I may be the only guy who really liked what I saw last night. Yes, Jeremy struggled a bit in the first half but I thought he played great in the 2nd. It seemed like he initiated the offense about 90% in the 2nd half and did not turn it over once. He penetrated well, controlled the ball, and gave his team great shots on almost every possession. Not to mention, he really D'ed up Westbrook. You could see that Westbrook really wanted to take it to Jeremy but JLin defended him well and caused Westbrook to turn it over quite a bit.
Lets also put this into perspective. This was a competitive game as the starters for both were in until under 3 minutes. This wasn't getting blown out by 40 at Detroit, like Phoenix. This wasn't never being in the game from the first half like it was for Dallas at Chicago. This was on a back to back after flying in late from their coaches daughters funeral. This was without a starter and many feel, 2nd best player. This was against the Western Conference champs who were jacked to shut down their former teammate, James Hardin.
It was also very significant to see Jeremy play back to back, 38 then 41 minutes. Also, 18 assists to 6 TO's, 3-1 assist to turnover ratio in the last two games shows he is getting comfortable. I see the cup half full and I'm seeing progress.
Also, I wanted to touch on the PER. I think it's a very accurate measure of a player but remember it's an mainly an offensive statistic. That's why Rondo made the All-Star team with PER in the low 17's in 2010 and 2011. That's why JKidd has never had great PER numbers either. By the way here is the career PER's:
JLin 16.9,
Dragic 15.5
Lowry 16.1
Career Minutes:
Lin 1741
Dragic 5665
Lowry 9989
Let's put into perspective that JLin is in the infant stages of his career. Even though there are many already trying to label him a bust or lower his ceiling, he is a starter on a young team that is growing along with him. There are going to be more growing pains along the way but that's part of the process. I'm going to just appreciate that I can watch the only Asisan American playing in the NBA and I'm going to enjoy this ride.
i too thought j played well last night. he was relaxed, didn't force anything, and played good d on westbrook. he seems to be getting more comfortable and taking steps to getting where he wants to be, and that's consistent.
ReplyDeleteAgree, he'll keep getting better, smart folks don't get dumber, and he has a Harvard degree, one of the smartest guys on the floor. He'll be just fine. Win or lose, it's a blessing just watching him play. OKC game would have taken a miracle for Rockets to win, given the circumstances, yet at least part of the game they were still in it, this team has a lot of potential, I have faith in them.
ReplyDeleteHe's definitely getting closer, but my one concern is that his slow start has already "convinced" Sampson and/or McHale that Harden should be Kobe to his Derek Fisher.
ReplyDeleteDespite his "breakout" game against Toronto and Harden's icy shooting against OKC, Jeremy didn't handle the ball any more than he did earlier in the season. This simply can't last if the Rockets want to make the playoffs.
This isn't the Celtics where Rondo has 3 HOF jump shooters and a 4th great mid-range jump-shooter in Bass. This isn't Memphis with dominant bigs like Gasol and Randolph. Jeremy MUST be able to play his game. He must be the primary ball-handler, penetrate into the paint and take 20 shots per game. I don't meant 20 FGAs, I mean ~15 FGAs + 3-4 trips to the line.
I grudgingly understand why he's playing off the ball so much right now, but as he gets his "swag back" as Sampson said, that better change. Harden will thrive with Jeremy penetrating and getting him wide-open looks. He can run the point when Jeremy sits or when teams try to blitz Jeremy to get the ball out of his hands.
Thanks for the info. I like that Lin got to be the PG in the second half, distributing the ball, getting guys involved. He needs to take more than 7-8 shots a game though. He is not an elite passer like jkidd/Rondo, yes he's got really good court vision but he's not either of those guys. What makes him special is that he's a good PG that can score and it frustrating to see how passive he is when it comes to scoring. I know that he played yesterday's game based on what the defense gave him but at some point, I expected him to impose his will and make things happen when scrubs like D. Cook and role player "x" weren't making their shots.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Sampson thinks of Lin as the 3rd or worse scoring option on the team, tells me that Lin is going to have to work A LOT harder than Parsons to prove that he deserves more touches/plays called for him.
As the games go on, i'm realizing that it's not all on the coaches. Lin has opportunities to score but he's passing them up. How does he expect to get better if he's not putting himself out there and taking shots? I'd rather he take more shots than watch botched dunks/lay ups by Ppat/Asik or watching TD go 0-4 at the 3pt line.
That his career PER is much higher than PER for this season shows Lin is not being as effective for this season due to various reasons. I do not see the dynamite duo backcourt but rather Kobe/ Fisher combo, and at some point they will try to trade Lin next year. Scoring wise, Lin has become a 4th or 5th option. Most times he has the lowest points and highest assists.
ReplyDeletePER is strongly dependent on scoring and shooting percentage so Lin's low PER is understandable.
DeleteIn the earlier games, Lin has been the Fisher to Harden.
But in the last few games (3), his role has increased steadily.
Especially in the 2nd half, Lin actually was given a lot of opportunities to run the offense.
Noticed Sampson played him the most last night. Sampson actually played Lin more in the last 3 games. He now trusts Jeremy more as the games proceed.
His scoring against OKC wasn't as high as that of the Toronto game because OKC's interior defense is FAR SUPERIOR than the Raptors'. Moreover, the OKC were trapping the pnrs hard while you rarely see any trap done by the Raptors.
If OKC didn't trap the pnr, I guarantee that Lin would have taken more than 7 shots. Lin just took what the defense gave him. You could see a lot of opportunities for Patterson and Asik as indicated by their big scoring nights.
I actually prefer his style now than before. If this was last year, Lin would have forced his way out of that trap. That is very risky. Sometimes you're successful and sometimes you're not. That is one of the reasons for his high turnover rate last season. This season, he has learned to make quick passes to make the defense pay for trapping.
Give credit to the OKC big men because they were so good defensively that they were able to trap the guards while recovering to the frontcourt players of the Rockets. That takes athleticism and Length. Trapping pnrs was done by the Heat, Boston, and Mavs last season. Lin had many turnovers in those games because he was too inexperienced and he tried to force to score.
What Lin has improved on this year is his decision making. He had 3 tos in the OKC game. He now handles the traps better by not forcing to shoot or not forcing to drive against multiple defenders.
JLin's turnover rate has gone from 21.37% last year to 14.12% this season. [Hoopdata]
Delete@via
DeleteYes, even without any stats I can easily conclude that. That is an improvement of his decision making. Moreover, his less aggressive style (more traditional pg style) is really less risky than his ultra-aggressive style last season.
Neph, you seem to be correct that PER is higher for players who score, since I noticed PERs for Nash and Stockton, as well Dennis Rodman type of players, are not as high as I would have thought. But PER definitely reflects the offensive effectiveness. Also, according to www.basketball-reference.com numbers, one of the reasons why Lin's TOs went down is just because he gets less usage this season. Higher usage leads to higher TOs; lower usage leads to lower TOs. Therefore, TO number alone can be misleading.
DeleteI am thinking maybe Rockets should even let Machado play with Harden and see if Machado is a better fit. I would like to see Lin play more as the primary ball handler.
Because of Lin's knee recovery, his PER is not as high this season as it has been the previous two seasons.
DeleteI expect Lin's PER to naturally go back up, just like his health is naturally improving. It all depends on how well he can shoot jumpshots.
