Clippers 117, Rockets 109. It wasn't as close as the final score because the last 1:45 was garbage time. But it was still a winnable game.
Geez, the Rockets lost exactly the same way as their last game: Too many 3-point attempts and poor free throws. They are suddenly bad in FT just when they are in the midst of a difficult schedule. They were 13 of 37 from 3's (Clippers were 11 of 19) and 14 of 25 FT (Clippers were 22 of 26).
The Clippers made just one more basket than the Rockets. Another winnable game (sans CPaul) lost because of their love of 3's alone this time! You'd think if they're cold with 3's, don't attempt as much. That's the fault of coaching.
Jeremy did fine but too bad the team lost.... 5 of 11 shooting (1 of 4 from three) with 12 points, 10 assists, 2 stolen, 1 rebound, 1 turnover.
Same old shit on a different day. JLIn always looked to set up his teammates but not the other way around. The ball never came back to him once he let go of it. It's like he's out to make everyone on the team look good, and the whole team won't do the same for him.
I love that no one made turnovers out as a Rockets problem when it's Harden getting the turnovers and Lin hardly committing any.
But it's a big problem when Lin committed turnovers even the team won games. So people could use turnovers as a legit excuse to take the ball away from Lin's hands, apparently.
i agree Cara. I know that announcers are definitely given directives from management and owners but I'm really tired of outright and blatant halo they put on harden every night. I don't think Harden is a bad player but the announcers are making me sick.
I also like that since Lin hardly committed any turnovers, shot a decent % and had 10 assists today, people can't really use Lin's supposed turnover, shooting problem to blame the loss on him, or maybe they still can, apparently Lin's bad defense on Crawford is the sole reason that lost Rockets the game and if Beverly started over Lin, the Rockets would have won!
The announcers were pointing out the # of TOs committed by the Rox pretty much all game as a problem.
Same thing as FTs.
Just not directly pointing fingers at Harden.
If Lin can keep up this kind of consistency (12-17pts a game 8-10 assists) no one would ever doubt him.
BTW the scorer needs to be fired, Lin had 2 TOs, but counted as one (ok not complaining about this one) but that 3 on the line was ruled as a 3 but boxscores kept it at 2.
I would like to know a way to average 17 points and 10 assists with hardly touching the ball half of the game. Even CP3 and Nash need to dominate the ball all the time to average this much.
After watching the game, i can surely say that Lin is in the wrong team, I hate to say this but Lin is not respected or treated fairly by his team mates. He is always looking out to give good passes to them but they are not treating him or giving the confidence to be a true point guard. Looking at the clippers, u can tell right away, they all have everybody's back. Or maybe it is just bad coaching.....
It all started with the coaching staff. They don't respect Lin, so why should his teammates do the same. When he was with the Knicks, Dantoni and Tyson (unspoken leader) showed tremendous respect for Lin so that triggered down the food chains.
Even Lin alone couldn't save all of Houston's problems on turnovers, D and selfish plays. Noticed Lin already did his best individually, minimizing his turnovers, playing the best D as he could, and really assisting his teammates, but one player can only do so much.
I'd have to agree. I noticed that Rox will fade over and over in the fourth quarter. Mostly b/c they keep deferring to Harden. Harden is a solid player, but he has proven not to be a clutch player. (Miami meltdown... several meltdowns this season... etc) So, a team who's trying to build on Harden will not be good for Jeremy. Jeremy needs a team with a very strong front court who he can reliably do staple of pnr's with. jeremy also needs to build on his jump shot. I hope Jeremy is traded just one more time. To the LAKERS!
What Lin needs is a coach who believes in him and respects his game. When that happens, his teammates will do too. I hate to say it, but I would love for Lin to be reunited with Dantoni.
I've had this same feeling for a long time. The Rockets are not a team, they're a bunch of guys wearing the same uniform. It's so hard to watch because we know Lin is such a team player. He needs to be on a "team" team to thrive.
if they are planning on trading lin, then they have until feb 15.(which I don't think they will)They will find a new head coach first, to get harden-lin to play together.They have lost 4 straight games. For another team, they probably could recover, but not the rockets. they have no team chemistry and no team mindset.I think Lin will be fine. He will just keep getting better at his game, because this kind of stuff makes him more competitive and more determined. I see lin on a much bigger stage than houston. I too see him playing for the LA lakers in the future.jmo
What team would want Lin? Let's not forget even with Mark Cuban's professed love for Lin, only Rockets made an offer.
For most of the teams out there, he is not worth 25m.
And what guarantees are there that he'll be treated differently on another team? Or even starting and not off the bench?
Everyone thought he would be "better" withe Rockets, but a lot of same folks now think he might have been better off playing for the Knicks. Grass is always greener on the other side.
Funny thing is, the concept of "better" for most people is an instant repeat of Linsanity with role players built around him. That's so unrealistic its not even funny.
I don't know why people think Rockets aren't a good team for Lin, fact is there are a ton of holes to Lin's game and under McHale he's been steadily improving.
They've said it multiple times they told him to play aggressive and not defer. Heck even Harden said the same thing. A lot of it is on Lin, he WANTS to PASS first, esp in the first half, for example he got caught lobbing a slow ugly pass to harden in 1q right next to him and got picked but for some reason that TO didn't count.
Lin improved a lot as a Rocketman.
D'Antoni lol...Same coach that wanted to replace him with DWill? Lakers? The same team that even Nash is having problems getting to play team ball? Lin is better off staying put and continue to develop his game.
Please, he is going to have to learn to deal and play with superstars and for teams that isn't built around him.
As long as Lin plays a full season under Kevin McHale and benefits from McHale's hypercritical coaching of point guards, I'm OK with Lin playing ANYWHERE next season.
I am not worried about Lin's game. He will become one of the elite PG in the NBA. Rockets are playing a very dangerous game giving coaches full range of playing office politics. Morey/Les know what they have in JLin. No matter how hard they try to make Harden the face of the franchise, it back fires. Lin has a world-wide following, not because of his game, but mostly who he is and what he represents.
Morey may have graduated from MIT, but he is not as smart as he appears. Therefore, he will continues to build around Harden and he will trade Lin if it will bring in another star player. He is not high on Lin. Listen and watch him and try to read between the lines with him. Morey strikes me as a defensive lawyer with the way he thinks and says.
Really no need to be worried about Lin. Lin really has Steve Nash talent when he's given enough touches. I mean which other PG could get 10 assists with such limited touches? And once he's sorted out his long range shooting as well, just look out! Even if he can't make a Nash impact on this Rockets team due to the team not trusting him, he will sure make it elsewhere in the future. Dallas once didn't believe Nash could be a MVP PG and never made him the centerpiece on offense either!
Hate to say this but I am not sure Rox can hold off Portland and Utah and make the playoff. This losing streak will prove too costly 3 against sub .500 teams
Lakers will be such a perfect place with a fully healthy Howard to run pnr and jlin can basically split minutes with Nash and quickly climb the learning curve under Nash. Few people question Kobe and Lin coexist but I don't see it that way
Yup, and Gasol would thrive in the Rocket's offense.
I still think this trade is a possibility -
LA trades Gasol to Houston for JLin and Patterson/Morris/Smith. LA gets what it needs -a PG who can run Dantoni's offense, can play defense, and is not 99 years old.
This is an awful fit for Lin no question at all. Lin is still a 18-20 ppg or more player if Harden is not on this team. The bigs are really not good finishers at all. I think Lin and Melo could have won a championship with both players improvements this year - though Melo would not have wanted to share the spotlight.
Lin is really an amazing player. He continues to excel in different areas when asked to. Stop the turnovers...no problem, 0, 1 and 1. Lin is destined for greatness. I think he is ready for it next year. He has already proved it last year and at times this year (see Spurs, Cavs, Knicks and Bulls games).
I have not seen a game of jeremy lin but by reading from this site, it seems there is a lot of mixture about him playing. From the decision making of the coaches and jeremy himself, but from just looking at his stats, he is doing pretty good
Of course we're all just fantasizing, because there's no way Jeremy's getting traded (look at all the Chinese sponsors all over the court), but I'd love to see him on the Spurs. I really enjoyed watching them win their championships because they're team oriented and selfless. A Parker to Lin transition like the Robinson to Duncan transition would be awesome.
I want Lin traded back to the Knicks. JLin and Greg Smith for Amare Stoudemaire, Ray Felton, and cash. Amare would give Houston that PF finisher they want, albeit an expensive one. But, I think he'll do much better once he's no longer playing with Carmelo. And Ray Felton is a shooting guard masquarading as a point guard, so he'd be happy to stand around while Harden handles the ball and dishes to him for threes.
The game was over when McHale took out Lin in the 3rd quarter with six minutes remaining. Point guard? who needs a point guard? Not for McHale, apparently. In like three minutes after JLin's subbing, the Clippers instantly added 10 points to their lead, as the rockets played like chickens with their head cut off.
He was the first guy pulled after the Clippers went on their run in the 3rd. So it looks like he was being blamed for the onslaught. Perception or reality?
