Actually I think it breaks into a couple of different camps. -People who have NO clue how much NBA players actually get paid. They think we should be getting some all-star PG for $8M per year. News flash: Lin may have had All Star news coverage, but we are NOT paying him an All Star salary. Lin's getting an Average Starting PG salary. He's performing at about that level. IF he improves AT ALL, we UNDERPAID. I've seen people tossing around numbers like 18/8 and 16/9 in terms of their expectations for Lin's first year here... All Star and Superstar numbers. Absurdly unfair expectations for someone this early in their career. -People who miss Lowry and Dragic. They strongly disagree with the FO's decision to release either/both of them, and out of that unhappiness use EVERY excuse they can to discredit Lin as a player. They don't really "hate" Lin, they hate that Lin reminds them that they do NOT have Lowry/Dragic. -Some people just dislike Lin. They resent the media coverage, or they resent Lin's fans, or they have a personal bias against Lin for any of a number of reasons, so no matter what Lin does he'll be bashed. Honestly, nothing short of All Star production will get some people to shut up. And even then, he'll need All Star production for *multiple* seasons before they shut up for good, if ever. And even if he was giving All Star production, some will always complain he's still Overpaid or just living up to his Average starting PG salary. We saw it last year in NY. "It's only 2 or 3 games. Let's see if he keeps this up for 10 games" "It's only the Lakers/Dallas/etc." "He only performed well against bad teams." (He actually played a harder than average schedule last season.) "It's only 7 games, talk to me if he keeps it up for 15 or 20 games." "It's only 25 starts -- talk to me after 2 or 3 seasons." They keep moving the bar when judging Lin, yet other young players get the benefit of the doubt. Lin can't get better, can't improve, has hit his ceiling, etc, etc, etc. Really, there's only so much one can argue. You can present all the data in the world, but some people will always insist the Moon Landing was faked and that the Earth is flat. Those folks will always believe that Lin can't go left (wrong, he goes left just fine, he's just absolutely dominant going right), that he's a TO machine (wrong, his TO's post All Star break last year all the way to This year has been steadily declining, and this season is very solid in TO/gm AND TO/possession AND TO/pass), that he's NOT athletic (wrong, he blows past defenders due to athleticism), or that his Defense is awful (wrong, his Defensive stats were good last year (128/400 players), and are superior this year... top 20% for ALL positions, and easily top 10 for the PG position). That said, all I will say right now is SAMPLE SIZE. It's fine if you don't believe Lin is great after 25 starts last year with a roster of experienced team mates, however it's even less rational to write off Lin after 9 starts THIS year with a team of Young and Inexperienced players who've mostly never played together before. I'm not going to be remotely concerned until we're into the New Year. :grin:
The sample people who doubted Lin due to the small sample size last year are now totally ignoring the sample size argument to criticize Lin. Makes no sense.
We could have kept Dragic but we didn't want to pay him. The rockets preferred Lin on his current contract over Dragic on the one he got from Phoenix. It's not revisionist history. The rockets weren't in panic mode. They choose to let Lowry and Dragic go. It's justifiable to say we should have kept Dragic and not sign Lin because we could have if we wanted to.
For me it is: 1) I expected Lin to be aggressive and more of a scorer. I assume this is why most ppl are disappointed. 2) Lin fans are pretty annoying when they bash just about everything from the city of Houston to racism in order to defend him. Maybe he just needs time to develop, simple as that.
We probably should have kept Dragic but the player option was a deal breaker. It's not fair to say "we could have kept Dragic had we paid him". We did make an offer which is identical to Lin's with a potential 4th year team option, it simply did not work out.
True, but that cuts both ways. The Rockets could have accepted Dragic's terms. Dragic could also have relented on the 4th year player option. In negotiations it takes TWO to tango, and clearly they couldn't find a middle ground that worked for both. Still, that has nothing to do with Lin. Would the Rockets really be better off if the Knicks then matched Lin? Or if the Rockets didn't extend an offer to Lin in the first place? What were the actual available PG options at the point they put a contract to paper for Lin? Kidd - signed Nash - signed Dwill - signed Lowry - traded Dragic - re-signed Hill - re-signed Nelson - re-signed Miller - re-signed So who did that leave? Raymond Felton (coming off his worst season EVER - 11.4/6.5, out of shape with attitude problems) and Ramon Sessions (11.3/5.5)? Would the Rockets fans be any happier without Lin, Lowry OR Dragic? I find it interesting how the Rockets FO gets the blame, but Dragic escapes any responsibility for his pushing a 4th year PO that he KNEW Morey wasn't going to give. Just some stuff to think about...