I do not think that Scott Machado is a good fit in the NBA for ANY purpose. He just doesn't have NBA athleticism, and thus he cannot provide net positives to the Rockets.
Personally I think Machado is nothing more than a 12th man D-league injury callup, the way most coaches still think of Jeremy Lin.
Regarding Machado, I would like to see Rockets try playing because you never know, just like I would like to see Rockets let Lin be the primary handler in several games to see what happens. I do think, however, Machado has a better handle than Lin.
DeleteHis low usage % this year is very telling. Lin is on the floor minutes wise, but usage wise, he's not even Robin to Harden's Batman; Rockets are having him play a loyal butler role. As goes Harden, Rockets will follow.
ReplyDeleteOn a bright side (depending on how patient you are) even Nash took 5 seasons before he became an effective player, so it may take Lin 2 more seasons to reach a PER level of 19 again (Linsanity level).
ReplyDeleteWhat Lin needs to improve on is his ballhandling ability. In my opinion, his ballhandling is average (or at least average for a point guard [standard]).
DeleteI would even say that Lin's passing ability is close to elite (if not yet there).
His flaws in ball handling forces him to pick up his dribble or lose the ball in tough situations. Alongside his inexperience of course.
I'm not sure if the Lin last season will be the Lin after a few years.
Lin last season
- basically was gonna drive no matter what. you cannot stop him from driving. He'll have at least 15 shots. He's gonna force his way through multiple defenders despite contact.
- As a Result, he was turnover prone.
- Lin was a combo guard last season
Lin this season
- He's one of the purest point guard (not one of the best pure point guards) - which means he'll pass to his teammates a lot of times.
- Not forcing his way through multiple defenders
- as a Result, his scoring and turnovers are down.
- Despite his low usage rate and the numerous point blank misses by his teammates, he has average more than 6 assists.
- If he can develop chemistry with his teammates and the coaches allow him at least 20% usage rate, then I expect him to average 9-10 assists easily.
- The problem will be his scoring due to his more conservative approach.
The difference of Lin last season and this season is worlds APART. It is a complete identity change. In the offseason, I said that Lin is not a pure point guard but a combo guard who is a score-first and pass-second pg. Now, I'm surprised that Lin has made a conscious effort to become a pure point guard. If he continues this, I do see him as a long term pure point guard.
So his ceiling was Tony Parker based from last season
To Jason Kidd based from this season (but of course his shooting has to improve)
I do agree with you and noticed also that his ball handling is unstable against good athletic team. And yes, his passing is very good. The question seems to be whether Lin is forced to play as he is dong because the coaches tell him to, or because he is unable to play any other way because other teams have caught on to better guard him?
Deleteeb5attorny, I thought of Ricky Rubio in answer to your thoughtful question.
DeleteIn Spain, Ricky Rubio was played off the ball because his shooting was even worse than Lin's was. For all of his passing ability, teams figured out how to play Rubio after a while. He averaged like 3 points for an ENTIRE SEASON, and that wasn't even in the NBA.
When Ricky Rubio came to the NBA, Rick Adelman unleashed him. However, Rubio still shoots worse than Lin and had really bad stretches of shooting. Even though Adelman plowed the ball into Rubio despite the bad shooting, it didn't really help Minnesota win more games and Rubio didn't really shoot any better.
The difference between Lin and Rubio is that Rubio has good form on his jump shot but doesn't have the elite athleticism to rise up over people or beat them off the dribble the way Lin does. Even with Lin limited by primarily his awful jump shooting form and secondarily his knee, Lin is still capable of dropping double figure points even on a bad day.
I believe that Lin with a proper jumpshot would be a top point guard with full confidence from the coaching staff. If I were Lin's coach, I'd be hesitant to plow the ball into him until he solved his shooting woes.
Yes, if Rubio could score, he would be a top 5 or 7 PG also. Just goes to show you how competitive NBA is. Before following Lin, I actually got excited to watch Rubio, but I gradually noticed that the guy cannot score, even when he tried. But Lin isn't even taking enough shots for me to say he's trying to score -- that's what frustrates me. I agree with you that the other team's big guys do "flash D" on Lin, as is expected, because they don't want to allow Lin to score easy points. I am frustrated that Lin is not adapting quickly to realize that the only way he can score a decent amount of points (I am talking about around 15 at least) is to resort to a variety of short jumpers, hesitation moves. Both Parker and Westwood do not just score by driving to the basket all the times, as you know. Lin is never going to be Ray Allen type of shooter. It's like Asik trying to make cute PG type of moves instead of taking the ball strong to the basket.
Deleteeb5attorney, you know I have historically agreed with you more than I've disagreed.
DeleteI'm just as frustrated as you at Lin's inability to "resort to a variety of short jumpers and hesitation moves". Lin is EXCELLENT at them when he attempts them.
While I'm OK with Lin racking up the assists against the doubleteams, I want to see Lin taking more of the shots you suggested. Lin's offseason training with Sparta and Doc Scheppler was supposed to address those issues, but Lin's REGRESSED on those things because of Doc's infatuation with shooting the 3 pointer!!!
I don't think Rubio has natural scoring capacity. I think he's an excellent defender and pass first creator, but he's the new age Ason Kidd. Lin, on the other hand, has the natural scoring touch and can still score in bunches if he's only single covered.
I have become more convinced that the rockets have planned from the beginning to gradually increase Jeremy's involvement. He may not end up being the go to guy, but I see the Rockets asking him to do more slashing and cutting.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that teammates are looking for Jeremy to cut to the basket from more positions on the floor (previously we saw the rare backdoor cut, but in the OKC game I saw a dive from top of key and teammates actually passed to Jeremy). I have also noticed particularly Harden giving the ball up to Jeremy on the fast break.
It seems like that the teammates knew Jeremy was recovering his strength and explosiveness. They justifiably made the decision not to put him in a difficult situation to finish over chase down blocks. They seemed to have been aware that Jeremy will have a difficult time finishing over defenders in those situations.
After that 'explosiveness' workout, Jeremy looks springier in the past two games than the previous ones. Perhaps it actually helped build strength, or perhaps it's partly psychological in that he had the strength there but just needed to recover confidence in trusting that knee. The result is he has been finishing a lot better around the rim and the teammates recognising this.
Overall, the teammates trust Jeremy to play PG more. It does not seem to me that the Rockets is persuaded that they need ball-dominant PG role in their system to succeed, Jeremy is noticeably more active in the recent games. There is a vast improvement over his role since the first week.
The thing is, he is already so good even with the ‘unpolished’ and newly developed aspects of his game. No matter what weakness, whether it be decision making to drive or back out, not jump passing, getting a tighter dribble going left, he is responding so well to the coaching. I for one can certainly see improvement in all these aspects. I am glad he is taking his time to develop the various parts of his game.
Of course some of these weaknesses are not really weaknesses at all, but simply the team getting comfortable with each other; you may call it team chemistry. For example, previously, Jeremy would be criticised for driving too deep with nowhere to go. I saw it as a problem of the teammates needing to respond by going to spots on the floor and making themselves available. If they do, they are often wide open. Jeremy has already done all the work as he manipulates and collapses it. Jeremy had “nowhere to go” because he will have already attracted two or maybe even three defenders with his drives. The teammates had to move to where Jeremy can pass it to them. The improvement in team chemistry is reflected in us seeing more Jeremy driving all the way to the basket and deep in the lanne, attracting multiple defenders, and then kicking out a wide open corner three! That’s the way I’d like to see a gifted PG like Jeremy play!
