Yes pretty much. Do you know who Shane Battier is? He didn't handle the ball, didn't shoot a lot besides spot up shots, did all the little things and played good defense. But there was no doubt in any Rocket fan's mind that he was a floor general. In fact, he was a captain for the Rockets when Yao and McGrady went down. Guess what, Shane Battier is a role player. A great role player, and a vital one to the Heat's success currently. There is no shame in calling Lin a role player, I think he has the potential to be a vital piece to a championship team. He can be a floor general sure, but he is still a role-player nonetheless.
First of all, don't lump everyone who supports Lin into one super Lin robot that sees no wrong in Lin. The original point I made was that you seem to be compromised (in terms of whether Lin is good or bad on a particular day) at times and of course, you come back out and say it's "the Lin fans" that are the compromised ones. Can I not lobby for a bit more fairness from the arbiter of this site on behalf of one of my favorite players? Or is that finger-pointing? I thought Beverley clearly deserved to be out there and never once said anything to the contrary. And since you don't know what "taking up for" a player means, Ill expand upon what "taking up for Lin" means. It means that you take his side (at times) in a debate or a questionable coaching decision and speak up as clearly. It may be just me, (I really concede that), but the majority of posts that you've made regarding Lin that I'VE SEEN (personally) has been you posting pictures, data, etc. not in support of Lin but to point out something Lin did wrong or why the coaching staff was right to do X and Y. There's nothing wrong with that. You have an opinion of Lin that is much supported. But is it wrong of me to lobby for Lin to get a bit more love from the site admin? Fair or not, you voice has weight on this site which you also carry in your writing style. In addition, the majority of people who are higher on Lin than you concede that, Bev clearly (to me) showed that he needed to be out there, and whether I wanted to see more Lin or sometimes D-Mo, I did not think McHale made the wrong decision. There isn't some crazy mob wanting to see Lin at every second, but a clamor for fairness for their favorite players, be it D-Mo or Lin.
please say no to Mcfial QUOTE=Little General;7695407]So true... But when Beverly plays well, coach lets him stay in the game...[/QUOTE] g
We are an elite team when we don't use Lin as a roleplayer; we are a mediocre team when we do. It's really that simple. This has consistently been the case through the season, so it makes absolutely no sense to try to play Lin as a roleplayer. We have already seen how much better the team plays when Lin is not made to bring the ball past the half court then immediately pass it off 2/3 of the time he's on the floor after Harden's efficiency dropped through the floor at the beginning of the season. Not using Lin as a roleplayer raised Harden's efficiency back up dramatically. Somebody mistakenly thought this improvement was independent of how we used Lin, and Harden's efficiency dropped to depths of hell again as the result. After that nightmare stretch we are apparently now in some kind of limbo state which I can only surmise is a bizarre compromise between the coaching staff and management. We play General Lin for half his minutes and Roleplayer Lin for the other half. Is there some kind of "let's see who's right" bet going on between the coaching staff and management? Half and half and see which way works better? Of course, the hole in that hypothesis is that if there was such a bet, the winner should have been settled ten games past. Either use Lin as a PG or sit him. This Lin spotting up behind the 3-point line watching crap is infuriating to watch. I'm glad McHale benched Roleplayer Lin for Roleplayer Beverley after Lin had used up his allotted General Lin minutes tonight. I didn't have to almost punch out my TV. General Lin + Harden >>>> Force-Fed Harden + Roleplayer Beverley > Force-Fed Harden + Roleplayer Lin Let's finally learn that costly lesson and go back to being an elite team and make some noise in the playoffs goddamnit.
Whether Jeremy Lin is standing in the corner or Jeremy Lin is running the offense, Lin is still a role player. Although yes I do think more possessions should run through him earlier in the game.
Ok, now you've completely lost me. What is your standard of a role player? Because to me, a role player plays only 1 role in the entire game like 3pt specialist, or defense specialist. In OKCs game, Lin played everything. He played as if he was an all-star getting stats in every category. Whenever he plays like that, we look like we can be title contenders. We even beat OKC when they were hot. So I'm not understanding much on what you define as a role player.
On offense, Harden is an all-star. But his defense is sub-par. If his offense is not clicking, he is a liability on both ends. On the other hand, even if Lebron James or Dwyane Wade goes 1/10, you can always count on their defense. That's the main difference.
So if there's 2 all-stars on the team, does that mean they don't support each other? Because if they do, it means they are role players as well. I don't think I agree on what you define as role players.
If Harden is not making his shots, he is still one of the best PnR players and is capable of creating shots for others. A ton of all-stars are sub-par defenders, that is not to excuse their defense, but the statement still applies. The team is rarely, if ever, better without Harden.
