Cannan is rookie... he isnt better than J.LIN as of right now, but would be in the near future. That is not saying alot, since Lin is prolly among the sorriest PG in the NBA anyways. Lin and Caanan are playing similarly anyways.... following is list of all the PGs that are better than J.LIN.... all because i am bored. Rando,D.Williams,Lowry,Michale C. Williams,Ellis,Conly,Eric Gordon,Geroge Vazquiez,Tony Parker, Patty Mills, DJ Augstine,Ty Lawson,Irving, Rubio,Westbrook, Reggie Jackson,Lillard, George hill,jeff teague,Curry,Kemba Walker,Collison, Paul, Chalmbers, Kendall Marshall,Nelson,Dragic,wall, and Ishia Thomas jr, and last but not least our beloved BEV.......... Wow, there are some backs in that list as well :/ Now you guys read this and tell me if i am wrong........ Lin doesnt pass the eye test or the stat test against any of these PGs. Suck that we are stuck with his $15mil contract, as of right now I would be willing to give up my left nut to get this guy out of here. GO ROCKETS.
3pt: 2-5 2-3 4-7 Canaan's 3's + Lin's penetration + Bev's D = the perfect PG. Splice their genes, incubate zygote, and have it start.
his defense is subpar, his assist is almost non existent - and this is bad news for a point guard. yes, Canaan might have a decent NBA career ahead of him, but right now, he is definitely not playoff ready. The best bet for rockets is still Lin and PB combo come playoff time. period. and yes, I have seen enough of whoever say "Canaan should start".
Canaan has done very good job, he is a rookie, he played only 10 games. U guys can't want too much now
Nothing unusual there. I see it in every team fan forum. Every team fan base complains unless they either have an all star or a perceived future all star in every position. So, as soon as they see a rookie there's a ton of threads that come out of the woodwork declaring how they'll be the next (insert star here). In general, Rookies and Sophomores have huge weaknesses for their initial seasons. They're typically not strong or big enough, or experienced enough, or skilled enough to compete against NBA starters. This has nothing to do with talent, but that you're dealing with players who are 20 or 21 years old with 1 year playing at the college level. Canaan was not a noted defender at the college level. Thinking he'll have even passable defensive skills is a leap of assumption with no basis in his historical performance. The same as assuming a player that has no history of being a shooter will suddenly start hitting buckets at the pro level, or that a player who is poor at passing is suddenly going to develop a killer passing game. Similarly, performance on the bench vs starting quality competition is a MASSIVE jump in difficulty. The difference between guarding the best 30 PG's and numbers 31-60 is night and day. The same as scoring against the likes of the Hamiltons, Casspi's and Dmo's of the world vs the Beverley's, Dwight's and Iguodala's of the world. Aaron Brooks can score. We all know that. And he can do it against starting level competition when he's playing well. Thinking that Canaan would do better defending Brooks than Lin was the worst sort of self delusion. Canaan is a work in progress. We need to be not only patient with his growth and progress but to not overestimate his current skill set. He's going to play well at times, and he's going to make a ton of errors. And he's going to get lit up by starters and 2nd unit players alike. Let the guy grow and see how he pans out. He's going to get regular minutes until Beverley is back so we'll have some time to get a better grasp of his strengths and weaknesses. So before folks get too hyped up about our latest rookie, just remember these two words... Scott Machado.
I have not read every post in this thread (I have a few people on ignore), but the only post I don't recall hearing Canaan will be the next (insert star here). The closest thing I remember is me saying he has the potential to be the most efficient offensive scorer. I have not even said Canaan should play over Lin (due to defense and Canaan is still more potential than production). The most efficient offensive scorers tend to be guys that have a lot of three point attempts and/or free throw attempts on a per minute basis. Canaan is 4th in free throw + 3 point attempts per minute. Granted, Harden is second. However, Harden has to take a lot of low efficient shots with time running down that lowers his efficiency.
