There is literally no excuse for the game to end last night, on a critical possession, with Jeremy Lin chucking a desperation 3-pointer after Harden dribbled away 20 seconds from the shot clock. None. Guess what JLin's shooting percentage would be without those last second passes from Harden. With friend/teammate like this, you don't need an enemy!
Nothing will change. Morey wanted to look smart and Mchale delivered for him and made Harden an all-star and team franchise guy. It looked for real for half the season and now it looks like a big joke.
Now both Morey and Mchale have taken it too far that there's no turning back. And to boot, now they use Parsons as the backup PG in games in addition to Parson's already high usage. Morey's agenda is obvious and ridiculous...but that's how people keep their jobs in the corporate world. So Morey's playing the game right, I'll give him that.
Morey's smart, he knows this team isn't doing anything in the playoffs. Whether it's Harden Ball or Lin ball, they are a first or second round flameout at best this year regardless of who has the ball or style of play. So might as well have his guys shine instead of the owner's guy. Smart, smart move by a snake.
I think Lin was frustrated benched so long yesterday and he has a right to be, but he should have realized he can atone for it by playing his ass off and dominating the ball to win the game. People would have taken notice esp. an ESPN game.
He just needs to do his thing and not be afraid of permanent benchings that are coming ANYWAYS. He figured it out a few months back and then I guess he thought Mchale was going to play him for real, but Lin needs to learn once and for all that Mchale will NEVER play him for real.
I wish he would stop deferring but that's almost unfair to expect from him.
"There is literally no excuse for the game to end last night, on a critical possession, with Jeremy Lin chucking a desperation 3-pointer after Harden dribbled away 20 seconds from the shot clock. "
OF COURSE there was an excuse for that. "The ball got sticky." What justifies everything and absolves you of all blame if you just repeat it enough: "The ball got sticky." What explains the Great Chain of Being if you contemplate it long enough: "The ball got sticky." What exists in a some parallel universe that you can only describe but cannot influence in any possible way: "The ball got sticky."
Why would Lin need to atone for anything? He didn't do anything wrong.
I can see McHale saying to Lin after his great 3rd quarter performance: "Jeremy, sometimes doing the right thing ain't doing the right thing...You should just stand in the corner and not worry about winning the game, after all, we don't want Linsanity, we want ISOs!"
McHale is a joke. 1st round exit for Rockets unless for some miraculous reason McHale sits out of post season along with Sampson and FO just lets Lin run the show.
Exactly, I know Lin can mess with Westbrook because of that John Wall Game. Lin dismantled the Wizards so badly I was in shock how great Lin looked that game. He isn't as athletic obviously, but he tore that team apart and didn't look that much less athletic than Wall during that game.
Now Westbrook is like Wall on steroids. And OKC is much better, but if Lin was allowed to ball out, he could go toe to toe against Westbrook in his own way just like he did J Wall last year.
Sadly, we won't see it this series at all, even though Lin is already ready for the challenge.
- If Jeremy isn't allowed to play his position and 38+ mpg during the series...the Rockets will be swept easily and in embarrassing fashion.
- If Jeremy is allowed to be a PG and play heavy minutes like all other starting PGs in the playoffs...the Rockets have a real shot at knocking off the Thunder.
The key to victory is always Jeremy. Always. George Karl knows this. Kobe Bryant knows this.
During last night's broadcast, JVG mentioned Kobe giving advice to his teammates before the game: "Harden can get his...but you MUST shut down Jeremy Lin." Great basketball minds know who the real star of the team is...and it's not James Harden. Or even Chander Parsons, ha.
The only one that did the excellent job to shut down Jeremy is his coach! MCHale. He pulled him out of the game and have him sat on the benches >> 20 minutes when he was pulling the rockets ahead.
@Solidz75, your interpretation threw me off...Kobe and George Karl see the same quality in Lin. Lin is the motor of the Rox. Shutting down Lin equates to shutting down the whole team. In any typical Rox game, Harden's high scoring and high assist no > Lin's, the team would lose. Plain and simple.
No I think people are misinterpreting his quote. Now it's still a compliment but I equate it with saying something like lebron will get his but we have to shut down wade. Still a compliment but certainly not the praise people think it is..
Kobe pretty much said the same thing Paul George said.
Harden is going to get his regardless of the team. He'll play selfishly and freeze out his teammates to get his. Lin on the other hand gets other people involved and himself. So if he's "going", then that means the entire team is running.
No one ever said, Lebron will get his but we must shut down Wade. Lebron is a guy that gets his teammates involved, he doesn't play the way Harden does.
Maybe Kobe is talking from hands on experience. His team got burned at MSG last year during Linsanity and at least once this year largely due to JLin's aggressive plays (setting others up and scoring as well). They would probably risk Harden getting his usual 30 points but shut down JLin (and the rest of the team who relies on his playmaking).
I see what you're saying, but let's face it: Kobe isn't someone who believes that ANYONE (except maybe himself and MJ) is unstoppable.
He even used the All-Star game to show that he could still shut down Lebron (with two epic blocks) if he really wanted to. So you can be darn sure he doesn't consider Harden unstoppable. Not yet anyway.
Also, I've heard statements like Kobe's made about many other players at the college level or in other sports. And it's always in the context of "Don't worry about that overrated guy with big stats...Worry about the underrated catalyst who wins games."
There's an old saying that applies here: "It takes quality to know quality."
Must see: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/56895/hero-ball-devoured-the-rockets
HARDEN WILL GET HIS 30 POINTS ANYWAY no matter how many shots he missed. The more shots he missed, the less the rockets will score as a team. Comparing the game with Memphis on Dec 22, 2012 to the game on Apr 22, Harden scored 30 points in both games.On Dec 22, the rockets won 121:96 with Harden made 9 out of 13. On Apr 22, the rockets lost 78:82 with Harden made 7 out of 24 shots. He made 11 more shots to get his 30. The rockets lost by only four points. Taking 11 shots away from a team, it is easy to understand why the Rox lost.
Koby's right. Let Harden shoot as many as possible to get his points, the more shots he put up the better.
I mean I see how u guys took it... Wasn't really obvious to me at first. But would he really belittle harden like that? Especially in the context of all the praises heaped on harden this year from everyone except us?
It doesn't matter.. It is a moot point anyways.. Only Kobe knows what he meant.
I also think Kobe was on the level with his comments about Lin. He remembers how Lin torched him in NY for 38 and pushed him into a bad shot almost out of bounds behind the basket when Kobe tried to post him up in ISO.
Well, either way, it's a big, big compliment when Kobe singles out a guy averaging only 13/6 as a "key to the game." It shows that he sees beyond stats in evaluating Lin and the Rockets. Which 99% of basketball analysts and fans are unable to do.
Glad to know I wasn't the only one who caught Kobe's words of wisdom to his team. The funny part is that Lakers didn't shut Lin down, his coach did. McHale fell right into the trap.....smart move McHale. But from Kobe's word my take is the same as everyone above. Harden doesn't get the team going so no threat, but when Lin gets everyone going, it's hard to stop.
Kobe is simply restating what other coaches see, that Lin is the motor of the team and must be stopped.
Heat knows this. Nuggets knows this, spurs knows this, basically most playoff teams knows this. Its why Heat focused purely on Lin during the first meeting last year and basically let Melo shoot his heart out. Guess what, Knicks lost.
Its no coincidence team after team put their best defenders on Lin. He is that good. Harden? Hahaha...Just let him waste time and iso, or if he is on the right put up a defender with good wingspan and contest his shots.
Zach Lowe was also killing it with his criticism of James Harden’s defense in his Mega Like/Don’t Like column:
Harden is just one culprit, but as a perimeter player often stationed closest to midcourt of all Rockets in those precious seconds of offense-to-defense transition, his bad habits are especially damaging. Harden’s reactions are sometimes a fatal beat late, and he often gives up on the idea of retreating altogether, choosing instead to reach for steals as ball handlers fly by him or leap hopelessly at outlet passes jetting over his head. Those gambles aren’t always terrible; they can in some especially bad circumstances represent a smart last-ditch effort to disrupt an overwhelming fast break no other teammate has any hope of disrupting. But Harden and his teammates need to limit these lunging gambles to those hopeless circumstances, get their floor balance in order, and approach postseason transition defense with appropriate urgency.
You bet McHale would change. He's let Harden completely out of control and what he did was ironic to McHale's basketball philo of moving the damn ball. The rockets are deep in raw talents but none of them are allowed to contribute to the team's success. They are marginalized in order to help Harden pick up his 30 points each game playing no defense and throwing bricks. The rockets' playbook is so simple: Let Harden do his ISO and other just stands around to watch.
Harden is going nowhere fast. Finally the media see through the Harden bs. Superstar? Who anointed him that? The media!! Now it's time to pull him odwn for the joke of a player he really is!!!
Recap of Lins season for me in as simple a way as I can.
Everytime Lin guards someone he gets pick and rolled.
Everytime Lin is on offense he has to create on his own.
Asik does sometimes give effective picks but he is no threat to score off the PnR so his defender can pick up Lin without having to worry. Usually Lin just has to beat his man one on one on his own, but what is waiting for him when he gets into the lane? Usually the C and PF who both clog the lane. So Jeremy is in a really tough position because better coaching would spread the floor better so the main shot blockers won't be able to just camp in the paint.
Anyone see Dragic play this season? Notice that Dragic gets many plays called just for him to initiate the offense? He draggs across the whole court and gets 1 or 2 picks to free him up. He gets effective picks from his C on every play which leaves the middle open for him.
Let me just add that screens don't have to be for PnR, so Rox lacking a top-tier roll man is beside the point. It's enough for screens to give Lin space and separation to create. Also, if you look at, eg, the GSW offense, the pick and pop is not the endpoint of the play but a way of initiating or opening up other actions.
Just shows how good Lin is when he gets so little help and still manages to prove himself to be a good PG. imagine how much better he would be if he played for someone who actually gives him some help like ost other " star " PGs get!
Lin, in my opinion, is the best point guard in the entire NBA.
He's so good that the only way to stop him now is to bench him. Even freezing him out doesn't work.
If Lin had even one competent pick and roll partner, he'd be even more unstoppable than Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook. Lin's already shown that he can outplay those two, even without teammate help.
The team I want Lin traded to is Charlotte. I want to see how many wins Lin would add to that horrible team. I think Lin can easily get that team into the playoffs if Michael Jordan allowed his coach Dunlap to use Lin correctly.
I am not convinced Lin goes away from the screen more than he did when he PnRed with Tyson Chandler last year. Lin's just really good at exploiting the defender's anticipation of Lin using the screen. I don't think that this year he goes away from the screen more frequently because Rox screeners are poor screeners per se.
4-3, with lots of recriminations on crunch time loss of last game, iso-ball, etc. They will have 2 games with nice ball movement. I'm just mirroring the season. I give them one more than Brent because OKC will have a bad game.
Then it's a happy summer where I will look for some local thing he's doing in the Bay Area. Who knows, maybe I'll get a personal train at Sparta (just kidding).
I also predict 4 games of iso-harden, rockets get swept. Harden's offense is very one-dimensional and nobody knows Harden better than his ex-teammates. Harden will get shut down.
Well, I am betting on West Brook doing his self-brain-locking type defense. If that happens, we have a great chance to win for sure. That was the reason we won in the regular season I think. I just doubt WB will brain-locking more than 2 games.
I guessed it would be 4:0 with Harden scored 30 points or more in each game. The Rockets suffered the sweep with Jeremy benched in the fourth until the last six minutes.
It all depends on how Jeremy is used. Unfortunately, McHale has given me no reason to believe he'll treat Jeremy like any other starting PG.
So yeah...OKC in 5. And they'll lose exactly the way you'd expect. McHale benches Lin/ices him. Harden Hero Ball fails. Beverly does one good thing and three bad things. Chandler Parsons is praised as a future star, ha.
Harden will do his 5/30 FGM and 15FTs and lose every game.
Lin needs to learn how to catch and shoot with 2secs left on the shot clock. You know, play the good little chinaman and do as he is told and bail out the best player on the team, even though Lin is better by far.
NBA TV - Smitty thinks OKC in 5 and some "coach" something or other thinks OKC in 6. Not that it matters, but Smitty was the only one who mentioned Lin at all. The irony is that when they showcased Harden, Asik and Parsons, several clips show the assist from Lin.
The best play for both Lin and harden is PNR with each other to free either one of them up from the high post position. This set would cause so much problem for any defense. Who do they cover, you can pick your poison with either one. Have both bigs low on either sides f the basket ready to attack basket when one of their 4 or 5 move forward to help full the middle. Which ever defender moves forward, leaves one of our bigs free to go to the rim. Throw up a soft high floater shot off the rim alley oop like a rebound and it makes it easy for our stone hand bigs to catch the ball and stuff it in the hoop.
