Thing is, its so easy to see the main man as crucial, and it takes so much longer to see a second option as important. The team probably thinks Parsons is more valuable than JLin on the team.
It should be a good measure for how far Harden has come in beating those traps. Harden was shutdown and JLin was far from 100% last time the teams met. It is an opportunity to see how far the JLin and Harden duo can continue to produce against another good team. A good game for the duo would be another 50+ and 15+ assist night!
Houston have no right to win this game, after the physical pounding they got from Spurs yesterday. However, Harden seems to have saved himself a little against SAS in order to get revenge on the club that left him on the bench and will appreciate that he has a chance of MVP this year by switching to Houston.
Westbrook should be pi$$ed off that Lin and Harden are streaks ahead in the All Stars voting. Against the Knicks the Rockets played especially hard for Lin's revenge homecoming (said Parsons in a post interview). Similarly if Harden's team mates can put in that extra 10%, they can win on adrenalin and emotion, but OKC is a top athletic team dominating the West, not the older slower Knicks top team in the East.
It also depends on McHale using some tactics from the two teams that defeated OKC recently.
Lin/Harden pick-and-roll could be a secret weapon. Don't think they used that last time. Also, Jeremy's mid-range game could be huge.
Even with Ibaka (and others) protecting the rim and Jeremy not being a great 3pt shooter, he'll have that 15-20ft area wide open for his floaters and mid-range J.
On defense, make Westbrook beat you. Let him iso on Jeremy as much as possible. Even if he "wins" that battle, it's better than Durant taking over or Ibaka (much improved offensively) abusing our defensively weak PFs. Oh, and attack Kevin Martin off the dribble every time (don't settle for the jumper, James).
Spurs defenders were crazy - they were able to block attempted dunks and many of Lin's drives or got favourable refs' calls for offensive fouls. Apart from Durant, hopefully the other Thunder defenders won't make life as difficult for the Rockets.
I am sad to announce that this is my last post ever on jeremylin.net. After enjoying the whole Linsanity run, as well as pre-Linsanity and post-Linsanity, I have realized that it is time for a change and to move onto bigger and better things in life. Nemo will be retired. It's time for me to practice what I preach and to devote my time and energy on things that really matter such as community, faith, and making the world a better place, while eliminating any evil that is soul consuming. I highly recommend you all look at your reason of existence and to filter out unnecessary evils that hold you back from your true purpose. It's just a coincidence that this is happening at the end of 2012, but now is the time.
Long time reader and first time poster. I think there are many people out there like myself interested in JLin's basketball development. I was away from NBA for a number of years (since Seattle team moved to OKC) and brought back into NBA because of Linsanity. I was a Knick fan last season because of Lin. Now I am a Rocket fan because of Lin. After reading most of the comments since the beginning of the season, I think there are two factions of JLin fans. One side thinks McHale is doing a fine job developing Lin (so call tough love). The other side is interested in Lin's basketball development via consistent playing time even if it means making mistakes as a young player. As a coach, McHale wants to win games and that is his priority. As a JLin fan, I am more interested in Lin's basketball development in his young career. We have two different objectives and that is why we are arguing among each other. There is no right answers but just a different point of view. But some of us also think if McHale allows Lin to play his game, the Rockets can win more games that they supposed to win. As a Lin fan, I want to see Lin plays 30-35 min in the rotation no matter how he performs. Let Lin makes the mistakes. Lin is a smart kid. He knows how he is doing in the game. He doesn't need the coach to tell him he is doing bad by benching him. He needs the coach to encourage him to go out and get better. I was watching the OKC vs Dallas game a couple of days ago. Westbrook was shooting terrible in the game and Durant was shooting very well. But OKC coach didn't bench Westbrook. Westbrook kept taking shots and kept missing. In OT, Westbrook stole the ball and made a couple of key baskets and OKC won the game in OT. The next day headline was Westbrook won the game for OKC in OT. If McHale was the coach, he might just pull Westbrook from the game because he was shooting so poorly and never allows Westbrook to redeem himself. I think McHale's coaching style is too "emotional". I think he will bench a player for something the player did that he didn't like, may it be in the game or during practices. I personally don't like that coaching style. We need consistency in coaching so the players know what to expect. This is professional not college. In the Minn game, McHale rested the players and won the game. Great job, coach. In the SA game, he benched the regular rotational players, Smith and Delfino, why, no one knows but the Rockets loss. By putting two new players (Cook and Aldrich) into the rotation in a highly competitive game, I just don't know what he is thinking at the time. One positive note I got from the game is even though the Rockets didn't play that well and SA played extremely well, the Rockets kept the game pretty close and didn't get blown away by one of the top team. I predict the Rockets will make the playoff this year which is their goal at the beginning of the season. They may even reach the second round if they get 4th or 5th seed.
