McHell would have loved benching Jeremy Lin in favor of a backup, but Lin played MUCH better than the backup; the backup is pretty good but he had an off night. Had the backup played just a little worse than Lin, McFail again would have benched Lin the entire 4th quarter - and they would have lost. Sadly, it's not shocking any more. Playing in a Lin friendly city, McLerch could have let him play even if Lin played just a little better (not a typo) than the backup.
Lin helped the team win, but he was sub par. The reason is that he has a tense relationship with the biased McHell, so his games are inconsistent. Lin had only one(1) turnover tonight, which meant - when taken together with his overall stat line - he played tentatively, so as to not make mistakes. He has usually played best when he had incurred about 3 TO, sometimes more, because he had way more than made up for it by concentrating on winning, rather than concentrating on preventing turnovers due to McFail.
It was a close call and glad that the Rockets got the win. Didn't get to watch the game and know that the box score don't tell the whole story. Is Jeremy Lin still recovering from his ankle injury? Did he get the chance to handle the ball much? I noticed that his assist seems low for the past few games.
I saw the PR pic with JCF, CP and Lin posted by @via. I'm trying my best not to draw any conclusions due to the recent events. ;) Not helping the fact that JCF in my opinion right from the start doesn't seem sold on JLin.
3:45 mark: Lin falling to ground, trapped under the basket, but somehow delivers the ball to Garcia, who makes a three.
As a Patriots fan, it reminds me of Eli Manning, under heavy pass rush and about to be hit, turning away from oncoming hit, and seemingly just chucking the ball downfield, where it miraculously arrives at right spot for his receiver to catch.
(It happens over and over again for Eli, so I don't think you can just call it luck)
freeze frame the Youtube video that via linked (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgTLzNQ1LcE ) 3:44 to capture Lin's Eli-esque moment.
Lin's falling to floor, about to go out of bounds with Warriors blocking his view, and he delivers one handed pass with right hand to Francisco Garcia.
Almost a soft lob, pretty much right where Garcia can go up and shoot it, under duress with Warriors blocking most of his field of vision on court, too (few seconds before 3:44, you can see there was corridor where Lin could conceivably seen Garcia heading to spot up in corner).
Glad that warriors lost. The refs were so biased, early in the game nearly every warriors drive resulted either in a 2 or a foul. DMo was the victim/not smart enough to not foul and had to be benched by McHale. Rox players when attacking were almost always fouled or had a hand on their back if not on their shooting arm.
One of the warriors players, whose name I do not recall, lost his cool and thought the refs would let them get away with anything and fouled recklessly on Lin and Harden who had to desperately flop to the floor or shout in pain to make sure that the fouls would get called. In 3 minutes he fouled 3 times and gave away the FT's because Rox were on team fouls.
I think McHale did good today because in a one-sided umpire biased game, you have to have certain tactics to counter it. Harden had a very poor shooting %, once again due to the biased umpiring.
In such situations, NBA experience is extremely valuable. Rookies could get hot headed and lash out or lose their cool totally. The veterans subconsciously choose tactics that don't allow opponents to get away with the biased reffing eg, use 3 pointers and setting up PFs on overmatched defenders, never go into 50-50 situations which let the biased umpires get away with it.
Lin does not have the body to be Secretariat in a D'Antoni style offense where he is focus all the time (if he still had the acceleration and nimbleness he has, but has Asik's rugged build, then maybe, but I think he would destroy his knees in a few seasons if he kept playing that way with the body and knees he actually has).
Lin's fearless (reckless) drives to basket last year during Linsanity could open him up to getting hurt by defender as he hurled himself into all of those defenders and elbows flying around near basket, plus all of the hard falls he was taking early this season on dribble drive penetration. Lin himself acknowledged that he had to learn to drive to basket this year, while still protecting himself.
Really wish all of his games with Reno Big Horns were publicly archived for re-viewing, because I think that is much more indicative of how Lin can play, and still be a substantive presence in game and potential game changer, even if it doesn't look like Linsanity 1.0.
Saw YouTube highlights of Lin's performance vs Dallas last year, and compared to now, he looked so raw then. Average game now for Lin, I think, actually looks much better for Lin than some of those Linsanity games. Yes, maybe not as many fearless (reckless) drives to basket, and not as much shooting, but he seems to be so much better as team's quarterback this year.
Lin and Harden, when they work cooperatively to keep defense off balance, are a devastating one two closing punch for Rockets. McHale has just got to better manage his substitutions and know who his crunch time closers are (Lin and Harden working synergistically together, and then Parsons as cutting playmaker if Lin is shut down, Delfino occasionally too, though he seems a bit more shaky at times dribbling driving to basket and trying to make play).
"Of the metrics listed above, three stand out above all others. First, Jeremy Lin's defensive rating (DefRtg) of 93.2 and net rating (NetRtg) of 13.7 were the best in the entire NBA D-League. That means that while Lin was on the floor, his team gave up the fewest points per 100 possessions and outscored their opponents by the largest margin per 100 possessions."
"When Lin was on the floor last season, the Bighorns outscored their opponents by an average of 13.7 points per 100 possessions, 11.4 MORE than they did when he was on the bench. Although Lin helped with his team's ball movement (59% of FGM were assisted with him on the floor versus just over 54% when he wasn't ), Lin's presence made the Bighorns only marginally better offensively (they scored roughly 107 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor versus 104 points with him off the floor and their TS% was essentially unchanged).
Surprisingly -- knowing what we know now -- Lin's impact was most profound on the defensive end, where his Bighorns yielded almost 9 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, shaving the team's DefRtg from a pedestrian 101.8 to a sterling 93.2. Perhaps this indicates that beyond Lin's ability to facilitate offense, he could potentially help bolster the Knicks' team defense (one of the teams' perennial weaknesses) as well.