YOU GUYS NEED TO WATCH THIS! This is the first time that I have done something like this but I thought about it yesterday after the game to light things up a little bit. It's one of those Hitler videos. It should be funny. Again this is my first time doing anything like these. I had fun doing it hope you guys like it and let me know what you think. Lol
That's exuberating sensational and better than many professional sport writers could. How could the Rox let such a moron run the team. Les Alex definitely should do auditioning as Hitler.
i've seen harden setting screens for lin before, but harden doesn't roll. he just stays back there, and then lin gets doubled and ends up passing the ball back to harden. it'll be more difficult now since smith and asik cannot spread the floor.
one of the biggest problem for the rockets is that their motion/spread offense is a barrier to getting offensive boards. nobody knows when someone will shoot, and with everyone spread out, it leaves only one player, or sometimes none, to grab an offensive rebound. the one guy that has made a tremendous effort in getting in position for offensive boards, especially on a last play of a quarter/game, is beverly. i'm not seeing that from d-mo, jones, or smith. they have to put themselves in position after a shot is made, even if they are playing a spread.
i hope that mchale does not play small in the 4th quarter again. the rockets have been burned in the paint too many times playing small. they need to have two of the three: asik, smith, jones, on the floor throughout the game.
The only reason I suggested this PNR is that it was successful before but what's nice is that it will stop Harden holding onto the ball so long until the end of 24. The ISO set is Mchale trying to make Harden a star, but harden doesn't have the spacial intelligence to see the play unfold so he is stumped holding onto the ball. By having Lin set a pick for him, it will at least jar him from that dear in headlights state. The other thing is that if harden jacks up a shot, at least we have the bigs nearby to rebound.
There is no way the Rox have any chance if they let harden continue with hero iso ball. Just saying...
One thing I don't understand...maybe someone can enlighten me. Why do Rockets screens seem to suck? I don't understand why they don't do it more often and when they actually do it it feels half-a$$?
I was watching Howard and Gasol and when they were setting screens for Blake they pretty much completely block off the defender so the defender had to go under or over to chase after Blake. But when Rockets players set screens, a lot of the time they leave a pretty wide space and the defender can just squeeze through and continue blocking the dribbler. It feels completely useless. Are they just bad at it or are they actually not setting screens and doing something else? I don't understand.
yep, screens from Rox forwards are weak/bad. asik's can be okay, not bc he is good at it, but bc he's just so wide. Howard/Gasol -- that's just a different standard.
First of all, I think to some extent, Howard and Gasol are just having star protections. On the other hands, We have TJ, ASIK, SMITH as screeners whose salary are completely not comparable to Howard and Gasol's at all.
Secondly, it requires a lot of energy to any 7 footer to set a screen and running to the hoop in a very short time. Howard and Gasol are just simply better in this regard.
Finally, the space you chose will be depending on who is handling the ball. Usually, if the guard is stronger and faster, the screen will be further from the ball-handler.
So...I think the space you are seeing is just by design. Lin can easily beat most guard of the dribble, so I personally think he does not need the a very close screen. In this way, the bigs can save energy and run to the rim earlier. However, a lot of time, it is the chemistry that blows a PnR Play (Happens a lot to Rox).
For example, some guard will simply go too early while his bigs are not set yet. Or vice versa, a guard waited too long and the big guy can not time correctly and leave his position for screen too early. Both situations make a PnR play less effective.
It's not as easy as it looks to do. It's an actual acquired skill to have both players on the same page. The pick has to read what the Pg wants to do and the Pg has to subtly maneuver the defender into the pick. No matter what you try to do with any set play there will always be an effective counter. To do it properly, there has to be good chemistry between the pick and the Pg. it doesn't happen overnight, there is a learning curve to go through.
Also D'antoni is a PNR coach so Lin had a natural affinity to his style in NY. Both Stat and Tyson were already well versed in what was required to set good picks, even then, I felt that Tyson made way too many moving picks that didn't get called.
It's no surprise to me that Gasol and Howard made good picks because of the system D'antoni coaches. Mchale on the other hand doesn't run too many PNRs so there is no chemistry being developed and the bigs aren't learning to set good picks. Lin however has the speed and spacial intelligence to maneuver his man into the picks or at least use it a little just to gain a half step. More often than not, that's all he needs to get clear of his man.
Adam Wexler @awexler Pay attention to NBA coach firings/resignations since #Rockets Kelvin Sampson is should be a top candidate. #Pistons #Cavaliers #76ers 2:25 PM - 18 Apr 13
I don't think the officiating was biased in favor of Lakers, but curiously by some convergence of circumstances, the NBA got the playbill matchup they wanted to showcase: OKC vs HOU.
I'd be more optimistic about the playoffs if I was confident that McHale learns from his mistakes and makes logical corrections. Really, the only thing OKC has to do is to shut down Harden or frustrate him enuff to get him out of rhythm. You all saw what happened last night. McHale will never hand over the reins to Lin . He simply refuses to believe Lin can lead his team no matter how many times he proved him wrong this season.
McHale will live or die with harden. He will never relinquish the team to Lin. He'd rather take the heat for benching him than give him the trust to make plays. That is why the Rox wll go nowhere and will likely get swept in the playoffs.
That's precisely the reason I want McHale fired -- he NEVER learns from his mistakes.
He keeps making the same mistakes he's made all year with no progress to show for it. No matter what your record is, a good coach should make some sort of clear progress in some major area. And McHale doesn't done that.
In fact, there are times where the team seems to be regressing and player development looks stunted.
I believed that McHale was informed that the Rox is going to trade away Lin because of Harden. With flashes shown by Lin, the Beard hasn't felt comfortable with. Morey has to commit to Harden owing to $80 m.
Lin is more tradeable to release the cap for another superstar that Morey is going to sign next year. Beverly + Harden + Anderson would run the back court for Rox next year.
Despite many posters on this board keep saying that Lin isn't going anywhere as his salary commensurates with or even higher than his production, I am beginning to believe that Lin is gonna be traded based on the obvious tell tale signs given away by McHale and the Rox FO from the beginning till the very last game of the season.
Good riddance for both Lin and the McHale-Morey double headed snakes.
Can't wait for the new chapter of Lin's career to launch when he lands on a team that truly wants him.
They don't look spectacular, but his usage rate was way down this year with Harden. Multiply those by 1.35 (the usage rate difference last year vs this year), and those are all-star numbers.
Anyways, what matters is that he maintained the same efficiency (FG%, 3pt%, AST/TO) as last year, despite McHale's efforts to freeze him out. Actually his AST/TO improved from 1.7 to 2.1. This proved that last year wasn't a fluke.
One of Jeremy's greatest assets is his all-around game. Only 3 players in the entire league had as many ppg, apg, spg, FG%, 3pt% as Lin: Lebron James, Steph Curry, and Jeremy Lin. I didn't pick some obscure stats to manipulate the results--points, assists, steals, shooting % are the main stats that are important for a PG.
It'd be more interesting if you pulled post All-Star game numbers.
The 'only few players have these stats' thingie is very arbitrary. You could do that with a lot of players just bc you can find unique combinations, even for players that are not particularly remarkable. It's easy to make many players look GOAT by doing that. So, I agree with the conclusion, but throwing out that kind of data is simply not persuasive to those who are not convinced to begin with that Lin is anything special.
In particular, if you combine Lin's steal stats with any other stat, you can get a short list just bc Lin's steal stats are very good (tho less so now that he tries to avoid contact for phantom fouls). Eg, putting STL/36 with TS would yield 12 names. Add any other variable, and the list will be that much shorter. What is proven by this? Nothing, except Lin is good at steals, which everyone knew already from standard stats.
Sorry real-dsb, that stat combo thing is just a pet peeve of mine. NBA announcers have been abusing it more and more lately, so it just irks me even more. I recently saw one for Curry that resulted in him being the only player ever to have that combo. The only thing that contorted stat proves is that Curry is...really good at shooting 3s, but expressed in the most elaborate formulation possible. /done rant.
Curry started shooting 3 well after the game they were blown out by the rockets tying 3 points record in a game. Jackson immediately learned and used for the Warriors offense. That makes the difference between a good coach and a stubborn moron.
TBH, this game to me made it pretty clear that Lin or McHale has to go pretty soon like off season. It seems like McHale doesn't want Harden and Lin backcourt to work. And we have seen this like few few times during the wining stretches and its when he reverts oh so often back to isos that we lose like the past few games. He insists on staggering Parsons and Harden's minutes, why not Lin and Harden? Parsons is a pretty good player but how he performs has no effect on the wins or losses, it has to be either James or Lin that performs good to get the W. McHale refuses to see this. It was the 82nd game and nothing change, McHale is so inconsistent the team looks bad, they can go from elite to trash like the next game because McHale is just so inconsistent with his coaching except the sit-Lin-out-til-hes-cold. It really is a shame, IMO, that McHale does not see the value in Lin like other coaches and Kobe do. Gawd McHale is such a difficult person... He talks about no ball movement yet he doesn't do anything about it when Harden or whoever isos, wtf is that? He needs to start benching people like he did to Lin to quit those habits next season. Also one of the biggest flaw i still think this team needs to fix and McHale needs to establish is their position. James and Anderson are the SG, Lin, Brooks, and Beverly are the PG's..... so they can limit those TO's. I think this is one of the many reasons why the TO's are sky high because everyone thinks they're a PG and starts to make plays and cause TOs like when Parsons tried to be a playmaker, that didn't go well. Not to bag on Parsons, but he's a good shooter, not a playmaker. It's great that sometimes the randomness confuses others but not so when the TOs turn to points after points. Honestly I just want to see if anything will change in playoffs because by now EVERYONE knows McHale has no plays except run isos for Harden and now Parsons, its so predictable OKC will not only sweep us but embarrass us so bad. I'm praying McHale will one game try letting Lin run the offense or oh god like the last game they played and staggered Harden and Lin's mins, that might get us somewhere but I'm not so positive about sweeping them it's like not even possible. I get the whole no one expected us to be in playoffs blah blah but as of late we dont even look like a playoff contender. Sorry for my rant but lastly, I really hope Lin gets traded to the Lakers, D'Antoni will let Lin play his strength because this season I think Lin has improved on his weaknesses under McHale but time to move on. I love the idea of Lin being Nash's student and maybe even Kobe's. I love the idea of lakers possibly doing a 3-guard starting line up like the Knicks. It'd be deadly and hopefully Nash's and Lin's mins will be staggered. The thing too is that Lin doesn't really need to adjust because he's playing under a familiar system and one he loves I believe so it wouldn't be tough to adapt. Both Nash and Lin aren't too egoistic so I think they can make it work easily. I hate that people make Kobe seem like a Diva and he is but he wants a ring and he's willing to adapt if it means getting another ring. I think that's one thing people overlook about Kobe, this season I've seen him really change to win more games and look now Lakers are 7th in playoffs. They were the jokes now not anymore. So i really do hope that Lakers trade Howard for Lin and Asik or Lin and whoever...It'd be interesting and also this will be interesting to see how much the Rox are willing to keep Lin and really attempt to build that young and promising backcourt, if they let Lin walk, they never cared to build it, if they keep him McHale has to go or really be consistent with staggering Lin and Harden's mins. because their performance affects the team's fate. Sorry for the long rant...
I don't quite understand. Howard is a free agent soon. Any team can bid for his service and the Lakers will match it and then trade him ! It doesn't make sense to me. I think Lakers will keep Howard. Gasol may be traded for Lin. Then the Lakers will be a contender with Lin's playmaking ability. Plus Lin's contract is only $8m/year. The Lakers will gain on the cap by trading Gasol.
Lin has shown flashes of brilliance enough to get many teams interested in having him as a PG. The low tier teams will have lots to gain with Lin as an anchorage. Team basketball works in perfection don't need superstar to make it to the playoff. Again Lin will be able to go to playoff next year in whatever team he'll play.
I'm sure Lin will be traded or else McHales's rotation will make no sense at all. I don't believe that McHale is stupid. He just played according to a hidden agenda. That's Lin will go away next year. He has to find substitute for Lin.
JLin could shine in any team if he's allowed to be the PG, so he would welcome the trade. On the other hand, maybe McHale knows he will be replaced after this season and want to showcase his coaching skills (which he truly thought would work) in his first playoffs as a coach. Unfortunately, iso-Harden let him down lol.
@Kwok Wai Lai idk the announcers during the game were saying that Houston is one of the ones who will try very hard to get Howard so idk. I dont think Gasol is going anywhere, he's been with them for too long and Kobe loves him, I just don't see him going anywhere. But who really knows, I hope D'Antoni makes quite a case to the Buss to get Lin, I can really see Lin, Nash, and Kobe be a deadly backcourt. Also yes he has, I;m sure most teams would want him for his skills and marketability but like I said it'll really be interesting to see how Rockets handle this whole Lin situation. I've come to the point to conclude that McHale or Rox don't want to build on their back court, they've made really no progress, even if so, they revert back. And no one tells McHale anything. yes Lin will be going to playoffs no matter what team, and I can really agree with that. I don't know if McHale is dumb or stubborn or what not, he just seems to be SOOO inconsistent with his coaching!
@Sesshie I really agree with your post, Lin can shine if given the chance to and I know he will. Lol but interesting thought about McHale knowing he will be replaced, lol but really iso-harden did let him down. Hopefully playoffs he unleashes Linsanity if not, then he or Lin needs to go, that i believe has to at least justify why he benched Lin last game and so often, to save him for last, but I have a feeling nothing will change and OKC will just destroy them, short series! i call it! But oh goodness this offseason will be VERY VERY interesting to see how this whole saga unfolds. Or let alone if nothing changes hopefully next season something in the "playbook" has to change if not, either or has to go. Lin and Harden can coexist but Lin and McHale can't eventually.
