i don't think he's saying lin has to start for 82 games... you're missing his point. in simple terms, what torocan is saying is this: mchale could've achieved what he wanted to achieve (see how bev performs with the starting unit for a significant amount of time) without starting bev in philippines and start unnecessary controversy (and it was, because he was asked about it in taiwan). he could've easily sub lin out after 4 min and give bev significant minutes with the starting unit. no one would've batted an eye, and it would be a non-issue. make the fans happy, get the learning that you need - kill two birds with one stone. that decision was rightfully mchale's to make, but you can't say with a straight face that it was the smartest decision to make, all things considered.
The biggest "tell" to me that McHale didn't understand the PR blunder he made was when, at the start of the post-game presser in Manila, a reporter asked him if he had spoken with Jeremy Lin about the decision not to start him. McHale hesitated for a moment as if the question was beneath him. That might work in the USA, that's not going to work on a trip to Asia to promote the NBA and you are the coach of the team with Jeremy Lin on it. There seemed to be a lack of self-awareness or understanding in McHale about the reality that people in Manila and Taiwan were going to be on him about making that decision. Not that he doesn't have the right to make it, but if people didn't know it and then they find out soon before tip-off, you're going to get asked about it and feigning indignity won't work. Basketball is a business, as was stated earlier in the thread. Not only is it a business, it's the entertainment business. Which means that being successful has to be balanced with being interesting to your customers. So if you're going to Asia with a player of Asian heritage who started all 82 games the previous season and it looks like you decided to arbitrarily bench him, that's probably not a good marketing decision for a team or league that is looking to attract Asian customers to its product. The situation may be compared with boxing. There are fighters who are champions who no one cares about or will pay money to see. They can have all the accolades and titles they want, but if the public doesn't care, they won't make money. This also reminds me of a few years ago in Washington DC with the debacle surrounding the Redskins acquisition of Donovan McNabb. Some of the fan base seemed to feel that they wanted McNabb to play and start, even if he wasn't playing well or wasn't the best option at quarterback. Professional sports is entertainment. You can never lose sight of that. Because if the audience isn't interested in your product, it doesn't matter how good your product is. That being the case, what the customer or potential customer wants and expects matters.
Another clear example, to me, of the NBA understanding that the decision to bench Lin may not have been the best one was the NBA's making the Lin highlight video they put on YouTube yesterday. That felt like a bone was being thrown to the Asian market in an attempt to rectify the McHale decision. As if to say "honest, we care about marketing to you." Asia is exploding in terms of basketball interest, as well as economically. The NBA wants to tap that interest and funnel it, for huge monetary gain. You don't go about that by slapping your potential customer base in the face during a visit to their region to pitch your product.
You can say with a straight face that it was the smartest decision to make if you aren't a rabid LOF. What if Beverley had thousands of crazed Chicago fans mobbing the airports and clogging up ClutchFans with posts about how mistreated players from their city are? Would it then be okay to start him? Neither Lin nor Beverley has proven themselves to be a star at this point, yet Beverely is supposed to take second fiddle to this guy just because lots of Taiwanese have Lin's face on a mask at an airport in 3 am in the morning? That's not what you would call basketball reasons.
Are you implying that the NBA would not have put up a Jeremy Lin youtube video if he started? Chinese fans have raged about Yao's ref treatment for years. What did the NBA do about that?
They may have, they may not have. The point is an obvious one, though: We, the NBA, are in Asia and we are pitching our product. And we understand that you, the Asian consumer we are courting, may have an affinity for Jeremy Lin, whose family is from the region. In other words, Lin's the hook. So if McHale wanted to split time in the preseason for his point guards, doing it 2/2 may have been better than 1/1 when you have consecutive games in Asia. Not the same thing. First, this is a trip TO Asia. You're in their backyard, not yours. When you are running your league in your country then you are not the guest. You run it as you want it. When you are the guest in the other person's house -- and you want their money -- it is probably more prudent to go out of your way not to offend that host. When Yao may or may not have been getting good treatment from the refs, he wasn't being benched. If you are possibly booked to play in another region because you have a person on your team who has heritage in the region, it probably isn't a great idea to decide to bench that person and not tell anyone until the last minute. This is common sense. Unless, of course, you're not interested in the money of the people in the region. Easy solution is start Lin for 2 games in Asia, then start Bev the next two games when you get back from Asia.
