ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Knicks 11/14/2013

I thought Jones 1. missed setting a lot picks 2. looked awkward on offense 3. played some teamD and 4. picked up some needed trash...all in all I'd say meh.

 

Who is worse, Lin or Harden?

 

OKC had Harden finish most games instead of Thabo and they reached the Finals a couple of years ago. Ginobili finished most games for the Spurs over whoever starts in place of his spot and they won rings that way. Jason Terry finished games for Dallas and he was a 6th man.

Being a starter doesnt mean anything else other than...starting. You always put your best 5 on the floor to finish close games and Lin is among that group. Its true that Bev is a better fit for our starting 5 but when the going gets tough and the defense tightens, you always want to have a threat in all positions because the other team (especially if theyre good) wont commit breakdowns on defense down the stretch. A need for another shot creator is needed and while Bev is a good shooter, a shot creator he is not.

Plus, its not like Jeremy is bad defensively either - in fact, he's been pretty good this season. The only reason for his benching is that he can be maximized more with the 2nd unit, as emphasized over and over by rational people on this board. He doesnt seem to be a liability on defense anymore unlike last year where he over helps in every play (might have been a team philosophy?) and always late in closing out shooters.

 

Harden's is worse. Lin's TOs per game is 3.8 according to Yahoo! Sports. Though you could argue that it might be because Harden plays a little more than 6 minutes over Jeremy.

Need to cut those turnovers down soon. We cant set up our defense if we're giving up wild passes and freebies. :\

 

As good a player as Bev is right now, his on-court production on both ends of the floor isn't high enough to guarantee that he'll finish games.

Jeremy Lin - 18.4 ppg, 44.7% FG%, 46.5% 3pt%, 4.7 APG
Beverley - 8.5 ppg, 36.4% FG%, 24.2% 3pt%, 2.3 APG

Yes, playing Beverley has specific defensive advantages but is it enough to offset Lin's clearly superior offensive game? Remember, while defense can help reduce the opponent scoring, in the end all you have to do to win is outscore your opponent. And right now Lin is our 2nd best scorer by a BIG margin. He's putting up more PPG than Parsons OR Howard, while playing 10-20% fewer minutes than either of them, has the highest FG% and EFG% on the team, at a higher level of efficiency, AND getting assists.

Beverley just doesn't have the same impact on the floor as Lin, so his relative value to having him on the floor isn't going to change until either his scoring and/or his facilitating improve.

Beverley will get more time closing games after he shows more value during the other 40 minutes of the game.

 

Not harsh at all he was being honest. Lin wasn't an all star but for 30 games he put up all star level production so they took a chance on him. Nothing wrong with that. And it is paying off dividends. When you don't have any all stars on your team you have to take risks on young propects who could have all star potential

Not really sure what is going on there to be honest. Curious to see how much longer McHale lets him start.

 

Quick corrections (sorry for being so picky)
Lin is shooting 52.7% FG
Bev is averaging 8.1 ppg

 

Sorry, you're right... misread the stat sheet. Dam the lack of edit function :grin:

 

I have no problem Lin finishing games over Bev. Whoever is playing better should finish games.

 

Carmelo Anthony Says You Have To See Blood For Him To Get A Foul Call

 

Haha, bro, I know what you are trying to say. I were mad for whole season long.

 

Melo and the knicks are perennial crybabies. This kind stuff goes around the league. We thought that it was bad for us when we played the clippers. In the end it balances out.

When it's all said and done the best teams will be in the playoffs and the teams that play the best there will reach the finals. The rest is nonsense.

Melo got his, so he thinks he can talk, at the end of the day, he's not leading his team anywhere but endless mediocrity.

I think Harden gets mostly fair calls. We could also make an issue and say that Lin should be getting a lot more calls.

I enjoy his tears. What a loser.

 

faster playing teams will have more turnovers. turnovers really need to about your own turnovers vs the other teams' turnovers. and not an individual, but the team turnovers vs the other team's turnovers.

turnovers are also about team chemistry, and the team has howard now, so we can see some extra turnovers for a little while until we get used to each other.

 

Rockets were playing a lot smoother last night than what they have been playing. What really impressed me was how they were moving the ball. 3s are finally starting to fall for the team and that is going to be dangerous.

 

Lin's FG for the season is actually .527, not .447 Where you getting your data

 

Yes, Defense and TO is killing the team. It's giving opponents too much opportunity and confidence to come back and win. Like someone already mentioned, we are still waiting for a blow out win...

 

Although he's very high in the league in FTA, he's telling the truth. He'll get smacked in the head like 5 times and they won't call it until his sweatband goes flying off. I think his constant whining to the refs contributes to this.

 

Rockets caught two breaks from bad calls last night. I felt that Harden flopped on that foul at the three-point line. I also thought it was a continuation foul on Carmelo because Harden swatted at his arm just as he was starting his shooting motion. If that had happened to Harden, this board would have imploded from all of the posts about the refs costing the Rockets the game. Now that being said, the Knicks really can't b**** too much because if they'd just played a semblance of interior defense and shot better, they'd have won this game.

 

I actually was willing to cut him a little slack because the officials can be really inconsistent. But that "they put him at the line, we didn't put him at the line is BS". If he drove to hole and looked for contact he would probably get to the line as often as Harden and Durant.

 

Harden, because he hold on the ball and stall ball movement.