Oh I meant in terms of the people making those decisions--the coaching staff--not in terms of posters in this thread who are obsessed with either elevating or diminishing the talents of just one player. As in...is this enough for Sampson to get the memo? Will he hear the Calvin Murphy callout and realize how foolish he looks for leaving $30 million and one of the objectively best defensive point guards in the league on the bench during crunch time? I just want Kelvin Sampson to put the Rockets' best players out on the court when it counts. It seems really basic, but he cannot even be trusted to do that.
That is the $25M question... and for the life of me, I can't think of a single, legitimate, quantifiable reason WHY you would switch out a player who's getting 45% of your assists, 1/3 of your steals, 2/3 of your blocks for a player who is an inferior facilitator, inferior shooter, and inferior defensively in almost every measurable way for 5 full minutes of Overtime. That said, there were a handful of times that the Knicks would swap TD onto the court over Lin... it was usually for a SINGLE play (like a throw in or FT's) when they wanted ball pressure on ONE player. They would NEVER do it for an extended period, and that was when Lin's defense wasn't anywhere near as strong as it is this year.
i certainly wasn't claiming to have access to truth and disclaimed my post as a humble opinion of a pedestrian basketball fan. so "falsehoods" sounds a bit harsh. [/QUOTE] They already have enough solidly good plays to run an effective offense. We see them utilized quite effectively in games whenever the coaching staff actually let them go at it without interference. The coaching staff just appears to prefer the solidly bad plays instead whenever they get a chance to "impart instructions."[/QUOTE] will here i guess i will defer to you as i am not knowledgeable enough to always recognize when scores result from designed plays or just from the free flow of a game. but support for my opinion that this team is currently working with a limited palate of plays comes from mchale's comments to that effect, as well as an early interview with hardin, where he said they covered only few plays in practice (a lot less than what were covered in okc). i guess i just don't know what the usual percentage of points coming off plays and what comes from free flow (such as fast breaks). which reminds me... hasn't this coaching staff and players kept reiterating the need to get running on fb to win... [/QUOTE] I'm sorry, but when you are closing the 4th with a multiple possessions lead which your team offense has gotten you, and you end/lose the game with 5 straight Harden ISO plays which result in 4 Harden miss/TOs and 1 Lin miss off a Harden hockey pass, that is by coaching staff design/failure. [/QUOTE] yea, i'm not a fan of iso plays either! but i'd like to think these frustrating plays are more the result of inexperience, nerves and a shortage of designed plays for this team. here i really wish someone more knowledgeable can confirm the actual state of this team's playbook inventory and usage of plays during the game. [/QUOTE] If it wasn't then the coaches had better had called a timeout and chewed Harden out on the sidelines after the third straight Harden ISO resulting in miss/TOs. Harden is not a selfish player. Can't put that one on Harden. The coaching staff is 100% responsible for that one. [/QUOTE] yea they burned all those timeouts making substitutions. i am clueless as to why? [/QUOTE] Remember the previous Sampson interview where it was confirmed that Lin was supposed to hand it to Harden and go sit in a corner? Yeah, that one. Lin's shooting slump is on Lin (as much as it may be while being handcuffed), but his "lack of aggressiveness" is on the coaching staff. Being aggressive is his nature, minus the coaching instructions and chew-outs when he does go aggressive.[/QUOTE] as i posted i was wondering if lin is deferring and being less aggressive offensively in order to focus on other aspects of his game (especially ones he was criticized for last season), or maybe because his knee is not as as well as we all think.
