I honestly do not think the point of a basketball game is to about popping up star player, it is about winning games. It is the coach job to get the best out of his players.
I mean does this quote even sound like the Mchale is trying to limit Lin like other posters are saying? Sounds to me like Lin just need to have this attitude on a consistent basis. Using TD was just to show that Mchale isn't holding Lin back or giving him the red light like what fans are claiming. "We keep on telling him to be aggressive and attack," McHale said. "Maybe he felt comfortable here in Madison Square Garden "I just said, 'Tonight, I'm going to be free and fun. I'm going to throw everything else out the window and enjoy the game,'" Lin said. "I think that was the biggest thing, just enjoying this game and nothing else." "Stay aggressive, be really aggressive -- that was my mindset coming in,"
This pretty much. This is McHale's system. I think he has had opportunities to shoot a lot of 3's. Honestly I hate it when players pass open wide open shots that really bugs me & Lin does that, so do a few other players as well Douglas, Patt, Parsons etc. It is selfish to pass open a open shot that your teammates created for you, that needs to stop. It is a fact that he hasn't had enough opportunities with the ball in his hands to run the high pnr. He is shooting more 3's than FTA. He is spot up shooting more than getting jumpers off the dribble. He is an inferior spot up shooter to James Harden & yet he spots up 3x more than he does. He isn't running the PNR nearly as much as he should, should be close to 50% like last year as opposed to 30% this year. He also should be situated on the left wing so that he can drive to his dominant right hand. At the same time though Lin deserves blame as well. He needs to learn better how to handle how teams play him defensively. He is also inconsistent, but then he is young so I am not really surprised. He also needs to improve his perimeter shooting & his left hand (although the he can't go left things is overplayed). He also needs to learn that even if his outside shots aren't falling he can still be aggressive. But at the same time it is hard to be aggressive when you aren't being put in the best position to be successful. All in all it depends on what school of thought you subscribe too. Some people feel that it is up to the players others believe it is the coaches. I have always felt that a player is only as good as a coach makes them to be. There are some NBA coaches that are just legitimately idiots & Keith Smart has to be at the top of the list. If you are being put in a position by the coaches to be successful & you aren't delivering that is on the player & vice versa.
the limit is the system. even when he isnt camping in the corner, he doesnt get as many screens as harden. being so reliant on the pnr, lin simply cannot create for himself like harden can. him being aggressive without the pnr is just bad basketball. lin knows this and so wont force anything. the only time where he is really hesitant and should not be is off the pnr where he picks up his dribble and pivots around looking for a way out. he gets into a lot of trouble in this situation. last year he would at least pivot, look, and shoot. doesnt always go in, but he tries to score. this season, he hasnt tried at all. in the future he has to practice maintaining his dribble and to develop a consistent floater/stop & pop. otherwise he will get abused by athletic bigs and his pnr is useless.
Lin does get screens, it's more that the Rockets don't have a good roller. Yesterday's game showed to me it's not the system rather his mindset. Is the system ideal for Lin? Probably not but does he have opportunities in this system? I think so.
Parsons is good, but Lin and Harden are at a whole other level. I cringe when Delfino pushes the ball. Same with TD. At least TD is more explosive to the rim or at least does not turn it over on the dribble. Delfino has definite PG envy.
Jason Friedman at the 14:00 mark lol http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/21419994/eye-on-basketball-podcast-jason-friedman-of-rocketscom
But Lin was handling the ball a lot more in yesterdays game than we was previously in most other games. People are never going to agree on this it seems lol. But I think we can all agree that thought that it is likely a combination of at least three things. How defenses are playing him, the coaching & his mindset. People & there personal preferences chose to emphasize one over the other but I think all three are equally valid.
yesterday he got more than usual. look at the past games. lin would get nothing, pass to harden, immediate screen... then look at vs SAS when he played the harden role, screen after screen after screen... its more than obvious they wont screen lin if the offense is centered around screening harden. that's why everyone is saying to stagger them. when they play together, they take turns or play whoever is hot. when one sits, there will always be the other to be the #1 option on the floor. never sit both simultaneously. and since their games are so similar, you can play the same way regardless of who has the ball. if lin has the ball, harden shouldnt look to iso, he should spot up. and likewise with lin.
no, it's his mindset. it's obvious to me the coaches are supporting him. and he should be aggressive no matter what because the defenses are focused on harden. this team needs Jlin to be aggressive to be good - we saw why last night.
Lin has to assert himself. he's the floor leader. Honestly, you guys have turned lin into a guy who can do know wrong when he is just a kid learning the game still.
you never answered the question. how can lin assert himself when the offensive set is to high pnr with harden? should he not pass and chuck? serious question. are you really saying he should play outside of the established system? a system centered around harden?
I think it is naive to say that it is one thing & one thing only. Basketball is a very complex sport a lot more complex than fans are aware. Just a few thoughts. And now we have reached the inevitable point in a lively discussion where people start putting words in other peoples mouths to prove there point. Great. Nobody ever said he is a perfect player or can do no wrong. Even the most biased, passionate Lin fanatic admits that he needs to be better. Just a few thoughts.
Because that one thing is so obvious and it's the truth. You don't have to be a basketball genius to figure it out. I don't know how much of the game you watch, but I've been playing, teaching, and following this game for over 30 years now. Some say soccer is the beautiful game. I say it's basketball. I see Lin play, and I see the weight he is carrying - and it's that wait that is hurting him. Last night, he let the weight go and played like a maestro. I knew before he scored that he was in the zone because you could see it in his face and body language. Lin has to play with that sort of swagger all the time. Dude, the coaches want that. That's why they left him in, that's his reward. Play aggressive and you stay in. Play hesitantly and in comes TD. So you can try to make this analysis and say it's 3 things or 5 things or whatever. But with Lin - it's one thing. And that it's all in his head.
Hah, Parsons does well too. Its one of the reasons i don't get the parsons hate. He does pretty much everything well, and I especially like the ball handling. But harden and Lin are on another level ( Lin more as a playmaker ). I think it was j r smith last night who got a lay u, harden gets the in bounds and beats them all down court for a lay up ( got fouled though ). He's done that in every game I have seen this year and he did it pretty often with okc.
