Why Lin is struggle early of the season that he seem to could not play together with another superstar, why Linsanity is terminated last year? It is because the stars privileges of green light to shoot and ball hog. But Lin playing team basketball, he wants to control the ball and then distribute to each teammate according to the situation of the court. And as long as there is a privileged so call super star like Melo, Kobe or early season of Harden that have to make certain number of shots and iso play all the time , this is contrary with Lin's team basketball concept. Once a team has such a iso hero play superstar, Lin can only passively followed the run, can not judge the situation in the court, can not be independent mobilize, his confidence is gone, will strike it worse.
Lin has ability to become great player, but he wants to control the ball, because he is the kind the palyer that we have never seen before ( a high IQ Asian athletic graduated from Harvard ) . Gave him the ball control like in Linsanity 1.0 period, he is a great players; take away of his right to the ball, he may be mediocre in the end. If there is a superstar who he can play with, that guy must be LeBron James. Because LeBron James play like Lin, the team is above the individual. He did not care who make the last shot, do not care who control the ball more. He just want to win, that he and Lin is the same. Kobe, Melo and early season of James Harden in essence is the same that they all want to be the team's only king. The most important point is that: those superstar who care only how their stat look how much they can make could not work with Lin(Melo is a good example), because Lin can only make every teammates better not just one single superstar. But in the last few games, I really glad to see the changes in James Harden. He seem to believe in Lin more and reckoned Lin is the starting PG and Leader in public first time. That is big turnaround for him. I hope we can see them play like the last game rest of the season and playoff. Maybe Rockets can really shock the NBA with deep deep run in the playoff. Go Rocket. Go James Harden. Go Jeremy Lin.
I don't have much problem with james harden. remember when he got traded to houston and signed for a huge max contract he had a lot to prove.
he needed to put up big numbers and have big games to show that he was worth it and is a superstar in his own right. he had to score 30 and 40 points and keep his franchise record breaking streak of 20 point games alive.
now that he is an official all-star he doesn't have anything to prove from that standpoint. the next step would be to win a championship and I think he realizes he needs to play team ball to make that happen.
I look forward to some great basketball from these rockets.
Harden has to make at least one all-star when his new contract with the Rockets kicks in. Another stipulation I believe is that Rockets has to make the playoffs to. Morey put in a few stipulations in order for Harden to earn all 80m. I don't know the full-detail. Via used to have the link to that contract. He made the all-star this year, but it doesn't count until next year.
Harden might have to play selfish for at least one more year.
Harden is very smart in putting up nice stats sheet each game. Fans don't watch the game but just glance through the box score more often than not be misled to believe that Har_en played hard D and team ball as he has good Rebound, Steal and Assist numbers. My friends who were at the last GSW game told me that Har_en's shots didn't fall in the 1st half so he got no choice but to play a bit of D. The game was on ESPN live and Har_en knew the significance of playing smart and fill the stats sheet in the game. Let's not be too optimistic about Harden will play team ball, play D and willing to share the ball with JLin moving forward although we are hopeful about it.
He doesn't even have to be the next Jeremy Lin or anything close to that on defense. Harden just has to exert a minimal effort and stop allowing his man to break down the entire team defense.
I also think that Harden knows exactly how to play efficient team basketball. What he doesn't realize is that his numbers actually improve when he's playing good two way team ball.
When the Rockets outside of Lin and Asik choose to play defense, they're a very tough team to beat. Otherwise anybody can beat them.
I still think that McHale is woefully out of his league on defense. I want to see a lot more defensive game planning, as that would eliminate the bad 1st half play where the Rockets fall behind because of laziness.
At the NBA level, there is no excuse for bad defense.
Speaking about defense, Rockets should learn and watch the last game tape of Bulls V GSW. Thibs did an excellent job preventing both Curry and Klay which combined 0-9 from downtown
"Speaking about defense, Rockets should learn and watch the last game tape of Bulls V GSW. Thibs did an excellent job preventing both Curry and Klay which combined 0-9 from downtown"
Rikki M, is there anything about that game you want to point out for how Chicago stopped Curry?
I think Curry gets rattled by pesky and physical defenders. Nate Robinson is no Avery Bradley but he can be pesky and physical.
The Bulls have always been a very good defensive team and they have the personnel and the coach to boot, pardon me for pointing that out first and foremost. Actually Bulls were simply being Bulls. I think it start with Noah which did really well anchoring their defense under the rim. They don't need to protect the paint as much as we(Rockets) do. Unlike our defense which emphasis on clogging the paint, they actually challenged you to go into the paint to only be pummeled by Noah. The team trusted Noah and he delivered. The key of team defense is having capable and defensive minded Center and Power Forwards. If you take a look at team stats right now and see the top 5 leader in DefEff and check their personnel, you'll understand what I'm trying to say. Actually by having a great inside defense it will actually help perimeter defense because the guards don't need to over help and protect the paint, thus more time protecting the perimeter.
From what I saw, Curry had few open looks, and passed the ball away on many possessions; he didn't get to shoot a lot. At some point in the 1st quarter, I thought he seemed to get tired of not getting good looks and so took whatever he could get -- a contested 3 -- and missed.
Bulls doubled him when he used a screen, so GSW stopped giving Curry high screens after the first quarter. And he didn't get free much with down screens in the paint either. At one point, when Jack was in the game, Nate guarded Jack, and Deng was guarding Curry lol.
You know, something Curry is really good at: when he uses a pick at the wing and notices the defender go over the screen, he will IMMEDIATELY pull up after using the screen. Even though the defender is very close by, he can't block Curry's shot and more often than not his momentum will carry him into fouling Curry. This happened to Lin once on the elbow near the FT line, and I saw it almost happen exactly the same way in the Bulls game on the right wing, at the 3 pt line. The defender bumped into Curry right when he pulled up for the jumper; it wasn't enough to foul him but almost.
Well, they didn't so much double him but the big came up to help really well. Curry mostly passed away the ball. When Boozer is the big that comes up to help, he can be juked and Curry did cross him over once but didn't finish successfully.
Since the all star weekend, in the last 11 games Jeremy Lin is averaging 14.5 points a game, 6 assists, 1.5 steals. Shooting 46%, 37% from 3-pointers, and 83% free throws.
During that span the Rockets have gone 7-4. All 4 losses were within 4 points due to horrendous coaching from McHale and Sampson (basically sitting Lin while hot or benching Lin for zero reason in favor for Beverly off the "eye test"). Those looses to Phoenix, Dallas, Milwaukee, Washington were all winnable.
This team should be a #4 seed if their coaching was so terrible. The coaching has lost 10 games this year.
Based on pythagorean expected wins, this Rockets team has underperformed more than ANY other team in the league in terms of actual versus expected wins. They've given games away they should have won.
I don't consider the losses to Phoenix and Washington winnable.
