Role player on a massive contract. That's easy money right there. Morey blew it big on this one. Only thing people can do is either deal with it or continuing whinging until he gets shipped out.
Lin need to catch fire again when he was raining 3's for that week. Since then, he has became pretty quiet.
Holy crap! I watched the first two of those, and your analysis makes no sense. Harden ball watching? Maybe Harden was watching Thompson running uncovered down the middle of lane. Maybe I'll look at the rest later, but so far your post is a waste of space.
sorry but this thread is pointless. we all know, even the most die hard LOHs must admit, that Lin is good enough to be a starter. Heck, he could even be the "star" of a team, much like how Linsanity panned out in NY. Dont go saying that its a fluke and crap like that. I game is a fluke, 2 games is stretching it, but a stretch of games? thats no fluke. just that he's not really fit to be a starter on the Rockets... I haven't followed the NBA in over a decade and I just got curious to what this Linsanity is all about and I looked it up. watched a few games from the linsanity run, watched a few games this season and all I can conclude is that he needs the ball to be effective. and with the current rockets roster, that aint happening. Is Lin's potential being wasted in Houston? I believe so. Would him starting make the starting line up better? not by much, IMO. With Harden dominating the ball most of the time, LIn starting or coming of the bench wouldn't matter at all. Best scenario for Lin and the Rockets is to trade Lin to a team that needs his talent and get pieces that the Rockets need in return. Its a win win for everyone. LOF can go follow Lin to the new team and cheer him on as the no. 1 option there, Rockets get what they need, a better defensive and spot up shooter player (sorry, but beverly just isn't cutting it imo) and LOH no longer have to deal with LOF and vise versa. and LIn gets to go all out and be all Lin again... just my 2 cents..
This thread ain't just about Lin, certain posters have consistently been wrong about talent evaluation. I remember the AB vs Lowry "debates". There is now just a convenient label to dismiss opponents without having to rigorously backup a p.o.v.
Interesting to see armchair experts go at it, even though they have no stake whatsoever in the team's performance - Lin is an exceptional athlete and an underrated defender, you've seen him block players out of nowhere, create steals, even defend bigger players. Is it a coincident that his best comes in the 4th quarter? You can't play hard for 3 quarters and suddenly bring more in the 4th. Some players can't do that (Harden), they walk the first 2 or 3 quarters and seemingly come into their own only when everyone is tired. The rest of the NBA now respects Lin because his game is so deceiving, and he makes you run so much. - He is a smart player, the Ivy league kind. Understand that many athletes solely rely on their talent and athletic abilities, not many of them are going to have the ability to remember or recognise every single play, or they just have that one dimensional offensive play that doesn't require any IQ to execute (Harden/Howard/Shaq). He is not the type to sit in the corner and shoot 3 pointers, we all saw it last year and it didn't work. We had no less than 9 players who could pop the 3, 6 of them were bench players. Those are your role players, Lin is just too versatile for that. - He is playing with limited opportunities and has done everything that every coach had asked him to do - to give way to the higher paying "star" players like Ellis, Anthony, Harden. None of these guys are team players, championship leaders or loyal. Guys like these can't win championships unless they give up something to actually play defense. - Now this is important, Lin is actually compensating for his team mates by covering his team's defenses as well as his own. Some of them think that because he's getting paid more than them he should be earning it out on the floor, but try telling that to Harden who doesn't want to put any effort in defense because he wants to save his energy for his offensive game Lin is the most underrated player on this team and the most exciting. I haven't been excited for Houston since Tomjanovich became head coach to steady the ship and win 2 championships. Someone like Rudy needs to do the same here at Houston, someone needs to put the pieces around Lin to emulate the successes he's had at NY. McHale is not going to do it.
If all of this is right, then can Harden play with any good point guard? Because the same issue will be present if another good point guard joins the team. Do they need a "Mario Chalmers" type and forget the pining of Rondo or any ball-dominant point guard because Harden will dominate the ball. Or does another PG just... The other thing is what about those games where both Harden and Lin did really well sharing the ball? Why did it happen and what were both doing. Sometimes I think Lin should play like Brooks, get the ball and take it upon himself to go. Harden doesn't dominate the ball nearly as much when he plays with Brooks. If all that is needed to be done then Lin should just do so. Unless he doesn't have the coaches backing and they need to find another PG that will.