I am going to digress here, I was in one of Nevada City during the Minn game. I've never bet on a Sporting event before. I wanted to bet on the Rockets and the counter person helped me place the bet and explained to me what the spread means, (+10.5 for Rockets). I was thinking this is like taking candies from a baby. I was going to bet the SA game(+8 for Rockets) also but I had to fly home on Friday. Otherwise, I'd have won both times. I think it is highly profitable to bet on the Rockets in the next few games until the Odds makers realize how good the Rockets team is and start reducing the spread. I think the Rockets can beat the OKC team judging from how they did vs Dallas. I wish I am still in Nevada.
McHale's reaction to Jlin turning the ball over is completely different than if it were Harden or Parsons. JLin gets yanked almost immediately, while McHale tends to keep the latter two in the game regardless. The fool just becomes so damn emotional only when JLin turns it over for some reason. You should see McHale's expression when Harden had two TOs in the second half: he just sat on the bench emotionless. I was expecting he'd sprung off the bench and give his disgusted stare down like when JLin turned it over but he didn't. If McHale is all for JLin's development, he would let JLin play through his mistakes but he doesn't. It wasn't like JLin was that horrible, although I was irked with his TOs too. So I really don't understand why he's so damn emotional on JLin other than he simply doesn't like JLin, or likes him less than Harden and Parsons and hence not as tolerable.
That is what I mean when I say he is more "emotional" and not being consistent as a coach. Coach should leave the "feeling" out. Otherwise, people will misinterpret them as something else which I don't think he is.
Oh, one more thing. I know a lot of you want JLin to be traded to other cities because he is being misused by the coach. My feeling is it will never happen. Lin is a cash cow for the Rockets. Les will get a new coach before he allows Lin to leave Houston. As Lin fans, we need to keep voicing our opinions if the misused continues and hopefully it will get to the right ears one of these days.
I used to be furious over this. But I got a little better lately since Lin got starter's minutes and played well. Now, I am depressed again. I do not know what the Rockets are doing. Is it possible that they are torturing Lin because Linsanity made them look like a fool?
@bto Many NBA observers are critical of Brooks precisely because of the reasons you stated. Brooks' handling of Westbrook is something that should be criticized, not emulated. A championship caliber coach like Gregg Popovich would never tolerate such foolishness from Westbrook.
@Racha Such is the case in every walk of life. The biggest producers in any organization get the most leeway. Harden is the most productive member of the team by far, so he gets a longer leash. That's the way the real world works.
I also have been without a team until now because of the Sonics debacle. I think people who think Mchale is actively developing Lin with carefully considered coaching wisdom are quite misguided. There is lots and lots of evidence that's not the case. I used to post here a lot defending Lin but I don't feel the need to do so much detailed analysis lately. I was worried that Lin's chances could be sunk by staff mismanagement, but ever since his break out game against San Antonio, that is no longer a concern. Lin has the talent and work ethic to be a star, and he now has incredible leverage. It's only a matter of time before Lin is an undisputedntegral part of a contender here in Houston or he has his own team to run like he did at New York.
Harden is only such a bigger producer because of how the offense is structured so that argument is a non starter. Please observe Lin's top 40 PER last year when he had a different role.
Close, but not quite. When Mchale was going to bars to catch Lin's games last year during Linsanity, make no mistake: he was waiting to see Lin fail. He wanted his original conceptions to be confirmed. When Lin had trouble with Miami, his belief that Lin's ball handling was a fatal flaw.
