You're lucky. I am SOOOOOOO angry with the loss, especially because it was a winnable game, and McHell was up to his substitution shenanigans again with Lin.
Well, I'm no longer a Knicks fan but I think they defeated the Heat twice this year, if that's any consolation. Anyways, I'm confident JLin will keep improving & his team will eventually get a win against the Heat next season (since this was the last meeting between the rockets & heat this season).
via, yes, but as a Knick fan, my hate for the heat spans two centuries, lol. But, between the 90s Alonzo Mourning Heat and the 21st century Lebron/D-Wade Heat, I hate the current Heat more, because they are arrogant, whiny show-boaters.
Aw Roberlin, there's no need for you as a Knick fan to have animosity against the 90s Mourning Heat.
Patrick Ewing OWNED Alonzo Mourning. Mourning just couldn't score, rebound, or defend against Ewing.
The 90s Knicks were better than the 90s Heat. Actually, the 90s Knicks were a very untalented team that milked 110% out of their limited potential. I admired the Knicks because they were the hardest playing team I've ever seen, though they also had the least amount of actual basketball skill I've seen in a perennial playoff power.
I think that the 90s Knicks would not be able to beat Lin's Rockets in a playoff series. James Harden and especially Lin would've greyhounded the slow untalented small Knick guards the way Jordan and Pippen greyhounded the small slow untalented Knicks swingmen.
KHuang, don't get me reminiscing on the knicks of the 90s. Those boys defined my world of basketball and team sport, where everyone ALWAYS leaves every ounce of strength on the floor. The closest thing I've witnessed since were the Detroit Pistons of Billups/Prince/Wallacex2/Rip. Miss that kind of basketball so much.
That's also why I appreciate Jeremy's game so much.
They had guys who were tough and professional, but they had NO GAME.
The Knicks were my hometown team, but I hated the way they had no real basketball talent outside of the limited Patrick Ewing. They had no guy outside Ewing that could catch the ball, make moves, and score. The closest guy was Rolando Blackman, and Pat Riley made the most major league mistake by benching him for the season. I stopped being a Knicks fan at the point because Rolando Blackman was a great shooting guard that had terrific games for the Knicks.
That said, John Starks was very impressive. He was listed at 6'5", but he was actually about 6'2" because I saw him standing next to the 6'1" Kevin Johnson at an All Star game and they were the same height. Starks wasn't fast, wasn't strong, wasn't super creative, wasn't talented, but he had the heart of a champion and maximized his potential. I deeply respect John Starks, and I found it very moving when Michael Jordan graciously complimented Starks as his single most tenacious opponent in his retirement speech.
I have never seen a NO TALENT team squeeze as much production out of itself as those 90s Knicks team. I totally respected them, but I couldn't stand watching them play their brickhanded untalented style of basketball!
Lets be fair. Lin played all thr crucial moments in the game. I don't know what Heat does so well on defense, but they seem to know how to shut down Lin.putting wade on Lin at the end of the game was a sign of respect. Lin looked quite unsure of himself and not as aggressive as he did the previous 5 games. It doesn't help that harden was going off and he was again relegated to passing him the ball. I think he has built a complex after the heat ransacked him last year. Hope his confidence continues to build so that he can get over this hump.
That's not on Lin, but on poor coaching by McHell. He should've known what Miami planned to do (double and trap Lin hard), and adjusted accordingly. Instead, he hung Lin out to dry for the first half, and then Ling got himself going in the second half.
And, again, McHell cost the game by leaving in the subs too long in the fourth. He has a knack for keeping in the subs who are subs for very good reasons just long enough for the team to lose the game.
I agree with your comments, Solidz. It's like he remembers what they did to him and he has no confidence and seems intimated. Maybe through time and experience and good coaching to develop his game, he can gain that confidence.
K.Smith, how do other point guards do against the Heat? And do the Heat game plan for other point guards as they do for Lin? The Heat are 18-3 at home. How well did those point guards in those 18 losses play?
No doubt that this is something for JLin and the team to work on, how to handle heavy defensive pressure and still make plays. JLin will find a way to improve.
@Roberlin, that's what i'm trying to figure out. How do other PG's get away with playing decent/average/some even good but Lin can't handle them? I'm assuming they guard Lin the same way they would WB/Irving/Lillard/Felton etc.?
And sometimes, even the best players dont handle good defenses very well. See Harden last year's championship series against the Heat. I think Harden had extra motivation this game, not just to beat the Heat, but to put big numbers up.
Lim is DEAD LAST in plays run for him, as far as starting point guards go. He also ranks well below many backups in usage.
Some of the most effective defense played against Lin is by his own teammates. They'll refuse to run sets with him, or they'll stand in his driving lanes. Other point guards don't have these problems.
Also, the ineptness of the Houston forwards at scoring inside means that Lin gets double and triple teamed in the midrange.
The bottom line, k.smith, is that Lin is playing on the league's minimum wage team with a minimum wage coach who cannot even institute plays that work. Lin is ON HIS OWN out there, battling opposing team efforts singlehandedly.
KSmith, I don't know, but I don't assume they defend all point guards the same way they do Lin. Also, Miami is a team that is all about motivation. If they're bored, they're surprisingly beatable.
There are 2 players on the Heat that I think forever will always be motivated to play hard D on Lin - Chalmers and Cole. I'm guessing they aren't as motivated to shut down Felton as they are shutting down Linsanity.
I completely agree with you. I would that Lin is problably the highest priority for the Heats in their scouting report. They know that if they can stop Lin they will win the game. I guess that's one positive that we can take. Lin is THAT good. There is nothing embarrassing or bad about losing against the heat, just got to get back up and win the next one.
The Knicks have max contract forwards and centers that cause the Heat defensive problems inside. That leaves NY's shooters wide open on the outside. The Knicks are a horrible matchup for the Heat the way the Rockets are a horrible matchup for any team that doesn't have super quick guards, especially the Knicks who the Rockets can beat anytime they want.
The guys mentioned by k.smith - Lillard and Felton, WB I don't know who that is, all cherrypick off max contract inside big men who command the attention. Irving doesn't have that big men, but his defense is so bad and his game is so selfish that his team SUX even though the Cavs have a higher payroll and higher picks than Lin's Rockets! So I don't consider any of those players remotely as being able to compete against Jeremy Lin who is the prime target every night but still gets his team to win!
Teams will plan their game against Lin - that is a fact. Whether McHale realizes it or not, Lin is an integral part of this team. Think of it this way .. when Lin has a good game, almost everyone else will have decent game as well. Compare this to harden - when he is scoring a lot, usually it's at the expense of the other player's contribution. Stopping Lin is a big part of a team's game plan against the rockets. And teams like Miami are good defensively enough to keep LIn in check - like tonight.
I think this is where the coaching becomes paramount. Coaches need to anticipate that and find a way to counter such tactics. McHale is not a good coach, so no surprise that he really didn't put Lin in a place to succeed.
Having said that, some of the onus falls on LIn as well. I tend to view him as this elite player who can't do no wrong. If I take a step back and look at the bigger picture, he is essentially in his first year, learning the nuances of the game. He still has a lot to learn. He will be the first to admit that.
All I know (unlike those doubters out there) is that he is more than capable of nearing the LInsanity level as evidenced by flashes of brilliance this season (utah, Spurs, GS, knicks). This I am sure about no matter what the doubters say. I could totally see him averaging 15-17 points/ 8-9 assists a game.
And as bad as he was in the beginning of this season, he has been improving steadily. We all know he hasn't peaked yet. He looks more confident in taking his jump shots (which was woeful earlier this season). He is more careful with the ball. And most importantly, even Mchale is allowing him to play more point.
I anticipate that by the end of the season, Lin will continue to improve. This kid has heart. His play will either force McHale to accept him as the ball handler or get out of his way.
Most people know that Miami isn't great at playing post defense, considering they had a undersized Joel Anthony playing center and a natural PF Bosh as well. Then you have Battier switching off and guarding PFs as well. What they do great at is team defense.
Of course they don't guard PGs all the same, but they do in an incredible jobs against teams who guards try to score in the paint. That's Lin's bread and butter. Chalmers and Cole's jobs are to pressure the PG and when the help defender comes, it makes it even harder for those guards to score. That's how they were able to contain Westbrook, Rose, and even Barea.
McHale's equal opportunity offense is the fast food drive thru express lane of the NBA. Whoever gets the ball is to advance, whoever is confronted with a defender needs to pass, and whoever has the open shot is to take it.
The problem is that when the going gets rough, the players lean more on Harden than Lin. That's erroneous because Harden is prone to fits of selfishness and is consistent only in his poor defense.
I'd like the Rockets coaches to keep preaching to the young Rockets to believe in themselves and stand firm when the going gets rough. Everybody needs to trust Lin and let him make plays to get others going. Don't automatically turn to Harden to shoot the team out of losses, especially since it's his piss poor defense that's gotten the Rockets behind to begin with!
KHunag, you are 100% right. When the games on the line or the team is struggling, instead of believing in each other, the players go to Harden. I think that was the reason why there were so many harden ISO tonight and that is why we couldn't do anything at the end of the game. Harden got lucky with few shots, but he will most of the time will not be so fortunate. We have lost a lot of games this year due to Harden trying to play hero ball.
Unfortunately I don't think this will change as I have no faith in McHale to make Harden play otherwise. I have no problem Harden having the ball at the end of the game as he is our best player but he needs to be willing to pass the rock. He often tries to take impossible shots while people just stand and watch. IF he is going to do that, then the coach needs to let him know.
I think at least the dynamics of the team has changed a lot since the beginning of the season. I see Lin playing the ends of the games so that is a positive sign. If Harden can learn to play smarter in stretches, we could be that much better.
If I was coaching the Rockets, I doubt I'd actually do any differently than McHale.
I'd scream at my guys "Pound the ball into Lin, let him produce". And then the double and triple and YES QUADRUPLE teams would come and Lin would have to pass to the only guy deliberately left open on the perimeter: HARDEN!
Then you guys would say "You're McHale's kid, you're a Lin hater, you don't know how to coach". I'd probably then hand them the chalkboard and say "OK, you design a play that would somehow keep guys from doubling Jeremy Lin!"
One thing I'd do differently than McHell is to try to abuse the paint more with Omer and Greg. If Miami wants to double up on whichever guard has the ball, then Houston has to attack inside with two bigs. And, once Miami adjusts, start kicking the ball back out for threes and/or PnR penetration starting from the perimeter.
Without doing so, Houston had no advantage either at the perimeter or in the paint. And, they just get out played by Miami's athleticism.
See. I wouldn't try to go more through those two stone handed centers that don't know what to do with the ball.
I keep saying that Houston had no trouble scoring but had tons of trouble defending.
McHale is stuck. He's got horrible defenders at the forward positions, which is what Miami exploited tonight. There is NOTHING he as a coach can do to stop Lebron and Wade from playing like MVPs, save perhaps shuttig down Wade by putting Lin on him.
I would have said the same thing a month ago. In fact, I was trying to convince you that Asik is worthless down low.
But, since then, Asik didn't butter finger it for two games now. And, he's been able to catch and dunk a la Tyson.
(Kinda weird how you say Asik is good when he's bad and say he's bad when he's good...)
And, Greg is greg. If he's open, it's a catch and dunk. And, here's really there for decoy to force Miami to change their defense up to free up the guards.
And, yes, Houston couldn't defend Miami. It's a given from the outset that Miami was going to outmatch Houston at the SF/SG positions. But, in the last game, Houston could have powered pass Miami with a touch more offense in the paint. Although, this probably wouldn't work as well in future games when Bosh returns.
For some reason, Jeremy seems to be in awe of the Heat. Maybe they are too physical for him, but he plays very timid against them. It's a tough matchup for Jeremy, but then the Heat's perimeter defense is probabaly the best in the NBA.
I think it's a combination of lack of experience and no strategy to make the Heat pay for doubling Lin & Harden. Plays should be designed for the other 3 players to step up to receive the pass and shoot the ball.
So true, Sesshie. I wonder if they even discussed that in the game plan for this game. You would think that the Heat were going to exploit Jeremy's weakness so what should they do to solve that problem or counteract it.
No doubt, but still gotta give credit to the Heat since they showed why they get praise for their defense. They were forcing Lin to go left and trapping him ASAP. They have strong and fast players and with Lin's shaky jumper, it's going to be hard to break that D.
Both Harden and Felton did well against the Heat because they were able to knock down those jumpers, but if you go into the lane vs them it gets harder to score.
Well, since Mchale is still the coach, he probably didn't think the Miami Heat will give JLin that much respect cuz he checked the calendar and it's Feb. 2013 not 2012. He probably thought: "Ahh... they will probably double on Harden, but no problem, Harden will shoot the contested jumper and the ball will go in anyways! Foolproof plan!"
kinda hard on Lin, aren't you? Lin hasn't played a full season's worth of NBA games, while Harden a "vet." Plus, the Heat really were focused on taking Lin out of his game, less so Harden.
It's also too bad Harden couldn't have adjusted on the double-team on his blocked three pointer at the end of the game. He's getting paid 80 million, he should have expected the double team and either adjusted his shot or drawn a foul.
Maybe JLin is looking to set up teammates first and not shoot himself whereas Harden will try to shoot whenever there's an opening, no matter how slim. Different position, different style.
Lin was tired when they first matched up in Miami when he was with NYK as well, remember that was right before the All-star break. Spoelstra used to be one of those film guys, so no doubt they scouted Lin and try to take away his strengths.
Harden is one of the best scorers in the league, plus with more experience and has seen first hand what Lebron/Wade can do in the Finals/Team USA. Harden was also doing what he's been doing all season and get to the free throw line, 12/13 and also got 4/7 from threes, along with 12 rebounds. He was going hard on those fast breaks to avoid the trap early and when he was put in one on one situations he took advantage of it,
Plus, different positions on the court. The way the offense is set up when Lin isn't the primary ball handler, he's standing on the sidelines, you know, the places where traps occur. Meanwhile, it seems Harden often had the ball right at the top of the key, and took many shots from the top of the key.
Sesshie: That's another good point. Lin doesn't have the role of shooting first, he's there to be a playmaker and create for his teammates. On those breaks, if he can't into the lane he'll just pass it back out and go back to spot up duties. Not to mention that the Rockets barely use the mid-range game, so it's either drive into the paint, pass, or shoot the 3.
i'm not disagreeing with you guys but I don't want us using the excuse that he was "tired". Everyone's tired and injured at this point in the season. Bottom line, he needs to adjust.
I'm kind of pissed bc certain fans from certain forums are ripping on Lin, saying that he can't handle traps, plays lost, isn't confident, and can't stand any defensive pressure so he sucks. That shit pisses me off.
