Interesting that I don't remember him having that problem in NY. Could this be a bi-product of a lot of 3 point shooters? By that I mean that with the Rox, even the bigs tend to want to drain a 3, while in NY it was really pretty much just Steve Novak.
Its not really just jumping in the air. He drives and does a spin move in the middle of the paint. You normally do that if you are pretty good at hitting that shot and can pass as a last resort. Lin does it and picks up his dribble. He doesn't know how to get involved in the offense and create for others seems to be the problem. He is too focused on scoring, and when he tries to become a PG, he just overthinks it. AB was as big of a scoring PG as you can get , but even he had a gameplan and could run the offense. Basic (conservative plays) where he would make a bounce pass to Yao or throw it to the post. Wait at the 3, or cut. When he didn't have an option he knew that he had to make a tough shot and didn't turn it over. Harden almost has the same problem when he passes it off with 3 secs to go, but overall in the game he creates so much more for others, and is a prolific scorer.
Not sure, but even the eagerness to launch the long ball does not remotely explain what Lin has been doing at late. Wanting to shoot a three does not make you drive blindly into traffic, pick up your dribble without a plan, jump up without a plan, and throw a bad pass for a TO with obviously no plan. It also does not make you launch long, gamble passes, as opposed to a short safe pass. It also does not make you launch with your foot on the line. All of these are basically Basketball 101, which is why this is definitely not your normal "slump." All of these issues are either caused by low basketball IQ, bad habits, being mentally checked out, or some combination of the above.
Why the Rox should play less Harden and go with the JLin and PB more. Harden FG is under below 34% against elite teams OKC, Clips, and Pacers. That is a **** load of of brick balls! I didnt include the Spurs because they're old and slow and JLin was a huge factor for the 2 of the 3 games. You can say I'm bias but whatever, the fact is Harden is, "consistently" playing poorly against elite teams. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Harden, Lin and Dwight but things are becoming clear he's not as great as I thought he was and his min with the ball needs to be cut down to lesson the iso pain.
It does seem like he's lost any semblance of a killer mentality. We've discussed this to death but even pull up 8-10 footers are being passed up by Lin. You HAVE to take a shot that close to the rim and with a good look.
Honestly, I think Lin is simply just trying to do too much. He is trying too much to be a scorer, hence all the poor forays into traffic. He is also trying too much to be a PG who makes something happen as well when Harden sits. Honestly, I feel he is really struggling how to balance the role of a 6th man and the role of a PG when Harden is actually on the bench and the 2 roles are clashing in a very bad way for him currently.
What do you guys suggest? Harden ISO against elite team is horrendous. Our next best line is JLin and PB. Nothing crazy about that idea.
I love when people make it this easy when deciding whether or not to ignore them. Welcome to the list sir! You have a serious problem if these posts you've made are actually a representation of how you feel.
Harden shooting below 34% fg is not how i feel. I was trying to figure out how come we can't beat the elite teams and thats what I discovered. Trust me i was pretty shocked with X amount of brick balls in all those games when I looked back.
