (whoever made it) was nonsense, he was playing 5 hours of basketball a day this summer. Players have lives too. He can play basketball in Asia just as well as he can in the US. You would be surprised how very few players work hard in the off-season, Lin definitely does.

 

parker shoots close to 50%, is he a good shooter? no.

i'm talking about his shooting coach that taught him that elbow shooting stroke. the movement is too big and noticeable

 

I'm slightly worried about the sophomore slump as well. But I think he'll be fine as his game is not solely predicated on his jumpshots. We'll see what he's made of, and see if he can get over his shooting slump.

I don't like KMart looking Lin off and Lin not taking the lead on offense. He's got to earn the respect of his teammates more OR demand the ball and go get the respect the point needs to be the clear offensive leader.

I still believe this team can win games. The defense is showing promise. The haters and tankers on this board be damned, we playoff-bound

 

hopefully he will get more rebounds

 

Excellent post. Agreed in its entirety.

 

Lin clearly is NO LONGER looking for his shot. I don't know why. I don't know why he is deferring to his teammates so much. I gotta believe McHale has something to do with that. Lin needs to FEEL like he is the primary option in order to get going. His shots around the basket are awful, just throwing it up for grabs.

HE needs to fire his "Shooting Coach" because that guy told us he was going to have a great year shooting.

 

Asik is like the Cookie Monster. Me see Cookie. Me want Cookie! Gimme Cookie!

This guy is gonna be around for a while I tell ya. I don't think we need an elite center just yet. We may of found one who eats basketballs. Well, when Terrance Jones isn't anyway.
I think a really decent backup would solve the center situation easily.

I luv being the Underdog this year, every game we steal will be sweeter. And steals will be a ++ for us i feel.

Go Baby Rockets! Yes and you to Kevin.

 

Response

I noticed from the first preseason game that Lin was not going to be scoring 16 points per game. In fact, when I said I do not think Lin could score more than 12 points per game, some Lin fans said I was trolling. Now, I just want to see him break 10 points per game. I do think he is capable of getting more than 8 assists per game if they set better picks for him.

 

Actually, he practiced very diligently during his Asia tour, sometimes hitting the gym just merely hour or 2 after a long flight. I recalled the spokesperson for his Chinese marketing team said Lin wasn't picky about anything (lodging, amenities, food, etc.), except for his practice schedule & facility.

Also, his shooting coach actually lauded his improved shooting, saying his worst days this offseason was better than his best days the previous offseason. It's really puzzling why his offensive game was so bad this preseason. Perhaps he's mentally bothered by his knee?

 

He says that and I also don't think you watched it, cuz he clearly was a VERY DISRUPTIVE FORCE out there. If you don't see that that kind of defense is what wins games, you have no idea how basketball is played and you'll never figure out how we've been winning, other than to say ummmm we were playing bad teams, this is just preseason...

When we start winning in the regular season, try to watch the games without drinking too much of the haterade.

 

Response

In fairness to Rondo, even he gets more than 10 points a game.

 

He is mentally bothered by his knee, no doubt.

He is deferring to KMART because he feels this is HIS team and he's not comfortable being the face of the franchise.

McHale is telling him to give up the rock.

His teammates don't trust his shooting (can't blame them) and are now looking him off.

Self-induced pressure is affecting him. He is "hiding" on the outside. And he is thinking "please go through, please go through" when he throws up a shot...

It may take more than the preseason to get him out of his funk. It may take a month or two of real competition.

 

I see two problems. Lin doesn't have the first step he had last year. Doesn't seem to cut very well and seems to lose his footing very easily, which might be a reflection of his knee.

The other problem is mental. He's obviously lost his confidence and as a result tries to force drives to the rack even when his defender sags off of him. There's a ton of pressure on him now where he's expected to play up to his contract and everyone is gunning for him. Last year, any production he gave outweighed the cost of his minimum contract. I hope he takes a page of of Big Shot Rob's book and just remember that basketball is just a game so there's no pressure to shoot.

 

Jeremy Lin is simply just not that good. The "Linsanity" run is just a fluke, as I suspected. I think Jeremy Lin should just be a 2nd stringer. He's not a NBA starter.

 

Yes let's speculate and armchair psycho-analyze from afar... Hey maybe his hamster died earlier tonight and he was too distraught to play. No information saying otherwise so it must be true. If I repeat it 10 more times, does it become more true??

 

While I am cautiously hopeful about Lin's shot returning in real games, like you, I'm doubtful it's gonna flip on just like that. This problem is probably going to bleed into the regular season.

 

No. We need KMart out there right now. Lin just has to earn it or demand it and prove it. KMart is doing what he feels is best right now and that is to score by himself if necessary. Doing well at it at that. He's playmaking "attempts" on the other hand....