My read was Lin was making fun of himself with the same lines to same reporters he's had to say to keep it cool. Love the reporters' guffaws, "That's amaaaazing!". Replay it and laugh with them!
Solidz ... I think he's been forced to say those same words every time Bev plays for him, and he's been killin' him and the reporters. So, that's how I red the inside joke. So, when he said that, everybody busted up. I dunno, that's what made me laugh.
"... it's been killin' him and the reporters looking for a bit of honesty." This was just him 'being honest'. That's the funny thing to me, that he's lying again to them and they can finally laugh about it.
He's making fun of Rockets' (or McHale's) explanation on why he was benched in the 4th quarter last game. Good to see him annoyed enough to say something, although in a jokingly way.
Is he really making fun of him being benched?! Is he kinda showing his displeasure? Someone clearly explain to me .. Cause I really don't get the joke..
Lin has always strikes me as a passive aggressive type of person, but in a good way. He was tired of being a punching bag or doormat so he was letting his steam out in a non threatening way.
Its Lin trying to diffuse the situation with a McHale impression, while pulling off a not-so-subtle dig at McHale.
Clever boy our Jeremy is.
He was having fun at PB's expense. I'm sure him, Rockets, etc., got bombarded about why he didn't get to play 4Q vs Magic and we all heard the praises PB received.
Had a feeling Rox would do some appeasement move today, Lin became primary playmaker, they receive backlash on the internet every time Lin gets benched. And coincidentally it resulted in a blowout.
Victory feels good! What a game! I feel bad for whoever missed it. Oh and btw are we just half or a game behind 6th seed. Oh yes I think so!!!! Let's go Lin, Rockets!!!! Oh and I won this weeks fantasy thanks to Lin, Asik, and Motiajuntas! Now I'm going to the playoffs with Team Linsanity! :D
Just wanted to point out that Lin played excellent Defense. Lin was always a good help defender.
But the last two games I've seen him play excellent on ball D, especially going over the top of screens. I'm not sure what changed but I am glad too see this.
I thought it was funny. Recommendation: Please, BEWARE. Don't listen to McHales comments tonight. Just enjoy the AMAZING game Lin had and the victory. It's time for celebration. :D
There is a channel on YouTube called Conservativenewmedia, where a Jeremy Lin fan analyzes each Rockets game and Jeremy's performance in that game. It takes a couple of hours after each game to appear on YouTube but he does a good job breaking things down (although he is a biased fan of Jeremy).
Howard Chen @ho_chenCSN On Lin, McHale said tonight was a high-end game not only for Lin, but it also woulda been high end for CP3 too. In other words, great game.
whenever they are trying hard to back track, is because they have gotten into trouble. you have Morey on twitter trying to be sarcastic and now they have Mchale saying Lin is a good teammate because he didn't mind being benched. They are trying to hard. Something is up.
Yeah I could see how he wanted to say there is no way in hell Lin can play at this level consistently that we should lower our expectations. But he refrained from making such caustic statements unlike what he has been saying all throughout the season.
who thinks Lin didn't mind being benched? We do mind! Lin does mind as well, only he didn't vent it out. Guess the coach feel the hot air from Lin fans.
He's saying JLin could perform as well as CP3's ceiling haha... It probably took a lot of effort for McHale to give props to JLin, even a backhanded one, so I think he must have received a call from Les :P
I don't see how this is a backhanded comment, he's comparing Lin's performance tonight to a CP3 that most coaches in NBA would agree is probably the best PG playing at a high level, its one heck of a compliment coming from McHale.
I think y'all reading into this too much.
Doesn't change my opinion about McHale, but its a step in the right direction. If he does this for the rest of the season, then I'll be convinced.
Why do you guys (reporters) keep asking about Lin? Why are you not asking about Harden? Damn they are actually watching game and not a box score watcher!
See, let me convince you guys, Harden scored 21 points and this was a low end game for him. Even in his low end game, Harden still scored as much as Lin and CP3 in their high end game. Now Harden is that sustainable "home run hitter", not Lin.
For the most part, it went through Lin (for the 24 minutes he played). He was still relegated to a spot-up at times, but I'd say he ran it for 90% of initial possessions.
Whether we are over thinking or not, we have been entrained to be wary of McHale. Lets see if McHale thinks Lin can be cp3. Unlike our current president, I want actions not just empty words.
K smith. There is absolutely nothing McHale did differently. This was all Lin taking charge. He still got the same amount of min, got pulled when his min was up. But he just took charge taking shots, he drove the lane looking for his shots, he tried alley oop which I'm sure McHale wasn't happy about. But this was definitely Linsanity like.
I think maybe the post game dig at mchale(?) and Beverley was his way of saying "so u think bev is better than me, well watch this" . He just went out N Balled.
There were often times when he ignored harden when he was clapping for the ball. Really proud of everything he did tonite.
I listen to his breakdowns all the time. Although he is a Lin fan, his reviews and breakdowns are always pretty fair. he doesn't sugar coat when JLin doesn't play well.
no, he was off-ball almost the whole night. which is why he had so many 3's and very few assists. amazing he had a great game playing his natural position... duh!!
Yes good observation. He was mostly spot up shooter with few easy dunks. But didn't try to take his man off the dribble too much especially with Lin having a good game.
When Parsons isn't shooting well he switches into a hyper-facilitating mode and over does it. He's gotta make sure he doesn't ruin his fg%. Good game from him though.
Solidz75, uhhhhhhhh maybe Parsons should stick his role instead of doing more than he can handle?!
That's because Parsons is a role player who could not create his own shots, not the star the Rockets fans, coaches and he himself seem to think he is. It's not a coincidence he would shoot better playing off real stars who could create instead of creating by himself.
Let's be honest here. I don't think McHale's attitude towards Lin has changed. Lin played more than usual (thus better) in the 1st half because Beverley didn't play well and the Rockets were trailing more and more when Beverley's in. Who's to say if Beverley would play well in the 1st half today, McHale wouldn't bench Lin? Who's to say if the score was close, Beverley would not play the whole 4th quarter if he happened to get hot at that time even Lin got 20 in the previous 3 quarters?
I still don't like the fact that whether Lin gets his minutes totally depends on the performance of his backup (which is completely out of Lin's control), not even depends on his own performance.
Nothing's going to change for the rest of the year. same shit, different day. Had bev played better, you bet your ass he would have seen more time on the court.
Doesn't matter what is McHale's attitude. The McHale being a good coach for Lin experiment is over. What's most important is JLin continue to be aggressive and looking to score during the minutes he's on the court.
Yup. Lin's been inconsistent this year but mainly that is manufactured by McHell's using Lin out of position.
Every time McHell talks about how Lin should be more consistent, someone should hit the back of his head with a whiffle ball bat and remind him that it's his coaching that causes players to play in an inconsistent manner.
Lin can play at the highest level any night and dominate when he is given the chance. I still think his ability to win is in the mold of the all-time greats. This will be a very very fun playoffs. Watch out, I think they could get to the 2nd round. If they do, they've got as good a chance to win as any.
For people who think Linsanity level was a one-time thing, that was just a glimpse of what he has to offer (yes I am saying this after a great Lin game).
I'm tempering my enthusiasm because we have been down this road before. Lets see what lin does for few more games, before we declare Lin is finally back.
You might want to temper your expectations. When the game is on the line, the team will go back to what they're comfortable with. Letting Harden and Parsons dominate the ball and heavy usage of our back up pg's bc they provide "spark".
Jeremy has been "back" for months. The only reason he doesn't do this all the time is McHale using him like Derek Fisher.
Look at Steve Nash in LA if you don't believe me -- Mr. HOF & 2 MVPs is putting up a mere 12/7 despite having the best PnR big in the league (Dwight). He put up 15/10 with Gortat and random shooters last year. Playing with a ball-dominant SG will do that.
It's clear that Jeremy can do this 90% of the time. How do I know? Because he HAS done it 90% of the time when handling the ball like a starting PG should.
Dude we know jeremy could've had more games like this the entire season if McHale showed some faith in him and try to encourage him.
What I meant by being back is Lin just ignoring McHale and playing like we know he could without thinking too much about adhering to McHale's directions.
I want Lin to just stop worrying about pacifying McHale and just play. I want this type of attitude every game before I declare him back.
Because if Lin ignores McHale, McHale will bench him. The only reason he didn't get benched tonight was Beverly sucking hard on both ends in the first half.
Interesting stuff about Lin from McHale. He didn't volunteer any praise..said initially James and Lin collectively did well. Then later in the interview, after praising Francisco.. When asked about Lin, he said that Jeremy had a lot of good games this year. Linsanity showed that his ceiling is high and he can maintain a high level for sometime. He will eventually find consistency as all young players do. He is a good teammate.. Didn't complain about getting benched in Orlando because bev played so well.
Repost from the 2nd half thread. He was complimentary about Lin, I'll give u that. My impression is he is choosing his words more carefully, but he couldn't have possibly said anything negative tonight.
It remains to been .. Lets see how he utilizes Lin in a close game.
He keeps talking about Lin as a young player. There are a lot of young players on this team. Why are some of those other young players treated differently than Lin? They're just as inconsistent when they're playing out of position...
The part where he talked about Lin not complaining while getting benched bugged me. So if Lin complains or speaks up for himself, you'll let him play? Maybe Lin should be a nut hugger like Parsons is to Mchale so he can get more playing time.
Sorry guys, for the foul language but fuck Mchale and HOU's retarded fan base.
He got his 20 points in garbage minutes, that proved he's played well right?
Or he got his teammates involved (even he really didn't) and then took over in the important 3rd quarter (even he didn't do a thing until the lead was over 20), right?
Yeah I thought it was interesting he brought up the benching..nth at Lin didn't complain and was still a good teammate. It looks like he is almost saying Lin will support me no matter what da hell I choose to do.
Perhaps Lin should express his anger more at dickish moves like dat. Then he will think twice about benching his starter next time.
James willing deferred to Lin as facilitator during first half of game, and wonderful things happened for Rockets as a whole.
Last shot Lin took in third was bad choice (seemed like a bit of a selfish me shot), and I thought it was good that McHale took him out then.
That was a great time for Harden to step up as closer and drop the hammer on Mavericks.
I would have loved to see Lin mess around with the newly acquired players in fourth quarter (,http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/21/jeremy-lin-knicks-dleague/) but he was charging so aggressively to basket earlier in game that always have to be worried about injury in junk time.
look, mchale has been around this NBA league long enough to speak his mind. HOF, GM, HC, he's given interviews countless times. he definitely has his own agenda spewing out garbage at the pg interview.
Every shot Jeremy took, every pass Jeremy attempted (even the failed alley oop) I am perfectly happy with. When Jeremy plays like this, everyone gets in rhythm. Jeremy rarely has a great game at the expense of other players. I'm not at all surprised another teammate of got his career high in points when Jeremy played well - asik, harden and now parsons.
This is what the coach needs to harness from Jeremy instead of trying to subdue him. I sincerely hope McHale has turned the corner.. But still have my doubts.
I'd rather Lin play for another team. But if McFail gets fired, it's better than nothing. McFail has been exposed as a Lin hater from the get go, so if he isn't fired, Lin will look for of a solution. Lin is a good person, so he will put up with things for a while, but if it continues, I doubt he'll put up with it for too long.
Lin is more powerful than McHale, because Lin is a much better player than McFail is as a coach.
