I think McHale should give Bev a few "trial" starts towards the end of the preseason

Since when a starting pg of a contending team is just a defence specialist, particularly now that we have Howard? If Lin's game is just one dimension, there will be tons of criticism. But it is ok if Bev is the starting pg. Strong ball pressure defence but poor in assist and playmaking to help his team-mates better. That is ok for a contending team? Bev has not proven he can stop the backup pg of OKC from big scores repeatedly. So until he can stop other all star guards without fouling out, don't be too rosy about it.

 

The videos showed Brad Miller making great passes to a great finisher in Budinger (and Martin). In Adelman's teams in Sacramento the Princetown style offense was predicated upon having great passers in the lineup (Vlade Divacs, Chris Webber, Doug Christie, Mike Bibby). So you want a motion offense with guys who don't move well without the ball, don't pass well, and don't finish well...? Sure, you can have a motion offense in such instance, but it won't be very good!

 

So do you finally understand then?

Motion offense needs passers, it needs people to move around.

What it doesn't require is a "creative passer", and what it certainly doesn't require is the ball to be exclusively in the PG's hands.

So when the coaches wanted less Harden isolation plays, they are not saying let Jeremy run the play instead, they are saying to move the ball and not let it stick.

 

So you have a young pg with size, speed, strong work ethic, determination, who is unselfish and a team player who can get by his man almost at will, penetrates and finishes among the best, with great court vision and excellent passing who especially thrives in a run n gun offense or a pnr offense both styles in which we run to the T, and plays solid D and is great at steals and has been shooting great from deep AND seems to have improved both on D and his shot as most people have been clamoring for.......
and now everyone wants to bench him cuz he's not a "good" fit, lol. I'm not gonna say that some of your logic is compromised or why when it comes to Lin but... it sure is funny to me.
You guys do realize that Lin helps push the pace and Harden slows the ball down, right? Nothing wrong with that and Harden's a ton better than Lin, but you do realize that Lin is a key component to our run n gun fast breaking football pass throwing offense, right?? You do realize that Lin was pretty much the only one that utilized Asik, D-Mo, or Smith well last year, right? That Howard will probably get more points and passes with Lin than Howard this year, right? That Harden is much more efficient as a sg. That Lin played the same role, in fact even Parsons played a similar role as a "defensive" guy until they got extended minutes and a bigger role, right? smh, the fascination with CHANGING UP starters just before the season starts is beyond ridiculous, it is woefully disrespectful of Lin and distracting to boot. We'll see a month into the season, its as simple as that. You do realize that Lin could just cut down his turnovers by not trying to make plays, right... That Nash or whoever makes plays also gets a lot of turnovers.. Is there anything he can do to be considered a starter on this team? I thought the bar last year was supposed to be 37%+ from 3. Has it shifted now? Did bringing in the best pnr center in the league devalue this young pnr player's worth on this team? You guys are too much.

 

You are doing what I just wrote about a few minutes ago, fitting in logic to conform to your preconceived notions. Really? We don't need "creative" passers? The Sactown Kings under Adelmen were NOT CREATIVE passers? And do you really see Lin holding the ball exclusively in his hands and slowing the game down or do you see him passing it off quickly to al corners of the court and having the offense run itself like a true pg. What do you see Harden doing? Do you see him speeding up the offense and passing the ball quickly as well?

 

Wouldn't be surprised if he got a few "trials" starting during the actual regular season.

 

Before Lin and Beverly it was Brooks and Lowry. Before Brooks and Lowry it was Alston and Brooks.

It's a solid point you make. The grass is alway greener, but dogs still **** on your lawn.

 

Adelman's was a "system" and which had to be "learnt". If you read the rockets.com article the coaches want the players to now go out and just be "spontaneous", no plays, move the ball around, just go by instinct, no sticky fingers. This type of offense would necessitate good, creative passers.

 

Um. What? No. Read and react isn't "just go by instinct". That's where the "read" comes in. And the "react" is based off what you read. If you think the coaches aren't teaching something, you need to re-read those articles.

 

McHale is not reinventing the wheel here. He just wants his guys to be active and make quick, decisive, good passes...and for the other guys to move around. However not every player has the ability to make quick, decisive, good passes and not every player plays well off the ball. Watch TJones for example. He'll hold on to the ball for a full 3 seconds before finally he knows what to do with it.

