Ok, what did you guys see from Lin in tonight's game? What things did he do well and what could he improve on? What's your assessment of LIn after 11 games so far?
1. Don't help so much on defense, he's leaving 3-point shooters wide open. Even when he does go after the 7-foot big, he risks fouling them and sending them to the FT line ... "stick with your man".
2. Don't let Parsons handle the ball up the court, he's a turnover machine when he's running the break.
3. Don't be afraid to shoot the ball or drive for layups. It's the only way he'll get out of the slump.
I have no idea why Parsons keep on initiating the offense. He should focus on cutting and shooting. He has no business in trying to be the point guard.
Set better screens to open up the offense.
Lin had a good first half and a good third quarter. But was prematurely taken out of the game in the 3rd Q. He had a bad 4th quarter.
Compared to earlier games, Lin is running the offense more often. The problem is that he is too conservative in his penetrations.
since harden is sick the coach put parsons there.jlin bring up the ball half court pass it to harden/parson then he will wait/park in the elbow (coach/rockets game plan before).harden is sick didnt play in 2nd half,jlins turn to run the offense but the coach bench him :(
Good. Lin looked to score early. 1st half: 4-7, 10 points.
Bad. Lin finished the game 5-15, 13 points. Still missing from outside. Missed in close, too, short in the 2nd half.
Ugly. There is a coaching issue. We don't know if it's just Sampson/Lin, or if McHale is included. With Harden sick, Lin should have dominated the ball. But with echoes of the Blazers game OT, Lin was replaced at a key point of the game in the 3Q. Douglas didn't even play well. When Lin returned at the start of the 4Q, his head was not in the game. He played off the ball, even though he was the only point on the floor for the Rockets.
It's one thing to defer to the Rockets' max contract "star" (James Harden), but there's no way that JLin should be deferring to Chandler "Justin Bieber" Parsons when it comes to bringing the ball up the court and initiating the offense.
Lin has not been aggressive enough as a scorer. It's too predictable for him to come up court and automatically pass, which is what he has been doing.
Making Lin the first option off the pass won't work either since Lin will simply hand the ball off. Thus the Rockets coaches have designated Lin as the bailout guy after the 2nd or 3rd passes are made!
Plus, Lin is clearly frustrated. Lin takes that frustration out and attacks when he gets the ball. BRILLIANT STRATEGY.
I am now IN AWE of McHale and Sampson. Now I know why Les Alexander hired those two!
Believe me once his cherry are popped, Linsanity will be back. He's been living like a priest, i bet he's frustrated inside, unable to enjoy things that young people do. Sex is a basic human needs just like food and shelter, so if he's still human, he must be struggling with that.
Yap and that's what I thought too. Athletes need testosterone to perform and sex is a good part of testosterone production. Lin looks to me still a virgin.
But a christian like Lin considers pre-marital sex as sin
Oh man have you seen all those blond hot basketball groupies waiting at the team hotel's bar?
neph has split personalities and enjoyed seeing jeremy get punkd by rapist kobe and wacked in the head by ron artest. now he is back to spin doctor again.
This is not a place to talk about Lin's sex life. Let us just toss aside anything that has nothing to do with basketball.
@Glenn
I didn't enjoy those things. I only criticized people treating those fouls as the worst possible thing you could do. Those fouls happen to other players too. No need to overreact.
I hope for JLin's sake that he is not a devotee of Tim Tebow's "I will remain a virgin until marriage" dogma.
I know Lin had a girlfriend at Harvard and has been seen "chatting" with supermodels in New York and groupies... er, female basketball fans in Houston.
But just in case JLin needs a hookup, maybe he should hit up this lovely young woman:
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
When Lin is struggling with his weaknesses and relies on God, he can show to millions of people that God helps to who are faithful to him through tough times.
I don't know why you guys overreacted so much. Lin played okay, of course not Linsanity good we (unrealistically) expected. His shot is still broken but honestly it can't be expected to be fixed in short time. But even with the broken shot he still shot near 50% until the messy 4th quarter. He drove well and also got to run the offense more even before Harden going out. He no longer took (and missed) that corner 3 as much. I for one saw more positives than negatives in this game. Hey at least he scored in double figure again lol! Hopefully he can build on this. Next up is Chicago who is a superb defensive team. If Lin can score over 10 and even the Rockets lose, I will be satisfied.
I really liked that Lin was driving more. It is strange, it almost seemed like in the last two games the paint wasn't as crowded as before. Was that my imagination?
I think if he keeps on driving more of his layup will start to fall. No if only the folks he dished to could hang onto the ball and make a shot his stats and the games would look so different.
I do think Lin got tired in the 4th. The whole team looked tired.
But no excuses, Lin needs to make the most of his opportunities to control the ball and show he can lead this team.
Regarding Clutchfans dislike of Lin and Lin fans, I am not a Rockets or Clutchfans fan by any means, I rarely go there and I dislike some of their culture. But to be fair to them, they are a Rockets fan site, but there are some so called Lin fans (not majority, but there are some) there posting and acting like "Lin is too good for the Rockets", "Every Lin's bad performance is due to his incapable teammates", "Lin should go to the Lakers" bah bah bah. Even as a Lin fan, I found those people/comments irritating on a Lin site, let alone Rockets fans reading them on a Rockets site. We Lin fans don't need to become a Rockets fan but Rockets are Lin's employers after all, we should at least show a little respect to them. And since our and their interests are completely different, why the attempt to take over their site? If you are not a Rockets fan, just don't go there and join in those meaningless arguments.
"I don't care if the Rockets win or lose, I just want Lin to get big numbers".
See, in my opinion, this type of comment is completely okay on a Lin site but even I would find insulting and irritating on a Rockets site. It's also totally opposite to Lin's winning and team oriented attitude (which presumably are the qualities that attract us to become fans originally).
It's like who here would want to hear how great Harden or Carmelo is here at a Lin site?! I just think if Lin fans want to talk solely about Lin, go find a Lin site (like this one haha) instead of going to a Rockets site and then bitching the unfairness after. Peace.
i think it happens to all players, except a little sooner with lin and not exactly a super max contract but considering coming from league minimum. he is complacent and satisfied with his life. he is set for life financially and the 'miracle' linsanity last year where everyone embraced him can never be topped nor should it apparently. what is there to drive for since hes done it all. not saying he is playing not to his full efforts but why do i have to prove anything with harden out, lets set up other guys or get parsons going while i chip in here and there.
Last night, I saw Lin fighting and shoving through picks to stay with Mo Williams instead of going under them. It didn't look like he was complacent to me.
For those who are complaining, did you watch the game??? Cause from what I saw and especially in the 1st half is Lin is attacking the basket ferociously get buckets and fouls.. The reason he missed those lay ups and was getting blocked in the 2nd half is because he was tired???? Fatigue set in for sure and I want to see this Lin more in games where he is just beating his man off the dribble because his freaking teammates don't know how to set a screen...
I think that it will be this way for at least 10~20 games. Unless Asik can develop his shooting touch, Lin will not be able to get more from him. Let's look at this way, Asik may be in the same mode to find his offensive touch like Lin does. Until they have come to the same page, we may continue to see this "struggle". We are not really expecting the Rocket to be a contender, do we?
I still don't get why Lin's fans got so much to say about Lin's bad plays. It seems like they are waiting to see Lin fail so that they can bash him. Did any of you even watch the game? He was rolling until stupid coach benched him, and they put him back out towards the end when the game was out of reach. JLin's a streak player. If you disrupt his game, then he will just chill and let the other make plays. No doubt his shooting needs some adjustments but we all know that. Just let the kid play and see his development. You all should know by now that this is a different offensive system with iso Harden run the show. Lin will not have the opportunity to play Linsanity style of basketball on this Rox's offense. Not now and not later until they change Harden's role. So if you want to bash JLin, then go to CF forum. They are full of it.
Lots of so called "Lin fans" are still negatively affected by racist media bashing Lin.
For example, Deseret News just wrote a totally RACIST article about Lin's game in Utah. It blasts him for not getting high assists and "only" scoring 13 points.
Meanwhile a true foreigner like Asik scoring only 2 points is completely unmentioned while Harden scoring only 6 is given one paragraph of illness excuse.
People read this anti Lin racist garbage and get subconsciously affected by it. Only in America do Asian Americans get treated worse than white foreigners. It's racist, wrong, and despicable - and it poisons the way people look at Lin even on this site.
Shall we use the word "spoiled"? People tend to have the similar standard of one's previous performance. However, things changes all the time. The key word is "adapt". Lin has a new team now and new coaching staff. The reality is that Linsanity will never happen shortly( I hope that I am wrong). Yet, Lin constantly put amazing number in the other categories except shooting. Unfortunately, for some of the so called Lin's fan, they do not care. They just want the scoring number because that's more glaring number. They may not realize that a steal, a rebound, an assist is almost equivalent to scoring because it means your opponent can not put number on your team.
I don't usually read any of the reports other than Friedman's and Feigan's - don't really see the point. But I think it's perfectly fair to comment on Lin's weaknesses, even on his fansite, so long as it's fair.
Personally I think everyone has slightly elevated expectations of Lin, for various reasons. He didn't ask to be a representation of Asians in the media but the fact is, that is what he is. If you are Asian, like me and many others on this site, you feel personally invested in his game and feel let down when he doesn't live up to expectations. I know some of those expectations are far too high. But on the other hand, Lin has high expectations of himself as well.
There's definitely unrealistic expectations from the media and even so-called Lin fans who focus on his weakness so much than what his contribution to the team so far.
It's called "underachieving impossible expectations". It's like a kid who scored his A+ in his first test and everyone either expects he will make A+ for the rest of his life or expect he will be exposed for his cheating ways.
The most troublesome part is many "so-called Lin fans" here blame Lin for his shortcomings to not deliver their own expectations "Asian pride", "Asian fail", "tough love" while they have not done much compared to what Lin has accomplished.
"Tough love" minus the action of love (kind words, encouragement, patience, no self-seeking motives, etc.) = Abuse/Dictatorship
I agree, but think about it - say you are a B+ student but your mum continually tells people you are the best, the smartest, and you even go to his class and tell people that there is absolutely nothing wrong with my boy, that his teacher sucks, his classmates suck, his principal sucks and everyone is not doing enough to ensure that my special snowflake child is living up to his potential. It would be horribly embarrassing and nearly as bad as a parent who undermines a child's every achievement.
But of course Lin is not a child. He is an accomplished and very smart person. He knows he is a fantastic player, though not a perfect one. There was an interesting quote he gave NYT where he said something about how everyone treats him like he is a zero or a hundred when he is really something in between. I think when someone on this site says that Jeremy did a good job distributing the ball and played well but shouldn't overhelp on D, for example, it is not so much "tough love" as stating one's objective opinion on certain facets on Lin's game.
ah, the curse of the "self-esteem" movement in the US where all kids are praised for mediocre accomplishment to boost their confidence while they are protected from any failure because it will "hurt" their feelings.
Experienced parents would know that the balance is somewhat in between or leaning toward encouragement more than correction (i.e. 70% of time encouragement vs. 30% correction). The secret is the balance.
Good Lin's NYT quote that he's somewhere in between, let's face it. Lin has great potential but he is still a work-in-progress so we should support him with some great cheers (court vision, no-look assists) and constructive criticism to help him get better (i.e. man-to-man and help defense).
If anyone has any time, watch "Michael Jordan's MVP Youtube video" on defense on how he keeps his man in front of him. You won't regret it. In fact, Lin can benefit much from it.
There's a difference between criticism in good faith and criticism in bad faith.
In the first category are (hopefully) most fans of Lin, who do not criticizing him to trash him but because they want him to be the best, not just an average player and not just a backup.
In the latter category are some media types (Stephen A. Smith) and people in mainstream America, who criticize Lin because they want to see him fail--and get off on it in their own warped way.
I just don't get it. Don't the coaches realize that Toney Jones stinks? That he is a bad player? That he was ineffective as a PG even in college? Why is he even getting NBA minutes? If I were a coach, I would stagger Harden and Lin to make sure that Jones is NEVER on the floor. And that has the added bonus of resolving the Lin-Harden overlap by the way ... they would only be in the game at the same time about half the time and each be able to do their own thing.
Any coach, any rational human being, who looks at Toney Jones and says to himself "hmm, let me take Lin out and put Jones in because having Lin out and Jones in helps my team" is having serious problems with reality. Until the Rockets coaches resolve this problem with reality by realizing that Lin is a good player on both ends of the court (even when he isn't scoring he is a great passer) and Jones is a bad player on both ends of the court (he can't defend PGs because he isn't one, and even when he scores on offense the guy has terrible shot selection and it takes his teammates out of offensive rhythm, and forget about actually running the offense either) I really don't see the point of following this team. It is a waste of time. The frustration isn't worth the effort. I can deal with the Rockets being a bad - as in not particularly talented - team if they are being well coached. But a bad and poorly coached team?
Actually forget it. This benching Lin and playing Douglas goes beyond mere coaching. It isn't just bad coaching that would make someone yank a good, effective player after he has led a comeback and cut a large lead to 10 points halfway through the third quarter, and put in a terrible player that totally removes any chance of winning. Am I the only one who feels this way?
I think Lin being on 30+ minutes is quite reasonable, and since there's no other PG (other than Machado), Douglas has to play. It's not so much the fact that Douglas gets to play 10+ minutes, it's more the fact that the substitution patterns are pretty weird. You also want to build up chemistry between Harden and Lin in the long run anyway, so it's not a great idea to have them play separate minutes.
At least that is how I feel. I am okay with losses if it ends up making the team better in Year 3 (assuming Jeremy is still on it!)
While I'd like to see Lin play more in the 2nd half, he is already playing 30+ mpg.