I'm just going to laugh. NBA gave player of the game to..... Harden!? LOL. Man at least give it to Parsons. He had a career high shooting 92&!!!! And if not, Lin had better stats than Harden. 21 and 9. Oh, sorry, I didn't know you only looked at +/-, my bad. ;)
in this game, yea, harden got the highest +/-. my observation is that, based on past trend, parson would have been the player of the game. but in this game, +/- is used, or maybe pts/asst/reb/stl. the gauge changes, but somehow would be in harden's favour, i guess, since he's the franchise player?
see, Cara, i agree with you completely, not only on this but also your other posts on this thread. i know stat padding is bs and Jeremy doesn't do that but it really helps quiet down naysayers since they only look at the scorebox and criticize Jeremy as though they are experts and they watched the games to let them do it rightfully.
and jp2123, i meant if +/- is the gauge for the player of the game, jeremy would have been up there more "often" than harden would have.
Oh yeah, def. I was being sarcastic in my first post. But it did seem like today they only looked at that, and obviously Harden is the superstar in team. However, we all know that the ones that carried the team tonight were Lin and Parsons when it was a must. After the lead began Harden appeared.
@ Bob, agreed. This forum is absolutely obsessed with Mchale and nit-picks at every damn thing (even after a game like this evenings). I know I can go on my way, but I like this forum even if I often find the focus and to me over reactions here not my cup of tea.
Lin was a beast today, and played exceptionally well.
That's because even in a win like this, we can see clearly McHale's agenda.
If you think not letting his players play their natural positions, playing favorite etc are not a problem, then of course you have nothing to "nit pick".
McHale's agenda is to win as many games as possible so he can keep his job. You may not agree with everything he does; I don't either. But I can assure you this is his agenda. However, you're free to believe whatever you wish. Mchale was incredibly complimentary in the post game interview, this evening.
LOL. How can you "assure" what McHale's agenda is? In multiple previous threads, you would call out someone else for making assumptions about McHale's agenda, yet here you are doing the exact same thing. Why frequent a board where you disagree with 99% of its followers every thread?
Can you tell us what you actually like about this board? Other than providing yourself the opportunity to elicit negativity?
If McHale's agenda is trying to win only and then honestly think not using Lin much while over using Harden and Parsons is the way to win, then I see a bigger problem in him, that he's simply bad at spotting and recognizing talent.
I think it's already proven that McHale played certain players with a hidden agenda, not just for pure winning or how else would you explain his use of Martin, Douglas, Patterson and Aldrich etc?
8 min mark. What he did say is this team will need Lin down the stretch, at this high level, and the part about being ok on the bench was a little extended, so it was nice to see him over talk it a bit ... must be on their minds.
I disagree with folks who said Lin should have went back in to get the double-double. That's would cheapen it. On that same vein, McH should have taken Harden out and screw the stat padding. Guy is on a bum knee ... and frankly the 21 pts is sort of cheapened b/c he could have and should have been taken out prior.
I would disagree with the folks calling for Lin coming back, except the the coaching staff's track record makes a compelling point against doing so. They never fail to play Harden or Parsons in garbage time - even in today's game - so if anything, it'd be fair to give Lin the same kind of opp.
I don't mind Jeremy not playing 4th quarter either. Even Clyde was commenting that Harden should be taken out of he game when the lead was huge. For the first time, Clyde made sense.
I really like Clyde and think that he gets a really bad rap on here. And yes, I agreed with Clyde... take Harden out... the guy's not completely healthy.
I don't really care about Lin getting a double double as I agreed that getting it in garbage minutes cheapened it.
However, I can understand a lot of players like Harden and Parsons stat padding (not Lin though). Because when the season ended, people would only see Harden is the so and so top scorer in the league at like 26 ppg or whatever. It's like Rondo stat padding for his triple double and assists record. And those would forever be in record book. And there would not be an asterisk showing the said player was getting them to win or to stat pad.
100 years later or even 1 year later, no one would remember some of the record was set in garbage time. Just like we now marvel at Wilt's 100 point game. No one would say he's stat padding even he was.
They stick a starter, usually Harden or Parsons, sometimes Asik, for first 3-4 minutes of 4Q to anchor the game and make sure opposing team doesn't derail the win.
Whichever starter plays generally have an easy time since opposing team have usually quit. Why not have Lin anchor it for once? Its not like they didn't know he was one assist away from a double double.
If memory serves me right, this isn't the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd time this has happened. Heck better yet coaching should have just let Lin finish off 3Q along with Harden and get his double double, there was no reason to put Bev in at that point, 3 more minutes isn't going to kill Lin, and Bev would play all of 4th.
That last 3 point attempt Lin took looked like a bad choice for the offense, more like a selfish me shot, and I thought it was right time to pull Lin.
Lin set the table for everyone else, and then James stepped up to drop the hammer on Mavericks as closer.
Wouldn't have minded seeing Lin mess around with newly acquired in fourth quarter, but given how aggressively he was driving to hoop earlier in game, plus fact we have to play Mavericks again on Wednesday, probably not best idea. Don't want to get him hurt in junk time.
I like the way you mess around, Joe. Good to see that from pre Linsanity. Yep, would have been nice to see some Lin/new guy action, but I'm sure they have lots in practice. Wed will be harder, then Friday will be important!
Kenoshi, you are getting this backward. This is no problem of Lin being pulled. However there is a problem of Harden and Parsons not being pulled!
Go watch some Thunder or Spurs games. Whenever there is a blowout (over 30 point lead after 3 quarters), their star players (Parker, Duncan, Westbrook and Durant) never play in the 4th. I know this because it happens a lot to them! You can always read them getting so and so points in 3 quarters.
Why would people want Lin to go back in the 4th? It was a blow out.
What I care about is how Lin is used in the 4th, when the game is close. Or how he's used at any point in the game, when the game is close. This is where they've misused him the most.
Cara I didn't say any other teams do this, I say ROCKETS do this a lot when they have a blowout, they always have some starter in there to anchor 4Q, except Lin.
They had a commanding lead when Bev subbed in, this is on the clock, Bev/TD always come in at 3min and by time Lin comes back in 4th Lin is usually cold.
There was no real need for Bev to be in at 3Q when they had a commanding lead, Lin was running around with a smile from his face, maybe 30 seconds away from another assist to get his double. Could of even waited for another assist then put Beverley in.
Yes I agree, Harden probably should of sat instead, he is still injured after all, not disputing that.
Kenoshi, by "some starter to anchor the 4th", you meant Harden and Parsons, right?
Because I never see any other Rockets starters stat padding in garbage minutes except those 2.
And you're beating a dead horse here. Everyone without blind eyes knows that Lin's status on the Rockets is not as the same as those 2. Lin's status is probably lower than Asik and Delfino as well, and just somewhere a bit higher than those rookie PFs.
It's meaningless to compare Lin's situation to Harden and Parsons and think Lin command the same respect as those 2 from the coaching staff and teammates.
BTW, those with History Channel might want be interested to watch a Chinese and Black angels destroying Sodom and Gomorah in the new Bible mini-series.
I heard about that. Was going to watch it but was watching the game. Going to watch it now though. I seriously dont know why they do things like that to Bible stories. I mean I know they will obviously change some things but that far?
Lol, I know. I mean I'm not mad or anything. This is expected cause it's kinda viewed from a secular point of view. I like watching series like this. I just wish they would have stayed more in line with the Bible, but I knew they would. Just finished watching the first episode. So far so good. I did like the fact the the "main" angel that visited Abraham they kinda made it look like it was actually Jesus. Which I thought was pretty cool.
You guys ever watch Ancient Aliens? I love the episodes where they go through the bible to argue that Jesus and Angels were actually aliens. The guys are kooks, but, there some strange stuff in the bible and in religious paintings and writings.
@jp2123, that part is actually quite accurate. My wife who's taking BSF classes said the 3rd one is the pre-incarnate Jesus. Go figure. Learned something new every day :)
not yet, Roberlin. I see there's a lot of Youtube videos on it. It'd be interesting to see if they had solid scientific/archeological studies to back it up like they did for Biblical archeological digs/studies. Thanks for the link :) Sounds like fun.
psalm, the most interesting stuff to me they talk about is that, by modern standards, the historical explanations for how the Egyptian and South American pyramids were built make very little sense from an engineering perspective.
But, even if the conventional stories are not realistic, the conclusion they jump to (therefore, aliens built the pyramids!) don't necessarily follow from their own evidence.
2:14 Upon answering questions of Parsons' performance, McHale threw in "Jeremy and James had 16 assists between the two of them and great ball movement ... Dallas liked to pack the paint in the past so when you made the extra pass and made them scramble a bit.."
He spent 85 seconds talking about Jeremy. Here goes the ceiling talk again, but he alluded to Jeremy getting older and better and more consistent...Not 21pt 9ast every night apparently.
Its almost like he wants to say something but is holding himself back. He definitely has reservations about Jeremy still, but the fact that he actually said "Jeremy had a lot of great games for us"...Heh change of heart maybe.
I'll wager wed mavs are going to try and shut JLin down.
5:46 Reporter: "You mentioned Jeremy.. Was it about as well as he has played all year?"
McHale: "Jeremy had played a lot of good games this year.
I mean, that's the high end but anytime you had 8-14, 21pts, 9asts, 2 TO ... that's high end for everybody .. That's high end for Chris Paul. He played well but he had a lot of good games that had really high end for us.
For a lot of young guys, as you get older you get more consistent. Not saying that he will get 21pts/9asts all the time but you find your level and you maintain it consistently. I think what Jeremy proved last year, his high end ceiling ..he can get on a roll and sustained it for a while (for 21 games last time).
As I said, Win, Lose, or Draw, we play these guys again on Wednesday, then we have 3 days road trip, we have a long home stand we want to win some games but we want to win .. so we're gonna need him to play on a high end.
And that's the thing I like about Jeremy. He didn't play the 4th quarter the last game in ORL, Patrick played so well.. He's just (simply) a good teammate."
I don't really wanted to re-sign Lin but my boss forced him to me. I don't think he's good enough for a team that wants to make playoffs. I think as he gets older, he can get better, but right now, not good enough, not consistent enough. I think he's just a role player and not that good. And that he can have this type of game surprise even me.
Psalm234, that's the thing. McHale's actually being quite consistent. He's always mentioned that he likes Lin's attitude, his character, basically him as a person, but the "liking" ended here. He's never mentioned he likes Lin's game and the way he plays, quite the opposite when he talked about Harden.
I see a coach defending his player that this is not his best game and he has had many games for them.
Then assured the reporter that although Jeremy is young, Jeremy is the type of player who proved he can sustain his high ceiling for a while (at least 21 games).
Then he took the time to explain in the upcoming road games and homestand, he needs Jeremy to continue to play on a high end to help winning some games.
And he closed with his personal affinity of Jeremy not sulking (possibly remembering how Lowry was the opposite last year) after not playing 4Q last game and being able to contribute on a high end this game.
If you watched how McHale thought and replied in context of reporter's question without finding things for confirmation bias or suspicion, you will find that McHale truly likes Jeremy and needs him to be a high ceiling to win some games but he understands as a young player, there will be ups and down before there will be consistency. And he convinced the reporter that Jeremy proved it last year with 21 games consistency.
Kevin McDumbass- you want Jeremy playing at his "high end?"
Give him respect, consistent minutes, and do not undermine his confidence by benching him for the entire fourth EVEN IF HIS SUB IS PLAYING WELL, and let him actually play his position and to his strengths.
McDoofus, you as a coach, CAN do things to facilitate more high end play from Lin. Or, they can do things, like you have, to sabotage your own player and bring out low end play.