Taking a step back, it's not difficult to see why many teams overlooked Lin. For teams seeking a point guard, Lin's offensive numbers were seemingly indistinguishable from numerous other players in the NBA D-League. Of course, his intelligence and court vision can't be fully quantified, and it is perhaps these qualities that drew the Knicks to Lin.
However, his extraordinary impact on defense and scoring differential may have also caught the eye of the right person at the right time -- and the Bighorns' vast improvement with him on the court speaks to what we've heard over and over again over the past week: he just helps teams win."
My hope is that McHale gets it through his head that Jeremy Lin is not only unselfish but is running McHale's motion offense to perfection.
When Lin gets doubled and tripled with all passing lanes shut off, Lin must force the action.
Yesterday's game was very unusual because Golden State actually decided to defend James Harden. This is only the 2nd game all year that Harden was defended as hard as Lin usually is. McHale was pissed at Harden too for supposedly screwing up the game as much as Lin did.
McHale doesn't understand that a good defense like Golden State's will shut down any motion scheme and that individual superstar talents like Lin and to a much lesser degree Harden are the only way to break NBA traps.
I don't understand the schedule sometimes. Does anyone know if they used to have back to back games in the old days? I can't imagine that happening before the time of charter flights, etc.
Anyway, hopefully the Rockets bench can come through tonight because the starters played a lot of minutes last night and Harden looks tired/injured.
But Jeremy got 9 FTA. And sealed the game with the last 2 FTA. MC joke had no choice but to play Jeremy in the 4th. Too many Jeremy supporters in Goldenstate. Why does Jeremy need to keep proving himself to his own organization. 4th quarter belongs to.the starter.
I really enjoyed yesterday's game, not just Lin and Houston but Golden State too.
The defenses from both teams was excellent. Both teams just went at each other. Several times the game went by with stops on both ends and the flow ping ponging back and forth.
Golden State wore out in the end. Lin's conditioning proved to be too much for the Warriors to overcome.
"During the end of the timeout, I saw Sampson put his arm around Jlin and told him “to go to the hole”. I was pretty surprised at this…I think Sampson likes him (a lot of fist bumps throughout the game)."
I think Sampson realizes the only chance he will get the head coaching job is being a Lin supporter. He knows the only reason McHale will lose his job is because Les pick Lin over McHale. Les will look for a new coach who will utilize Lin so he can please the Asian Sponsors. Sampson knew he dug his own grave when he benched Lin while he was in charge. Now he is trying to show he is now a Lin supporter to the world. I do see more interactions with him and Lin during the timeouts. I don't trust his turnaround as people's character don't change overnight. He is not fooling anyone here.
I do see Lin's attitude changed in the last few games. I see Lin playing his brand of basketball and not worrying about pleasing the coach anymore. He is telling himself that if I get benched for playing my style, "So Be It". He is taking the shots and not worrying about if it will go in or not. I like the new Lin's attitude. I want to see him play his style and "get benched" if that is the consequence.
Lin understands self preservation...not his best game yesterday but I'll take it...eventually he will have another string of killer games, maybe not this season, but next. Even in limited time playing, he will get there. I think he will come out of the gate next season super hot and totally ready to go from preseason game 1.
I don't mind Sampson as the head coach at this point, as long as he gets out of Lin's way and let him play his style of basketball for his remaining time with the Rockets.
It's ironic that the McHale/Sampson/Lin relationship somewhat parallels Dantoni/Woodson/Melo situation, only that McHale's system doesn't work (7 game losing streak) while Dantoni's system was working (7 game winning streak).
I guess if you give Sampson the job (sign a 3 yrs contract as head coach), I will venture to say he will go back to his old thinking of Lin. I would not take that chance. We just have to agree to disagree.
Yeah, I would prefer another coach too. But if it's only between McHale and Sampson, I'll choose Sampson because he is the self-preservation type and he knows he better stay out of Lin's way or be shown out the door (if McHale does get fired but I really doubt he will be).
Rox had the refs in their pocket, at least in the 2nd Half. The Rox FO must have filed a complaint with the NBA and heard about Lin's "dont want to be fined" and Parson's "Bogus" etc. because Lin especially NEVER gets 50/50 calls since he's been a Rocket. They gave Harden almost all the calls on the 50/50 contact calls, and didn't even call Smith's net touch on Greene's shot. Yes, the rigged NBA called that game to allow the Rox to win as a makeup for Dallas. The NBA is a joke -at least it was in the Rox favor this time finally.
Lin got a block call in his favor where usually the refs would give Curry the charge call. That 50/50 call opened up Lin's game a bit in that 3Q. Without that call, Lin would have looked abused on defense and then looked like an out of control fool of a PG with no skills on offense. Then Lin got an "and 1" on Bogut where the refs in the past like to call Lin for offensive foul this season for using the off arm to shield (everyone does it but they single out Lin badly on that as Jeff Van Gundy also couldn't wait to point out Lin pushed off on that layup).
Lin played sub average for his own abilities, but he played HARD on both ends yesterday. He wasn't thinking clearly and he didn't look to shoot any jumpers. It was a "layup" or bust game yesterday and it worked just barely enough...that was Lin's version of trying to Westbrook another team without shooting a ton of crazy 3's and midrange jumpers.
But it was good Lin wasn't over thinking. In the 2nd half, Lin just went hard right to the hole all game. It's a sign he's pretty athletic where he doesn't use any trickery or dribbling skills/tricks. I only saw Lin go left once and that was where D Lee fouled him (again the ref called a foul that usually Lin probably doesn't get in most games that matter). I think most scouts saw Lin's "he only goes right" game & thought that there was no way in hell Lin could keep being effective with such a limited skill set, but it works for Lin because of his elite quickness and initial first step abilities and the fact he plays harder than his competition.
RIght now, I believe Lin does have limited offensive skills in that sense, but he can mask his lack of dribbling and trickery skills and jump shot setups with his elite athleticism. It's like the Dwight Howards's of the world who lack posts skills but just jump over and dunk on you with sheer size and strength - that's how Lin plays as a guard. What is funny is that Lin CAN do the stepback jumper, the CP3 side step jumper, jump stop jumpers, but we just hardly see him bust those things out regularly, probably because it's not fully 2nd nature to him though he's worked on those things - they aren't instinctual.