I'm just not sure where the Rockets coaches can shift those minutes. They are VERY AWARE that Lin keeps the Rockets going, yet they don't want to force Lin to get injured from playing too many minutes.
What the Rockets coaches are hoping for is a 1st half like yesterday's where Lin played like an All Star. They want to see Lin do it in the 2nd half too. The goal is for Lin to play less minutes in the 1st half and more in the 2nd. So far, Lin has been coming around on schedule!
The Rockets are banging on Lin to improve because he has the capacity.
I also think TD stinks. It was so bad in the beginning I actually started to feel sorry for him (I mean, he's doing what he's supposed to do, I do believe he's doing his best, but he's sort of out of his league). I like him, just not as our back up point guard.
I really wish we had kept Shaun Livingston. He looked decent in the preseason. He has only 2 games with Washington, but his line already looks better than TD.
re: taking Lin out; would you prefer he be ridden like Secretariat? Everyone's got to rest at some point. There's only one other choice at PG.
I do hope you keep watching and stick around, though. BTW, are you the Unknown who is "new", or the "old" Unknown? Or... is it unknown?
The "old" Unknown is a total LIN FAN who has learned that we here can love Lin without hating on players of other ethnicities.
I also am not fond of Toney Douglas's game. Having seen him play now, I now realize that he's just not quite an NBA player. But the Rockets have no alternative at the reserve PG spot.
The original plan was for the Rockets to put Jeremy Lamb at both backup guard positions while interchanging with Lin and Kevin Martin. Douglas was insurance if one of those three got injured. But since Lamb and Martin are gone, Douglas has been forced to step in.
Getting a backup PG is nearly impossible. The choices are grim: fragile (Livingston), slow (Fisher), inefficient and injure (Arenas). The Rockets can only live with Douglas's shoddy production and hope that Lin keeps playing like he did in the 1st half!
fan, the short answer is Houston asked Harden to be the PG and ask Lin to be a 3PT shooter in the corner resulting in tougher shots for Harden who can't distribute the ball as well as Lin. Then Lin struggled shooting a spot up 3PT shots. Lin needs the ball in his hand to be an effective shooter.
Thanks, read your long blog post and it sounds logical. But why is Houston coaching team not getting it? Could you send your above blogspot directly to them?
I think they've started to let Lin be the PG most of the time starting in the Portland game (until they benched him in the OT). But Lin also needs to improve his shooting and not overhelp on defense so it won't give the coaching team a chance to question his defensive assignment to allow open 3PT shots. Defense knows he wants to strip/steal the ball so they're passing to the 3PT shooters consistently.
Yeah, I did tweet it to Morey and Jason Friedman (Houston beat reporter) but I'm sure they know about it already.
The Rockets are trying to FORCE Jeremy Lin to shoot the ball by making their primary scorer Harden pass it around where it often ends back up in Lin's hands.
Now I know how Kevin McHale beat Goran Dragic and Kyle Lowry into becoming super players, and I also know why both those guys HATED McHale!
I have to say that if McHale and Sampson don't actually buy into the win-now mindset that the Houston PR machine has been spouting, getting Lin and Harden to develop areas they are weaker at in game time situations is a pretty decent long term developmental scheme - assuming it doesn't shred their confidence permanently, of course. It would also explain their insistence on getting Parsons to handle the ball on the break (even though he is currently really bad at it) and continuously turning to Asik for scoring.
It might also be that they are idiots. Hard to say.
McHale is just trying to turn ALL of his guys into truly great players.
A great player maintains his production no matter what scheme is thrown at them on either end of the court. As much as possible, McHale is trying to get ALL of the Rockets to become solid players who cannot be stopped.
If Lin and Harden are so mentally weak that their confidence is shattered by this "tough love", then they didn't deserve to be stars. Great players can withstand any kind of adversity, and the Hardliners are learning some great lessons!
This game was somewhat a glimpse of Linsanity team ball when things are not clicking well in Lin's average shooting (although improving), his big men not finishing (Asik 2 pts) plus having lazy defense and weak rebounding (Patterson 1 rebound vs Terrence Jones 8 rebounds.
I thought Lin managed to get a good offensive flow in 2Q and had the momentum in early Q when Houston cut the lead to 60-70 but Sampson put Douglas in after Lin "allowed" Foye to make 3PT (60-73) because he overhelped on defense then fouled Mo in the next possession. But it killed the momentum. Sampson should put him back quickly after telling him not to overhelp on defense and trust his teammates.
I think the number one thing that Lin needs to do on defense is not overhelp on defense and leave his man open for 3PTs . If his big men are exposed because they're not boxing out, let it be known to the coaching staff. He's not doing his team a favor by overhelping on defense because his defense will "look" bad although he tried to cover for his teammates' ineptitude. And he's making Sampson bench him because he's giving up 3PTs too much.
Asik was completely gassed so it's hard to blame his offensive woes on him. Harden tried to give it all but became liability on defense in 2Q. Patterson didn't have any excuse to only get 1 rebound and needs to be replaced with Terrence Jones as a starter.
Sampson really didn't have good substitution pattern of not pulling Asik and Harden sooner earlier and pulling JLin too early in 3Q to kill the momentum.
Overall, I like how the offense started with high PnR with Asik giving the high screen to Lin giving him access to attack the basket or let his teammates to finish. Noone is quick enought to stop him from going to the basket most of the time.
This is how the system should be set up for young players by giving them definite roles and ask them to do it well. The whole-Parsons/Hardens/Lin-are-all-PG system just didn't work because it doesn't resemble any offensive rhythm, result in Parson's TOs, and tough shots for Harden.
oh, for Lin's shooting I thought it looks good when he shot that long 2 without hesitation. I don't like how he didn't shoot straight up when he missed the 3PTs. He was either moving forward or falling backward so I thought he was somewhat off-balance in his shooting form unlike the well-documented 38pts explosion against the Lakers a few months ago. It might be worth going back to see how different they look.
yeah, the problem with JLin running the offense is that he wants to keep the ball moving, but JHarden and companies never seem to pass the ball back once the ball left JLin's hands. Either they jack up contested shots or just swing the ball to other players not name Lin. It happened all the time. It's like JLin's playing team ball by himself. When he has the ball, he always look for the best shot possible on every single play. Either a drive and pass to open man or drive and finish or pull up for open jumper. But the moment he passed the ball to someone, the play came to a dead stop and a forced shot was inevitable because time was running out. I'm sure they watch all those games they played on tape. Don't the team recognize these problems?
Yeah, it's so frustrating to watch because we can see it clearly but the coaching team did not make the adjustment quickly at half-time like many teams would do.
It took them 6 games (Game 3-8) before they changed that in Game 9 against Portland.
Personally, I think Houston tries too hard to fit a square peg into a round hole by forcing young players to play their system where 3-4 people can bring up the ball and find open 3PT shooters. The problem is they don't have reliable big men on the offensive end so most 3PT shooters were well-contested, especially for Harden.
They should be flexible with their system to leverage Lin's strength to break down defenses, Harden's strength to score, work some plays to give the ball back to Harden to make the next plays, and ask other players to do their role well and know what they should do (rebound, box out, cut to the basket, Asik to dunk the ball or get fouls).
It's a young team but the coaching team is very slow to make in-game adjustments. Very frustrating too watch. Why do they keep doing the same thing when it's not working?
Completely agree with Psalm234's "Overhelp" comments. The Rox coaching staff penalize JLin's overhelping by benching him in key 4th quarter or OT. But the problem is that JLin keeps overhelping in the next game. Looks like JLin thinks he is doing the right thing and plays his hearts out as he plays for God .
Lin can actually play for God by being "shrewd" as Jesus calls Christians to do. Don't "over-help" a teammate who is not doing his job because his teammates will never learn to do his job and the coaches will get mad because Lin doesn't do his job of guarding his man.
In the overall scheme, he needs to be a leader by being accountable for his main job and keeping his teammates accountable for theirs. What good would it bring to try to help too much if he's not on the floor at the end of the game to helping his teammates when it matters most?
Watching him and TD of course anyone will say TD is better. TD helps WHEN HE CAN but he is always close and immediately goes back, though he can't get under and defend picks like Lin can.
Lin flat out turns his back on his man and is always quite a ways away to the point if whoever in the paint kicks the ball out Lin ends up following the ball and is few feet short, often on his weak side, and the 3ptr is uncontested.
This has been the case every game so far except for the 2nd outing against Portland's Lillard where he locked him down until well TD was called to defend him and Lin got benched, rest was history.
Is there a defensive coordinator? If so they need to get on Lin's case...Seems every SCORING point guards he's defended is putting up big points in treys, you can argue all you want, but he needs to help less.
There is another way of looking at how McHale and Sampson are handling Jeremy Lin.
By making Harden the primary passer, they are getting the ball OUT of Harden's hands into Lin's for the shot!!!
Lin's been playing hot potato with the ball since arriving in Houston, passing when he should passing and passing when he should be passing. Aside from a few aggressive blips, it's been a scared Lin who's afraid to shoot.
So what do McHale and Sampson do with their ball moving system? They basically say "Ok Jeremy, we're gonna MAKE YOU SHOOT by stationing you as the guy who receives the bailout pass. You better get yourself in position to catch that pass!"
As a result, Jeremy Lin is attacking and scoring his 12-13 ppg (not far off from Linsanity Round Two with Woodson's Knicks). He is starting to gain confidence, and the Rockets coaches are upping his touches.
I have to admit that I haven't been a Sampson fan. But now that I think about it, I've done a complete 180 and am CHEERING SAMPSON ON. There is no other way to FORCE Jeremy Lin to take shots!
There is one minor thing I disagree with Sampson on in handling Lin. When the Rockets face a big time scorer at the SG and SF positions, I recommend that Lin be put on those players. Then again, Lin does so much help defensively that it would likely take awag from the team defense.
I am developing a newfound respect for Kelvin Sampson. Now I know why the Rockets have him. He's the one FORCING Lin to shoot and score!
I see what you're saying about McHale system will force Jeremy to become better catch-and-shoot player, KHuang.
But the secret is in the balance. They shouldn't enforce this system 100% in the expense of rendering Harden's shooting and Lin's shooting ineffective plus killing any offensive rhythm w/ TOs and forced 3PTs leading to fastbreak by the other team.
In the past 3 games, I've seen more balance that both Lin and Harden are on top of the keys. Lin can decide to attack or pass back to Harden and he goes to the corner. So they trust Lin more to make this decision which is good. Now he needs to square up his shooting form and the big men need to finish his assists. It's hard to watch Asik not being able to finish strong. Perhaps they can pair Asik with Greg Smith together.
Also, now it's up to Lin to be disciplined in not leaving his man to help his team. It's hard to see him get burned by so many 3PT-ers. Someone needs to tell him he's not doing his team any over by overhelping on defense if he gets benched. Sadly, there is only 1 PG in Houston! They need to get veteran PG to help Lin in his development, too.
Psalm234, the offensive imbalance is exactly what the Rockets coaches are trying to AVOID!!!
Lin has been giving the ball up and not shooting. Even if the Rockets did exactly as you asked, it would still be the same story with Harden handling after Lin passes off!
McHale wants Lin to be an attacking point guard, not a passive turnstile point guard. The Rockets offense will not work at its best if Lin refuses to shoot. Thus McHale is FORCING Lin to attack in the hope that Lin attacks on EVERY play.
I see exactly what McHale and Sampson are doing from a coaching perspective. I am totally impressed because this is EXACTLY what Lin needs!!!
I think we're in agreement that currently Sampson wants Lin to be an attacking PG in the last 3 games (Game 9-11)
But it clearly did not happen in Game 3-8 after the first two games because Lin's Usage Rate dropped from 21% to 16% as Lin gave up the ball to Harden too soon.
I don't think this was Lin's choice but by mandate of McHale and Sampson as Lin alluded in the Lakers(?) post-interview video that via posted. That's why we didn't see Lin in the corner much in the past 3 games. He was mostly on the top of the key.
In my perspective, Sampson just changed to this strategy in the last 3 games after seeing how bad the team performed in Game 3-8. That's what I concluded from my analysis in the blog post. A bit late for my taste but better than never.
I'm not saying that he knows how to handle Lin or that his strategy is sound. But I do see how Lin can benefit.
No matter how the coaches deploy Lin, it's Lin's responsibility to attack and make plays. It doesn't even matter if the coaches really are trying to keep the ball away from Lin. ATTACK!!!
there is a much more simpler explanation for Jeremy's woes, called ROOKIE WALL.
even though he's no rookie, he might as well be given the amount of games he's played. there are more sophmores that have played more games than he has.
a lot of rookies who get hot in the beginning of the year eventually hit the rookie wall but eventually after they fight through it are able to shake it off.
here's a recount of Rubio's great start, and then his rookie wall:
Rubio had his rookie wall with the same team. Jeremy Lin changed teams and is adapting to a completely new role.
It would be a "rookie wall" if Jeremy Lin were playing with the same team and then suddenly opponents adjusted to him. That actually happened last year right when Carmelo Anthony came back and started tanking games. So Lin already had his "rookie wall" and overcame it with ease.
I am seeing a steady improvement in Lin's game. Even though Kelvin Sampson is running the game, Kevin McHale is still in charge of Lin. Under McHale, Lin is working on his weaknesses and steadily playing his way into more importance. It's very encouraging for me to see Lin being aggressive in the minutes he's given.
Lin's becoming a complete player. If he wants to be the best he can be, he HAS to go through this. There is no other way for Lin to become the player we know he can be.
Good point, Khuang. Lin has started working on improving his left hand, his decision-making, reduce TOs and defense but he definitely needs to work on becoming a consistent shooter and find the balance on man-to-man/team defense.
