Rockets vs OKC Game #4 Western Conference Playoffs Pre Game Thread
Has Jeremy played his last game as a Rocket? Will this be his last game as a Rocket? Will he be back next year? With the way things have gone with the Jeremy Lin story, you never know what's next.
I think he'll stay. But I am hoping he doesn't. What I really would like for Jeremy Lin is to be in a positive environment and an organization that wants Jlin to excel.
The WORSE thing for Jeremy Lin is if he remains a Rocket, considering the circumstances, ONLY BECAUSE Lin isn't 21 or 22 years of age (which is the typical age for someone with just 1.5 years of experience). Because of that, Lin should ask for a trade *IF* they don't trade him soon. He may get some flack for it, but it's a common request; plus everybody knows that the Rockets let him to believe he was going to be the PG (not one of, or be a 3-point specialist SG). Finally, all the pundits are aware that the Rockets "basketball minds" DIDN'T WANT Lin - after all, it was their peers from the Rockets organization that leaked the ANTI-Lin stories, and it was them who reported them.
AND, A SURE WAY TO FAIL IN ANYTHING IS TO TRY TO PLEASE EVERYBODY.
Hopefully Lin would be traded to a team whose general manager/coach doesn't have a political motive to want to see him fail. Thankfully, besides the Knicks, there are only 3 teams to avoid for that reason: Rockets, Kings, and Warriors.
Yes, get the heck out of the Rockets !!!
The Warriors are nicely set, so no worries. As for the Kings, if they change the ownership fire KSmart, then no problem.
I could see Lin being successful in Dallas, they are hurting for a real PG. Collison is not cutting it there. Utah is another team that can use a real PG. Mo Williams is really an undersized SG and is well past his prime.
Dallas was one of the teams Lin's agent approached last Summer, but the owner, Cuban, politely said "We're not going in that direction".
It wasn't just because they were waiting for DWilliams to make his decision - he was likely to sign a 5 year contract with the Nets, not their 4 years, but it's because major-market basketball teams, of which Dallas is one of (Houston isn't) can afford and attract established All-Stars or at least someone on the verge. Lin hasn't had the chance to prove he's on the verge anything this season.
Zyrta, I thought it was the other way around. The mavs were ine of first of the team to call even before the Rox when FA period began, but backed out when they falsely realized that the Knicks would match anything they proposed.
I believe Lin will stay with the Rocket's. I also predict that coach Mchale will have more faith in him next season. I hope that he'll be given more point guard duties next year than this year. Finally, I think Lin will be a better player next year than this year.
I feel like Jeremy's story will eventually be told as a trilogy.
Part 1, will be the Linsanity movie that's currently being shown. It's about his initial struggles and how he overcomes them to become an NBA player.
Part 2, shows our protagonist's challenges as he accepts his new found fame and place. Like all sequels, it's a time for learning and often the hero will face what seems like insurmountable odds.
Part 3, will be how he redeems himself. How he comes back wiser and stronger. Where he shows to the world what he has learned in Part 2 and cements his legacy.
Haha, ok maybe I'm thinking too much, but this would definitely make for a great trilogy :)
What nobody is talking about is the serious withdraws we will have once the Rocket's are done for this season. Let's hope they get to the finals so our withdraw symptoms will be postponed as long as possible.
steph curry is a bona fide super star, john wall on the rise, kyrie irving superstar, jrue, ty Lawson etc. etc. come to think of it what point guard didn't improve this year?? jeremiah lin stay in Houston and finish out your career as luke f'n ridnour man. he can't even get over this -- chest injury pec strain/bruise/muscle spasm/sprain/vag tear whatever this is, NO ONE can even give it an official name -- freak of an injury and play his weak ass marginal 3/11 role.
The opening poster (OP) is obviously a troll, but much of what he said is unfortunately CORRECT (what I disagree with is regarding Lin's injury). Carmelo and Woodson fans, Lin haters, and black people in general *APPRECIATE* the way McHale and Morey have treated Jeremy Lin.
I hope the post remains here BECAUSE OP's user name should remind Lin why he should ask the Rockets to TRADE Lin if the Rockets don't do it on their own.
@DwightHoward: I hope I get the chance to make it up to you!” Thank u la.
It looks like D12 is staying in LA. I wonder how this off season will turn out for the Rox.
I'm pretty sure Lin is staying. No way the Rox just give up on him after 1 year. Overall he had an average year after being placed in an offensive system that exposes his weaknesses, namely 3 point ball and playing without the ball. I know a lot of Rox fans want him to be gone as well as his own fans.
For me personally, as an impatient person, I was disappointed by his season. Too many bad games to nullify the good ones. Too much frustration all around.
I think next year will be the break or make for Lin as a player. If he struggles like he did in some stretches this year and does not appreciably improve his jumper, I'm sure my enthusiasm for him will die down as well.
Yes, I am a "bad" Lin fan but I came became a fan because of his perceived basketball skills during Linsanity and not because he is a nice god loving kid.
One more season Jeremy. Time to step up your game.
Lin needs to be traded or ask. Then he should copy what ALL ELITE players and majority of OTHER PLAYERS do in the offseason: Train with the best people in the business. Definitely cut way down on overseas travel; even if the NBA encourages it to promote them, it will hurt Lin's team and his game personally. He is obligated to his employing team, NOT to the league.
But once the LOSING sets in, he'd go back to the bench and the Rockets would shop around for a real point guard.
From a sheer basketball sense, trading Lin would destroy the Rockets. But the NBA doesn't make decisions based on basketball reasons.
The Rockets have endured a lot of criticism for signing Lin, especially now that he's more than lived up to his contract. I don't think Morey and McHale are man enough to withstand another season of anti-Lin racial criticism.
That's Morey's job. Morey will do MUCH MORE than just ship Lin out. Not only will the Rockets will get someone for Lin, Morey will wheel and deal and get his PF or C that he wants and get all the fitting pieces that support and role-play around Harden, that he has spoken of in several interviews. Morey said a PG should play like Beverley (paraphrase); meaning the perceived traditional type (which Bev isn't either, BTW hahaha) or someone who will complement - not similar to - Harden, their franchise player.
We don't want fair weather Lin fan. Ever experienced a bruise. It'll take you lot of time to get over. Why ask Lin to do something impossible. I want JLIN to stay healthy for next season. He's done enough If you guys have problems with that, go to ClutchFans.
There's no point to mess with the Thunder this season. The last season, GSmith would not be poisoned again. I want him to punish the pundits real bad. Never mind the score or the ball. Just swap those flies in Toyota Centre. Is there anyone with me. Cheers!
For the situation Lin is in , he did a incredibly job. I would never seen a NBA player faced so much difficulty can compare to Lin, it is one against the world , Even he gave up at this moment , I still consider he is a winner , for people ask him to step up , he just did not know enough about Lin's situation , ask yourself that how tough was your mental when you were 24 . Even Lebron James , if he facing the same treatment during his first 2 NBA year , I am quit sure he would be collapsed , he was developed by the support of the NBA promotion [ like Ricky Rubio } .Even today , he is still not tough to take the last shot consistently . So please do not ask for too much from Lin , nobody willing to take the challenge more than himself .
I am in for the long haul. I am here for what he had already accomplished and what he is going to do. We keep putting people on certain schedule to satisfy our own gratification. Lin is in for the long haul. With so many Rox fans and his own fans want him to leave Houston, it might just be the ticket to get him out of Houston. I just hope McHale/Morey can convince Les it is better for Houston to let Lin go. Don't worry if there are teams willing to pick him up. He is one of the biggest draw as the visiting team. I will go see him play if he comes to play in my city and a lot of his fans will do the same. I bow to the dedication of HY because she is willing to travel from NJ to Houston to watch Lin plays. May be one day I can be as dedicated as she is. I want not put Lin on a timetable. I will stay with him thru thick and thin. And in 20 years, I will tell my grandchildrens about the struggle of "Senator Lin of Calif" and how he overcomes all odds in his life. PBPGHNFW"L"Y.
All I know is harden single-handily lost two playoff games, games two and three. I think McHale deep down realizes that Harden ain't no superstar. Very hopeful still that Lin will reunite with D'Antoni in LA next season. Will happen.
I hope the same. He needs a better environment to excel. If not LA, Utah or other small market teams will do as long as he gets to be THE PG and supported by the coach and organization.
Via, Jeremy was really in a no win situation. If he didn't play, people would be the saying thing. Although it was the same outcome either way, I'm glad Jeremy gave it a try. For me, knowing is always much better than not knowing. He gave it a try. It didn't work out. That's that.
Everytime i take a lurk at clutchfans one thing gets clear. 10 % of Americans are well educated, open minded ppl. 90% are racist,idiotic unreflected assholes believing in everything the media says while not actually watching with their own eyes. Seriously the ppl on this site are nearly all racist inbreds and for some reason i think they reflect the Rockets fan base quite well as well as the state Texas. Remember that is the state of racists and ppl who support the likes of George bush. i feeld the Rcokets organisisation is one of the most retarded organisations out there and JLin has to get the hell out of there. A piece of shit coach who seems dumber than bread who preaches ball movement but for an entire season lets a player run his iso shit without doing anything or critizing him once, while burning his most unselfish player in the media and portray him as selfish. A dum General Manager who would trade the whole roster in a heartbeat if he things he can make upgrades because he think he knows basketball better than everyone else.Lol they had one midrange threat on that team and that guy actually traded him mid season( PAtterson).And probably the worst fanbase ever, which not only is very bad at supporting the team in Toyota Center but also racist and dumb and believing in media bullshit( typical ppl of the southern states of USA). oh and the most overrated Franchise player EVER, who isnt even athletic while playing SG and probably likes how lin is treated so his selfish ass can shine more... Again Lin needs to go to Les Alexander say thank you, then go to Morey and say fuck you and refuse to paly anymore if they dont trade him and kick McHell in his balls just for once. Then he needs to call Donnie Nelson and get traded for OJ Mayo and some other assests and Houston has two inefectiv, 3point chucking SGs and everyone can be happy. If Lin somehow ends up in Dallas, all will be good cuz Dirk is humble and they are used to players like Collison or Mike James as their starting PG´s. his career would go through the roof in Dallas and he could fuck up Houston 4 times a year in RS. Sadly i think none of this gonna happen but i havent lost hope completely...
Agree , also Lin should talk to Les ask for a trade unless someone like Hans Schwanz going to be his next GM . they just not possible working together .
Wow..... it's such a small world due to the internet. Yet ignorant people - like most people from TX and the South-and the "bible belt" will remain ignorant and closed minded. Despite the fact that leaders from those areas treat most of their supporters (much of them poverty stricken and uneducated, which is how their leaders want them) like shit: All their phoney snaky leaders have to do to keep them loyal is to push hot buttons (ab, g, J) during political campaign.
I just imagined Lin playing together with a great midrange Big Man(Pau Gasol) who stretches the floor but can actually score on the interior and Dwight Fucking Howard as the Center. With Nash as his Backcourt partner/Back up/mentor under D´antoni I jizzed my pants.
@Hans Schwanz, Way to go, I jizzed to thinking about and wishing that! It will happen!
Nash is breaking down health-wise as an old man, so I think it would be a perfect situation for JLin. Only thing is, either Gasol or Howard won't be with him--one will be traded for Asik and Lin, and I'm fine with Asik and Gasol teaming up with Lin. Lin will be truly loved in LA, with genuine fan support and a coach whotrusts and believes in him. Blake is the kind of shooting guard Lin needs, not an ISO ballhog, selfish bastard freak like Harden. And then Kobe will be back just in time for the playoffs to boos the Lakers. Perfect situation for JLin!
Perfect for JLin? Yes. Perfect for the Rockets? Please. So, the Rockets will trade Lin and Asik and get Gasol back. They give up their starting 24 year old PG and their 24 year old starting C for a 32 year old PF, who gets paid $19,285,850 and will be a free agent after next season and will almost certainly fly the coop for a contender. Tell me how this makes the Rockets a better team, now or in the future.
Trading Lin and Asik for Gasol doesn't make the Rockets better, Unknown.
However, Gasol is an EXPIRING CONTRACT who's got game. After next season, the Rockets can use his cap space to sign a coveted max contract free agent point guard like John Wall or Ricky Rubio.
Where I can't see the Lakers trading for Lin is in their name branding. The Lakers under Jim Buss will not acquire any player who's not media marketed as the best player at the position. They won't have anybody play PG for them other than Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, or Russell Westbrook.
Lin has outplayed all of those guys, but that doesn't matter at all to a media addled owner like Jim Buss. He's only after the fame, not the game.
That's not going to happen unless the Rox is willing to release Lin. Then the situation have to be real bad. I surely don't want that to happen to Lin. That'll be heartbreaking at best.
Unless the Rox is willing to take Marc Gasol for Lin.
There are so many things that are uncertain when it comes to Jeremy's future (which makes him all the more exciting) but taking off from all his testimonies and all the happenings in his life that we are fortunate enough to witness, I believe that Jeremy is will end up in the best place (even if its crappy, he will make it one) because:
1) He has proven time and again that his heart is in the right place and he is a TRUE gentleman (seriously have you every heard him complain or bad mouth anyone, even those who truly has no good things to say about him?)
2) Regardless of all the criticisms and whether or not haters will admit it, Lin belongs to the NBA, he has the guts, skills, and attitude that make GREAT players
3) He has FAITH, so basically he has immeasurable number of passes for MIRACLES... we have seen it happen... it will happen again.
In other words, as a LOF, i am quite excited to know what is in store for him tomorrow and the days to come :)
McHale has been the best of all possible coach for Jeremy Lin. That was why I adopted McHale as my faux son a month ago to match my faux grandson, Jeremy Lin. I commend my faux son for putting my faux grandson back into the 3rd quarter for five mintes in the last game. That was the right thing to do, just as a horse rider must get back onto a horse after falling off, as soon as possible. But, best of all, it was a clear message to Durant. Jeremy lin with his one good arm was sharing the double-teaming of Durant for those five minutes, and Durant was shown just how tough Jeremy was. Therefore, I fully expect Coach McHale to put Jeremy Lin gaurding Durant in this fourth game tonight. The idea is to attack the opponent's strongest point. We will win the fourth game in this first round series.
Jeremy Lin is going to make millions of dollars a year depending wherever he plays right? He has a endorsement deal with Nike and Volvo. Financially he'll be fine wherever he plays. Everything else is just proof of God's provision and abundance.
Completely agree jlinfan. Last year jeremy was a lock to resign with knicks and we all know how it ended. I think the rockets don't want two playmakers so they're gonna trade him before it's too late. They already have brooks and beverly....
God knows what will happen, we're just here to support, no matter what
Please stop considering it from the angle of "a great destination for Lin" and start looking at it from "a good trade deal for the Rockets." Does trading Lin for Hayward make the Rockets a better team? No. Can the Rockets get a better PF than Hayward in free agency and still keep Lin? Yes.
Add those together: trading Lin makes the Rockets worse. Keeping him makes them better. Result? Lin stays.
Why shouldn't Phil "stop considering" Lin being traded to a "great destination", Unknown?
This is a Lin fanboard. Fanboys like you, me, and Phil can talk whatever junk we please.
Actually, I can easily imagine Houston valuing any Jazz player over Jeremy Lin. Daryl Morey doesn't think much of Lin's game, no matter how dominant Lin looks statistically.
In the NBA, trading Lin will be about PERCEIVED improvement of the Rockets and not ACTUAL improvement.
KHuang, you know perfectly well that I wasn't attempting to intimidate Phil. I was just letting him know that if the Rockets do trade Lin, the best destination for Lin will be the last thing on their minds. Instead, it will be done in order to make the Rockets as good a team as possible. And the Rockets certainly aren't going to help a team that they are going to have to battle for the playoffs during the season and in the playoffs in the postseason if they can possibly help it. Instead, they would do their level best to ship Lin back to the eastern conference where they would only have to play him 2 games a year unless they go to the NBA Finals. Also - and this is key - Lin has no leverage to force a trade to a desirable destination. He may have some leverage after 2013-2014 but he has zero leverage now.