The limitation is with the other Rockets players’ skill sets. I feel Jeremy is more ready to lead the team than anyone else. He already has an impressive arsenal of moves and intelligence which enables him to lead. There are more he can develope, but the same applies to an even greater extent to most of the other Rockets.
All that said, I am with JLinfan#1 in that I’m just thankful I have a guy like Jeremy to cheer for!
Thanks for the information. I was very worry about Lin's stats because to most of people only look at his number. Frankly, it's too low to me. Rockets wants the number to go up more even they keep saying we will be patience...I hope he can start to take more shots and back to his level in NYK. I do see his D on RW was very good. He made big improvement on that.
Delete[For anyone interested]
ReplyDelete9-MAN [a streetball battle in the heart of Chinatown]
Liked
DeleteI am very concerned that Doc Scheppler is trying to REDUCE the arc on Lin's shot.
ReplyDeleteBecause I'm not privy to their coaching sessions, I don't know what Doc means by that. All I know is that Jeremy Lin's shot looks too flat and hard to me. Doc taught him a very unnatural herky jerky release that I don't think is what Lin needs.
I'd like to see Lin shoot a more relaxed jump shot in which he has a smoother side release. Also I'd like to see Lin master the 10-15 foot jumpshot that he absolutely needs to score big in the NBA.
I saw Ray Allen take that winning shot against Spurs yesterday. I am pretty sure that Ray's release is definitely quicker. A Spurs defender was running towards him but Ray released it so quickly and smoothly.
DeleteYou are right that Lin needs to take and master mid-range jumpers (I have been saying this also), because if Westbrook had to jack up 3 pointers, instead of shorter jumpers, he would suck also. This is why I say Lin's offensive game is currently lacking, because even if he cannot drive to the basket because other team's big men are waiting for him, he can pull up and take shorter jumpers.
Deleteeb5attorney, I agree with you completely.
DeleteRay Allen is one of the greatest NBA shooters of all time. He has incredible explosiveness and body control on his jump shot, and that's more his innate talent than his technique. I'm not sure if there has ever been a better NBA shooter than Ray Allen.
My prediction is that after a while, opponents are going to start flash guarding Lin with big men the instant he beats the perimeter man guarding him (which is like EVERY TIME he takes a dribble). Right now opponents are dedicating their big men toward stopping Lin's drive, but Lin has picked that apart from all angles with pinpoint passing.
When I write about "flash guarding", what I mean is that the helping big man will step into Lin's driving lane briefly to impede his path to the basket while allowing the perimeter guard to catch up from being beaten off the dribble. But instead of riding with Lin the way opponents have so far, that big man will immediately leave Lin to close down on whatever player Lin is intending to pass to.
The solution for this is for Lin to develop an array of midrange floaters and leaners that allow him to score when that big man leaves him. Lin is a marvelous off balance shooter, better than he is shooting Doc Scheppler's girly spastic standing jump shot. We've all seen Lin hit those floaters throughout his entire NBA career, so he's got it in him.
The other thing I advocated since January is for Lin to have a spin dribble pivot. Even against a solid big man screen, Lin could easily dribble away from both players and put up an unstoppable fallaway jumpshot. Also, Lin could use that pivot dribble to back his man down the way Magic Johnson used to. Not even a great athlete like Russell Westbrook could stop Lin from backing him down and either shooting over him or drawing a double team in the post.
My model for Lin is Magic Johnson. I want to see Lin master the midrange game the way Magic Johnson did.
Ha, ha, the only time you agreed with me completely. :)
DeleteBetter shooter than Ray Allen ?
DeleteLarry Bird, Reggie Miller, Steve Kerr to name a few.
Better shooter than Ray Allen ?
DeleteLarry Bird, Reggie Miller, Steve Kerr to name a few.
feltball, Ray Allen is the NBA's all time leading 3 point scorer.
DeleteHe has quite a few records to his name and has led the entire NBA in shooting a few times.
I'll put Ray Allen's historic shooting greatness against that of Bird or Miller (Allen just passed Miller in 3 pt shooting) and Kerr and any other player in NBA history.
Ray Allen has the most perfect looking shot I've ever seen. I can see no flaws. Everything is textbook.
DeleteRay Allen's shooting form:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPWtdEDUS80
@Khuang
DeleteI also think a euro-step would be the most effective to get around a defender in the paint. It's a lot easier and quicker than a spin move, because you'll be facing the basket the whole time and it will set you up for an easy layup.
Etymology, I don't think Jeremy Lin even NEEDS a Eurostep to beat ANY single perimeter defender. Lin's that quick and slick!
DeleteIt's the double team that concerns me.
The reason I want Lin to develop an old school back to the basket perimeter game is because when Lin gets into the midrange and he's facing two defenders, he can wall off one of the defenders with that half pivot while maintaining his dribble. Then Lin could shoot that turnaround jumper which he NEVER misses because he learned it from his dad.
Keep in mind that I am not advocating for Lin to try to spin around anybody. I'm actually hoping to see Lin turn, stick his butt into people, and muscle them into the paint to shoot a little turnaround jump shot.
I have also noticed a flattening in the arc on Lin's jumper.
DeleteAlso his release is pretty damn fast, faster than average. If you watch his 3's over Dirk and Marion in the Dallas game last year, he shot them quick right in their faces and the shots had a very high arc.
I really think there was ZERO reason to tinker with his shot which was working just fine.
Look what happened to Landry. He was a 50% and 40% from 3-point shooter and ruined his shot to the point he can't even make free throws anymore.
If it ain't broke don't fix it!
@Khuang
DeleteI agree with the back to the opponent, spin dribble, fall away jump shot concept. But that move is easier said than done. It's a very low percentage shot given the difficulty factor. Unless that becomes his go to move and masters it, I don't think it's smart for him to do if he can't make more than 50% of the shot. Also if we're talking about using that move on double & triple teams it's not a good idea as he will have a blindside to which one of the double team defender can take the ball from behind him where he naturally can't see as he's backing down a double team.
On the flip side, if he can make 50% of it and is going one on one then I'm all for it. But right now with his shooting arc issues, it's highly unlikely he's going to start trying to shoot fall away jumpers.
I disagree that he doesn't need a Euro Step because he's that quick and slick. Yes he's that quick and slick, but put a euro-step into the mix and he will be even deadlier. It will also help him from getting evade those charge calls that he gets for going straight up. Euro-step creates a better opportunity to finish, especially how the refs are calling less fouls this season. Even on double teams a euro-step can help create space between the two defenders.
Check out this clip on euro-step that NBA players use. Especially starting at 2:19 Ginobli utizing the euro-step to get multiple defenders off balance and guessing where he's going to take off for the layup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lk6-vgNGZM
I would rather have him just go hesitation move or cross-over then go for a pull up jumper or pull up fade away jumper like this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFv9Fvbjy64
The problem I saw the OKC game is that Coach change JLin out too soon.... and that happened many times... once TD gets it... the other team gain 10 more points.... the gap become too big to chase.... and the momentum are reversed.... this is different from D'antonia who always let Lin to stay for a long time to get the momentum going.... I know that will hurt Lin's physically... but that is the way for him to win... too often the Rocket's coach change him when things getting better or tight.... then things start to break down... there is only one exception which it the game win against Bulls.... but every other games that lost are because of this.... the Coach need to learn the meaning of "Momentum"
ReplyDeletejlinfan#1, did you mispell james harden's name on purpose or were trying to prove a point? Hardin... hard-in (i.e. can't make a shot).
