ClutchFans Game Thread: Clippers @ Rockets 3/29/2014

The Clippers wanted this game more. They want the number three seed. The Rockets are still shocked by Beverley and Howard's status. It was an event only in that I think Lin needs the confidence to play well and he doesn't seem to have it... He is very easy to read. Further Lin needs to let his teammates know everything will be fine, that he will do the job. Over the course of the year the team has been up and down with Lin. Right now they don't seem confident.

 

we know, that Lin struggles against the elite teams. It's frustrating as a Lin Fan, but that is the truth. He needs to adjust and have confidence, because hasn't adjusted that well to the top teams and he lacks confidence it seems like. That mode where Linsanity came from.

 

good post.

 

Just got home from the game and it was bad, like real bad for Lin.

The crowd was starting to turn on him and there was clear murmuring when he would touch the ball. He was one turnover away from outright booing in the second quarter.

We have a serious point guard problem right now.

 

I would say this game is a landmark occasion for Lin, if anything, to prove to this team that he is more than capable of filling the void for Beverley. The fact that the Rockets played a tough opponent is important as well, because Lin wouldn't be facing Utah Jazz or Cavaliers in the playoffs, he will literally be facing tough opponents every game.

He wasn't trusted enough to guard Chris Paul, and he was a liability on offense with his inability to hit shots. Chris Paul could be the toughest PG to cover in the league, but he won't be facing any significantly easier PGs any time soon once the playoff starts.

People want Lin to rise up to the occasion. He has struggled against the Heat, the Thunder, the Clippers, the Warriors etc. Practically the only strong team that I could think of where Lin didn't struggle in was the Spurs.

Come playoffs, I could reliably expect Harden to give me 20 points and good playmaking, I could count on Howard to hold the paint and grab rebounds, I could rely on Beverley to play tough nosed defense and bring energy to the floor every possession. What would I be expecting from Lin in the playoffs? That's the biggest concern, no one could expect anything out of him because he is such a wild card.

 

Lin did well in guarding Collison (4/14, 3pts 1/7).

Can't expect Lin to be the savior with his changing role recently, not to say the Rockets lost to LAC 3 times before.

Anyway, with Lin and Harden on the floor together, they need more spacing.

 

FYI, Parson was guarding CP all night and While Lin didn't shoot well, he still manage to play defense reasonably well and get 10 pts. The game was lost on turnovers. Please see who turned over the ball the most in the team before assigning blame.

 

this is a good post too.

could it just the limitation in lin's game with his struggles v. more athletic teams like LAC, OKC. rather than not coming up huge in big games (same thing i guess).

he plays well v. the spurs (especially this year, 2 of his best games of the season). had some good games last year too. he played very well v. the warriors last season. he also owns the blazers.

but teams like okc/lac just play him way more physically. and he doesn't know how to react.

 

besides the lin bashing, we already know that Lin didn't have a great game.
it's disappointing that Lin still can't get up for the big teams in the NBA yet.
It's a compliment that the best teams in the NBA respect Lin enough to gameplan for him. But Lin hasn't met the challenge yet. I need to see signs that Lin can start show progress against the HEat, Thunder, Clips. Otherwise, he does well agains the Spurs and Pacers for some reason.

 

The coach should stick to it by starting Canaan with Lin leading the bench. If they think Harden is the ball handler, then put Canaan beside him to shoot open three. While Lin organises the offense for the second unit. The starting 3 minutes of the fourth quarter proved how bad the coaching staffs are.

 

1. Tonight is not the first night that Beverley missed this season, or the first night that Lin has had to start. In fact, between Beverley and Harden's injuries, Lin started 25 games.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/splits/_/id/4299/jeremy-lin

And we for the most part know what he can do in that role.

2. Lin did struggle guarding Chris Paul on prior occasions, but so did everyone else tonight. The defensive lineup may be partly due to Lin's earlier struggles vs. CP, but it's also partly due to the fact that somebody has to guard Darren Collison-- who burned the Rockets the last time they played each other. The team had Beverley and Harden finish the game that time, and Collison scored a bunch of points in the 4th quarter while playing solid D on Harden.

3. Canaan had a better shooting night, but in the end the team was something like -7 with Canaan and -6 with Lin and had both positive and negative stretches with either player. Canaan also had his share of bad TOs like Lin and everyone else.

 

last two paragraphs are pretty legit. Can't ascertain that McHale didn't trust Lin guarding Paul. that is ridiculous, it may seem that way, but we don't truly know what McHale was thinking doing that. Only McHale does.

 

I don't know playing Parsons 46 mins, and ask him to guard CP3, and also lead the bench is a smart move from any coach.

And plus, we all know our coach DOES NOT TRUST Jeremy, don't know how that would help the team if he don't trust his players, and only trust Parsons that much, and believe Parsons could physically be a superman.

 

What a joke, Lin is just coming off the bench and had to re-adjust on a team that hasn't beat the Clippers all year. Yes, even with the all defensive power house PB.

The only time that the team beat the Clippers was last year when Lin was starting and Harden was out. So according to your knee jerk logic, the Rockets should just rest Harden and start Lin when they play the Clippers.

 

This is true, but tonight also marks the fact that Lin will likely be the starter for the rest of this season. There aren't many elite teams left for Rockets to go against, and his no show as a starter tonight does not instill confidence.

Either way, I do hope this is a mere off night for Lin and not a confidence issue. That off night explanation won't hold up since every game counts in the playoffs.

 

That's McHale for you. he does as he pleases or whatever his organizations /fraternities pleases.

 

He shot 1-9, he's going on 2 years with this team...but it was spacing?

 

Bill Worrell said the EXACT same thing





D Mo is sooo soft it drives me nuts.

I worry that every time the rox get really good............... here come the major injuries or the nagging injuries. Could this be the start of d12 going the way of tmac and yao?

 

Yes the guy who went 32/7/6 was the reason we lost. Time to trade that scrub.

 

i don't think he's pointing it to Harden. He's just defending Lin, which is fair at this juncture. He had a bad game, he's the first to admit it. he needs to step up against better team.