The other reason Lin doesn't need to really improve his limited skillset of the "only go right game" is his mastery in using PnR's can mask his particular shortcomings. That's how Nash got by so long with limited ability in some areas too. Lin's only weakness with the PnR is getting trapped at times on the PnR particularly again Miami type teams. Otherwise, Lin really can use the PnR to abuse teams.
Problem is the Rox don't run PnR well and Lin doesn't get enough volume of plays to establish his PnR rhythm like he did last year with D'Antoni where Lin probably got TOO MANY touches on PnR's throughout the game that it became predictable. Did you see Lin yell at Asik in Q3 where Asik set the PnR way too late and way too ineptly? That TO was still on Lin, and Lin has to have a backup plan in his mind when the PnR collapses as it did - CP3 is a great PG because he always has a backup plan and can produce a diamond out of coal on broken plays like that. But last year with Chandler, the PNR would have been set quickly and perfectly without Lin asking because Chandler is a smart all star center who understands what his PG expects. And Lin would have gotten a clean shot, foul, or assist and looked smart rather than inept....
Lin "does" need to improve his limited skillset. His fadeaway was atrocious. His line drives to the basket using his quickness works only if the defense is hollowed out in the paint with 1 back on D. Like you said, Lin got out of control a few times handling the ball. That's embarrassing that he still does that. On defense, Lin still gave his opponent too much space to do whatever they want and control the clock . He needs to lock it down some. I notice Lin seems to slip a lot on defense. It looks like a balance issue to me.
You definition of "Poor" is what? No offense from both team. I think it was a great game because it was a defensive battle. Both team played well "on defense" and shut down the other team and GSW finally ran out of juice.
Poor shot selection. Poor shooting. Poor defense, depending who you are . Asik is really the only one playing good defense. Either the defense was lackluster or not good enough. Both teams. It may look like a defensive battle, but not to me.
Good defense will cause you to have "poor shot selection" and "poor shooting". If it doesn't look like a defensive battle to you, you have the right to that opinion.
i have to agree that the refs last night gave JLin calls that he normally have not gotten this season. one play where JLin drove and slipped, and managed to pass the ball for an assist before sliding out of bounds...refs usually would call it out of bounds against JLin, but last night they made consistent calls. i still can't believe how the refs overturned JLin's 3 at the buzzer from the mav's game. the replay clearly shows that at 0.1 seconds, the ball was at least a foot off of JLin's hands. i should send an image to the league, but that's not going to change the call. i don't know if last night was considered pay back...i get the feeling that these refs are secretly gambling.
i'm not sure if JLin has limited offensive skills. he scores more points off the dribble than most players, and i see him driving to his left more often than other players driving on their weak side. i would like to see him mix in pump fakes, like one play last week JLin drove left from the right side of the court, stopped and kept his left pivot foot in place, did a 270 degree turn to lay it in with his right hand. that play looked smooth and unstoppable. i would also like to see JLin take it to the hoop with authority. defenders are always going after his layup shots. JLin should get more foul calls if he just go strong when the defender is in the restricted area. although he does mix it up with reverse layups.
I'm sure everyone knew but me, but the Rox have a 7 game homestand or something like that and 10 of their next 12 or something are home games. They are pretty much at home all March after today's game. And they play several teams they should beat.
Rockets should be soundly in 6th by end of month up 2 or 3 games on Golden State. I can see GSW slipping to 8th or OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS while the comical Lakers somehow move to 7th. Utah impresses me more than GSW, but with Utah, Mo Williams and Foye need to step up big time and the front line needs to heal up quickly.
I would much prefer to see Lin play the Clippers or Grizz than OKC and Spurs. The Clippers, though great, are a flawed defensive team and Lin can eat them up with his style if he is not handcuffed and also given over 32 MPG in a playoff series. PBev can match Bledsoe while Lin goes at CP3. Personally, I think Lin can shine in the series and the Rox can win...but I fully expect Mchale handcuff's regardless.
GSW is a joke of a team. They are structurally flawed in how they built that team and how they are coached. They were being treated like Knicks West earlier in the season and now they are crashing back to reality. Lin luckily is a poor matchup for Curry so Lin can stick it to GSW for years to come. Lin is just too big strong and fast and plays too hard for Curry. I also like how idiot Mark Jackson tried to post up Lin with Thompson. It did work at least 1 time, but not nearly often enough. And I love how Lin Harden did the same right back at them. Cant' wait for the Rox to beat the pathetic Warriors next weekend at home...
6th? You're an optimistic guy. Loosing to the Wizs and Bucks have me crawling back in on the limb and bear hugging the tree trunk. I say 7th , 8th, or don't make the playoffs.
Geronimo, check back with me in mid April....Lin can sit on the bench most the game and the Rockets will still be moving on up. It's their March schedule - they will go 7-3 or 8-2 at worst.
GSW is a joke and will not hold onto 6th - they will lose it next weekend when Houston plays them again. Utah will be 7th or 8th at best. In fact, the Lakers and Houston have the best chance to get to 6th. On the last day of the season, the Lakers and Houston will probably be playing for 6th/7th seeding. The NBA is rigged and won't make that a meaningless game.
Geronimo, I can tell you are a young guy and haven't been around too long. You doubt Lin but Lin is already elite because he has top level athleticism which makes up for any lack of actual basketball skills. He's a DHoward of a PG at worst in that he can beat people physically at the game of basketball even though he lacks certain obvious skills other PG's have.
In due course, Lin will convert you into a closet fan :)
Well, an easy schedule doesn't mean it's a good thing for Lin. It just means McHale can get away with benching him and still find a way to win. It sucks for us Lin fans to no longer just worry about the opponents now but also JLin's own coach.