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, give Lin a bit more time. After a full season of games, at least 82, he'll experience a full spectrum of what NBA teams can dish out and how other elite players defend or attack him and his team. He'll figure out what he needs to do under each circumstances and against each team and player. That experience will enable him to improvise as he plays on during the season and work on during the off season. Baring injury, Lin will recapture his magic in Linsanity II sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteLin is 24 and going on 25. I hope by then he's a far more mature individual than someone with a "I leave it to god" mindset. To be successful doing his thing in the NBA, he must believe in himself that he's playing for his team, his teammates, his coaches, team owner, his fans, and ultimately himself. He is not playing for god.
Furthermore, we all want Lin to succeed because we all love an underdog. But we fans too must be realistic in our expectations of Lin. We can only wish that whatever the outcome may be as long as Lin gives it his all, we should be happy and be proud of him. To be sure, the way we love him with the attention we give him is becoming a form of idolatry and in some ways, we are living a larger life through Lin.
Yes! Good post! I think he saying play for god not really meant like I am there to just play for god. Not sure how to clearly explain it. . It's this relationship he has with god that had help him keep moving. That had gave him faith, patience and will. To saying for god helps remind him the ultimate reason why he is there, I believe and I think this way it helps to relieve his frustration more than say playing for fans or whoever.
Delete@nephelauxatic
ReplyDeleteGood post. I agree. I've been saying that about his ball handling. I'm sure scouts see it too. The shooting woes are obvious but he's gotta improve his handles against on the ball pressure. He picks up his trouble when he can't drive past. He has no real crossover, shake and bake type move. Only when he has space. If they're not doing it already they should put a longer quick guard on him in practice to make him work on it (cook or harden). Hell he should watch some And1 tapes. Lol
And it seems like every other game he has an unforced dribbling turnover where he just loses it. Drives me crazy. I know what some of you'll say, but you know not all turnovers are equal
DeleteBelieve me, I see it too. If we see it, the opponents see it. The cold truth is that Lin's dribbling is not better than Harden's, so why the heck should they make Lin the primary dribbler? I forgot, maybe because Lin is more unselfish, maybe that's the reason. Maybe ultimately, Harden has to realize somethings that he's no MJ or Durant, so he has to play smarter and get more people involved. I would say Harden is not even Kobe in terms of getting off his shots because Kobe can almost always get off some decent shots AGAINST any defenders, whereas you put some strong defender or defenders on Harden, he is a TO machine.
DeleteI think from the coach's view, when Lin has the ball, he can distribute to all the other players except Harden. Harden's defenders are not leaving Harden most of the time when Lin has control or Douglus for that matters.
DeleteAt this stage, Harden is Rox's main guy. I can see why the coaches are giving Harden the ball at the start of the play to make sure he is involved in the play which unfortunately becomes ISO ball.
Unfortunately also with Lin's current shooting woes, his defenders have cheated off him to guard other players making the court not as spread out as how the coaches like it.
I think once Lin start getting his shooting touch again, this will be fine. I think for Rox to succeed, both Harden and Lin need to be at the top of their game.
I literally am nervous when he dribbles when his man applies pressure. He's fine in space, in transition, off picks, and when he drives past his guy after the catch or a fake. On the dribble though with pressure, not so much. He has no rock back, between the legs shake move. He's got to develop this. So he doesn't resort to picking up his dribble, so he can create his own shot, create for others and be agressive without ONLY resorting to driving all the way inside when he can drive. People talk about his needing to develop mid range game. I feel why he's struggling with that is his weak handle. I don't feel nervous when harden or Douglas is dribbling against pressure which is crazy when lin's a starting pg in this league!
DeleteLin needs to learn how to turn his back, put his butt into people, and shield the ball using his off hand.
DeleteA guy like Golden State coach Mark Jackson was way slower than Lin but protected his dribble with his body.
Almost all of the elite point guards do it. Chris Paul, J Will, even J Kid do it a lot. JLin must develop this simple skill to shield off defenders. Heck it's not that hard. I, myself, always use it when I have a quicker defender on me. With your other hand and butt to shield the defender off, there's no way the ball can be stolen.
DeleteYes, that must be right. Instead of letting guys reach in with impunity, JLin should protect his air space with his large frame and ‘butt’.
DeleteI don't share the others angst about JLin's dribbling. That is because I have seen much improvement in Lin's dribbling and especially careless dribbling errors.
For example, I have noticed improvement with body shielding in one specific situation. When he gets by his defender, he on occasion stops in the lane while keeping his dribble alive to survey how the defense and his teammates have responded. This is no different from last year.
However, last year he was prone to having the ball poked away from behind. In fact, even last season, he was already using his body to shield the defender. Last year, I was impressed by the strength in his stance. The weakness was that although players could not move him, they were able to get around him and reach in.
One difference I see this year is that he is putting more butt into the defender to create space when shielding. On top of that, he is also dribbling the ball more rapidly, keeping the ball lower, and further out to the side and in front of him. These keep ball out of reach from the defenders’ thieving hands.
The defender who is still riding on his back, trying to get around him, but failing to move him or knock him off balance; the guy is just so strong! With his improved dribbling this season, the defenders’ reaching has also limited effect in getting an effective steal, and still less effect in pressuring JLin into making a hurried and many times inevitably sub par decision. The improved JLin at that point has in effect sealed off his defender.
Add on top of that the hesitation shortening before he makes his move. That is attributed to teammates getting into position more quickly for the pass (a team chemistry point). This season, JLin is also more quickly realise when no plays are available around the paint (a decision making aspect). This is again an improvement from last year where he tends to wait a bit too long and lets a second defender to come pressure the ball.
His response when this situation crystallises has also improved. This season, instead of picking up his dribble, he is more likely to pass out to the perimeter or dribble back out himself.
A short mid range jumper would be potent in that situation, as he is dribbling back out. In fact, when the player is still on his back, he may attempt a mid range jump shot while still in that spot while jumping backwards at over aggressive defenders. I have seen veteran players draw fouls multiple times in the course of one game using this trick for creating contact (granted very often the foul calls in these situations fall in the category of phantom or superstar calls amusingly reserved for a select class called the NBA’s elite).
A related observation is his the new hesitation dribble that JLin has developed. I have seen JLin use this move to freeze defender in both fast break and half court situations.
It is because of plays like these that I am more excited than anxious about JLin’s dribbling. The improvement in these easily overlooked aspects of JLin’s progression makes up for disappointments I occasionally have in the relative lack of play making responsibilities.
I think Lin's dribbling is okay. He only looses the ball when he goes to fast & gets out of control. He doesn't look like he can dribble like other PGs because most PGs that we're used to seeing have a swag when they dribble.
DeleteHe doesn't need to dribble like CP3 to do what he needs to do. He gets stuck & picks up his dribble because his teammates don't know how to get to their spots when he penetrates or they don't come flash to the ball get themselves open.
I don't know what all the fuss is about. All PGs loose their dribble and create unforced TOs.
Lin's dribbling just doesn't look like a free flowing natural dribble. It seems more robotic and stiff. But that's fine. We're just not used seeing someone dribble like that in the NBA, especially not PGs.
Lin's not the only PG in the nba that is not flashy. Jose Calderon's dribble looks suspect to. But it's just the style and swag of how a person dribbles.
