I'm not sure why McHale prematurely ended the experiment of staggering Harden & Lin's minutes, especially given that in the games that Harden was absent Lin appeared to be playing as the first option and he done reasonably well. I think though that it's because he feels more confident with Parsons facilitating for the 2nd unit when Harden and Lin sit. Earlier in the season it was apparent that play-making was done more or less by committee and Parsons was an integral piece in the offense. Quite often I've noticed that Harden and Lin sit together while Beverley runs the elbow sets through Parsons. No data on it, of course, but I don't feel like this is the best option from observation as it's resulted so much in contested jumpers and stagnation. Anyways, it's nice to see that at least the majority of the GARM agree against the notion of Lin coming off of the bench. Personally, as a Lin fan, I wouldn't mind seeing him in a sixth man role. When he's on fire he's as good as any PG in the league, but he can quickly commit a series of doo doos in the same game. His play-style just screams sixth man. When Lin is given the green light to just attack the basket and play on instinct he's consistently amazing. As a starting PG he's been Jekyl and Hyde.
when will people realize this 6th man idea doesn't solve the ball dominant problem between Harden and Lin ? it has been discussed millions time . Harden consistently playing 40+ min, so Lin will still play along Harden most of the time even if he coming off the bench.
In an ideal world Harden would be playing 36~ minutes so that's 12 minutes that Lin would get on average to be the lead ball handler. Might not seem like a lot but it's a lot better than what we're currently seeing which is frequently 6+ mins with neither on the court. It's what made the Spurs so lethal, they never skipped a beat with Ginobili coming off of the bench. And contingent on the flow of the game, Ginobili and Parker would share the play-making load when they shared the floor together.
Basically, Mchale pulls Lin around 2 mins into the second q and leaves Harden with the benches to finish the q. During those mins, the only play is ISO Harden. Therefore, if PB or AB starts (actually doesn't matter if he's a PG or not, the ball will be at Harden's hand) , we will see more ISO from the beginning of the game. That's it~
Silly poll. If Lin is here long term, he will HAVE learn how to play Robin w/ Harden. The more they learn how to play w/ and off of each other, the faster this young team will progress. As matter of fact, McHale shouldn't even be enforcing too many plays from sideline. Harden and Lin are both high in bbiq, and just let them figure on their own.
I have been saying this for awhile. Bring him in off the bench, don't cut his mins tho. Give Harden slightly less mins so we don't sacrifice his future by overplaying him. There should never be any minutes where both Harden and Lin are on the bench. I think its absurd that Beverly seems to get more time as the primary ball handlee per game than Lin.
I am sorry, but this is the perfect move. Lin needs the ball, Harden needs the ball. Sorry guys, there is only 1 basketball on the court. Harden was the 6th man last year, Lin should swallow his pride and do what is best for the team.
being a starting pg on a playoff team in the west, i think pretty much says lin has it what it takes for a starting position. give him his 2nd season as a full starter and i think he can be an all star next yr (who knows) as long as he improves that j of his and his 3 pt shooting. * yes, harden was the reason that we are in the playoffs right now, but honestly, who knows what couldve happened if harden was replaced with team ball, and a pure shooter as an sg* linsanity was exactly this situation (minus the shooter being really good)
wait why do we need to take pressure off lin? you want to baby him? let him crash and burn if it means he becomes a better overall playing next season and beyond. we arent winning it this year. hes playing well and obviously has alot of holes in his game, but hes played like 100 nba games. stagger the minutes more to take some of the load off Harden, both will benefit.
They're likely going to be the youngest team ever to make the playoffs? Relax ye. You can't stagger minutes the whole game.