Phoenix was having a major referee problem with cheating, as they wanted the home team to win and the hated Joey Crawford was hating on Lin in the 2nd half. Lin played as many minutes as the coaches could allot him before the refs fouled him out.
The Washington loss featured a highly ill Lin who was barely standing. Even so, he still managed to play great defense on a healthy John Wall and kept the game going till the end.
Yet I still agree that the Rockets need to coach better defense and let Lin direct the offense more early.
A fully defensively coached Rockets team that has Lin as the primary distributor would beat down teams in the 1st half and sit Lin down for the night by the 6 minute mark of the 3rd quarter in blowout victories.
This team is too unpredictable I'm expecting a bad game and maybe even a loss. Warriors have much more to lose today than the Rockets. Why is it so hard that everyone on the team can't put up the same effort every game. Is it really that hard gee whiz. The players always talk about how important a game is and how focus they are and when the game rolls around they all play like dingbats. I'm tired of listening to all of them talk jibberish. Just come out and play hard.
Yea they're young so what. They're a few young teams in this league but it doesn't mean they can turn the ball over like crazy and lead the NBA in that category. Stupid players.
The players ARE consistent, but the coaching is not.
Every game, the Rockets score their 110 points a game. Often they score much more than that (i.e. 140 points against this same Warriors team).
It's the DEFENSE that is consistently and predictably bad. That's a coaching thing, not an individual effort thing.
Opponents can't score against Jeremy Lin, but they can score against the rest of the Rockets (I'll spare Asik because he's very consistent defensively).
The players are consistent. WHAT? The only player consistent on offense is Harden. The only persons consistent on defense is Asik and Lin. Everything else is inconsistent in offense and defense individually and team wise. The coach aren't the ones playing and the players aren't the one with the game plan. So both are equally to blame.
Let me ask you this. In the second half of the Wolves game, Rockets played locked down defense. It that on the coaches or the players? In the first half, Rockets played lossey-goosey defense and turned the ball over like just 15 times, it that coaches or the players? Can you explain what you mean by thorough.
1) You ASSume I'm a guy. 2) You ASSume, chauvinistic pig that you are, that addressing me as a woman is the ultimate insult you can throw at someone you ASSume to be a man.
It's obvious folks like geronimo and Razzle Dazzle are posting from prison. Why else do they troll on a fan site dedicated to someone they're clearly not fans of?
This is why I've always been against using taxpayers' money to make the Internet available to inmates. A flagrant abuse of our hard-earned dollars.
I blame geronimo's and Razzle Dazzle's presence here on all you leftist spendaholics.
Everybody could see that Harden was the main guy getting lit up because he refused to play defense.
The coaching staff could either have gotten into him to man up and defend, or they could've benched him. Had I been the coach, I'd definitely had benched him and told him "You better defend or else you'll sit by me longer".
Actually, it was probably the REAL coach of the team that got into Harden: Jeremy Lin. While it's admirable that Lin has become the defensive leader of the Rockets, the coaches should never have allowed the defense to get that bad in the first place.
So in the end, I do blame the coaches for neither planning for opponents defensively or enforcing accountability. The players show the clear ability to play defense when they have to, so it's on the coaches to make sure the players play defense for the entire game.
You just won't go away??? Your life must be one miserable mess. Don't worry though. Part of the $16 trillion debt is going into studying why lesbians are overweight. A remedy is near so hold on. There's still hope for your misery.
So you're that garbage person hanging on the back of the dump truck I see every Monday morning picking up my trash? You work for free? You're a patriot. I gotta say you're a pretty damn good garbage picker for an overweight lesbian. Quick too. :)
I like being in prison so I can see your overweight lesbian waddling around the dump truck every Monday morning picking up my trash with your untold powers for free.
Fanforlife, I already know your opinion on the coaching issue.
I posted my reply down low.
In general, we can all disagree without descending to personal attacks. Neither of you guys fight with anyone else here, so I don't want to hear either of you calling each others trolls.
KHuang, you realize it's mostly your fault that the jerk is still hanging around here, don't you?
Creeps me out that you "respect" him. Here, let me spell out what he is and what he is not.
1) He is NOT a Lin fan. 2) He IS a racist troll who's here to gripe endlessly about the $25 million chink's turnovers and excuse the $80 million brotha's lousy defense. 3) If he is not a troll, he IS a know-nothing where bball is concerned. How else could he not see why the second half was so markedly different from the first in the Minny game?
And while we're at it, isn't being a McHale apologist enough for you?
Isn't it time you and other members of your community stopped blaming other people for your dire problems?
From your over-representation in prison populations around the US to your under-representation in the workforce, shouldn't you take responsibility for your own massive failures?
Look in the mirror; that's who you should blame. Oh, and your wretched parents, too, if you must.
You got the audacity to question one's bball knowledge when all you do talk about are untold powers in China, prison, and how you're a fan of Lin when you're really a fan of me.
You got the audacity to pick a fight with me and KHuang when we were talking bball until you barged in and interrupted with your jaded moron phrasings.
You got the audacity to call it your tribe when the chief of tribe KHuang hasn't even said anything. Who are you? A miserable overweight lesbian coming here to find love you never had.
Go look at your first post to me if you can't remember who started this fight. Extended incarceration has clearly robbed you of your memory, you prison trash.
Oh KHuang, the lunatic calls you "the chief of tribe".
Care to tell me what (you think) he means? LOL.
How on earth you can defend this racist crackpot when you're constantly ankle-biting the relatively benign Etane is, I must say, completely, utterly beyond me.
Both you, FanforLife, and geronimo have treated me with UTTER CLASS AND RESPECT.
That's why I won't call either of you trolls.
Actually, you two represent two very polar opposites of Lin fans. I'm not in between you guys, I'm outside you guys because I'm a NBA fan and not truly a Lin only fan.
I'll say this: Both of you are HORRENDOUSLY WRONG about each other. I know both of you are nice respectful people who are far more alike than you realize. I'm trying to knock both of you to your senses.
Me a McHale apologist? Yeah, I'm definitely the only one on this entire board that think he's actually GOOD for Lin. Doesn't mean that I don't think Lin could be handled better, though.
There you go again. We get it. You're a fan of the word moron. You bust out of the test tube calling everyone a moron. We know. We know your high level of vocabulary. You don't have repeat it 10,000 times.
@fanforlife I agree with your #2 point post at 1:07 pm. That super annoyed me too when I read geronimo's turnover comment. But I will give him sometime to see his true color instead of calling him out too fast. People change. Lin will win them over with his hard work and humble heart.
Likewise, I have zero interest in fighting you, KHuang.
So, believe me, I'm telling you this with all due respect: you're a crappy judge of character.
Take off your rose-tinted glasses. Geronimo is a BIGOT, pure and simple.
This sorry excuse for a human being thinks it's an insult to call someone a "trash collector" or a "lesbian". No decent person would consider using either term as a pejorative. It would be like me calling him a fag or a nigger.
