Response Someone above said that internal analysis shows Harden is better PNR player than Lin. If that is indeed the case (I don't remember Morey saying this but assuming this is true), then it might be a case where two players' skills overlap, and Player B's skills are redundant. However, my point is show me where Morey said that his internal analysis shows Harden is a better PNR player.
Just go away! After Morey said point blank "Asik and Lin will be on the team", people like you still imagine holes in his statement and want to trade Lin. PATHETIC!!
"5th in the league" in the number of pick and rolls per game (9). (I hope you're not trying to use this stat to suggest Lin's better than Harden at pnr.) Pick and roll possessions show Lin with 0.85 PPP compared to Harden's 1 PPP. Lin's ranked #43, Harden's at #5. He's a higher % shooter and finisher, he's more efficient, and he gets to the line.
According to this article by GBRocket and his further comments. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=241966&page=12 Jeremy Lin is highly effective at generating offense for the P&R roll man. Harden is more effective at generating offense for himself off the P&R. They both excel in P&R which I am glad we have both. With Dwight, as one of the best P&R finisher, we have P$R combo here.
One question: In all the interviews DM always refers to the Rockets having the most FA money..Is he basically referring to Asik and Lin's contracts coming off the books in 2015? The Rockets are capped out right now, amirite?
I can imagine being Dwight, walking in and seeing Dream, Yao, McHale, Sampson.. The pantheon of great bigs. How awesome it must've been. Great pitch Murray. Get er done!!
Never like Rome, ever since his fall out with Jim Everett. On his show, he repeats the same point ten times and try to talk like a street gangster.
If you really want to know what Morey thinks of players, you can't just look at his words on the surface. After all, what kind of GM would ever speak badly of his own players? None. Morey was talking about how TRob was working hard and will really improve. Yet at the same time targeded him for a salary dump. Yes, I know you choose Howard over TRob every time, but keep in mind that if TRob truly was worthy of a 5th pick, then surely Morey could've tried to trade away Jones, DMo, and Smith instead to make room for Howard. So thinking of it logically, what does Lin being 5th in PnR mean? IMO it's the following. 1. Lin is very capable as a P&R player. If he's not, and there are plenty of guards who cannot run the PnR well, then he wouldn't be running them so efficiently. He's also very good at RECOGNIZING when to use the play, and choose his spots well. 2. Having Howard, who obviously finishes much better than Asik, will certainly improve Lin's efficiency because of this. Lin likely gets a bonus here because he generally likes to pass out of the P&R rather than keeping the ball. 3. Lin is only capable of running the P&R under some circumstances. If it's true that Lin is the 5th best at this play in the NBA, why weren't all of the Rockets plays(especially when Harden's off the court) Lin P&Rs? Likely, the reason is that Lin simply cannot run this play when the opponents defend it well. Or defend it a certain way. 4. Lin as a P&R handler at this point, is similar to a deadly 3pt shooter. In that he has a skill that translates into high efficiency shot, but this skill cannot be utilized any time we want. Just as a deadly 3pt shooter cannot always shoot the 3. He can only do it when the defense collapse inside to leave him open. The difference with star players is that they can create an efficient shot under most circumstances, rather than specific circumstances. This even includes Linsanity, when Lin was able to score efficiently at a very high usage rate through iso and P&R. My own take on Lin is that he does possess a very valuable skill, as the current NBA is a P&R league. And he's very smart in recognizing when to run it. But can he reach a point where he can run the Lin/Howard P&R almost all the time, making it unstoppable even when defenses know it's coming? That remains to be seen.
Because the pick-and-roll is a two-man game, and if the Rockets offense can generate a better shot using another option than the Lin+mediocre big tandem, then we're not running it. It doesn't mean that Lin isn't the 5th best at this play in the NBA.
What were these better options? Because from the games I watched, and from basically the opinion of everyone in the NBA, the Rockets bread and butter play was the P&R.
