what does Dwill and Westbrook contribute other than scoring? Dwill can pass, sure but he can't really penetrate so if his shots aren't falling, that makes it even harder for him to penetrate, thus taking his assist numbers down too. Westbrook can penetrate but can't really pass. so if he's having an off night shooting, he's pretty much worthless. don't really agree with your other points either..
really? LOF's aren't complaining about not getting the ball. they are saying the ball should run through him as it should.. he's a point guard. y
This, Lin misses a lot of relative easy shots and open jumpers. Guys like CP3 take jump shots with 2 guys hanging off his sack.
really? LOF's aren't complaining about Lin not getting the ball. they are saying the ball should run through him as it should.. he's a point guard. he's the floor general and the plays should include high screens and picks to get him going towards the rim so that he can make plays for himself and others. you are also saying that Lin chooses to pass the ball to Harden for some reason as to say the coaches aren't involved in it. i don't believe that. they are constantly running plays where Lin passes off to a big at the top of the key who then passes it off to Harden curling out of a screen.. a play designed solely to get Harden isolated
This is an interesting point. But at the same time 3.2% of Hardens plays are off screens as well. Are we going to assume that he is being passive as well? This Lin is being passive narrative only goes so far. McHales system doesn't emphasize screens the Rockets are at the bottom of the league in that category. So even if Lin is refusing screens, I doubt he is refusing them to the degree that makes Houston in the bottom of the NBA. In fairness to McHale the Rockets just don't have a lot of players who set really good ones, Omer & Greg are at the top, Patterson is alright. Also I have seen Lin ask for screens & people refuse to set them. So which do you think is more likely him refusing them or him just not taking advantage of them?
Once again you are putting words in my mouth. Feel free to argue your point without presuming to know what I am saying. And it isn't the truth it is just your opinion, just like it is my opinion. Nobody really knows the truth. We can all spout facts, & show videos & speak on what we see with our eyes but we don't know what the truth is. Just a few thoughts.
You seem to justify your position based on bloggers as your back up evidence, so I think it's fair to dismiss their credibility as thin. Some are good. But just quoting "NBA Bloggers" isn't going to cut it. I'm not trying to bust you up or anything, but you keep coming back to these ideas that to me is overcomplicating what's plain to the eye to see. Whether you call that opinion or truth is up to you and irrelevant. Time will bear it out.
That actually isn't true I justify my opinions with numbers first & foremost for the most part. & a few NBA bloggers. My favourites are Noam Schiller, Haralabob, Jon, Jarred Dubbin, Hollinger, Woj, Sherwood straus, hoopscritic (who watches Rockets basketball diligently) & in particular the guy who runs basketball source website & a few other people that I can't list off the top of my head. Obviously anybody can start there own podcast & call themselves a NBA bloggers, I pick the ones who actually seem to know the most about the game & actually have access to information I don't have. Hollinger is my favourite because last year he ranked the most accurate in terms of NBA predictions, so if Hollinger says what I am saying I like my odds. And a lot of what I was saying is from Hollingers ESPN insider articles. Just a few thoughts.
Actually, this is incorrect. Lin's FG% by shot location (This season/Last season) At the Rim - 59.1%, 52.9% (improved), 63.8% (30/47) over last 12 games 3-9 Feet - 40.7%, 41.4% (slightly worse), 60.0% (9/15) over last 12 games His jumper is definitely suffering in the mid range. 10-15 feet - 25.0%, 48.3%, 14.28% (1/7) over last 12 games (significantly worse, but taking FAR fewer of them - only 12 this season of 240 total shot attempts and 123 total shot attempts in the last 12 games). 16-23 feet - 28.0%, 43.0%, 36.84% (7/19) over last 12 games (much worse, however there are a lot more catch and shoots vs off the dribble ... 54.5% assisted vs 26.7% assisted last season) His 3 pointer is quite close to last year and significantly improved since early season. It's now up to 30.3% this season vs 32.0% last season and was as low as 25% early in the season. He's shot 38.5% in December (9 games) from the arc, and 38.7% (12/31) over the last 12 games from the arc. Sometimes the stats tell you some interesting things...
If Deron Williams is shooting worse than Jeremy Lin, after being considered the best PG in the NBA just two years ago, and names playing in an iso/freelance (Brooklyn, and kind of like the Rockets this year) as opposed to a system high in PnRs, screening and ball movement (Jazz, and very much like the Knicks last year when Lin played), could this also explain why Lin has not shot well? The difference is Deron Williams has still got the balls in his hands, and commands the total respect of his coaches.
