[ClutchFans] Rockets to begin season with Beverley, Asik as starters; Jeremy Lin off bench

Guys it's pretty simple, unless you are Lebron, that Bev is going to better defend smaller and quicker guards and Lin will do better with bigger guards (as they will tend to be slower).

 

Sure unless Bev overplays them like he did Lillard tonight, that's why he kept beating Bev off of the dribble over and over.

 

a bogus game ruined by the home cooking ref calls, i take it as anomaly. cp3 will get what he get, 24 pts is normal, 17 assist should thx to harden cant keep his man in check and howard got benched by refs. this game is not base on fair competition and ref did too much to interferer the plays between them, if you want to count it in ok, if you want to say Beverley can stop CP3+refs, well I am ok too, day dreaming is a normal function of human brain.

 

:grin: Good catch here...lol

 

Beverley started in 1 game & played 10 minutes before he got injured. We don't have a good sample size of Beverley starting against other starting PGs (even Westbrook was injured in playoffs), so can we wait for a few dozen games before we start judging Beverley?

How many games did it take Jeremy to figure out how to guard Damian Lilliard? There's a reason the coaching staff want to move Beverley to the starting lineup, let them try it out and see how it goes before we start questioning it.

 

Please check the Harden stats.....:grin:

 

Lol. Chill dude. I was just pointing out that you're missing a stat. Didn't realize you were being intentionally selective. But yes, if you're going to keep track, you need to include Chris Paul. :grin:

 

I do question Mchales decision to start Bev, I think it's wrong but I'm a fan and he is a hall of fame player.

I'm not questioning Bev at all, I think he is a very good defender and I'm happy he came back tonight. I just think Lin is the better overall pg and I think your best players need to start.

 

I do like to see how Lin runs the second unit with Bev starting. If Lin keeps being this efficient he'll still get his 15-16 points, which is actually very good for coming off the bench. I agree that we need to see more to see if things will work out...

 

I thought this thread was about Lin & Beverley?

 

I think this is a silly idea. The Rockets need to put out the people who they think will win the game. I believe the Rockets are under-utilizing Lin but he shouldn't start just for that.

 

It seems to me like the reason they want to start Bev is less because of what Bev does but what Lin does/doesn't. I mean if a big name high pick/veteran PG is starting, they wouldn't even dream about starting Bev.

 

Probably...but knowing McHale he might just do just that like what he did in Taiwan.

 

Just some casual and irreponsible remark based on eye test

But since you asked, I went and checked the stats and play-by-play:

During 10:52-9:52, Lin committed a TO and 2PF resulted giving up 4pts to the opponents. Rockets are 10pts in the lead ( 91:81). He actually made a jump shot at 10:45 mark.

Bev was playing hot, getting a rebound, a 3-pointer, and 2 layups, resulting a total of 7 points. Meanwhile Lillard was also unleashed during the absence of Lin, he made a layup shot, a driving layup +1, and a 3-pointer, delivering a total of 8 points. If he didn't miss another two 3-pointer (at 6:54 & 3:58 respectively), he could have scored 14 points during this short period of time.

By the time Lin was subbed in, Rockets was 13 points in the lead with 2:34 to play. Lin only played for 1:23 before he got replaced by Smith. Lin managed to score another 2 points to pad his stats.

I'm fine if the coaches want to go with the hot hands. But putting Lin in at 2:34 looks like the way teams will treat their bench players, even though he was substituted together with the starters at 1:01 :grin:

 

Same here, it'll be interesting to see how things unfold. McHale's been rolling out a tight 8-man rotation, so there really isn't even a 2nd unit if you think about it. He's subbing in anywhere from 1 to 2 players at a time. Looks like he's still trying to figure out the different lineups...and I've yet to see one that I really like. I will say, Lin has good chemistry with Garcia and Casspi so I'd love to see a lineup that includes those 3 with Howard.

 

eliminating anomaly is no where near selective. or you want to measure dwright's performance with the same game? I wont. he got into foul trouble due to BS calls too, I wont doubt him saying he should come off the bench for Asik's backup. anomaly is anomaly, what I want to measure is players true ability itself, ref's interference is just too much in this one.

 

Getting lit up by Chris Paul isn't an anomaly.

 

once you let go of the idea that it's about meritocracy, then it makes more sense.

mchale has never said that it's a competition, which implies meritocracy. it has always been about fit with harden, howard, and chandler. and "fit", can't really be measured and thus subject to interpretation. it's by nature very subjective.

so yeah, no matter how well lin plays (on D and O), he's coming off the bench. and that's just gonna be the way it is. he never played bad enough to lose it. mchale wants bev, and it was mchale's decision, not front office decision. mchale will give this group every opportunity to work.

 

Why are you even bringing up Dwight and Asik? I'm just saying if you are going to keep track of Lin/Bev's performances against other PGs, you should include Chris Paul, regardless of ref interference, because he did go up against him. There's no shame in letting the PointGod (and a viable MVP candidate) score 20+ points in you. I'd even bet that Lin is thinking about that game & how to use it as motivation to get better. Like I said, no shame in getting owned by CP3.

 

I think the Rockets could have many reasons for preferring Bev over Lin which we don't know about, and which make sense. And I am now good with Lin coming off the bench if that's what McHale decides.

But I have to say, there was a moment, in the 4Q, when it became clear Lin would not be put back in when expected, that it was a little jarring.
I watched the game on a Blazers' stream tonight. The announcers as others have mentioned seemed prepared and fair. they seemed surprised that Lin was not put back in in the 4th quarter too. They noticed it, and then said something like they thought he had played well, and seemed like he had earned it. Earlier, in the 2Q, I think, they also mentioned how much trouble Lin was giving Lillard. And they definitely were not Lin biased, they started out the broadcast mentioning how Lin had a rough game with CP3.

I am not questioning the decision here - because I think it just is alright however it works out. But I also think it's wrong to criticize people who expected Lin to be brought back in, as being unreasonable.