It isn't even just Lin. NO NBA starter is happy about not playing in the 4th. He definitely is frustrated about his playing time & you can see that in some of the comments he makes. Yes he smiles & laughs about it & says all the right things but that is just lip service. These guys are competitors & they have pride they want to play. I would be extremely disappointed if Lin or any starter for that matter on a team that I watched was ok with not playing in the 4th & sitting on the bench in close games.
from ESPN recap: McHale was ready to re-insert the starters if the game had gotten any tighter. "I was getting pretty close," he said. I wonder how "tight" McHale wants it to be. Is 5 points, 2 possession-game with 30 seconds left still not tight enough??? Anyway, kudos to the bench players for their gutsy play. We fans appreciate you.
What a nervous 4Q, I almost got heart attack when the leading point was dwindling, luckily Smith and Delfino worked great at last to get the win. All the starters performed well in this game, especially Asik, Lin and Gracia, they are the most important players to the win. Their importance were significant when all the three were not on the floor. without Asik--the defense was loose. without Lin--less ball movement, the offense was stagnant. without Gracia--less balling behind the arc, and the Magic's defense became easily as just packed the paint. With the spark of Greg Smith, I almost think that he is the solution at 4 for the Rockets, but his Pfs really cool me down a bit, anyway I like his agressiveness.:grin: Although James Anderson didn't score as usual, I do like his performance, he played solid D in this game. Although the bench and the coach made me frustrated and nearly going to mad during the 4Q, I still take it, this is a team win. Hope Harden comeback soon, I missed his unstopable drive.
He smiles about it because he's smart that's what smart people do. Dumb would be like Dwight and just saying stupid **** that there's no way around, that everyone can understand. Smart is saying stuff with a smile on your face like a politician with an underlying message that other smart people get. It's like satire. There's a point to it, that smart people who understand it will get. Lin is unhappy, he wants more touches. It's that simple. And it'll be good for the Rockets if he does.
Rockets were up by 5 vs. Milwaukee Bucks in the 4th quarter. All it took was a JJ Reddick 3-pointer and a layup and-one by Ilyasova and the Bucks took their 1st lead of the game with 2 minutes remaining. This team is too young and inexperienced to close out tight games.
I don't understand this post at all... it's full of bad conclusions to try to fit a conspiracy theory. Jonathan wasn't alone with Lin... we all were there. You don't twist something that many other reporters were there to witness. Furthermore, I posted the video of Lin saying all this. He was smiling/laughing when he said it, just as Jonathan reported. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=236373
Who wouldn't want more touches? No one disputes that Lin wouldn't prefer to be playing more minutes, and having the ball in his hands more. But is he as distraught/angered/dejected about it as his fans? I've seen no evidence of that. Of course, fans will always want to project their feelings onto players.
I don't know if he is dejected, distraught etc. but I doubt he is happy about it. Most players aren't happy about not getting playing time. I don't think that is projecting feelings, it is just common sense.
Every team has a bunch of unhappy players, if all it takes is not getting the playing time they feel they deserve. A lot of people here want to build it up into some huge drama brewing between player and coach. That is projecting.
Lin isn't happy with the lack of playing time for sure but if he can openly joke about it, then it doesn't bother him to the point of where he's going to be a cancer to the team or anything like that. Looking on the bright side, it might be good for him since it will give him more motivation.
Lin strikes me as a very team-oriented, humble, respectful, not-say-the-wrong-thing-publicly type of player, so I doubt, even if he was distraught, that he would air it publicly (does he vent about this privately? I or no one else here would know) However, his post-game comments were the most frank I've ever heard him in regard to his specific role on the team and his opinion on how the offense should be, even when James is in the game.
And a lot of people want to pretend like everything is perfect & everybody is content. It goes both ways. And this is coming from somebody who doesn't stand on either side of the fence.
Better to err on the side of things are OK behind the scenes. Allows us to focus on actual basketball instead of pages upon pages of speculation / crap.
Not saying that there is some rift between Lin and McHale, but how would we know anyway if their is one or not? All we can do is assume based off of public information, not private.
Neither is better. Both are just opinions. That is the point of this forum after all right? Nobody knows anything as a fact. We are all just posting opinions. Not sure why we feel like one side is better or safer than the other. After all the people that feel like everything is OK behind the scenes are also posting "pages upon pages of stupid crap".
It was a good, candid interview. I don't think anyone really needs to speculate what he's thinking. He pretty much just told us in that interview.
I thought he just said he enjoyed having the ball in his hands more with James on the sidelines. Did he offer an opinion on how the offense "should" be? Didn't see that quote.
(a little more comfortable for you to have the ball in your hands?) Tonight I was the point guard and I wasn’t just a point guard on the team I was the point guard and it was nice. But we’re a much more dangerous team with James. The fact of the matter is we’ve got to be able to do what we both are really good at together at the same time for each other. It’s not that we don’t want it – it’s just we’re trying to figure it out and it takes time. When I’m out of the game and he gets to go I get to see what he’s capable of doing and he’s been hurt and now I’ve been able to do a little more. http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/rockets-make-magic-disappear-0
Look at the smile on Dwight's face at 3 minute mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y08gvGpGCwA So, because he's "smiling", everything's A-OK right? Because no one ever puts on a smile or hides a poignant message behind a laugh when dealing with the media. It's never happened, not since Mark Twain to Obama's straight faced speech before Osama was killed. Nope, everyone is 100% clear and up front, straight with media.