So basically, you want the NBA to be two-faced, making Lin seem like a superstar during the Asian trip, then when he comes to the US put him back in his rightful place as a role player? And you don't think people in Asia would notice that? Reading through Taiwan/Chinese netizens, I don't exactly find them to be that stupid or naive as people in general.
You're ignoring that the coaches see these two games as an opportunity to test various lineups against quality competition (the Pacers are considered to be contenders). Certain fans think its just about marketing Lin, and they look at everything only through that lens. There are far more important things to consider here. And, again, all this hoopla when Lin still played more minutes than he did in game 1 and put up more numbers. It's crazy.
stop, just stop with this whole rabid LOF crap. you don't just throw out that label and discount someone opinion based on their join date, 'cause i know that's what you're doing. just because someone disagrees with one decision that mchale made doesn't make him a "rabid LOF". stop being a moron. mchale is not god and infallible. listen to yourself - no one is saying lin should be the starter for the season just because of his fans in taiwan. don't be ridiculous. be honest and ask yourself this - based on mchale's response to reporter questions in manila after the game, and in his press conf in taiwan, do you think he would still say "yeah that was the smartest decision"? he said he didn't realize it was a big deal but now he does. again, no one is saying that lin should start for the season just because of his fans in taiwan. what people are saying is that it wasn't the smartest decision, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, to do it in manila, in a preseason exhibition game.
I'm not ignoring anything, despite your assumption to the contrary. This is the preseason, and there are 7 games in it. Choosing several days to wait in a period of about a month of practice time is not a dramatic inconvenience, especially given the circumstances. You still get the players equal splits, you just delay the process slightly. Again, this is a marketing trip for the league. Understanding that, in my opinion, is a prudent thing. And I have been a Rockets fan for decades, and want the team to do well.
My guess is McHale had a plan before he left and he stuck with that plan not even considering anything else. It's his prerogative as coach to do what he wants.
According to? Let's say a coach wants to juxtapose between two lineups. Usually, one of the better ways to do that is for them to play against the same competition. In this case, not only do the Rockets have the chance to play against the same competition back to back, they are going up against a strong contender of the East. McHale reached a compromise in this situation. Beverley will start in one of the games, and Lin in the other. He let Lin start in the more "important" game in Taipei.
Pretty sure that Mchale is focused on putting together a championship calibur team. Nothing more nothing less. If you have a problem with Mchale trying out different rotations and swapping out players who have not clearly differentiated themselves as starters, then as far as basketball is concerned, you're likely clueless. Get out of your feelings. Lin knows his role on this team, and it looks like he's poised and prepared to play that role well.
You ignored (and continue to ignore, in your reply) that the Rockets would like to use the opportunity of facing the same team (and a high quality team, at that) back-to-back to try out different things against them. Otherwise, you wouldn't have remarked that the Rockets could achieve the same thing by just starting Beverley when they return home. The question, then, is whether marketing Jeremy Lin by having him announced as a starter in each game should be a greater concern for McHale than his desire to try out different lineups against the Pacers over these two games. Obviously, we're of different opinions on this.
We did rage about Yao's ref treatment. however, we never really did anything. There was someone try to construct an form complaining letter, it didn't even finish. At that moment, there were just interesting, not much real basket ball fan in main stream. nobody really care about if yao were mistreated by ref or not. Most people only know yao got a big rich contract and played pretty well. The biggest difference between yao's day and today are the buying power of Chinese. During yao's time, we were buying knock off version of NIKE. Now, it is total different story.
Kevin McHale is a basketball coach... he doesn't give a **** about Taiwan or Manila. His job is to get his team in a position to win. PERIOD.
This. Remains to be seen how good a coach he can be, but at least he's focused on his job and not the distractions.
