[ClutchFans] Lin and Yang: Why Choose One Point Guard When You Can Have Two?

the problem with starting bev imo has always been this, you stop harden, you stop the entire team. of course dwight posting is always on the table, but i think we all agree that it shouldnt be... the same can be said about lin leading the bench. you stop his drives, you stop everything.

i would like to see lin and jones start. hopefully they can start off with a lead, and then you can stagger lin/harden to maintain it. if westbrook/cp3/etc are lighting lin up, sub him out early. isnt that why you have "2 starting pgs"???

with lin deferring less this year, i can see us having an attacking guard on both sides that can also spot shoot. dwight can pnr with harden on one side and jones with lin on the other.

 

I asked because I'm wondering what would be the team's identity, it obviously changed from last season, and by put Jeremy on bench, and develop Parsons and Jeremy's more individual game, it looks to me is that we are not going with the play style we had last season, where fast ball movement create opportunity, but use more individual talent to do that.

Well, with DH on board, I'm not saying that is no good, (what do I know), though I enjoyed last season's style a bit more than the current one. Also, I'm a bit confused that the current style is quite different from what the coaches was saying before the season start, when they were talking about they want the ball out of James's hand a bit more, but now it looks like they are going opposite.

I'm questioning that whether our coaches really know where they want this team to be? Do they have a clear vision what kind of identity this team could be?

As a Lin Fan, to be honest, I'm not worried about Jeremy at this moment, looks like he is still developing, and willing to adjust, thus he would try his best to fit into the role that assigned to him, though I'd like to see him facilitate more, but he would perform well as a scorer too. I'm kind of more curious about where the team is heading.....

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much. You're only talking about 10 minutes that Lin is on the floor without Harden, IF that much.

Lin and Harden are still playing the bulk of their time on the floor together.

 

isn't this is what he did last season?

 

No. Last season there were LONG stretches where neither Lin OR Harden was on the floor.

This season, not so much.

 

Honestly, he's doing the same thing he did last year, but he's getting foul calls and continuing to hit 3s this year, which is huge.

 

somehow I feel James and Jeremy need each other to be efficient, and they don't need to carry too much weight by themselves on the floor. It is so obvious in 76er's game. However, we don't see too much of working together of these two in the first couple of games. I think that's why I don't really like the idea about Jeremy coming off bench.

However, if that improved, then it would really does not matter whether he start or come off bench, as you said, there is not much difference, they will still play that much min together.

 

thank god for that. McHale can be slow to the pick up at times.

 

Just based on Lin's performance in the last 10 games, it is safe to say starting or not, it won't impact much on Lin's individual performance. But whether it is good or bad to the team as a whole, particularly in long run, in theory it could go either way. But I prefer him starting simply based on the fact that they actually played well together after ASB last season. Plus Lin is a little better ball mover and facilitator than Harden (who himself is good. But as the only reliable offense option in the starting lineup. Ball tends to be "stickier"). You need to have a good start and have everybody involved initially. People often say good offense starts with good defense (true). But the opposite is true as well, especially for young players.

 

An excerpt about Lin from McHale's interview today (as transcribed by J.R. in another thread). It's kind of an interesting response. I am not completely sure what to make of it.

Q: Jeremy Lin found his true calling, coming off the bench?

A: This summer, last year at the end of the year, we had a long talk about him, his expectations for himself, what he needs to work on, the whirlwind he went through in NY and then the FA and coming to Houston and all those things. You could see by the end of the summer, he was comfortable. I was happy for him. He got comfortable being Jeremy Lin, a very good basketball player. Not Linsanity, not trying to live up to all that stuff, which is impossible but being comfortable with who he is. You can really see that in him. I'm really happy for him. Wonderful kid, great guy. Really like him. He's going out and playing. He doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders anymore. There is a joy about him when he plays that is fun to see.

 

Lin fan conspiracies busted or is McHale just a big fat liar?

 

Translation: He's doing great, and I am avoiding the question. Oh by the way, Lin is great, wonderful, loving it, happy world, Wow, isn't that awesome?

A little bit excessive, I would say.

 

Translation: I talked to him about coming off the bench and for him not to lose heart because that may be what's best for him. He's much more comfortable there and he can be a really good bench player. He's not a star as some people continuously tend to think as evidenced by Linsanity and that is an unreachable goal for him, but I really like the kid. He's doing good.

 

Yeah, I interpret the response as reflecting a positive feeling McHale has for Lin too. It's a little odd as a response to a question about the benching question. But it seems geniune to me. More real, than a usual response to a media question would be. And I would bet McHale is right that maybe one reason Lin is seeming so much freer and happier this year, is that the Linsanity craziness is a little bit behind him now.

So maybe, let's try not to overburden him with new expectations this year. He's going to be good, just because he is a very good player. But maybe he can just be that.

 

Can you translate this:

Your attitude makes you not good valued.

 

It's the truth. It's kind of like saying, I'm not scared, I'm not scared, I'm not scared!!! That means you're scared. Kind of like, of course I like him, yes I like him, yes I do! Dam it, there's nothing wrong with our relationship! It means that you don't like him.

Remember dwight and Stan van Grundy?

 

He's a big fat liar.

 

Option #3.. McHale is just completely tone deaf and had no idea how his actions would play out in the media and fan base.

Just think back to the Philippines... McHale just doesn't have a good ear for reading how his decisions will be read by the public.

 

No one can be that dumb. He was smart enough to give the alternating starts BS.

 

Response

It's a PR job. The question is loaded.