Screens - Asik - Asik (tried to give lin a screen but he went the other way)- Smith -Smith - Harden - Asik (faking the screen) - Harden (pins Smith but Lin drove the other way) All these are just on scoring plays as well. I'm sure he gets more.
Good point but flawed. Most of the "people" who feel that Lin has a glass ceiling are fans (or so called fans) and media. Former players, especially the HOFers like Magic Johnson, Willis Reed and Walt Frazier absolutely LOVE JLin. They came out during Linsanity and completely supported him and continue to do so today, even during his "slump". Forget the stats, listen to the guys who really know what a player looks like instead. Magic compared Lin to Nash/Stockton while Frazier (and Reed) compared Lin to himself. High praise indeed.
Asik is just better in the dotted area waiting for rebounds right now. Need someone else to run the pnr with - someone who can catch cleanly and make a strong move, pass or dribble once they get the ball - things Asik is not good at yet.
Those were from the Knicks games so yes he was getting screens as we said before the team was making a concentrated effort to get him involved. We will see if that was just for one game because he was back in NY or if that is a adjustment going forward. The spurs games he was getting a lot of screens set for him as well. But it hasn't been like it was in those two games in every game though. Congratulations on the bolded part. I am happy for you. And yes you "see" Lin play, but frankly I don't trust your eyes nor do I trust mine because we are often prone to confirmation bias, seeing what you want to see & the eye test is inherently flawed because we can't see everything. http://wagesofwins.com/2012/03/22/you-watch-the-games-so-what/ Also, facts disagree with much of what you are saying. So do other NBA bloggers. Just a few thoughts.
It's the which came first thing going on here the Chicken or the Egg. I say Lin was handling the ball more because he was being aggressive and his teammates were feeding off that. While you say it's because the coaches trust him with handling the ball unlike other games.
I don't have the games recorded or anything but from watching them live I notice Asik screens for Lin often. I'm sure the screens would come more often if Lin was more aggressive that's my hypothesis.
That is a great way to put it. It is very much a chicken vs egg scenario. But once again in the Knicks game Harden was specifically yelling get the ball to Jeremy. Even team-mates said that we wanted to get this game for Lin & Tony. Based on that conclusion would it not be safe to say that it was the latter as opposed to the former? I think the coaches trusted him because he was back in NY & also because the Knicks PNR & transition defense is abysmal. Against a better defensive team I doubt they would have done the same.
Sweet Lou thinks this is junior basketball where the coach says, "try hard, hustle, and be aggressive, and good things will happen!". You think Lin wants to score 9 points and have 4 assists vs 22 pts and 8? He just has to "want it more"? You've been watching too many sports movies. Let me spell this out. Especially since many here think it's enough to say "Stay aggressive" -- not nearly specific enough. So I'll spell out what needs to be said. This is for the sake of the Rockets, McHale, and Lin (in that order). McHale has to say this to the team, and it's better that he not deviate even one word: "Guys, kudos to you for overachieving and doing much better than what anyone realistically predicted. But even though we're young, I think we can do far more and be far better than we've been. We're giving some of the best teams in the league all they can handle. As we need everyone to step up, I want to go with this for now. Every defensive rebound, every inbouds, the first option is Jeremy. Look for him first. Next, when Jeremy has the ball, look to make cuts to the basket. Beard, you will be Jeremy's first option, but it will be Jeremy's decision. Look to push the ball up, play even more up tempo than we've been, and I don't think anyone can handle us. Let's go."