It's an easy choice, but, you'll probably fuck it up cuz you seem to have a mancrush on Beverly. But, I guarantee you, for this team to have any chance of doing something in the playoffs this year, it's going to be because of Lin, not Beverly.
Not everything is black and white including McHale's thoughts on Jeremy.
At least you have to acknowledge the positives of McHale's defense of the reporter's question and the intentional response to emphasize Jeremy's ability to sustain his high ceiling for a while. And his genuine respect for Jeremy's character.
He could have answered "Jeremy is still young and started getting reckless after playing a good spurt in being aggressive. He can be like Bev or TD to be 100% aggressive all the time."
Instead he answered in general about young players needing some time to be consistent so it's good he's not nitpicking on Jeremy's weakness.
At the same time, his genuine response on Jeremy's character also shows that there are aspects of Jeremy's homerun/high-risk-high-reward style that he dislikes and would like him to change. I believe he will be proven wrong eventually because Jeremy was able to only have 2 TO along with 21pts/9asts.
I mean we should take the positives and the negatives of McHale as a coach. Like any of our bosses, they're never 100% for or against us.
1. Musselman 95% (for instilling confidence for Jeremy in his 3 Reno trips) 2. D'Antoni 90% (for believing in him and handing him the offense key, but too much Secretariat riding for Jeremy's long-term health) 3. McHale 70% so far (meaning well but not trusting the offense key to Jeremy in his flawed system, at least Jeremy is on track to play 82 games) 4. Smart 1% (at least he still said good things about Jeremy now) 5. Mark Jackson - incomplete
psalm, I heard it for what it was too. This time, McHale took time and chose his words and stayed with the topic until the end of the interview. Thanks for your transcript. It's there for everyone to read and watch. Wed is going to be tough and we need the win with it so close and GSW Friday.
Great game today, and no sense in getting all twisted up with McHale or Morey guesses. Like Lin, look ahead.
For example, check out Lin's post practice interview and his post game interview on NBA.com. In the first, he was talking tech bball again, and in the post game, after the Bev joke, he was talking tech bball again. I love that about him - he talks about the game and how to win.
Specifically, he said they can't sustain what is their game plan: 3s, layups, FTs. No medium Js, now that PPat is gone. He said in that post game inteview they can't sustain that for 48 mins. I wished a reporter had asked him what is their 2nd option then, because here, in fan forums, people are saying you can't go deep or run for playoffs living and dying by the 3. Maybe it is just mixing it up to get more layups or fouls, but I wish he had said that.
Also, he said one thing they did right was to increase the lead. In the past losing games of late, Lin got big leads, and Bev came in and the leads evaporated. This game, Bev came in he didn't play well his first shift. Or maybe it was 2nd unit. Anyway, Lin spread the lead, and note he called it as a difference maker. So, this team knows they need to take it from 15 lead to 25 lead. That then gives rest of game an easy close.
There are positives and negatives of Mchale as a coach. But, regarding his comments about Lin, they are mostly negative. It's all relative.
Compare his comments about Lin with comments about any of the other main Rocket players. Does McHale comment about Harden's poor defensive play, and that Harden more than Lin is that homerun hitter who ends up striking out too much (all those turnovers).
Has he benched Parsons or Harden for the entire fourth quarter, not because they were playing badly, but because their sub was "playing so well?"
McHale has been a pretty bad coach for Lin, for all the various reasons I've ranted about before. But, after some thought, I realized that McHale's incompetence and disrespect of Lin's game actually may end up being a good thing for Lin, because it looks like he's going to be a lot healthier as the end of the season and playoffs loom than James Harden, whom McHale has ridden hard all season like secretariat, and is physically beat up and probably won't get much better the rest of the season.
That's part of the reason Lin played so well today, is because McHale had to let Lin play point guard to help save Harden's legs.
So, in the end, McHale's incompetence might force him to set Lin free.
Psalm234, liking someone's character is different to liking someone's game though. This is nba and they are all professionals. You don't have to like someone to like his game. Or you may like one's character but don't like his game. For example, I am sure many people dislike Kobe as a person and a teammmate but there are seldomly people who don't respect his game.
I hate to read between the lines. But if you read what McHale's comments on Lin, the praise he gave Lin most is about his character (useless on a basketball court) and rarely about his actual game. While if he mentioned Harden, it's usually about his performance on the court only (which is the only thing that matters, let's be honest). Harden may be a horrible person, or he may be a nice person. Maybe McHale doesn't like someone always going to strip clubs, who knows? But it doesn't mean a damn thing on the court and it's correct.
Actually being praised as a good teammate isn't neccesarily a great thing. Many great players are horrible persons and horrible teammates. You need a certain selfish and mean streak to excel at that level. Michael Jordan was probably the biggest jerk this sport has never seen. Scottie Pippen refused to come out to the court when the game winning shot was drawn for him. McHale himself wasn't that clean of a person on court and off court either lol.
thanks, @JoeTeam. That's true that it's huge if the 2nd team can at least not lose the lead or even increase the lead. We know what happened the last game when the lead quickly evaporated. Perhaps that's the big reason PPat, Morris, TD got traded because the 2nd unit was not working. I see bigger promise with TRob, GSmith, Bev cleaning up the offensive rebounds.
thanks, Joseph :D just want to share my thoughts so perhaps my fellow Lin fans can sleep a little better without McHale's nightmare :) No fun to sleep with a lot of suspicion.
I'm excited to watch the Saturday game vs Phoenix! I'll share some stories. 2nd row, baby!
@cara, I see McHale's answer in sustaining the high end certainly refers to his ability and BB skills to win at the high level for 21 games, not his personality. It's only in general and not offering specifics which would be nice for us Lin fans to hear.
I know we probably want him to list Lin's attributes as he raved about Harden but those days will come.
I'm not here to defend McHale. I'm just reading him as I see his response and thought process. Coming from someone who sees flaws in Lin's style, tonight's response is quite a high praise because he went out of his way to assure the reporter that Jeremy's skills and talent can sustain the high end for at least 21 games.
Look, we all are free to choose to focus on what McHale praised or didn't praise. I'm sure McHale will have some negative comment in the future but why bother? Tonight McHale did well in answering questions about Lin, not many TOs.
I'm just seeing the danger of us only getting confirmation bias of our suspicion of McHale. We need to be able to acknowledge the positive and negatives.
Never pay much attention to your posts in the past, but you earned my respect tonight. You are not gullible because you don't take things as face value. You are not only wise, but have a lot of common sense. You got a fan in me.
Palm,
This is not a dig at you. I like you very much at a person because you don't impose or bully people into your view.
Cara, lol, you're right. Being praised basically as a "nice guy" is not substantive praise of Lin's game.
Oh, the other reason why I think Lin will play bigger for the rest of the season is the insertion of D-Mo in the starting line-up. Of all the Rockets, he's the one guy who truly gets how good Lin is, and knows that getting Lin the ball is good for the team and for himself. On a rebound, why give the ball to Harden? You may never get it back. But, give it to Lin, your chances of getting the ball back in a good position to score an easy basket goes way way up. Dmo knows Lin is his ticket to getting a guaranteed contract in the NBA.
I understand about not taking things at face value and reading between the lines. I'm not gullible to think that Houston is the best place for Jeremy.
McHale's current role player for Jeremy certainly is not the best for him. Jeremy would need to excel by cutting down on his TOs while still being aggressive to get points and assists like tonight. We'd rather Jeremy be in a system where he's 100% PG. I believe he can get 25pts/12 asts easily and contend for All-Star role. Not much breathing room for Jeremy but if he survives, he'll be even better than Steve Nash who still has high TOs tendency under D'Antoni.
But I understand McHale genuinely wants Jeremy to grow as a player, although he can't see Jeremy's potential.
Does it make sense? McHale is not the ideal boss for Jeremy in 2-3 years but for now Jeremy just has to improve on his weakness and be aggressive.
I just try to see the positives and the negatives at the same time. I just don't believe McHale tries to sabotage Lin intentionally. Noone texts his player while waiting for his sick dying daughter unless he cares for the player. Little things show big things.
Playing devil's advocate but did McHell really text Lin? Or, did he merely reply Lin's text with "thanks for your prayers, lin, and for being a nice guy."?
"We all wanted to do it," Lin said. "We all wanted to do it for him. And we're going to see him tomorrow, so it's been awhile.
"Anything that we can do to try to get his mind off of what he has going on... he's such an unselfish team person. I know he watched the game because he texted me and told me his thoughts. It's just incredible that he takes the time to do that. For me, I'm starting to see him kind of like as more than a coach because he goes beyond what a head coach is obligated to do."
Granted, Lin might get more than he bargained for thinking McHale is more than a coach. He is a Chinese dad! :D
Lol. Or any Asian father. McHale probably said something to the effect, " Jeremy, stop trying to hit homeruns! Bunt or do that slap hitting thing that ichiro sukiyaki guy does! Okay? No homeruns, just field goals!"
I have said this before. Lakers are making the playoffs. News is too sensational. However, it's no the Rockets who are going to the 9th but the Jazz. I easily see Rockets in the 6th seed, GSW on 7th, and Lakers on 8th. The GSW and Rockets seeds are going to be decided in their next 2 games against each other. BTW, those game will be playoff like. I can't wait.
If it weren't for McHale's horrendous coaching -- terrible substitutions, JL benching and inability to draw up "final plays" -- Rockets would be competing with Denver for 5th place. In which case, Houston would destroy Memphis, the very likely 4th seed.
We can only hope that CP3 takes time off for his knee and Memphis somehow moves up to 3rd because the 6th seed is very doable like people are saying.
Rockets have a +3.4 pt. differential -- almost identical to Denver and Memphis -- and yet they're 6 games behind! That's a very clear sign of poor coaching.
what are the games that bad coaching probably cost the Rockets the game?
Off the top of my head - the Bucks game, the Sacramento game, the Wizards game, all games in which the team had the lead in the fourth quarter; the Portland OT game when Lin got benched in OT.
You could also count the two denver games. A split would have been huge.
The Dallas game where Lin was benched the entire 4th quarter, and nobody could stop OJ Mayo who was on fire after being guarded by Harden's weak Defense.
i have to say that the refs did a good job on the foul calls today. but the official scorer rob JLin of at least 2 steals. in the 2nd quarter, JLin clearly poked the ball away and Asik got credited for the steal. later, i think it was Marion who lost control of the ball while driving, and JLin caught it, but was fouled, knocking him out of bounds. no steal was credited to JLin. and there was another play where Collison tried to dribble through 2 defenders, JLin being one of them and possibly causing Collison to lose the ball, and Asik again was credited with the steal. i believe the official rule for a steal is suppose to credit the person who strips the ball loose. yet, nba scorers have been inconsistent with this rule.
The player who retrieves the ball usually gets credited with the steal. However the player who poked it free, does get awarded a "deflection" stat ... but you won't see that because it's shown only in advanced box scores that GM's and scouts look at.
I think after Mchale's stupid benching of Lin in the Orlando game, Morey talked to him and told him that was dumb and don't do it again.
I don't trust Morey, but, Morey has more of a stake in Lin because he signed him to a contract that many people thought was more than Lin deserved, so, his reputation as a GM is at stake with Lin's play. When his stupid coach benches Lin for a guy who may not even be with the team next year, that may been the last straw for Morey.
I think Morey wants Lin to excel, whether by his own evaluation or pressured by Les (most likely) doesn't matter. He also wants Robinson to be the starting 4 and wants his draft picks (like DMo) to do well. I don't think he wants to see someone like Delfino, Beverley (clearly stop gap options and not in long term plans) get heavy and crunch time minutes.