Not trying to intimate anyone or be a forum boss or anything like that. Just letting people know that they should keep in mind how the NBA works. Just like I stated 365 days ago that Lin still wasn't going to get his own team if he left the Knicks because the NBA is a seniority-driven league that doesn't place franchises in the hands of guys with 27 meaningful appearances in their entire careers, I state that the Rockets will have their own best interests in mind if they trade Lin, and not Lin's ideal situation. If anything, the Rockets would be motivated to put him in the worst possible situation so that folks wouldn't criticize them for trading him away.
And yes, I will keep pointing this out: the Rockets have no need to trade Lin. Teams trade only when a player that they want isn't available in free agency, or when their salary cap situation precludes it and they have to dump some salary in order to add some. Neither applies to the Rockets. They have enough cap space to sign 2, possibly 3 quality players, and now that they have made the playoffs and obviously have a bright future they won't have to give up what they did for Harden last year just to add another player. So, they don't have to give away players to improve the team when they can have the same result for free, and they especially don't have to try to make it through next season with Patrick Beverly as their starting PG with no one to back him up.
Where Lin goes, good things start to happen. Who would think that the rockets were blessed with so many young talents: GSmith, TJones, Anderson, Parson, Asik, Beverly, TRob and tough veterans like Delfino (yes the Delfino some of the Rox fans hated) and Garcia (the game 3 showed the world that he is worth every dime of his contract). Just McHale treated them like shit and just showcasing Harden for the whole season. I have no admiration for any players playing no defense. That makes a basketball player incomplete. Harden should be the SF for life in the Rox. What a horrible PG which led the team in TOs. TRob got no playtime at all in the playoff. He would probably be traded in the off-season. The Rox traded PPat and TD for him and yet didn't even let him play in the D-league benching him in the playoff. Young players need playtime to improve their games.
I think JLin will probably stay on the Rockets for at least another year, unless they don't have enough cap room to trade for a max contract player. After next year, they will probably trade him if they are not satisfied with his performance or if JLin makes it clear to them that he won't extend his contract with them after the third year.
I'm sure JLin will work hard this summer to improve his overall game. I think JLin's role and minutes on the court will be managed better next season, even if McHale remains as head coach. McHale will be forced to run some offensive sets since his "the team is too young" excuse will no longer fly.
On the other hand, if somehow the Rockets do trade JLin in the offseason, that would be nice too ^_^
No intimidation here. I use my real name and face because I gush with pride about this wonderful young man Jeremy Lin. I trust his instincts and judgement in these matters far more than my own.
Oh unknown, I KNEW you weren't trying to troll Phil who you respect.
You're one of our biggest Lin fans on this forum, and I'm your FRIEND. We love to argue passionately while respecting each other!
The only thing that I'll add is that Lin will make the best of any situation he gets in the NBA. So I'm not worried at all about where he ends up, even if it's with Keith Smart and Sacramento.
While I personally would prefer Lin to remain in Houston provided that Houston simply acknowledge their fatal mistake that he's not being a selfish ballhog, I am all too aware that Lin has worn out his "Asian American welcome".
Here's how it is. If you're an Asian American male in entertainment, you get your fun in the sun for one season of performances. After that, you're pretty much ejected no matter how well you performed or how much money you brought in. This is the dynamic that plagues all Asian American male entertainers, and nobody has been exempt.
Fortunately, Lin becomes easier to trade as his contract wears on. His contract is short, and even the poison pill is just for one year. After next year, Lin becomes major trade bait because of his expiring contract.
If Houston has had its fill of Lin, I'd like him to go to some downtrodden franchise like Orlando or Charlotte or Phoenix where the team hasn't won in years. I'll bet Lin can take a 20 win team like Orlando and ram them into the playoffs as a 40-50 win team, just like he did with Houston's minimum wage roster because of his team leadership.
I regard Lin as an NBA journeyman, not in terms of his game but in terms of the way franchises utilize and then discard him because he's Asian. Still, Lin is such a GREAT PLAYER that he succeeds no matter where he goes. Not many All Stars can do that.
Hmmm ... teams don't just dump good players for no reason. There is no reason to trade Jeremy Lin. They regard Lin as a good PG at the very minimum. They also have a ton of cap space. They can sign a better player without having to give up their starting PG than they could get for trading him. Trade Lin and you get a PG who is making $25 million. But you can sign an almost all star caliber PF and keep Lin. Trading your PG for a below average PF hurts your team. Keeping your PG and signing an above average PF helps it.
Whether staying in Houston is in Jeremy Lin's interests is one thing. Dealing him isn't in the Rockets' interest and that is why a Rocket he will remain. The Rockets don't even have a 1st round pick to try to replace Lin in the draft. And the Rockets also don't consider Beverly a starting NBA PG, just a backup. Even if they did, they know that they are better off having both Beverly and Lin, two starting caliber PGs, than trading Lin for a scrub PF.
"They regard Lin as a good PG at the very minimum."
"And the Rockets also don't consider Beverly a starting NBA PG, just a backup. "
That is not what it shows on and off the court from McHale/Morey.
"There is no drop off in offense between Beverly and Lin."
It all comes down to money. Why pay Lin 8 mil when they can use Beverly for doing the same thing. I am sure Morey will come up with a way to get a better player in return for Lin. May be that player will be used as a Trade Chip down the road. Morey is a smart guy, he is from MIT. It is Les he needs to convince, period.
Well if the Rockets are stupid (or something else) then all bets are off.
@bto:
"There is no drop off in offense between Beverly and Lin." Coaches and gms have been known to not be totally honest with the media you know.
"Why pay Lin 8 mil when they can use Beverly for doing the same thing."
I agree. The problem is that Beverly isn't capable of doing the same thing as Lin. Beverly isn't anywhere near as good as Lin. Everyone knows it, even those who refuse to admit it.
"I am sure Morey will come up with a way to get a better player in return for Lin."
Because of the salary thing, I am not so sure. The Rockets don't even have a #1 pick to throw in to get past the salary equalization deal.
Besides, if they trade Lin for a PF, who is the backup PG? The only thing that makes sense is dealing Lin straight up for another starting caliber PG, and starting PGs don't grow on trees. If they did, the Knicks wouldn't be paying Raymond Felton $10 million a year.
The question is do people really think is Lin is better than bev? I mean its ridiculous they judge him by a sample size of two and then refuses to believe what Lin did during Linsanity.
The league ( fans) are all about what have u done for me lately.
But I agree. Unlike the fans, the front office will not make knee jerk reactions. I am sure they wanna see how Lin fits into this offense next year before shipping him out.
Unfortunately, the facts are that the Rox management does everything possible to make Lin look like a loser, even on their own media outlets. It is obvious that you are a rockets fan who appreciates Lin and believe he can do so much more for the team, but looking hard at the facts will make you understand all of the LOFs on this site. If you ran the Rox and made the media print our favorable remarks on Lin instead of trashing him at every oppertunity, the all of us LOFs wouldn't be hoping for a trade. We don't ask too much, just an acknowledgement of his impact on the way the Rox have performed as a unit because of lin's unselfish play. Once in a while overlook his bad games and look at how well he has adjusted and continues to improve. Lin is a first year starter PG, almost a rookie and yet the team expected him to perform above Steve Nash who has struggled mightily as an off ball shooting guard.
I came back to the game because of Lin because like him I was a starter PG in highschool who got frozen out by my teammates. I quit the game and never look back until some 38 years later. There are a lot of fans following Lin all over the world because he is Asian, just like a lot of African Americans began following tiger woods because he was black. A lot of Asians follow tiger as well because he is half Thai so his popularity extends beyond his sport. There is a lot of jealousy in the golf world for tiger because of his multi racial fan base. Lin is suffering some of that backlash of jealousy for his ethnicity. It's human nature to root for your own kind especially one who is a pioneer. This jealousy has create a lot of venom in the media to only look at Lin a certain negative way. The Rox as an organization needs to challenge these perceptions instead of perpetuating it. It begins with the GM and the coach but both of them want Lin to fail because they want Les to see that they were right in the first place to cut Lin.
Geez, only Les knows what he intends to do with Jeremy this offseason. Les, as a vineyard owner and an ex-trader, Les would most likely has a long term plan for Jeremy, imho.
BTW, people keep saying Morey is smart bcuz he's MIT grad. Just to clarify, Morey did his MBA at MIT SLOAN. He doesn't have a college degree from MIT. MIT MBA is different from MIT undergrad degree.
Yes, I always think that there is a hidden agenda against Lin. They have played him on his weakness the whole year until Harden was out and Lin showed his talents and poise against the Clippers and the Magic. In the game of Clippers, the Clippers designed play against his passing specifically. Yet, Lin has found a way to help the Rox win. These two games w/o Harden (1 w/o Parsons) has to be classic showing Lin is a legit PG of the NBA. Also in TPGR, Jeremy is the ninth in the league in only his 2nd year. Lin is always underrated but he deserves every dime he earns from the Rox. Whenever Harden is out, Lin stepped up and led the Rox to great performance. The Rox fans by and large do not appreciate what Lin has done for such a team. The Rox did not provide the support to let Linsanity flourish in comparison to the Knicks. In the playoff, the refs were not making the calls. DHoward was so pissed off the other day. They were just street fighting and brusing each other. I advise Lin to take precaution going into game 4. The Thunders made so many fouls and got away with it. The Thunders is not a championship team. It will hurt them next year building up a rivalry with the Rox. WBrooks is so overrated. At the end, the refs screwed up the games.
@janelin7, thank you for the clarification. I didn't realize it was just a MIT SLOAN program. I gave Morey too much credits.
@Bob_C, you words are wise. I can't say it any better.
@unknown, I understand "Coaches and gms have been known to not be totally honest with the media you know.: But why make the statement at all unless there are some underlining motives. They only need a PG that complement Harden not another ball dominant PG. Lin is better has nothing to do with that. They can save the $ for other stars. I don't think Raymond Felton makes 10$ mil a year, may be 10$ mil for 3 years.
U guys are crazy. Do I know how hard it is to get into Sloan? They are one of the premier business schools in the world.
So would you knock a Harvard medical grad if he didn't go to Harvard undergrad? Absolutely ridiculous. Such an Asian things to being education into this.
Morey has fault as anyone else. But he isn't stupid. But his educational pedigree is nothing to discredit.
Getting into Sloan is hard but getting into MIT is even much harder. They are simply on different level altogether. Whereas admission to Harvard, either postgrad or undergrad is equally difficult.
I didn't say Morey is stupid. I was trying to point out the misconception that MIT Sloan is the same as MIT-- a research university that offers one of the most rigorous curriculum, excellent research, and outstanding faculties.
I echo unknown's sentiments. Lin is NOT moving this summer unless the Rox sign CP3, which is as improbable as signing D12 after the tweet he sent out last night.
But Lin will be traded if he doesn't improve next year . So face it, one more year here in Rox land.
If Lin continue to struggle without the ball in hand, then he's gone.
If Lin gets to stay, that means Lin has improved significantly enough for the Rox to keep him for their future ( provided Lin wants to stay in this craphole).
In either case, it's a win win situation for Lin fans. Just one more year, guys. One more.
The Rockets have brought in point guard after point guard to replace Lin, though it just hasn't worked out unless Lin is on the court PROTECTING that point guard.
Based on how the Rockets have treated Lin, I expect them to trade Lin off the team and acquire a veteran point guard who'll produce less and win less than Lin would.
I can't see Lin lasting more than two seasons with any single NBA team, no matter how well he plays.
Lin will improve next year. Actually, Lin improved THIS YEAR. He just hasn't gotten credit for it from the media, fans, and at times his coaches.
Lin's main problem this year was playing poorly in training camp and early in the season due to injury. By the time he got healthy, riding Harden offensively had been established as a winning strategy and there was no pressing reason to deviate from it. A lot of people forget that the NBA is not like the NFL. There are so many games that there really isn't that much of an opportunity to do major changes to strategy unless lineup changes due to injuries or trades force it. And the fact that the Rockets were a very young team with a huge roster overhaul, practically their entire starting lineup was new, and it was just a tough spot for everyone to be in.
If next season Lin comes in to training camp and preseason burning stuff up like he did last year, McHale will respond by expanding Lin's role. McHale has no problem with ball dominant guards. Expect Lin to average 17 points and 7 assists next year even if they don't get a better PF, and to be even better if they do. Also expect McHale to tell Harden "all right, last year was fun, but this isn't how I won all those titles with the Celtics ... if Larry Bird passed the ball, so can you" too.
Sorry guys, McHale doesn't believe that Lin is as good as we know that Lin is yet. But next season, a healthy Lin with a full season under his belt will make him a believer.
Come on man. They didn't bring in point guard after point guard to replace Lin. They brought in Toney Douglas to be Lin's backup, and then when they saw that he stunk, they replaced him with Patrick Beverly, who is a much better player (though you and I disagree on that) than Douglas. And honestly, even Beverly isn't enough ... a team generally carries 3 guys who can conceivably play PG if they have to, even if one of them is technically a SG or SF. For most of the season, the team had absolutely nothing at PG other than Lin, and that is why they kept bringing guys in.
McHale has a history of making very BAD decisions at the guard position, none worse than the Marko Jaric for Sam Cassell and a #1 pick from the Wolves to the Clippers.
And Morey? Having watched him closely for a full season, I have to graciously conclude that he's clueless - and I'm being KIND. That is a GM who has low regard for Lin and doesn't know a thing about basketball. He's so horribly overrated, it's frightening.
I agree 100% about Lin's improvement. I'm not convinced McHale and Morey will acknowledge it, though.
You missed Aaron Brooks and Shaun Livingston, Unknown.
Last summer, McHale wanted Shaun Livingston to be on the team. While Livingston is a good reserve in the NBA, he has done little in the NBA as compared to Jeremy Lin. I'm convinced that McHale would've started Livingston too over Lin if McHale could've done so without incurring Les Alexander's wrath.
I personally believe that Beverley and Brooks were brought in to send Jeremy Lin to the bench, but neither player had enough game to beat out Lin for the job. Beverley sure got his chances too.
McHale and Morey have to be careful in handling Les Alexander's handpicked guy in Lin. That doesn't mask their disdain for his game and their overvaluing of anybody not wearing a Lin jersey.
"I personally believe that Beverley and Brooks were brought in to send Jeremy Lin to the bench, but neither player had enough game to beat out Lin for the job. Beverley sure got his chances too."
I personally believe that Beverly and Brooks were brought in to be good backup PGs, which the Rockets didn't have until Beverly, and even now they could still use another guy. Unless you believe that it is customary or wise for NBA teams to carry 1 PG on their roster, I have no reason to adopt an alternative interpretation of events.
Yeah, I bet McFail was angry that Morey traded away Toney Douglas, who was already playing more 4th quarter minutes over Jeremy. McFail thinks everyone is better player ... because he thinks so.
I would like to share a great article from BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) recent study on Joseph's life in the book of Genesis (the first book of Bible), which reminds me much of Jeremy Lin's recent struggles. Lin is a great role model to kids and adults in faith and character. Blessings ___________
Joseph's attitude of faith is the secret of his triumph over adversity
Joseph pleaded desperately not to be left alone to die in the pit or to be sold off as a slave into a far country (Genesis 42:21). Yet, after the first moment of anguish, he uttered no word of retaliation or reproach toward God. His complete absence of bitterness under such an extreme provocation and his silence in the midst of such unjust treatment is astounding (Genesis 37 and 39). The secret to such a deliverance from resentment or self- pity is Joseph's absolute trust in God. Even when he could not understand the reasons for all the happened to him, Joseph put his faith in the Lord. This trust and deep awareness of God's presence with him in all his trials is reiterated throughout his life.
Joseph's words "How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:9) further indicate Joseph's constant awareness of the Lord's presence that became his secret of complete victory in every kind of trial. This complete absence of rancor or cynicism is the proof of true faith in God. Somehow, throughout all this disaster and in a seemingly hopeless situation , Joseph believed God's promise. Therefore, "for the joy set before him," Joseph endured, "because he saw Him who is invisible."