In hindsight, McHale's decision to bench Lin for close to half an hour before putting him back in the 4th Quarter did Lin and Mike D'Antoni a big favor on a globally televised NBA game to allow all NBA fans witness first hand the following:
1. Mike D'Antoni is a much better coach than McHale. Mike D'Antoni headed the Lakers in the midseason with very little time to mesh the players together under his coaching yet managed to clinch No.7 seed in a very competitive Western Conference. Thanks to McHale for not trusting Lin to be the PG. McHale for COTY? No, Mike D'Antoni is a more deserving candidate.
Have to give D'Antoni props, managing a team with that many superstars isn't exactly easy...Talk about getting egos to play nice, haha tough...He commanded respect fortunately due to his prior relationships with some of the players.
Paul George annihilate the myth of him being unstoppable. He actually caused less problems to the opposed team than Lin could. Lin tends to make the team better.
Actually Harden performed much better at the beginning when he played a less role in the team putting up less shots and shared the ball more with teammates. From then Harden was going downhill until now.
Anyway, it's high time Lin departed with the Rox's shackling and sabotage.
@via - while Woodson's the EC coach of the month, and writers commented that when both D'Antoni and Woodson were both with the Knicks, they couldn't work it out with them.
:) You're right. Didn't want to mention Woody [Hornet's nest] but anyhoo...
Frank Isola @FisolaNYDN Mike Woodson (8-2) & Mike D'Antoni (7-1) named NBA Coaches of the Month for April. And yet together they couldn't make it work in New York 12:11 PM - 18 Apr 13
Harden is stoppable and is no guarantee for any success in NBA. He has gone against many good teams and his faults are crystal clear that he is not even close to Wesbrook and Durant's caliber. The last game that rockets took from OKC was because Lin was unbelievable and scored 29 points in LINSANITY MODE. Anything less than that Harden would be in deep trouble.
OKC has not put his number 1 guard on Harden. IN the playoff, they most certainly will decimate Harden. The rockets team doesn't seem to mesh well will Harden's super big ego and his style of basketball. No players with common sense will like to be on his team. $80m would buy Morey a shame he would never forget in his life.
The more flaws of Harden being exposed, the more Morey will desperately finding ways to showcase Harden to inflate his values at the expense of his teammates.
This making-me-look-good scheme by Morey won't stop until Harden is either traded or a new coach who knows how to discipline Harden and utilize his talent arrives in HOU.
The fact still showed that the Rox played better w/o the Beard. The winning percentage when he was out was amazing. Lin has shown that he can win basketball game without Harden.
This year, Lin has made lots of improvement all around. He has shown that he is a winner winning games with mediocre players.
Well, to be fair, Harden is still young and will get better (sounds like JLin's inspirational video lol). A lot of the flaws have to do with the coaching (being worn out by playing too many minutes; the heavy iso-offense; no emphasis on defense).
The easiest solution for the Rockets is to get a new head coach that can coach Harden to play defense and employ an offensive scheme that emphasizes on team-ball.
Just guessing, I think he is warning Howard to back-off. Before that time-out, Asik was pissed because Howard did something (Do not know what, a dirty foul maybe?).
Sportige @Sportige @kxxxxxxxxxxx @cxxxxxxxxx April really weird. It as if Harden is intent on showing that the Rockets are his team and his alone... 10:45 PM - 18 Apr 13
done some trolling at clutchfans. love the "fire McHale" chants there. I've read some "fire McHale. get Phil Jackson as coach". yeah Zen Master said he's "itching" to go back to either front office or coaching job, but surely he wouldn't go coaching for the Rockets.unless Morey resigns or Morey gets a caliber 4 and 5, PJ might be interested. he will probably drag BRIAN SHAW off the Pacers and have him coach road games.
imho, I think the best coach for Rockets is Popovich or someone who can discipline his players like Popovich does. that would be really nice since Popovich-like coach will bench Harden for not playing defense lol.
I would welcome a Jeremy Lin trade to almost any bottom feeder team, as I am interested to see how he'd turn around their fortunes.
Here are my picks:
1) Phoenix. The franchise owner loves Goran Dragic, but not as much as McHale does. Plus the players in Phoenix, particularly Marcin Gortat, are not happy with Dragic's shoot first point guard play. Send Lin over for Dragic so that I can see Lin play in my town while simultaneously knocking out a conference rival in Houston. Lin would get the Suns into the playoffs, a feat that Dragic could not do this season.
2) Sacramento. They're having trouble with Boogie? Send DeMarcus Cousins over for Lin and see if Cousins and McHale like each other. Have Isaiah Thomas back up Lin and send back Francisco Garcia. But get rid of Lin hating coach Keith Smart first.
3) Charlotte. The worst team in the league needs Lin the most, from a sheerly basketball perspective. Ditch Kemba Walker and send Lin to flight school with Michael Jordan. It would have fun to see a young Michael Jordan try to stop Jeremy Lin - I actually doubt it because nobody jn the entire NBA can stop Lin 1 on 1.
4) Detroit: Send over Brandon Knight and Rodney Stuckey for Lin. Put Lin alongside Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond and it's the Bad Boys all over again. I even think Lin could get Charlie Villanueva going. Kyle Singler is my "Novak" pick for deadly shooter that Lin transforms into a weapon.
5) Milwaukee. While I'd love Brandon Jennings to back up Lin, the truth is that Jennings needs to start. Get rid of Monta Ellis too, who is a better James Harden. Put Lin alongside JJ Redick and both players will explode. Milwaukee's frontcourt would BEAST with Lin leading them.
6) Washington/Cleveland: If Lin's to play shooting guard, let it be alongside either Wall or Irving. Both teams would be better off letting their star PGs walk and getting Lin to replace them. Lin in Cleveland can have a Lebron-like effect on wins and excitement.
7) Seattle. If there's expansion, I hope Houston leaves Lin unprotected in the expansion draft. Lin in Seattle as a Sonic would be the jolt in the arm the new franchise needs.
Atlanta with kenny atkinson again. Sign and trade for jeff teague or josh smith. Korver would become the new novak teague a deadly shooter if he stays horford one of the best centers....
A good coach always takes responsibility for bad plays and substitutions. McHale never takes responsibility for a loss, always blames the players for "Ball got sticky." or just "Ummm I don't know why we lost."
McHale's resume looks amazing on paper: Hall of Fame player, GM, TV analyst, coach. Clueless "box score" reporters look at his resume, and the fact that the Rockets made the playoffs with the lowest payroll in the NBA with a bunch of "scrubs" (Asik - who?, Parsons - who?, PF committee, Lin - overhyped flash in the pan who only got a big contract because of Asian market, Harden - first year starter), and they conclude that McHale must be the greatest coach of the year.
If you ever listen to McHale's interviews, he doesn't know anything! At first, people gave him the benefit of the doubt: "oh, he probably doesn't want to give away his strategy". But after a few weeks, people who have a clue realize that McHale doesn't know jack about coaching or strategy. The reporters now just to straight to Lin to get some real post-game comments about why a game played out the way it did.
Morey doing an AMA on reddit in a few minutes. Feel free to ask questions - the more questions there is about Lin the better chance he will answer them. But try to refrain from expressing anger or insults, and try to focus on asking the question in a more diplomatic way. I think he owes the Lin fans an explanation if what he sees with McHale 'a use of Lin and Lin's role moving forward.
I think being 8th seed is a blessing in disguise. True, Rockets will probably get swept by OKC, or go 5 games.
But let's look at the Clippers. 2005-2006 Coach Mike Dunleavy led the Clippers past the 1st round by beating the Nuggets, lose to Suns in 7 games. This gave the team a sense of complacency that Dunleavy was a good coach, and their core was solid ... it was not. The following 3 seasons were disastrous, from missing the playoffs and losing players through free agency.
In this playoffs, McHale and ISO Harden will be exposed and humiliated. And though the truth hurts, at least it will push for changes.
Wow Morey doesn't seem to have any problem with how the coaching staff is doing. Has no issues with ISO's. I don't know if this all lip service, but McHale is NOT going anywhere. No way in hell.
Many Houston fans are worried by the prevalence of ISO plays late in the 4th quarter of close games. How are you reacting to the usage of Lin and Harden in these closeout games?
Followup: What's your opinion on how well the coaching staff is meshing two great ball dominant guards? What steps are the Rockets taking to further this melding into a cohesive unit?
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[–]dmorey[S] 24 pontos 1 hora atrás
Pretty much every NBA team increases their use of isolation late&close. Some of this is supported by the data - e.g. to control the clock to minimize the time to score for the other team or to potentially exploit a certain match-up when the opposing team switches all perimeter screens as is often done late&close. Some of this is not supported by the data.
I think the coaches have done a fabulous job meshing our roster which had the most turnover in NBA history this season and is also the least experienced team in NBA history.
Solidz75: "Wow Morey doesn't seem to have any problem with how the coaching staff is doing."
If you are expecting Morey to publicly criticize the coaching staff, then your whole paradigm for understanding this exchange is obviously just out there. Just bc he doesn't give you an easy quotable doesn't mean he doesn't think it. Do you really expect people representing the franchise to be transparent about their opinions?
It's also pretty clear to me from that Morey does not approve of those late game decisions. Just look at what he says -- "to potentially exploit a certain match-up when the opposing team switches all perimeter screens -- and see if that applies to what McHale did in the Lakers game.
The first principle -- "control the clock to minimize the time to score for the other team" -- also does not easily apply to those situations either.
No duh. Obviously I don't expect Morey to publically rebuke McHale. However using words like fabulous and other superlatives makes it likely that he probably doesn't hate McHale and even worse, he is likely to keep McHale next year.
Do u really think that Morey will fire McHale after praising him in multiple settings, even after the latest debacle?
I don't see how anyone can conclude from Morey's comments that McHale won't be fired or will be likely to stay next year. It's inconclusive at best.
Also, I don't see his praise of McHale as being at all contradictory. One could reasonably maintain that McHale did a good job for the first year this team's core is together but that he is not the answer going forward.
Saying that McHale did a good job this year (from the perspective that 45 wins exceeds expectations) does not mean that the front office thinks McHale is the coach that has the skills to lead next year's team to a championship.
Morey's stated goal is to get a championship -- that might sound like saying the obvious but keep in mind there are many teams that are content to be playoff fodder, and to just remain profitable instead of aiming for a championship per se -- and I seriously doubt that the Rox management think that McHale is the answer to that problem.
Occupatio, it's called verbal cues. If u have plans to fire someone or even reevaluate his performance, one would not use every superlatives in the book to describe their job performance.
I was hoping after last game that Morey would be more cautious in praising McHale.. But he has not changed at all. U can continue to delude yourself all u want but McHale is NOT getting fired this summer.
Clippers vs Memphis is the most compelling. Chris Paul as the best PG on the planet vs a physical team with great players at multiple positions. Dmorey
Pretty much every NBA team increases their use of isolation late&close. Some of this is supported by the data - e.g. to control the clock to minimize the time to score for the other team or to potentially exploit a certain match-up when the opposing team switches all perimeter screens as is often done late&close. Some of this is not supported by the data.
I think the coaches have done a fabulous job meshing our roster which had the most turnover in NBA history this season and is also the least experienced team in NBA history.
Harden for sure is a player who can be the best player on a championship team. We are building around him. Parsons, Asik, and Lin also fit comfortably on a championship roster. That said, we do need to have one of them or someone else on the roster to take another big step forward in play to be a championship contender. If not, we will have to acquire another all-star caliber player through free agency (more likely) or trade.
Yes, but after the Harden trade the over/under was still in the thirty win range. What the coaches and players have been able to do to get us to 45 wins is remarkable.
He said that and then he said that Lin, Parsons, Asik weren't going to be all stars, thus the need to trade for another one.
When Morey uses the word fabulous, it doesn't mean anything. He's pretty much uses that word for every player on the roster. He likes Lin bc he's a good role player that's going to improve, it doesn't mean Lins going to be an all star.
Again these series of posts are from d Morey- will post them separately so u can comment on each individual quote.
The best 3s are off the catch. That said, it is pretty hard to take a bad three, it is almost always better than most other options once you pass up the shot. Harden is one of the top players in the league in shooting% on 3s off the dribble.
As a fan of advanced stats I'm sure you realise that Harden's PPP from ISO is lower than his PPP from PnR. Have you ever discussed this with coach McHale?
With the emergence of Terrence Jones and Greg Smith as starting calibre power forwards, are you still looking to sign a star big man in the coming free agency, or will you sign the best player available regardless of position?
[-] dmorey 26 points 43 minutes ago Pretty much every NBA player has a lower PPP from ISO than PnR so there would not be much to discuss. We are excited about Terrence Jones and Greg Smith emergence - both are clearly rotation caliber players. We have not developed our full free agency plans yet.
Give me your thoughts on Royce White? Do you ever think he'll play for the Rockets?
How do you feel Lin is developing? Do you see him as your pg for the future? I feel like he needs the ball in his hands to be truly effective and with Harden commanding the ball most of the time, Lin becomes redundant.
Also you should play Terrence Jones more. The guy is a winner and a competitor.
[-] dmorey 3 points 2 minutes ago I was happy Royce played for the Vipers at the end of their regular season. We only want him to succeed.
For his first year as a starter, I thought Jeremy was fantastic and given his physical ability, competitiveness, and work ethic I only expect him to get better. His primary weakness is his shot which is a skill that generally improves as your career progresses. See also my Quora answer on what he has improved this season
Terrence Jones has worked hard to get his shot and is making the most of it. Love him.