1. Yeah he does need to improve his shooting % for sure. However, although it is a small sample size so early on in the season, I believe Lin is posting elite PG numbers in 4 categories: reb/blk/stl/ast. So let's try to focus on the positives and give him more time on his jump shot. As you said, it will come in time. 2. Unfortunately, that's something that's gonna be here to stay as long as Lin is a Rocket.
I remember those days... them were the days when Tmac was putting up 25 to 28 shots a game shooting 33% from the field... and no one said shiet because he was getting 18 to 23 points a game... all im trying to say is why spend the money to bring him over when you are not going to use him right... seems to me...they are grooming Harden to be the PG for this team and looking to dump Lin in 3 years time... because like others have said... their are way better shooting guards options out there than Lin
no were fine with him in what ever roll the Rox want him to take... is just you long time Rox fans wont give him the time to develop... making threads like this... when its obvious to see what the Rox organization is trying to get him to do... you guys are suppose to be the basketball junkies and know basketball inside out... yet is seems like the other way around..
stop it... Dragic was gone before you even bumped up the contract offer for Lin... Lin was basically going to be a Knick until Morey Changed the contract... Morey said it himself... and I know this because I was laughing at your a$$$es when you lost both PGs damn this is why it is irritating... you guys are the fricken basketball junkies...
Pretty much. The vast majority is #1 & I think that is fair. People who are victims of #2 need to stop letting other people dictate there feelings. Not that I don't think that what some of his fans do isn't annoying. Because it is when everybody cries racism for no apparent reason. I just put them on my ignore list.
Morey also spoke to Sports Illustrated last night, and explained why he upped his offer to Lin right before the end of the free agency moratorium: "We no longer had Lowry or Dragic, and at that point we thought it made sense to offer him more money and increase our chances of getting him." Morey added that he didn't think he had "any chance" to sign Lin: "I still actually thought it was more likely they would match even after that (New York Times) story. I just couldn't conceive that they would give us the shot to have him." So, to sum it up, Morey gave Lin $25 million because he has tons of potential, and he had make the contract big enough to scare off the Knicks. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/daryl...#ixzz2BJKtFckv
Nah most fans don't know basketball inside and out. We are just fans with opinions. The thread title is harsh for sure, the dude was probably just frustrated with Lins play in that particular game. The Heats weren't even guarding Lin that game and he was missing wide open jumpers, playing passive, and to cap it off a wide open airball that could of won the game.
I think you exaggerate how much the world cares about this based on your own feelings. And Felton isn't really "on fire," he's just playing solidly on a really good team. I guess it seems like a drastic improvement over his dreadful play in Portland last year. (Lin would be playing just as well on that team (though I think he hasn't regained his total explosiveness or agility) any average pg or above would be, because it isn't like they need to be like Irving and carry a crappy team -- it's Melo team, with Kidd adding 50 IQ points.) Pablo is better IMO.
I actually sort of agree with boosterrocket's comments. Lin needs to play with fire and passion regardless of whether or not his shot is falling. In college he had that fire and during his time with the Knick he had it. He seems way too passive now and tends to defer to his teammates. If I were him, I would have looked for revenge during the Miami game and I sure as hell would againt NY. I think being too nice of a guy is hurting his game.
Just back up your point on average salary this article below give you some statistics on average salary. PG Rank 1-10 - 20.9 Mil PG Rank 11-20 10.3 Mil PG Rank 21-30 6.6 Mil PG Rank 31-40 3.5 Mil http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytime...n-should-make-financial-sense-for-the-knicks/
it will be an important game for Knicks fans... most we pissed off Lin left... but then the argument was who better for the Knicks... a Felton to pass the ball off and run to the 3 point line... or a Lin to slash and drive in to create shots for teammates... with guys like Melo and Amare who can crate their own shots... the consensus was on Felton... chances are they will laugh at how Lin is being used... and be glad that they got Felton over Lin... as they will get a chance to see a spot up shooting Lin... who will probably brick many shots to... help them move on for good