He has gone through many "walls" with coaching changes, defensive adjustment to him. Now he needs to break down "shooting woes" and "smart defense" walls.
I'm in agreement with your opinion on Kevin McHale. I like his no nonsense and motivational style of coaching. Lin will definitely be a complete player..rather than just 'attacking' basket which won't be good for his health and knee in the long term. It hurts seeing him being the target and falling with a thud..head kissing the floor. It's a good thing Morris was able to catch him during the game with Portland.
I don't know, some people fold and some people get stronger. I hope Lin is the latter. He IS improving albeit slowly, just have to hope he keeps it up and not become withdrawn/timid like what we saw 4q yesterday.
More I think about it tho I think Lin needs Sampson's singling out...He needs to stay strong and not become complacent. People might call it unfair but at least he is GETTING attention.
And in those 36 games, Jeremy Lin has faced all manner of defensive and offensive schemes targeted at him.
Lin right now is the best defensive PG in the entire NBA, as far as stats go. No rookie wall there.
The scoring will come around once he gets used to McHale and Sampson's forcefeeding him with "must take" shots.
Lin is GROWING. His learning curve is excellent. The Rockets coaches have kept him out of injury and have played him 30+ mpg despite Lin's learning experiences. At any time, Lin will go "AHA!" and the NBA game will open right up for him!
I think a lot of Lin's fans got used to Linsanity style of basketball. So when Lin didn't play like his fan's expectation, they started to lose confidence in him, posting all sorts of negative comments. True Lin's fans see what's Lin's capable of doing on the basketball court, and at the same time they want to see Lin develop into a complete player. You rarely see these fans bashed on Lin's games. As I've said before, let the kid play and watch him grow. What's the point of feeding this fansite with all the negative comments. Let's stop it right there and talk basketball instead.
I'm NOT trying to spin Jeremy Lin. I'm just trying to see what's really going on.
I'm no optimist when it comes to Lin's shooting. I'm terrified that his horrible technique will continue to derail the ambitious plans the Rockets coaches have for him.
I LOVE Lin's game other tha his shooting. He couldn't have ended up on a better team than Houston to work on his shot. Even with Lin's shooting, there are signs that he's coming around there too.
Rockets really need at least one veteran leader on the team. i'd actually love to see Jeremy being backed up by an older veteran PG with some rings and trade Douglass away. Derek Fisher comes to mind but i think any veteran would do.
Setting aside a veteran PG presence (I agree Lin lost out on a special mentorship opportunity with Kidd when the Knicks didn't match), the closest the Rockets have to a veteran influence is Delfino, who's at least a G/F. It doesn't seem like Delfino takes the same approach in the NBA that he takes for Team Argentina, though.
It would have helped Lin if the Rockets had held onto Scola.
The coaches need to stop asking him to hand the ball off so frequently. Jeremy will attack if that's what the coaches wish, but the coaches are asking Jeremy to play off ball too much.
The positive is that the coaches are starting to realise that they need to change Jeremy's role. They have responded, and Jeremy being the buy-in guy to what coaches demand has also played accordingly by being more aggressive and being more willing to take control.
There is some bad blood with Fish and the Rox. He would never do it. When he was traded to the Rockets last season, he wouldn't even show up and had his contract bought out leaving money on the table.
I have seen more negative comments about Lin in this board recently that makes me sick. I remember in Laker game, people were complaining Lin was not aggressive enough, no layup, etc. In Jazz's game, I think he has improved a lot with 15 attempts including many layup, but those people again then complaining that his rate is only 5/15.... come on, he is already score #2 last night, and he should have gain more should the stupid coach did not sit him when he was red hot.
Besides, do not forget basketball is a team, not Lin play himself. So when some people complaining Lin does not have leadership, we need to ask does the coach want Lin to be the leader? If the coach does not want that, his teammates does not coorporate, how can Lin play like a leader?
I think Lin has made good progress, but the stupid coach must go first. Last night, when Lin and Pat were red hot and catch up to 10 points, the coach called TO and sit both!! Pat was never allowed to go up again. I really have no idea what kind of strategy this coach has in mind.
The coaches are trying to spread ahots around so that the guys who are not in rhythm get the chance to shoot themselves into rhythm!
However, there's a dangerously fine line between giving everybody a chance and artificially stopping a hot hand. The general rule in the NBA is that you ride the hot hand, but Sampson is an inexperienced NBA coach despite having what appears to me a BRILLIANT basketball mind!
Just because he had #2 high score in the team doesn't mean he is shooting well. He is shooting like crap.
Yes we all know coaching is a problem, but its not the ONLY problem. Lin himself is way underperforming in the offensive department.
Leadership or not, he shouldn't be consistently missing open looks. If you would take off your Linsanity glasses for a moment, and look at his shot chart, you'd see he is missing at every range, and he cannot sustain layups/drives, he tends to do ok first half then it all goes to crap in 2nd half.
I honestly think his conditioning is still way off...He has lost weight, and lost power...Its one of the reasons he keeps air balling or bricking on the rim after 1st half, he lacks stamina. He needs to find a better trainer or maybe even therapist...Its too bad he isn't with Phoenix, they'd take good care of him.
Kobe wasn't dissing him, because he remembers a much tougher Lin last year. That's why he said "there ain't need for floppin' we're all grown a$$ man" and his "he's too little for me" comment, because the old Lin wouldn't have been knocked on his behind.
The mwre fact that Kobe CARES indicates that Lin has great potential.
Kobe will trashtalk opponents whose games he likes. When he plays Gordon Hayward of Utah, those two throw cheap shots and curses all game long. Then Kobe praises Hatward afterwards.
Lin seems to be doing better with standing up to intimidation. I still think he'd have benefited from a summer of Trash Talking 101 from the guy whose game most resembled Lin's, Micheal Ray Richardson. But I hope Kobe can teach Lin a thing or two about intimidation.
Totally agree KHuang: Lin needs that intimidation factor.
Forgot where it came from but my wife told me she read some snippet about what Kobe said about Lin's game after the loss to Lakers, Kobe said something to the point of: "I think Lin is a good player, he just needs to start making baskets is all".
Well thanks to Nemo's clairvoyant posts (semi-sarcasm), I will be ending my Jlin.net comment posting career. There are many others here who will carry on, and it was great there were other voices of reason who saw what I did long before Linsanity happened and will see the same obvious things I do long after Linsanity has passed. Hopefully by then, Lin will have figured out his abilities by then and become a decent consistent player. And if he can do better than that, awesome.
Nemo, even if Lin is a scam, Linsanity happened and it has helped propel both Asians and Asian Americans forward within mainstream culture. He has given the next generation of ethnic minorities and underdogs hope that they too can overcome even if he flames out as a complete scam for the rest of his career. Nobody can ever take that away.
Jlin is a great story, and I'll stay on top of it time to time, but like Nemo says, we all have our own lives to live and we need to stop our Devil-Worship of Jlin :P
Nemo, while I agree that fandom can easily turn to idol worship if it consumes our life, I'd have to disagree with the assertion that JLin sold his soul to the devil for money.
You'd have to show the corrupted character on his part to be selfish, womanizing, demeaning, domineering attitude of one who is only there to glorify himself.
Didn't he go to Asia to spread testimony about what God has done for him?
And while it is true there were many hate and conflicts in this board (which comes from our sinful nature, BTW) or in the world, you can help to make a difference to show how God works in JLin's life through his struggles, not to slander him of of selling his soul to the devil.
And nevertheless, I do agree it's a good advice not to worship JLin and abandon your family and your God :)
Gotta admit, Nemo did predict Lin would have a stand-out disappointing game. And the Jazz game did stand out, not for Lin's scoring drop-off from the 1st to 2nd half, but for Lin not taking over the ball and the game for the Rockets after Harden didn't return.
Cook needing to wave Lin over to take the ball from Cook was a bad image.
I am going to keep saying it over again, yet people here just don't see it even though its in plain sight.
Jeremy Lin is purposely playing horrible because that is part of the Devil's plan to destroy all the believers of Linsanity, limiting them to feeling sad, suicidal, hateful towards others especially their own race. Most of Jeremy' fans are Asian descent, and I hate to see these people attack each other after seeing Jeremy "Fail" by design.
These innocent people will start to question themselves and their race and start to have suicidal thoughts, which is what the Devil wanted.
ALl the cringe-worthy plays like the Cook play you mentioned was designed to destroy your soul, hence the cringe...
To those who don't believe me.... Keep "believin'" and suffer your fate under the grips of the devil.
The answer: Do something else. Go out, find love + create romance with someone you connect with, do something for your community, helpe people in need of direction or support, and also like I enjoy doing, educate people on the internet just like people here on Jeremylin.net, on whats REALLY going on. I liked Jeremy before his deal with the devil, and I like you all because I was a big fan too, but now is a time to help you all who cannot see this Satanic trap where Jeremy is used as a puppet to carry out the Devil's message by recruiting innocent people like everyone here and turning them to work for the Devil
I apologize to others if this response to Nemo is a bit long but I believe Nemo is well-intentioned but mistaken about JLin working with the devil so please bear with me just this once.
Nemo,
I understand your good intention that people and JLin fans should not tie their happiness or joy to the outcome of whether JLin plays well or not because that is the definition of making something or someone an idol to control your emotional well-being and happiness. I agree. I wouldn't be so up or down if he plays well or not. I would pray that God will bless him and even manage to use his struggle to encourage other people that when life gets tough and critics are abound to see you fail, God is faithful and be the true source of strength. After all, it's only a basketball game. And JLin has no control if people wants to make him an idol to worship and control their happiness based on his performance.
What JLin and other Christian athletes such as David Robinson, Kurt Warner, Tim Tebow did to help poor children with education, basketball clinics, charity work, bring hope and good news to people in prison, and inspire other people with life struggle because God wants them to share His love have more eternal values than multiple NBA championships or $100M money because they make a lasting impact in other people's life.
But that being said, I am concerned that you mistakenly think "JLin made a deal with the devil" or "the Devil used JLin as a puppet" because you also felt the demonic spirit while watching Houston's first game. Please also consider that you can be misled by the Devil in this matter. One way to know the truth would be to pray and consult the Scripture: 1. Jesus is Accused of Working for the Devil Matthew 12:22-37 JLin is not Jesus but Jesus was once accused of working for the Devil to heal people and bring them to God. His strongest argument is will the Devil give the power to undo his evil work? Of course not. Unless there is proof that JLin is misleading people away from God, please do not slander him.
2. Are there proof that JLin a wolf in sheep clothing to mislead people according to the Scripture? Don't base this opinion based on your own thinking and feeling but test them against the Scripture. Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing: 5 Tips to Identify One
The main test is whether or not one's life has good fruits or bad fruits. Matthew 7:16-20 "You will recognize them by their fruits. .." Does JLin have the works of the flesh below to indicate that he is controlled by the Devil? Or the fruit of the Spirit indicating he still walks with God? Galatians 5:19-25 "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."
So while I agree with your point that people should not make JLin's performance to be their idol and control their happiness, I disagree with your thought that JLin sold his soul to the devil based on the Scripture test. I hope and pray that you also consider that your thinking could be mistaken and misled. I will just post this once to be fair with others since this is a basketball forum but I know you're a long time JLin fan so I thought I post something for your food of thought and your prayers.
Freedom of speech does not include spreading lies about someone that aren't true and damaging to someone's public reputation. That's considered slander, and it's against the law.
Also it is Hate speech to attack someone's race or religion.
On daily bases B/R, The Dream Shake, Clutchfans, etc. will have couple Lin bashing articles. None stop bashing. When Jeremy complete this season, and he will, he will be a much much better player. One thing for certain is that he will be so much tougher mentally.
Even on this site for Lin fans, I see Lin bashing. On this site, we supported Lin even when he was a nobody and nowhere on NBA's radar. We supported Lin when he was in & out of D league. We supported Lin because of who he is and what he believes in. We are connected to him because of our identification with his struggles; thus, we also cheered loudly when he triumphs.
Linsanity was never just about basketball. It was the transcending spirit that many of us see Lin in us and see us in Lin.
As a basketball fan there are many thing I hope Lin can improve on; however, as his fan I am satisfied that he is not giving-up and he is working hard everyday and in every game.
can't agree more!!!!!! Over 100% agreement! Exactly how we truly lin fans feel! The others they don't understand. They thought we support him just in his good times, we support him because of linsanity! And they want us to bashing on jlin like the way they did. NO. It is something that we see beyong jlin's basketball skills that make us supporting him all the way!For some, they just never understand!
I am a fan of Jeremy Lin the player. I cheer for him in good times and bad. I've been watching his games on internet video since his junior year at Harvard.
JLin has experienced struggles throughout his career. At Harvard he had trouble against the good Ivy league teams like Cornell and Princeton. He went undrafted, and most people thought that was the end of him. He was benched for most of his days with the Warriors and the Knicks... we all thought that was the end of his career ... it was only the beginning.
So people who think this is the lowest point in his career have no idea. We've been through this before. Most bandwagon Linsanity fans have no idea how bad it was before Linsanity.
While I agree that Lin's progression has been delayed or held back, this is the 1st time where he's taken a step backwards.
Should Stanford have taken him off his "dream come true" senior season for Palo Alto HS? Yes, but he still played for a D1 team at Harvard that he led, where he won acclaim.
Should Lin have been drafted? Yes, but he still earned a summer league invite from the Mavs (who were auditioning combo guards to pair with Kidd) and won a guaranteed contract with an NBA team.
Should the Warriors have given Lin the same chance to break into their rotation that the Knicks gave him? Yes, but Lin at least established himself as a fringe NBA player with enough status to be picked up by two subsequent NBA teams.
