Deron is slightly overrated? Just from your post - Bad attitude - Poor leadership qualities - Disrespectful towards teammates and toxic towards coaches - Mediocre defense To add to that, he's also played like a very average PG ever since leaving Sloan's system. This year Deron Williams is still playing like an average PG, despite being the franchise player and being paid supermax money. He's been living off of reputation for years now.
I don't know if that has to mean the coaches didn't trust him before. It could just mean they needed to figure out how to get him going in a game. Jeremy is clearly a rhythm player, and those substititons early on seemed to kill his flow. It seems odd that the coaches wouldn't "trust" him. They were probably protecting him because of his knee, for one thing. And another, they've seen Linsanity and the first two (good) games he played with Harden. They know he can be "trusted" -- to score, to impact the game, etc. But how to get him going while limiting his minutes? It was easy enough for D'Antoni -- he just played Jeremy practically the whole game and ran him into the ground.
I was referring to your playmaking thread. But I wasn't objecting to any specific stance of yours. I was just pointing out a general principle.
Agreed - Lin needs to get into the groove of a game, and their trying to position him to be most effective relative to the rest of the team. I believe the coaches realized Lin has great potential during the Spurs game earlier this month ..
What is that general principle? Nothing I said in the playmaking thread requires watching every game. That thread was about the numbers, not a subjective take on what's happening in the games.
First I think I should post a bio: Live in UT, grew up in CA following the GSW during their only championship season and through Run TMC. Lost interest in GSW after the CWebb/Sprewell drama. Never heard on Lin before Linsanity. Wanted to see what the fuss was about after a neighbor talked about Lin. Watched the Knicks/Laker game on TV. Loved the underdog story. Started to go to rockets.com to follow the Lin story @ the start of training camp. I watched the first 2 games during free previews on DirecTV and decided to continue to follow the Rockets and Lin. I've watched all of the nationally televised games, but my main source of Rockets info has been rockets.com, espn.com, nba.com, nbatv, si.com and tnt. About 2 weeks ago I started to lurk here and finally decided to join yesterday. I don't recall if McHale met with Lin before he signed as a free agent, but I think it was very important for Lin to know that the owner, GM and coach wanted him in Houston. Yes, Lin and the Rockets expected the Knicks to match the Rockets offer. I wont rehash all the haters that came out of the woodwork after Lin signed with the Rockets, but the pressure for him to not be a "joke" in Houston was probably more than most of us would face in a lifetime. Some people have asked for "proof" of some of the theories posted in this thread. I dont know if this is "proof" of anything, but the numbers do show that Lin did poorly under Sampson. Lin's first 5 games under McHale 23/60 fga .383 5/17 3pa .294 16/17 fta .941 13.4 ppg Games of 12, 21, 13, 6, and 15 pts 2-3 Record Could've been 5-0 but lost leads. Lin's next 13 games under Sampson 47/125 fga .376 6/29 3pa .207 15/21 fta .714 8.8 ppg 2.1 fewer fgapg, 1.8 fewer ftapg Games of 7, 9, 4, 11, 5, 13, 4, 13, 16, 6, 19, 4, 4 pts 7-6 record During the first 2 games(DET & MIA) under Sampson 9 of 15 of his fga were from 3. Assists pg were the same, blocked shots were up, rebounds, steals and turnovers were down a little. Lin's next 10 games under McHale 55/108 fga .509 11/31 3pa .355 29/34 fta .853 15 ppg Games of 7, 38, 10, 5, 7, 22, 18, 15, 20, 8 pts. 7-3 record fgapg up 1.2 over Sampson era but below first 5 games, ftapg back up to rate of first 5 games 3.4 ftapg. Assists pg were the same, rebounds pg down again, block shots, steals and turnovers up a little. The first game back Lin only played 18 minutes 2/4 fga and 7 pts. The next game was SAS w/o Harden. That game probably saved our season because Harden and the coaches saw what Lin could do in a game. Mchale totals 15 games 78/168 fga .464 16/48 3pa .333 45/51 fta .882 14.5 ppg Sampson totals 13 games 47/125 fga .376 6/29 3pa .207 15/21 fta .714 8.8 ppg Season totals 28 games 125/293 fga .427 22/77 3pa .286 60/72 fta .833 11.9 ppg 3.8 rpg 6.2 apg 1.7 spg 0.5 bpg 2.8 topg These numbers can be misleading without the context of a coaches viewpoint on a player's skills. The Sampson pre and post game interiviews @ Rockets.com during the 11/10 to 12/7 period are very telling. Check his comments about Lin and Douglas. The most interesting video is the 11/14 post NOH game interview @ the 4:50 mark. Lots of complements for Lin but also points out why they dont run many pnr plays for Jeremy. It's hard for a player to be aggressive and attack the basket if his coach doesn't see it as your strength. *sorry I haven't figured out how to embed a video yet and this video has probably been posted elsewhere already.