As a long-time Knicks fan (even though I'm rooting for their failure now, after their vicious smear campaign against Lin), I still visit their fan forums. So I know the vilest Lin critics are mostly black folks, and maybe a sprinkling of Hispanics. These Stephen A. Smith echo chamber occupants spare neither time nor effort to run Lin down at every opportunity.
Trust me, Geronimo - like Razzle Dazzle and assorted other trolls here - is black. And he has a problem with Lin's elevated status as an Asian encroaching on what he feels should be African-American territory. I recognize the sense of entitlement of a Lin hater because I've witnessed his ilk everywhere on Knicks boards.
Young teams are inconsistent. But the Rockets are SCHIZOPHRENIC.
Anyone with a functioning brain can see that's not really the players' fault. Unless you think every starter on the Rox is a Royce White.
You just need to watch the Dallas and Phoenix home-and-home games to understand why this team vacillates so violently in form playing against the same opponents within the span of just 3 days.
Take the Dallas games. After a blowout loss to the Rockets, Carlisle reworked his game plan and tightened the match-ups. McHale, on the other hand, went away from what had worked wonderfully the first time instead of merely making anticipatory adjustments to thwart the Mavs' counter moves.
Then for the entire 4th quarter, he sat out Carlisle's bugbear of the first game - Jeremy Lin.
You can't make this stuff up. The reason head coaches like Carlisle come across as brilliant strategists is that they're matching wits with guys like McHale week after week.
The personal battle, I will not get into. But the basketball, absolutely I agree.
I have been complaining all season long that McHale is too much of a reactionary coach, that he lets opponents steer his team around on offense and defense. That's what happens when there's no concrete plan or awareness of special situations.
From what I'm seeing on the court, Jeremy Lin scouts his opponents better than McHale does.
Lin is looking for his shot more now and he wants to shoot. Also, I don't think Lin is playing McHale's system at all. When Lin gets to the top of the key, he is probing the defense (which McHale hates), before making his next move (whether to drive or to pass to someone).
Ironically Lin is making McHale look good. McHale's winning record is reflected of Lin's contributions and yet he is being treated like bastard's stepson.
What I notice is Parsons and Delfino aren't bring the ball up anymore. It's either Lin or Harden now. Also, I notice whenever Lin asks for the ball, Harden gives it to him. Lin starts to take the leadership role. I honestly think Harden is okay with Lin taking over because I don't think Harden wants to be the leader.
I've said a couple of months ago that Lin would make a great coach should he decide to pursue this path. I know it's a long shot, but I hope he considers this path.
My wish is for McHale to accidentally fall and hit his head against a door and somehow has amnesia right before the playoffs and Lin takes over and coach the team. The Rockets make it to the conference finals, but lose to the Spurs. Les realizes that McHale is a useless POS and cut him loose. The sooner they realize it, the better off they will be. Each year he is kept, is another year wasted.
This team will have a chance of winning a series if McHale is not involved at all. Useless POS.
I'd like to add that in a very twisted but real sense, it is McHale breaking McHale's system and not Jeremy Lin!
A true pure motion offense places no restrictions on players. If a defense is so strong that it forces decisionmakers to probe the defense and play isoball, that is NOT breaking the motion offense.
In Jeremy Lin's case, he's attacking the defense to find gaps for himself to score or collapse the defense to pass to others. That's exactly what a motion offense encourages its players to do, and Lin does it perfectly.
McHale's problem is that he's mesmerized by the flow of the ball, not by the points on the scoreboard. That is a typical problem for novice coaches who don't understand that NBA teams can stop any kind of offensive flow. Ballwatching is the bane of any coach, and even all time greats like Phil Jackson have been afflicted by it.
Still, there are signs that McHale's beginning to monitor the scoreboard and relax his hardheaded insistence against Lin's probing and ball reversals. I'm sure upper management is basically BULLYING McHale into letting Lin do his thing.
Agree with yours and Anonymous' POV but not only in that Lin is saving McHell's ass by playing outside of the sytem but he's also making Morey's otherwise very run of the mill transaction look like strokes of genius.
So, not only does Lin make his teammates look like superstars but also make FO look like geniuses... that is until they trade Lin away.
That is pretty funny. But it will be Sampson to take over if McHale is taking another leave of absence. I just hope Lin will continue his will to do what he thinks is best for the team despite the coaching staff. I do think Harden is getting smarter to give the ball to Lin to start the offense(saving 8-10 seconds of his energy and minimize his TO). He will get his points and get them with less efforts. It might even give him energy to work on his defense. That will be the day we all want to see as a new Rocket Dynasty is born.
He is smart to recognize that Lin is the key to winning and not him. Plus he is injured so he has no choice, but to let him Lin lead.
I mentioned way in the beginning that Harden doesn't have leadership skills and doesn't want to be the leader. He was forced to because of his max contract, and maybe he is relieved that Lin is taking over the leadership. Who knows? We'll will find out very soon.
bto: Does it truly even matter who Lin's coach is, if Lin chooses to play Linball? My belief is that Lin will adjust to any coach but still can be "Lin"
alcsd: If McHale does get amnesia for the playoffs, what changes do you think he should make? I think the Rockets need to jam the perimeter a bit more and also put in some zone defenses.
Etane: Which player benefits the most from Jeremy Lin being on the team? If I had to pick one, it would be Omer Asik. Lin has helped Asik become a solid offensive threat, and Lin's ability to stop perimeter penetration has drastically reduced Asik's personal foul count.
It sure matter who's Lin's coach. It took Lin 3/4 of the season to realize he needs to play Linball despite the coaching staff's treatment. If the coach is more receptive to Lin's abilities, it will be much easier for Lin to progress to develop as a NBA elite PG. Now he has to fight against the current and the stereotype. It takes a lot of faith and guts and energy to overcome the coaching bias against him. So it does matter.
Well, Khuang, we had this conversation this previously that Omer is the main beneficiary of Lin's unselfish passes to Omer in the paint with Lin knowing that Omer's TOs is a short term price to pay for his development as a strong in the paint offensive player.
Lin needs this development for Lin to play his game because without Omer's development, opponent's defense will continue to leave Omer open and collapse on Lin hence containing his drives.
However, with the advent of actually playing Dmo and with GS playing with more range and finishing stronger of late, Lin might have better options playing with either of these two.
Omer, for some funny reason, is actually a better PnR partner with Harden.
Other than that, I wouldn't say there's a single player that benefits from Lin's game. Unlike NY, almost all of Houston's players can create their own shots. GS and Omer can just as likely get passes from other guards.
So, who actually benefits most from Lin's game are the front office and McHell. What Jeremy provides Houston that other players cannot provide is timely possessions, stops and getting more players involved and using optimal spacing.
I would like to say Jeremy benefits the team by enforcing optimal off ball movement but, thus far, players don't move much when Jeremy is on ball. Harden actually gets the players to move off ball better than Lin does.
