Finally another game. Seems like the games are much more spaced out the second half of the season for the Rox. Good that they are getting rest but really annoying for us impatient fans.
Really looking forward to this one. If there has been consistency for Lin this season, it has been that Lin has consistently not done well after a Linsanity type of a performance.
I'm really hoping the new, don't give a crap, the assertive Lin shows up and confirms my observations that we will be seeing a different Lin for the rest if the season.
I'm sure McHale will everything he possibly can to squash the home run Lin, but good or bad, if I see Lin looking to create more for himself and stop trying to appease McHale, I'd be more than satisfied.
I gotta a good feeling the Lintertainer will stay aggressive throughout the game after taking a pity seeing Harden limped around the court with bum knee.
He knows his teammates needed him to save the day (and Harden's knee).
Can you tell this Lin HATER or Carmelo's or McHell's relation, RazzleDazzle, to not copy and paste THE EXACT SAME post over and over again..... If anyone did that to another player's site (or in a site that's owned by a Lin hater, like the ClutchFans), the person would be kicked out!
Don't worry, let Razzle post here. If he acts out of line, he will get badly flamed and go away under the insurmountable wave of pressure.
Here is Razzle's quote from above: '"He's got such as a huge fan base and sometimes they expect a lot more and it's kind of unfair to Jeremy" - CP'
Funny thing is Razzle's quote is correct. We do "expect a lot" more from Mchale, the coaches, and the Rockets organization to let Lin play the game and lead the team as the PG. We are completely underwhelmed by Mchale, the coaches, and the Front Office in their poor usage of Lin.
Not sure why expecting a lot more from the Rockets organization and coaching staff and front office and media is "unfair to Jeremy." Well I guess it could cause the Rockets to hold animosity towards Lin, but they are all pros who get paid top dollar, so I doubt anyone in the Rockets organization would hold a grudge against Lin because of what Lin fans say on here, facebook, twitter, etc. If the Rockets org. were that lame, Lin has bigger issues....
Guess Razzle wishes we Lin fans would just give the Rockets a free pass on what we Lin fans see as their ineptitude.
I also do "expect a lot more" minutes for Lin than the 24 minutes he tends to get in far too many games this season. It's on the coaches and front office - and how is that unfair to Jeremy?
Lin fans buy tickets to pay for games and pay for LP and merchandise. Lin fans line Jeremy's pocket and the Rocket's pocket and the NBA's pocket. How is that unfair to the Rockets or Lin?
It would take a collective effort, and probably a corporate sponsor or 2 to pull advertising to make it unfair for Jeremy where his pockets weren't being lined and in turn, his employers' pockets weren't being lined.
There's a reason the NBA fined the Spurs for pulling their stars in Miami this season, and it's up to the Sponsors and fans who expect Lin to play big minutes in a big role to punish the Rockets/NBA in turn.
And even then, under those circumstances, it's only "unfair to Jeremy" if Lin fans believed he was a scrub. Because if Lin fans/sponsors stop spending on Lin and complain too much on social media, we hope that the Rockets will just let him walk/trade him. And quite honestly, Lin fans believe that is a good thing for him in lieu of his limited role on the Rockets because Lin fans believe his talent will shine elsewhere in a bigger role.
So really Lin fans aren't being unfair to Lin, they are trying to help his cause.
And now that Lin fans understand that Lin is marginalized by the Rockets, we are hoping Lin shows out as he did on Sunday game after game whether he plays 10 or 30 minutes a game. We expect Lin to just perform under limited circumstances and the sports media will take note.
I agree Solidz75. Sometimes you have to realize that the coach doesn't know what's best for the team (trying to make Lin play a certain style that he's not). Lin needs to play his own game and let his play do the convincing. It's not that Lin is doing for his selfish purposes, but playing his style gets the entire team more involved. His teammates will know that.
Jeremy Lin is now more relaxed, confident and happy DESPITE the McDamnpson blood brothers - according to what I saw from the fan-cam pointed at the bench the other day. I think the reason is: It's been revealed gradually, despite McDamnpson playing power and politics**, that those coaches have limited power and clout.
** Many people - especially the stupid Houstonians - think it's the playing time (PT) that Lin fans were complaining about. The PT hasn't been the central issue. Yes, initially McDamnpson totally marginalized Lin, by changing his position and cutting his PT drastically. But after McHell returned from his absence (which coincided with the 2nd Spurs game, in which Lin likely "auditioned" for the owner, Les Alexander), he has comically JACKED UP Lin's PT all the way up to the heavens (sometimes even more than Harden's - remember? !!!); this brought Lin's average PT back up to normal for everyone to see. Noe, it's been some time that the coach has maintained a normal PT for Lin.
HOWEVER, what has been consistent so far is that -- except for the Spurs game, plus whenever the Rockets played in NY or Oakland, CA -- McDamnpson has manipulated to keep Lin 's stat lines low. Their strategy has been: Whenever Lin played well in the first half (and if the team is leading), he was taken out of the game for a very loooooong time, UNLESS the lead is gone or close to gone. After initially starting Lin (as a token starter), he's actually been treated like a BACKUP; unless the backup (defacto starter in McDamnpson's eyes, whether it was Douglas or Beverley) messed up terribly, Lin has been left out for good; that is, if the backup played well, mediocre, or even mildly bad (unless the lead was completely gone or nearly gone), Lin wasn't put back on the court..... This has happened MANY times, which is why often when Lin's stat line was good at the half, his stat line stayed almost the same at the end of the game. Several times his state line remained identical or even got a little worse by adding nothing but a TO by playmaking and "hockey" assisting everybody else. This is why I'm not worried about Lin's play. He's better and QUIETLY more confident than what his stats show.
Yup this is McHell's way of systematically manufacture inconsistency out of Lin's game by taking him out when he's on a roll and putting him back in after 8-10 minutes. Not only that, after he returns, he USUALLY plays second fiddle to Harden AND Bev in terms of ball handling.
For the most part, as you said about Lin's stat line, Lin's 1Q is usually 9pts and 4 assists. And, in half the games, Lin is lucky to do just as good during the rest of the 3 quarters combined.
If Lin were used consistently and given quality minutes instead of using the alarm clock to sub Lin in and out of games, 20-30 pts with at least 10 assists is easily achievable if we are to extrapolate from Lin's 1Q performances to 4 quarters.
Great points. I can think of handful of games like this when Lin wa off to a promising start only to be frozen out by this moronic coaching staff's way of handling Lin's minutes in the second half. The recent sac, gsw an the Denver games being clear examples.
I also don't like how they take Lin out in the first quarter when he starts to heat up.
Harden is gonna get hurt or break down soon playing all these minutes - minutes that the coaching staff could lower by replacing him with Lin.
It's maddening to see Lin gets his usual rest with 3 min left in 1Q when he gets the momentum.
And it's rare to see Lin be the main PG because Harden plays too many minutes. This is the bigger deal I think because it gave excuses for Harden not to play D to save his energy for his O. Now Harden gets a bum knee and still plays 40min/game.
Another thought that I have is coaches think Lin can't match Harden's offensive output while Harden doesn't play good D so they want to play them together because Lin provides good team D to balance it out. So Lin gets assigned to reserve his energy to do the exhausting D.
But now Lin is proving that he can be aggressive and score while Harden's offensive output has been decreasing due to his hesitation to penetrate due to his bum knee, so it's a good time for Lin to truly show what he can do.
Love to see the day come where Lin can stop playing his floating defense and chase small pgs around the court and through picks because his teammates can't protect the paint nor rotate on D against PnRs. Then, Lin doesn't have to expend so much energy on D and play more "normal".
Exactly. It's pretty crafty by McDamnpson. They don't like to see Lin do well, especially when Harden is out. Often, when the bench is on a roll, they hasten to put Harden back to pad his stats, but when the bench gets crappy, Lin is put back out on the court - sometimes too late and/or Lin's muscles got cold. Unless they need Lin desperately, McHell has usually benched Lin after the 2nd half of 3rd quarter until the half way mark in the 4th quarter (but lately it's not always exactly the same). BUT, if the "backup" doesn't mess up horribly (from good to so so) and the team has some lead, Lin STAYS OUT the entire 4th quarter, so that the backup gets the credit for the win (along with Harden and who not). McDamnpson has made their modus operandi to make Lin look bad too obvious. It's pathetic and bizarre. I hope Lin buys out his contract, a la Aaron Brooks: I think it's better than McDamnpson getting fired, for another fresh start with a more normal coach.
As I repeat time and time again, in the NBA, the star is the player who scores the most. It is a lame way to create stars, but it's the NBA way.
Lin oddly can score points in the NBA pretty easily. He might not be the most efficient at it on the team, but he can do it shooting over 50% most of the time.
Mchale's comments and frustrations indicate he does NOT want Lin to score the ball a lot or play make too much.
Mchale is not an idiot - he is calculating. He doesn't want Lin to be the star of the game. When Lin has 10 or 12 points in Q1, Mchale does sub in a way where Lin is hard pressed to score even 4 more points the rest of the game.
I believe that Mchale doesn't want Lin to score a lot, because Mchale believes Parsons and Harden are more efficient scorers with better chances of winning games, and I believe Mchale would pass a lie detector test as to this.
Mchale wants Parsons and Harden to be leaders and top players and top scorers. He wants Lin to get 6-10 PPG, 5-6 AST, 2 STL, 0 TO's,and 3 rebounds as a support player. Mchale believes that is the proper way to win games and will help him keep his job.
So really I blame the Rockets Front Office for this mess. If they don't fire Mchale in the summer and/or if Mchale's coaching doesn't change, it's time to blame Morey and the front office next season.
NOT: McHell has usually benched Lin after the 2nd half of 3rd quarter until the half way mark in the 4th quarter
Edit: McHell has benched Lin FROM (not "after" second half of 3rd quarter - which would be taken as after the 3rd Q) 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, all the way until 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter (but if the backup isn't overly terrible, Lin the "starter" has stayed out for good). That's about 30 straight minutes of sitting by Lin until he is out of rhythm and for his muscles to get cold.
McDamnpson wants to win yes - after all their reputation and jobs are on the line. HOWEVER, they always want have the team win WITHOUT Lin getting a good stat line, IF they can help it.
That is to say, that is their McHell's motive. McHell knows Lin is good and he doesn't want others to know that. Initially, McHell might as well be Stephen A. Smith, but after 40 - 45games, McHell definitely knows Lin is a good player. Otherwise, how do you explain him putting Lin back every time the substitute falters badly and the game looks to be on the line? But, sometimes it's been too late to save the game - or McHell seemed to let Lin take the blame for the loss.
I wish what you said is true, but that is an insane conspiracy theory. I also don't think Mchale and the coaching staff have that much leeway to think they can do that and keep their jobs unless there were secret handshake deals (wouldn't be the first time for Mchale).
Maybe Morey told Mchale he won't fire him as long as Harden goes into the ASG and looks like a super stud, no matter the team's record. And maybe Mchale was told if he could make Parsons a star too, Mchale will be handsomely rewarded, win or lose this year. And maybe Mchale felt the only way to do that is by keeping Lin in check. That's a lot of maybes...
Really, it's possible, but I don't think Mchale would purposely take Lin out if he thought Lin was the answer, at the risk of losing games.
Most teams put a quota of minutes on how much the coach must play the player when the coach doesn't want to play the player. Maybe that is what Mchale is doing and breaking the minutes apart for Lin quite poorly.
However, the sub ins/outs for Lin seem ill timed to us, because Mchale is focusing on the team and when best to sub in the backup PG. Mchale is not factoring in how Lin plays whatsoever.
So I would take the complete opposite stance that Mchell's motive is just to play Lin as little as he must and allow the guys he trusts more to take over the games.
Lin probably has to go back into the games at the end of the games because of Front oFfice ultimatums. Mchale probably prefer Lin be benched the entire 4th Q entirely if he had his way.
I just can't agree on the coaches trying to sabotage Lin only all the while still trying to win games.
That's like me trying to go play NBA players and then making it doubly hard on myself playing with only 1 hand to make my own life harder. Not even Mchale is going to do that to himself...and for what?
The more believable answer is simply that Mchale doesn't think that highly of Lin's ability.
As I've said McHell has put Lin back when the game looks to be on the line (after subbing him for as long as possible - often 30 of actual time; playing time of 12 to 15 minutes).
I've also said "they always want have the team win WITHOUT Lin getting a good stat line, *IF* they can help it. *IF* is the key word. Of course, they never want to lose games on purpose: Initially, until the 2nd Spurs game (after the first 40 games), McDamnpson seemed to agree with everything negative thing that Stephen A. Smith have said. Thus, they didn't trust Lin at all to help out the team. But after the Spurs game - and probably from an edict from the owner - Lin has been treated a lot more fairly. However, IF THEY COULD HELP IT, they want to win games without Lin having good stat lines: It's been done too often to escape notice.
swing: "The more believable answer is simply that Mchale doesn't think that highly of Lin's ability."
