in the first half of the season...he had no idea how to defend pick and roll. he had no idea how to make defensive adjustments. he had no idea about double teams 90% of the time. lets 1 guy defend a "hot" player for the rest of a game...this happaned several times..
Opinion. Bench guys were playing well so he stuck with them. He doesn't have a crystal ball he doesn't know when his hot hand is about to get cold.
UMM then he doesn't have what it takes to be a coach if he can't see when his hot hand is about to get cold. Just saying.
Agreed on your opinion...which is fair. But that's why you revert to your key starters in the closing minutes of a close game. You starters, by default, is your best players so why not give yourself the best odds to win?
I agree with that. But the funny thing is when Mckale had his way like in the first half of the season minus the first two games, Rockets struggled. It was when Lin began to play more at the point due to known reason that the Rockets started to blow out opponents and began their fast pace. I think the compatibility between Lin and Harden is less a problem than that between the coaches and Rockets' talents.
Honestly though, isn't that what good coaches/managers are supposed to do? Know their team/employees and their limitations and know when/where to put them so that they're optimized?
Bench guys are supposed to play well in limited action. That's the point. When to sub them in and out is what makes coaches great. It's common practice to leave the bench in for extended minutes or the whole fourth if the starters are getting blown out. That's not what happened last night. Asik and Lin were playing well and we were in the game with them playing.
Our bench guys were playing well against their bench guys, whom are on the same level. But when they put their starters back in, the level is not the same anymore and that's when our starters are needed.
I'm wondering if McHale know to set the tactics to win a close game. It's nothing but ISO that's what I seen so far. Never expect Rox can pass the first round with such an idiot, even if Rox can get into play-off in coming years. I'll bump this thread for each loss from now on.
8-17 in games within 8 points. Just terrible By differential power rankings or expected wins the Rockets have underperformed more than any team in the league This coaching staff has cost 5-10 wins this year. The Rockets should be a 4 por 5 seed McFail has never made the playoffs with 2 franchises. Last year had an epic collapse Sampson is the defensive coordinator, he's terrible at his job. He stole credit from Jim Boylan, the Bucks' defensive coordinator for 4 years and their new head coach. Sampson is a disgraced college coach who never had major success Promote Finch and fire the rest of them. Bicker staff has some potential .
Harden's versatility is the root of the problem. McHale can afford to bench Lin in crunch time because Harden is a both a great finisher and a very good distributor. Can't really fault the coach too much on this.
I think Lin will get more crunch minutes if he can be more consistent with his outside shooting. He needs to be able to nail open shots when the game in on the line. In a way, McHale is pushing Lin to become a more complete player. You can't just rely on your distributing and slashing skills in NBA. You need to be able to shoot to be successful as a guard in NBA. Hopefully this benching in crunch time can become Lin's motivation to become even better.
I can name dozens of point guards with similar or worse 3-pt shooting who got to play 35+ minutes a game, including 4th quarters. Names like Tony Parker, Derrick Rose, etc etc. You're right in that it will force Lin to become even better since he is held back due to double standards. But it's still BS that it's like this in the first place. Lin has one of the best adjusted +/- on the team, is a better defender by defensive rating, and also a better floor general. Basically grasping for straws for why he isn't playing is silly, there is no good reason why he isn't regularly finishing every single game.
The bolded section is the problem. You can't have two floor generals at the same when the game in on the line. His style clashes with Harden's. That's part of the reason why McHale can afford to bench him. Lin will need to become a stronger "soldier" in crunch time to earn more minutes under McHale.
Harden isn't a floor general, he's an awesome scorer. His game is even better playing with Lin, his shooting% is amazing when Lin controls the ball and has a high usage rate and still scores a lot of points. Harden is a poor PG, he averages almost as many turnovers for every assist. He's the only player in the league with over 3.8 turnovers a game but less than 5.5 assists a game. Jeremy Lin had the 2nd highest 4th quarter PER in the entire league last year. He is clutch in the 4th quarter. Playing both at the same time does not hurt the team. Even if this were the case, it would then beg the question why they don't stagger their minutes more in the 2nd and 3rd quarters? Lin would thrive without Harden in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, but they don't do it.
His 3pointer for last month has gone up from his early month 26% to 42.5% and this month its %50. His overall FG has gone up to %44 last month and %53 this month. His shooting has clear signs of improvement that people over looking. Kinda sucks to want your pg to improve by benching him. I though the best way to improve is to play pass your weakness. Only by experience will you ever improve. Yao is a proven example if you look at his career.
