I have to give credit to Coach Keith Smart. I still think he should have played Jeremy more during the preseason. However, here are some positives:
1. Admitting he was wrong when putting JLin in then pulling him out after a few minutes during the preseason(How often does a Coach admit he is wrong? Never)
2. Giving JLin a chance by putting him in at the beginning of the 3rd against the Lakers this past weekend (Of course, the injury to Curry was the major factor)
3. Admitting again, and saying that Reggie Williams and Charlie Bell are not point guards.
On another note, I'm tired of all this complaining about people cheering for Jeremy Lin. If you saw him play against the Lakers, you realize why we should be cheering for him to get into the game. He is exactly what we need, someone who can play the point guard position. Yes, it is a little silly, cheering for him every time he touches the ball. However, once he is in the rotation and is playing regularly, not sporadically, that should wear off. The arena will just go crazy every time he makes a positive play, which will be often.
Who is complaining about the cheers? It is a little over the top and I agree that it will wear off.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't give coach Smart that much praise. He only let Lin play a few minutes in the preseason ... when the games didn't matter at all.
ReplyDeleteAnd now he's needs to play Lin for many minutes a game ... when each and every game is critical.
You can tell the coach was leaning too much on Ellis and Curry in the preseason. He even made Ellis play 50+ minutes against the Lakers in preseason. Just to prove a point ?
A good coach should never risk injury to his best players.
yeah but if the excessive cheering and scrutiny on his every touch of the ball is affecting his game (and I think it is) then we fans should consider toning it down for his sake, don't you think?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/warriors/detail?entry_id=76151
ReplyDelete"That's why it's so important for Lin to be able to come in and give us quality minutes at backup point guard until we can get healthy."
That's already enough pressure for a guy who regularly played in front of less than 1,000 people a game at Harvard. When you add 19,000 fans to that total, and seemingly all of them are cheering and charting your every move, it can break even someone as steely as Lin.
Oracle Arena fans have regularly chanted for Lin to play in the final minutes of games and roared his every touch if he entered, begging him to shoot. But you could see him pressing, like when he had three turnovers in a whirlwind minute against Sacramento.
"When I'm on the road, I don't feel like the spotlight is on me," Lin admitted.
He played free and easy in his first regular season road game. Lin had two points, three assists and four steals in 16 minutes against the Lakers on Sunday and was able to completely change the tempo of the game.
"When the crowd is not there with him, he is a little more relaxed," Smart said.
"He was kind of unfazed on the court, and there is no doubt that he plays hard and tries to make the right plays," Curry said. "There's a lot of pressure on him at home, with all of the applause for just checking into the game, so I'm sure that cranks his nerves up a little bit.
"You can tell on the road he plays a lot better, because he can just go out there, play and have fun."
According to NBA.com Warriors will be televised the following dates, times are Eastern Standard:
ReplyDelete(check your cable station for the actual channels)
Nov 8 Monday 7pm NBATV Toronto
Nov 13 Sat 8:30pm NBATV Mil
Nov 26 Fri 9:30pm Espn2 Memphis
Dec 2 Thu 10:30pm TNT Phoenix
Dec 10 Fri 10:30pm Espn Miami
Dec 25 Sat 10:30pm Espn Portland
Jan 30 Sun 10pm Espn Utah
I just did some fact checking against DirecTV (Philadelphia), my cable provider, and the Nov 8 game on NBATV shows some other teams than the Warriors. So, either NBA.com is wrong or DirecTV, or perhaps some last minute change in programming. So, take the schedule posted above with a grain of salt, and do double check your local programming.
ReplyDeleteDavid, get the NBA league pass and you can watch Lin's progress all the time
ReplyDeleteOr you can watch it al online via ATDHE.net
ReplyDeleteAfter all that, Reggie Williams has been the only backup PG tonight.
ReplyDeleteF Smart. Saying that Lin on the rise and instead play Bell and others. I just got so frustrated, I didn't even want to watch the dam game. If you want to groom him into backup play him instead of sitting in the bench.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't think anyone complains too much about the cheers as much as complaining about the accusations.
ReplyDeleteSeriously? People are going to call out Coach Smart??
When was the last time the Warriors started out the season 3-1?? You think Don Nelson would've been able to start out this season 3-1? Speaking of which, you think Jeremy Lin would've gotten ANY playing time under Don Nelson??
I honestly believe that Coach Smart will be balloted for Coach of the Year this season.
And people are calling him out for what?
Not because he makes poor CRITICAL decisions, but because he didn't give a minimum contract player enough minutes.. . during a preseason game??
Players on minimum contract usually get waived and sent to the D-league.
If you're going to call out a coach, at least base it off of good critical analysis.
I'm a HUGEEE Jeremy Lin fan, our families use to work with each other to make the basketball league SVBC, our older brothers played on the basketball team.
