Even if Damnpson is gone (supposedly getting a head coaching job), Lin is better off going to another team (all but a few teams) because the owner Alexandra extended Sorey's contract for a long time. And Sorey & Alexandra is expected to extend McHell's contract. I think the entire Rockets' "basketball minds" under Sorey have been indoctrinated in the ways of BRINGING DOWN Jeremy Lin. Hence it's scary to think that their "basketball minds" - including BickerOFstaff - will be spreading to the entire league at some point: If that happens earlier than later, it isn't good for Lin's basketball career. However, those slow minds shouldn't advance that quickly.
Jeremy looks terrible in the 1st quarter. Lost his dribble in the paint for a turnover. Passing it into traffic with 3 seconds on the clock when he should shoot. Shooting bad floaters when he could've banked it off the window. Jumpshot doesn't look bad, but hasn't made a FG yet.
True, but I see what's going on -- he's clearly saving himself for the playoffs.
Everything is in half-speed mode and "let-me-try-something" mode. For example, you'll notice he isn't attacking the rim in traffic at all these days in the first 3 quarters. And he's constantly giving Smith and Asik touches in the low post...even if they aren't converting.
don't like lin passing thru traffic. stop it. he may be anticipating one of his teammate to move a certain way.
Lin can start out slow but he'll often have overall good games. in fact, Harden starts out slow more often than Lin, but harden is given a lot of chances and freedom.
Again, this is not a very important game, no matter what McHale says. It's more important to lose it so they can avoid the Nuggets.
So I like him trying some risky things if they have the lead -- he's about wins not stats. Jeremy even said the other night, "We're trying some new things we've been working on."
Actually at this point it's important that they win BECAUSE the Lakers could potentially overtake the Rockets for the 7th spot if they don't win this easiest of the remaining 3 games.
Extremely unlikely. And I'd rather the Rockets face ANYBODY but the Nuggets.
Besides, Houston has the lead. It's not like he's taking it easy in a losing game. Just like Phoenix where Jeremy took it easy for 3 quarters before turning it up in the late 4th.
Agreed. Like I wrote above, Jeremy looks like he's taking it easy on account of the playoff clinch. No need to get injured attacking the rim. Lots of soft finishes.
...and Thomas just blew by Beverly for an and-one. Ha.
Underestimated his old teammate, heh. He should have gone reverse or straight-up layup (instead of mini-floater) but why risk hard contact this late in the year?
"Carrying the weight of an entire continent on his back and hauling around the burden of expectation for years hasn’t been easy at times for Adam Scott of Australia.
The burden is gone now.
Scott, 32, erased decades of Aussie heartbreak at the Masters, closing with a final-round 2-under 70, then defeating two-time major champion Angel Cabrera on the second hole of a playoff to capture his first major.
So far it's working - it's still early though - but McHell and Sorey have been REAL SCARED to let Lin play without Harden or Beverley because several times when that occurred, it's been EXPOSED that Lin is a bona fide NBA starting point guard and that Harden, although a good player, is not a basketball God.
only after the lead diminished, does Lin come in for Beverley.... now the lead narrowed further with Harden's TO. MeHell to now go back to beverley, maybe?
@Solidz75 McHale ignores Lin's importance because he's a racist plain and simple and can't accept the fact that a Chinese guy can play better basketball than a black guy or teachers pet white guy. I be tried to really analyze why McHale treats Lin like shit, and that's what I come up with. Lin needs to bolt from Houston because the double whammy of a selfish, really sucky ballhog like James harden who thinks he's the second coming of Jesus, and a racist, unfair blatantly biased coach, is really really bad for Lin.
I'm just glad McHale can learn these lessons going into the playoffs when it actually matters. He learned an important lesson about who's really CLUTCH against Memphis.
And now he's learning that Jeremy is always a big net positive even if he doesn't put up stats.
The Rox are more invested in developing Beverly than Lin... They just wanna milk as much money as possible from Lin, playing Chinese jungles during games to appease this asian fans.
I'm surprised Fredette hasn't gotten more minutes this season, as in the short stints he got he showed flashes for brilliance. Although you can never underestimate Mr. Smart. The same guy who played Acie Law over Lin.
LOL at Asik! This is where he needs to improve during summer: Catch the ball Do not bounce the ball in traffic Do not hold the ball in front of you Do not do reverse layup when you can dunk it Do not slowly go up for a dunk in traffic Do not bounce pass the ball away
All those posters saying they prefer Asik over Dwight are stats lookers. He has great rebound stats over DH but just like Harden who leaks points against his team who has terrible defense, Asik undoes his great rebounding with terrible offence.
