Because depending on which way you go, the chemistry and ultimately win total would be different. It's not about wanting Lin or Bev to start cuz you like them or hate one of them, it's about how we can play better.
why does money matter? if we had $10 million in our starting lineup and $30 on the bench but we kept winning, would you complain?
they're not mutually exclusive. harden will still get the ball most of the time. thats not the point. the point is that lin/asik playing together will be the same thing as last year. nothing changes. so how can you say that it will all of a sudden be a strength, if it wasnt in the past? lin as the primary ball handler means nothing if he doesnt have a solid big to play with. this is the thing everybody overlooks. tyson chandler's contribution to linsanity is absolutely overlooked. think of lin as part of a duo. he needs to play with an athletic big to make use of his skill set. in fact, lin/jones would be better than lin/asik. and lastly this should not be construed as catering to lin. it's merely maximizing his strengths and covering up his weaknesses.
Why should Lin play with Asik when we saw during the Linsanity days how well he plays with a center with hands? He made Tyson Chandler look like an All Star. Now imagine what he can do with D12.
sounds like most people are being sensible about this. 1) Harden and Lin are both good pick and roll players and Harden is just better at it. Therefore staggering their minutes wouldn't be a bad idea as only one of them can initiate this play at a time. 2) Howard will make Lin more effective. We will do more pick and rolls now and Lin's mid-range game IMO will come back to him with more reps. His assist total will go up with having the best Pick and Roll big man in the game. I personally don't see the need to bring Lin off the bench. He can start and then get pulled in the 1st quarter and then return when Harden goes out. Again, harden was 6th in the league in MPG last year with 38.3 and i'm not excited about running our franchise player into the ground during the regular season. Of course they will play together most of the time but I would like harden to play fewer minutes and for Lin to be in the game every second that harden is not.
Harden is a better scorer with his athletic advantage over many players in the NBA. But, he is not a better PNR player than Lin. The few players that are better at the PNR would probably be Steve Nash, and probably Kyrie Irving.
not according to this article: http://www.*****.net/solving-linharden-pickandroll-riddle/10701/ "For Harden, the pick-and-roll has played a major role in solidifying him as one of the league’s most capable and efficient scorers (according to Synergy Sports, Harden is the second most efficient pick-and-roll ball handler in the league, averaging 1.1 points per possession). In Lin’s case, it waffles between safety raft and stepping stone to consistency (on nearly a third of all his possessions, Lin uses the pick-and-roll, according to Synergy)" -dated 12/21/12 and quoting synergy sports as the data source.
oh, guess you can't post links to other rockets sites here. well alright, no need to get into a debate about it anyway. the point still stands. they both initiate the pick and roll a lot and will do it even more so next year.
I'd sure like to sign Mo Williams with our room exception. Career 39% 3-pt shooter. Why is he still a free agent? Very underrated player.
you forget about the ability of Lin to make asik, patterson, and Morris into capable scorers. Harden when he was in attack mode averaged over 10 FTA per game, which is iverson like. No doubt as i re-iterate that harden is a threat to score in the PNR. But he is not the threat to make other players become deep shooting scorers or inside threats like Asik and Howard. So the trade-ff is evident with Harden averaging almost 1.5 points per shot, but did not make his players capable scoring threats. The only time harden could become the distributor was when he was double teamed and kicked to the open man. Even then, Harden went through many double teams to get calls to the line. Lin plays a different style for sure. He would look to pass to the open man. And Lin exploits matchups very well. He understands the game very well for a young man. So I'd let Lin be the PG and let him slice and diced the rest of the NBA with Harden, Parsons, Asi,k andn Howard. Lin could average 12 assists per game easily.
that's what the dude was referring to. Here with redearth, we have another guy getting ready to pounce on a guy who he think is more pro-Lin than pro-Rockets. The guy was simply arguing against the idea that Lin off the bench is more effective because being the primary ball handler with nobodies does not make the team better off. People forget ,yes Harden's the primary ball handler, but Lin still lead the team in assists.
no Making the 2nd team better is essential to this teams chances and especially in the playoffs. Harden is a better ball handler. Harden also almost averaged the same assists as Lin anyway. Parsons can also handle the ball well. If the team is better with Lin as a 6th man then he should come off the bench. With Harden starting and Lin relegated to a lesser role anyway then why not let Bev start who is much better defensively? Then we can throw a nice punch off the bench with Lin. Last year the 2nd team often lost the leads and the starters had to return too early thus rendering them less effective at the end when they were tired. Also it may cut down on Lins TO's
I don't know. Type Raba, are you in fact more pro-Lin than pro-Rockets? Doesn't matter to me either way. Lin as 6th man would seem to me to be an improvement to the bench, and therefore could effectively mean a stronger team.
This is primarily because the one area Lin is vastly superior to Beverley(or any other Rocket) is his skills in transition. His passing in the open court is by far the best on the team. In the half court, Lin's passing is a lot less potent. If the Rockets wish to continue to run it up and down the court next year, obviously nothing would change. But if the Rockets wish to slow down the pace(to minimize our craptacular transition D and maximize Asik/Howard half-court D), then this factor would actually make Lin a better bench player. As he can come off fresh to run the floor with subs. It would be extra scorin opportunity during the time the Rockets are most vulnerable to offensive drought.
lin will start due to PR reasons alone, but looking past that, lin doesnt have to start. he just has to play with howard. obviously if lin starts there is more minutes with howard and hopefully with the best lineup they can start off strong, unlike last season where we always started off slow. the point is that as long as lin is on the roster, his best contribution should come while playing with howard. if even that doesnt induce lin to play better then by all means label him a failure. but its 100% worth a try to play them together and see if lin can become linsanity again. i think we can all agree if he plays well, the whole team will gain from that, not just him.
Yes Yes but to play with Howard he will also have to play with Harden. To do that he will not be the primary ball handler ever. He will need to change up his game which so far he has seemed incapable of doing. I also keep hearing how he needs to improve his mid range jumper but on this team that shot is rarely used. The long ball or the basket is where this team will continue to play. The team has went and gotten as many good 3 point shooters as possible so that is what they are going to keep doing. Lin is not a great 3 point shooter. Harden or Parsons can feed Howard just as well and they both are real good shooters and basket attackers.
To all the people who want Lin as the 6th man: Why can't they just start Lin so the team starts the game on a high note and then stagger he and Harden's minutes as the game goes on. The amount of minutes Lin will get as the primary ball handler will be almost the same, if not the same. I don't understand your huge infatuation with Lin being the sixth man. And frankly, this issue is not that big of a deal to warrant having 27 pages..