However McHale just doesn't quite co-operate. It's semi okay if it's a win. But it's not something the management want to see and would be a big deal if it's ended up in a loss. McHale's actually walking a dangerous line here.
Dont forget - Les yelled at Morey when Linsanity started. Morey was the one to let JLin go in the first place. Morey merely corrected a mistake. We dont know how badly Morey wanted Lin. All we know is Les wanted Lin on the team.
Lol, Mchale's cooperating a bit more since the Orlando game, isn't he?
Morey wants Lin to excel to the extent that if Lin crashes and burns, then he's going to get the bulk of the blame for signing him to the poison pill contract. Even if he wouldn't have signed Lin if he got Harden first, fact is, he signed Lin, and therefore, he has a reputational stake in Lin's success forever. If Lin truly excels the rest of this season, and along with Harden, DMo, TRob, Asik, the team goes deep into the playoffs, Morey could be a legitimate candidate for GM of the year. But, not if his coach does dumb things like play a D-League back-up over his hand-picked top player for no really good reason.
Etane, no. Morey as GM is going to take the praise or the blame if Lin fails or succeeds. No one is going to point the blame at the owner, even if it was the owner who really pushed for the Lin signing.
THink about the Jet's mess with the Tebow signing. Clearly, it was the owner who wanted Tebow, not the GM or the head coach. But, when the signing became a total disaster, who took the fall? The ex-GM for the Jets.
Rober: too little sample size. Lin's usage is too inconsistent.
Willy's comment above makes it sound like Les forced Morey to sign Lin. If that's the case, it wouldn't be Morey and his stat crunching that made Rox pursue Lin.
As for this rumor that it was Les's call, like I wrote about, it doesn't matter, the GM will take the fall or praise re: Lin, no matter what.
And, Les doesn't seem like a Jerry Jones or Steinbrenner type of owner, basically overruling his GM if he likes a certain player. If Morey really didn't want Lin, I'm sure he could have shown Les a bunch of numbers saying Lin really sucks. To me, Morey seems to have a lot of autonomy, has a huge ego, and would never have taken a GM job with an interfering owner (ala Cuban). So, I still would surmise that Morey wouldn't have signed Lin if he didn't believe in him, or, rather, the the numbers didn't suppport signing Lin.
Too little sample size that McHell is cooperating a bit more since Orlando. Too many times has Lin had Linsanity-esque nights and we think all the right in the world but then get punked the next game with playing Lin out of position again.
And, if Morey did have autocratic control in pursuing Lin, then Morey does have a stake in Lin's success.
Etane, you think Les Alexandra became a billionaire for being stupid?
Even if the Lin signing was his decision and Lin's failing, why should he take the responsibility as the boss? Why should he let other people other than himself run his business if he really wants?
Morey's reputation is more at stake than Les ever will be. Les will be the owner no matter what his reputation is and how many bad decisions he made. Did you see James Dolan being the MSG boss no matter how much he failed? Or Sterling? You think they have changed because now they have better teams?
With Morey, you really think if he's fired in Houston, and when he's interviewed for his next job, he could say "Nah, it's not me for the failed signing, it's the owner", you think that would go well with his next employer?
That's why whether signing Lin is ultimately Morey or Les' decision, Morey has a rooting interest for Lin to succeed. That "proving Les wrong" theory is just silly.
Aaron Brooks is not a very good player. Look how his stats dramatically dropped when put into a different offensive system. Compare that to JLin's stats, Jlin is by far a more superior player in any type of offensive system.
Sure, but, McHale's the coach. I'm sure he'll find something in Brook's game to justify benching Lin.
Remember last year, when everyone was trying to say Linsanity was a fluke because Lin was good only because he was in Dantoni's system and got to play 42 minutes every game? And because he played well only against bad teams?
This year, he's put up decent numbers in-spite of playing under a coach who won't even let him play his position, and whose minutes won't go over 32 minutes a game this season.
Roberlin, it doesn't really matter if McHale benches Lin or not, except maybe to the dismal of our viewing pleasure for a moment.
Lin's already proven he can play in this league. If the Rockets don't use him, other teams will.
And I am 100% positive that no management or owner could accept a 25m player sitting on the bench, giving away to 2 minimum wage players who don't help the team win much.
Now if McHale by playing Brooks/Beverley could help the Rockets win a championship, then good for him, but is it even possible? Lol.
And have a bit more confidence in Lin, okay? If he couldn't even outplay 2 minimum wage players in a fair playing field, does he even deserve our support? Is he even as good as we think he is?
McHale will be gone long before Lin if he insists on playing inferior players in front of Lin.
Cool. Maybe Beverly could be our answer for an alternative energy supply. You're so right, I could feel Patrick's energy on the bench while watching him on t.v. What energy that guy has. Such a spark. He's such a spark, he sparkles. Sparkling energy. What a sparkling sparkplug spark.
I do hope Bev makes it in the NBA, and is at least able to play significant minutes for a few years.
I don't know if it's just me, but, I think more teams are giving D-leaguers and overlooked players a chance because of Jeremy Lin exposing the big holes in the NBA scouting system, and forcing teams to take a more serious look at players they had dismissed before.
If Lin doesn't play well, he comes in and play the whole 4th.
The only not so good scenario for him is if he doesn't play well, and Lin plays well and the score is close, but then he still gets to play half of the 4th.
See, he's in a much better position than Harden and Parsons' backups who won't get to play no matter what lol. Anderson's likely a better player than Beverley individually, but he never get much court time because he happens to play in the same position as Harden and Parsons.
So depressing. But it's consistent with how the coaches felt about Lin from the beginning. During October training camp, they thought Lin sucked so much the coaches (unnamed) lobbied to keep that journeyman point guard.
BUT - and this supports my point that Morey wants Lin to succeed - Morey cut that dude, killing off any point guard controversy. At least for a litle bit.
Can someone care to explain Jeremy Lin's pg interview .. Joking about Patrick Beverley?
ReplyDeleteMy read was Lin was making fun of himself with the same lines to same reporters he's had to say to keep it cool. Love the reporters' guffaws, "That's amaaaazing!". Replay it and laugh with them!
Deletehttp://www.nba.com/rockets/video/2013/03/03/Lin030313mp4-2402895
How is he making fun of himself? Does it have something to do with being "outplayed by Beverly last game? And how beverlyvwas the talk of the game?,
DeleteSolidz ... I think he's been forced to say those same words every time Bev plays for him, and he's been killin' him and the reporters. So, that's how I red the inside joke. So, when he said that, everybody busted up. I dunno, that's what made me laugh.
Delete"... it's been killin' him and the reporters looking for a bit of honesty." This was just him 'being honest'. That's the funny thing to me, that he's lying again to them and they can finally laugh about it.
DeleteI still don't get it...
DeleteHaha, I like the way JLin telling the "truth", in Chinese it is 心领神会， "you know what I am talking about"
DeleteHe's making fun of Rockets' (or McHale's) explanation on why he was benched in the 4th quarter last game. Good to see him annoyed enough to say something, although in a jokingly way.
Deleteyes, don't assume people are stupid... (especially as smart as a Harvard grad)
DeleteIs he really making fun of him being benched?! Is he kinda showing his displeasure? Someone clearly explain to me .. Cause I really don't get the joke..
DeleteLin has always strikes me as a passive aggressive type of person, but in a good way. He was tired of being a punching bag or doormat so he was letting his steam out in a non threatening way.
Delete'just a non combative way to show forth his own frustrations. classy as always. That's our boy , Lin!
DeleteIts Lin trying to diffuse the situation with a McHale impression, while pulling off a not-so-subtle dig at McHale.
DeleteClever boy our Jeremy is.
He was having fun at PB's expense. I'm sure him, Rockets, etc., got bombarded about why he didn't get to play 4Q vs Magic and we all heard the praises PB received.
Had a feeling Rox would do some appeasement move today, Lin became primary playmaker, they receive backlash on the internet every time Lin gets benched. And coincidentally it resulted in a blowout.
"I thought Patrick Beverley did a great job. He came off the bench and gave us a lot of energy."
DeleteI think this is one of McHell's standard replies.
I am waiting for some more Lin impressions of McHell greatest hits:
"27 points and 9 TOs, I tell Jeremy that we're trying to in games here."
"He's a young guy learning to be more consistent. He's going to be fine."
Victory feels good! What a game! I feel bad for whoever missed it. Oh and btw are we just half or a game behind 6th seed. Oh yes I think so!!!! Let's go Lin, Rockets!!!! Oh and I won this weeks fantasy thanks to Lin, Asik, and Motiajuntas! Now I'm going to the playoffs with Team Linsanity! :D
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to point out that Lin played excellent Defense. Lin was always a good help defender.
ReplyDeleteBut the last two games I've seen him play excellent on ball D, especially going over the top of screens. I'm not sure what changed but I am glad too see this.
Anyone see @dmorey's sarcastic response to Lin's fan complaining that Lin didn't get to play the 4th? So he does read our tweets.. Lol
ReplyDeleteMorey doesn't have any rights to be sarcastic to Jeremy's fans. Another PR blunder by him.
DeleteI thought it was funny. Recommendation: Please, BEWARE. Don't listen to McHales comments tonight. Just enjoy the AMAZING game Lin had and the victory. It's time for celebration. :D
DeleteThat is funny - Morey is actually dissing McHale and his semi-intelligible comments.
DeleteThere is a channel on YouTube called Conservativenewmedia, where a Jeremy Lin fan analyzes each Rockets game and Jeremy's performance in that game. It takes a couple of hours after each game to appear on YouTube but he does a good job breaking things down (although he is a biased fan of Jeremy).
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the insight from the calm brother very much. Can't stand the wild brother haha :D
DeleteLol Im actually the opposite. I love his excitement.
DeleteHoward Chen @ho_chenCSN
ReplyDeleteOn Lin, McHale said tonight was a high-end game not only for Lin, but it also woulda been high end for CP3 too. In other words, great game.
It really amazes me that these reporters have to try to find a wya to cover Mchale's but with their comments...smh
DeleteSo the asshole actually talked about Lin? Too late, it doesn't mean anything when he's been shitting on Lin all season.
Deletecp3 or cp25?
Deletewhenever they are trying hard to back track, is because they have gotten into trouble. you have Morey on twitter trying to be sarcastic and now they have Mchale saying Lin is a good teammate because he didn't mind being benched. They are trying to hard. Something is up.
DeleteBackhanded statement?
DeleteIn other words, Lin could not sustain this type of performance. Lin's no CP3, he could not play like this every game, even CP3 couldn't.
Am I reading it right? Lol.
Cara,
DeleteYou are reading it correctly.
Yeah I could see how he wanted to say there is no way in hell Lin can play at this level consistently that we should lower our expectations. But he refrained from making such caustic statements unlike what he has been saying all throughout the season.
Deletewho thinks Lin didn't mind being benched? We do mind! Lin does mind as well, only he didn't vent it out. Guess the coach feel the hot air from Lin fans.
DeleteWhy not every game? Lin got 21pts/9asts in only 3 quarters and 25 min.
DeleteAnd he only hit 1 3PT out of 4 attempts.
If he stays aggressive, very few is quick enough to keep up with him :)
Well McHale can say all he wants but lets see how treats Lin for the rest of the year. That will be most revealing of all.
DeleteHe's saying JLin could perform as well as CP3's ceiling haha... It probably took a lot of effort for McHale to give props to JLin, even a backhanded one, so I think he must have received a call from Les :P
Deletenothing will as long as mchale is the coach. i notice that they ran more play sets for lin on home games than away games.