if you are using you tube and window, try this: go to the video click share click embed copy the blue high-lighted inside the box paste to your thread submit refresh your browser. do it at your own risk.
The video is on rockets.com/nba.com, but I found a different version of the video on youtube. Again about the 4:50 mark. http://youtu.be/jCZJMfSM7wU
Here is the nba.com version with a better camera angle. Sampson post game interview 11/14/12 NOH. http://www.nba.com/rockets/video/2012/11/14/Sampson111412mp4-2294113
Agree the coaches probably looking at Lin as a rookie this year regardless of his notoriety last season. Lin did mention that mchale would text him after every game while he was away on leave in minnesota. That should account for something. Yes, they are obviously being careful with his knee recovery, and i think it has now shown to have paid off with their careful usage of him thus far. Now as for sampson, all bets are off. I think the coaching staff is giving lin some so-called 'hard love'. Not babying him too much. Forcing him to evolve and be treated as they would any other player going thru a slump or recovering from injury. No favoritism shown is probably doing him a HUGE favor in the eyes of fellow team mates as well. Its easy to be a couch- coach after all. In the long run, this bitter medicine he has been given will pay of tenfold in the playoffs and beyond. Heck, i am sure Lin is used to it after his prior stints and being released. nothing the kid cant handle.
Thanks for taking the time to provide us this information and the links. I thought Sampson was very encouraging and positive about Lin, despite what a lot of people here are saying. He said that as the season progress they'd like to get Lin more involved in pick and rolls, so clearly he thinks there's potential for Lin to be more productive in that way. What he said about Lin's left hand versus right hand is the same view shared by most scouts, and I wouldn't at all say its an unfair critique. One thing about Sampson that I appreciated as a fan is he was pretty honest about his players -- both what he likes about them and where he thinks they can improve. As long as the player can take his feedback in a positive way (and I think our young guys, by and large, will do that) this is a good thing.
The problem I had with it was that Sampson made those comments during a post game press conference Yes everyone in the world knows going left is Lin's weakness along with 3 pt and spot up shooting, but to have the interim coach say we don't run many pnr plays to Jeremy because he can't go left seems a bit harsh or at least stating the obvious. How does it help Jeremy get better? Why not voice your concern to Jeremy during practice. It tells the opponents(and Jeremy) that we don't have faith in Lin to beat the defender even with his right hand. Defenses dont have to worry about pnr with Lin so they can trap Harden when he has the ball or force Lin to shoot jumpers. It's a moot point now that McHale is back, but I think it explains a lot of the troubles Lin had when Sampson was coaching. We had a defensive coach running the show with Lin camped out at the perimeter taking 9 out of 15 shots from 3 instead of having him attack the rim in the DET & MIA games. Can you imagine if Sampson was coaching Dwight Howard? "We lost the game because Dwight missed those free throws at the end. It's his weakness so he needs to get better in the meantime I'm going to take him out @ the end of close games in the future so he doesn't have to try to shoot free throws".
I have no problem with "hard love" coaching style or whatever you want to call it, but you need to have players play to their strengths. For Lin it is attacking the rim and court vision during the transition game. Sampson seemed to get Lin mixed up with Kyle Korver, Ray Allen or Steve Novak. :grin: Again, all is good now that McHale is back.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/60B_gxpeOfs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> SI 2012 best moments in sports. 2. Linsanity 3 Lebron James
Welcome to the boards! So far, I would say you have provided very rational arguments. Please keep it up!