Instantaneous acceleration and great body agility (IIRC, he tested very, very high at body agility tests when he was being evaluated for the draft).
During Linsanity, I think there was an article saying Lin accelerated as fast as John Wall. Doubt he can maintain that topline speed, like others, though.
His draft scouting reports said he has a deceptive, and deceptively long, first step, that allows him to get by his initial defender.
Usain Bolt is a freak of nature (in a good way): http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/08/bolt-is-freaky/
Lin, at least qualitatively, is also a freak of nature in a good way because, perhaps his instantaneous acceleration was hard wired into his nervous system when he was a 5 ft. 3 whirling dervish, but when he spurted up to 6 ft. 3, his extremities now allowed much longer strides, but his nervous system was still programmed to churn his legs like the 5 ft. 3 kid he was in junior high (?)
"That’s because muscle speed in animals is generally tied to their size. For example, rodents, being much smaller than elephants, can move their muscles much faster. The same holds true for human beings. Sprinters are short and have more fast-twitch muscle fibers, allowing them to accelerate quickly, but compromising their ability to run longer distances. Four hundred-meter runners, almost always taller, have the reverse composition of muscle fibers.
Bolt, though, combines the mechanical advantages of taller men’s bodies with the fast-twitch fibers of smaller men."
JLin is 'deceptively' tall for a point guard. he's 6'3 without shoes, while most point guards are listed with shoes. JLin is really about half an inch to an inch shorter than harden, who is listed at 6'5.
Lin is 6 ft. 3 (I think he is actually something like 6 ft. 3 1/2 tall), WITHOUT sneakers.
During that Reno Big Horns game where Novak had just joined the team that day, and Lin / Novak / Danny Greene played so beautifully off of each other that Coach Eric Musselman told his assistant that he thought they would never lose again, and that he was so relaxed that he just wanted to get a bag of popcorn and diet soda and watch the Lin / Novak / Danny Greene combo as a fan in stands, commentator for Idaho Stampede said he walked passed Lin and said he was surprised by how tall Lin was (he said he was 6 ft. 5 and Lin was same height).
Harden and Lin are big point guard / shooting guard backcourt.
@ joe, I believe that size and speed is all relative. Empirically, I've noticed that athletes are getting bigger and faster at the same time. It maybe that humans are just getting bigger in general. What was once considered to be the advantage of smaller men to be quicker has changed due to the over size of people in general. Lebron is super quick for his size. How that change has come about is open to debate. But in general, I believe that every new generation of kids sees what level of play is at and in their minds, they are already setting new limits in order to defeat that level. Kids are always doing that fantasy game of playing against their heros. Out of all the thousands of kids that play the game one or two of the next generation will create a new solution and a new higher level of normal.
The game showcased Lin's incredible defensive skills in shutting down Curry or whoever Lin switched to. Harden was a net loss to the team early on, with ordinary defensive effort and many offensive drives and shots missing (often due to ref's not calling bad fouls on him - watch the highlight where the defender hits Harden's forearm and elbow then Warriors go for a fast break).
However, the umpiring did improve but only when Lin and Harden crashed to the floor or screamed out in pain from outrageous fouling, Asik was lucky to keep his head bloodless from Bogut and co's swinging elbows under the basket which seemed like warring Beirut at times.
A courageous win from the team, led by the 'veteran' starters.
McHell would have loved benching Jeremy Lin in favor of a backup, but Lin played MUCH better than the backup; the backup is pretty good but he had an off night. Had the backup played just a little worse than Lin, McFail again would have benched Lin the entire 4th quarter - and they would have lost. Sadly, it's not shocking any more. Playing in a Lin friendly city, McLerch could have let him play even if Lin played just a little better (not a typo) than the backup.
ReplyDeleteLin helped the team win, but he was sub par. The reason is that he has a tense relationship with the biased McHell, so his games are inconsistent. Lin had only one(1) turnover tonight, which meant - when taken together with his overall stat line - he played tentatively, so as to not make mistakes. He has usually played best when he had incurred about 3 TO, sometimes more, because he had way more than made up for it by concentrating on winning, rather than concentrating on preventing turnovers due to McFail.
It is very accurate ,I always feel the same way
Deletewhere are the highlights?
ReplyDelete@izzy~ Only Blaiyan's is up. Waiting on another version you can watch. :)
Deletethanks as always @via.
Delete:)
Delete5:06 JLIN HIGHLIGHTS VS GSW
[jay910221]
It was a close call and glad that the Rockets got the win. Didn't get to watch the game and know that the box score don't tell the whole story. Is Jeremy Lin still recovering from his ankle injury? Did he get the chance to handle the ball much? I noticed that his assist seems low for the past few games.
ReplyDeleteI saw the PR pic with JCF, CP and Lin posted by @via. I'm trying my best not to draw any conclusions due to the recent events. ;) Not helping the fact that JCF in my opinion right from the start doesn't seem sold on JLin.
Lol, REPOST [for reference]
DeleteCUTE [or obnoxious? lol]
DeleteI've always had a soft spot for huskies.
Delete4:35 JLIN + TEAM HIGHLIGHTS VS GSW
ReplyDelete[Blaiyan]
gr8, ty!
Deletereborn4hd (3:52)
DeleteNBAshowtimeHD (3:04)
Delete3:45 mark: Lin falling to ground, trapped under the basket, but somehow delivers the ball to Garcia, who makes a three.
DeleteAs a Patriots fan, it reminds me of Eli Manning, under heavy pass rush and about to be hit, turning away from oncoming hit, and seemingly just chucking the ball downfield, where it miraculously arrives at right spot for his receiver to catch.
(It happens over and over again for Eli, so I don't think you can just call it luck)
correction:
Deletefreeze frame the Youtube video that via linked (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgTLzNQ1LcE ) 3:44 to capture Lin's Eli-esque moment.
