Isiah on Harden and Lin: Could be the best backcourt in the NBA

I think you're simultaneously overrating Curry and underrating Lin.

Steph is a better shooter than Jeremy by a mile, but Jeremy beats him in almost every other area: athleticism, court vision/playmaking as well as defense. Curry is a terrible defender.

Curry: 38.3 minutes per game, #11 in usage #13 in assists per game at 6.9
Lin: 32 minutes per game, #49 in usage #18 in assists per game at 6.1

Bottom line Lin is flat out better at getting teammates involved. Give Lin 6 more minutes per game and 5% more usage and I think he can be top 5 in assists no joke.

 

This is true when it comes to shooting. That's not even ****ing close. But playmaking and defensively I give the edge to Lin. Curry has one of the highest usage rates among the pgs, takes nearly 18 shots in 38 minutes a game and is the teams pg. Lin, on the other hand, has one of the lowest usage rates of any starting pgs ( think George hill is the only one below him ) plays fewer minutes than all of them, and is mainly an off guard/spot up shooter. And he's still putting up 13 and 6. Comparing him to other starting pgs is useless because he really doesn't play as one. The rockets have a young, talented backcourt that seems to enjoy playing together and will only get better as they learn to coexist. That should be enough.

 

Curry Thompson

 

Lin's got great court vision..he made scrubs like Jared Jeffries and Steve Novak look like all-stars during Linsanity for gawd sakes

 

Curry should of been an all star this year and that's what Lin is aiming to become.

 

Oh ****ing thank you. I dont understand how more people dont realize this. They expect Lin to put up 18 and 8 ( quick, someone name all of the pgs in the league doing that ) when he is a relatively small part of the offense ( compared to other pgs ). Not to mention he's not on the court as much ( and he is still among the leaders in steals ). 13 and 6, for the role he plays, is ****ing fine.

 

Everyone is so fooled by stats without accounting for the situation/role, usage, minutes, etc.

Take John Wall for example.

His TS% is below average and he still can't shoot worth a damn but because he has sky high usage (#3) and the green light to do whatever he wants on the court, he's putting up big numbers. Some are now proclaiming him to be a top 5 PG.

Give Lin Wall's role, freedom, and usage and he puts up far better numbers being that he has a much higher TS% and assist ratio. On the flipside put Wall on the Rockets and give him Lin's role and usage and he would fail miserably because he's far worse than Lin at shooting or playing off ball.

Harden being a 6th man to this season becoming a superstar tells you how a role/situation will dictate stats.

 

Exactly. People focus on that too much instead of realizing we have an extremely young core who are all performing well above what should be expected in their roles and have led the team to a pretty damn good record.

 

Ahhh give me a break. I'd trade for Curry in a nano second... Oh wait, you know what, I'd take Curry and another Royce white with worse anxiety issues in a heartbeat.

You know why Curry 's assist number is low? Because when jaret jack is on the court Curry plays off the ball as well. He's the spot up/off the screen shooter when playing with Jack. He's a way better shooter, his ball handling skills is elite, he's also a better rebounder and has higher ceilings.

Don't get me wrong, I like Lin as a player, but you guys are overrating Lin to a degree that is unbearable. Get real folks.

 

this x100

 

I agree with you I would take Curry over Lin in a heartbeat although Curry & Harden would be an awful defensive back court & Curry's ankles are always a problem. But talent is talent & you should always make the talent upgrade.

But I am not sure where you got this idea that Curry's ball handling is elite.

Curry has a hands rating of 20.4 125 bad pass TO's 72 Ball handling TO's.
http://www.82games.com/1213/12GSW1.HTM

Compared to

Lin who has a hands rating of 23.8 107 bad pass TO's 73 BH TO's.
http://www.82games.com/1213/12HOU4.HTM

So unless you think Lin has elite ball handling?

Also I prefer Lins passing to Curry. Lin is Andre Milleresque in his penchant for making the best pass that have the highest net value for his team ie. all of there assists are mostly to the rim or sometimes to 3. And everybody knows that at Rim Assists > 3Pt Assists > Midrange Assists & that at rim assists are high level tactics of which >50% of the credit should go to the passer in that possession.

But like I said Curry is much better than Lin, I'd say Steph is the 4th best PG in the NBA behind CP3, Parker & Russ.

 

Curry has glass ankles though. Big negative.

 

True but talent is talent & Curry is just ridiculously talented. Like Curry & his glass ankles are still a top 5 PG. Lin right now is what an above average PG so 12-15 ranking? Like Lins ceiling is all star, Curry's is superstar. Anybody would take that Curry glass ankles & all. Like I like Lin but Curry is on a whole different level. Even if you upped Lins USG he still isn't going to be as good as Curry. And for people who use the low USG example as holding Lin back, Curry has shown a consistency that Lin has not. With a higher USG not a guarantee at all that Lin would be consistent.

 

Lin has made some major adjustments in his game. Harden, not so much. just hoping that Harden improves his D a bit and plays a little bit more like a SG (spotting up, curls, etc) while Lin plays more of the PG role. and of course, Lin needs to learn how to protect the ball more. these aren't difficult adjustments to make, they would just be playing their natural roles. if they can do this, i don't see why they can't be the best backcourt in the NBA.

 

I'm excited to see what this team does in the playoff. I hope they show up and make some noise. Give me a good fighting series even if they don't get past the first round and I'll be pretty happy with this young team.

 

Agreed talent is talent, if I am a team of scrubs and lin is my best player... I would trade for curry... but it is a different situation for the rockets... curry has a higher salary, more offense but less defense... rockets does not need more offense so it would be net loss for the rockets...

 

I don't see what makes Curry's ceiling higher than Lin's at this point. Steph has an elite jumpshot sure but he's average to below average in all other areas. There's more to the PG spot than scoring points, people seem to forget that. What about playing defense, controlling the tempo of the game, getting teammates involved, court vision, playmaking ability, athleticism? Lin > Curry in all those areas, areas much harder to improve than shooting.

Steve Nash is every bit the shooter Steph is but he made his name by being a playmaker and making everyone around him better. I haven't seen that from Steph, all I see is a lot of jump shots and high scoring numbers.

As for as consistency, Curry has had more seasons to develop. This is his 4th season as a starter. Did you see how he looked next to Monta Ellis? He was just as inconsistent as Lin...and last time Lin had high usage he was putting up 18 and 8 averages in NY.

 

i too dont see why curry can be a superstar but lin cant.

 

Lol Curry and Harden in the backcourt? Transition points all day all night everyday of the week. Sure they'll score big, but the other team will just get them right back in the blink of an eye. NO THANKS.

 

Curry is an all-star type of player but he shouldn't have been an all-star this year, unless you want to kick out

Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, James Harden, Tony Parker, or Russell Westbrook

But he's clearly the best on his team over David Lee (who did make the all-star team)