After establishing himself as the Knick starting PG, should the Knicks have matched the 25/3 Rockets offer and returned Lin to where he was best set up for success? Yes, but Lin still joined another NBA team committed to him for 25/3 where it looked like he would be the team's centerpiece or at least, if a bigger star was later added, master of the ball as the Rockets PG.
At every step before now, Lin has moved forward. Then the Rockets traded for Harden, made him their master of the ball, and took away Lin's role. That's never happened to Lin before. When Woodson replaced D'Antoni as Knicks coach, Lin's role changed with the system, but he kept control of the ball and his role as Knicks PG.
Lin knew exactly what he was supposed to do as the Knicks PG last season. This season, Lin doesn't look like he's clear on what what he's supposed to be doing for the Rockets. The confusion of the Jazz game made clear, following the Blazers OT benching, that the Rockets coaches haven't yet figured out Lin's new role after the Harden trade.
"this is the 1st time where he's taken a step backwards."
Agreed.
"At every step before now, Lin has moved forward. Then the Rockets traded for Harden, made him their master of the ball, and took away Lin's role. That's never happened to Lin before."
Now we have a disconnect. Taking away Lin's role as primary ballhandler does not necessarily mean he takes a step backward. The burden is on Lin to adjust to whatever new role he has. Agreed, it's not clearly defined. So go out and define it. Sets get broken up all the time; it's not like the opportunity to create is nonexistent.
Lin may not have the same frequency of opportunities as in the past, but the fact remains that of the opportunities he has had (to recreate what he did last spring) he has squandered them. Most glaring, of course, is the shooting, but it's become more apparent in most aspects of his game.
A couple of weeks ago I called it a problem with confidence. Now I'm afraid we are encroaching on attitude. It's up to him to seize the moment, and he hasn't. That's where I think he's taken a step backwards.
I've seen this happen before, although in limited minutes with the Warriors. Lin was the shooting guard to Monta Ellis' point guard. And yes, Lin was a horrible shooter back then, even worse than now. But he made up for it with sticky defense, getting steals, and attacking in transition. Warriors never ran pick and roll plays for Lin. He was a corner shooter.
If Lin doesn't repair his jumpshot, I don't think the Rockets can make the playoffs.
If Lin repairs his jumpshot AND the coaches recognize his ability, then I think the Rockets will be fighting for the 8th spot.
I once said that the Rockets could win 50 games. I felt that way before the Harden trade but not so much afterwards.
As Lin goes, so do the Rockets. Despite his stellar defense and passing, Lin's inability to hit jumpshots consistently has cast a pall over a team that relies on him so much.
The Rockets are getting more out of their frontcourt and earlier than expected. If they can solve their backcourt issues, the Rockets will be right there.
The Jazz game, with Harden sidelined, made clear that Lin's role with the Rockets since the Harden trade is poorly defined.
Fo yaw who are still under the spell of pop culture. Let me educate you on lil sumsum. Pro sports is a bidness first n foremost it dont matter if u win championship but lose dinero Check out houston payroll lowest n da league by wide margin Jeremy will bring asian fan base and revenue Added revenue minus lowest payroll equals... High profit..... Ding ding ding We have a winner
more disrespect from kobe. if you look at the whole play, it was obviously not a flop but a clear foul by kobe. I don't need to get into the subtle racism of his "he's too little" comment.
oh wow you guys reading way too much into it. i think kobe was talking about how in his mind Jlin aint shit. which is true, in Kobe's mind about 99% of the league is little for him. that's what makes him a great player. I remembered last year he gave Jlin props when the guy dropped 38 on the lakers. Kobe just doesnt like floppers.
The article didn't point out that Kobe said nice things about Lin's decision-making. And you know he means it because he doesn't care what other players think
He's too little is only racist if you are hypersensitive or something. And if you think what Kobe said was a diss, you should read some of things he has said about Kwame Brown and Smush Parker!
Interesting article on the next phase in Jeremy Lin's development. http://nba.si.com/2012/11/19/jeremy-lin-houston-rockets-new-york-knicks/?sct=nba_t12_a1
Yep very nice article. Wow even media like SI is taking notice, at least they're not just trash talking but offering insight to why he may not be doing well and what needs to happen...Very good piece on his jump passing, I don't know if I agree with how he couldn't read help defense, maybe not consistently but he was certainly improving esp under Woodson.
Finally, this site has someone who is awake! Glad you are in the same world as me, Joe.
I hope the rest of these dreaming zombies wake up soon instead of groping the nuts of Jeremy Lin, while Jeremy abuses them all by intentionally playing horrible.
Dont think jeremy is playing bad on purpose. I wish him nothing but the very best. Like i said before.even if he does not score another point. Iwll be forever thankful for what he's done for us
Jeremy actually looked good last night. He was attacking the basket and finishing in traffic until he went cold again. Also, his bigs not finishing anything whatsoever (layups, dunks, open 3s) didn't help.
He looks stronger and quicker with every game. And for the record, Ty Lawson is having similar shooting woes. On the passing front, Jeremy has never looked better. I've been outright dazzled by some of his passes.
Here is another theory for Lin's sub-par shooting performance in game situation. Lin trained hard during the summer while his knee was still healing. The weak knee likely fatigued much sooner during those shooting sessions, and he was basically shooting on one good leg. His muscle memory for shooting was then tuned to single leg body balance. Now that the repaired knee has recovered well, hopefully, and starts to provide more strength in his shooting, and undoubtedly affects his balance during shooting. The healing process takes time. Glide Drexeler once mentioned that most athletes undergoing knee surgeries need about a year to achieve full recovery, as he himself experienced the same process.
Lin fans should just be patient, and be very glad that Lin can even compete at the highest level without his shooting threat.
basketball is mental. i think he's should start games by attacking the basketball, build up some confidence that will hopefully carry over into his jumpers.
Do any of you guys have this sense in you that JLIN will rise to the occasion? I know I do. He's always stepped up when people thought he was down and out..
1. Various times in high school. Jr year, he gets injured and they lose..Comes back and grows as a player and helps win senior year. 2. NO D1 Scholarships, Goes to Harvard 3. Nothing too spectacular at Harvard first two years, develops into one of the best overall players in the NCAA. 4. Doesn't Get drafted, presses on and goes to the summer league. 5. steps up in the summer league. 6. get signed by golden state, at times looks like he is just there to sell tickets to the bay area asian fans. 7. goes to d-league 8. gets cut by golden state 9. gets cut by houston 10. sucks against boston when d'antoni finally puts him in for meaningful play. 11. Gets thrown in vs. nets, rises to the occassion. 12. starts missing jumpshots in the nets game, keeps playing, then finishes it. 13. gets injured 14. knicks dont sign him 15. poor performance first 11 games of the nba season
16. I have no doubt that j-lin has the heart of a fighter. He may be meek and humble, but trust me, that doesn't mean he isn't competitive and that he's satisfied with getting a contract...
do you see a pattern? I do. With Lin ,it's all about having lows and learning from them and rising past them. We might see him at his lowest right now in terms of shooting, but these doubters/haters/ and poor shooting will definitely make him a better player...Have we forgot he's only 24?
Steve Nash drastically got better after the age of 32?
I don't think JLIn will ever be as good as the top 5 pgs....but I don't doubt that he can be one of the top 10 pgs....Rising up and overcoming is what Lin has been doing his whole life. This is nothing different.
“For me, we as a team needed that win,” Lin said. “We trust each other. We trust the coaches. I was rooting for them, just like when I’m in the game, they root for me. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to pull it out. Whatever the coach asks, you have to be ready.”
Lin said he was not surprised when he was not asked to do anything in overtime since he was not spending the overtime waiting for that call.
“I guess I wasn’t really thinking too much about it,” Lin said. “He wanted T.D. to play the defensive possessions and me to play the offensive possessions. Obviously, it’s not like football where you can change whenever you want.”
Theres our boy scout jlin. This does nothing to improve his scrub status. What the heck are us fans complaining about he sure as heck ain't.
The funny thing is that the only guy who doesn't seem to be strongly emotionally reacting (either by hating or by defending or by getting really sad) is Jeremy Lin.
The thing we all know is that Jeremy's good. He's good at basketball, he's a hard worker, and he's not going to suddenly slack off and go overeat/dosomethingstupid or whatever. When the PERSON is good, then good stuff will follow. It might not even be this year. But good things come from good people, and that's why, despite my worries, I have faith in Jeremy Lin. (err... barring injury)
Exactly. Do you think pressure, haters, and tough struggles are anything new to lin? He's been the only Asian playing a predominately black game for his entire life. He's not some Wang Ming Jing from China who doesn't understand...He's American from the Bay. He knows what it's like. I'm sure there is some pressure from signing a big contract, but I would not be afraid of Lin buckling under pressure. Tell me one instant in his career where he has buckled under pressure. Everyone says he's a hard worker, competitive, and a fighter. Come on! He wasn't afraid to wave off his teammates and take the last shot in Toronto playing for the Knicks! He's not afraid! There are instances where he struggles like Miami, but he always learns and gets back up! I'm optimistic that Lin will improve! He's a work in progress.
Back to JLin's shooting, wasn't he shooting 3s at 76% in the summer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc7Rdl0TeHo&feature=plcp (toward the end)
The shooting seemed to be one of the main things he was working on, even in Taiwan/China.
I know KHuang and others have said that in-game shooting is different from unguarded shooting. I wonder whether JLin, unguarded, can make 76% 3-pointers now. In other words, I wonder how much of it is that it's in-game shooting or how much of it is that his shooting just happens to be bad right now (or both). Just wondering...
I'm sure he can hit a high percentage in practice. I played competitive hs basketball at Villa Park HS (couple d1 scholarship player teammates), and shooting in practice is nothing like shooting in the game. The ball is always passed perfect in rhythm to you, you have time to set your feet, be balanced, and shoot. In the game, defenses are coming at you, you catch it maybe not cleanly on the spirals, you are tired so your legs might not be all there, etc. Plus, in the game, Lin is shooting like 10 shots max. In practice, you shoot like 100 or more. You have time to shrug off a miss or two and keep shooting until you get into rhythm. IN the game, not so... Plus, you are pretty much stationary in drills.
Honestly, I'm getting tired of reading the same anti-Lin hater cr@p or race bait ranting.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like 90% of people on here don't even follow the game. They just make up their own assumptions and carpet the whole site with it.
If it's a game thread. We should only discuss basketball games. And so far I see very little of that. I
Ok, what did you guys see from Lin in tonight's game? What things did he do well and what could he improve on? What's your assessment of LIn after 11 games so far?
ReplyDelete1. Don't help so much on defense, he's leaving 3-point shooters wide open. Even when he does go after the 7-foot big, he risks fouling them and sending them to the FT line ... "stick with your man".
Delete2. Don't let Parsons handle the ball up the court, he's a turnover machine when he's running the break.
3. Don't be afraid to shoot the ball or drive for layups. It's the only way he'll get out of the slump.
I have no idea why Parsons keep on initiating the offense. He should focus on cutting and shooting. He has no business in trying to be the point guard.
DeleteSet better screens to open up the offense.
Lin had a good first half and a good third quarter. But was prematurely taken out of the game in the 3rd Q. He had a bad 4th quarter.
Compared to earlier games, Lin is running the offense more often. The problem is that he is too conservative in his penetrations.
since harden is sick the coach put parsons there.jlin bring up the ball half court pass it to harden/parson then he will wait/park in the elbow (coach/rockets game plan before).harden is sick didnt play in 2nd half,jlins turn to run the offense but the coach bench him :(
DeleteGood. Lin looked to score early. 1st half: 4-7, 10 points.
DeleteBad. Lin finished the game 5-15, 13 points. Still missing from outside. Missed in close, too, short in the 2nd half.
Ugly. There is a coaching issue. We don't know if it's just Sampson/Lin, or if McHale is included. With Harden sick, Lin should have dominated the ball. But with echoes of the Blazers game OT, Lin was replaced at a key point of the game in the 3Q. Douglas didn't even play well. When Lin returned at the start of the 4Q, his head was not in the game. He played off the ball, even though he was the only point on the floor for the Rockets.
It's one thing to defer to the Rockets' max contract "star" (James Harden), but there's no way that JLin should be deferring to Chandler "Justin Bieber" Parsons when it comes to bringing the ball up the court and initiating the offense.
DeleteThat's a joke.
No, I agree with the Rockets coaches.
DeleteLin has not been aggressive enough as a scorer. It's too predictable for him to come up court and automatically pass, which is what he has been doing.
Making Lin the first option off the pass won't work either since Lin will simply hand the ball off. Thus the Rockets coaches have designated Lin as the bailout guy after the 2nd or 3rd passes are made!
Plus, Lin is clearly frustrated. Lin takes that frustration out and attacks when he gets the ball. BRILLIANT STRATEGY.
I am now IN AWE of McHale and Sampson. Now I know why Les Alexander hired those two!
He needs to get laid seriously!! or at least a BJ.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is the relevance of your post?
DeletePosts like this makes this site like ESPN and Clutchfans.
Focus on basketball people.
Believe me once his cherry are popped, Linsanity will be back. He's been living like a priest, i bet he's frustrated inside, unable to enjoy things that young people do. Sex is a basic human needs just like food and shelter, so if he's still human, he must be struggling with that.
DeleteYap and that's what I thought too. Athletes need testosterone to perform and sex is a good part of testosterone production. Lin looks to me still a virgin.
DeleteBut a christian like Lin considers pre-marital sex as sin
Oh man have you seen all those blond hot basketball groupies waiting at the team hotel's bar?
neph has split personalities and enjoyed seeing jeremy get punkd by rapist kobe and wacked in the head by ron artest. now he is back to spin doctor again.
DeleteSigh...
