well i think lin has bought in and is trying to make the best of his situation. he has no choice, and it's not him to openly complain. besides, they have a shot at doing something great as a team, and not many player ever get to sniff the championships so we're not really talking about a "dire" situation here. just a matter of whether he wants to be a big fish in a small pond or small fish in a big pond. and yeah, read the article by ben and thought it was a pretty homer'ish piece. apples and oranges, comparing bryant to howard. first of all howard didn't sacrifice his minutes - it's one game and it's not like he openly volunteered to sit out 'cause he was sucking. coach just didn't put him back in, and they won, so it would've been extremely dumb for howard to make any fuss given his reputation and history. if we had lost with howard on the bench? ... now if he's being constantly benched in 4th quarters because his free throw is a liability and he buys into that? then that says something about his sacrifice. i'll go even further and say that if he's truly about sacrificing, how bout recognizing that his greatest contribution today is defense, rebounds, and pnr on offense instead of insisting on being a post up player even though he has no post game. and you can't compare this to kobe's situation. this was a statement move by the lakers, not a basketball move, per se. they're making a statement that shows how much they value their impact players and how they take care of them even if others don't agree. they're making themselves more attractive as a organization to future free agents. this is not about winning this year or even next year. it's about branding the lakers as a loyal organization that takes care of its players. very different situation and every different objective.
I like Beverly but he also get this "you can't attack him or we'll crucify you" protection like McHale just because of Jeremy Lin. Bev is a great defensive specialist but he has been the worst starting PG in the NBA today. Rafer Alston during his time here smokes what Bev does today. Skip to my Lou was attacked nonstop but Bev is called the incredible Beverly here just because some people do not like Lin. Bev is nothing but a back up PG who should come off the bench for some defense and energy. Making him a starter exposes his numerous weakness. His offense is mediocre and spotty. His D against small and fast PG is very good. He has trouble with PGs with size. Overall he is a good Defensive PG. If Lin wasn't on this roster the whole board would be calling for a trade to get a real PG and to bench Bev and limit him to 15 mpg tops. Bev is by far the worst PG we had in recent memory. Compare Bev to: Lowry, Dragic, Brooks during him MIP years, Alston, SF3 during his 1st tenure here when he won ROY. He just like McHale gets immunity from attack from some fans simply because they do not want Lin to succeed. If Lin wasn't here both would be correctly called out.
But does that not elevate McHale as a "Leader of Men" into the top ranks of NBA coaches? So far, except for the injured butt hurt Lowry, it has worked out great. Evaluating talent in the Rockets organization may be mostly in Morey's corner.
Lin is the only reason McHale has this immunity from critic so of course it must be mentioned. If Lin was not on this roster the whole board will be asking why McHale is the head coach with his poor coaching and why Bev is the starting PG with his mediocre play. Rafer Alston was attacked non-stop and people called for his head on a daily basis. Rafer Alston as our starting PG is vastly better than Bev today. And it's not even close.
Bev cannot create his own shot. Lin can. It seems to me that Bev's move into the starting lineup is an admission by the Rockets management that there just are not enough shots on the starting roster to go around.
Summary: Beverley sucks, Lin is good. Anyone who doesn't think Bev sucks most likely wants Lin to fail. Also, McHale sucks. If you don't think so, you want Lin to fail.
Unreal. Multiple threads as well as an official "Fire McHale" thread and the OP thinks he's immune? Glad to see some people are calling out this thinly veiled criticism. I wasn't thrilled with the McHale hire. I think he's done reasonably well considering the roster changes and developing team chemistry. His substitutions and game management do have me scratching my head on occasion. I'd love to see some more set plays. But he's not the only coach. If he was royally screwing up something regularly don't you think another assistant, or even Morey, might weigh in on it? Is he a dictator that everyone is afraid of? Criticize to your hearts content. But be willing to give credit when it's due.
MJ has 6 rings should everyone hero worship him as a minority owner and GM for his tenure at the Wiz? Isiah Thomas has 2 rings should he have been immune to attack for his job as a GM and coach in NYC?
This is the first time McHale has had the kind of talent that could possibly reach the finals. It is your opinion that McHale isn't good enough to take a team to the finals, but shouldn't he at least get the chance, at least for one season. You won't even give him an opportunity to have one shot with real talent? Man, you guys are something else. We are 10-5 and the season has just started, McHale isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Some of us act like we're Marvin the Mind Reader when posting opinions of what the players or coaches are thinking. When CF members are lucky enough to score seats near the bench, and report what McHale says during the game, that's a real treat. My (basketball) fantasy is to have access to live streaming from the coaches' mics. So much goes on that isn't reflected in the box score, or on screen. It would be great to get a window into their thinking, their strategy, and how they make adjustments over the course of the game.
Isn't Bev the worst starting PG in the NBA? Isn't he the worst starting PG we've had in recent memory. Skip to my lou was a whipping boy here and he is vastly superior to Bev.
That's your opinion. The posts I see daily prove otherwise. He's not immune to attack now. Maybe people are so afraid of picking up a label they're starting to overcompensate? Or the people that have already been labeled (fairly or not) are overreacting and trying to throw up smoke screens? Honestly. Go back and read your OP objectively and tell me that it's really, really all about McHale.