I want Lin to succeed and to be able to play well against strong perimeter D teams. I'm asking for solutions on what you guys think might help him get better.
I honestly don't believe Jlin is in awe of the heat nor is he intimidated. They need to game plan better against the heat and try to get Lin going early in the game.
Miami Heat coaching staff is smart. By shutting down Lin and letting Harden go off, Rox can't win because everyone else in the Rox won't get going.
Harden expends ZERO energy on defense, but he gets lit up so lightly that his nickname should be "Lite Brite". And when he bricks and turnovers on top of the horrifically bad defense, the Rockets win IN SPITE of James Harden.
Lin might not have big scoring games when tired (though 13 points is pretty darned good), but he'll also drag the man he's guarding down with him. So Lin's usually contributing positively to wins, so much so that he singlehandedly erases Harden's loser defense and poor decisionmaking!
K.smith, I feel your pain as people outside this forum troll Lin whether he plays well or not. As long as you recognize that Lin is always trying to be a net positive player, you'll appreciate Lin's efforts at winning even in games like this.
K.Smith, we're all in the same boat. However, for me I don't take what the haters say about Lin personal, they are always going to be there. Lin is one of the more polarizing players now, since now he has tons of fans watching him to see him succeed but a lot of haters wanting to see him fail.
Frankly, I think Lin needs to take more jumpers like he did vs GSW. The drive or pass option is very predictable and a better defensive team can easily control that. The better the jumper, this would open up his game much more and conserve some of that energy, instead of trying to attack the paint.Granted, that's also on the coaches to let Lin play through times when he struggles and there's also really no good PnR big that compliments Lin like Chandler did. Asik has trouble just catching and finishing passes from Lin. At least 25% of Lin's TO's are usually because of Asik not being able to catch his passes.
Teams are letting him shoot right now and he needs to make them pay. Otherwise they are just going to stay below any picks, force him left, trap him when needed, and play zone.
What does Felton really have on Lin that has made him play well now in NY? Besides teammates and a coach giving him the green light to shoot, other things I can think of is experience, better jumper, and MAYBE better ball control. All he did against Miami was create space, whether it's through his dribble or coming off picks, but he made them.
Felton has 3 max contract big men drawing defensive attention, so he simply is left UNGUARDED.
Lin has Omer Asik (a very solid center), Patrick Patterson, and Marcus Morris, and teams load up on Lin defensively especially in the midrange.
Two games ago, I saw Lin split a QUADRUPLE TEAM in the midrange and score. Felton has never even seen single coverage this season, let alone double coverage.
K.Smith, just admit it, you're pissed off at Lin just like the haters, for sucking, relatively speaking, against Miami and for being inconsistent this season. Maybe this is as good as Lin will ever get, and Linsanity was just a nice two week stretch for an otherwise average point guard. Maybe he really was just a product of Dantoni's system. Maybe JR Smith is right, Felton is better than Lin.
WHat the Lin of this season is pretty much the Lin of the next 5 seasons, with a bit more consistency? What do we fans do if this is indeed true?
He even understands the basketball reasons why Lin is FINE.
He's only unhappy that trolls outside this forum compare Lin negatively to lesser players like Kyrie Irving. So he comes here for reassurance that Lin is indeed playing WINNING basketball!
That's why also said better teammates. Omer Asik is a great defensive big man. Offensively though he still has a long way to go. Patterson started play well recently, but throughout the season even Rockets fans were calling him out just to rebound. Morris is hit or miss.
The game where Felton scored 27 vs Miami, the only big time contract playing was Chandler. Both Amare and Melo did not play. Felton went 10-20, and 6-10 from 3. He was not being left unguarded and was really just making his jumpers.
Is it a coincidence Lin explodes when his jumpers are falling? examples Golden State, Spurs, Lakers, etc.
@anon, I agree, Lin needs to take more jumpers and it would help him conserve energy. He's not terrible, so why not take more?
@khuang, oh trust me, i'm not defending that mental midget, Felton. He's streaky as hell and the only reason he played well against the Heath (the 2nd game) was bc he was "on" that night. Other than that, I can't respect a player who becomes a completely incompetent player and fat ass just bc he gets traded to another team.
@ K.Smith, it's a combination of Lin's style of play, which the first option is to drive and create, while also having to play with another dominant scorer in Harden. He's also limited to the type of jumpers he can take, which is mainly 3's or that turn-around jumper to break off his man when he drives in.
K.Smith, here's something you could ask the haters and see how'd they respond.
I wrote in an earlier post that if the HEat could somehow pull it off, they would LOVE to have Jeremy Lin be their point guard.
I hate the Heat, but, can you imagine Lin playing with LeBron, D-Wade, and Bosh? Can you say regular 20 assist games? Lin would be the perfect point guard for the Heat, because he's a playmaker who's awesome in transition. And with his ability to steal the ball, he'd create more transition opportunities than they can now with Chalmers and Norris.
And, bullshit to anyone who says any average point guard would excel playing for the Heat. Lots of point guards are more scorers rather than playmakers (see russell westbrook, Derrick Rose, etc). And very few has Lin's uncanny court vision. How many point guards can make those no look passes that Lin's been making this season?
In other words, I'd argue that Lin actually would make Miami a way better team than they are now, because of a skill set that most point guards, even the good ones, lack.
Anonymous, ANY player in the NBA can get on a hot streak and just roast people.
Also, the Knicks are a weird team. They'll destroy not just Miami, but San Antonio. But then Lin's minimum wage Rockets will strut onto the court and greyhound the slow Knick guards into embarrassing punking losses. This is the NBA where weird matchups can result in weird results.
I never said that you were defending Felton, k.smith. I know that you don't like his very pedestrian game any more than I do.
One thing I've noticed about Lin on this Rockets team is that even though no plays are run for him, opponents are very organized and thought out in their defenses of him. However, Lin is so friggin' good that he beats the majority of defenses when he's not fatigued on back to backs and especially when his teammates aren't tanking on him.
Defenders crowd Lin more tightly than they do any player I've seen, maybe more so than Michael Jordan since Jordan played in the illegal defense era where Jordan never had to face the nasty zone traps that Lin faces every game. Lin can't just elevate for jump shots at will, and the only time he gets open is when he spots up in the corner.
Lin going to the corner is simply a very smart player going to the area of the NBA court where defenders cannot crowd him on 4 sides. In the corner, Lin usually has only 1 defender flying at him as opposed to 4 in the midrange elsewhere on the court!
@KHuang, You repeatedly said that Lin's enjoying the “superstar” double-team treatment from other teams. I finally saw the “superstar” treatment in this game. Lin has the respect of the Heat. The Heat was really gunning for Lin. Despite that, Lin had not a bad good game. Even in the last minute of the game after Harden rained a few shots and the Heat’s lead was narrowed to only 3 points, the Heat did not double-team Harden; instead they chose to keep double-teaming Lin. It’s obvious that Heat's defensive strategy is to disrupt the rocket offensive rhythm, and the Heat were well aware of Lin’s impact on the offense once Lin’s given the opportunity to make plays and run the offense. The Heat didn’t mind Harden playing iso/hero ball which’s the pitfall of the Rox offensive scheme since playing iso is very difficult to win the game, also bearing in mind that Harden isn’t LB J. They Heat ignored Harden but focused on stopping Lin by double-team him shows their respect for Lin as “superstar”(though many would argue that). I can't complain about Lin’s overall performance in this game given the factors beyond his control. ;D
The superstar treatment happens every game, livyrlife.
Frankly, I don't see Miami defending Lin and the Rockets any more effectively than anybody other than OKC and especially Portland. The Rockets still lit up the Heat for 110 points!
Offense is not the problem for Lin and his Rockets. Defense is. The Rockets get POUNDED defensively except at point guard and center where Jeremy Lin is the greatest defensive guard in basketball and Omer Asik is a darkhorse candidate for best defensive center!
This is where I wish the Rockets had a defensive stopper like Lin's ex Knick teammate Renaldo Balkman. If I were Houston's coach, I'd sic Balkman on unstoppable scorers like James and Wade to break their scoring momentum and prevent them from overpowering James Harden and Chandler Parsons. I'd even stick Balkman on Battier so that Balkman could help defend the Heatles but recover defensively fast enough to challenge Battier when he takes the kickout shots.
I think Lin played well. He just couldn't finish at the rim but he had aggression and got to the line. His 3pt shot is looking really good still. I wouldn't be surprised if he finished at 34%. If he finished those layups woulda had 20pts easily.
Also, we really need to put Lin's performances against the Heat into perspective. Of his three games against them (1 last year, 2 this year), 2 of them have been at Miami, and both games were the second game of a back to back games for Lin's team.
It's hard enough to play well against Miami in Miami, but way way harder on the second game of a back to back, especially for a point guard.
Lin really needs to learn how to protect his body, especially when he falls. I don't want him turning into Lowry 2.0; endless back spasms, knee/ankle bruises.
Right now, in the lead is Heat vs. Trailblazers, but Rockets vs. Warriors is my preference. It's inched from 34% to 37% since last night. It looks unlikely, but I'm going to keep trying!
If you don't mind @andrewy, I'd like to repost this. I find posters sometimes miss the links in a crowded thread. [My solution had been to use a high-color icon. But maybe having the link in uppercase will be better.]
Such a winnable game just bad coaching....how can any team in the NBA not start their starter in a critical forth quarter game like this one. Too much iso n not enought team play thats why everyone was off shooting day....
If there's a loss that could be considered "good", it's this one.
Lebron and Wade had to play at their MVP levels to fight off this road weary inexperienced Houston team.
The Heat have a humongous payroll filled with All Stars and basketball legends, the Rockets have the NBA's lowest payroll filled with low picks and basketball's ultimate reject in Jeremy Lin.
I think it's Linbarrassing for the Heat to not have blown out the fatigued young Rockets!
A rested Lin would've hit 2 or 3 more layups and scored 17-19 points, but the Rockets would have lost anyway because Harden and Parsons cannot stop Lebron and Wade from scoring over 60 points a game.
Lin did just fine, but he cannot erase the defensive shortcomings of Harden and Parsons against two MVP players.
I noticed after the game, D-Wade sought out Harden and Lin to shake hands with, and he said some things to Lin that seemed complimentary. Unlike last season, when Wade and LeBron were derisive of Linsanity, I think this is a sign of real respect for Lin and his game.
Didn't manage to watch the game but I am not surprised with the outcome. The Rox didn't stand a good chance to win the game so Haren had made up his mind(with Mchale's permission) to pad his stat to make himself look like a superstar. I'm glad that Jeremy got all his free throws through the hole and final score of 13 pts. Haters gonna hate and Haren is Haren without D.
You've just got to stop saying things like this. Harden wasn't trying to "pad his stats". There isn't a conspiracy with McHale to pad his stats either. Even if you think Harden is being selfish, never attribute to malice what can be properly explained by incompetence.
Harden is big, strong, fabulous shooter with subtle skills. He carried the offensive load on his back. Stats show that in the clutch, he gets even more efficient. He is able to effortlessly score almost any time he wants to.
He is NOT freezing Lin out by doing what he does. If Harden were to not play the way he does, he'd have to completely buck the culture of the entire NBA. Harden has already shown lots of respect for Lin's game and willingly deferred to Lin during their win streaks. That's only going to strengthen and continue.
I thought the team showed alot of character to hang in when the Heat was up by more than 10 points.. back to back games are tough to play and Jlin looked to be running out of puff at the end. Not disappointed we lost but I thought the team just lacked a consistent power forward who can score and defend.
Lin lacking his turbo boost tonight, couldn't change directions or get to the ball as quick as he normally does. He was fatigued, and the Heat defensive coverage had little to do with his lack of production.
Even so, Lin made significant progress. Dwayne Wade probably complimented Lin on his improved game.
TV reporter: Does he know that you have a little Linsanity going?
Gabrielle Union: He's very aware of my Linsanity. I'm obsessed with Jeremy Lin. I'm obsessed with his story. I mean.. for everyone who's ever been counted out or underestimated. He's a perfect example of when people just said that "Oh..you're just lucky". But that's just really when opportunity and preparedness comes together. And when he's got that opportunity, this man was so prepared. Once he got off the couch that he was staying on. He was very prepared.
“They buckled down, and they took away what we were trying to get. For example, the (late) charge that we got, that is just them taking away the first option (which is driving to the basket and getting a hoop). They take away the first option and make you get to the weak side. They make you play to the second option. They’re veterans and they’re experienced. I felt like we did a good job of fighting back tonight and not giving up. We made crucial errors down the line. We didn’t get defensive rebounds. It was the little things like that.”
(On James Harden) “He’s definitely a great player. He had a heck of a game tonight, and unfortunately it went to waste with the loss. He kept us in it. He did everything that he could. He had a great game tonight.”
I feel like the media wants to create drama between players. Like they want to catch a player saying something bad about another player on the team. How many effing times does Jeremy Lin have to say how great Harden is? You know how damn PC and polite the kid is, he's ALWAYS going to compliment his teammates.
He looks a bit unsure, I still think the effect on him is a bit mental since the first meeting. But he made 50% of his 6 shots total in 3 games this game, plus 6 FTs, he is doing better penetrating just weren't able to finish at the rim. Compared to his last 2 outings vs Heat this is a huge improvement.
Heat is #1 eastern conference and 15-5 vs western teams for a reason. Their defense is great, much better half court sets, and they can hang with Rocket's pace.
But they aren't unbeatable, they are simply more experienced with much better chemistry, they took advantage of Rocket's inexperience all night, I'd say a 3rd of those fouls was just Heat taking advantage of their naiveness, and they were able to position and box out Rox under the rim, when your guard (Harden) has twice as many rebounds than your forwards put together, something is wrong.
They should have played DMo today.
Rox offense did well today, and other than some miscues on Harden and Lin's part, if it wasn't for freebie points and sloppy turnovers they could have beaten Miami by 10+ points.
Part of what McHale said about Rockets is true, opponents are going to do their best to stop you, young players need to be able to fall back on something else when they do. They put enormous pressure on Rox backcourt, because they know Rox frontcourt can't hang in the paint, allowing them to trap Lin/Harden at will. McHale did right by subbing Lin out to disrupt their defense, but I think he let the subs played a little too long.
Again, I'm not a fan of McHale's rotations, he really needs to put more players to work. Heat averaged 30mins per starter, while Rockets averaged 35+ per starter. Those 5 minutes per makes a huge difference in energy level.
Trust me, Spolestra isn't stupid, like other coaches that recognize Lin's talent, they KNOW Lin is the engine of the team. If he gets going, Rockets will win 99% of the time. Shutting Lin down is a must, because he is THAT dangerous.
agree with your point about subbing at the right time. By now, McHale HAS to realize that TD is only good in spurts. McHale always get enamored with TD's hustle and sticks with him way too long (Denver game being the quitessional example). I like TD. He makes great plays - including timely threes, steals etc but he always seems to negate all the good he does by eventually making TO's or taking bad shots, or bad fouls. Mchale needs to realize this and take TD out before he undoes all the good he does at first.
