[Grantland] Zach Lowe: Harden, Lin among the most efficient driving into the lane

You've got something against 2012's?

 

Nope, only posters who only joined this site due to thier fanatical love for Lin and will be gone as soon as he is. These posters have zero interest in the Rockets doing well, only Lin, and have zero problem throwing anyone and everyone under the bus to make excuses for him.

Most of these posters joined in 2012/2013.

 

But are most posters joined in 2012/2013 these posters to be stereotyped as 2012ers?

 

Exactly. When Lin is hitting his 3 pointer, teams can't stop his drives like the 28points the other night. Same thing during Linsanity--he was hitting his outside shot and people couldn't stay in front of him. If he can get his 29% 3pt% up to 35 or 36%, he'll be really tough to guard. An outside shot is something that can be improved, especially if you've got a decent baseline (29%).

 

Last season:
http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/46697/felton-over-lin-might-be-a-mistake

Isolations -- Isolation plays are where Lin excels. He scored the third most points per play of the 91 players with at least 75 isolation plays last season, trailing only Chris Paul and James Harden.

And only Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh and Harden got to the free throw line more often than Lin on isolation plays.

Jumpers off the dribble -- Lin is better with the ball in his hands. Last season, he shot 32.7 percent on catch-and-shoot jumpers, including 35.9 percent on unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers. But he shot 47.9 percent on jumpers off the dribble. Of the 102 players who attempted at least 90 jumpers off the dribble, only Stephen Curry and Steve Nash shot a higher field-goal percentage than Lin (47.9).

The Rockets has not play the full potential of Lin.

 

I can't say i agree with you. Although i was heartbroken when phoenix signed Goran lin isn't all that bad compared to gogi. I catch a few amount of suns games and i give goran a slight edge only because he is more polished.

Point #1 Lin is 24, basically a rookie, and has tons of room for improvement.

Point #2, Harden is the Man here (as we all know) and i'd give Jeremy another season of two before declaring absolutes i.e. "below average point guard"

 

Yeah I think people here are forgetting that not long ago we had Kyle Lowry who at first was very inconsistent at shooting 3s but showed promise and eventually had a good 3 pt shot. Mike Conley was also not a great 3 pt shooter and I believe he was around the high 20s in percentage a few seasons ago.

While I admit it's been a little annoying to watch how inconsistent Lins play has been, this is still his first full season as a starter and still young. Sometimes these things takes time for other players. Not everyone can be a Kyrie Irving or Damian Lillard. I think Lin will show a lot of improvement in the next coming years.

 

Disappointing is a subjective word. Can you give a objective standard?

 

So what if they leave? Why do you care? I'm just curious why is it a big deal to you they stay or leave as a fan of The Rockets?

 

Name one. it is you who first wants to start this LOF stuff under this thread. Haven't you had enough?

 

I can give one objective standard by which Lin is excelling, just as he did last year. Lin is 3rd among starting point guards in steals-blocks-charges taken/40 minutes:

http://www.hoopdata.com/defrebstats.aspx?team=%&type=pm&posi=PG&yr=2013&gp=20&mins=25

(Sort on DEF.)

People sometimes try to downplay his defense as "playing passing lanes" or gambling or what have you, but it's a lot more than that. On a disciplined defense his team defense stands out too: Tyson Chandler/Lin two man lineup was #1 pairing on the Knicks #5 ranked defense last year in DRtg. This is why Morey says Lin is a "disruptive" force on defense.

 

The problem is defense doesn't matter much for point guards; they just can't effect the game

 

posted on accident

Point guards can't effect the game on that end relative to the other positions and especially the frontcourt positions.

Lately, Lin's been playing decent, maybe a slightly above average starting PG, but over the entire season so far, he's been below average no question.

 

He's resorting to that old crutch, the ad hominem argument.

 

How do you define "average" in terms of stats?

Mind you that Lin's numbers are very similar to those of Goran Dragic, Mike Conley, and George Hill. Are they below average as well?

 

+1 heh

He's a triple threat player if he can play better than Lance Stephenson. Lebron is basically an inflate Lance Stephenson's stats sheet albeit, Lance is obviously less consistent.

I bet Lebron can't do this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAHEJN3Ayuw

 

and of course he "should". Lebron's game is highly conscious. He is conscious about play making, and getting boards. I'm sure if he wanted to just focus, he can probably get away with 40+ points a game. The game has evolved from MJ's era. Kobe is the last dying breed of it's kind.

 

I don't think Conley is really considered top ten by many like you said.

These are average guards. Which isn't an insult, considering how stacked the NBA is with good point guards.

Btw, I have a question about PER. Why is Calderon's PER so much higher than Lin's? Around 19 vs 15? Their stats aren't so different.

 

Great find. I wish we had this kind of data available to the public.

 

This is crazy, Harden probably takes less highly contested shots than any #1 option in the league