DeleteThis is not a place to talk about Lin's sex life. Let us just toss aside anything that has nothing to do with basketball.
@Glenn
I didn't enjoy those things. I only criticized people treating those fouls as the worst possible thing you could do. Those fouls happen to other players too. No need to overreact.
More Glenn flaming.
DeleteThe guy hates Lin and everyone here.
Stop flaming people.
LOL. Lin does need some stress relief.
DeleteI hope for JLin's sake that he is not a devotee of Tim Tebow's "I will remain a virgin until marriage" dogma.
DeleteI know Lin had a girlfriend at Harvard and has been seen "chatting" with supermodels in New York and groupies... er, female basketball fans in Houston.
But just in case JLin needs a hookup, maybe he should hit up this lovely young woman:
http://larrybrownsports.com/basketball/jeremy-lin-fan-poster-i-want-you-linside-me-pictures/117701
oh...well...you guys are so creative with the way to relax a man's mentality...
Delete3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
ReplyDeleteAmen, bros!
DeleteBut he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
When Lin is struggling with his weaknesses and relies on God, he can show to millions of people that God helps to who are faithful to him through tough times.
I don't know why you guys overreacted so much. Lin played okay, of course not Linsanity good we (unrealistically) expected. His shot is still broken but honestly it can't be expected to be fixed in short time. But even with the broken shot he still shot near 50% until the messy 4th quarter. He drove well and also got to run the offense more even before Harden going out. He no longer took (and missed) that corner 3 as much. I for one saw more positives than negatives in this game. Hey at least he scored in double figure again lol! Hopefully he can build on this. Next up is Chicago who is a superb defensive team. If Lin can score over 10 and even the Rockets lose, I will be satisfied.
ReplyDeleteI really liked that Lin was driving more. It is strange, it almost seemed like in the last two games the paint wasn't as crowded as before. Was that my imagination?
DeleteI think if he keeps on driving more of his layup will start to fall. No if only the folks he dished to could hang onto the ball and make a shot his stats and the games would look so different.
I do think Lin got tired in the 4th. The whole team looked tired.
But no excuses, Lin needs to make the most of his opportunities to control the ball and show he can lead this team.
flip floppin and spinning cara jive turkey!
DeleteStop flaming people, Glenn.
DeleteYou're just here to make fun of people.
Flameboys like you don't belong here.
Stop flaming people.
Regarding Clutchfans dislike of Lin and Lin fans, I am not a Rockets or Clutchfans fan by any means, I rarely go there and I dislike some of their culture. But to be fair to them, they are a Rockets fan site, but there are some so called Lin fans (not majority, but there are some) there posting and acting like "Lin is too good for the Rockets", "Every Lin's bad performance is due to his incapable teammates", "Lin should go to the Lakers" bah bah bah. Even as a Lin fan, I found those people/comments irritating on a Lin site, let alone Rockets fans reading them on a Rockets site. We Lin fans don't need to become a Rockets fan but Rockets are Lin's employers after all, we should at least show a little respect to them. And since our and their interests are completely different, why the attempt to take over their site? If you are not a Rockets fan, just don't go there and join in those meaningless arguments.
ReplyDelete"I don't care if the Rockets win or lose, I just want Lin to get big numbers".
DeleteSee, in my opinion, this type of comment is completely okay on a Lin site but even I would find insulting and irritating on a Rockets site. It's also totally opposite to Lin's winning and team oriented attitude (which presumably are the qualities that attract us to become fans originally).
It's like who here would want to hear how great Harden or Carmelo is here at a Lin site?! I just think if Lin fans want to talk solely about Lin, go find a Lin site (like this one haha) instead of going to a Rockets site and then bitching the unfairness after. Peace.
DeleteI totally agree with this.
DeleteThere are a lot of Lin fans on clutfans forum. Not all are Lin fans but not all are Lin haters...
Deletei think it happens to all players, except a little sooner with lin and not exactly a super max contract but considering coming from league minimum. he is complacent and satisfied with his life. he is set for life financially and the 'miracle' linsanity last year where everyone embraced him can never be topped nor should it apparently. what is there to drive for since hes done it all. not saying he is playing not to his full efforts but why do i have to prove anything with harden out, lets set up other guys or get parsons going while i chip in here and there.
ReplyDeleteSo you're basically saying Lin is a lazy bum.
DeleteAll you do is flame people.
Stop flaming people.
Last night, I saw Lin fighting and shoving through picks to stay with Mo Williams instead of going under them. It didn't look like he was complacent to me.
DeletePerhaps Glenn that's how you live your life..except with a salary of 4-5 figures or less.
DeleteFor those who are complaining, did you watch the game??? Cause from what I saw and especially in the 1st half is Lin is attacking the basket ferociously get buckets and fouls.. The reason he missed those lay ups and was getting blocked in the 2nd half is because he was tired???? Fatigue set in for sure and I want to see this Lin more in games where he is just beating his man off the dribble because his freaking teammates don't know how to set a screen...
ReplyDeleteThe block was due to he has no choice from Asik's suck pass. Asik should shoot it at that position.
DeleteI think that it will be this way for at least 10~20 games. Unless Asik can develop his shooting touch, Lin will not be able to get more from him. Let's look at this way, Asik may be in the same mode to find his offensive touch like Lin does. Until they have come to the same page, we may continue to see this "struggle". We are not really expecting the Rocket to be a contender, do we?
Deletehe will be having the same game for the rest of the season. worth the 25mil.
ReplyDeleteLOL, sarcasm????
DeleteAt least some do write fair article on him.
ReplyDeletehttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/1415108-why-jeremy-lins-struggles-are-here-to-stay-throughout-2012-13
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1415532-microscope-is-off-jeremy-lin-so-why-is-his-game-suffering
But I think there is much more than this, as I mentioned previously, time would tell.
BTW, today's game highlight on Jlin
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p928H1_8dh4
I still don't get why Lin's fans got so much to say about Lin's bad plays. It seems like they are waiting to see Lin fail so that they can bash him. Did any of you even watch the game? He was rolling until stupid coach benched him, and they put him back out towards the end when the game was out of reach. JLin's a streak player. If you disrupt his game, then he will just chill and let the other make plays. No doubt his shooting needs some adjustments but we all know that. Just let the kid play and see his development. You all should know by now that this is a different offensive system with iso Harden run the show. Lin will not have the opportunity to play Linsanity style of basketball on this Rox's offense. Not now and not later until they change Harden's role. So if you want to bash JLin, then go to CF forum. They are full of it.
ReplyDeleteLots of so called "Lin fans" are still negatively affected by racist media bashing Lin.
DeleteFor example, Deseret News just wrote a totally RACIST article about Lin's game in Utah. It blasts him for not getting high assists and "only" scoring 13 points.
Meanwhile a true foreigner like Asik scoring only 2 points is completely unmentioned while Harden scoring only 6 is given one paragraph of illness excuse.
People read this anti Lin racist garbage and get subconsciously affected by it. Only in America do Asian Americans get treated worse than white foreigners. It's racist, wrong, and despicable - and it poisons the way people look at Lin even on this site.
Shall we use the word "spoiled"? People tend to have the similar standard of one's previous performance. However, things changes all the time. The key word is "adapt". Lin has a new team now and new coaching staff. The reality is that Linsanity will never happen shortly( I hope that I am wrong). Yet, Lin constantly put amazing number in the other categories except shooting. Unfortunately, for some of the so called Lin's fan, they do not care. They just want the scoring number because that's more glaring number. They may not realize that a steal, a rebound, an assist is almost equivalent to scoring because it means your opponent can not put number on your team.
DeleteI don't usually read any of the reports other than Friedman's and Feigan's - don't really see the point. But I think it's perfectly fair to comment on Lin's weaknesses, even on his fansite, so long as it's fair.
DeletePersonally I think everyone has slightly elevated expectations of Lin, for various reasons. He didn't ask to be a representation of Asians in the media but the fact is, that is what he is. If you are Asian, like me and many others on this site, you feel personally invested in his game and feel let down when he doesn't live up to expectations. I know some of those expectations are far too high. But on the other hand, Lin has high expectations of himself as well.
There's definitely unrealistic expectations from the media and even so-called Lin fans who focus on his weakness so much than what his contribution to the team so far.
DeleteIt's called "underachieving impossible expectations". It's like a kid who scored his A+ in his first test and everyone either expects he will make A+ for the rest of his life or expect he will be exposed for his cheating ways.
The most troublesome part is many "so-called Lin fans" here blame Lin for his shortcomings to not deliver their own expectations "Asian pride", "Asian fail", "tough love" while they have not done much compared to what Lin has accomplished.
"Tough love" minus the action of love (kind words, encouragement, patience, no self-seeking motives, etc.) = Abuse/Dictatorship
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DeleteI agree, but think about it - say you are a B+ student but your mum continually tells people you are the best, the smartest, and you even go to his class and tell people that there is absolutely nothing wrong with my boy, that his teacher sucks, his classmates suck, his principal sucks and everyone is not doing enough to ensure that my special snowflake child is living up to his potential. It would be horribly embarrassing and nearly as bad as a parent who undermines a child's every achievement.
DeleteBut of course Lin is not a child. He is an accomplished and very smart person. He knows he is a fantastic player, though not a perfect one. There was an interesting quote he gave NYT where he said something about how everyone treats him like he is a zero or a hundred when he is really something in between. I think when someone on this site says that Jeremy did a good job distributing the ball and played well but shouldn't overhelp on D, for example, it is not so much "tough love" as stating one's objective opinion on certain facets on Lin's game.
ah, the curse of the "self-esteem" movement in the US where all kids are praised for mediocre accomplishment to boost their confidence while they are protected from any failure because it will "hurt" their feelings.
DeleteExperienced parents would know that the balance is somewhat in between or leaning toward encouragement more than correction (i.e. 70% of time encouragement vs. 30% correction). The secret is the balance.
Good Lin's NYT quote that he's somewhere in between, let's face it. Lin has great potential but he is still a work-in-progress so we should support him with some great cheers (court vision, no-look assists) and constructive criticism to help him get better (i.e. man-to-man and help defense).
If anyone has any time, watch "Michael Jordan's MVP Youtube video" on defense on how he keeps his man in front of him. You won't regret it. In fact, Lin can benefit much from it.
There's a difference between criticism in good faith and criticism in bad faith.
DeleteIn the first category are (hopefully) most fans of Lin, who do not criticizing him to trash him but because they want him to be the best, not just an average player and not just a backup.
In the latter category are some media types (Stephen A. Smith) and people in mainstream America, who criticize Lin because they want to see him fail--and get off on it in their own warped way.
I just don't get it. Don't the coaches realize that Toney Jones stinks? That he is a bad player? That he was ineffective as a PG even in college? Why is he even getting NBA minutes? If I were a coach, I would stagger Harden and Lin to make sure that Jones is NEVER on the floor. And that has the added bonus of resolving the Lin-Harden overlap by the way ... they would only be in the game at the same time about half the time and each be able to do their own thing.
ReplyDeleteAny coach, any rational human being, who looks at Toney Jones and says to himself "hmm, let me take Lin out and put Jones in because having Lin out and Jones in helps my team" is having serious problems with reality. Until the Rockets coaches resolve this problem with reality by realizing that Lin is a good player on both ends of the court (even when he isn't scoring he is a great passer) and Jones is a bad player on both ends of the court (he can't defend PGs because he isn't one, and even when he scores on offense the guy has terrible shot selection and it takes his teammates out of offensive rhythm, and forget about actually running the offense either) I really don't see the point of following this team. It is a waste of time. The frustration isn't worth the effort. I can deal with the Rockets being a bad - as in not particularly talented - team if they are being well coached. But a bad and poorly coached team?
Actually forget it. This benching Lin and playing Douglas goes beyond mere coaching. It isn't just bad coaching that would make someone yank a good, effective player after he has led a comeback and cut a large lead to 10 points halfway through the third quarter, and put in a terrible player that totally removes any chance of winning. Am I the only one who feels this way?
I think Lin being on 30+ minutes is quite reasonable, and since there's no other PG (other than Machado), Douglas has to play. It's not so much the fact that Douglas gets to play 10+ minutes, it's more the fact that the substitution patterns are pretty weird. You also want to build up chemistry between Harden and Lin in the long run anyway, so it's not a great idea to have them play separate minutes.
DeleteAt least that is how I feel. I am okay with losses if it ends up making the team better in Year 3 (assuming Jeremy is still on it!)
While I'd like to see Lin play more in the 2nd half, he is already playing 30+ mpg.
DeleteI'm just not sure where the Rockets coaches can shift those minutes. They are VERY AWARE that Lin keeps the Rockets going, yet they don't want to force Lin to get injured from playing too many minutes.
What the Rockets coaches are hoping for is a 1st half like yesterday's where Lin played like an All Star. They want to see Lin do it in the 2nd half too. The goal is for Lin to play less minutes in the 1st half and more in the 2nd. So far, Lin has been coming around on schedule!
The Rockets are banging on Lin to improve because he has the capacity.
I also think TD stinks. It was so bad in the beginning I actually started to feel sorry for him (I mean, he's doing what he's supposed to do, I do believe he's doing his best, but he's sort of out of his league). I like him, just not as our back up point guard.
DeleteI really wish we had kept Shaun Livingston. He looked decent in the preseason. He has only 2 games with Washington, but his line already looks better than TD.
re: taking Lin out; would you prefer he be ridden like Secretariat? Everyone's got to rest at some point. There's only one other choice at PG.
I do hope you keep watching and stick around, though. BTW, are you the Unknown who is "new", or the "old" Unknown? Or... is it unknown?
The "old" Unknown is a total LIN FAN who has learned that we here can love Lin without hating on players of other ethnicities.