I agree with this assertion. And it's not that McHale tries intentionally to sabotage Lin to look bad but he "hates" Lin not running his system of always moving the ball or probing the D like KHuang said.
McHale just want to stick his "move the Ball" system to win the ball games. Even if Lin can win the game with PnR that require a long time, he hates that because the ball is "stuck" on one player for too long.
McHale just wants to see "energy", "attacking the basket", "ball-moving", "3PT" from his players. If Lin looks tentative, he's replaced with spark plugs to give energy.
But as long as Lin produces with his "energetic" attack and points, and moving the ball, Lin looks good in the eyes of McHale.
This is crazy because sometimes you have to probe good D using your PG.
I believe Lin is slowly learning to play in McHale system, to be productive even when the ball is not in his hands for 2-3 possessions.
McHale thinks his free-flowing system is working well but it's Lin who manages to be a coach on the floor to make it work.
Without Lin on the floor, Houston will look like energetic chicken with their heads chopped off running all over the floor shooting 3PTers, plus 1 Euro-stepping rooster (with gimpy knee) going 1 against 3 attacking the rim.
It's also true that the Rockets wouldn't be as good without Jeremy Lin, the underrated, which is why I was hoping Lin was traded at the deadline.... sigh. I had read an article (not a Lin fan site or pro Lin) that said that there is nothing worse for a bb starter than playing for a coach who doesn't believe in him. And the writer was talking about Lin and McHale.
If I were Lin, I'd ask to be traded next offseason - better yet, buy out the contract (a la Aaron Brooks) and select his own team out of teams that are interested. He might possibly lose a little money, but with it buy better bench players.
BTW..... The run and gun system is actually from the brain of Les Alexander - per Morey - for the young team. It wasn't even McFail's idea..... Anyway, they need to have more strategies than just running and gunning and 3's for when they need them.
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Lakers lost last night. Let's hope we can get the W tonight and hold a firm position. Do people think 8th, 7th or 6th seed is best? Are the Spurs easier to beet than OKC? Does anyone know how long Tony Parker will be out for?
Spurs have an old veteran team: Ginobili, Duncan, Parker ... but if any of them go down, the newer players are prepared to step up and take their place. They pride themselves on developing and mentoring their younger players.
Jeremy fans have been riding the emotional roller coaster since the Rox coaching staff deliberately playing Jeremy out of natural(Point Guard) position, subtly verbally abusing Jeremy at postgame interview and subbing Jeremy in very weird pattern. But the Rox offered no answer to assuage fans’ agony despite fans’ protest and complaints. Evidently, No Conspiracy Theory, but it’s all about a money motivated, well orchestrated scheme to inflate players’ value. No wonder Morey and McHale are nominated for GM of the Year, Coach of the Year, at the expense of Jeremy.
CP has a small amount of fan base. Obviously he's jealous. And who is he to speak on behalf of Jeremy Lin? And you, roll, get your head out of CP's ass, idiot!
Most team just load more on Lin, double team or traps around the paint. Will be interesting to see how Lin can UNLOAD those. Reminded me in earlier Feb, CP3 got shut down by Heats but Nash beat those traps almost every time.
Chris Paul also got shut down by San Antonio and OKC, and those teams Jeremy Lin exploded against.
The other thing I'm looking to see from Dallas is much more physicality on defense from Vince Carter.
Carter played zero defense last game and was the Human Torch getting burned up like that. I don't think the Rockets specifically targeted him, but McHale's motion system will attack the weakest defensive link.
I'm sure Rick Carlisle is aware of Carter's pathetic defense. Should Carter again play no defense, his replacement Jae Crowder will come in. As everybody here knows, Jae Crowder was one of my favorite draft prospects and has blossomed into a very fine role player in the NBA. Crowder sticks in the NBA for his defense and deadly outside jump shot.
There is not only one weak line on D for the Rockets. Harden, Parsons, the PF position, and Delfino and basically all the bench players are black hole on D. There is a reason the Rockets are the worst team in the nba that even having 2 plus defenders in Lin and Asik could not save them.
to the troll who is telling fans to get out of Jeremy's butt, in case you didn't notice, we are not expecting more from him.we expect him to be played as point guard - set up and run the team's offense, but his bummer of a coach has other agenda in mind - make him the ball boy of the shooting guard and let the shooting guard make the plays. most of the complaints in here are about his bummer of a coach.
so to the troll named Razzle Dazzle,get outta here and go find a Chandler Parsons fan site.
It would be a statement W vs Mavs on b2b. This is crunch time as we enter the last stretch.
I see it as a mini 20 games playoff for 5-8th seed. It'll be exciting to see if they can get to 5th or 6th; that would be a major achievement right there for this young team - even if they don't make it past the first round against the likes of OKC, or Spurs.
In the post practice interview yesterday McHale said he will not change anything they are doing against the mav's tonight, although he knows Dallas will make adjustments, because anytime the team tries to do something different the players eff up.
Jeremy on the other hand said he knows they will try to readjust. Anticipate their readjustments and be ready to counter the readjustment because he knows it is coming.
McHale for coach of the year? This guy is clueless. Horrible coach. And worst of all he is lazy.
What do u think will happen in the playoffs? Playoffs are chess matches of constant readjustments. Aside from being a dick to Jeremy, he is such a bad coach. I've never seen any coach say that before..
McHale would be a bigger idiot if he actually told the press everything he's planned to do. Even he plans to adjust and change, he doesn't need to tell us.
Come on guys. Not revealing to the press? Has he shown anything this year to show that he makes sensible adjustments in games? U make it seem like he is a master tactician trying to fool the media. Remember this is a guy who calls time out in close games and runs an iso play for harden every single time. Let's not start giving this coach credit.
I know he will stubbornly stick with jer's schedule. Again it will be up to jer to go all out and dare McHale to sit him. Jeremy needs to realize that ust because he gave some compliments in pg conference, McHale will give him the respect he rightfully deserves. No let downs tonight. Please.
Found something interesting when reading up on coach's handling of Yi JianLian:
After the Nets finished the season outside of the 2009 playoffs,[48] Yi's agent Fegan suggested the Nets played better when Yi played more minutes and took more shots, and said it "begs the question...who's accountable?"
Head coach Lawrence Frank said that "you have to be patient. He's only 21," and Yi assessed his season by saying he was "still too much up and down".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Jianlian
Sounds similar to:
"Jeremy's a young guy who's been up and down before. He's a young fellow. You have some ups and downs and that'll be the case with a lot of young guys. No big deal. Things are fine."
The article below has more context. It's a great read in terms of history repeating itself in terms of a coach downplaying his under usage of a player based on age and the player trying to take the heat off coach by professing to being inconsistent.
In case you guys are lazy, here's the "thesis" of the article:
Fegan would not articulate the subtext, but it's not exactly Chinese algebra: The coach screwed up, he is saying. And the organization allowed it to happen.
A lot of "old school" coaches are like that. Deron Williams came off the bench for half a season under Sloan when it's clearly from day one he's the best PG on the roster. It doesn't mean young players could not progress from that way. Ultimately, it's up to the players themselves.
Yi didn't become a good nba player, not because of the handling of his coaches. He's simply not good himself. No coaches could change that. Of course his agent wouldn't admit it but instead defend his own player and blame it on the coaches. Come on, that's his agent!
Deron situation probably wouldn't be apple to apple with Yi as Yi was already a full time starter to start the season.
You saying Yi never became a good NBA player not because of coaches but because of himself could very well be Jeremy's narrative if Jeremy plays it safe as Yi did.
Few things. Yi is not as good as Lin so it doesn't matter. 2. Where did yi end up with that type of coaching philosophy? It's not like Lin is a rookie on a veteran team trying fit in. Heck virtually everyone is new and quite young.
And when Lin has repeatedly proven himself that he deserves more minutes for the benefit of this team, u just can't continue to freeze him out just for the sake of following this outdated ritual.
Yi never had thes impactful games Lin had. As a matter of fact, he was a big bust.
Yup it was easier to cover up bad coaching and blame it on the player's lack of development with Yi. Much harder to do so with Lin who has moved mountains. So, it's more of a "sin" for Hou coaches to treat Lin the same way NJ coaches were treating Yi.
I don't know why you felt the need to bring up Yi. The only similarity between Yi and Lin is that they both have Chinese accent and both play basketball but it stop here.
The simple reason Lin won't become the next Yi is because Lin's just flat out better, no matter under what coaches, with what teams, in whatever system, in any environment and circumstance.
Michael Jordan would still be Michael Jordan and Lin would still be Lin and wouldn't become the next Yi even they're under McHale, Frank or any coaches and under the same treatment as Yi.
The myth that Yi Jianlian would have been a good NBA player with the right coaching has been already debunked multiple times.
Lawrence Frank is an excellent coach. He knowd what he's doing.
Yi's last NBA stop was Dallas. Not even the great Rick Carlisle could get anything out of Yi. Unlike Lin, Yi's been handed chance after chance and blown them all.
Lin won't ever sink to a Yi level. Lin simply has way too much game.
Etane is pointing out that these coaches mistakenly thnk they don't have to play a young player because thu are young. It just happens that the example is yi, which is confusing the hell out of you to think etane is saying Lin is yi.
Lin is a product of America. There is no cultural or language barrier to break - just racial stereotypes.
Yi was a over rated product of china who was thought to be the second coming of Yao. He was a monumental bust. End of story. Move on.
You communicate very well when you're flaming people, Etane.
Maybe if you directly flame this forum instead of trying to twists people's basketball knowledge, you'll stop tying yourself up in your own hate knots.
The biggest difference is that Lin is American and Yi is from China. Yi already had many doubts and expectations already facing a much more faster and physical game. Having to carry the weight of being the next Yoa as well as representing a people was just too much for him to bear with out having grown up in America like Lin.
Lin had an "advantage" of facing doubters from highschool so he has been toughened already to being push down. Yi on the other hand was more than likely coddled in China as an elite player so he had a lot of slack and patience from his handlers. Mental toughness and self belief is something often overlooked by talent scouts. How else can you explain that the Rox wasted a draft pick on a player with a history of mental illness? We all know Lin to be Lin CP3 in the 4q, they always seem to raise their game at crunch time. Even with all the talent, Lebron needed a long time to learn to handle the pressure. He has needed 2 other franchise players to back him up. Lebron now has to face history and the long shadow of MJ. It will be telling how he'll play in the playoffs in order to repeat.
Here is a link to ponder: http://www.sportingcharts.com/dictionary/nba/usage-percentage.aspx
The definition of usage rate. Lin's usage rate is 19%, which is 1% higher than Parson's. ClutchFans haters like to bring up Stockton's historic 19% usage rate to downplay Lin's limited usage.
I think the problem is that the Rocket's free-flowing system artificially inflates Lin's usage% (which also hurts his PER which is how many FG's, FT's, assts, rebounds, etc a player gets related to their usage rate among total possessions).
I think Lin gets credited with "usage" when he dribbles up the court and passes it off and basically disappears from the play and never gets the ball back. He gets punished by PER by handling the ball briefly, and then not getting a score, FT, or assist as a result of that possession.
My recommendation: If Lin is not going to be the featured playmaker on a certain play, he should not even take the in-bounds pass. Any time he actually touches the ball, he should be extremely aggressive and either score, draw a foul, or pass leading to an assist. Lin hurts his own advanced stats that his nerd-GM loves to analyze so much because he technically gets included in usage of possessions where he isn't really a factor, and it inflates his usage% and also hurts his PER that every other GM looks at.
Dribbling up court and passing it off is not counted in the Usage %. Only FGA, FTA, TOV and Minutes played are the variables.
Here is the Basketball Reference formula : 100 * ((FGA + 0.44 * FTA + TOV) * (Tm MP / 5)) / (MP * (Tm FGA + 0.44 * Tm FTA + Tm TOV)).
Usage percentage is an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor.
It is really influenced by how many times Lin tries to shoot (FGA), goes to the free-throw line (FTA) or result in turnover (TOV) in ratio to the team's total. There is also adjustment based on the Minutes Played.
For example, in the last two games (see BRef Lin Advanced Log) Lin didn't play in the 4Q but his Usage% were 17.9% vs ORL and 32.2% vs DAL.
It makes sense because Lin only had 6 FGA vs. ORL but 14 FGA vs DAL. These were the major difference. The FTAs (4 vs 5), TOVs (2 each game), MP (25 vs 24) were similar.
In summary, Lin just needs to be aggressive to take his shots (perhaps 12-16 FGA & 4-8 FTA) to have high USG% and more chance for HOU to win.
Thanks. That makes sense, Stockton's usage wasn't super high because he didn't shoot a ton of FG's or FT's in the minutes he played. Lin's usage makes sense because he isn't shooting a ton when he's on the floor. He's passing off a lot which contributes to low usage especially when he doesn't shoot a lot and plays a lot.
