Loved the game vs the Griz. That's how its gonna be in the playoffs. There gonna let them play so no blood no foul and Jeremy will get his minutes. Harden is realizing he'll have to trust and rely on Lin more. JLin will come thru!
Post Game 04/12/2013: Jeremy Lin | video | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE HOUSTON ROCKETS
Isaiah Thomas will be looking for revenge. Lin shut him down the last game.
ReplyDeleteSo will TD. He was a non factor from the bench.
DeleteWe'll see how the "pizza guy" can deliver or not, no pun intended
DeleteOMG, that pizza commercial is... There's got to be better sponsors to sell oneself to than that!
DeleteOh, TD looked really pumped to go against Lin last game. That was entertaining.
Haha that little fella Isiah plays quite good! Without the ref's help he's usually no match for Lin. I'm betting that tonight's going to be the *usually*.
DeleteTo me Douglas is a better player than Beverley because I think they turned out to be similar, except that Douglas is a better 3-point shooter; initially I thought Beverley looked terrific but that's not the case overall. They both apparently appeared to be better defenders than Lin to Sorey, McHell and Damnpson (the Rockets' "basketball minds"), but they just do more jumping jacks which don't equal better defense (almost always they gave up more points when they were in while Lin was out). LMAO
TD's last 3 games: 5-9 3's, 15 assists, 11 steals, 2 TOs coming off the bench.
Delete[HChen]
Toney Douglas may not run as fast or jump as high as Patrick Beverley, but he's a vastly superior player who has legitimately earned his place in the NBA.
DeleteDouglas has true NBA reflexes and court sense. He's not a creative player or a facilitating player, but he's a worthy outside gunner in the mold of Derek Fisher. Unfortunately, he can't dribble well enough to do more than dribble the ball upcourt and get a team into its sets.
I predicted last summer when Houston traded for Douglas that he's experience a NBA rebirth, and he has. I'm happy to see that not because he's a true teammate to Lin, but because Toney Douglas is a good NBA bench player who can hold onto a lead and add to it if he is having a hot shooting game.
Isaiah Thomas is good and belongs in the NBA, but he's no NBA starter.
DeleteHe reminds me a lot of ex Nets coach Avery Johnson, only without Johnson's court sense and defensive tenacity.
Isaiah Thomas's problem is that he simply cannot impact games physically. He can run an offense, but he's not a breakdown player who can get to the rim without help unless he's guarded by an inferior D league talent like Beverley. Also, Thomas cannot impact games defensively. This why even though Isaiah Thomas has the swagger and even appearance of a starting NBA point guard, the team cannot win with him.
Jeremy Lin is Isaiah Thomas's worst matchup nighmare. Lin is too tall, too strong, and too quick for Thomas. Lin has no trouble stopping Thomas even when Thomas tries to rub Lin off picks, and Thomas can't even bother Lin on defense. When Lin faces Thomas, the Kings are playing 4-on-5.
In an ideal situation, Isaiah Thomas would be a productive sub backing up a guy like Lin. Thomas would be vastly superior to Beverley or Douglas because he is a true point guard.
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ReplyDeleteHouston Rockets – Jeremy Lin Loses Fourth Quarter Shots to James Harden
ReplyDeleteJLIN ASSIST HIGHLIGHTS 2012-2013
ReplyDelete[Jerewy How]
JLIN PRACTICE - 4/13/13
ReplyDeleteKINGS GAME PLAN VS HOUSTON
ReplyDeleteI believe Lin and Harden can work well together IF Harden always plays D like he did against Memphis and is willing to play a bit more off ball and trust that Lin will find him for shots. A big if though I know.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, Harden is bit like Kobe who is certainly talented enough to be a championship piece when he trusts his teammates and plays team ball. But he can also be an enigma that team can be better without when he refuses to play D and wants to do it all by himself on offense.
Like Kobe, I also think Harden needs a coach to put him into his place. I am not sure McHale can do that.
That's one big and tall 'IF' right there, considering this is The Houston Rockets and having McHale as head coach. There is a reason(s) why Scott Brooks made Harden 6th man bench
DeleteIt took a great coach like Phil Jackson to convince Kobe to be a team player. Bad coaching is like bad parenting, a spoiled child will want all the attention if you don't ween it out with firmness.
