ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Bobcats 1/21/2013

Lin's handles are holding him back more than his shooting. He really does need to get to at least slightly below average by NBA standards. Right now he might have the worst PG handles of all starting pgs and probably most bench pgs. Not Austin rivers though!
Links just so big and a good athlete he can still be effective.

 

Yes...McFail has been knee jerking all season long...haven't you noticed? What happened to Douglas? What about last season with their two point guards? The guy knee jerks all the time...clueless at times. Not to deter anything Beverley has been doing...just saying.

 

You should know I do, we just disagree often.

 

True... 20-80 (or something like that in the past few games)... But on this team, he has to keep shooting....

 

McHales rotations are very meh to me I have giving up on trying to understand. Parsons should have been brought back out as well in the 4th but that didn't happen. patt shouldn't have even touched the floor at all after that first quarter. And yet McHale sits him 3 minutes in to the first quarter & patt sits for the entire game until he enters in the 4th quarter. patt was COLD with all that sitting no way he would be effective in the 4th.

 

If what you're looking for a numerical score of how well a player did in a one game, you should look at the GameScores that I post after every game.

I post it because it's much more logical than +/- in terms of evaluating individual performance over the course of 1 game, whereas +/- doesn't allow for you to make any sort of conclusions about individual performances.

To save you some effort in searching, here's the GameScores for the Rockets again for today:

James Harden, SG: 21.2
Marcus Morris, PF: 20.4
Chandler Parsons, SF: 17.3
Carlos Delfino, SF: 8.4
Patrick Beverley, PG: 6.5
Jeremy Lin, PG: 1.8
Omer Asik, C: 1.6
Cole Aldrich, C: 0.3
Patrick Patterson, PF: -1.9

I think you would agree with me that this list is more or less correct in terms of top performers today. Not only that, but you also get a sense of magnitude - how much an individual performance was better than someone else's.

 

Before you fellas trade or dump Jeremy Lin, can we see him play the point guard first? Rather than playing the shooting guard role spotting up on corner threes. And can we get someone who they can run the pick n roll with?

 

it's a bit early to call beverley a starter. no question regarding his effort and defense, but i'm not sure his decision making is better than lin.

no doubt that lin shouldn't be the first option on the team. but imo, he's the team's best decision maker. harden is no doubt the better player, but system-wise, i still think lin should be developed as the long term option for facilitating the team. that means trusting him in spite of the mistakes.

 

Not that good compared to whom...???

 

I just left the funeral and I see that we won

 

Personally I was fine with Lin sitting in the 4th. Harden was running nearly all the plays and more importantly getting foul calls. Lin wasn't playing well and also needs the rest.

Where you need Lin the most is when Harden is terrible or against good defensive teams. Lin and Harden CAN fit eventually, however it takes time. More importantly, I don't agree with the idea that McHale would use this brutal road trip to experiment.

When you know you have the ASG coming up, and the next two months have VERY few back to backs relative to January, they should have stuck with what worked... which is the majority of Lin and Harden's minutes staggered except for the starting and closing minutes of the game.

Oddly, I don't recall a single minute this game where Lin was on the floor without Harden.

When the schedule slows down, you have lots of Practice time to iron out the kinks and experiment with the line ups. McHale should have just taken some of the schedule losses and not burn Harden, Parsons and Lin so hard on the minutes.

We would probably have a better record McHale did it that way.

 

I have no issue with you disagreeing with me trust me and I welcome the back & forth that we regularly have. But there is disagreement & there is facts. Lin was being aggressive he was just getting his shots blocked. Don't understand how you can say he wasn't being aggressive when he had 3 of his drives blocked. Those are the facts tonight he was agressive Bismack was just giving him the business.

Anyway funny story, this the first time Lin has played against kemba in the NBA I believe. He played him in college & Lin cooked kemba. Kemba cooked Lin tonight. Lin needs to redeem himself when next we play. I think he will.

 

He can be, and he has had success in that regard especially last year, he does excel at creating and driving, but he could be so much better if he had better handles...too late I guess.

 

why do so many ppl here refuse to trade lin? i don't believe he will be effective w/o the ball. he has proved he couldn't coexist with a ball dominated #1 player in limited # of games he played from the last season to this season.

although limited, sometimes we have to make decision before his value goes to nothing.

 

Douglas won't be on roster next season,.McHale letting Beverly grow i think

 

They have someone... D Mo and T Jones

 

LOL I know what you mean. He always does, does he?

 

They're elite athletes. Magic was definitely not an elite ball handler. I might be wrong about Kidd. But I think you're mistaking being huge and fast with the actual skill. A big fast guy can look better because he doesn't need as much skill.
Jason Kidd has a decent crossover but I've never seen him use his dribbling skills to get a guy off balance like Paul does. Kidd just used to blow by them or cross over if other guy guessed right.
Right now, Lin's ball handling is flat out bad. No one worries one iota about his left.

 

I am not going to rip McHale too much on his rotations today because we won. I also know that our players are very inconsistent from day to day, that has to make it hard to set rotations.

Having said that, there is something going on with Lin behind the scenes. Yes, he played poorly tonight, and yes the Rockets needed a win. Still, this is not the first time that Lin has had this happen. It has happened with Sampson and McHale. Lin hasn't played great, but I think he has been okay. I am not sure if they are not happy with how Lin free lances or are upset that he is not aggressive. There is something though. McHale and the Rockets have been very comfortable giving Douglas minutes and now Beverly.

I am starting to think Lin has some serious confidence issues. He seems to get down on himself and his game suffers, that is hard to have from a starting point guard. Compare that to Harden, who honestly has probably had the worst shooting slump he will ever had, and he still has shot and still competed.

The whole thing is puzzling to me.

 

If you think aggressiveness is just as simple as attacking the basket then I agree. I refer to the NY game for a reason.