As a basketball player I was scolded for being to AND1 with my dribbling. It's actually more effective and less tiring to dribble fundamentally than do all the AND1 stuff.
I strongly believe the most effective way to master in dribbling is to always dribble low and have a mean crossover. But even then you don't need to do that. It's all about reading your defender and how he's guarding you. For example, if your defender foot stance is angled to where he's making you dribble left. It doesn't mean you have to go left, you can cross-over left to get him going left and make him think you're going left, then cross it back over to the right.
The only thing I have to say about Jlin's dribbling that needs improving is that when he is dribbling in front of someone he needs to dribble lower by bending his knees more and keep a constant low dribble bounce. Other than that his dribbling is fine.
Etymology, good to have some input from a person who actually played basketball. I am surprised that Lin doesn't cross over much when he dribbles; you would think he would since so many kids do that.
Delete@eb5attorney
DeleteYeah, I think Jlin's favorite go to move is when he's stationary in which he uses a jab step to get his defender moving one way, and then use his quick first step to get into the lane.
But you're right, he doesn't cross over too much. I'm not sure why. In my experience, the cross-over is a very deadly weapon. A lot of good PGs use it to create space and put defenders off balance. It's a move that will always keep your opponent guessing.
I used it a lot when I used to play and in my experience it's what created alot of space between me and a defender.
In addition, against faster smaller guards, it's good to know how to guard dribble a defender, so that you're always protecting the ball from potential steals. Here's a video of what I mean, except this kid needs to keep his head up and keep a stiff forearm elbow flex in front to use to keep his aggressive defender from getting too close to the ball:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tgSrB5Dy4U
(the dribbling is towards the end of the clip)
Lin has a NASTY crossover dribble when he wants to.
DeleteWhen Lin went at Pablo Prigione, Lin shook up Prigione badly.
More commonly, I see Lin using a cross body crossover to beay the perimeter double team. Lin crosses over from left to right, using his body to shield the helping big man defender from getting to Lin's now open teammate.
Yeah I've seen that NASTY crossover dribble that you're talking about, which should be part of his go to move all the time not just when he wants to. Allen Iverson utilized the cross-over move every time and got his defender off balance every single time for an easy drive to the lane.
DeleteA simple cross over will do, especially a cross-over between the legs make it very hard for opponents to steal the ball.
Rockets' offense set starts with passing the ball to the wing and the initial passer will run to the opposite corner waiting for the insurance outlet pass if someone drives to the basket. The second person will run a PnR or something. If no one take a shot or drive to the basket, the ball will work its way back to the initial passer. This is Jeremy's duty as the initiator.
ReplyDeleteIf the person, who should initiate the set, choose to keep the ball, the play breaks down until someone reset it with a different option. We see Harden keeps the ball very frequently, but occasionally he will run similar route like Jeremy.
I think Jeremy is being a good student that he is following the instruction to get things started and get everyone involve. However, I see the set being too predictable (even I can see it :-) ) and new offense strategy needs to be in placed.
Godspeed Jeremy!
Worse thing that happened to JLin -- Harden. Harden is a good player, but he is no leader. Part of the reason he came off the bench in OKC. Jlin would have played Jlin ball with Kmart.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time watching Harden jack up three's all the time...and Jlin waiting in the corner...AND no one looks for him. Nice job coaches...
If Harden wasn't on the team, do you think the Rocket's would have the record they do? I think they would have more losses. Would Jeremy Lin be scoring more if he was on a team with less talent? Yes. Would that bring him more prestige? NO!
DeleteWinning and prestige go hand and hand. Basketball is about WINNING. That's what it's about. If a team isn't winning it isn't relevant in the NBA. Sports is all about competition.
I also want to point out another thing: Jeremy Lin is a point guard. He's a facilitator. He isn't going to get 20 points a game. Indeed, getting 20 points a game would mean you're not getting out of him all that you can. I rather see him get 15 points and 10 assists.
As I heard someone once say... Jeremy doesn't need to score big, there are other great scorers on the team. And since this is the case, it only makes sense that Lin should facilitate with ridiculous effectiveness.
Harden, and Parsons are WAY above average scorers. And then you got Asik and Patterson who can score heavy too.
I'd like to see Lin hit more shots and be more active offensively, but I don't think you're ever going to see Linsanity numbers on a regular basis ever again as long as you got the kind of talent that you DO have on this team.
I think people understand what you are saying, but even for Lin to get 15 points, he has to take around 15 shots per game. That's not happening for various reasons. I think most people would be happy with 15 points and 8 assists.
DeleteI ll say we should try to work with what we have instead of thinking to work with what we don't have. I ll say give they more time. They ll figure out. They need to figure out eventually.
DeleteI think the Rockets are just fine with James Harden.
DeleteThe bad shots and turnovers Lin accumulated last year? Now they're Harden's fault. But because Harden isn't Asian, nobody other than us in this forum blame Harden for them!
I wrote here a few weeks ago that as Lin got his jump shot back and gained confidence, his role would increase. Indeed, he's handling the ball more and playing more minutes. The much anticipated benching of Lin for the underwhelming Douglas and D league Machado never happened.
The Rockets coaches are trying to get Lin to where he's a near equal partner of max contract Harden. Lin's adjusting very nicely and is improving.
The thing that could derail this is Lin's ongoing association with Doc Scheppler. I REALLY don't like Doc trying to make Lin's flat shot even flatter. If Lin learns his Doc lessons too well, it could be a seasonlong shooting slump for Lin that no amount of Rockets coaching can repair!!!
Jeremy Lin's jumper: Lin told me he's been working with Doc Sheppler, a shooting coach, to reduce the arc on his shots, which is unusual, as more often players need to increase their arc. Said Lin: "Like 80 percent of my shots are short, and he [Sheppler] thinks it's due to the high arc."
DeleteWhile I was there, I watched Lin in pregame warmups and could see his new stroke. The shot was flatter -- though it looked to me as if he was imparting a touch of sidespin -- and he was making it regularly. Come gametime against the Hornets, however, Lin went back to firing his high loopers. And indeed, he missed short, finishing 2-of-10 from the floor. (In his defense, it takes a while to learn, and then trust, a new shooting motion. It also takes courage to try to change it in-season.)
that's the link
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/chris_ballard/11/30/houston-rockets-jeremy-lin-james-harden-daryl-morey/index.html
quite scary to read. Let's hope everything will be ok ...
anyway he worked last year with jeremy, i think or at least i hope they know what they're tryin' to do
You guys gotta use your minds. A good arc is good for shooting: no doubt. However, has it ever dawned on anyone that you can have an arc that is TOOO high?
DeleteCome on guys... don't you think Doc Sheppler and Jeremy Lin know more about ideal shooting mechanics than we do? The notion that Doc Sheppler is giving Lin bad shooting advice and Lin is stupid enough to believe it is just, well... stupid.
KHuang.. Let me be the first on this board to say.. You don't know your ass from a hole in the wall. Watch the ball flight of most of the prolific shooters, dumass! Look at Ray Allen's 45 arc "know nothin, know it all" I swear you pull more BS outta your butt.
DeleteAnd,dude you must spend 2 hours of your day writing your posts... Getta life
SpotlessMind... It's not a new stroke... It's the same as last year. It's like a hitter looking at film and realizing a minor flaw. His arc was perfect when he's shooting well
When Jeremy trusts his shooting stroke and mechanics... It'll be raining 3's in Houston
DAMMIT! (I can write that because I'm not Christian)
DeleteSpotless mind, I disagree with Doc's assessment!