Totally agree with you. Lin is really the success barometer of the team, even if Harden chunk lots of points if Lin is not "on", the whole team is "off". Unfortunately every coach in the league acknowledges it, except Lin's coach :(
Trust me, Spolestra isn't stupid, like other coaches that recognize Lin's talent, they KNOW Lin is the engine of the team.
You're on the money here, @Kenoshi. George Karl knew it, Spoelstra knew it, almost all coaches who game planned against the Rockets knew Lin is the motor of the other Rockets. The difference is the Heat has the athletes and trapping defense to prevent Lin from creating too much for the Rockets.
Perhaps HOU coaches will realize that Harden ISO is great but it's not unstoppable in the 4Q that you can use it over and over again. His 2 TOs late in 4Q plus Anderson's offensive foul pretty much showed that the Heat had a plan to let Harden be the only offense but they know they can stop it in late 4Q.
As KHuang said, HOU needs to run plays for Lin to avoid trapping and still be involved in the offense. Perhaps the Rockets now know that good teams plan to beat them by forcing Lin to give up the ball.
Hardwood Paroxysm @HPbasketball In 20 minutes last night, the starting lineup of the Rockets against the Warriors had a 155 offensive efficiency. 10:07 PM - 6 Feb 13
JF: Where do Rox rank league-wide? If they're top-10 (or anywhere near), astounding in "transition year."
Adam Wexler @awexler @JasonCFriedman SA,OKC,MIA, LAC, DEN, IND, CHI, MEM, GS. That's 9. Tell me y HOU isnt next. Swept CHI, crushed GS. Beaten all others but POR 7:40 PM - 6 Feb 13
“You’re getting a dynamic player,” the head coach said. “Whether you say it is a short time or not, he’s proven capable of doing that. I think he’s a guy that’s grown a lot over the last year.Whoever gets him is going to get a terrific player. He has the ability to break people down, draw fouls, get to the free-throw line. And he’s a strong finisher inside. He puts a lot of pressure on your defense, makes other people better.” - I think this is Spoelstra
You can put James Harden into those words as well! (if nothing mention first) Interesting, because the article was dated on July 2012 while Jeremy signed the offer sheet!
Isabeli, didn't get to respond to your post about the CP3 and Paul trade. First of all, how was your interview. Hope it went well. The reason I responded with the remark that it wasn't going to happen because I thought the trade scenario was for this year. If the trade scenario was for when CP3 was with the Hornets then I can see it happening, but Stern put a nix on the trade.
@John Ly - my interview went well. my apprehension though is if I get hired,their work schedule is shifting, including night shifts.I hate night shifts! ask me to come to work on a Saturday, I'm good. but night shifts, no. I'm currently working in the purchasing department of a sports betting company, so while chasing for that opportunity to transfer,I'll enjoy the limitless NBA games for now.
I replied on the GSW thread. I'm still finding that Lakers-Rockets-Jazz info that would have brought Jeremy and Millsap to Lakers. found this one also. not sure of you've been a Rockets fan for a long time and if you are familiar with this statement:
"Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:41 am Post subject: Actually the Rockets GM claims part of the reason he did the CP3/Gasol trade was to get rid of Drag... so he could keep Lin... he claims he knew Lin had potential... but post veto they had Flynn, Drag, and Lowry... so he became expendable. I sort of believe him in that."
@via and other contributors IsabeliJane, etc. Yes, please continue to do so as they're JLin related and proper credit given. Some of the pics and gifs are 'hard' to find unless you can write in Mandarin/Chinese.
We wouldn't have seen the comic strip of JLin with English translation if it wasn't posted here. That was awesome to the poster who linked it and the talented artist.
There's not much we can do for the page format here. I've resigned to it. LOL..So when Lin have a good game, there's bound to be tons of great links, quotes, etc. Just have to make sure that I'm reading on the computer instead of ipad/mobile.
“I think Jeremy has proven that he’s a starter in the league,” the executive said. “In the right situation, with the right coach, the right spacing, you have to account for his production in the paint. I think Houston will use him in the right way. If nothing happens with injury or something like that, he can be a good player. - I think this is Kupchak
“He does one of the things you have to do to have offensive success in the league, which is collapse the (defense) through penetration or through playing through the post,” the assistant coach said. “He demonstrated that he can do that night in and night out. I think the real test will be 82 games." - I think this is Finch.oh come on he's doing that.the Heat are not guarding the pnr, they're guarding Jeremy.
@IsJane: is it a gut feel that these are who you think they are, or did you read other things to make you think so? Interesting!
Thanks everyone for your posts ... I heard the second half in the car on LP, but I had the Miami feed on given I couldn't stop the car to find the Rockets feed. You could tell when Lebron was out, Wade was pulling them away. Then Wade sat out and I think Lin finally came in, and R came back. By the call, it was easy to hear that Lin was double teamed and he was doing his best. Can't wait to watch what I heard on the feed and what I read from you all.
@JoeTeam - the first 3, they're more of gut feel. my hunch with Kupchak I referred it to another forum, and I have a strong gut feel it is Kupchak. the assistant coach, I really have zero idea who he is, so I just pointed to someone from Rockets coaching team. plus I've read the responses of these COACHES ABOUT JEREMY. old, but good responses.from their panel I only know JVG ;)
Thanks IsabeliJane ... and for that link to the 2/9/12 article. Nice read. I had a listen of JVG's interviews during Linsanity and he's quite supportive.
Yesterday was horrible Defense Harden and Parsons Result that Lebron and Wade won the game for Miami with 63 points together When Harden plays very well, only he plays very well because other players do not have the ball in their hands Harden late in the game had two chances to pass the ball to Lin and not passed, you guys know the result
The Heat played with some tenacity last night and also with some purpose like how they played last year to stop the Linsanity madness. Their main goal was to also double team James Harden and Lin. The Heat understands that the offense has a more fluid flow and the ball moves better when Lin is the PG and directing traffic. They made it difficult on Lin with traps as evident by one trap set where Lin got the ball stolen. Other notes to the game is that McHale left both Lin and Harden out too long in the 4th when they cut the lead down. He left his bench in and the lead ballooned up past double digit again. It's a shame that Rockets have nobody who can guard Wade or Lebron James. Those two were causing havoc for the Rockets. Parsons picked up 5 PF just trying to guard LBJ. The Heat players were trying to pick up charges because they knew Harden is prone to run into the lane with the eurosteps and eventually they will pick up a charge against him or two. The Refs were calling some bs charges because it was clear that on some charges the defenders were still moving. Also, there was alot of flopping from the Heat players. Something the League needs to look into if the Rockets make a stink about it. Shane Battier like Racha and Khuang said in an earlier post killed the Rockets with the threes. He hardly missed. Also, Harden although he put up like 36 points there were points in the game that he took upon himself to be selfish. There was an instant that Lin was on the wing ready to shoot or drive and he did not pass it to Lin. Instead he took it into the lane and got an unfortunate charging call when it was clearly evident the defender was still moving. Lin put up 9 points, but he did drive to the basket on several occasions. It was a shame that the ball did not roll in for him. Sometimes you will have nights like that. The main thing was that he didn't lose focus and was determine to still drive into the paint even from the hard fouls by the Heat players.
I forgot to mention that the PF's were not boxing out and getting rebounds. There were on several occasions that the Rockets let the Heat get second chance scoring opportunities. They were also misfiring from 3 point land as well. The Rockets could sure use Delfino in this game once Parsons picked up his 4th foul. I believe that Delfino could have also made a difference in this game. Once Parsons was out, Lin really didn't have many options to pass the ball to besides Harden.
I don't agree that Delfino would have made a difference this game, John Ly.
The Rockets scored 110 points against that swarming Heat defense. Scoring was not the problem.
The problem is DEFENSE.
Jeremy Lin, being the best defensive guard in all of basketball, played his stellar defensive game as usual. But Wade and James and Battier went wild because the Rockets simply don't have enough talent (in Harden's case, also lack the willpower) to limit their production.
There is little this defensively unmotivated Rockets team can do to beat the Heat. Lin is the only motivated and athletically capable defender, and he actually carries the Rockets defensively against most teams other than last year's NBA champion.
i believe the heat suckered the penetrating rockets into committing too many charging calls. If you combine those turnovers, with Shuhow's sub par shooting night, and the fact that we were 9/25 in 3's...they all contributed to the loss. Morey got it right, it was just unlucky. between harden and lin, there were too many misses from point blank. thank goodness asik was able to tap in a good number of them, but those offensive fouls were so irritating.
also, let's not avoid giving miami credit for their offensive weapons. this is a physically gifted veteran bunch who are also the reigning world champions with the league's reigning MVP in the roster. the second best player? dwayne wade. Then you have bosh, jesus shuttlesworth, and rashard to worry about. Not to mention an overly tattooed white guy with a mohawk lurking in the lanes and hustling. frankly, i thought houston's defense was about as good as it could've been considering their run-first transition brand of basketball. I do agree that Shuhow sat too much and played too timid after he was getting trapped. He definitely wasn't getting any help and harden committed a few costly turnovers on his penetrating move to the basket. But i'm proud of our boys...Houston showed they have fight and the skills to stand up the NBA elite. i hope they make it into the playoffs.
Excellent analysis, @John Ly! Houston was basically outmatched in strategy and personnel again Miami. They could have make it closer if it's not the 2nd night of B2B game but the Harden ISO strategy definitely was not working.
I also hope Harden (and the coaches) learned his lesson to make better decision to not go ISO 100% late in 4Q. He's an amazing scorer and should still shoot the wide-open 3PT shots but he needs to realize he needs to involve Lin and others so the defense won't key in on him.
The great thing is this HOU team still young and Harden/Lin only played together for 3 months w/o offseason practices but they just showed they can hang with the Champ! We should allow them to make mistakes and learn along the way.
No shame losing to the champ on the 2nd night of B2B if they can learn from it.
Parsons vs LBJ is like some young scrappy upstart who has some skills but 0 experience challenging the master of a well known dojo who won hundreds of fights to a duel.
Like I said, the outcome was predetermined before it even begun.
There are hidden gems when they are all bunched together. When you separate them into different paragraphs then they don't function as a whole together.
@ Kenoshi: Physically the Rockets should have put a much more physical player other than Parsons on LBJ. I don't see any physical specimen type player on the current Rockets roster at the current moment. The Rockets are going to have to solve this riddle of the Heat trapping and double teaming Lin. Other teams can't afford the same type of luxury because mainly they do not have players like LBJ and Wade to make up for the trapping if the PG should break the trap and pass it to an open player. The heat has players are more physical and athletic than the Rockets. I did notice at one point when Parsons was on the floor in the 1st half, the Rockets were actually leading the Heat by a 5 - 6 points.
No, I have that game on video and I would not agree with that.
The only reason Michael Jordan scored 63 was because the Celtics were tired in the 1st half and bricked all sorts of shots while being a step slow against not just Jordan but the whole Bulls team.
In the 2nd half, Boston came alive because Bill Walton provided Robert Parish some rest in the 1st half. Jordan went iso, but the Celtics moved the ball and won the game.
If I had to suggest a "greatest game", I'd hold up the 1980s Nuggets vs Pistons game where the score was like 157 to 145 or something like that. I even remember both teams saying that they were playing hard defense but it made no difference!
I just realised just like how Heat 'ended' Linsanity last year, they did the same this year. Spoilsport. But credits due to them and their excellent coach Spoelstra. I'm confident that this time next year, Jeremy Lin will have an excellent play against them.
@damon If you choose to construe it negatively be my guest.
Doesn't matter if it's a back to back or not. Other teams also have back to back games. What matters at the end of the day is that we all know that Jeremy Lin ALWAYS give his best even when the odds are against him..be it his coach, team mates, etc. Of course it'll be nice if it ends up with a win... who doesn't.
@Brent Yen Most definitely from what I've seen him yesterday before falling asleep. The time difference is killing me. I'm not superstitious..but everytime I watch the Rockets, they either loose or JLin got sidelined. And the opposite happens when I favour sleep over the Rockets..lol.
Bruce Lee gave a lesson to one of his students on fear by drawing a circle around himself and his student. The circle is the representation of Bruce's own reach and attack. He then asked his student what he would do if he moved his circle into the student's circle. The student answered that he'd try to move his circle away as quickly as possible. The student learnt 2 things, that his fear of his opponent can be limited by the circle of an opponent's reach and that fear is something that he can encircle with His own preparation. Great coaches like Bruce Lee give sage advice to their charges to prepare their minds with tactics and strategy. The Art Of War tells us that " if you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail". If a player like Lin is encircled by traps, a good coach shouldn't scream at him by saying don't get trapped! The player is then doubly worried facing not only his opponent's but also his own coaches. Rather, the coach should be able to settle the excited mind of his player by giving the player options instead. Good coaches, like good bosses gives clear parameters or cicles to his staff to operate within. Like a ship's captain, strategy is the direction that battleship must steer towards victory or defeat. A ship captain that micro manages and doesn't entrust his gunnery team or engine room team to operate independently, has only one eye on the rocks ahead. Bad coaches can't see the rocks from the ocean because they have no vision or direction.
One thing I'd do differently than McHell is to try to abuse the paint more with Omer and Greg. If Miami wants to double up on whichever guard has the ball, then Houston has to attack inside with two bigs. And, once Miami adjusts, start kicking the ball back out for threes and/or PnR penetration starting from the perimeter.
Without doing so, Houston has no advantage either at the perimeter or in the paint. And, they just get out played by Miami's athleticism.
Etane: one is inconsistent with catches and cannot drive in, and the other catches well but is not 100% with dunks and for sure his fade-away isn't reliable. Dunno ... you could be right.
What I didn't like was McHale prob knew Heat would scout recent games and disrupt ball flow. He had time to develop some strategies/tactics to knock them off that press on Harden and Lin. Even instructions to others about off-ball movement would have been nice. The uproar about Anderson and sitting Parsons, the time-out play to Harden ...
@KHuang, either way, 3 points would have made a difference and you are probably more right than others because 2 more good stops would have changed the last 2 mins. D was unsteady in crunch time. Then there's the officiating.
Joe: Two bigs under the rim will force Miami to adjust their defense away from trapping the guard at the perimeter to preventing interior passes to the bigs. This would have worked especially well since Bosh was out.
If Miami didn't adjust, then Asik and Greg could easily have scored 20pts a piece.
No Etane, your well meaning suggestion of planting Houston's bigs down low has already failed for the Rockets.
