lol. But of course, Felton and everyone is playing so much better. Another tidibt for confirmed bias. Lin "feels" like he gets more TOs and "looks" like he misses more shots, and "seems" like he should be too slow to play defense, but in reality, his shooting % is better than TDs in our team, Harden has got more TOs on our team, and Lin's D has been excellent save a few brian lapses here and there. But I've seen the same lapses in MJ, Kobe, Rondo, Payton, etc. In fact, you know whose D, Lin's D reminds me of, although not on the same level yet.... Artest.
Btw, just for some overall perspective, it's not just Lin and Harden don't get many screens, the entire team in general doesn't run many screens. Per synergy, the Houston Rockets are 27th in the NBA in the number of plays run off screens (2.7%), however we do execute the 2nd most off the PnR ball handler (Lin, Parsons or Harden), and the 15th most from our PnR roll man (Asik/Smith). By contrast, the Spurs run 5.6% of their plays off screens, the 2nd most screens used in the NBA (coincidentally tied with the Knicks in terms of the sheer number of screens run).
Offensive Scheme: The offensive scheme for Lin did changed. He cut to the basket more often, and he got more off ball screens. A bit like how Spurs utilize Ginobili. Good but not great: Although Lin was able to fill up the stats sheet last night, it seemed to me that he was walking on a wire. And, he was lucky to end the game with 4 TOs only. I won't say I'm fair, but I'm not a LOF or LOH. Most of my judgement is based on my own opinion and eye test.
Lin is shooting around 40%, but have anyone take a closer look at Lin plays of late? I think it's trending up. I think he is shooting around 45% or so last 10-15 games. That's an improvement.
What's an NBA Blogger? I use to write articles for InHoops now defunct. Does that make me anything? No. What's an NBA Blogger? Just someone who writes about the NBA every day and has league pass. Dude. That's it. JLin will be fine. I know this because he's learning to be more aggressive. You guys will say the coaches changed. Or his teammates changed. Or whatever changed. Fine. Believe whatever you want. It doesn't matter. NBA Bloggers will say JLin finally adjusted. Truth is, he finally got some moxy and started playing. Let's hope he keeps it for the next game now.
Maybe a bit of a stretch. I knew it may get a rise of some.. lol 1) When a man passes you, most players tend to try and chase them down for a block or what have you. Artest with his ridiculous arms always used to knock the ball out from behind. It's an odd angle that most do not think of getting a steal from, but I've seen it so often. Lin does that, but not with length but rather foot speed. 2) Great mechanics in terms of guarding a shot. Lin places his hands where the player would have to bring the ball up to in order to shoot, thereby stopping a shot from even being taken or getting a jump ball. Just great anticipation and hand speed. I've seen Artest do this many a times and even after he got to L.A., even back in Indiana. 3) Disrupting the passing lane. Just great anticipation that a few players just have. I think many of us have seen Artest just dominate games defensively. He destroyed several teams just with his defense. It was a joy to see. Lin will not be that dominant. But who is? What I do know is, Lin is completely underrated and unfairly typecast as a slow-footed, unathetic poor defender, when in reality he is often a game changer on the defensive end. He really is. A big, big, plus on the defensive end. Yes, he has a penchant for helping too much, but he's cutting down on it, and aggressive help d is not always as bad as it sometimes looks. Just food for thought, not a real comparison. I love Artest's D more than anything.
I think both... Both JLin and the scheme have adjusted. Stephen A. Smith is an example of an NBA Blogger.
No doubt, Lin needs to play more like he's a grown-ass man, but I don't know how many times I've heard people say of Lin's play last year, "Dang. Look at those gigantic gorilla balls on that there dude." Noone has doubted that in his career and all of a sudden he's a wallflower? So, he's quiet and has no leadership. He's too slow to be a defensive player. He's too timid and passive. I remember Duncan used to get similar criticism back in the days before their championship runs.
Last year he was riding his juices and was feeling it. He lost that groove. The thing is he is really young, and coming from an IVY league it's intimidating to play in the NBA when that's not where ivy leaguers go to play and start. I am a big JLin fan - I think he's going to be a better pg than Kyle Lowery because he is a far superior passer. And Dragic might be quicker but that's it. JLin is the real thing. But I am not going to blame the coaching staff for his failures, not the system, nor his teammates. That's b.s. JLin has played passively all year for the most part. He can't just turn the jets on when Harden is out or when he has a homecoming and feels good. He's got to go it all the time. Thats on him. If he plays aggressively and then has problems with the coaches yelling at him or holding him back, then come back here and talk. But until them, it's the NBA baby - he's up to him to step up and reach his potential. Nobody else. As for all the other criticism about his skills and such, he's young and inexperienced...so all of that will evolve on it's own with time. He's a unique player but to be an elite player - a true star - he's got to learn how to make a spot up jumper. No rings until then for anyone.
Please do not encourage Lou. The above is all he has posted about for days -- basically, "Lin should play more aggressive". Never mind that a player also looks more aggressive when they're playing better. What coach would tell any player to play passive? So saying that the coach is not telling Lin to be passive is the same as praising the coach for telling a team to try to win. How exactly is he going to be aggressive if he doesn't get the ball or he's told to give the ball to Harden most of the time? No details from Lou. If you want reason and analysis that requires logic and actual work, look at torcan's posts. If you want "Lin needs to play aggressive" without putting any actual work into his reasoning or looking at data (basically lazy posts), look at Lou's posts. Let me give you some advice like you're giving Lin. Put some actual work into your "game".
I was at the game at MSG and I also noticed he didn't get credit for the half court lob pass to Parsons. Maybe some home cooking of the books?
I dunno about felton but the other guys listed ARE playing so much better. Lin save like 4 games has been a horrible starter. Though players like dwill and westbrook have been having shooting problems, they have contirbuted a lot more than lin has. Lin's d is good, (not bad like people say and not great like others). He has active hands and closes out well. But he is horrible fighting through screens and has bad recovery time after being beaten off the dribble, making a play for the steal or through a screen. The thing with Lin's low fg% that worries me is that it is not due to poor selection like jennings. Lin misses so many shots near the basket that its not funny (there must be a stat that compliments this observation). As an nba player, he Needs to be able to convert on a high percentage of those teardrops.
Score keepers were just sleeping on fastbreak outlets. They couldn't keep it up. The moment after they saw a big man rebounds, Parsons got the dunk. So it must have been Omer. This has happened before, to Lin, and others. Box scores are not reliable anyways. Teams chart their own stats.
The biggest thing that annoys me with LOF or most 2012's is that they say Lin isnt getting the ball. He is a freaking point guard. He gets the ball on almost every play but chooses to pass to harden so early in the clock. Yes, perhaps plays are designed to get harden touches but this is obviously due to lin being pasive. I see a lot when harden just passes the ball right back to lin in order to say "get yours now". Lin obviously wants to be a team payer, but elite pg's know when to choose their spots and lin hopefully wil be able to develop that.
