Where was the outrage last season with the lack of starts from Delfino at PF?

Yet they didn't. Where was the shock and awe? That is the point being made here.

 

And they gave some good reasons why.

 

I think it's a fair comparison.

The wear and tear on defense would be a concern over the course of the season but defense is what you inherently sacrifice anyways with small-ball.

 

McHale is biased against players from South America as well as 3-ballers like Delfino. Although he was hurting his own win-loss record and angering management by doing so, McHale deliberately changed Delfino's role throughout the season so as to keep him off balance and convey to him that he would never find a steady role in North American sports. Furthermore, Delfino speaks both Spanish and English with great fluency, displaying an intellectual faculty that made McHale uncomfortable.

Delfino was an Olympic gold medalist and FIBA Americas gold medalist with 36 games of NBA playoff experience. When McHale declined to start him as was his due, the entire continent of South America took it as a slap in the face. (McHale has not visited the continent since, for fear that he would not make it out alive.) Fellow members of Delfino's race (Caucasian) felt that McHale had spit in their collective white face and hereby learned that McHale must not be Caucasian himself. Murmurs about McHale's racial bias came to a head in the Feb 22, 2013 game in Brooklyn, where a large banner was held up by several members of the crowd reading "McHale puts the 'Asian' in Caucasian." There has been no confirmation, so far as this author is aware, that McHale is in fact Asian. But it can be deduced with certainty that he is not Caucasian like Carlos Delfino. Some observers have claimed that McHale is very closely associated with Larry Bird, who famously stated that basketball is "a black man's game"; therefore since his days with the Celtics McHale has been privately self-identifying as black. Whatever McHale's race, it is clear that he was behind the decision not to re-sign the Olympic gold medalist. A sister's friend of the cousin of a custodian at Toyota Center reports that McHale or someone in his vicinity said about Delfino with acute malice "Let him go rot in Whiteland [Milwaukee]."

Thus another sad chapter of evidence was written in the book of condemnation of the Rockets' inept and biased coach, Kevin McHale, whom Les Alexander has failed to replace with Mike D'Antoni out of a masochism with roots in his boarding school days, but that is another story.

 

There was no shock and awe because Delbricko is a 6'6 SG built like your typical 6'6 SG. He was good in short bursts, exploiting mismatches during the course of a game. But he was still a 6'6 SG at PF and he was routinely trolled by the Gasols, Randolphs and Wests of the world any time McSuccess fell in love with his small ball line-ups; hence the groans in the Fire McHale thread and the oft-stated desire to play big in the half-court every time the Rockets met teams with capable front courts. Another common complaint of the small ball line-up was also that the pace was killing the team and burning it out. (Concerns which sparked a now famous rebuke from McSuccess about how the players should have no complaints as they are not doing any real heavy work.)

I have to admit that I initially genuinely thought that the thread was indeed a discussion about the small ball strategy of the coaching staff during the season past. That is until the OP revealed that the thread was in fact about an elaborate exercise in trolling whereby we are to believe that the extreme case of an SG playing out of position at PF was somewhat relevant to the convo about two specialists at the PG position. In short, the OP went full r****d to troll putative Lin Only fans.

 

I would argue people also gave a lot of good reasons why Lin should be the 6th man.

The point the OP was trying to make, which I believe is a valid one, is that the double standard goes both ways.

Whereas you will hear a lot of Lin fans claiming Lin is unfairly treated on this board because "he is Lin" (not completely unjustified of course), others could equally argue that Lin is protected from all forms of criticism (if you could even call some of it criticism) because "he is Lin".

Let's be honest, McHale decided to try out starting Beverley for one pre-season game, the one game where the team dominated, and the Lin fans freaked out. "Fire McHale" thread gets brought up, passive aggressive threads are made, and some idiot even went as far as to say McHale would have been fired had his daughter not passed away.

People would not even care a quarter as much if it was some other player.

 

Delfino sucked up the court defensively. The effort was there but the physical ability was not. Yeah everyone else sucked but TJones was a much better option on defense. Yeah he was an improvement on offense but with Harden Parsons and Lin on the court there were better options. Not saying Delfino didn't outplay the other PF's at times but it wasn't a big margin of difference and certainly he hurt the team on defense and rebounding.

 

Agree, there have been both arguments from different perspective, but to constantly make out that Lin fans, who don't agree with you, are wrong is just wrong. Some Lin fans don't all agree either. I think a lot of the outrage was more that it happened in the Philippines, where Lin was marketed heavily. We've seen some come on here to voice their disappointment.

 

The dynamics of the 80's NBA finally explained! McHale was insecure in his Caucasian Carl Herrera identity and hence hated Delbricko. Insecurities developed due to the influence of Larry Bird, the Afro-American Magic? It's all crystal clear now. Thanks!



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As a thought exercise, let's say Casspi keeps up his ridiculous shooting percentage for the rest of the year, and works defensively at SF but not PF. Suddenly there is competition at Chandler Parsons slot. Parsons is pretty popular here... would clutchfans go full Lin on the arguing?

Not that this is a problem I wouldn't like to have, mind you... just like I don't mind having the problem that both Beverley and Lin are doing so well that people are arguing which should start. It is different than them both sucking and having the argument.

 

"go full Lin"? You mean accuse McHale of being pro-Israeli or what?

 

That number isn't with him at the 4.

 

I think that's where I see some unfairness, why is Parsons immune to having his spot challenge? He's not a star. He's a fan favorite on this site and people basically saying he's untouchable and if they make any changes it would be at the PG/PF spot. If he started playing bad and someone else plays well, will people start questioning his position, based on what been said on here, no they wouldn't. Is that fair?

 

delfino did played better than motiejunas and jones last year. yet, his min was limited due to his contract and age.

 

I highly doubt it.

The Brooks vs Lowry (and to some extent Lowry vs Dragic) had some of the most divided opinions, but not even those debates were half as bad as the ones with Lin. Where a mere pre-season game led to a complete meltdown that you would not otherwise see unless the Rockets lose a very crucial game.

Harden is pretty popular around here too, but if Lebron was on this team I doubt there would be a meltdown if McHale decided to use Harden as a Manu Ginobli.

 

He's not immune; there simply isn't anyone on the roster at his position who is as good as him. PG is the deepest position in the league, you are going to have more competition there if you are not an elite player.

 

mchale said it in the beginning of last season some of the min were given rather than earned.

 

Those seem like the good ol' days now.

I'm pretty sure I was always Lowry > Brooks, but I flip-flopped some on Lowry v Dragic.

As someone who is having Harden's face as my groom's cake, I can confirm that I would be OK with him taking the backseat to LeBron.

 

Bad example because Lebron is clearly better player. Lin and Bev is debatable.

 

Yeah, well, in real life we have such a gaping hole at PF we would just play one of them there anyway.