Too many times, Lin has tried to force a pass to the Houston bigs down low. However, those bigs don't have enough game to establish position. So opponents either knock Houston's post players off the block or front them in the post to impede Lin's passing and driving angles. Lin's defender, seeing this, then plays "in yo face" defense on Lin. Lin gets by that man but then gets sandwiched with two aggressive shotblockers in front of him and a pesky perimeter defender riding his back. Plus Lin can't force the pass to Houston's inept big men.
To combat these traps, Lin has devised a variety of wicked countermeasures:
1) Houston will send its power forward to the three point line. Often Lin has to make an awkward cross court diagonal pass to reach that man, and how he does it without turning the ball over is beyond me. Isiah Thomas used to regularly make this pass when he was playing with the Pistons.
2) Lin will use a change of pace to confuse the defense and then strike. Several times last game, Lin baited Miami defenders into fouling him from behind as they rode his back. Also, Lin will bait big men into fouling him as he attacks the rim. Often the refs try to cheat Lin of those fouls, but his ACTING is getting better!
3) Lin will dribble drive around his defenders from one side of the court to the other. He'll pick his defenders off each other, especially driving from left to right. This doesn't work as well against teams like Miami and Portland that have super athletic small forwards that can help challenge Lin's drives but recover quickly enough to contest Lin's kickout passes to the 3 point line.
I watched the game last night on League Pass. I'd seen the comments here beforehand, so I expected to be a lot more disappointed. Instead, I was pretty heartened. Lin missed 4 lay-ups at the rim. Literally, 4 gimmes that on another day every single one could have easily gone in. And he still scored 13 points or whatever. This is an ENORMOUS improvement since he played Miami last year, and that Knicks team had a lot more weapons. Last year Lin had carte blanche to shoot and he couldn't even get to 10 points. This year, even though the entire Miami defense was tilted to keep Lin out of the paint, they couldn't do it. This is a testament to Lin's elite athleticism and experience.
He also went 1/2 on three pointers, keeping his recent run of good long range shooting going.
He only turned the ball over twice. Miami has the number one perimeter defense in the NBA and were ready to pounce on Lin at every opportunity. Wade swooped in to get that end-of-half steal from Lin and that was painful. But, Wade also picked Harden's pocket at the top of the key, embarrassingly, and swooped in for a dunk all alone. Miami is just good!
Especially Wade. Man, I love Wade's game. He's like a panther. His game is so much smoother than Lebron's. He's a smarter, more natural player, and a bigger competitor. In the same way that Lin is the motor of Houston, I consider Wade the motor of Miami. I used to love to watch Wade play against Lebron. I'm sad I don't get to see that anymore.
Lin got plenty of minutes and played all critical minutes.
Houston is the youngest team in the league. They can get better fast. They might be good enough mid season next year to beat Miami, OKC, SAS.
If Patrick Patterson would focus on just playing defense and rebounding, Houston would be a lot better. I wish some coach would just get in his ear about that every day. They should give him incentives for every game he gets 10 rebounds in. He should be this team's Rodman.
The board last night was all so negative on Lin's performance, glad to hear your positive assessment of his play. One aspect of pg play that is called intangible is spacial intelligence. This ability can only be honed with time and practice. A superior facilitator has in 6 th sense of where each and everyone of his teammate is at all times. Alley oops and blind passes can only happen when trust is built. When a pg is in the zone, his eyes are only reactionary tools to a second set of eyes that is almost able to see the entire court from above, almost like an out of body experience. It's kind of like "spiderman sense" of tingling feel of everything around you. You can see this in his defense and why he leads in steals. He often cheats to help his teammates with one eye on his own man. The gamble is also based upon feeling how the rest of the opponents are position and how the flow of that design set is going down. That spacial awareness in real time lets him gamble to help out teammates as well as anticipate a pass. Given how little time this team has had together, it's speaks well to their potential.
Good analysis, michael. Agree that it is a tremendous improvement. Lin's ball-handling is much better and he will learn to break the traps over time. Even Nash got hustled by MIA good defense.
PPat definitely needs to be more consistent to bang and get rebounds. It's a shame how Wade got the offensive rebound in the end. No blocking at all.
Miami gives JL lots of respect. One person is always guarding and shadowing him. Whether is Charmler or Cole JL 's defender don't play help defense on others. Plus the double teaming, it is very difficult. I think JL played a solid game. Not good, but solid. Godspeed Jeremy.
I saw part of the game....very noisy game and Lin did fine in there....saw the negative comments too...did not agree ....cause score was close...not blown out
Just a gentle reminder: 8 days to go. For those who have contributed, you can upgrade your donation to $65 for a Blu-ray option. Kickstarter Linsanity Update #6
since chinese new year is days to go fly fm malaysia got this ad about year of the snake and talked about the past dragon which is bruce lee and jeremy lins year huh.
Said this on clutch, but I think there are a few reasons why Heat's defense is particularly effective against Lin:
1. Lin sometimes likes to slow down at half court to read the defense and probe around the perimeter (which works very well for most opponents), but Heat's defense is determined to not giving him any room to do that;
2. Heat is very good at trapping ballhandlers and they have a knack of double teaming them at the right moment -- Lin certainly needs more experience to know how to avoid running into such situations;
3. Lin's first time of playing at Heat's home court may still haunt him in his worst nightmares.
There are a few things he can do even right now to counter this: He could constantly push up his tempo and make the best use of his speed, not allowing the defense to set or key in on him (which he did succeed on a couple of plays last night); he could pass the ball out more quickly once he sees the double team coming, but that requires his teammates to help.
But I think he did a much better job last night than the last time he played there. Good to see him growing and learning!
So it seems to me with 2 practices, McHale can coach his team to move off ball a few ways and cause the opponent to be in a world of hurt to double Lin or Harden at mid-court.
It's good to know that LeBron and Wade greeted Lin after the game as a sign of respect. Also, I didn't know there were Chinese ads during the game.
Good, solid analysis of the game. Game #51 2012-13: Jeremy Lin & Houston Rockets Lose To The Miami Heat Analysis (starting at 6:15): ○ MIA defensive strategy is to bottle up the PG (i.e. Nash earlier this year). That's how they play. It made Jeremy think twice. ○ MIA strategy is to double PnR at times and this is hard for PGs ○ Lin's play of the game: mid of 1Q, he had no-look pass to Omer for a dunk. ○ LeBron and Wade both talked to Lin and Harden. It's a sign of respect. Also, there were Chinese ads during the game in MIA. All players in NBA understand how important Lin's influence ("cash-cow") particularly in Asia. ○ TD played well, better than Lin tonight. ○ 1-2 3PT shooting is good for his average. Now over 30% 3PT for the season. ○ Tough loss but understandable. Good team spirit. ○ 6-6 FT is very good. During Linsanity, the average is 7FT/game so it's a good uptick from currently 3FT/game. ○ HOU (seed 8)needs to beat POR (seed 9) on Friday for playoff implication.
Ppl kept pointing fingers on Lin for Rox's lose. I think he did great against one of the best team considering, 1. His coach does not trust/help him, 2. His teammate did not help him, 3. They just had a game less than 24 hrs prior to the Heats game.
I think the only thing he did not do well is been aggressive b4 the double team key in on him. But, again, that is partially on the coaches too.
KH, for Portland it definitely has more importance to create separation between 8th and 9th seed, right? HOU record is 27-24 (.529) and POR is 25-24 (.510).
If POR won, they will be the new 8th seed. And 2-0 record against HOU will break the tie-breaker if they have the same W-L record at the end of the season.
Idk about TD because I only caught the 4Q.
Lin's 3PT% has been dramatically improving (50% with 10-20) in the past 6 games so it helps his confidence and create more spacing for him to attack the rim.
I agree that Bron and Wade won't greet him just because of Lin's popularity if his play didn't impress them but they're also smart enough to know they can sell more shoes in Asia being Lin's friend (as opposed to Melo)
Brent, I don't see people blaming Lin for the MIA loss. After all, it's LeBron and Wade who were unstoppable and scored 63 pts.
I hope HOU coaches will run more plays for Lin to prevent trapping. It's crazy to expect Harden to single-handedly score in the last 4 min of 4Q to win games.
If I were coaching the Rockets, I'd occasionally have Lin convering Wade with Harden on Chalmers/Cole.
I'd figure that if Harden refuses to defend, I'll put him on Chalmers and Cole and DARE THEM to score.
Similarly, I don't think Wade can stroll past Lin for 30 points. I actually could easily imagine Lin clamping down so hard on Wade that Charles Barkley starts heckling about Wade being shut down by an Asian guy.
The other thing I'd do is peel Terrence Ross off the bench and send him in to physically challenge Lebron defensively. Make him work, put a few bruises on him, jump around near the rim. Chandler Parsons is too unathletic and too afraid to challenge Lebron defensively.
Not upset at the loss. Guess I'm still high from last night's game. I'm going to go rewatch the JLin highlights from yesterday :P
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky. I am SOOOOOOO angry with the loss, especially because it was a winnable game, and McHell was up to his substitution shenanigans again with Lin.
DeleteAnd because I'm a Knicks fan and I HATE the Heat.
@Roberlin ~ You're in good company, EVERYONE hates the Heat.
Delete@Sesshie ~ That's a good idea, I should do like you, [to lessen the frustration.] [GSW] HIGHLIGHTS.
Well, I'm no longer a Knicks fan but I think they defeated the Heat twice this year, if that's any consolation. Anyways, I'm confident JLin will keep improving & his team will eventually get a win against the Heat next season (since this was the last meeting between the rockets & heat this season).
Deletevia, yes, but as a Knick fan, my hate for the heat spans two centuries, lol. But, between the 90s Alonzo Mourning Heat and the 21st century Lebron/D-Wade Heat, I hate the current Heat more, because they are arrogant, whiny show-boaters.
DeleteAw Roberlin, there's no need for you as a Knick fan to have animosity against the 90s Mourning Heat.
DeletePatrick Ewing OWNED Alonzo Mourning. Mourning just couldn't score, rebound, or defend against Ewing.
The 90s Knicks were better than the 90s Heat. Actually, the 90s Knicks were a very untalented team that milked 110% out of their limited potential. I admired the Knicks because they were the hardest playing team I've ever seen, though they also had the least amount of actual basketball skill I've seen in a perennial playoff power.
I think that the 90s Knicks would not be able to beat Lin's Rockets in a playoff series. James Harden and especially Lin would've greyhounded the slow untalented small Knick guards the way Jordan and Pippen greyhounded the small slow untalented Knicks swingmen.
KHuang, don't get me reminiscing on the knicks of the 90s. Those boys defined my world of basketball and team sport, where everyone ALWAYS leaves every ounce of strength on the floor. The closest thing I've witnessed since were the Detroit Pistons of Billups/Prince/Wallacex2/Rip. Miss that kind of basketball so much.
DeleteThat's also why I appreciate Jeremy's game so much.
See Hans, I actually HATED the 90s Knicks.
DeleteThey had guys who were tough and professional, but they had NO GAME.
The Knicks were my hometown team, but I hated the way they had no real basketball talent outside of the limited Patrick Ewing. They had no guy outside Ewing that could catch the ball, make moves, and score. The closest guy was Rolando Blackman, and Pat Riley made the most major league mistake by benching him for the season. I stopped being a Knicks fan at the point because Rolando Blackman was a great shooting guard that had terrific games for the Knicks.
That said, John Starks was very impressive. He was listed at 6'5", but he was actually about 6'2" because I saw him standing next to the 6'1" Kevin Johnson at an All Star game and they were the same height. Starks wasn't fast, wasn't strong, wasn't super creative, wasn't talented, but he had the heart of a champion and maximized his potential. I deeply respect John Starks, and I found it very moving when Michael Jordan graciously complimented Starks as his single most tenacious opponent in his retirement speech.
I have never seen a NO TALENT team squeeze as much production out of itself as those 90s Knicks team. I totally respected them, but I couldn't stand watching them play their brickhanded untalented style of basketball!
Very tight game,exciting that they almost there.but the officiating refs and we know miami is at home.biggest advantage:(
ReplyDeleteyou forgot the coaching advantage. Spoelstra outcoached McHell, even with Bosh out and Houston having a huge size advantage.
DeletePortland lost as well.golden state also
Deletehehehe, the warriors look kinda foolish tweeting tough about the rematch with the Rockets when they should have been focusing on their game today.
DeleteLets be fair. Lin played all thr crucial moments in the game. I don't know what Heat does so well on defense, but they seem to know how to shut down Lin.putting wade on Lin at the end of the game was a sign of respect.
ReplyDeleteLin looked quite unsure of himself and not as aggressive as he did the previous 5 games. It doesn't help that harden was going off and he was again relegated to passing him the ball.
I think he has built a complex after the heat ransacked him last year. Hope his confidence continues to build so that he can get over this hump.
That's not on Lin, but on poor coaching by McHell. He should've known what Miami planned to do (double and trap Lin hard), and adjusted accordingly. Instead, he hung Lin out to dry for the first half, and then Ling got himself going in the second half.
DeleteAnd, again, McHell cost the game by leaving in the subs too long in the fourth. He has a knack for keeping in the subs who are subs for very good reasons just long enough for the team to lose the game.
I agree with your comments, Solidz. It's like he remembers what they did to him and he has no confidence and seems intimated. Maybe through time and experience and good coaching to develop his game, he can gain that confidence.
DeleteI get what you're saying but Lin needs to get over it. If other PG's can manage the Heat, Lin should too.
DeleteAnd no, i'm not a troll, i'm one of the biggest Lin defenders.
K.Smith, how do other point guards do against the Heat? And do the Heat game plan for other point guards as they do for Lin? The Heat are 18-3 at home. How well did those point guards in those 18 losses play?
DeleteI don think Lin was intimidated this time. The team just did not find a way to help him break the initial double team.
DeleteNo doubt that this is something for JLin and the team to work on, how to handle heavy defensive pressure and still make plays. JLin will find a way to improve.
Delete@Roberlin, that's what i'm trying to figure out. How do other PG's get away with playing decent/average/some even good but Lin can't handle them? I'm assuming they guard Lin the same way they would WB/Irving/Lillard/Felton etc.?
DeleteAnd sometimes, even the best players dont handle good defenses very well. See Harden last year's championship series against the Heat. I think Harden had extra motivation this game, not just to beat the Heat, but to put big numbers up.
DeleteK.smith, it's very simple.
DeleteLim is DEAD LAST in plays run for him, as far as starting point guards go. He also ranks well below many backups in usage.
Some of the most effective defense played against Lin is by his own teammates. They'll refuse to run sets with him, or they'll stand in his driving lanes. Other point guards don't have these problems.
Also, the ineptness of the Houston forwards at scoring inside means that Lin gets double and triple teamed in the midrange.