DeleteI think the benchmark for the defensive effort of the team's best player is CP3: for the first three quarters, he does stay with his man, keeps a floating attention about intercepting passes, but doesn't exert much energy on defense to avoid foul trouble and to save energy for crunch time. It's in the 4th quarter that CP3 really ups his intensity on defense.
DeleteOne of the unexpected benefits of Lin getting a bunch of phantom calls on him is that he's been learning to reach in less, and avoid foul trouble, and to conserve energy during defense until 4th quarter. His 4th quarter defense in the last game was so focused.
The newest level of phantom call absurdity was the offensive foul he received for doing a dribble hand off to Harden. What were the clown refs thinking? Or was that just a blatant FU?
DeleteRefs were weird last game. Some calls came 5 seconds after the foul occured.
DeleteNo No No No....
ReplyDeleteDon't even try to win this one. I want SAS instead of Denver. I don't want our young inexperience Rox play their first round playoff serial in the road game thin air environment.
There is not enough oxygen up there in high miles city. But, second round is OK because we have experience already.
The Rockets won't get out of the 1st round, whoever they play, with this current roster.
DeleteSo might as well win more regular season games.
DeleteAre U sure Linsanity 2.0 wont take off in this playoff?
DeleteI personally hoping Jeremy will get his first nba champ on his practical rookie year
It would be nice but its very unlikely :)
DeleteLol Lin is not Michael Jordan and even Jordan needed talent alongside him to win, not with the type of team like this minimum salary Rockets.
Deletefor much of the season, IMO it was actually like the playoffs for Lin in since opponents went at him hard. that's less so now that we are past the all-star break and everyone is used to having him around and it's no big deal anymore and the media stopped talking about him so there's less of a desire to punk him hehe.
Deletelinsanity 2.0? setting aside pure wishfulness about what will happen, it's good that Lin is peaking as he nears the playoffs. his baseline performance is higher, and his average level of play. We've all seen his best play, it's just about raising the baseline so the band of fluctuation is not so great. i can't wait for playoffs.
The Rockets absolutely MUST WIN this game at home against the lowly Kings. Otherwise they risk Lakers overtaking the 7th seed. The Lakers 2 remaining game is in LA and they might "kill" to overtake the 7th spot vs. the Rocket (Wednesday) or to insure making the playoffs if the Lakers lose tonight and if Utah wins against MN tomorrow..... The Lakers are often favored by referees, particularly in LA.
DeleteThe LA Fakers would be Sacramento and Phoenix bad if they were fairly officiated.
DeleteThey would be that bad even if their entire roster was healthy and playing as well as they could.
When the Lakers signed Steve Nash last year, I wrote that Nash and Kobe would get GREYHOUNDED by top Western Conference guards like Lin, Parker, and Westbrook. Indeed, that's exactly what happened.
I have long considered Dwight Howard an overrated superstar who doesn't get his team as many wins as people believe. This season, Dwight was EXPOSED. People use his bad back as the excuse, but it doesn't cover up his lack of game. A properly officiated Dwight Howard who doesn't get superstar calls would be Greg Smith with some defensive reflexes.
The horrible start to the Lakers season was their TRUE ability. It took referee intervention to save their season.
Theres a general trend I've been noticing this year. Mchale seems to let Jeremy run the team when the opponent is subpar or the team doesnt mean anything. Once the opposition cranks up a notch he reverts to Harden Iso Ball. I saw this countless times. He basically made Lin inactive against San Antonio. He basically let Lin play PG against Sacramento, Portland, Phoenix. Denver was less and once Memphis came around Harden was basically bringing up the ball the whole time. Its so obvious where Mchale's trust lies. Whoever doesnt see it is living under a rock.
ReplyDeleteGreat point. Yeah when the game is on the line, McHale makes harden the pg despite the consistent failures. It's really a travesty that noone other than us sees this. What a crock of shit that McHale will likely win the COTY.