Deletei was very surprised that the offense went through lin the 1st half.
I don't see how this is a backhanded comment, he's comparing Lin's performance tonight to a CP3 that most coaches in NBA would agree is probably the best PG playing at a high level, its one heck of a compliment coming from McHale.
DeleteI think y'all reading into this too much.
Doesn't change my opinion about McHale, but its a step in the right direction. If he does this for the rest of the season, then I'll be convinced.
usually is just the 1st quarter.
DeleteMcHale must be also thinking:
DeleteWhy do you guys (reporters) keep asking about Lin? Why are you not asking about Harden? Damn they are actually watching game and not a box score watcher!
See, let me convince you guys, Harden scored 21 points and this was a low end game for him. Even in his low end game, Harden still scored as much as Lin and CP3 in their high end game. Now Harden is that sustainable "home run hitter", not Lin.
with Kenoshi on this one. Seems like a straight up compliment. Granted, it was probably prompted by a call from up on high, but still.
DeleteDid the offense really go through Lin or did he just make his shots?
DeleteFor the most part, it went through Lin (for the 24 minutes he played). He was still relegated to a spot-up at times, but I'd say he ran it for 90% of initial possessions.
DeleteWhether we are over thinking or not, we have been entrained to be wary of McHale. Lets see if McHale thinks Lin can be cp3. Unlike our current president, I want actions not just empty words.
DeleteK smith. There is absolutely nothing McHale did differently. This was all Lin taking charge. He still got the same amount of min, got pulled when his min was up. But he just took charge taking shots, he drove the lane looking for his shots, he tried alley oop which I'm sure McHale wasn't happy about. But this was definitely Linsanity like.
DeleteI think maybe the post game dig at mchale(?) and Beverley was his way of saying "so u think bev is better than me, well watch this" . He just went out N
Balled.
There were often times when he ignored harden when he was clapping for the ball. Really proud of everything he did tonite.
I listen to his breakdowns all the time. Although he is a Lin fan, his reviews and breakdowns are always pretty fair. he doesn't sugar coat when JLin doesn't play well.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Feigen @Jonathan_Feigen
ReplyDeleteRockets 136, Mavericks 103. Parsons with 32, Lin and Harden 21. Dirk goes 2 of 8. Expect him to tweet CU Wednesday.
Did Parsons play point forward tonight?
ReplyDeleteno, he was off-ball almost the whole night. which is why he had so many 3's and very few assists. amazing he had a great game playing his natural position... duh!!
DeleteThanks. I followed the game on espn play by play and will be watching it when I get home tonight.
DeleteYes good observation. He was mostly spot up shooter with few easy dunks. But didn't try to take his man off the dribble too much especially with Lin having a good game.
DeleteWhen Parsons isn't shooting well he switches into a hyper-facilitating mode and over does it. He's gotta make sure he doesn't ruin his fg%. Good game from him though.
DeleteSolidz75, uhhhhhhhh maybe Parsons should stick his role instead of doing more than he can handle?!
That's because Parsons is a role player who could not create his own shots, not the star the Rockets fans, coaches and he himself seem to think he is. It's not a coincidence he would shoot better playing off real stars who could create instead of creating by himself.
DeleteLet's be honest here. I don't think McHale's attitude towards Lin has changed. Lin played more than usual (thus better) in the 1st half because Beverley didn't play well and the Rockets were trailing more and more when Beverley's in. Who's to say if Beverley would play well in the 1st half today, McHale wouldn't bench Lin? Who's to say if the score was close, Beverley would not play the whole 4th quarter if he happened to get hot at that time even Lin got 20 in the previous 3 quarters?
ReplyDeleteI still don't like the fact that whether Lin gets his minutes totally depends on the performance of his backup (which is completely out of Lin's control), not even depends on his own performance.
Nothing's going to change for the rest of the year. same shit, different day. Had bev played better, you bet your ass he would have seen more time on the court.
DeleteDoesn't matter what is McHale's attitude. The McHale being a good coach for Lin experiment is over. What's most important is JLin continue to be aggressive and looking to score during the minutes he's on the court.
Deletethat's right , @sesshie.
DeleteI don't trust McHale, no matter what he says. I want to see in on the court.
DeleteYup. Lin's been inconsistent this year but mainly that is manufactured by McHell's using Lin out of position.
DeleteEvery time McHell talks about how Lin should be more consistent, someone should hit the back of his head with a whiffle ball bat and remind him that it's his coaching that causes players to play in an inconsistent manner.
Jeremy Lin @JLin7
ReplyDeleteAwesome team win tonight!! Must have been the pregame handshake with @JHarden13 @ChandlerParsons lol #Godisgood
No wonder it's a blowout.
DeleteThey threw up a prayer
what a good little role player.
DeleteAh, that's what it is, not Shaolin!
DeleteLin can play at the highest level any night and dominate when he is given the chance. I still think his ability to win is in the mold of the all-time greats. This will be a very very fun playoffs. Watch out, I think they could get to the 2nd round. If they do, they've got as good a chance to win as any.
ReplyDeleteFor people who think Linsanity level was a one-time thing, that was just a glimpse of what he has to offer (yes I am saying this after a great Lin game).
I'm tempering my enthusiasm because we have been down this road before. Lets see what lin does for few more games, before we declare Lin is finally back.
DeleteYou might want to temper your expectations. When the game is on the line, the team will go back to what they're comfortable with. Letting Harden and Parsons dominate the ball and heavy usage of our back up pg's bc they provide "spark".
DeleteJeremy has been "back" for months. The only reason he doesn't do this all the time is McHale using him like Derek Fisher.
DeleteLook at Steve Nash in LA if you don't believe me -- Mr. HOF & 2 MVPs is putting up a mere 12/7 despite having the best PnR big in the league (Dwight). He put up 15/10 with Gortat and random shooters last year. Playing with a ball-dominant SG will do that.
It's clear that Jeremy can do this 90% of the time. How do I know? Because he HAS done it 90% of the time when handling the ball like a starting PG should.
Dude we know jeremy could've had more games like this the entire season if McHale showed some faith in him and try to encourage him.
DeleteWhat I meant by being back is Lin just ignoring McHale and playing like we know he could without thinking too much about adhering to McHale's directions.
I want Lin to just stop worrying about pacifying McHale and just play. I want this type of attitude every game before I declare him back.
Oh okay. Then in that case, you'll be waiting forever. Or at least till next year if and when Morey/Les signs an elite PF.
DeleteBecause if Lin ignores McHale, McHale will bench him. The only reason he didn't get benched tonight was Beverly sucking hard on both ends in the first half.
DeleteWell I want Lin to play like this and just dare McHake to bench him. He is gonna get benched no matter what so at least play his game.
DeleteInteresting stuff about Lin from McHale. He didn't volunteer any praise..said initially James and Lin collectively did well. Then later in the interview, after praising Francisco.. When asked about Lin, he said that Jeremy had a lot of good games this year. Linsanity showed that his ceiling is high and he can maintain a high level for sometime. He will eventually find consistency as all young players do. He is a good teammate.. Didn't complain about getting benched in Orlando because bev played so well.
ReplyDeleteRepost from the 2nd half thread. He was complimentary about Lin, I'll give u that. My impression is he is choosing his words more carefully, but he couldn't have possibly said anything negative tonight.
It remains to been .. Lets see how he utilizes Lin in a close game.
He keeps talking about Lin as a young player. There are a lot of young players on this team. Why are some of those other young players treated differently than Lin? They're just as inconsistent when they're playing out of position...
DeleteThe part where he talked about Lin not complaining while getting benched bugged me. So if Lin complains or speaks up for himself, you'll let him play? Maybe Lin should be a nut hugger like Parsons is to Mchale so he can get more playing time.
Sorry guys, for the foul language but fuck Mchale and HOU's retarded fan base.
James Harden played well?
DeleteHe got his 20 points in garbage minutes, that proved he's played well right?
Or he got his teammates involved (even he really didn't) and then took over in the important 3rd quarter (even he didn't do a thing until the lead was over 20), right?
Lol.
Yeah I thought it was interesting he brought up the benching..nth at Lin didn't complain and was still a good teammate. It looks like he is almost saying Lin will support me no matter what da hell I choose to do.
DeletePerhaps Lin should express his anger more at dickish moves like dat. Then he will think twice about benching his starter next time.
Cara.. Yeah not sure why he feels like he has to mention James every moment he gets. If anyone else deserved recognition, it was ASik.
DeleteJames willing deferred to Lin as facilitator during first half of game, and wonderful things happened for Rockets as a whole.
DeleteLast shot Lin took in third was bad choice (seemed like a bit of a selfish me shot), and I thought it was good that McHale took him out then.
That was a great time for Harden to step up as closer and drop the hammer on Mavericks.
I would have loved to see Lin mess around with the newly acquired players in fourth quarter (,http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/21/jeremy-lin-knicks-dleague/) but he was charging so aggressively to basket earlier in game that always have to be worried about injury in junk time.
look, mchale has been around this NBA league long enough to speak his mind. HOF, GM, HC, he's given interviews countless times. he definitely has his own agenda spewing out garbage at the pg interview.
DeleteEvery shot Jeremy took, every pass Jeremy attempted (even the failed alley oop) I am perfectly happy with. When Jeremy plays like this, everyone gets in rhythm. Jeremy rarely has a great game at the expense of other players. I'm not at all surprised another teammate of got his career high in points when Jeremy played well - asik, harden and now parsons.
DeleteThis is what the coach needs to harness from Jeremy instead of trying to subdue him. I sincerely hope McHale has turned the corner.. But still have my doubts.
I'd rather Lin play for another team. But if McFail gets fired, it's better than nothing. McFail has been exposed as a Lin hater from the get go, so if he isn't fired, Lin will look for of a solution. Lin is a good person, so he will put up with things for a while, but if it continues, I doubt he'll put up with it for too long.
DeleteLin is more powerful than McHale, because Lin is a much better player than McFail is as a coach.
lin played great and he got his 16-20 points thats all that matters. i just want to be able to see him play in the league for a long time.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Enjoy your longer posts too.
Deletespot on , Bob C F Chan! :>
DeleteI'm just going to laugh. NBA gave player of the game to..... Harden!? LOL. Man at least give it to Parsons. He had a career high shooting 92&!!!! And if not, Lin had better stats than Harden. 21 and 9. Oh, sorry, I didn't know you only looked at +/-, my bad. ;)
ReplyDeletethat was 92%*
Deleteif +/- is the gauge for the player of the game, jeremy would have been up there more than harden did.
DeleteLin was +26 Harden was +37. That would be the only reason why Harden would get player of the game.
Deletein this game, yea, harden got the highest +/-. my observation is that, based on past trend, parson would have been the player of the game. but in this game, +/- is used, or maybe pts/asst/reb/stl. the gauge changes, but somehow would be in harden's favour, i guess, since he's the franchise player?
DeleteESPN's headline though is "Parsons scored 32 to lead Rockets to win" something like that.
DeleteNow that's the great thing about stat padding. They wouldn't say "Parsons scored 32 (about 10 in garbage minutes) to lead the Rockets". Lol.
see, Cara, i agree with you completely, not only on this but also your other posts on this thread. i know stat padding is bs and Jeremy doesn't do that but it really helps quiet down naysayers since they only look at the scorebox and criticize Jeremy as though they are experts and they watched the games to let them do it rightfully.
Deleteand jp2123, i meant if +/- is the gauge for the player of the game, jeremy would have been up there more "often" than harden would have.