Joseph expressed his faith in positive action. He chose not to waste his emotional energy in feeling sorry for himself. With courage, he met the adverse circumstances over which he had no control. He submitted his present situation to his faith in God.
Comparing Jeremy Lin, who has started 85 games this season for an NBA playoff team and gotten millions of dollars in salary and endorsements for his trouble, to Joseph, who was a slave and then imprisoned for 20 years, just doesn't work. Look, I am not Asian and I have no idea what it is like to be one in this society. But I do know the NBA enough to say that not being given your own team and placed in a role that maximizes your personal ability isn't exactly slavery or imprisonment.
Take Kevin McHale's own Celtics team. Robert Parrish, the starting center for that team, had the ability to be one of the best centers of his generation. He had as much offensive ability as any big man in the game at that time. But the Celtics had Bird and McHale, so they didn't need Parrish's low post offense. So, he was relegated to a secondary role supporting the team's stars. (Not just Parrish ... the guards on those Celtics teams had more potential than the Celtics system allowed them to show too.) So a guy who would have been as big a personality as, say, Patrick Ewing or at least Brad Daugherty if he had his own team was known as a third wheel. And Parrish had to spend his whole career stuck in that situation (because professional sports didn't have the free agency system that athletes currently enjoy). Meanwhile, Lin is 24 and has his whole career in front of him. He can either leave after the 2014-2015 season, or force a trade after the 2013-2014 season by threatening not to re-sign.
There are 30 teams in the NBA. Which means that only 30 guys on the planet get to be the central focus of their own NBA roster. Expecting Lin to be one of those 30 guys after starting a grand total of 27 career NBA games was unreasonable to begin with. I tried to tell that to this very site last year when getting Lin away from Melo and the Knicks so that he could have his own team was such a high priority. In an NBA where lots of people want to be the team centerpiece and lots of guys have a ton of regular season and playoff experience, that just wasn't going to happen at this point in Lin's career.
"Hey, you had 27 great - actually 12 great and 15 good - games, so we are going to give you your own team and let you be the main guy to carry us to victory." Sorry, that isn't how it works. In the NBA, you start at the bottom - or at least at the middle - and work your way up. Lin is a starting NBA pg - started every game this season - so he has a much better chance of doing that than most NBA players.
Lin is one of 150 starting players in the NBA, and yes plenty of guys who are on the bench for some teams are more than good enough to start for several others. Folks should try not to lose sight of that.
I don't think most JLin fans expect JLin to be the "centerpiece" of any team at this point of his career, but expect him to be played to his strengths, which is being the PG and running the offense, and that's not asking too much.
The problem with the Rockets is that their "centerpiece" Harden is more like a PG in their current offense. So the question is, how many teams are there in the NBA that has their "centerpiece" that runs the offense and needs the ball in his hands? Those are the teams that JLin should avoid for his next contract.
Via, I think you were playing a bit revisionist history here.
The Rockets never offered Lin to be the centerpiece. You can read back the old articles, especially one SF paper interview with direct Lin quotes. I remember even Lin himself said the Rockets didn't even promise him a guaranteed starting job to him.
Most of the "leader" talk was just media talk and fan speculation. Even in preseason games when Harden was yet to come, Kevin Martin was more of a focal point than Lin. No Rockets people ever declared Lin by using any of words like centerpiece, franchise player or star player. In fact, both Morey and McHale even said many times that they just wanted Lin to be a starting PG and never expected Linsanity.
That was unlike Harden who Morey and McHale openly declared as the 1st all star caliber player and franchise cornerstone at the very moment they acquired him.
Also, no team in their right mind would make the 8 million, former undrafted player as their centerpiece and make the max contract, former number 3 pick, Olympics medalist, a nba finals player as a supporting player.
McHale decided to change things for good reasons, not no reasons. Whether Harden lived up to that expectation is up to debate but the Rockets are gonna live or die by Harden because they have already paid a max contract and fully committed to him.
Sesshie, did you seriously ask that question? Every "centerpiece" player needs the ball in his hands to make plays or they are not real star players at all. If Lin avoids teams like that as you said, he could not play in the nba.
HY, someone had to be in the middle, you know. Like I said it's more like the media and marketing people saw Lin as the "centerpiece" of a no star team before Harden because he would be the biggest name and most marketable player on that team then. But did you ever see Morey and McHale gush over Lin like they did for Harden? They just repeatedly said he's a young PG who is still learning, that's hardly making him a "centerpiece" on the court.
SC, it's a very good parallel of Lin and Joseph in the Bible in the attitude to deal with adversity by not choosing to dwell too long in the adversity but moving toward the end of the tunnel of God's plan for him.
About the centerpiece of a team, Lin was the only option before Harden came so by de facto, he'll be the key player with high usage rate.
But it's not the same with being the "franchise" player which carries the assumption of a proven player who can carry the team through many playoff experience and Olympic experience, of which Harden possessed.
I have no problem with Lin not being ready to be the "franchise" player due to lack of experience but he was going to be the key player of a young team. In hindsight, Harden's presence helped to alleviate pressure from Lin while he recuperated from injuries. So it's all good for me.
No one was saying the Rox regard him OVER Harden. Harden wasn't even a factor during his signing.
Morey DID call him a leader of the Rox during JLin's presscon in HOU in July. He was the Face of the Franchise, from Rox's own media. [Yes, people expected him to be the centerpiece at signing. The press did, his fans did, I'm sure JLin's camp did too, considering the situation of the Rox at his signing. Wouldn't it be just a little bit disingenuous to not think this? Or not make an adjustment in expectations AFTER Harden was traded?]
It's also true that Morey and McHale began talking about simply expecting JLin to be starting PG, no pressure etc weeks into the season, with Harden already poised to take centerstage.
AND AGAIN, JLIN AND HARDEN PLAYED BEAUTIFULLY FOR THE FIRST 2 PRE-SEASON GAMES, UNTIL MCHALE CHANGED THINGS, FOR THE WORST. WHAT'S MORE, MCHALE CHOSE TO PERSIST IN HIS HAPHAZARD PLAYS EVEN WHEN HE HAS THOSE GAMES AS SUCCESSFUL TEMPLATE OF WHAT THE BACK-COURT COULD BE.
So I agree, it was not for nothing that McHale made the changes. We might disagree on what the REAL REASONS might be, though.
I don't know what your problem is, Via but you are kind of being paranoia here.
The Rockets of course were marketing Lin because at that time he's their biggest offseason signing name wise. But the matter of fact is that no one in Houston including Lin himself declare Lin as a franchise level player. Saying he's the face of the franchise back then is like saying Kemba Walker is the face of the Bobcats franchise, it doesn't really matter much.
Also, if the Rockets did want to make their centerpiece, they would have built around Lin and got players that fit with him and not traded for Harden, a player whose skillsets overlap with Lin's.
And Lin and Harden never played any preseason games together because Harden was traded after training camp. But I know which two games your refered to, those were the 1st two regular season games.
As for the change after those 2 games, it's clear that Harden is a playmaker type of player and the Rockets were poised to make him their franchise player and revolve everything around him and make sure he's played in a way he's most comfortable. And no one could blame them because they paid the most money for Harden.
In the most simplistic summary of what happened this season, the Rockets decided to give Harden Lin's role being the main PG because Harden was more established with more playoff experience, Olympic experience, more consistent shooter, etc.
Which was fine because Rox wanted to test how far Harden can bring them to the promised land as the main PG. He's shown his limitations for sure with less efficiency and injuries, less clutch FTs.
I wished they would have adjusted more by giving Lin more PG role when Lin showed he can play well but they didn't because Lin's shooting can also be inconsistent.
So what's important is Lin knows what needs to do in the offseason to be even more dangerous in his current 2nd or 3rd scoring role to score consistently with floaters, deadly 3PT shooting.
Only through shooting/scoring consistency that Lin can have bigger role in Houston because the lack of big man/finisher took away his strength to play PnR.
Only those with consistent 3PT shooting will get major role in Houston because the big men are very limited at this point.
Hopefully DHoward or other big men in Houston will leverage Lin's strength more next season.
@Cara~ My bad, I forgot Harden was traded at the end of Oct. :)
Lol, we're talking about @Unknown's exhortations about fans having over-expectations: Linsanity + the Rox being constituted the way it was at JLin's signing -> Not only were the fans armed with such expectations, most everyone in the press did. Again, I bet JLin's camp did too [despite JLin's demurring.] It's not such a wild thought, having had Linsanity.
As for McHale, he could have done better [if he was a better coach...or something else.] He didn't have to unnecessarily render one part of the backcourt ineffective in order for Harden to shine. A better coach wouldn't make it an either/ or situation for JLin and Harden. [McHale's either simply incompetent, or some other things.]
People want to see Jeremy Lin play basketball as a mortal with his strengths and weaknesses not some kind of divine wonder who must rely on a Skydaddy based on a book that is deemed an archaic fairy tale some 2000 years ago.
People want to see what Jeremy Lin could do on his own. Chinese Christians have a self deluded image unaware that most people deemed them not very smart no matter how well educated they are.
Jeremy Lin has got it made. $25 million contract for 4 years and even if he doesn't play after the contract expires, he's set for life. I believe there are many better basketball players who got it worse than Jeremy and it's only the puerile Chinese Christian cry babies who would deem Jeremy a victim of racism against Asians.
Nah Tigerous, I'm not Chinese Christian and I can easily see the racism against Lin.
Frankly, the horrible refereeing against Lin bothers me far more than the coaching situation which I'm actually OK with on the whole.
At the point guard position, I don't know of any NBA players who have it worse than Lin and are better than him. In terms of usage, Jeremy at about 50th lags behind all starting point guards and almost every single RESERVE. And still Lin has posted impressive raw statistics based on those low touches. AMAZING!
What's religion got to do with it..? I'm an atheist btw [who enjoys cultural xtianity], as are many asians here.
And it's $25 mil for 3 yrs. :)
And JLin is certainly financially well-compensated, and for people for whom money compensates for everything, of course this is the ultimate good. JLin might have different goals, though, and would probably want more out of his career.
You're probably right, there are probably other bball players who have it worse than JLin. However, their existence does not and should not negate whatever unfair hardships JLin's been put through. [Why should people cower from demanding fair treatment? And JLin worked hard for his money, it was not a hand-out. He need not be grateful as if it was.]
The word that Morey used was "foundational piece". Cara as per usual, u r attacking people with absolutely no basis for your claims.
He wasn't guaranteed to be the center piece, but was definitely promised more than just tje task of a role player. Notice how that description is no longer used by Morey to describe Lin,
The Rox lied to Lin and Lin's fans, just like how jets lied to Tebow before he signed there. It's nothing new. It's all a business. But to say, Lin was promise nothing more than a roster spot is as ridiculous as your angst.
Note that I said JLin's next contract. Find a team without a player that's like Harden who's both the centerpiece (aka the top dog) and ball-dominant like a traditional PG. You implied that no such team exist in the NBA. We shall see...
ditto! i think rockets far exceeded expectations and lin deserves a lot of credit for that. Whether Rockets win or lose- I just hope Lin has a good game, stays healthy and has something to build towards this offseason.
Also, it's only been a year since Linsanity and Jeremy has played at the bare minimum OK. He hasn't been fantastic but to give up on him after only a year is fool hardy. Lots of players in lots of sports have break out seasons and then struggle or completely fall off the map in the following one. The mark of a great player is their ability to bounce back from that, return and surpass what they showed during their breakout. If the Houston Rockets give up on Jeremy I hope another decent team picks him up because he's still simmering and waiting to heat up.
I hope JLin doesn't play and avoid further injury, especially from cheapshots like what KD did in the last game. The Rockets are 3-0 and there's no chance of coming back to win the series. The most they could do is probably win one game or two at the most. This season is over. JLin should just focus on recovering and get stronger for the next season.
True, it would take a little miracle to have Jeremy play well off the bench.
But I won't be surprised if it happens. That's usually God's modus operandi to pull out a miracle to help when it's clear that someone can't do it on his own strength :)
Garcia should start to blanket Durant because he did a great job on Durant in the last game.
Everybody, calm down please. As much as I don't like the Rockets like most of you here, Lin changing teams every year is not the answer. When did you ever see a star player change team every year? No, they people call this type of player "journeyman", not a good meaning either. Lin needs a stable environment to develop his skills and get accustomed to his team. I am sure he doesn't want to change homes every year as well. The Rockets might entertain offers for Lin but I doubt there will be many good offers out there considering the overall preception of Lin around the league. And no Lin will never demand a trade even if he's not satisfied with his role.
I agree changing team every year is not good for young players. I don't think that is what Lin wants also. But if you are stuck in a bad relationship(getting abused emotionally), sometimes you just have to change to find the right one(the one that nurture a young player to max his abilities/talents). I think if people see how Lin can help a non-playoff team to become a playoff team the first year he joins the team, there is value to that notion. I don't think Lin worries about the $ he gets with his contract(heck, I think he would have taken 3$ mil a year to play in NY before asking to test the market, that is even cheaper than Felton). But he sure wants to play his style of basketball with the support of the coach and organization.
As I mentioned yesterday, most of the fans are casual fans, they only look at how many points a player can produce. I don't feel Rox fans really appreciate/embrace Lin as much as last year's NY fans, and people have short memory, they may have forgotten what Lin did in 38-point game against Spurs, 29-point game against OKC, being "THE" PG in Magic/LAC games. They only remember the players' recent performance, especially if they don't watch or follow the games until recently/playoff.
Instead, Rox fans seem to have quickly embraced PB (why? idk, is it bcos they subconsciously are glad that RW was hurt bcos of PB? or something else?). Anyway, the following is what I heard in the team shop, "Wow, PB's jerseys were sold out".
Fans are vain and easily caught by the moment. Bev performed quite well and I'm happy for him but he hasn't helped the Rockets win 1 playoff game so the Rockets knew they need Lin to win.
I feel bad for you for going to HOU but Lin got injured and can't play well. Keep the faith :)
Rox fans will never embrace Lin like the NYK fans because Linsanity happened in NY. I doubt most of them saw beyond the highlights and probably listened to all the people say he is just a fluke. Like the nyk bloggers pointed out, when something like this happens to another team, u want that player to fail and find ways to criticize his game. ( source: well always have Linsanity). This is the environment Lin came into and it didn't help that Morey and McHale instituted a system that goes away from his strengths.
I know people hate the comparisons, but Tebow was in a similar situation. The jets brought him with empty promises, but never placed him in a position to succeed. It's borderline criminal what they did to him. He has become an after thought as well as Lin. The difference between Lin and Tebow is that Lin can play as a starting pg.
Sorry HY that u won't get to see Lin tonight. I hope your trip otherwise was fun. But this entire season, I felt like it was a risk to go see play because u never know if he will play long. Hope at least it's a fun game to watch.
This is a special trip for me - get to witness JL's very first playoff, said hi to JL's parents (come to think of it, I should have shown them my poster of "Hi from jeremylin.net" to let them the best wishes coming from this forum).
This is still a great season for JL and all of us fans, I am so glad and grateful for the admins and all contributors of this site, I've learned a lot, though I did invested too much emotionally, I need to learn from you guys how not to be affected by any win or loss (especially loss, of course).
Brent: not sure if I will do it again next year, especially if next season the same old story happens again - I.e. JL not THE PG more, bad sub, bad game plan, no trust/respect from coaches/teammates, e.t.c.
Hy, you are truly a Linatics ! Love your passion and keep the faith. How cool for Jlin parents to greet and spend time talking to you... It shows how down to earth they are as people and is reflected in their sons ie humble and no pretention.
Jeremy, It's your turn tonight. You better take a big dosage of paint Killer before the game. Please don't follow any game plan that McFail give to you. Just do your thing. Just once in a life time won't kill you. The victory will shut him up. The Linsanity 2.0 miracle trip will start tonight. Right here, right now.
I expect the Rockets to give Harden-Lin another try in the 2nd year with more offseason practices and experience playing together before they give up on Lin being the second PG behind Harden.
