http://sportige.com/houston-rockets-jeremy-lin-doesnt-help-james-harden-do-all-the-work-04-2013/ I didn't see this posted, so please delete if this is a repeat. It seems like people outside of the Rockets fan community are beginning to notice this trend.
Sloppy game with 9 turn overs for Harden, but Lin still has a terrible habbit of picking up his dribble when he doesn't have to and the whole offense sputtering because people have to move out of position to come get the ball from him. The article sounds more like a fan blog than news reporting. 9-21 for 33 points is "not so impressive", but 5-14 for 13 points is Harden's fault? 14 shots is a decent amount, second most on the Rockets, and only Scola took more shots for the Suns. It's one more attempt than Lin got against Portland when he scored 22 points on Friday.
This "writer" seems to forget (along with so many others) that we've been playing without our second highest scorer(Parsons) and our highest scoring sixth man(Delfino) for the last week.
Very accurate point on JLin, he must keep his dribble alive and finish at the rim. The J Oneal foul he should have easily scored on that layup for and1!. If he's going to be the primary ball handler he has to know what he's going to do once he reaches the lane and he also needs to try to dunk on people. Instead of the floaters and weak layups.
Huh? 9 for 21 for 33 points is vastly more impressive than 5 for 14 for 13 points... The unimpressive part was Harden's 9 turnovers which isn't even discussed. Seems like a very biased "article".
What trend is that? The turnovers aren't a trend. 9 is certainly an aberration. James scored 33 points on 21 shots as ParaSolid pointed out. I'm not going to make this a Lin vs Harden post because it seems that's what you're trying to bait others into. It was a sloppy game THAT HOUSTON WON. Oh yeah, playoffs.
Disagree on the dunks. Although they are entertaining, they are way harder to pull off. I would like to see Lin lay it in high off the glass like Vasquez. It gives him more options when he gets pushed to the baseline and I'm pretty sure I've seen him do it before.
I know it's easy to repeat the meme out on Lin's purported weaknesses, but as an uber fan of basketball with a particular interest in pgs, trust me, EVERY guard, player, even Nash picks the ball up all the time. In fact, Lin picks it up MUCH LESS than most pgs in the league and that was what he was touted for in NY. So, you will continue to see him "pick up" the basketball but by no means is it unusual or worth pointing out as a negative. It's as big a myth as Lin not being able to go left. If you shade him to his left, he's actually MUCH MORE LIABLE to drive and score than his right side. He doesn't finish much with his left, but that's a separate and less important issue but one that does need addressing. Another myth is that Lin can't dribble. In fact, his top speed while dribbling is ridiculously high compared to the best dribblers out there. And in addition to his comparatively high hands rating, he rarely loses the ball off the dribble ala the Miami Heat game. His turnovers come from lazy passing which is unacceptable and from calculated risk passing, which is more acceptable as the reward is high. Sorry, if I'm being over sensitive cuz I know you didn't mean much by it, but I personally hate when I see posts repeat media memes propagated by people who barely even watch Rockets basketball.
Yup, the ability to keep his dribble alive even when probing in and out of the paint/lanes was one of the reason Lin was highly rated in NY. Don't know where this myth came from tbh.
J.Lin is indecisive, he doesnt know when to pass or score( which is crucial for a pg) He attacks the paint, and is staring at a point blank layup, but is instead choosing to pass in traffic or picks up his dribble. Thats what McHale means by making the simple play
Lin is a good athlete with very good size for a point guard. He has a very quick second and third step and accelerates to the basket better than anyone on the Rockets and other than freaks like Wall and Lawson, accelerates as well as any point in the league. His handle left and right is fine... It isn't Nash or Paul good but is not a liability. Lin does pick up his dribble too often and makes questionable passes when he leaves his feet... but most guards do unless they are all stars. I have no issue with Lin the player... but this "article" is a joke.
I think it's because he's instinctively a pg who wants to involve his bigs, but his penetration dictates that he take those almost like a sg. He'll get better and hopefully he'll realize that him scoring 20 might actually not be a bad thing. Lol, not that you believe he'll get better!! But I agree, he does need to be more decisive. Lin gets blocked often, and it leads to fast breaks, and I think he's really not feeling that, so he avoids any attempts that are not obvious for a better shot. We'll see how he does next year. Hopefully, he can win even you over and we can make some major ruckus next year!!
Agreed. He does make dumb decisions at times, especially when he's indecisive or gun shy as Skyrim mentioned (lol, I agree with Skyrim on Lin!!) and his handles has a ways to go, but I do think that other pgs also often pick up their dribble. It's just that Lin stretches the defense so often (cuz he's fast) that his teammates aren't around to help him. When you see someone like Nash operate, even in his prime, he would often get stuck (happens when you're always probing) but he would quickly pass it off to a big then get it back... Anyways, agreed. He should not make those dumb plays and I hope he'll break the habit. He's a hard worker and seems analytical about attacking his weaknesses so I expect that he will.
Only indecisiveness I've seen from him is deferring open 3's. His pnr decision making is actually extremely good.
Actually it is not. If you take out the 13 FT made, he only had 20 points for 21 shoots. I am pointing the FT out is what if ref is no longer calling for Harden?
