If you believe this is a great opportunity for Jeremy to "be the man" in the 6th man role: James Harden isn't playing less than 35 minutes a game. And will likely play 40 minutes and above in the playoffs. Those 8-13 minutes that Jeremy can "be the man", he can get whether he is coming off the bench or starting. Like I said, I don't think this has anything to do with 'fit'.
The test result so far - Lin played well in both role, but did you notice DH12's stats today? Does that have to with the experimental lineup? The other question is, is this experimental thing going to destroy team chemistry?!
We all know McHale is not D'Antoni. That's the point. His role changed thus his confidence was affected. That happens to any player, especially those with less experience. So it doesn't matter if Lin starts or not.
1) McHale has plenty of options at PG? That would be two, right? McHale doesn't like Jeremy Lin's style of PG play ("he's a homerun hitter"). I don't know if this is in respect of having Harden on the team, or if he just doesn't like that style of PG play at all. In the end, it hardly matters which one as McHale decides playing time. That being the case, Lin has to be enough better than Beverley in his role to overcome the inherent bias McHale has against his style of play. He certainly wasn't that good last year, and got yanked from games for it. We don't know how good he is this year. Lin's confidence is more an artifact of that dynamic than Lin's play.
By the way, before you guys start throwing yourselves off a bridge, I still think there is a very high likelihood that Jeremy starts this year. It's just that there is real debate about it from the coaches. But we should clarify what the debate is actually about. I doubt anyone from the organization would ever actually say it is about Jeremy's inconsistency, that's just bad PR. It just looks much better for everyone involved if they go with the whole 'fit' angle. But when you look at the actual minutes distribution, it makes zero sense since Lin can easily run the second unit AND start.
I think the key words are why "YOU THINK" they want to bring him off the bench. I haven't heard any of the coaches or management say anything about Lin coming off the bench in the regular season. As if there weren't enough threads about an issue that isn't even an issue yet. Yay, another useless thread.
Money quote. LOF need to back off and understand that egos need to take a back seat. And Jeremy can take a true leadership role by accepting his role on the team. Repped.
Valid points, but if anything, a starting position will improve consistency and personal confidence. Or "rhythm" for that matter. Nothing says "I don't have confidence in you" more than being demoted from a starting position to a bench role. No matter how you spin it, and how some CF-er's might like to portray it, a bench role is inferior to a starting role. It is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.
Er... Preseason, anybody? That's what it's for. That, and getting people like us excited after a long, boring offseason where we spent too much time in the D&D....
Throwing ourselves off a bridge? Who here is giving you that impression? Lin has been running with the 2nd unit if you watch Clutch's videos. So the experiment is definitely there. It also goes both ways, Lin can run the 2nd unit and play with a few other starters (he has been playing Parsons still) but doesn't have to START.
Last year Lin played worse than what he's shown so far this preseason, and averaged 30mpg. Unless he regresses, why would the coaches play him less? Or are you implying that Lin will be worse in the regular season?
everything OP posted, while great effort, gold star, doesn't apply to pre-season, where McHale is clearly trying to give as many different lineups at least 10 min on the floor as possible. Given the size of the roster that Morey handed him, he has alot of lineups to test. If this continues during regular season you may have a point. OP is also forgetting the fact that coming off the bench clearly didnt affect Lin's game any, this time.
One thing I am secretly excited about with Bev starting, is his ability to injure, I mean err.. "shutdown" opposing PG's Jokes aside, he can set a defensive tone early.
1. By experimenting with different PGs, it may not mean that Lin will definitely come off the bench in the regular season, but it does mean that there is legitimate debate over it. You do not see them experimenting with Parsons or Harden. 2. I never said that relegating Lin to a bench role would hurt his production, or even his confidence. It may sting a bit initially, but I'm sure he would get over it eventually. What I said was that Lin's up and down nature may be more suitable in a bench role. Lin still has the opportunity to mature. And in fact, for all we know, he may already have and is the model of consistency this year. If that's the case, start his ass. That is what preseason is about, figuring this stuff out.
Whether or not Lin starts, if McHale really wants a "Twin Towers" starting lineup, and for 15 minutes, then Lin will have to play during those 15 minutes. It will be a REAL challenge to get Asik and Dwight to complement one another, and play affectively together, inside a situation which will demand tons of PnR, and rotations, and pics, and double pics; and so what you will need bottom line is a creative passer and penetrator. It will take a master playmaking point guard to make Twin Towers work. Don't expect Beverley to make Twin Towers happen, guys.
I still think fit is the reason. While technically you can adjust the minutes to ensure one of Lin/Harden is always on the court, practically speaking coaches generally don't do it. There's probably some conditioning issues involved regarding how long a player should sit, how many times in a game, and such. It probably isn't just simple math. If it were, then we wouldn't have so many superior players coming off the bench done by numerous teams over a long time. It does seem to be the consensus that if you wish to stagger minutes between two players, one of those players should come off the bench.