Lin's falling to floor, about to go out of bounds with Warriors blocking his view, and he delivers one handed pass with right hand to Francisco Garcia.
Almost a soft lob, pretty much right where Garcia can go up and shoot it, under duress with Warriors blocking most of his field of vision on court, too (few seconds before 3:44, you can see there was corridor where Lin could conceivably seen Garcia heading to spot up in corner).
Glad that warriors lost. The refs were so biased, early in the game nearly every warriors drive resulted either in a 2 or a foul. DMo was the victim/not smart enough to not foul and had to be benched by McHale. Rox players when attacking were almost always fouled or had a hand on their back if not on their shooting arm.
ReplyDeleteOne of the warriors players, whose name I do not recall, lost his cool and thought the refs would let them get away with anything and fouled recklessly on Lin and Harden who had to desperately flop to the floor or shout in pain to make sure that the fouls would get called. In 3 minutes he fouled 3 times and gave away the FT's because Rox were on team fouls.
I think McHale did good today because in a one-sided umpire biased game, you have to have certain tactics to counter it. Harden had a very poor shooting %, once again due to the biased umpiring.
In such situations, NBA experience is extremely valuable. Rookies could get hot headed and lash out or lose their cool totally. The veterans subconsciously choose tactics that don't allow opponents to get away with the biased reffing eg, use 3 pointers and setting up PFs on overmatched defenders, never go into 50-50 situations which let the biased umpires get away with it.
i think jlin's minutes will be limited tonight...he was chasing steph curry all over the floor like a maniac last night
ReplyDeleteKevin McHale is just a Jeremy Lin Doubter. Nothing More. Nothing Less.
ReplyDeleteThis video was posted by via in the previous post. And found
it really point out how McFale treat Lin so far.
For anyone interest, just spend some time on it~~
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteGood video. Lets hope he (McFale) actually sees this.
DeleteAt this point of time, I am OK for whatever next.
ReplyDeleteLin go or McHale go, both is OK for me. I don't mind Lin play 20 minutes or 40 minutes. The fact is: Lin doesn't fit McHale's move the ball system,
Lin does not have the body to be Secretariat in a D'Antoni style offense where he is focus all the time (if he still had the acceleration and nimbleness he has, but has Asik's rugged build, then maybe, but I think he would destroy his knees in a few seasons if he kept playing that way with the body and knees he actually has).
DeleteLin's fearless (reckless) drives to basket last year during Linsanity could open him up to getting hurt by defender as he hurled himself into all of those defenders and elbows flying around near basket, plus all of the hard falls he was taking early this season on dribble drive penetration. Lin himself acknowledged that he had to learn to drive to basket this year, while still protecting himself.
Really wish all of his games with Reno Big Horns were publicly archived for re-viewing, because I think that is much more indicative of how Lin can play, and still be a substantive presence in game and potential game changer, even if it doesn't look like Linsanity 1.0.
Saw YouTube highlights of Lin's performance vs Dallas last year, and compared to now, he looked so raw then. Average game now for Lin, I think, actually looks much better for Lin than some of those Linsanity games. Yes, maybe not as many fearless (reckless) drives to basket, and not as much shooting, but he seems to be so much better as team's quarterback this year.
Lin and Harden, when they work cooperatively to keep defense off balance, are a devastating one two closing punch for Rockets. McHale has just got to better manage his substitutions and know who his crunch time closers are (Lin and Harden working synergistically together, and then Parsons as cutting playmaker if Lin is shut down, Delfino occasionally too, though he seems a bit more shaky at times dribbling driving to basket and trying to make play).
"Of the metrics listed above, three stand out above all others. First, Jeremy Lin's defensive rating (DefRtg) of 93.2 and net rating (NetRtg) of 13.7 were the best in the entire NBA D-League. That means that while Lin was on the floor, his team gave up the fewest points per 100 possessions and outscored their opponents by the largest margin per 100 possessions."
Delete"When Lin was on the floor last season, the Bighorns outscored their opponents by an average of 13.7 points per 100 possessions, 11.4 MORE than they did when he was on the bench. Although Lin helped with his team's ball movement (59% of FGM were assisted with him on the floor versus just over 54% when he wasn't ), Lin's presence made the Bighorns only marginally better offensively (they scored roughly 107 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor versus 104 points with him off the floor and their TS% was essentially unchanged).
Surprisingly -- knowing what we know now -- Lin's impact was most profound on the defensive end, where his Bighorns yielded almost 9 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, shaving the team's DefRtg from a pedestrian 101.8 to a sterling 93.2. Perhaps this indicates that beyond Lin's ability to facilitate offense, he could potentially help bolster the Knicks' team defense (one of the teams' perennial weaknesses) as well.
Taking a step back, it's not difficult to see why many teams overlooked Lin. For teams seeking a point guard, Lin's offensive numbers were seemingly indistinguishable from numerous other players in the NBA D-League. Of course, his intelligence and court vision can't be fully quantified, and it is perhaps these qualities that drew the Knicks to Lin.
However, his extraordinary impact on defense and scoring differential may have also caught the eye of the right person at the right time -- and the Bighorns' vast improvement with him on the court speaks to what we've heard over and over again over the past week: he just helps teams win."
http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/the_hidden_side_jeremy_lin_2012_02_15.html
My hope is that McHale gets it through his head that Jeremy Lin is not only unselfish but is running McHale's motion offense to perfection.
DeleteWhen Lin gets doubled and tripled with all passing lanes shut off, Lin must force the action.
Yesterday's game was very unusual because Golden State actually decided to defend James Harden. This is only the 2nd game all year that Harden was defended as hard as Lin usually is. McHale was pissed at Harden too for supposedly screwing up the game as much as Lin did.
McHale doesn't understand that a good defense like Golden State's will shut down any motion scheme and that individual superstar talents like Lin and to a much lesser degree Harden are the only way to break NBA traps.
LIN-HARDEN PICK AT THE TOP OF THE KEY
Deletefeel really good this morning! lol. why the b2b road games and then 3 days rest? however rockets will win 2night and jeremy will have a great game!