Doc's got Lin all corkscrewed. The sidespin is a result of Lin legs elevating in one direction and his hand going in another. Lin's short jumpshots is because he's not getting maximal lift due to Doc's fundamentally flawed footwork!
Lin's shot would work great if he were a girl playing in the WNBA. He'd probably be the Ray Allen of that league if he were "Jennifer Lin". But in the NBA, that fatally flawed jacknifing Cap'n Crunch T-rex jump shot of Doc's is going to RUIN his scoring!!!!
I keep saying that Lin needs to go back to the YMCA with his dad Gie Ming Lin and break out those old Larry Bird videotapes to relearn his jump shot form. Gie Ming Lin is no ballplayer or coach, but at least he taught Lin a proper NBA style 80s jumpshot the way the leading scorers of that era used to do. Lin will always default to that form because it's what suits his body, just like it suited Adrian Dantley's and Isiah Thomas's bodies!
Jumpah, I can't get mad at you because you haven't made it clear what you're criticizing me for.
DeleteI'm also OK with you and Bamboo Forest for calling me "stupid" for disagreeing with Doc Scheppler. I'm not offended by that.
Ray Allen has a beautiful side turned jump shot, exactly opposite of what Doc Scheppler is trying to teach Lin. He's got a high arc on his shot and releases the ball on the way up, set shot style. That's the way so many great NBA scorers do it. Lin could learn from watching that.
Jeremy Lin DOESN'T trust his shooting and mechanics. Indeed, he's trying to do it Doc's way and it's NOT WORKING. Lin should do it the way Ray Allen and Larry Bird and the way so many other NBA players have done it instead of shooting a GIRLY SHOT that would work great for a WNBA player!
I don't mind being flamed for criticizing Doc Scheppler's girly coaching of Lin. I cannot agree with Lin's UGLY jump shooting.
@Spotless mind
DeleteThank you so much for the link. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire article.
Random thought from the article: Is Morey implying that that RPD's are unattractive?
KHuang, Ray Allen has flawless shooting form and does not shoot like Larry Bird. I didn't call you stupid, but I do think your assessment and conclusion is absolutely stupid.
DeleteIf Jeremy didn't think Doc knew what he was talking about and if Jeremy didn't trust Doc, he wouldn't have hired him, right? Shooting mechanics are no secret. This is not something that is complex. You want around a 45 degree arc. Not too low, and NOT too high.
Jeremy Lin would never had hired Doc if Doc didn't know what he was talking about: I can assure you of this.
You're not being flamed... You're being called a clueless windbag when it comes to basketball. You just pull stuff out of your ass and expect people to buy it.
DeleteCorkscrewd. I think your brain is corkscrewd, dude! His shot looks just as it did last year, except his arc is high and he lost his confidence. Thus he's thinking too much when he shoots and that's not a good place to be as an athlete. In your sports experience have you ever had that problem?
Why did he cite Doc as the reason he shot so well last year after years of self-admitted subpar outside shooting in high school and college? Because he saw himself improve in that time. Didn't you read all the comments last year fromcoaches that said basically he was a different shooter from year to the next?
By the way, Setshot shooting is releasing while you jump, hose bag. Ray Allen does not shoot like that! Magic and Bird and Michael Cooper shot like that. Do you need an eye exam? Ray Allen STARTS his release on the way up.
Ray Allen's shot does NOT have a high arc! What are you watching?
Jumpah just called me a "brain corkscrewed clueless windbag hose bag who pulls stuff out of my butt and doesn't know a hole from my ass because I'm a dumass hose bag who needs an eye exam!"
DeleteStill, I can't really get mad at him despite his "colorful" description of me.
That's because I see his points about Lin even though he absolutely HATES MY GUTS. Plus, I expect to take the heat for disagreeing with Doc Scheppler's coaching methods.
Years ago, old NBA broadcasts featured NBA commentators calling guys like Bird and Magic "set shooters". While this is technically an incorrect term for a jump shot that is not released at the top of an arc, this is what TV commentators back then called it. I know I'm technically being incorrect by using the term the way those guys did, but I've had my brain corrupted from watching way too many decades of NBA basketball. And I still see Ray Allen shooting that kind of shot, just as Kevin Martin and other great shooters do. I'd like to see Lin "start his release on the way up", just like you suggested.
I accept that Lin cites Doc as the reason for his shooting. Yet Lin was a GOOD shooter in college as evidenced by his field goal percentage. People like to say that Lin's high 2 point FG% was strictly due to layups, but Lin hit shot after shot from the outside especially when the game was on the line. I do not agree with Lin that he was a bad shooter before he met Scheppler, and I certain do not agree that he was a better shooter last season. Other than Linsanity where Lin reverted to his old style jump shot, Lin's outside shooting has been BAD and getting WORSE since late last season.
Lin has become a great practice shooter, which is why coaches everywhere are raving about his shot. However, practice shooting and game shooting are not necessarily the same. It's one thing to hit shots in an empty gym, it's another to hit shots with NBA athletes defenders flying at people. Lin shoots better on the run and off balance because he can't collect himself IMPROPERLY for his twisted Doc trained jump shots.
Compared to guys like Alex English or World B Free or Patrick Ewing, Ray Allen's shot does not have a high arc. But Allen certainly has a high arc compared to flat shooters like Rajon Rondo or John Wall or Lin.
So why am I giggling despite Jumpah's description of me as a "hose bag" and Bamboo Forest calling my assessments of Doc "absolutely stupid"? Because I agree with their points that
1) Lin is "thinking too much when he shoots", which is what Doc's teaching was supposed to PREVENT
2) Lin has "lost his confidence", which should NEVER happen to a professionally coached shooter
3) Lin is shooting the same shot as last year, which is why he was so INCONSISTENT from outside then as he is now.
4) Doc knows what he's talking about - for amateur athletes which Lin started out as and was on the verge of becoming until he got his NBA chance due to Knick injuries.
I'm a Lin fan, but that doesn't mean that I agree with everything he does.
Until he starts shooting better percentages, I'm not going to endorse his training with Doc Scheppler no matter how what Jumpah and Bamboo Forest want to say about my "dumass" judgment.
Today's dose of linsanity:
ReplyDeleteLinsanity - Jeremy Lin @ OKC had "solid game", "step in right direction".
Sanity - ESPN: Jeremy Lin @ OKC..."least valuable player".
the same espn that told steph curry he had not the size to play NBA :D
DeleteToday's other dose of Linsanity:
DeleteLinsanity- people on this board who are very well educated basketball fans, watch jlin's games, etc.
Insanity- People who don't watch the games and just hate on Jlin in addition to someone who is arrogant enough to have the moniker "truthinbasketball"
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deletestep in right direction... in becoming derek "d-fish" fisher.
DeleteKhuang: I completely agree, Lin is defying the critics and playing basketball!
Stop flaming people, Glenn.
DeleteAll you want to do is flame Lin and his fans. You're just angry because Lin didn't play bad and give you and excuse to flame people here. You're even angrier because you're getting PUNKED by the Asians that you HATE!
Stop flaming people, racist.
