What's stopping Jeremy Lin that hasn't stopped Dpuglas, Parsons, or even Delfino from taking over possesions?
well yee haw...dang gun it. you sho put me in ma place billybob. put on dem cowboy boots and hat and get on dat there horsey. bring ur six guns and fire away.
-If this was a win now team, they probably would have made early season lineup changes to maximize players abilities. Lin to a 6th man bench role could have been a viable solution for that team assuming they probably already have a solid starting lineup, but possibly a weak bench. -If this was a lose now team, Lin's offensive ability would have been showcased more, but would that team really be focused on developing all aspects of his game to be a more dominant well-rounded player? Houston is a very unique situation where you have a good team that also the youngest in the league that also views you as a major part of their rebuilding process. Its in Jeremy and his fans best interest to stay positive about that situation. Any other team, and the circumstance would be much, much different.
Someone mentioned this early but I find it hilarious that Lin fans blame everyone else but Lin and Lin himself, puts everything on him. He's not making excuses, he's being honest. He knows he hasn't played as well as he should be. Lin fans can learn from their hero. Because Lin is all class, unlike some of his fans.
Is it just me or is it every year we always hear how our starting PG is going to be the next big star of the rockets? First it was Aaron brooks, then it was Lowry and dragic, now its Lin. We always get these player only fans trying to convince why their man should be the superstar.
New ESPN Insider article on how to free Lin: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/conversations/_/id/8753577/houston-rockets-bench-jeremy-lin-now
he's not judged harshly at all. the media glosses over his poor defense when its obvious he gets torched every night. the fans here mention his poor defense, but at the same time put him on a pedestal. yes i'd like to see him try to be a shooter first. why? because when it matters the most, refs wont call the fouls. its an unofficial "fact" of the nba. harden is the franchise player and first option. lin isnt. no need to talk about lin because any real fan can see he isnt that great. however, harden is hailed as the next big thing, and imo undeservedly so right now. perhaps those 1st 2 games have created beardsanity and it still propagates till today...
As i was saying in another thread. I don't think it's a confidence or aggressive issue with Jeremy. I think Jeremy is too unselfish. When he does have the ball, he should call his number more often. He should try to shoot 20 shots a game regardless of the situation. In this league, in the media, and on these boards, the only stat that matters, the only one that gets quoted more than half the time, is points. For his career, he's a 43% shooter, which is slightly above average (42% is league avg for PGs). Since he's shown himself to be such a team-first guy, I don't think he'll start taking more shots until his NBA career starts to depend on it. One thing I do know is that if the Rockets don't see Lin as the PG of the future, then they need to play him more to maximize his stats and trade value, especially in the 4th quarter where he tends to rack up his best numbers.
Harden is 2nd in the NBA in Free throw attempts behind Dwight Howard. Ahead of Durant, Kobe and Melo. He's 5th in scoring with a better FG percentage than anyone in the top 10! Yeah, he's not a star player
Here u go ENJOY: Posted Up On The Trade Block December 15 marked the unofficial arrival of trade season. Most NBA players that signed contracts this past summer are now eligible to be traded. This gives teams more flexibility as the pool of NBA players has increased. Sure, some players like Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert are eligible to traded on January 15 because they re-signed with their teams, but that doesn't mean there aren't intriguing names that could be had right now. Here's a run down of players that could be on the move. All contract figures are from ShamSports. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors. Contract: $10 million this season and due $22.2 the following two seasons. The hope in Toronto this season was with a healthy Bargnani, the additions of Kyle Lowry, Landry Fields, Jonas Valaciunas and improvement from DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis and Amir Johnson, the Raptors could reach the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Instead, the Raptors sit at a disappointing 6-19 record after 25 games. Bargnani is sidelined at the moment because of a torn ligament in his elbow and a strained right wrist. Primarily known as a "stretch four", Bargnani is currently shooting 39.8% from the field and 31.9% from three to go along with his usually pathetic rebounding and defensive effort. It may be best for both sides if a move were to be made. The Raptors' best bet to move Bargnani may be to package him with the player described below. Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors. Contract: $10.5 million this season. Calderon is a productive point guard in the last year of his contract. He'll take care of the ball (3.48 assists for every turnover), find the open man (second highest assist rate among point guards receiging 25 plus minutes per game) and punish teams from deep (45.6% from three at the moment). Calderon has major shortcomings defensively as his lateral quickness leads to opposing point guards blowing by him, but for a team that needs a serviceable starter or high quality backup in the short-term, Calderson may be the best answer on the trade block. It is believed by many that the Raptors will do their best to package the struggling Bargnani with Calderon. