[ClutchFans] Rockets to begin season with Beverley, Asik as starters; Jeremy Lin off bench

Did Popovich demote Ginobili when he put Manu on the bench? And did it deject and demoralize Manu as a result?

 

I can almost hear the cries of the Lin fans in the forum. These guys are going Shakespearean with their posts.

In all likelihood, Beverly and Lin will play the same amount of minutes. I don't see what the big deal is. If Harden, Ginobili, Terry, Odom, and bevy of players superior to Lin can do it, I don't see why Lin can't do the same.

 

1) Why do people keep saying that Greg Smith is going to see minutes at 5 because of this? Either Howard or Asik will be playing 5, likely for all 45 minutes. Just because they are starting together doesn't mean their minutes will track - they will stagger, and probably only play a few minutes together.

2) Why does everyone think that Lin's minutes are going to be drastically cut because of this? He and Bev are still gooing to be sharing minutes, and they will still both spend significant minutes together on the floor at times. I can easily see him getting 30 minutes on the floor each night.

3) And those minutes will be better used. He won't be competing with Harden and Howard as much for the ball, and he needs the ball in his hands to be effective.

4) And he is still going to see court time with Howard, Harden, and Asik. It's not as if Bev comes out and so Howard and Harden have to come out, too. He will still get minutes with all of them, only now they won't have to share the rock as much - which is good for all three of them.

Freaking relax people, this will be good for the team and good for Lin, too. He was generally fantastic last season when Harden was sitting or out and he was the playmaker on the floor, and he is now going to get more minutes like that. He will be playing with either Asik or Howard at the 5, and the other 3 guys will be shooters, so he can rack up those assist #s. You LOFs want him to have inflated stats, right? Well, this is how he gets them.

Relax, this is a good move.

 

48 minutes, goddammit... My evil fingers

 

add to that Crawford and JR Smith

if JLin's that good and that special, he'll be alright

 

Good move. can't wait to see Bev defend Kemba Walker at Opening show.

 

Aren't those two great examples of cases where a Howard/Asik lineup is likely to work best?

I think Lin will look better without Harden by his side, possibly a lot better. I don't think that it will have much impact on closing games. That will depend almost entirely on if we go with a small-ball lineup to finish or not. If we do, he will be in it; if we don't, then it will probably be Beverley (who is getting most of the time with the starters, after all). Lin's performance (unless bad) won't be very material to the decision.

 

I honestly believe as a 6th man Lin will have nights where he'll get you 25-6-3 in around 30 minutes. I can easily seeing him average 16 to 17 a night. He is a gifted player with the ability to break the defenses down in broken plays with his dribble penetration and that high scoop shot he has.

In short he will give us a great punch but if he started, he would have been a role player. He can play Harden's role off the bench.

 

HEY GUYS PB WON THE STARTING PG SPOT WITH THIS STAT

Beverley started four preseason games, including the last two, and Lin started three. Beverley averaged 9.1 points (on 50 percent shooting), 3.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals in 24.3 minutes, while Lin averaged 11.2 points (on 47.7 percent shooting), 3.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals in 24.7 minutes.

 

Quote for "hbomb" McFail's the one that cut Lin before they got him back not by his decision... And we all knew he hated Lin when Mchale was having Toney Douglas finishing and losing games in the 4th period rather then having Lin playing... Its the same he does with PB... does that make sense to you that 2 bench scrubs he would rather have finish the games then Lin?

 

cry more.

 

^
shrug true story

 

no

it isnt

it is patently false and it isnt even close

 

Good point. With basically identical stats Beverly won the spot by playing way better defense. Thanks for clearing up why Beverly deserves the start.

Guys, this is not about one player being significantly better than the other. It is simply about having two qaulity PGs and playing them to their strengths. Beverly is a great defender and a good spot up shooter. Lin is a great creator and finisher at the rim. The PG of the first unit won`t have the ball in his hands much - he needs to hit his open shots and play good defense. Two things that Beverly does really well - the PG of the second unit needs to create offense and be a leader - two things that Lin does very well.

 

persons, you are the sort of LOF that makes me hope Lin gets traded, just so we can get rid of the fanbase.

 

Objectively, it has to be seen as the right decision for the Rockets given the information at hand.

For Lin, it could be good, or it could be bad. It really depends on how well he plays in the role and the number of minutes he winds up getting. The problem for him is that his performance is all he can control, and that might not have any real impact on the total minutes he gets.

Asik is sitting in a similar boat; if the Howard/Asik pairing doesn't work out, he'll lose serious minutes. The difference for him is that he has more control (through his play) over the end result.

 

better defense? if you want to see better overall defence go look at some advance stats and tell me how much better bev really is... He just seems like a superior defend because he bounces around alot like a circus act tricking your minds to think he's really that good. He's good but he aint no defensive player of the year. A point guard who can't play his position.. wow good job.. How bout setting some plays letting Lin do some pick and rolls with Howard before demoting him without trial error? oh no Mchale just demotes him for no reason at all.

It ain't fair to Lin to lose his position like this but you know the Coach is setting him up to fail.

and i was saying if Patrick Beverley was a good point guard there wouldn't be any Lin vs Bev threads.. The guy can't play point guard period hence why people think its better for Lin to take his spot. Yep Mchale logic...

 

How is he being set up to fail? He's being set up to succeed. The negative for him is potentially losing minutes.

 

demoting to the bench is not succeed. He did nothing to deserve.