DeleteI also am not fond of Toney Douglas's game. Having seen him play now, I now realize that he's just not quite an NBA player. But the Rockets have no alternative at the reserve PG spot.
The original plan was for the Rockets to put Jeremy Lamb at both backup guard positions while interchanging with Lin and Kevin Martin. Douglas was insurance if one of those three got injured. But since Lamb and Martin are gone, Douglas has been forced to step in.
Getting a backup PG is nearly impossible. The choices are grim: fragile (Livingston), slow (Fisher), inefficient and injure (Arenas). The Rockets can only live with Douglas's shoddy production and hope that Lin keeps playing like he did in the 1st half!
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ReplyDeleteWhy JLin & James Harden able to score well in first 2 games but not recently?
ReplyDeletefan, the short answer is Houston asked Harden to be the PG and ask Lin to be a 3PT shooter in the corner resulting in tougher shots for Harden who can't distribute the ball as well as Lin. Then Lin struggled shooting a spot up 3PT shots. Lin needs the ball in his hand to be an effective shooter.
DeleteFor the long answer, check my blog post
toondad.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-to-fix-harden-lin-lost-connection.html
Thanks, read your long blog post and it sounds logical. But why is Houston coaching team not getting it? Could you send your above blogspot directly to them?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI think they've started to let Lin be the PG most of the time starting in the Portland game (until they benched him in the OT). But Lin also needs to improve his shooting and not overhelp on defense so it won't give the coaching team a chance to question his defensive assignment to allow open 3PT shots. Defense knows he wants to strip/steal the ball so they're passing to the 3PT shooters consistently.
DeleteYeah, I did tweet it to Morey and Jason Friedman (Houston beat reporter) but I'm sure they know about it already.
Just wanted to chime in to say that Psalm234's link is worthwhile reading.
Deletethanks, wiffle!
DeleteThe Rockets are trying to FORCE Jeremy Lin to shoot the ball by making their primary scorer Harden pass it around where it often ends back up in Lin's hands.
DeleteNow I know how Kevin McHale beat Goran Dragic and Kyle Lowry into becoming super players, and I also know why both those guys HATED McHale!
I have to say that if McHale and Sampson don't actually buy into the win-now mindset that the Houston PR machine has been spouting, getting Lin and Harden to develop areas they are weaker at in game time situations is a pretty decent long term developmental scheme - assuming it doesn't shred their confidence permanently, of course. It would also explain their insistence on getting Parsons to handle the ball on the break (even though he is currently really bad at it) and continuously turning to Asik for scoring.
DeleteIt might also be that they are idiots. Hard to say.
McHale is just trying to turn ALL of his guys into truly great players.
DeleteA great player maintains his production no matter what scheme is thrown at them on either end of the court. As much as possible, McHale is trying to get ALL of the Rockets to become solid players who cannot be stopped.
If Lin and Harden are so mentally weak that their confidence is shattered by this "tough love", then they didn't deserve to be stars. Great players can withstand any kind of adversity, and the Hardliners are learning some great lessons!
This game was somewhat a glimpse of Linsanity team ball when things are not clicking well in Lin's average shooting (although improving), his big men not finishing (Asik 2 pts) plus having lazy defense and weak rebounding (Patterson 1 rebound vs Terrence Jones 8 rebounds.
ReplyDeleteI thought Lin managed to get a good offensive flow in 2Q and had the momentum in early Q when Houston cut the lead to 60-70 but Sampson put Douglas in after Lin "allowed" Foye to make 3PT (60-73) because he overhelped on defense then fouled Mo in the next possession. But it killed the momentum. Sampson should put him back quickly after telling him not to overhelp on defense and trust his teammates.
I think the number one thing that Lin needs to do on defense is not overhelp on defense and leave his man open for 3PTs . If his big men are exposed because they're not boxing out, let it be known to the coaching staff. He's not doing his team a favor by overhelping on defense because his defense will "look" bad although he tried to cover for his teammates' ineptitude. And he's making Sampson bench him because he's giving up 3PTs too much.
Asik was completely gassed so it's hard to blame his offensive woes on him. Harden tried to give it all but became liability on defense in 2Q. Patterson didn't have any excuse to only get 1 rebound and needs to be replaced with Terrence Jones as a starter.
Sampson really didn't have good substitution pattern of not pulling Asik and Harden sooner earlier and pulling JLin too early in 3Q to kill the momentum.
Overall, I like how the offense started with high PnR with Asik giving the high screen to Lin giving him access to attack the basket or let his teammates to finish. Noone is quick enought to stop him from going to the basket most of the time.
This is how the system should be set up for young players by giving them definite roles and ask them to do it well. The whole-Parsons/Hardens/Lin-are-all-PG system just didn't work because it doesn't resemble any offensive rhythm, result in Parson's TOs, and tough shots for Harden.
oh, for Lin's shooting I thought it looks good when he shot that long 2 without hesitation. I don't like how he didn't shoot straight up when he missed the 3PTs. He was either moving forward or falling backward so I thought he was somewhat off-balance in his shooting form unlike the well-documented 38pts explosion against the Lakers a few months ago. It might be worth going back to see how different they look.
Deleteyeah, the problem with JLin running the offense is that he wants to keep the ball moving, but JHarden and companies never seem to pass the ball back once the ball left JLin's hands. Either they jack up contested shots or just swing the ball to other players not name Lin. It happened all the time. It's like JLin's playing team ball by himself. When he has the ball, he always look for the best shot possible on every single play. Either a drive and pass to open man or drive and finish or pull up for open jumper. But the moment he passed the ball to someone, the play came to a dead stop and a forced shot was inevitable because time was running out. I'm sure they watch all those games they played on tape. Don't the team recognize these problems?
DeleteYeah, it's so frustrating to watch because we can see it clearly but the coaching team did not make the adjustment quickly at half-time like many teams would do.
DeleteIt took them 6 games (Game 3-8) before they changed that in Game 9 against Portland.
Personally, I think Houston tries too hard to fit a square peg into a round hole by forcing young players to play their system where 3-4 people can bring up the ball and find open 3PT shooters. The problem is they don't have reliable big men on the offensive end so most 3PT shooters were well-contested, especially for Harden.
They should be flexible with their system to leverage Lin's strength to break down defenses, Harden's strength to score, work some plays to give the ball back to Harden to make the next plays, and ask other players to do their role well and know what they should do (rebound, box out, cut to the basket, Asik to dunk the ball or get fouls).
It's a young team but the coaching team is very slow to make in-game adjustments. Very frustrating too watch. Why do they keep doing the same thing when it's not working?
Completely agree with Psalm234's "Overhelp" comments. The Rox coaching staff penalize JLin's overhelping by benching him in key 4th quarter or OT. But the problem is that JLin keeps overhelping in the next game. Looks like JLin thinks he is doing the right thing and plays his hearts out as he plays for God .
DeleteLin can actually play for God by being "shrewd" as Jesus calls Christians to do. Don't "over-help" a teammate who is not doing his job because his teammates will never learn to do his job and the coaches will get mad because Lin doesn't do his job of guarding his man.
DeleteIn the overall scheme, he needs to be a leader by being accountable for his main job and keeping his teammates accountable for theirs. What good would it bring to try to help too much if he's not on the floor at the end of the game to helping his teammates when it matters most?
His help defense is REALLY annoying sometimes.
DeleteWatching him and TD of course anyone will say TD is better. TD helps WHEN HE CAN but he is always close and immediately goes back, though he can't get under and defend picks like Lin can.
Lin flat out turns his back on his man and is always quite a ways away to the point if whoever in the paint kicks the ball out Lin ends up following the ball and is few feet short, often on his weak side, and the 3ptr is uncontested.
This has been the case every game so far except for the 2nd outing against Portland's Lillard where he locked him down until well TD was called to defend him and Lin got benched, rest was history.
Is there a defensive coordinator? If so they need to get on Lin's case...Seems every SCORING point guards he's defended is putting up big points in treys, you can argue all you want, but he needs to help less.
There is another way of looking at how McHale and Sampson are handling Jeremy Lin.
DeleteBy making Harden the primary passer, they are getting the ball OUT of Harden's hands into Lin's for the shot!!!
Lin's been playing hot potato with the ball since arriving in Houston, passing when he should passing and passing when he should be passing. Aside from a few aggressive blips, it's been a scared Lin who's afraid to shoot.
So what do McHale and Sampson do with their ball moving system? They basically say "Ok Jeremy, we're gonna MAKE YOU SHOOT by stationing you as the guy who receives the bailout pass. You better get yourself in position to catch that pass!"
As a result, Jeremy Lin is attacking and scoring his 12-13 ppg (not far off from Linsanity Round Two with Woodson's Knicks). He is starting to gain confidence, and the Rockets coaches are upping his touches.
I have to admit that I haven't been a Sampson fan. But now that I think about it, I've done a complete 180 and am CHEERING SAMPSON ON. There is no other way to FORCE Jeremy Lin to take shots!
There is one minor thing I disagree with Sampson on in handling Lin. When the Rockets face a big time scorer at the SG and SF positions, I recommend that Lin be put on those players. Then again, Lin does so much help defensively that it would likely take awag from the team defense.
I am developing a newfound respect for Kelvin Sampson. Now I know why the Rockets have him. He's the one FORCING Lin to shoot and score!
I see what you're saying about McHale system will force Jeremy to become better catch-and-shoot player, KHuang.
DeleteBut the secret is in the balance. They shouldn't enforce this system 100% in the expense of rendering Harden's shooting and Lin's shooting ineffective plus killing any offensive rhythm w/ TOs and forced 3PTs leading to fastbreak by the other team.
In the past 3 games, I've seen more balance that both Lin and Harden are on top of the keys. Lin can decide to attack or pass back to Harden and he goes to the corner. So they trust Lin more to make this decision which is good. Now he needs to square up his shooting form and the big men need to finish his assists. It's hard to watch Asik not being able to finish strong. Perhaps they can pair Asik with Greg Smith together.
Also, now it's up to Lin to be disciplined in not leaving his man to help his team. It's hard to see him get burned by so many 3PT-ers. Someone needs to tell him he's not doing his team any over by overhelping on defense if he gets benched. Sadly, there is only 1 PG in Houston! They need to get veteran PG to help Lin in his development, too.
Unless the coaches are specifically telling Lin to help out on defending bigs, he needs to be rein back his overeager help defense.
DeleteIt's like Lin is trying too hard to poach steals when he "helps" out on defense, instead of just guarding his own man.
Psalm234, the offensive imbalance is exactly what the Rockets coaches are trying to AVOID!!!
DeleteLin has been giving the ball up and not shooting. Even if the Rockets did exactly as you asked, it would still be the same story with Harden handling after Lin passes off!
McHale wants Lin to be an attacking point guard, not a passive turnstile point guard. The Rockets offense will not work at its best if Lin refuses to shoot. Thus McHale is FORCING Lin to attack in the hope that Lin attacks on EVERY play.
I see exactly what McHale and Sampson are doing from a coaching perspective. I am totally impressed because this is EXACTLY what Lin needs!!!
I think we're in agreement that currently Sampson wants Lin to be an attacking PG in the last 3 games (Game 9-11)
DeleteBut it clearly did not happen in Game 3-8 after the first two games because Lin's Usage Rate dropped from 21% to 16% as Lin gave up the ball to Harden too soon.
I don't think this was Lin's choice but by mandate of McHale and Sampson as Lin alluded in the Lakers(?) post-interview video that via posted. That's why we didn't see Lin in the corner much in the past 3 games. He was mostly on the top of the key.
In my perspective, Sampson just changed to this strategy in the last 3 games after seeing how bad the team performed in Game 3-8. That's what I concluded from my analysis in the blog post. A bit late for my taste but better than never.
Sampson is an NBA novice as a head coach.
DeleteI'm not saying that he knows how to handle Lin or that his strategy is sound. But I do see how Lin can benefit.
No matter how the coaches deploy Lin, it's Lin's responsibility to attack and make plays. It doesn't even matter if the coaches really are trying to keep the ball away from Lin. ATTACK!!!
there is a much more simpler explanation for Jeremy's woes, called ROOKIE WALL.
ReplyDeleteeven though he's no rookie, he might as well be given the amount of games he's played. there are more sophmores that have played more games than he has.
a lot of rookies who get hot in the beginning of the year eventually hit the rookie wall but eventually after they fight through it are able to shake it off.
here's a recount of Rubio's great start, and then his rookie wall:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1086594-ricky-rubio-and-the-rookie-wall-compressed-nba-schedule-taking-toll
There is a HUGE difference between Rubio and Lin.
DeleteRubio had his rookie wall with the same team. Jeremy Lin changed teams and is adapting to a completely new role.
It would be a "rookie wall" if Jeremy Lin were playing with the same team and then suddenly opponents adjusted to him. That actually happened last year right when Carmelo Anthony came back and started tanking games. So Lin already had his "rookie wall" and overcame it with ease.
I am seeing a steady improvement in Lin's game. Even though Kelvin Sampson is running the game, Kevin McHale is still in charge of Lin. Under McHale, Lin is working on his weaknesses and steadily playing his way into more importance. It's very encouraging for me to see Lin being aggressive in the minutes he's given.
Lin's becoming a complete player. If he wants to be the best he can be, he HAS to go through this. There is no other way for Lin to become the player we know he can be.
Good point, Khuang. Lin has started working on improving his left hand, his decision-making, reduce TOs and defense but he definitely needs to work on becoming a consistent shooter and find the balance on man-to-man/team defense.
DeleteHe has gone through many "walls" with coaching changes, defensive adjustment to him. Now he needs to break down "shooting woes" and "smart defense" walls.