But Keith Smart is the best coach that the Warriors have seen in a VERY long time. If you're going to give him disrespect, at least base it off of good analysis on factors that MATTER. Preseason games don't matter.
Yes, he should've given Lin more playing time, bad mistake, he admitted it. But don't question his overall coaching ability based sherely off that.
Trust in Coach Smart that he'll be the one to develop Lin. Just look at Mickael Pietrus, Reggie Williams, Dorell Wright, Anthony Tolliver, along with all the other D-Leaguers on the Warriors:
http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/sierra/2010/08/09/mickael-pietrus-if-it-wasnt-for-keith-smart-id-be-in-europe-right-now/
Go Jlin! Go Warriors!
Not even one damn minute for Lin. I'm disappointed. How do you know if he can play if he never gets any minutes ? How will he learn anything without any experience on the court ?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, y'all need to type in a screen name instead of posting as "anonymous" all the time. Makes it look like they have something to hide.
ReplyDeleteYou want examples of bad coaching ? W's were up by 18 in the 3rd. Rodney Carney had a couple fo turnovers and forced some bad shots ... then the lead is down to 5. Smart didn't call a time out or replace Carney.
How about long stretches of the team taking nothing but jumpshots, not getting back in transition and allowing easy buckets ?
How else do you explain an opponent shooting 51% ? Normally if the other team shoots over 50% they usually win.
It was only through the hot shooting by Ellis that the Warriors won this game.
"Smart didn't call a time out or replace Carney."
ReplyDeleteYes, finally, a constructive argument of bad coaching.
However, that's really arguable since Carney did have one small stretch of doing well, and since W's definitely needed size on the court, Gadzuric wouldn't have been much of a better option. Lee and Beans need rest, they're not as conditioned as Monta.
Speaking of needing size on the court, it explains the "long stretches of the team taking nothing but jumpshots, not getting back in transition and allowing easy buckets."
Marc Gasol was destroying everyone, if it weren't for him getting in foul trouble. They kept trying to feed into the bigs, it wasn't working; even then, they kept trying, Lee was 4-16.
and How do I explain the "opponent shooting 51% ? Normally if the other team shoots over 50% they usually win."
EXACTLY!!! The opponent didn't win!!! What do you want me to explain? That Coach Smart is a good coach because Warriors should have lostt???
Only through Ellis hot shooting that Warriors won this game? That's like saying, "it was only because Chris Bosh grabbed rebounds, their team won the game."
Of course Ellis is a hot scorer, you make it sound like he's some role player who suddenly got hot. Remember the Laker game that W's lost last season? Or the Hawks game, or the Boston game that W's won?
Monta Ellis has always been the one pulling the Warriors through down the closing stretches.
Stephen Curry hasn't developed solid playing during closing minutes yet, it's always been Monta.
All the problems you pointed out with the Warriors have been problems that they've had for the past half-decade.
Consider this:
For the past half decade, the Warriors management transactions have only made them less talented:
They lost Richardson, Baron Davis, Al Harrington, Jamal Crawford, and Corey Maggette
Who did they pick up? Complete D-leaguers along with failed undeveloped careers- Anthony Tolliver, Reggie Williams, Dorell Wright.
They had a crappy regular season record for the past few years, and their roster only got less talented (Besides David Lee).
Yet, they are 3-1, and they were able to win this game WITHOUT Stephen Curry.
Is he seriously a bad coach??
O, one more thing.
ReplyDeleteActually, Vlac Rad could've played. So yes, he could've subbed Carney out.
Speaking of which, what other coach could make Vlad Rad play defense?!!
Being able to make Vlad Rad play defense should automatically make him coach of the year!
Vlad Rad led the game in blocks with 3 blocks!! He even blocked Thabeet!
So yes, he should've subbed Carney out for Vlad Rad, but no, he's still a good coach 'cause he did the impossible: make Vlad Rad play defense. Ask any Laker fan.
@RChao ...
ReplyDeleteMemphis doesn't usually shoot above 50%. There's a reason why they did that in this game, and it's because of poor transition defense leading to easy baskets. W's are allowing other teams to score 108 ppg, While only averaging 107 ppg themselves.
A good team should do more than just beat bad teams at home. The true test is to get wins against quality opponents on the road.
Yes, the Warriors are 3-1 but those 3 wins came at home against 2 non playoff teams and the Rockets coming off a back to back.
They can't rely only on hot shooting from Ellis and DWright to win games.
A good coach knows how to use his players effectively. Stop feeding the ball to David Lee to post up against Gasol and Odom. He's not a really lowpost threat. Lee is more of a pick and roll scorer. A good coach should know this and run more of those types of plays.
@Blackie Chan
ReplyDelete"W's are allowing other teams to score 108 ppg"
For the past two seasons, the W's have had the absolute WORST defense in the entire league as under Nellie ball- in which defense was against his religion.
It's annoying to repeat myself, but you're bringing up problems that have been in the Warriors for the past half decade.
