Mchale and sampson want to turn this into an inside/out offense, with the ball going through Asik to score or pass, and harden either dumping it into the post, or creating a shot on the perimeter. Parsons is the secondary source of point as a spot up shooter, and Lin and the PF providing tertiary options. This plan of attack can only yield mediocre results. Parsons is not a great spot up shooter. Lin is not a spot up shooter. Asik shows signs of improving, but he's never going to be a tier1 primary scorer. Harden's FG% continues to decline with each game. This team can succeed with the 'equal opportunity' offense they were 'running' in the first two games, where the team's top 3 players: H/L/P continually attacked the basket and got rid of the ball asap. It is truly sad to watch this team waste it's impressive talent.
Yeah, I really hope Jeremy Lin gets traded to the Lakers or some place that actually appreciates his skillset. I get really tired of reading all this Lin hate from the "fans," even though Jeremy Lin is not allowed to play to his fullest by the coaching staff. And for those who are still crying about Lowry and Dragic. They are gone, so get over it.
Wow, Lin driving and trying to make a play, passes out for an open Parson's 3. Something he's shown he can do before with the Novaks and Landry Field types. Wouldnt mind more of that
I am neither a Lin fan or Harden fan. Not a big fan of either sign/trade but martin had to go. I disagree, I think as fans we are being too soft on both guys since we have set the bar so low, especially Lin.
You know what isn't working; over 100 posts and not one person has seen fit To toss you a rep. Maybe hoops isn't your, thing, Balla.
Something is very wrong. It's one thing to get off to a slow start, but there is no doubt that Lin is dealing with a crisis of confidence. The coaching staff have imposed a role which takes Lin out of his normal flow, which is to create and initiate off the dribble. Instead, he's forced into the exact opposite role. That is, he's being forced to wait passively while Harden iso's and attempts to create. This is a futile situation for a number of reasons. First of all, Harden is getting terrible looks when he goes one on one. He's chucking up a lot of low percentage 2's. Second, Harden is turning the ball over a ton, as his teammates aren't doing anything besides stand there and watch him. Lin is the most out of sync. Parsons feels comfortable spotting up with the 3. Marcus can drive to the basket with his size or cut for a lob. But Lin needs the ball in his hands to initiate a drive, a pass or to get the ball back after a pass. None of these things are happening, and Lin is completely out of kilter. Watching the rockets has been an enormous exercise in frustration. The coaching staff clearly does not have any confidence in Lin's abilities and it's beginning to affect Lin's mentality as a player. This is going to be a very, very ugly season. I can't help but believe that Les Alexander is horribly disappointed with what he's seen so far. There has to be a coaching change very soon.
It's really too early to make assumptions. One thing I noticed tonight is they made a concerted effort to integrate the other players into the offense, especially Asik over the last several games. Morris had plays called for him, Parsons has been played more aggressively off the ball and in the post, and even Patterson was being asked to do new things. This may be part of a larger plan in terms of integrating offensive sets and getting Harden up to speed with the rest of the team (who were here for training camp). It's probably too early to make any judgements in terms of what the coaches are doing with Lin and Harden. This may be just transitional. It's probably best just to give it some more time and see where it goes.
The problem is that after many months of hype, ppl are dying for Lin to make his mark on this team/franchise. He has not been able to for all the reasons that have been discussed tonight. At this rate Lin will be benched.
Regardless, there is still a major problem. The ball just completely stops and players stand doing nothing with the harden iso's. And harden isn't doing much in his iso's, except standing there, allowing the clock to wind down. This is not the time to panic. But any rational observer can see the 180 between the first two games and every game played thereafter. Sharing the basketball is a good thing.
Maybe there's a reason why he had the best start to a career ever in the history of the NBA since the ABA merger. Obviously, the answer probably lies somewhere in between. Give him his time. It's a long long long season.
Jeremy Lin is a backup PG for a good team and is the latest hoax by Morey foisted upon the Rockets. Morey is the second-worst GM in the league, to MJ, and deserves to be fired yesterday.
Just some stats I grabbed from john hollinger's website Lin. After this game has an average usage rate of 18.2 which is ranked 46th out of 50 PGs who played more than 10mins a game. Randy foye, tyreke Evans, bayless, pargo, Calderon etc are among PGs who have a similar usage rate. Lin played most minutes among those PGs....by far.