But, I guess you can't blame the team since they see Lin as more of a SG since that's how he's used 70% of the time?
I play all styles, and I even helped somebody make a hip hop yoga album years ago!
Etane, I'd say that Harden plays pick and roll better with Omer because Harden only passes if Omer is wide open. And even so, Harden still shoots anyway.
I would say that Lin's presence benefits everybody. That's why I'm so impressed by his game.
Etane ... I think most of Rox need help to create open shots. Even Harden gets stuck and dumps to lin or cp at end of clock.
KHuang ... your prev day thread on team d cascading to all kinds of outcomes was good. If McHale coaches that better as you suggest above, we won't have to watch lin kill himself trying to force high low or through. Less battle damage, more reserve for crunch. How smooth that would be.
Let's go Lin! Let's go Rockets! Make the 7 winning games @home to redeem yourselves from those 7 stretched lost games!!! GW will try everything to stop you winning tonight! Make sure to make your FT! Make sure to be aggressive! Make sure to handle the balls carefully! Hope the Refs is being impartial!!! You can beat anybody in the leagues!
Let's go Lin and Rockets! Make it 6-0 vs Lin's former teams.
ReplyDeleteWhy Lin is struggle early of the season that he seem to could not play together with another superstar, why Linsanity is terminated last year? It is because the stars privileges of green light to shoot and ball hog. But Lin playing team basketball, he wants to control the ball and then distribute to each teammate according to the situation of the court. And as long as there is a privileged so call super star like Melo, Kobe or early season of Harden that have to make certain number of shots and iso play all the time , this is contrary with Lin's team basketball concept. Once a team has such a iso hero play superstar, Lin can only passively followed the run, can not judge the situation in the court, can not be independent mobilize, his confidence is gone, will strike it worse.
ReplyDeleteLin has ability to become great player, but he wants to control the ball, because he is the kind the palyer that we have never seen before ( a high IQ Asian athletic graduated from Harvard ) . Gave him the ball control like in Linsanity 1.0 period, he is a great players; take away of his right to the ball, he may be mediocre in the end. If there is a superstar who he can play with, that guy must be LeBron James. Because LeBron James play like Lin, the team is above the individual. He did not care who make the last shot, do not care who control the ball more. He just want to win, that he and Lin is the same.
Kobe, Melo and early season of James Harden in essence is the same that they all want to be the team's only king. The most important point is that: those superstar who care only how their stat look how much they can make could not work with Lin(Melo is a good example), because Lin can only make every teammates better not just one single superstar.
But in the last few games, I really glad to see the changes in James Harden. He seem to believe in Lin more and reckoned Lin is the starting PG and Leader in public first time. That is big turnaround for him. I hope we can see them play like the last game rest of the season and playoff. Maybe Rockets can really shock the NBA with deep deep run in the playoff.
Go Rocket. Go James Harden. Go Jeremy Lin.
I don't have much problem with james harden. remember when he got traded to houston and signed for a huge max contract he had a lot to prove.
ReplyDeletehe needed to put up big numbers and have big games to show that he was worth it and is a superstar in his own right. he had to score 30 and 40 points and keep his franchise record breaking streak of 20 point games alive.
now that he is an official all-star he doesn't have anything to prove from that standpoint. the next step would be to win a championship and I think he realizes he needs to play team ball to make that happen.
I look forward to some great basketball from these rockets.
Harden has to make at least one all-star when his new contract with the Rockets kicks in. Another stipulation I believe is that Rockets has to make the playoffs to. Morey put in a few stipulations in order for Harden to earn all 80m. I don't know the full-detail. Via used to have the link to that contract. He made the all-star this year, but it doesn't count until next year.
DeleteHarden might have to play selfish for at least one more year.
Harden is very smart in putting up nice stats sheet each game. Fans don't watch the game but just glance through the box score more often than not be misled to believe that Har_en played hard D and team ball as he has good Rebound, Steal and Assist numbers. My friends who were at the last GSW game told me that Har_en's shots didn't fall in the 1st half so he got no choice but to play a bit of D. The game was on ESPN live and Har_en knew the significance of playing smart and fill the stats sheet in the game. Let's not be too optimistic about Harden will play team ball, play D and willing to share the ball with JLin moving forward although we are hopeful about it.
DeleteHarden can be selfish AND play defense.
DeleteHe doesn't even have to be the next Jeremy Lin or anything close to that on defense. Harden just has to exert a minimal effort and stop allowing his man to break down the entire team defense.
I also think that Harden knows exactly how to play efficient team basketball. What he doesn't realize is that his numbers actually improve when he's playing good two way team ball.
With the Rockets, it's about DEFENSE.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Rockets outside of Lin and Asik choose to play defense, they're a very tough team to beat. Otherwise anybody can beat them.
I still think that McHale is woefully out of his league on defense. I want to see a lot more defensive game planning, as that would eliminate the bad 1st half play where the Rockets fall behind because of laziness.
At the NBA level, there is no excuse for bad defense.
Speaking about defense, Rockets should learn and watch the last game tape of Bulls V GSW. Thibs did an excellent job preventing both Curry and Klay which combined 0-9 from downtown
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLOL
ReplyDelete"Speaking about defense, Rockets should learn and watch the last game tape of Bulls V GSW. Thibs did an excellent job preventing both Curry and Klay which combined 0-9 from downtown"
ReplyDeleteRikki M, is there anything about that game you want to point out for how Chicago stopped Curry?
I think Curry gets rattled by pesky and physical defenders. Nate Robinson is no Avery Bradley but he can be pesky and physical.
The Bulls have always been a very good defensive team and they have the personnel and the coach to boot, pardon me for pointing that out first and foremost. Actually Bulls were simply being Bulls. I think it start with Noah which did really well anchoring their defense under the rim. They don't need to protect the paint as much as we(Rockets) do. Unlike our defense which emphasis on clogging the paint, they actually challenged you to go into the paint to only be pummeled by Noah. The team trusted Noah and he delivered. The key of team defense is having capable and defensive minded Center and Power Forwards. If you take a look at team stats right now and see the top 5 leader in DefEff and check their personnel, you'll understand what I'm trying to say. Actually by having a great inside defense it will actually help perimeter defense because the guards don't need to over help and protect the paint, thus more time protecting the perimeter.
Deleteyou can see team stats here
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response.
DeleteFrom what I saw, Curry had few open looks, and passed the ball away on many possessions; he didn't get to shoot a lot. At some point in the 1st quarter, I thought he seemed to get tired of not getting good looks and so took whatever he could get -- a contested 3 -- and missed.
Bulls doubled him when he used a screen, so GSW stopped giving Curry high screens after the first quarter. And he didn't get free much with down screens in the paint either. At one point, when Jack was in the game, Nate guarded Jack, and Deng was guarding Curry lol.