I think Sampson wilted under the pressure and reverted to type. When the rockets had a lead near the end of the 4th he took Lin out and brought TD in, because he believes that TD is the better defender. When the Rockets have the lead Sampson has this wierd, 'protect the lead by defending mentality.' He takes Lin out, switches to Harden ISO's and puts in TD because of his 'superior D.' He did this at the end of the 2nd quarter too and we went from a 15 point lead to 6 points in 90 seconds after Lin came out of the game. Anyway, last few minutes of the 4th quarter, TD comes back in and immediately gets destroyed by Lillard (who, till now Lin had completely contained) So he takes TD out and brings Lin back in with a little over 4 minutes to go. Lillard is hot now and he scores a few more points. I don't think he scored more than 2 points because of poor defense by Lin. But Sampson panics, he second guesses himself. 'I knew TD was the better defender, I gotta put him back in, I should have trusted myself on that.' Now he's made his play and he's decided he's going to trust his (poor) judgement on TD's defensive abilities when compared to Lin. So he keeps him in the entire OT. If he swapped once more, people would have said that he didn't look like he knew what he was doing with constantly swapping Lin and TD in and out. So he made his call and stuck by his guns. Someone needs to show him Lin's defensive stats and synergy stats, because right now, Sampson's swimming all alone in an ocean of clueless.
i certainly wasn't claiming to have access to truth and disclaimed my post as a humble opinion of a pedestrian basketball fan. so "falsehoods" sounds a bit harsh. will here i guess i will defer to you as i am not knowledgeable enough to always recognize when scores result from designed plays or just from the free flow of a game. but support for my opinion that this team is currently working with a limited palate of plays comes from mchale's comments to that effect, as well as an early interview with hardin, where he said they covered only few plays in practice (a lot less than what were covered in okc). i guess i just don't know what the usual percentage of points coming off plays and what comes from free flow (such as fast breaks). which reminds me... hasn't this coaching staff and players kept reiterating the need to get running on fb to win... yea, i'm not a fan of iso plays either! but i'd like to think these frustrating plays are more the result of inexperience, nerves and a shortage of designed plays for this team. here i really wish someone more knowledgeable can confirm the actual state of this team's playbook inventory and usage of plays during the game. yea they burned all those timeouts making substitutions. i am clueless as to why? as i posted i was wondering if lin is deferring and being less aggressive offensively in order to focus on other aspects of his game (especially ones he was criticized for last season), or maybe because his knee is not as as well as we all think.
Too bad the Blazers can just go to Aldridge in the low post so he can shoot right over the 6'9" in shoes on a good day while standing up straight Patterson. Which is exactly what they did. On the theory that the best any Rocket can do anyway to stop Aldridge's 15-18 foot jumpers on the pick N pop, is get a hand in his face and hope he misses them, you need to at least get some beef, some legit size out there to defend the low block. Just some really...interesting...coaching decisions being made last night.
I don't buy the whole "a little bit better defensive matchup" excuse. Then why make Parsons switch on Lillard? It's all about Sampson trusting TD more during crunch time and believing that he's a better player. He showed signs of that when he put in TD longer than required previously and most of us brushed it off when he gave the excuse of a better matchup.
SO PiSSED I don't know how we, the fans, can stop things such as what happened last night from happening. Of course, I am talking about the AWFUL, STUPID, INEXPLICABLE decision to play TDouglas over Lin in the clutch minutes of the game. HOW can ANY coach decide to prefer Douglas over Lin where the following holds true: 1. Lin had 11, 11, 6, and 2blk <--> Douglas had 9pt at 2-10 (0-5 from 3), 1ast, 2reb 2. Lillard was KILLING everyone, including Parsons, and Rox were switching anyway! So the "D" reason makes zero sense 3. Lin won more games in the clutch in his short career than Douglas ever will, and I am willing to bet everything I have on that 4. OT is time for CLUTCH players, and players who can make PLAYS. JLin is BOTH, Douglas is NEITHER 5. Lin is the starting PG, and the face of the franchise... Douglas is what exactly? And YES, that matters TOO, because you are COUNTING on Lin to LEAD, but in crunch time, YOU PUT HIM ON THE BENCH? Are you IDIOTS? I can go on and on about why this decision was a game-losing decision, but I'll stop here... The thing that infuriates me no less is the fact that Sampson is quoted saying that "Both PGs played well" and that he "simply thought Douglas is a little better of a defensive matchup", and no official / semi-official Rox person calls this what it is, which is complete B*&^ SHI* Rox staff had better understand Lin should be on the floor in crunch time, or they will experience a major departing of both local and international fans of the Rox, who came in because of LIN, and who believe the Rox only have a chance to be great if they utilize Lin, and give him freedom to play. Lin Wins Games. JUST Let Him Play, like D'Antoni did in NY! Plain and simple!
