Well overall that's true but as a coach i think you give him consistent minutes. Without a focused, polished Lin we won't go far in the playoffs. I liked McHales rotations of playing lin in the beginning of the 2nd and 4th giving harden rest and letting Jeremy build up a rhythm. It baffles my why McHale does not stick with these rotations. I certainly do lot like the fact that harden plays 38 minutes a game.
This is why I don't get the "Lin is on tight leash" theory. He is getting plenty of minutes both during Beverley's absence and before it. He get benched at times when he doesn't play well, but so do other players when they do not play well. If he sits this game, he's still gonna get another chance to do better next game. DMo and hundreds of other NBA players only dream of this kind of "tight leash." To the extent that Lin sits more frequently it's only because his play has been up and down more than that of other guys. Also, with guys like Harden and Dwight, they are so much more talented than their potential replacements that your best bet is most often to go back to them even when they are having bad games.
Disagree, he's gettin the same iso's he had when he was in NY, with even more spacing. But...... ^this. He's playing scared. Blame the coaches if you want to, but if he can't overcome playing timid, the blame will eventually fall on his shoulders. It's his weakness, regardless of who's bringing out this weakness. How many NBA players are this scared to mess up and get benched? How many dudes on this team are? If he can overcome it, especially under Mchale, he'll be way better off than he was, and mentally tougher in the long run. Man up, attack without fear, and build your own confidence, and your coaches and teammates will be more confident in you as a result.
Like Parsons tonight? If you listen to his interviews about D'Antoni, he always praises D'Antoni for letting him play through his mistakes. It must be a really big deal to him. Lin's play and consistency is all about his confidence level. He's begging for the coach to have confidence in him, but it's a catch-22 with McHale. Just trade him. It's best for him and for the Rockets as long as McHale is coach.
It's not that simple. There would have to be a clause/option or non-guaranteed part of the contract in order to waive any player and not owing him X amount. Waiving him or Asik would be the worst thing to do because they'd count against the cap still.
Lin has actually been extremely consistent. When he is the primary ball handler, he gets hot. He can hit some transition threes. Leads some fast breaks. Gets some nice layups. When he isn't, he cools off fast. It might be psychological. He seems to thrive as the alpha dog. And wilt as the... what is he now, the fifth option? As a Lin fan, I was upset when they made him a sixth man. But all you have to do is look at the stats to know it was a great decision. He is much better when he is the alpha dog. Lin fans know that, so we want him to be the alpha dog, but Harden is a better alpha dog. Best case scenario, Lin gets traded to a mediocre team where he can develop. A mediocre team with a coach or some players who can actually teach him. I get the distinct impression that absolutely no one is coaching Lin up.
Aaron Brooks is playing decently. The team doesn't really have much of an alternative to Parsons. Garcia is struggling with his shot badly. Brewer cannot shoot. Trading him would be difficult because the market is flooded with good PGs and Lin is currently playing like a $5M player on a $8.4M (or $11M in real money paid) contract. You get no value for him. You also gain no cap flexibility even of you get $0 salary in return. The Rockets and Lin are stuck with each other, for better or worse. It's up to Lin to make the best out of their opportunity.
There is no way you can get into a rhyme if you are pulled immediately after a bad quarter. Against OKC its is clear McFail rather lose a game than bringing his starter back in the game. If you are repeatedly disrespected and get put on a short leash it is going to affect you mentally. I have seen countless starters struggle first 3 quarters then shine in the last, there is no way Lin should be benched over guys like Beverley and Brooks. Lin worked so incredibly hard to get to where he is today, he improved tremendously as a shooter but even the best shooters go through 1-5, 2-8 streaks, being pulled immediately for the rest of the game seriously hurt psychologically. I can only hope he is as strong mentally as I see him, as most other un-drafted players in his situation would have gave up a long time ago. He needs to be on a team where he can CONSISTENTLY play 35 minutes a night and I am sure he is at least a tier-2 point guard IF he is allowed to have bad quarters. Rockets will NEVER win a title with Harden as its best player or McFail as its coach. Hint: 6 3" shooting guard is too short to dominate the game and is easily shut down by long defenders OKC has. You need to be Kobe/MJ's height. Harden is very good at drawing fouls so his defender back off, then his jump shot opens up. He is simply not a dominant offensive force like Durant, LeBron, Alridge, Love, Dirk, etc and his 45% FG speaks volumes. Using a Chinese quote, it is better to be a Chicken's head than a Cow's behind, Lin would be better off on a rebuild team and get consistent minutes/developments, instead of on a pretender and the shortest leash of any starter I have ever seen. His stats are NOT far behind Parker/Nash at their 2nd year.
Yea I do, and I think I'm really unfair to those other guys. I get on TJ about his play all the time, even when he had that really good game against Washington, you just don't care because I insulted your favorite player. Read this guy's post.
I disagree that he is playing scared. He is driving a lot in the paint. And even today in the first minute of the game he made a nice drive in transition and made the bucket. But if you mean something else about playing scared, could you maybe elaborate?
I get this, but today against the bucks he only played 7 minutes in the second half. Why isn't he allowed to play in the 4th quarter? And the last game against Thunder. Brooks was ineffective in the second half of the game, but he got to play about 12minutes the second half. And most importantly 8 minutes in the 4th quarter.
I honestly don't mind it so much for this game. You could see he was clearly tired. Resting him when the Bucks game is pretty much in hand was the right move IMO. You need Lin to be 100% for the Portland game. If nothing else, a rested Lin would have a much better chance of defending and stopping Lillard.
I think Lin has been very effective as a starter. The team has lost only 2 games this month and he is igniting the inside play since the team's 3 pt shooting has been pretty bad over the last 2 months. I'm sure he is concerned about the uncertainty about his role and whether he will be traded (to Boston it looks like)yet he still plays hard and performs. He is a true professional with skills and the ability to impact a game. You shouldn't trade players like that but if he ends up going to Boston, I think that would be ideal for him.
I expect him to be playing against the second unit... and depending on matchups will be either be playing the 2 (or the bench) come 4th qtr
Didn't mean it like that, but truth is PG is the deepest spot on this team because morey plan was to trade Lin. We have bev, he brought brooks back & then he drafted Canaan. But the thing is unless morey trades him for. 2nd round pick I think he will finish his contract here.
Don't really care if its Bev or Lin, as long as one of them stops Lillard. Stop him and you win IMHO.
Lin's pretty consistent across seasons. Obviously he plays like hot garbage to sabotage getting voted in for ASG, then after it's over he returns to his usual self. Just watch it happen again next year. :grin: Seriously though, it's inexplicable why he plays like a borderline all-star sometimes and other times he plays like he's on the way out of the league. I'm gonna root for the guy to succeed whether as a starter or bench player, but it shouldn't be at the expense of the Rox. Hopefully he finds a way to contribute even when his strengths are not maximized.
LOL, Jeremy being benched in the fourth quarter again hurt us fans so much that we forget there's this big game this Monday. lol. Jeremy should have no excuss against Portland. He better perform well and not get bench again.