BUT - what about PER? PER measures pts, rebs, assists, steals, TO's etc as a function of time. What is the relationship between the 2?
One thing to be careful about USG is where you get your stats from. As you can see (thanks @psalm) BR does not account for assists in their equation, although the Hollinger stats (found on ESPN) does.
The other thing to be careful about is making sure you understand what the number is telling you. I'm not a huge fan of the stat, and I like the name even less (I find it misleading).
Other than that they draw from similar basic stats, USG and PER are completely different things. PER is meant to be a box score in one number. It's standardized (like you said) and it's useful because we can compare players across different years.
Unfortunately, as the world of advanced statistics has become more and more sophisticated, the limitations of the basic box score have become more apparent. There will be better stats for us to drool over in the future, but we will likely lose the ability to compare with the past.
As a few knowledgeable fans here pointed out before, PER is just a measure of offensive output including more variables than Usage% such as (AST, STLs, REBs, etc.) but it doesn't measure how efficient a player is. A player can ball hog the shot attempts and still look good in PER.
So Kobe can have the same PER (i.e. 32) with Harden in a 35pt game but Kobe had to shoot 40 times while Harden only took 18 shots (FGA). Efficiency is important because Kobe took more shots that could have gone to other teammates and has more chance to win the game.
High Usage% usually means high PER because they use the same FGA/FTA/TOV variables.
But high PER doesn't necessarily mean high usage% because a player like Stockton and Rondo can contribute with high ASTs.
True, PER is just a one-number summary of the current imperfect boxscore. And it encourages a player to be a ball-hog since they try to shoot more at the expense of winning the games and getting bigger contract.
My wishlist to improve the boxscore: 1. My number one wish is to add defensive points to the boxscore. Penalize a player if his weak defense cause his man to score easily (i.e. -3pts for 3PT scored).
2. Reward them for help defense to help steal the ball
3. Create "hockey assists" with first/second assists so it will encourage more ball movement.
4. Give half assists for made FTs. Asik rarely converts Lin's easy passes but he made 50% free-throws. Lin currently doesn't get credits/assists for Asik's FTs.
Fun idea re: box score. Not sure about defensive points, waaay too subjective. It's not easy; Synergy sort of does this already and sometimes I disagree with their characterizations (however, to their credit, you get to watch the video of the play in question and decide for yourself). Plus, it might penalize a player for following team mandate.
I'm a fan of your other 3, however. Also, I would love a stat for screens. Should a clean pick that gets your ball handler an easy layup be valued any differently than an assist? Along the lines of a hockey assist, what about a pick away from the ball that frees up a cutter?
yeah, I know defensive points can be subjective but it would at least reward Lin/other players who persistently do help defense to put their hands up, get deflections (separate stat).
The main point is to keep players accountable because Melo, Amare, Harden would pay attention to the boxscore if their weak D shows -70pts! haha. The more minutes they play without any D, the more points they get dinged!
And it's a risk/reward thing because Lin can get more points on help defense but he can get dinged of letting his man to shoot wide-open 3PTers.
Hm, I like the stat idea for setting picks ("Screen Assists?"). NBA should reward players who do tough dirty jobs like setting picks, taking charges, etc.
If possible can anyone compile some advanced statistics of Jeremy, Harden, and Parsons for comparison? I want to see where Jeremy stands among them. Thanks.
Thanks Nom. I don't know what category to compare to render what each player brings to the team. Would the WS (Win Score) a good justification as why each player plays the minutes they do? Jeremy has the lowest WS compared to Harden and Parsons. Is that a good comparison?
Here's some advanced stats to look at, his shot chart: http://stats.nba.com/playerShotchart.html?PlayerID=202391
Jeremy Lin is basically good shooting 4 specific areas on the court, and below 35% everywhere else. He is great within 5 feet around the circumference of the rim, the space between the FT line and 3-pt line, and right corner in front of the 3-pt line, and the left corner behind the 3-pt line. He should work to improve a floater between 5-10 feet (study Tony Parker and Steve Nash) in the off-season, but for this season he should really cut down on his low shooting areas to be more efficient. Anytime he's within 5 feet the SHOT SHOULD GO UP.
Lin is clearly more comfortable to make shots (2PT and 3PT) from the right side of the court (35-47%)and the top of the key for 2PT midrange jumper (67%)
But the funny thing is his corner 3PT from the left (52%) is higher than the right (22%).
It'll be nicer if NBA provides the filter by month so we can see Lin's hotspots in February.
Kind of disappointing when Brent Barry said in the Rockets Cast Live that he thinks if ROX meet Clippers in the 1st round, Lin is basically no match to CP3. He think OKC is our best chance to advance.
I don't think any playoff team in the West is scarier than any other.
Lin had his way with Chris Paul when they matched up, despite McHale's motion mania that screamed at Lin to move the ball even when Lin didn't have it.
That the Rockets are currently in a playoff berth is a miracle. Minimum wage teams aren't supposed to be competing in the playoffs.
Lin can score against anybody and defend against anybody. But can the other Rockets STOP anybody?
Of course Lin couldn't do anything with CP3. The ref took Lin out of the game with consecutive phantom calls and one where CP3 initiated the contact with a veteran move and got the ref to make the call against Lin.
So, though Lin is the better player, he got played to CP3.
Houston definitely had the better chance of winning against OKC than LAC though OKC might fare a bit better against the Rox since the team is replaced PPat and MM with Dmo and Trob.
I saw Lin was doing just fine against the Clippers, even with his one-on-one matchup with CP3. His line (12Ast/10Asts & 14Pts/7asts) in 2 losses are pretty good.
What I remembered from these 2 LAC losses were how physical Blake and DeAndre Jordan in dominating Houston's big men. They just couldn't get any stops.
Both OKC and LAC have shotblockers that can slow down Lin and Harden's penetration so either one will be a tough matchup but perhaps 1 win against OKC will give HOU some confidence.
In a 7-game playoff series, I don't see HOU wins any of them unless their defense significantly improves. Sad but true.
Isn't Brent Barry one of the biggest LOH? Or is it his brother.
I wouldn't care about all these national media pundits downgrading Lin. They don't watch the Rox games as closely as we do and look at the game stats.
Only thing I care about is what I see. I don't think Lin will be overwhelmed by Chris Paul but hn can't stop him by himself. But as with any match up, our team defense will be key to how far they will be able to go.
Lin could beat the Clippers if he was the lead guard of the team. When I was at the Clipper game, I was surprised CP3 could not guard Lin AT ALL when Lin put his head down and went into 1 man wrecking crew mode in Q2 looking to score or dump off open passes. CP3 didn't even try, playing Harden-like defense on Lin half the time.
But Mchale hated seeing that type of game from Lin, the HR hitting stuff and Mchale snuffed it out quickly after a bad unforced TO by Lin.
The problem is Lin, with limited offensive touches to go back at CP3, will simply look like a defensive clown. In reality, this is what would happen during the Playoffs:
1. Mchale has Lin bring the ball off and pass off over and over (unless Lin grows a pair and doesn't care about getting benched for not listening to orders).
2. Lin looks useless on offense and bricks 3 some open pointers.
3. CP3 constantly torches Lin on PnRs passing or scoring.
4. CP3 uses his bag of tricks to get a bunch of fouls on Lin, half of which are bogus non-calls or offensive fouls.
5. Lin is benched with a stat line of 1-4 shooting, 4 points, 3 assists, 22 minutes.
At this point however, I will blame Lin if that happens again. He has to play his game and if he's benched for that, so be it. Better than being benched for dribbling and passing off and going 1-4 from the field on 2 bricked 3's, a made jumper, and miss layup before being pulled for Bev and Brooks.
i think lin will learn how to play cp3 a bit better based on previous games. he'll know his tendencies and spot and will play him better in the playoff.
but cp3 is cp3... there are nights where no one can guard him and brent is right, it could be tough for jeremy. cp3 is probably the best pg in the last decade - no shame in that.
on the other hand, cp3 also needs help guarding lin.
keep in mind - in the previous clippers game, lin was hurt in the first half. that contributed to how he was used.
If Lin had Tyson Chandler instead of Asik, then blake wouldn't be such a factor. Blake is a beast and his athleticism and quickness makes lin's penetration that much more difficult. With Tyson, Lin found a massive presence and a decent set of hands that he could pass to if he gets into trouble. We know that Asik is useless unless the ball lands like a pillow in his hands. CP3 has a distinct advantage that way and a hell of a lot of experience and confidence.
The Rox need some meanness and tough nose role player that is willing to get physical and protect Lin from abuse. TRob is a long way away and Dmo doesn't have the strength and size yet to do battle with the other big men in the league yet. This team is a regular season team because it is basiclly a finess team, the playoffs is a totally different game. Down the stretch, I see them getting pushed out to the perimeter and relying on their 3s. I just don't think they have the toughness yet. Lin will play his heart out but Parsons and Dmo could be overwhelmed. Harden has the built and talent to play D, just a matter of will he?
Actually I think McHale acting like an overbearing prick that prevented him from playing well. He was heating up until that public rebuke for some bs. After that Lin was no longer the same.
I was at the Clipper game. His injury did not contribute to how he was used whatsoever.
What happened was his turnover in Q2 to Cole Alrich where he forced a horrible pass that didn't need to be made caused Mchale to go beserk.
Mchale lashed into him and then right after that Time out, CP3 did the swing through at the end of Q2 to draw a bogus foul (I thought the refs were picking on Lin but they called the exact same foul on Nash a week or 2 later where CP3 did the exact same swing through - both Lin and Nash were in disbelief but CP3 is a slick player although it should be a no call or offensive foul in reality - they just give those calls to CP3 because he is CP3. If Lin did that, it'd be a TO no-call and he'd be benched).
Mchale was done with Lin at that point for that game.
Mchale must have blamed Lin for how helter skelter the entire team was playing in Q2. Lin was not calming the team down with his wrecking crew style. From Mchale's persepctive, Lin was not involving the team and kinda forgot about them because he was carrying them by himself to some extent. And they were playing too fast, and LA is a better overall track meet team 1 through 5.
It was fun to watch - Lin made the game into a frenzied track meet and was closing the gap till the team kept turning the ball over.
To me, Lin looked effective from afar. but to Mchale, as a coach, you lose all control of the game from the sideline in that kind of game. I know they don't call plays, but that's not how Mchale wants the team to play.
And since he doesn't trust Lin's abilities, he forced Lin to shut it down completely.
That is what happened. I sat in the lower levels behind the benches.
So his injury definitely did not contribute into how he was used at all whatsoever.
You didn't have to be at the game to what happened in the clippers game. With harden out, I thought McHale would let Lin do his thing like he did at the SA game. Boy was I wrong.
Sure that was a TO but was it really that horrible of a play? No. It was Lin just trying to make a play because no one else was. I knew McHake was ticked off in the second quarter, but if you remember Lin was the only one making a difference. So instead of relying on that energy, what does McHale do.. Just go off on Lin taking all of his frustrations out- the only player who gives his team a chance to win .
That when McHale lost the game,. He managed to shut Jeremy down effectively taking any chance of winning that game.
People tend to overplay Lin's injury. More than anything else, it has always been McHale the entire season. Lets get it straight.
That was the first time Lin ever played against Chris Paul, so he didn't know what to expect. Next time he will be more prepared and know how to handle Chris Paul's defense and penetration. Jeremy seldom gets burned by the same point guard twice. He played poorly in his 1st matchup against Rajon Rondo, Damien Lillard, Kemba Walker, and Greivis Vasquez, but in the 2nd meetings, he contained them and/or dominated them.
so you're telling me that hard fall where he got up and limped, and the bruised hand had nothing to do with how he performed in Q3?
it's not like mchale took him out in Q2 and never put him back in. he was still in the game in Q3 and wasn't as effective in scoring.
mchale may have wanted lin to play differently in that game. to control the tempo, control the game from a pg perspective. even if lin did get chewed out at halftime, i'm sure he's tough enough to come back out in Q3 and play a good game if he was physically fine.
you guys are giving lin WAAYYY too little credit for his mental toughness. my god, he played organized bbal his whole life and i'm SURE have been chewed out more than once and will get chewed out again, especially as a pg.
Fighton no.. That hand X-ray was bs. He played ping long with Morey few days later.
That clipper episode in the context of what has been happening the entire season, u really need to be a hard headed LOH with your blinders not to see that.
It's not that Lin is mentally weak. It's that McHale is making him go away from what he is good at and forcing him play in a a manner that is least conducive to his effectiveness.
If u do not see that and blame Lin's "injuries" as the major reason for his shortcoming this year, there is nothing to debate with you. U just need to get your blinders off.