There was some excellent ball movement from that first unit in the first game, and I doubt ANY of it was set plays. Point in fact...in the scrimmages Lin and DMo had been on the opposite team from Harden and Dwight. Sure, there's some structure somewhere there, but bottom line they just went out and played a "free flowing" offense, totally spontaneous.

 

"read and react" and has more to do with pure basketball instincts than it does with any kind of set play; and some players read and react a WHOLE LOT BETTER than other players do. Beverley is not an instinctual passer, and so he may not on the fly be able to read a situation as well or as quick as JLin would; and even if Bev does "read" the situation, how quickly will he "react"? Not everyone can make incredible passing decisions in a split second's time. Fortunately JLin is one of those who can and that's why he is the ideal fit for a "read and react" type offense. Dwight's a good passer too. As is Harden. The "read and react" offense should work well with the first unit but maybe not with the second unit and in which case they should just have Harden run the show.

 

I have no idea what you are saying.

Rick Adelman offense is based off a system, and big men often have improved court vision and passing skills because of that system (Hayes, Luis Scola etc.).

I don't see why this would require creative passing skills. You play within the system and you try to get an opening. What does creative passing have to do with any of this?

And you need to stop being so oversensitive with every and anything regarding Lin. I don't care if he starts or sits on the bench, I was retorting the idea that a "free flow offense" requires the ball to be exclusively in the PG's hands.

 

That's what you call "situational player", and you use them on the special situation, but they are not good enough to handle the regular starter's duties.

It would be fine if he plays any position other than the PG, aka Bruce Bowen. But you cannot afford to do that at PG position.

 

It's just that I loved the Kings offense back in the days when they were robbed by the refs and they were some of the most creative passers and passing teams in the history of the league! No hyperbole. Even Vlade was throwing at least 3 fake left and toss behind the back passes per game. White Chocolate, Christie, Webber. That was a fun team.

 

Within Adelman's system, as in ours, we need people with great vision with great passing skills. The more the better. You don't just pass it around and shoot it. Someone needs to create a mismatch somewhere or you're just wasting the shot clock. It doesn't just happen naturally. And if it is predictable, then you can game plan for it. If we do not have enough people or if the majority are not good at passing and rhythm (as an example as great a student of the game as Kobe is, he misses passes all the time and then throws an unnecessary flashy pass and people think that he has the ability to be a great passer when in fact he has zero pulse for the rhythm of passing even if he tried), then we have to go back to a traditional pg-centric offense who will have the vision to create. Within our system, Harden and Howard are our main offensive weapons and due to their play style, things can get bogged down as they are so good in the iso setting. That is where a pg like Lin can get the ball zipping around as he speeds up the court to exploit any and all mismatches and pass off directly if he doesn't see an opening. Lin's role integral to our strategy in creating a run n gun read n react offense. Bottom line, the more creative passers you have in a read n react offense, the exponential the potency of the offense. When you coach young teams for example, not enough kids in high school or jr. high school have the vision to pass well and the read n react falls apart nearly every time.

 

Exactly! I can't believe that people actually think we don't need a pg. Or that Harden can be a good pg. It's preposterous. Previous successes involved either Lebron (who IS a pg with vision in a big body) or the triangle offense (which itself becomes the pg). But how is a pg with court vision not needed?

 

Okay, then what you are looking for are just passers in the system. Scola and Hayes are one example of terrific passers in the high post, you don't need Steve Nash or Chris Webber creativity for the read and react system to work. You just need passers.

For example, Dwight in the first game against Pelicans is a perfect example of this. Let Dwight post up, and he finds Parsons for the open dunk. You don't need creativity from the player for this, you need a system where the ball moves around and doesn't get sticky. Take advantage of mismatches when you can and force double teams.

Of course a good passing PG would help, and I don't dispute that, I dispute the fact that a free flowing offense = ball in PG's hands.

 

Then people will be asking for AB to start instead of Lin or to trade him cuz he doesn't fit.

 

I agree. A mfree flowing offense, especially one as designed by Fitch requires everyone to pass quickly and well. I just dispute that a good pg with vision is somehow not as necessary now that we have Harden. Scola and Hayes were great. We don't have them anymore. And just one more point, competition is great. I love that Bev is pushing Lin and making his own presence felt, I just don't get the clamoring for Bev to start cuz he's a better fit.

 

Kobe and Shaq in their primes were better players than Tony Parker was in his prime, so that debunks your statement.