ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 12/8/2012

Also Parsons couldn't buy a 3 pointer and couldn't guard Mayo. Why did he play 42 minutes in a back to back game?

 

No worries, that was just my speculation; I could be wrong. I actually re-watched 3Q & 4Q and the paint was MUCH more open in 4Q. I was guessing Mavs going zone defense on Lin in 3Q made McHale go with TD in 4Q. TD definitely drew defender out further than Lin did.

I watched McHale's interview too but didn't quite buy the "TD in there for defense" reasoning. I mean, Mayo scored, what, 16 points in 4Q, not to mentioned the 11pt he scored in 1Q when TD was on the floor. If TD was in there for defense he wasn't doing a good job, not to mention TD wasn't on Mayo all the time. And since when does TD gets to guard the best scorer? Isn't that Parsons' job?

 

McHale said they tried several people because they couldn't stop him. Wild thought but why not try Lin on him? Nothing to lose.

 

or Harden?? Oh I forgot Harden won't play defense.

 

Again, purely my speculation. Stats show that Harden is less effective with Lin on the court than with him on the bench (understandably because 1. Lin's in a shooting slump, 2. both need the ball in their hands). I'm guessing the coach decided if they couldn't stop Mayo, they'd try outscoring the Mavs.

Don't get me wrong, I do NOT like the coach's decision. But FWIW, I honestly think once Lin finds his shots things will be fine. When defenders don't respect his shot, they protect the paint. I for one don't want to see him take so much contact in the paint. The 3 games he played well, Rox was shooting over 50% in 3's, and that was why he could attack the rim at will (due to the spacing).

My 2-cents.

 

Perfectly valid if the coaches think td plays better with harden. What I don't get is why they are so unwilling to let Lin run the second unit?

 

On this topic, McHale doesn't believe in Analytics OR advanced statistics.

As noted in THIS article...

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nb...le-isn-t-too-interested-sports-210615682.html

McHale is an old school coach. He is not a fan of advanced statistics or analytics in general. And he's not alone. There has been push back against Analytics in basketball for some time, unlike baseball where it has become widely accepted over the last decade.

Whether that's impacting McHale's line up decisions, and how much it's influencing his line up decisions, nobody knows...

 

I find it funny how when Lowry, Brooks and Dragic where here posters loved the idea of "earning" the job. The Rockets phylosophy has always "earn the job".

That's why then don't just start rookies and lose games. Morey wants to keep this franchise from becoming the Wizards. Lin hasn't earn **** in terms of basketball minutes from his play. I feel no pity for him. He's a pro so he have known that if he plays bad he won't get minutes.

Lin talked about his back being against the wall before Linsanity and that pushed his drive. Well here comes another challenge for you Jeremy. Go out and practice your ass off because you aren't the franchise player anymore.

 

I was thinking more about it and I think you may be right. I think McHale and Sampson were experimenting last night to show Les and Morey how expendable Lin is in this Harden offense. All Harden needs is shooters around him, he can run the offense himself fine. It almost worked or at least show them it can potentially work without needing Lin in this offense, just shooters are needed. The problem with this type of offense is that many teams will make adjustments defensively and also our players on the floor are terrible defenders. Will Morey and Les bite and make the move to trade Lin for shooter(s)? Dec. 15 is coming up so we'll see. I'm not sure about Asik, but with his offensive liabilities they might trade him along with Lin. They have several others C on the team like Aldrich and Smith who can finish around the rim better than Asik.

The sad part is that if the team had better and more dynamic coaches, they could create a system where Lin and Harden are playing off each other, which will take a lot of pressure off each other and at the same time make it harder for teams to defend. Unfortunately, we don't have those coaches unless McHale himself step down or at least nothing will be changed until the end of the season.