If anything, the Harden/Lin/Parsons had been a pleasant surprise this year to get 45 wins when only 22-28 wins were expected. And this was with PPat, TD got traded mid-season. So it's too soon for the Rockets to give up on Lin when he was one of main contributors to get 45 wins.
But it's also good to be realistic that the Rockets might see Lin's role as secondary PG behind Harden not working out and look into the trade possibility before the trade deadline, especially if it lands them the All-Star big man that they covet.
Also if Lin's marketing power is not in play, Les would be more okay with trade possibility.
So I see it as a win-win scenario.
1. If Lin stays, he'll get better and be more dangerous after learning how to play off Harden. We can see how his stats got better in monthly basis during the season. That was impressive to improve when he's not the main ball-handler.
2. If Lin got traded, he might be the main focus on opposing defenses but he'll flourish the true PG to leverage his strength.
So I see no causes to worry or fret for Lin. Ignore the clueless haters in twitter world and Rockets forum.
He's just like the US financial companies and auto industry during the bailout period in 1998 financial crisis. "He's already too big to fail".
The difference is Lin has worldwide impact and teams now know Lin is the real deal. Anyone who can attack the basket and get FTs have a place in the NBA.
Yup, the future is bright for JLin. We just have to be patient and wait for it to arrive. Linsanity was not a fluke, but just a preview for things to come.
Yeah, other teams already saw the evidence that JLin is not a flash in the pan by playing full 82 games, got several big games (Spurs, Knicks) behind the shadows of Harden and most importantly shows he's a constant threat to attack the basket despite any game plans teams designed around him
Also the Rockets couldn't pull out a close win in the past 2 games despite the great comeback. So people can argue that the Rockets couldn't win a close game without a healthy Lin.
Rockets could have a 2-1 lead if a healthy Lin played in the last 2 games!
Well, people are actually arguing that the Rockets couldn't come back at all with Lin on the court, which is absolutely ridiculous. But anyway, his future is bright indeed. Love to see how summer training will improves him.
Brent, we know those people were revisionist history because Lin played well in the 1st half of Game 2 before he got injured. So we can safely ignore the haters :)
There was no reason to conclude he won't be part of the comeback by being triple-threat to attack the basket with Harden and Bev.
Yeah, Lin will continue to improve and got better as Doc outlined the next phase would be. Floaters and "Crouching Tiger" shooter's stance as part of the new arsenal!
Brent Yen, a lot of players became net negative when limited by injury, not just Lin. I can't see Lin could help any team when he couldn't even drive. Don't be so sensitive.
Quite a sad season. It's obvious that McHale doesn't believe in Lin whatsoever. But I don't see Les moving Lin either, due to economics (Asia market). So pretty much Lin is stuck in Houston for 2 more years.
Beverley,Harden,Garcia,Parson,Asik? What a terrible small,turnoverprone and selfish Lineup... is McHell even dumber than i thought???Well i dont really give a fuck anymore.Just hope Lin gets some playing time and if not, well so be it. Get the F*** out of Houston anyway. If not for McHell then for Mr.Turnover ugly Face. Guess who that is
If the nba was smart, they should take this opportunity to ensure Lin succeeds. Asian hero worship is like no other. Now this doesn't mean giving him unfair advantage but at least have the refs protect him. The way they don't call fouls on Lin is criminal. If anyone deserves superstar treatment, it would be Lin. Stern a d silver are freaking morons!
NBA is stupid to not "Ride Lin like the Secretariat" like D'Antoni did.
Really stupid. I like how even Stern has admitted there was prejudice against Lin.
From a business standpoint I'd make sure Lin has all he needs to succeed, the mistreatment and injuries Lin is suffering impacts viewership. I don't even feel the urge to tune in to watch Lin because I know he'll be unfairly treated by coaching or other players or racist refs, and especially if I know he'll not be playing.
NBA is about to botch this opportunity for sure. Les is an idiot owner to not capitalize on this and just order his coaches to not be asses and treat Lin the way he deserves. But alas what can you do with this coach and this retarded system?
It can be seen as a battle between a young upstart against a HOFer...
Harden has reached his limit in minutes and outcome. Jeremy is on the way up. The team accommodates Harden at the expense of others and disrupt any emergence of teamwork. This style of coaching served to hurt Harden most. In the games that Harden wasn't playing, the assertive PG had dominated the team and show flashes of leadership to close games and even wins. What The Rox needs is a seasoned coach who could stand up to Morey in decision making regarding the team. The rest will take care of itself. Gracia have shown his money's worth and yet he had been paid to sit on the bench a lot. The choice of making the team predictable made the team vulnerable and hurt Lin the most. Playing him alongside Harden was eye-soring. Lin would learn and would improve on his game but Harden would be set on a self-destruction course in his ISO ball and playing no defense. Adding a Dwight Howard would tend to add problems to the team. What the Rox needs is a solid team rather than superstars that further alienate players working as a team. Terrible organization and horrific management.
I fucking hope Lin buries McHale and harden next year with whichever team he is in. I can't wait to see him smoke Harden off the dribble and expose harden for the garbage player that he is.
Wow, the above article shows how dysfunctional a pro sports franchise can be. I feel more sorry for Tebow than Lin. I wasn't a fan of Tebow, but the article made me his fan.
As a jets fan, I can tell u how badly the jets treated Tebow last season. They have essentially ruined his career and put a halt to everything he had going the year before.
And then they release at the most in opportune time. Truly upsetting to see.
Rex Ryan and the Jets should have been ashamed of themselves.
What has Tebow done badly for the Jets even when they went back on their word by not playing him when Sanchez struggled?
And to release him after the NFL draft so no other roster spots will be available for him? How cruel.
I hope free agents and players will despise Ryan and learn not to trust him from this Tebow treatment. If Tebow was so good in person but to be betrayed like this, what hopes are out there for other players to trust him and the Jets?
Not feeling sorry, but angry at the way he was treated.
Big difference.
Like Sanchez had a good season, they should have let Tebow loose on a couple games at least.
Jets is a classless org. Draws a lot of parallels with Rockets...And the difference is Lin can ball and has great fundamentals. In that sense Rockets is worse than Jets.
It's such a shame that the Jets would do this to a young player. They used him as a marketing ploy/attention grabber at the beginning of the season and then stashed him away. He might not be a really good player, but I don't think they ever gave him a real chance to play. Anyways, I think that organization is a mess so it's good that Tebow could escape at least.
From a player development experience, the Tebow treatment is worse than Lin's.
Not being able to play at all can definitely ruin an athlete's career. If Lin only played 15 min/game, we'd all be hopping mad because the numbers would look bad.
In hindsight, Tebow should have gone to the Jags. It's better to try to shine in a bad team in small market than not being played in a bad team in big market.
Lin might learn the lesson that it's better to shine in a team where he's the true PG for his long-term development just like Kyrie Irving than staying behind Harden's shadow in the next 5-7 years.
To be honest, the article didn't make me a Tebow fan but I am rooting for him to do well somewhere else. I was happy with Lin's play this season but was disappointed with his one game (1st game) performance during playoffs. I know everyone sucked during that game, but still . . . He seemed to be on his way to play decently during 2nd game before he was injured. That just deflated my interest in watching NBA games. My wife is happy that I am no longer watching Rockets games though.
Sacramento fans have always supported their team. When the Seattle Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City, hardly anyone in Seattle raised an eyebrow.
Houston fans would riot if their football team was relocated. They don't give a damn about basketball, and even the ones that watch the games here and there will see the game through football logic.
It freakin' makes me LOL when Rockets fans on Clutchfans want to trade Jeremy Lin for a Mario Chalmers type shooting PG. So that Harden can have the ball in his hands ALL the time and be the playmaker.
As if all the Harden turnovers and missed shots were the result of him not getting the ball enough.
Just canceled my League Pass subscription by changing active account to inactive. Saved myself $170. They didn't provide a line to explain the reason for my cancelation. If they did, I would have wrote down "Because Lin doesn't get to play a PG in Rockets, so it's no fun watching Rockets."
A dumb question. If his identical twin brother is not gay, doesn't this void an argument that being gay is based on genetics and therefore unchangeable? I ask this question because I heard many people say this. I don't know what research shows. Not trying to offend in any way, but just trying to find out.
Also, what do people think of Lin tweeting that he is for this guy coming out? It might create some controversy among Christians, but might be a courageous (or unnecessary?) stand for Lin to take.
I would love for Jeremy to show support for this courageous athlete. In some ways, both of them are being /will be subjected to the same bigotry and hostilities bc of their differences. Jeremy's support would highlight the ChrIstian ideals of love, respect, and inclusion.
I actually think it funny that this coming out is considered "courageous". In some way, he is being courageous, but in another way, he's just being who he is, and the society has changed a lot, so that I am not sure if this is being "courageous". He is what he is. At least, he can hide to others (not to yourself) being gay; you can't hide different skin colors.
A very good question if being gay is genetic, eb. As far as I know, they haven't found the gay gene yet.
What I learned so far is there are many studies on the root causes of same-sex attraction (dominant mother figure/abusive father figure, sexual abuse, etc.) based on common patterns. Here is an example of one Catholic psychologist's book on the subject.
For Christians, it's a tricky issue because God defines homosexuality as sin BUT calls Christians to love the person. So it would be the same challenge for Lin to show that he abhors discrimination/abuse/bullying for gays (i.e. Matthew Shepard's death in 98) but at the same time disagree with gay marriage.
Tolerance used to mean that you can tolerate different opinions but now it means you have to agree and accept the ideas. In a way, the US culture is not tolerant on Christianity belief in this matter.
It would be a big challenge for Lin to voice love/person for Jason Collins against any gay discrimination/abuse but at the same time disagree about gay marriage being a discrimination.
In a truly tolerant world, discussion would be welcomed and tolerated. Labeling a dissenting opinion as hate is truly intolerant.
Kauaiblue, not that I am against showing support for gay people of any color, but I personally do not like the argument or an assertion that minorities should show support for gay people because we are different colors. I personally have no problem against gay people mainly because I believe people should have freedom to pursue their own happiness as long as they do not impinge on mine, which leads me to ask: "Are KKKs against gay people also, or are they just against gay person of different colors than their own?"
I think he'll stay. But I am hoping he doesn't. What I really would like for Jeremy Lin is to be in a positive environment and an organization that wants Jlin to excel.
ReplyDeleteOr at least a team that doesn't stymie Lin.
DeleteThe WORSE thing for Jeremy Lin is if he remains a Rocket, considering the circumstances, ONLY BECAUSE Lin isn't 21 or 22 years of age (which is the typical age for someone with just 1.5 years of experience). Because of that, Lin should ask for a trade *IF* they don't trade him soon. He may get some flack for it, but it's a common request; plus everybody knows that the Rockets let him to believe he was going to be the PG (not one of, or be a 3-point specialist SG). Finally, all the pundits are aware that the Rockets "basketball minds" DIDN'T WANT Lin - after all, it was their peers from the Rockets organization that leaked the ANTI-Lin stories, and it was them who reported them.
AND, A SURE WAY TO FAIL IN ANYTHING IS TO TRY TO PLEASE EVERYBODY.
Hopefully Lin would be traded to a team whose general manager/coach doesn't have a political motive to want to see him fail. Thankfully, besides the Knicks, there are only 3 teams to avoid for that reason: Rockets, Kings, and Warriors.
Yes, get the heck out of the Rockets !!!
The Warriors are nicely set, so no worries. As for the Kings, if they change the ownership fire KSmart, then no problem.
I could see Lin being successful in Dallas, they are hurting for a real PG. Collison is not cutting it there. Utah is another team that can use a real PG. Mo Williams is really an undersized SG and is well past his prime.
DeleteClap clap clap.... I see Jeremy Lin wearing the #77 Utah jersey next season and Lin will perform doubly great.
DeleteIf so, I hope Utah drops the ill fitting and non-fearsome 'Jazz' . Now *Utah Storm* sounds fearless.
Dystopia,
DeleteDallas was one of the teams Lin's agent approached last Summer, but the owner, Cuban, politely said "We're not going in that direction".
It wasn't just because they were waiting for DWilliams to make his decision - he was likely to sign a 5 year contract with the Nets, not their 4 years, but it's because major-market basketball teams, of which Dallas is one of (Houston isn't) can afford and attract established All-Stars or at least someone on the verge. Lin hasn't had the chance to prove he's on the verge anything this season.
Zyrta, I thought it was the other way around. The mavs were ine of first of the team to call even before the Rox when FA period began, but backed out when they falsely realized that the Knicks would match anything they proposed.
DeleteWhere did u get ur info?
I believe Lin will stay with the Rocket's. I also predict that coach Mchale will have more faith in him next season. I hope that he'll be given more point guard duties next year than this year. Finally, I think Lin will be a better player next year than this year.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Jeremy's story will eventually be told as a trilogy.
ReplyDeletePart 1, will be the Linsanity movie that's currently being shown. It's about his initial struggles and how he overcomes them to become an NBA player.
Part 2, shows our protagonist's challenges as he accepts his new found fame and place. Like all sequels, it's a time for learning and often the hero will face what seems like insurmountable odds.
Part 3, will be how he redeems himself. How he comes back wiser and stronger. Where he shows to the world what he has learned in Part 2 and cements his legacy.
Haha, ok maybe I'm thinking too much, but this would definitely make for a great trilogy :)
Sounds about right. The next chapter is "BatLin: The Dark Lin Returns"
Delete2 more new posters, welcome!
DeleteYeah..... sounds good.
kind of sounds like the Star Wars trilogy (the REAL Star Wars trilogy, IV-VI).
DeleteWhat nobody is talking about is the serious withdraws we will have once the Rocket's are done for this season. Let's hope they get to the finals so our withdraw symptoms will be postponed as long as possible.
ReplyDeletesteph curry is a bona fide super star, john wall on the rise, kyrie irving superstar, jrue, ty Lawson etc. etc. come to think of it what point guard didn't improve this year?? jeremiah lin stay in Houston and finish out your career as luke f'n ridnour man. he can't even get over this -- chest injury pec strain/bruise/muscle spasm/sprain/vag tear whatever this is, NO ONE can even give it an official name -- freak of an injury and play his weak ass marginal 3/11 role.
ReplyDeleteGet out of here.
DeleteYou're not welcome here.
Ignore losers like that. Not even worth responding.
DeleteThe opening poster (OP) is obviously a troll, but much of what he said is unfortunately CORRECT (what I disagree with is regarding Lin's injury). Carmelo and Woodson fans, Lin haters, and black people in general *APPRECIATE* the way McHale and Morey have treated Jeremy Lin.
DeleteI hope the post remains here BECAUSE OP's user name should remind Lin why he should ask the Rockets to TRADE Lin if the Rockets don't do it on their own.
Yikes!.... I wish there is an edit feature once posted.
DeleteHaha! Wow, you know you're a super star when a troll is so dedicated to posting on a fan-site about you!
DeleteThere were less than 5 posts and this troll spent his entire time checking this site.
I hope one day I'm successful enough that people will follow my every move and try to badmouth me on fan-sites :)
Stop trolling, @GLENN/ Mchale neutered.
Delete[I know you're frustrated by how this season turned out. Can't you have a bit of patience and fortitude?]
@DwightHoward: I hope I get the chance to make it up to you!” Thank u la.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like D12 is staying in LA. I wonder how this off season will turn out for the Rox.
I'm pretty sure Lin is staying. No way the Rox just give up on him after 1 year. Overall he had an average year after being placed in an offensive system that exposes his weaknesses, namely 3 point ball and playing without the ball. I know a lot of Rox fans want him to be gone as well as his own fans.
For me personally, as an impatient person, I was disappointed by his season. Too many bad games to nullify the good ones. Too much frustration all around.
I think next year will be the break or make for Lin as a player. If he struggles like he did in some stretches this year and does not appreciably improve his jumper, I'm sure my enthusiasm for him will die down as well.
