you don't play your 6th man six minutes, then bench him for another 6min as soon as he misses 2 shots.
^ True. Obviously the late game offense was an issue when they hit the 4 minute mark. Its true that the ball got "sticky" and they went away from their preferred style of play to walk the ball up, burn clock, and take low percentage shots. However, its the attitude that really scares me. The fact is the team has had the lead, and controlled the game up till the final minutes of the Lakers game, Toronto game (although they luckily won), Clipper game, and now the Dallas game, and then coughed up leads with poor defensive execution late in games is really telling. Its a broken record. 12 consecutive made shots by Dallas.... 12. Nobody shoots that well in crunch-time unless the defense isn't doing something right. So while I do agree that yes the late game offense is really a concern, it wasn't the reason why they will continue to put themselves in these situations were they HAVE TO score in crunch time. When you have a 10+ point lead with 4 minutes left in the game... your mentality as a team should be to get 3 or 4 stops in the next 6 possessions. You do that, you win the game.
LINSANITY. His fans are vigilantly waiting for the sequel. What they don't realize is Dallas's 4th quarter rare comeback has a better chance to repeat than LINSANITY.
Playing 17 minutes is not the problem, it is the minutes allocated are mostly garbage minute. So technically, he only play the first 7 or so minutes and the minutes after that are all garbage time. 2 to 3 minutes end of 2nd, 2 to 3 minutes end of 3rd, 2 minutes beginning of 4th. Of course, the final 9 seconds where Lin "lost" the game for the Rocket.
Not sure how playing alongside Howard really makes Lin that much better. He's going to require more post ups than Asik/D-Mo, not as good of a screener as Asik is, and again... he has less help defensively on the perimeter with Harden/Chandler. The move to 6th man is less about coming off the bench as it is with staggering minutes with your perimeter scorers. I'm still boggled that Lin fans who really aren't Rockets fans really want him playing alongside Harden. They should love the fact that McHale finally found a way to stagger their minutes. He's playing more minutes than he was last year, scoring more point, and finishing more games so far. His fans have to be smart enough to get past this whole 6th man thing.... its nothing but staggering minutes.
Funny thing is Linsanity HAS repeated early this season. He's not just put up Linsanity numbers during the first 11 games... he's actually better statistically than he was then. The only difference is the media hype. The fact is the media hype is never coming back like it was then. He could average 30 a game, and it still wont get that kind of hype again.
big lin fan here but first ROCKETS, the thing with lin is when he plays good he looks like a allstar, but when he is not effective he looks like player that should not be in the NBA. I think the rockets are just not the team for him; lin builds off support and having the ball and being able to move it. Something he will not be able to do consistently here - i also worry about lin in the playoffs, he can go hot and cold too quick and if benched or have a bad game his confidence will go down and could effect the rest of a playoffs series, so thing is I dont trust LIN in the playoffs on the rockets. Mchale & harden is just not the right situation I can trust him in. - him cheating in the lane on that perimeter defense is just crazy. His on ball defense looks better but he cant stop cheating in trying to help someone on a contested 2 which leads to someone kicking it out to his man and him running back and getting the 3 nailed in his face. This is what happened in dallas and in philly. He’s been doing this since his knicks days so I don’t think he will ever learn to just stay on his man, it’s not worth cheating trying to help someone else. - Like I said before I would trade lin + brewer + asik to NY for shumpert +bargnani (expiring contract) + udrih on dec15th Bargnani would fit our system like a glove at the 4, we could go TT with him because he has the range, and he can play back up center.