You know, something Curry is really good at: when he uses a pick at the wing and notices the defender go over the screen, he will IMMEDIATELY pull up after using the screen. Even though the defender is very close by, he can't block Curry's shot and more often than not his momentum will carry him into fouling Curry. This happened to Lin once on the elbow near the FT line, and I saw it almost happen exactly the same way in the Bulls game on the right wing, at the 3 pt line. The defender bumped into Curry right when he pulled up for the jumper; it wasn't enough to foul him but almost.
Well, they didn't so much double him but the big came up to help really well. Curry mostly passed away the ball. When Boozer is the big that comes up to help, he can be juked and Curry did cross him over once but didn't finish successfully.
DeleteJeremy lin is the modern Bruce lee. Bruce lee was the last asian make that had much influence.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the typo
ReplyDeleteSince the all star weekend, in the last 11 games Jeremy Lin is averaging 14.5 points a game, 6 assists, 1.5 steals. Shooting 46%, 37% from 3-pointers, and 83% free throws.
ReplyDeleteDuring that span the Rockets have gone 7-4.
All 4 losses were within 4 points due to horrendous coaching from McHale and Sampson (basically sitting Lin while hot or benching Lin for zero reason in favor for Beverly off the "eye test"). Those looses to Phoenix, Dallas, Milwaukee, Washington were all winnable.
This team should be a #4 seed if their coaching was so terrible. The coaching has lost 10 games this year.
Based on pythagorean expected wins, this Rockets team has underperformed more than ANY other team in the league in terms of actual versus expected wins. They've given games away they should have won.
Correction - This team should be a #4 seed if their coaching was NOT so terrible. The coaching has lost 10 games this year.
DeleteI don't consider the losses to Phoenix and Washington winnable.
DeletePhoenix was having a major referee problem with cheating, as they wanted the home team to win and the hated Joey Crawford was hating on Lin in the 2nd half. Lin played as many minutes as the coaches could allot him before the refs fouled him out.
The Washington loss featured a highly ill Lin who was barely standing. Even so, he still managed to play great defense on a healthy John Wall and kept the game going till the end.
Yet I still agree that the Rockets need to coach better defense and let Lin direct the offense more early.
A fully defensively coached Rockets team that has Lin as the primary distributor would beat down teams in the 1st half and sit Lin down for the night by the 6 minute mark of the 3rd quarter in blowout victories.
This team is too unpredictable I'm expecting a bad game and maybe even a loss. Warriors have much more to lose today than the Rockets. Why is it so hard that everyone on the team can't put up the same effort every game. Is it really that hard gee whiz. The players always talk about how important a game is and how focus they are and when the game rolls around they all play like dingbats. I'm tired of listening to all of them talk jibberish. Just come out and play hard.
ReplyDeleteYea they're young so what. They're a few young teams in this league but it doesn't mean they can turn the ball over like crazy and lead the NBA in that category. Stupid players.
DeleteThe players ARE consistent, but the coaching is not.
DeleteEvery game, the Rockets score their 110 points a game. Often they score much more than that (i.e. 140 points against this same Warriors team).
It's the DEFENSE that is consistently and predictably bad. That's a coaching thing, not an individual effort thing.
Opponents can't score against Jeremy Lin, but they can score against the rest of the Rockets (I'll spare Asik because he's very consistent defensively).
The players are consistent. WHAT? The only player consistent on offense is Harden. The only persons consistent on defense is Asik and Lin. Everything else is inconsistent in offense and defense individually and team wise. The coach aren't the ones playing and the players aren't the one with the game plan. So both are equally to blame.
DeleteI get what you're saying and even agree on a surface level.
DeleteA more thorough coaching job would reveal the Rockets players as being far more consistent than they appear.
Maybe I need to rephrase it like this:
Offense: very consistently good, as the Rockets score their 110 a game against anyone.
Defense: very consistently BAD, as the Rockets give up 100+ ppg even to nonscoring teams like Milwaukee that average only 96 ppg.
Let me ask you this. In the second half of the Wolves game, Rockets played locked down defense. It that on the coaches or the players? In the first half, Rockets played lossey-goosey defense and turned the ball over like just 15 times, it that coaches or the players? Can you explain what you mean by thorough.
DeleteYou can't tell why the Rox were a mess in the first half of the Minny game?
DeleteWhat a shock...not.
Obtuse moron is obtuse.
My English teacher from the East Asia academia. No I can't tell, please teach me teacher, why?
DeleteHey look, I spelled "is" as "it". Ms. FanForLife where is my spelling ticket?
DeleteWhat's with this "Ms" business? Oh...I get it!
Delete1) You ASSume I'm a guy.
2) You ASSume, chauvinistic pig that you are, that addressing me as a woman is the ultimate insult you can throw at someone you ASSume to be a man.
Here, gratis, is your thought for the day:
Asinine moron is asinine.
Like taking candy from a baby.
Thank you Ms. FanForLife. I'll take your teaching to heart and pass it on to the next generation.
DeleteSincerely,
Geronimo
Ok, got the funky business outta the way. Now, KHuang where is my answer.
DeleteIt's obvious folks like geronimo and Razzle Dazzle are posting from prison. Why else do they troll on a fan site dedicated to someone they're clearly not fans of?
DeleteThis is why I've always been against using taxpayers' money to make the Internet available to inmates. A flagrant abuse of our hard-earned dollars.
I blame geronimo's and Razzle Dazzle's presence here on all you leftist spendaholics.
And, oh, about "the next generation"? Please tell me you have no plans to breed. Ever.
DeleteCan we get Orkin in here to exterminate this pest form East Asia academia? Oops not pest, it's Ms. FanForLife.
DeleteGeronimo, the answer is that it's on the coaches.
DeleteEverybody could see that Harden was the main guy getting lit up because he refused to play defense.
The coaching staff could either have gotten into him to man up and defend, or they could've benched him. Had I been the coach, I'd definitely had benched him and told him "You better defend or else you'll sit by me longer".
Actually, it was probably the REAL coach of the team that got into Harden: Jeremy Lin. While it's admirable that Lin has become the defensive leader of the Rockets, the coaches should never have allowed the defense to get that bad in the first place.
So in the end, I do blame the coaches for neither planning for opponents defensively or enforcing accountability. The players show the clear ability to play defense when they have to, so it's on the coaches to make sure the players play defense for the entire game.
Weak sauce.
DeleteHelpless moron is helpless.
Y'all, time to write to your Senator to get the plug pulled on prisoners' computer access.
That $16 trillion debt is not going down by itself, and you gotta start somewhere.
You just won't go away??? Your life must be one miserable mess. Don't worry though. Part of the $16 trillion debt is going into studying why lesbians are overweight. A remedy is near so hold on. There's still hope for your misery.
DeleteTroll tells Jeremy Lin fan on Jeremy Lin fan site: Go away.