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers. Contract: $19 million this season and due $19.2 million next season. Gasol's play so far this season has been lackluster by standards, and combined with his age (32) and contract, his trade value may be at an all time low. He's shooting an abysmal 42% from the field and looking slower than ever. However, there is hope Gasol can elevate his play if he can get more touches in the low post as opposed to being planted 18 feet away from the basket. Gasol is still a skilled center that's been masquerading as a power forward with the rise of Andrew Bynum last season and the arrival of Dwight Howard this season. The Lakers will be patient as they reportedly want to see how the team plays fully healthy in coach Mike D'Antoni's system, but if things don't start clicking then, expect Gasol to be traded. Richard Hamilton, Chicago Bulls. Contract: $5 million this season and due $5 million next season (non-guaranteed) Despite being located in a major market and raking in millions each year, the Bulls have never paid the luxury tax. Again, Jerry Reinsdorf doesn't seem to be willing to pay for the luxury tax (cut to Bulls fans letting out a sigh), judging from the mass exodus of the Bulls' productive bench players this past summer. The Bulls are a little over $3 million over the luxury tax line. That makes Hamilton a prime trade candidate. In the fifteen games he's played, Hamilton has been a solid scorer for the Bulls so far, averaging 13.9 points per game on 45.5% shooting from the field and 37.5% shooting from three. It should be noted that his contract next season is non-guaranteed. Hamilton is currently missing games with a torn plantar fascia. Al Jefferson, Utah Jazz. Contract: $15 million this season. Jefferson has been a scoring with less efficiency than usual this season (career low effective field goal percentage), but he's still a workhorse in the post. A team looking for a boost in the interior would be wise to gauge Jefferson's trade value. The Jazz are stuck in a corundum as Jefferson and his starting frontcourt mate, Paul Millsap (more on him later) represent the present while youngsters Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter represent the future. The 6'10 center is in the last year of his current contract paying him $15 million this season. Trading Jefferson would open up more minutes for the youngsters while also getting something in return for his services instead of risking losing him for nothing this summer. But trading Jefferson would also take away from the Jazz's offensive system as Jefferson is the main option. Teams should be aware of his poor defense, particularly in pick and roll situations as quick guards make quick work of Jefferson's slow feet and lateral quickness. Courtney Lee, Boston Celtics. Contract: $5 million this season and due $16.3 million the following three seasons. Lee was signed to boost the Celtics' wing play, but has thus far been a bust. The usually reliable three point shooter is shooting a paltry 29.4% on the season. To make matters worse, he isn't playing his pesky defense. The Celtics have actually been better defensively with him off the floor according to NBA.com's advanced stats database. It's gotten so bad that he's lost playing time to Leandro Barbosa. With Avery Bradley scheduled to return later this season, could the Celtics trade Lee for a big man? Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz. Contract: $8.6 million this season. The steady Millsap continues to chug along. Millsap is shooting below his usual efficient standards, but is rebounding and defending enough to make up for it. He's added to his game this season, showing off a promising three point shot to his arsenal. Like his teammate Al Jefferson, Millsap will be on the trade block as the Jazz will have their eyes on the future with Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. However, if the Jazz decide to keep one of Jefferson or Millsap, it will likely be Millsap as his game meshes better with the two youngsters than Jefferson's does. Like Jefferson, he'll be a free agent this summer. J.J. Redick, Orlando Magic. Contract: $6.1 million this steason. The Magic have Arron Afflalo firmly entrenched as shooting guard, so expect the free agent to be Redick to be put on the trade block. Redick will have no shortage of suitors, as teams are always looking for a reliable three point shooter. With his off ball movements and pick and roll play, Redick has been a revelation this season passing the ball this season. He is averaging 5.6 assists per 36 minutes and leads all shooting guards receiving at least 30 minuets per game in assist rate. Redick is a neutral defender, so teams will not be forced to "hide" him on defense like most undersized, below average athletic shooting guards. Derrick Williams, Minnesota Timberwolves. Contract: $4.8 million this season and due $11.3 the following two seasons. Since becoming the #2 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Williams has struggled to find his place in the league as a member of the Timberwolves. Coming out of Arizona, there was promise Williams could switch between being stretch four or big small forward, but it hasn't quite materialized. He's struggled shooting the three from the NBA line, finishing around the rim and handling the ball. He hasn't picked up the nuances of defending at NBA level either, on the perimeter or in the interior. Sitting behind Kevin Love hasn't helped either as Williams hasn't gotten the normal reps a typical #2 pick would receive. His struggles this season have further moved him down the depth chart for the Timberwolves as Williams has lost minutes to newcomers Andrei Kirilenko and Dante Cunningham. With the Timberwolves trying to win now, Williams could be dealt for immediate help on the wings as Brandon Roy and Chase Budinger are nursing injuries. Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers. Contract: $8.3 million this season and due $18.7 million the following two seasons. I wrote about Varejao earlier this season, but he's worth re-visiting. Varejao has been playing the best basketball of his career so far this season. He's been a monster on the glass, leading all centers in defensive, offensive and total rebounding rates. Varejao's getting the job done too, as his quick feet and high basketball IQ have allowed two fewer points when he's on the floor than on the bench for the Cavaliers according to NBA.com's advanced stats database. Remember, that's with the majority of his minutes being played with young guards and turnstiles Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters. Adding to his work on the defensive end, Varejao has been a valuable contributor on the offensive end. He is meshing well with Irving as the two have shown great chemistry in pick and rolls. He's finishing shots around the basket and even shown a nifty mid-range jump shot. The Cavaliers will ask for the moon in any trade involving Varejao, including young players and draft picks. Or they could simply hold onto him as he's a valuable player in a rebuilding situation a la Nick Collison five years ago with the Seattle Sonics/Oklahoma City Thunder.