DeleteThe trend I'm seeing is that Harden is less effective than he was in the beginning of the season. A big factor I think is that opponents know how to handle him better than before.
DeleteThey are definitely learning his tendencies. He is definitely drawing less contact when he runs into the lane. Ive never seen any other star do what he does. He runs in for the contact - not to make a shot. He hold the ball in an awkward position and just hopes itll work out..Thats not basketball. He also is not very effective in mid range jumpers. (We definitely saw that against Memphis. Im gonna reserve judgement on his star potential right now. He's won over most of the media but I think he needs to develop his game greatly to reach the star title. I can see him thinking he's a perfect player though...he never talks about himself getting better as a player..just 'us'. As opposed to Lin who talks about it all the time.
DeleteI expect the playoffs to be an UGLYFEST of Harden iso ball.
DeletePeople are gonna crow at how "great" Harden is because he'll score 20 on at least 20 shots while turning the ball over at least 5 ugly times a game. That's how the NBA works, and I've never bought into it.
Meanwhile, I expect Jeremy Lin to tighten up his game a little more. The double teams and zones will load up on whatever side of the court Lin is on, with or without the ball. And when Lin does touch the ball, he'll produce at his customarily high rate.
The referees will NOT send Lin to the free throw line, no matter how hard he gets illegally bashed. Many of us have been calling for Lin to master a pull up jumper, and that's what Lin will work on this summer. Similarly, the uncalled hacking will force Lin to develop his spin dribble. Combine the spin dribble with the pull up jumpers and Lin becomes UNSTOPPABLE.
No matter how ugly the playoffs get with Harden LOSERBALL and referee cheating, Lin will return as a vastly improved player next year.
Yes I expect your right. In the playoffs, when it means the most, I think its inexorable that Mchale will delegate Lin to the corner. I hope Im wrong but thats the trend I have seen so far.
DeleteThe problem with Harden is that he thinks he's God's gift to mankind. He thinks he's a finished product when he has so much to work on. I wonder how many games this team would have won without Lin and Harden running the point the whole season. All the blowouts were with Lin running point. When Harden does they often lose or win by a very small margin. Too bad nobody sees the truth but us.
Music, good points. I was thinking the same things. Yes, the refs and oppositions are onto Harden's bag of tricks, and yes, the playoffs could get very ugly for Rockets if they keep on running Harden ISOs. My prediction: Lin is going to average 18+ points and 6.5 assists during playoffs.
DeleteIt will be a quick playoff sweep for the Rockets if they go back to the offense they ran during the 7-game losing streak in January. IMO, for them to sneak in a win or two, JLin has to control the offense as THE point guard and not go stand in the corner. The only good thing about that is that both McHale and Harden will be exposed and embarrassed on national TV.
DeleteLet's hope the refs don't show their bias against the Rockets and rig the game again.
ReplyDeleteI still wonder what McHale thinks about Hardens insanely high turnovers. I am also wondering how Kobe's new injury changes things in Lakerland and if Lin may have a new home in a few years.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm hoping Morey goes hard after Howard and use Lin and Asik as bait. Cali is much more multicultural and hopefully D'antoni is still around and put the ball back in his hands.
DeleteAfter what happened to Kobe I'd be a little afraid of D'Antoni overusing JLin and causing injury. May have contributed to JLin's knee injury last year.
DeletePerhaps McHale will finally diminish hardens minutes while giving Lin more time.
DeleteFor rue the heavy minutes had something to do with his injury, but I also contend that it was also due to the fact that rookies learn how to pace themselves and build up court time. This process acclimatize them to logging starter minutes. Lin never had that oppertunity and had to seize his chance at showing what he could do. Lin and D'antoni never had the luxury to gradually build up his play time.
DeleteLin is also not a glory seeker like Kobe or Harden. My perfect game for Lin was the Suns game where he had 13 points and 10 assists(?) in 23 minutes of play. He spread the scoring around and 5 players had double digit scoring. He was happy as a lark in the 4th watching his bench players play.
@Rick,
DeleteTim Grover regarding Kobe: "I'd be shocked if the minutes had anything to do with it. An Achilles can happen stepping off a sidewalk. Kobe's injury was not about minutes, he's conditioned to play 48, and he'll play 48 again. An Achilles can just go, any age or circumstance."