The bottom line, k.smith, is that Lin is playing on the league's minimum wage team with a minimum wage coach who cannot even institute plays that work. Lin is ON HIS OWN out there, battling opposing team efforts singlehandedly.
KSmith, I don't know, but I don't assume they defend all point guards the same way they do Lin. Also, Miami is a team that is all about motivation. If they're bored, they're surprisingly beatable.
DeleteThere are 2 players on the Heat that I think forever will always be motivated to play hard D on Lin - Chalmers and Cole. I'm guessing they aren't as motivated to shut down Felton as they are shutting down Linsanity.
I completely agree with you. I would that Lin is problably the highest priority for the Heats in their scouting report. They know that if they can stop Lin they will win the game. I guess that's one positive that we can take. Lin is THAT good. There is nothing embarrassing or bad about losing against the heat, just got to get back up and win the next one.
DeleteMiami is softer inside than people realize.
DeleteThe Knicks have max contract forwards and centers that cause the Heat defensive problems inside. That leaves NY's shooters wide open on the outside. The Knicks are a horrible matchup for the Heat the way the Rockets are a horrible matchup for any team that doesn't have super quick guards, especially the Knicks who the Rockets can beat anytime they want.
The guys mentioned by k.smith - Lillard and Felton, WB I don't know who that is, all cherrypick off max contract inside big men who command the attention. Irving doesn't have that big men, but his defense is so bad and his game is so selfish that his team SUX even though the Cavs have a higher payroll and higher picks than Lin's Rockets! So I don't consider any of those players remotely as being able to compete against Jeremy Lin who is the prime target every night but still gets his team to win!
Teams will plan their game against Lin - that is a fact. Whether McHale realizes it or not, Lin is an integral part of this team.
DeleteThink of it this way .. when Lin has a good game, almost everyone else will have decent game as well. Compare this to harden - when he is scoring a lot, usually it's at the expense of the other player's contribution. Stopping Lin is a big part of a team's game plan against the rockets. And teams like Miami are good defensively enough to keep LIn in check - like tonight.
I think this is where the coaching becomes paramount. Coaches need to anticipate that and find a way to counter such tactics. McHale is not a good coach, so no surprise that he really didn't put Lin in a place to succeed.
Having said that, some of the onus falls on LIn as well. I tend to view him as this elite player who can't do no wrong. If I take a step back and look at the bigger picture, he is essentially in his first year, learning the nuances of the game. He still has a lot to learn. He will be the first to admit that.
All I know (unlike those doubters out there) is that he is more than capable of nearing the LInsanity level as evidenced by flashes of brilliance this season (utah, Spurs, GS, knicks). This I am sure about no matter what the doubters say. I could totally see him averaging 15-17 points/ 8-9 assists a game.
And as bad as he was in the beginning of this season, he has been improving steadily. We all know he hasn't peaked yet. He looks more confident in taking his jump shots (which was woeful earlier this season). He is more careful with the ball. And most importantly, even Mchale is allowing him to play more point.
I anticipate that by the end of the season, Lin will continue to improve. This kid has heart. His play will either force McHale to accept him as the ball handler or get out of his way.
Most people know that Miami isn't great at playing post defense, considering they had a undersized Joel Anthony playing center and a natural PF Bosh as well. Then you have Battier switching off and guarding PFs as well. What they do great at is team defense.
DeleteOf course they don't guard PGs all the same, but they do in an incredible jobs against teams who guards try to score in the paint. That's Lin's bread and butter. Chalmers and Cole's jobs are to pressure the PG and when the help defender comes, it makes it even harder for those guards to score. That's how they were able to contain Westbrook, Rose, and even Barea.
Solidz75, the players have to count on Lin too.
DeleteMcHale's equal opportunity offense is the fast food drive thru express lane of the NBA. Whoever gets the ball is to advance, whoever is confronted with a defender needs to pass, and whoever has the open shot is to take it.
The problem is that when the going gets rough, the players lean more on Harden than Lin. That's erroneous because Harden is prone to fits of selfishness and is consistent only in his poor defense.
I'd like the Rockets coaches to keep preaching to the young Rockets to believe in themselves and stand firm when the going gets rough. Everybody needs to trust Lin and let him make plays to get others going. Don't automatically turn to Harden to shoot the team out of losses, especially since it's his piss poor defense that's gotten the Rockets behind to begin with!
KHunag, you are 100% right. When the games on the line or the team is struggling, instead of believing in each other, the players go to Harden. I think that was the reason why there were so many harden ISO tonight and that is why we couldn't do anything at the end of the game. Harden got lucky with few shots, but he will most of the time will not be so fortunate. We have lost a lot of games this year due to Harden trying to play hero ball.
DeleteUnfortunately I don't think this will change as I have no faith in McHale to make Harden play otherwise. I have no problem Harden having the ball at the end of the game as he is our best player but he needs to be willing to pass the rock. He often tries to take impossible shots while people just stand and watch. IF he is going to do that, then the coach needs to let him know.
I think at least the dynamics of the team has changed a lot since the beginning of the season. I see Lin playing the ends of the games so that is a positive sign. If Harden can learn to play smarter in stretches, we could be that much better.
If I was coaching the Rockets, I doubt I'd actually do any differently than McHale.
DeleteI'd scream at my guys "Pound the ball into Lin, let him produce". And then the double and triple and YES QUADRUPLE teams would come and Lin would have to pass to the only guy deliberately left open on the perimeter: HARDEN!
Then you guys would say "You're McHale's kid, you're a Lin hater, you don't know how to coach". I'd probably then hand them the chalkboard and say "OK, you design a play that would somehow keep guys from doubling Jeremy Lin!"
One thing I'd do differently than McHell is to try to abuse the paint more with Omer and Greg. If Miami wants to double up on whichever guard has the ball, then Houston has to attack inside with two bigs. And, once Miami adjusts, start kicking the ball back out for threes and/or PnR penetration starting from the perimeter.
DeleteWithout doing so, Houston had no advantage either at the perimeter or in the paint. And, they just get out played by Miami's athleticism.
See. I wouldn't try to go more through those two stone handed centers that don't know what to do with the ball.
DeleteI keep saying that Houston had no trouble scoring but had tons of trouble defending.
McHale is stuck. He's got horrible defenders at the forward positions, which is what Miami exploited tonight. There is NOTHING he as a coach can do to stop Lebron and Wade from playing like MVPs, save perhaps shuttig down Wade by putting Lin on him.
I would have said the same thing a month ago. In fact, I was trying to convince you that Asik is worthless down low.
DeleteBut, since then, Asik didn't butter finger it for two games now. And, he's been able to catch and dunk a la Tyson.
(Kinda weird how you say Asik is good when he's bad and say he's bad when he's good...)
And, Greg is greg. If he's open, it's a catch and dunk. And, here's really there for decoy to force Miami to change their defense up to free up the guards.
And, yes, Houston couldn't defend Miami. It's a given from the outset that Miami was going to outmatch Houston at the SF/SG positions. But, in the last game, Houston could have powered pass Miami with a touch more offense in the paint. Although, this probably wouldn't work as well in future games when Bosh returns.
For some reason, Jeremy seems to be in awe of the Heat. Maybe they are too physical for him, but he plays very timid against them. It's a tough matchup for Jeremy, but then the Heat's perimeter defense is probabaly the best in the NBA.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a combination of lack of experience and no strategy to make the Heat pay for doubling Lin & Harden. Plays should be designed for the other 3 players to step up to receive the pass and shoot the ball.
Deletedamn sesshie, you should've told that to McHell before the game.
DeleteSo true, Sesshie. I wonder if they even discussed that in the game plan for this game. You would think that the Heat were going to exploit Jeremy's weakness so what should they do to solve that problem or counteract it.
DeleteNo doubt, but still gotta give credit to the Heat since they showed why they get praise for their defense. They were forcing Lin to go left and trapping him ASAP. They have strong and fast players and with Lin's shaky jumper, it's going to be hard to break that D.
DeleteBoth Harden and Felton did well against the Heat because they were able to knock down those jumpers, but if you go into the lane vs them it gets harder to score.
Well, since Mchale is still the coach, he probably didn't think the Miami Heat will give JLin that much respect cuz he checked the calendar and it's Feb. 2013 not 2012. He probably thought: "Ahh... they will probably double on Harden, but no problem, Harden will shoot the contested jumper and the ball will go in anyways! Foolproof plan!"
Deleteif the Heat's perimeter D was so good, why were they only able to contain Lin? Harden scored 30+. How did he manage their traps and why couldn't Lin?
DeleteIt kinda bugs me, Lin should know how to adjust.
It might be sheer fatigue, k.smith.
DeleteHarden scored 30 and gpt 30 scored on him. He saved his energy for offense and got roasted defensively.
Lin never gives up defensively, anf that does take away from his offense especially on back to back games.
This time looks a lot different than last time(NYK), he just looks tired, everything was half second slower.
Deletekinda hard on Lin, aren't you? Lin hasn't played a full season's worth of NBA games, while Harden a "vet." Plus, the Heat really were focused on taking Lin out of his game, less so Harden.
DeleteIt's also too bad Harden couldn't have adjusted on the double-team on his blocked three pointer at the end of the game. He's getting paid 80 million, he should have expected the double team and either adjusted his shot or drawn a foul.
Maybe JLin is looking to set up teammates first and not shoot himself whereas Harden will try to shoot whenever there's an opening, no matter how slim. Different position, different style.
DeleteLin was tired when they first matched up in Miami when he was with NYK as well, remember that was right before the All-star break. Spoelstra used to be one of those film guys, so no doubt they scouted Lin and try to take away his strengths.
DeleteHarden is one of the best scorers in the league, plus with more experience and has seen first hand what Lebron/Wade can do in the Finals/Team USA. Harden was also doing what he's been doing all season and get to the free throw line, 12/13 and also got 4/7 from threes, along with 12 rebounds. He was going hard on those fast breaks to avoid the trap early and when he was put in one on one situations he took advantage of it,
Plus, different positions on the court. The way the offense is set up when Lin isn't the primary ball handler, he's standing on the sidelines, you know, the places where traps occur. Meanwhile, it seems Harden often had the ball right at the top of the key, and took many shots from the top of the key.
DeleteSesshie: That's another good point. Lin doesn't have the role of shooting first, he's there to be a playmaker and create for his teammates. On those breaks, if he can't into the lane he'll just pass it back out and go back to spot up duties. Not to mention that the Rockets barely use the mid-range game, so it's either drive into the paint, pass, or shoot the 3.
Deletei'm not disagreeing with you guys but I don't want us using the excuse that he was "tired". Everyone's tired and injured at this point in the season. Bottom line, he needs to adjust.
DeleteI'm kind of pissed bc certain fans from certain forums are ripping on Lin, saying that he can't handle traps, plays lost, isn't confident, and can't stand any defensive pressure so he sucks. That shit pisses me off.
I want Lin to succeed and to be able to play well against strong perimeter D teams. I'm asking for solutions on what you guys think might help him get better.
I honestly don't believe Jlin is in awe of the heat nor is he intimidated. They need to game plan better against the heat and try to get Lin going early in the game.
DeleteMiami Heat coaching staff is smart. By shutting down Lin and letting Harden go off, Rox can't win because everyone else in the Rox won't get going.
Harden expends ZERO energy on defense, but he gets lit up so lightly that his nickname should be "Lite Brite". And when he bricks and turnovers on top of the horrifically bad defense, the Rockets win IN SPITE of James Harden.
DeleteLin might not have big scoring games when tired (though 13 points is pretty darned good), but he'll also drag the man he's guarding down with him. So Lin's usually contributing positively to wins, so much so that he singlehandedly erases Harden's loser defense and poor decisionmaking!
K.smith, I feel your pain as people outside this forum troll Lin whether he plays well or not. As long as you recognize that Lin is always trying to be a net positive player, you'll appreciate Lin's efforts at winning even in games like this.
K.Smith, we're all in the same boat. However, for me I don't take what the haters say about Lin personal, they are always going to be there. Lin is one of the more polarizing players now, since now he has tons of fans watching him to see him succeed but a lot of haters wanting to see him fail.
DeleteFrankly, I think Lin needs to take more jumpers like he did vs GSW. The drive or pass option is very predictable and a better defensive team can easily control that. The better the jumper, this would open up his game much more and conserve some of that energy, instead of trying to attack the paint.Granted, that's also on the coaches to let Lin play through times when he struggles and there's also really no good PnR big that compliments Lin like Chandler did. Asik has trouble just catching and finishing passes from Lin. At least 25% of Lin's TO's are usually because of Asik not being able to catch his passes.
Teams are letting him shoot right now and he needs to make them pay. Otherwise they are just going to stay below any picks, force him left, trap him when needed, and play zone.
What does Felton really have on Lin that has made him play well now in NY? Besides teammates and a coach giving him the green light to shoot, other things I can think of is experience, better jumper, and MAYBE better ball control. All he did against Miami was create space, whether it's through his dribble or coming off picks, but he made them.
Felton has 3 max contract big men drawing defensive attention, so he simply is left UNGUARDED.
DeleteLin has Omer Asik (a very solid center), Patrick Patterson, and Marcus Morris, and teams load up on Lin defensively especially in the midrange.
Two games ago, I saw Lin split a QUADRUPLE TEAM in the midrange and score. Felton has never even seen single coverage this season, let alone double coverage.
K.Smith, just admit it, you're pissed off at Lin just like the haters, for sucking, relatively speaking, against Miami and for being inconsistent this season. Maybe this is as good as Lin will ever get, and Linsanity was just a nice two week stretch for an otherwise average point guard. Maybe he really was just a product of Dantoni's system. Maybe JR Smith is right, Felton is better than Lin.
DeleteWHat the Lin of this season is pretty much the Lin of the next 5 seasons, with a bit more consistency? What do we fans do if this is indeed true?
I doubt it will happend. He is already not an average PG now to me. However you are right about he will be more consistent.
DeleteNo, K.Smith ADORES Lin.
DeleteHe even understands the basketball reasons why Lin is FINE.
He's only unhappy that trolls outside this forum compare Lin negatively to lesser players like Kyrie Irving. So he comes here for reassurance that Lin is indeed playing WINNING basketball!
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DeleteThat's why also said better teammates. Omer Asik is a great defensive big man. Offensively though he still has a long way to go. Patterson started play well recently, but throughout the season even Rockets fans were calling him out just to rebound. Morris is hit or miss.
DeleteThe game where Felton scored 27 vs Miami, the only big time contract playing was Chandler. Both Amare and Melo did not play. Felton went 10-20, and 6-10 from 3. He was not being left unguarded and was really just making his jumpers.