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the schedule sometimes. Does anyone know if they used to have back to back games in the old days? I can't imagine that happening before the time of charter flights, etc.
DeleteAnyway, hopefully the Rockets bench can come through tonight because the starters played a lot of minutes last night and Harden looks tired/injured.
just finished watching the replay.
ReplyDeleteweird game. Rox win despite relatively poor shooting by our boy Lin and Harden.
but i'm good. how could i complain? Defense more than made up for it. A WIN is a WIN!
Let's go LIN! Beat the Suns!
But Jeremy got 9 FTA. And sealed the game with the last 2 FTA. MC joke had no choice but to play Jeremy in the 4th. Too many Jeremy supporters in Goldenstate. Why does Jeremy need to keep proving himself to his own organization. 4th quarter belongs to.the starter.
DeleteI really enjoyed yesterday's game, not just Lin and Houston but Golden State too.
DeleteThe defenses from both teams was excellent. Both teams just went at each other. Several times the game went by with stops on both ends and the flow ping ponging back and forth.
Golden State wore out in the end. Lin's conditioning proved to be too much for the Warriors to overcome.
Imagine if we had kept him over Charles Jenkins…
Delete"We"? You're a GSW fan too?
Delete@logic
ReplyDelete"During the end of the timeout, I saw Sampson put his arm around Jlin and told him “to go to the hole”. I was pretty surprised at this…I think Sampson likes him (a lot of fist bumps throughout the game)."
I think Sampson realizes the only chance he will get the head coaching job is being a Lin supporter. He knows the only reason McHale will lose his job is because Les pick Lin over McHale. Les will look for a new coach who will utilize Lin so he can please the Asian Sponsors. Sampson knew he dug his own grave when he benched Lin while he was in charge. Now he is trying to show he is now a Lin supporter to the world. I do see more interactions with him and Lin during the timeouts. I don't trust his turnaround as people's character don't change overnight. He is not fooling anyone here.
I do see Lin's attitude changed in the last few games. I see Lin playing his brand of basketball and not worrying about pleasing the coach anymore. He is telling himself that if I get benched for playing my style, "So Be It". He is taking the shots and not worrying about if it will go in or not. I like the new Lin's attitude. I want to see him play his style and "get benched" if that is the consequence.
Lin understands self preservation...not his best game yesterday but I'll take it...eventually he will have another string of killer games, maybe not this season, but next. Even in limited time playing, he will get there. I think he will come out of the gate next season super hot and totally ready to go from preseason game 1.
DeleteI don't mind Sampson as the head coach at this point, as long as he gets out of Lin's way and let him play his style of basketball for his remaining time with the Rockets.
DeleteIt's ironic that the McHale/Sampson/Lin relationship somewhat parallels Dantoni/Woodson/Melo situation, only that McHale's system doesn't work (7 game losing streak) while Dantoni's system was working (7 game winning streak).
I guess if you give Sampson the job (sign a 3 yrs contract as head coach), I will venture to say he will go back to his old thinking of Lin. I would not take that chance. We just have to agree to disagree.
DeleteYeah, I would prefer another coach too. But if it's only between McHale and Sampson, I'll choose Sampson because he is the self-preservation type and he knows he better stay out of Lin's way or be shown out the door (if McHale does get fired but I really doubt he will be).
DeleteFINCH
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ReplyDeleteRox had the refs in their pocket, at least in the 2nd Half. The Rox FO must have filed a complaint with the NBA and heard about Lin's "dont want to be fined" and Parson's "Bogus" etc. because Lin especially NEVER gets 50/50 calls since he's been a Rocket. They gave Harden almost all the calls on the 50/50 contact calls, and didn't even call Smith's net touch on Greene's shot. Yes, the rigged NBA called that game to allow the Rox to win as a makeup for Dallas. The NBA is a joke -at least it was in the Rox favor this time finally.
ReplyDeleteLin got a block call in his favor where usually the refs would give Curry the charge call. That 50/50 call opened up Lin's game a bit in that 3Q. Without that call, Lin would have looked abused on defense and then looked like an out of control fool of a PG with no skills on offense. Then Lin got an "and 1" on Bogut where the refs in the past like to call Lin for offensive foul this season for using the off arm to shield (everyone does it but they single out Lin badly on that as Jeff Van Gundy also couldn't wait to point out Lin pushed off on that layup).
Lin played sub average for his own abilities, but he played HARD on both ends yesterday. He wasn't thinking clearly and he didn't look to shoot any jumpers. It was a "layup" or bust game yesterday and it worked just barely enough...that was Lin's version of trying to Westbrook another team without shooting a ton of crazy 3's and midrange jumpers.
But it was good Lin wasn't over thinking. In the 2nd half, Lin just went hard right to the hole all game. It's a sign he's pretty athletic where he doesn't use any trickery or dribbling skills/tricks. I only saw Lin go left once and that was where D Lee fouled him (again the ref called a foul that usually Lin probably doesn't get in most games that matter). I think most scouts saw Lin's "he only goes right" game & thought that there was no way in hell Lin could keep being effective with such a limited skill set, but it works for Lin because of his elite quickness and initial first step abilities and the fact he plays harder than his competition.
RIght now, I believe Lin does have limited offensive skills in that sense, but he can mask his lack of dribbling and trickery skills and jump shot setups with his elite athleticism. It's like the Dwight Howards's of the world who lack posts skills but just jump over and dunk on you with sheer size and strength - that's how Lin plays as a guard. What is funny is that Lin CAN do the stepback jumper, the CP3 side step jumper, jump stop jumpers, but we just hardly see him bust those things out regularly, probably because it's not fully 2nd nature to him though he's worked on those things - they aren't instinctual.