Since then, he's designed an offense both in preseason and since Harden that minimizes what he imagines is Lin's debility, of course not recognizing that with the ball in Lin's hands, the good vastly outweighs the bad. Mchale might be a good coach in some ways, but on this he is terribly biased and hurting the team tremendously. Humans are just incapable of overcoming their biases, and confirmation bias is the worst.
Nate Silver is much much better at predicting thingshan Mchale. And Nate Silver showed that Lin has star potential
Right, it's not like Harden is talented or anything. It's not like he carried his team through several playoff rounds despite never being given the full keys to the offense. Nah of course not.
As Silver showed, folks who start off with Lin's production go onto be good. People who don't understand logic and/or math say Silver is cherry picking. Setting floors for the standard measures of productivity for a basketball player and then showing that anyone above that floor is good is not cherry picking. Cherry picking is taking ARBITRARY performance indicators. That Lin has star potential is indisputable. Yet, Mchale has never in any way shape or form suggested he thinks Lin can be a star. Mchale just isn't that bright.
Like I said, the numbers and how he's being used speak for themselves. In Lin's first 25 games he had a top 40 PER. What was Harden's do you think? If Lin had the highest usage on the team, his number would look very similar to Hardee's, with a different points/assists differential.
I love Harden, btw. I'm higher him then the vast majority here. But he doesn't have much more, if any ability to produce wins than Lin. They are both extraordinarily high in that regard. Hopefully it will shake out that they get a more equal responsibilities distribution because it helps Harden just as much as it will Lin.
Everyone one the Rockets team except Harden is a role player as far as Rockets is willing to admit and for good reason. One possibility is that they want as many of their young cadres to stay motivated and compete for that next star status within the team. I am actually they are not publicly saying anyone including Lin is that next legit all-start as not to put undue pressure on their players, especially Jeremy. Although I appreciate this thought, but the reality is that Jeremy will always be under the microscope of the media because of his fame.
For me, I am glad McHale is back and allowing him to get back in the game after tough starts, 5 TO in MN before putting him back in the 4th quarter and in SAS game, Jeremy was instrumental in our comeback in second quarter after some pretty silly TO's.... IMO, McHale has been much better for Lin than Sampson in terms of playing time during games. Not surprising really since Sampson is a defensive specialist and McHale is more of a offensive minded coach.
Parsons, TD, Delfino, and Asik, Patterson, and Morris's minutes all vary just like Lin. I do think however that the coaching staff and Sampson in particular did not use Jeremy properly until the 2nd SAS game and took until the Knicks game to really trust Jeremy in the offense.
Now,the ball is in Jeremy's court. I REALLY WANT TO SEE JEREMY START THE GAME LOOKING TO SCORE FIRST on their halfcourt sets to open things up for his team mates. Over the last five games, he is doing a great job of pushing the ball upcourt looking to score with his amazing quickness or making plays for others. Just carry it over to the halfcourt PnR or one on one penetrations!
Harden finished last season with a 21.2 PER. Lin finished with a PER of 19.9. But PER is wildly overrated anyway.
Louis Williams had a PER of 20.2 last year. Corliss Williamson had a PER of 20 in 01-02. David West rocked a 20.4 in 2010-2011. Tiago Splitter had a PER of 20.5 last season. Michael Redd rocked 20+ in three different seasons even though he was never among the best players in the league. Leon Powe, 08; Emeka Okafor, 07. Greg Monroe last season; Millsap too. Brad Miller in 02 and 05. Maggette in 04 and 2010. David Lee in 07 and 2010.
Let's look at where these WP48 numbers rank. To filter out for small sample size, let's only look at players that played in at least half (33) of last season's games. In this case, Harden's WP48 of .263 was ranked 11th league wide, Lin's WP48 was ranked 110th league wide.
Look, this is not meant to disparage Lin, just to illustrate how out of touch with reality those people are that think that Harden should not be the unquestioned #1 option on this team.
And I don't even like Harden's game that much. If Lin wasn't on this team, I wouldn't give two sh1ts about the Rockets. But production doesn't lie.
And you want to talk about potential? Ok: Harden is younger than Lin.
