Check Lin's stats on games where Harden is not playing if you want to compare apples to apples. Is that worth 8 mil for a starting PG? Lin skill set prior to coming into Houston was opposite to what you would call an off the ball player. You're asking too much for him to completely change his game around in a year with limited experience in the NBA. At least his trying than moping about it right? Well your right here at least. Not because they are both bad, it's just the direction of the team has changed from the time they were signed and not because "They Sux" that people seem to brand around here
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Again this is where ignorance really goes rampant in these forums. It's not like he had a crystal ball and knew Harden and Howard could have been acquired at the time of there signings. Didn't he still manage to acquire Harden and Howard at the end? What if Harden and Howard never came to fruition and we didn't have Asik or Lin? As a GM or any type of investor, you always take calculated risks if you want to move things quickly...not every investment will work out or pay great dividends straight away, but as a net he has really pushed this team forward in a big way more than what you can say about most teams in just 2 years
This provides some hope. Instead of dropping his shoulders and pouting on the bench about it like he did earlier in the season, he's at least putting in effort and trying to contribute. But, if he can't successfully adapt to different roles and hone his other skills to fill the needs of a team, he is an $8M one trick pony.
$8M one trick pony might be too harsh for a misfit. Don't you think so? He can thrive in another system after all... Who knows, Morey might turn him into a "gold" during the summer. The team might actually find the missing piece through him (and Asik, et al). One trick poney by definition would be someone who can succeed only once. This may not be the case with Lin given the correct system. I agree, that's a very big flaw on Lin's part but at the end of the day, there are a lot of "specialized" players that thrive in NBA. Bowen, Fisher and Battier come to mind though they aren't exactly the same player as Lin. Well, trading him for somebody that the Rockets will actually need can already be considered a big success.
Yes, you are quite right... should not even blame Morey, though some people may still argue about letting Dragic go (though that have something to do with having flexibility in acquiring stars in 3 years time). The 8 millions for Lin and Asik would have been considered as hedging by Morey for rebuilding, Harden and Howard are unexpected bonus, earlier than expected. That is why people still whine about 8mil for "role" players while forgetting how things could have been if there is no Harden or Dwight.
Oh ok, guess I used it wrong. I was referring to his one (great) ability to penetrate and make things happen, which unfortunately has gone awol as of late. I guess you can look at it as "specialized", but that would imply being consistent at it. If he'd abandon that 'score first' mentality he's quickly developing, and revert back to being a playmaker, he'd receive less complaints. "Drive and kick" has become "drive, drive denied, and somebody save me!".
To be fair, our offensive sets aren't exactly making Lin's (or Harden's) job any easier when it comes to driving into the paint. Often our spacing gets out of whack, and our off the ball cutting is terrible. And I'm not just talking back door cuts to the baskets. Cutting around the perimeter, through the paint and off down screens to create passing angles for touch passes and spot up shooters is practically non existent. Way too often I see a clear out and single pick, or a basic rotation around the perimeter with a token cut across the baseline. What I don't see is nearly enough off ball cutting through the paint, or cuts off screens to create space for secondary shooters and driving lanes. Like watch a few Spurs games closely and don't focus on the ball movement, focus instead on the cutting and screens between passes. They'll often have 2, 3 or more players cutting in succession or at the same time to force rotations and brush defenders. And that's not even talking about screens and picks for the ball handlers. For example, look at this single play. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/q2dasfpnL94" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Count how many players cut in this single sequence alone. Notice how often they move through the paint and around the perimeter. Yes the shot was ultimately missed, but it was WIDE open. Here's another one. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hr72vHMktwo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Not even going to try to describe this one as SO much stuff is going on in that one sequence. You actually have to watch it multiple times to see how much off the ball movement is going on. Cuts down the middle, screen, pass, touch pass, additional cutters, etc. Yes, we have a good offense, but it really doesn't maximize our players nearly as much as it could. Our players often have to work harder than necessary to create passes and open shots. And against the best defenses, especially those with great length or athleticism, our drive and kick game starts to break down. Anyway, just some stuff to think about.
Nice work. Rockets offensive set consists of one pick and roll, if that doesn't work, go iso and maybe pass the ball with 1 sec left on the shot clock
Clearly Lin's role is no where near what Chalmers/Cole did in this team, not a chance. Lin can't defend like Chalmers nor even Cole. Lin's handles are much worse than average NBA PGs. There are so many times when Harden was on the bench and Lin's leaded Rockets can't do jack on the court. Harden's To / possession ratio is better than Lin. In fact, if the Rockets will have a better PG, Harden can improve a lots on both offense and defense efficiency.
I know we lost to The Raptor. But I like what I saw in Lin's play: pushing the pace in 1st quarter and leading the 2nd unit charge in the 3rd - 4th quarter. If he continues to play in such an aggressively mode, we can go deep into the playoff.
In the Nets game, there were about 4-5 minutes when Harden was resting on the bench and Lin was leading the charge on the floor (*without a ball dominated player playing with him*), and the Rockets were held scoreless during that 4-5 minutes.
Stop lying bro. Your agenda is quite obvious in the first place and the fact you are making crap is even worse. Just stop. There was never a 4-5 minute stretch in the Nets game where Harden was resting, Lin on the floor and the Rockets were held scoreless.l What is up with posters these days making crap up to slam Lin when it doesn't take more then 2 seconds to look at the facts and call them out on it? This is just plain sad.
The Spurs focus on ball movement because they don't have the offensive talent that we do.We are getting open shots, we just aren't hitting them. Despite our "isolation heavy offense", the results are very similar to Spurs "heavy ball movement" offense. Offensive Rating SAS: 110.7 (5th of 30) HOU: 110.5 (6th of 30) The big difference here is the 3 point shooting efficiency. The Spurs have FIVE players shooting greater than 41%, FIVE. And eight, over 37%. The Rockets have ZERO over 37%. The Rockets offensive improvement is going to be getting better shooters to compliment our stars. More ball movement is going to hurt our biggest strength , which is Harden's offensive talent.
This is exactly the reply what I will expect from a LOF. Actually, the last few games that the Rockets lost, there were more than once this happened (when Lin was leading the second unit on the floor, Rockets went on an extensive period of time scoreless). The game video can be found all over the net, there are stats out there. At the end, you will just use personal attack and insist to keep living in your fantasy world.
