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

Agreed. I do think Steph's offensive efficiency eats up any real energy he might have to spare on the defensive end, which is good for sharpshooting opponents (like we can be when things are clicking on all cylinders).

 

I don't know about cementing/locked. Compared to last year's Jeremy, for sure. But Jeremy has vastly improved on his game this year (more control, less TO, better Defense, better shooting, playing off the balls with Harden, etc). It will be a toss up, we just have to see who plays better going forward. If we want to protect the lead, then I want PBev to finish. If we want to comeback or in close game, I would want Jeremy to finish. Again, this could all change going forward, but for now that's my opinion.

 

Beverley doesn't attack off the pnr so he rarely has to make decisions. The way I see it they're both playing fine and consistent. I doubt Lin likes being benched but Lin being benched for Bev makes a lot more sense than what happened last year, where he was being benched for Toney Douglas. With both of them playing this consistent, I doubt you can find any talent based justification for who should close out games right now - it's simply a coaching decision and McHale views them as equals.

 

True it is just my opinion that Bev has locked up the PG position, but I can't think of any scenario where Bev would not finish the 4th quarter.

Look at Shane Battier when he was a Rocket. Battier could have an off night shooting but you knew he was going to finish games because of his defense and intangibles. Bev is a lot like Battier in that regard. He's simply too valuable to not have in a game because he does many things well.

 

I noticed this too. On the flip side during the Blazers game, Asik was hedging hard on Lillard giving Lin time to recover. The pnr defense looked a lot better

 

Don't know if this has been posted already, but I saw this one reddit the other day. An interesting POV perspective from a Rocket's fan sitting right behind the bench at the Rockets - Clippers game (which I also attended). Original post from the Rocket's FB page. Again - these are not MY observations; they are purportedly from another Rockets fan who attended the game.

Reddit link: http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1pzjqv/interesting_pov_experience_from_a_fan_watching/

"Wanted to post my observations from the game last night but will lead the analysis to the pros on the site. My sister and I sat right behind Rockets bench which was great but we had 5 or 6 hecklers sitting right beside us that were super annoying. They were talking trash and screaming literally the whole game. I want to punch them in the face First, Jeremy looked good during warmups. He was making a lot of his jump shots. Not sure if they showed this on TV but Parsons, Harden and Lin have a new pre game ritual. Harden and Parsons facing each other with Lin facing away from them. Harden brushes Parsons hair, Parsons brushes Harden's beard. They do a couple other things that I missed then at the last second Jeremy turns around and they all bow towards each other.
First half was really hard to watch. Looks like dwight and Harden were super lazy on defense. Dwight constantly looks to throw outlet pass to Harden or Parsons. Jeremy was getting really frustrated. There was a play where Coach Mchale was yelling at Jeremy to run a certain play (Index finger and pinky finger raised). Looks like this is a type of "horns" play where they set double screens for Jeremy at the top of the key (one pick on each side). Jeremy calls the play, Harden gets the ball and goes iso and misses.
Mchale then calls time out and yells at Jeremy. Jeremy yells at Mchale back. I heard Jeremy say something like, "I AM trying to run the play." Mchale then yells at Harden and Harden just walks away from him. Mchale then looks at Jeremy and shrugs his shoulders kind of like, "there's nothing i can do."
Jeremy reall looks like he is not having a good time playing. He was constantly being yelled at by Dwight and Parsons between plays. To be honest, I really don't know why they were yelling at him. There were couple time where Jeremy wasn't even involved in the play. In 4th quarter, Jeremy checks in at 8 minute mark on his own. He looked at Mchale while walking to check in kind of like asking "I'm checking in right now right." Made me think maybe they have set times they check in? At the end of the 4th, AB was set to check in for JEremy during garbage time. Jeremy was playing well. I saw AB walk back to the bench on his own and heard him say to Mchale, "Jeremy's doing his thing. Just let him play."

 

cp3, curry, and parker can't be completely stopped, but you can contain them somewhat.

 

if he is not playing well, he isn't going to be on the floor....sounds simple to me.

 

yep, true. i suspect this will change on saturday...at least i hope mchale tells them to.

 

Cool perspective

 

Lin is McHale's whipping boy.

 

He rarely makes bad decisions because rarely makes decisions. Lin is clutch, there are numerous stats that back that up, that's something you'd want in the 4th. His defense has been very good so far this season, at least as good as bev's have (of course Bev has only played about 40 minutes so far). His 3pt shooting has also improved vastly. I don't see anything that justifies Bev cementing his position as the finisher. It'll have to depend on the game.

 

The scenario would be where the Rockets need to have some offense. You would want Lin in the game for that not Bev. If there was some bad matchup, where Lin was getting beat then you may put Bev in or if the Rockets had a secure lead and the other team wasn't scoring well, Bev could be in then also. Lets not forget the fact that Lin is without a doubt the better pg, Bev is just better putting pressure on the ball.

 

The optimist, let's hope that's the case.

It's not about Bev playing well, it's about the coach not liking Lin.

Paul didn't score so perfectly until Lin got into foul trouble. And his assists aren't exactly all Lin's fault?

 

Good to see this thread on it's own sticky instead of clogging up the game threads. I am very much a Lin fan, and I have no problems in him starting on the bench. TBH i think it's a win win situation for both the rockets and Lin.
Lin's strongest asset is driving and creating in the offensive end, which unfortunately overlaps Harden's skillset. This way they can really stagger there minutes and the coach draw up plays for Lin. As long as Lin gets his minutes (25+), i thik this will benefit Lin in the end.

I think Mchale's subbing pattern will be sub PB for Lin at the 6 min mark, then bring PB for Harden around the 1-2 min mark then PB and Lin play together till the 7-8 min mark in the 2nd qtr, then bring Lin back around the 3-4 min mark in the 2nd qtr. The second half would then be determined of the game context, but normally I would assume the same pattern as the first qtr. For the last qtr, it would be dependant really on the game context and who is playing well....but you should see Lin closing out a few games.

 

Drama. Drama. Drama.

Not even real drama. Making up things for dramas sake.

 

Just becaue McHale doesn't play Lin as many minutes as his fans want or start him doesn't mean he doesn't like Lin.

It's not McHale's fault that Bev is so much better than Lin on defense and is also a better 3 point shooter. Plus Bev's playmaking is also quickly catching up with Lin.

The coach's job isn't to give the most popular players the most minutes. It is to win games.

 

Based on last night's game I wouldn't say Bev is a significantly better defender. Lin guarded Lillard pretty well and has clearly shown improvement on the defensive end. The gap between them in playmaking is larger.

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1pzjqv/interesting_pov_experience_from_a_fan_watching/

 

blech ignore...wrong thread