LOL!!! hard headed LOH??!! i'm the biggest lin fan out there, defending him DAILY at work with FACTS and numbers. don't call people LOH just because they don't think mchale is evil and we prefer to take a moderate view rather than extremist view. if all you're gonna do is slap a LOH label on me then i'm through. i've been coming here for a while and these threads are starting to become unreadable. if lin had such a victim mentality he would've never been where he is today. if keith smart can't break him while he was a d-league guy, you think mchale can break him after linsanity??
the hand x-ray was BS? based on what? were you there? and you're comparing a friendly ping freakin' pong game with an NBA game? and why would they say he needed an x-ray if that was BS?
i've never said mchale is good coach for him. in fact, i've posted in numerous places including CF that mchale's way of fitting round pegs into square holes is NOT the best way to go, especially for developing young players who may or may not have a good grasp on what they're good at, yet. i KNOW and see that he's less effective in this offense but he's also winning and frankly, if he's ever to win a championship, he'll need to know how to play with another superstar and learn to pick his spots and know how he can be effective even on a bad night. from a 15,000 ft point of view, being on the rockets is good for him. and if you ask him he'll agree because this is where God has put him RIGHT NOW and he knows that God doesn't make mistakes.
oh, and yes, injuries do play significant role in his short comings. are you telling me him recovering from surgery had nothing to do with his slow start? see his improvement since nov? recovering from surgery. see his crappy games before dallas? well it was documented that he again rolled his ankle and had the flu since OKC game. i rolled my ankle playing bball two weeks ago and i can't even walk without a limp right now much less play bball.
anyway, i'm not endorsing mchale. in fact, i don't think he's the right coach for the TEAM. but i also don't believe that he is evil and wants lin to fail. he acknowledges, IN PUBLIC, that Linsanity is lin's ceiling and he DID sustain that for a long time. look, you can't take what this guy says at face value.. he is horrible it put in front of mikes because he always tend to say things that makes your scratch your head but whatever...
IN Q3, they must have posted up PPAT 5 or 6 times. Maybe I am exaggerating the number, but it was ALOT.
And then DMO started posting up when he was in.
Mchale clearly decided he would rather lose his way than play Linball and get a lucky win and it was clear that was the halftime message.
Lin hardly touched the ball in half court. He stopped going coast to coast like he tried in the first half. I'm sure he was told not to do it again.
Lin literally did the dribble up handoff the entire 3rd Q.
They moved Parsons into the Harden role and went to him exclusively in Q3 when they weren't posting up PPAT or Dmo.
I sat right there watching as I've watched most of these Rockets games, and I thought to myself, "holy cow, Mchale told the team to throw the ball inside and play inside out the rest of the game, even if it means to throw it inside to PPAT of all people."
And clearly the other thing they did as I repeat, they force fed Parsons on the wing over and over, which was a total failure.
Lin was fine, he still dribbled up and all. If his wrist was that injured, he would not be on the floor PERIOD.
Lin was told to play within the offense for the 2nd half. I am 100% sure of it.
What I think he's learned now is how to play within himself while being productive on the court his way, without drawing the wrath of the coach, even if the coach doesn't agree with the style of play.
Mchale will live with positive productivity even if he doesn't agree with how it is acheived.
Dude, first of all, calm down. If u don't think you are LOH that's good.
U also fail to grasp what most of us are saying that McHale is not evil trying deliberately make Lin fail. Why we are saying is that McHale simply does not respect Lin's game.
How else can u explain McHale's inexplicable use I Lin this year? U think just because he praised Lin recently that it behooves us to forget all the other crap he said a the 29 9 comment being one of the most ridiculous comment ever
If u are not LOH stop with their ridiculous notion that we think McHale hates Lin. But respecting and liking are not synonymous. Actions speak louder than words. Like I said, if u can't see that, there is nothing for us to discuss.
"Mchale will live with positive productivity even if he doesn't agree with how it is acheived." agree, because at the end of the day, he wants the W.
and yes, i do agree with lin learning how to pick his spots in this offense, but he didn't just learn this recently.. it's been a season long process.
i also noticed that he was shaking off his injured hand quite a bit - not sure if you followed that live vs. on tv. and him getting an x-ray as a precaution tells me that he was in pain. he could still play defense, dribble the ball, but of the shots he did take in Q3, he was visibly off.
i don't doubt they decided to play a different style in Q3 (and to be honest, you can't run against clippers - they're simply too athletic for our bigs). but also believe lin's hand injury affected his scoring abilities in that game.
Racism starts with prejudice. I don't prejudge. See stupidity before I call it. And, you're proving to me that you can't read or respond like a normal person can.
Responding to what Bob said above. Definitely agree that though Houston has gotten bigger with Trob and Dmo taking the place of PPat and MM, the team is still a finesse team that will be forced to shoot from perimeter.
So, in a way, the Rockets could probably go deeper into the playoffs with the smaller PFs? I think so. Even tho these two can't defend or rebound, they contributed very well to HOU playing read and react very effectively on the offensive end which is partially why other team don't wants to face HOU in the first round.
there's a certain way that he wants his PG to play, and is drilling into lin the type of PG play that he's looking for. At times it differ than how lin likes to play.
he see lin's ceiling as being very high (linsanity) but also knows that he's a very young player prone to lapses and not likely to sustain his high on a consistent basis RIGHT NOW.
does he respect lin's game? i have no idea. but i also don't think that mchale thinks lin is a scrub. as much time as we think lin is entitled to have to grow, i'm also giving mchale time to realize what he has in lin.
MT made a very illuminating post below that the Rockets were just fine the way it is until McHell screwed it up.
So, our problem is not only with how McHell is under valuing Lin but also the way he's handling the entire team where they think it's OK to tank on defense and play selfish stat pad ball.
There is an battle brewing for the 3-5 spots in the Western Conference. LAC is 2 games ahead of Memphis and 3 games ahead of Denver but Denver has won there last 6 and Memphis is 9-1 in there last 10 games.
LAC 43 19 Memphis 39 19 Denver 40 22
LAC has a game @Denver tomorrow. Will be intersting.
The Roxs could take over the 6 spot if they take care of business in Dallas and win @GSW on Friday.
Roxs need the sixth spot. SA and Thunders clear elites of the Western Conference. Lin is in the head of Westbrook, but he is in the collective heads of the Clippers as per their last game. Their chances are OK as long as long as Coaches get out of the way and let the players play.
Tbh I don't really care who the Rox play in the playoffs.. Because they are all pretty good.. I mean pick your poison right?
I think what matters is they make the playoffs and roll the dice. They have the easiest schedule left. They control their own destiny. I just don't wanna see them backing in.
I like the chemistry between D-Mo and Jeremy much better than with Patterson or Morris. D-Mo is willing to set screens and run the pick and roll with Jeremy which should help Jeremy's assist totals. If D-Mo can keep up the energy, play defense and get rebounds who knows what can happen in the playoffs.
Dmo has been playing beyond my expectations these past few games.
I thought he was more of a Vlade Divac type of player with his lanky post moves. However, Dmo actually finishes very efficiently and even on the run which is something none of the other bigs on HOU can do.
Good observation. I think with Dmo everything will come full circle for Lin. The clock will sort of reset with Mchale's misuse of Lin. Meaning Lin will be used more appropriately now that he has a complementary teammate. It's so strange that the Rox were operating and playing better as a whole offensively and defensively at beginning of the season. I was really excited when they first got Harden, because i thought he would shore up the defense. Based on the low scores by the opponents at the start of the season it appeared to be true. Opponents were held to either 90's and under 100 points. After that strong defensive start Mchale just let Harden go and never again held him accountable on defense again. When and if Mchale makes Harden play defense again, the team will have come full circle as well....like at the start of the season. I still hold on to my mantra Mchale is chasing his own tail only to find out what really works is what worked at the beginning of the season with Lin at the point and team playing good defense.
MT great points. The first game of the season was probably the one of the best games of the season in terms of team play.
I remember everyone on this forum thought this season was going to be a cake walk and were to be easily a break through season for Lin as he would have his chance to play his game for the whole season.
Who knew Lin and HOU would meet so many self generated road blocks?
Finally another game. Seems like the games are much more spaced out the second half of the season for the Rox. Good that they are getting rest but really annoying for us impatient fans.
ReplyDeleteReally looking forward to this one. If there has been consistency for Lin this season, it has been that Lin has consistently not done well after a Linsanity type of a performance.
I'm really hoping the new, don't give a crap, the assertive Lin shows up and confirms my observations that we will be seeing a different Lin for the rest if the season.
I'm sure McHale will everything he possibly can to squash the home run Lin, but good or bad, if I see Lin looking to create more for himself and stop trying to appease McHale, I'd be more than satisfied.
LEGO!!
Get your head out Lin's ass.
Delete"He's got such as a huge fan base and sometimes they expect a lot more and it's kind of unfair to Jeremy" - CP
I hope to see some more impersonations by the Lintertainer at post game. Keep that swagger!
DeleteI gotta a good feeling the Lintertainer will stay aggressive throughout the game after taking a pity seeing Harden limped around the court with bum knee.
DeleteHe knows his teammates needed him to save the day (and Harden's knee).
No more Linconsistency and Lindecision! :D
Admin,
DeleteCan you tell this Lin HATER or Carmelo's or McHell's relation, RazzleDazzle, to not copy and paste THE EXACT SAME post over and over again..... If anyone did that to another player's site (or in a site that's owned by a Lin hater, like the ClutchFans), the person would be kicked out!
Don't worry, let Razzle post here. If he acts out of line, he will get badly flamed and go away under the insurmountable wave of pressure.
DeleteHere is Razzle's quote from above:
'"He's got such as a huge fan base and sometimes they expect a lot more and it's kind of unfair to Jeremy" - CP'
Funny thing is Razzle's quote is correct. We do "expect a lot" more from Mchale, the coaches, and the Rockets organization to let Lin play the game and lead the team as the PG. We are completely underwhelmed by Mchale, the coaches, and the Front Office in their poor usage of Lin.
Not sure why expecting a lot more from the Rockets organization and coaching staff and front office and media is "unfair to Jeremy." Well I guess it could cause the Rockets to hold animosity towards Lin, but they are all pros who get paid top dollar, so I doubt anyone in the Rockets organization would hold a grudge against Lin because of what Lin fans say on here, facebook, twitter, etc. If the Rockets org. were that lame, Lin has bigger issues....
Guess Razzle wishes we Lin fans would just give the Rockets a free pass on what we Lin fans see as their ineptitude.
I also do "expect a lot more" minutes for Lin than the 24 minutes he tends to get in far too many games this season. It's on the coaches and front office - and how is that unfair to Jeremy?
Lin fans buy tickets to pay for games and pay for LP and merchandise. Lin fans line Jeremy's pocket and the Rocket's pocket and the NBA's pocket. How is that unfair to the Rockets or Lin?
It would take a collective effort, and probably a corporate sponsor or 2 to pull advertising to make it unfair for Jeremy where his pockets weren't being lined and in turn, his employers' pockets weren't being lined.
There's a reason the NBA fined the Spurs for pulling their stars in Miami this season, and it's up to the Sponsors and fans who expect Lin to play big minutes in a big role to punish the Rockets/NBA in turn.
And even then, under those circumstances, it's only "unfair to Jeremy" if Lin fans believed he was a scrub. Because if Lin fans/sponsors stop spending on Lin and complain too much on social media, we hope that the Rockets will just let him walk/trade him. And quite honestly, Lin fans believe that is a good thing for him in lieu of his limited role on the Rockets because Lin fans believe his talent will shine elsewhere in a bigger role.
So really Lin fans aren't being unfair to Lin, they are trying to help his cause.
And now that Lin fans understand that Lin is marginalized by the Rockets, we are hoping Lin shows out as he did on Sunday game after game whether he plays 10 or 30 minutes a game. We expect Lin to just perform under limited circumstances and the sports media will take note.
you forgot the "Get your head out Lin's ass." over and over again.
DeleteTrue, @ztrta.
DeleteCP didn't say that in his interview.
And I don't know where RazzleDazzle got the troll idea that Lin has a pet donkey :D
I agree Solidz75. Sometimes you have to realize that the coach doesn't know what's best for the team (trying to make Lin play a certain style that he's not). Lin needs to play his own game and let his play do the convincing. It's not that Lin is doing for his selfish purposes, but playing his style gets the entire team more involved. His teammates will know that.
ReplyDeleteRepped
DeleteLin Now More Relaxed and Quietly More Confident.
DeleteJeremy Lin is now more relaxed, confident and happy DESPITE the McDamnpson blood brothers - according to what I saw from the fan-cam pointed at the bench the other day. I think the reason is: It's been revealed gradually, despite McDamnpson playing power and politics**, that those coaches have limited power and clout.
** Many people - especially the stupid Houstonians - think it's the playing time (PT) that Lin fans were complaining about. The PT hasn't been the central issue. Yes, initially McDamnpson totally marginalized Lin, by changing his position and cutting his PT drastically. But after McHell returned from his absence (which coincided with the 2nd Spurs game, in which Lin likely "auditioned" for the owner, Les Alexander), he has comically JACKED UP Lin's PT all the way up to the heavens (sometimes even more than Harden's - remember? !!!); this brought Lin's average PT back up to normal for everyone to see. Noe, it's been some time that the coach has maintained a normal PT for Lin.
