Wow.....I usually respect your posts by this is just....wow. I definitely think Lin is playing weak now, but I'll just say you're treading into a values difference that should be left in the D&D.
I think one has to accept a certain amount of inconsistency when it comes to Lin. His fans may not agree, but I think his case is similar to that of other second or third tier PGs who are asked to handle the ball a fair amount. If they could do what they do at their best more consistently, they'd be considered star-caliber players. I still think Lin could be a vauable contributor to this team as it aims for the championship. Let's just hope the Rockets can figure out how to get him into his groove as the playoffs come along.
It is time to see what Caanan and Daniels can do. I am tired of his turnovers and poor shooting, he is literally bringing nothing to the table right now.
This is a little bit frustrating -- not sure how I feel about it. If we might need him for playoff depth (entirely possible), he needs to be getting some experience running w/ the big boys. OTOH, this team sucks at building and maintaining large leads, so when do you feel comfortable giving him the keys? This next stretch of games is not the sort where there's likely to be a lot of breathing room / opportunity for him to play... I'd almost rather him be in RGV actually playing instead of just being a warm body. Meh.
A sore ankle could definitely affect shooting. It might make sense because he is actually rebounding/stealing/blocking/assisting at a higher rate than Beverley when extrapolated to 30 minutes. With 3 days off, I think he'll be better physically against Miami. They need a good game from him to beat the Heat. In fact, a good game that helps lead to a win over Miami and that masked man will probably shut all the critics up for his lack of scoring over the last 5 games.
It's time to give him minutes. Whatever the case is with Lin, his recent stretch of play has been detrimental to the team and he looks completely lost on the court. I think Canaan can be a nice spark plug off the bench. He's a scorer with range. Reminds me some of Vinnie Johnson from the bad boys Pistons championship teams. Like you said, if we end up needing him in the Playoffs then he needs to get his feet wet. Even if you split the minutes with Lin 10 and 10 I want to see what we have as I know what we have with Lin already. It's very concerning that we can't hold large leads and that will catch up to us come Playoff time. Despite the tough stretch of games this is exactly where I'd like to see him play. These are the teams we will have to beat to be a legit contender and if Canaan is going to be a contributer this is who he has to perform against. Not like he could play any worse then Lin has of late. Nah, good for him to be up here. He gets to practice with the team and acclimated to NBA life.
I honestly doubt that all of this is mental. Hesitance is one thing, but not being able to drive past your man regularly anymore and finishing is quite another.. Lin's quality of production fell off drastically after the back spasms he had earlier in the season, and I suspect that something of this nature has more to do with all of this than we think.
It all went downhill when he signed with Adidas. Put your Nikes back on and disguise them to look like Adidas.
Lin is mentally shot. He is currently very mentally weak and when Lin is mentally fragile he goes from being an average PG (at best) to one of the worst in the league. That is what he is right now. He needs to do whatever it takes to get his confidence and mojo back. Like McHale said, I hope it is just a slump and he comes out of it very shortly because Rockets will need PG production off the bench come playoff time.