I hope people are not still in knee-jerk mode and will seriously think about this before answering. So do you think this is the backcourt of the future, so both starting and good enough on both sides of the ball to be a good back court? I still think it's a YES and to me it's up to both the players (mentally, skill wise and teamwork) and the coaching staff to make them the best they can be together. It is still the beginning, both coming off great years and now asked to carry the team and be starters together. It takes time so we need to be very patient, I say very because we've seen this board explode already We've finally seen that Lin has it in him to carry a team, just like Harden did a couple of times. There do remain some questions that have to do with both the players and coaches whether both Lin & Harden can be at their best together long term. Right now I'm thinking of a few: Will the coaches recognise they need to have some more faith in Lin? Will Lin work on his confidence so he can be mentally ready to score 20-30 every night? - He proved last year he could do it, but I'm not sure if he can do it while deferring to Harden. Will Harden accept nights where he only takes 5-10 shots? Will the coaches allow that to happen? - Sampson didn't and said it's simply not an option to have your best player not take the most shots. So yes it can work, but there's some hurdles to overcome before it can become a great back court. If Francis & Cat could make it work, why shouldn't a Lin-Harden back court work for years to come?
I think so. What Lin has done...he's done a few times there. You don't continue to have big games like this by accident. They have a long way to go but yes I do feel like these two guys will be rockets for a long time. That's just my hunch, anything can happen though.
I hope so, but we need to see them both playing well together before any sound judgments can be made.
Agreed but I think even before playing well, I think the TEAM needs to get it's defensive chemistry working; missed rotations, miscommunications, brainfarts, stuff like that. I think the backcourt will sort itself out eventually; they're both too driven and unselfish team players not to.
This is Houston, if we were New York or LA then they would be the backcourt of the future. But, because we are Houston they never will be.
As much as I loved their heart and passion, the Francis and Mobley backcourt never worked and I'd be really worried if that was the same model we were looking forward to.
Francis and Mobley were both players who wanted the ball in their hands and were at their best when they created for themselves or for each other. That backcourt was far from perfect, but for two overdribbling, immature and at times selfish players, you cannot deny they made it work. In short, Harden & Lin are not your typical PG-SG tandem, just like Francis & Mobley weren't.
This is definitely not knee-jerk mode as you said. It's not just one random game. Let that sink in for a sec. It's the fact that it happened to be the first game that Lin was in control as the PG and Harden was out. This should be a glaring reminder that the coaching staff are not utilizing Lin and Harden correctly. It's not by coincedence or luck Lin went off for 38 in the game where Harden was out. I hope the coaching staff finally get this through their thick skulls.
We have different ideas of what "making it work" is. If you mean they were able to get by and barely make the playoffs a few times, then sure, they "made it work."
