The Bench Unit Is Being Misused: A Must Read For Lin Fans! (With A Little Bit O' Statz & Lots O' Kno

LOL, I still didn't read it! Way to damn long! I don't want to waste 10 mins reading this essay lol.

 

First of all - A for Effort

Second of all- All of that to explain that Lin is a bad fit for the 2nd unit because the personnel doesn't fit the system....


Well... sure of course... that's pretty obvious IMO.

However(not saying the OP is one of these delusional LOF'ers but) if I did have one bone to pick with the LOF its that they constantly think that the Rockets, McHale, Morey, or whoever need to completely adjust everything to suit Jeremy Lin. That's BS. Jeremy Lin is maybe the 5th or 6th most talented offensive player on the roster, and will soon be lapped up by stronger young players Morey brings in or that get developed currently on the roster.

The Rockets have the best record in the entire NBA since January 1st, and have a top 5 offense in the league steadily throughout the season with an increasingly sneaky good set defense. The Rockets do not need to change anything to suit Jeremy Lin, Jeremy Lin needs to change his game to help the Rockets bench sustain leads or go on runs when the starters are struggling.

Jeremy Lin cannot just play the way he plays with Howard, Parsons, and Beverley when he's playing with Hamilton, D-Mo, and Asik. He's the PG. He's going to have to feel out that group, and setup the offense in a more stable manner rather than trying to force the issue with a group that cannot run P&R & space the floor the way that the starters do.

If Lin is going to constantly be referred to as a player that teams have to adjust their system and their rotations around than that team is going to end up being a very, very bad team with Lin as their franchise star.

Linsanity in NYC and Harden's injured nights looked amazing for Lin because its a perfect scenario for him to step in as the substitute star player when your real star perimeter player is injured on a good team where it seems like he has a team built around him with perfect role players, but the fact is... that team isn't built for him in the first place.... its built for a much, much better player at the end of the day.

That's the only truth folks here need to realize about Lin. We dont need stats or long posts that describe how the Rockets need to change their gameplan to suit Lin because that's just never going to happen.

 

This.

Well, to be fair, it's not exactly 5 in 5 out. It's 4 in 4 out with Parsons staying. I don't know why they do that. You just can't use all the bench players as a unit. They are bench players for a reason.

That's why I've always cringed on the notion of a "second unit" as if you put the next 5 guys together and they are your "second" best unit. The real second unit must consist of a mixture of starters and bench players.

 

Sums things up very nicely, dobro. It's obvious, but not what a large group of Jeremy Lin fans want to hear.

 

This year, Lin has been very productive with Harden on the floor. The two play better together than the coaching staff would care to admit. They have a clear preference for Beverley, and they've been willing to weather a lot of bad offensive games by him to now get some recent payoffs (e.g., Miami, Phx) because of his hot 3 pt shooting. As long as Beverley hits the open 3, he's going to be in the starting lineup and get the bulk of minutes. If his 3 pt shot is not falling, Lin's minutes will creep back up into the 20s. To me, Lin is a guy who can hit 38% from 3. He's due for a hot streak from deep.

 

The question is how is the 2nd unit gonna get shots. The starters have Harden & Howard to space the floor. But when the go out, nobody's able to create. That person should be Jeremy Lin, but he's garbage. That's why I was disappointed Morey hasn't picked up any of these buyouts. We've been slipping by these games so far, but in the playoffs we will be exposed very bad. We need to pickup SOMEBODY that can help our bench out.

 

Easy answer would be if you really NEED shots would be to go small if the bench comes in when the team is at a deficit. Speed the tempo as much as possible ALA 2009 Rockets bench. Dont change anything about the Rockets offense. Move the ball, push the tempo, etc. However the bench unit as currently constructed probably isn't the best in the world at going on huge runs.

Hard answer is if the Rockets starters continue to play well and the team needs to sustain and put up just enough points to hold leads.

I think you play alot of the same, but at a less frantic pace with much more smart decisions coming from your perimeter players. Turnovers KILL this group because of the big lineup of D-Mo/Asik not being able to recover as well. Those two clog up the paint though with the best of them in a set defense which is an advantage that very, very few NBA teams have. I think the smart basketball move would be to highlight your advantage rather than take away from it.

So the answer I see is for McHale to keep going with his best option which is to rely more heavily on his "sustain" lineup that is defensive heavy in the same offensive sets, but to find a way to cut down the turnovers dramatically somehow. Maybe that includes a sit down talk with Lin, maybe it includes a personnel change at the PG spot... who knows, but the only thing the Rockets bench needs on offense is to not get crazy with turnovers, and sustain leads with defense, and the occasional 3 pointer.

-They also could use D-Mo post ups more as well with Asik on the high post. That way Asik can get back on defense quicker if D-Mo misses or turns the ball over.

 

Very good points. Points in the paint are difficult to come by once D-Mo and Asik set their defense. You would not favor a slow it down approach working through D-Mo in the low post for the second unit?

But in the same breath, I argued earlier that post entry passes take practice and game time to polish, seeing how it took half a season to integrate Howard effectively. I do not foresee the bench becoming truly effective until next season.

On a positive note back to backs do not happen in the playoffs. McHale can get away with playing Harden and Parsons 40 minutes a game. Has there been a more effective offense in the NBA this season than that demonstrated by the Rockets starters?