The other reason Lin doesn't need to really improve his limited skillset of the "only go right game" is his mastery in using PnR's can mask his particular shortcomings. That's how Nash got by so long with limited ability in some areas too. Lin's only weakness with the PnR is getting trapped at times on the PnR particularly again Miami type teams. Otherwise, Lin really can use the PnR to abuse teams.
DeleteProblem is the Rox don't run PnR well and Lin doesn't get enough volume of plays to establish his PnR rhythm like he did last year with D'Antoni where Lin probably got TOO MANY touches on PnR's throughout the game that it became predictable. Did you see Lin yell at Asik in Q3 where Asik set the PnR way too late and way too ineptly? That TO was still on Lin, and Lin has to have a backup plan in his mind when the PnR collapses as it did - CP3 is a great PG because he always has a backup plan and can produce a diamond out of coal on broken plays like that. But last year with Chandler, the PNR would have been set quickly and perfectly without Lin asking because Chandler is a smart all star center who understands what his PG expects. And Lin would have gotten a clean shot, foul, or assist and looked smart rather than inept....
Lin "does" need to improve his limited skillset. His fadeaway was atrocious. His line drives to the basket using his quickness works only if the defense is hollowed out in the paint with 1 back on D. Like you said, Lin got out of control a few times handling the ball. That's embarrassing that he still does that. On defense, Lin still gave his opponent too much space to do whatever they want and control the clock . He needs to lock it down some. I notice Lin seems to slip a lot on defense. It looks like a balance issue to me.
DeleteOverall, both teams played poorly yesterday. The Rockets is lucky they squeaked out this win. It could have swung Warriors way just as easily.
DeleteYou definition of "Poor" is what? No offense from both team. I think it was a great game because it was a defensive battle. Both team played well "on defense" and shut down the other team and GSW finally ran out of juice.
DeletePoor shot selection. Poor shooting. Poor defense, depending who you are . Asik is really the only one playing good defense. Either the defense was lackluster or not good enough. Both teams. It may look like a defensive battle, but not to me.
DeleteI don't think Lin played "sub par for his ability".
DeleteI thought Lin had an EXCELLENT game.
The Warriors really came out to play. So did the Rockets. I thought both teams played great!
Good defense will cause you to have "poor shot selection" and "poor shooting". If it doesn't look like a defensive battle to you, you have the right to that opinion.
DeleteAlso, Lin needs help from teammates to pull off the step back jumpers and other moves.
DeleteAt New York, Lin flashed that stuff because he had teammates that were good enough they could not be left unguarded.
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Deletei have to agree that the refs last night gave JLin calls that he normally have not gotten this season. one play where JLin drove and slipped, and managed to pass the ball for an assist before sliding out of bounds...refs usually would call it out of bounds against JLin, but last night they made consistent calls. i still can't believe how the refs overturned JLin's 3 at the buzzer from the mav's game. the replay clearly shows that at 0.1 seconds, the ball was at least a foot off of JLin's hands. i should send an image to the league, but that's not going to change the call. i don't know if last night was considered pay back...i get the feeling that these refs are secretly gambling.
Deletei'm not sure if JLin has limited offensive skills. he scores more points off the dribble than most players, and i see him driving to his left more often than other players driving on their weak side. i would like to see him mix in pump fakes, like one play last week JLin drove left from the right side of the court, stopped and kept his left pivot foot in place, did a 270 degree turn to lay it in with his right hand. that play looked smooth and unstoppable. i would also like to see JLin take it to the hoop with authority. defenders are always going after his layup shots. JLin should get more foul calls if he just go strong when the defender is in the restricted area. although he does mix it up with reverse layups.
Reebok,
DeleteLin got some calls last night...maybe...because Sterns was in the audience.
I'm sure everyone knew but me, but the Rox have a 7 game homestand or something like that and 10 of their next 12 or something are home games. They are pretty much at home all March after today's game. And they play several teams they should beat.
ReplyDeleteRockets should be soundly in 6th by end of month up 2 or 3 games on Golden State. I can see GSW slipping to 8th or OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS while the comical Lakers somehow move to 7th. Utah impresses me more than GSW, but with Utah, Mo Williams and Foye need to step up big time and the front line needs to heal up quickly.
I would much prefer to see Lin play the Clippers or Grizz than OKC and Spurs. The Clippers, though great, are a flawed defensive team and Lin can eat them up with his style if he is not handcuffed and also given over 32 MPG in a playoff series. PBev can match Bledsoe while Lin goes at CP3. Personally, I think Lin can shine in the series and the Rox can win...but I fully expect Mchale handcuff's regardless.
GSW is a joke of a team. They are structurally flawed in how they built that team and how they are coached. They were being treated like Knicks West earlier in the season and now they are crashing back to reality. Lin luckily is a poor matchup for Curry so Lin can stick it to GSW for years to come. Lin is just too big strong and fast and plays too hard for Curry. I also like how idiot Mark Jackson tried to post up Lin with Thompson. It did work at least 1 time, but not nearly often enough. And I love how Lin Harden did the same right back at them. Cant' wait for the Rox to beat the pathetic Warriors next weekend at home...
6th? You're an optimistic guy. Loosing to the Wizs and Bucks have me crawling back in on the limb and bear hugging the tree trunk. I say 7th , 8th, or don't make the playoffs.
DeleteGeronimo, check back with me in mid April....Lin can sit on the bench most the game and the Rockets will still be moving on up. It's their March schedule - they will go 7-3 or 8-2 at worst.
DeleteGSW is a joke and will not hold onto 6th - they will lose it next weekend when Houston plays them again. Utah will be 7th or 8th at best. In fact, the Lakers and Houston have the best chance to get to 6th. On the last day of the season, the Lakers and Houston will probably be playing for 6th/7th seeding. The NBA is rigged and won't make that a meaningless game.
Geronimo, I can tell you are a young guy and haven't been around too long. You doubt Lin but Lin is already elite because he has top level athleticism which makes up for any lack of actual basketball skills. He's a DHoward of a PG at worst in that he can beat people physically at the game of basketball even though he lacks certain obvious skills other PG's have.