Lin indeed is the "least valuable player" to all the other NBA franchises who refused to offer him a contract because of his Asian race.
truthinbasketball is looking to spin Lin negatively, but he's only ending up making Lin look GOOD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJwzyWSxF8g
ReplyDeleteFunny how they talk about asians and race but there's no asian representation. how the hell do they know what asian americans go through. These are "our" struggles, so please don't tell me what I go through as a asian american.
ReplyDeleteToday's extra dose of Linsanity
Linsanity - Comparing favorably Jeremy Lin to Ricky Rubio
Sanity
Rubio rookie season. Gained starting spot in a few games. Made Wolves instant playoff contenders. Regular on nba.com daily top-ten plays.
Lin rookie season. Battled for bench minutes with HOFer Acie Law. Lost battle. Became well known in d-league.
Rubio @ age 15. MVP of European U-16 championships, scores 51 points in final.
Lin @ age 15. Warms bench for divsion II high school. Scores 50 points on NBA2K
Rubio @ age 17. Starting PG on Gold medal game against US in front of 400million+ viewers. Assigned to guard Kobe. Gets team within four point in closing minutes. 2009 Euro basketball champion.
Lin @ age 17. PG for high school team in front of 80+ fans on a good day.
Rubio @ age 18. Projected and selected as top prospect on NBA draft even though he doesn't even want to play in the NBA. Has no problems with racism.
Lin @ 18. Can't get any college coach in America to return a call for a basketball scholarship. Blames racism. Four years later, can't get any GM in the NBA to call him back. Blames racism.
I could continue, but I would not want anyone to overdose.
Yeah, and Lin kicked Rubio's butt when they squared off.
DeleteRubio didn't score much against Lin, and Lin scored at will with Rubio on him.
Ricky Rubio has had much more favorable basketball situations than Lin. Because of that, Lin is far more advanced than Rubio as a player.
Actually what you just compare tell exactly what kind of treatment Lin is going through compare to Rubio. You see people make fun rubio's race? Not quite like people make fun of Lin. I seen it. Alright! And is Rubio the same as Lin? No. Of course has no problem with race because in people's eyes rubio looks more like " American" than Lin. They perceive Lin as a " Chinese" not an " American". You ll never get it straight. Cause you not Asian. N Rubio an asian? At least he doesn't look like one. You can go head with ur overdose.
DeleteIt does not make sense how would you want to compare Lin with Rubio since they are complete unrelated. Compare Lin with some one real Asian like Lin to me than I m willing to take ur overdose. Google yaomin, even with yaomin's signicanfant performance, the NBA makes fun of his race. Especially in that Miami game n shaq's race unfunny ching-chong stupid joke he thinks funny. However, Yao didn't take it seriously n actually back up him for his stupid joke.
DeleteAnd one more thing we don't make all things up to blame for racism ok?! It is what it is. It is what it is showing. We would love to stop blaming for racism, but that is how it had happened that is what are seeing right now. Just as much research you can pull out we can pull out more than you do. You might think it's annoying we keep bring up this issue, well let me Tell you we are more annoying Than you do to continuing seeing this happen in so called America!
DeleteLydia, truthinbasketball brought up Ricky Rubio to point out how Ricky Rubio as a white international guy gets treated more like a "real American" than an actual "real American" like Jeremy Lin who's considered a "fake American" or even more insultingly an "international player".
DeleteWhite immigrants get treated better in America than Asian Americans born in this country like Lin and myself. EVERYBODY knows that.
Still, it's neat to see the difference in far greater respect the NBA shows for Rubio even though Lin has WAY MORE GAME.
Its funny you should mention racism with rubio. I recall a spanish basketball team getting away with one hell of racist salute to Asians during the olympics. Not even a slap on the wrist. JLin would have invited them all to dinner to discuss religion and Khuang would let his racist friend rib him with his very own salute.
DeleteIt's NOT funny how you post here only to flame Lin and other Asians.
DeleteYou're the one with real racist problems, Glenn. You ain't even Asian.
Who are you to pass judgment on me and my friends, flameboy? Get your racist haterade OUTTA HERE, Glenn.
The Spanish team was CALLED OUT for their photo about slanted eyes.
DeleteIt was racist, OK. I also rolled my eyes at that picture, because I know what my nonwhite female Latin American friends would say about the horrible way they were treated in Spain.
People in America have done the slant eye thing to me to, and I don't even have slanted eyes. The last time people pulled that on me, they ended up playing for me on the basketball team that I captained! They tried to win games, but they didn't know when to pass and when to shoot!
I as an Asian American who's fought the race wars know the difference than a guy ribbing on me affectionately in an non politically correct way vs. a guy (more like woman) who's coming after me to stamp me out.
When guys like Glenn target me for racial reasons long enough, Asian Americans like me can discern their OVERT RACIAL HATRED OF ASIANS from the affectionate if still insulting stance of the Spanish National Team in making a racist joke that actually wasn't meant to degrade Asians as being weak and inferior.
Nemo...
DeleteBTW:
Deletehttp://static5.businessinsider.com/image/4f3bb7d1ecad040465000058/spanish-basketball-team-racist-picture.jpg
Lydia- agree with you, and like your passion. I think Khuang already spared us from overdosing from the invalidity of truthinbball's flimsy arguments. :D
ReplyDeletekhuang-thanks for putting an end to that so succinctly. Always been a big fan of your intelligent posts. :)
You're sort of welcome St Le, I think...
Deletetruthinbball was NOT trying to flame Lin.
Actually, truthinbball was trying to point out how racism against Asians in America has hurt Lin's basketball career. Ricky Rubio was truthinbball's example of how a white foreigner is unfairly treated better in America than an Asian American native born citizen.
I completely agree with truthinbbball, and you guys will too if you take note of how he EXPOSES the racism against Lin using Rubio as the counterexample.
I've actually added to truthinbball's argument by saying that despite all the damaging social racism Lin faces, he has evolved into a BETTER player than Ricky Rubio.
By the way, it's interesting to watch other All Stars. NONE of them have been targeted like Lin. Lin gets smacked around and reffed against in a racist way that no other NBA player has ever faced. And despite that, Lin is evolving into a SUPERSTAR.
Lin is steadily gaining ground. He'll become one of the best players in the NBA on a regular basis. He'll have to be, just to SURVIVE the league!
Khuang- maybe untruthinball is just a troll who set up an account today with that pompous name just to bait us, hehe.
Deleteoh we all know untruthinbbal is going as far as attacking JLin's character by suggesting that Lin's is somehow a whiner who uses the race card (that is not Lin's nature, we know that during the beginning hard times he had stoic acceptance of whatever her perceived God had planned for him, that no matter how unfair, it was somehow part of a greater lesson and plan)
For the record, I like Rubio alot. But there's no need for UNtruthibbal to suggest Rubio was more deserving and that Jeremy Lin is someone who easily uese race card blame cop-out
Khuang, you should be very welcome! i said i am a fan of your posts-the intelligent ones, i said. :D
Maybe he is a troll. And so what if he is?
DeleteTruthinbbball's post ended up EXPOSING Lin - as an unheralded race oppressed nobody who was SO GOOD that he outplayed a true international star like Ricky Rubio!!!
I'm a horrible baller with no game, but I'm "Jeremy Lin" in other fields unrelated to basketball. I've faced all the racism and opposition that Lin faced, only for longer periods of time because I'm old enough to be Lin's father. Every time I saw a decorated guy in my fields, I would take all that racial frustration and channel it inward so that I could deliver my best performances in comparison with those guys in a respectful way. Thus I completely understand what was probably going through Lin's mind as he was beating Ricky Rubio last season.