Lakers trainer Gary Vitti: "To say that he was injured because he played 48 minutes a game the last however-many games I think is a stretch," Vitti said. "Lots of guys rupture their Achilles' tendons and don't play 48 minutes. To make that correlation I don't think is fair."
As far as Lin's injury, I'm pretty certain that it was caused by the dirty Jason Kidd and than aggravated by the then Indiana's Collison, and then further aggravated by the Knicks (Woodson, Carmelo) trying to rush the guy they hoped would be injured for good; they were having Lin go through some drills and practice after about 4 or 5 weeks after the surgery (the earliest possible allowed) for the playoff series that was essentially already decided (3-0 at the time against Miami).
Sacramento may be a bad team in the West, but they've shown that they're totally capable of beating the Rockets.
ReplyDeleteThe key is James Harden. Last game, he got totally lit up by Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton because of his ongoing refusal to play defense. Unlike a team like Memphis which doesn't have a scorer that can score 20 a game, Sacramento has the firepower to attack Harden all game long.
Lin will do his thing, shutting down whatever guard he's assigned to. None of the Kings players can stop Lin on offense either.
Personally, I'd like to see Keith Smart insert Jimmer Fredette and see if he can score against Lin. While I seriously doubt that the utterly incompetent Smart will play his best player in Fredette, I would look forward to a Lin vs Jimmer matchup. I don't know if Lin can actually stop Jimmer - I don't know if ANYBODY can truly stop Jimmer other than his dumb coach.
With Sacramento, the bench big men are better than the starters. Chuck Hayes is the best big man for the Kings, and he always presents serious problems for the Rockets because of his team play and tough defense. The one King that REALLY roasts the Rockets is actually now a Rocket, and that's Thomas Robinson!
Coach Nick goes on a rant about D'Antoni's coaching on Kobe and effects on team and injury. Very applicable to McHale coaching Harden:
ReplyDeleteWarriors at Lakers: Why D'Antoni Isn't The Right Coach for Kobe
UnConscious. Cold-blooded. Clutch. Closer. Is. Jeremy. Lin.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jeremy Lin is unconscious, he is under direction of God. Who can beat that? Haha.
DeleteDaryl Morey @dmorey
ReplyDeletePlayoff Opponent: Denver 35%, San Antonio 30%, LA Clippers 20%, Oklahoma City 13%, Memphis 2%
9:33 AM - 14 Apr 13
I read that.
DeleteWhat a stupid numbers man that moronic Sorey or Morey.
Sorey of Morey.
DeleteHe looks like a snake. The guy is very conniving and all for himself.
"[lLawrence] Frank is expected to be among at least six head coaches out of work after the season. Houston associate head coach KELVIN SAMPSON is already being whispered as a serious candidate for a couple of them."
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteJFeigen: PLAYOFFS WON'T ALTER ROCKETS' STRATEGY ON OFFENSE
ReplyDeleteWhat ? Only Harden Go ??? Making Harden the only basketball player and the other 4 players just standing on the court ...I think Rox coach and some Rox's reporters look like really having no brain.
DeleteHaving read the article, I understand what the Rockets are trying to do, but why not have Lin get the ball and share? What's wrong with that? Lin is a better passer. Is there a rationale why the ball has to start with Harden? Is it because coaches feel that Harden is better at drawing fouls? I mean I am all for Rockets trying to get lay-ups, shoot FTs or shoot 3s (I agree with this system of playing for Rockets, don't get me wrong), but why is it that the coaches feel that it's better to have Harden have the ball? I am trying to understand and sympathize with this approach, but I disagree with who should start the flow.
DeleteThe Rockets motion offense is simple.
DeleteWhen a guy is double teamed, he passes. When a guy is single teamed, he shoots.
Here's the problem. Opponents know this, so they ferociously double the guy who kills teams with either shooting or passing: Jeremy Lin. Even when Lin tries to pass, opponents try to cover his passing targets. The result is that opponents are STEERING the ball out of Lin's hands and into Harden's so that Harden can continue to selfishly brick and turnover.