Yes, I am a "bad" Lin fan but I came became a fan because of his perceived basketball skills during Linsanity and not because he is a nice god loving kid.
One more season Jeremy. Time to step up your game.
I'm anxious for Rox to trade Lin soon.
DeleteYour last 3 paragraphs, that's me too.
Lin needs to be traded or ask. Then he should copy what ALL ELITE players and majority of OTHER PLAYERS do in the offseason: Train with the best people in the business. Definitely cut way down on overseas travel; even if the NBA encourages it to promote them, it will hurt Lin's team and his game personally. He is obligated to his employing team, NOT to the league.
How will trading Lin benefit the Rockets? Who will be their starting PG if they trade Lin? (Please, don't say Beverly.)
DeleteHowever, if Lin get traded, I would like to see how PB starting will do to the Rox.
DeleteI'll tell you, Brent Yen.
DeletePatrick Beverley would start for a few games.
But once the LOSING sets in, he'd go back to the bench and the Rockets would shop around for a real point guard.
From a sheer basketball sense, trading Lin would destroy the Rockets. But the NBA doesn't make decisions based on basketball reasons.
The Rockets have endured a lot of criticism for signing Lin, especially now that he's more than lived up to his contract. I don't think Morey and McHale are man enough to withstand another season of anti-Lin racial criticism.
@Unknown,
DeleteThat's Morey's job. Morey will do MUCH MORE than just ship Lin out. Not only will the Rockets will get someone for Lin, Morey will wheel and deal and get his PF or C that he wants and get all the fitting pieces that support and role-play around Harden, that he has spoken of in several interviews. Morey said a PG should play like Beverley (paraphrase); meaning the perceived traditional type (which Bev isn't either, BTW hahaha) or someone who will complement - not similar to - Harden, their franchise player.
HOU FANS NOT GIVING UP
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWe don't want fair weather Lin fan.
ReplyDeleteEver experienced a bruise. It'll take you lot of time to get over.
Why ask Lin to do something impossible.
I want JLIN to stay healthy for next season. He's done enough
If you guys have problems with that, go to ClutchFans.
There's no point to mess with the Thunder this season.
The last season, GSmith would not be poisoned again. I want him to punish the pundits real bad. Never mind the score or the ball.
Just swap those flies in Toyota Centre.
Is there anyone with me.
Cheers!
Agreed. I'm a Lin fan for the long haul. The fact that he has already achieved so much is inspiring.
DeleteAnd I'm excited for more to come. He'll have the last laugh.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteFor the situation Lin is in , he did a incredibly job. I would never seen a NBA player faced so much difficulty can compare to Lin, it is one against the world , Even he gave up at this moment , I still consider he is a winner , for people ask him to step up , he just did not know enough about Lin's situation , ask yourself that how tough was your mental when you were 24 . Even Lebron James , if he facing the same treatment during his first 2 NBA year , I am quit sure he would be collapsed , he was developed by the support of the NBA promotion [ like Ricky Rubio } .Even today , he is still not tough to take the last shot consistently . So please do not ask for too much from Lin , nobody willing to take the challenge more than himself .
DeleteI am in for the long haul. I am here for what he had already accomplished and what he is going to do. We keep putting people on certain schedule to satisfy our own gratification. Lin is in for the long haul. With so many Rox fans and his own fans want him to leave Houston, it might just be the ticket to get him out of Houston. I just hope McHale/Morey can convince Les it is better for Houston to let Lin go. Don't worry if there are teams willing to pick him up. He is one of the biggest draw as the visiting team. I will go see him play if he comes to play in my city and a lot of his fans will do the same. I bow to the dedication of HY because she is willing to travel from NJ to Houston to watch Lin plays. May be one day I can be as dedicated as she is. I want not put Lin on a timetable. I will stay with him thru thick and thin. And in 20 years, I will tell my grandchildrens about the struggle of "Senator Lin of Calif" and how he overcomes all odds in his life. PBPGHNFW"L"Y.
DeleteAww I missed last game and I will miss game tomorrow.I wish in any way Jeremy can win one game vs Thunder
ReplyDeleteAll I know is harden single-handily lost two playoff games, games two and three. I think McHale deep down realizes that Harden ain't no superstar. Very hopeful still that Lin will reunite with D'Antoni in LA next season. Will happen.
ReplyDeleteI hope the same. He needs a better environment to excel. If not LA, Utah or other small market teams will do as long as he gets to be THE PG and supported by the coach and organization.
DeletePeople are already scapegoating JLin and saying he cost the Rox game 3. [Shouldn't have played, blablabla. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.]
DeleteEvery JLin fan at this point is hoping against hope that he be traded out of that hostile environment. [Not likely, but can't hurt to hope.]
Via, Jeremy was really in a no win situation. If he didn't play, people would be the saying thing. Although it was the same outcome either way, I'm glad Jeremy gave it a try. For me, knowing is always much better than not knowing. He gave it a try. It didn't work out. That's that.
Delete@via, you beat me to it. Great minds think alike. :-)
Delete"Damned if you do, damned if you don't."
Well, this is likely their last game. I don't know what else they can pin on JLin this time [Though I bet they'd try to find something, smh.]
DeleteEverytime i take a lurk at clutchfans one thing gets clear. 10 % of Americans are well educated, open minded ppl. 90% are racist,idiotic unreflected assholes believing in everything the media says while not actually watching with their own eyes. Seriously the ppl on this site are nearly all racist inbreds and for some reason i think they reflect the Rockets fan base quite well as well as the state Texas. Remember that is the state of racists and ppl who support the likes of George bush. i feeld the Rcokets organisisation is one of the most retarded organisations out there and JLin has to get the hell out of there. A piece of shit coach who seems dumber than bread who preaches ball movement but for an entire season lets a player run his iso shit without doing anything or critizing him once, while burning his most unselfish player in the media and portray him as selfish. A dum General Manager who would trade the whole roster in a heartbeat if he things he can make upgrades because he think he knows basketball better than everyone else.Lol they had one midrange threat on that team and that guy actually traded him mid season( PAtterson).And probably the worst fanbase ever, which not only is very bad at supporting the team in Toyota Center but also racist and dumb and believing in media bullshit( typical ppl of the southern states of USA). oh and the most overrated Franchise player EVER, who isnt even athletic while playing SG and probably likes how lin is treated so his selfish ass can shine more...
ReplyDeleteAgain Lin needs to go to Les Alexander say thank you, then go to Morey and say fuck you and refuse to paly anymore if they dont trade him and kick McHell in his balls just for once. Then he needs to call Donnie Nelson and get traded for OJ Mayo and some other assests and Houston has two inefectiv, 3point chucking SGs and everyone can be happy. If Lin somehow ends up in Dallas, all will be good cuz Dirk is humble and they are used to players like Collison or Mike James as their starting PG´s. his career would go through the roof in Dallas and he could fuck up Houston 4 times a year in RS.
Sadly i think none of this gonna happen but i havent lost hope completely...
Agree , also Lin should talk to Les ask for a trade unless someone like Hans Schwanz going to be his next GM . they just not possible working together .
DeleteAmen Hans Schwanz!
DeleteI think this applies more towards South then North, maybe?
DeleteI have lived in Michigan, Chicago and Minnesota, I didnt find much racism there.
Damn! You're right on.
DeleteI have nothing more to say.
I rest my case.
@hans schwanz,
DeleteFirst of all, hello to you in Germany!
You've got *EVERYTHING* right!
Wow..... it's such a small world due to the internet. Yet ignorant people - like most people from TX and the South-and the "bible belt" will remain ignorant and closed minded. Despite the fact that leaders from those areas treat most of their supporters (much of them poverty stricken and uneducated, which is how their leaders want them) like shit: All their phoney snaky leaders have to do to keep them loyal is to push hot buttons (ab, g, J) during political campaign.
amen!
DeleteI just imagined Lin playing together with a great midrange Big Man(Pau Gasol) who stretches the floor but can actually score on the interior and Dwight Fucking Howard as the Center. With Nash as his Backcourt partner/Back up/mentor under D´antoni
ReplyDeleteI jizzed my pants.
@Hans Schwanz, Way to go, I jizzed to thinking about and wishing that! It will happen!
DeleteNash is breaking down health-wise as an old man, so I think it would be a perfect situation for JLin. Only thing is, either Gasol or Howard won't be with him--one will be traded for Asik and Lin, and I'm fine with Asik and Gasol teaming up with Lin. Lin will be truly loved in LA, with genuine fan support and a coach whotrusts and believes in him. Blake is the kind of shooting guard Lin needs, not an ISO ballhog, selfish bastard freak like Harden. And then Kobe will be back just in time for the playoffs to boos the Lakers. Perfect situation for JLin!
Perfect for JLin? Yes. Perfect for the Rockets? Please. So, the Rockets will trade Lin and Asik and get Gasol back. They give up their starting 24 year old PG and their 24 year old starting C for a 32 year old PF, who gets paid $19,285,850 and will be a free agent after next season and will almost certainly fly the coop for a contender. Tell me how this makes the Rockets a better team, now or in the future.
DeleteTrading Lin and Asik for Gasol doesn't make the Rockets better, Unknown.
DeleteHowever, Gasol is an EXPIRING CONTRACT who's got game. After next season, the Rockets can use his cap space to sign a coveted max contract free agent point guard like John Wall or Ricky Rubio.
Where I can't see the Lakers trading for Lin is in their name branding. The Lakers under Jim Buss will not acquire any player who's not media marketed as the best player at the position. They won't have anybody play PG for them other than Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, or Russell Westbrook.
Lin has outplayed all of those guys, but that doesn't matter at all to a media addled owner like Jim Buss. He's only after the fame, not the game.
"However, Gasol is an EXPIRING CONTRACT who's got game."
DeleteThe Rockets have a ton of cap space already. They need good, young players, not cap space. Asik and Lin are good young players.
That's not going to happen unless the Rox is willing to release Lin.
DeleteThen the situation have to be real bad.
I surely don't want that to happen to Lin.
That'll be heartbreaking at best.
Unless the Rox is willing to take Marc Gasol for Lin.
all I care about is Jlin. Fuck rockets!
DeleteThere are so many things that are uncertain when it comes to Jeremy's future (which makes him all the more exciting) but taking off from all his testimonies and all the happenings in his life that we are fortunate enough to witness, I believe that Jeremy is will end up in the best place (even if its crappy, he will make it one) because:
ReplyDelete1) He has proven time and again that his heart is in the right place and he is a TRUE gentleman (seriously have you every heard him complain or bad mouth anyone, even those who truly has no good things to say about him?)
2) Regardless of all the criticisms and whether or not haters will admit it, Lin belongs to the NBA, he has the guts, skills, and attitude that make GREAT players
3) He has FAITH, so basically he has immeasurable number of passes for MIRACLES... we have seen it happen... it will happen again.
In other words, as a LOF, i am quite excited to know what is in store for him tomorrow and the days to come :)
McHale has been the best of all possible coach for Jeremy Lin.
ReplyDeleteThat was why I adopted McHale as my faux son a month ago to match my faux grandson, Jeremy Lin.
I commend my faux son for putting my faux grandson back into the 3rd quarter for five mintes in the last game. That was the right thing to do, just as a horse rider must get back onto a horse after falling off, as soon as possible.
But, best of all, it was a clear message to Durant. Jeremy lin with his one good arm was sharing the double-teaming of Durant for those five minutes, and Durant was shown just how tough Jeremy was.
Therefore, I fully expect Coach McHale to put Jeremy Lin gaurding Durant in this fourth game tonight. The idea is to attack the opponent's strongest point.
We will win the fourth game in this first round series.
Cheers!
Jeremy Lin is the bestof all possible coach for McHale , he gave him free lesson .
DeleteJeremy Lin is going to make millions of dollars a year depending wherever he plays right? He has a endorsement deal with Nike and Volvo. Financially he'll be fine wherever he plays. Everything else is just proof of God's provision and abundance.
ReplyDeleteplease come to ATL HAWKS so I can watch you play. You gave us a great season Jeremy, we're proud of you. Fighting!!
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree jlinfan. Last year jeremy was a lock to resign with knicks and we all know how it ended. I think the rockets don't want two playmakers so they're gonna trade him before it's too late. They already have brooks and beverly....
ReplyDeleteGod knows what will happen, we're just here to support, no matter what
I really like the idea of Jeremy being traded to Utah. They have a power forward to trade and Jeremy would fit in perfectly and make that team better.
ReplyDeleteI still think the Lakers are a possible destination given their point guard situation and Asian American ownership.
Please stop considering it from the angle of "a great destination for Lin" and start looking at it from "a good trade deal for the Rockets." Does trading Lin for Hayward make the Rockets a better team? No. Can the Rockets get a better PF than Hayward in free agency and still keep Lin? Yes.
DeleteAdd those together: trading Lin makes the Rockets worse. Keeping him makes them better. Result? Lin stays.
Why shouldn't Phil "stop considering" Lin being traded to a "great destination", Unknown?
DeleteThis is a Lin fanboard. Fanboys like you, me, and Phil can talk whatever junk we please.
Actually, I can easily imagine Houston valuing any Jazz player over Jeremy Lin. Daryl Morey doesn't think much of Lin's game, no matter how dominant Lin looks statistically.
In the NBA, trading Lin will be about PERCEIVED improvement of the Rockets and not ACTUAL improvement.
KHuang, you know perfectly well that I wasn't attempting to intimidate Phil. I was just letting him know that if the Rockets do trade Lin, the best destination for Lin will be the last thing on their minds. Instead, it will be done in order to make the Rockets as good a team as possible. And the Rockets certainly aren't going to help a team that they are going to have to battle for the playoffs during the season and in the playoffs in the postseason if they can possibly help it. Instead, they would do their level best to ship Lin back to the eastern conference where they would only have to play him 2 games a year unless they go to the NBA Finals. Also - and this is key - Lin has no leverage to force a trade to a desirable destination. He may have some leverage after 2013-2014 but he has zero leverage now.
DeleteNot trying to intimate anyone or be a forum boss or anything like that. Just letting people know that they should keep in mind how the NBA works. Just like I stated 365 days ago that Lin still wasn't going to get his own team if he left the Knicks because the NBA is a seniority-driven league that doesn't place franchises in the hands of guys with 27 meaningful appearances in their entire careers, I state that the Rockets will have their own best interests in mind if they trade Lin, and not Lin's ideal situation. If anything, the Rockets would be motivated to put him in the worst possible situation so that folks wouldn't criticize them for trading him away.
And yes, I will keep pointing this out: the Rockets have no need to trade Lin. Teams trade only when a player that they want isn't available in free agency, or when their salary cap situation precludes it and they have to dump some salary in order to add some. Neither applies to the Rockets. They have enough cap space to sign 2, possibly 3 quality players, and now that they have made the playoffs and obviously have a bright future they won't have to give up what they did for Harden last year just to add another player. So, they don't have to give away players to improve the team when they can have the same result for free, and they especially don't have to try to make it through next season with Patrick Beverly as their starting PG with no one to back him up.
Where Lin goes, good things start to happen.
DeleteWho would think that the rockets were blessed with so many young talents: GSmith, TJones, Anderson, Parson, Asik, Beverly, TRob and tough veterans like
Delfino (yes the Delfino some of the Rox fans hated) and Garcia (the game 3 showed the world that he is worth every dime of his contract).
Just McHale treated them like shit and just showcasing Harden for the whole season. I have no admiration for any players playing no defense. That makes a basketball player incomplete. Harden should be the SF for life in the Rox. What a horrible PG which led the team in TOs.
TRob got no playtime at all in the playoff. He would probably be traded in the off-season. The Rox traded PPat and TD for him and yet didn't even let him play in the D-league benching him in the playoff. Young players need playtime to improve their games.
I think JLin will probably stay on the Rockets for at least another year, unless they don't have enough cap room to trade for a max contract player. After next year, they will probably trade him if they are not satisfied with his performance or if JLin makes it clear to them that he won't extend his contract with them after the third year.