FIRSTLY: HAVE SOME GOD DAMN RESPECT when you speak to Clutch. There is a Hierarchy in EVERY SOCIETY, EVERY COMMUNITY, Playground, Lockeroom, workplace. So NEVERMIND that Clutch works tirelessly monitoring this forum that the both of us enjoy. NEVERMIND that Clutch created this Haven for ALL rocket fans to enjoy more than a decade ago. NEVERMIND that Clutch should have belted your sorry ass a long time ago. NEVERMIND that Clutch has ALWAYS been objective, and forgiving, never prone to anger, frustration, or retaliation which the hes and shes could easily have done. NEVERMIND that Clutch has even expressing a fair observation, is polite. Just as human beings, you have absolutely NO respect. With your words such as 'you must be tripping', or 'since you don't understand let me explain to you', or branding Clutch with your insane assumptions. No matter how many times you edit your posts. SECONDLY Clutch has ALWAYS been objective to Lin. Trust me I know. When I criticised Lin fans too harshly, Clutch derepped me. When I criticised Lin haters to harshly. Clutch again derepped me. Yet you still, consistently, treat Clutch like he should be serving you in EVERYWAY possible to make YOU feel comfortable. Like He/SHE owes you. So let me ask you this. WHAT, DOES CLUTCH LOOK LIKE? <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zWaBUOEg75E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Now you are just making this more complicated than it needs to be. All-stars are elite players, best of the best. Role players do not do that. Chandler Parsons is a role player, but he does a little bit of everything. Role players are not relegated to one single task. The all-stars are your foundation players, and you build around them. Those pieces you use to build around them are role players. You can build around Kevin Durant and Westbrook, or you can build around James Harden.
I think we agree on something...a bit. The only difference is your definitions. You think Lin should handle the ball. So do I. The difference is, you define Harden as a superstar, and Lin is a role player. The end result is the same however: Lin should handle the ball more and that's where we agree on. What we disagree on is the definitions. You call Harden a superstar, and thus, he should do what superstars do. I on the other hand, wouldn't label him as a superstar...yet. I think he's a great scorer and can shoot really well when open. If he has a set shot and no one is guarding him, he's pretty reliable shooter. His rebounding is meh. Passing is okay though he does sometimes gets 7-8 dimes. It is negated however by his, what Morey calls "bad turnovers." You know, the kind that leads to fast break points. I have seen many. What is his avg TO? 4? Let's say 3 out of 4 leads to fast break points, that's 6 points he gives to the other team. LBJ on the other hand...well, I don't really need to go into much details on that. In any event, it would be interesting to see if our team looks as painful to watch if we make Harden the absolute main guy like we did in that 7 game losing streak, plus the borderline win w/ the Bobcats. It appears that Mchale is trying to steadily go back to same setup as the 7 game losing streak setup. During that stretch, Lin was out of the play most of the time, Harden the main guy. Then we stopped doing that and the team did really well again, even killing Utah by what? 38 points or something? Now it seems like they're taking the ball away from Lin again. We shall see if Mchale really does that, and we'll see if the team is actually better off doing that. I for one, predict that it will be the painful 7 game losing streak type of team again.
Creating is different from dumping....Harden never creates..he dumps the ball to an open man whenever his Drives creates havoc on the defense of the opposing team...you can rarely see him explore the defenses of the opposing team..you know why, because if he do that, he'll be racking up more TO's than now... And Rockets seldom "very seldom" uses PnR...why do you think Lin has been struggling to score in this current system...it is because they never utilizes PnR...most of the time they let Lin beat his man off the dribble..no screens and everything...it's all up to Lin... That's why a lot of the NBA's All-Stars with Sub-Par defense rarely went to a play-off...classic example, Melo...you want that for the Rockets? Can I make a classic example of your claim, that Rockets are "rarely, if ever" better without Harden...What game did the Rockets have where Harden did not play?...Spurs games...what happen...they nearly won,,,they went to overtime...they've lost but you can see what the team is capable of if they are not complacent in their games and let Harden dominate them..granted, it's only ONE game..but that is the ONLY game where Harden did not play...that's why you should not make that statement because Rockets current standings right now are the collective efforts of the players and not just him...
I'm a total Lin fan, but I would like to point out that Harden did sit out for the Clipper's game and we didn't look very good. Forgot what actually happened though. But then again, we got our azz kicked by the Clippers even w/ Harden. LOL.
James Harden is 5th amongst SGs in rebounds, 6th amongst all guards. That's not "meh". Harden is 1st amongst SGs in assists. That's not just "okay", and no that's no negated by turnovers. You have a serious agenda. You really don't need to put down James Harden to make Lin look better.
I would say without a doubt most of his turnovers come on drives to the basket when he's trying to draw a foul. Which in reality is basically a missed FGA for him.
Yeah okay you know what never mind I said anything. Jeremy Lin is a 40/40/40 player, it's McFails fault.