When Lin was taken out, rockets were down by 8. With Lin out, in ONE MINUTE, the lead ballooned up to 16, as one Clipper scored 8 straight points in one minute. Game over.
Just watching the game on replay. Lin's 2nd quarter was really good. When he dominates the ball they can go up big. I did see Harden passing it more to Lin in the 1-2 quarters. Still watching. I think they just need more time.
Yes, Lin just not look enjoy the game. He's doing everything the coach ask him to do no matter right or wrong. This is sad. Like a core i7 forced to run like geforce gtx 650 which doesn't make sense
Still rooting for Jeremy Lin. Missed the game but sounds like he played better than people give him credit for, as usual. I hope that either this team starts to believe him or he gets traded for one that does. I won't give up on him being a great player without even a full season with meaningful minutes.
On a side note I can't believe the disproportional amount of blame Jeremy gets for almost every single loss while everyone else on team seems to get a consistent pass. It's as if the team loses Jeremy automatically gets the full blame.
All any NBA player can do is play the best he can with the opportunities he is given.
That's what Lin did today.
Games like the Sixers 2-13 shooting debacle are steadily becoming less as Lin makes the most of his time on the floor.
Lin is not the coach or the other 4 players on the court with him. Lin is Lin and can only control what Lin does. By that standard, he's doing just fine as far as I'm concerned.
Honestly, it doesn't matter whether you think he's doing fine. You're a fan. What matters, for reasons that go beyond just JLin, is how his play is perceived by his coaches, fans, commentators, society at large.
realistically, we were being completely naive if we thought that once Lin got established in the NBA, then all the racism and asssorted barriers he faced while trying to make it to the NBA would magically disappear. Sadly, he's facing the same crap in the NBA. Virtually the whole league (players, coaches) don't think he's legit. Except Tony Parker and Mark Cuban, a French dude and a brash owner who's waged war against the NBA establishment for years now.
Mark Cuban speaks the truth. He doesn't bullshit. I don't think he understands what "politically correct" means. He is his own man. He has a temper and has a lot of flaws, but he speaks his mind and doesn't care what others think about him. BTW, he has a generous heart and is very stubborn.
In addition to Tony Parker and Mark Cuban, I also remember Larry Drew making positive comments on Lin's game. What a gentleman, nothing like the sore loser Avery Johnson when the Nets got torched.
Expecting Jeremy Lin to somehow erase racism against Asians is a FOOL'S HOPE.
Jeremy Lin is not anybody's personal savior. He is not Yellow Jesus, come to save racists from themselves. Jeremy Lin is just a basketball employee who is paid to play his best. NO MORE.
Jeremy Lin cannot be doing more to impact games than he already is. He needs more on court experience for that to happen.
The Clippers were just too good. When a team is more skilful and powerful than another team in all major areas, it just has to play solidly and pile on the pressure. Clippers seemed to score at will, cutting into the paint and also shooting long jumpers accurately. Rockets' lack of top PF's was exposed - not being able to score reliably from inside. It only had 2 options - either play the fast break game or shoot 3 pointers. McHale didn't choose the running game because of the risk of TO's and sadly the long jumpers missed too many times.
Coach has to devise new tactics because other teams especially the mid to top tiered ones have found the way to stop the Rockets' up tempo and/or 3 pointer options.
Lin was indeed doing very fine in this game whenever he's given the opportunities to run the team and make plays. It's Harden being a cancer on both ends of the floor that lost the game today for the Rockets. Unfortunately, no one on the Rockets dare to point this out. You saw even Spoelstra dare benched Wade and Bosh for the whole 4th quarter even they had a good game offensively but were bad defensively. But McHale will never pull that move on Harden even he's bad offensively and defensively. In fact he seemed to need to babysit him more when he's doing bad. I guess that's the difference between a championship winning coach and an average coach. I especially laughed when Willie Green was lighting up Harden in the 3rd quarter, what did McHale do? Made Lin the scapegoat, run a no PG lineup to let Harden go more isos, really brilliant!!
Like I said, its all on Lin. Everything. Every time. All the time. Almost feel like Lin must play a 100% perfect game everynight just to prove himself. I knew that January gonna be hell and I was right so far
It's really a shame that ROX doesn't have a guy who can dunk with authority at the rim like Tyson Chandler last season..... all of our 4's and 5's (even Greg Smith) finish at the rim so softly... dinky little layups drives me crazy.
Harden and Lin both have high TO's because they throw that bounce pass to all of our bigs except for Greg Smith.... no lobs either.... really limits the passing options IMO
First of all, 13-37 3 points is just freaking ridiculous and showed just how bad the coaching staff is.
Lin had a good game statistically but the coaching staff decided to put him on the spot by having to guard both Bledsoe and JCrossover, thats a lotta work & energy defensively, plainly just asking too much. So now Harden is "safe" and its all on Lin, everything every time all the time.
What worst than the chemistry of team with Lin or chemistry of Harden with Lin is chemistry of Asik with Lin. Omer often seen complain to Lin when he fumbled a good pass which is odd.
We in dire need of quality bigs. A good PF/C with good size and strength that doesn't need the ball as much but can make fundamental plays and play hard on D. Oh and we need a defensive SG too when Harden is off
I feel sorry for PPat, Morris and Smith when defending. Because they're rookies they get called for defensive fouls way too much. Some of it is their own fault. If they start the game with obviously bad fouls, they seem to get called the rest of the game.
I don't know about other players but I predict that Jeremy Lamb will match Harden's production ever on OKC by the end of next season and will do something Harden was never able to do on OKC, becoming the starting SG.
The Rockets as a team shot 37 threes. I really think shooting too many threes is a bigger problem than not making more. It's hard for any team or anyone to shoot a high volume of threes and expect to be consistent. Even someone as good as Steve Novak, if he shot 4-5 threes a game, he might make half of them, but if he's asked to shoot 10 per game, I bet he wouldn't make them with the same efficiency.
For Lin, it would be great if he had a great 3 point shot, but not really a must. In fact, I really wish he shot less threes, and take more mid range jumpers.
I also wish Lin takes more mid range jumpers(in spite of what the coaching staff saying about 3 pt shots are more efficient). Even when he missed, I saw a few times that the big guys(Smith, Asik, PPat) tipped it back in. He is actually pretty good with his mid range if he gives it some time to develop.
Hard to believe, but we'll be coming up on the one year anniversary of Linsanity in a few weeks - the February game against Utah, the night before the superbowl, the day Linsanity was born. lol.
Jonathan Feigen In past 3 games, Rockets have given up 51.6 % shooting and an average of 109 points, with Boston, Philly not in NBA top half in scoring.
Jonathan Feigen Clippers score more points off turnovers than anyone. Rockets allow more. No wonder LA's 31 off turnovers most vs Rockets this season.
I agree. If you want to have your first date with JLin, you need to impress him with your "Moves". You can't just post here and wish. Invest your time and don't just sit back like the stereotype Asian girls and wish he will come knock on your door one day. GO out and get it done. We all support you here.
1) Nobody but Jeremy and Asik play defense. Or even give full effort/attention. Harden is horrendous and lazy as hell. I don't care if he scores 25. If Greg Popovich can scream at Duncan, Parker and Ginobili for bad defense, McHale MUST discipline Harden.
2) Little to no high pick and rolls for Jeremy. Only Harden gets them regularly. Another McHale head-scratcher.
Oh well -- at least Jeremy got a double-duble (12p/10a/2s) with only 1 TO tonight! He's been CP3-like in his A/T ratio of late.
i'm still having a hard time believing mchale refuses to run screens for two of the best pick and roll players in the nba. hell, even bledsoe was getting screens left and right.
He is learning how to carry an NBA team on both offense and defense.
He is also learning how to be effective, no matter the opponent or who his teammates are.
Lin is playing exceedingly well under very trying circumstances. Put any All Star point guard in Lin's situation and they would not be doing any better. Lin's almost at the point where he is going to get a standard level of production no matter which team he plays for: 15-17 points, 7-10 assists, 2-4 steals, 1-2 blocks, 45-50% two point FGA, lots of wins.
The more Lin plays like this, the more likely he lives up to his "Teammate Terror" and "Coach Killah" reputation. And Lin doesn't even have to say a word because in his career, these things naturally work themselves out.
He needs to keep PADDING HIS STATS and let other guys fall on their own. No need to do other guys' jobs for them.
In the NBA, it is rare to see a player like Lin who actually improves his team's chances of winning by padding his own stats. I encourage Lin to selfishly fill up the box score.
Lin is on the verge of breaking out past the 15 point barrier. When he was struggling early this season due to his injury, I predicted that he would have a BIG blowup and he did against the Spurs. Now I am predicting that after the All Star break, we'll see a more coldly calculating and ball protecting Lin who scores over 15 ppg while continuing to do all the great things he has been doing.
The other thing I will predict is that Houston goes into a tailspin where they barely miss the playoffs. Since the team isn't buying into the harsh reality that Lin and not Harden is their best player BY FAR, they'll just have to learn the hard way that a team led by James Harden simply cannot play winning basketball. But Lin will still GET HIS and that's all Lin can do.