Who's a young or unproven player on the Rockets that you're particularly excited to see develop in the upcoming years?
[-] dmorey 3 points 6 minutes ago Too many to choose from (in no particular order): Patrick Beverly, Terrence Jones, Furkan Aldemir, Donatas, Thomas Robinson, Greg Smith
Hello Daryl. As my username shows, I'm a huge Rockets fan.
I'd love to hear your opinion on Wednesday night's Rockets game. We got off to a good start, but once our lead hit 11, we stopped moving the ball, we stopped getting good shots, and we stopped pushing the tempo. What happened? Why were those offensive possessions the best we could get?
Why were we playing small ball in the 4th and putting Delfino on Gasol when he was dominating us? Why didn't we put Greg Smith or Terrence Jones on him?
Very frustrating, we should be playing the Spurs right now. Regardless, I'm proud of this team and I'm humbled to finally be back in the playoffs after a 4 year drought. Thanks for all the hard work you've done thus far. #rednation
[-] dmorey 4 points 3 minutes ago you are clearly a Rockets fan as all of the problems you listed from the game are correct. Coaches and players working to correct. with the benefit of hindsight, it probably was not the correct move. That said, if Delfino had made a few 3s during that stretch it may have worked out. Very hard to coach in this league as everyone else gets the benefit of seeing how things work out and then criticizing.
Taking the 6th youngest and least experienced team ever to the playoffs in the tough western conference when we were picked by multiple publications to finish last? I would say Coach McHale has done a great job.
Just finished Rocket cast live, Zach Lowe said Lin's shooting form was off, he feels the ball will not going in every time when Lin shoots.
Shooting form is a very old and well debated topic here, but I just think Lin still can improve his form and get rid of this ridiculous "not a good shooter label".
@ Brent, if you are referring to what I think you are referring to, isn't that a really old Zach Lowe comment? That's like before ASB, when Lin was shooting badly. Also, I thought Lowe's comment was more that the shot was so obviously off even before reaching the apex; I don't think he was actually commenting on Lin's form per se, but rather the ball's flight trajectory. In short, when he missed, he often missed very badly at first half of the season.
@0ccupati0, I remember that comment, but this time, I think he is referring to his shooting mechanic. I mean, Lin does not pointing his elbow to the rim, he sometimes has this left-right (unstable) movement when he shoots and he put the ball above his shoulder/ear (hence the ball is not on the line between his head and the rim). A lot of time, if you don put the ball on the line, it will looks weird before the ball reaches the apex. You simply just introduced an unneeded dimension/variable that can go wrong.
@KHuang, that is exactly my point, he shot great lately. So I always believe if he can tweak his form a bit, he can be even better.
Well, I might be just misread the comment by Lowe.
Before the season started (but after the Harden trade), where did the analytics have the Rockets finishing?
Can we ever get the actual throwback uniforms for a game?
I know you're a regular at r/NBA, but how often do you trek to other Rockets blogs like The Dream Shake, Clutchfans, and Red94?
[-] dmorey 42 points 1 hour ago Vegas over/under was 29 wins, that is about as objective a number as you can get. Not my area but I do love the classic uniforms. I consider it part of my job to stay up on all analysis of the Rockets. May learn something.
Morey is as clueless as McHate, I'm convinced now. It explains the entire Houston organization, including there owner Les Nesman. Anyway, I hope a team that REALLY wants jlin (not like the Liar Les who said we have "plans" for you) will go after him and let him play his game. Jeremy if you want me to interview your potential next coaches I'm more than happy to help ;-) trust me I'll ask them some good questions.
No, no one could predict how good Chandler would be. We obviously thought he was very good or we would not have picked him but his success should be attributed to him and his hard work.
1. McHale is not going anywhere. No way Morey fires him after saying so many nice things about his job this year. Getting to the playoffs locks him in.. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets an extension in the summer.
2. Lin is not going anywhere this summer. I'm sure Morey would like to see one of the three step up their game to an all star level before giving up. I don't think Morey will prematurely give Lin away until he feels that Lin has reached his peak.. Or at least observe how he does in the beginning if the season.
Morey said in a radio interview (I don't have the link) that there is almost ZERO dropoff from when Lin sits down and Beverly is on the floor. He basically said that Bev is equal as a point guard to Lin.
Morey and McHale are already grooming Beverly to eventually replace Lin in the starting lineup. Don't be surprised if it happens next season, or even in the playoffs.
I think I heard that interview, it was with 790 sports radio. I believe he even brought up stats of both players. The interview should be on 790's website...unless I have the wrong interview
This is why Lin will never play as many minutes as the core, foundational guys, Harden/Parsons.
In that case, let the results speak for themselves. How many times do we see the Rockets lose the lead when JLin sits down? How many times do we see the offense stagnate?
On the other hand, I really hope Morey could convince the Rockets owner that it's true, Beverley = JLin so they could trade JLin away. Too bad Leslie Alexander is no fool.
Well, the stats (per minute, plus/minus) do indicate that there is not much dropoff when Beverley plays. But if you analyze WHY that's the case, it's because Houston offense revolves around Harden iso. So it doesn't even matter who's playing PG. Heck, *I* could be the Houston PG and pass it to Harden and stand in the corner, there wouldn't be that much dropoff either.
I appreciated the Reddit Q&A by Morey. I felt he gave candid answers that revealed a lot about his thoughts and opinions. And he is entertaining with a sense of humor. Contrast that with most other GMs who won't make any public statements whatsover. Here are some interesting comments he made and my interpretations:
"Pretty much every NBA team increases their use of isolation late&close." Morey approves of the iso tactic.
"I think the coaches have done a fabulous job" "Vegas over/under was 29 wins, that is about as objective a number as you can get." Morey is thrilled with 45 wins. McHale is definitely staying next year, if not getting a raise.
"with the benefit of hindsight, it probably was not the correct move. That said, if Delfino had made a few 3s during that stretch it may have worked out." it is pretty hard to take a bad three, it is almost always better than most other options once you pass up the shot. Harden is one of the top players in the league in shooting% on 3s off the dribble. "What changes need to be made, if any, to maximize our chances of beating the Thunder? Increase the variance" Morey wants to take more 3s.
I don't trust anything that's said right now, before the team actually played a single game in the playoffs. This is the same person that said that they are not going to make major moves before trading Patterson, TD, Morris, and Aldrich away for T-Robinson and picks.
Every player on that team except Harden (cuz he's harder to trade away due to his max contract) could be traded for the right "piece".
Even if McHale stays and JLin remains on the team next season, I think things are going to be better than this season. They will showcase JLin and get his value up before trading him before his contract ends. After an off-season of training, I expect JLin will make a lot of improvements in his overall game.
Thanks for the link. I think the context of that question/answer was regarding a "big move/star", e.g. Dwight Howard. The trade deadline moves only involved role players.
Hero Ball Devoured the Rockets
ReplyDeleteBy Henry Abbott
ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/56895/hero-ball-devoured-the-rockets
There is literally no excuse for the game to end last night, on a critical possession, with Jeremy Lin chucking a desperation 3-pointer after Harden dribbled away 20 seconds from the shot clock.
DeleteNone.
Guess what JLin's shooting percentage would be without those last second passes from Harden. With friend/teammate like this, you don't need an enemy!
Nothing will change. Morey wanted to look smart and Mchale delivered for him and made Harden an all-star and team franchise guy. It looked for real for half the season and now it looks like a big joke.
DeleteNow both Morey and Mchale have taken it too far that there's no turning back. And to boot, now they use Parsons as the backup PG in games in addition to Parson's already high usage. Morey's agenda is obvious and ridiculous...but that's how people keep their jobs in the corporate world. So Morey's playing the game right, I'll give him that.
Morey's smart, he knows this team isn't doing anything in the playoffs. Whether it's Harden Ball or Lin ball, they are a first or second round flameout at best this year regardless of who has the ball or style of play. So might as well have his guys shine instead of the owner's guy. Smart, smart move by a snake.
I think Lin was frustrated benched so long yesterday and he has a right to be, but he should have realized he can atone for it by playing his ass off and dominating the ball to win the game. People would have taken notice esp. an ESPN game.
He just needs to do his thing and not be afraid of permanent benchings that are coming ANYWAYS. He figured it out a few months back and then I guess he thought Mchale was going to play him for real, but Lin needs to learn once and for all that Mchale will NEVER play him for real.
I wish he would stop deferring but that's almost unfair to expect from him.
"There is literally no excuse for the game to end last night, on a critical possession, with Jeremy Lin chucking a desperation 3-pointer after Harden dribbled away 20 seconds from the shot clock. "
DeleteOF COURSE there was an excuse for that. "The ball got sticky."
What justifies everything and absolves you of all blame if you just repeat it enough: "The ball got sticky."
What explains the Great Chain of Being if you contemplate it long enough: "The ball got sticky."
What exists in a some parallel universe that you can only describe but cannot influence in any possible way: "The ball got sticky."
hmmm, ok. but I think Kobe is not complimenting anybody. He said it as he saw it. He just wanted his team to win when they played against the Rox.
DeleteWhy would Lin need to atone for anything? He didn't do anything wrong.
DeleteI can see McHale saying to Lin after his great 3rd quarter performance: "Jeremy, sometimes doing the right thing ain't doing the right thing...You should just stand in the corner and not worry about winning the game, after all, we don't want Linsanity, we want ISOs!"
McHale is a joke. 1st round exit for Rockets unless for some miraculous reason McHale sits out of post season along with Sampson and FO just lets Lin run the show.
With coaching like this who needs enemies?
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ReplyDeleteHouston @8th seed vs okc in first round of the playoff's, by the way the spurs got t-mac
ReplyDeleteAll JLin needs to do is pretend Westbrook is John Wall. 1st round upset!
DeleteThe problem is not JLin. McHale will take him out any time showing promises to make a good game. The Jeremy Lin shackling continues.
DeleteExactly, I know Lin can mess with Westbrook because of that John Wall Game. Lin dismantled the Wizards so badly I was in shock how great Lin looked that game. He isn't as athletic obviously, but he tore that team apart and didn't look that much less athletic than Wall during that game.
DeleteNow Westbrook is like Wall on steroids. And OKC is much better, but if Lin was allowed to ball out, he could go toe to toe against Westbrook in his own way just like he did J Wall last year.
Sadly, we won't see it this series at all, even though Lin is already ready for the challenge.
Haha I don't hate bev but bev vs westbrook, lolol...
DeleteThe Lakers suck, LAKERS LOSERS,LAKERS LOSERS,LAKERS LOSERS!!! ALL THOSE DUMB LAKER FANS SUCK!
ReplyDeleteIts a million man march people! Everyone needs to be fired at racist CVS! Close down CVS!
ReplyDeletelol, nice troll attempt.
DeleteIt's very, very simple.
ReplyDelete- If Jeremy isn't allowed to play his position and 38+ mpg during the series...the Rockets will be swept easily and in embarrassing fashion.
- If Jeremy is allowed to be a PG and play heavy minutes like all other starting PGs in the playoffs...the Rockets have a real shot at knocking off the Thunder.
The key to victory is always Jeremy. Always. George Karl knows this. Kobe Bryant knows this.
During last night's broadcast, JVG mentioned Kobe giving advice to his teammates before the game: "Harden can get his...but you MUST shut down Jeremy Lin." Great basketball minds know who the real star of the team is...and it's not James Harden. Or even Chander Parsons, ha.
That's awesome, I didn't know Kobe said that.
DeleteI'm glad he didn't give the REAL Kobe advice of swinging high when Jeremy penetrates. Kobe is two faced and always has been.
DeleteThe only one that did the excellent job to shut down Jeremy is his coach! MCHale.
DeleteHe pulled him out of the game and have him sat on the benches >> 20 minutes when he was pulling the rockets ahead.
Huh? That Kobe quote implies that harden is too good to shut down so they need to focus on Lin instead because Lin can be shut down.
Delete@Solidz75, your interpretation threw me off...Kobe and George Karl see the same quality in Lin. Lin is the motor of the Rox. Shutting down Lin equates to shutting down the whole team. In any typical Rox game, Harden's high scoring and high assist no > Lin's, the team would lose. Plain and simple.
DeleteNo I think people are misinterpreting his quote. Now it's still a compliment but I equate it with saying something like lebron will get his but we have to shut down wade. Still a compliment but certainly not the praise people think it is..
Deletehmmm, ok. but I think Kobe is not complimenting anybody. He said it as he saw it. He just wanted his team to win when they played against the Rox.
DeleteCompliment in the sense that Kobe does recognize Lin's importance to the team. But no it wasn't a conscious thing
DeleteKobe pretty much said the same thing Paul George said.
DeleteHarden is going to get his regardless of the team. He'll play selfishly and freeze out his teammates to get his. Lin on the other hand gets other people involved and himself. So if he's "going", then that means the entire team is running.
No one ever said, Lebron will get his but we must shut down Wade. Lebron is a guy that gets his teammates involved, he doesn't play the way Harden does.
Maybe Kobe is talking from hands on experience. His team got burned at MSG last year during Linsanity and at least once this year largely due to JLin's aggressive plays (setting others up and scoring as well). They would probably risk Harden getting his usual 30 points but shut down JLin (and the rest of the team who relies on his playmaking).