Those guys are wrong many many times, and rarely go against conventional wisdom. Hollinger is interesting because of all his number crunching, but even he's been way off before. These guys are all very knowledgable and probably watch and read more basketball than me 100x as I have two other jobs to deal with. But their opinions are just that, and further more, they don't follow the Rockets as closely as we do. If you can remove the homer in yourself (and this is a general saying not specific to you), and you watch every game, you can see what's happening just as well as anyone. Not sure if any blogger watches the Rockets every day and isn't a homer - or anyone on this site. Clutch is very good at seeing things for what they are. So are a few other posters here. And those guys are far more accurate than any of the blogger who reference the Rockets out there in my opinion.
Jeremy Lin doesn't compare to Deron Williams or Russell Westbrook at all. We haven't even seen Lin play in a playoff game and what he is showing during this season is not all too impressive. When you have to keep coming up with excuse after excuse from game to game and airball After airball it's on Lin to play better.
Screens are the basic set of all good teams CP3's words. Look at the spurs or the Knicks. If you look at both of those teams (Spurs/Knicks) they have multiple guys that can set screens. Every Knicks play begins with a Tyson Chandler screen. The Rockets don't have that. Deron Williams would have an absolute orgasm in Mike Dantoni's system. For those who weren't aware the Knicks are running MDA's system, with less emphasis on pace & hypothetically more emphasis on defense although not really.
These kinds of uninformed statements are what lead to lasting misconceptions. Did they actually do a data point analysis of shots from the floor like torocan did in the post above? No. They watched some game and Lin missing what they consider an easy shot then they draw faulty conclusions like this as spout off as if fact. Do a data point analysis first. It's not that hard, stop being so lazy.
What redearth says here, +1. I think it's wrong to say that the difference between Lin's confidence and play against the Knicks vs. his other subpar games was because b/c of the coaching staff. This would suggest they had an emergency meeting the 2 nights before, and remodeled the team's game plan to prop up Lin for this one game. Or they told him for the first time, "Don't worry Jeremy, go HAM. We won't punish you on the bench if you miss, or if you don't let James do all the scoring." I didn't see them set more picks than they did the previous games or see Harden deny his passes more than usual. I saw him focus on the goal, strap up, and take his man off the dribble- (which I believe he can pull off 7 out of every 10 times he wants it). Instead, this has all to do with his own emotion and self confidence- which were both sky high at MSG. Anyone who's not Lebron, KD, etc. has fears of being benched for screwing up, to some extent. Anyone who's played organized sports knows this. In a grown man's league, these are not the coaches' crosses to bare. They make substitutions and plays for players that they think are the best chance at that W. And if Lin's fears of making mistakes and being benched are what hinders his aggressiveness, he only has himself to blame. Even Jeremy, himself, has acknowledged he's been playing bad. This is, on some level, a weakness with cerebral people. They tend to over think or over analyze themselves to a point that it produces negative effects. If you're willing to publicly say this.."I'll be my harshest critic but I'll go ahead and say that I'm doing terrible.", you can be damn sure it's echoing in the back of his mind half the time. And I'm sure these super high expectations from his fans and the media compound it. Fortunately, he's smart and tough enough to figure a way to overcome it if his worries are the problem. Anyone suggesting that coach tells him to pass off to Harden and go stand in the corner (just to let Harden shine b/c he is our savior!) knows little about bball and spreading the floor. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JEC0Kl1oPKw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I agree this iso ball is overcooked and should only be used when the game's on the line. But it's not some evil plot by the man to keep the Lin down! To address that other group of people... They do need a deeper, more versified, less simplistic playbook to be max effective and find the perfect Lin:Harden balance. But, (and I'm sorry this is even a discussion) they are not set out to make Lin fail b/c they are racist, dislike him, or want to justify cutting him the first time around by making him look like a bust. You tinfoil hat wearing, cynical, teenage fanbois who like to throw every undeserving person under the bus, probably also think Mchale/Sampson are just faking their sincerity towards Lin here.... <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-AAm5YTd794" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/89Q7Wi0jsSU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Anyone suggesting this evil-plotting, boogyman "theory" should be added to everyone's ignore list. They are delusional and only see what they want to see, and blame who they want to blame. Oh! I didn't expect that, man! Thanks Jeremy, good luck against the 6'ers.
So just to clarify, if Hollinger or any other analyst agrees with you then it's "the truth," but if they don't then it's merely their opinion? Excellent post! It just goes to show what some people think simply doesn't measure up to the facts.