DeleteI'm sure JLin will work hard this summer to improve his overall game. I think JLin's role and minutes on the court will be managed better next season, even if McHale remains as head coach. McHale will be forced to run some offensive sets since his "the team is too young" excuse will no longer fly.
On the other hand, if somehow the Rockets do trade JLin in the offseason, that would be nice too ^_^
I want Jlin to play for Jazz, Lakers, Mavericks.
DeleteI want Jlin to be happy.
No intimidation here. I use my real name and face because I gush with pride about this wonderful young man Jeremy Lin. I trust his instincts and judgement in these matters far more than my own.
DeleteOh unknown, I KNEW you weren't trying to troll Phil who you respect.
DeleteYou're one of our biggest Lin fans on this forum, and I'm your FRIEND. We love to argue passionately while respecting each other!
The only thing that I'll add is that Lin will make the best of any situation he gets in the NBA. So I'm not worried at all about where he ends up, even if it's with Keith Smart and Sacramento.
While I personally would prefer Lin to remain in Houston provided that Houston simply acknowledge their fatal mistake that he's not being a selfish ballhog, I am all too aware that Lin has worn out his "Asian American welcome".
ReplyDeleteHere's how it is. If you're an Asian American male in entertainment, you get your fun in the sun for one season of performances. After that, you're pretty much ejected no matter how well you performed or how much money you brought in. This is the dynamic that plagues all Asian American male entertainers, and nobody has been exempt.
Fortunately, Lin becomes easier to trade as his contract wears on. His contract is short, and even the poison pill is just for one year. After next year, Lin becomes major trade bait because of his expiring contract.
If Houston has had its fill of Lin, I'd like him to go to some downtrodden franchise like Orlando or Charlotte or Phoenix where the team hasn't won in years. I'll bet Lin can take a 20 win team like Orlando and ram them into the playoffs as a 40-50 win team, just like he did with Houston's minimum wage roster because of his team leadership.
I regard Lin as an NBA journeyman, not in terms of his game but in terms of the way franchises utilize and then discard him because he's Asian. Still, Lin is such a GREAT PLAYER that he succeeds no matter where he goes. Not many All Stars can do that.
Hmmm ... teams don't just dump good players for no reason. There is no reason to trade Jeremy Lin. They regard Lin as a good PG at the very minimum. They also have a ton of cap space. They can sign a better player without having to give up their starting PG than they could get for trading him. Trade Lin and you get a PG who is making $25 million. But you can sign an almost all star caliber PF and keep Lin. Trading your PG for a below average PF hurts your team. Keeping your PG and signing an above average PF helps it.
ReplyDeleteWhether staying in Houston is in Jeremy Lin's interests is one thing. Dealing him isn't in the Rockets' interest and that is why a Rocket he will remain. The Rockets don't even have a 1st round pick to try to replace Lin in the draft. And the Rockets also don't consider Beverly a starting NBA PG, just a backup. Even if they did, they know that they are better off having both Beverly and Lin, two starting caliber PGs, than trading Lin for a scrub PF.
Superb BASKETBALL analysis, unknown.
DeleteOn the other hand, you and I both know that NBA teams often do not trade guys because of pure "basketball" reasons.
I think Jeremy Lin is GONE. I wrote that last year right before free agency, too.
"They regard Lin as a good PG at the very minimum."
Delete"And the Rockets also don't consider Beverly a starting NBA PG, just a backup. "
That is not what it shows on and off the court from McHale/Morey.
"There is no drop off in offense between Beverly and Lin."
It all comes down to money. Why pay Lin 8 mil when they can use Beverly for doing the same thing. I am sure Morey will come up with a way to get a better player in return for Lin. May be that player will be used as a Trade Chip down the road. Morey is a smart guy, he is from MIT. It is Les he needs to convince, period.
@KHuang:
DeleteWell if the Rockets are stupid (or something else) then all bets are off.
@bto:
"There is no drop off in offense between Beverly and Lin." Coaches and gms have been known to not be totally honest with the media you know.
"Why pay Lin 8 mil when they can use Beverly for doing the same thing."
I agree. The problem is that Beverly isn't capable of doing the same thing as Lin. Beverly isn't anywhere near as good as Lin. Everyone knows it, even those who refuse to admit it.
"I am sure Morey will come up with a way to get a better player in return for Lin."
Because of the salary thing, I am not so sure. The Rockets don't even have a #1 pick to throw in to get past the salary equalization deal.
Besides, if they trade Lin for a PF, who is the backup PG? The only thing that makes sense is dealing Lin straight up for another starting caliber PG, and starting PGs don't grow on trees. If they did, the Knicks wouldn't be paying Raymond Felton $10 million a year.
The question is do people really think is Lin is better than bev? I mean its ridiculous they judge him by a sample size of two and then refuses to believe what Lin did during Linsanity.
DeleteThe league ( fans) are all about what have u done for me lately.
But I agree. Unlike the fans, the front office will not make knee jerk reactions. I am sure they wanna see how Lin fits into this offense next year before shipping him out.
Unfortunately, the facts are that the Rox management does everything possible to make Lin look like a loser, even on their own media outlets. It is obvious that you are a rockets fan who appreciates Lin and believe he can do so much more for the team, but looking hard at the facts will make you understand all of the LOFs on this site. If you ran the Rox and made the media print our favorable remarks on Lin instead of trashing him at every oppertunity, the all of us LOFs wouldn't be hoping for a trade. We don't ask too much, just an acknowledgement of his impact on the way the Rox have performed as a unit because of lin's unselfish play. Once in a while overlook his bad games and look at how well he has adjusted and continues to improve. Lin is a first year starter PG, almost a rookie and yet the team expected him to perform above Steve Nash who has struggled mightily as an off ball shooting guard.
DeleteI came back to the game because of Lin because like him I was a starter PG in highschool who got frozen out by my teammates. I quit the game and never look back until some 38 years later. There are a lot of fans following Lin all over the world because he is Asian, just like a lot of African Americans began following tiger woods because he was black. A lot of Asians follow tiger as well because he is half Thai so his popularity extends beyond his sport. There is a lot of jealousy in the golf world for tiger because of his multi racial fan base. Lin is suffering some of that backlash of jealousy for his ethnicity. It's human nature to root for your own kind especially one who is a pioneer. This jealousy has create a lot of venom in the media to only look at Lin a certain negative way. The Rox as an organization needs to challenge these perceptions instead of perpetuating it. It begins with the GM and the coach but both of them want Lin to fail because they want Les to see that they were right in the first place to cut Lin.
Geez, only Les knows what he intends to do with Jeremy this offseason. Les, as a vineyard owner and an ex-trader, Les would most likely has a long term plan for Jeremy, imho.
DeleteBTW, people keep saying Morey is smart bcuz he's MIT grad. Just to clarify, Morey did his MBA at MIT SLOAN. He doesn't have a college degree from MIT. MIT MBA is different from MIT undergrad degree.
Yes, I always think that there is a hidden agenda against Lin. They have played him on his weakness the whole year until Harden was out and Lin showed his talents and poise against the Clippers and the Magic.
DeleteIn the game of Clippers, the Clippers designed play against his passing specifically. Yet, Lin has found a way to help the Rox win. These two games w/o Harden (1 w/o Parsons) has to be classic showing Lin is a legit PG of the NBA.
Also in TPGR, Jeremy is the ninth in the league in only his 2nd year.
Lin is always underrated but he deserves every dime he earns from the Rox.
Whenever Harden is out, Lin stepped up and led the Rox to great performance.
The Rox fans by and large do not appreciate what Lin has done for such a team. The Rox did not provide the support to let Linsanity flourish in comparison to the Knicks.
In the playoff, the refs were not making the calls. DHoward was so pissed off the other day. They were just street fighting and brusing each other. I advise Lin to take precaution going into game 4. The Thunders made so many fouls and got away with it. The Thunders is not a championship team. It will hurt them next year building up a rivalry with the Rox. WBrooks is so overrated.
At the end, the refs screwed up the games.
@janelin7, thank you for the clarification. I didn't realize it was just a MIT SLOAN program. I gave Morey too much credits.
Delete@Bob_C, you words are wise. I can't say it any better.
@unknown, I understand "Coaches and gms have been known to not be totally honest with the media you know.: But why make the statement at all unless there are some underlining motives. They only need a PG that complement Harden not another ball dominant PG. Lin is better has nothing to do with that. They can save the $ for other stars. I don't think Raymond Felton makes 10$ mil a year, may be 10$ mil for 3 years.
U guys are crazy. Do I know how hard it is to get into Sloan? They are one of the premier business schools in the world.
DeleteSo would you knock a Harvard medical grad if he didn't go to Harvard undergrad? Absolutely ridiculous. Such an Asian things to being education into this.
Morey has fault as anyone else. But he isn't stupid. But his educational pedigree is nothing to discredit.
Getting into Sloan is hard but getting into MIT is even much harder. They are simply on different level altogether. Whereas admission to Harvard, either postgrad or undergrad is equally difficult.
DeleteI didn't say Morey is stupid. I was trying to point out the misconception that MIT Sloan is the same as MIT-- a research university that offers one of the most rigorous curriculum, excellent research, and outstanding faculties.
I echo unknown's sentiments. Lin is NOT moving this summer unless the Rox sign CP3, which is as improbable as signing D12 after the tweet he sent out last night.
ReplyDeleteBut Lin will be traded if he doesn't improve next year . So face it, one more year here in Rox land.
If Lin continue to struggle without the ball in hand, then he's gone.
If Lin gets to stay, that means Lin has improved significantly enough for the Rox to keep him for their future ( provided Lin wants to stay in this craphole).
In either case, it's a win win situation for Lin fans. Just one more year, guys. One more.
I would be very surprised if Lin is NOT traded.
DeleteThe Rockets have brought in point guard after point guard to replace Lin, though it just hasn't worked out unless Lin is on the court PROTECTING that point guard.
Based on how the Rockets have treated Lin, I expect them to trade Lin off the team and acquire a veteran point guard who'll produce less and win less than Lin would.
I can't see Lin lasting more than two seasons with any single NBA team, no matter how well he plays.
Lin will improve next year. Actually, Lin improved THIS YEAR. He just hasn't gotten credit for it from the media, fans, and at times his coaches.
DeleteLin's main problem this year was playing poorly in training camp and early in the season due to injury. By the time he got healthy, riding Harden offensively had been established as a winning strategy and there was no pressing reason to deviate from it. A lot of people forget that the NBA is not like the NFL. There are so many games that there really isn't that much of an opportunity to do major changes to strategy unless lineup changes due to injuries or trades force it. And the fact that the Rockets were a very young team with a huge roster overhaul, practically their entire starting lineup was new, and it was just a tough spot for everyone to be in.
If next season Lin comes in to training camp and preseason burning stuff up like he did last year, McHale will respond by expanding Lin's role. McHale has no problem with ball dominant guards. Expect Lin to average 17 points and 7 assists next year even if they don't get a better PF, and to be even better if they do. Also expect McHale to tell Harden "all right, last year was fun, but this isn't how I won all those titles with the Celtics ... if Larry Bird passed the ball, so can you" too.
Sorry guys, McHale doesn't believe that Lin is as good as we know that Lin is yet. But next season, a healthy Lin with a full season under his belt will make him a believer.
@Khuang:
DeleteCome on man. They didn't bring in point guard after point guard to replace Lin. They brought in Toney Douglas to be Lin's backup, and then when they saw that he stunk, they replaced him with Patrick Beverly, who is a much better player (though you and I disagree on that) than Douglas. And honestly, even Beverly isn't enough ... a team generally carries 3 guys who can conceivably play PG if they have to, even if one of them is technically a SG or SF. For most of the season, the team had absolutely nothing at PG other than Lin, and that is why they kept bringing guys in.
I dunno, Unknown.
DeleteMcHale has a history of making very BAD decisions at the guard position, none worse than the Marko Jaric for Sam Cassell and a #1 pick from the Wolves to the Clippers.
And Morey? Having watched him closely for a full season, I have to graciously conclude that he's clueless - and I'm being KIND. That is a GM who has low regard for Lin and doesn't know a thing about basketball. He's so horribly overrated, it's frightening.
I agree 100% about Lin's improvement. I'm not convinced McHale and Morey will acknowledge it, though.
You missed Aaron Brooks and Shaun Livingston, Unknown.
DeleteLast summer, McHale wanted Shaun Livingston to be on the team. While Livingston is a good reserve in the NBA, he has done little in the NBA as compared to Jeremy Lin. I'm convinced that McHale would've started Livingston too over Lin if McHale could've done so without incurring Les Alexander's wrath.
I personally believe that Beverley and Brooks were brought in to send Jeremy Lin to the bench, but neither player had enough game to beat out Lin for the job. Beverley sure got his chances too.
McHale and Morey have to be careful in handling Les Alexander's handpicked guy in Lin. That doesn't mask their disdain for his game and their overvaluing of anybody not wearing a Lin jersey.
"I personally believe that Beverley and Brooks were brought in to send Jeremy Lin to the bench, but neither player had enough game to beat out Lin for the job. Beverley sure got his chances too."
DeleteI personally believe that Beverly and Brooks were brought in to be good backup PGs, which the Rockets didn't have until Beverly, and even now they could still use another guy. Unless you believe that it is customary or wise for NBA teams to carry 1 PG on their roster, I have no reason to adopt an alternative interpretation of events.
Props to unknown for being one of the rational posters.
DeleteWe're not talking about the Nyx, Solidz. ;p
Delete[J/K @Unknown.]
Yeah, I bet McFail was angry that Morey traded away Toney Douglas, who was already playing more 4th quarter minutes over Jeremy.
DeleteMcFail thinks everyone is better player ... because he thinks so.
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DeleteI would like to share a great article from BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) recent study on Joseph's life in the book of Genesis (the first book of Bible), which reminds me much of Jeremy Lin's recent struggles. Lin is a great role model to kids and adults in faith and character. Blessings
ReplyDelete___________
Joseph's attitude of faith is the secret of his triumph over adversity
Joseph pleaded desperately not to be left alone to die in the pit or to be sold off as a slave into a far country (Genesis 42:21). Yet, after the first moment of anguish, he uttered no word of retaliation or reproach toward God. His complete absence of bitterness under such an extreme provocation and his silence in the midst of such unjust treatment is astounding (Genesis 37 and 39). The secret to such a deliverance from resentment or self- pity is Joseph's absolute trust in God. Even when he could not understand the reasons for all the happened to him, Joseph put his faith in the Lord. This trust and deep awareness of God's presence with him in all his trials is reiterated throughout his life.
Joseph's words "How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:9) further indicate Joseph's constant awareness of the Lord's presence that became his secret of complete victory in every kind of trial. This complete absence of rancor or cynicism is the proof of true faith in God. Somehow, throughout all this disaster and in a seemingly hopeless situation , Joseph believed God's promise. Therefore, "for the joy set before him," Joseph endured, "because he saw Him who is invisible."
Joseph expressed his faith in positive action. He chose not to waste his emotional energy in feeling sorry for himself. With courage, he met the adverse circumstances over which he had no control. He submitted his present situation to his faith in God.
Comparing Jeremy Lin, who has started 85 games this season for an NBA playoff team and gotten millions of dollars in salary and endorsements for his trouble, to Joseph, who was a slave and then imprisoned for 20 years, just doesn't work. Look, I am not Asian and I have no idea what it is like to be one in this society. But I do know the NBA enough to say that not being given your own team and placed in a role that maximizes your personal ability isn't exactly slavery or imprisonment.
DeleteTake Kevin McHale's own Celtics team. Robert Parrish, the starting center for that team, had the ability to be one of the best centers of his generation. He had as much offensive ability as any big man in the game at that time. But the Celtics had Bird and McHale, so they didn't need Parrish's low post offense. So, he was relegated to a secondary role supporting the team's stars. (Not just Parrish ... the guards on those Celtics teams had more potential than the Celtics system allowed them to show too.) So a guy who would have been as big a personality as, say, Patrick Ewing or at least Brad Daugherty if he had his own team was known as a third wheel. And Parrish had to spend his whole career stuck in that situation (because professional sports didn't have the free agency system that athletes currently enjoy). Meanwhile, Lin is 24 and has his whole career in front of him. He can either leave after the 2014-2015 season, or force a trade after the 2013-2014 season by threatening not to re-sign.