Oh yeah, def. I was being sarcastic in my first post. But it did seem like today they only looked at that, and obviously Harden is the superstar in team. However, we all know that the ones that carried the team tonight were Lin and Parsons when it was a must. After the lead began Harden appeared.
Delete@ Bob, agreed. This forum is absolutely obsessed with Mchale and nit-picks at every damn thing (even after a game like this evenings). I know I can go on my way, but I like this forum even if I often find the focus and to me over reactions here not my cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteLin was a beast today, and played exceptionally well.
That's because even in a win like this, we can see clearly McHale's agenda.
DeleteIf you think not letting his players play their natural positions, playing favorite etc are not a problem, then of course you have nothing to "nit pick".
McHale's agenda is to win as many games as possible so he can keep his job. You may not agree with everything he does; I don't either. But I can assure you this is his agenda. However, you're free to believe whatever you wish. Mchale was incredibly complimentary in the post game interview, this evening.
DeleteLOL. How can you "assure" what McHale's agenda is? In multiple previous threads, you would call out someone else for making assumptions about McHale's agenda, yet here you are doing the exact same thing. Why frequent a board where you disagree with 99% of its followers every thread?
DeleteCan you tell us what you actually like about this board? Other than providing yourself the opportunity to elicit negativity?
If McHale's agenda is trying to win only and then honestly think not using Lin much while over using Harden and Parsons is the way to win, then I see a bigger problem in him, that he's simply bad at spotting and recognizing talent.
DeleteI think it's already proven that McHale played certain players with a hidden agenda, not just for pure winning or how else would you explain his use of Martin, Douglas, Patterson and Aldrich etc?
Cara, can we discuss this through email? I enjoy your perspectives.
Delete@JK I'm assuming you call it like you see it. I do the same. It's all good.
McHale interview - anybody have a link? I can't find it.
ReplyDeletenm ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYtlEOrE5DM&feature=youtu.be
Delete8 min mark. What he did say is this team will need Lin down the stretch, at this high level, and the part about being ok on the bench was a little extended, so it was nice to see him over talk it a bit ... must be on their minds.
Pretty good sporting night.
correction, 5:40 mark
DeleteDon't ever trust McHale. Something is up with that guy. Something wacko. Or he is a wacko.
DeleteI disagree with folks who said Lin should have went back in to get the double-double. That's would cheapen it. On that same vein, McH should have taken Harden out and screw the stat padding. Guy is on a bum knee ... and frankly the 21 pts is sort of cheapened b/c he could have and should have been taken out prior.
ReplyDeleteI would disagree with the folks calling for Lin coming back, except the the coaching staff's track record makes a compelling point against doing so. They never fail to play Harden or Parsons in garbage time - even in today's game - so if anything, it'd be fair to give Lin the same kind of opp.
DeleteI don't mind Jeremy not playing 4th quarter either. Even Clyde was commenting that Harden should be taken out of he game when the lead was huge. For the first time, Clyde made sense.
DeleteI really like Clyde and think that he gets a really bad rap on here. And yes, I agreed with Clyde... take Harden out... the guy's not completely healthy.
DeleteI don't really care about Lin getting a double double as I agreed that getting it in garbage minutes cheapened it.
DeleteHowever, I can understand a lot of players like Harden and Parsons stat padding (not Lin though). Because when the season ended, people would only see Harden is the so and so top scorer in the league at like 26 ppg or whatever. It's like Rondo stat padding for his triple double and assists record. And those would forever be in record book. And there would not be an asterisk showing the said player was getting them to win or to stat pad.
100 years later or even 1 year later, no one would remember some of the record was set in garbage time. Just like we now marvel at Wilt's 100 point game. No one would say he's stat padding even he was.
Its a pattern every time they have a blowout:
DeleteThey stick a starter, usually Harden or Parsons, sometimes Asik, for first 3-4 minutes of 4Q to anchor the game and make sure opposing team doesn't derail the win.
Whichever starter plays generally have an easy time since opposing team have usually quit. Why not have Lin anchor it for once? Its not like they didn't know he was one assist away from a double double.
If memory serves me right, this isn't the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd time this has happened. Heck better yet coaching should have just let Lin finish off 3Q along with Harden and get his double double, there was no reason to put Bev in at that point, 3 more minutes isn't going to kill Lin, and Bev would play all of 4th.
That last 3 point attempt Lin took looked like a bad choice for the offense, more like a selfish me shot, and I thought it was right time to pull Lin.
DeleteLin set the table for everyone else, and then James stepped up to drop the hammer on Mavericks as closer.
Wouldn't have minded seeing Lin mess around with newly acquired in fourth quarter, but given how aggressively he was driving to hoop earlier in game, plus fact we have to play Mavericks again on Wednesday, probably not best idea. Don't want to get him hurt in junk time.
"Messing Around": http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/21/jeremy-lin-knicks-dleague/
I like the way you mess around, Joe. Good to see that from pre Linsanity. Yep, would have been nice to see some Lin/new guy action, but I'm sure they have lots in practice. Wed will be harder, then Friday will be important!
DeleteKenoshi, you are getting this backward. This is no problem of Lin being pulled. However there is a problem of Harden and Parsons not being pulled!
DeleteGo watch some Thunder or Spurs games. Whenever there is a blowout (over 30 point lead after 3 quarters), their star players (Parker, Duncan, Westbrook and Durant) never play in the 4th. I know this because it happens a lot to them! You can always read them getting so and so points in 3 quarters.
Why would people want Lin to go back in the 4th? It was a blow out.
DeleteWhat I care about is how Lin is used in the 4th, when the game is close. Or how he's used at any point in the game, when the game is close. This is where they've misused him the most.
Cara I didn't say any other teams do this, I say ROCKETS do this a lot when they have a blowout, they always have some starter in there to anchor 4Q, except Lin.
DeleteThey had a commanding lead when Bev subbed in, this is on the clock, Bev/TD always come in at 3min and by time Lin comes back in 4th Lin is usually cold.
There was no real need for Bev to be in at 3Q when they had a commanding lead, Lin was running around with a smile from his face, maybe 30 seconds away from another assist to get his double. Could of even waited for another assist then put Beverley in.
Yes I agree, Harden probably should of sat instead, he is still injured after all, not disputing that.
Kenoshi, by "some starter to anchor the 4th", you meant Harden and Parsons, right?
DeleteBecause I never see any other Rockets starters stat padding in garbage minutes except those 2.
And you're beating a dead horse here. Everyone without blind eyes knows that Lin's status on the Rockets is not as the same as those 2. Lin's status is probably lower than Asik and Delfino as well, and just somewhere a bit higher than those rookie PFs.
It's meaningless to compare Lin's situation to Harden and Parsons and think Lin command the same respect as those 2 from the coaching staff and teammates.
mchale post game is up on nba.com videos now. not sure how to link it.
ReplyDeleteThanks bro ... saw it on youtube 2 posts up.
DeleteBTW, those with History Channel might want be interested to watch a Chinese and Black angels destroying Sodom and Gomorah in the new Bible mini-series.
ReplyDeleteMust be inspired by Houston Rockets backcourts.
I heard about that. Was going to watch it but was watching the game. Going to watch it now though. I seriously dont know why they do things like that to Bible stories. I mean I know they will obviously change some things but that far?
DeleteRush Hour 4, Armageddon Edition?
DeleteI'm sure for creative liberty or dramatization :D as long as they're still accurate, the angels can represent the minorities lol
Deletesounds good, Etane :D
The Chinese Angel got to show his sword-fighting too! It's awesome.
LOL directed by Ang Lee. Angels on wires.
DeleteLol, I know. I mean I'm not mad or anything. This is expected cause it's kinda viewed from a secular point of view. I like watching series like this. I just wish they would have stayed more in line with the Bible, but I knew they would. Just finished watching the first episode. So far so good. I did like the fact the the "main" angel that visited Abraham they kinda made it look like it was actually Jesus. Which I thought was pretty cool.
DeleteYou guys ever watch Ancient Aliens? I love the episodes where they go through the bible to argue that Jesus and Angels were actually aliens. The guys are kooks, but, there some strange stuff in the bible and in religious paintings and writings.
Delete@jp2123, that part is actually quite accurate. My wife who's taking BSF classes said the 3rd one is the pre-incarnate Jesus. Go figure. Learned something new every day :)
Deletenot yet, Roberlin. I see there's a lot of Youtube videos on it. It'd be interesting to see if they had solid scientific/archeological studies to back it up like they did for Biblical archeological digs/studies. Thanks for the link :) Sounds like fun.
Deletepsalm, the most interesting stuff to me they talk about is that, by modern standards, the historical explanations for how the Egyptian and South American pyramids were built make very little sense from an engineering perspective.
DeleteBut, even if the conventional stories are not realistic, the conclusion they jump to (therefore, aliens built the pyramids!) don't necessarily follow from their own evidence.
PostGame 3/3 Kevin McHale
ReplyDelete2:14 Upon answering questions of Parsons' performance, McHale threw in "Jeremy and James had 16 assists between the two of them and great ball movement ... Dallas liked to pack the paint in the past so when you made the extra pass and made them scramble a bit.."
I actually lked his response. Lin had a good game, Rockets won, I made the nba fantasy playoffs, everyone should just be happy tonight. :)
DeleteHe spent 85 seconds talking about Jeremy. Here goes the ceiling talk again, but he alluded to Jeremy getting older and better and more consistent...Not 21pt 9ast every night apparently.
DeleteIts almost like he wants to say something but is holding himself back. He definitely has reservations about Jeremy still, but the fact that he actually said "Jeremy had a lot of great games for us"...Heh change of heart maybe.
I'll wager wed mavs are going to try and shut JLin down.
5:46
DeleteReporter: "You mentioned Jeremy.. Was it about as well as he has played all year?"
McHale: "Jeremy had played a lot of good games this year.
I mean, that's the high end but anytime you had 8-14, 21pts, 9asts, 2 TO ... that's high end for everybody .. That's high end for Chris Paul. He played well but he had a lot of good games that had really high end for us.
For a lot of young guys, as you get older you get more consistent. Not saying that he will get 21pts/9asts all the time but you find your level and you maintain it consistently.
I think what Jeremy proved last year, his high end ceiling ..he can get on a roll and sustained it for a while (for 21 games last time).
As I said, Win, Lose, or Draw, we play these guys again on Wednesday, then we have 3 days road trip, we have a long home stand we want to win some games but we want to win .. so we're gonna need him to play on a high end.
And that's the thing I like about Jeremy. He didn't play the 4th quarter the last game in ORL, Patrick played so well.. He's just (simply) a good teammate."
What McHale wanted to say but held back:
DeleteI don't really wanted to re-sign Lin but my boss forced him to me. I don't think he's good enough for a team that wants to make playoffs. I think as he gets older, he can get better, but right now, not good enough, not consistent enough. I think he's just a role player and not that good. And that he can have this type of game surprise even me.
Cara,
DeleteYou are good tonight. Enjoy reading everything you've written.
Psalm234, that's the thing. McHale's actually being quite consistent. He's always mentioned that he likes Lin's attitude, his character, basically him as a person, but the "liking" ended here. He's never mentioned he likes Lin's game and the way he plays, quite the opposite when he talked about Harden.
DeleteI see a coach defending his player that this is not his best game and he has had many games for them.
DeleteThen assured the reporter that although Jeremy is young, Jeremy is the type of player who proved he can sustain his high ceiling for a while (at least 21 games).
Then he took the time to explain in the upcoming road games and homestand, he needs Jeremy to continue to play on a high end to help winning some games.
