[ClutchFans] The numbers are clear: Patrick Beverley deserves to start over Jeremy Lin

The Lakers don't want Lin.

 

The Lakers only have Kobe, Nash, Young, Sacre and Marshall on contract for next season. Nash is a walking injury bill right now and that's not likely to change in the last year of his contract.

 

At wouldn't say Clutch was spot on when he wrote. He is right now. But his opinion of Lin was lower at the time than it deserved to be. Things change and I will be the first to acknowledge it. But Clutch assessment early wasn't as clear as he might have you believe.

The gap was much close earlier. I would even say from the opening it could be debated Lin was playing better than Beverly. But with Beverly's improved play and Lin's inconsistency it is clear now there is a decent gap.

I am disappointed with Lin. I expected to play more consistently and show improvement over the course of the season. If anything he is digressed. I don't know what is going on with him. He makes too many bone headed passes and doesn't hit his threes at a high enough clip.

 

Adding to Nash's unlikeliness to be a Laker next year, if they wave him, he only counts 3 million against the cap. Otherwise it's the full 9 million on a hobbled frame.

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/3/1/5459672/steve-nash-injury-retirement-stretch-provision

 

I can see the Lakers taking on Asik's $15mi for a season, but I can't see them taking Lin's $15mil. Like the Rockets, the Lakers don't run a system that requires a stud PG. Why would the Lakers pay $15mil for Lin?

 

I think it was pretty much clear that Beverly was indeed a better fit with the starters since last season. When Beverly is on the court, the starters have better chemistry together and Bev brings that type of swagger that is much needed on this team. The NBA is fulled of great talented Point Guards and Beverly isn't afraid to go up against them every night.

As good of a player Lin is, he just doesn't fit with the starters like Beverly. Lin needs to be scoring to be effective. Beverly doesn't need to score to be effective. He does all the little things and can hit the spot up 3s and occasionally drive in and knock down floaters. Beverly's defense, rebounding ability and his overall intensity is incredibly valuable.

 

At this point, Beverley is clearly the BETTER PLAYER. He deserves to start not because who fits what, but simply because he is better.

At the beginning and earlier part of the season, it was NOT clear that Beverley was the better player. The two guys have been very close in terms of overall effectiveness. Neither "deserves" anything and I don't think it made much difference who started.

Since January or so, Beverley has become better and Lin has become worse. Now it's not close.

Beverley has been shooting much more consistently, and I think he has gotten better at penetrating to make play. He is still not very good at finishing at the rim though.

Lin on the other hand seems to have lost all his confidence. He's not shooting well. He does not drive confidently. He hesitates and every time he does that he makes bad decisions.

I'd say that for now, Beverley does not only deserves to start but deserves to get more PT from Lin. I hope Lin get it together and get out of this funk. I don't know what is going on with him.

 

Bev is a better starter not because he is a better player, although one can argue he is now both. He's better because of consistency. You know what you'll get from him each and every night. You can count on that. Lin? You don't know which one of him is gonna show up any given night. That's what frustrates the coaches and fans.

For example, if Bev gives you a grade of 6 out of 10 every night (not great or flashy or anything, just a consistent serviceable performance), on the other hand, Lin gives you an 8 one night, but a 4 the next day. They average about the same, but which one would you choose? Add to that Lin doesn't give you 8 very often nowadays. It's a no brainer.

 

I disagree with your first comment. Bev is PLAYING better but is not clearly better than Lin. You can find stretches where any player is in a slump and determine that player A is better than player B.
For example Parsons is 19-57 and 6-22 from 3 for the last few games. Jordan Hamilton is shooting a .516 clip and .412 from 3...Should he now be considered a better player than Parsons or is he having a better stretch of games?

 

Calm down. I said Bev is the better player AT THIS POINT. You are comparing Parsons' "slump" for the last few GAMES to Lin's slump for the past couple of MONTHS?

Bev has improved and Lin has regressed. It's clear as daylight and I don't even need "the numbers" to tell me that.

Will Lin turn out to be the better player between the two? Who knows. He still has the tools to do so. I still think Lin has a higher ceiling than Bev. But will Lin reach that ceiling? I don't know. It's a disappointing season for Lin and I have stopped defending him. He needs to get it together soon or we are going to go into the playoffs having Canaan as our backup PG. That's not good for the Rockets whether you are a Lin fan or not.

 

at this point, lin's lucky he's still in the rotation, and this coming from lin's brother from another mother.

 

First I am calm...second you said at this point which means taking the collective data at today's value, you think he's the better player. And you say Months? If you take pre-all star games stats..Lin is 13.3 and 4.5 will Beverly is 9.6 and 2.7 and Lin is shooting .466 to Bev's .397.

 

The poster wasn't aggressive... why did you tell him to "calm down"? That is not an appropriate way to respond to someones opinion if you disagree.

Also AFAIK, playing bad in the month of February does not equate to MONTHS. It is 1 month.

 

It's more like 3 months, but each month the issue is different. He's actually been hitting the 3 at a fairly good clip since February started, but for some reason he just isn't finishing at the rim! I don't expect that to be the norm. In January, it was almost the opposite...he was HORRID from 3, but was penetrating and scoring.

Once he puts it together, I assume he'll be closer to the player he was in December, i.e. 15/5, solid D off the bench. We will see!

 

Okay. Sorry about the calm down thing. You used Parsons' few games to compare to Lin's problem to me was an overreaction to my point.

Lin's shooting in Jan and Feb:
Jan FG% .430, 3pt% .262, APG 4.7
Feb FG% .391, 3pt% .355, APG 4.6

His 3pt shooting was atrocious in Jan and just okay in Feb. His overall shooting is just bad over the past two months, so is his assist numbers.

But the most telling stats to me is that he is not getting to the foul line like he used to. His FTA/game in Jan is 3.71; 2.20 in Feb. That just indicates that he is getting less and less aggressive.

If that's not a 2-month slump, I don't know what is.

 

One can hope. As huge Lin fan, it's so sad to see him playing so bad, just really wish he can get it together, raise his confidence back up, and become a solid contributor to the team again. Don't know what the issue is, if it is just confidence, or some back problems, or whatever, but really hoping it's a temporary thing.

 

No problem about the comment but using Jan and Feb (it was actually .407 in Feb) He still outscored, out-shot and out-assisted Bev. (Bev shot better from 3). I guess my point is that he wasn't clearly better....is he a better fit for the team because of a ball dominant center and SG? Bev likely wins that debate because of his skill set.

 

Turnovers and defense are the key here - at the very least Lin has to limit those soul-crushing TO's. As long as Beverley hits his threes, a certain amount of offensive ineptitude is accepted with him, given how much Mchale favors him and his defense.

 

Last time I checked; Rockets are:

20-7 when Lin plays 30 or more mins
16-12 when Bev plays 30 or more mins

The numbers are clear, Lin deserves more minutes, right?

 

Was Bev the better player in the Clipper game? No. Jeremy helped get the team the lead in the second qtr and a lot of open shots to get back into the game in the 4th qtr that were just not converted. He also willingly attacked the Clipper defense. He didn't make those shots because the Clips were just tough inside and did not foul, but the more he attacked the more open the shots were for Hamilton and others. I maintain that had McHale sat Bev down, gone with Jeremy for the 4th and told him to keep attacking no matter what the box score looked like, the Rockets would've had a better chance to win that game because there would've been more open shots for the team.