I have watched Tony Douglas for his entire career. He is a good on the ball defender because he likes to pressure the ball handler but he is not a good team or help defender. Offensively, he can't run a team and he is only useful if his 3 point shot is on. Lin is not as good as TD as a on-the-ball defender but he is better in all other areas. Even 3 point shooting is a toss up since TD lost his confidence in his shot last year after shoulder surgery. Do you believe that Lin is that much worse of a defender than TD that it negates all the other positives that Lin has over TD?? Sampson has shown me so far that he is a terrible in-game coach. He sits Asik in a critical situation where the Rockets need rebounding. He wastes timeouts because he can't get the right personnel on the floor AFTER calling a timeout. He sits his starting PG for the ENTIRE overtime period when Lin has been making plays all game on the offensive and defensive end. But go ahead, call me a troll. :grin:
I disagree with this as well...... I was also watching Knicks games last season (since "Linsanity" started) and Rockets games...... Douglas may look "more intense" defensively, but he's not a better defender, on the ball or help. Not even close. (I think Lin is one of the five best PGs defensively, in the league.) I think Sampson only sees plays were a player fails to stop his man, but overlooks plays where he succeeds. (This is why I hate the so-called "eye test".... My "eye test" looks for everything, and often disagrees with others' "eye tests", which only look for the failures.) I don't like rationalizing an indefensible coaching move, but the only thing I can think of that may have gotten Lin benched was not his defense (which I thought was miles better than Douglas), but the foul he committed late in the 4th quarter which many think should have been called "clear path". Had it been called "clear path", the Rockets would have been doomed in regulation. I personally hope this was the real reason why Sampson benched him. Even though I still think it was a moronic decision.
I agree. TD is just a flashy defender. Waving your arms around more doesn't necessarily mean you're better.
Whether Sampson had a racial bias or not ( he probably does but I won't go into that), he definitely thinks very little of Jeremy'a game. This showed in detroit game sayin that he thought TD was a better match up against the back pg in the worst team in the league. Because of his preconceived notion, no matter what Jeremy does he probably leaves it to fluke than Jeremy's actual skills. That is the only way to explain what sampson did last night. Despite most of u telling me to stop over-reacting after the Detroit game, I was fearful something like this would happen. The sad truth is Sampson probably still doesn't trust Lin much and this will certainly happen again in crucial moments. Jeremy definitely has a shorter leash than harden or even Douglas. The real question is does morey and les realize this. And if so, what are they doing about it to support Lin? I'm saddened that such a boneheaded coaching move ended up ruining my appreciation for rockets game last night.
I do believe that Lin is a much better overall defender than TD. I just believe TD is a better defender than Lin if you want to pressure and attack the handle of the opposing PG. That is all I meant.
Lin should've played that OT, those 11 assists weren't just filler for the box score. With how he played last night in addition to harden and asik, I'm excited for what's in store
Back to the Knicks last season, the only player who really did that well was Baron Davis...... I don't think TD does this better than Lin. So we'll live in disagreement here.
Right now the core is (supposed to be) Lin/Harden/Asik - and whoever's playing well from Chandler/PPat/Morris/Smith. If Douglas has somehow nailed five 3's in a row and caused all kinds of turnovers on D, yes, keep him in there - but when he hasn't - yank that scrub. Sampson didn't get the memo.
Looks like Rockets has no intention to use Lin as a PG. Why no trade him to Lakers to get an all-star. Hope Lin scored 20 pts amd 10 assis. Go Lin! I am sick of stupid Rockets coaches.
Actually, I think Shumpert was the best at that but he gambles too much and gets calls for fouls. But long as we both agreed that Lin should not be sitting the entire overtime for Douglas, I think we agree more than not.
http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterocke...-gets-a-taste-of-hectic-life-as-a-head-coach/ We should trade Lin. Sampson's instinct is to not play him.
Shumpert forced a lot of TOs defensively, but he also got his ankles broken too often. The "eye test" fails with him the other way. I contend that even with the Knicks, had Lin been merely an average defender, no way the Knicks go on that 7 game win streak with little Melo and no Stat. They took out both the Lakers and Dirk-led Mavs team during that streak. The biggest difference between Lin on the Knicks and Lin on the Rockets is he was getting FAR better screens with the Knicks. Often switched on other players as a result. (He was beating Shawn Marion one-on-one during that Mavs game.) The Rockets' biggest problem is the bigs don't set even decent screens (for anyone, not just Lin), and don't disrupt screens at the other end. (A good big would force the ball handler outside when a screen is set, preventing the option to drive.) I'll say this until I'm blue in the face. The Rockets are the worst screen setting team in the NBA, and until that changes, the shooting overall won't ever be good and consistent.
I am talking about pressuring and attacking a player's handle. Not just trying to stay in front of a player or funneling them to where your defense is. When you attack a player's handle and looking to steal the ball or cause a turnover, you will get your ankles broken from time to time or foul a player because you will be right in their face and taking away their personal space.