This is very Harden-centric though. What's missing is Lin feeding big men. Last year how much did Lin to Asik mean to the team? Lin to Howard is what's missing from the Lin should play with the second unit argument. Lin just with the second unit is a waste. Lin has to spend some time with Asik, Parsons and to some degree Harden, he already has a big chemistry with them and he has to develop one with Howard whether he starts or not. This team will need Lin in some games. And Lin and Beverley have a wonderful chemistry already, they really are a great pairing.
Hmmmm let's see Played Better in the playoffs + Played better in the preseason = Beverly is the Starter smh
100% agree I keep hearing people mention Lin and calling him a elite playmaker lol man Lin should be happy to come off the bench it matches his strengths and hides his weaknesses He's more of a scorer than a playmaker He can't handle on ball pressure When better players are in the game that dominate the ball ( Harden ,Howard ) he struggles to find his rhythm But as a 6th man he can be instant offense and play more of a SG role which is his strength plus he won't have to be guarded by the other teams starting guards
I don't think who start matter, it is who finish the game. If the Rox is down by 6 to 8 points with 5 minutes to go, who would you want your PG be?
"Harden-centric"? Well, yeah, I guess so. So what? Lin is not the star on this team, Harden is, hate to break it to the LOFs. And you say this as if Harden can't feed Howard? Harden will be quite good at feeding him once they start to gel. And you mention Lin to Asik... Wouldn't you like to continue to see that? He'll get more time with Asik on the second unit anyway. And I never said Lin would just play with the second unit. Everyone's minutes are going to be staggered. And Lin and Bev do have great chemistry, and there will be situations where they will be on the floor together. But certainly not all the time.
James Harden. And Patrick Beverley as his sidekick to harass the opposing PG and shoot the open 3. Lin would probably drive in to defenders and get a blocked shot/TO or do a difficult pass that gets stolen. We don't need to give the other team momentum with dumb mistakes.
I think a huge potential component of the Rockets team, and I'm looking at the whole team and like Lin because he's the type of player that elevates all of his team mates, even Harden in a way, is the Howard-Lin connection. I don't agree with just looking at Harden or loading him up. There are 2 guards in basketball for a reason, even if one is more ball-centric than another. Harden isn't the only guy that can work well with Howard, so can Parsons, Lin and they are trying with Asik which will be the toughest one to make work. But Lin can be just as big going to Howard as Harden is. And what happens if the team doesn't have Harden for a stretch?
could be both, but I meant season. But even in a game there are times when a Lin to Harden combo offers it's advantages. Different look, different ways and angles at getting Howard the ball, overall a bigger challenge for defenders of the opposing team.
To understand how deep this team is, if we didn't have Bev or Lin/ freaking Harden could easily be the PG and we still make the playoffs, lol..
we don't know how the substitutions are going to pan out. but if lin still gets 30+ minutes, no one should be against him coming off the bench. I also want the mchale's eye test to apply to Bev. So when stephen curry is dropping jumper after jumper, i want lin in there to match with 28 points.
Last season, Lin has good games guarding Rondo, CP3, D-Will, Curry and Irving. Don't say he can't guard any elite PG. Before ASW, Lin was the 19th best defensive player in the league. http://www.nba.com/hoop/the_devil_is__the_dtails_2013_02_05.html After, his D/steals wore down b/c this is his first season to play 82 games. The energy problem happened to Parsons and Harden too. Beverley won't be an exception if starting him for more minutes.
Why is everyone suddenly ignorant to the fact that it takes team defense to stop the elite PGs in the NBA. Beverly by himself isn't going to stop Rose or CP3 or Parker. Two years ago Russ drop 40 on Miami in the post season. If LBJ, Wade, Battier couldn't stop Russ why do people expect Beverly will be able to? Obviously that excludes injuring the guy. Even if it is beverly or Lin out there starting it will be team defense that stops elite PG's not the individual PG's.
