Lin can shut down Westbrook assuming that the other players on the Rockets help him out when he is screened. When someone gets by Lin, it's usually because he gets screened and ends up chasing from behind. If there is no one else near, I don't see Westbrook leaving Lin in the dust. More likely than not, Westbrook will end up just dribbling and shooting it with minimal space.
LOL, get real, nobody is blowing Lin out. The dude is "like water". You can burn him once, but he will smother you after.
Jeremy Lin can't beat Westbrook physically but mentally. If you watched OKC's games this year, you know the tense between the coaching staffs and Westbrook is the biggest problem whole year long. That's why Brook insisted in bringing in Fisher for the locker room harmony. Westbrook is a physical freak. But the lack of IQ + EQ is his weakness as a PG. In Feb 19th OKC vs HOU game, when OKC was trailed by 3, HOU's ball, a must foul situation. Westbrook was the only one yelling "don't foul". This makes you wonder if Houston can come out a game plan pushing him making wrong decisions or taking bad shots. Houston definitely can make it more tougher for OKC in playoffs.
Westbrook will dominate Lin. The real matchup is Westbrook vs Westbrook. If Lin or Pbev can get him frustrated and get under his skin then you make WB angry and make him jack up shots and at the same time take Durant out of the game as Westbrook goes out to try and prove he's the Alpha.
While Westbrook is the obvious pick to win this matchup and the Thunder in general are favorites, in the spirit of a Tinman thread let's remember that heart of a champion speech and that Spoiler V-I-C-T-O-R-Y You can't have it...na-na-na-na-na!
I will make a bold prediction that Thunder will focus their defense on Lin. They will do it by backcourt traps. Once Lin gets the inbound, the traps are on. Thunder will try to unravel Lin's confident by forced TO's. The game plan is easy. Rockets are a two-headed dragon. Lin and Harden are the only good playmakers on the team. If they can take Lin out of his game, it's easier to deal with Sefolosha on Harden. Edit: The backcourt traps will happen in the first game. Thunder will send a strong message and try to dictate the rest of the series.
Lets be real - nobody is going to stop Westbrook. He's going to get his no matter what. And it won't be only Lin guarding him but Harden and others depending on the switching patterns that night. What we can hope for though is that Lin gets his offensive game flowing and that him and Harden can impose their pace on the game at some level.
This matchup won't happen. It will be Westbrook vs Harden because Harden is our real PG and SG at the same time. Lin and Beverly are just there for defense and that's according to our COY candidate, McHale.
Westbrook definitely. He has tons of playoffs experience while Lin has none. Gotta take that into account.
Someone has to stay in front of Westbrook as much as possible. We have to make him a volume shooter with a low %. When it takes him 25 shots to score 25 pts that means he is taking shots from Durant. I hope Lin and Beverly can make him work hard to score. That's all you can do. Nobody is shutting him down. So please stop that talk.
Are you really going to ignore Lin's huge game against them? He's also done a good job on defense against him in all 3 games.
I trust Lin will try his best, but I am afraid he will get destroyed every other quarter. If Lin can somehow force/lure Westbrooks into a mid range jump shooting game, we may have a chance