In due course, Lin will convert you into a closet fan :)
Well, an easy schedule doesn't mean it's a good thing for Lin. It just means McHale can get away with benching him and still find a way to win. It sucks for us Lin fans to no longer just worry about the opponents now but also JLin's own coach.
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DeleteOh, Lin definitely has elite skills.
DeleteHowever, he does not have what other elite point guards have: elite max contract big men to set screens and provide defensive coverage.
Much of what Lin can do is not seen because of the limitations of his teammates. That does not mean those skills are not there.
Instantaneous acceleration and great body agility (IIRC, he tested very, very high at body agility tests when he was being evaluated for the draft).
DeleteDuring Linsanity, I think there was an article saying Lin accelerated as fast as John Wall. Doubt he can maintain that topline speed, like others, though.
His draft scouting reports said he has a deceptive, and deceptively long, first step, that allows him to get by his initial defender.
http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2012/03/life-in-the-fast-lane/
ESPN fluff piece during Linsanity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgTLzNQ1LcE
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DeleteAVERAGE SPEED
DeleteJeremy Lin: 16.66 mph
Derrick Rose: 16.60 mph
John Wall: 16.48 mph
Kyrie Irving: 15.67 mph
Lin wins this battle.
START SPEED
Lin: 13.93 mph
Wall: 13.25 mph
Irving: 12.64 mph
For Rose, BAM has only average speed data.
Lin wins this battle too.
TOP SPEED
Lin: 18.85 mph
Wall: 19.30 mph
Irving: 18.74 mph
Lin comes in second to Wall.
corrected link for ESPN fluff piece on Jeremy Lin's acceleration during the height of Linsanity 1.0 with the Knicks:
Deletehttp://youtu.be/TiaUXVSyDZc
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DeleteUsain Bolt is a freak of nature (in a good way): http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/08/bolt-is-freaky/
ReplyDeleteLin, at least qualitatively, is also a freak of nature in a good way because, perhaps his instantaneous acceleration was hard wired into his nervous system when he was a 5 ft. 3 whirling dervish, but when he spurted up to 6 ft. 3, his extremities now allowed much longer strides, but his nervous system was still programmed to churn his legs like the 5 ft. 3 kid he was in junior high (?)
"That’s because muscle speed in animals is generally tied to their size. For example, rodents, being much smaller than elephants, can move their muscles much faster. The same holds true for human beings. Sprinters are short and have more fast-twitch muscle fibers, allowing them to accelerate quickly, but compromising their ability to run longer distances. Four hundred-meter runners, almost always taller, have the reverse composition of muscle fibers.
DeleteBolt, though, combines the mechanical advantages of taller men’s bodies with the fast-twitch fibers of smaller men."
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/08/bolt-is-freaky/
JLin is 'deceptively' tall for a point guard. he's 6'3 without shoes, while most point guards are listed with shoes. JLin is really about half an inch to an inch shorter than harden, who is listed at 6'5.
DeleteLOL, I was just to add same comment.
DeleteLin is 6 ft. 3 (I think he is actually something like 6 ft. 3 1/2 tall), WITHOUT sneakers.
During that Reno Big Horns game where Novak had just joined the team that day, and Lin / Novak / Danny Greene played so beautifully off of each other that Coach Eric Musselman told his assistant that he thought they would never lose again, and that he was so relaxed that he just wanted to get a bag of popcorn and diet soda and watch the Lin / Novak / Danny Greene combo as a fan in stands, commentator for Idaho Stampede said he walked passed Lin and said he was surprised by how tall Lin was (he said he was 6 ft. 5 and Lin was same height).
Harden and Lin are big point guard / shooting guard backcourt.
@ joe, I believe that size and speed is all relative. Empirically, I've noticed that athletes are getting bigger and faster at the same time. It maybe that humans are just getting bigger in general. What was once considered to be the advantage of smaller men to be quicker has changed due to the over size of people in general. Lebron is super quick for his size. How that change has come about is open to debate. But in general, I believe that every new generation of kids sees what level of play is at and in their minds, they are already setting new limits in order to defeat that level. Kids are always doing that fantasy game of playing against their heros. Out of all the thousands of kids that play the game one or two of the next generation will create a new solution and a new higher level of normal.
DeleteIs it me, or is Lin taller than 6'4" listed John Wall?
DeleteIn all the Clash of the Titans flicks starring Lin vs Wall, Lin looks significantly taller and heavier than Wall.
Lin is a big strong guard who can even physically swing over to the 3 spot against smaller teams.
Jeremy Lin Rant #2 - Jeremy Lin Stat Analysis
ReplyDeleteSloan Conference: Daryl Morey, Brian Kopp, and Benjamin Alamar
Zach Low said Harden needs to improve his defense to Daryl Morey.
DeleteThe Rockets, Daryl, was obsessed in getting Asik.
DeleteGood link, i enjoyed the rant video
DeleteSOME PICS - JLIN VS GSW AND WITH FANS
ReplyDeleteJLIN'S WHAAA?! FACE
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ReplyDeleteRockets Still Plan On Pursuing Dwight, Bynum, Josh Smith
ReplyDeletenew thread
ReplyDeleteThe game showcased Lin's incredible defensive skills in shutting down Curry or whoever Lin switched to. Harden was a net loss to the team early on, with ordinary defensive effort and many offensive drives and shots missing (often due to ref's not calling bad fouls on him - watch the highlight where the defender hits Harden's forearm and elbow then Warriors go for a fast break).
ReplyDeleteHowever, the umpiring did improve but only when Lin and Harden crashed to the floor or screamed out in pain from outrageous fouling, Asik was lucky to keep his head bloodless from Bogut and co's swinging elbows under the basket which seemed like warring Beirut at times.
A courageous win from the team, led by the 'veteran' starters.
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ReplyDeleteGeronimo are you a LOH? Lin only hater?
ReplyDelete