I agree. I also predict that Les Alexander will be looking for a new head coach after Rockets don't make the play offs this year. Mchale is the big elephant in the room, that nobody wants to talk about. he is not promoting team minded concept, clearly evidenced on how the players play with each other. It is like the inmates(Harden) are running the asylum...imo
I have been saying all along that Rockets don't have a strong team chemistry and that Lin should try to play more selfish. The way Rockets play -- everyone dribble, gun and shoot -- only works when your players are very talented and athletic. The way Rockets plays poses no problem for a team like Clippers who can out run them any time. It's almost like a Division I team play against Division II team -- that's how far Rockets are from competing with Clippers.
As for Lin, I still predict Lin will finish the season with around 12 points per game, and perhaps next season, he will be able to score 14 points per game.
I don't want to predict Lin's scoring average. But I would bet the Rockets will not make the playoffs with Lin scoring 12 a game. They really need more from Lin, him in a bigger role to win.
And I'll keep predicting that Lin will FINISH the season averaging 14-15 ppg.
Lin is EASILY a 20 ppg scorer in the NBA once he really solidifies that jump shot by not overcommitting himself to erasing the incompetence of teammates.
Unlike eb5attorney who views Lin as a very limited marginal NBA starter who is no match for most other players, I consider Jeremy Lin the best young point guard in the NBA. Already I consider him the best defender, passer, and teammate in the entire NBA at the point guard position. Lin's scoring is not far behind, and guys like Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook would not be scoring more points in Lin's role on this Rockets team.
Again, you are saying something I didn't say, which seems to be your specialty. I view Lin as a slightly above average PG talent at this point in his career but who has and will have a hard time improving his shooting -- Lin just is not a pure shooter and will have a very hard time improving this aspect of his game.
I also agree with Cara -- as I have been saying many times -- that unless Lin scores consistently more than 12 points every game, Rockets are not going to make playoff this year.
It would be interesting to see what Lin will do next if his teammates continue to struggle with consistent 3PT shooting and transition defense.
I agree with you KHuang that Lin needs to be more 'selfish' to increase his scoring to 15-18 PPG to prove to the coaches that he can be a scoring threat in 4Q. I believe he can easily increase his scoring from 12 to 15 PPG if he is willing to take more midrange shots which are his strength.
I think most of us agree that Lin is the 2nd best scorer in HOU if he's willing to do it. I don't know why he does not take over more in 4Q by shooting more 2PTs even when his teammates are not making their 3PT shots. At least he tried to make 3PTs although that's not his current strength.
Again, the coaches are just too stubborn to change and adjust their system when their 3PT shooting and defense are falling apart.
Without reliable big men to partner in PnR, I agree that about the only thing Lin can do is to show or convince the coaches that he can consistently contribute with 15-18PPG scoring.
What I say might be sacrilege on this forum. But, I think the dirty little secret is Lin does not have the physical ability to take over a game at will like Harden can.
Linsanity was possible only because Lin had good teammates while at NY. A Novak in the corner, a Tyson in the interior, and the floor is spread open for Lin to run and gun/pass.
This way, Lin only has to burn one guy in order to get to the basket. However, lately, the opposing team's big men are collapsing on the running game.
After Lin burns his man, he still have two big men contesting his shots. That's why Lin has been struggling with his layups.
Until his team can spread the defense out, Linsanity is dead.
So, all those unselfish passes that Lin dishes, it's not all out of passiveness and charity. He knows that his team has to have game before Lin can play his game.
That's why ISO Harden and marshmallow Asik are Linsanity krytonite. Asik, since he has no interior presence on offense, allows the defense to collapse on the running game, and ISO Harden takes the team out of the game.
@KHuang Completely agree with your comment, I was predicting Lin will have a 16p 7a 3TO season, I guess if he pick just a quarter a game to be selfish, he can reach this stat easily. That's the offense part tho, on his D, I think he is underrated, but hey, D is just hard to see from simple personal stat anyway.
There is NO PLAYER in the entire NBA, not even Lebron or Durant, that can score over two big men doubling down low while a guard is riding the back and a 5th defender is waiting to pick off the bailout pass.
I have said all season long that opponents LET Harden shoot his 44% via isolations. It sure beats Lin shredding defenses with passes and drives.
One does not have to be a statistician to see that stopping Lin stops the production of the entire team INCLUDING James Harden. Thus teams focus their defensive attention on Lin and let Harden run wild.
The one team that rammed up on Harden defensively was Cleveland. In that game, Harden struggled against the triple teams WORSE than Lin does. But Lin ended up winning the game for the Rockets anyway.
Lin has teammates with no game, yet he gets them easy opportunities anyway. Teams that don't put several guys on Lin have found out the hard way that Jeremy Lin OVERWHELMS them. Better to let Harden isobrick and turn the ball over than let Lin get 5 or more guys involved for the win.
During the last few games, even Harden couldn't penetrate at will like he used to and is forced to put up 3s. So, Asik's lack of game not only affects Lin but also Harden.
You just need to put two bigs at the top of the key to stop Harden's running game. Most of his eurosteps that used to result in foul calls are now resulting in borderline offensive charges.
We were up one and then they had a hot third quarter. We did a poor job of coming out with energy and execution.
We can’t do that, especially coming off a three-game losing streak. We have to be better, especially on the defensive end. We can score the ball, but defensively we have to guard in order to win games. It’s simple. We’re not guarding anyone.
Really James......Why don't we start with playing defense...enuf said
Harden's attitude does not seem like one coming from a winning environment. He sounds and plays more like someone who is stuck in losing situations for years and are only concerned with personal stats and nothing else. I wonder what he's learnt all these years playing in OKC. But I guess there was a reason he's never the starter there other than the reason that Scott Brooks was an idiot lol.
I'm happy Jeremy has been playing well after a pretty bad start to the season. I'm tired of posters saying that he is being passed around on open looks. Jeremy is shooting 28% from the 3 point line. I don't see he is being passed up. He is a point guard and acting like one. He needs to learn to pull up for 15 footers and he needs to learn to shoot better from the 3s. He is a great passer and penetrator. He is not not under-appreciated. I agree that they didn't let him play to his strengths early on, but they corrected it by having it in Jeremy's lin hands on a lot more plays and played more pick and roll; they also played him with TD as oppose to playing it all with Harden. Once Jeremy can be consistent with his shots, teammates will look for him to score. As for now, he gets a hot hand once every 3-4 games. And the other 2-3 games he is mediocre. I'm sure he will get better 'cuz Jlin is that type of person. Just don't think his teammates or coach should get the blame. He is still the starting PG, gets plays called or have him start the offense, and play 34+ mins per game and finishes the games. What more do you want?
Even if JLin was passed up for the open look it's because he has a low shooting percentage and has a tendency to hesitate taking shots. I'm sure his teammates are well aware of it.
If JLin is going to constantly step on the line at the arc, he might as well take another step or two closer and shoot a mid-range. Better shot for him.
JLin should not have to look at floor. He should know where he's at before he takes the shot. So it's not a matter of concentration but comfort. JLin being as close to the 3 pt line shows me he lacks comfort there. Either he's not a confident 3pt shooter or he's a perfectionist with a stubborn mindset of needing to have precision of where his foot is relative to the line.
If Lin is wide open for a 3, you pass him the ball and let him brick it even if his shooting percentage is 10%. It's up to the coach to take Lin out if he's a liability.
Lin doesn't stand at the 3 point line waiting to shoot a 3 pointer instead of a 15 footer because he wants to. It's the coach that want him to stand in no man's land all day long.
And, what does Jeremy do when his teammates are ice cold? He purposely feeds them more passes, so they can get into a shooting rhythm.
Take a penny give a penny?
Like I said before, no team is able to stop Linsanity except for the Heat and Rockets.
I am happy with Lin MAKING shots, from wherever they are on the court.
I am not going to do like Racha and start assassinating Lin's confidence or criticizing Lin's MADE shots. That's a lowball Larry Brown BS thing to do, knocking a guy for SCORING.
Etane, Jlin is a below average 3pt shooter and we can't change that fact unless he gets better at it . If his teammates think JLin is going to brick, why do you think they're gonna pass him the ball even if he's open. As to JLin purposely feeding his teammates more passes, I think it further underscores JLin's hesitation to score. He should take matter into his own hands and try to score more when his teammates are ice cold.
It's up to coach to take Jlin out if he's a liability. That's exactly what McHale did in the 3rd qtr in the Clippers game. JLin hesitated to shoot a 3 when he's wide open and opted to drive to the basket instead. It resulted in a TO because he stepped out of bounds.
Racha: Have you ever played on a team where your teammates tries not to pass to you. And, even when they do pass to you, they hesitate instead of giving you a sharp, crisp pass?
And, do you know what that does to your shooting rhythm?
Conversely, how would you feel if you're putting up bricks, but your point guard continues to feed you sharp, crisp passes?
Until you understand this dynamic, you will never understand the intangibles that are being discussed throughout this forum.
KHuang, if anything you're assassinating Larry Brown's coaching philosophy that he knocks a guy for scoring. He only knocks a guy for not scoring efficiently. Lets try not to just throw anything and everything out there for the sake of just making an argument.
