Very nice analysis. I agree that developing a "Big PG" style of game would greatly benefit his effectiveness and longevity. It does feel like he's trying to be the quick, athletic type and he doesn't quite have the elite skill set to make that fit. It has worked on occasion but another style could really pay dividends. Good post.
Enough is enough. It's marketing dude. Beverly has nothing against Westbrook and vice versa. It's a rivalry on due to the competitive nature and everything is left on the court on Beverly's end. I support Beverly's competitive edge and it's not a personal thing, never was.
I disagree that he is weak in the upper body. He takes more shots to the upper body and head than just about any player I know and usually gets a shot up at the rim to get to the line. The handle has improved (and I think it was particularly good in the Toronto game). I do agree that getting a lower dribble is something that could elevate him. At 6'3" he has to get lower than most at his position, but his strength is a big asset as he lives in the paint. The mid-range shot has improved a great deal and the open one is a reliable one for him. A quicker release can always help a guard. As for lateral quickness, I agree that he needs to improve more there, but I think the issue is how he gets back on the ball after he gets hit with a pick. I've seen him lose more players off of picks than simple moves. He has generally kept his primary assignment in front of him. He has elite level skills. What is often missed on this site is how inconsistent his role has been this year. He is often playing as the #2 guard off the ball, but at various times is asked to be the lead ball handler, spot up shooter and playmaker at the end of the shot clock. On defense, he is asked to guard the #1 or #2 and often gets bigger players on switches. I think any young player asked to juggle those roles would have a higher error rate. The other thing I notice is how little his teammates seem to understand how to run with him when he is in control of the ball. I don't know how many times I've seen him drive to the basket to lure a shot blocking defender to follow him so he can pass it back to an open forward under the basket for an uncontested layup only to have that player not be ready for the ball.
You see how annoyed that .gif of Westbrook is. It's dumb questions he doesn't want to have to answer over and over again. This rivalry thing done by the media between Wesbrook and Beverly is taking it to an off the game setting. It's gotten to the point where fans threatened Beverly on his twitter. This also perpetuates a stereotype about certain ethnic groups and it's not fair. It's too bad people don't see this shiiit for the way it is.
I will disagree regarding his handles are getting better this year. Clearly, after the AS break, for whatever reasons, he is very uncomfortable with driving and passing. This is just working like a snowball effect. When he was constantly getting up in the air and then created a TO by throwing the ball away, he knew better than anyone else he was the one to blame. So being afraid of taking out by McHale or embarrassing himself again and again, next time he will just either force a bad shot or in most cases, he won't be even looking for someone to pass and just dribbling under the basket and then move out for a very lazy and soft pass to someone else. This is his biggest problem currently. Not his shooting, not even his TO, but its this kind of snowball effect almost destroyed his ability being a PG to assist his teammates. He is probably having more bad shots the last month and a half than anytime in his carrier. He is never known as a selfish player so all these bad shots were actually the end result of his bad handles of the ball. Meanwhile, this kind of effect is also reflecting on his teammates. Every time when Lin got the ball on the top, his teammates will run to recue him with a pick to make his life easier. For whatever reasons yesterday, both Casspi and Garcia/D-MO were running out to the top to set pick for him at the same time. As of now, if Lin can not get the ball on a fastbreak running straight, his offensive game is very limited or should I say pretty bad. There are multiple games in the last 2 months that when Lin was leading the second units on the floor with Harden resting and Rockets failed to score any points in 4 mins, 6 mins or even something like 8 mins. It doesn't matter if Lin will stay with the Rockets or not next season, if he can not improve his drive and pass ability, he will not survive in this league for long. He is not even a close to average pure shooter and he will never be one. If he is only good at straight line fast break type scoring, he won't be getting many offers from other teams in this league.