 

Yep... in the playoffs, you're going to see 40+ minutes a night from Harden/Parsons/Bev. Bev's perimeter defense on all the great WC PG's is going to be a huge X factor in the playoffs and your going to want him on the court whenever that star PG from the other team is also on the court.

I think when we get around playoff time, D-Mo minutes will be cut almost entirely unless injury making the spacing with the second unit less of an issue, and you might see more of the Bev/Harden/Lin lineup as well if they are playing from behind, and need to score more abundantly.

-Long term I think D-Mo is my obvious pick for backup 5 (once we sadly have to part with Asik). I really want to keep this guy long term because like Howard with the first unit, you can play the exact same way where he fits with the uptempo style of play, but you can also dump it down to him when the offense clutters up.

However, I think this year, you just keep having him do what he does now alongside Asik & hopefully you can get him to start hitting his 3's at a higher clip to space the floor a bit better with that second unit. I'm not at the point right now where I'd suggest as a coach running my offense through D-Mo with the second unit, but its definitely something to experiment with when the offense gets broken rather than turning the ball over with a dumb drive into the trees.

I really think the key for that second unit right now is to find a way to run "Horns" at a more efficient clip, and use those sets to try and get open shots as much as possible. Horns can be a much more efficient way for Lin or another guard to create in an offense with two bigs setting picks without having to go all hero ball trying to make a homerun pass in traffic or acting as if Asik can catch and throw down lobs like Howard can.

 

Good read. TYVM!




P.S I gave up reading half way...

 

c'mon, be fair, nowhere did he say this in his post or even imply it.

he's simply saying the the bench unit on the court last night was not jelling and pointed out his theory for why it was not productive.

 

Running horns certainly fits the less offensively efficient and less mobile big men on the Rockets bench. Continual high P&Rs also might fit the Bill. If D-Mo can up his 3Pt% by just a few points, The DDMO might make a reasonable offensive option. They ran it at times last season, but I have not seen much of it this year.

But your original defense comment has piqued my interest. Could D-Mo, Asik, Hamilton and Bev be a strangling defense? Certainly. I think the contrast of styles between an attacking starting unit and a shut down defense second unit would make a very interesting combination of play styles. But then again, establishing that is most certainly not obtainable this season.

So basically I am left feeling that your conclusion that keeping the same play style as the starting unit is the only current option. It just needs less turnovers and D-Mo to hit a higher % of his deep shots.

 

It is coach’s fault. lol

 

I think the answer to the OP's conundrum is simply to keep Parsons' minutes staggered with the bench unit and make him the #1 option on offense. Just a much more efficient offensive facilitator than anything else they can throw out there at PG. No need to adjust the offensive game plan just to suit "that one guy" and his fans.

 

Last year, the prevailing theory was that Lin was playing with Harden and Harden took away his mojo.
This year, you have a theory here that Lin is NOT playing Harden and the other starters and the scrubs are taking away from his mojo.

So does this mean in order for Lin to succeed, he must have the EXACT roster around him to succeed? Too talented and Lin's screwed. Not talented enough and Lin's screwed. What kind of player is that?

Also, if you look back on his Knicks season, he didn't have floor spacers either. Fields couldn't shoot 3s. Walker was a crappy 3pt shooter. Amare and Chandler were inside guys. Melo was a mediocre 3pt shooter. Only Novak was a true floor spacer. Yet that was the best stretch of Lin's career. So if floor spacing is so necessary, how did he succeed in NY?

 

From what I've interpreted from the first post, it isn't that Jeremy Lin doesn't fit the system, or the system is making Lin play poorly but the bench as a whole cannot execute the system. Just thought I'd clear that up as some posts seems to think that's what the first post is about.

The Rockets are doing very well right now, it seems odd to me to do something this drastic as a system change at this point.

 

Our second squad was getting abused by the Magic prior to the mass substitution. Glad McHale called the mercy on them.

 

You know what? I read your post and I mulled it over for a few hours and there was some sound reasoning here and there...but, I came to the conclusion that...I don't want to hear this Bullsh**! There are 3 guys coming off the bench that started for us last year with Lin, Asik and D. Mo. I don't want to hear any damn excuses because there are none for what they are doing. If Lin, Asik, and D. Mo are as good as some of you think they are, they should be DOMINATING every freaking 2nd unit in the game. Period!

 

Good post OP. Your cheeky tone at the beginning probably didn't help to motivate to continue reading, but I think you have given some good analysis or, at the very least, food for thought.

I like the idea of staggering Parsons a bit more with the second unit, especially now with Hamilton, who could provide an approximation to the first unit of what Parsons provides. Maybe experiment with playing T. Jones more with Asik to provide the "above the rim" threat. With no data to back me up, the eye test tells me DMo has synergy with Dwight, so the latter might benefit the team all around.

Having said that, Lin is plain sucking right now. I'd wager that if Harden goes down and Jeremy is the second "penetrator" besides Parsons, he'd still suck it up with the way he is playing right now. It could be he is hurt/injured/burned out, teams have figured him out (for which he'll either adjust or very soon, not be in the NBA anymore) or he is mentally unstable and weak. Whatever the case, he is just not playing well right now.

 

Stagger the lineups my ass. Why should we have to do that? Lin is a starter quality player right? Asik is a starter quality player right? Some think D. Mo is a starter quality player. That alone should be enough to beat up on the 2nd unit of other teams unless...

Coach even tried to leave Parsons out there with those guys in the second half and they were still pathetic. Asik can't be relied on for offense, but the other 4 guys on the floor need to be putting up buckets.