Of course this is pure speculation, but I do think that McHale and Sampson are bull****ting us that Toney is in there for defense. No, he is in there for OFFENSE, because Lin is not shooting as consistently, however with Toney in for offense our offense is very one dimensional, so they don't want to say that. If Toney was in there for defense, then they wouldn't be switching all the time, like how Carlos switched on Mayo several times or in the Portland OT, where Chandler switched on Lillard, Toney would be told to be on his man at all times.

These two coaches who keep stressing defense don't know what they are doing or the players are still learning. However, they don't seem to hold those who are bad at defense accountable. We rank really low for our defense.

 

Well said! Time for new coaching staffs.

 

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How the F did Toney earn more minutes over Lin in some of the games? Tell me that? In the Portland game Lin had a double double could go for a triple double in the OT. Last night's game he was playing well, but didn't play at all in the 4th quarter. So stop bull****ting about playing time.

 

why are you so obsessed with trading Asik & Lin for gasol? Will never happen. Gasol is damaged goods and is on the decline. Why would the youngest team in the NBA trade for a big that is on the decline and has maybe 2 more years in him, as a fading big for 2 in their prime and emerging young players??? Makes absolutely no sense.

Plus your proposed trade of Asik+Lin for Gasol would be a steal for the Lakers because they rid themselves of Gasol's albatross contract of $19 M per year for 2 years and get 2 players with tremendous upside while Pau is fading fast on his tendinitis knees.

Your reasoning that they MUST be traded because they sat out of the 4th is completely flawed as there were numerous reasons why they didn't get much time (Lin's defense, Omer was sick, McHale stubborn with substitutions.). You have to ask yourself if trading for Gasol even makes sense--and it doesn't. ONly reason to do it is to make the Rockets contenders FOR THIS YEAR and he definitely does not do that. So whats the point in trading away young, upstart assets for a huge contract that would make it difficult to sign another max player in the offseason--which WE NEED.

Sorry man, but your narrative is completely wrong.

 

LOL, best post of the day!

 

It seems to me that Morey needs to find a coaching staff who is committeed to developing our expensive young players. Sitting Lin and Asik would be fine if they didn't cost so much. But when they brought these players to be the foundation for the future, they need to stick to the plan and give them these minutes to learn and grow from. With Lin, it's obvious that his game is suffering largely due to sheer lack of confidence in a new system and a new role, and benching him for a pg who is CURRENTLY just a marginally better pg seems idiotic to me. Is it really worth it to sacrifice player development for an low playoff spot, which isn't even guaranteed? I thought McHale would have better approach than Sampson, but it looks like I was wrong. No McHale, you keep on saying Jeremy will be fine, but he won't as long as you continue to hinder his growth this way? Less than 20 min? Wow just wow.

 

Lin's defense He's statiscially better than Toney as a defender. They kept Lin out because of his offense. The problem for them is that Lin's offense last night was fine, he hit a couple of threes, so that's why they are using the Toney's a better defender/matchup than Lin as an excuse not to play Lin, so that on nights that he's fine offensively, they can use the defense excuse if they wanted to.

 

OK, I can't take you seriously now....

 

And I think this is tied to the fact that they are still figuring out how to play Lin with Harden. So they chose Harden over Lin, even when Lin's playing well, so people can stop with the he needs to earn playing time. Of course there will be nights he plays bad, but he has earned it in several games, but still was bench at the end of the game. It's the inconsistencies that I dislike and I feel sorry for him to have to go through this. To play well, but not know if you will play at the end.

 

I definitely agree with this. I keep hearing how TD gets minutes over Lin because he brings the ball up faster, but all I see is Douglas running as fast as he can towards the basket only to pull the ball out as defenders catch up. Though I do give him credit for learning to no longer force himself towards the basket.

At least with Lin his half court passing usually results in two easy points.

 

I just re-watched the 4th quarter and Delfino should not have played the whole 4th quarter. Delfino was 1-5 and with him playing, Harden had to guard Collison. Collison blew by Harden several times in the 4th breaking down our defense. Lin should have been in for Delfino to guard Collison, which would allowed Harden to guard Fisher, who was basically useless in the fourth.