So now they're excused since we won? thats how most make it seem. Honestly Lin had a good game, i'll give him that. but he didn't really make much of why we won. he had what 6 points in the first half? and we were up by almost 20 in the first half. The team as a whole was playing well together.
Apparently he stood up a bunch of kids last night. Class act, that one is... <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Deron Williams gives media no comment. Then stood up a Houston-based boys AAU team after the game who were left asking "Wheres Deron?" <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Nets">#Nets</a></p>— Zach Schonbrun (@zschonbrun) <a href="https://twitter.com/zschonbrun/status/295383210962079744">January 27, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>I'm not certain, but I believe the AAU team has some Mario Elie affiliation. Gulf Coast Blue Chips basketball. Kids looked no older than 10</p>— Zach Schonbrun (@zschonbrun) <a href="https://twitter.com/zschonbrun/status/295383999583514624">January 27, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Every other Nets player came by. kids were asking for Deron as they left RT @<a href="https://twitter.com/sclucyhoops">sclucyhoops</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/zschonbrun">zschonbrun</a> How do you know he stood them up?</p>— Zach Schonbrun (@zschonbrun) <a href="https://twitter.com/zschonbrun/status/295385230439751680">January 27, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Give me a break, he can play, so what? To be honest, you just can not build a team around him because of his lacking of leadership. You would assume he is a very matured veteran, very well rounded, but the truth is he just doesn't how to behave himself. He has that loser mentality.
PGs make their teams better, yet his team won only 22 times and he got called out by a former teammate for being a whiner and finger pointer, and his previous team had a better record without him there. So far 2 coaches killed, one was a HOFer. How's that for leadership? Leaders don't make mistakes talking to the media.
This is one thing I won't criticize Lin for. There have been a ton of empty seats for a while now. Les was just misguided in thinking people were going to show up just to see Lin play.
Classic Pick and Roll. Hope it will become a regular part of the Rockets' defense. Great pocket pass by Harden.
To be fair, they sold 18,000 tickets which is well over 90%. It seems to be a Rockets thing where they sell a lot of tickets, but people still don't show up. I remember a few games where the commentators said it was a sold out crowd, then they'd pan the cameras and there were tons of empty seats. Maybe they're hanging out in the Arena bars?
The dribble helps get him into rhythm. I am beginning to see the kind of efficient plays that Lin had with Tyson Chandler. Just hope Asik could add alley-oop dunk into his arsenal now that he has shown he can dunk.
For those who watched CSN coverage, how was the crew last night? Not too many Drexler moments and Bullard & Bill talking about food?
Seems like a very civilized thread this game, so I'll post something here I've been thinking about for a while. Many posters (including myself) have pointed out how the team tends to play better when Lin has higher TOs and the overall team assists, TOs, pace and scoring also seem to be better. And this seemed to be the case in NY last year as well (excluding the pace part, which wasn't an old banged up team in a lock-out season's strategy). A lot of people think it's simply a matter of Lin's aggressiveness that leads to the higher TOs, but this aggressivenessis positive. I actually think it's more than that. Lin is very good at surveying the opponent's 'overall' defense. And he'll use screens or his quickness to get in the paint, even dribble across the lane, trying to look for something. What is it? Unless he gets an open lane to the rim (because he's not a great finisher at the rim, he shoots 60%+ there as a result of shot selection, not actual ability to finish with tough defense), he's looking for defense that is out of position. Preferably it'll be a pass for an open 3 or shot at rim, but he's more than happy to dump it off when someone on D is out of position enough where a shoot or extra pass for an even better shot becomes an easy decision for the guy he passes it to. Usually the latter. So you see when Lin runs the offense as the PG/facilitator, the ball movement becomes crisper because there is usually only two thing to do when his teammate catches the pass, it is to put it up (or drive it) or swing it for a better shot as the D is already out of position. Contrast this to Harden, who is a great passing SG and as good if not better than Lin in drawing the defense to pass for a 'direct' shot. Harden holds the ball for way too long and his then straight line penetration leads to help defense, but of a defense that has to constantly defend players that are constantly moving to different spots on the floor, and Lin's constant weaving through traffic. So Harden's pass out are usually one-and-done affairs, but because much of the clock had been used up and the defense better set, when the pass arrives. If the spacing or D isn't out of position, the offense has to create by themselves and it gets ugly for Parsons, Delfino, Douglas and our PFs trying to create by themselves without getting a step on the D (or the D being out of position). Actually, ugly is probably too strong of a word. Just less effective and more TO prone. And for Lin also, because he needs time and space to do his work, and he is a pretty poor spot-up shooter. So what I'm saying is Lin is taking away the difficult decisions his teammates have to make in a game by really directing the offense and giving his teammates an easier decision when they get the ball - shoot with space, drive with a defender out of position or on a close-out, or swing to another teammate for a better shot. That is why while Lin's assists may not be high each game consistently, his TOs high, but the team assists and TOs better when he plays PG. Harden on the other hand uses up too much shot clock, the D is better set, and typically makes more direct to a shot passes than Lin. That's why the coaches continue to emphasize moving the ball side to side, and not getting sticky with it. They just don't realize you need a real PG to do it. In this respect, you can contrast Boston's Rondo vs Lin. Rondo will have all the assists, but Boston's team offense and assists are no where near the Rockets when we play Lin as PG.
In the lower bowls that's definitely the case. It's people maintaining their season tickets because they want to have them when the Rockets get good again. A lot of times companies have whole rows that go unused. That's not even taking into account the ticket brokers
that was the start of the 1st quarter , of course the stadium's not full yet , it was a sold out game yesterday , from what I saw most of the seats were filled even the upper level