Is it a coincidence Lin explodes when his jumpers are falling? examples Golden State, Spurs, Lakers, etc.
@anon, I agree, Lin needs to take more jumpers and it would help him conserve energy. He's not terrible, so why not take more?
Delete@khuang, oh trust me, i'm not defending that mental midget, Felton. He's streaky as hell and the only reason he played well against the Heath (the 2nd game) was bc he was "on" that night. Other than that, I can't respect a player who becomes a completely incompetent player and fat ass just bc he gets traded to another team.
@ K.Smith, it's a combination of Lin's style of play, which the first option is to drive and create, while also having to play with another dominant scorer in Harden. He's also limited to the type of jumpers he can take, which is mainly 3's or that turn-around jumper to break off his man when he drives in.
DeleteK.Smith, here's something you could ask the haters and see how'd they respond.
DeleteI wrote in an earlier post that if the HEat could somehow pull it off, they would LOVE to have Jeremy Lin be their point guard.
I hate the Heat, but, can you imagine Lin playing with LeBron, D-Wade, and Bosh? Can you say regular 20 assist games? Lin would be the perfect point guard for the Heat, because he's a playmaker who's awesome in transition. And with his ability to steal the ball, he'd create more transition opportunities than they can now with Chalmers and Norris.
And, bullshit to anyone who says any average point guard would excel playing for the Heat. Lots of point guards are more scorers rather than playmakers (see russell westbrook, Derrick Rose, etc). And very few has Lin's uncanny court vision. How many point guards can make those no look passes that Lin's been making this season?
In other words, I'd argue that Lin actually would make Miami a way better team than they are now, because of a skill set that most point guards, even the good ones, lack.
Anonymous, ANY player in the NBA can get on a hot streak and just roast people.
DeleteAlso, the Knicks are a weird team. They'll destroy not just Miami, but San Antonio. But then Lin's minimum wage Rockets will strut onto the court and greyhound the slow Knick guards into embarrassing punking losses. This is the NBA where weird matchups can result in weird results.
I never said that you were defending Felton, k.smith. I know that you don't like his very pedestrian game any more than I do.
One thing I've noticed about Lin on this Rockets team is that even though no plays are run for him, opponents are very organized and thought out in their defenses of him. However, Lin is so friggin' good that he beats the majority of defenses when he's not fatigued on back to backs and especially when his teammates aren't tanking on him.
Defenders crowd Lin more tightly than they do any player I've seen, maybe more so than Michael Jordan since Jordan played in the illegal defense era where Jordan never had to face the nasty zone traps that Lin faces every game. Lin can't just elevate for jump shots at will, and the only time he gets open is when he spots up in the corner.
Lin going to the corner is simply a very smart player going to the area of the NBA court where defenders cannot crowd him on 4 sides. In the corner, Lin usually has only 1 defender flying at him as opposed to 4 in the midrange elsewhere on the court!
@KHuang,
DeleteYou repeatedly said that Lin's enjoying the “superstar” double-team treatment from other teams. I finally saw the “superstar” treatment in this game.
Lin has the respect of the Heat. The Heat was really gunning for Lin. Despite that, Lin had not a bad good game. Even in the last minute of the game after Harden rained a few shots and the Heat’s lead was narrowed to only 3 points, the Heat did not double-team Harden; instead they chose to keep double-teaming Lin. It’s obvious that Heat's defensive strategy is to disrupt the rocket offensive rhythm, and the Heat were well aware of Lin’s impact on the offense once Lin’s given the opportunity to make plays and run the offense. The Heat didn’t mind Harden playing iso/hero ball which’s the pitfall of the Rox offensive scheme since playing iso is very difficult to win the game, also bearing in mind that Harden isn’t LB J. They Heat ignored Harden but focused on stopping Lin by double-team him shows their respect for Lin as “superstar”(though many would argue that). I can't complain about Lin’s overall performance in this game given the factors beyond his control. ;D
The superstar treatment happens every game, livyrlife.
DeleteFrankly, I don't see Miami defending Lin and the Rockets any more effectively than anybody other than OKC and especially Portland. The Rockets still lit up the Heat for 110 points!
Offense is not the problem for Lin and his Rockets. Defense is. The Rockets get POUNDED defensively except at point guard and center where Jeremy Lin is the greatest defensive guard in basketball and Omer Asik is a darkhorse candidate for best defensive center!
This is where I wish the Rockets had a defensive stopper like Lin's ex Knick teammate Renaldo Balkman. If I were Houston's coach, I'd sic Balkman on unstoppable scorers like James and Wade to break their scoring momentum and prevent them from overpowering James Harden and Chandler Parsons. I'd even stick Balkman on Battier so that Balkman could help defend the Heatles but recover defensively fast enough to challenge Battier when he takes the kickout shots.
Yay Portland lost go mavs!
ReplyDeleteRox stays 8th...please spank Portland Friday!
Very impt game...
DeleteMemphis may slide in the standings because of the loss of Rudy Gay. Do you think the Rockets can catch the Grizzlies? I think they have a good chance.
DeleteAlso the Lakers lost Pau Gasol for 6 weeks. That really hurts the Lakers chances to make the playoffs.
DeleteAH PAU...:)
Deletei think pau was signalling a double dribble/palming
DeleteI think Lin played well. He just couldn't finish at the rim but he had aggression and got to the line. His 3pt shot is looking really good still. I wouldn't be surprised if he finished at 34%. If he finished those layups woulda had 20pts easily.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we really need to put Lin's performances against the Heat into perspective. Of his three games against them (1 last year, 2 this year), 2 of them have been at Miami, and both games were the second game of a back to back games for Lin's team.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard enough to play well against Miami in Miami, but way way harder on the second game of a back to back, especially for a point guard.
JLIN HARD FOUL
ReplyDeleteJLIN SAVES THE BALL
JLIN NO-LOOK PASS
beautiful pass!
DeleteLin really needs to learn how to protect his body, especially when he falls. I don't want him turning into Lowry 2.0; endless back spasms, knee/ankle bruises.
DeleteMiami Heat 114, Houston Rockets 108: Two is Better than One
ReplyDeleteMCHALE POST GAME VS HEAT - 2/6/13
ReplyDeleteStill trying for this.
ReplyDeleteEveryone go and vote for Rockets vs. Warriors for NBA fan night:
fan night
Right now, in the lead is Heat vs. Trailblazers, but Rockets vs. Warriors is my preference. It's inched from 34% to 37% since last night. It looks unlikely, but I'm going to keep trying!
If you don't mind @andrewy, I'd like to repost this.
DeleteI find posters sometimes miss the links in a crowded thread. [My solution had been to use a high-color icon. But maybe having the link in uppercase will be better.]
VOTE ROCKETS VS WARRIORS - NBA FAN NIGHT 2/12/13
done voting!
Delete38%!!! Thanks via, I like your link better than mine (much more catching of the eye). i just want to watch the game. =) Thanks for voting IsabeliJane!
Delete@andrewy ~ 39%! ^^
Delete[JLin returns to the Bay on CNY, and now + GSW revenge, it's absolutely a must-watch!]
@via - 40%! And the Heat - Trailblazers game is now 48%! Just a little bit more to go!
DeleteSuch a winnable game just bad coaching....how can any team in the NBA not start their starter in a critical forth quarter game like this one. Too much iso n not enought team play thats why everyone was off shooting day....
ReplyDeleteIf there's a loss that could be considered "good", it's this one.
ReplyDeleteLebron and Wade had to play at their MVP levels to fight off this road weary inexperienced Houston team.
The Heat have a humongous payroll filled with All Stars and basketball legends, the Rockets have the NBA's lowest payroll filled with low picks and basketball's ultimate reject in Jeremy Lin.
I think it's Linbarrassing for the Heat to not have blown out the fatigued young Rockets!
100% agree. But still hoped Lin can play better against them tho. Rox fought great.
DeleteYes! 君子报仇，十年不晚 it's not too late to take revenge in 10 years! i am sure the day will come sooner than 10 years!
DeleteA rested Lin would've hit 2 or 3 more layups and scored 17-19 points, but the Rockets would have lost anyway because Harden and Parsons cannot stop Lebron and Wade from scoring over 60 points a game.
DeleteLin did just fine, but he cannot erase the defensive shortcomings of Harden and Parsons against two MVP players.
I noticed after the game, D-Wade sought out Harden and Lin to shake hands with, and he said some things to Lin that seemed complimentary. Unlike last season, when Wade and LeBron were derisive of Linsanity, I think this is a sign of real respect for Lin and his game.
DeleteI guess today is the night that if-u-can-not-D-u-just-try-to-score-more night
DeleteDidn't manage to watch the game but I am not surprised with the outcome. The Rox didn't stand a good chance to win the game so Haren had made up his mind(with Mchale's permission) to pad his stat to make himself look like a superstar. I'm glad that Jeremy got all his free throws through the hole and final score of 13 pts. Haters gonna hate and Haren is Haren without D.
DeleteYou've just got to stop saying things like this. Harden wasn't trying to "pad his stats". There isn't a conspiracy with McHale to pad his stats either. Even if you think Harden is being selfish, never attribute to malice what can be properly explained by incompetence.
DeleteHarden is big, strong, fabulous shooter with subtle skills. He carried the offensive load on his back. Stats show that in the clutch, he gets even more efficient. He is able to effortlessly score almost any time he wants to.
He is NOT freezing Lin out by doing what he does. If Harden were to not play the way he does, he'd have to completely buck the culture of the entire NBA. Harden has already shown lots of respect for Lin's game and willingly deferred to Lin during their win streaks. That's only going to strengthen and continue.
Don't put Lin and Harden in an adversarial role.
I thought the team showed alot of character to hang in when the Heat was up by more than 10 points.. back to back games are tough to play and Jlin looked to be running out of puff at the end. Not disappointed we lost but I thought the team just lacked a consistent power forward who can score and defend.
ReplyDeleteA good low post treat can also let other Rox rest their legs a bit I guess
DeleteYeah! No shame for the loss.
DeleteLin was really clobbered all night. #RESPECT
SOME PICS - JLIN VS HEAT [2/6/13]
ReplyDeleteJLIN HIGHLIGHTS VS HEAT - 2/6/13
ReplyDelete[Blaiyan]
Lin lacking his turbo boost tonight, couldn't change directions or get to the ball as quick as he normally does. He was fatigued, and the Heat defensive coverage had little to do with his lack of production.
DeleteEven so, Lin made significant progress. Dwayne Wade probably complimented Lin on his improved game.
Either that or Wade was telling JLin, "Sorry kid, but you don't get preferential treatment from the referees like I always do."
DeleteI bet he said "Gabrielle Union (DWade's gf) said hi and believed in you. She's one smart cookie. And I believe in you too." Or something like that ;)
DeleteHere's her actual quote on Linsanity.
Gabrielle Union on Linsanity @3:00-3:31
TV reporter:
Does he know that you have a little Linsanity going?
Gabrielle Union:
He's very aware of my Linsanity. I'm obsessed with Jeremy Lin. I'm obsessed with his story. I mean.. for everyone who's ever been counted out or underestimated. He's a perfect example of when people just said that "Oh..you're just lucky". But that's just really when opportunity and preparedness comes together. And when he's got that opportunity, this man was so prepared. Once he got off the couch that he was staying on. He was very prepared.
HEAT CHECK
ReplyDeleteQuotes - Jeremy Lin
(On the game)
“They buckled down, and they took away what we were trying to get. For example, the (late) charge that we got, that is just them taking away the first option (which is driving to the basket and getting a hoop). They take away the first option and make you get to the weak side. They make you play to the second option. They’re veterans and they’re experienced. I felt like we did a good job of fighting back tonight and not giving up. We made crucial errors down the line. We didn’t get defensive rebounds. It was the little things like that.”
(On James Harden)
“He’s definitely a great player. He had a heck of a game tonight, and unfortunately it went to waste with the loss. He kept us in it. He did everything that he could. He had a great game tonight.”
I feel like the media wants to create drama between players. Like they want to catch a player saying something bad about another player on the team. How many effing times does Jeremy Lin have to say how great Harden is? You know how damn PC and polite the kid is, he's ALWAYS going to compliment his teammates.
Deleteemo rant over.
Too bad his coaches did not do the same
DeleteHarden seems like he is more motivated to win against the Heat than against his old team.
DeleteHarden seems more motivated to play team ball of late.
DeleteAnd, as someone else pointed out, the Miami defense gave Lin lots of respect. This meant, Harden had more space to create shots.
Lol don't fret y'all, Lin did ok.
ReplyDeleteHe looks a bit unsure, I still think the effect on him is a bit mental since the first meeting. But he made 50% of his 6 shots total in 3 games this game, plus 6 FTs, he is doing better penetrating just weren't able to finish at the rim. Compared to his last 2 outings vs Heat this is a huge improvement.
Heat is #1 eastern conference and 15-5 vs western teams for a reason. Their defense is great, much better half court sets, and they can hang with Rocket's pace.
But they aren't unbeatable, they are simply more experienced with much better chemistry, they took advantage of Rocket's inexperience all night, I'd say a 3rd of those fouls was just Heat taking advantage of their naiveness, and they were able to position and box out Rox under the rim, when your guard (Harden) has twice as many rebounds than your forwards put together, something is wrong.
They should have played DMo today.
Rox offense did well today, and other than some miscues on Harden and Lin's part, if it wasn't for freebie points and sloppy turnovers they could have beaten Miami by 10+ points.
Part of what McHale said about Rockets is true, opponents are going to do their best to stop you, young players need to be able to fall back on something else when they do. They put enormous pressure on Rox backcourt, because they know Rox frontcourt can't hang in the paint, allowing them to trap Lin/Harden at will. McHale did right by subbing Lin out to disrupt their defense, but I think he let the subs played a little too long.
Again, I'm not a fan of McHale's rotations, he really needs to put more players to work. Heat averaged 30mins per starter, while Rockets averaged 35+ per starter. Those 5 minutes per makes a huge difference in energy level.
Trust me, Spolestra isn't stupid, like other coaches that recognize Lin's talent, they KNOW Lin is the engine of the team. If he gets going, Rockets will win 99% of the time. Shutting Lin down is a must, because he is THAT dangerous.
agree with your point about subbing at the right time. By now, McHale HAS to realize that TD is only good in spurts. McHale always get enamored with TD's hustle and sticks with him way too long (Denver game being the quitessional example). I like TD. He makes great plays - including timely threes, steals etc but he always seems to negate all the good he does by eventually making TO's or taking bad shots, or bad fouls. Mchale needs to realize this and take TD out before he undoes all the good he does at first.
DeleteTotally agree with you. Lin is really the success barometer of the team, even if Harden chunk lots of points if Lin is not "on", the whole team is "off".