DeleteKobe's just stating the obvious:
DeleteGuys like Lin that get the entire team going MUST be stopped.
Let selfish guys like Harden brick and turnover. That's the easiest way to beat their teams.
Lin is the better player and the deadlier threat. Everybody in the NBA EXCEPT the Rockets knows this.
duh. If you stop Lin/take the ball out of his hands, you make most of the team less effective. If you stop Harden, you make 1 player less effective.
DeleteIn short, Harden is our Westbrook.
Delete@Solidz
DeleteI see what you're saying, but let's face it: Kobe isn't someone who believes that ANYONE (except maybe himself and MJ) is unstoppable.
He even used the All-Star game to show that he could still shut down Lebron (with two epic blocks) if he really wanted to. So you can be darn sure he doesn't consider Harden unstoppable. Not yet anyway.
Also, I've heard statements like Kobe's made about many other players at the college level or in other sports. And it's always in the context of "Don't worry about that overrated guy with big stats...Worry about the underrated catalyst who wins games."
There's an old saying that applies here: "It takes quality to know quality."
Must see:
Deletehttp://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/56895/hero-ball-devoured-the-rockets
HARDEN WILL GET HIS 30 POINTS ANYWAY no matter how many shots he missed. The more shots he missed, the less the rockets will score as a team.
Comparing the game with Memphis on Dec 22, 2012 to the game on Apr 22, Harden scored 30 points in both games.On Dec 22, the rockets won 121:96 with Harden made 9 out of 13. On Apr 22, the rockets lost 78:82 with Harden made 7 out of 24 shots. He made 11 more shots to get his 30. The rockets lost by only four points. Taking 11 shots away from a team, it is easy to understand why the Rox lost.
Koby's right. Let Harden shoot as many as possible to get his points, the more shots he put up the better.
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DeleteI mean I see how u guys took it... Wasn't really obvious to me at first. But would he really belittle harden like that? Especially in the context of all the praises heaped on harden this year from everyone except us?
DeleteIt doesn't matter.. It is a moot point anyways.. Only Kobe knows what he meant.
I also think Kobe was on the level with his comments about Lin. He remembers how Lin torched him in NY for 38 and pushed him into a bad shot almost out of bounds behind the basket when Kobe tried to post him up in ISO.
DeleteWell, either way, it's a big, big compliment when Kobe singles out a guy averaging only 13/6 as a "key to the game." It shows that he sees beyond stats in evaluating Lin and the Rockets. Which 99% of basketball analysts and fans are unable to do.
DeleteGlad to know I wasn't the only one who caught Kobe's words of wisdom to his team. The funny part is that Lakers didn't shut Lin down, his coach did. McHale fell right into the trap.....smart move McHale. But from Kobe's word my take is the same as everyone above. Harden doesn't get the team going so no threat, but when Lin gets everyone going, it's hard to stop.
DeleteIts a compliment.
DeleteKobe is simply restating what other coaches see, that Lin is the motor of the team and must be stopped.
Heat knows this. Nuggets knows this, spurs knows this, basically most playoff teams knows this. Its why Heat focused purely on Lin during the first meeting last year and basically let Melo shoot his heart out. Guess what, Knicks lost.
Its no coincidence team after team put their best defenders on Lin. He is that good. Harden? Hahaha...Just let him waste time and iso, or if he is on the right put up a defender with good wingspan and contest his shots.
Where is that quote from? I couldn't find it.
Delete@ andrewymoon
DeleteThe Kobe quote was cited by Jeff Van Gundy during ESPN broadcast of the Lakers game. I don't think the quote exists in print.
Zach Lowe was also killing it with his criticism of James Harden’s defense in his Mega Like/Don’t Like column:
ReplyDeleteHarden is just one culprit, but as a perimeter player often stationed closest to midcourt of all Rockets in those precious seconds of offense-to-defense transition, his bad habits are especially damaging. Harden’s reactions are sometimes a fatal beat late, and he often gives up on the idea of retreating altogether, choosing instead to reach for steals as ball handlers fly by him or leap hopelessly at outlet passes jetting over his head. Those gambles aren’t always terrible; they can in some especially bad circumstances represent a smart last-ditch effort to disrupt an overwhelming fast break no other teammate has any hope of disrupting. But Harden and his teammates need to limit these lunging gambles to those hopeless circumstances, get their floor balance in order, and approach postseason transition defense with appropriate urgency.
You bet McHale would change. He's let Harden completely out of control and what he did was ironic to McHale's basketball philo of moving the damn ball. The rockets are deep in raw talents but none of them are allowed to contribute to the team's success. They are marginalized in order to help Harden pick up his 30 points each game playing no defense and throwing bricks. The rockets' playbook is so simple: Let Harden do his ISO and other just stands around to watch.
Harden is going nowhere fast. Finally the media see through the Harden bs. Superstar? Who anointed him that? The media!! Now it's time to pull him odwn for the joke of a player he really is!!!
DeleteZach Lowe is a rare gem in the sports journalism.
DeleteWish all sports writers have the burning passion and professionalism to write unbiased,insightful articles like this one.
BREAKING NEWS: Former ESPN headline writer now working at CVS!
ReplyDeleteWhat does CVS stand for?
DeleteAny headlines about former Rockets head coach working at... oh nvm... we should wait a few months at least... ;)
Deletedon't worry about it. He's trying to troll, but getting frustrated because no one's taking the bait.
DeleteRecap of Lins season for me in as simple a way as I can.
ReplyDeleteEverytime Lin guards someone he gets pick and rolled.
Everytime Lin is on offense he has to create on his own.
Asik does sometimes give effective picks but he is no threat to score off the PnR so his defender can pick up Lin without having to worry. Usually Lin just has to beat his man one on one on his own, but what is waiting for him when he gets into the lane? Usually the C and PF who both clog the lane. So Jeremy is in a really tough position because better coaching would spread the floor better so the main shot blockers won't be able to just camp in the paint.
Anyone see Dragic play this season? Notice that Dragic gets many plays called just for him to initiate the offense? He draggs across the whole court and gets 1 or 2 picks to free him up. He gets effective picks from his C on every play which leaves the middle open for him.
Nice post. That recap summarizes it nicely.
DeleteLet me just add that screens don't have to be for PnR, so Rox lacking a top-tier roll man is beside the point. It's enough for screens to give Lin space and separation to create. Also, if you look at, eg, the GSW offense, the pick and pop is not the endpoint of the play but a way of initiating or opening up other actions.
Just shows how good Lin is when he gets so little help and still manages to prove himself to be a good PG. imagine how much better he would be if he played for someone who actually gives him some help like ost other " star " PGs get!
DeleteLin, in my opinion, is the best point guard in the entire NBA.
DeleteHe's so good that the only way to stop him now is to bench him. Even freezing him out doesn't work.
If Lin had even one competent pick and roll partner, he'd be even more unstoppable than Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook. Lin's already shown that he can outplay those two, even without teammate help.
The team I want Lin traded to is Charlotte. I want to see how many wins Lin would add to that horrible team. I think Lin can easily get that team into the playoffs if Michael Jordan allowed his coach Dunlap to use Lin correctly.
Yes please.. MJ will teach him a thing or two about being a great point guard ..
DeleteI think Jeremy goes AWAY from the pick more than anyone in the league.
DeleteHe knows his roll-men are awful, so he just uses them for a decoy. Even when he gets a good pick...it's often a moving pick that gets whistled!
I am not convinced Lin goes away from the screen more than he did when he PnRed with Tyson Chandler last year. Lin's just really good at exploiting the defender's anticipation of Lin using the screen. I don't think that this year he goes away from the screen more frequently because Rox screeners are poor screeners per se.
Deletegame predictions,anyone?
ReplyDeletegood luck running ISO-Harden, it'll be 0-4
I think 4-2 is possible.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete4-3, with lots of recriminations on crunch time loss of last game, iso-ball, etc. They will have 2 games with nice ball movement. I'm just mirroring the season. I give them one more than Brent because OKC will have a bad game.
DeleteThen it's a happy summer where I will look for some local thing he's doing in the Bay Area. Who knows, maybe I'll get a personal train at Sparta (just kidding).
I also predict 4 games of iso-harden, rockets get swept. Harden's offense is very one-dimensional and nobody knows Harden better than his ex-teammates. Harden will get shut down.
DeleteWell, I am betting on West Brook doing his self-brain-locking type defense. If that happens, we have a great chance to win for sure. That was the reason we won in the regular season I think. I just doubt WB will brain-locking more than 2 games.
DeleteI expect a switch between Westbrook and Ibaka to guard Jeremy. WB can't guard him
DeleteI guessed it would be 4:0 with Harden scored 30 points or more in each game.
DeleteThe Rockets suffered the sweep with Jeremy benched in the fourth until the last six minutes.
It all depends on how Jeremy is used. Unfortunately, McHale has given me no reason to believe he'll treat Jeremy like any other starting PG.
DeleteSo yeah...OKC in 5. And they'll lose exactly the way you'd expect. McHale benches Lin/ices him. Harden Hero Ball fails. Beverly does one good thing and three bad things. Chandler Parsons is praised as a future star, ha.
Rocket swept. Is there any doubt?
DeleteHarden will do his 5/30 FGM and 15FTs and lose every game.
Lin needs to learn how to catch and shoot with 2secs left on the shot clock. You know, play the good little chinaman and do as he is told and bail out the best player on the team, even though Lin is better by far.
NBA TV - Smitty thinks OKC in 5 and some "coach" something or other thinks OKC in 6. Not that it matters, but Smitty was the only one who mentioned Lin at all. The irony is that when they showcased Harden, Asik and Parsons, several clips show the assist from Lin.
DeleteThe best play for both Lin and harden is PNR with each other to free either one of them up from the high post position. This set would cause so much problem for any defense. Who do they cover, you can pick your poison with either one. Have both bigs low on either sides f the basket ready to attack basket when one of their 4 or 5 move forward to help full the middle. Which ever defender moves forward, leaves one of our bigs free to go to the rim. Throw up a soft high floater shot off the rim alley oop like a rebound and it makes it easy for our stone hand bigs to catch the ball and stuff it in the hoop.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
Great, but it only works if Harden is willing to play team ball.
DeleteYOU GUYS NEED TO WATCH THIS! This is the first time that I have done something like this but I thought about it yesterday after the game to light things up a little bit. It's one of those Hitler videos. It should be funny. Again this is my first time doing anything like these. I had fun doing it hope you guys like it and let me know what you think. Lol
ReplyDeletehttp://captiongenerator.com/3854/McHale-helps-Lakers-defeat-the-Rockets
That was freaking hilarious! And so true! Everyone watch this!
Deletethis is hilarious! this clip pretty much sums up the rockets disappointing finish.
Deletevery well done, JP! One for the ages ...
Deleteahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!
DeleteI could feel Hitler's disappointment, "what in the world is he thinking?!? who lets a 6'6" shooting guard defend Gasol?"... LOL!
That's exuberating sensational and better than many professional sport writers could.
DeleteHow could the Rox let such a moron run the team. Les Alex definitely should do auditioning as Hitler.
Bravo, jp2123!!! :)
DeletePerfect prelude to Harden Hero ball vs. OKC Thunder!
Hahahahaha so good! Thx JP!!!
DeleteLOL. Epic.
DeleteBest satire of the year. Well done.
DeleteHaha just saw this! Thx jp =)
DeleteLOVE IT... thanks for the laughs, we really needed it.
DeleteLOL...love it!
Deletei've seen harden setting screens for lin before, but harden doesn't roll. he just stays back there, and then lin gets doubled and ends up passing the ball back to harden. it'll be more difficult now since smith and asik cannot spread the floor.
ReplyDeleteone of the biggest problem for the rockets is that their motion/spread offense is a barrier to getting offensive boards. nobody knows when someone will shoot, and with everyone spread out, it leaves only one player, or sometimes none, to grab an offensive rebound. the one guy that has made a tremendous effort in getting in position for offensive boards, especially on a last play of a quarter/game, is beverly. i'm not seeing that from d-mo, jones, or smith. they have to put themselves in position after a shot is made, even if they are playing a spread.
i hope that mchale does not play small in the 4th quarter again. the rockets have been burned in the paint too many times playing small. they need to have two of the three: asik, smith, jones, on the floor throughout the game.
The only reason I suggested this PNR is that it was successful before but what's nice is that it will stop Harden holding onto the ball so long until the end of 24. The ISO set is Mchale trying to make Harden a star, but harden doesn't have the spacial intelligence to see the play unfold so he is stumped holding onto the ball. By having Lin set a pick for him, it will at least jar him from that dear in headlights state. The other thing is that if harden jacks up a shot, at least we have the bigs nearby to rebound.
DeleteThere is no way the Rox have any chance if they let harden continue with hero iso ball. Just saying...
HOCHEN/ JLIN 1-ON-1: SEASON TURNING POINT
ReplyDelete[BBALL BREAKDOWN] ROCKETS @ LAKERS
ReplyDeleteThis guy is anti-Lin
DeleteJLIN POSTGAME VS LAKERS
ReplyDeleteOne thing I don't understand...maybe someone can enlighten me. Why do Rockets screens seem to suck? I don't understand why they don't do it more often and when they actually do it it feels half-a$$?