DeleteIronically challenged moron is ironically challenged.
You sound more like my fan than a Lin fan, LOL. Go away!!! Please!!!
DeleteI want to respond to KHuang but you're preventing it from happening LOL. I'll never get to KHuang's response at this rate. Go away!!! Go away!!!
Deletegeronimo: Oh you're a woman. Ergo, you're a lesbian.
DeleteMisogynistic moron is misogynistic.
Seriously, do you possess even a single redeeming quality?
In prison for multiple crimes, are you?
And delusional, to boot.
DeleteNarcissistic moron is narcissistic.
Try not to bend over when you're in the shower, yo!
Ms. FanForLife why don't you change your screen name to GeronimoFanForLife. It's more fitting. ROFLMAO.
DeleteYeah, I realize I'm probably wasting time on you.
DeleteBut still miles better than your doing time.
Yessss!!! You're really a waste of time. Get your fat lesbian butt on that treadmill and start treading. That will keep your mind away from me.
DeleteDang...they have treadmills in prison, too? No wonder the country is heading over the fiscal cliff.
DeleteJust trying to do my part here for the economy, by taking out the garbage - free of charge.
Garbageous moron is garbageous.
So you're that garbage person hanging on the back of the dump truck I see every Monday morning picking up my trash? You work for free? You're a patriot. I gotta say you're a pretty damn good garbage picker for an overweight lesbian. Quick too. :)
DeleteNow he pretends he can see garbage collectors from his cell.
DeleteLying moron is lying.
How can I miss an overweight lesbian.
DeleteYou tell me.
DeleteDo they let in "overweight lesbians" for "conjugal visits"?
Obviously you slipped through.
DeleteDon't ask me how.
DeleteOverweight people don't "slip through" anything, you blockhead.
DeleteSelf-contradictory moron is self-contradictory.
I'd tell you to bugger off, but I'm sure you're already doing that with your fellow inmates.
But you did for some reason. Must be your untold powers!!!
DeleteI'm gonna try to put a stop to this back and forth between both of you whom I respect.
DeleteI've had enough of you two. You're making me LAUGH TOO HARD.
Anyway, I'm sure McHale's coaching on defense sounds like this:
Mchale: Play defense, guys. Have some pride. If you guys talk on court, you can stop any kind of offense.
Players: Do we go over or under the pick? What about the corner shooters? How do we stop Lebron?
McHale: You heard me the first time. Have some pride and man up. Just STOP people.
Players: Jeremy, SAVE US.
Lin: Go over this pick but not others, doubleteam this guy when he goes over there, let this guy shoot, eat at Joe's. . .
If I had "untold powers", would you still be alive?
DeleteWould a do-gooder like me have been able to resist ridding the economy of a parasite in prison?
Who knows. You're a garbage picker, and an overweight lesbian. Your sanity is in question.
DeleteA non Lin fan who spends endless hours on this site is questioning someone else's sanity...
DeleteMaybe prison is not where you belong. Two words: padded cell.
OK, I have had enough of you two fighting.
DeleteStand down, both of you.
Stop flaming other.
I like being in prison so I can see your overweight lesbian waddling around the dump truck every Monday morning picking up my trash with your untold powers for free.
DeleteYou guys need to chill out.
DeleteStop with the personal attacks.
You wanna fight? Go ahead, but do it with BASKETBALL knowledge so that others like me can learn from your posts.
Geronimo, what about ME?
DeleteWhaddya think of my opinion of the coaching issues?
How you like that. I summarized you in one sentence. Did I get a passing grade in English Ms. FanForLife?
DeleteHappy for you that you like being in prison, seeing as you're not getting out for a long, long time.
DeleteAre you in a state that has the death penalty, perchance?
Make my day and say yes.
KHuang you made some good points but I forgot what I was going to write...I got a little busy you know.
DeleteFanforlife, I already know your opinion on the coaching issue.
DeleteI posted my reply down low.
In general, we can all disagree without descending to personal attacks. Neither of you guys fight with anyone else here, so I don't want to hear either of you calling each others trolls.
KHuang stop calling her Fanforlife, it's GeronimoFanForLife. Her new name.
DeleteYour English is not bad. So which grade did you drop out of? Third? Fourth?
DeleteSee the difference between Asians in general and those of your...erm...ilk?
Stay in school so you'll stay out of prison.
I know, too late for you already...
See what happens when you steal your student's lunch everyday. You got overweight and I had to drop out.
DeleteI'm disappointed in both of you trolling each other.
DeleteFanforlife, you shouldn't have picked a fight with geronimo in the first place.
Geronimo, you can't even answer my questions because you're so obsessed with fighting.
I asked you both to start respecting each other and stop trolling. STOP WRECKING THIS FORUM.
KHuang, you realize it's mostly your fault that the jerk is still hanging around here, don't you?
DeleteCreeps me out that you "respect" him. Here, let me spell out what he is and what he is not.
1) He is NOT a Lin fan.
2) He IS a racist troll who's here to gripe endlessly about the $25 million chink's turnovers and excuse the $80 million brotha's lousy defense.
3) If he is not a troll, he IS a know-nothing where bball is concerned. How else could he not see why the second half was so markedly different from the first in the Minny game?
And while we're at it, isn't being a McHale apologist enough for you?
See GeronimoFanForLife has untold powers.
DeleteYou got the audacity to call one a racist when you use the word "chink". I must admit that untold power is kicking in.
DeleteIsn't it time you and other members of your community stopped blaming other people for your dire problems?
DeleteFrom your over-representation in prison populations around the US to your under-representation in the workforce, shouldn't you take responsibility for your own massive failures?
Look in the mirror; that's who you should blame. Oh, and your wretched parents, too, if you must.
You got the audacity to call one a jerk when you're the one that picked the fight. Untold powers....
DeleteYou got the audacity to question one's bball knowledge when all you do talk about are untold powers in China, prison, and how you're a fan of Lin when you're really a fan of me.
DeleteYou got the audacity to question KHuang's bball knowledge when you absolutely have none.
DeleteYou bet I've got the "audacity" to call you out for what you clearly think of a member of my tribe, Jeremy Lin.
DeleteA shallow mind like yours is not that hard to read.
Once again, why else are you here when you're not a Lin fan?
You got the audacity to pick a fight with me and KHuang when we were talking bball until you barged in and interrupted with your jaded moron phrasings.
DeleteYou got the audacity to call it your tribe when the chief of tribe KHuang hasn't even said anything. Who are you? A miserable overweight lesbian coming here to find love you never had.
DeleteI yield the remaining of my time to the insane overweight lesbian teacher from east asia academia...with superior bball knowledge.
DeleteGlad you realize I've got a lot of "audacity".
DeleteGo look at your first post to me if you can't remember who started this fight. Extended incarceration has clearly robbed you of your memory, you prison trash.
You got the audacity to self proclaim you got audacity.