lol comebacks aren't that rare, happens more often than Linsanity, so that's a given. Plus it was a team effort, not by just 1 person. CATS
One of Jeremy's big strengths, and I know this because I watched him in NY, is his chemistry with other players and especially big men and 3 point players as well as slashers. He will find you if you are moving or if he creates and you are open. Yes, when Dwight does post up anyone can get him the ball but Lin will get the lobs to him, Lin will get him the ball when he's driving to the rim and Dwight has to learn how to expect a pass at any time from Jeremy, he will find Dwight when the defense comes towards him and then Dwight is open. Lin's relationship with other players in getting them easy shots is why he should play with Dwight. Dwight also wants to play with him, I'm picking that up from him. Lin is on the court with Harden and Dwight, 6th man or not. So, he needs the chemistry developed with both of them because he is not only directing a 2nd unit or being a top scorer in it, he's also on the court when he's playing well in crunch time and executing with those 2 players is very helpful for the Rockets. I think it is folly to put it all on Harden or Parsons when Lin can help out as well. A lot of the game's end the unit will be Bev, Lin, Harden, Parsons, Dwight and those 5 guys need to work as beast they can.
This seems awful "conspiracy theory" to me. The facts are there, true. McHale does pull Lin quickly on occasions and it's puzzling. But the idea that there's a secret agenda to hold Lin back? I'm not buying it. I have my doubts about McHale as a coach but even the worst middle school coach can see that Lin is important to winning. If McHale wants to win or cares about his future employment at all he wouldn't sit an obvious contributor (on most nights) just because he has some secret agenda or beef. It's like that DaVinci Code book/movie. There are actual supporting facts in that story but the "theories" that fill in the factual holes are pure conjecture. It makes for great fiction with facts sprinkled in, but the overall story is NOT factually true. Do we know for sure the McHale had input on Lin's departure from the Rockets? Is there proof that he dislikes Lin's play style and doesn't want him on the team? Aside from odd substitutions and last night's early pulls (one night does not a sample size make) we don't have facts, do we? Don't get me wrong. I believe there is SOMEthing going on that's leading to Lin's short leash. But jumping to wild conclusions based on limited facts is a little too far fetched for me.
I agree, I really wish he'd just stick to his man and not allow open 3s. His gambling sometimes pays off but he gets burned too. I expect Lin to have his growing pains in the playoffs but Lin can produce under pressure. First of all, I've been in NY long enough to see great players not be able to perform in NY so Lin doing that Linsanity thing at MSG showed he can perform under the spotlight. Then he goes back to NY as a Rocket and plays well and plays well in Taiwan. The playoffs is a bigger challenge, it's a slower game, the intensity is tightened so he'll have growing pains. But once he just says this is basketball and I'll play within myself and deal with the playoff style, he'll come into his own. It'll happen when it is meant to happen, but it will happen. I think the Rockets will again struggle in the playoffs, they are a young team still but they'll have their moments and may go the distance in one or two rounds.
You don’t have to agree with my trade request, I don’t expect everyone to agree, It could help the team it could make us worse, it’s never been a situation where all rockets fans agree on a trade that a GM has made NEVER. I could reply with something slicker to your lil drug comment, but 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Peace
He is no longer on the Knicks. On the knicks he runs the offense because he can. The players listened to him and there was mutual respect. ON the Rocket's the roles are different, Lin can't be the same guy because Harden and Dwight are the superstars, and Parsons and other guys want to run the show as well. Lin is in a very different role this time around. Everyone on the team is a role player except DH and Harden. The team chemistry is very different here.
At the peak of Linsanity(his first 10 games or so), Lin's PER is around 30 which sits at the top5 of the league for a while. Also his steal/reb/block rate and defensive RAPM number then were pretty impressive.
Of course they are going to be on the court together alot, and of course they need to build chemistry. That's not the point. Just pointing out that when Lin is on the court and Harden is not, he's immediately the focal point of the offense. Just boggles my mind that Lin fans want him to minimize those minutes by not having his minutes staggered even slightly. He's still going to finish games most of the time either way, and play alongside Howard/Harden. You obviously can't avoid that one. McHale made a hall of fame career out of having his minutes staggered with Bird, and Parrish, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they didn't play well together & have chemistry. Its just McHale fans(I'm sure there were a couple from Minnesota) from the 80's probably loved seeing him completely dominate in the low post during those minutes when he was the focal point of the offense.
Sorry making a Lin to the Knicks trade request, and a Bargnani being a perfect fit statement in one post.... your going to get some flack. Its Clutchfans.... where sarcasm reigns supreme.