HOWEVER, what has been consistent so far is that -- except for the Spurs game, plus whenever the Rockets played in NY or Oakland, CA -- McDamnpson has manipulated to keep Lin 's stat lines low. Their strategy has been: Whenever Lin played well in the first half (and if the team is leading), he was taken out of the game for a very loooooong time, UNLESS the lead is gone or close to gone. After initially starting Lin (as a token starter), he's actually been treated like a BACKUP; unless the backup (defacto starter in McDamnpson's eyes, whether it was Douglas or Beverley) messed up terribly, Lin has been left out for good; that is, if the backup played well, mediocre, or even mildly bad (unless the lead was completely gone or nearly gone), Lin wasn't put back on the court..... This has happened MANY times, which is why often when Lin's stat line was good at the half, his stat line stayed almost the same at the end of the game. Several times his state line remained identical or even got a little worse by adding nothing but a TO by playmaking and "hockey" assisting everybody else. This is why I'm not worried about Lin's play. He's better and QUIETLY more confident than what his stats show.
Yup this is McHell's way of systematically manufacture inconsistency out of Lin's game by taking him out when he's on a roll and putting him back in after 8-10 minutes. Not only that, after he returns, he USUALLY plays second fiddle to Harden AND Bev in terms of ball handling.
DeleteFor the most part, as you said about Lin's stat line, Lin's 1Q is usually 9pts and 4 assists. And, in half the games, Lin is lucky to do just as good during the rest of the 3 quarters combined.
If Lin were used consistently and given quality minutes instead of using the alarm clock to sub Lin in and out of games, 20-30 pts with at least 10 assists is easily achievable if we are to extrapolate from Lin's 1Q performances to 4 quarters.
Great points.
DeleteI can think of handful of games like this when Lin wa off to a promising start only to be frozen out by this moronic coaching staff's way of handling Lin's minutes in the second half. The recent sac, gsw an the Denver games being clear examples.
I also don't like how they take Lin out in the first quarter when he starts to heat up.
Harden is gonna get hurt or break down soon playing all these minutes - minutes that the coaching staff could lower by replacing him with Lin.
True, solidz.
DeleteIt's maddening to see Lin gets his usual rest with 3 min left in 1Q when he gets the momentum.
And it's rare to see Lin be the main PG because Harden plays too many minutes. This is the bigger deal I think because it gave excuses for Harden not to play D to save his energy for his O. Now Harden gets a bum knee and still plays 40min/game.
Another thought that I have is coaches think Lin can't match Harden's offensive output while Harden doesn't play good D so they want to play them together because Lin provides good team D to balance it out. So Lin gets assigned to reserve his energy to do the exhausting D.
But now Lin is proving that he can be aggressive and score while Harden's offensive output has been decreasing due to his hesitation to penetrate due to his bum knee, so it's a good time for Lin to truly show what he can do.
Love to see the day come where Lin can stop playing his floating defense and chase small pgs around the court and through picks because his teammates can't protect the paint nor rotate on D against PnRs. Then, Lin doesn't have to expend so much energy on D and play more "normal".
DeletePSALM234,
DeleteExactly. It's pretty crafty by McDamnpson. They don't like to see Lin do well, especially when Harden is out. Often, when the bench is on a roll, they hasten to put Harden back to pad his stats, but when the bench gets crappy, Lin is put back out on the court - sometimes too late and/or Lin's muscles got cold. Unless they need Lin desperately, McHell has usually benched Lin after the 2nd half of 3rd quarter until the half way mark in the 4th quarter (but lately it's not always exactly the same). BUT, if the "backup" doesn't mess up horribly (from good to so so) and the team has some lead, Lin STAYS OUT the entire 4th quarter, so that the backup gets the credit for the win (along with Harden and who not). McDamnpson has made their modus operandi to make Lin look bad too obvious. It's pathetic and bizarre. I hope Lin buys out his contract, a la Aaron Brooks: I think it's better than McDamnpson getting fired, for another fresh start with a more normal coach.
As I repeat time and time again, in the NBA, the star is the player who scores the most. It is a lame way to create stars, but it's the NBA way.
DeleteLin oddly can score points in the NBA pretty easily. He might not be the most efficient at it on the team, but he can do it shooting over 50% most of the time.
Mchale's comments and frustrations indicate he does NOT want Lin to score the ball a lot or play make too much.
Mchale is not an idiot - he is calculating. He doesn't want Lin to be the star of the game. When Lin has 10 or 12 points in Q1, Mchale does sub in a way where Lin is hard pressed to score even 4 more points the rest of the game.
I believe that Mchale doesn't want Lin to score a lot, because Mchale believes Parsons and Harden are more efficient scorers with better chances of winning games, and I believe Mchale would pass a lie detector test as to this.
Mchale wants Parsons and Harden to be leaders and top players and top scorers. He wants Lin to get 6-10 PPG, 5-6 AST, 2 STL, 0 TO's,and 3 rebounds as a support player. Mchale believes that is the proper way to win games and will help him keep his job.
So really I blame the Rockets Front Office for this mess. If they don't fire Mchale in the summer and/or if Mchale's coaching doesn't change, it's time to blame Morey and the front office next season.
edit:
DeleteNOT: McHell has usually benched Lin after the 2nd half of 3rd quarter until the half way mark in the 4th quarter
Edit: McHell has benched Lin FROM (not "after" second half of 3rd quarter - which would be taken as after the 3rd Q) 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, all the way until 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter (but if the backup isn't overly terrible, Lin the "starter" has stayed out for good). That's about 30 straight minutes of sitting by Lin until he is out of rhythm and for his muscles to get cold.
swinglinezigzag,
DeleteI respectfully disagree with you on this.
McDamnpson wants to win yes - after all their reputation and jobs are on the line. HOWEVER, they always want have the team win WITHOUT Lin getting a good stat line, IF they can help it.
That is to say, that is their McHell's motive. McHell knows Lin is good and he doesn't want others to know that. Initially, McHell might as well be Stephen A. Smith, but after 40 - 45games, McHell definitely knows Lin is a good player. Otherwise, how do you explain him putting Lin back every time the substitute falters badly and the game looks to be on the line? But, sometimes it's been too late to save the game - or McHell seemed to let Lin take the blame for the loss.
Deleteztrta,
DeleteI wish what you said is true, but that is an insane conspiracy theory. I also don't think Mchale and the coaching staff have that much leeway to think they can do that and keep their jobs unless there were secret handshake deals (wouldn't be the first time for Mchale).
Maybe Morey told Mchale he won't fire him as long as Harden goes into the ASG and looks like a super stud, no matter the team's record. And maybe Mchale was told if he could make Parsons a star too, Mchale will be handsomely rewarded, win or lose this year. And maybe Mchale felt the only way to do that is by keeping Lin in check. That's a lot of maybes...
Really, it's possible, but I don't think Mchale would purposely take Lin out if he thought Lin was the answer, at the risk of losing games.
Most teams put a quota of minutes on how much the coach must play the player when the coach doesn't want to play the player. Maybe that is what Mchale is doing and breaking the minutes apart for Lin quite poorly.
However, the sub ins/outs for Lin seem ill timed to us, because Mchale is focusing on the team and when best to sub in the backup PG. Mchale is not factoring in how Lin plays whatsoever.
So I would take the complete opposite stance that Mchell's motive is just to play Lin as little as he must and allow the guys he trusts more to take over the games.
Lin probably has to go back into the games at the end of the games because of Front oFfice ultimatums. Mchale probably prefer Lin be benched the entire 4th Q entirely if he had his way.
I just can't agree on the coaches trying to sabotage Lin only all the while still trying to win games.
That's like me trying to go play NBA players and then making it doubly hard on myself playing with only 1 hand to make my own life harder. Not even Mchale is going to do that to himself...and for what?
The more believable answer is simply that Mchale doesn't think that highly of Lin's ability.
NOT "at the risk of losing games" - Never.
DeleteAs I've said McHell has put Lin back when the game looks to be on the line (after subbing him for as long as possible - often 30 of actual time; playing time of 12 to 15 minutes).
I've also said "they always want have the team win WITHOUT Lin getting a good stat line, *IF* they can help it. *IF* is the key word. Of course, they never want to lose games on purpose: Initially, until the 2nd Spurs game (after the first 40 games), McDamnpson seemed to agree with everything negative thing that Stephen A. Smith have said. Thus, they didn't trust Lin at all to help out the team. But after the Spurs game - and probably from an edict from the owner - Lin has been treated a lot more fairly. However, IF THEY COULD HELP IT, they want to win games without Lin having good stat lines: It's been done too often to escape notice.
swing: "The more believable answer is simply that Mchale doesn't think that highly of Lin's ability."
DeleteI agree with this assertion. And it's not that McHale tries intentionally to sabotage Lin to look bad but he "hates" Lin not running his system of always moving the ball or probing the D like KHuang said.
McHale just want to stick his "move the Ball" system to win the ball games. Even if Lin can win the game with PnR that require a long time, he hates that because the ball is "stuck" on one player for too long.
McHale just wants to see "energy", "attacking the basket", "ball-moving", "3PT" from his players. If Lin looks tentative, he's replaced with spark plugs to give energy.
But as long as Lin produces with his "energetic" attack and points, and moving the ball, Lin looks good in the eyes of McHale.
This is crazy because sometimes you have to probe good D using your PG.
I believe Lin is slowly learning to play in McHale system, to be productive even when the ball is not in his hands for 2-3 possessions.
McHale thinks his free-flowing system is working well but it's Lin who manages to be a coach on the floor to make it work.
Without Lin on the floor, Houston will look like energetic chicken with their heads chopped off running all over the floor shooting 3PTers, plus 1 Euro-stepping rooster (with gimpy knee) going 1 against 3 attacking the rim.
Maybe you guys are right. We both could be right.
DeleteIt's also true that the Rockets wouldn't be as good without Jeremy Lin, the underrated, which is why I was hoping Lin was traded at the deadline.... sigh. I had read an article (not a Lin fan site or pro Lin) that said that there is nothing worse for a bb starter than playing for a coach who doesn't believe in him. And the writer was talking about Lin and McHale.
If I were Lin, I'd ask to be traded next offseason - better yet, buy out the contract (a la Aaron Brooks) and select his own team out of teams that are interested. He might possibly lose a little money, but with it buy better bench players.
BTW..... The run and gun system is actually from the brain of Les Alexander - per Morey - for the young team. It wasn't even McFail's idea..... Anyway, they need to have more strategies than just running and gunning and 3's for when they need them.
DeleteYah maybe you guys are right.
DeleteBut, my gut tells me that no way can anyone be blind enough to not see what kind of player Lin really is.
I think when he's telling the press that Jeremy Lin is not Linsanity, he was actually trying to convince himself of that.
Go Lin!
ReplyDeleteGo to hell HOU fans, HOU media, Morey, Parsons & his white trash GF, Mchale and the rest of the coaching staff.
somehow i feel lin would've been appalled by this post.
Deleteget a grip, please.
yes, come on, k.smith.
DeleteI know we're frustrated but let's not get personal to spread the hate and give ammunition to Lin haters to say that Lin fans are the haters.
Yah don't fault Parson for playing the game. Hate the game that allows players to get rewarded by playing selfishly.
DeleteIntroducing the new and improved Rocket Powered McFridge's Freezer by McFridge. The new version can freeze anything in just 6 to 9 minutes, guaranteed!!! Get it now for just $99.99 USD
ReplyDeleteBut wait, there is more. If you decide to order now, you will also received McFridge's Coolbox to keep your players cold! What are you waiting for? Call 888-FREEZEANASIAN
LOL! :)
DeleteAs usual, I just want him to take atleast 15 shots, and play his game, the rest will be all positive.
I don't know how you guys do it and stay optimistic.
Delete@k.smith , maybe it's the asian thing in us . you know , being patient and everything... lol
DeleteLOL. sounds like good offer but I have doubt with the durability and quality of this McFridge...think it'll break down within days and buyers have to go through the trouble of disposing of it.
DeleteThat is why we provide guarantee janelin7. If broken just claim and get a new one lol
DeleteJust as Lin just keep getting hotter. Our McFridge Freezer also have to keep getting colder
Deletelol...epic!
DeleteGet one and sent it to Rick Carlisle
DeleteGet your head out Lin's ass.
Delete"He's got such as a huge fan base and sometimes they expect a lot more and it's kind of unfair to Jeremy" - CP
Is this one of those new "smart" fridges I've been hearing about?
DeletePassing Is Main Reason Why Houston Rockets Are Winning
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin 2012-13 Season TOP 10 in February
ReplyDeletePractice Jeremy Lin | March 5, 2013 (The volume is kinda low)
ReplyDeleteLakers lost last night. Let's hope we can get the W tonight and hold a firm position. Do people think 8th, 7th or 6th seed is best? Are the Spurs easier to beet than OKC? Does anyone know how long Tony Parker will be out for?