DeleteGo find it and explain who attacked who.
DeleteOh KHuang, the lunatic calls you "the chief of tribe".
DeleteCare to tell me what (you think) he means? LOL.
How on earth you can defend this racist crackpot when you're constantly ankle-biting the relatively benign Etane is, I must say, completely, utterly beyond me.
Don't try to deflect. You're turd and still got the audacity to continue to pull the racist card, I must say, completely , utterly beyond me.
Delete"You got the audacity to self proclaim you got audacity."
DeleteSee what I mean, KHuang? He's barely coherent and borderline spastic, and needs to have basic bball proceedings explained to him.
And he's got your "respect"? SMH.
Can't compare to your jaded moron phrasings.
DeleteLet me repeat: you're a moron, so anything that makes sense is completely, utterly beyond you.
DeleteSlow-witted moron is slow-witted.
Why you trying to suck up to KHuang. You just attacked him that he's a McHale apologist.
DeleteNah, I'm being endlessly creative.
DeleteBecause you're endlessly moronic.
Both you, FanforLife, and geronimo have treated me with UTTER CLASS AND RESPECT.
DeleteThat's why I won't call either of you trolls.
Actually, you two represent two very polar opposites of Lin fans. I'm not in between you guys, I'm outside you guys because I'm a NBA fan and not truly a Lin only fan.
I'll say this: Both of you are HORRENDOUSLY WRONG about each other. I know both of you are nice respectful people who are far more alike than you realize. I'm trying to knock both of you to your senses.
Me a McHale apologist? Yeah, I'm definitely the only one on this entire board that think he's actually GOOD for Lin. Doesn't mean that I don't think Lin could be handled better, though.
And I'm probably a bigger fan of either of you than you are of each other.
DeleteTHERE.
huggy.
You don't have to say "let me repeat." You have repeated plenty that you know how to spell moron.
DeleteOh dear, KHuang, now he's accusing me of sucking up to you.
DeleteBetcha KHuang knows more than anyone else if I've ever, ever sucked up to him. LOL.
The twit's tactics, if you can call them that, are so obvious.
Transparent moron is transparent.
There you go again. We get it. You're a fan of the word moron. You bust out of the test tube calling everyone a moron. We know. We know your high level of vocabulary. You don't have repeat it 10,000 times.
DeleteI'm just being considerate when I repeat myself to a slowpoke like you, doncha know.
DeleteOr do you expect me to type slowly instead? LOL
You are both IDIOTS.
DeleteOkaaaayyyyy??,
Are you sure about that. Sounds like that's the only word you know how use creatively.
DeleteWait...you think I'm a fan of the word "moron", therefore I must be your fan?
DeleteOoooookayyyyyyy...
There's clearly a thin line between your stupidity and your insanity. We need a psychoanalyst here. Welp.
Psychotic moron is psychotic.
I have to say you are moronically creative.
DeleteTsk...tsk...tsk...
DeleteThere you go again, contradicting yourself.
How could anyone with a "high level of vocabulary" have their creativity limited to just one word?
I'd say you'd lost your mind, but that would ASSume you had one to begin with. LOL.
So desperate you've resorted to stealing my schtick, eh?
DeleteLOL.
Unimaginative moron is unimaginative.
Since you're still around KHuang, riddle me this: WTH does "moronically creative" mean?
DeleteIt must be that "sarcastic sense of humor" you were attributing to that dunderhead a while back, no?
@fanforlife
DeleteI agree with your #2 point post at 1:07 pm. That super annoyed me too when I read geronimo's turnover comment. But I will give him sometime to see his true color instead of calling him out too fast. People change. Lin will win them over with his hard work and humble heart.
I'm not here to fight Lin's fans.
DeleteI'm here to be a fan, not just of Lin but of his fans.
Likewise, I have zero interest in fighting you, KHuang.
DeleteSo, believe me, I'm telling you this with all due respect: you're a crappy judge of character.
Take off your rose-tinted glasses. Geronimo is a BIGOT, pure and simple.
This sorry excuse for a human being thinks it's an insult to call someone a "trash collector" or a "lesbian". No decent person would consider using either term as a pejorative. It would be like me calling him a fag or a nigger.
As a long-time Knicks fan (even though I'm rooting for their failure now, after their vicious smear campaign against Lin), I still visit their fan forums. So I know the vilest Lin critics are mostly black folks, and maybe a sprinkling of Hispanics. These Stephen A. Smith echo chamber occupants spare neither time nor effort to run Lin down at every opportunity.
Trust me, Geronimo - like Razzle Dazzle and assorted other trolls here - is black. And he has a problem with Lin's elevated status as an Asian encroaching on what he feels should be African-American territory. I recognize the sense of entitlement of a Lin hater because I've witnessed his ilk everywhere on Knicks boards.
It is what it is.
if a racist comes here and acts politely, then he's not my enemy.
DeleteYour problem is that you are trying to fit Geronimo into a stereotype. NO individual should be fitted to a stereotype.
You fire vitriol at him, expect to be retaliated against. You started this, after all.
When you have a single-digit IQ, of course everything is a mystery.
ReplyDeleteClueless moron is clueless.
BTW, like everyone around you bemoaning your pointless existence, I'm sorry you're still alive.
And still braindead.
Braindead moron is braindead.
Young teams are inconsistent. But the Rockets are SCHIZOPHRENIC.
DeleteAnyone with a functioning brain can see that's not really the players' fault. Unless you think every starter on the Rox is a Royce White.
You just need to watch the Dallas and Phoenix home-and-home games to understand why this team vacillates so violently in form playing against the same opponents within the span of just 3 days.
Take the Dallas games. After a blowout loss to the Rockets, Carlisle reworked his game plan and tightened the match-ups. McHale, on the other hand, went away from what had worked wonderfully the first time instead of merely making anticipatory adjustments to thwart the Mavs' counter moves.
Then for the entire 4th quarter, he sat out Carlisle's bugbear of the first game - Jeremy Lin.
You can't make this stuff up. The reason head coaches like Carlisle come across as brilliant strategists is that they're matching wits with guys like McHale week after week.
Completely agree, Fanforlife.
DeleteThe personal battle, I will not get into. But the basketball, absolutely I agree.
I have been complaining all season long that McHale is too much of a reactionary coach, that he lets opponents steer his team around on offense and defense. That's what happens when there's no concrete plan or awareness of special situations.
From what I'm seeing on the court, Jeremy Lin scouts his opponents better than McHale does.
I like Lin's attitude of late.
ReplyDelete"Coach, I dare you to bench me". I want him to play his brand of basket and take the open shots without hesitation. If he gets benched, so be it.
From a view of LOF.
Lin is looking for his shot more now and he wants to shoot. Also, I don't think Lin is playing McHale's system at all. When Lin gets to the top of the key, he is probing the defense (which McHale hates), before making his next move (whether to drive or to pass to someone).
