look at how inconsistent one of my favorite players in the 2000s was in his second season at age 25,from his points to his sub par 3 point fg http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/ginobma01/gamelog/2004/ it's not out of this realm that players tend to improve, especially when they have determination and great work ethic. ahh i need some sleep.
...Yeah, you're on your own here... No worries man - disagreement is fine. Expected even. That's part of the reason why we discuss things around here. I gave you rep when I posted my first post in this thread. So do you think Jeremy is above average as a starter? I would agree that he could be. He was a weapon during Linsanity, and I think he can be a weapon on a team with Howard. But he did legitimately seem to have trouble being a consistent thread with Harden. He seemed to play more tentatively. For that reason I am actually a big proponent of Lin being a 6th man off of the bench.
I am making a new personal rule that I refuse to enter any thread with an ambiguous title. 'On Jeremy Lin' 'I hate to beat around the bush' 'Ok I'm just saying..' These are all god awful thread titles and the OP should be punished by the mods.
I posted exactly like you did so you could see what it looks like napalm_black. Other than posting in a Lin thread I had no idea what in my post triggered that post from you with the italics and the edits and calling people out was about. I didn't even ask you question and you say now that we're asking each other questions. That part was a head scratcher. Seriously though you actually have beef or are you screwing around.
He could be an above average starter. He is not there yet. Or even close. I was trying to lay out a case that Lin has the potential to be a very good PG in the NBA. I attempted to point out some of the potential positives for his future development as the Rockets PG. There are far more positive signs than negative signs. Whether he obtains that goal or not depends on his focus and work ethic. I really do believe we do not have a disagreement here.
I've never been screwing around. I have no idea why I got called out. There is nothing between you and me. It's all good.
Cool. Based on the optimism in the rest of your points I assumed you thought Lin was an above-average starter. Bad assumption on my part. Like you, I generally don't discuss Lin in the other threads either. It's nice to see someone else who sees the positives in having Lin on the team without any drama. He does have the work ethic to improve, so I'm not in a hurry to trade him. I think he can be a good piece of our team this season if he stays. However - I was honestly very disappointed with last season (especially the playoffs), so improvement is definitely needed.
You are on the optimistic side of the argument so you think he could be an above average PG. Pretty simple. Keep in mind that Lin could be "above average" and be traded. It really depends not only on how Lin comes along but how the other guys come along as well. Lin doesn't exist in a vacuum, right now he looks like a good fit with Dwight because of the pick and roll but Morey is really trying to fit pieces around Dwight if he finds a better piece Lin will be more valuable as trade. Rather than a blanket "above average" that napalm is considering it's probably more constructive of thinking about Lin's fit with the team going forward. That's even harder to do because we don't even know if the team is going to be be up tempo like last year and how many touches Howard was promised. Likely McHale and Morey don't know themselves until they get the product on the floor.
I agree that it's more constructive to think of how he'll fit on the team. I never did like this comparison stuff. In my opinion, Lin is at his best when he's just playing 'free'. It's like he thinks too much with Harden on the floor, for whatever reason. Although he might not get as many touches, he should be better than last year with Dwight catching and finishing under the basket.
1: Lin was an average starting PG in the NBA last season by the numbers. He will most probably never again reach Linsanity numbers. That assessment was to generous. But I do stand by all of the positive signs for Lin's future development. Anyway guy it was a pleasure to receive your input. Take care.
So instead of just ignoring this thread you chose to post in it just to declare your intentions? It's funny so many people are complaining about "yet another Lin thread," and yet all they're doing is bumping it up...
Another person gets it. In all of the Lin threads everyone hates, 75% of the posts are just people arguing about each other instead of Lin. Anyway I'm out - have a good weekend folks.
If Harden re-discovers his cutting and moving without the ball in general, having an offense that can be initiated by Howard, Harden, OR Lin would be pretty hard to defend as all three are really good at the PnR. Kind of a paper, scissors, or rock kind of game we can play with the opposing defense. As much as I love and likely overrate Parsons, let's be honest, the guy is not really able to create for himself. That's what separates stars from non-stars IMO, the ability to create. What Parsons is good at is sneaking around when attention is off him, such as blitzing in to dunk in a missed FT by Asik or catching off guard a defender distracted by a cutting Harden/Lin. Man this team is going to be so awesome next season regardless of whatever happens for the rest of the offseason!
Right now, assuming his 3 point shot is decent the smart money is that high-low game with Dwight will be strong enough to give Lin a pretty good year. Same thing with Harden, Dwight is not stupid he knows that Harden is a great pick and roll player and that's one of the major reasons Houston was attractive to him. If for whatever reason Lin is capped in the most hateraided scenario, I'd probably roll Lin out as a 6th man and just let him score on the 2nd unit. A team will pick him up if he can go for 14ppg in limited minutes, and that's around what he put up last year. But it's frankly stupid to think a player is capped after his first full year especially after seemingly regressing in some areas so it's reasonable to think Lin will bounce back some. You mention Lin playing free but that can also speak to Howard. Instead of a back-to-the-basket post game with fancy moves, Dwight has been best exerting his athleticism going to the basket. I don't think it was just Morey lying about Dwight wanting to try this thing with Lin. He was watching Linsanity like the rest of us. He probably wants to see what that 2 man game could be.