ReplyDeleteI think the Spurs will be 2013 champions...
DeleteSpurs have an old veteran team: Ginobili, Duncan, Parker ... but if any of them go down, the newer players are prepared to step up and take their place. They pride themselves on developing and mentoring their younger players.
DeleteTBH don't matter, I don't think we can beat any of the top 3s right now. They are just too seasoned and too deep.
DeleteNot to mention they have better coaches.
It’s all about the MONEY
ReplyDeleteJeremy fans have been riding the emotional roller coaster since the Rox coaching staff deliberately playing Jeremy out of natural(Point Guard) position, subtly verbally abusing Jeremy at postgame interview and subbing Jeremy in very weird pattern. But the Rox offered no answer to assuage fans’ agony despite fans’ protest and complaints. Evidently, No Conspiracy Theory, but it’s all about a money motivated, well orchestrated scheme to inflate players’ value. No wonder Morey and McHale are nominated for GM of the Year, Coach of the Year, at the expense of Jeremy.
Get your head out Lin's ass.
Delete"He's got such as a huge fan base and sometimes they expect a lot more and it's kind of unfair to Jeremy" - CP
CP has a small amount of fan base. Obviously he's jealous. And who is he to speak on behalf of Jeremy Lin?
DeleteAnd you, roll, get your head out of CP's ass, idiot!
Fizzle: Get your head out of McDamnpson's and Harden's and Carjelo's and Woopson's diarrhea ass.
DeleteWe must be telling things as they are - because Fizzle can't say anything else.
Rick Carlisle is one of the best coaches in the NBA.
ReplyDeleteSince the preseason, he has been openly talking about game planning specifically against Jeremy Lin.
It'll be interesting to see what schemes are run against Lin.
True. Last game post game interview, Lin was the main concern for Carlisle. Not Harden, not Parson, and most certainly McHale.
DeleteMost team just load more on Lin, double team or traps around the paint. Will be interesting to see how Lin can UNLOAD those. Reminded me in earlier Feb, CP3 got shut down by Heats but Nash beat those traps almost every time.
DeleteChris Paul also got shut down by San Antonio and OKC, and those teams Jeremy Lin exploded against.
DeleteThe other thing I'm looking to see from Dallas is much more physicality on defense from Vince Carter.
Carter played zero defense last game and was the Human Torch getting burned up like that. I don't think the Rockets specifically targeted him, but McHale's motion system will attack the weakest defensive link.
I'm sure Rick Carlisle is aware of Carter's pathetic defense. Should Carter again play no defense, his replacement Jae Crowder will come in. As everybody here knows, Jae Crowder was one of my favorite draft prospects and has blossomed into a very fine role player in the NBA. Crowder sticks in the NBA for his defense and deadly outside jump shot.
Vinsanity got Linsanitied.
Just as they will also attack our weakest link on defense, Harden
DeleteThere is not only one weak line on D for the Rockets. Harden, Parsons, the PF position, and Delfino and basically all the bench players are black hole on D. There is a reason the Rockets are the worst team in the nba that even having 2 plus defenders in Lin and Asik could not save them.
Deleteto the troll who is telling fans to get out of Jeremy's butt, in case you didn't notice, we are not expecting more from him.we expect him to be played as point guard - set up and run the team's offense, but his bummer of a coach has other agenda in mind - make him the ball boy of the shooting guard and let the shooting guard make the plays. most of the complaints in here are about his bummer of a coach.
ReplyDeleteso to the troll named Razzle Dazzle,get outta here and go find a Chandler Parsons fan site.
@Razzle Dazzle , Prepare to be lynched. LOL
ReplyDeleteYeah, prepare to be LINched!
DeleteRazzleDazzle, get YOUR head out of Lin's ass. You're just being crapped on here, hating everybody in sight.
If he continued to post the same thing again and again, moderator would delete his posts anyway, he's clearly spamming.
DeleteIt would be a statement W vs Mavs on b2b. This is crunch time as we enter the last stretch.
ReplyDeleteI see it as a mini 20 games playoff for 5-8th seed. It'll be exciting to see if they can get to 5th or 6th; that would be a major achievement right there for this young team - even if they don't make it past the first round against the likes of OKC, or Spurs.
In the post practice interview yesterday McHale said he will not change anything they are doing against the mav's tonight, although he knows Dallas will make adjustments, because anytime the team tries to do something different the players eff up.
ReplyDeleteJeremy on the other hand said he knows they will try to readjust. Anticipate their readjustments and be ready to counter the readjustment because he knows it is coming.
McHale for coach of the year? This guy is clueless. Horrible coach. And worst of all he is lazy.
What do u think will happen in the playoffs? Playoffs are chess matches of constant readjustments. Aside from being a dick to Jeremy, he is such a bad coach. I've never seen any coach say that before..
I hope what McHell meant by his comment is that he will do nothing different and let Jeremy run the team.
DeleteJeremy sounded more like he's the coach :>
Deleteit could be a misdirection comment by either one to throw off the Mavs. The usual tactics.
DeleteAs long as the result is an easy W, que sera sera.
Not to defend McHale, but what made you guys think McHale's telling everything he's going to do to the press?
DeleteBecause the word "adjust" doesn't exist in McHell's vocabulary.
DeleteMcHell's comment about how he won't change anything is just icing.
McHale would be a bigger idiot if he actually told the press everything he's planned to do. Even he plans to adjust and change, he doesn't need to tell us.
DeleteAt least we agree that McHell is a bigger idiot.
DeleteCome on guys. Not revealing to the press? Has he shown anything this year to show that he makes sensible adjustments in games? U make it seem like he is a master tactician trying to fool the media. Remember this is a guy who calls time out in close games and runs an iso play for harden every single time. Let's not start giving this coach credit.
DeleteI know he will stubbornly stick with jer's schedule. Again it will be up to jer to go all out and dare McHale to sit him. Jeremy needs to realize that ust because he gave some compliments in pg conference, McHale will give him the respect he rightfully deserves. No let downs tonight. Please.
Yup, this is the guy whose head is so thick that it took an 8 straight losing streak to make him realize iso Harden doesn't work.
DeleteIt's way more subjective and fictional to imagine that McHell is giving the press a misdirect.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFound something interesting when reading up on coach's handling of Yi JianLian:
ReplyDeleteAfter the Nets finished the season outside of the 2009 playoffs,[48] Yi's agent Fegan suggested the Nets played better when Yi played more minutes and took more shots, and said it "begs the question...who's accountable?"
Head coach Lawrence Frank said that "you have to be patient. He's only 21," and Yi assessed his season by saying he was "still too much up and down".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Jianlian
Sounds similar to:
"Jeremy's a young guy who's been up and down before. He's a young fellow. You have some ups and downs and that'll be the case with a lot of young guys. No big deal. Things are fine."
The article below has more context. It's a great read in terms of history repeating itself in terms of a coach downplaying his under usage of a player based on age and the player trying to take the heat off coach by professing to being inconsistent.
http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2009/04/agent_suggests_new_jersey_nets.html
In case you guys are lazy, here's the "thesis" of the article:
DeleteFegan would not articulate the subtext, but it's not exactly Chinese algebra: The coach screwed up, he is saying. And the organization allowed it to happen.
A lot of "old school" coaches are like that. Deron Williams came off the bench for half a season under Sloan when it's clearly from day one he's the best PG on the roster. It doesn't mean young players could not progress from that way. Ultimately, it's up to the players themselves.
DeleteYi didn't become a good nba player, not because of the handling of his coaches. He's simply not good himself. No coaches could change that. Of course his agent wouldn't admit it but instead defend his own player and blame it on the coaches. Come on, that's his agent!
Deron situation probably wouldn't be apple to apple with Yi as Yi was already a full time starter to start the season.
DeleteYou saying Yi never became a good NBA player not because of coaches but because of himself could very well be Jeremy's narrative if Jeremy plays it safe as Yi did.
Few things. Yi is not as good as Lin so it doesn't matter. 2. Where did yi end up with that type of coaching philosophy?
DeleteIt's not like Lin is a rookie on a veteran team trying fit in. Heck virtually everyone is new and quite young.
And when Lin has repeatedly proven himself that he deserves more minutes for the benefit of this team, u just can't continue to freeze him out just for the sake of following this outdated ritual.
Yi never had thes impactful games Lin had. As a matter of fact, he was a big bust.
Yup it was easier to cover up bad coaching and blame it on the player's lack of development with Yi. Much harder to do so with Lin who has moved mountains. So, it's more of a "sin" for Hou coaches to treat Lin the same way NJ coaches were treating Yi.
DeleteI don't know why you felt the need to bring up Yi. The only similarity between Yi and Lin is that they both have Chinese accent and both play basketball but it stop here.
DeleteThe simple reason Lin won't become the next Yi is because Lin's just flat out better, no matter under what coaches, with what teams, in whatever system, in any environment and circumstance.
Michael Jordan would still be Michael Jordan and Lin would still be Lin and wouldn't become the next Yi even they're under McHale, Frank or any coaches and under the same treatment as Yi.
Obviously it's pointing out that McHell still thinks he can treat Lin the same way Nets treated Yi.
DeleteIt's something that has happened before as it is not a new phenomenon to downplay a person's game using the same systematic treatment.
And, yes, thanks for pointing out the obvious, Cara, that Lin is Lin and Yi is Yi.
I heard you.
The myth that Yi Jianlian would have been a good NBA player with the right coaching has been already debunked multiple times.
DeleteLawrence Frank is an excellent coach. He knowd what he's doing.
Yi's last NBA stop was Dallas. Not even the great Rick Carlisle could get anything out of Yi. Unlike Lin, Yi's been handed chance after chance and blown them all.
Lin won't ever sink to a Yi level. Lin simply has way too much game.
Sorry McHuang not playing the comparing the Yi to Lin game.
DeleteIt's about coaching taking responsibility for their words and actions.
Gotta hold the coaches accountable for irresponsible remarks of under using a player and making back handed remarks to make cover for himself.
The thread is just to prove it's been systematically done in the past. And, we're just seeing it repeated in Houston.
But, go on and keep comparing Yi to Lin guys. I sure am not playing that game.
Lin is the opposite of Yi, he drives, attacks, and draws contact. Yi settled for too many jumpers (Which he wasn't making.)
DeleteOK I *GIVE UP*
DeleteEtane is pointing out that these coaches mistakenly thnk they don't have to play a young player because thu are young. It just happens that the example is yi, which is confusing the hell out of you to think etane is saying Lin is yi.
DeleteLin is a product of America. There is no cultural or language barrier to break - just racial stereotypes.
Yi was a over rated product of china who was thought to be the second coming of Yao. He was a monumental bust. End of story. Move on.
Solid, your first sentence is wrong. Your second sentence is right. Your second paragraph is irrelevant. Your last paragraph missed the point.
DeleteI must be an awful communicator on forums.
You communicate very well when you're flaming people, Etane.
DeleteMaybe if you directly flame this forum instead of trying to twists people's basketball knowledge, you'll stop tying yourself up in your own hate knots.
Okay, effi it. Last time I try to think inside your head. ( u could've played along instead of dissecting my post to pieces)
DeleteSo I'll just stick with the majority.
What da hell r u talking about? Lin is not Yi-- why, u think because they are both Asian u need to compare them?
The biggest difference is that Lin is American and Yi is from China. Yi already had many doubts and expectations already facing a much more faster and physical game. Having to carry the weight of being the next Yoa as well as representing a people was just too much for him to bear with out having grown up in America like Lin.
DeleteLin had an "advantage" of facing doubters from highschool so he has been toughened already to being push down. Yi on the other hand was more than likely coddled in China as an elite player so he had a lot of slack and patience from his handlers. Mental toughness and self belief is something often overlooked by talent scouts. How else can you explain that the Rox wasted a draft pick on a player with a history of mental illness? We all know Lin to be Lin CP3 in the 4q, they always seem to raise their game at crunch time. Even with all the talent, Lebron needed a long time to learn to handle the pressure. He has needed 2 other franchise players to back him up. Lebron now has to face history and the long shadow of MJ. It will be telling how he'll play in the playoffs in order to repeat.
Khuang, first of all, you have to have basketball knowledge for me to twist instead of just repeating what others have already said in this forum.
DeleteSolidz, get out of my head and read what I wrote instead.
DeleteBob, Yi wasn't good at dealing with mind f*cks. In fact, there's no evidence that Lin was good at it either during the first half of this season.
DeleteIt's nice to see that Lin has the wherewithal to start playing his own game again even after all the mind f*ck he's received from this organization.
I guess growing up in America did help foster his spirit. And, supposedly, Lin was always a cocky SOB. So, his spirit is that much harder to crush.
You're just trolling again Etane, trying to ruin this forum with your racism.
DeleteEverybody calls you out on your trolling. YOU'VE LOST.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMorey interviewed on Grantland.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if this was posted before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXnE-dOMisI
There were a lot of softball questions to start.