I'm a big JLin fan and just subscribed to NBA League Pass so I can catch more of his games. I live in Chicago—DRose country—but JLin is now my favorite player.
I watched the game last night. I thought JLin played well. Heck, he had a double-double (12 points, 10 assists). I disagree with many of the posts on this thread. I didn't think think teammates were not passing him the ball. He had plenty of touches. He took the shots that were available to him and didn't force anything. His team shot 50% with 16 turnovers so they played a fairly efficient offensive game. It was defense and free throws that killed them last night.
He does have to be aware of the 3-point line though. When you hit a shot with the front of your toes on the line, any coach or 3-point specialist will tell you that you should have set up a bit behind the line before you even get the pass. But yeah, it happens, especially with young players. Guys can't always be looking at their feet. However, hitting those long jumpers from behind the arc will only improve his 3-point percentage and that's what we all want to see. Right? So he has to be aware of where he is standing in relation to the arc BEFORE he gets the ball on those catch-and-shoot plays.
Yes I have played. I played jv and varsity h.s. bball. Why are you using sharp, crisp passes? LOL. How crisp and sharp passes were they? How do you measure that? All I know is when I'm not making shots, my teammates wont look to me. I need to show my teammates that I'm worthy of their trust. Have you played bball? 99% of posters here are just JLin fans. They don't play bball.
KHuang, I'm just gonna stop arguing with you cause you're getting a little wacked. Say what? I want JLin to watch his shoelaces? LOL. Please stop speaking for me.
In 2Q and 3Q, his 3PT average is decent at 39% and 35% but in 1Q and 4Q, they are only 14% and 12%. And he attempted even less 3PTs in 1Q and 4Q.
To me, it shows that if he can gain confidence and be more consistent, he can average 35%-39%. It's a different case if he averages 28% in all quarters (meaning he is consistently a bad 3PT shooter).
So while I'm hopeful that he can raise his 3PT% to be 35%-40%, most likely he will need to work on it in the off-season. And also step 5 inches away from 3PT line :)
psalm234, that's right, confidence = consistency. I was merely trying to justify why his teammates were reluctant to pass him the ball when he's wide open, that's all. JLin is just not a confident 3pt shooter right now.
psalm234: interesting analysis. I didn't know that he shot 3-pointers better in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
To add to that, consider some of the veteran point guards who are now considered the top point guards in the league. Guys like Tony Parker, Derrick Rose, and Chris Paul were poor 3-point shooters when they first came into the league. Parker has improved greatly over the years. Paul has improved his shooting though he is still not a statistically great 3-point shooter.
I live in Chicago so I am a big Derrick Rose fan. Rose had a terrible jump shot when he first came in the league and shot 22% on 3-pointers during his rookie year. He is still not a great jump shooter but he has definitely improved after each offseason (not including the lockout year when he struggled with injuries).
Anyway, my point is that young point guards often struggle with their shooting range when they come into the league. JLin certainly does struggle from long range. But I think he can improve his 3pt shooting if he puts time and effort into it this offseason. If he can improve that, defenders won't be able to stand back and guard against his drives and his overall game will improve.
He also needs to work on going to his left but that's another story.
You want Lin to focus his attention on the FLOOR, Racha.
Lin's shoelaces are not that far from the floor, and that's where you want his gaze in your efforts to make him look for the 3 point line.
Larry Bird said that a shooter should keep his eyes on the rim. I'll take Bird's advice over yours, and Jeremy Lin seems to be keeping his eyes on the rim the way Bord recommended.
I don't get to watch the games live anymore, but I get to see the highlights and read everyone's post game comments.
I think Jlin is doing OKAY. I do think (as a few mentioned) that he needs to be more aggressive in a selfish way. He needs to aim for 15-20 points a night. Whether he gets it on:
8-12 or 10-12 FG attempts or 8-20 or 10-25 FG attempts
I don't care, as long as he hits those points total benchmarks.
Assists he shouldn't really think too much about, it will just come to him statistically. The more points he scores the more opportunity he'll find his teammates open for open shots or easy lay-up/dunks. He can easily get 10 assists a game. But I'm satisfied with him getting 5-8 assists a game.
He also needs to mix it up. I liked what he showed last night as far as doing a lot of CROSS-OVER moves. If you look at the highlights (I think it was Grant Hill guarding him most of the night) he was juking him all night long. He can definitely do a 1 or 2 cross-over dribble and go for a quick pull up jumper. BTW his PULL-UP JUMPER looks really nice!!! He should go with it more when his driving lane gets clogged up.
This is what I think he should mix things up in the offense per game:
I've seen his jump shots and it looks good he can definitely make that his bread & butter move. Which can easily open things up for him in the lane.
That's how Monta Ellis did in when he was in Golden State.
On another note, some of you are saying that it doesn't look like he's enjoying playing right now. I think it's because he's still THINKING too much about what he needs to do than just going out and playing. I believe it's normal and is he's going through some growing pains right now. But I BELIEVE as the season progresses he'll get better and better.
Another thing I like to mention is that since JLIN doesn't have a big that can set him solid PNR, then he should play like he doesn't. Basically, just do what he did last game and keep crossing-over his man and pull up on that jumper. I think it's his JUMPER that gets him going.
What happened
ReplyDeleteTerrible defense as usual and so sick of watch td running the point and end up shooting bricks and Lin pass ball and hardly get it back
DeleteClippers 117, Rockets 109. It wasn't as close as the final score because the last 1:45 was garbage time. But it was still a winnable game.
DeleteGeez, the Rockets lost exactly the same way as their last game: Too many 3-point attempts and poor free throws. They are suddenly bad in FT just when they are in the midst of a difficult schedule. They were 13 of 37 from 3's (Clippers were 11 of 19) and 14 of 25 FT (Clippers were 22 of 26).
The Clippers made just one more basket than the Rockets. Another winnable game (sans CPaul) lost because of their love of 3's alone this time! You'd think if they're cold with 3's, don't attempt as much. That's the fault of coaching.
Jeremy did fine but too bad the team lost.... 5 of 11 shooting (1 of 4 from three) with 12 points, 10 assists, 2 stolen, 1 rebound, 1 turnover.
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DeleteI should clarify "basket" since free throw is a basket too. What I meant was the Clippers made just one more field goal.
DeleteSame old shit on a different day. JLIn always looked to set up his teammates but not the other way around. The ball never came back to him once he let go of it. It's like he's out to make everyone on the team look good, and the whole team won't do the same for him.
ReplyDeleteI love that no one made turnovers out as a Rockets problem when it's Harden getting the turnovers and Lin hardly committing any.
ReplyDeleteBut it's a big problem when Lin committed turnovers even the team won games. So people could use turnovers as a legit excuse to take the ball away from Lin's hands, apparently.
i agree Cara. I know that announcers are definitely given directives from management and owners but I'm really tired of outright and blatant halo they put on harden every night. I don't think Harden is a bad player but the announcers are making me sick.
DeleteI also like that since Lin hardly committed any turnovers, shot a decent % and had 10 assists today, people can't really use Lin's supposed turnover, shooting problem to blame the loss on him, or maybe they still can, apparently Lin's bad defense on Crawford is the sole reason that lost Rockets the game and if Beverly started over Lin, the Rockets would have won!
DeleteThe announcers were pointing out the # of TOs committed by the Rox pretty much all game as a problem.
DeleteSame thing as FTs.
Just not directly pointing fingers at Harden.
If Lin can keep up this kind of consistency (12-17pts a game 8-10 assists) no one would ever doubt him.
BTW the scorer needs to be fired, Lin had 2 TOs, but counted as one (ok not complaining about this one) but that 3 on the line was ruled as a 3 but boxscores kept it at 2.
I would like to know a way to average 17 points and 10 assists with hardly touching the ball half of the game. Even CP3 and Nash need to dominate the ball all the time to average this much.
DeleteAfter watching the game, i can surely say that Lin is in the wrong team, I hate to say this but Lin is not respected or treated fairly by his team mates. He is always looking out to give good passes to them but they are not treating him or giving the confidence to be a true point guard. Looking at the clippers, u can tell right away, they all have everybody's back. Or maybe it is just bad coaching.....
ReplyDeleteIt all started with the coaching staff. They don't respect Lin, so why should his teammates do the same. When he was with the Knicks, Dantoni and Tyson (unspoken leader) showed tremendous respect for Lin so that triggered down the food chains.
DeleteEven Lin alone couldn't save all of Houston's problems on turnovers, D and selfish plays. Noticed Lin already did his best individually, minimizing his turnovers, playing the best D as he could, and really assisting his teammates, but one player can only do so much.
DeleteI'd have to agree. I noticed that Rox will fade over and over in the fourth quarter. Mostly b/c they keep deferring to Harden. Harden is a solid player, but he has proven not to be a clutch player. (Miami meltdown... several meltdowns this season... etc) So, a team who's trying to build on Harden will not be good for Jeremy. Jeremy needs a team with a very strong front court who he can reliably do staple of pnr's with. jeremy also needs to build on his jump shot. I hope Jeremy is traded just one more time. To the LAKERS!