The offense as a whole looked different last night ( except for a few points in the 2nd half where it gt bogged down with harden iso ). Granted I have only watched 3 complete games, but it was nothing like last night. And I'm not only talking about the Jeremy Lin aspect. Whether it was a coaching decision or Lin, I really can't say. None of us can. But it did "seem" like the focus was completely on harden, and Lin was definitely relegated to being a spot up shooter the overwhelming majority of the time. You can't really deny that. If the coaches had a problem with Lin playing that way, you would think it would have been fixed after a game or so. Douglas played the same as well next to harden difference is, he is better as a spot up shooter
There is no simple easy answer for Lin's issues this year. I believe it is a combination of a lot of things: - Lin getting confidence and explosiveness back in his knee - Finding his role in an offense centered around Harden who's strengths are similar to Lin - Handling the burden of his expectations and those around him and proving he is not a fluke or joke - Has trouble getting into rhythm when he doesn't have the ball in his hands as much - Opposing PGs gunning for Lin - Adjusting to a life of being a public figure - Getting over getting dumped for the 3rd time by the Knicks even though Linsanity happened with that team. This is a lot to handle for a young player who hasn't established himself in the NBA yet. I bet Lin surprised himself with Linsanity so it must of been stressful for him to come into this season recovering from knee surgery and wanting to prove to himself and everybody else that he is for real. I think now that Lin has a few good games under his belt and the whole Knicks fiasco in the rearview mirror, Lin can relax and just play. Last season, I was amazed how quickly Lin was learning and improving in just 26 starts. I expect similar improvement from Lin this season.
No because of this quote: "We keep on telling him to be aggressive and attack," McHale said. "Maybe he felt comfortable here in Madison Square Garden" Sounds to me McHale always wanted Lin to play this way. Lin himself said he tried to be aggressive. Hence why I don't think it's a sudden "trust".
harden and his 3s won this game for us. lets not make light of this. and guess who assisted him for the second one? yep. that's the dynamic that i can see the rox have. harden is a beast and you can always rely on him to be aggressive/confident. lin is more fickle and so we need to have him play well early. lin with the ball just distracts the defense away from harden. he should cut more and not have to rely on crossing over from iso to get to the basket...
This quote is funny to me though because one of the ways Lin would be a lot more aggressive is if they positioned him on the left wing & let him drive to his dominant right hand. James Harden having a dominant left hand makes this simple adjustment even that much easier. It was like this in the first two Rockets games as well. McHale said 5 games ago that he would start working on that, haven't seen it being done consistently enough. They want Lin to be more aggressive & yet the coaches aren't positioning him more to go to his strong hand?
Someone else posted on this board earlier about Tony Parkers comments on Lin, and I think he summed it up best when talking about Lin: "At the same time, I had to learn the point guard position and when to score, when to pass and try to find that happy middle, find the balance. I think Jeremy Lin is at that point. He’s trying to find his position on the team. And he needs to fit with another guy who is very aggressive with James Harden. I had to do the same thing when I had Manu Ginobili being super aggressive. You have to find your spots. He will.” Lin needs to hit his shots and pick the right time and spots as well. With Harden around he obviously should be racking up dimes, but its also balancing out when Harden will get times to drive and dish himself. Their still learning 1/4 of the way through their first season. Just give it time, things will figure themselves out.
And of course Earl Monroe. ie. one-half of the Frazier-Monroe 'Rolls Royce backcourt' of two facilitators... Which is funny, because: You figure they would know... especially since Monroe and Frazier was also questioned about if they could mesh on-court, "People said we'd need two basketballs".
If Lin jacks up shots thus staying "aggressive" you're making the same mistake the coaches made thus far and you would have seen the same Jeremy that we've seen until now in Houston! That is not his proper role! He should play as a pg, a pnr pg, if you want ion to succeed and thereby have our team succeed. If you want to see the jacking ip dumb shots thereby looking aggressive bit, you may as well continue to have TD out there. Or better yet, Delfino
Yes, that quote was stated at the time NY traded for Monroe. So it was speculation. And secondly, it was fan/media speculation at that. It was "people" who were saying that, not the NY coaches and certainly not the players. Clyde and Pearl respected each other and were able to successfully mesh their games.
Arghhhh. The shots you are asking him to "take" to be aggressive are spot-up 3s swung his way or a dead 1-on-4 blind rage drive. That is not how we should utilize Lin! He ain't Jordan, for crying out loud. You have to set the offensive set, player movement, according to the strengths of the players, for them to succeed. You don't marginalize your pg, then look at him and say "but be aggressive, yeah?" Come on man, it seems that you would've coached the same way as McHale did, and you would also have probably have scratched your head wondering why the hell Jeremy wasn't "aggressive" more often, blaming his youth, Orientalness, cowardice, or whatever. Not realizing its the coaches duty to put the pieces in the right places. Lin is a PG, let him play PG. You're asking him to be a shooting guard.
