Is it just me? I see Jeremy Lin making progress here.

There are not enough games to make the category-specific breakdowns meaningful, so I'll just post the overall Points Per Possession allowed on defense.

Harden
.99 ppp, 43.7 FG%, rank #213

Martin
.95 ppp, 37.3 FG%, rank #200

Lin
.70 ppp, 34.1 FG%, rank #51


At this pt, Harden's numbers are worse than KMart's. I don't pay special attention to watching Harden play defense, but when I have noticed, he can look uninterested, including not bothering to close out on shooters. Also, not moving his feet to stay in front of dribble penetration.

 

by TENDs to step it up you mean one game?

 

Since when were players at the age of 24 not capable of improving? Not long ago people were saying the same thing about Lowry, "omg he needs to stop shooting 3's, worst shooter ever, etc, etc..." and after working hard on his shot during the off-season but more importantly gaining confidence from becoming a full-time starter, he now shoots at a very respectable clip. That's not to say Lin will become Novak next season but he works too hard not to shoot at least 35% from downtown.

Basketball is a lot like football, once you get the ground game going, it opens up the air game. I feel Jeremy is at his best when he's attacking the basket so defenders slack off him which will open up his mid-range/3 point game. He may not be a lights out shooter in the mold of Ray Allen, but more of a scorer that can do a little bit of everything ala poor man's Kobe.

 

but at what efficiency though

 

Well said.

 

Lol he played the lakers once!

 

Think he meant against good opponents. Yes, he had the stinker against Heat, but he also torched the Lakers and Mavericks twice.

 

Lin will be fine, seeing how Morris improved.

 

Read his post again. He said "rookie year" and "with the Knicks". So that's at least 2x.

 

Rockets is just not playing Lin right.

I agree that this is Harden's team. But Harden can not do it all the time. I live in Orlando and I was rooting for the magic for the past couple years. i came back to Rockets because of Lin and I want to see a show like Linsanity in New York. I am not expecting a Linsanity 2.0. But the coaches got to let Lin play Lin's game. If you are not playing him right, why have him the first place?

Every day it is the same thing, Lin acrossed the half court and passed it up to Harden. I know Harden is a star on the team and he has the ability to carry his team. But Lin is still Lin.

If you are not using his ability, why have him? Why just let him stay in New York where he can play his game. This is total BS. I am getting tired day after day. #FreeLin

 

From what I understand from the coach's last interview, they will introduce some P&R plays for him as the season goes on. At the moment, they're trying to make him work on his weaknesses first and push him to be a more well rounded player.

 

and he said his weakness was his left hand. teams are forcing lin to his left on the pick and roll and is turning it over or dribble becomes shaky and have to reset the play.

I was complaining on here why they didnt go lin pick and roll harden spot up then be the secondary play after lin penetrated. Glad I got an answer, but I cant imagine that after about 1/2 way through linsanity the scouts didn't see that on tape and tell the coaches.

 

Very nice. That had to take some time. Hats off...

 

This is an excuse. Teams did that to him all last year. Watch the Bulls vs Knicks game that Lin played under Dantoni. Rose forced him left the ENTIRE game. Lin still put up like 15 & 8. And this was with an even weaker left hand. It is nonsense in my opinion. There is no reason why they can't run pnr plays for him. Lin is quick enough that he can still blow by you & switch back to his right hand off the pnr. Sorry I call bull **** on this.

 

What you mean? I am kinda confused

 

the thing that bothers me the most is how bad the spacing is every time lin tries to play 1 on 1. there is basically never enough open room for him to do it properly,which is crazy because:

 

Yeah defensively if you watched him play in the later half of last season... like in the month before he went down with the injury, his defense was nothing to scoff at.
He became a much better defender over the course of last season. In the beginning of last season he was terrible... losing his man, double-teaming too aggressively, etc. He became a much better defender over the course of last season.

What Rocket fans probably don't know is that he is actually a really good shooter from mid-range. I am pretty sure he will find his rhythm soon and you will all see.

 

Harden goes to his strong side -- left -- the majority of the time yet this is not a significant handicap for him, and no one even thinks this is worth commenting on. even the hand-off picks set for him by Asik on the top right are for him to, you guessed it, go left, as is obvious in even the recent Magic game.

Lin's weak left hand -- I think this is a Stephen A. Smith talking point that has largely been parroted by those who have not watched Lin play very much, and it is easily 'confirmed' by casual viewers because it is true but only in a superficial sense. most players have a favored hand; you don't have to be strong on both sides, just good enough on the other side to punish the defense for trying to force you in a particular side or direction.

frankly, it amazes me people are still talking about the left hand issue. it's just like how people are still parroting how Lin is a poor defender. even advanced stats show these pts are not true, yet the same exaggerations and nonsense still get trotted out.

 

Why I have been in the freelin camp since the beginning of the season, I am beginning to realize that Lin needs to make his shots. I mean whether they are utilizing him or not, he is missing wide open shots. No excuse for that at this stage. Yeah it sucks that he needs to prove himself yet again, but despite all he did last year, it looks like he needs to gain the respect of his teammates yet once again

 

Yes sir, just you.