DeleteWhat Lin needs is a coach who believes in him and respects his game. When that happens, his teammates will do too. I hate to say it, but I would love for Lin to be reunited with Dantoni.
DeleteI've had this same feeling for a long time. The Rockets are not a team, they're a bunch of guys wearing the same uniform. It's so hard to watch because we know Lin is such a team player. He needs to be on a "team" team to thrive.
Deleteif they are planning on trading lin, then they have until feb 15.(which I don't think they will)They will find a new head coach first, to get harden-lin to play together.They have lost 4 straight games. For another team, they probably could recover, but not the rockets. they have no team chemistry and no team mindset.I think Lin will be fine. He will just keep getting better at his game, because this kind of stuff makes him more competitive and more determined. I see lin on a much bigger stage than houston. I too see him playing for the LA lakers in the future.jmo
DeleteTrading Lin during the season would be a PR nightmare for the Rockets. The earliest they will trade him is in the off season.
DeleteWhat team would want Lin? Let's not forget even with Mark Cuban's professed love for Lin, only Rockets made an offer.
DeleteFor most of the teams out there, he is not worth 25m.
And what guarantees are there that he'll be treated differently on another team? Or even starting and not off the bench?
Everyone thought he would be "better" withe Rockets, but a lot of same folks now think he might have been better off playing for the Knicks. Grass is always greener on the other side.
Funny thing is, the concept of "better" for most people is an instant repeat of Linsanity with role players built around him. That's so unrealistic its not even funny.
I don't know why people think Rockets aren't a good team for Lin, fact is there are a ton of holes to Lin's game and under McHale he's been steadily improving.
They've said it multiple times they told him to play aggressive and not defer. Heck even Harden said the same thing. A lot of it is on Lin, he WANTS to PASS first, esp in the first half, for example he got caught lobbing a slow ugly pass to harden in 1q right next to him and got picked but for some reason that TO didn't count.
Lin improved a lot as a Rocketman.
D'Antoni lol...Same coach that wanted to replace him with DWill? Lakers? The same team that even Nash is having problems getting to play team ball? Lin is better off staying put and continue to develop his game.
Please, he is going to have to learn to deal and play with superstars and for teams that isn't built around him.
As long as Lin plays a full season under Kevin McHale and benefits from McHale's hypercritical coaching of point guards, I'm OK with Lin playing ANYWHERE next season.
DeleteI am not worried about Lin's game. He will become one of the elite PG in the NBA. Rockets are playing a very dangerous game giving coaches full range of playing office politics. Morey/Les know what they have in JLin. No matter how hard they try to make Harden the face of the franchise, it back fires. Lin has a world-wide following, not because of his game, but mostly who he is and what he represents.
ReplyDeleteMorey may have graduated from MIT, but he is not as smart as he appears. Therefore, he will continues to build around Harden and he will trade Lin if it will bring in another star player. He is not high on Lin. Listen and watch him and try to read between the lines with him. Morey strikes me as a defensive lawyer with the way he thinks and says.
DeleteReally no need to be worried about Lin. Lin really has Steve Nash talent when he's given enough touches. I mean which other PG could get 10 assists with such limited touches? And once he's sorted out his long range shooting as well, just look out! Even if he can't make a Nash impact on this Rockets team due to the team not trusting him, he will sure make it elsewhere in the future. Dallas once didn't believe Nash could be a MVP PG and never made him the centerpiece on offense either!
DeleteMIT MBA, a postgraduate program, is different from MIT undergrads programs in many ways.
DeleteDoes or will Morey recognize McHale's stupidity? That is the question?
DeleteWise men think alike. Fools seldom differ.
DeleteIn this case fools seldom differ.
DeleteDoesn't matter what Morey says or thinks.
DeleteThis is Les Alexander's team. Morey does Les's bidding.
Les likes Lin. Thus Lin goes nowhere unless some outrageously good trade proposal is created.
Hate to say this but I am not sure Rox can hold off Portland and Utah and make the playoff. This losing streak will prove too costly 3 against sub .500 teams
ReplyDeleteLakers will be such a perfect place with a fully healthy Howard to run pnr and jlin can basically split minutes with Nash and quickly climb the learning curve under Nash. Few people question Kobe and Lin coexist but I don't see it that way
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately LA doesn't have any assets to trade for Lin.
DeleteMorey seems still high on Gasol...
DeleteYup, and Gasol would thrive in the Rocket's offense.
DeleteI still think this trade is a possibility -
LA trades Gasol to Houston for JLin and Patterson/Morris/Smith. LA gets what it needs -a PG who can run Dantoni's offense, can play defense, and is not 99 years old.
This is an awful fit for Lin no question at all. Lin is still a 18-20 ppg or more player if Harden is not on this team. The bigs are really not good finishers at all. I think Lin and Melo could have won a championship with both players improvements this year - though Melo would not have wanted to share the spotlight.
ReplyDeleteLin is really an amazing player. He continues to excel in different areas when asked to. Stop the turnovers...no problem, 0, 1 and 1. Lin is destined for greatness. I think he is ready for it next year. He has already proved it last year and at times this year (see Spurs, Cavs, Knicks and Bulls games).
I have not seen a game of jeremy lin but by reading from this site, it seems there is a lot of mixture about him playing. From the decision making of the coaches and jeremy himself, but from just looking at his stats, he is doing pretty good
ReplyDeleteOf course we're all just fantasizing, because there's no way Jeremy's getting traded (look at all the Chinese sponsors all over the court), but I'd love to see him on the Spurs. I really enjoyed watching them win their championships because they're team oriented and selfless. A Parker to Lin transition like the Robinson to Duncan transition would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteyep, that'll be awesome!
DeleteI want Lin traded back to the Knicks. JLin and Greg Smith for Amare Stoudemaire, Ray Felton, and cash. Amare would give Houston that PF finisher they want, albeit an expensive one. But, I think he'll do much better once he's no longer playing with Carmelo. And Ray Felton is a shooting guard masquarading as a point guard, so he'd be happy to stand around while Harden handles the ball and dishes to him for threes.
DeleteLin for Spurs and see him play again with DLeague team mate Danny Green!
DeleteThe game was over when McHale took out Lin in the 3rd quarter with six minutes remaining. Point guard? who needs a point guard? Not for McHale, apparently. In like three minutes after JLin's subbing, the Clippers instantly added 10 points to their lead, as the rockets played like chickens with their head cut off.
ReplyDeleteHe was the first guy pulled after the Clippers went on their run in the 3rd. So it looks like he was being blamed for the onslaught. Perception or reality?
ReplyDeleteWhen Lin was taken out, rockets were down by 8. With Lin out, in ONE MINUTE, the lead ballooned up to 16, as one Clipper scored 8 straight points in one minute. Game over.
DeleteThis has been the pattern, but Mchale is too dumb to recognize it.
Deletethat happen also on their last game...taking out lin while their leading and when lin out the lead has gone......what a bad move.
DeleteJust watching the game on replay. Lin's 2nd quarter was really good. When he dominates the ball they can go up big. I did see Harden passing it more to Lin in the 1-2 quarters. Still watching. I think they just need more time.
ReplyDeleteI missed the 1st half, can some chime in?
DeleteI did see that Lin had 10 points up already at halftime. Was Lin effective on both ends? Is that why TD only played like 5 or 6 minutes in 1st half?
note: lin had a good game statistically, got everyone involved, and racha, self proclaimed "fan" is nowhere to be found ;)
ReplyDeleteno kidding, he's a angry kid to say the least.... I think KH's theory on self-hating ..... probably applies to him LOL
DeleteStatistically, yes Lin had a decent game. But, I didn't sense his heart was in the game. Even his defense was just passable.
ReplyDeleteI think what we're seeing is a clock in and clock out Jeremy Lin with no passion for the game.
Honestly, if I were Lin, I'd be doing a Royce White and just bitch about the coaching on Twitter, demand a trade and not show up for games.
Yes, Lin just not look enjoy the game. He's doing everything the coach ask him to do no matter right or wrong. This is sad. Like a core i7 forced to run like geforce gtx 650 which doesn't make sense
Deletelol
DeleteStill rooting for Jeremy Lin. Missed the game but sounds like he played better than people give him credit for, as usual. I hope that either this team starts to believe him or he gets traded for one that does. I won't give up on him being a great player without even a full season with meaningful minutes.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note I can't believe the disproportional amount of blame Jeremy gets for almost every single loss while everyone else on team seems to get a consistent pass. It's as if the team loses Jeremy automatically gets the full blame.
See this from another point, it means rocket is Lin's team now. I reckon it's better than no news mension him.
DeleteAll any NBA player can do is play the best he can with the opportunities he is given.
ReplyDeleteThat's what Lin did today.
Games like the Sixers 2-13 shooting debacle are steadily becoming less as Lin makes the most of his time on the floor.
Lin is not the coach or the other 4 players on the court with him. Lin is Lin and can only control what Lin does. By that standard, he's doing just fine as far as I'm concerned.
That's a rather long way of saying Lin is doing a good job.