I know this is a long shot but if Rockets want to win, they have to :
1. Either Harden or Lin gotta make Ibaka to have foul trouble as early as possible
2. Don't leave K-Mart open! Harden I'm looking at you
3. Minimize Parson offense contribution (no more forced basket) so he can at least have enough energy to guard Durant. Don't do anything Parson, for the love of god just stay close with him.
4. Jeremy not to attempt blocking Westbrook's shoots. Just contest and forced him to take long range jumper
5. Morris should not start on this match. Obvious miss match will hurt both our offense and defense.
6. Asik have to keep his eyes and hands ready. Also control the paint
SA game was not Lin's fault. He was distributing very well to asik and out to the three point corners but these guys simply were not finding the basket outside the arc. I think it's unfair to put all the weight on Lin and Harden. I can count the number if times Asik failed to close on a fast pass from Lin. It's not just Lin who needs to work on his threes but his closers need to close. Harden can't do it all on his own every game. The loose end seems to be the rookies. Not sure why coach started the two rookies with less Lin connection on such an important game.
That cartoon that is floating around makes me sad. Let's win one for James.
ReplyDeleteBest outcome: we get the win, but in a way such that Harden (coaches, everyone) realizes that Lin is critical to our long term success.
Thing is, its so easy to see the main man as crucial, and it takes so much longer to see a second option as important. The team probably thinks Parsons is more valuable than JLin on the team.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHarden is gonna take that cartoon as motivation. ROCKETS WILL WIN TONIGHT.
DeleteTalking about this one? Its funny and heartbreaking at the same time.
Deletehttp://i.imgur.com/RmIZb.jpg
I found it on clutchfans. I have no idea who made it. Any infos?
not sure if this is the original creator:
Deletehttp://fuckyeahericchen.tumblr.com/
Looking forward to this game. I hope Harden and Chandler are not too tanked out. I would like to see Harden get his "revenge."
DeleteLast game was a blow-out loss. This game, Jeremy and his teammates will win in style for Harden. Let's go Rockets!
DeleteIt should be a good measure for how far Harden has come in beating those traps. Harden was shutdown and JLin was far from 100% last time the teams met. It is an opportunity to see how far the JLin and Harden duo can continue to produce against another good team. A good game for the duo would be another 50+ and 15+ assist night!
ReplyDeleteHouston have no right to win this game, after the physical pounding they got from Spurs yesterday. However, Harden seems to have saved himself a little against SAS in order to get revenge on the club that left him on the bench and will appreciate that he has a chance of MVP this year by switching to Houston.
ReplyDeleteWestbrook should be pi$$ed off that Lin and Harden are streaks ahead in the All Stars voting. Against the Knicks the Rockets played especially hard for Lin's revenge homecoming (said Parsons in a post interview). Similarly if Harden's team mates can put in that extra 10%, they can win on adrenalin and emotion, but OKC is a top athletic team dominating the West, not the older slower Knicks top team in the East.
It also depends on McHale using some tactics from the two teams that defeated OKC recently.
Lin/Harden pick-and-roll could be a secret weapon. Don't think they used that last time. Also, Jeremy's mid-range game could be huge.
ReplyDeleteEven with Ibaka (and others) protecting the rim and Jeremy not being a great 3pt shooter, he'll have that 15-20ft area wide open for his floaters and mid-range J.
On defense, make Westbrook beat you. Let him iso on Jeremy as much as possible. Even if he "wins" that battle, it's better than Durant taking over or Ibaka (much improved offensively) abusing our defensively weak PFs. Oh, and attack Kevin Martin off the dribble every time (don't settle for the jumper, James).
Spurs defenders were crazy - they were able to block attempted dunks and many of Lin's drives or got favourable refs' calls for offensive fouls. Apart from Durant, hopefully the other Thunder defenders won't make life as difficult for the Rockets.
DeleteLadies and Gentlemen,
ReplyDeleteI am sad to announce that this is my last post ever on jeremylin.net. After enjoying the whole Linsanity run, as well as pre-Linsanity and post-Linsanity, I have realized that it is time for a change and to move onto bigger and better things in life. Nemo will be retired. It's time for me to practice what I preach and to devote my time and energy on things that really matter such as community, faith, and making the world a better place, while eliminating any evil that is soul consuming. I highly recommend you all look at your reason of existence and to filter out unnecessary evils that hold you back from your true purpose. It's just a coincidence that this is happening at the end of 2012, but now is the time.