like i said, i just watched a few games then and now. I dont really care much about lin or the rockets. only reason i'm here is coz of me looking up what this "linsanity" is all about. I just had to register and post due to all the crazy crap being thrown around by LIn's fans and haters... how many games did LIn and Harden play really well? that is the question. did they play like that majority of the time or was it a small sample size that you can count in one or two hands? if its a really small sample size like say, 5-10 games or so, VS 80ish games of playing together last season, then its obviously not sustainable. Lin can pattern his game to someone else all he wants, but that wont change the fact that he needs to have the ball more and with Harden, thats not happening EVER! is it hardens fault? maybe, could be the coaching staff? maybe...who knows.. fact is, Harden gets the ball and the offense flows through him. like many a haters have said, Rockets dont need a pg, what they need is a spot up shooter who can chuck away 3s when harden cant get things done. I'm no expert nor do i claim to be one, but having watched lin's game, he does have talent and is better than a lot of players out there. but he needs to be the focal point of the offense, much like harden. Is he better than harden? nope. But I'd take lin over harden right now as from what i've watched, harden's defense sucks so much balls and his iso crap really kills the game. at least with lin, you know he is trying to improve his game and is willing to pass to the open man...if he sees them that is as it seems he likes to jump for joy into the open arms of the defense not knowing what to do next.. also, on defense, i've seen people saying that defense sucks, no effort, no system...blah blah blah... how do you people know that there is no system? the problem is that defense is like a machine. even if the machine is well maintained and properly oiled, but if just one part isn't lubricated properly, the whole thing just breaks down and falls apart.... yeah... that part is Harden..he sucks so much balls.. even if all 4 of the starters buy into whatever system they have in place if Harden just stands there, then their defense will crumble as there will always be this one player who will always be open saying "hey gimme da ball, i got pass harden easy peasy!"... luckily, i dont have to endure that crap as i'm no lin fan or rockets fan. one thing is for sure, harden may be a killer offensive player, but he sucks in defense and i dont like him for that.... and Imma outa here. enjoy your silly bickering people.
Lin will be great in the d-league or some Euro-league. Maybe Ya will do him the favor and sign him up for the Shanghai Sharks.
I know I just said that i'm outta here...but... doooooood! the thread title is "lin making the case for being a starter?" IT IS JUST ABOUT LIN... that is all...
Ok, after this one, i'm really outta here... dood, anyone who can make it to the NBA even if they warmed the bench their entire NBA life can play like Kobe in the d-league, euro-league, china...any league that isn't the NBA.
yup.....unfortunately u cater ur team to your highest paid players most of the time so it is harden and howard...both very good players but well see if they can lead a championship team
Lin's attributes are that he can lift the game of most players he is on, can score when he puts his mind to it, has very good court vision, is a team player, is definitely clutch in the 4th (despite a famous air ball in a Miami game, an opponent that seems to be a bad matchup for him). His defense keeps improving. He needs to work on stabilizing his dribble, staying in control but keeping his aggression, ball security and stupid TOs, he occasionally jumps in the air with nowhere to go but that's totally overblown here as he doesn't really do it that much. On his defense he mostly needs to be careful about over-helping but his defensive posture has improved a lot. In the games where Harden and he played well together, I can't really say how many they were, Harden trusted Lin. One thing you said about Harden that isn't quite true is Harden won't pass. He'll pass, he loves to pass and he does it well. IT depends on what Harden shows up. But Harden loves to be the playmaker, scorer, but not defender on the team sometimes without realizing that his life is made easier if Lin shares playmaking duties with him. Lin has been instrumental in a lot of Houston's wins this year, he's had big games but for some reason he doesn't look for his shot nearly as much as he can. When he has, he has had pretty high scoring games. I saw Linsanity and yeah, it was exciting. However, that's done. And I think Lin is glad it's over but he's now always compared to that. He's a better player now than then, but he is in a different system with a different role. I love the Rockets team, Parsons, Lin, Harden, T Jones, I even like DMo that doesn't play. I love Beverley and the grit and hustle he brings. I don't like McHale as a coach, I like him as a person but don't believe he can really get the Rockets team but so far. I don't care about the forum's wishes and trading Lin as a few nuts here get into the LOH/LOF complete stupidity (whichever side they are on) shouldn't change if people believe Lin can help the team or not. But really, like Parsons, he's a key player that can and all of the Lin nonsense should stop where he's just treated fairly. Get on him when he plays like crap and be fair and say good game or effort when he plays well.
His contract isn't massive. A lot of role players are getting paid what Lin is getting paid. Guys like Calderon, Stuckey, OJ Mayo, George Hill, etc. are getting paid around what Lin is getting paid. I don't get the notion that Lin's contract is huge like Joe Johnson bad...
Name me one great player that turned out to be a great coach. It's very hard for a great player to coach because the skills required are in a lot of cases exclusive. Kidd should have an unbelievable understanding of the game given his playing experience, so we will need to see. Bird was a good coach, but did not last long. I never said to get rid of McHale, just that the criticms he has received is fair. In all of McHale's experience, how many PG has he developed? But he was willing to cheat to get Joe Smith. It's pretty obvious where his priorities lay.
I don't think he's seperated himself at all. You would think he would've grabbed the job and put a choke hold on it,but he didn't. Just really shows me they need a pg more than anything else.
