Understanding How Well Lin & Beverley Are Playing In 2013 Preseason

In the Pelicans game, the 5 bench players were Bev, Aaron Brooks, Brewer, Casspi and TJones -- at least 2 won't make the rotation. And missing were Garcia and Asik.

Bev looked good leading the bench in Taipei . when Garcia was back.

 

I don't understand posts like this...

Lin is playing fine, but what's with the sense of entitlement? He's not some All-Star caliber PG, he's a solid PG in a league with like 30 of them. Beverley is proving himself to be one as well, but with their drastically different styles, it's all about fit, not who's "better".

Lin's not one of our 3 best players, and he simply fits better as the 6th man, while Beverley fits better in the starting lineup. Him coming off the bench does NOT equal him being the inferior player. It's not that difficult to understand.

 

If I remember correctly, Robert Horry was considered one of the best post passer ever. This suggests that some folks do it better than others.

 

What is the sample size that attests to the fact that Lin fits better coming off the bench & Beverly fits better as a starter though? Because we have evidence (an entire seasons worth) that Lin played well as a starter last year & we have about less than 10 games worth of evidence that Beverly fits better as a starter?

 

I understand the concept of some guys doing it better than others. But from how I understood McHales statement was that neither can pass to DH12 in the post which if true makes little sense to me. Why would the two of them not practice that all summer? They both new that DH12 was going to be on the team and that passing in the post would be an integral skill to have. Do you get where I am coming from?

 

from an overall team "balance" standpoint, I would agree with you. lin on the 2nd unit balances out the offensive output of team - you're less likely to see a significant drop-off in offensive production going from first team to second team.

but i'm not sure that's what the coaches are thinking about at this point - maybe they're still trying to find the best fit for the first team, then worry about the second team later. i have no idea. that's why i'm in the camp of those that are not convinced that spending time tinkering with what worked last year is the best use of our time right now. just my opinion.

 

IMO, passing is a skill that's not so easy to just acquire by practicing in a gym. Some guys have an innate feel for it, but others need to develop the skill by doing it in games against real defenses. Neither have played with a dominant post player who commands touches in the paint, so its understandable that they have a long ways to go as far post-entry passing. Its something of a lost art in this era.

 

way too much work using such meaningless numbers.

 

Hmm. I guess you are right. Grr that is really frustrating to me. They both need to learn that if they don't know how to already. I was going to say that Lin played with Melo who is a great post player but there isn't a very large sample of that. Last year Lin gave Asik & even D-mo a few post touches I didn't really see anything fundamentally wrong with his passing in the post from last year. For beverly there is an even smaller sample on his passing ability.

But anyway credit to McHale on actually working on those basic drills & teaching those skills. Teaching basic fundamentals is a lost art in the NBA.

 

Older Rockets fans are used to this feeling of frustration. This was a big issue for us during the Yao years.

Learning to play effectively with a big man with Dwight's interior scoring abilities is going to take some time. I actually think it will be easier to play with Dwight compared to Yao, though, because he's better at catching the ball on the move.

 

Generally, it's not the PG who does the entry pass, it is usually a tall wing like Horry or Battier.

 

To show my point, watch this video. It's primarly Horry, Buck Johnson, or Max who does the entry pass.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/69EjLCWvgxI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

It was Casspi who attempted it the most I think last game. He had like 4 turnovers in the first half trying to do entry passes to Dwight.

 

Our offense is less structured, though. All the perimeter guys will have to take part in passing the ball into Dwight, because there isn't just one player who has the responsibility of bringing the ball up the floor. Traditionally, the guy who brings the ball up the floor is the PG, but we don't play that way (or at least we didn't last year).

 

Good post Paul. Some friendly competition (turned ugly in the GARM) will only benefit both players and the team.
(But don't sleep on AB!)

Then how are they supposed to know who is a better fit if they only test the water with 10 games? Sounds like you're arguing Bev should get more starts just to be sure (and I'd agree with that). I'd say the 1st unit may be less redundant/more efficient with Bev, and the 2nd unit is more effective with an actual playmaker in Lin. Really, does it matter who starts if it makes the team better as a whole?

 

While Lin or Bev starting probably hasn't been covered enough, and clearly needs more discussion before we find out the answer in two weeks, I was wondering what the usual guard rotation will be. It seems that if they wind up going with basically a 3 guard rotation, that probably means Lin & Bev together whenever Harden is out. It would short-circuit the sixth man discussion a bit if it turned out to be both of them.

It really depends on who they have subbing in for Harden, though.

 

Battier is a master of entry passes.

Fast, direct, and always right to Yao's hands.

Our players' passes are too slow and way too easy to follow.

 

it's true. pg brings up the ball and stays away from the big so defense can't focus on the big. in this case, pg swings the ball quick to other side. it's the reason you see other players to do entry pass more.

 

Nice research, however I feel it would more beneficial to see with more games. 3 games is a little too early to conclude that Lin is mentally tougher and Bev can sustain the level of play.

 

It would be fun to see you post these stats here for the rotation players after every regular season game, PhiSlamma. I'd check them out, at any rate. It isn't like you have a life or anything, right? ;-)-