God bless,
Nemo
Goodbye Nemo. Good luck with your new journey, and please don't come back to this fansite as Omen. LoL
DeleteLong time reader and first time poster. I think there are many people out there like myself interested in JLin's basketball development. I was away from NBA for a number of years (since Seattle team moved to OKC) and brought back into NBA because of Linsanity. I was a Knick fan last season because of Lin. Now I am a Rocket fan because of Lin. After reading most of the comments since the beginning of the season, I think there are two factions of JLin fans. One side thinks McHale is doing a fine job developing Lin (so call tough love). The other side is interested in Lin's basketball development via consistent playing time even if it means making mistakes as a young player. As a coach, McHale wants to win games and that is his priority. As a JLin fan, I am more interested in Lin's basketball development in his young career. We have two different objectives and that is why we are arguing among each other. There is no right answers but just a different point of view. But some of us also think if McHale allows Lin to play his game, the Rockets can win more games that they supposed to win. As a Lin fan, I want to see Lin plays 30-35 min in the rotation no matter how he performs. Let Lin makes the mistakes. Lin is a smart kid. He knows how he is doing in the game. He doesn't need the coach to tell him he is doing bad by benching him. He needs the coach to encourage him to go out and get better. I was watching the OKC vs Dallas game a couple of days ago. Westbrook was shooting terrible in the game and Durant was shooting very well. But OKC coach didn't bench Westbrook. Westbrook kept taking shots and kept missing. In OT, Westbrook stole the ball and made a couple of key baskets and OKC won the game in OT. The next day headline was Westbrook won the game for OKC in OT. If McHale was the coach, he might just pull Westbrook from the game because he was shooting so poorly and never allows Westbrook to redeem himself. I think McHale's coaching style is too "emotional". I think he will bench a player for something the player did that he didn't like, may it be in the game or during practices. I personally don't like that coaching style. We need consistency in coaching so the players know what to expect. This is professional not college. In the Minn game, McHale rested the players and won the game. Great job, coach. In the SA game, he benched the regular rotational players, Smith and Delfino, why, no one knows but the Rockets loss. By putting two new players (Cook and Aldrich) into the rotation in a highly competitive game, I just don't know what he is thinking at the time. One positive note I got from the game is even though the Rockets didn't play that well and SA played extremely well, the Rockets kept the game pretty close and didn't get blown away by one of the top team. I predict the Rockets will make the playoff this year which is their goal at the beginning of the season. They may even reach the second round if they get 4th or 5th seed.
ReplyDeleteI am going to digress here, I was in one of Nevada City during the Minn game. I've never bet on a Sporting event before. I wanted to bet on the Rockets and the counter person helped me place the bet and explained to me what the spread means, (+10.5 for Rockets). I was thinking this is like taking candies from a baby. I was going to bet the SA game(+8 for Rockets) also but I had to fly home on Friday. Otherwise, I'd have won both times. I think it is highly profitable to bet on the Rockets in the next few games until the Odds makers realize how good the Rockets team is and start reducing the spread. I think the Rockets can beat the OKC team judging from how they did vs Dallas. I wish I am still in Nevada.
McHale's reaction to Jlin turning the ball over is completely different than if it were Harden or Parsons. JLin gets yanked almost immediately, while McHale tends to keep the latter two in the game regardless. The fool just becomes so damn emotional only when JLin turns it over for some reason. You should see McHale's expression when Harden had two TOs in the second half: he just sat on the bench emotionless. I was expecting he'd sprung off the bench and give his disgusted stare down like when JLin turned it over but he didn't. If McHale is all for JLin's development, he would let JLin play through his mistakes but he doesn't. It wasn't like JLin was that horrible, although I was irked with his TOs too. So I really don't understand why he's so damn emotional on JLin other than he simply doesn't like JLin, or likes him less than Harden and Parsons and hence not as tolerable.
DeleteThat is what I mean when I say he is more "emotional" and not being consistent as a coach. Coach should leave the "feeling" out. Otherwise, people will misinterpret them as something else which I don't think he is.
