No, I think it was just very obvious to those that have experience that Beverley is a better player and fit at the 1, especially for the Rockets. Beverley helps cover a lot of lapses by our other perimeter players and he is a better free throw shooter.
Morey, and by extension McHale, make decisions based on stats. Bev is not a better point guard than Lin, he is a better fit with the starters than Lin. There are several factors to consider: with Lin playing the starters are extremely shot starved; they need Bev's defense against some of the better NBA point guards; the bench sorely needs Lin's scoring punch. As you said, this much is obvious to those with a practiced eye towards the NBA game.
To mesh as well as possible with the other 4 players on the court and put forth the best output possible.
The main problem is that there are just a handful of NBA players that are even close to Dirk in accuracy on the long two. And every one of them is a "star" and thus difficult or even impossible to obtain. The Rockets take 50% of the long twos compared to their closest rival. That is a team philosophy and is not going to change.
Lol Lin is a better player and point guard and would be starting over Bev on most, if not all, other teams. Bev is just a great fit in this starting line up and he brings a strong perimeter defensive presence which we sorely need.
No. Fraid not. Unless you understand which metrics even to apply in such a comparison you should not venture forward with your guess.
Just not true - the more I watch Beverly, and his mental toughness, the more I can see why Lin is just not good enough. If you doubt yourself the league will eat you up. Beverly would shut Jlin completely down - because Lin would defer every time down the court, and there is no place for that in an NBA starting lineup. DD
That's a definition of ANY NBA player, not a position. If I asked you what the role of a Center was, you'd say rim protection, rebounding, etc. So what is the typical role expected of Point Guards?
Patrick Beverley is just a better player and fit than Lin. I don't think that Morey or the front office pressured McHale to play Beverley. I will say that the Rockets front office is CLOSER to the coaching staff than other teams, so I am sure it has been discussed many, many times. Beverley doesn't turn the ball over, he is an elite defender, he hits his 3's.. which is what the Rockets need. If the Rockets were long on defense and short on offense, then Lin would start.
Bev is a Rondo/Rubio without the assists. Unless he plays with great assist players like Parsons and Harden he brings nothing to the table other than defense. In the Rockets system, utilizing spacing and the post to such a great degree, Bev is the starting point guard. In most other systems he would be relegated to the bench. A "system" point guard is not a better point guard than Lin.
The game has changed a lot, especially the last 5-10 years. The role of the point guard has evolved as well. Is Lin a better player than Beverley? You can make a strong argument he is, but IMO Beverley is an elite role player, and that is rarer and more important to an elite team than someone like Lin, that can score and create, but not at an elite level. Having said that, I hope Lin averages 20 points a game in the playoffs.
