It's just his first playoff game (Did the basketball rules change?) He doesn't have confidence because of his coach (Is this high School?) OKC is a great defensive team (How come Beverley out played Lin?) Let me beat them to the punch.
HOF'ers are rarely successful as HC's. How many HOF'ers are there? 60-70? I can only name one who was a good headcoach. Most of them failed when they tried headcoaching career after retired. Larry Bird was the only one who had some success as a HC. Some were great as GMs but they always sucked as HC's. Clyde at UH, Isaiah Thomas w/ Pacer and Knicks, West HC w/ Lakers, Ewing trying desperately to coach an NBA team and no one takes him seriously. I honestly think having a HOF title actually hurt them (big ego) more than help them becoming great coaches. It is probably the case when McHale is known to have issues with his players.
It isn't McFail's fault that Jlin doesn't have the athletic ability to compete with the top PG's in the league. It's a physical and not mental limitation that keeps JLin from performing at a high level. He's a D2 player, playing against the best athletes in the world. I feel sorry for him and it's quite evident that PBev is needed to slow them down. Why, becuase he has the athletic ability to do it. He can actually challenge them on that level.
The rules do change in the play offs. If you don't know see that in terms of officiating, then maybe you should watch more play off basketball. The play offs are more physical, they let more calls go, and there is usually some home cooking/superstar calls in the play offs. Watch the Kings/Lakers game 6. Or Miami/Boston game 6 last year. Saying he does or doesn't have confidence is both irrelevant and impossible to prove one way or another. OKC plays Lin differently than Beverley. That much is obvious. And on any given night players can have good/bad games. 1 game is nowhere near a sufficient sample size to make any conclusions of any kind in terms of play off performance. Knee jerk way too soon to say anything about this team other than OKC is a much better team.
Damien lillard plays like the vet while Lin is still getting his confidence after 3 years in the league smfh
The whole team was a deer caught in the headlights last night. Lin's mistakes were pretty glaring cause he made crucial turnovers when the game was still within reach. But this is what they signed up for. The reason people harp on playoff experience is because it matters, and you saw a pretty good illustration of that last night. The young inexperienced team got run off the court by a savvier tougher team. We knew we were getting fed to the wolves here. Let's not start with the finger pointing like the fault lies with one person. Let's not forget that in Oklahoma's first playoff appearance they were unceremoniously ousted by the Lakers.
Nope the first responsibility is to do what is BEST for the team, not one particular player. How about LIN taking some responsibility for getting better? DD
I want to answer your third question about why Beverley outplayed Lin. Beverley may be a rookie in this league but he has been on big stages in other league. He's played championship games. That's why the pressure is nothing new to him as opposed to Lin who played his first playoff game. The basketball rule didn't change but one is bound to be jittery when it's his first time on a big stage.
I say McHale has develop Lin into a nice 2 guard. Not sure his improvment of 3 pointer is because of coaching or just his confidence. However I feel he needs to move more off ball. Sometimes he's just standing in the corner and not trying to get to open space when Harden was attacking the rim. This also applies to Harden. The bad habit or laziness has to stop if we don't want more ISO. Even though Mchale has questionable rotations at times which may have hurt Lin's confidence. But it's his job to not worry about this kind of thing. Mistake happens but Mchale would only bench him more if he sees Lin's passive. Last night he was horrible and looked like he played not to make mistake. Indecision only makes him more mistake prone. I say Lin's been developed fine. Now it's up to him to be confident and agressive in the playoffs.
I agree. I totally agree it is mostly Lin's fault he's not confident and aggressive enough. My question was could McHale have helped it? I understand if McHale give Lin more freedom and he would have been still TO prone, a crappy shooter (he's still streaky), just in a different perspective. I guess another way of asking the same question is do you prefer Lin playing with confidence but with more stupid TOs and a subpar FG%.
Lin is not good against Elite teams they'll just pressure him. Should've kept Dragic paid him that 5-8 million instead
No I do not agree. Lin is a better player than he was last year. And the PG position is the most deep in the NBA, its kinda hard to be top 3 or even top 10. Those expectations are just unfair to him as his first year as a starter. Yea, he absolutely stunk last night, but you could tell he was just nervous and that loud arena got to him. But seriously one bad game and people treat him as public enemy #1. Its not like he played like this all series and his play was the only reason we lost the series. Its only one game. He should bounce back. But I hope you didnt expect us to beat OKC, especially on their home court
Now it is not a fairly comparison anymore. Damien Lillard makes most of the PG in the league look like rookies with the way he played. He's a sure HOF in making if his career isn't cut short with injuries.
Maybe what was meant with this post is the question of, is this team better off running the offense through Lin instead of Harden who is going to get his anyways. Maybe that would get Lin driving more which he seems to thrive on. Lin will always be a role player and not the main event. Its the job of a coach, just as it is of any manager in business to maximize their players potential. That being said, God could coach this team and they would still get whooped by the Thunder. I hope for a couple of close games and maybe a win or two and I'll be happy. I would love to see Adelman coaching this team. I would also like to see a good discussion if people think Harden would be a good fit for the triangle offense.
Lin did get better. He got better for what's the team needed, less TOs and better 3FG%. I give McHale a lot of credit for that.
Lol I don't go around calling out people for been racists ..but comon...seriously? Jlin has alot of problems but I don't think not been " athletic " enough is one of them.