ReplyDeleteI was watching Howard and Gasol and when they were setting screens for Blake they pretty much completely block off the defender so the defender had to go under or over to chase after Blake. But when Rockets players set screens, a lot of the time they leave a pretty wide space and the defender can just squeeze through and continue blocking the dribbler. It feels completely useless. Are they just bad at it or are they actually not setting screens and doing something else? I don't understand.
yep, screens from Rox forwards are weak/bad. asik's can be okay, not bc he is good at it, but bc he's just so wide. Howard/Gasol -- that's just a different standard.
DeleteFirst of all, I think to some extent, Howard and Gasol are just having star protections. On the other hands, We have TJ, ASIK, SMITH as screeners whose salary are completely not comparable to Howard and Gasol's at all.
DeleteSecondly, it requires a lot of energy to any 7 footer to set a screen and running to the hoop in a very short time. Howard and Gasol are just simply better in this regard.
Finally, the space you chose will be depending on who is handling the ball. Usually, if the guard is stronger and faster, the screen will be further from the ball-handler.
So...I think the space you are seeing is just by design. Lin can easily beat most guard of the dribble, so I personally think he does not need the a very close screen. In this way, the bigs can save energy and run to the rim earlier. However, a lot of time, it is the chemistry that blows a PnR Play (Happens a lot to Rox).
For example, some guard will simply go too early while his bigs are not set yet. Or vice versa, a guard waited too long and the big guy can not time correctly and leave his position for screen too early. Both situations make a PnR play less effective.
I might be wrong, just my 2 cents.
It's not as easy as it looks to do. It's an actual acquired skill to have both players on the same page. The pick has to read what the Pg wants to do and the Pg has to subtly maneuver the defender into the pick. No matter what you try to do with any set play there will always be an effective counter. To do it properly, there has to be good chemistry between the pick and the Pg. it doesn't happen overnight, there is a learning curve to go through.
DeleteAlso D'antoni is a PNR coach so Lin had a natural affinity to his style in NY. Both Stat and Tyson were already well versed in what was required to set good picks, even then, I felt that Tyson made way too many moving picks that didn't get called.
DeleteIt's no surprise to me that Gasol and Howard made good picks because of the system D'antoni coaches. Mchale on the other hand doesn't run too many PNRs so there is no chemistry being developed and the bigs aren't learning to set good picks. Lin however has the speed and spacial intelligence to maneuver his man into the picks or at least use it a little just to gain a half step. More often than not, that's all he needs to get clear of his man.
PLAYOFF CAPSULE: HOUSTON ROCKETS
ReplyDeleteAdam Wexler @awexler
ReplyDeletePay attention to NBA coach firings/resignations since #Rockets Kelvin Sampson is should be a top candidate. #Pistons #Cavaliers #76ers
2:25 PM - 18 Apr 13
Puhahaha
DeleteHouston Rockets Overall Leaders - 2012-2013 Totals for All Players
ReplyDeleteI don't think the officiating was biased in favor of Lakers, but curiously by some convergence of circumstances, the NBA got the playbill matchup they wanted to showcase: OKC vs HOU.
ReplyDeleteAPRIL 3, 2013
DeleteSI: Most anticipated potential matchups in first round of playoffs
[NotJLin, might be interesting to some]
ReplyDelete'Inside the Playbook' NBA Playoffs Preview: Nuggets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Warriors
I'd be more optimistic about the playoffs if I was confident that McHale learns from his mistakes and makes logical corrections. Really, the only thing OKC has to do is to shut down Harden or frustrate him enuff to get him out of rhythm. You all saw what happened last night. McHale will never hand over the reins to Lin . He simply refuses to believe Lin can lead his team no matter how many times he proved him wrong this season.
ReplyDeleteMcHale will live or die with harden. He will never relinquish the team to Lin. He'd rather take the heat for benching him than give him the trust to make plays. That is why the Rox wll go nowhere and will likely get swept in the playoffs.
That's precisely the reason I want McHale fired -- he NEVER learns from his mistakes.
DeleteHe keeps making the same mistakes he's made all year with no progress to show for it. No matter what your record is, a good coach should make some sort of clear progress in some major area. And McHale doesn't done that.
In fact, there are times where the team seems to be regressing and player development looks stunted.
I believed that McHale was informed that the Rox is going to trade away Lin because of Harden. With flashes shown by Lin, the Beard hasn't felt comfortable with.
DeleteMorey has to commit to Harden owing to $80 m.
Lin is more tradeable to release the cap for another superstar that Morey is going to sign next year. Beverly + Harden + Anderson would run the back court for Rox next year.
Despite many posters on this board keep saying that Lin isn't going anywhere as his salary commensurates with or even higher than his production, I am beginning to believe that Lin is gonna be traded based on the obvious tell tale signs given away by McHale and the Rox FO from the beginning till the very last game of the season.
DeleteGood riddance for both Lin and the McHale-Morey double headed snakes.
Can't wait for the new chapter of Lin's career to launch when he lands on a team that truly wants him.
Here are Lin's regular season per-game stats and the ranking among point guards in parentheses.
ReplyDelete13.4 ppg (#17)
6.1 apg (#18)
44% fg (#15)
34% 3pt (#36)
79% ft (#23)
3.0 rpg (#15)
0.4 blk (#6)
1.6 spg (#8)
They don't look spectacular, but his usage rate was way down this year with Harden. Multiply those by 1.35 (the usage rate difference last year vs this year), and those are all-star numbers.
Anyways, what matters is that he maintained the same efficiency (FG%, 3pt%, AST/TO) as last year, despite McHale's efforts to freeze him out. Actually his AST/TO improved from 1.7 to 2.1. This proved that last year wasn't a fluke.
One of Jeremy's greatest assets is his all-around game. Only 3 players in the entire league had as many ppg, apg, spg, FG%, 3pt% as Lin: Lebron James, Steph Curry, and Jeremy Lin. I didn't pick some obscure stats to manipulate the results--points, assists, steals, shooting % are the main stats that are important for a PG.
It'd be more interesting if you pulled post All-Star game numbers.
DeleteThe 'only few players have these stats' thingie is very arbitrary. You could do that with a lot of players just bc you can find unique combinations, even for players that are not particularly remarkable. It's easy to make many players look GOAT by doing that. So, I agree with the conclusion, but throwing out that kind of data is simply not persuasive to those who are not convinced to begin with that Lin is anything special.
In particular, if you combine Lin's steal stats with any other stat, you can get a short list just bc Lin's steal stats are very good (tho less so now that he tries to avoid contact for phantom fouls). Eg, putting STL/36 with TS would yield 12 names. Add any other variable, and the list will be that much shorter. What is proven by this? Nothing, except Lin is good at steals, which everyone knew already from standard stats.
Deletehttp://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&type=per_game&per_minute_base=36&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=2013&year_max=2013&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&is_active=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=mp_per_g_req&c1stat=pts_per_g&c1comp=gt&c1val=0&c2stat=stl_per_g&c2comp=gt&c2val=1.55&c3stat=ts_pct&c3comp=gt&c3val=.53&c4stat=fg3_pct&c4comp=gt&c4val=0&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ast_per_g#stats::none
In general, if a player is good at a particular skill, it's easy to whip up loads of short-list combos.
okay, okay, fine. Throw out the last paragraph.
DeleteSorry real-dsb, that stat combo thing is just a pet peeve of mine. NBA announcers have been abusing it more and more lately, so it just irks me even more. I recently saw one for Curry that resulted in him being the only player ever to have that combo. The only thing that contorted stat proves is that Curry is...really good at shooting 3s, but expressed in the most elaborate formulation possible. /done rant.
DeleteCurry started shooting 3 well after the game they were blown out by the rockets tying 3 points record in a game.
DeleteJackson immediately learned and used for the Warriors offense.
That makes the difference between a good coach and a stubborn moron.
No, stat combos are NEVER coincidences.
DeleteWhatever the spin is, a guy actually has to be GOOD to make such things happen.
Lin always is at the top of such stat combo categories, the way an elite player always is.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1cnmch/announcement_rockets_gm_daryl_morey_will_be/
ReplyDeleteDaryl Morey will be doing a Q/A answer tomorrow, guys please call him for Jeremy Lin and the sake of Rockets team, this AMA should be a good one.
TBH, this game to me made it pretty clear that Lin or McHale has to go pretty soon like off season. It seems like McHale doesn't want Harden and Lin backcourt to work. And we have seen this like few few times during the wining stretches and its when he reverts oh so often back to isos that we lose like the past few games. He insists on staggering Parsons and Harden's minutes, why not Lin and Harden? Parsons is a pretty good player but how he performs has no effect on the wins or losses, it has to be either James or Lin that performs good to get the W. McHale refuses to see this.
ReplyDeleteIt was the 82nd game and nothing change, McHale is so inconsistent the team looks bad, they can go from elite to trash like the next game because McHale is just so inconsistent with his coaching except the sit-Lin-out-til-hes-cold. It really is a shame, IMO, that McHale does not see the value in Lin like other coaches and Kobe do. Gawd McHale is such a difficult person... He talks about no ball movement yet he doesn't do anything about it when Harden or whoever isos, wtf is that? He needs to start benching people like he did to Lin to quit those habits next season.
Also one of the biggest flaw i still think this team needs to fix and McHale needs to establish is their position. James and Anderson are the SG, Lin, Brooks, and Beverly are the PG's..... so they can limit those TO's. I think this is one of the many reasons why the TO's are sky high because everyone thinks they're a PG and starts to make plays and cause TOs like when Parsons tried to be a playmaker, that didn't go well. Not to bag on Parsons, but he's a good shooter, not a playmaker. It's great that sometimes the randomness confuses others but not so when the TOs turn to points after points. Honestly I just want to see if anything will change in playoffs because by now EVERYONE knows McHale has no plays except run isos for Harden and now Parsons, its so predictable OKC will not only sweep us but embarrass us so bad. I'm praying McHale will one game try letting Lin run the offense or oh god like the last game they played and staggered Harden and Lin's mins, that might get us somewhere but I'm not so positive about sweeping them it's like not even possible. I get the whole no one expected us to be in playoffs blah blah but as of late we dont even look like a playoff contender.
Sorry for my rant but lastly, I really hope Lin gets traded to the Lakers, D'Antoni will let Lin play his strength because this season I think Lin has improved on his weaknesses under McHale but time to move on. I love the idea of Lin being Nash's student and maybe even Kobe's. I love the idea of lakers possibly doing a 3-guard starting line up like the Knicks. It'd be deadly and hopefully Nash's and Lin's mins will be staggered. The thing too is that Lin doesn't really need to adjust because he's playing under a familiar system and one he loves I believe so it wouldn't be tough to adapt. Both Nash and Lin aren't too egoistic so I think they can make it work easily. I hate that people make Kobe seem like a Diva and he is but he wants a ring and he's willing to adapt if it means getting another ring. I think that's one thing people overlook about Kobe, this season I've seen him really change to win more games and look now Lakers are 7th in playoffs. They were the jokes now not anymore. So i really do hope that Lakers trade Howard for Lin and Asik or Lin and whoever...It'd be interesting and also this will be interesting to see how much the Rox are willing to keep Lin and really attempt to build that young and promising backcourt, if they let Lin walk, they never cared to build it, if they keep him McHale has to go or really be consistent with staggering Lin and Harden's mins. because their performance affects the team's fate.
Sorry for the long rant...
I don't quite understand. Howard is a free agent soon. Any team can bid for his service and the Lakers will match it and then trade him !
DeleteIt doesn't make sense to me. I think Lakers will keep Howard. Gasol may be traded for Lin. Then the Lakers will be a contender with Lin's playmaking ability. Plus Lin's contract is only $8m/year. The Lakers will gain on the cap by trading Gasol.
Lin has shown flashes of brilliance enough to get many teams interested in having him as a PG. The low tier teams will have lots to gain with Lin as an anchorage. Team basketball works in perfection don't need superstar to make it to the playoff. Again Lin will be able to go to playoff next year in whatever team he'll play.
I'm sure Lin will be traded or else McHales's rotation will make no sense at all. I don't believe that McHale is stupid. He just played according to a hidden agenda. That's Lin will go away next year. He has to find substitute for Lin.
JLin could shine in any team if he's allowed to be the PG, so he would welcome the trade. On the other hand, maybe McHale knows he will be replaced after this season and want to showcase his coaching skills (which he truly thought would work) in his first playoffs as a coach. Unfortunately, iso-Harden let him down lol.
DeleteThis offseason will be interesting...
@Kwok Wai Lai idk the announcers during the game were saying that Houston is one of the ones who will try very hard to get Howard so idk. I dont think Gasol is going anywhere, he's been with them for too long and Kobe loves him, I just don't see him going anywhere. But who really knows, I hope D'Antoni makes quite a case to the Buss to get Lin, I can really see Lin, Nash, and Kobe be a deadly backcourt.
DeleteAlso yes he has, I;m sure most teams would want him for his skills and marketability but like I said it'll really be interesting to see how Rockets handle this whole Lin situation. I've come to the point to conclude that McHale or Rox don't want to build on their back court, they've made really no progress, even if so, they revert back. And no one tells McHale anything. yes Lin will be going to playoffs no matter what team, and I can really agree with that. I don't know if McHale is dumb or stubborn or what not, he just seems to be SOOO inconsistent with his coaching!