And he closed with his personal affinity of Jeremy not sulking (possibly remembering how Lowry was the opposite last year) after not playing 4Q last game and being able to contribute on a high end this game.
If you watched how McHale thought and replied in context of reporter's question without finding things for confirmation bias or suspicion, you will find that McHale truly likes Jeremy and needs him to be a high ceiling to win some games but he understands as a young player, there will be ups and down before there will be consistency. And he convinced the reporter that Jeremy proved it last year with 21 games consistency.
Kevin McDumbass- you want Jeremy playing at his "high end?"
DeleteGive him respect, consistent minutes, and do not undermine his confidence by benching him for the entire fourth EVEN IF HIS SUB IS PLAYING WELL, and let him actually play his position and to his strengths.
McDoofus, you as a coach, CAN do things to facilitate more high end play from Lin. Or, they can do things, like you have, to sabotage your own player and bring out low end play.
It's an easy choice, but, you'll probably fuck it up cuz you seem to have a mancrush on Beverly. But, I guarantee you, for this team to have any chance of doing something in the playoffs this year, it's going to be because of Lin, not Beverly.
cara,
DeleteNot everything is black and white including McHale's thoughts on Jeremy.
At least you have to acknowledge the positives of McHale's defense of the reporter's question and the intentional response to emphasize Jeremy's ability to sustain his high ceiling for a while. And his genuine respect for Jeremy's character.
He could have answered "Jeremy is still young and started getting reckless after playing a good spurt in being aggressive. He can be like Bev or TD to be 100% aggressive all the time."
Instead he answered in general about young players needing some time to be consistent so it's good he's not nitpicking on Jeremy's weakness.
At the same time, his genuine response on Jeremy's character also shows that there are aspects of Jeremy's homerun/high-risk-high-reward style that he dislikes and would like him to change. I believe he will be proven wrong eventually because Jeremy was able to only have 2 TO along with 21pts/9asts.
I mean we should take the positives and the negatives of McHale as a coach. Like any of our bosses, they're never 100% for or against us.
that's how objective as it can get. thanks @psalm234 :>
DeleteMy approval rating for Jeremy's coaches:
Delete1. Musselman 95%
(for instilling confidence for Jeremy in his 3 Reno trips)
2. D'Antoni 90%
(for believing in him and handing him the offense key, but too much Secretariat riding for Jeremy's long-term health)
3. McHale 70% so far
(meaning well but not trusting the offense key to Jeremy in his flawed system, at least Jeremy is on track to play 82 games)
4. Smart 1%
(at least he still said good things about Jeremy now)
5. Mark Jackson - incomplete
psalm, I heard it for what it was too. This time, McHale took time and chose his words and stayed with the topic until the end of the interview. Thanks for your transcript. It's there for everyone to read and watch. Wed is going to be tough and we need the win with it so close and GSW Friday.
DeleteGreat game today, and no sense in getting all twisted up with McHale or Morey guesses. Like Lin, look ahead.
For example, check out Lin's post practice interview and his post game interview on NBA.com. In the first, he was talking tech bball again, and in the post game, after the Bev joke, he was talking tech bball again. I love that about him - he talks about the game and how to win.
Specifically, he said they can't sustain what is their game plan: 3s, layups, FTs. No medium Js, now that PPat is gone. He said in that post game inteview they can't sustain that for 48 mins. I wished a reporter had asked him what is their 2nd option then, because here, in fan forums, people are saying you can't go deep or run for playoffs living and dying by the 3. Maybe it is just mixing it up to get more layups or fouls, but I wish he had said that.
Also, he said one thing they did right was to increase the lead. In the past losing games of late, Lin got big leads, and Bev came in and the leads evaporated. This game, Bev came in he didn't play well his first shift. Or maybe it was 2nd unit. Anyway, Lin spread the lead, and note he called it as a difference maker. So, this team knows they need to take it from 15 lead to 25 lead. That then gives rest of game an easy close.
That's what I got, from those 2 interviews.
2/28 post practice interview and Mavs post game: I cannot link because it's just on the nbal vid page for Rox.
DeleteThere are positives and negatives of Mchale as a coach. But, regarding his comments about Lin, they are mostly negative. It's all relative.
DeleteCompare his comments about Lin with comments about any of the other main Rocket players. Does McHale comment about Harden's poor defensive play, and that Harden more than Lin is that homerun hitter who ends up striking out too much (all those turnovers).
Has he benched Parsons or Harden for the entire fourth quarter, not because they were playing badly, but because their sub was "playing so well?"
McHale has been a pretty bad coach for Lin, for all the various reasons I've ranted about before. But, after some thought, I realized that McHale's incompetence and disrespect of Lin's game actually may end up being a good thing for Lin, because it looks like he's going to be a lot healthier as the end of the season and playoffs loom than James Harden, whom McHale has ridden hard all season like secretariat, and is physically beat up and probably won't get much better the rest of the season.
That's part of the reason Lin played so well today, is because McHale had to let Lin play point guard to help save Harden's legs.
So, in the end, McHale's incompetence might force him to set Lin free.
Psalm234, liking someone's character is different to liking someone's game though. This is nba and they are all professionals. You don't have to like someone to like his game. Or you may like one's character but don't like his game. For example, I am sure many people dislike Kobe as a person and a teammmate but there are seldomly people who don't respect his game.
DeleteI hate to read between the lines. But if you read what McHale's comments on Lin, the praise he gave Lin most is about his character (useless on a basketball court) and rarely about his actual game. While if he mentioned Harden, it's usually about his performance on the court only (which is the only thing that matters, let's be honest). Harden may be a horrible person, or he may be a nice person. Maybe McHale doesn't like someone always going to strip clubs, who knows? But it doesn't mean a damn thing on the court and it's correct.
Actually being praised as a good teammate isn't neccesarily a great thing. Many great players are horrible persons and horrible teammates. You need a certain selfish and mean streak to excel at that level. Michael Jordan was probably the biggest jerk this sport has never seen. Scottie Pippen refused to come out to the court when the game winning shot was drawn for him. McHale himself wasn't that clean of a person on court and off court either lol.
thanks, @JoeTeam. That's true that it's huge if the 2nd team can at least not lose the lead or even increase the lead. We know what happened the last game when the lead quickly evaporated. Perhaps that's the big reason PPat, Morris, TD got traded because the 2nd unit was not working. I see bigger promise with TRob, GSmith, Bev cleaning up the offensive rebounds.
Deletethanks, Joseph :D
just want to share my thoughts so perhaps my fellow Lin fans can sleep a little better without McHale's nightmare :) No fun to sleep with a lot of suspicion.
I'm excited to watch the Saturday game vs Phoenix! I'll share some stories. 2nd row, baby!
psalm234 ... cool on Sat! Can't wait for your report. I might be at GSW ... 2 things have to go right. If so, I'll share what I see.
Delete@cara, I see McHale's answer in sustaining the high end certainly refers to his ability and BB skills to win at the high level for 21 games, not his personality. It's only in general and not offering specifics which would be nice for us Lin fans to hear.
DeleteI know we probably want him to list Lin's attributes as he raved about Harden but those days will come.
I'm not here to defend McHale. I'm just reading him as I see his response and thought process. Coming from someone who sees flaws in Lin's style, tonight's response is quite a high praise because he went out of his way to assure the reporter that Jeremy's skills and talent can sustain the high end for at least 21 games.
Look, we all are free to choose to focus on what McHale praised or didn't praise. I'm sure McHale will have some negative comment in the future but why bother? Tonight McHale did well in answering questions about Lin, not many TOs.
I'm just seeing the danger of us only getting confirmation bias of our suspicion of McHale. We need to be able to acknowledge the positive and negatives.
Cara,
DeleteNever pay much attention to your posts in the past, but you earned my respect tonight. You are not gullible because you don't take things as face value. You are not only wise, but have a lot of common sense. You got a fan in me.
Palm,
This is not a dig at you. I like you very much at a person because you don't impose or bully people into your view.
Cara, lol, you're right. Being praised basically as a "nice guy" is not substantive praise of Lin's game.
DeleteOh, the other reason why I think Lin will play bigger for the rest of the season is the insertion of D-Mo in the starting line-up. Of all the Rockets, he's the one guy who truly gets how good Lin is, and knows that getting Lin the ball is good for the team and for himself. On a rebound, why give the ball to Harden? You may never get it back. But, give it to Lin, your chances of getting the ball back in a good position to score an easy basket goes way way up. Dmo knows Lin is his ticket to getting a guaranteed contract in the NBA.
no problem, @alcsd :D
DeleteI understand about not taking things at face value and reading between the lines. I'm not gullible to think that Houston is the best place for Jeremy.
McHale's current role player for Jeremy certainly is not the best for him. Jeremy would need to excel by cutting down on his TOs while still being aggressive to get points and assists like tonight. We'd rather Jeremy be in a system where he's 100% PG. I believe he can get 25pts/12 asts easily and contend for All-Star role.
Not much breathing room for Jeremy but if he survives, he'll be even better than Steve Nash who still has high TOs tendency under D'Antoni.
But I understand McHale genuinely wants Jeremy to grow as a player, although he can't see Jeremy's potential.
Does it make sense? McHale is not the ideal boss for Jeremy in 2-3 years but for now Jeremy just has to improve on his weakness and be aggressive.
I just try to see the positives and the negatives at the same time. I just don't believe McHale tries to sabotage Lin intentionally. Noone texts his player while waiting for his sick dying daughter unless he cares for the player. Little things show big things.
Playing devil's advocate but did McHell really text Lin? Or, did he merely reply Lin's text with "thanks for your prayers, lin, and for being a nice guy."?
DeleteEtane, from Lin's own words:
Delete11/27/12 McHale was watching Rockets beat Raptors
"We all wanted to do it," Lin said. "We all wanted to do it for him. And we're going to see him tomorrow, so it's been awhile.
"Anything that we can do to try to get his mind off of what he has going on... he's such an unselfish team person. I know he watched the game because he texted me and told me his thoughts. It's just incredible that he takes the time to do that. For me, I'm starting to see him kind of like as more than a coach because he goes beyond what a head coach is obligated to do."
Granted, Lin might get more than he bargained for thinking McHale is more than a coach. He is a Chinese dad! :D
Lol. Or any Asian father. McHale probably said something to the effect, " Jeremy, stop trying to hit homeruns! Bunt or do that slap hitting thing that ichiro sukiyaki guy does! Okay? No homeruns, just field goals!"
DeleteLOL, Asian Father:
Delete"Dad, I got straight As!"
"What's this?"
"Oh, that's an A- ... it was nuclear physics ... the only A was an A-"
"You could do better ..."
Or,
"Dad, I'm starting this week."
"Ok, good son, are you going to win?"
Actually, the antidote for the modern day "I tried" excuse is a Chinese dad! Not sayin' I love McHale, but you know ...
LOL. Hilarious post by Conquistador11 on CF.
ReplyDeletehttp://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=234836&page=2
What a great parody of the typical CF BS.
I just watched the interview. Was JLin doing a McHale impression? Was he mocking his coach? :)
DeleteMaybe that Q4 benching sparked a lil competitive fire between Lin and Bev?
DeleteIn other news, Lakers beat Hawks, 99 - 98, Josh Smith with a horrible TO passing the ball out to Steve Blake and game over.
ReplyDeleteThey are now .500 btw.
GSW/UTA/HOU within half game of each other for 6/7/8th place, and Laker is coming. Going to be really really interesting.
I think Blazers are out unless one of 3 teams go on a really bad losing streak.