DeleteOh, one more thing. I know a lot of you want JLin to be traded to other cities because he is being misused by the coach. My feeling is it will never happen. Lin is a cash cow for the Rockets. Les will get a new coach before he allows Lin to leave Houston. As Lin fans, we need to keep voicing our opinions if the misused continues and hopefully it will get to the right ears one of these days.
"Houston, we have a problem"
I used to be furious over this. But I got a little better lately since Lin got starter's minutes and played well. Now, I am depressed again. I do not know what the Rockets are doing. Is it possible that they are torturing Lin because Linsanity made them look like a fool?
Delete@bto
DeleteMany NBA observers are critical of Brooks precisely because of the reasons you stated. Brooks' handling of Westbrook is something that should be criticized, not emulated. A championship caliber coach like Gregg Popovich would never tolerate such foolishness from Westbrook.
@Racha
Such is the case in every walk of life. The biggest producers in any organization get the most leeway. Harden is the most productive member of the team by far, so he gets a longer leash. That's the way the real world works.
Hey @bto,
DeleteI also have been without a team until now because of the Sonics debacle. I think people who think Mchale is actively developing Lin with carefully considered coaching wisdom are quite misguided. There is lots and lots of evidence that's not the case. I used to post here a lot defending Lin but I don't feel the need to do so much detailed analysis lately. I was worried that Lin's chances could be sunk by staff mismanagement, but ever since his break out game against San Antonio, that is no longer a concern. Lin has the talent and work ethic to be a star, and he now has incredible leverage. It's only a matter of time before Lin is an undisputedntegral part of a contender here in Houston or he has his own team to run like he did at New York.
Harden is only such a bigger producer because of how the offense is structured so that argument is a non starter. Please observe Lin's top 40 PER last year when he had a different role.
DeleteWhat carefully considered wisdom. He got none. His only wisdom is Harden.
Delete@hui huai,
DeleteClose, but not quite. When Mchale was going to bars to catch Lin's games last year during Linsanity, make no mistake: he was waiting to see Lin fail. He wanted his original conceptions to be confirmed. When Lin had trouble with Miami, his belief that Lin's ball handling was a fatal flaw.
Since then, he's designed an offense both in preseason and since Harden that minimizes what he imagines is Lin's debility, of course not recognizing that with the ball in Lin's hands, the good vastly outweighs the bad. Mchale might be a good coach in some ways, but on this he is terribly biased and hurting the team tremendously. Humans are just incapable of overcoming their biases, and confirmation bias is the worst.
Nate Silver is much much better at predicting thingshan Mchale. And Nate Silver showed that Lin has star potential
Right, it's not like Harden is talented or anything. It's not like he carried his team through several playoff rounds despite never being given the full keys to the offense. Nah of course not.
DeleteAs Silver showed, folks who start off with Lin's production go onto be good. People who don't understand logic and/or math say Silver is cherry picking. Setting floors for the standard measures of productivity for a basketball player and then showing that anyone above that floor is good is not cherry picking. Cherry picking is taking ARBITRARY performance indicators. That Lin has star potential is indisputable. Yet, Mchale has never in any way shape or form suggested he thinks Lin can be a star. Mchale just isn't that bright.
DeleteLike I said, the numbers and how he's being used speak for themselves. In Lin's first 25 games he had a top 40 PER. What was Harden's do you think? If Lin had the highest usage on the team, his number would look very similar to Hardee's, with a different points/assists differential.
DeleteI love Harden, btw. I'm higher him then the vast majority here. But he doesn't have much more, if any ability to produce wins than Lin. They are both extraordinarily high in that regard. Hopefully it will shake out that they get a more equal responsibilities distribution because it helps Harden just as much as it will Lin.
DeleteSomething wrong with text editing I these form fields from an iPad, hence the weird typos.
DeleteEveryone one the Rockets team except Harden is a role player as far as Rockets is willing to admit and for good reason. One possibility is that they want as many of their young cadres to stay motivated and compete for that next star status within the team. I am actually they are not publicly saying anyone including Lin is that next legit all-start as not to put undue pressure on their players, especially Jeremy. Although I appreciate this thought, but the reality is that Jeremy will always be under the microscope of the media because of his fame.