The harder questions about player minutes and hard fouls start at 14:45.
Watch Morey go from cool and confident to sweaty Elvis as he tries to deflect the questions about McHell's bad coaching at 16:15.
The host is smart and cunning... he really made Morey squirm when he brings up CP's contract.
Care to summarize what he said. Can't watch this at work.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to ponder:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sportingcharts.com/dictionary/nba/usage-percentage.aspx
The definition of usage rate. Lin's usage rate is 19%, which is 1% higher than Parson's. ClutchFans haters like to bring up Stockton's historic 19% usage rate to downplay Lin's limited usage.
I think the problem is that the Rocket's free-flowing system artificially inflates Lin's usage% (which also hurts his PER which is how many FG's, FT's, assts, rebounds, etc a player gets related to their usage rate among total possessions).
I think Lin gets credited with "usage" when he dribbles up the court and passes it off and basically disappears from the play and never gets the ball back. He gets punished by PER by handling the ball briefly, and then not getting a score, FT, or assist as a result of that possession.
My recommendation: If Lin is not going to be the featured playmaker on a certain play, he should not even take the in-bounds pass. Any time he actually touches the ball, he should be extremely aggressive and either score, draw a foul, or pass leading to an assist. Lin hurts his own advanced stats that his nerd-GM loves to analyze so much because he technically gets included in usage of possessions where he isn't really a factor, and it inflates his usage% and also hurts his PER that every other GM looks at.
@Anonymous,
DeleteDribbling up court and passing it off is not counted in the Usage %. Only FGA, FTA, TOV and Minutes played are the variables.
Here is the Basketball Reference formula :
100 * ((FGA + 0.44 * FTA + TOV) * (Tm MP / 5)) /
(MP * (Tm FGA + 0.44 * Tm FTA + Tm TOV)).
Usage percentage is an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor.
It is really influenced by how many times Lin tries to shoot (FGA), goes to the free-throw line (FTA) or result in turnover (TOV) in ratio to the team's total. There is also adjustment based on the Minutes Played.
For example, in the last two games (see BRef Lin Advanced Log) Lin didn't play in the 4Q but his Usage% were 17.9% vs ORL and 32.2% vs DAL.
It makes sense because Lin only had 6 FGA vs. ORL but 14 FGA vs DAL. These were the major difference. The FTAs (4 vs 5), TOVs (2 each game), MP (25 vs 24) were similar.
In summary, Lin just needs to be aggressive to take his shots (perhaps 12-16 FGA & 4-8 FTA) to have high USG% and more chance for HOU to win.
Thanks.
DeleteThat makes sense, Stockton's usage wasn't super high because he didn't shoot a ton of FG's or FT's in the minutes he played. Lin's usage makes sense because he isn't shooting a ton when he's on the floor. He's passing off a lot which contributes to low usage especially when he doesn't shoot a lot and plays a lot.
BUT - what about PER? PER measures pts, rebs, assists, steals, TO's etc as a function of time. What is the relationship between the 2?
One thing to be careful about USG is where you get your stats from. As you can see (thanks @psalm) BR does not account for assists in their equation, although the Hollinger stats (found on ESPN) does.
DeleteThe other thing to be careful about is making sure you understand what the number is telling you. I'm not a huge fan of the stat, and I like the name even less (I find it misleading).
Other than that they draw from similar basic stats, USG and PER are completely different things. PER is meant to be a box score in one number. It's standardized (like you said) and it's useful because we can compare players across different years.
Unfortunately, as the world of advanced statistics has become more and more sophisticated, the limitations of the basic box score have become more apparent. There will be better stats for us to drool over in the future, but we will likely lose the ability to compare with the past.
As a few knowledgeable fans here pointed out before, PER is just a measure of offensive output including more variables than Usage% such as (AST, STLs, REBs, etc.) but it doesn't measure how efficient a player is. A player can ball hog the shot attempts and still look good in PER.
DeleteSo Kobe can have the same PER (i.e. 32) with Harden in a 35pt game but Kobe had to shoot 40 times while Harden only took 18 shots (FGA). Efficiency is important because Kobe took more shots that could have gone to other teammates and has more chance to win the game.
High Usage% usually means high PER because they use the same FGA/FTA/TOV variables.
But high PER doesn't necessarily mean high usage% because a player like Stockton and Rondo can contribute with high ASTs.
hey @Nom, long time no posts :D
DeleteTrue, PER is just a one-number summary of the current imperfect boxscore. And it encourages a player to be a ball-hog since they try to shoot more at the expense of winning the games and getting bigger contract.
My wishlist to improve the boxscore:
1. My number one wish is to add defensive points to the boxscore. Penalize a player if his weak defense cause his man to score easily (i.e. -3pts for 3PT scored).
2. Reward them for help defense to help steal the ball
3. Create "hockey assists" with first/second assists so it will encourage more ball movement.
4. Give half assists for made FTs. Asik rarely converts Lin's easy passes but he made 50% free-throws. Lin currently doesn't get credits/assists for Asik's FTs.
hey @psalm :)
DeleteFun idea re: box score. Not sure about defensive points, waaay too subjective. It's not easy; Synergy sort of does this already and sometimes I disagree with their characterizations (however, to their credit, you get to watch the video of the play in question and decide for yourself). Plus, it might penalize a player for following team mandate.
I'm a fan of your other 3, however. Also, I would love a stat for screens. Should a clean pick that gets your ball handler an easy layup be valued any differently than an assist? Along the lines of a hockey assist, what about a pick away from the ball that frees up a cutter?
yeah, I know defensive points can be subjective but it would at least reward Lin/other players who persistently do help defense to put their hands up, get deflections (separate stat).
DeleteThe main point is to keep players accountable because Melo, Amare, Harden would pay attention to the boxscore if their weak D shows -70pts! haha. The more minutes they play without any D, the more points they get dinged!
And it's a risk/reward thing because Lin can get more points on help defense but he can get dinged of letting his man to shoot wide-open 3PTers.
Hm, I like the stat idea for setting picks ("Screen Assists?"). NBA should reward players who do tough dirty jobs like setting picks, taking charges, etc.
If possible can anyone compile some advanced statistics of Jeremy, Harden, and Parsons for comparison? I want to see where Jeremy stands among them. Thanks.
DeleteI want to see if we can see why Jeremy play's less than those two guys outside of coaching ineptness.
Delete@jlinfan4ever
Delete"I want to see where Jeremy stands among them."
Are you sure? ;)
Go to http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2013.html and scroll to the bottom of the page.
Thanks Nom. I don't know what category to compare to render what each player brings to the team. Would the WS (Win Score) a good justification as why each player plays the minutes they do? Jeremy has the lowest WS compared to Harden and Parsons. Is that a good comparison?
DeleteHere's some advanced stats to look at, his shot chart:
ReplyDeletehttp://stats.nba.com/playerShotchart.html?PlayerID=202391
Jeremy Lin is basically good shooting 4 specific areas on the court, and below 35% everywhere else. He is great within 5 feet around the circumference of the rim, the space between the FT line and 3-pt line, and right corner in front of the 3-pt line, and the left corner behind the 3-pt line. He should work to improve a floater between 5-10 feet (study Tony Parker and Steve Nash) in the off-season, but for this season he should really cut down on his low shooting areas to be more efficient. Anytime he's within 5 feet the SHOT SHOULD GO UP.
We heard you the first time on the other post.
DeleteWe heard you the first time on the other post.
Is there an echo here?
DeleteIs there an echo here?
Very interesting shot chart.
DeleteLin is clearly more comfortable to make shots (2PT and 3PT) from the right side of the court (35-47%)and the top of the key for 2PT midrange jumper (67%)
But the funny thing is his corner 3PT from the left (52%) is higher than the right (22%).
It'll be nicer if NBA provides the filter by month so we can see Lin's hotspots in February.
Kind of disappointing when Brent Barry said in the Rockets Cast Live that he thinks if ROX meet Clippers in the 1st round, Lin is basically no match to CP3. He think OKC is our best chance to advance.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any playoff team in the West is scarier than any other.
DeleteLin had his way with Chris Paul when they matched up, despite McHale's motion mania that screamed at Lin to move the ball even when Lin didn't have it.
That the Rockets are currently in a playoff berth is a miracle. Minimum wage teams aren't supposed to be competing in the playoffs.
Lin can score against anybody and defend against anybody. But can the other Rockets STOP anybody?
Of course Lin couldn't do anything with CP3. The ref took Lin out of the game with consecutive phantom calls and one where CP3 initiated the contact with a veteran move and got the ref to make the call against Lin.
DeleteSo, though Lin is the better player, he got played to CP3.
Houston definitely had the better chance of winning against OKC than LAC though OKC might fare a bit better against the Rox since the team is replaced PPat and MM with Dmo and Trob.
I saw Lin was doing just fine against the Clippers, even with his one-on-one matchup with CP3. His line (12Ast/10Asts & 14Pts/7asts) in 2 losses are pretty good.
DeleteWhat I remembered from these 2 LAC losses were how physical Blake and DeAndre Jordan in dominating Houston's big men. They just couldn't get any stops.
Both OKC and LAC have shotblockers that can slow down Lin and Harden's penetration so either one will be a tough matchup but perhaps 1 win against OKC will give HOU some confidence.
In a 7-game playoff series, I don't see HOU wins any of them unless their defense significantly improves. Sad but true.
Isn't Brent Barry one of the biggest LOH? Or is it his brother.
DeleteI wouldn't care about all these national media pundits downgrading Lin. They don't watch the Rox games as closely as we do and look at the game stats.
Only thing I care about is what I see. I don't think Lin will be overwhelmed by Chris Paul but hn can't stop him by himself. But as with any match up, our team defense will be key to how far they will be able to go.
Lin could beat the Clippers if he was the lead guard of the team. When I was at the Clipper game, I was surprised CP3 could not guard Lin AT ALL when Lin put his head down and went into 1 man wrecking crew mode in Q2 looking to score or dump off open passes. CP3 didn't even try, playing Harden-like defense on Lin half the time.
DeleteBut Mchale hated seeing that type of game from Lin, the HR hitting stuff and Mchale snuffed it out quickly after a bad unforced TO by Lin.
The problem is Lin, with limited offensive touches to go back at CP3, will simply look like a defensive clown. In reality, this is what would happen during the Playoffs:
1. Mchale has Lin bring the ball off and pass off over and over (unless Lin grows a pair and doesn't care about getting benched for not listening to orders).
2. Lin looks useless on offense and bricks 3 some open pointers.
3. CP3 constantly torches Lin on PnRs passing or scoring.
4. CP3 uses his bag of tricks to get a bunch of fouls on Lin, half of which are bogus non-calls or offensive fouls.
5. Lin is benched with a stat line of 1-4 shooting, 4 points, 3 assists, 22 minutes.
At this point however, I will blame Lin if that happens again. He has to play his game and if he's benched for that, so be it. Better than being benched for dribbling and passing off and going 1-4 from the field on 2 bricked 3's, a made jumper, and miss layup before being pulled for Bev and Brooks.
i think lin will learn how to play cp3 a bit better based on previous games. he'll know his tendencies and spot and will play him better in the playoff.
Deletebut cp3 is cp3... there are nights where no one can guard him and brent is right, it could be tough for jeremy. cp3 is probably the best pg in the last decade - no shame in that.
on the other hand, cp3 also needs help guarding lin.
keep in mind - in the previous clippers game, lin was hurt in the first half. that contributed to how he was used.
If Lin had Tyson Chandler instead of Asik, then blake wouldn't be such a factor. Blake is a beast and his athleticism and quickness makes lin's penetration that much more difficult. With Tyson, Lin found a massive presence and a decent set of hands that he could pass to if he gets into trouble. We know that Asik is useless unless the ball lands like a pillow in his hands. CP3 has a distinct advantage that way and a hell of a lot of experience and confidence.
DeleteThe Rox need some meanness and tough nose role player that is willing to get physical and protect Lin from abuse. TRob is a long way away and Dmo doesn't have the strength and size yet to do battle with the other big men in the league yet. This team is a regular season team because it is basiclly a finess team, the playoffs is a totally different game. Down the stretch, I see them getting pushed out to the perimeter and relying on their 3s. I just don't think they have the toughness yet. Lin will play his heart out but Parsons and Dmo could be overwhelmed. Harden has the built and talent to play D, just a matter of will he?
Actually I think McHale acting like an overbearing prick that prevented him from playing well. He was heating up until that public rebuke for some bs. After that Lin was no longer the same.
DeleteFIGHTON:
DeleteI was at the Clipper game. His injury did not contribute to how he was used whatsoever.
What happened was his turnover in Q2 to Cole Alrich where he forced a horrible pass that didn't need to be made caused Mchale to go beserk.
