If Lin put up a James Harden-level performance throughout the course of the season then he'd have earned himself a lot more defenders.
I think Naija Texan agrees with you. I also agree in that Harden should not settle for jumpers and should attack the basket, but attack with the intent to score the ball not score the ball or draw contact. The difference of opinion, I think, has to do with Harden dropping the flailing action -- flipping the ball at the rim on contact -- and instead focus on finishing the play with a layup, dunk, or shot through the contact. Don't just toss up the ball because you drew contact because, for whatever reason, the refs aren't always or consistently blowing the whistle. Go in to score through the contact and if the ref calls it, fine. If not, well at least you took a legit shot at the rim.
His outside game is broken, 4-36 (11%) from 15+ feet out. He's still getting to the rim, converting at a decent rate (59%), and drawing fouls. I'd also rather him just toss it up at the hoop, then pass it out, that may lead to a turnover, because at least Omer has a chance at getting the rebound/put back.
That's really not the point of the post. The point is the labeling in this forum is getting too pathetic as anyone who defends Lin gets labeled while defenders of other players are all supposedly Rockets fan. If people are willing to put up many excuses for Harden, then don't blame fans of Lin for being fans by putting up excuses for Lin. I myself being a Harden fan don't give him any excuses, but just choose to ignore these kind of debates so I can watch him grow instead of kneejerking with my emotions. While I do rarely occasionally post in defense for Lin because I feel that the hate and bias judgement against him is too ridiculous. The most obvious ones are that many of his mistakes in game are normal mistakes any other player would make, but in many peoples bias eyes these mistakes (like 1 TO) are GAME CHANGING . It's becomes unbearable everytime I read these posts.
Oh please Easy, you know better than that. This forum has always been hard on new players until they prove their stuff, the most glaring comparison is Yao. When Yao was drafted, lots of people here didnt want him, they didnt think he was going to be anything but an over-sized stiff...is this correct? It wasnt because he was Chinese, it was because he was coming from the Chinese league where the competition was way below the NBA...so some fans figured for sure he was just over-hyped because of his size and marketing possibilities. Players from the Euroleague have had the same stigma attached to them in years past.(inferior competition) That led to tons of fans joining to inform us how awesome Yao was and how everything should revolve around him. (sound familiar?) Yao came, and he struggled...his fans blamed his teammates and the coach for Yao's troubles.(sound familiar?) The members here got tired of being told how racist they were and how the rest of the team was holding Yao back and how great it would be if the Rockets would just trade him to GS or LA so he could becomes the massive superstar that he really was....so they lashed back at the new fans for constantly throwing the rest of the team and the fans under the bus.(sound familiar?) Eventually Yao got his feet underneath him and made believers of most of the fans....but it took time....and the criticisms faded for the most part.(you are always gonna have some people that are contrary for the sake of being contrary) The same thing will happen this time. When he deserves the acclaim for his play with the Rockets, he will receive it from Rockets fans. Up to this time, he has not been anywhere near what he showed in that brief stretch in NY. (this is not unheard of in the NBA, plenty of players got paid for beasting for a short stretch in the right situation and then promptly fell back to their mean, it doesnt mean they arent good...it just means they cant sustain the higher level of play that got them noticed)
Because everyone focuses on Lin's negatives 100x more than Harden when he does the same things. Apparently Lin is a "turnover machine" while averaging just under 3 per game but Harden gets 10 TOs in a playoff game, averages almost 4 per game for the season and you see nobody in the media mention it as a problem. Lin shoots a bad % he can't shoot and needs to work on his jumper, etc. but Harden shoots 6-24 or 7-24 and barely 40% since all star break it's ok he's just in a slump, he made free throws to make up for it. Lin misses some 3's and goes 1-3 from long range he needs to learn how to shoot and get better from 3, Harden shoots 0-7 from long range vs Indiana and a worse % than Lin since all star break he gets a pass because he's the superstar.
and likewise, we also had many in this forum who were simply racist towards yao, and now towards lin (and his fans)
The problem is that for all his flailing he isn't getting the calls. It is the same problem Kevin Martin faced the season before last, refs stopped giving him the benefit of the doubt, he still kept trying to draw contact and toss up non shots that became turn overs. There is nothing wrong with getting the call but constantly seeking it everytime any one is near you and putting on mini performances instead of finishing or finding the open man to pass to isn't how you win a playoff game unless you are the biggest NBA darling on the court, which in the playoffs he likely won't be the farther the team advances.
The underlying problem with both sides of that argument is that people are comparing Lin to Harden on an equal playing field. Their talent levels aren't equal. Lin is sometimes held to the Linsanity standard, which is an unfair standard. Harden is asked to do a lot more than Lin and faces the biggest challenges on the court as the primary scorer. If people truly believe in their heart of hearts that Lin is a good comparison to Harden, even statistically, this argument will never end. Harden isn't perfect. He's not Labron, he's not Durant. Give him time to learn and develop as a star. Lin shined bright in the regular season last year, but Harden isn't given credit for his? Double standards across the board, both sides.
I don't think it is drawing fouls vs. settling for jumpers. It's TRYING to draw fouls vs. actually trying to make the play. There's a different between going to the hoop with the sole intention of drawing foul and going to the hoop aggressively to score and getting fouled a lot in the process. Harden has been going through traffic and losing the ball a lot lately. All he was doing was flailing his arms in hope of getting the call. He needs to play smarter than that.
It would be helpful if the Rockets knew how to run a play to get Harden (or any player) a mid-range shot.
THIS. Its like he is not even looking at the rim when he drives in, instead he is looking for a defender to run into and draw a foul. Go to the basket to score while drawing contact, which is what he did in the first half of the season and still got alot of FTs.
Disagree, Lin's had similar short bursts this season, while playing 2nd or 3rd fiddle in the offense. 4 games in a row in April: 19-11 15-10 22-8 23-8 4 games in a row in December: 22-9 18-6 15-11 20-11 He's had other big games but not part of a stretch 38-7 29-7 28-9 The main problem when looking at his numbers is consistency, but then he doesn't really have a very consistent role in the offense or consistent touches, though it did get better in the 2nd half of the season.
McHale, Harden still can't agree on late-game offense http://www.csnhouston.com/basketball...e-game-offense
LMAO! Mchale to Lebron: 'hey, we've got a great player named James already; so why don't you go stand in the corner. No, further. No, further. You're still on the court? OK, good enough. Now, I want you to chuck a 3 every once a while, but remember to stand in that corner. Are you still here?'
Well If Harden want to take the last shot then I say go for it. Whether we like it or not Morey and the Rockets believe he is our franchise player that means he should be our closer. So if Harden want to be our close he needs to start learning how to close games. Let him shoot it.
Mchale has been harden's enabler the entire season, and now he wants him moving the ball?!? Harden is frankenstein's frankenstein. Expect more bricks to be laid on the path to implosion.