@Sesshie I really agree with your post, Lin can shine if given the chance to and I know he will. Lol but interesting thought about McHale knowing he will be replaced, lol but really iso-harden did let him down. Hopefully playoffs he unleashes Linsanity if not, then he or Lin needs to go, that i believe has to at least justify why he benched Lin last game and so often, to save him for last, but I have a feeling nothing will change and OKC will just destroy them, short series! i call it!
But oh goodness this offseason will be VERY VERY interesting to see how this whole saga unfolds. Or let alone if nothing changes hopefully next season something in the "playbook" has to change if not, either or has to go. Lin and Harden can coexist but Lin and McHale can't eventually.
In hindsight, McHale's decision to bench Lin for close to half an hour before putting him back in the 4th Quarter did Lin and Mike D'Antoni a big favor on a globally televised NBA game to allow all NBA fans witness first hand the following:
ReplyDelete1. Mike D'Antoni is a much better coach than McHale. Mike D'Antoni headed the Lakers in the midseason with very little time to mesh the players together under his coaching yet managed to clinch No.7 seed in a very competitive Western Conference.
Thanks to McHale for not trusting Lin to be the PG. McHale for COTY? No, Mike D'Antoni is a more deserving candidate.
2. Harden is a selfish ballhogger.
3. Harden isn't clutch.
Have to give D'Antoni props, managing a team with that many superstars isn't exactly easy...Talk about getting egos to play nice, haha tough...He commanded respect fortunately due to his prior relationships with some of the players.
DeleteMcHale would have been fired lol...
Paul George annihilate the myth of him being unstoppable. He actually caused less problems to the opposed team than Lin could. Lin tends to make the team better.
DeleteActually Harden performed much better at the beginning when he played a less role in the team putting up less shots and shared the ball more with teammates. From then Harden was going downhill until now.
Anyway, it's high time Lin departed with the Rox's shackling and sabotage.
Btw, D'Antoni is WC Coach of the Month. The Lakers were 7-1 in April & won 5 straight to get the 7 seed.
Delete---
Some fans joking: McHale benched JLin bcos he was JEALOUS OF D'ANTONI.
@via - while Woodson's the EC coach of the month, and writers commented that when both D'Antoni and Woodson were both with the Knicks, they couldn't work it out with them.
Delete:) You're right. Didn't want to mention Woody [Hornet's nest] but anyhoo...
DeleteFrank Isola @FisolaNYDN
Mike Woodson (8-2) & Mike D'Antoni (7-1) named NBA Coaches of the Month for April. And yet together they couldn't make it work in New York
12:11 PM - 18 Apr 13
Woodson played D'antoni by backing Melo, that's how he got the job. Et tu brute.
DeleteHarden is stoppable and is no guarantee for any success in NBA. He has gone against many good teams and his faults are crystal clear that he is not even close to Wesbrook and Durant's caliber. The last game that rockets took from OKC was because Lin was unbelievable and scored 29 points in LINSANITY MODE. Anything less than that Harden would be in deep trouble.
ReplyDeleteOKC has not put his number 1 guard on Harden. IN the playoff, they most certainly will decimate Harden. The rockets team doesn't seem to mesh well will Harden's super big ego and his style of basketball. No players with common sense will like to be on his team. $80m would buy Morey a shame he would never forget in his life.
The more flaws of Harden being exposed, the more Morey will desperately finding ways to showcase Harden to inflate his values at the expense of his teammates.
DeleteThis making-me-look-good scheme by Morey won't stop until Harden is either traded or a new coach who knows how to discipline Harden and utilize his talent arrives in HOU.
The fact still showed that the Rox played better w/o the Beard. The winning percentage when he was out was amazing. Lin has shown that he can win basketball game without Harden.
DeleteThis year, Lin has made lots of improvement all around. He has shown that he is a winner winning games with mediocre players.
Well, to be fair, Harden is still young and will get better (sounds like JLin's inspirational video lol). A lot of the flaws have to do with the coaching (being worn out by playing too many minutes; the heavy iso-offense; no emphasis on defense).
DeleteThe easiest solution for the Rockets is to get a new head coach that can coach Harden to play defense and employ an offensive scheme that emphasizes on team-ball.
I missed the game.. but after watching the highlights, I saw DHoward saying something to Lin after a timeout. What was being said?
ReplyDeleteNo idea, but here's my movie scenario:
DeleteDHoward: Your team is on the other side.
JLin: I know... hey... wanna switch coaches?
DHoward: O_O No way! Get outta here! *lowers voice* You can come join us...
JLin: Naah... *raises 2 fingers to form a V sign and walks away*
DHoward: *fuming* Victory? That's lame.
Laker/JLin fan on the sideline watching the exchange: Yes! 2 years!
Just guessing, I think he is warning Howard to back-off. Before that time-out, Asik was pissed because Howard did something (Do not know what, a dirty foul maybe?).
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFANVID: Jeremy Lin Tribute - Linsanity Lives On (2012-2013 Season)
ReplyDelete[bfuproductions1]
[IBT] Jeremy Lin Watch: Grading His 2012-2013 NBA Season In Houston [Video Highlights]
ReplyDeleteSportige @Sportige
ReplyDelete@kxxxxxxxxxxx @cxxxxxxxxx April really weird. It as if Harden is intent on showing that the Rockets are his team and his alone...
10:45 PM - 18 Apr 13
Some fans might find interesting~
ReplyDelete[CNM] What Being The "#1 Jeremy Lin Fan Channel" Means -- And What It Does Not Mean
done some trolling at clutchfans. love the "fire McHale" chants there. I've read some "fire McHale. get Phil Jackson as coach". yeah Zen Master said he's "itching" to go back to either front office or coaching job, but surely he wouldn't go coaching for the Rockets.unless Morey resigns or Morey gets a caliber 4 and 5, PJ might be interested. he will probably drag BRIAN SHAW off the Pacers and have him coach road games.
ReplyDeleteimho, I think the best coach for Rockets is Popovich or someone who can discipline his players like Popovich does. that would be really nice since Popovich-like coach will bench Harden for not playing defense lol.
I would welcome a Jeremy Lin trade to almost any bottom feeder team, as I am interested to see how he'd turn around their fortunes.
ReplyDeleteHere are my picks:
1) Phoenix. The franchise owner loves Goran Dragic, but not as much as McHale does. Plus the players in Phoenix, particularly Marcin Gortat, are not happy with Dragic's shoot first point guard play. Send Lin over for Dragic so that I can see Lin play in my town while simultaneously knocking out a conference rival in Houston. Lin would get the Suns into the playoffs, a feat that Dragic could not do this season.
2) Sacramento. They're having trouble with Boogie? Send DeMarcus Cousins over for Lin and see if Cousins and McHale like each other. Have Isaiah Thomas back up Lin and send back Francisco Garcia. But get rid of Lin hating coach Keith Smart first.
3) Charlotte. The worst team in the league needs Lin the most, from a sheerly basketball perspective. Ditch Kemba Walker and send Lin to flight school with Michael Jordan. It would have fun to see a young Michael Jordan try to stop Jeremy Lin - I actually doubt it because nobody jn the entire NBA can stop Lin 1 on 1.
4) Detroit: Send over Brandon Knight and Rodney Stuckey for Lin. Put Lin alongside Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond and it's the Bad Boys all over again. I even think Lin could get Charlie Villanueva going. Kyle Singler is my "Novak" pick for deadly shooter that Lin transforms into a weapon.
5) Milwaukee. While I'd love Brandon Jennings to back up Lin, the truth is that Jennings needs to start. Get rid of Monta Ellis too, who is a better James Harden. Put Lin alongside JJ Redick and both players will explode. Milwaukee's frontcourt would BEAST with Lin leading them.
6) Washington/Cleveland: If Lin's to play shooting guard, let it be alongside either Wall or Irving. Both teams would be better off letting their star PGs walk and getting Lin to replace them. Lin in Cleveland can have a Lebron-like effect on wins and excitement.
7) Seattle. If there's expansion, I hope Houston leaves Lin unprotected in the expansion draft. Lin in Seattle as a Sonic would be the jolt in the arm the new franchise needs.
Atlanta with kenny atkinson again. Sign and trade for jeff teague or josh smith. Korver would become the new novak teague a deadly shooter if he stays horford one of the best centers....
DeleteI like scenario #4. It's gonna be one hell of a defense with monroe drummond and Lin, plus some sharp shooters around them.
DeleteJLin pics:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R_paaSSZVs
A good coach always takes responsibility for bad plays and substitutions. McHale never takes responsibility for a loss, always blames the players for "Ball got sticky." or just "Ummm I don't know why we lost."
ReplyDeleteMcHale's resume looks amazing on paper: Hall of Fame player, GM, TV analyst, coach. Clueless "box score" reporters look at his resume, and the fact that the Rockets made the playoffs with the lowest payroll in the NBA with a bunch of "scrubs" (Asik - who?, Parsons - who?, PF committee, Lin - overhyped flash in the pan who only got a big contract because of Asian market, Harden - first year starter), and they conclude that McHale must be the greatest coach of the year.
DeleteIf you ever listen to McHale's interviews, he doesn't know anything! At first, people gave him the benefit of the doubt: "oh, he probably doesn't want to give away his strategy". But after a few weeks, people who have a clue realize that McHale doesn't know jack about coaching or strategy. The reporters now just to straight to Lin to get some real post-game comments about why a game played out the way it did.
Morey doing an AMA on reddit in a few minutes. Feel free to ask questions - the more questions there is about Lin the better chance he will answer them. But try to refrain from expressing anger or insults, and try to focus on asking the question in a more diplomatic way. I think he owes the Lin fans an explanation if what he sees with McHale 'a use of Lin and Lin's role moving forward.
ReplyDeleteJust finished Coach Nick's post game show, He think Lin is about in the TOP half of all 30 starting PGs. I am shocked that he rated Ln this high. lol
ReplyDeleteI think being 8th seed is a blessing in disguise. True, Rockets will probably get swept by OKC, or go 5 games.
ReplyDeleteBut let's look at the Clippers. 2005-2006 Coach Mike Dunleavy led the Clippers past the 1st round by beating the Nuggets, lose to Suns in 7 games. This gave the team a sense of complacency that Dunleavy was a good coach, and their core was solid ... it was not. The following 3 seasons were disastrous, from missing the playoffs and losing players through free agency.
In this playoffs, McHale and ISO Harden will be exposed and humiliated. And though the truth hurts, at least it will push for changes.
Wow Morey doesn't seem to have any problem with how the coaching staff is doing. Has no issues with ISO's. I don't know if this all lip service, but McHale is NOT going anywhere. No way in hell.
ReplyDeleteMany Houston fans are worried by the prevalence of ISO plays late in the 4th quarter of close games. How are you reacting to the usage of Lin and Harden in these closeout games?
DeleteFollowup: What's your opinion on how well the coaching staff is meshing two great ball dominant guards? What steps are the Rockets taking to further this melding into a cohesive unit?
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[–]dmorey[S] 24 pontos 1 hora atrás
Pretty much every NBA team increases their use of isolation late&close. Some of this is supported by the data - e.g. to control the clock to minimize the time to score for the other team or to potentially exploit a certain match-up when the opposing team switches all perimeter screens as is often done late&close. Some of this is not supported by the data.
I think the coaches have done a fabulous job meshing our roster which had the most turnover in NBA history this season and is also the least experienced team in NBA history.
Solidz75: "Wow Morey doesn't seem to have any problem with how the coaching staff is doing."
DeleteIf you are expecting Morey to publicly criticize the coaching staff, then your whole paradigm for understanding this exchange is obviously just out there. Just bc he doesn't give you an easy quotable doesn't mean he doesn't think it. Do you really expect people representing the franchise to be transparent about their opinions?
It's also pretty clear to me from that Morey does not approve of those late game decisions. Just look at what he says -- "to potentially exploit a certain match-up when the opposing team switches all perimeter screens -- and see if that applies to what McHale did in the Lakers game.
The first principle -- "control the clock to minimize the time to score for the other team" -- also does not easily apply to those situations either.
No duh. Obviously I don't expect Morey to publically rebuke McHale. However using words like fabulous and other superlatives makes it likely that he probably doesn't hate McHale and even worse, he is likely to keep McHale next year.
DeleteDo u really think that Morey will fire McHale after praising him in multiple settings, even after the latest debacle?
U need to look beyond just the words, occupatio.
I don't see how anyone can conclude from Morey's comments that McHale won't be fired or will be likely to stay next year. It's inconclusive at best.
DeleteAlso, I don't see his praise of McHale as being at all contradictory. One could reasonably maintain that McHale did a good job for the first year this team's core is together but that he is not the answer going forward.
Saying that McHale did a good job this year (from the perspective that 45 wins exceeds expectations) does not mean that the front office thinks McHale is the coach that has the skills to lead next year's team to a championship.
DeleteMorey's stated goal is to get a championship -- that might sound like saying the obvious but keep in mind there are many teams that are content to be playoff fodder, and to just remain profitable instead of aiming for a championship per se -- and I seriously doubt that the Rox management think that McHale is the answer to that problem.
Occupatio, it's called verbal cues. If u have plans to fire someone or even reevaluate his performance, one would not use every superlatives in the book to describe their job performance.
DeleteI was hoping after last game that Morey would be more cautious in praising McHale.. But he has not changed at all. U can continue to delude yourself all u want but McHale is NOT getting fired this summer.