Lakers face OKC next, if they beat OKC somehow imo they'll be a legit threat.
Rockets losing to Wiz/Bucks was really bad timing, that could have given them some breathing space and be 6th by now.
I have said this before. Lakers are making the playoffs. News is too sensational. However, it's no the Rockets who are going to the 9th but the Jazz. I easily see Rockets in the 6th seed, GSW on 7th, and Lakers on 8th. The GSW and Rockets seeds are going to be decided in their next 2 games against each other. BTW, those game will be playoff like. I can't wait.
DeleteYup, I read Utah had the toughest schedule of these teams. GSW is also spiraling out of control. It could be Utah and GSW fighting for the 8th spot.
DeleteLakers had too much talent not to make the playoff. They're supposed to be champ anyway :D
I think Kobe is on PED. His hops are so 2001.
DeleteMT said Rox will be in 6th spot. Hope we don't jinx it. Make the playoffs is a bonus, 6th seed is a big bonus. :)
DeleteIf it weren't for McHale's horrendous coaching -- terrible substitutions, JL benching and inability to draw up "final plays" -- Rockets would be competing with Denver for 5th place. In which case, Houston would destroy Memphis, the very likely 4th seed.
DeleteWe can only hope that CP3 takes time off for his knee and Memphis somehow moves up to 3rd because the 6th seed is very doable like people are saying.
Rockets have a +3.4 pt. differential -- almost identical to Denver and Memphis -- and yet they're 6 games behind! That's a very clear sign of poor coaching.
Deletewhat are the games that bad coaching probably cost the Rockets the game?
DeleteOff the top of my head - the Bucks game, the Sacramento game, the Wizards game, all games in which the team had the lead in the fourth quarter; the Portland OT game when Lin got benched in OT.
You could also count the two denver games. A split would have been huge.
Any other games the coaches botched?
The Dallas game where Lin was benched the entire 4th quarter, and nobody could stop OJ Mayo who was on fire after being guarded by Harden's weak Defense.
Deletei have to say that the refs did a good job on the foul calls today. but the official scorer rob JLin of at least 2 steals. in the 2nd quarter, JLin clearly poked the ball away and Asik got credited for the steal. later, i think it was Marion who lost control of the ball while driving, and JLin caught it, but was fouled, knocking him out of bounds. no steal was credited to JLin. and there was another play where Collison tried to dribble through 2 defenders, JLin being one of them and possibly causing Collison to lose the ball, and Asik again was credited with the steal. i believe the official rule for a steal is suppose to credit the person who strips the ball loose. yet, nba scorers have been inconsistent with this rule.
ReplyDeleteThe player who retrieves the ball usually gets credited with the steal. However the player who poked it free, does get awarded a "deflection" stat ... but you won't see that because it's shown only in advanced box scores that GM's and scouts look at.
DeleteI think after Mchale's stupid benching of Lin in the Orlando game, Morey talked to him and told him that was dumb and don't do it again.
ReplyDeleteI don't trust Morey, but, Morey has more of a stake in Lin because he signed him to a contract that many people thought was more than Lin deserved, so, his reputation as a GM is at stake with Lin's play. When his stupid coach benches Lin for a guy who may not even be with the team next year, that may been the last straw for Morey.
I think Morey wants Lin to excel, whether by his own evaluation or pressured by Les (most likely) doesn't matter. He also wants Robinson to be the starting 4 and wants his draft picks (like DMo) to do well. I don't think he wants to see someone like Delfino, Beverley (clearly stop gap options and not in long term plans) get heavy and crunch time minutes.
DeleteHowever McHale just doesn't quite co-operate. It's semi okay if it's a win. But it's not something the management want to see and would be a big deal if it's ended up in a loss. McHale's actually walking a dangerous line here.
Dont forget - Les yelled at Morey when Linsanity started. Morey was the one to let JLin go in the first place. Morey merely corrected a mistake. We dont know how badly Morey wanted Lin. All we know is Les wanted Lin on the team.
DeleteOr maybe Morey is waiting for the day he can say to Les, "I told you I was right to cut him."?
DeleteJust surmising. I know nothing about Morey.
Lol, Mchale's cooperating a bit more since the Orlando game, isn't he?
DeleteMorey wants Lin to excel to the extent that if Lin crashes and burns, then he's going to get the bulk of the blame for signing him to the poison pill contract. Even if he wouldn't have signed Lin if he got Harden first, fact is, he signed Lin, and therefore, he has a reputational stake in Lin's success forever. If Lin truly excels the rest of this season, and along with Harden, DMo, TRob, Asik, the team goes deep into the playoffs, Morey could be a legitimate candidate for GM of the year. But, not if his coach does dumb things like play a D-League back-up over his hand-picked top player for no really good reason.
Etane, no. Morey as GM is going to take the praise or the blame if Lin fails or succeeds. No one is going to point the blame at the owner, even if it was the owner who really pushed for the Lin signing.
DeleteTHink about the Jet's mess with the Tebow signing. Clearly, it was the owner who wanted Tebow, not the GM or the head coach. But, when the signing became a total disaster, who took the fall? The ex-GM for the Jets.
Rober: too little sample size. Lin's usage is too inconsistent.
DeleteWilly's comment above makes it sound like Les forced Morey to sign Lin. If that's the case, it wouldn't be Morey and his stat crunching that made Rox pursue Lin.
So, who is it? Morey or Les?
If it was Les that made Morey sign Lin, and the Lin experiment fails, that's fodder for Morey to tell Les to let "professionals" run the business, no?
DeleteEtane, too little sample size about what?
DeleteAs for this rumor that it was Les's call, like I wrote about, it doesn't matter, the GM will take the fall or praise re: Lin, no matter what.
And, Les doesn't seem like a Jerry Jones or Steinbrenner type of owner, basically overruling his GM if he likes a certain player. If Morey really didn't want Lin, I'm sure he could have shown Les a bunch of numbers saying Lin really sucks. To me, Morey seems to have a lot of autonomy, has a huge ego, and would never have taken a GM job with an interfering owner (ala Cuban). So, I still would surmise that Morey wouldn't have signed Lin if he didn't believe in him, or, rather, the the numbers didn't suppport signing Lin.
Too little sample size that McHell is cooperating a bit more since Orlando. Too many times has Lin had Linsanity-esque nights and we think all the right in the world but then get punked the next game with playing Lin out of position again.
DeleteAnd, if Morey did have autocratic control in pursuing Lin, then Morey does have a stake in Lin's success.
all IS right.
DeleteEtane, I'm with you there. He may cooperate even less when they sign Aaron Brooks.
DeleteEtane, you think Les Alexandra became a billionaire for being stupid?
DeleteEven if the Lin signing was his decision and Lin's failing, why should he take the responsibility as the boss? Why should he let other people other than himself run his business if he really wants?
Morey's reputation is more at stake than Les ever will be. Les will be the owner no matter what his reputation is and how many bad decisions he made. Did you see James Dolan being the MSG boss no matter how much he failed? Or Sterling? You think they have changed because now they have better teams?
With Morey, you really think if he's fired in Houston, and when he's interviewed for his next job, he could say "Nah, it's not me for the failed signing, it's the owner", you think that would go well with his next employer?
That's why whether signing Lin is ultimately Morey or Les' decision, Morey has a rooting interest for Lin to succeed. That "proving Les wrong" theory is just silly.
Aaron Brooks is not a very good player. Look how his stats dramatically dropped when put into a different offensive system. Compare that to JLin's stats, Jlin is by far a more superior player in any type of offensive system.
DeleteSure, but, McHale's the coach. I'm sure he'll find something in Brook's game to justify benching Lin.
DeleteRemember last year, when everyone was trying to say Linsanity was a fluke because Lin was good only because he was in Dantoni's system and got to play 42 minutes every game? And because he played well only against bad teams?
This year, he's put up decent numbers in-spite of playing under a coach who won't even let him play his position, and whose minutes won't go over 32 minutes a game this season.
Roberlin, it doesn't really matter if McHale benches Lin or not, except maybe to the dismal of our viewing pleasure for a moment.
DeleteLin's already proven he can play in this league. If the Rockets don't use him, other teams will.
And I am 100% positive that no management or owner could accept a 25m player sitting on the bench, giving away to 2 minimum wage players who don't help the team win much.
Now if McHale by playing Brooks/Beverley could help the Rockets win a championship, then good for him, but is it even possible? Lol.
And have a bit more confidence in Lin, okay? If he couldn't even outplay 2 minimum wage players in a fair playing field, does he even deserve our support? Is he even as good as we think he is?
McHale will be gone long before Lin if he insists on playing inferior players in front of Lin.
anybody who has the game highlights yet? my bad , i missed the game.. :<
ReplyDeleteHIGHLIGHTS:
DeleteBlaiyan highlight of tonights game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmEkTIrHw2k&list=PLoDrtT-bVm_SbP76HKUFn5vCi4UDiisAQ&index=63
thanks Ety! :>
DeleteVOTE!
ReplyDeletehttp://mad.jeremylinfoundation.org/
Oh, by the way, how did Patrick Beverly do tonight?
ReplyDeleteI thought Patrick Beverly did a great job. He gave us a lot of energy. Even from the bench he gave us a lot of energy.
DeleteCool. Maybe Beverly could be our answer for an alternative energy supply. You're so right, I could feel Patrick's energy on the bench while watching him on t.v. What energy that guy has. Such a spark. He's such a spark, he sparkles. Sparkling energy. What a sparkling sparkplug spark.
DeleteOh, btw, Dave T, did you get your Beverly jersey yet? Can you feel Pat's energy and sparkle spark when you wear his replica jersey?
DeleteI did! When my electric car runs out of batteries I put on my Patrick Beverly jersey and it's on full charge again!
DeleteP. Beverly is a very inconsistent player who's an overrated defender.
DeleteToo bad Beverly wasn't at the superbowl when the lights went out in Louisiana.
Deletemaybe Beverly is the Rockets ENERGIZER BUNNY?
DeleteI do hope Bev makes it in the NBA, and is at least able to play significant minutes for a few years.
DeleteI don't know if it's just me, but, I think more teams are giving D-leaguers and overlooked players a chance because of Jeremy Lin exposing the big holes in the NBA scouting system, and forcing teams to take a more serious look at players they had dismissed before.
Actually Beverley is the driver's seat.
DeleteIf it's a blowout win, he plays the whole 4th.
If it's a blowout loss, he plays the whole 4th.
If Lin doesn't play well, he comes in and play the whole 4th.
The only not so good scenario for him is if he doesn't play well, and Lin plays well and the score is close, but then he still gets to play half of the 4th.
See, he's in a much better position than Harden and Parsons' backups who won't get to play no matter what lol. Anderson's likely a better player than Beverley individually, but he never get much court time because he happens to play in the same position as Harden and Parsons.
Actually I said it wrong. Even when Lin plays well, if Beverley plays well as well, he still gets to play the whole 4th lol.
DeleteBeverley probably averages most 4th quarter minutes among nba bench players.
So depressing. But it's consistent with how the coaches felt about Lin from the beginning. During October training camp, they thought Lin sucked so much the coaches (unnamed) lobbied to keep that journeyman point guard.
DeleteBUT - and this supports my point that Morey wants Lin to succeed - Morey cut that dude, killing off any point guard controversy. At least for a litle bit.
...sparkling sparkplug spark.... @Roberlin... hahahahaha!!!!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLIN, PARSONS LEAD ROCKETS OVER MAVS
ReplyDelete- way to go Lin Shu How!
Blaiyan:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmEkTIrHw2k