DeleteUnfortunately every coach in the league acknowledges it, except Lin's coach :(
Oh and forgot to mention:
Delete- Harden played awful D
- Parsons vs LBJ, the outcome was decided before the game begun.
Trust me, Spolestra isn't stupid, like other coaches that recognize Lin's talent, they KNOW Lin is the engine of the team.
DeleteYou're on the money here, @Kenoshi. George Karl knew it, Spoelstra knew it, almost all coaches who game planned against the Rockets knew Lin is the motor of the other Rockets. The difference is the Heat has the athletes and trapping defense to prevent Lin from creating too much for the Rockets.
Perhaps HOU coaches will realize that Harden ISO is great but it's not unstoppable in the 4Q that you can use it over and over again. His 2 TOs late in 4Q plus Anderson's offensive foul pretty much showed that the Heat had a plan to let Harden be the only offense but they know they can stop it in late 4Q.
As KHuang said, HOU needs to run plays for Lin to avoid trapping and still be involved in the offense. Perhaps the Rockets now know that good teams plan to beat them by forcing Lin to give up the ball.
Hardwood Paroxysm @HPbasketball
ReplyDeleteIn 20 minutes last night, the starting lineup of the Rockets against the Warriors had a 155 offensive efficiency.
10:07 PM - 6 Feb 13
Adam Wexler @awexler
ReplyDeleteNBA's top 4: SA, OKC, MIA, LAC. #Rockets 0-8 vs them. IMO Den is 5th best. HOU 0-3 vs Den. HOU 27-13 vs rest & 13-4 vs other playoff teams.
7:28 PM - 6 Feb 13
JF: Where do Rox rank league-wide? If they're top-10 (or anywhere near), astounding in "transition year."
Adam Wexler @awexler
@JasonCFriedman SA,OKC,MIA, LAC, DEN, IND, CHI, MEM, GS. That's 9. Tell me y HOU isnt next. Swept CHI, crushed GS. Beaten all others but POR
7:40 PM - 6 Feb 13
ROX VS LAKERS IN CHINA [OCT]
ReplyDelete“You’re getting a dynamic player,” the head coach said. “Whether you say it is a short time or not, he’s proven capable of doing that. I think he’s a guy that’s grown a lot over the last year.Whoever gets him is going to get a terrific player. He has the ability to break people down, draw fouls, get to the free-throw line. And he’s a strong finisher inside. He puts a lot of pressure on your defense, makes other people better.” - I think this is Spoelstra
ReplyDeleteYou can put James Harden into those words as well! (if nothing mention first)
DeleteInteresting, because the article was dated on July 2012 while Jeremy signed the offer sheet!
Isabeli, didn't get to respond to your post about the CP3 and Paul trade. First of all, how was your interview. Hope it went well. The reason I responded with the remark that it wasn't going to happen because I thought the trade scenario was for this year. If the trade scenario was for when CP3 was with the Hornets then I can see it happening, but Stern put a nix on the trade.
Delete@John Ly - my interview went well. my apprehension though is if I get hired,their work schedule is shifting, including night shifts.I hate night shifts! ask me to come to work on a Saturday, I'm good. but night shifts, no. I'm currently working in the purchasing department of a sports betting company, so while chasing for that opportunity to transfer,I'll enjoy the limitless NBA games for now.
DeleteI replied on the GSW thread. I'm still finding that Lakers-Rockets-Jazz info that would have brought Jeremy and Millsap to Lakers. found this one also. not sure of you've been a Rockets fan for a long time and if you are familiar with this statement:
"Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:41 am Post subject:
Actually the Rockets GM claims part of the reason he did the CP3/Gasol trade was to get rid of Drag... so he could keep Lin... he claims he knew Lin had potential... but post veto they had Flynn, Drag, and Lowry... so he became expendable. I sort of believe him in that."
not sure if you got my quote above. let me know,I'll delete it..
Delete[Pls indicate if these type pics are not wanted here~]
ReplyDeleteSOME PICS FROM SOHU.COM
where did these pics come from? the documentary?
DeleteProbably.
Delete[There were found on a Chinese website.] :)
@via and other contributors IsabeliJane, etc.
DeleteYes, please continue to do so as they're JLin related and proper credit given. Some of the pics and gifs are 'hard' to find unless you can write in Mandarin/Chinese.
We wouldn't have seen the comic strip of JLin with English translation if it wasn't posted here. That was awesome to the poster who linked it and the talented artist.
There's not much we can do for the page format here. I've resigned to it. LOL..So when Lin have a good game, there's bound to be tons of great links, quotes, etc. Just have to make sure that I'm reading on the computer instead of ipad/mobile.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete“I think Jeremy has proven that he’s a starter in the league,” the executive said. “In the right situation, with the right coach, the right spacing, you have to account for his production in the paint. I think Houston will use him in the right way. If nothing happens with injury or something like that, he can be a good player. - I think this is Kupchak
ReplyDelete“He does one of the things you have to do to have offensive success in the league, which is collapse the (defense) through penetration or through playing through the post,” the assistant coach said. “He demonstrated that he can do that night in and night out. I think the real test will be 82 games." - I think this is Finch.oh come on he's doing that.the Heat are not guarding the pnr, they're guarding Jeremy.
ReplyDeleteWhere are you getting these quotes from Isabeli?
ReplyDeleteShe linked it under her first post, under "Spoelstra"
Delete@IsJane: is it a gut feel that these are who you think they are, or did you read other things to make you think so? Interesting!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your posts ... I heard the second half in the car on LP, but I had the Miami feed on given I couldn't stop the car to find the Rockets feed. You could tell when Lebron was out, Wade was pulling them away. Then Wade sat out and I think Lin finally came in, and R came back. By the call, it was easy to hear that Lin was double teamed and he was doing his best. Can't wait to watch what I heard on the feed and what I read from you all.
Y'all are great.
@JoeTeam - the first 3, they're more of gut feel. my hunch with Kupchak I referred it to another forum, and I have a strong gut feel it is Kupchak. the assistant coach, I really have zero idea who he is, so I just pointed to someone from Rockets coaching team. plus I've read the responses of these COACHES ABOUT JEREMY. old, but good responses.from their panel I only know JVG ;)
Delete*meant first 2 - the head coach and NBA executive
DeleteGreat deduction, @isabelijane! You know your GMs and coaches :D
DeleteThanks IsabeliJane ... and for that link to the 2/9/12 article. Nice read. I had a listen of JVG's interviews during Linsanity and he's quite supportive.
DeleteA year later Jlin plays like its Feb 2012
ReplyDeleteOne Year After Linsanity, Assessing Jeremy Lin's Career and Future
Yesterday was horrible Defense Harden and Parsons
ReplyDeleteResult that Lebron and Wade won the game for Miami with 63 points together
When Harden plays very well, only he plays very well because other players do not have the ball in their hands
Harden late in the game had two chances to pass the ball to Lin and not passed, you guys know the result
The Heat played with some tenacity last night and also with some purpose like how they played last year to stop the Linsanity madness. Their main goal was to also double team James Harden and Lin. The Heat understands that the offense has a more fluid flow and the ball moves better when Lin is the PG and directing traffic. They made it difficult on Lin with traps as evident by one trap set where Lin got the ball stolen. Other notes to the game is that McHale left both Lin and Harden out too long in the 4th when they cut the lead down. He left his bench in and the lead ballooned up past double digit again. It's a shame that Rockets have nobody who can guard Wade or Lebron James. Those two were causing havoc for the Rockets. Parsons picked up 5 PF just trying to guard LBJ. The Heat players were trying to pick up charges because they knew Harden is prone to run into the lane with the eurosteps and eventually they will pick up a charge against him or two. The Refs were calling some bs charges because it was clear that on some charges the defenders were still moving. Also, there was alot of flopping from the Heat players. Something the League needs to look into if the Rockets make a stink about it. Shane Battier like Racha and Khuang said in an earlier post killed the Rockets with the threes. He hardly missed. Also, Harden although he put up like 36 points there were points in the game that he took upon himself to be selfish. There was an instant that Lin was on the wing ready to shoot or drive and he did not pass it to Lin. Instead he took it into the lane and got an unfortunate charging call when it was clearly evident the defender was still moving. Lin put up 9 points, but he did drive to the basket on several occasions. It was a shame that the ball did not roll in for him. Sometimes you will have nights like that. The main thing was that he didn't lose focus and was determine to still drive into the paint even from the hard fouls by the Heat players.
ReplyDelete@John Ly. I meant to say the same things but your articulation is much better!Thanks!
DeleteI forgot to mention that the PF's were not boxing out and getting rebounds. There were on several occasions that the Rockets let the Heat get second chance scoring opportunities. They were also misfiring from 3 point land as well. The Rockets could sure use Delfino in this game once Parsons picked up his 4th foul. I believe that Delfino could have also made a difference in this game. Once Parsons was out, Lin really didn't have many options to pass the ball to besides Harden.
DeleteI don't agree that Delfino would have made a difference this game, John Ly.
DeleteThe Rockets scored 110 points against that swarming Heat defense. Scoring was not the problem.
The problem is DEFENSE.
Jeremy Lin, being the best defensive guard in all of basketball, played his stellar defensive game as usual. But Wade and James and Battier went wild because the Rockets simply don't have enough talent (in Harden's case, also lack the willpower) to limit their production.
There is little this defensively unmotivated Rockets team can do to beat the Heat. Lin is the only motivated and athletically capable defender, and he actually carries the Rockets defensively against most teams other than last year's NBA champion.
i believe the heat suckered the penetrating rockets into committing too many charging calls. If you combine those turnovers, with Shuhow's sub par shooting night, and the fact that we were 9/25 in 3's...they all contributed to the loss. Morey got it right, it was just unlucky. between harden and lin, there were too many misses from point blank. thank goodness asik was able to tap in a good number of them, but those offensive fouls were so irritating.
Deletealso, let's not avoid giving miami credit for their offensive weapons. this is a physically gifted veteran bunch who are also the reigning world champions with the league's reigning MVP in the roster. the second best player? dwayne wade. Then you have bosh, jesus shuttlesworth, and rashard to worry about. Not to mention an overly tattooed white guy with a mohawk lurking in the lanes and hustling. frankly, i thought houston's defense was about as good as it could've been considering their run-first transition brand of basketball. I do agree that Shuhow sat too much and played too timid after he was getting trapped. He definitely wasn't getting any help and harden committed a few costly turnovers on his penetrating move to the basket. But i'm proud of our boys...Houston showed they have fight and the skills to stand up the NBA elite. i hope they make it into the playoffs.
DeleteHOLLINGER'S 2012-13 NBA PLAYOFF ODDS
Deletei like those odds!
DeleteExcellent analysis, @John Ly! Houston was basically outmatched in strategy and personnel again Miami. They could have make it closer if it's not the 2nd night of B2B game but the Harden ISO strategy definitely was not working.
DeleteI also hope Harden (and the coaches) learned his lesson to make better decision to not go ISO 100% late in 4Q. He's an amazing scorer and should still shoot the wide-open 3PT shots but he needs to realize he needs to involve Lin and others so the defense won't key in on him.
The great thing is this HOU team still young and Harden/Lin only played together for 3 months w/o offseason practices but they just showed they can hang with the Champ! We should allow them to make mistakes and learn along the way.
No shame losing to the champ on the 2nd night of B2B if they can learn from it.
Wow, Houston has the 4th best odds to make the Finals in the West with 6.2% beating the like of Denver and Memphis! :D
DeleteHollinger clearly value the 3PT ball a lot.
Let's hope they can get as high as 6th seed or even 5th seed to avoid SA and OKC. Perhaps LAC without CP3 would be their best matchup.
Thanks guys for the support.
DeleteParsons vs LBJ is like some young scrappy upstart who has some skills but 0 experience challenging the master of a well known dojo who won hundreds of fights to a duel.
DeleteLike I said, the outcome was predetermined before it even begun.
Paragraphs! John Ly. Paragraphs!
DeleteThere are hidden gems when they are all bunched together. When you separate them into different paragraphs then they don't function as a whole together.
Delete@ Kenoshi: Physically the Rockets should have put a much more physical player other than Parsons on LBJ. I don't see any physical specimen type player on the current Rockets roster at the current moment. The Rockets are going to have to solve this riddle of the Heat trapping and double teaming Lin. Other teams can't afford the same type of luxury because mainly they do not have players like LBJ and Wade to make up for the trapping if the PG should break the trap and pass it to an open player. The heat has players are more physical and athletic than the Rockets. I did notice at one point when Parsons was on the floor in the 1st half, the Rockets were actually leading the Heat by a 5 - 6 points.
DeleteHidden gem like Bogut's tweet?
DeleteTWEET
DeleteOn Mark Jackson's tough-guy act in Houston
ReplyDelete"Maybe that time the Warriors will summon the old-school grit to defend the 3-point line for 48 minutes instead of 35 seconds."
DeleteHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWarrior defense was quite bad. Going from Oakland to Miami is like going from geometry to quantum physics.
Delete15:00 - The Basketball Jones: Hand Down, Man Down
DeleteVideo Playbook: Warriors Spacing The Floor With Andrew Bogut
ReplyDeleteMichael Jordan's 63 points in 1986 NBA Playoffs may have been greatest game ever played
ReplyDeleteNo, I have that game on video and I would not agree with that.
DeleteThe only reason Michael Jordan scored 63 was because the Celtics were tired in the 1st half and bricked all sorts of shots while being a step slow against not just Jordan but the whole Bulls team.
In the 2nd half, Boston came alive because Bill Walton provided Robert Parish some rest in the 1st half. Jordan went iso, but the Celtics moved the ball and won the game.
If I had to suggest a "greatest game", I'd hold up the 1980s Nuggets vs Pistons game where the score was like 157 to 145 or something like that. I even remember both teams saying that they were playing hard defense but it made no difference!
I just realised just like how Heat 'ended' Linsanity last year, they did the same this year. Spoilsport. But credits due to them and their excellent coach Spoelstra. I'm confident that this time next year, Jeremy Lin will have an excellent play against them.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Lin score more points than both the heats PG??
DeleteSo how did the heat end linsanity? I didn't know.Lin is suppose to outplay Lebron and Wade thought that was Harden and Chandlers job.
Another thing. Jeremy had a back.to back flew to Miami, lets seer.how well the Heats.play at Houston on a back.to back
Yeah. I think he did much better this time.
Delete@damon
DeleteIf you choose to construe it negatively be my guest.
Doesn't matter if it's a back to back or not. Other teams also have back to back games. What matters at the end of the day is that we all know that Jeremy Lin ALWAYS give his best even when the odds are against him..be it his coach, team mates, etc. Of course it'll be nice if it ends up with a win... who doesn't.