DeleteHonestly, it doesn't matter whether you think he's doing fine. You're a fan. What matters, for reasons that go beyond just JLin, is how his play is perceived by his coaches, fans, commentators, society at large.
DeleteSeriously? You cannot control people's perception unless you're "The Man" and that is what "The Man" have successfully did on Lin.
Deleterealistically, we were being completely naive if we thought that once Lin got established in the NBA, then all the racism and asssorted barriers he faced while trying to make it to the NBA would magically disappear. Sadly, he's facing the same crap in the NBA. Virtually the whole league (players, coaches) don't think he's legit. Except Tony Parker and Mark Cuban, a French dude and a brash owner who's waged war against the NBA establishment for years now.
DeleteMark Cuban speaks the truth. He doesn't bullshit. I don't think he understands what "politically correct" means. He is his own man. He has a temper and has a lot of flaws, but he speaks his mind and doesn't care what others think about him. BTW, he has a generous heart and is very stubborn.
DeleteIn addition to Tony Parker and Mark Cuban, I also remember Larry Drew making positive comments on Lin's game. What a gentleman, nothing like the sore loser Avery Johnson when the Nets got torched.
DeleteRacism will NEVER go away.
DeleteExpecting Jeremy Lin to somehow erase racism against Asians is a FOOL'S HOPE.
Jeremy Lin is not anybody's personal savior. He is not Yellow Jesus, come to save racists from themselves. Jeremy Lin is just a basketball employee who is paid to play his best. NO MORE.
Jeremy Lin cannot be doing more to impact games than he already is. He needs more on court experience for that to happen.
Jeremy is paid to be blamed.
DeleteFree Jeremy!
The Clippers were just too good. When a team is more skilful and powerful than another team in all major areas, it just has to play solidly and pile on the pressure. Clippers seemed to score at will, cutting into the paint and also shooting long jumpers accurately. Rockets' lack of top PF's was exposed - not being able to score reliably from inside. It only had 2 options - either play the fast break game or shoot 3 pointers. McHale didn't choose the running game because of the risk of TO's and sadly the long jumpers missed too many times.
ReplyDeleteCoach has to devise new tactics because other teams especially the mid to top tiered ones have found the way to stop the Rockets' up tempo and/or 3 pointer options.
How about this tactic - have a point guard actually run a half-court offense.
DeleteI think the team played best when Asik, Lin and Harden were all on the bench.
ReplyDeleteThe team seemed to play most in sync when G Smith, Delfino, Parson, Patterson and Douglas were on the floor.
Wow glad I'm not the only person that realized this.
DeleteThey did well keeping pace in latter half of 3rd and beginning of 4th.
Really liked Morris's D on Griffin today. Guy was just not giving ground.
Lin was indeed doing very fine in this game whenever he's given the opportunities to run the team and make plays. It's Harden being a cancer on both ends of the floor that lost the game today for the Rockets. Unfortunately, no one on the Rockets dare to point this out. You saw even Spoelstra dare benched Wade and Bosh for the whole 4th quarter even they had a good game offensively but were bad defensively. But McHale will never pull that move on Harden even he's bad offensively and defensively. In fact he seemed to need to babysit him more when he's doing bad. I guess that's the difference between a championship winning coach and an average coach. I especially laughed when Willie Green was lighting up Harden in the 3rd quarter, what did McHale do? Made Lin the scapegoat, run a no PG lineup to let Harden go more isos, really brilliant!!
ReplyDeleteLike I said, its all on Lin. Everything. Every time. All the time. Almost feel like Lin must play a 100% perfect game everynight just to prove himself. I knew that January gonna be hell and I was right so far
DeleteIt's really a shame that ROX doesn't have a guy who can dunk with authority at the rim like Tyson Chandler last season..... all of our 4's and 5's (even Greg Smith) finish at the rim so softly... dinky little layups drives me crazy.
DeleteHarden and Lin both have high TO's because they throw that bounce pass to all of our bigs except for Greg Smith.... no lobs either.... really limits the passing options IMO
Harden's not really a good combo-guard. much better if he plays purely as SG rather than combo.
DeleteFirst of all, 13-37 3 points is just freaking ridiculous and showed just how bad the coaching staff is.
ReplyDeleteLin had a good game statistically but the coaching staff decided to put him on the spot by having to guard both Bledsoe and JCrossover, thats a lotta work & energy defensively, plainly just asking too much. So now Harden is "safe" and its all on Lin, everything every time all the time.
What worst than the chemistry of team with Lin or chemistry of Harden with Lin is chemistry of Asik with Lin. Omer often seen complain to Lin when he fumbled a good pass which is odd.
We in dire need of quality bigs. A good PF/C with good size and strength that doesn't need the ball as much but can make fundamental plays and play hard on D. Oh and we need a defensive SG too when Harden is off
I feel sorry for PPat, Morris and Smith when defending. Because they're rookies they get called for defensive fouls way too much. Some of it is their own fault. If they start the game with obviously bad fouls, they seem to get called the rest of the game.
DeleteKHuang's All Sleeper Minimum Wage Team to surround Jeremy Lin with:
DeletePG: Coach Killah, Teammate Terrorist
SG: Jeremy Lamb
SF: Renaldo Balkman
PF: Tyler Hansbrough
C: Omar Samhan
I don't know about other players but I predict that Jeremy Lamb will match Harden's production ever on OKC by the end of next season and will do something Harden was never able to do on OKC, becoming the starting SG.
DeleteI agree with Cara.
DeleteJeremy Lamb is going to eventually become an IMPACT PLAYER, one that gets wins for his team by playing both ends.
When Lamb faced up against Harden this preseason, Lamb had his way with Harden. Once Lamb's body fills out, it's going to be like that all the time.
The Rockets as a team shot 37 threes. I really think shooting too many threes is a bigger problem than not making more. It's hard for any team or anyone to shoot a high volume of threes and expect to be consistent. Even someone as good as Steve Novak, if he shot 4-5 threes a game, he might make half of them, but if he's asked to shoot 10 per game, I bet he wouldn't make them with the same efficiency.
ReplyDeleteFor Lin, it would be great if he had a great 3 point shot, but not really a must. In fact, I really wish he shot less threes, and take more mid range jumpers.
I also wish Lin takes more mid range jumpers(in spite of what the coaching staff saying about 3 pt shots are more efficient). Even when he missed, I saw a few times that the big guys(Smith, Asik, PPat) tipped it back in. He is actually pretty good with his mid range if he gives it some time to develop.
DeleteHard to believe, but we'll be coming up on the one year anniversary of Linsanity in a few weeks - the February game against Utah, the night before the superbowl, the day Linsanity was born. lol.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Feigen
ReplyDeleteIn past 3 games, Rockets have given up 51.6 % shooting and an average of 109 points, with Boston, Philly not in NBA top half in scoring.
Jonathan Feigen
Clippers score more points off turnovers than anyone. Rockets allow more. No wonder LA's 31 off turnovers most vs Rockets this season.
Ugh.
DeleteIf defense is such a big problem, how about holding your star accountable for his rubbish D and establishing a culture on D?
If turnover is a problem, how about letting your PG who only committed 1 TO in 3 games handle the ball more instead of your SG or SF?
It's apparently the coaching staff don't see those as problems, or maybe only whenever Lin's not involved!
have you guys seen the Linsanity the Movie Project?
ReplyDeleteand to the poster who asked me what will I do with Jeremy on first date: I will kick his butt in Tekken AND table tennis... lol
DeleteI can see how you think you can take him, isabelijane. His ping pong move was less than convincing in the trailer :)
Deletenow you just need to send him a Youtube video with your Tekken and ping pong moves :) dare him to beat you.
I agree. If you want to have your first date with JLin, you need to impress him with your "Moves". You can't just post here and wish. Invest your time and don't just sit back like the stereotype Asian girls and wish he will come knock on your door one day. GO out and get it done. We all support you here.
DeleteThere are two reasons the Rockets are losing:
ReplyDelete1) Nobody but Jeremy and Asik play defense. Or even give full effort/attention. Harden is horrendous and lazy as hell. I don't care if he scores 25. If Greg Popovich can scream at Duncan, Parker and Ginobili for bad defense, McHale MUST discipline Harden.
2) Little to no high pick and rolls for Jeremy. Only Harden gets them regularly. Another McHale head-scratcher.
Oh well -- at least Jeremy got a double-duble (12p/10a/2s) with only 1 TO tonight! He's been CP3-like in his A/T ratio of late.
Tonight highlights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Cns-mJG7I blaiyan
ReplyDeletei'm still having a hard time believing mchale refuses to run screens for two of the best pick and roll players in the nba. hell, even bledsoe was getting screens left and right.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJeremy highlights c/o GeraldLin - HOUSTON ROCKETS VS LA CLIPPERS
ReplyDeleteI am not worried about Jeremy Lin at all.
ReplyDeleteHe is learning how to carry an NBA team on both offense and defense.
He is also learning how to be effective, no matter the opponent or who his teammates are.
