Canaan is quicker than Lin, but that doesn't make him a better defender. Lin is a big guard, and he'll get shook once in a while by the super-quick pg, but his on-ball defense is not an issue. You can't single Lin out and just take it to him 1v1 like you can with Canaan. Lin is not Beverley, but Lin does not get killed by crossovers any more than your average PG defender. I agree that Lin's weakness lies in his ability to chase his guy off of screens. I have no doubt that Canaan and especially Bev are both much better than him at this, but I think the impact is small. Why? Because everybody gets killed off of good screens - that's why screen and roll remains the staple of every single team. Defending screens is a team effort, and the effectiveness of Canaan/Bev over Lin in fighting over screens has a minimal impact compared to the Big man being able to cover the ballhandler. Why do we get shredded by Paul in the mid-range? Not because Bev/Lin needs to cover the PnR better, but because Dwight doesn't want to challenge the ballhandler. Canaan might turn out to be MUCH better than Lin defensively, but it could go either way. Canaan has quickness and potential, but Lin has height/strength and the track record.
They're playing him out of his element - its like telling Pau Gasol to stand at the three point line instead of posting up. His entire career has been built on being the dominant ballhandler on his team, and having to second guess himself in a new role will take a lot of getting used to. Lin may or may not be talented enough to adjust, but even if he was, he will need more than a handful of sporadic minutes over the course of an injury-ridden season to do so. We've all seen Lin play very very well. There is no reason not to give him the benefit of the doubt that he has a place in this league as a key championship piece.
All elite pg's do two things well. Shoot and keep their dribble in traffic. Lin is terrible at both. Dragic could always keep his dribble alive and when shot is falling he becomes almost unstoppable. Hopefully he learns how to shoot like Jason Kidd did soon or this will be his last contract making much more than the minimum.
Canaan reminds me of a young Derek Fisher. Maybe he can develop further than Fisher or maybe that is his ceiling, we won't know. His a good shooter when his feeling it, and i really like his shooting form (no hesitation and not complicated). Let's not go overboard, I still see a lot of development required in his game.
Harden, TJ, Beverley, Parsons, Dmo and DH are all playing better than they did last year. If everybody has taken a positive step, I cant be the coaches.
You man people here watch one game and think they know basketball, dude is 5-11 can't guard big PGs, his strength is shooting the 3, playmaking needs a lot of work as a rookie
Yes. He went from primary ballhandler to secondary ballhandler to spot-up shooter/occasional slasher over the course of 3 seasons. He has no continuity in terms of roles, and he has been playing inconsistent minutes due to the emergence of Bev and the dominance of Harden. So yes, he'll need to settle into a role before we can either crown him or write him off.
Only on Clutchfans would you see a critical to negative post about a player who had an 18 point quarter w/6 assists.
You've echoed something I've been saying for awhile. Outside of that 7 or 8 game stretch where Lin was battling back issues he has been very productive for the Rockets and has improved in a number of phases of his game.
So true. and the logic is beyond me. 18 points 6 assist in 20 plus minutes is considered highly effective for any players, but sadly not Lin. I also think the game slipped away when he was on the bench.
Lin needs to put up 30/10/10 in order to gain recognition on clutchfans. Harden can go 1-9 like tonight and nobody blames him. Canaan can go 2-10 like tonight and people still think he should start
Canaan looks to be a good fit next to Harden IF he can start learning about defense from Beverley. I like the Derek Fisher comparison - I think he can be a tenacious defender and hit the 3, which is all we need next to Harden. However this is not the time to develop him. I'm ecstatic he was able to get this experience. He'll review his performance, see what he did well, what he can improve and it will ultimately help him contend for rotation minutes next season. He is not better for us than Lin. Not now anyway, there is clearly an experience advantage which we need. I feel bad for Lin. He's an excellent player with an excellent attitude. The only problem is that everything he does best, we don't need, and everything he doesn't do well is something we do need. It's a terrible fit in terms of system and personnel. I genuinely believe that both Lin and the Rockets can benefit from a trade. He can really flourish on a team that lets him create through heavy pick n roll usage, kind of like Dragic on the Suns. I think the Rockets need 3 things at PG: defense, low TO's, good 3pt shooting.
NO. Lin needs to get 50+ and hit the game winning shot before he gets recognized. Harden can go 1-16 and nobody blames him Canaan can go 2-20 and people will still think he should start over Lin The Hate for Lin is strong in Clutchfans my friend.
Lin's TS% is .565 the same as D. Williams as 12th among all NBA point guards. His 3pt% is 35 2% points below Parsons our best 3Pt shooter.
Problem is, his salary, not very cap friendly to most teams also mchale n the coaches n morey are trying hard to justify their decision to dump Lin in the 1st place
Get back to me when Lin can start to string two good games in a row. No, scratch that. Make it two quarters. Before you throw his early season or even Linsanity days success at me, we need him to get out of his slump and start to play consistently when the playoffs loom.
Dont bother even if Lin had defense as good as the best point guards there would still be another excuse they would use for him not to start. Give it up they don't like LIN.