Hah, you sound so certain in your conclusion, which I frankly find ridiculous. I've said my piece, so carry on.
DeleteVerbal cues.. Occupatio. Go read about it.
DeleteClippers vs Memphis is the most compelling. Chris Paul as the best PG on the planet vs a physical team with great players at multiple positions. Dmorey
ReplyDeletePretty much every NBA team increases their use of isolation late&close. Some of this is supported by the data - e.g. to control the clock to minimize the time to score for the other team or to potentially exploit a certain match-up when the opposing team switches all perimeter screens as is often done late&close. Some of this is not supported by the data.
DeleteI think the coaches have done a fabulous job meshing our roster which had the most turnover in NBA history this season and is also the least experienced team in NBA history.
Harden for sure is a player who can be the best player on a championship team. We are building around him. Parsons, Asik, and Lin also fit comfortably on a championship roster. That said, we do need to have one of them or someone else on the roster to take another big step forward in play to be a championship contender. If not, we will have to acquire another all-star caliber player through free agency (more likely) or trade.
DeleteMeans if Lin does not perform (By their secret metric), he will be gone, soon. ??
DeleteYes, but after the Harden trade the over/under was still in the thirty win range. What the coaches and players have been able to do to get us to 45 wins is remarkable.
DeleteThank you for sharing Morey's answers. He basically just said that Lin, Asik and Parsons werent going to be all star players.
DeleteNo he loves what Lin is doing. See one of the posts below.
DeleteHe said that and then he said that Lin, Parsons, Asik weren't going to be all stars, thus the need to trade for another one.
DeleteWhen Morey uses the word fabulous, it doesn't mean anything. He's pretty much uses that word for every player on the roster. He likes Lin bc he's a good role player that's going to improve, it doesn't mean Lins going to be an all star.
I think he's waiting for one of them to take a step forward. I don't think he has given up Lin yet.
DeleteAlso he also used fabulous to describe McHale coaching
There are some pretty funny "memes" going around. May not be as funny without the picture but here are some that made me laugh.
ReplyDelete1.
During Pregame Shootaround.
Mchale says, "Why are all of you shooting. Pass the ball to Harden."
2.
During Timeout Mchale says. "They will never guess my next play."
.....ISO Harden
3.
Harden passes the ball to Lin with 1 second left on the shot clock.
Mchale says, "Jeremy what are you doing? Move the Ball."
#3 is hilarious. almost exploded!
DeleteAgain these series of posts are from d Morey- will post them separately so u can comment on each individual quote.
ReplyDeleteThe best 3s are off the catch. That said, it is pretty hard to take a bad three, it is almost always better than most other options once you pass up the shot. Harden is one of the top players in the league in shooting% on 3s off the dribble.
Hi Daryl, nice of you to be doing this.
ReplyDeleteAs a fan of advanced stats I'm sure you realise that Harden's PPP from ISO is lower than his PPP from PnR. Have you ever discussed this with coach McHale?
With the emergence of Terrence Jones and Greg Smith as starting calibre power forwards, are you still looking to sign a star big man in the coming free agency, or will you sign the best player available regardless of position?
[-] dmorey 26 points 43 minutes ago
Pretty much every NBA player has a lower PPP from ISO than PnR so there would not be much to discuss.
We are excited about Terrence Jones and Greg Smith emergence - both are clearly rotation caliber players. We have not developed our full free agency plans yet.
Give me your thoughts on Royce White? Do you ever think he'll play for the Rockets?
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel Lin is developing? Do you see him as your pg for the future? I feel like he needs the ball in his hands to be truly effective and with Harden commanding the ball most of the time, Lin becomes redundant.
Also you should play Terrence Jones more. The guy is a winner and a competitor.
[-] dmorey 3 points 2 minutes ago
I was happy Royce played for the Vipers at the end of their regular season. We only want him to succeed.
For his first year as a starter, I thought Jeremy was fantastic and given his physical ability, competitiveness, and work ethic I only expect him to get better. His primary weakness is his shot which is a skill that generally improves as your career progresses. See also my Quora answer on what he has improved this season
Terrence Jones has worked hard to get his shot and is making the most of it. Love him.
Daryl, will you promise to never break up this Lin-Chandler bromance?
ReplyDeleteI understand your hard-core use of data and analytics, but don't forget to listen to your heart. Don't underestimate the power of love
[-] dmorey 79 points 53 minutes ago
How can we ever break that up?
Who's a young or unproven player on the Rockets that you're particularly excited to see develop in the upcoming years?
ReplyDelete[-] dmorey 3 points 6 minutes ago
Too many to choose from (in no particular order): Patrick Beverly, Terrence Jones, Furkan Aldemir, Donatas, Thomas Robinson, Greg Smith
Bye Lin!!!
DeleteHello Lin - in my hometown of Phoenix???
DeleteRockets, PWEEEZE take Goran Dragic back!
I think he meant Lin is already proven player, you guys are way over dramatic.
DeleteAgree with mike h
DeleteA proven player who is only as good as his back up...remember that Morey interview that abcballer just mentioned? Yeah.
DeleteLin is so proven that he sits in the bench while his back up plays more 4th qtr mins than he does.
JLin doesn't belong in that list of names he listed. What about Asik and Parsons?
DeleteHello Daryl. As my username shows, I'm a huge Rockets fan.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear your opinion on Wednesday night's Rockets game. We got off to a good start, but once our lead hit 11, we stopped moving the ball, we stopped getting good shots, and we stopped pushing the tempo. What happened? Why were those offensive possessions the best we could get?
Why were we playing small ball in the 4th and putting Delfino on Gasol when he was dominating us? Why didn't we put Greg Smith or Terrence Jones on him?
Very frustrating, we should be playing the Spurs right now. Regardless, I'm proud of this team and I'm humbled to finally be back in the playoffs after a 4 year drought. Thanks for all the hard work you've done thus far. #rednation
[-] dmorey 4 points 3 minutes ago
you are clearly a Rockets fan as all of the problems you listed from the game are correct. Coaches and players working to correct.
with the benefit of hindsight, it probably was not the correct move. That said, if Delfino had made a few 3s during that stretch it may have worked out. Very hard to coach in this league as everyone else gets the benefit of seeing how things work out and then criticizing.
Taking the 6th youngest and least experienced team ever to the playoffs in the tough western conference when we were picked by multiple publications to finish last? I would say Coach McHale has done a great job.
ReplyDeleteJames Harden is playing worse right now than Lin was playing at the beginning of the season coming back from that knee injury.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we need to get James Harden in with Doc Scheppler to correct his horrifically bad shooting.
That one guy is the Rockets' worst enemy, and Coach McHale is too "starstruck" to even realize it.
Just finished Rocket cast live, Zach Lowe said Lin's shooting form was off, he feels the ball will not going in every time when Lin shoots.
DeleteShooting form is a very old and well debated topic here, but I just think Lin still can improve his form and get rid of this ridiculous "not a good shooter label".
I just don believe Lin's shooting is that bad.
Yeah Brent, I guess Lin's 18+ ppg and 50% shooting from 2 and 40% shooting from 3 since the All Star Break aren't good enough for most people!
Delete@ Brent, if you are referring to what I think you are referring to, isn't that a really old Zach Lowe comment? That's like before ASB, when Lin was shooting badly. Also, I thought Lowe's comment was more that the shot was so obviously off even before reaching the apex; I don't think he was actually commenting on Lin's form per se, but rather the ball's flight trajectory. In short, when he missed, he often missed very badly at first half of the season.
DeleteBy the way, Lin is the best shooter on the team.
DeleteHe doesn't get to shoot enough, but he's way more clutch than anyone.
Lin has had several Michael Jordan level games this year, and not even in Michael Jordan minutes.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete@0ccupati0, I remember that comment, but this time, I think he is referring to his shooting mechanic. I mean, Lin does not pointing his elbow to the rim, he sometimes has this left-right (unstable) movement when he shoots and he put the ball above his shoulder/ear (hence the ball is not on the line between his head and the rim). A lot of time, if you don put the ball on the line, it will looks weird before the ball reaches the apex. You simply just introduced an unneeded dimension/variable that can go wrong.
Delete@KHuang, that is exactly my point, he shot great lately. So I always believe if he can tweak his form a bit, he can be even better.
Well, I might be just misread the comment by Lowe.
Before the season started (but after the Harden trade), where did the analytics have the Rockets finishing?
ReplyDeleteCan we ever get the actual throwback uniforms for a game?
I know you're a regular at r/NBA, but how often do you trek to other Rockets blogs like The Dream Shake, Clutchfans, and Red94?
[-] dmorey 42 points 1 hour ago
Vegas over/under was 29 wins, that is about as objective a number as you can get.
Not my area but I do love the classic uniforms.
I consider it part of my job to stay up on all analysis of the Rockets. May learn something.
Morey is as clueless as McHate, I'm convinced now. It explains the entire Houston organization, including there owner Les Nesman. Anyway, I hope a team that REALLY wants jlin (not like the Liar Les who said we have "plans" for you) will go after him and let him play his game. Jeremy if you want me to interview your potential next coaches I'm more than happy to help ;-) trust me I'll ask them some good questions.
ReplyDeleteCheers
No, no one could predict how good Chandler would be. We obviously thought he was very good or we would not have picked him but his success should be attributed to him and his hard work.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way James Harden can be the best player on a championship team. Morey is pretty delusional lol.
ReplyDeleteOkay so that AMA was pretty bleh.
ReplyDeleteThings that are clear to me now:
1. McHale is not going anywhere. No way Morey fires him after saying so many nice things about his job this year. Getting to the playoffs locks him in.. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets an extension in the summer.
2. Lin is not going anywhere this summer. I'm sure Morey would like to see one of the three step up their game to an all star level before giving up. I don't think Morey will prematurely give Lin away until he feels that Lin has reached his peak.. Or at least observe how he does in the beginning if the season.
Morey said in a radio interview (I don't have the link) that there is almost ZERO dropoff from when Lin sits down and Beverly is on the floor. He basically said that Bev is equal as a point guard to Lin.
ReplyDeleteMorey and McHale are already grooming Beverly to eventually replace Lin in the starting lineup. Don't be surprised if it happens next season, or even in the playoffs.
I think I heard that interview, it was with 790 sports radio. I believe he even brought up stats of both players. The interview should be on 790's website...unless I have the wrong interview
DeleteThis is why Lin will never play as many minutes as the core, foundational guys, Harden/Parsons.
Stop riding Morey and/or Les' nuts.
In that case, let the results speak for themselves. How many times do we see the Rockets lose the lead when JLin sits down? How many times do we see the offense stagnate?
DeleteOn the other hand, I really hope Morey could convince the Rockets owner that it's true, Beverley = JLin so they could trade JLin away. Too bad Leslie Alexander is no fool.
Well, the stats (per minute, plus/minus) do indicate that there is not much dropoff when Beverley plays. But if you analyze WHY that's the case, it's because Houston offense revolves around Harden iso. So it doesn't even matter who's playing PG. Heck, *I* could be the Houston PG and pass it to Harden and stand in the corner, there wouldn't be that much dropoff either.
DeleteI appreciated the Reddit Q&A by Morey. I felt he gave candid answers that revealed a lot about his thoughts and opinions. And he is entertaining with a sense of humor. Contrast that with most other GMs who won't make any public statements whatsover. Here are some interesting comments he made and my interpretations:
ReplyDelete"Pretty much every NBA team increases their use of isolation late&close."
Morey approves of the iso tactic.
"I think the coaches have done a fabulous job"
"Vegas over/under was 29 wins, that is about as objective a number as you can get."
Morey is thrilled with 45 wins. McHale is definitely staying next year, if not getting a raise.
"with the benefit of hindsight, it probably was not the correct move. That said, if Delfino had made a few 3s during that stretch it may have worked out."
it is pretty hard to take a bad three, it is almost always better than most other options once you pass up the shot. Harden is one of the top players in the league in shooting% on 3s off the dribble.
"What changes need to be made, if any, to maximize our chances of beating the Thunder? Increase the variance"
Morey wants to take more 3s.
I don't trust anything that's said right now, before the team actually played a single game in the playoffs. This is the same person that said that they are not going to make major moves before trading Patterson, TD, Morris, and Aldrich away for T-Robinson and picks.
ReplyDeleteEvery player on that team except Harden (cuz he's harder to trade away due to his max contract) could be traded for the right "piece".
Even if McHale stays and JLin remains on the team next season, I think things are going to be better than this season. They will showcase JLin and get his value up before trading him before his contract ends. After an off-season of training, I expect JLin will make a lot of improvements in his overall game.
"This is the same person that said that they are not going to make major moves"
DeleteI thought it was McHale who said they were not going to make major moves, not Morey.
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/2/14/3988962/nba-trade-deadline-rumors-houston-rockets-daryl-morey
DeleteI think he said it's unlikely that he will make any moves before the deadline.
Thanks for the link. I think the context of that question/answer was regarding a "big move/star", e.g. Dwight Howard. The trade deadline moves only involved role players.
DeleteQUORA: NBA Players: Will the 'Linsanity' edition of Jeremy Lin re-emerge? [REPOST]
ReplyDeleteTHE WORST TYPE OF CARBS
ReplyDeleteREDDIT LINK TO MOREY'S AMA
ReplyDelete