Lin is playing exceedingly well under very trying circumstances. Put any All Star point guard in Lin's situation and they would not be doing any better. Lin's almost at the point where he is going to get a standard level of production no matter which team he plays for: 15-17 points, 7-10 assists, 2-4 steals, 1-2 blocks, 45-50% two point FGA, lots of wins.
The more Lin plays like this, the more likely he lives up to his "Teammate Terror" and "Coach Killah" reputation. And Lin doesn't even have to say a word because in his career, these things naturally work themselves out.
Lin postgame interview
ReplyDelete"low energy"
DeleteHe sounds and looks sleepy.
I want Lin to play more selfishly.
ReplyDeleteHe needs to keep PADDING HIS STATS and let other guys fall on their own. No need to do other guys' jobs for them.
In the NBA, it is rare to see a player like Lin who actually improves his team's chances of winning by padding his own stats. I encourage Lin to selfishly fill up the box score.
Lin is on the verge of breaking out past the 15 point barrier. When he was struggling early this season due to his injury, I predicted that he would have a BIG blowup and he did against the Spurs. Now I am predicting that after the All Star break, we'll see a more coldly calculating and ball protecting Lin who scores over 15 ppg while continuing to do all the great things he has been doing.
The other thing I will predict is that Houston goes into a tailspin where they barely miss the playoffs. Since the team isn't buying into the harsh reality that Lin and not Harden is their best player BY FAR, they'll just have to learn the hard way that a team led by James Harden simply cannot play winning basketball. But Lin will still GET HIS and that's all Lin can do.
I agree. I also predict that Les Alexander will be looking for a new head coach after Rockets don't make the play offs this year. Mchale is the big elephant in the room, that nobody wants to talk about. he is not promoting team minded concept, clearly evidenced on how the players play with each other. It is like the inmates(Harden) are running the asylum...imo
DeleteI have been saying all along that Rockets don't have a strong team chemistry and that Lin should try to play more selfish. The way Rockets play -- everyone dribble, gun and shoot -- only works when your players are very talented and athletic. The way Rockets plays poses no problem for a team like Clippers who can out run them any time. It's almost like a Division I team play against Division II team -- that's how far Rockets are from competing with Clippers.
DeleteAs for Lin, I still predict Lin will finish the season with around 12 points per game, and perhaps next season, he will be able to score 14 points per game.
I don't want to predict Lin's scoring average. But I would bet the Rockets will not make the playoffs with Lin scoring 12 a game. They really need more from Lin, him in a bigger role to win.
DeleteAnd I'll keep predicting that Lin will FINISH the season averaging 14-15 ppg.
DeleteLin is EASILY a 20 ppg scorer in the NBA once he really solidifies that jump shot by not overcommitting himself to erasing the incompetence of teammates.
Unlike eb5attorney who views Lin as a very limited marginal NBA starter who is no match for most other players, I consider Jeremy Lin the best young point guard in the NBA. Already I consider him the best defender, passer, and teammate in the entire NBA at the point guard position. Lin's scoring is not far behind, and guys like Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook would not be scoring more points in Lin's role on this Rockets team.
Again, you are saying something I didn't say, which seems to be your specialty. I view Lin as a slightly above average PG talent at this point in his career but who has and will have a hard time improving his shooting -- Lin just is not a pure shooter and will have a very hard time improving this aspect of his game.
DeleteI also agree with Cara -- as I have been saying many times -- that unless Lin scores consistently more than 12 points every game, Rockets are not going to make playoff this year.
DeleteI don't say anything you don't subtly say yourself, eb5attorney.
DeleteI think he's a great player who has his best days ahead of him. You do not see a great future for him. That is your right.
You and I will NEVER agree on Lin.
It would be interesting to see what Lin will do next if his teammates continue to struggle with consistent 3PT shooting and transition defense.
DeleteI agree with you KHuang that Lin needs to be more 'selfish' to increase his scoring to 15-18 PPG to prove to the coaches that he can be a scoring threat in 4Q. I believe he can easily increase his scoring from 12 to 15 PPG if he is willing to take more midrange shots which are his strength.
I think most of us agree that Lin is the 2nd best scorer in HOU if he's willing to do it. I don't know why he does not take over more in 4Q by shooting more 2PTs even when his teammates are not making their 3PT shots. At least he tried to make 3PTs although that's not his current strength.
Again, the coaches are just too stubborn to change and adjust their system when their 3PT shooting and defense are falling apart.
Without reliable big men to partner in PnR, I agree that about the only thing Lin can do is to show or convince the coaches that he can consistently contribute with 15-18PPG scoring.
What I say might be sacrilege on this forum. But, I think the dirty little secret is Lin does not have the physical ability to take over a game at will like Harden can.
DeleteLinsanity was possible only because Lin had good teammates while at NY. A Novak in the corner, a Tyson in the interior, and the floor is spread open for Lin to run and gun/pass.
This way, Lin only has to burn one guy in order to get to the basket. However, lately, the opposing team's big men are collapsing on the running game.
After Lin burns his man, he still have two big men contesting his shots. That's why Lin has been struggling with his layups.
Until his team can spread the defense out, Linsanity is dead.
So, all those unselfish passes that Lin dishes, it's not all out of passiveness and charity. He knows that his team has to have game before Lin can play his game.
That's why ISO Harden and marshmallow Asik are Linsanity krytonite. Asik, since he has no interior presence on offense, allows the defense to collapse on the running game, and ISO Harden takes the team out of the game.
@KHuang Completely agree with your comment, I was predicting Lin will have a 16p 7a 3TO season, I guess if he pick just a quarter a game to be selfish, he can reach this stat easily. That's the offense part tho, on his D, I think he is underrated, but hey, D is just hard to see from simple personal stat anyway.
DeleteNot blasphemy AT ALL, Etane.
DeleteThere is NO PLAYER in the entire NBA, not even Lebron or Durant, that can score over two big men doubling down low while a guard is riding the back and a 5th defender is waiting to pick off the bailout pass.
I have said all season long that opponents LET Harden shoot his 44% via isolations. It sure beats Lin shredding defenses with passes and drives.
One does not have to be a statistician to see that stopping Lin stops the production of the entire team INCLUDING James Harden. Thus teams focus their defensive attention on Lin and let Harden run wild.
The one team that rammed up on Harden defensively was Cleveland. In that game, Harden struggled against the triple teams WORSE than Lin does. But Lin ended up winning the game for the Rockets anyway.
Lin has teammates with no game, yet he gets them easy opportunities anyway. Teams that don't put several guys on Lin have found out the hard way that Jeremy Lin OVERWHELMS them. Better to let Harden isobrick and turn the ball over than let Lin get 5 or more guys involved for the win.
During the last few games, even Harden couldn't penetrate at will like he used to and is forced to put up 3s. So, Asik's lack of game not only affects Lin but also Harden.
DeleteYou just need to put two bigs at the top of the key to stop Harden's running game. Most of his eurosteps that used to result in foul calls are now resulting in borderline offensive charges.
JAMES HARDEN post game interview:
ReplyDeleteWe were up one and then they had a hot third quarter. We did a poor job of coming out with energy and execution.
We can’t do that, especially coming off a three-game losing streak. We have to be better, especially on the defensive end. We can score the ball, but defensively we have to guard in order to win games. It’s simple. We’re not guarding anyone.
Really James......Why don't we start with playing defense...enuf said
LOL good one Harden
DeleteWe're not guarding anyone? Really? How about you're not guarding anyone? How bout that?
Harden's attitude does not seem like one coming from a winning environment. He sounds and plays more like someone who is stuck in losing situations for years and are only concerned with personal stats and nothing else. I wonder what he's learnt all these years playing in OKC. But I guess there was a reason he's never the starter there other than the reason that Scott Brooks was an idiot lol.
DeleteI'm happy Jeremy has been playing well after a pretty bad start to the season. I'm tired of posters saying that he is being passed around on open looks. Jeremy is shooting 28% from the 3 point line. I don't see he is being passed up. He is a point guard and acting like one. He needs to learn to pull up for 15 footers and he needs to learn to shoot better from the 3s. He is a great passer and penetrator. He is not not under-appreciated. I agree that they didn't let him play to his strengths early on, but they corrected it by having it in Jeremy's lin hands on a lot more plays and played more pick and roll; they also played him with TD as oppose to playing it all with Harden. Once Jeremy can be consistent with his shots, teammates will look for him to score. As for now, he gets a hot hand once every 3-4 games. And the other 2-3 games he is mediocre. I'm sure he will get better 'cuz Jlin is that type of person. Just don't think his teammates or coach should get the blame. He is still the starting PG, gets plays called or have him start the offense, and play 34+ mins per game and finishes the games. What more do you want?
ReplyDeleteEven if JLin was passed up for the open look it's because he has a low shooting percentage and has a tendency to hesitate taking shots. I'm sure his teammates are well aware of it.
DeleteI shouldn't say low shooting percentage, it's below average.
Delete3 pt % that is.
DeleteIf JLin is going to constantly step on the line at the arc, he might as well take another step or two closer and shoot a mid-range. Better shot for him.
DeleteCompletely disagree with Racha.
DeleteA shooter should concentrate on the RIM, not the FLOOR.