But Asik also pads his rebounding stats. When the opposition shoots a 3 and they've retreated to defend which allows an unconstested rebound, Asik almost always grabs the rebound, sometimes taking it away from the clutches of his team mates. I think DMo and Smith are under rated defenders because of this 'padding' of the rebound stats by Asik - and surprise surprise Harden also demands the rebounds away from the rookie defenders.
See, I thought Lin played well despite not scoring or assisting much.
Lin played LOCKDOWN DEFENSE while also spacing the court properly.
The Rockets scored 62 points, so Lin doesn't need to score more to improve the scoring.
Before this game, I was criticizing Beverley's wildly overrated defense again. Predictably, he got ATTACKED and that's why the lead shrunk. Lin comes back in with his NBA best defense and UNDOES all the damage Beverley did.
Harden's shots are going in today. Let him carry the offensive load. This is not a really competitive game. I want JLin to turn up his intensity in the playoffs.
Worst first half for Jeremy in a while -- still a positive because of defense - but Harden's ball-hogging and his teammates inepitude hurting his stats.
Harden is hot today, so he's handling the ball 95% of the time. Not a recipe for beating anyone except crappy teams like the Kings.
It's the Harden Parsons show. May have to tune out soon. Jeremy took good shots . They were in and out of the rim. Bad luck. Then 10 minutes on the bench. Jeremy is back but he may as well be on the bench. Everyone is ignoring him. Then Harden chucks it to Jeremy when the clock has almost run out, Jeremy gets hammered , no call. Boy, good thing it is Sunday. Hopefully Jeremy went to church and found some peace because McHale would give anyone but a saint, heart ache. Very sad.I went to the Knicks game today. It made me upset. Jeremy would have done so much better to stay in NY. Woodson is MUCH better than McFool.
Lin was not on the bench for 10 mins. He left at the 1:35 mark of the 1st quarter and came back with 6:31 left in the 2nd quarter, do he was out for 7 mins. But your point is well taken, Lin's minutes are definitely bring more squeezed with pretty boy, teacher's pet Parsona back on the lineup.
I believe Lin has a reputation of playing up to level of competition, and also not being too motivated against lesser competition (e. g. Harvard scout initially saw him playing against much lesser competition, wasn't impressed, and though he should go Division III. Happened to be scouting someone else on another day and Lin was playing against much better competition. Scout called Harvard and told then they must recruit Lin).
With improved consistency (i. e. making wide open jumpers he missed), hopefully his unmotivated games performance improves, and he also continues to improve towards his very high ceiling when playing against elite competition.
Harden playing great this game.
Harden Lin "pick your poison" backcourt could be really, really great in time.
Loved shot (just after 1:10 remaining in second quarter) of James smiling when bantering with Lin.
Yes, I believe only stat that proves Lin's worth to a team, over very extended periods of time, is won loss record when he plays significant and substantive minutes in game.
His stats were bad in LA Clippers victory, though is was absolutely central and critical to victory. His presence in Memphis loss was also much stronger than is box score stats showed.
Lin's box score stats in D League were middling, average player, but for the team stats that really matter, he was #1 in entire D League:
Let's begin by taking a look at how Jeremy Lin's individual metrics measured up against the rest of the NBA D-League last season.
To take out players who didn't spend a significant amount of time in the league, let's measure Lin against the 156 players who played at least 500 minutes.
His basic numbers are respectable, but when you look closer at the advanced metrics, a the few interesting facts reveal themselves -- and may account for why he did fall under almost everyone's radar. While Jeremy's True Shooting Percentage (TS% -- a measure of shooting efficiency that accounts for 2s, 3s and FTs) and Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG% -- a measures of shooting efficiency that accounts for 2s and 3s) are solid, they place him right in the middle of the NBA D-League. A middling guard in a minor league.
vs.
Think again. Of the metrics listed above, three stand out above all others. First, Jeremy Lin's defensive rating (DefRtg) of 93.2 and net rating (NetRtg) of 13.7 were the best in the entire NBA D-League. That means that while Lin was on the floor, his team gave up the fewest points per 100 possessions and outscored their opponents by the largest margin per 100 possessions.
Jeremy heating up scoring-wise but his inept teammates STILL can't finish anything he gives them. What morons...Fields easily dunks that alley-oop and Asik is just hopeless lately.