All season long, opponents have known that the inly two guys on the Rockets that can create offense are Lin and Harden. Lin's the really deadly guy and gets loaded up on whether he has the ball or not. Harden will get a quick double team on the perimeter off the pick, but then single coverage resumes with either Harden trying to score on the switched big man or on his original guy as the big man stays with the Rockets big man screener.
Teams WANT Harden to selfishly brick and shoot. But because McHale is not defensively aware enough, he blindly keeps plowing the ball through Harden even though Lin is the better player that does significantly more damage to opponents. McHale has no idea that he's being STEERED AROUND by opponents!
I would qualify your statement that "Lin is the better player" with a statement that Lin is better at creating better shots for the team. I believe if Harden plays more smartly, Harden could be a better player.
DeleteYes eb5attorney, you are correct.
DeleteI learn from you.
It would take A LOT for Harden to become "better" than Lin, eb5attorney.
DeleteHarden needs to
1) play defense on EVERY possession
2) be a standard shooting guard or at least start setting guys up for real if he's the point guard
3) stop bricking
4) stop turnovering
5) stop PLAYING SCARED.
That's a lot for James Harden to overcome if he's gonna reach Lin's level. It's possible, but I can't see it happening. Can you?
THE ROCKETS IN THE CLUTCH
ReplyDeleteTDS: Kobe's injury raises big questions about Howard's future
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedreamshake.com/2013/4/13/4219916/kobes-injury-raises-big-questions-about-howards-future
ReplyDeleteThe article refers to Harden as an unselfish superstar, and Lin and Parsons as role players with high upsides. I don't so much mind Harden being referred to as a superstar, but adding "unselfish" to that elicits an involuntary laugh from me. Harden is no superstar to me. He needs to accomplish way more for anyone to call him that. Makes me wonder if these writers really saw all the games. I think most posters here have more accurate observations because most posters probably and actually saw the games.
Absolutely correct, eb5attorney.
DeleteHarden gets called "unselfish" because journalists who don't watch the game see the high assists that come after Harden wastes the shot clock and passes only on the bailout.
I'd actually forgive Harden's selfish offense if he played more defense. But Harden's bad defense overshadows everything he does offensively. Compound Harden's bad defense with bricks and turnovers and that's why I consider Harden a SCRUB.
It's the dreamshake, an opinion piece from a fan forum. Take it with a grain of salt.
DeleteI've noticed that articles on that website don't give much credit to JLin even when in games where he was crucial in winning. So I'm not surprised that they classify JLin as a "role-player". As for Harden, they are just parroting what the media and NBA announcers/Rockets organization are saying. We will see if Harden will live up to the expectations of being a superstar, and an unselfish one too lol.
DeleteFrom what I've seen, dreamshake is WAY MORE ANTI LIN and ANTI LIN FANS than clutchfans is.
DeleteI used to go on dreamshake, but I won't anymore. The racism there is too much and the utter ignorance of the game is too loud.
Even tho Melo has a bad reputation among some Lin fans, the truth is Melo is less selfish than Harden. Melo willingly passes out of double teams to set up his teammates, and just as importantly, he makes the read and passes it QUICKLY. He's also a very talented passer when he chooses to be.
DeleteBut when Harden passes out of double teams, it is frequently after he has concluded he can't score for himself in that situation, after which time the window for his teammates has also closed significantly. And worst of all is when he passes when there is so little time left in the clock that his teammate has to chuck up a very difficult shot. That is arguably even more selfish than shooting it yourself cuz you are punishing a teammate's stats for your own inability to create a shot for yourself. Instead of creating for your teammates to succeed, it's setting them up to fail.
As for the dreamshake blog, I looked at it last summer and concluded then that the contributors were not worth reading.
DeleteHow about not receiving Harden's pass (faking it that u didn't see the pass coming) in that case and let him get a turnover? LOL
DeleteMchale's going to try to limit Parsons minutes to 30? The hell? were not playing a #1 seed. Pretty sure we win this game, against SAC at home. Mchale must really have no faith in the others guys to pick their game up w/o Parsons.
ReplyDelete