It's because to some people, Lin has a "star," or even "superstar" contract. Therefore, unless he plays at a consistently all-star level, he's hurting the team, regardless of whether he's actually in the game or not. Lin and his $8 million dollar becomes this would-coulda-shoulda placeholder for the Best Case Scenario (i.e. Goran Dragic in his breakout year in a system that's perfectly designed for him) of what an equivalent earning PG should be. In other words, Lin can't win among these people unless he plays way above his contract.
I agree that Lin does not think well when the pressure starts to kick in. But Mchale needs him for critical defensive possessions. So instead of leaving him on the bench for the final 5 minutes, play him before crunch time comes. Give him a little time to catch up to game speed. Lin has been improving. Earlier in the regular season, he has a lot of negative +/- games. Now, even when Lin can't score, he can still help his team gain separation from opposing teams.
We need Lin, but i just hope they pull him when the game is on the line, he is at his worst when thats the situation.
Lin tries harder on D more than anyone not named Howard or bev, his problem is cheating off his man to try to help, which he hasn't been doing in playoffs
Lin has had a decent series so far... he nearly won game 1 in 4qt/OT. Game 2: he was ineffective, didn't play bad, just didn't have much PT and didn't really affect the game much While Lin made a questionable decision in game 3 in Reg., he played clutch in OT Game 4 - while he was 1/6 gave the team a nice rhythm w/ Daniels in the 1st half, yes he screwed up by not calling TO (Mo looked out) I think he shouldn't have been in the game... he probably thought he was done for the night and then <1 min he's in... bad sub. Game 5 - I know this is crazy but I'd like to see him start... Bev has been sick and I feel like he's not doing much to stop D lizard (he totally looks like one). Get a feel for how he's playing and gauge how many mins he'll play... if he's playing ok-well leave him... If he has that "I lost my talent to the mon-stars" game, use him sparingly I know everyone talks about this kid cause everything he does is under a microscope but I feel like the worst player has been Harden...the shots in game 1 & 2 made me cringe something fierce. Parsons finally showed up in G4... Howard has been great for the series.
Are you crazy? Starting Lin over Bev? Just look at the stats. Bev has been contributing, Lin has not. Bev has done his job on Lillard this series whilst Lin has failed on Mo Williams.
At this point we need to start swinging for the fences. Lin has been a liability in every game. Let's just see what Canaan can do.
IF this were the regular season i would agree, but this is the playoffs, and we're facing elimination. We simply can't afford another lin moment that he's had almost every game during crunch time. It's way too high of a risk considering the fact that the pressure will be even higher on lin than any games before.
You know what a Good coach would know this already and played Lin in Game 4 OT even though he made the costly T/O. Too bad Mchale is a bad coach and bench Lin all of O/T. Look at Mike Conley today T/O last 6 sec and games goes to O/T. Did Conley get benched?
I guess the author of this thread conveniently forgot how Lin nearly won game 1 in OT with great performance and played big to win in game 3 (the only win of the series for Houston thus far). I guess it is also forgotten how good his +/- has been particularly in his first half stints in each of the 4 games. The answer is to play Lin more, let him make the game easier for others, rest Beverley and keep him fresh so that Bev has something in the tank in the 4th quarter. The last 2 games, Beverley has looked done physically late in games.
Give him a chance: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Jo2KrvmqC60" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Mike Conley redemption, score the last point for Memphis and win the game. Did Lin get this chance? Hell NO.
Rocket OT against POR : Lin has great games against POR in OT. 1. Regular season (WIN) 2. GM1 (LOSS, 7pts, if Harden didn't hold the ball) 3. GM3 (WIN, he saved Harden's turnover) GM4 (LOSS, he sat on the bench watching)
He had his chance. Now he needs to ride bench. 1. Are you seriously thinking Lin is as good as Conley? 2. Lin has done enough damage as himself,
Lol. I know you're upset, but are you completely ignoring the team effort that went into losing the lead in the first place?