@Brent Yen
DeleteMost definitely from what I've seen him yesterday before falling asleep. The time difference is killing me. I'm not superstitious..but everytime I watch the Rockets, they either loose or JLin got sidelined. And the opposite happens when I favour sleep over the Rockets..lol.
Don't worry, CJW.
Deletedamon is cool. He has this sarcastic way of writing, but he's a Lin fan all the way.
You guys are both right.
Bruce Lee gave a lesson to one of his students on fear by drawing a circle around himself and his student. The circle is the representation of Bruce's own reach and attack. He then asked his student what he would do if he moved his circle into the student's circle. The student answered that he'd try to move his circle away as quickly as possible. The student learnt 2 things, that his fear of his opponent can be limited by the circle of an opponent's reach and that fear is something that he can encircle with His own preparation.
ReplyDeleteGreat coaches like Bruce Lee give sage advice to their charges to prepare their minds with tactics and strategy. The Art Of War tells us that " if you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail". If a player like Lin is encircled by traps, a good coach shouldn't scream at him by saying don't get trapped! The player is then doubly worried facing not only his opponent's but also his own coaches. Rather, the coach should be able to settle the excited mind of his player by giving the player options instead.
Good coaches, like good bosses gives clear parameters or cicles to his staff to operate within. Like a ship's captain, strategy is the direction that battleship must steer towards victory or defeat. A ship captain that micro manages and doesn't entrust his gunnery team or engine room team to operate independently, has only one eye on the rocks ahead. Bad coaches can't see the rocks from the ocean because they have no vision or direction.
Another Sun-Tzu strategy is "yell east, attack west".
DeleteMcHell was not able to capitalize on using Lin as a decoy when double teamed.
But, really, we're asking too much from McHell. He's a donkey chasing after the carrot. Pavlov dog that salivates when he hears the bell.
Ask him to adjust in real time? Not going to happen.
Totally agree Etane.
DeleteMcHale and Rox coaching team makes really really slow adjustments. This is going to be the factor that determins if Rox will win/lose vs top teams.
Other than subbing Lin in sooner, there isn't much McHale can do differently.
DeleteOffense is not the problem at 110 points.
Defensively, Houston is simply too unathletic at the forward positions. There is nothing McHale can do about that.
Copy and paste of what I wrote up top:
DeleteOne thing I'd do differently than McHell is to try to abuse the paint more with Omer and Greg. If Miami wants to double up on whichever guard has the ball, then Houston has to attack inside with two bigs. And, once Miami adjusts, start kicking the ball back out for threes and/or PnR penetration starting from the perimeter.
Without doing so, Houston has no advantage either at the perimeter or in the paint. And, they just get out played by Miami's athleticism.
Etane: one is inconsistent with catches and cannot drive in, and the other catches well but is not 100% with dunks and for sure his fade-away isn't reliable. Dunno ... you could be right.
DeleteWhat I didn't like was McHale prob knew Heat would scout recent games and disrupt ball flow. He had time to develop some strategies/tactics to knock them off that press on Harden and Lin. Even instructions to others about off-ball movement would have been nice. The uproar about Anderson and sitting Parsons, the time-out play to Harden ...
@KHuang, either way, 3 points would have made a difference and you are probably more right than others because 2 more good stops would have changed the last 2 mins. D was unsteady in crunch time. Then there's the officiating.
Joe: Two bigs under the rim will force Miami to adjust their defense away from trapping the guard at the perimeter to preventing interior passes to the bigs. This would have worked especially well since Bosh was out.
DeleteIf Miami didn't adjust, then Asik and Greg could easily have scored 20pts a piece.
If Miami adjusts, then Lin is free.
Win Win.
No Etane, your well meaning suggestion of planting Houston's bigs down low has already failed for the Rockets.
DeleteToo many times, Lin has tried to force a pass to the Houston bigs down low. However, those bigs don't have enough game to establish position. So opponents either knock Houston's post players off the block or front them in the post to impede Lin's passing and driving angles. Lin's defender, seeing this, then plays "in yo face" defense on Lin. Lin gets by that man but then gets sandwiched with two aggressive shotblockers in front of him and a pesky perimeter defender riding his back. Plus Lin can't force the pass to Houston's inept big men.
To combat these traps, Lin has devised a variety of wicked countermeasures:
1) Houston will send its power forward to the three point line. Often Lin has to make an awkward cross court diagonal pass to reach that man, and how he does it without turning the ball over is beyond me. Isiah Thomas used to regularly make this pass when he was playing with the Pistons.
2) Lin will use a change of pace to confuse the defense and then strike. Several times last game, Lin baited Miami defenders into fouling him from behind as they rode his back. Also, Lin will bait big men into fouling him as he attacks the rim. Often the refs try to cheat Lin of those fouls, but his ACTING is getting better!
3) Lin will dribble drive around his defenders from one side of the court to the other. He'll pick his defenders off each other, especially driving from left to right. This doesn't work as well against teams like Miami and Portland that have super athletic small forwards that can help challenge Lin's drives but recover quickly enough to contest Lin's kickout passes to the 3 point line.
This game wasn't lost because of Lin.
Gang sign? Lol @ the facial expresions.
ReplyDeleteSteph Curry went like Ö. lol
DeleteHeh.
DeleteREFERENCE. [OP no offense meant.]
The Zen Koans of James Harden.
ReplyDeleteThat is TOO funny.
DeleteI watched the game last night on League Pass. I'd seen the comments here beforehand, so I expected to be a lot more disappointed. Instead, I was pretty heartened. Lin missed 4 lay-ups at the rim. Literally, 4 gimmes that on another day every single one could have easily gone in. And he still scored 13 points or whatever. This is an ENORMOUS improvement since he played Miami last year, and that Knicks team had a lot more weapons. Last year Lin had carte blanche to shoot and he couldn't even get to 10 points. This year, even though the entire Miami defense was tilted to keep Lin out of the paint, they couldn't do it. This is a testament to Lin's elite athleticism and experience.
ReplyDeleteHe also went 1/2 on three pointers, keeping his recent run of good long range shooting going.
He only turned the ball over twice. Miami has the number one perimeter defense in the NBA and were ready to pounce on Lin at every opportunity. Wade swooped in to get that end-of-half steal from Lin and that was painful. But, Wade also picked Harden's pocket at the top of the key, embarrassingly, and swooped in for a dunk all alone. Miami is just good!
Especially Wade. Man, I love Wade's game. He's like a panther. His game is so much smoother than Lebron's. He's a smarter, more natural player, and a bigger competitor. In the same way that Lin is the motor of Houston, I consider Wade the motor of Miami. I used to love to watch Wade play against Lebron. I'm sad I don't get to see that anymore.
Lin got plenty of minutes and played all critical minutes.
Houston is the youngest team in the league. They can get better fast. They might be good enough mid season next year to beat Miami, OKC, SAS.
If Patrick Patterson would focus on just playing defense and rebounding, Houston would be a lot better. I wish some coach would just get in his ear about that every day. They should give him incentives for every game he gets 10 rebounds in. He should be this team's Rodman.
The board last night was all so negative on Lin's performance, glad to hear your positive assessment of his play.
DeleteOne aspect of pg play that is called intangible is spacial intelligence. This ability can only be honed with time and practice. A superior facilitator has in 6 th sense of where each and everyone of his teammate is at all times. Alley oops and blind passes can only happen when trust is built. When a pg is in the zone, his eyes are only reactionary tools to a second set of eyes that is almost able to see the entire court from above, almost like an out of body experience. It's kind of like "spiderman sense" of tingling feel of everything around you. You can see this in his defense and why he leads in steals. He often cheats to help his teammates with one eye on his own man. The gamble is also based upon feeling how the rest of the opponents are position and how the flow of that design set is going down. That spacial awareness in real time lets him gamble to help out teammates as well as anticipate a pass.
Given how little time this team has had together, it's speaks well to their potential.
Good analysis, michael. Agree that it is a tremendous improvement. Lin's ball-handling is much better and he will learn to break the traps over time. Even Nash got hustled by MIA good defense.
DeletePPat definitely needs to be more consistent to bang and get rebounds. It's a shame how Wade got the offensive rebound in the end. No blocking at all.
Miami gives JL lots of respect. One person is always guarding and shadowing him. Whether is Charmler or Cole JL 's defender don't play help defense on others. Plus the double teaming, it is very difficult. I think JL played a solid game. Not good, but solid. Godspeed Jeremy.
DeleteI saw part of the game....very noisy game and Lin did fine in there....saw the negative comments too...did not agree ....cause score was close...not blown out
DeleteJust a gentle reminder: 8 days to go. For those who have contributed, you can upgrade your donation to $65 for a Blu-ray option.
ReplyDeleteKickstarter Linsanity Update #6
since chinese new year is days to go fly fm malaysia got this ad about year of the snake and talked about the past dragon which is bruce lee and jeremy lins year huh.
ReplyDeletehappy chinese new year:) water snake
Said this on clutch, but I think there are a few reasons why Heat's defense is particularly effective against Lin:
ReplyDelete1. Lin sometimes likes to slow down at half court to read the defense and probe around the perimeter (which works very well for most opponents), but Heat's defense is determined to not giving him any room to do that;
2. Heat is very good at trapping ballhandlers and they have a knack of double teaming them at the right moment -- Lin certainly needs more experience to know how to avoid running into such situations;
3. Lin's first time of playing at Heat's home court may still haunt him in his worst nightmares.
There are a few things he can do even right now to counter this: He could constantly push up his tempo and make the best use of his speed, not allowing the defense to set or key in on him (which he did succeed on a couple of plays last night); he could pass the ball out more quickly once he sees the double team coming, but that requires his teammates to help.
But I think he did a much better job last night than the last time he played there. Good to see him growing and learning!
Yes it's unfortunate that Lin has yet to prove that he can gain confidence and momentum without taking his time to probing the defense first.
ReplyDeleteMiami probably saw that each time Lin was allowed to do this, Houston usually crushes their opponents a la Utah/GSW.
So it seems to me with 2 practices, McHale can coach his team to move off ball a few ways and cause the opponent to be in a world of hurt to double Lin or Harden at mid-court.
DeleteHmmm yes some plays should be drawn up to exploit double teams.
DeleteI didn't get a good look at how Houston's guards and forwards spread the floor when Lin was double teamed.
When you're double teamed, only two things you can do, pass right away or attack right away.
Lin didn't do either as he was still in probing mode.
Actually, I think Lin tried to attack in some instances but couldn't.
DeleteNBA Trade Rumors: Why the Houston Rockets are unlikely to make big move at the deadline
ReplyDeleteShouldn't you be in bed already, @via? :} Not that I'm complaining. Perhaps this is @viabot, the "Matrix"
DeleteMy head tells me there won't be major trades but I'll wait until Feb 21 trade deadline pass before I will buy Lin's HOU jerseys for my boys :D
Haha [Woke up, can't sleep. I tend to do that a bit.]
Delete[JLin's jerseys] But where's the adventure in that? ^^
j/k
:) yeah, in the unlikeliest event of Lin got traded I would get his discounted jerseys. win-win :D
DeleteIt's good to know that LeBron and Wade greeted Lin after the game as a sign of respect. Also, I didn't know there were Chinese ads during the game.
ReplyDeleteGood, solid analysis of the game.
Game #51 2012-13: Jeremy Lin & Houston Rockets Lose To The Miami Heat
Analysis (starting at 6:15):
○ MIA defensive strategy is to bottle up the PG (i.e. Nash earlier this year). That's how they play. It made Jeremy think twice.
○ MIA strategy is to double PnR at times and this is hard for PGs
○ Lin's play of the game: mid of 1Q, he had no-look pass to Omer for a dunk.
○ LeBron and Wade both talked to Lin and Harden. It's a sign of respect. Also, there were Chinese ads during the game in MIA. All players in NBA understand how important Lin's influence ("cash-cow") particularly in Asia.
○ TD played well, better than Lin tonight.
○ 1-2 3PT shooting is good for his average. Now over 30% 3PT for the season.
○ Tough loss but understandable. Good team spirit.
○ 6-6 FT is very good. During Linsanity, the average is 7FT/game so it's a good uptick from currently 3FT/game.
○ HOU (seed 8)needs to beat POR (seed 9) on Friday for playoff implication.
Ppl kept pointing fingers on Lin for Rox's lose. I think he did great against one of the best team considering,
Delete1. His coach does not trust/help him,
2. His teammate did not help him,
3. They just had a game less than 24 hrs prior to the Heats game.
I think the only thing he did not do well is been aggressive b4 the double team key in on him. But, again, that is partially on the coaches too.
I don't agree with a lot of that "analysis".
DeleteToney Douglas DID NOT play better than Lin,
NBA players care only about Lin's on court impact and not his overseas popularity,
1-2 from 3pt is not a good sample size to compare against Lin's seasonlong shooting,
ALL teams try to bottle up Lin, but Miami has the athletes that other teams don't have,
Hou vs Portland is another "must win" game like all other 81 games in the regular season.
KH, for Portland it definitely has more importance to create separation between 8th and 9th seed, right? HOU record is 27-24 (.529) and POR is 25-24 (.510).
DeleteIf POR won, they will be the new 8th seed. And 2-0 record against HOU will break the tie-breaker if they have the same W-L record at the end of the season.
Idk about TD because I only caught the 4Q.
Lin's 3PT% has been dramatically improving (50% with 10-20) in the past 6 games so it helps his confidence and create more spacing for him to attack the rim.
I agree that Bron and Wade won't greet him just because of Lin's popularity if his play didn't impress them but they're also smart enough to know they can sell more shoes in Asia being Lin's friend (as opposed to Melo)
Brent, I don't see people blaming Lin for the MIA loss. After all, it's LeBron and Wade who were unstoppable and scored 63 pts.
DeleteI hope HOU coaches will run more plays for Lin to prevent trapping. It's crazy to expect Harden to single-handedly score in the last 4 min of 4Q to win games.
If I were coaching the Rockets, I'd occasionally have Lin convering Wade with Harden on Chalmers/Cole.
ReplyDeleteI'd figure that if Harden refuses to defend, I'll put him on Chalmers and Cole and DARE THEM to score.
Similarly, I don't think Wade can stroll past Lin for 30 points. I actually could easily imagine Lin clamping down so hard on Wade that Charles Barkley starts heckling about Wade being shut down by an Asian guy.
The other thing I'd do is peel Terrence Ross off the bench and send him in to physically challenge Lebron defensively. Make him work, put a few bruises on him, jump around near the rim. Chandler Parsons is too unathletic and too afraid to challenge Lebron defensively.
You mean Terrence Jones, right? He almost averaged double-double (19.7PTS/9.6REB) and got selected to D-League All-Stars so it won't hurt to give him some burn to see if he can be more physical presence than PPat/Morris.
Delete