Whatever happened to Lin's mid-range jumper? He shot those at a high % last season. He's been knocking those down this season too but they have been extremely rare. I know we want efficient FGs (3's & at the rim), but I'll take a made 2 versus a missed 3 any day.
His biggest problem is his disgusting jump-shot, but second to that is his mentality. He's gotten the idea that he needs to become a facilitating PG when that shouldn't be his role on this team. He needs to understand that he should be the 2nd option, and for his first priority to be to look for his own shot and to get into rhythm while deferring to Harden. He might never have 3-point range, that happens to some players, but Lin is particularly adept at drawing contact while finishing in the interior and he's quite good at finishing around the rim. In transition, Lin has been great at bringing the ball up, imo better than Harden (who is of course far superior to Lin at finishing in the open-court), and more often than not he makes the right play so he needs to assert himself as the lead guard when on fast-breaks rather than having debacles where Carlos Delfino is bringing the ball up. Quite frankly, our players need to have their roles more clearly defined by the coaches. Parsons, Lin & Harden are great at handling the ball and it appears the coaching staff are confident in Douglas' and Delfino's facilitating aptitude so oftentimes we look like we're running the game through democracy, rather than playing to each player's strengths Harden is such an incredible talent but he just doesn't seem to be the vocal leader & dominant floor general that Chris Paul or Rajon Rondo are (though it's still premature conjecture), so until we have such a team leader, we'll need to have coaching staff define better roles rather than just hoping our players will figure that out amongst themselves.
More practice will no doubt help, but practice alone doesn't always get it done. After all, Lin does practice A LOT (always staying after team practice and always last to leave). You've mentioned that Lin shot around 80% in the offseason, and various fans have commented that Lin consistently knocked down his 3's in pre-game shoot around this season. So why is he shooting so poorly during games? While Doc is helping Lin figure it out, it may not hurt to get a 2nd opinion.
TWEET this? With the 140 character limit, it would look something like this.... "three clubs shooting coaches for improvements. Since shooting Gary Boren in 1997, the Mavs have gone to first. Billy Keller was shot in 2007, Chip Engelland in 2005"
All valid points However, I was talking about Lin's own offensive weapons and not his role on the team. I just think developing/having a consistent perimeter shooting could open up Lin's game A LOT. Less beating at the rim also helps minimize wear & tear on his body. I don't get the coaches confidence in Douglas' playmaking either, but there is little doubt that Douglas's 3P% plays a crucial role in the coaches' decision. As for Lin's "pass first" mentality, it's hard to tell if he's doing it on his own or at the coach's order. I'm leaning towards the latter. I mean, Lin's a really smart and extremely competitive (despite his low-key and soft-spoken demeanor), so I can't imagine him stubbornly trying to become a pass-first PG.
lol... or you can just tweet him this link: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=7480543&postcount=1339 And I don't "Ikea" lol...
LOL! How about, "@dmorey Boren helped improve Mavs 3P% from 27th to 3rd, Keller Pacers 18th to 8th, Engelland Spurs 8th to 3rd. Please hire someone for Lin."
Last year when he was still with The-Team-That-Shall-Remain-Nameless, Lin said many times "as a point guard I'm shooting too much" Also, at the signing press conference: "You know, the only thing I can really promise is to give my best effort and try to be a good play maker, great decision maker, and try my best to be a humble leader and to serve my team mates."
True; no argument there. But (there's always a but), what does "a good play maker, great decision maker" entail? If he's the one who's wide open and yet he doesn't take the shot and is looking to pass instead, one can argue that's neither good playmaking nor a great decision. I don't pretend like I know what's going on, but Lin's a smart player with high bball IQ and I just don't see him being stubbornly adamant about becoming a pass-first PG. And he definitely didn't do that in the 2nd game against the Spurs.
He's not giving up open looks as often as he was before, is he? He took three attempts at 3's today when he was open. Didn't he say a coach told him it's selfish not to shoot when he had the open look? Maybe his decision making is not very good, but if he's not shooting it's not because he's stubborn or trying to up his assists stat. a la Rondo.
The poster I forgot His name made a good pooint that I agree. Lin needs to be scoring option numbe two when things aren't looking great and cannot get a bucket. While I love his attitude of keeping everyone involved- Lin needs to sometimes just say **** it and try to attack more and make something happen. He needs more screens of course ...
He's random right now, inconsistent (although not as bad as others)...however, his potential is really high. Ridiculous ceiling would be something like 25/10 (very unlikely) unless he's chucking away. More realistically, Lin should average 15+/7+ easily. He's pretty good. Needs to work on jump shot and get stronger, go left better. These aren't too demanding of someone with Lin's worth ethics. If only he were two inches taller =\ (that's what she said).
First of all, I'm pretty sure that every NBA teams has a shooting coach. Brooks, Lowry and Parsons were all terrible shooters before they join the Rox, so the one in the Rox is actually not that bad. I believe Lin's poor shooting has nothing to do with the training. I watched some of his shooting practice videos before the season started. He used to release the ball sightly early at that time. Yet, his releasing point now tends to be late. Well, it seems to me more like a lack of confidence.
Perhaps it's late and we're mis-understanding each other? I said having a consistent perimeter shot would open up his game a lot. Someone else responded and said he seemed to have a pass-first mentality now. I then said that I don't see him trying adamantly to do that because of his high IQ. You replied & quoted him, about how said he shot too much last year and that he wanted to be a good playmaker. And I was merely pointing out playmaking is not the same thing as pass-first or facilitate-only, meaning even if he wants to be a great facilitator, I'd still expect him to shoot I'd he's the only open man. Where did this assist-padding come from and when did I say his decision wasn't good?
3 clubs that hired shooting coach with major improvement. Gary Boren '97 - Mavs, Chip Engelland '05 - Spurs, Billy Keller '07 - Pacers ??
This is exactly how I feel about Lin. Agree 100%. But I would also say that he needs to improve his handles. It not that bad, but it could be a lot better. He also needs to develop an Iverson crossover. I think he would be virtuable unguardable if he did those 2 things.