The way Beverley gets scorched on defense while being unable to truly create on offense, there is no better guard in the NBA than Bev at making Lin look like a future Hall of Famer.
Beating someone in the playoffs would have been a tall order in any case. Go after McHale and Harden all you want, but at some point you will have to deal with this roster.
James Harden: 4th year in NBA, age 23, 1st year starter. Jeremy Lin: 3rd year in the NBA, age 24, 1st full year starter. Chandler Parsons: 2nd year, age 24, a 2nd rounder, < 225 lbs. Donatas Motiejunas: first NBA season, age 22, Lithuanian in his first experience in American basketball, < 225 lbs. Omer Asik: 3rd year in NBA, age 26, 1st as a starter, and while 7' 250 lbs. is good for a PF, it is average (barely) for a center.
Basically you are talking about a very inexperienced, very young and undersized team. It is fine not to like the way that they got there, but 46 wins with this roster (assuming that they win tonight and at Phoenix) is only 3-4 games off their maximum potential.
I know that a lot of people are absolutely convinced that going back to what Lin did in New York would have made this 46 win team a 56 win team one. You realize that you are saying that letting Lin run the show means that the Rockets - with this roster - would have been as good as or better than San Antonio, Memphis, OKC, Denver and the Clippers ... teams that are much deeper, more talented and simply better. Instead, while it would have been better in some ways, it likely would have exposed more flaws of this very questionable roster, leading to about the same # of wins.
Even if Damnpson is gone (supposedly getting a head coaching job), Lin is better off going to another team (all but a few teams) because the owner Alexandra extended Sorey's contract for a long time. And Sorey & Alexandra is expected to extend McHell's contract. I think the entire Rockets' "basketball minds" under Sorey have been indoctrinated in the ways of BRINGING DOWN Jeremy Lin. Hence it's scary to think that their "basketball minds" - including BickerOFstaff - will be spreading to the entire league at some point: If that happens earlier than later, it isn't good for Lin's basketball career. However, those slow minds shouldn't advance that quickly.
ReplyDeleteJeremy looks terrible in the 1st quarter. Lost his dribble in the paint for a turnover. Passing it into traffic with 3 seconds on the clock when he should shoot. Shooting bad floaters when he could've banked it off the window. Jumpshot doesn't look bad, but hasn't made a FG yet.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but I see what's going on -- he's clearly saving himself for the playoffs.
DeleteEverything is in half-speed mode and "let-me-try-something" mode. For example, you'll notice he isn't attacking the rim in traffic at all these days in the first 3 quarters. And he's constantly giving Smith and Asik touches in the low post...even if they aren't converting.
don't like lin passing thru traffic. stop it. he may be anticipating one of his teammate to move a certain way.
DeleteLin can start out slow but he'll often have overall good games. in fact, Harden starts out slow more often than Lin, but harden is given a lot of chances and freedom.
Again, this is not a very important game, no matter what McHale says. It's more important to lose it so they can avoid the Nuggets.
DeleteSo I like him trying some risky things if they have the lead -- he's about wins not stats. Jeremy even said the other night, "We're trying some new things we've been working on."
Actually at this point it's important that they win BECAUSE the Lakers could potentially overtake the Rockets for the 7th spot if they don't win this easiest of the remaining 3 games.
DeleteExtremely unlikely. And I'd rather the Rockets face ANYBODY but the Nuggets.
DeleteBesides, Houston has the lead. It's not like he's taking it easy in a losing game. Just like Phoenix where Jeremy took it easy for 3 quarters before turning it up in the late 4th.
Harden off to a great start!
ReplyDeleteNice team play by the Rockets.
ReplyDeleteHarden is playing acceptable defense, despite Tyreke's points.
Jeremy Lin looks a little slow today. There's no need for him to be super fast against this weak Sacramento team.
Sacramento does not close out defensively. That's why Harden has been taking and making good shots.
Agreed. Like I wrote above, Jeremy looks like he's taking it easy on account of the playoff clinch. No need to get injured attacking the rim. Lots of soft finishes.
Delete...and Thomas just blew by Beverly for an and-one. Ha.
Nasty block on Lin. I like his aggressive drive, but not sure what he was thinking there.
ReplyDeleteUnderestimated his old teammate, heh. He should have gone reverse or straight-up layup (instead of mini-floater) but why risk hard contact this late in the year?
Delete"Carrying the weight of an entire continent on his back and hauling around the burden of expectation for years hasn’t been easy at times for Adam Scott of Australia.