Oops my bad here is the ESPN insider article about Lin: Jeremy Lin makes sense off bench When the Houston Rockets visit the New York Knicks on Monday night, it will mark the first time that the Knickerbockers' point guard sensation from last season comes back to Madison Square Garden. That's right, the moment every New Yorker has been waiting for: The return of Toney Douglas. Oh, Jeremy Lin's playing, too? In all seriousness, Lin's underwhelming play this season has made Linsanity seem like decades ago, prompting many Knicks fans to rejoice that their front office wiped its hands clean of Lin in the offseason. Rather than matching the Rockets' three-year, $25.1 million poison pill contract offer that would have forced the Knicks to pay a whopping $14.8 million in 2014-15, the Knicks let Lin and his fairy-tale story try to muster up some magic elsewhere. And so far, it seems like a wise choice. After Houston's loss on Sunday to the Toronto Raptors in which Lin registered more turnovers than assists, the 24-year-old is now averaging a lukewarm 10.8 points and 6.0 assists and shooting just 39.5 percent from the floor. This after scoring 14.6 points per game last season with 44.6 percent shooting. Obviously, Lin has gotten much worse, right? Not so fast. They say that context is everything and, in the case of Lin, this couldn't be more true. Despite the charming "Beardsanity" marketing blitz, the dirty little secret is that playing next to James Harden has sapped almost all of Lin's talent. Watching the film and digging into the numbers, it has become painfully obvious that the Lin and Harden partnership is not worth the sum of its parts. Lin has played about 85 percent of his minutes next to Harden, so it's clear that the Rockets are desperately trying to let this duo figure things out on the court. In Sunday's embarrassing loss to arguably the NBA's worst team (right, Bargs?), Lin played all 33 of his minutes next to Harden, and the Rockets were minus-7 with the tandem on the court, which coincidentally turned out to be the final deficit. This insistence to play them together is a problem once you take a whiff of Lin's putrid numbers while playing next to the Beard. On a per-36-minute basis, Lin has averaged 10.7 points, 6.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds with a ghastly 46.5 true shooting percentage (TS%) to go along with a 12.1 player efficiency rating, according to the NBA.com's StatsCube tool. You know who else has a 46.5 percent TS%? B.J. Mullens. But look what happens to Lin's numbers in the 106 minutes he has played when Harden hits the bench: 19.7 points, 7.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds with an above-average 55.4 TS% and a 17.7 PER. That's pretty darn good. If those numbers look familiar, there's a reason for it. Check out Lin's per-36 minute stat line in New York last season: 19.6 points, 8.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds. 55.2 TS% and a 19.9 PER. What we're seeing here is when Lin plays without Harden, his shooting percentages and scoring rates are almost identical to his numbers from last season. In other words, he has shown he can still be the player that took the world by storm last season. But when he plays next to the ball-dominant shooting guard, everything changes. Context, as you can see, is incredibly important. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why Lin hasn't been a perfect complement next to Harden. They're both masters of the pick-and-roll, but the problem is that they can't run a pick-and-roll at the same time. Because Harden is the better player of the two, Lin usually plays off the ball and lets Harden go to work. But if Lin had a reliable spot-up jump shot, this wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately, Lin ranks 79th among 121 players in catch-and-shoot efficiency this season, according to SynergySports (minimum 50 such shots). Ray Allen, he is not. Here's the most alarming trend when Lin co-pilots with Harden: Lin is taking more 3-pointers than free throw attempts. That's astonishing once you consider that Lin used to frequent the charity stripe practically every time down the floor during the height of Linsanity. Again, beware of the Harden effect. Next to Harden this season, Lin averages 2.1 free throw attempts and 2.9 3-point attempts per 36 minutes. That's not healthy for Lin. But without Harden on the court? Lin visits the free throw line more than three times as often (6.5 attempts per 36 minutes) while his attempts from beyond the arc essentially doesn't change (3.1 attempts). Lin's averages last season: 7.0 free throw attempts and 2.9 attempts from deep. Mirror images. Not to beat a dead horse, but the numbers tell us that the only difference between the current Lin and Linsanity appears to be Harden's presence. Now what can the Rockets do about it? It's really quite simple: It's time for