^^^ Not just his handles regressed but his b-ball IQ. That other night when Asik had Plumlee in full check, Lin glances over and clearly sees Anderson at the corner for a 3 and what does he do? He goes off and helps defend Plumlee leaving Anderson wide open.
nice analysis - what do you think of Parson's mechanics out of curiosity? i find that his shooting form is terrible - the ball never has much arc. last night I noticed that when he gets the pass as a spot up shooter to shoot the 3, he brings the ball down (dip) way too low and then what looks like a heave. Looks like he almost kicks his feet out a little too much...his 3pt shot has never been pretty and to me, he is a bit of streaky shooter i find.
I still wonder what the plan is when Lin drives into the paint and spends seconds looking for a pass outlet. Who advises him to do this game in and game out. When you drive into the paint you better know where to pass it out to or have a path to the basket.
Just want to bring up some quick 3 facts that people know but keep forgetting. It's for everyone to think about before they go on posting for both sides of the fence. Fact#1 Lin was offered 8.3 mil/yr with a poison pill 3rd year by the Rockets. Harden was not in the picture at the time of the signing and we were starting over at that point. Asik has the exact same contract and Howard was no where near the scene at that stage. For some reason, people tend to pick on Lin's contract more than Asik even tho he has been contributing more to wins this year than Asik. Fact#2 Lin's role is limited in the team. Harden is a 2 guard that also in so many ways plays as the PG. This leaves Lins role as the Mario Chalmers/Norris Cole type of player in this team. Clearly Harden is more of an offensive threat that Lin, but unfortunately Harden's strength is also handling the ball at the top of the circle, driving to the basket and passing out to team mates. Fact#3 Lin is not the savior of this team. He is a serviceable player who is an unfinished product who may or may never reach his potential. He is currently not your prime Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Curry nor is he paid like one. (Opinion) He could perhaps develop into them one day, and produce numbers like they do but he would need to be in a PG centric system where you don't have a dominant ball handling 2 guard at the top of the circle. Carry on
Not many here fret on Asik's contract because rim-protecting big men with good defensive footwork like him are rare and always get paid the big bucks. He would be a coveted starter center on more than half the teams in the league while you could hardly say the same for Lin. The PG depth is deep in the NBA and ball-dominant scoring guards like him are a dime a dozen. Lin has to learn to adjust to not being ball-dominant because I don't he's going to be on many winning teams in his career if he's your go-to ball handler.
Asik is one big sissy. I still haven't forgiven him for GIVING UP on the team and demanding a trade early in the season. Not to mention his "debilitating injury" that left him off the court for almost 2 months. b*stard was getting paid and just whined. We all saw how Chandler Parsons called him out on that early in the season.
Asik will be lucky to get 15 min per game when Howard's healthy. Why do you think we tried and tested the TT experiment? Also your argument is just so ridiculous. It's like saying it's ok to pay Lebron 15-20 mil a year even tho he can only plays 15 mins a game for us (I know that will never happen, but just a basic example) since other teams will pay the same amount if he was starter for there team. I'm not saying that Lin is not overpaid for his role, but what I'm trying to point out that ppl's microscope has been on Lin more than Asik even tho Lin has contributed more to this team this year.
I never made any argument that we should be paying 8 mil for a back up center. Just comparing his circumstance to Lins. He played like a 8 mil center when he was the starter for us. The only reason he got benched is because we were able to sign a top 3 center, not because he because he wasn't playing his worth. Lin has not played like a 8 mil point guard, he got benched simply because he played like a bench player, he didn't play we what he was worth. When you're getting paid that much it's your responsibility to adjust your game to fit the team..in this case be a good complementary player by playing defense and playing well off the ball. He hasn't done..no one wants to hear excuses. That's the reason people whine more about Lin's contract, than Asiks. If it was up to me I would trade both in the offseason because it doesn't make sense to back ups on huge contracts.
When whining about pay, why blame Lin? People should blame Morey for offering so much. Whether Lin worth it or not, he must be stupid not to sign the only offer he got. Let see if this makes sense. If Morey did not sign Lin, would the team be much better last season? Forget about Dragic and Lowry, they were already gone before Lin. Anyway, I'm sure morey will work out something to trade away Asik and Lin next season.... In morey we trust.