ReplyDeleteThe burden is gone now.
Scott, 32, erased decades of Aussie heartbreak at the Masters, closing with a final-round 2-under 70, then defeating two-time major champion Angel Cabrera on the second hole of a playoff to capture his first major.
It is the first Masters title for Australia."
GO AUSSIES GO!!!
So far it's working - it's still early though - but McHell and Sorey have been REAL SCARED to let Lin play without Harden or Beverley because several times when that occurred, it's been EXPOSED that Lin is a bona fide NBA starting point guard and that Harden, although a good player, is not a basketball God.
ReplyDeleteLooks like McHale is saving Lin for the playoffs..
ReplyDeleteLooks like the same old shit, sitting lin doen for long stretch
Deleteonly after the lead diminished, does Lin come in for Beverley.... now the lead narrowed further with Harden's TO. MeHell to now go back to beverley, maybe?
DeletePredictably, since Parsons came back. Parsons is the 2nd option, so Lin moves down one slot and doesn't need to lead the 2nd unit anymore.
DeleteOr now that chandler is back, Lin goes back to the bench..
ReplyDeleteCan't understand why McHale continues to ignore Lin's importance to this team.
@Solidz75 McHale ignores Lin's importance because he's a racist plain and simple and can't accept the fact that a Chinese guy can play better basketball than a black guy or teachers pet white guy. I be tried to really analyze why McHale treats Lin like shit, and that's what I come up with. Lin needs to bolt from Houston because the double whammy of a selfish, really sucky ballhog like James harden who thinks he's the second coming of Jesus, and a racist, unfair blatantly biased coach, is really really bad for Lin.
DeleteThe bench is terrible. Getting schooled by Fredette, Patterson, and ... Cole Aldrich ??
ReplyDeleteThis team just hasn't looked well the last three games..
ReplyDeleteIt's Lin's fault -- the team lives and dies with him (as George Karl stated as well).
DeleteHe's taking it easy in advance of the playoffs and he doesn't always bring it in in low-pressure games, which these are.
Can't tell if u are serious or sarcastic
DeleteOur bigs just can't score in the post.. My goodness..
ReplyDeleteHouston bigs getting EATEN ALIVE by the Kings' bigs on both ends.
ReplyDeleteJeremy making passes for layups, dunks. But they can't finish anything remotely contested.
Lin's guys had momentum going when Lin was in the game.
DeleteThen McHale pulled Lin and inserted his man Beverley. That predictably led to opponents roaring right back.
I'm just glad McHale can learn these lessons going into the playoffs when it actually matters. He learned an important lesson about who's really CLUTCH against Memphis.
DeleteAnd now he's learning that Jeremy is always a big net positive even if he doesn't put up stats.
Agreed. Lin is throwing good passes, but people are making an additional, sometimes unnecessary, pass.
DeleteI think u r giving McHale too much credit.. The past tells us that he hasn't learned shit.
DeleteThe Rox are more invested in developing Beverly than Lin... They just wanna milk as much money as possible from Lin, playing Chinese jungles during games to appease this asian fans.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised Fredette hasn't gotten more minutes this season, as in the short stints he got he showed flashes for brilliance. Although you can never underestimate Mr. Smart. The same guy who played Acie Law over Lin.
ReplyDeleteFredette is the best player on the Kings.
DeleteHe's the 2nd coming of Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson, a guy who instantly heats up off the bench.
Meh. I'd like to see Jimmer do something in a game that matters. Or at least against tight defense.
DeleteMe too.
DeleteWhat the incompetent Keith Smart doesn't know is that Jimmer is one of those rare players who can score against any kind of defense when he gets hot.
Not even the NBA's best perimeter defender in Jeremy Lin can stop or even slow down Jimmer Fredette when Jimmer gets hot.
LOL at Asik! This is where he needs to improve during summer:
ReplyDeleteCatch the ball
Do not bounce the ball in traffic
Do not hold the ball in front of you
Do not do reverse layup when you can dunk it
Do not slowly go up for a dunk in traffic
Do not bounce pass the ball away
All those posters saying they prefer Asik over Dwight are stats lookers. He has great rebound stats over DH but just like Harden who leaks points against his team who has terrible defense, Asik undoes his great rebounding with terrible offence.
Asik is a "serviceable" center who's good for 10 points and 10 rebounds a game.
DeleteIf Lin is playing point guard, Asik eventually finds his rhythm.