If you see alot of Off the Ball movement, picks and screens, THOSE are designed plays. If you see players CALL for screens/picks, those are on the fly. Similarly, if you see a drive past defenders and kick to STATIONARY players, those are on the fly. If you see players gather to create a strong/weak side (stacking), those are designed plays. IF you see a player just DUMP the ball to Harden before reaching half-court, those are by Coach directive. They have VERY few plays in the playbook when it comes to Picks and Screens. They have SOME plays designed to get Asik into the lane, or Parsons into his shooting spots, and some plays to screen and pick for Harden. They have VERY few plays designed to set picks or screens for Lin. If you want to see what Actual NBA level offensive plays look like, here's a good link... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QK5yjAos7vI No idea. It makes ZERO sense to sub Lin in/out twice in 2 minutes. If Lin is deferring, it's because he's being instructed to defer. By his nature, Lin is an aggressive PG whether his shot is falling or not, whether his knee hurts or not. In NY, the ONLY times you saw him deferring was his first game against the Sacramento Kings when he stopped driving and switched to passing (13 assists), and the first 2 games after Melo returned (dumped the ball to Melo for alot of plays). Other than that, he always brought up the ball, orchestrated the offense, and took what the defense gave him, whether that was driving or passing. However, to be fair, ALOT of coaches misread Lin's game DURING the game. This is because Lin's play is NOT flashy. He doesn't do showtime dunks, he does tip ins. His assists are very efficient, not ballet like Rondo's fake behind the back type passes. Case in point... after the Laker's game during the Post-game interview, when asked about Lin's 38 points, D'Antoni admitted he had NO IDEA that Lin had scored 38... he thought he'd put up 15 or 20 points. The reason? Lin plays "within the offense". He doesn't do a ton of showy ISO, he doesn't do amazing above the rim play, and he doesn't make between the leg and behind the back passes. Lin just plays the most efficient way he can and the boxscores sort themselves out.
No no no, not the face. I agree with the rest of your rant, however, and would really like the Finch ere to begin.
There is a reason why D'Antoni did not want TD to play last year in New York. And, D'Antoni is much better coach than Sampson. LOL. Sampson is clueless as an NBA coach.
Question is will the Rockets front office change anything? Trade? Fire? something... just asking those who may know les/morey better than I do. Really strange how they built the season up like they did, especially with Jeremy Lin to see it playing out like it is. Strange.
thanks for the info and the link! so is it correct to assume that you're opinion lin's featuring less offensively is because of a lack of designed plays for him and/or coach mandate? if it's a coach decision what's your take on why?
It's one thing if he wanted to stay with TD to start the OT, but his decision to leave Jlin on the bench when it was clear TD was not playing well for the entire OT is something I still can't wrap my head around. Does he really think that lowly of Lin? Did he just dismiss his game up to that point as fluke? He obviously has no trust in or respect for Lin's abilities. People were saying I was overreacting when I admittedly went berserk about his decision to play TD over Lin for long stretches in the Detroit game. But I never trusted Sampson after what he said to justify his decision. But even I didn't see such blatant disregard coming. Just wow
Warriors fan here. Just check in from time to time to see how Lin is doing. I was surprised to see Lin give up the ball and run to the corner, just sitting there. It's the same offense the Warriors used to use when he was in. My thought was Lilliard doesn't need to expend any energy on D and would be fresh for late game play. Maybe this is a factor maybe it isn't. The other observation for me was the Warriors used to play Acie Law in favor of Lin. The Rockets version of Law is Toney Douglas. I did watch Lin more closely when he was a Knick and got to see Douglas play. He is a very nice young man but to me it's obvious that there is a major problem at backup PG. There's a major problem with coaching too if he plays during crunch time. I don't follow or even lurk on this site. I wish the Rockets well though.