JLin should not have to look at floor. He should know where he's at before he takes the shot. So it's not a matter of concentration but comfort. JLin being as close to the 3 pt line shows me he lacks comfort there. Either he's not a confident 3pt shooter or he's a perfectionist with a stubborn mindset of needing to have precision of where his foot is relative to the line.
DeleteIf Lin is wide open for a 3, you pass him the ball and let him brick it even if his shooting percentage is 10%. It's up to the coach to take Lin out if he's a liability.
DeleteLin doesn't stand at the 3 point line waiting to shoot a 3 pointer instead of a 15 footer because he wants to. It's the coach that want him to stand in no man's land all day long.
And, what does Jeremy do when his teammates are ice cold? He purposely feeds them more passes, so they can get into a shooting rhythm.
Take a penny give a penny?
Like I said before, no team is able to stop Linsanity except for the Heat and Rockets.
I completely disagree with Racha EVEN MORE.
DeleteI am happy with Lin MAKING shots, from wherever they are on the court.
I am not going to do like Racha and start assassinating Lin's confidence or criticizing Lin's MADE shots. That's a lowball Larry Brown BS thing to do, knocking a guy for SCORING.
Etane, Jlin is a below average 3pt shooter and we can't change that fact unless he gets better at it . If his teammates think JLin is going to brick, why do you think they're gonna pass him the ball even if he's open. As to JLin purposely feeding his teammates more passes, I think it further underscores JLin's hesitation to score. He should take matter into his own hands and try to score more when his teammates are ice cold.
DeleteIt's up to coach to take Jlin out if he's a liability. That's exactly what McHale did in the 3rd qtr in the Clippers game. JLin hesitated to shoot a 3 when he's wide open and opted to drive to the basket instead. It resulted in a TO because he stepped out of bounds.
KHuang, there's nothing I can do to assassinate JLin's confidence. He doesn't give a rats butt what I say. The facts are the facts though. He's 28% at the 3pt line. He always steps on the line when shooting 3s. Hé's more consistent with mid-range shots than he's with long balls. How is pointing out where JLin is more effective in terms of shot selection low ball? If anything, JLin is not SCORING enough.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteRacha: Have you ever played on a team where your teammates tries not to pass to you. And, even when they do pass to you, they hesitate instead of giving you a sharp, crisp pass?
DeleteAnd, do you know what that does to your shooting rhythm?
Conversely, how would you feel if you're putting up bricks, but your point guard continues to feed you sharp, crisp passes?
Until you understand this dynamic, you will never understand the intangibles that are being discussed throughout this forum.
KHuang, if anything you're assassinating Larry Brown's coaching philosophy that he knocks a guy for scoring. He only knocks a guy for not scoring efficiently. Lets try not to just throw anything and everything out there for the sake of just making an argument.
DeleteI'm a big JLin fan and just subscribed to NBA League Pass so I can catch more of his games. I live in Chicago—DRose country—but JLin is now my favorite player.
DeleteI watched the game last night. I thought JLin played well. Heck, he had a double-double (12 points, 10 assists). I disagree with many of the posts on this thread. I didn't think think teammates were not passing him the ball. He had plenty of touches. He took the shots that were available to him and didn't force anything. His team shot 50% with 16 turnovers so they played a fairly efficient offensive game. It was defense and free throws that killed them last night.
He does have to be aware of the 3-point line though. When you hit a shot with the front of your toes on the line, any coach or 3-point specialist will tell you that you should have set up a bit behind the line before you even get the pass. But yeah, it happens, especially with young players. Guys can't always be looking at their feet. However, hitting those long jumpers from behind the arc will only improve his 3-point percentage and that's what we all want to see. Right? So he has to be aware of where he is standing in relation to the arc BEFORE he gets the ball on those catch-and-shoot plays.
That's RIGHT that I'm assassinating Larry Brown's and YOUR philosophy that criticizes players like Lin for "not scoring efficiently".
DeleteUnlike you and Brown, I'm not going to criticize Lin for successfully scoring.
Lin should take and MAKE whatever shots he can without constantly watching his shoelaces the way you want him to.
Yes I have played. I played jv and varsity h.s. bball. Why are you using sharp, crisp passes? LOL. How crisp and sharp passes were they? How do you measure that? All I know is when I'm not making shots, my teammates wont look to me. I need to show my teammates that I'm worthy of their trust. Have you played bball? 99% of posters here are just JLin fans. They don't play bball.
DeleteKHuang, I'm just gonna stop arguing with you cause you're getting a little wacked. Say what? I want JLin to watch his shoelaces? LOL. Please stop speaking for me.
DeleteRacha, sorry, although you might've played on a team before, your mentality is pick up.
DeleteRacha, Lin is scoring only 28% 3PT this season but he's definitely capable of more.
DeleteYesterday I mentioned the discrepancy of his 3PT% by broken down by quarters
In 2Q and 3Q, his 3PT average is decent at 39% and 35% but in 1Q and 4Q, they are only 14% and 12%.
And he attempted even less 3PTs in 1Q and 4Q.
To me, it shows that if he can gain confidence and be more consistent, he can average 35%-39%. It's a different case if he averages 28% in all quarters (meaning he is consistently a bad 3PT shooter).
So while I'm hopeful that he can raise his 3PT% to be 35%-40%, most likely he will need to work on it in the off-season. And also step 5 inches away from 3PT line :)
psalm234, that's right, confidence = consistency. I was merely trying to justify why his teammates were reluctant to pass him the ball when he's wide open, that's all. JLin is just not a confident 3pt shooter right now.
DeleteLin is not a not confident shooter.
DeleteLin is not a good spot up shooter.
He had a total of what 3 days to prepare for that role before the season started?
The entire league somehow discovered Lin's weakness like he's somehow exposed when it's actually a manufactured weakness by McFail.
Joke.
psalm234: interesting analysis. I didn't know that he shot 3-pointers better in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
DeleteTo add to that, consider some of the veteran point guards who are now considered the top point guards in the league. Guys like Tony Parker, Derrick Rose, and Chris Paul were poor 3-point shooters when they first came into the league. Parker has improved greatly over the years. Paul has improved his shooting though he is still not a statistically great 3-point shooter.
I live in Chicago so I am a big Derrick Rose fan. Rose had a terrible jump shot when he first came in the league and shot 22% on 3-pointers during his rookie year. He is still not a great jump shooter but he has definitely improved after each offseason (not including the lockout year when he struggled with injuries).
Anyway, my point is that young point guards often struggle with their shooting range when they come into the league. JLin certainly does struggle from long range. But I think he can improve his 3pt shooting if he puts time and effort into it this offseason. If he can improve that, defenders won't be able to stand back and guard against his drives and his overall game will improve.
He also needs to work on going to his left but that's another story.
You want Lin to focus his attention on the FLOOR, Racha.
DeleteLin's shoelaces are not that far from the floor, and that's where you want his gaze in your efforts to make him look for the 3 point line.
Larry Bird said that a shooter should keep his eyes on the rim. I'll take Bird's advice over yours, and Jeremy Lin seems to be keeping his eyes on the rim the way Bord recommended.
Anybody see this blurb about Linsanity the Movie being released??
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/linsanitymovie/linsanity-the-movie?ref=card
I don't get to watch the games live anymore, but I get to see the highlights and read everyone's post game comments.
ReplyDeleteI think Jlin is doing OKAY. I do think (as a few mentioned) that he needs to be more aggressive in a selfish way. He needs to aim for 15-20 points a night. Whether he gets it on:
8-12 or 10-12 FG attempts
or
8-20 or 10-25 FG attempts
I don't care, as long as he hits those points total benchmarks.
Assists he shouldn't really think too much about, it will just come to him statistically. The more points he scores the more opportunity he'll find his teammates open for open shots or easy lay-up/dunks. He can easily get 10 assists a game. But I'm satisfied with him getting 5-8 assists a game.
He also needs to mix it up. I liked what he showed last night as far as doing a lot of CROSS-OVER moves. If you look at the highlights (I think it was Grant Hill guarding him most of the night) he was juking him all night long. He can definitely do a 1 or 2 cross-over dribble and go for a quick pull up jumper. BTW his PULL-UP JUMPER looks really nice!!! He should go with it more when his driving lane gets clogged up.
This is what I think he should mix things up in the offense per game:
Attempts / Move
1. 5-8 / jump shots
2. 5-6 / 3 point shots
3. 5-10 / lay-ups
I've seen his jump shots and it looks good he can definitely make that his bread & butter move. Which can easily open things up for him in the lane.
That's how Monta Ellis did in when he was in Golden State.
On another note, some of you are saying that it doesn't look like he's enjoying playing right now. I think it's because he's still THINKING too much about what he needs to do than just going out and playing. I believe it's normal and is he's going through some growing pains right now. But I BELIEVE as the season progresses he'll get better and better.
Another thing I like to mention is that since JLIN doesn't have a big that can set him solid PNR, then he should play like he doesn't. Basically, just do what he did last game and keep crossing-over his man and pull up on that jumper. I think it's his JUMPER that gets him going.