But Asik also pads his rebounding stats. When the opposition shoots a 3 and they've retreated to defend which allows an unconstested rebound, Asik almost always grabs the rebound, sometimes taking it away from the clutches of his team mates. I think DMo and Smith are under rated defenders because of this 'padding' of the rebound stats by Asik - and surprise surprise Harden also demands the rebounds away from the rookie defenders.
DeleteNot a great half by Lin. However, the Rockets built their lead with him on the floor.
ReplyDeleteSee, I thought Lin played well despite not scoring or assisting much.
DeleteLin played LOCKDOWN DEFENSE while also spacing the court properly.
The Rockets scored 62 points, so Lin doesn't need to score more to improve the scoring.
Before this game, I was criticizing Beverley's wildly overrated defense again. Predictably, he got ATTACKED and that's why the lead shrunk. Lin comes back in with his NBA best defense and UNDOES all the damage Beverley did.
Lin played good defense, but his offense is terrible. Not even looking to shoot the ball anymore.
ReplyDeleteHarden's shots are going in today. Let him carry the offensive load. This is not a really competitive game. I want JLin to turn up his intensity in the playoffs.
DeleteWorst first half for Jeremy in a while -- still a positive because of defense - but Harden's ball-hogging and his teammates inepitude hurting his stats.
ReplyDeleteHarden is hot today, so he's handling the ball 95% of the time. Not a recipe for beating anyone except crappy teams like the Kings.
Statistically Jeremy is having one of his worst games of the season.
ReplyDeleteOoh lin so benched after that air ball.
ReplyDeleteLike I said first round exit for rox. Yeah they have huge lead but not really an important game.
Either Lin play point guard or shoot the ball, he is not doing either.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Harden Parsons show. May have to tune out soon. Jeremy took good shots . They were in and out of the rim. Bad luck. Then 10 minutes on the bench. Jeremy is back but he may as well be on the bench. Everyone is ignoring him. Then Harden chucks it to Jeremy when the clock has almost run out, Jeremy gets hammered , no call. Boy, good thing it is Sunday. Hopefully Jeremy went to church and found some peace because McHale would give anyone but a saint, heart ache. Very sad.I went to the Knicks game today. It made me upset. Jeremy would have done so much better to stay in NY. Woodson is MUCH better than McFool.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. Lin didnt even get to touch the ball a lot of times, very frustrating to watch.
DeleteLin was not on the bench for 10 mins. He left at the 1:35 mark of the 1st quarter and came back with 6:31 left in the 2nd quarter, do he was out for 7 mins. But your point is well taken, Lin's minutes are definitely bring more squeezed with pretty boy, teacher's pet Parsona back on the lineup.
DeleteI'm different from you guys.
DeleteI'm totally content with watching Lin unselfishly ramming the ball through his teammates and playing stellar defense.
With a weak team like Sacramento, there's no need for Lin to jack up shots. The Rockets are scoring like crazy and playing decent defense.
Lin's just fine. There's nothing to worry about against this weakass Keith Smart team.
Hope Lin comes back in 2nd hlf with better game. I just feel like he is not really in this game. Msybe his shots r not falling in the beginning?
ReplyDeleteI believe Lin has a reputation of playing up to level of competition, and also not being too motivated against lesser competition (e. g. Harvard scout initially saw him playing against much lesser competition, wasn't impressed, and though he should go Division III. Happened to be scouting someone else on another day and Lin was playing against much better competition. Scout called Harvard and told then they must recruit Lin).
DeleteWith improved consistency (i. e. making wide open jumpers he missed), hopefully his unmotivated games performance improves, and he also continues to improve towards his very high ceiling when playing against elite competition.
Harden playing great this game.
Harden Lin "pick your poison" backcourt could be really, really great in time.
Loved shot (just after 1:10 remaining in second quarter) of James smiling when bantering with Lin.
U do have a point there? The stat he has against some of the worst teams are bad, i.e. bobcat, cavs and others
DeleteThe Rockets WON those games against Cleveland and Charlotte.
DeleteLin doesn't need to shoot or even assist a lot to beat the tar out of Kyrie and Kemba.
Lin looks like he finally woke up at start of second half.
DeleteHarden still playing great.
Lin Harden pick your poison back court looks interacting like some of early in season games when they were being proclaimed best backcourt in NBA.
I think Jeremy Lin is doing JUST FINE.
ReplyDeleteHis DEFENSE is DESTROYING the Kings.
The lead disappeared when Lin sat. The lead ballooned with Lin in the game. I like what I'm seeing.
