I know you are a Rockets fan and a good poster. However marketing the NBA is not McHale's chief concern.
torocan, really enjoy your post with broad angle. Don't be bothered by somebody who argue just for an argument.
I don't see how you can say "there is no way" Lin starts all 82 games. Sure, there's some speculation of which role he fits better, but he started all last year, and if he is the starter in the first regular season game and has improved (which he has) and continues to improve, I don't think it's impossible to assume that he will if he's healthy.
Yes, we are. Again, this is a marketing trip by the NBA. A short trip, two games, but the purpose is clear, as David Stern points out: http://www.womencitizen.com/sports-24/nba-commissioner-stern-thanks-filipino-fans-1-110.html And, it is also clear whom the fans came to see: http://sports.inquirer.net/123699/filipino-fans-relish-nba-game-here-lin-a-fan-favorite So, I do think you shoot yourself in the foot, from a marketing perspective, if you handle this as McHale did. You don't have to agree with me, which is ok. However, this is what I believe and I am not the only one who believes it. Now, on to the specious argument regarding facing the same team twice. Two things on this. First, you won't necessarily get the same effort from the opponent on the two different nights. For example, I watched the Lakers play the Nuggets twice in a row in the last several days and the games were completely different. Thus, the opponent being the same doesn't necessarily guarantee a similar "lab setting" for the two different instances. Patrick Beverley may face a less- or more-motivated, less- or more-rested, less- or more focused Pacers team than does Jeremy Lin. Second, your opponent may not play the same lineups or rotations in the two games. Especially in the preseason. Pacers coach Frank Vogel: http://www.nba.com/pacers/preview-pacers-rockets-131010 So, the "facing the same team" argument isn't all that it's cracked up to be, in my view. Especially in the preseason. As regards facing good competition, I think the Spurs and Grizzlies, future preseason opponents, fit the bill. Thus, if Lin started both games in Asia, Beverley could later face the Spurs and the Grizzlies. Or something along those lines. As the old saying goes, there are various ways to skin a cat. And I am of the belief that McHale failed in his cat-skinning method in this instance. You don't have to agree with me, nor does anyone else. I don't care if you do or do not. I think the important point here is that there is no unanimity as regards this decision. And trying to hide behind the "best for the team" or "same team twice" shields isn't going to fly. At least not for me, it isn't. Some people may go for that argument, but I'm not one of them.
Two games into preseason and we already got multiple essays on how terrible a man McHale is for benching Lin. Gonna be a long season.
It seem like some posters just want to disagree with anything Lin fans believe about the situation. It's pretty amazing that even long-time posters are now being called LOFs just because they say something positive about Lin or disagree in their opinion of Lin.
Don't let it bother you. Like Jay-Z, just dust off your shoulder. Forums are for debate, not groupthink. That's my feeling, anyways.
Starting Lin from the bench wasn't a big deal for me. There were good basketball reasons for trying it out. But watching some intelligent posters here try and point out that Coach could have handled it better, only to be given pointless arguments for the sake of arguing is hurting my head.
Why should anyone believe it when the very quote you provide indicates that the fans did not miss out on what they came to see? Any evidence that the fans were en masse disappointed with the showcase because Lin was not on the court at the very beginning of the game? I haven't read anything about a negative reaction over there. I'd like to see reports indicating this, and then maybe it would be something worth discussing.
Your contribution to the discussion is always appreciated, Paul! To lighten the mood, I thought I'd share this: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Sad but true. <a href="http://t.co/tDOn2xk23F">pic.twitter.com/tDOn2xk23F</a></p>— Earth Pics (@EarthPix) <a href="https://twitter.com/EarthPix/statuses/388511298591674368">October 11, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
If Lin really wants a lock on that starting job, he better pull out Linsanity this game while simultaneously holding the opposing PG scoreless. Anything else and he's most likely going to be relegated to 6th man.
One player has a 9/2 AST/TO ratio the other has a 9/7 ratio. Only 2 games, but who is the one stinking up the playmaking so far?
This is interesting. Why do you think Yao never get calls? Stars usually get calls more often than not in this league.
I was a youngster in the 1970s and 'Oriental' still meant the specific Far Eastern place and people - things, places and people from and of the Orient. 'Asia' was a place on the map, to me - a giant continent that includes India and parts of Russia. To me, 'Asian' is still too general a word to apply to people, and I think I still have that word down as a geographical term in my mind. Is the term 'Oriental' thought to be offensive? It seems it stopped being used for people back in the 80s for some reason.
The "reason" is because it's offensive or at the very least not politically correct to Asians. And please don't bother asking "why"? Any term that is deemed to be offensive to a particular ethnic group, is by definition offensive.