That's not what this thread is about. You and others on both sides want to hijack it and make it about Canaan vs Lin but it never was. I never said Canaan was better than Lin. I never said Canaan was the next all star. I never said Lin sucks. I don't know how good Canaan will turn out to be and I don't believe Canaan is better than Lin right now but I don't know if that will always be true. My point, which I thought I clearly made and reiterated several times for those with reading comprehension disabilities was that I thought Lin contributed better off the bench. I thought Lin served the Rockets better as a sixth man. I thought for this Rockets team Lin next to Harden to start doesn't work so well. It was never about Lin vs Canaan or even Lin vs Pat Beverly for that matter. If anything it was about Lin vs Harden. You see we only have one basketball and Lin plays the same kind of game as Harden and if you allow Lin to do his thing there are less opportunities for Harden to do his thing. So it's a simple solution play them together as little as possible. I do not understand why people can't get that. I will concede Lin is handling the starting job better than initially after Bev went down but he still has his moments of trying to take the game over and his success rate against better teams is not good. So all I wanted was Canaan to start and lessen the amount of time that Harden and Lin are on the floor together and still think that is mostly a good idea. Personally I believe Lin is better than Canaan right now. But the point is not about who is better. I still see Lin getting the same amount of minutes just their roles change and the team has the better 3 point shooter on the floor and better at not taking opportunities away from Harden. There is another argument against that and it's if you believe Canaan sucks so bad he shouldn't even be on an NBA court. But I do not believe that at all. I think he is more than adequate and a better three point shooter than Lin. I think he fits better with Harden. If you want to argue that go ahead. If you want to compare him to Scott Machado go ahead. I think that's a stupid comparison just as much as saying he is the next future all star pg is also. I acknowledge that I could be wrong and Lin is in a slump and will come out of it and be better than ever. And he has already showed some slight signs of that. But stupidity comes out of an un-openness to see what's best for the team as opposed what's best for your favorite player.
I wasn't replying to your specific post OMR. I was responding more to some of the extreme posts saying Canaan is better than Lin right NOW. However, in terms of my personal opinion, per your original post (which I never weighed in on), the reason why I don't believe Canaan should be the starter is that he's a defensive sieve. Yes, he can shoot the 3 pointer, but his lack of defensive fundamentals and poor team help defense (partially due to his lack of time playing on the team), we really can't afford TWO bad defensive players in the back court. That doesn't mean that you have Canaan on the court running the 2nd unit. I don't believe Canaan is ready to run either unit. Lin OR Harden should be on the floor with Canaan at all times. That way if you want Canaan to get time running the unit, you can toss him the ball and build experience, but you still have Lin or Harden to help him out when he gets in over his head. While Lin isn't Beverley in terms of on ball defense, he's an adequate on ball defender and probably above average as a help defender. In other words, you can hide Harden by putting him on better match ups like 3's while putting Lin and Parsons on the 1/2's. If you had Canaan in the line up then your only perimeter defender that can remotely guard a 1/2 is Parsons, and he's not going to get it done against any PG that's remotely average or above simply due to lack of speed and mobility. As it stands, Harden is clocking 37 mpg. That leaves 11 minutes when he's off the floor. That should be Lin with Canaan. The rest should be Harden with Lin, and odd minutes with Harden + Canaan, or Harden + Canaan + Lin. Sure, if we're blowing the opponent out or we've locked in the 4th seed, give the ball to Canaan and let him keep improving. However, in a late stretch to secure seeding, putting the ball in Canaan's hands or putting Canaan to guard starting quality 1's and 2's is just asking to lose games.
i'm actually in the same camp as you, that lin is more useful for the rockets coming off the bench because like you said, he's mini harden with more effort on D but neither of them are utilized 100% when both are on the floor at the same time. But, seeing canaan's D so far and knowing harden's effort on D, having them start the game will put you in a hole quicker than you can say scott machado. canaan has the effort but the experience is just not there. the fact of the matter is, harden needs someone that actually cares and can play a little D next to him. i think right now, we just gotta let lin play the bev role as well as he can and hope for the best. based on the OKC and Denver game, i think he's played that role pretty well, which is a D and hustle guy. the scoring is just a bonus.