U serious?
DeleteWhat, an 18 point lead in the first half is not good enough for you???
DeleteDefensively he did ok, but did u see that he was involved in offense?
DeleteYou need to look closer at Lin, Batman189.
DeleteLin's moving without the ball, spacing the court, and getting the entire team involved.
He's like a symphony conductor. The conductor doesn't play a single note, but he tells everybody where to go and what to do.
I see no need to worry about Lin's offense when the Rockets are scoring 62 points in a half.
Dude, how many time did he even touch the ball in 2nd half, its all harden and parson, but much better in 2nd half
DeleteRelax.
DeleteEnjoy Lin's 18 point lead in the first half as well as his offensive explosion in the 2nd half.
Whatever the Rockets need to win, Lin will stick himself in there and provide it.
Yes, I believe only stat that proves Lin's worth to a team, over very extended periods of time, is won loss record when he plays significant and substantive minutes in game.
DeleteHis stats were bad in LA Clippers victory, though is was absolutely central and critical to victory. His presence in Memphis loss was also much stronger than is box score stats showed.
Lin's box score stats in D League were middling, average player, but for the team stats that really matter, he was #1 in entire D League:
Let's begin by taking a look at how Jeremy Lin's individual metrics measured up against the rest of the NBA D-League last season.
To take out players who didn't spend a significant amount of time in the league, let's measure Lin against the 156 players who played at least 500 minutes.
His basic numbers are respectable, but when you look closer at the advanced metrics, a the few interesting facts reveal themselves -- and may account for why he did fall under almost everyone's radar. While Jeremy's True Shooting Percentage (TS% -- a measure of shooting efficiency that accounts for 2s, 3s and FTs) and Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG% -- a measures of shooting efficiency that accounts for 2s and 3s) are solid, they place him right in the middle of the NBA D-League. A middling guard in a minor league.
vs.
Think again. Of the metrics listed above, three stand out above all others. First, Jeremy Lin's defensive rating (DefRtg) of 93.2 and net rating (NetRtg) of 13.7 were the best in the entire NBA D-League. That means that while Lin was on the floor, his team gave up the fewest points per 100 possessions and outscored their opponents by the largest margin per 100 possessions.
http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/the_hidden_side_jeremy_lin_2012_02_15.html
Yikes.
ReplyDeleteJeremy heating up scoring-wise but his inept teammates STILL can't finish anything he gives them. What morons...Fields easily dunks that alley-oop and Asik is just hopeless lately.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, the Rockets still have the #1 offense in the entire NBA despite those missed shots inside.
DeleteThe Rockets are VASTLY SUPERIOR to last season's Knicks in scoring.
Was that a flop by Lin ... come on man, you are strong enough to guard Salmons.
ReplyDeleteLin needs to get out of Houston. They are grooming him to be a nobody, a dercik Fisher or worst, a Bev.
ReplyDeleteMorey already stated that fact that Bev is the kind of PG they need.
The way Beverley gets scorched on defense while being unable to truly create on offense, there is no better guard in the NBA than Bev at making Lin look like a future Hall of Famer.
DeleteNEW THREAD GUYS
ReplyDeleteBeating someone in the playoffs would have been a tall order in any case. Go after McHale and Harden all you want, but at some point you will have to deal with this roster.
ReplyDeleteJames Harden: 4th year in NBA, age 23, 1st year starter.
Jeremy Lin: 3rd year in the NBA, age 24, 1st full year starter.
Chandler Parsons: 2nd year, age 24, a 2nd rounder, < 225 lbs.
Donatas Motiejunas: first NBA season, age 22, Lithuanian in his first experience in American basketball, < 225 lbs.
Omer Asik: 3rd year in NBA, age 26, 1st as a starter, and while 7' 250 lbs. is good for a PF, it is average (barely) for a center.
Basically you are talking about a very inexperienced, very young and undersized team. It is fine not to like the way that they got there, but 46 wins with this roster (assuming that they win tonight and at Phoenix) is only 3-4 games off their maximum potential.
I know that a lot of people are absolutely convinced that going back to what Lin did in New York would have made this 46 win team a 56 win team one. You realize that you are saying that letting Lin run the show means that the Rockets - with this roster - would have been as good as or better than San Antonio, Memphis, OKC, Denver and the Clippers ... teams that are much deeper, more talented and simply better. Instead, while it would have been better in some ways, it likely would have exposed more flaws of this very questionable roster, leading to about the same # of wins.