A look at Lin's offensive numbers with and without Harden

True, but the point is the vast majority of time he is going to have SOME ONE rotate out to him to try and contest his shot when he gets the ball at the 3pt line even when his man leaves him to help. His 3pt % also suffers some because he is going to be the one asked to take the desperation 3 at the end of the shot clock/quarter/half/game.

Harden has been in a huge slump for most of the past 8 games, even on open shots shooting 19% from 3 pt range over the losing streak, thru the Bobcats game. Could be tired legs with so many sets of back to backs, or he could be hitting the wall as far as this being the first time he has been asked to carry such a load for a whole season.

Harden certainly has room for improvement, but for all the talk of youth and inexperience, some people tend to forget that Harden is actually younger than Lin.

 

I've seen most games prior to the losing streak and a bit of some of the games during. I can't recall a single instance of defenses closing on harden beyond the arc. Not once.

If anything, defenses sag anticipating a drive to the basket. Harden is obviously tired as are all of the rockets, and he's clearly being asked to do too much. This iso strategy is backfiring badly on mchale.

Oddly, I think mac will stick with harden iso-ball indefinitely. Good luck with that.

 

Need the ball to do that.

 

Bottom Line. Lin needs to improve.

 

As a spot up shooter? That's not his game. He's a ball dominant PG who can score and dish and create.

You could give Novak the ball and ask him to play point. Don't think that would work. Why not? It's not his game. He's best utilized and helps the team most as a catch and shoot scorer. Could Novak become a better dribbler, and assist guy? Yes. But he would never, ever be a great point guard.

Could Lin become a better spot up 3 pt shooter? Sure, but that's a waste of a PG's ability.

It would be much better if Lin improves as a PG, rather than as a spot up, occasional 3 pt shooter as a bail-out option.

 

YEP.... agreed...smart post....i love it when people makes sense and talk bball instead of BENCH HIM and HE SUCKS

 

bottom line is they all need to improve. Harden is shooting poorly...worse than LIN over the last few weeks....Asik cant catch the ball.....they dont have a forward that plays any d at all....no one plays d other than Lin.....they are not that good but I still like them and think if they could find a big guy who could catch and go up strong and finish they would be right there

 

I am sorry - but every guard needs to at least try to develop a 3 point shot in today's NBA. Not everyone can be Rondo.

 

Note that the middle stretch of games were when Lin would handle the ball more and get picks set for him even when he was in with Harden. During this period when that was the strategy, everybody played well, including Harden.

They stopped doing it 3 games into the season, then started again after the San Antonio game when Harden sat out, then stopped again 8 games ago.

As long as Lin is instructed to bring the ball up the court then either immediately pass it off or past it off 2 sec later to a player coming off an off-the-ball screen, there is not a whole lot of point in staggering their minutes, which is probably why they stopped staggering their minutes again. For some reason McHale has decided not to continue going with Lin being a playmaker, and the Rockets went from blowing out good teams by 20 to losing to mediocre teams by 20.

 

It wouldn't also be a bad idea if lin and harden could make a freaking shot! both at 25% the past couple of games.

 

This is why harden, a SHOOTING GUARD with a MAX CONTRACT, must be held to a far higher standard than Lin. Lin is being crucified for shooting 3's at 28%, yet Harden, with a 5 year, $80 mil deal as a lead scorer, gets a pass at an appalling 32%. That is absolutely a double standard.

Second point, a point which you absolutely and completely ignore is that every other top PG is BALL DOMINANT. They bring the ball up, and make a decision. Lin is not allowed to do that. Lin will shoot a better percentage when he is allowed to be the primary ball handler close to half the time.

 

We have ZERO Spacing at all in this offense....

 

My theory is, it's the PFs' fault. Maybe durvasa can do an analysis on how well Lin and Harden played when the PFs were hitting their shots.

Also, when the PFs aren't rebounding defensively, the guards have to help and they can't run the fastbreak effectively.

 

This is so true. There is no space gain however they dribble, penetrate, or pass. No real structure on offense.

 

This can't be right because Harden plays PG most of the time. So he's supposed to pass to himself to get the ball into his own hands to get his scoring going?

If that was the role of PG on this team then Lin would be running point more to get it into Harden's hands to get him going, but that's not the case.

 

I'm a Lin fan and to be fair, Harden's shot attempts are much tougher and higher volume than Lin's, who gets to take much more open looks generated from Harden