I'm in agreement with your opinion on Kevin McHale. I like his no nonsense and motivational style of coaching. Lin will definitely be a complete player..rather than just 'attacking' basket which won't be good for his health and knee in the long term. It hurts seeing him being the target and falling with a thud..head kissing the floor. It's a good thing Morris was able to catch him during the game with Portland.
DeleteWe can moan about how much easier other Rockets seemingly have it than Lin does.
DeleteOn the other hand, those players are not getting the coaching. LIN IS.
Every time Sampson benches Lin for a mistake or hollers at him, that is making Lin stronger and better!
Perspective:
When I was young, I was singled out in my activities because of race for more criticism and ostracization than kids of any other color.
Today, I'm a professional in my activities and the other kids are not.
Lin wants to be great? Let him be singled out. When he gets to the point that nobody can really say anything, Lin will be a complete player!!!
I don't know, some people fold and some people get stronger. I hope Lin is the latter. He IS improving albeit slowly, just have to hope he keeps it up and not become withdrawn/timid like what we saw 4q yesterday.
DeleteMore I think about it tho I think Lin needs Sampson's singling out...He needs to stay strong and not become complacent. People might call it unfair but at least he is GETTING attention.
DeleteBeats getting benched.
just consider this:
DeleteJeremy has played a career total of 75 games. this isn't even a full season! and of those 75 games only 36 have been starting with quality time.
And in those 36 games, Jeremy Lin has faced all manner of defensive and offensive schemes targeted at him.
DeleteLin right now is the best defensive PG in the entire NBA, as far as stats go. No rookie wall there.
The scoring will come around once he gets used to McHale and Sampson's forcefeeding him with "must take" shots.
Lin is GROWING. His learning curve is excellent. The Rockets coaches have kept him out of injury and have played him 30+ mpg despite Lin's learning experiences. At any time, Lin will go "AHA!" and the NBA game will open right up for him!
KHuang, I always love your 100% optimism and half-full-till-overflowing glass outlook :D!
DeleteI think a lot of Lin's fans got used to Linsanity style of basketball. So when Lin didn't play like his fan's expectation, they started to lose confidence in him, posting all sorts of negative comments. True Lin's fans see what's Lin's capable of doing on the basketball court, and at the same time they want to see Lin develop into a complete player. You rarely see these fans bashed on Lin's games. As I've said before, let the kid play and watch him grow. What's the point of feeding this fansite with all the negative comments. Let's stop it right there and talk basketball instead.
DeletePsalm234, thanks.
DeleteI'm NOT trying to spin Jeremy Lin. I'm just trying to see what's really going on.
I'm no optimist when it comes to Lin's shooting. I'm terrified that his horrible technique will continue to derail the ambitious plans the Rockets coaches have for him.
I LOVE Lin's game other tha his shooting. He couldn't have ended up on a better team than Houston to work on his shot. Even with Lin's shooting, there are signs that he's coming around there too.
I'm not an optimist.
lin looked damn good last night creating and getting into the paint at will. shooting (and overhelping on D) seem to be his only issues.
ReplyDeleteRockets really need at least one veteran leader on the team. i'd actually love to see Jeremy being backed up by an older veteran PG with some rings and trade Douglass away. Derek Fisher comes to mind but i think any veteran would do.
ReplyDeleteSomebody like Jason Kidd would be the perfect backup/mentor for JLin. If only Lin were on a team with him. ;-)
DeleteHiccup..
Deletebelch...
CRASH!!!!
Setting aside a veteran PG presence (I agree Lin lost out on a special mentorship opportunity with Kidd when the Knicks didn't match), the closest the Rockets have to a veteran influence is Delfino, who's at least a G/F. It doesn't seem like Delfino takes the same approach in the NBA that he takes for Team Argentina, though.
DeleteIt would have helped Lin if the Rockets had held onto Scola.
The coaches need to stop asking him to hand the ball off so frequently. Jeremy will attack if that's what the coaches wish, but the coaches are asking Jeremy to play off ball too much.
ReplyDeleteThe positive is that the coaches are starting to realise that they need to change Jeremy's role. They have responded, and Jeremy being the buy-in guy to what coaches demand has also played accordingly by being more aggressive and being more willing to take control.
There is some bad blood with Fish and the Rox. He would never do it. When he was traded to the Rockets last season, he wouldn't even show up and had his contract bought out leaving money on the table.
ReplyDeleteYour point, however, is taken.
I have seen more negative comments about Lin in this board recently that makes me sick. I remember in Laker game, people were complaining Lin was not aggressive enough, no layup, etc. In Jazz's game, I think he has improved a lot with 15 attempts including many layup, but those people again then complaining that his rate is only 5/15.... come on, he is already score #2 last night, and he should have gain more should the stupid coach did not sit him when he was red hot.
ReplyDeleteBesides, do not forget basketball is a team, not Lin play himself. So when some people complaining Lin does not have leadership, we need to ask does the coach want Lin to be the leader? If the coach does not want that, his teammates does not coorporate, how can Lin play like a leader?
I think Lin has made good progress, but the stupid coach must go first. Last night, when Lin and Pat were red hot and catch up to 10 points, the coach called TO and sit both!! Pat was never allowed to go up again. I really have no idea what kind of strategy this coach has in mind.
The coaches are trying to spread ahots around so that the guys who are not in rhythm get the chance to shoot themselves into rhythm!
DeleteHowever, there's a dangerously fine line between giving everybody a chance and artificially stopping a hot hand. The general rule in the NBA is that you ride the hot hand, but Sampson is an inexperienced NBA coach despite having what appears to me a BRILLIANT basketball mind!
Agree! Argonne!
DeleteJust because he had #2 high score in the team doesn't mean he is shooting well. He is shooting like crap.
DeleteYes we all know coaching is a problem, but its not the ONLY problem. Lin himself is way underperforming in the offensive department.
Leadership or not, he shouldn't be consistently missing open looks. If you would take off your Linsanity glasses for a moment, and look at his shot chart, you'd see he is missing at every range, and he cannot sustain layups/drives, he tends to do ok first half then it all goes to crap in 2nd half.
I honestly think his conditioning is still way off...He has lost weight, and lost power...Its one of the reasons he keeps air balling or bricking on the rim after 1st half, he lacks stamina. He needs to find a better trainer or maybe even therapist...Its too bad he isn't with Phoenix, they'd take good care of him.
Kobe wasn't dissing him, because he remembers a much tougher Lin last year. That's why he said "there ain't need for floppin' we're all grown a$$ man" and his "he's too little for me" comment, because the old Lin wouldn't have been knocked on his behind.
The mwre fact that Kobe CARES indicates that Lin has great potential.
DeleteKobe will trashtalk opponents whose games he likes. When he plays Gordon Hayward of Utah, those two throw cheap shots and curses all game long. Then Kobe praises Hatward afterwards.
Lin seems to be doing better with standing up to intimidation. I still think he'd have benefited from a summer of Trash Talking 101 from the guy whose game most resembled Lin's, Micheal Ray Richardson. But I hope Kobe can teach Lin a thing or two about intimidation.
Totally agree KHuang: Lin needs that intimidation factor.
DeleteForgot where it came from but my wife told me she read some snippet about what Kobe said about Lin's game after the loss to Lakers, Kobe said something to the point of: "I think Lin is a good player, he just needs to start making baskets is all".
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ReplyDeleteWell thanks to Nemo's clairvoyant posts (semi-sarcasm), I will be ending my Jlin.net comment posting career. There are many others here who will carry on, and it was great there were other voices of reason who saw what I did long before Linsanity happened and will see the same obvious things I do long after Linsanity has passed. Hopefully by then, Lin will have figured out his abilities by then and become a decent consistent player. And if he can do better than that, awesome.
DeleteNemo, even if Lin is a scam, Linsanity happened and it has helped propel both Asians and Asian Americans forward within mainstream culture. He has given the next generation of ethnic minorities and underdogs hope that they too can overcome even if he flames out as a complete scam for the rest of his career. Nobody can ever take that away.
Jlin is a great story, and I'll stay on top of it time to time, but like Nemo says, we all have our own lives to live and we need to stop our Devil-Worship of Jlin :P
Nemo, while I agree that fandom can easily turn to idol worship if it consumes our life, I'd have to disagree with the assertion that JLin sold his soul to the devil for money.
DeleteYou'd have to show the corrupted character on his part to be selfish, womanizing, demeaning, domineering attitude of one who is only there to glorify himself.
Didn't he go to Asia to spread testimony about what God has done for him?
And while it is true there were many hate and conflicts in this board (which comes from our sinful nature, BTW) or in the world, you can help to make a difference to show how God works in JLin's life through his struggles, not to slander him of of selling his soul to the devil.
And nevertheless, I do agree it's a good advice not to worship JLin and abandon your family and your God :)
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DeleteGotta admit, Nemo did predict Lin would have a stand-out disappointing game. And the Jazz game did stand out, not for Lin's scoring drop-off from the 1st to 2nd half, but for Lin not taking over the ball and the game for the Rockets after Harden didn't return.
DeleteCook needing to wave Lin over to take the ball from Cook was a bad image.
Thanks for giving me credit, Eric.
DeleteI am going to keep saying it over again, yet people here just don't see it even though its in plain sight.
Jeremy Lin is purposely playing horrible because that is part of the Devil's plan to destroy all the believers of Linsanity, limiting them to feeling sad, suicidal, hateful towards others especially their own race. Most of Jeremy' fans are Asian descent, and I hate to see these people attack each other after seeing Jeremy "Fail" by design.
These innocent people will start to question themselves and their race and start to have suicidal thoughts, which is what the Devil wanted.
ALl the cringe-worthy plays like the Cook play you mentioned was designed to destroy your soul, hence the cringe...
To those who don't believe me.... Keep "believin'" and suffer your fate under the grips of the devil.
The answer: Do something else. Go out, find love + create romance with someone you connect with, do something for your community, helpe people in need of direction or support, and also like I enjoy doing, educate people on the internet just like people here on Jeremylin.net, on whats REALLY going on. I liked Jeremy before his deal with the devil, and I like you all because I was a big fan too, but now is a time to help you all who cannot see this Satanic trap where Jeremy is used as a puppet to carry out the Devil's message by recruiting innocent people like everyone here and turning them to work for the Devil
God Bless,
Nemo
I apologize to others if this response to Nemo is a bit long but I believe Nemo is well-intentioned but mistaken about JLin working with the devil so please bear with me just this once.
DeleteNemo,
I understand your good intention that people and JLin fans should not tie their happiness or joy to the outcome of whether JLin plays well or not because that is the definition of making something or someone an idol to control your emotional well-being and happiness. I agree. I wouldn't be so up or down if he plays well or not. I would pray that God will bless him and even manage to use his struggle to encourage other people that when life gets tough and critics are abound to see you fail, God is faithful and be the true source of strength. After all, it's only a basketball game. And JLin has no control if people wants to make him an idol to worship and control their happiness based on his performance.
What JLin and other Christian athletes such as David Robinson, Kurt Warner, Tim Tebow did to help poor children with education, basketball clinics, charity work, bring hope and good news to people in prison, and inspire other people with life struggle because God wants them to share His love have more eternal values than multiple NBA championships or $100M money because they make a lasting impact in other people's life.
But that being said, I am concerned that you mistakenly think "JLin made a deal with the devil" or "the Devil used JLin as a puppet" because you also felt the demonic spirit while watching Houston's first game. Please also consider that you can be misled by the Devil in this matter. One way to know the truth would be to pray and consult the Scripture:
Delete1. Jesus is Accused of Working for the Devil
Matthew 12:22-37
JLin is not Jesus but Jesus was once accused of working for the Devil to heal people and bring them to God. His strongest argument is will the Devil give the power to undo his evil work? Of course not. Unless there is proof that JLin is misleading people away from God, please do not slander him.
2. Are there proof that JLin a wolf in sheep clothing to mislead people according to the Scripture? Don't base this opinion based on your own thinking and feeling but test them against the Scripture.
Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing: 5 Tips to Identify One
The main test is whether or not one's life has good fruits or bad fruits.
Matthew 7:16-20 "You will recognize them by their fruits. .."
Does JLin have the works of the flesh below to indicate that he is controlled by the Devil? Or the fruit of the Spirit indicating he still walks with God?
Galatians 5:19-25 "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."
So while I agree with your point that people should not make JLin's performance to be their idol and control their happiness, I disagree with your thought that JLin sold his soul to the devil based on the Scripture test. I hope and pray that you also consider that your thinking could be mistaken and misled. I will just post this once to be fair with others since this is a basketball forum but I know you're a long time JLin fan so I thought I post something for your food of thought and your prayers.
May God grant you wisdom, brother.
How come admin of this site still allow mental Nemo to post psychotic comments such as above?
ReplyDeletehey, don't discriminate some one like that! He is allows to have his freedom of speech! lol.haha..
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteFreedom of speech does not include spreading lies about someone that aren't true and damaging to someone's public reputation. That's considered slander, and it's against the law.
DeleteAlso it is Hate speech to attack someone's race or religion.
On daily bases B/R, The Dream Shake, Clutchfans, etc. will have couple Lin bashing articles. None stop bashing. When Jeremy complete this season, and he will, he will be a much much better player. One thing for certain is that he will be so much tougher mentally.
ReplyDeleteEven on this site for Lin fans, I see Lin bashing. On this site, we supported Lin even when he was a nobody and nowhere on NBA's radar. We supported Lin when he was in & out of D league.
We supported Lin because of who he is and what he believes in. We are connected to him because of our identification with his struggles; thus, we also cheered loudly when he triumphs.
Linsanity was never just about basketball. It was the transcending spirit that many of us see Lin in us and see us in Lin.
