I like Harden, he is the franchise star for this team, but he is far far away from LBJ. I bash him all the time, especially his defense, am I a troll?
I was just called a troll for criticizing Harden's ISO ball at the end of the Bucks game. I don't know you but I wouldn't call anyone a troll - not even Bobby.
I have no doubt we will win tonight. But more importantly, we need to quickly find a rotation that we feel comfortable and can stick to for the rest of the season.
Actually they didn't go iso at the end of the Bucks game. They had quite a bit of iso-initiated offense between late 1st and mid 4th, but they ended the game with screens. Of the last 7 plays, 6 were screens. The Lin screens had slightly better results than the Harden screens that stretch, but overall the offense down the stretch was alright, we shot 50% off the screens in all. The problem was during that same stretch the Bucks grabbed every single one of their misses and put them all back for scores. Every. Single. One. Watching Delfino helplessly fighting Sanders to prevent a rebound-bucket was...I don't even know what to call it. Sad? Depressing? Infuriating? You name it. When players are just cruising, the player with the better position tends to get the board; when players are fighting for their game lives, the dude with the size advantage tends to win disproportionately.
i'm 100% in agreement with you in regards to how we'd like to see him play in this offense BUT that's NOT the way mchale wants him to play. quote after quotes from both mchale and jeremy confirmed that. He wants jeremy to facilitate, set up shots for others, take the easy play and easy passes and minimize risks. jeremy sees himself, based on direct quote, as the LAST offensive option. He need to get others going first before getting himself going. THAT'S how mchale wants him to play. to use his stupid baseball analogy - he wants him to safely get on base instead of trying to hit home runs. can you imagine the thrashing he'd get from mchale is he were to waive off harden and take a game winning shot? i mean, he took the spurs to overtime with 38 pts and all mchale could say after the game was "well he should've taken the screen" - even though that would've meant a sure double team and he would've had to give the ball up to asik on top of the key! let's face it, the lin that we want to see is the exact opposite of the lin that mchale wants to see. it's not about lin, it's about how mchale wants to utilized his pg in this offense. for lin, it's not a confidence issue. he said it himself, that he KNOWS he can score and produce like linsanity days - not everyday but he knows that's his ceiling. it's not a confidence issue. it's indecisiveness - because he's being asked to play against his natural instincts, especially in a half court offense. the only time we really see him being decisive is when they're in transition and on the run because that's when he can be aggressive, or when the shot clock is winding down and he knows it's his shot to take. i wish someone had taped the Utah game back in december - i remember sampson saying after that game that jeremy made all the right decisions in that game and i'd like to see how he played in that game.
seriously man get a life.... if your happiness is that dependent on rockets you need other hobbies and passions and loves...wouldnt that be wonderfull? actually i was just kidding.....actually i like rockets having no any set plays...:grin::grin::grin:
While you are right, this is true for any player that relies on driving and getting lay ups. This is NEVER a issue for Lebron or Wade. If Kobe decides to drive it's never a issue. Of course you are going to turn the ball over if you are getting hacked and fouled, which is why fouling became a rule in the first place.
if the goal is to win right now and we have a one year window then i'd say yeah, lin is probably not the answer right now. but he has been so inconsistent (cause for that is debatable) that his highs are so high and lows pretty low that we really have no idea where his ceiling will end up. he believes that his ceiling is up there, and the spurs game and OKC game confirmed that for him. i think it's too early to say whether or not he's the answer in 3-4 years.
Are you seriously accusing me of being a LOH because I said Lin has never been a primary ball-handler with Harden on the court?
I don't understand what you're saying. Harden "ISO" ball in crunch time has won us a ton of games. One game does not mean much. Torocan, every LOF's best friend has already said that ISOing Harden during crunch time is fine as long as Lin handles the ball before crunch time (which he did). Is it Harden's fault Lin disappeared for 2 quarters?
Why? Harden's ISO? it's getting too much right now, not looking good for this team, more like that 7 game losing streak. Anyway, Mchale never learns from his mistakes.
Again Harden ISO the entire game is bad. Harden ISO during crunch time is fine. The game wasn't lost on the last few possessions. The game was lost when the rockets decided not to play defense (Harden and Parsons), rebound, turn the ball over (Harden and Parsons). Add to that their starting PG was a complete no show for 2 quarters and you have a recipe for a loss.
I think more so with harden since he kind of swings his arms into an opponent and its more of a touch foul then a hack. During the end of the game, the refs are more reluctant to call fouls so he takes pull up jumpers instead which is smart on his part.
wonder if lin rolling his ankle in Q1 had anything to do with this... i believe it was on a layup where he was fouled and may have landed funny. obviously the ankle thing was bad enough that they held him out of practice yesterday. harden wasn't the same after the knee incident either. we'll see how they move tonight.
i've noticed that this year, ref are calling a lot less body contact fouls but seems to focus more on reaching and arm fouls. just an observation.
Lin will improve, but the problem under McHale is McHale is not allowing Lin to play his roll. I haven't really pay much attention to the rotation until recently and noticed that Lin did really well until the 1st timed out. I don't have the exact number, but If I have to guess, Lin get 1/2 of his points and assists in the 1st 6 minutes. I also noticed that Harden were in control of the 2nd half and get more ISO than the 1st half.
