Doesn’t matter who the starter is as long as LIN gets at least 30pg and is always on the floor when harden is out. Its just how Miami does it with wade and lebron, they always have wade in when lebron is resting vice versa. we have HOWARD & ASIK who can do the exact same thing down low! Miami struggled with pacers because they didn’t have a answer for hibbert thats why the went out and got oden. Hope they are ready for the full 48 vs ASIK and HOWARD !!!
Strange that some people are already sold on Lin being the 6th man. Obviously McHale hasn't made up his mind yet because he is using the preseason to help make his decision by alternating starts with Lin and Bev. So far, both guys have done extremely well in preseason games and there is no doubt in my mind that both guys have been working hard on their games over the summer and both have improved. If you already made up your mind, I think you are jumping the gun.
Everybody sees in the pre season when Lin and Harden are on the court Harden has the ball more then Lin. So coming from me I have no problem with him being 6th man
As a lurker, i just have to say that it's obvious who the haters are now and who are true rocket fans that just want what's best for their team. Lin playing well has made this place much more pleasant
Every PG in the league will have problems stopping that dominate Point Guard. Bev is not shutting down Parker, Westbrook (healthy), Irving, Rose (healthy), and a few other stud PG. That sh** is not happening. Every team will have issues stopping that dominate wing guy as well. Harden and Parson will have big time problems with Superstars such as Lebron, Melo, Wade and a few others.
with Lin as a sixth man. Our starting line up will be: Beverley, Harden, Parson, T-Jones or D-Mo?, Howard Why people had so much confidence with this line up for Championship?
I asked this before, so I will ask you; What makes you think you know whats best for Lin and this team? Didnt we not have a good year last season with Lin playing starter minutes? So why change now, doesnt make any sense to me.
I respect your posts, they are always well written. But the fact was, for the majority of rest of last year's season, the Harden/Lin combo just didn't work that well, for whatever reason. Some blame the coach, some blamed Lin's unable to play off the ball, some blamed Harden. Again, its the coach's job to experiment in pre-season. And I think the experiment results have been an eye opener for everyone so far. Really hoping to see Asik in the experiment, he'll be the main difference maker I think in the future experiments.
U have ur best player starting. If u have a player come off the bench just to blow up his states then casspi would be starting based on that argument...
Response I bet you some different problems will emerge with Bev starting. I hope Mac doesn't alternate starting PG when regular season starts. I am for consistent starters, no matter who starts at the PG spot.
I dont agree with this, as you know. But I appreciate your kind words towards my writing and I respect your opinion on the subject, even if we disagree.
This thread is just as stupid as saying Harden should be the 6th man. You start your best players. Period. If the problem is Beverly isn't a floor general, then you trade for one.
Remember last year they didn't have a training camp. Lin wasn't as healthy as he could be, it was the first time that both Lin & Harden were full time starters and they also didn't have a PNR big man. There were a lot of factors working against them last year vs this year.
I don't have any opinion either way on starting Lin, but saying the Harden/Lin combo didn't work very well is silly. We won 45 games winning that lineup. You can point to the fact that Lin was sometimes benched for Bev/Douglas, but every player not named Harden and Asik were prone to being benched when playing badly. The main problem with that pairing is Lin's lack of outside shooting, and his shot looks pretty good this year.
I think the greater issue is just how incredibly better Lin plays when not around teammates that he is obligated to pass to e.g. when surrounded by role players, suddenly Linsanity flashes begin to happen. In general, Lin plays well and/or makes plays when: (1) given the ball in rhythm (2) takes full/relaxed total control of offense and (3) when simply hot — and plays badly when (1) faced with physical defense or (2) rushes shots when nervous about score. BUT Lin gets the ball when: (1) not on the floor with stars or (2) when Harden runs out of time / goes cold. SO I think it's safe to conclude ad oculos that Lin & 2nd unit output could potentially rise drastically if he were to man the bench unit. Also, is it just me or does nobody seem to realize the importance of an awesome 2nd unit? :\
No. Lin is a good passer. Good passers need good teammates to pass to unlock their potential. He's not injured this season anyway, he'll be performing better, so there will be more room for him to be assertive and he will have plenty of opportunities alongside Harden. Lin is also going to be a much improved spot-up 3-pt shooter this season, but he's not going to get the same open looks if he has to play most of his minutes away from Howard & Harden. No. The men ranked 6 through 10 on your depth chart are pretty much never on the floor together. The starters get staggered resting minutes. Having a solid bench is about having a few key guys that can hold the fort while your main guys rest; it's not about fielding an entire second team for prolonged minutes. Lin will get plenty of playing time alongside our "second unit" players even if he's starting. McHale is using the same substitution pattern he did last year, where Lin is the first starters to the bench early, so he can be rested to come out and play with the second unit at the 2 when Harden is benched.
I saw every game last season and I would not go as far as to say that the Harden/Lin combo "did not work" What it did was force the lesser player to expand his game (lin) and adapt to play alongside the budding superstar in harden. Now this adjustment led to some struggles on Lin's part but I believe if you look at the fact that both players led the team to a playoff berth and had respectable averages holistically the pairing was a success. But if you were expecting Lin to average numbers close to what he did in NYC then yeah I would understand labeling the pair as unsuccessful as they did not maximize the averages of both players. Now regarding the Lin Vs. Bev debate I think the team will start lin and have Bev be the first guard off the bench. Here are my reasons why. First Bev cannot sustain his level of defense as a starter. There will be an adjustment period and you have to ask yourself does the team want to wait for a free-agent guard to adjust to a new role when we can be just as good with him as the sixth man? I think it's too late for this drastic of an adjustment. Also last season forced lin to change his play style to complement harden. I think its only fair that we also ask Patrick to expand his game by becoming a creator off our bench. He certainly has the ability. And my last point is that as fans we should applaud lin for coming into this season an improved player. I think the only way he loses his starting role is if Beverly Outplays him. And i do not think that has happened yet.