DeleteIronically Lin is making McHale look good. McHale's winning record is reflected of Lin's contributions and yet he is being treated like bastard's stepson.
What I notice is Parsons and Delfino aren't bring the ball up anymore. It's either Lin or Harden now. Also, I notice whenever Lin asks for the ball, Harden gives it to him. Lin starts to take the leadership role. I honestly think Harden is okay with Lin taking over because I don't think Harden wants to be the leader.
I've said a couple of months ago that Lin would make a great coach should he decide to pursue this path. I know it's a long shot, but I hope he considers this path.
My wish is for McHale to accidentally fall and hit his head against a door and somehow has amnesia right before the playoffs and Lin takes over and coach the team. The Rockets make it to the conference finals, but lose to the Spurs. Les realizes that McHale is a useless POS and cut him loose. The sooner they realize it, the better off they will be. Each year he is kept, is another year wasted.
This team will have a chance of winning a series if McHale is not involved at all. Useless POS.
However I do not wish McHale any long-term ill-will. Just during the playoffs. He miraculously gets his memory back after the playoffs is over.
DeleteSuperb posts, alcsd and bto.
DeleteI'd like to add that in a very twisted but real sense, it is McHale breaking McHale's system and not Jeremy Lin!
A true pure motion offense places no restrictions on players. If a defense is so strong that it forces decisionmakers to probe the defense and play isoball, that is NOT breaking the motion offense.
In Jeremy Lin's case, he's attacking the defense to find gaps for himself to score or collapse the defense to pass to others. That's exactly what a motion offense encourages its players to do, and Lin does it perfectly.
McHale's problem is that he's mesmerized by the flow of the ball, not by the points on the scoreboard. That is a typical problem for novice coaches who don't understand that NBA teams can stop any kind of offensive flow. Ballwatching is the bane of any coach, and even all time greats like Phil Jackson have been afflicted by it.
Still, there are signs that McHale's beginning to monitor the scoreboard and relax his hardheaded insistence against Lin's probing and ball reversals. I'm sure upper management is basically BULLYING McHale into letting Lin do his thing.
Agree with yours and Anonymous' POV but not only in that Lin is saving McHell's ass by playing outside of the sytem but he's also making Morey's otherwise very run of the mill transaction look like strokes of genius.
DeleteSo, not only does Lin make his teammates look like superstars but also make FO look like geniuses... that is until they trade Lin away.
That is pretty funny. But it will be Sampson to take over if McHale is taking another leave of absence. I just hope Lin will continue his will to do what he thinks is best for the team despite the coaching staff. I do think Harden is getting smarter to give the ball to Lin to start the offense(saving 8-10 seconds of his energy and minimize his TO). He will get his points and get them with less efforts. It might even give him energy to work on his defense. That will be the day we all want to see as a new Rocket Dynasty is born.
DeleteHarden tried playing PG-fail
DeleteHarden iso-Fail
He is smart to recognize that Lin is the key to winning and not him. Plus he is injured so he has no choice, but to let him Lin lead.
I mentioned way in the beginning that Harden doesn't have leadership skills and doesn't want to be the leader. He was forced to because of his max contract, and maybe he is relieved that Lin is taking over the leadership. Who knows? We'll will find out very soon.
Questions:
Deletebto: Does it truly even matter who Lin's coach is, if Lin chooses to play Linball? My belief is that Lin will adjust to any coach but still can be "Lin"
alcsd: If McHale does get amnesia for the playoffs, what changes do you think he should make? I think the Rockets need to jam the perimeter a bit more and also put in some zone defenses.
Etane: Which player benefits the most from Jeremy Lin being on the team? If I had to pick one, it would be Omer Asik. Lin has helped Asik become a solid offensive threat, and Lin's ability to stop perimeter penetration has drastically reduced Asik's personal foul count.
Rockets' goal is to win a championship. I think they know that Sampson is not he answer. I think Morey has his eye on SVG.
DeleteThanks, alscd!
DeleteWhy Stan Van Gundy, specifically? Is it because he has a nice track record in Orlando as a Finals coach?
I'll say this: if I were hiring a Rockets coach, the first thing I'd ask is "What would you do with Jeremy Lin?"
alcsd, not alscd!
DeleteSORRY.
I am a musician, so writing CD is an involuntary spastic reflex.
KHuang,
DeleteIt sure matter who's Lin's coach. It took Lin 3/4 of the season to realize he needs to play Linball despite the coaching staff's treatment. If the coach is more receptive to Lin's abilities, it will be much easier for Lin to progress to develop as a NBA elite PG. Now he has to fight against the current and the stereotype. It takes a lot of faith and guts and energy to overcome the coaching bias against him. So it does matter.
Well, Khuang, we had this conversation this previously that Omer is the main beneficiary of Lin's unselfish passes to Omer in the paint with Lin knowing that Omer's TOs is a short term price to pay for his development as a strong in the paint offensive player.
DeleteLin needs this development for Lin to play his game because without Omer's development, opponent's defense will continue to leave Omer open and collapse on Lin hence containing his drives.
However, with the advent of actually playing Dmo and with GS playing with more range and finishing stronger of late, Lin might have better options playing with either of these two.
Omer, for some funny reason, is actually a better PnR partner with Harden.
Other than that, I wouldn't say there's a single player that benefits from Lin's game. Unlike NY, almost all of Houston's players can create their own shots. GS and Omer can just as likely get passes from other guards.
So, who actually benefits most from Lin's game are the front office and McHell. What Jeremy provides Houston that other players cannot provide is timely possessions, stops and getting more players involved and using optimal spacing.
I would like to say Jeremy benefits the team by enforcing optimal off ball movement but, thus far, players don't move much when Jeremy is on ball. Harden actually gets the players to move off ball better than Lin does.
But, I guess you can't blame the team since they see Lin as more of a SG since that's how he's used 70% of the time?
I play all styles, and I even helped somebody make a hip hop yoga album years ago!
DeleteEtane, I'd say that Harden plays pick and roll better with Omer because Harden only passes if Omer is wide open. And even so, Harden still shoots anyway.
I would say that Lin's presence benefits everybody. That's why I'm so impressed by his game.
Etane ... I think most of Rox need help to create open shots. Even Harden gets stuck and dumps to lin or cp at end of clock.
DeleteKHuang ... your prev day thread on team d cascading to all kinds of outcomes was good. If McHale coaches that better as you suggest above, we won't have to watch lin kill himself trying to force high low or through. Less battle damage, more reserve for crunch. How smooth that would be.
Let's go Lin! Let's go Rockets! Make the 7 winning games @home to redeem yourselves from those 7 stretched lost games!!! GW will try everything to stop you winning tonight! Make sure to make your FT! Make sure to be aggressive! Make sure to handle the balls carefully! Hope the Refs is being impartial!!! You can beat anybody in the leagues!
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