There are 30 teams in the NBA. Which means that only 30 guys on the planet get to be the central focus of their own NBA roster. Expecting Lin to be one of those 30 guys after starting a grand total of 27 career NBA games was unreasonable to begin with. I tried to tell that to this very site last year when getting Lin away from Melo and the Knicks so that he could have his own team was such a high priority. In an NBA where lots of people want to be the team centerpiece and lots of guys have a ton of regular season and playoff experience, that just wasn't going to happen at this point in Lin's career.
"Hey, you had 27 great - actually 12 great and 15 good - games, so we are going to give you your own team and let you be the main guy to carry us to victory." Sorry, that isn't how it works. In the NBA, you start at the bottom - or at least at the middle - and work your way up. Lin is a starting NBA pg - started every game this season - so he has a much better chance of doing that than most NBA players.
Lin is one of 150 starting players in the NBA, and yes plenty of guys who are on the bench for some teams are more than good enough to start for several others. Folks should try not to lose sight of that.
I get what you're saying @Unknown.
DeleteThe thing is though, being the team centerpiece WAS what the Rox offered JLin during FA.
And even when Harden came over to HOU, he and JLin worked wonderfully well the first 2 pre-season games.
Then McHale decided to change things for no reason [or his own reasons.]
I don't think most JLin fans expect JLin to be the "centerpiece" of any team at this point of his career, but expect him to be played to his strengths, which is being the PG and running the offense, and that's not asking too much.
DeleteThe problem with the Rockets is that their "centerpiece" Harden is more like a PG in their current offense. So the question is, how many teams are there in the NBA that has their "centerpiece" that runs the offense and needs the ball in his hands? Those are the teams that JLin should avoid for his next contract.
Via, I think you were playing a bit revisionist history here.
DeleteThe Rockets never offered Lin to be the centerpiece. You can read back the old articles, especially one SF paper interview with direct Lin quotes. I remember even Lin himself said the Rockets didn't even promise him a guaranteed starting job to him.
Most of the "leader" talk was just media talk and fan speculation. Even in preseason games when Harden was yet to come, Kevin Martin was more of a focal point than Lin. No Rockets people ever declared Lin by using any of words like centerpiece, franchise player or star player. In fact, both Morey and McHale even said many times that they just wanted Lin to be a starting PG and never expected Linsanity.
That was unlike Harden who Morey and McHale openly declared as the 1st all star caliber player and franchise cornerstone at the very moment they acquired him.
Also, no team in their right mind would make the 8 million, former undrafted player as their centerpiece and make the max contract, former number 3 pick, Olympics medalist, a nba finals player as a supporting player.
DeleteMcHale decided to change things for good reasons, not no reasons. Whether Harden lived up to that expectation is up to debate but the Rockets are gonna live or die by Harden because they have already paid a max contract and fully committed to him.
Sesshie, did you seriously ask that question? Every "centerpiece" player needs the ball in his hands to make plays or they are not real star players at all. If Lin avoids teams like that as you said, he could not play in the nba.
DeleteActually if you guys remember the very first billboard Rox came up with for that "New Age" thing, Lin WAS the centerpiece (before Harden trade).
DeleteHY, someone had to be in the middle, you know. Like I said it's more like the media and marketing people saw Lin as the "centerpiece" of a no star team before Harden because he would be the biggest name and most marketable player on that team then. But did you ever see Morey and McHale gush over Lin like they did for Harden? They just repeatedly said he's a young PG who is still learning, that's hardly making him a "centerpiece" on the court.
DeleteSC, it's a very good parallel of Lin and Joseph in the Bible in the attitude to deal with adversity by not choosing to dwell too long in the adversity but moving toward the end of the tunnel of God's plan for him.
DeleteAbout the centerpiece of a team, Lin was the only option before Harden came so by de facto, he'll be the key player with high usage rate.
But it's not the same with being the "franchise" player which carries the assumption of a proven player who can carry the team through many playoff experience and Olympic experience, of which Harden possessed.
I have no problem with Lin not being ready to be the "franchise" player due to lack of experience but he was going to be the key player of a young team. In hindsight, Harden's presence helped to alleviate pressure from Lin while he recuperated from injuries. So it's all good for me.
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DeleteWho is the centerpiece of the Thunder? Westbrook or Durant? Who has the ball in his hands more?
DeleteNo one was saying the Rox regard him OVER Harden. Harden wasn't even a factor during his signing.
DeleteMorey DID call him a leader of the Rox during JLin's presscon in HOU in July. He was the Face of the Franchise, from Rox's own media. [Yes, people expected him to be the centerpiece at signing. The press did, his fans did, I'm sure JLin's camp did too, considering the situation of the Rox at his signing. Wouldn't it be just a little bit disingenuous to not think this? Or not make an adjustment in expectations AFTER Harden was traded?]
It's also true that Morey and McHale began talking about simply expecting JLin to be starting PG, no pressure etc weeks into the season, with Harden already poised to take centerstage.
AND AGAIN, JLIN AND HARDEN PLAYED BEAUTIFULLY FOR THE FIRST 2 PRE-SEASON GAMES, UNTIL MCHALE CHANGED THINGS, FOR THE WORST. WHAT'S MORE, MCHALE CHOSE TO PERSIST IN HIS HAPHAZARD PLAYS EVEN WHEN HE HAS THOSE GAMES AS SUCCESSFUL TEMPLATE OF WHAT THE BACK-COURT COULD BE.
So I agree, it was not for nothing that McHale made the changes. We might disagree on what the REAL REASONS might be, though.
[^ @Cara]
Delete*regard him better
I don't know what your problem is, Via but you are kind of being paranoia here.
DeleteThe Rockets of course were marketing Lin because at that time he's their biggest offseason signing name wise. But the matter of fact is that no one in Houston including Lin himself declare Lin as a franchise level player. Saying he's the face of the franchise back then is like saying Kemba Walker is the face of the Bobcats franchise, it doesn't really matter much.
Also, if the Rockets did want to make their centerpiece, they would have built around Lin and got players that fit with him and not traded for Harden, a player whose skillsets overlap with Lin's.
And Lin and Harden never played any preseason games together because Harden was traded after training camp. But I know which two games your refered to, those were the 1st two regular season games.
As for the change after those 2 games, it's clear that Harden is a playmaker type of player and the Rockets were poised to make him their franchise player and revolve everything around him and make sure he's played in a way he's most comfortable. And no one could blame them because they paid the most money for Harden.
Sesshie, Durant is the centerpiece. But he's a forward and can operate in the post and mid post while Westbrook is a combo guard.
DeleteBoth Harden and Lin are combo guards who operate best at the same spot, the top of the key.
You simply can't expect the Rockets to give Lin the ball most of time and ask Harden to stand in the corner.
I don't know how you can't see the difference.
In the most simplistic summary of what happened this season, the Rockets decided to give Harden Lin's role being the main PG because Harden was more established with more playoff experience, Olympic experience, more consistent shooter, etc.
DeleteWhich was fine because Rox wanted to test how far Harden can bring them to the promised land as the main PG. He's shown his limitations for sure with less efficiency and injuries, less clutch FTs.
I wished they would have adjusted more by giving Lin more PG role when Lin showed he can play well but they didn't because Lin's shooting can also be inconsistent.
So what's important is Lin knows what needs to do in the offseason to be even more dangerous in his current 2nd or 3rd scoring role to score consistently with floaters, deadly 3PT shooting.
Only through shooting/scoring consistency that Lin can have bigger role in Houston because the lack of big man/finisher took away his strength to play PnR.
Only those with consistent 3PT shooting will get major role in Houston because the big men are very limited at this point.
Hopefully DHoward or other big men in Houston will leverage Lin's strength more next season.
@Cara~ My bad, I forgot Harden was traded at the end of Oct. :)
DeleteLol, we're talking about @Unknown's exhortations about fans having over-expectations:
Linsanity + the Rox being constituted the way it was at JLin's signing -> Not only were the fans armed with such expectations, most everyone in the press did. Again, I bet JLin's camp did too [despite JLin's demurring.] It's not such a wild thought, having had Linsanity.
As for McHale, he could have done better [if he was a better coach...or something else.] He didn't have to unnecessarily render one part of the backcourt ineffective in order for Harden to shine. A better coach wouldn't make it an either/ or situation for JLin and Harden. [McHale's either simply incompetent, or some other things.]
People want to see Jeremy Lin play basketball as a mortal with his strengths and weaknesses not some kind of divine wonder who must rely on a Skydaddy based on a book that is deemed an archaic fairy tale some 2000 years ago.
DeletePeople want to see what Jeremy Lin could do on his own. Chinese Christians have a self deluded image unaware that most people deemed them not very smart no matter how well educated they are.
Jeremy Lin has got it made. $25 million contract for 4 years and even if he doesn't play after the contract expires, he's set for life. I believe there are many better basketball players who got it worse than Jeremy and it's only the puerile Chinese Christian cry babies who would deem Jeremy a victim of racism against Asians.
Grow up!
Nah Tigerous, I'm not Chinese Christian and I can easily see the racism against Lin.
DeleteFrankly, the horrible refereeing against Lin bothers me far more than the coaching situation which I'm actually OK with on the whole.
At the point guard position, I don't know of any NBA players who have it worse than Lin and are better than him. In terms of usage, Jeremy at about 50th lags behind all starting point guards and almost every single RESERVE. And still Lin has posted impressive raw statistics based on those low touches. AMAZING!
LOL! @Lyd. [星爺 is always quotable haha.]
Delete---
Tigerous~
What's religion got to do with it..? I'm an atheist btw [who enjoys cultural xtianity], as are many asians here.
And it's $25 mil for 3 yrs. :)
And JLin is certainly financially well-compensated, and for people for whom money compensates for everything, of course this is the ultimate good. JLin might have different goals, though, and would probably want more out of his career.
You're probably right, there are probably other bball players who have it worse than JLin. However, their existence does not and should not negate whatever unfair hardships JLin's been put through. [Why should people cower from demanding fair treatment? And JLin worked hard for his money, it was not a hand-out. He need not be grateful as if it was.]
The word that Morey used was "foundational piece". Cara as per usual, u r attacking people with absolutely no basis for your claims.
DeleteHe wasn't guaranteed to be the center piece, but was definitely promised more than just tje task of a role player. Notice how that description is no longer used by Morey to describe Lin,
The Rox lied to Lin and Lin's fans, just like how jets lied to Tebow before he signed there. It's nothing new. It's all a business. But to say, Lin was promise nothing more than a roster spot is as ridiculous as your angst.
wow Tigerous,
DeleteWhy the incessant hate for Chinese Christians?
Why aren't you tolerant of JLin's faith that made God look good and gave hope to many people?
Can't JLin be a successful basketball player grounded by his faith and support from his family who shared the same faith?
Are you going to disrespect his strong faith that allowed him to battle racism without being a bitter vengeful man?
It seems that your only posts here are to demean JLin's faith and are full of anger.
I truly hope that one day you can be free of the feeling of hate and intolerance and find peace.
@Cara
DeleteNote that I said JLin's next contract. Find a team without a player that's like Harden who's both the centerpiece (aka the top dog) and ball-dominant like a traditional PG. You implied that no such team exist in the NBA. We shall see...
Whatever team he ends up on I'll still be a fan.
ReplyDeleteditto! i think rockets far exceeded expectations and lin deserves a lot of credit for that. Whether Rockets win or lose- I just hope Lin has a good game, stays healthy and has something to build towards this offseason.
DeleteAlso, it's only been a year since Linsanity and Jeremy has played at the bare minimum OK. He hasn't been fantastic but to give up on him after only a year is fool hardy. Lots of players in lots of sports have break out seasons and then struggle or completely fall off the map in the following one. The mark of a great player is their ability to bounce back from that, return and surpass what they showed during their breakout. If the Houston Rockets give up on Jeremy I hope another decent team picks him up because he's still simmering and waiting to heat up.
ReplyDeleteHoward Chen @ho_chenCSN
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin remains gametime decision. Did not take part in shootaround.
Lin on decision-making process: "Def, I dont wanna hurt the team at all. So if it hurts more than it helps, there's no point."
9:34 AM - 29 Apr 13
JLIN @ SHOOTAROUND
DeleteMCHALE
Deletethanks, via.
DeleteIt's a good plan. Not to expect Lin to play but if he turns out to be a spark off the bench, it will energize the whole team!
Your positivity is infectious haha
DeleteGood via, usually people only say that for my germs :D
DeleteThank you for that piece of information, psalm...
DeleteAbout the germs, via? :)
DeleteI can assure you I don't exceed average person's germ.
I know, TMI. haha
Heh
DeleteJonathan Feigen @Jonathan_Feigen
ReplyDeleteRockets pulling out all the stops. Tim Ohlbrecht back from D-League.
Howard Chen @ho_chenCSN
ReplyDeleteRockets' planned Game 4 starting lineup as of now: GARCIA, Bev, Parsons, Harden, Asik. Garcia obv starting for Lin.
This doesn't completely rule out Lin playing at all. But right now, the plan is to start Garcia.
10:19 AM - 29 Apr 13
They will not play Lin unless desperate ( ie foul trouble, injury, etc). I'm sure Lin is their 3rd pg option after brooks.
DeleteOh, wow, this is exactly what I was guessing yesterday.
DeleteThis is really not what I was expecting when I decided to come to Houston to watch the games.
I am really sorry that you came all the way just to see Lin on the bench, it sucks.
DeleteOh HY :/
Delete[Perhaps seeing you came all the way fr NJ, JLin's fam might get you some face time with JLin after the game, as consolation...]
I still hope JL can contribute some in this game, maybe leading the 2nd unit and dropping some points.
DeleteThen again, the HC may demote him to be the 6th man next season <- that's not good either.
Oh, my, I am torn between him playing or not playing,
I hope JLin doesn't play and avoid further injury, especially from cheapshots like what KD did in the last game. The Rockets are 3-0 and there's no chance of coming back to win the series. The most they could do is probably win one game or two at the most. This season is over. JLin should just focus on recovering and get stronger for the next season.
DeleteTrue, it would take a little miracle to have Jeremy play well off the bench.
DeleteBut I won't be surprised if it happens. That's usually God's modus operandi to pull out a miracle to help when it's clear that someone can't do it on his own strength :)
Garcia should start to blanket Durant because he did a great job on Durant in the last game.
If Lin start off the bench, who is going to start? PB might not stay with Rox either.
DeleteI will go to Toyota Center as early as possible, and check the overhead screen who the starters are, and report back to you guys.
DeleteProbably, via, our super Lin-search-engine, will find that out before me :-)
Lol, nothing like on-the-field reporting fr a passionate fan! =)
DeleteI think this is right, cuz Lin is not good to play now , even though i'm Lin's fan. He feels pain now and Rox needs the player who is a veteran.
ReplyDeleteEverybody, calm down please. As much as I don't like the Rockets like most of you here, Lin changing teams every year is not the answer. When did you ever see a star player change team every year? No, they people call this type of player "journeyman", not a good meaning either. Lin needs a stable environment to develop his skills and get accustomed to his team. I am sure he doesn't want to change homes every year as well. The Rockets might entertain offers for Lin but I doubt there will be many good offers out there considering the overall preception of Lin around the league. And no Lin will never demand a trade even if he's not satisfied with his role.
ReplyDeleteI agree changing team every year is not good for young players. I don't think that is what Lin wants also. But if you are stuck in a bad relationship(getting abused emotionally), sometimes you just have to change to find the right one(the one that nurture a young player to max his abilities/talents). I think if people see how Lin can help a non-playoff team to become a playoff team the first year he joins the team, there is value to that notion. I don't think Lin worries about the $ he gets with his contract(heck, I think he would have taken 3$ mil a year to play in NY before asking to test the market, that is even cheaper than Felton). But he sure wants to play his style of basketball with the support of the coach and organization.