DeleteFor me, I am glad McHale is back and allowing him to get back in the game after tough starts, 5 TO in MN before putting him back in the 4th quarter and in SAS game, Jeremy was instrumental in our comeback in second quarter after some pretty silly TO's.... IMO, McHale has been much better for Lin than Sampson in terms of playing time during games. Not surprising really since Sampson is a defensive specialist and McHale is more of a offensive minded coach.
Parsons, TD, Delfino, and Asik, Patterson, and Morris's minutes all vary just like Lin. I do think however that the coaching staff and Sampson in particular did not use Jeremy properly until the 2nd SAS game and took until the Knicks game to really trust Jeremy in the offense.
Now,the ball is in Jeremy's court. I REALLY WANT TO SEE JEREMY START THE GAME LOOKING TO SCORE FIRST on their halfcourt sets to open things up for his team mates. Over the last five games, he is doing a great job of pushing the ball upcourt looking to score with his amazing quickness or making plays for others. Just carry it over to the halfcourt PnR or one on one penetrations!
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHarden finished last season with a 21.2 PER. Lin finished with a PER of 19.9. But PER is wildly overrated anyway.
DeleteLouis Williams had a PER of 20.2 last year. Corliss Williamson had a PER of 20 in 01-02. David West rocked a 20.4 in 2010-2011. Tiago Splitter had a PER of 20.5 last season. Michael Redd rocked 20+ in three different seasons even though he was never among the best players in the league. Leon Powe, 08; Emeka Okafor, 07. Greg Monroe last season; Millsap too. Brad Miller in 02 and 05. Maggette in 04 and 2010. David Lee in 07 and 2010.
Let's look at a different metric: Wins Produced
Wins and WP48, Harden v Lin, 2011-12
Last season Harden was far superior to Lin in Wins Produced, as well as Wins Produced per 48 minutes.
Last season Harden produced 10.6 wins, good for 7th in the entire league. Lin produced 2.6 wins, which ranked 153rd in the league.
Wins Produced 2011-12
You want to argue that Harden produced more wins because Lin didn't play as much? Fine, let's look at Wins Produced Per 48 minutes (WP48) then.
Harden had a WP48 of .263, which is elite. Lin had a WP48 of .131, which is above average.
WP48 2011-12
Let's look at where these WP48 numbers rank. To filter out for small sample size, let's only look at players that played in at least half (33) of last season's games. In this case, Harden's WP48 of .263 was ranked 11th league wide, Lin's WP48 was ranked 110th league wide.
Look, this is not meant to disparage Lin, just to illustrate how out of touch with reality those people are that think that Harden should not be the unquestioned #1 option on this team.
And I don't even like Harden's game that much. If Lin wasn't on this team, I wouldn't give two sh1ts about the Rockets. But production doesn't lie.
And you want to talk about potential? Ok: Harden is younger than Lin.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI know this is a long shot but if Rockets want to win, they have to :
ReplyDelete1. Either Harden or Lin gotta make Ibaka to have foul trouble as early as possible
2. Don't leave K-Mart open! Harden I'm looking at you
3. Minimize Parson offense contribution (no more forced basket) so he can at least have enough energy to guard Durant. Don't do anything Parson, for the love of god just stay close with him.
4. Jeremy not to attempt blocking Westbrook's shoots. Just contest and forced him to take long range jumper
5. Morris should not start on this match. Obvious miss match will hurt both our offense and defense.
6. Asik have to keep his eyes and hands ready. Also control the paint
If the Roxs play defense like the way they did against the Spurs, no chance whatsoever.
Deletegood luck jlin!
ReplyDeleteSA game was not Lin's fault. He was distributing very well to asik and out to the three point corners but these guys simply were not finding the basket outside the arc. I think it's unfair to put all the weight on Lin and Harden. I can count the number if times Asik failed to close on a fast pass from Lin. It's not just Lin who needs to work on his threes but his closers need to close. Harden can't do it all on his own every game. The loose end seems to be the rookies. Not sure why coach started the two rookies with less Lin connection on such an important game.
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