i didn't say he was a ballhog. i said he holds the ball. there's a difference. and youtube videos? cmon man. this was a legitimate criticism even raps fans had of him.
Calderon will be 32 by the time the season starts and will probably demand similar $$. Lin, on the other hand, is 24 with better athleticism, defense, and scoring. There's WAY more upside here with Lin. This is actually a no brainer.
Disagree, he will probably be cheap. There is way too much talent at the PG position in the NBA right now, for him to get a big contract. Lin is not a better scorer than Calderon. I'll give you defender, but definitely not shooter/scorer.
Calderon can shoot. Howard and Harden will be the guys the offense will go through. All the PG needs to do is not TO the ball over and hit open shots. Both of which Calderon does better than Lin. Often times Lin is pretty careless with the ball, and picks up his dribble too often.
^Just no Found his 2012-2013 shot chart and this is just absurd. Calderon would be unbelievable here. And here is Lin by comparison Anyone who doesnt think this would be a clear upgrade to what we do with the Harden (or Dwight) centric offense is deluding themselves.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/caldejo01/shooting/2013/ http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/linje01/shooting/2013/ I don't think anyone's disputing that Calderon is the better shooter. The question was whether or not he's the better scorer. Calderon's great at making open shots, a skill that has tremendous value when building a team around Harden/Howard and one that probably makes him a better offensive fit than Lin. But there is a distinction between scorer and shooter. Or does John Wall's shot chart make him a worse scorer than Calderon too? http://stats.nba.com/playerShotchart.html?PlayerID=202322&Season=2012-13
Calderon is the better shooter when open. But there is more to basketball than just shooting open shots, although being able to hit the open shot is critical in the Rockets system. In the playoffs, there just aren't that many open looks. Look at the volume, not just the color of the area. For example, you will see that Lin gets more than five times the number of shots as Calderon at the rim. Calderon is unable to create like Lin. And there is no comparison when we talk about individual defense, team defense, rebounding, etc., which are heavily in favor of Lin.
No one knows what Calderon will make next year, yet. But, the fact is he just finished a contract that paid him 45 million for 5 years, that's 9 million a year. The only way he will "probably be cheap" is that everyone will believe that his productivity will go down a lot. And no, he is not a better scorer than Lin. Your talking about a guy who has scored more than 12 points a game only ONCE in his 8 years (that was 12.8). So, you want to trade for a 32 year old player who is one of the worst defenders at the pg position and has never scored more than 13 points a game for a season, who we can only get for cheaper than Lin if everyone believes his game will only get worse?
I think the other thing to consider is Calderon has 8 years more time of working on his shooting/slot selection then Lin has. Lin started last year and improved throughout the year. With his work ethic his shot selection and shooting percentages should get better. In addition, his TO/Asst ratio should get better with more experience in general and with this team. I'm not really a Lin fan, but I appreciate his skills and understand last year was really his first full year as a starter. Couple that with he's on a new team, new coach, etc. and we should all probably cut him more slack then we have. Me included.
Yes, and that would matter if we were looking for him to be a long term solution at the point. He is not seen as that. He would be a veteran who would provide a steady hand at the position while Beverley and Canaan develop. Calderon is an admittedly poor defender, but a very good shooter and playmaker. He gives you time to see what you have with your young point guard prospects, and he might be had cheaply enough to save money (relative to JLin) that can be used elsewhere on the roster. Over the next couple of years if one of the two young guys does not live up to their promise, chances are a Lowry or Dragic will be made available by another team and the Rockets can move that direction just as they have done before. Also, remember Morey's words after he drafted Canaan. "You can never have enough good shooting."
No, I did not. You guys may be fine with an alternating PnR scheme with Harden and Lin, but it makes little sense. I am not comfortable with Lin taking shots at the rim or elsewhere, because frankly, he is not very good. Is he bad? No. But there are only so many possessions in a game and every possession is critical. When you give a below average starting PG a share of your possessions, you have a below average chance of outscoring your opponents. I want the best shot taken with the ideal player taking that shot. That is how you transform the game and that is where I believe Morey is taking the team. Every turnover and every bricked jumper, reduces our chance to win. I want the best player setting up the offense (Harden) and I want the ideal players taking the open shots that are created by Harden. Every shot Lin takes that is not a good shot, I ask myself why is Harden or Parsons not taking this shot? Every time Lin sets up the PnR, I am asking myself, why is Harden not doing this? Is Calderon a better player than Lin? I don't know, nor do I really care. What I do know is that he is a better fit at what I envision this team is trying to build.
why are some of you so quick to dismiss Lin ? He is young and fits with the core, and already has good chemistry with Parsons and Harden.. you want to throw that away for the likes of Jarrett Jack and Jose Calderon? Jarrett Jack would be a slight upgrade, sure, but is it worth continuing the Rockets high turnover rate at the PG position? And Calderon? I don't even want to imagine how much opposing backcourts would score against Calderon and Harden.