DeleteAs I mentioned yesterday, most of the fans are casual fans, they only look at how many points a player can produce. I don't feel Rox fans really appreciate/embrace Lin as much as last year's NY fans, and people have short memory, they may have forgotten what Lin did in 38-point game against Spurs, 29-point game against OKC, being "THE" PG in Magic/LAC games. They only remember the players' recent performance, especially if they don't watch or follow the games until recently/playoff.
ReplyDeleteInstead, Rox fans seem to have quickly embraced PB (why? idk, is it bcos they subconsciously are glad that RW was hurt bcos of PB? or something else?). Anyway, the following is what I heard in the team shop, "Wow, PB's jerseys were sold out".
don't worry, HY :)
DeleteFans are vain and easily caught by the moment. Bev performed quite well and I'm happy for him but he hasn't helped the Rockets win 1 playoff game so the Rockets knew they need Lin to win.
I feel bad for you for going to HOU but Lin got injured and can't play well. Keep the faith :)
Rox fans will never embrace Lin like the NYK fans because Linsanity happened in NY. I doubt most of them saw beyond the highlights and probably listened to all the people say he is just a fluke. Like the nyk bloggers pointed out, when something like this happens to another team, u want that player to fail and find ways to criticize his game. ( source: well always have Linsanity). This is the environment Lin came into and it didn't help that Morey and McHale instituted a system that goes away from his strengths.
DeleteI know people hate the comparisons, but Tebow was in a similar situation. The jets brought him with empty promises, but never placed him in a position to succeed. It's borderline criminal what they did to him. He has become an after thought as well as Lin. The difference between Lin and Tebow is that Lin can play as a starting pg.
Sorry HY that u won't get to see Lin tonight. I hope your trip otherwise was fun. But this entire season, I felt like it was a risk to go see play because u never know if he will play long. Hope at least it's a fun game to watch.
Thanks, psalm234 & Solidz75.
DeleteThis is a special trip for me - get to witness JL's very first playoff, said hi to JL's parents (come to think of it, I should have shown them my poster of "Hi from jeremylin.net" to let them the best wishes coming from this forum).
This is still a great season for JL and all of us fans, I am so glad and grateful for the admins and all contributors of this site, I've learned a lot, though I did invested too much emotionally, I need to learn from you guys how not to be affected by any win or loss (especially loss, of course).
Come back to Rox's next playoff! Will be much better I think.
DeleteBrent: not sure if I will do it again next year, especially if next season the same old story happens again - I.e. JL not THE PG more, bad sub, bad game plan, no trust/respect from coaches/teammates, e.t.c.
Delete@HY, true, that sucked.
DeleteHy, you are truly a Linatics ! Love your passion and keep the faith. How cool for Jlin parents to greet and spend time talking to you... It shows how down to earth they are as people and is reflected in their sons ie humble and no pretention.
DeleteJeremy, It's your turn tonight. You better take a big dosage of paint Killer before the game. Please don't follow any game plan that McFail give to you. Just do your thing. Just once in a life time won't kill you. The victory will shut him up. The Linsanity 2.0 miracle trip will start tonight. Right here, right now.
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ReplyDeleteI expect the Rockets to give Harden-Lin another try in the 2nd year with more offseason practices and experience playing together before they give up on Lin being the second PG behind Harden.
ReplyDeleteIf anything, the Harden/Lin/Parsons had been a pleasant surprise this year to get 45 wins when only 22-28 wins were expected. And this was with PPat, TD got traded mid-season. So it's too soon for the Rockets to give up on Lin when he was one of main contributors to get 45 wins.
But it's also good to be realistic that the Rockets might see Lin's role as secondary PG behind Harden not working out and look into the trade possibility before the trade deadline, especially if it lands them the All-Star big man that they covet.
Also if Lin's marketing power is not in play, Les would be more okay with trade possibility.
So I see it as a win-win scenario.
1. If Lin stays, he'll get better and be more dangerous after learning how to play off Harden. We can see how his stats got better in monthly basis during the season. That was impressive to improve when he's not the main ball-handler.
2. If Lin got traded, he might be the main focus on opposing defenses but he'll flourish the true PG to leverage his strength.
So I see no causes to worry or fret for Lin. Ignore the clueless haters in twitter world and Rockets forum.
He's just like the US financial companies and auto industry during the bailout period in 1998 financial crisis. "He's already too big to fail".
The difference is Lin has worldwide impact and teams now know Lin is the real deal. Anyone who can attack the basket and get FTs have a place in the NBA.
Yup, the future is bright for JLin. We just have to be patient and wait for it to arrive. Linsanity was not a fluke, but just a preview for things to come.
DeleteYeah, other teams already saw the evidence that JLin is not a flash in the pan by playing full 82 games, got several big games (Spurs, Knicks) behind the shadows of Harden and most importantly shows he's a constant threat to attack the basket despite any game plans teams designed around him
DeleteAlso the Rockets couldn't pull out a close win in the past 2 games despite the great comeback. So people can argue that the Rockets couldn't win a close game without a healthy Lin.
Rockets could have a 2-1 lead if a healthy Lin played in the last 2 games!
Well, people are actually arguing that the Rockets couldn't come back at all with Lin on the court, which is absolutely ridiculous. But anyway, his future is bright indeed. Love to see how summer training will improves him.
DeleteBrent, we know those people were revisionist history because Lin played well in the 1st half of Game 2 before he got injured. So we can safely ignore the haters :)
DeleteThere was no reason to conclude he won't be part of the comeback by being triple-threat to attack the basket with Harden and Bev.
Yeah, Lin will continue to improve and got better as Doc outlined the next phase would be. Floaters and "Crouching Tiger" shooter's stance as part of the new arsenal!
Brent Yen, a lot of players became net negative when limited by injury, not just Lin. I can't see Lin could help any team when he couldn't even drive. Don't be so sensitive.
Delete@Cara, I understand, I am just replying on what psalm234 said. Like you said, their opinion worth nothing.
Delete@psalm234, the improvement of Lin is always what I wanted to see the most.
Brent what did you do to cara, why is she always trying to pick a fight with you?
DeleteKEVIN DURANT TO RST MORE IN GAME 4
ReplyDeleteIt's not up to them
DeleteWithout KD, the Rox is going to run them out of Houston.
He is so scrawny I always wonder how he doesn't get hurt more often.
DeleteThey want to go for a gentleman's sweep.
DeleteI wanted to see GSmith back roaring and howling.
ReplyDeleteI want to see him using his fouls effectively.
Punish the Thunders for what they have done.
Quite a sad season. It's obvious that McHale doesn't believe in Lin whatsoever. But I don't see Les moving Lin either, due to economics (Asia market). So pretty much Lin is stuck in Houston for 2 more years.
ReplyDeleteBeverley,Harden,Garcia,Parson,Asik? What a terrible small,turnoverprone and selfish Lineup... is McHell even dumber than i thought???Well i dont really give a fuck anymore.Just hope Lin gets some playing time and if not, well so be it. Get the F*** out of Houston anyway. If not for McHell then for Mr.Turnover ugly Face. Guess who that is
ReplyDeleteJEREMY LIN'S PRESENCE IN THE NBA PLAYOFFS BOOSTS VIEWERSHIP AND MERCHANDISE SALES IN CHINA
ReplyDeleteIf the nba was smart, they should take this opportunity to ensure Lin succeeds. Asian hero worship is like no other.
DeleteNow this doesn't mean giving him unfair advantage but at least have the refs protect him. The way they don't call fouls on Lin is criminal. If anyone deserves superstar treatment, it would be Lin. Stern a d silver are freaking morons!
I think the NBA would much rather see Lin fail... so they can market the Black athletes the same way they do to America.
DeleteHaving an Asian superstar outshine the likes of Lebron and Kobe, would threaten their image as idols.
NBA is stupid to not "Ride Lin like the Secretariat" like D'Antoni did.
DeleteReally stupid. I like how even Stern has admitted there was prejudice against Lin.
From a business standpoint I'd make sure Lin has all he needs to succeed, the mistreatment and injuries Lin is suffering impacts viewership. I don't even feel the urge to tune in to watch Lin because I know he'll be unfairly treated by coaching or other players or racist refs, and especially if I know he'll not be playing.
NBA is about to botch this opportunity for sure. Les is an idiot owner to not capitalize on this and just order his coaches to not be asses and treat Lin the way he deserves. But alas what can you do with this coach and this retarded system?
It can be seen as a battle between a young upstart against a HOFer...
Agreed Kenoshi. I feel no interest in watching the Rockets minus JLin. I'll go work out.
DeleteThey will lose my LP subscription for 2013. No longer interested in watching NBA games.
DeleteHarden has reached his limit in minutes and outcome.
DeleteJeremy is on the way up.
The team accommodates Harden at the expense of others and disrupt any emergence of teamwork. This style of coaching served to hurt Harden most.
In the games that Harden wasn't playing, the assertive PG had dominated the team and show flashes of leadership to close games and even wins.
What The Rox needs is a seasoned coach who could stand up to Morey in decision making regarding the team. The rest will take care of itself. Gracia have shown his money's worth and yet he had been paid to sit on the bench a lot. The choice of making the team predictable made the team vulnerable and hurt Lin the most. Playing him alongside Harden was eye-soring. Lin would learn and would improve on his game but Harden would be set on a self-destruction course in his ISO ball and playing no defense.
Adding a Dwight Howard would tend to add problems to the team. What the Rox needs is a solid team rather than superstars that further alienate players working as a team. Terrible organization and horrific management.
I fucking hope Lin buries McHale and harden next year with whichever team he is in. I can't wait to see him smoke Harden off the dribble and expose harden for the garbage player that he is.
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--why-did-the-jets-want-tim-tebow-in-the-first-place--152540803.html
ReplyDeleteWow, the above article shows how dysfunctional a pro sports franchise can be. I feel more sorry for Tebow than Lin. I wasn't a fan of Tebow, but the article made me his fan.
As a jets fan, I can tell u how badly the jets treated Tebow last season. They have essentially ruined his career and put a halt to everything he had going the year before.
DeleteAnd then they release at the most in opportune time. Truly upsetting to see.
Rex Ryan and the Jets should have been ashamed of themselves.
DeleteWhat has Tebow done badly for the Jets even when they went back on their word by not playing him when Sanchez struggled?
And to release him after the NFL draft so no other roster spots will be available for him? How cruel.
I hope free agents and players will despise Ryan and learn not to trust him from this Tebow treatment. If Tebow was so good in person but to be betrayed like this, what hopes are out there for other players to trust him and the Jets?
I don't feel sorry for Tebow at all, and I doubt he'd want anyone to feel sorry for him.
DeleteGood talent will always find a way to climb up.
Not feeling sorry, but angry at the way he was treated.
DeleteBig difference.
Like Sanchez had a good season, they should have let Tebow loose on a couple games at least.
Jets is a classless org. Draws a lot of parallels with Rockets...And the difference is Lin can ball and has great fundamentals. In that sense Rockets is worse than Jets.
It's such a shame that the Jets would do this to a young player. They used him as a marketing ploy/attention grabber at the beginning of the season and then stashed him away. He might not be a really good player, but I don't think they ever gave him a real chance to play. Anyways, I think that organization is a mess so it's good that Tebow could escape at least.
DeleteFrom a player development experience, the Tebow treatment is worse than Lin's.
DeleteNot being able to play at all can definitely ruin an athlete's career. If Lin only played 15 min/game, we'd all be hopping mad because the numbers would look bad.
In hindsight, Tebow should have gone to the Jags. It's better to try to shine in a bad team in small market than not being played in a bad team in big market.
Lin might learn the lesson that it's better to shine in a team where he's the true PG for his long-term development just like Kyrie Irving than staying behind Harden's shadow in the next 5-7 years.
To be honest, the article didn't make me a Tebow fan but I am rooting for him to do well somewhere else. I was happy with Lin's play this season but was disappointed with his one game (1st game) performance during playoffs. I know everyone sucked during that game, but still . . . He seemed to be on his way to play decently during 2nd game before he was injured. That just deflated my interest in watching NBA games. My wife is happy that I am no longer watching Rockets games though.
DeleteMight interest some~
ReplyDeleteAdrian Wojnarowski @WojYahooNBA
The NBA committees have voted no to relocation of Kings to Seattle, sources tell Y! Sports.
2:00 PM - 29 Apr 13
Good for sac. Their fans deserve their beloved team. Despite their crappy record year in and out, I've never seem a more committed fanbase.
DeleteUnlike these Rox fans who are as moronic as they come.
Sacramento fans have always supported their team. When the Seattle Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City, hardly anyone in Seattle raised an eyebrow.
DeleteHouston fans would riot if their football team was relocated. They don't give a damn about basketball, and even the ones that watch the games here and there will see the game through football logic.
Seattle deserves a team also. NBA should give a team to Seattle.
DeleteIt freakin' makes me LOL when Rockets fans on Clutchfans want to trade Jeremy Lin for a Mario Chalmers type shooting PG. So that Harden can have the ball in his hands ALL the time and be the playmaker.
ReplyDeleteAs if all the Harden turnovers and missed shots were the result of him not getting the ball enough.
Low basketball IQs worship ballhog.
DeleteHarden, as I've said many a time on this site: SUCKS DONKEY BALLS. He is the worst! Still praying he slips on a banana before game time!!!
DeleteJust canceled my League Pass subscription by changing active account to inactive. Saved myself $170. They didn't provide a line to explain the reason for my cancelation. If they did, I would have wrote down "Because Lin doesn't get to play a PG in Rockets, so it's no fun watching Rockets."
ReplyDeletehttp://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/04/29/courageous-collins-breaks-barrier/
ReplyDeleteA dumb question. If his identical twin brother is not gay, doesn't this void an argument that being gay is based on genetics and therefore unchangeable? I ask this question because I heard many people say this. I don't know what research shows. Not trying to offend in any way, but just trying to find out.
Also, what do people think of Lin tweeting that he is for this guy coming out? It might create some controversy among Christians, but might be a courageous (or unnecessary?) stand for Lin to take.
DeleteI would love for Jeremy to show support for this courageous athlete. In some ways, both of them are being /will be subjected to the same bigotry and hostilities bc of their differences. Jeremy's support would highlight the ChrIstian ideals of love, respect, and inclusion.
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DeleteI actually think it funny that this coming out is considered "courageous". In some way, he is being courageous, but in another way, he's just being who he is, and the society has changed a lot, so that I am not sure if this is being "courageous". He is what he is. At least, he can hide to others (not to yourself) being gay; you can't hide different skin colors.
DeleteA very good question if being gay is genetic, eb.
DeleteAs far as I know, they haven't found the gay gene yet.
What I learned so far is there are many studies on the root causes of same-sex attraction (dominant mother figure/abusive father figure, sexual abuse, etc.) based on common patterns. Here is an example of one Catholic psychologist's book on the subject.
For Christians, it's a tricky issue because God defines homosexuality as sin BUT calls Christians to love the person. So it would be the same challenge for Lin to show that he abhors discrimination/abuse/bullying for gays (i.e. Matthew Shepard's death in 98) but at the same time disagree with gay marriage.
Tolerance used to mean that you can tolerate different opinions but now it means you have to agree and accept the ideas. In a way, the US culture is not tolerant on Christianity belief in this matter.
There is a good book on a journey of Chinese gay son (who later became Christian) and his mother to understand more about Christianity and homosexuality.
It would be a big challenge for Lin to voice love/person for Jason Collins against any gay discrimination/abuse but at the same time disagree about gay marriage being a discrimination.
In a truly tolerant world, discussion would be welcomed and tolerated. Labeling a dissenting opinion as hate is truly intolerant.
Kauaiblue, not that I am against showing support for gay people of any color, but I personally do not like the argument or an assertion that minorities should show support for gay people because we are different colors. I personally have no problem against gay people mainly because I believe people should have freedom to pursue their own happiness as long as they do not impinge on mine, which leads me to ask: "Are KKKs against gay people also, or are they just against gay person of different colors than their own?"
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