You seriously can NOT blame Coach Smart for that.
Seeing how Vlad Rad actually played defense and they use to allow 112avg. points, this is an improvement- disregarding the Houston game.
"Lee is more of a pick and roll scorer. A good coach should know this and run more of those types of plays."
I don't know what game you were watching, but the only thing the Warriors EVER do is pick and roll score with Lee. It wasn't working, Lee was cold, he was missing close shots that he usually always makes.
"A good coach knows how to use his players effectively."
Seeing how ANY franchise in this league would consider half of the Warriors roster D-Leaguers, how can you say he's not using them effectively? Mostly all of them are even hot commodities in fantasy basketball statlines.
On paper, W's had less size, experience, and skill level than the Grizzlies, yet he was able to pull of a win.
And you still don't think Coach Smart was using them effectively?
Either you have something personal against Coach Smart, or you this is the first time in your entire life that you've heard of the Warriors. 'Cause all the problems you pointed out with the Warriors have been problems that they've had for the past half-decade and shouldn't be blamed on Coach Smart. In fact, they've been slight improvements. A quick look at their roster would make any franchise want to enter D-League if it weren't for Coach Smart's player development.
Either way, if you still think Coach Smart is such a bad coach, wutevs, so be it, I don't feel its necessary for me to repeat myself anymore.
Go Jlin, go Warriors!
I'm not a fan of Coach Smart, but given the small sample size of games that he's coached, it's really too early to say whether he's doing a good job or not with the W's and with Lin.
ReplyDeleteWe will probably know around end of the year if the team is a contender for the playoff or contender for the lottery.
And Jeremy will have grown some. He's good enough to guard the Lakers, good enough to guard Kobe, he should be able to stick around the NBA for a long time. So I wouldn't worry so much about the lack of playing time right now.
its a very long season, Lin will get plenty of run, he has a nice game, just what the warriors need a smart defensive guard that can drive, and once the outside shot comes around lookout!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, obviously you need to give rookies their preseason minutes to assess what you have, and it gets them ready for the regular season. Playing Curry and Ellis 40+ minutes in preseason when you already know what they can do is just plain dumb.. and now Curry is injured. What if you lose Curry or Ellis for the whole season? I'm not much of a Dubs fan so it doesn't matter to me much, but I'm just saying. Second, he said that he won't give into the crowd's pressure so he ends up giving Lin ZERO minutes at home vs. Grizzlies.. that's not even coaching. When they were up by 18 points, they needed to rest Ellis and they needed a good defensive effort from their substitute players. It was obvious that Ellis was getting a bit tired at the end and the Grizzlies were making their run. Had there been 2 more minutes to play, Dubs surely would lose.
ReplyDeleteyou think Smart did something so magical that turn Rad into some kind of defensive force? so now Smart should be the coach of the year for that? lmao! sometimes players are just in position to make a play, it was Rad's defensive moment no doubt. but i'm sure several games later he will be back to his old defensive liability self we all know and love.
ReplyDeleteHAHAha, yea, I know.
ReplyDeleteI was more playin around 'cause I thought it was hilarious. I mean, Vlad actually "tried" to play defense. Those blocks weren't just being "in position" they were hustle plays, since defensive rotation had miscommunication. After watching that.. . I seriously didn't know what to believe in life anymore. hahaha
But yea, I just seriously don't think Coach Smart deserve the disrespect that these blogreaders give him.
Sup guys, I hate to say it but Vlad stinks in defense and he is too slow in rotation in defense. He was also one of the reason why the Lakers lost the playoff because he cannot play defense. A guy that is 6'10 and cannot utilize his body to play defense just play stink. However, Vlad can shoot the three-pointers and make the mid-range. Other than that he just plain sucks in Defense and he is way overpaid. As for Coach Smart, I think he is a good coach and I gave up on the Warriors when they lost Baron Davis. Plus, I never liked Nelson because it is all offense, NO defense and not allowing the rookies to play to gain some experience. Smart favors their kind and looking at Lin as the minority. A good example is when Lin played for Paly won the state championship not one D1 college offered him a scholarship and the only school to offer him the scholarship was Harvard and Brown University. By the way, I was there most of the time at the NBA Summer League in Vegas. I said hello to Samhan (St. Mary) and did not realize Lin was on the same roster as Samhan. Yes I was with some friends who are Taiwanese and I looked at Lin. Thinking he looks familiar then next thing you know *Ding* he is also from the Bay Area. So yeah, I was rooting for Samhan and Lin we had floor seats. I enjoyed watching the game when Lin was going against John Wall. I spoke to Jim Bus (Lakers future owner) and Kevin McHale to keep an eye on you because you have the talent, love to hustle, you play smart, and way underrated coming out of high school. I will be rooting for you and Curry. -JA
ReplyDeleteLin proven he can play and now he needs more minutes to show he's great.
ReplyDelete