In life, some of us are handed gold and some of us are handed dung. Can we all see that those who handed gold aren't necessarily better off than those who were handed dung????
Lin has EVERY RIGHT to play the race card.
DeleteI defy anybody, particularly anti-Asian racists like Glenn and even truthinbball, to explain why Lin shouldn't be whining legitimately about being discriminated against.
I agree that Lin and anyone else in the world can protest and whine about discrimination and racism. Especially, for Lin it's obviously justified by what people are writing about him and how he's treated by other NBA players on the court.
DeleteAn observation...I like how Jeremy was supposedly a product of the "D'Antoni system" in which any PG can put up huge numbers, yet I see none of the scrub PGs on the Lakers doing much of anything even with a bunch of stars and hall of famers around them.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair to the current Lakers PGs, Kobe is now playing in the PG role in D'Antoni offense while the PGs are relegated to the wing position, much the way as Harden handling the ball and Lin standing in the corner.
DeleteD'Antoni even has Chris Duhon on the roster who had a career season when Duhon was the Knicks starting point guard.
DeleteWith this Lakers roster, Chris Duhon is not playing the same high usage role he was with the Knicks. So much for "D'Antoni the point guard savior" theory.
NBA coaches adjust to their players, not the other way around. Coaches who cannot do that get fired prematurely, sort of like D'Antoni in NY with Carmelo Anthony and Mike Brown with this Lakers team.
Thus I have been completely underwhelmed with the notion that Lin on the Lakers would somehow be a high usage guy that would take shots away from Bryant and Gasol and Howard and the other Lakers veterans.
I like Lin right where he is in Houston with his $25 million contract and 41 minutes last game!
got to give kelvin sampson some credit... at least he's seeing what we're seeing. this would work great I think.
ReplyDelete“In an ideal world, maybe we take (Harden) out in the first rotation so he can go back to being on the floor with our second unit,” said Sampson. “That’s something we’ve got to really look at is making sure we know who’s going to be on the floor. The other night it didn’t matter because we didn’t have our normal bench but if Chandler’s healthy and Carlos is healthy then I think … our bench can be an asset for us.
“Moving James out first and letting Jeremy play with Carlos and Chandler, then when we put Toney back in, Toney goes in with James – that’s something that we’re looking at. In running and coaching a team, you’re always looking at different ways of maximizing the strengths of who you have on the floor.”
http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/news-and-notes-chasing-rabbits
Lol I hope he's not saying reverse things and hinting at putting Jeremy in the 2nd unit because everyone knows that Harden will never come off the bench in Houston.
DeleteBecause he's basically saying that Douglas fits in more alongside Harden, while Jeremy not so much.
DeleteI see it more as a team scoring thing.
DeleteBoth Lin and Harden are going to play big minutes no matter what. Even benching Lin won't change that.
The goal is to yank Harden early in favor of Delfino. That allows Jeremy Lin to sustain the team's scoring while Harden is out. Then when Harden comes back, he gets to score alongside the 2nd unit while Lin sits.
Right now Lin is the one being yabked early to play with the 2nd unit. But Sampson is talking about reversing that with Harden being yanked early so that Lin can continue to play with the starters.
If this works out, Lin won't get cold sitting on the bench for long minutes.
I think the coaching staff still don't have full confidence in Jeremy's scoring ability, thus to think putting Parsons and Delfino, both superior scorers alongside him would be better than putting Lin with other inferior scoring bench players like Douglas.
Delete@Cara I disagree. Parsons and Delfino are not superior scorers. Both JLin and Harden are the best playmakers on the team. Taking JLin out early in the game for Douglas doesn't make sense because by the time JLin returns to the game Harden is already back in the game. Essentially the Rockets is not able to effectively use JLin's strengths. Taking Harden out early and allowing JLin to run the offense with Delfino is smart and a win-win. JLin can break down the defense with his penetration/playmaking and kick it out to Delfino and Parsons. If Harden was on the court with JLin, JLin becomes a spot up shooter with less handling of the ball. JLin is also in the midst of transitioning his shooting form so making him a spot shooter is premature. I thought McHale had staggered JLin and Harden's playing time appropriately until Sampson took over. In any case, taking Harden out first is the right thing to do.
DeleteI would like to see Rockets coaches try playing Lin as much as possible without Harden and see how this works out. But without Harden, Lin would need some good shooters to work with and be more effective.
DeleteI noticed a couple threads ago that @willydilly commended Lin for not helping out on defense in the post and instead chasing Lowry around. Unfortunately, this is most definitely not something that you'd want to cheer if you cared about the Rockets winning, rather than just Lin looking good. When Lin plays aggressive help defense, the Rockets are an amazingly efficient defensive team. Earlier this season, the Rockets were #5 in the NBA in defensive efficiency. Unfortunately, the Rockets coaching staff are mediocre, like most coaching staffs, and because Lin's man "burned" him a few times, he was punished with benching.
ReplyDeleteWelp, the Rockets got what they wanted. Lin is shutting down his man. He's not helping so much. And Houston's team defense has dropped all the way from #5 to somewhere in the middle of NBA team defenses. You see, when you're as athletic and smart a team defender as Lin, for every time your man burns you, you thwart total team scores from the opposing defense. That's just nuanced enough to understand that mediocre coaching staffs don't understand it. But there's a reason Lin had the #1 DRtg in d-league among all players. There's a reason Lin/Chandler had the #1 two man lineup DRtg on the Knicks last year, and 17th in the NBA.
Lin is capable of pairing with a top defensive center to create a top 5 rated defense. He did it last year and he was doing it this year.
Now, Lin is "locking his man down". And it's costing Houston games. Great work.
*...you thwart several team scores...
Delete@Michael Terry:
DeleteSeriously? What was my exact comment? Care to quote + tell me about the context in which I supposedly made the comment? Cause - I dont remember saying anything that would justify your critique. I usually dont bicker about little details like how close a man should stick to the man hes asigned to guard - I also dont like to play fortune teller - I dont feel the need to "enlithen others" by telling them "the truth" about basketball. Im not a nutjob. I do like to bash the Lin haters and trolls and guys with multiple screennames but thats another story ;)
Basketball - in my eyes - is something that is very dynamic - and thats what the player is supposed to be - dynamic. I do remember saying that I like JLins d and that he is way underrated when it comes to that. I also mentioned that I like the way he challenges shots (when he comes flying at his opponents or puts his hand in their faces).
YOU claim JLin should not stick to his man. OTHERS say thats exactly what he should do. JLin has the tendency to do both - chase his man around but he also likes to help. That again is when PEOPLE here say he gambles too much. Believe me - I usually stay out of this. If you feel the need to debate this -> debate it - and - debate it with those who care. Dont call me out or tell me how to behave as fan.
Honestly - what I think or hope or cheer for deos not have an effect on JLins performance. If you guys believe that JLin spends his nights reading our posts and trying to learn from it -> lol.
Other than you guys - I really dont have a static view on how he should play defense. Why? Because oponents are different, teams are different. What works on one team doesnt neccesarily work on another team. Hes smart, hes adaptive, he has a coach to tell him what to do. After all - Im a fan - not the coach - not a fellow NBA player - same goes for you guys here btw.
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ReplyDeleteLet's all agree--Lin had a great game tonight.
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