Kevin McHale to bring Lin off the bench, a la OKC Harden. Really, the solution to Houston's Lin-Harden problem may be turning Lin into Harden. But "benching" Lin right after handing him a $25 million contract might seem like a PR nightmare, especially once you consider that Lin might actually start the All-Star Game (he's currently third in the Western Conference backcourt voting). But look around the league and you'll see the common denominator for the top-five offenses: a score-first wing anchoring the second-unit. Ray Allen in Miami. Jamal Crawford in Los Angeles. Manu Ginobili in San Antonio. Kevin Martin in Oklahoma City. J.R. Smith in New York. The average 2012-13 salary of those players: $7.5 million, just a Harden hair below Lin's $8.3 million price tag. There are precedents here. The Rockets aren't close to being in the same conversation as those elite offenses yet and the calendar still reads "December," so worrying about Lin and Harden's chemistry might be a bit premature. But if the Rockets want Linsanity, they should at least attempt to recreate a Linsanity environment. What's most frustrating is that Lin scored 38 points sans-Harden last Monday against the San Antonio Spurs -- arguably the best team in the league -- and yet a week later, McHale still refuses to stagger Lin's and Harden's minutes. If Harden continues to play 38.9 minutes per game, Lin should be featured as the No. 1 option for those 10 minutes that Harden sits. Though it might make Madison Square Garden shake from all the laughter in the stands, starting a rejuvenated Toney Douglas as a "3-and-D" specialist over Lin on Monday makes a ton of basketball sense. The numbers show that a Harden and Douglas pairing leads to an offense that scores 106 points per 100 possessions, which is five points more efficient than the production of a Lin-Harden pairing. That's no small thing. It bears mentioning that Lin is still just 24 years old and also coming off offseason knee surgery. He still has room to grow as a professional basketball player, considering he has only 87 games under his belt. Since 1995, only one other player has averaged 15 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals per 36 minutes in their first three seasons in the league. His name: Chris Paul. Linsanity may be impossible to replicate and Monday's environment in Madison Square Garden may not be the wisest setting to experiment with Lin coming off the bench, but the evidence is clear: Get Lin the ball and he can be an $8 million player. There's no reason why the Rockets shouldn't at least try bringing Lin off the bench, like Harden used to for Oklahoma City. If nothing else, imagine the dramatic scene if Lin made his entrance by walking to the scorer's table in the middle of Monday's game. Now that is theater fit for Broadway.
Jeremy Lin is a role player and contributor to a good team... Nothing more. There is no "free Jeremy Lin", you don't "free" role players...
I'm really not a Lin fan, but it just seems that the only thing we talk about on this board is Lin. One thing I notice is that people keep saying Lin is a bad defender. That cannot be farther from the truth. First of all, in today's basketball, the rules (i.e. clear path fouls) and the game in general have progressed towards more offense. Offense put people in seats. Defense is very much a team oriented process which makes it hard to guard people 1v1 these days. With that said, according to Synergy sports, Lin is a top 20 ISO defender. That's top 20 out of 440+ players, making him an elite ISO defender. He's actually a better defender than when he was on the Knicks. (I can't link to Synergy stats because they aren't free) Secondly, he is currently 9th in the league in steals per game and 9th in steals per 48 minutes. (http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/steals/sort/avg48Steals/position/point-guards) The kid has holes in his game offensively, but to say he's a bad defender is absolutely not true. BTW, we have an even better defender in Omer Asik (I posted the stats in some other Omer thread). People don't seem to see this either. I think on defense, even moreso than on offense, people just see what they want to see.
the problem is he hasnt had an opportunity to be the primary ball handler and primary pnr guard. the only game that he was, was the spurs game and perhaps the first 2 games before he started handing off to harden right away. he played well in all 3 of those games. coincidence? if he sucks, he sucks. but if he is being used in a way that is totally opposite to his skill set, then something is terribly wrong...
if he shoots 20 a game, perhaps they will bench him for not passing off to their #1 option harden. who knows with this coaching staff...
Obviously, the solution is to bring Harden off the bench. He was excellent in that role. As a starter, his TS% dropped from .660 to below .600.
