[ClutchFans] The numbers are clear: Patrick Beverley deserves to start over Jeremy Lin

Pretty good summary :grin: LOL.

Also, I think Clutch's analysis has a fundamental flaw as discussed in one of my posts Post#1710. Pls check it out.

 

Also, I think the coaching staff will change their minds and let Lin and JH play their natural positions and share PG duties if that's what makes the Rockets a better team. NBA is after all a business. Winning will cure everything. So we got to have a little faith. So hopefully the back and forth you described will end soon :grin:

 

I think you're right. Maybe when Harden is available or on the floor, Lin subconsciously starts deferring or playing tentative. He might not even realize he's doing it. Heck, even in the first half last night he was giving up the ball early in the shot clock and most times not getting it back. But he did play decisively last night and really pushed in the second half. That's what we need from him all the time. I don't know if this Lin disappears due to Harden's presence, McHales coaching directives or Lin's own subconscious but this team needs to figure out how to get this Lin every night.

 

Actually Linsanity started to drop off before Melo came back and even before Lin got hurt. I do agree Lin does need to be ball dominant to be at his best. But you're also right about Harden. That's where the overlapping skill set becomes problematic. Someone made an interesting point in another thread where they called Lin, "Harden light". That's basically the role he played last night. We need that. But we need it when we need it, not just when Harden's unavailable. So can Lin "turn it on" off the bench or in crunch time when Harden is available? Time will tell.

 

This had been bugging me too. Don't get me wrong, I'm no huge McHale fan but I think he takes some unfair blame when Lin doesn't perform.

We've all seen what Lin can do. Now it's up to the coaches/team/himself to make sure he can do it on call. If Lin's the type of player that absolutely has to run the team to have any success then we have some big hurdles to overcome. IMO he's not that kind of player but we'll see!

 

I have to disagree. If your statement is true than Lin should have no good games along side of Harden. And he has had those good games.

However, on occasion (and very recently) SOMEthing happens to Lin when he plays off the bench or with Harden. He gets tentative. He looks like he's playing to not make mistakes. Some will say it's because he's afraid he'll get benched. Personally, I think that's on Lin. If he's playing afraid he's not playing his game. And others have shown that Lin doesn't get the hook all the time for making mistakes. It's quite overblown. But back on topic. Last night he knew Harden wasn't available so he knew (as in NY) he had nothing to lose. He was the last man standing. And he played well.

So why can't he do it off the bench consistently? Or alongside Harden? He's done it in the past. He did it to start the year. I wish I knew what caused this. We'd all love to see last night's Lin every time he takes the court.

I have a hard time believing the coaches are saying, "OK, we have Harden tonight so Jeremy, stop being aggressive and go camp out in the corner". The coaching staff sees what we see and a hell of a lot more. They see what Lin can do when he's assertive. So I don't buy in to this whole "not being allowed to play his game" theory. Coaches are paid to win. Jeremy at his best helps you win.

 

It is partially on Lin and it is partially on the coaching staff. To have an aggressive Lin, you got give him a longer leash. Playing aggressively, he will make mistakes and have turnovers. The coaching staff got to give him more room to grow. I have been saying all the along. Lin needs to play with a controlled aggression. He got to learn when to attack and when to pull back, when to push the pace and when to slow down, when to take over and when to defer. The same is true for JH also, btw. Of course this will come with experience.

Keep in mind. Failure is the mother of success. Only through trials and errors, players can improve. This is why I advocate Lin and JH play more together so they can learn to balance and complement each other. People keep saying Lin and James are too similar to each other and they won't fit. I know I'm in the minority here. I actually think it is a plus to us. It is a good problem to have. Once they find a way to complement each other, having both together on the court would make the Rockets a more dangerous team. The defense has to game plan for Lin as well so they can't gear up all their defense on JH only. Plus it will let JH play a more efficient game and conserve his energy so JH can play better defense. If I were the coach, I'd had welcomed this instead of avoiding it by playing Lin off bench :grin:.

 

This is a great post. I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. It's on both player and coach to make this work. When Lin plays with that controlled aggression he's much less likely to get pulled when he turns it over. We've seen it before. Tentative Lin is no good for anyone. It fuels the folks who want to bash him and it riles up his fans and they start blaming everyone else :grin:

 

Brotherly love.:grin: What's not to like both of them!

 

It might not be his team but he is the pg, not the sg. In other wards he's the quarterback of the team.

 

I loved that sequence last night. Pat was pumping up Lin and had his back. He even gave him the head smack of confidence. It was great to see.

 

Lin's aggression last night has nothing to do with whether Harden was on the floor or not.

Lin can still be aggressive when Harden is on the floor but he choses not too and gets really passive while deferring to harden who Lin clearly knows is the Rockets best player.

Perhaps Lin should get an alpha male mindset and be aggressive when Harden is on the floor too

 

JH is more of a scorer and JL is more of a facilitator
They can play both roles.
They both put up better stats with more ball-in-hand

For the ring, JH needs to be comfortable with the role of a star SG and learn to share the limelight with JL as a star PG. until then, this team have no future in play-off.

 

No he is the backup PG, in other wards he is the Rocket's TJ Yates.

 

Uh, that's one of the main reasons why Lin was moved to 6th man. It's because they're similar that an attempt was made to separate them as much as possible.

 

He had a chance to start when Bev was injured and put McHale decision in doubt and failed to grasp it.

He was aggressive last season though even with Harden on the court. This year he has played too much chicken when Harden is on the floor and rightly moved to the bench.

 

Lin could have played like LBJ these past few weeks and he still would have been moved back to the bench. I don't think you get it.

 

I tell you what, lets see Lin play like LBJ for a few weeks and see if he is still on the bench.

 

Lin played really well even at the beginning of the season when Bev injured himself in game 1. No amount of positive play is going to change McHale's mind. At the end of the day, Bev doesn't take anything away from Harden, while Lin can and does, and that's the difference.

 

No, I don't think that the Rockets are trying to showcase anyone for trade. They are trying to win as many games as possible and playing lineups they think will give them their best shot at winning. Without Harden, the Rockets really need Lin because he is capable of playing the primary creator/scorer role in a pinch (much like Ginobili used to).

Having said that, I do not doubt that Lin and 80% of the team is available in trade. Lin won't be moved just to move him, but if he needs to be included in a package for someone like Lowry, Rondo or another "better" talent he will be.