Isiah on Harden and Lin: Could be the best backcourt in the NBA

Is it me or does it seem like Isiah Thomas is trolling.

IT on Houston's backcourt:"If they committed to defense and they became two lockdown stoppers. Now you got potentially the best backcourt in the NBA. Because offensively they can both do some things but if they became lockdown defenders, like Joe and I in Detroit, we were very good defenders, that's what made us very effective. Right now we look more at their offense than we do at their defense. But if they became lockdown defenders then, you know, Houston really has something."

IT on what it took to develop chemistry/communication with Dumars:"It takes years and it takes hours of spending time with each other, being at each other's house, being friends, NOT TEXTING, but talking on the phone, really communicating with each other and being open and honest with each other and really displaying your emotion."

 

I'm not even a Knicks fan and I feel this post makes no sense. Go post this on a Knicks board and I bet you can get essay answers on the horrible moves Thomas made that basically hamstrung the team for years AFTER he left.

As someone who has watched maybe 5 non-Rockets-related Knicks games in the past decade, I can already list Curry, Starbury, Francis, Crawford, Jared Jeffries, another lol MLE signing whose name escapes me. He also ran the CBA into the ground.

 

hit the 3???
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/patrick_beverley/

We know what a real "triple" threat means... Drive, shoot, pass. I think that's more complimentary to Harden's offense. 2 clutch players are still worlds better and preferable unless you want to get stuck at mediocrity.

 

there is no credit to what isiah thomas say just like theres no credit to what michael jordan say; they both dont know how to evaluate talent.

 

You know Thomas has a strong tie with William Wesley (CAA), the most powerful sports broker in the world. Everything about Knicks is about CAA, from Woodson, Carmelo, scouts, Curry and other players were all from CAA.

For as long as Knicks have close tie and in good term with CAA, they will always have the first shot at their players once they become free agents. They almost landed LeBron 2-3 years ago because of CAA.

Thomas served as the liason between WWW and Dolan, and to this day, he still does. Dolan is still in good term with Thomas, even after he was forced by the Stern to fire him.

 

if we get CP3 this summer, well have the best backcourt in the league

 

Isiah Thomas' statement and 99% of all other sports analysts statements are so unnecessary that it basically makes them idiots for saying it. Anyone and I mean ANYONE can be a "professional" sports analyst. All you have to do is state the obvious and apply it to someone.

Let me show you how to do it. I am now going to be a "professional" sports analyst about James Harden and Jeremy Lin: The key is saying IF and COULD in every statement. For some reason IF and COULD, words that essentially mean WISH and HOPE (rhetoric designed for r****ds to gobble up and regurgitate as fact) make you a legitimate professional in journalism and broadcasting.

IF Harden & Lin shoot 45%+ each, they COULD be one of the best shooting back courts in the NBA.

IF Harden & Lin each average 5+ rebounds a game, they COULD be one of the best rebounding back courts in the NBA.

IF Harden & Lin each lower their assist to turnover ratio, they COULD be one of the best ball handling back courts in the NBA.

Now you try.

 

Why bold "not texting" when that was a subtle jab at himself for being old

 

Triangle doesn't require a ball handler, only somebody who can bring the ball down the court and once it's in half-set mode, pass it to high post (Jordan) or low post (Shaq/Longley/Pau), and no, Wade isn't the one running the offense. Payton or whoever the PG is calls the play. If you watch Miami during Shaq/Wade era, Wade is more of a slasher type of a player than a playmaker. When he gets the ball, he drives and sometimes dishes (this isn't your standard PG playmaking. It's just one of the plays a PG can call.). When Shaq gets the ball, Wade rotates to catch-n-shoot or drive. In short, Wade doesn't do much running the offense as you want to imply.

 

Not a chance, you either have the D in you, or you do not have it.
Harden definitely does not have it. With the right work ethics, Harden certainly can improve his D, but he is not going to be elite on D. He can at best become average.

It is the same for Lin, he can be average or slightly above average on D since at least he plays D right now.

So to hope both Harden and Lin can become elite on D is just wishful thinking.

The best for Rox to do is to get a defensive PF.

By the way, without the D, Harden is not top 10, and we do not know whether Harden has the right work ethics yet. At least we know Lin has the right work ethics. Otherwise, he won't even be here.

T-mac is super talented, much more than Harden. When he was young, he was a superstar, but T-mac did not have the right work ethics.

 

Curry > Lin
Harden > Thompson

 

or T-Mac just isn't healthy enough most of the time.

If there's anything you can improve just by working hard, it's definitely defense just like shooting. It just involves a lot of hard work just like you said but definitely, it's not something you can't learn and excel. MJ isn't a great defender once upon a time if you watch his early games. I've had some videos that I watch some time. He became a good-to-great defensive player only a little later after his injury. What makes him so great is not much on the talent (though it's out of this world) but his work ethic and determination to win and to do everything just to get the win. Lin and Harden need still a lot of work if they want to be the best. I think what's working for them is that both of them have great attitudes in life. It's something you don't find much on players in NBA today. Most of the time, too much money spoils a player.

 

Shooting wise and individual offensive game, Curry is way ahead of Lin. play-making ability wise and defense, not so much. You can even argue that Lin is a little bit ahead of Curry on these departments. It's still a toss between the two of them for now though I'd still take Curry by a hair if forced to decide.

 

Any sane person wouldn't need a second to make a choice on this. Steph Curry hands down is better than Jeremy, currently (I don't know if Jeremy will ever get on his level but he has promise). To say "by a hair"...is asinine.

 

Curry is so much better than Lin right now. He just has more natural basketball talent. That man was born to shoot the ball.

 

He's already improved it imo, Pretty sure he's been shooting at a 40% clip for over 2 months now.

 

It was weird that he would emphasize it in the video. I don't see it as a jab at himself, saw it more about how texting is insufficient in building camaraderie because you can't see each other's expression, hear the tone of voice, and read body language. Saw it more as criticism.

A jab would've been something like "kids have it easy these days when they can text each other to build camaraderie, we only had those abhorrent pagers and if we used them, we'd have them thrown at us."

 

Look, if Westbrook and Durant can do it, harden and Lin should have no ****ing problem.

 

This again?? Take into consideration that Beverley generally plays against the opposing teams bench without harden on the court. Of course he can get some assists, he is the teams pg then. Lin isn't the pg for the vast majority of the time he's on the floor and still puts up 6 aasists. This is a stupid argument. Beverley is not a very good pg. What he is is a solid ****ing defender ( I would put him just above Lin ) who plays with high energy. You know, a spark off the bench. He is not the compliment to harden, Lin and harden will be fine together. This **** takes time. Harden should get the most shots yes, but this should come off of ball movement for the most part instead of isos because his efficiency and goes waaay up when the ball is moving and his TOs go down.