As a basketball fan there are many thing I hope Lin can improve on; however, as his fan I am satisfied that he is not giving-up and he is working hard everyday and in every game.
Godspeed Jeremy. You got my support!
can't agree more!!!!!! Over 100% agreement! Exactly how we truly lin fans feel! The others they don't understand. They thought we support him just in his good times, we support him because of linsanity! And they want us to bashing on jlin like the way they did. NO. It is something that we see beyong jlin's basketball skills that make us supporting him all the way!For some, they just never understand!
DeleteI am a fan of Jeremy Lin the player. I cheer for him in good times and bad. I've been watching his games on internet video since his junior year at Harvard.
ReplyDeleteJLin has experienced struggles throughout his career. At Harvard he had trouble against the good Ivy league teams like Cornell and Princeton. He went undrafted, and most people thought that was the end of him. He was benched for most of his days with the Warriors and the Knicks... we all thought that was the end of his career ... it was only the beginning.
So people who think this is the lowest point in his career have no idea. We've been through this before. Most bandwagon Linsanity fans have no idea how bad it was before Linsanity.
I disagree.
DeleteWhile I agree that Lin's progression has been delayed or held back, this is the 1st time where he's taken a step backwards.
Should Stanford have taken him off his "dream come true" senior season for Palo Alto HS? Yes, but he still played for a D1 team at Harvard that he led, where he won acclaim.
Should Lin have been drafted? Yes, but he still earned a summer league invite from the Mavs (who were auditioning combo guards to pair with Kidd) and won a guaranteed contract with an NBA team.
Should the Warriors have given Lin the same chance to break into their rotation that the Knicks gave him? Yes, but Lin at least established himself as a fringe NBA player with enough status to be picked up by two subsequent NBA teams.
After establishing himself as the Knick starting PG, should the Knicks have matched the 25/3 Rockets offer and returned Lin to where he was best set up for success? Yes, but Lin still joined another NBA team committed to him for 25/3 where it looked like he would be the team's centerpiece or at least, if a bigger star was later added, master of the ball as the Rockets PG.
At every step before now, Lin has moved forward. Then the Rockets traded for Harden, made him their master of the ball, and took away Lin's role. That's never happened to Lin before. When Woodson replaced D'Antoni as Knicks coach, Lin's role changed with the system, but he kept control of the ball and his role as Knicks PG.
Lin knew exactly what he was supposed to do as the Knicks PG last season. This season, Lin doesn't look like he's clear on what what he's supposed to be doing for the Rockets. The confusion of the Jazz game made clear, following the Blazers OT benching, that the Rockets coaches haven't yet figured out Lin's new role after the Harden trade.
@Eric
Delete"this is the 1st time where he's taken a step backwards."
Agreed.
"At every step before now, Lin has moved forward. Then the Rockets traded for Harden, made him their master of the ball, and took away Lin's role. That's never happened to Lin before."
Now we have a disconnect. Taking away Lin's role as primary ballhandler does not necessarily mean he takes a step backward. The burden is on Lin to adjust to whatever new role he has. Agreed, it's not clearly defined. So go out and define it. Sets get broken up all the time; it's not like the opportunity to create is nonexistent.
Lin may not have the same frequency of opportunities as in the past, but the fact remains that of the opportunities he has had (to recreate what he did last spring) he has squandered them. Most glaring, of course, is the shooting, but it's become more apparent in most aspects of his game.
A couple of weeks ago I called it a problem with confidence. Now I'm afraid we are encroaching on attitude. It's up to him to seize the moment, and he hasn't. That's where I think he's taken a step backwards.
I don't see Lin as having taken any backward steps at all.
DeleteLin is learning how to play off the ball and still be aggressive. Plus he's doing it for a team without established quality big men.
If Lin were with the Knicks and had to face quality teams, he'd be forced to learn the same lessons anyway.
In competitive professional athletics, one often had to get an F before he can get an A.
I've seen this happen before, although in limited minutes with the Warriors. Lin was the shooting guard to Monta Ellis' point guard. And yes, Lin was a horrible shooter back then, even worse than now. But he made up for it with sticky defense, getting steals, and attacking in transition. Warriors never ran pick and roll plays for Lin. He was a corner shooter.
DeleteDo u guys think the rockets will make to playoffs this season ? I think they are very less chance unless linsanity or beardsanity happen again.
ReplyDeleteIf Lin doesn't repair his jumpshot, I don't think the Rockets can make the playoffs.
DeleteIf Lin repairs his jumpshot AND the coaches recognize his ability, then I think the Rockets will be fighting for the 8th spot.
I once said that the Rockets could win 50 games. I felt that way before the Harden trade but not so much afterwards.
As Lin goes, so do the Rockets. Despite his stellar defense and passing, Lin's inability to hit jumpshots consistently has cast a pall over a team that relies on him so much.
No
DeleteThe Rockets are getting more out of their frontcourt and earlier than expected. If they can solve their backcourt issues, the Rockets will be right there.
DeleteThe Jazz game, with Harden sidelined, made clear that Lin's role with the Rockets since the Harden trade is poorly defined.
Fo yaw who are still under the spell of pop culture.
ReplyDeleteLet me educate you on lil sumsum. Pro sports is a bidness first n foremost
it dont matter if u win championship but lose dinero
Check out houston payroll lowest n da league by wide margin
Jeremy will bring asian fan base and revenue
Added revenue minus lowest payroll equals...
High profit.....
Ding ding ding
We have a winner
more disrespect from kobe. if you look at the whole play, it was obviously not a flop but a clear foul by kobe. I don't need to get into the subtle racism of his "he's too little" comment.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessinsider.com/kobe-death-stare-jeremy-lin-2012-11
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DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Deleteoh wow you guys reading way too much into it. i think kobe was talking about how in his mind Jlin aint shit. which is true, in Kobe's mind about 99% of the league is little for him. that's what makes him a great player. I remembered last year he gave Jlin props when the guy dropped 38 on the lakers. Kobe just doesnt like floppers.
DeleteThe article didn't point out that Kobe said nice things about Lin's decision-making. And you know he means it because he doesn't care what other players think
DeleteHe's too little is only racist if you are hypersensitive or something. And if you think what Kobe said was a diss, you should read some of things he has said about Kwame Brown and Smush Parker!
Interesting article on the next phase in Jeremy Lin's development. http://nba.si.com/2012/11/19/jeremy-lin-houston-rockets-new-york-knicks/?sct=nba_t12_a1
ReplyDelete@c8 etc
DeleteThanks for that. I thought it was spot on. Here's to hoping for a great Act 3.
And please let it begin Friday against the Knicks.
Yep very nice article. Wow even media like SI is taking notice, at least they're not just trash talking but offering insight to why he may not be doing well and what needs to happen...Very good piece on his jump passing, I don't know if I agree with how he couldn't read help defense, maybe not consistently but he was certainly improving esp under Woodson.
DeleteI hope Les/Morey/Sampson take note...
And Delfino is right on: Their offense is too predictable, against teams like Jazz all you'll get is scoring droughts...
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ReplyDeleteA professor from one of the most prestigious universities in the world once told me
DeleteWhen you are watching a msm tv program
You are actually the one being programmed
Finally, this site has someone who is awake! Glad you are in the same world as me, Joe.
DeleteI hope the rest of these dreaming zombies wake up soon instead of groping the nuts of Jeremy Lin, while Jeremy abuses them all by intentionally playing horrible.
Dont think jeremy is playing bad on purpose.
DeleteI wish him nothing but the very best.
Like i said before.even if he does not score another point. Iwll be forever thankful for what he's done for us
How is this related to basketball or Jeremy Lin?
DeleteAnyway...
ReplyDeleteJeremy actually looked good last night. He was attacking the basket and finishing in traffic until he went cold again. Also, his bigs not finishing anything whatsoever (layups, dunks, open 3s) didn't help.
He looks stronger and quicker with every game. And for the record, Ty Lawson is having similar shooting woes. On the passing front, Jeremy has never looked better. I've been outright dazzled by some of his passes.
He just needs to make some shots. Simple as that.
Here is another theory for Lin's sub-par shooting performance in game situation. Lin trained hard during the summer while his knee was still healing. The weak knee likely fatigued much sooner during those shooting sessions, and he was basically shooting on one good leg. His muscle memory for shooting was then tuned to single leg body balance. Now that the repaired knee has recovered well, hopefully, and starts to provide more strength in his shooting, and undoubtedly affects his balance during shooting. The healing process takes time. Glide Drexeler once mentioned that most athletes undergoing knee surgeries need about a year to achieve full recovery, as he himself experienced the same process.
ReplyDeleteLin fans should just be patient, and be very glad that Lin can even compete at the highest level without his shooting threat.
hmm..sounds logical...
Deletestop with the knee excuses. PLEASE.
Deletebasketball is mental. i think he's should start games by attacking the basketball, build up some confidence that will hopefully carry over into his jumpers.
Do any of you guys have this sense in you that JLIN will rise to the occasion? I know I do. He's always stepped up when people thought he was down and out..
ReplyDelete1. Various times in high school. Jr year, he gets injured and they lose..Comes back and grows as a player and helps win senior year.
2. NO D1 Scholarships, Goes to Harvard
3. Nothing too spectacular at Harvard first two years, develops into one of the best overall players in the NCAA.
4. Doesn't Get drafted, presses on and goes to the summer league.
5. steps up in the summer league.
6. get signed by golden state, at times looks like he is just there to sell tickets to the bay area asian fans.
7. goes to d-league
8. gets cut by golden state
9. gets cut by houston
10. sucks against boston when d'antoni finally puts him in for meaningful play.
11. Gets thrown in vs. nets, rises to the occassion.
12. starts missing jumpshots in the nets game, keeps playing, then finishes it.
13. gets injured
14. knicks dont sign him
15. poor performance first 11 games of the nba season
16. I have no doubt that j-lin has the heart of a fighter. He may be meek and humble, but trust me, that doesn't mean he isn't competitive and that he's satisfied with getting a contract...
do you see a pattern? I do. With Lin ,it's all about having lows and learning from them and rising past them. We might see him at his lowest right now in terms of shooting, but these doubters/haters/ and poor shooting will definitely make him a better player...Have we forgot he's only 24?
Steve Nash drastically got better after the age of 32?
I don't think JLIn will ever be as good as the top 5 pgs....but I don't doubt that he can be one of the top 10 pgs....Rising up and overcoming is what Lin has been doing his whole life. This is nothing different.
Lin was easily a top 5 pg last season.
DeleteHe can be a top 5 pg again, if not THE top.
There is only one thing Lin is not doing well, and that's shooting. He's trying to correct that.
In all other aspects of the game, Lin is right at the top among PGs.
“For me, we as a team needed that win,” Lin said. “We trust each other. We trust the coaches. I was rooting for them, just like when I’m in the game, they root for me. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to pull it out. Whatever the coach asks, you have to be ready.”
ReplyDeleteLin said he was not surprised when he was not asked to do anything in overtime since he was not spending the overtime waiting for that call.
“I guess I wasn’t really thinking too much about it,” Lin said. “He wanted T.D. to play the defensive possessions and me to play the offensive possessions. Obviously, it’s not like football where you can change whenever you want.”
Theres our boy scout jlin. This does nothing to improve his scrub status. What the heck are us fans complaining about he sure as heck ain't.
yeah and if he had complained about it, it wouldn't do anything to improve his scrub status either. he'd just be a scrub complaining.
Deletehe's wired differently than most nba players, that much is certain. i personally think it's pretty cool and one big reason why i root for him.
The funny thing is that the only guy who doesn't seem to be strongly emotionally reacting (either by hating or by defending or by getting really sad) is Jeremy Lin.
ReplyDeleteThe thing we all know is that Jeremy's good. He's good at basketball, he's a hard worker, and he's not going to suddenly slack off and go overeat/dosomethingstupid or whatever. When the PERSON is good, then good stuff will follow. It might not even be this year. But good things come from good people, and that's why, despite my worries, I have faith in Jeremy Lin. (err... barring injury)
Exactly. Do you think pressure, haters, and tough struggles are anything new to lin? He's been the only Asian playing a predominately black game for his entire life. He's not some Wang Ming Jing from China who doesn't understand...He's American from the Bay. He knows what it's like. I'm sure there is some pressure from signing a big contract, but I would not be afraid of Lin buckling under pressure. Tell me one instant in his career where he has buckled under pressure. Everyone says he's a hard worker, competitive, and a fighter. Come on! He wasn't afraid to wave off his teammates and take the last shot in Toronto playing for the Knicks! He's not afraid! There are instances where he struggles like Miami, but he always learns and gets back up! I'm optimistic that Lin will improve! He's a work in progress.
DeleteBack to JLin's shooting, wasn't he shooting 3s at 76% in the summer?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc7Rdl0TeHo&feature=plcp (toward the end)
The shooting seemed to be one of the main things he was working on, even in Taiwan/China.
I know KHuang and others have said that in-game shooting is different from unguarded shooting. I wonder whether JLin, unguarded, can make 76% 3-pointers now. In other words, I wonder how much of it is that it's in-game shooting or how much of it is that his shooting just happens to be bad right now (or both). Just wondering...
I'm sure he can hit a high percentage in practice. I played competitive hs basketball at Villa Park HS (couple d1 scholarship player teammates), and shooting in practice is nothing like shooting in the game. The ball is always passed perfect in rhythm to you, you have time to set your feet, be balanced, and shoot. In the game, defenses are coming at you, you catch it maybe not cleanly on the spirals, you are tired so your legs might not be all there, etc. Plus, in the game, Lin is shooting like 10 shots max. In practice, you shoot like 100 or more. You have time to shrug off a miss or two and keep shooting until you get into rhythm. IN the game, not so... Plus, you are pretty much stationary in drills.
Delete