I've given morey props on acquiring players, so I've got to be fair and ding him for pulling a dumbbrook by hiring mchale and letting him bring these goons in. Rockets fans, get ready to SUFFER.
Jeremy Lin with only 3 blocks, including 1 on Lebron at 5 minutes. Damn he needs 30, BLOCKMASTER LIN!
LOL! Lin's D has been incredible. But he's a great TWO way player, not an Asian backcourt version of Asik.
I think this is a good quality thread (non-knee-jerk style) and should be kept it alive and on the first page as we continue to evaluate team's most popular player Lin's performance as games go on.
If nobody comments on this thread, then it will be out of the first page and soon to be forgotten. That's why Lin fans should come to this thread more often instead of going to that joke thread. I will be here to keep the thread live, hope you too. :grin:
Do you not know you need to read other people's conversation before you comment them? BTW, using extra extra large and bold fond does not make your point more correct.
It seems that staggering play time of Lin & Harden is gaining momentum and even coach Sampson is considering it (clutch fans are always right when it comes to suggestions :grin. From team reporter Jason's latest piece: "Regular readers of ESPN.com’s superb NBA Insider John Hollinger hopefully took note of his excellent work this week revisiting the deal that brought James Harden to Houston. Within that piece, Hollinger raised the idea of potentially staggering the minutes of Jeremy Lin and James Harden, allowing each to get more time as the team’s primary playmaker since both players are currently better and more effective when the ball is in their hands. The basic theory behind the concept is sound, though it does come with a pair of caveats: A.) With Delfino out (and now Parsons), the Rockets have been perilously thin at the wing position, which obviously limits the amount of lineup tinkering the Rockets are able to do. And B.) There’s also merit to the idea that, big picture, both Lin and Harden will benefit enormously by working their way through whatever growing pains exist. Both players need to get better playing off the ball; something that takes time, repetition, trial and error. Also, the biggest thing holding the pairing back thus far has been Lin’s struggles in spot-up situations, something he’s working tirelessly to improve upon and something that, at the very least, should eventually fall closer in line to his historical norms in that area. That is to say: Lin might not be a knockdown, deadeye shooter at this point in his career, but he’s much better than he’s shown thus far. All that having been said, the staggered minute suggestion is something Sampson has toyed with and, assuming a fully healthy roster, something fans might see more of in the near future as well. “In an ideal world, maybe we take (Harden) out in the first rotation so he can go back to being on the floor with our second unit,” said Sampson. “That’s something we’ve got to really look at is making sure we know who’s going to be on the floor. The other night it didn’t matter because we didn’t have our normal bench but if Chandler’s healthy and Carlos is healthy then I think … our bench can be an asset for us. “Moving James out first and letting Jeremy play with Carlos and Chandler, then when we put Toney back in, Toney goes in with James – that’s something that we’re looking at. In running and coaching a team, you’re always looking at different ways of maximizing the strengths of who you have on the floor.” http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/news-and-notes-chasing-rabbits
the OKC game was a perfect litmus test for objectivity on JL's game. if you say JL played great, you're wrong--he should have been more (albeit not much more) aggressive with his attack especially in the first half. in general he did take what the defense gave him--westbrook never left him to help in contrast to past games where the person guarding him leaves him to help. also, per usual he's doubled every time on the pick n roll. but he showed in the second half that aggression doesn't always mean heaving shots. it means driving and then maybe making the right pass. he played great for most of the second half. on the other hand, if you say he played poorly, you fail the litmus test completely. you are a box score slave and don't actually WATCH the actual game. lin played EXCELLENT defense on westbrook--not just good--EXCELLENT. westbrook is one of the best and you're not going to keep a lid on him 100% of the time, but JL did as well as anybody in staying in front him, pushing him towards his help, and stripping him when he gets wild. he forced westbrook into turning the ball over several times. OKC ripped the rockets, but westbrook didn't. durant and ibaka did. if ANYONE deserves to be ripped this particular game, it's not JL--it's harden, and that's just being 100% real. i'm not blaming anyone on the rox for this game though, two flights, back to back, western conference champs at home, coach's daughter's funeral...give em a pass.
You don't have too many words in your vocabularies, do you? Besides calling others troll, do you ever contribute anything to the discussion?
The strength of this Rockets team is in the backcourt. Pretty soon every team around the league will try to replicate OKC's strategy and they will send double team at both of our guards at mid-court. Without Lin or Harden to facilitate the offense, Houston will be struggling to score. Fortunately, not too many teams are as athletic as OKC. We really could use a lowpost player to take pressure away from our guards.
Pretty much. The guards could learn how to pass out of the double team & whoever they pass to needs to learn how to make the next pass that leads to a bucket. It is a team thing that will have to be figured out.
In respond to Chris Ballard's SI article that Lin is working to reduce the arc on his shots, Doc Scheppler who has been Lin's shooting coach replied: "Chris. It's not a "new" shot. It's just reinforcing what we worked on last year. His arc should be 45 degrees and the rotation should be tight and synmetrical. When he shoots the ball in this manner, he is a great shooter. For example it'll be fun for you to watch the ball flight of his shots last year. When he shoots with confidence there's a nice confident, assertive wrist snap. When he's wishing the ball, his arc gets higher and the result is a short miss... I want him to get back to shooting with out care and to believe in his shot." Doc Scheppler http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...rden-daryl-morey/index.html?eref=twitter_feed So, I guess Lin's shooting problem is more of a confidence issue as many fans suspected than an actual shooting technique issue. A sigh of relief ?
Yeah, Harden can't guard KD -- needed Parsons for that. I'm surprised at Lin's defense to be honest. I guess I heard "Felton/Lowry/Westbrook is going to destroy him" too many times. He's held his own in these marque matchups so far. Curious to see how he does against some smarter pgs.
Today's game vs Jazz, Lin played really good and efficient with only 2 TOs. Hopefully he can keep it up. Still needs to finish better around the rim . He needs to pay attention to the 3pt line when he shoots 3s. So many times his foot was on the line and got only 2 pts. Last season against Lakers the shot over Pau Gasol was a 2 cuz his foot was about half inch on the line. Lin can be reckless sometimes. Somebody needs to tell him!