Mchale lashed into him and then right after that Time out, CP3 did the swing through at the end of Q2 to draw a bogus foul (I thought the refs were picking on Lin but they called the exact same foul on Nash a week or 2 later where CP3 did the exact same swing through - both Lin and Nash were in disbelief but CP3 is a slick player although it should be a no call or offensive foul in reality - they just give those calls to CP3 because he is CP3. If Lin did that, it'd be a TO no-call and he'd be benched).
Mchale was done with Lin at that point for that game.
Mchale must have blamed Lin for how helter skelter the entire team was playing in Q2. Lin was not calming the team down with his wrecking crew style. From Mchale's persepctive, Lin was not involving the team and kinda forgot about them because he was carrying them by himself to some extent. And they were playing too fast, and LA is a better overall track meet team 1 through 5.
It was fun to watch - Lin made the game into a frenzied track meet and was closing the gap till the team kept turning the ball over.
To me, Lin looked effective from afar. but to Mchale, as a coach, you lose all control of the game from the sideline in that kind of game. I know they don't call plays, but that's not how Mchale wants the team to play.
And since he doesn't trust Lin's abilities, he forced Lin to shut it down completely.
That is what happened. I sat in the lower levels behind the benches.
So his injury definitely did not contribute into how he was used at all whatsoever.
You didn't have to be at the game to what happened in the clippers game. With harden out, I thought McHale would let Lin do his thing like he did at the SA game. Boy was I wrong.
DeleteSure that was a TO but was it really that horrible of a play? No. It was Lin just trying to make a play because no one else was. I knew McHake was ticked off in the second quarter, but if you remember Lin was the only one making a difference. So instead of relying on that energy, what does McHale do.. Just go off on Lin taking all of his frustrations out- the only player who gives his team a chance to win .
That when McHale lost the game,. He managed to shut Jeremy down effectively taking any chance of winning that game.
People tend to overplay Lin's injury. More than anything else, it has always been McHale the entire season. Lets get it straight.
That was the first time Lin ever played against Chris Paul, so he didn't know what to expect. Next time he will be more prepared and know how to handle Chris Paul's defense and penetration. Jeremy seldom gets burned by the same point guard twice.
DeleteHe played poorly in his 1st matchup against Rajon Rondo, Damien Lillard, Kemba Walker, and Greivis Vasquez, but in the 2nd meetings, he contained them and/or dominated them.
so you're telling me that hard fall where he got up and limped, and the bruised hand had nothing to do with how he performed in Q3?
Deleteit's not like mchale took him out in Q2 and never put him back in. he was still in the game in Q3 and wasn't as effective in scoring.
mchale may have wanted lin to play differently in that game. to control the tempo, control the game from a pg perspective. even if lin did get chewed out at halftime, i'm sure he's tough enough to come back out in Q3 and play a good game if he was physically fine.
you guys are giving lin WAAYYY too little credit for his mental toughness. my god, he played organized bbal his whole life and i'm SURE have been chewed out more than once and will get chewed out again, especially as a pg.
he's not 5 years old.
BTW, didn't he need an x-ray after the game on the hand? it was at least serious enough to take some precaution.
DeleteFighton no.. That hand X-ray was bs. He played ping long with Morey few days later.
DeleteThat clipper episode in the context of what has been happening the entire season, u really need to be a hard headed LOH with your blinders not to see that.
It's not that Lin is mentally weak. It's that McHale is making him go away from what he is good at and forcing him play in a a manner that is least conducive to his effectiveness.
If u do not see that and blame Lin's "injuries" as the major reason for his shortcoming this year, there is nothing to debate with you. U just need to get your blinders off.
LOL!!! hard headed LOH??!! i'm the biggest lin fan out there, defending him DAILY at work with FACTS and numbers. don't call people LOH just because they don't think mchale is evil and we prefer to take a moderate view rather than extremist view. if all you're gonna do is slap a LOH label on me then i'm through. i've been coming here for a while and these threads are starting to become unreadable. if lin had such a victim mentality he would've never been where he is today. if keith smart can't break him while he was a d-league guy, you think mchale can break him after linsanity??
Deletethe hand x-ray was BS? based on what? were you there? and you're comparing a friendly ping freakin' pong game with an NBA game? and why would they say he needed an x-ray if that was BS?
i've never said mchale is good coach for him. in fact, i've posted in numerous places including CF that mchale's way of fitting round pegs into square holes is NOT the best way to go, especially for developing young players who may or may not have a good grasp on what they're good at, yet. i KNOW and see that he's less effective in this offense but he's also winning and frankly, if he's ever to win a championship, he'll need to know how to play with another superstar and learn to pick his spots and know how he can be effective even on a bad night. from a 15,000 ft point of view, being on the rockets is good for him. and if you ask him he'll agree because this is where God has put him RIGHT NOW and he knows that God doesn't make mistakes.
oh, and yes, injuries do play significant role in his short comings. are you telling me him recovering from surgery had nothing to do with his slow start? see his improvement since nov? recovering from surgery. see his crappy games before dallas? well it was documented that he again rolled his ankle and had the flu since OKC game. i rolled my ankle playing bball two weeks ago and i can't even walk without a limp right now much less play bball.
anyway, i'm not endorsing mchale. in fact, i don't think he's the right coach for the TEAM. but i also don't believe that he is evil and wants lin to fail. he acknowledges, IN PUBLIC, that Linsanity is lin's ceiling and he DID sustain that for a long time. look, you can't take what this guy says at face value.. he is horrible it put in front of mikes because he always tend to say things that makes your scratch your head but whatever...
FIGHTON,
DeleteIN Q3, they must have posted up PPAT 5 or 6 times. Maybe I am exaggerating the number, but it was ALOT.
And then DMO started posting up when he was in.
Mchale clearly decided he would rather lose his way than play Linball and get a lucky win and it was clear that was the halftime message.
Lin hardly touched the ball in half court. He stopped going coast to coast like he tried in the first half. I'm sure he was told not to do it again.
Lin literally did the dribble up handoff the entire 3rd Q.
They moved Parsons into the Harden role and went to him exclusively in Q3 when they weren't posting up PPAT or Dmo.
I sat right there watching as I've watched most of these Rockets games, and I thought to myself, "holy cow, Mchale told the team to throw the ball inside and play inside out the rest of the game, even if it means to throw it inside to PPAT of all people."
And clearly the other thing they did as I repeat, they force fed Parsons on the wing over and over, which was a total failure.
Lin was fine, he still dribbled up and all. If his wrist was that injured, he would not be on the floor PERIOD.
Lin was told to play within the offense for the 2nd half. I am 100% sure of it.
What I think he's learned now is how to play within himself while being productive on the court his way, without drawing the wrath of the coach, even if the coach doesn't agree with the style of play.
Mchale will live with positive productivity even if he doesn't agree with how it is acheived.
Ughm, LIn's shot was rather flat after he landed on his wrist. I think it was a factor.
DeletePlease don't call me a LOH, Solidz. Thanks.
Dude, first of all, calm down. If u don't think you are LOH that's good.
DeleteU also fail to grasp what most of us are saying that McHale is not evil trying deliberately make Lin fail. Why we are saying is that McHale simply does not respect Lin's game.
How else can u explain McHale's inexplicable use I Lin this year? U think just because he praised Lin recently that it behooves us to forget all the other crap he said a the 29 9 comment being one of the most ridiculous comment ever
If u are not LOH stop with their ridiculous notion that we think McHale hates Lin. But respecting and liking are not synonymous. Actions speak louder than words. Like I said, if u can't see that, there is nothing for us to discuss.
"Mchale will live with positive productivity even if he doesn't agree with how it is acheived." agree, because at the end of the day, he wants the W.
Deleteand yes, i do agree with lin learning how to pick his spots in this offense, but he didn't just learn this recently.. it's been a season long process.
i also noticed that he was shaking off his injured hand quite a bit - not sure if you followed that live vs. on tv. and him getting an x-ray as a precaution tells me that he was in pain. he could still play defense, dribble the ball, but of the shots he did take in Q3, he was visibly off.
i don't doubt they decided to play a different style in Q3 (and to be honest, you can't run against clippers - they're simply too athletic for our bigs). but also believe lin's hand injury affected his scoring abilities in that game.
Etane, u are not LOH. U r just a racist.
DeleteRacism starts with prejudice. I don't prejudge. See stupidity before I call it. And, you're proving to me that you can't read or respond like a normal person can.
DeleteOkay just forget it. For the record, I do not think you are a racist. I don't even know y khuang keeps on saying u r.
DeleteIf u think I'm stupid and can't read, so be it. I couldn't really care less what people I've never met before think of me.
I'm here to support Lin the way I can. People seem to take thing way too seriously here
Responding to what Bob said above. Definitely agree that though Houston has gotten bigger with Trob and Dmo taking the place of PPat and MM, the team is still a finesse team that will be forced to shoot from perimeter.
DeleteSo, in a way, the Rockets could probably go deeper into the playoffs with the smaller PFs? I think so. Even tho these two can't defend or rebound, they contributed very well to HOU playing read and react very effectively on the offensive end which is partially why other team don't wants to face HOU in the first round.
I think he is calling me a racist for the same reason you just called me on? But, yup why care what people call us on a forum.
DeleteBottom line regarding Mchale -
Deletethere's a certain way that he wants his PG to play, and is drilling into lin the type of PG play that he's looking for. At times it differ than how lin likes to play.
he see lin's ceiling as being very high (linsanity) but also knows that he's a very young player prone to lapses and not likely to sustain his high on a consistent basis RIGHT NOW.
does he respect lin's game? i have no idea. but i also don't think that mchale thinks lin is a scrub. as much time as we think lin is entitled to have to grow, i'm also giving mchale time to realize what he has in lin.
Let's hope you're right, fighton.
DeleteMT made a very illuminating post below that the Rockets were just fine the way it is until McHell screwed it up.
So, our problem is not only with how McHell is under valuing Lin but also the way he's handling the entire team where they think it's OK to tank on defense and play selfish stat pad ball.
I call Etane a racist because he calls Asians "druggies" in his posts from way back.
DeleteHe has written many hateful things about Asians and Asian countries.
He also calls Asian women "witches" and says Asian men are all "angry" and want to " lynch people".
Etane is not Asian, and his ONLY goal here is to flame anybody with an Asian screenname. He doesn't care one iota
about Lin or even basketball.
DeleteThis forum is Etane's opportunity to flame Asians. He openly admits that and everybody knows it.
There is an battle brewing for the 3-5 spots in the Western Conference. LAC is 2 games ahead of Memphis and 3 games ahead of Denver but Denver has won there last 6 and Memphis is 9-1 in there last 10 games.
ReplyDeleteLAC 43 19
Memphis 39 19
Denver 40 22
LAC has a game @Denver tomorrow. Will be intersting.
The Roxs could take over the 6 spot if they take care of business in Dallas and win @GSW on Friday.
Roxs need the sixth spot. SA and Thunders clear elites of the Western Conference. Lin is in the head of Westbrook, but he is in the collective heads of the Clippers as per their last game. Their chances are OK as long as long as Coaches get out of the way and let the players play.
In any case must win at Dallas and GSW.
Tbh I don't really care who the Rox play in the playoffs.. Because they are all pretty good.. I mean pick your poison right?
ReplyDeleteI think what matters is they make the playoffs and roll the dice. They have the easiest schedule left. They control their own destiny. I just don't wanna see them backing in.
I like the chemistry between D-Mo and Jeremy much better than with Patterson or Morris. D-Mo is willing to set screens and run the pick and roll with Jeremy which should help Jeremy's assist totals. If D-Mo can keep up the energy, play defense and get rebounds who knows what can happen in the playoffs.
ReplyDelete.
DeleteAgree.
DeleteDmo has been playing beyond my expectations these past few games.
I thought he was more of a Vlade Divac type of player with his lanky post moves. However, Dmo actually finishes very efficiently and even on the run which is something none of the other bigs on HOU can do.
So, Dmo is definitely a plus to Lin's game.
Good observation. I think with Dmo everything will come full circle for Lin. The clock will sort of reset with Mchale's misuse of Lin. Meaning Lin will be used more appropriately now that he has a complementary teammate. It's so strange that the Rox were operating and playing better as a whole offensively and defensively at beginning of the season. I was really excited when they first got Harden, because i thought he would shore up the defense. Based on the low scores by the opponents at the start of the season it appeared to be true. Opponents were held to either 90's and under 100 points. After that strong defensive start Mchale just let Harden go and never again held him accountable on defense again. When and if Mchale makes Harden play defense again, the team will have come full circle as well....like at the start of the season. I still hold on to my mantra Mchale is chasing his own tail only to find out what really works is what worked at the beginning of the season with Lin at the point and team playing good defense.
ReplyDeletereply to smoovies above post
DeleteMT great points. The first game of the season was probably the one of the best games of the season in terms of team play.
DeleteI remember everyone on this forum thought this season was going to be a cake walk and were to be easily a break through season for Lin as he would have his chance to play his game for the whole season.
Who knew Lin and HOU would meet so many self generated road blocks?