Understanding How Well Lin & Beverley Are Playing In 2013 Preseason

easy solution,
harden at the four, Dwight/harden/chandler/lin/ bev.

second solution, 30plus minutes from the bench by lin.

third solution, trade lin and bev for CPflop


all solutions are a win win.

 

Looking at today's game, it's clear that Rockets really misses Lin's playmaking. PBev is really good but his assists didn't define the game. +1, they both bring different facet to the game. Starting should be done on per game basis and whatever the team really needs for a particular game. Is it defense or offense? I also hope we can do that with Harden but a max player will and should always start.

 

Beverley demonstrating a little bit of his flaws tonight: only 3 assists and 4 TOs.

But at the same time his strengths as well, outside shooting, and a ridiculous team leading 9 rebounds from your starting PG.

 

Beverley's incredibly low usage rate is an absolute gem in today's NBA, and yet you guys get hung up on simplistic assist totals. He's doing exactly what he needs to do (to ensure our best chance at winning) in a lineup with Harden, Dwight and Parsons.

The impact he makes without the ball is unparalleled from his position, which is 99% full of AAU-groomed ball-dominant talents who end up hurting their team's ball movement (and consequently reduce their chances of victory) with their style of play. Why do you think no star PGs, outside of the non-ball-dominant Billups/Parker have won titles in the modern era (since '91)? Ball-dominant PGs are a detriment to ball-movement, which is one of the biggest keys in championship teams.

Don't get me wrong, this team needs Lin's scoring and playmaking ability...it just doesn't need it all the time, and it certainly doesn't need it in the starting lineup.

 

They should plan on going with one starter and sticking with him unless one starts sucking. I think players like to have defined roles to some extent. Now the actual allocation of minutes should have a higher degree of variability.

 

do u have a video for this game coming up ?

 

What about this line-up

Asik manning the 5, Greg Smith at the 4, Dwight at the 3, T Jones at the 4 and we need a play-maker so what about trying MC* at the 1

*if healthy

 

Are you serious? Sorry but this lineup would be too slow and too short-ranged. All the other team needs to do is to pack the paint, let those long-range balls fly, rebound and run. Even with that height, the opponent will always have the upper hand since their stay isn't restricted in the paint. In the defensive end, the opponents' shooters will have a fun time. Imagine just how slow this lineup chasing the guards and SFs. Howard might be fast enough for centers and PFs but not for premium SFs. TJones would be terrible against SGs.

 

Beverly's a tremendous role player, but it'd be a tragic mistake to start him. He just cannot push the ball and tempo the way Lin does.

 

This just makes it harder for me to wait until the regular season starts. Thanks for the tease (lol, j/k - nice analysis, we haz smart people on clutchfans yo).

 

Can we not turn this into another Lin vs Bev thread? Their opposing (yet complementary) skills are a huge advantage to the team. I know people like to see set starting roles, but I think the Rockets have a unique opportunity to go unconventional by rotating Lin/Bev as needed/according to fit. So far, we've seen good results with either Lin or Bev starting and together as a backcourt.

 

Thanks for sharing Paul. No doubt both players are effective for team's various plays.

Just wondering how is Harden's numbers compared to above? Thanks

 

What part of "tremendous role player" don't you understand?

The bottom line is we're not having a STARTING lineup consisting of Harden, Howard, Parsons, Lin, and Beverly. In terms of what is best for the Rockets team, we need a PG that is a great passer/playmaker in order to set up Harden and Howard.

 

Harden is a great playmaker. He can set himself up and Dwight too. It's not an insult to Lin to say that the second unit would benefit more from his playmaking ability.

 

Then I guess I'll leave it up to you to figure out why, so far, we have been just as successful with Patrick Beverley in the starting lineup as Jeremy Lin. Cause you know, Bev's defense, the probing and creating extra possessions with his defense, disruption of the opposing offense, all of that is just as important to the starting lineup. In fact, you can even argue that the presence of one excellent playmaker (Harden) and the absence of a playermaker in the 2nd unit gives support to Bev starting and Lin off the bench. And yes, do not doubt that McHale will throw out a starting lineup of Lin/Bev/Harden as he sees fit (i.e. Game 2 of the OKC series).

 

Harden is not good enough, Lin/Bev are not good enough playmakers yet.

According to McHale,

Feeding Howard is a work-in-progress...