Well guys, a long season has ending. Certainly a lot of growing pains, frustrations etc… But there is one thing we can be certain. God willing Lin is just going to come out better next season. He is a hard worker and I know he already has a list of every thing he needs to work on. This was just the test. Next one will be better. I just hope the Rockets keeps most of the players in the team. We just need a good PF but I think we can develop one in Terrence Jones and Robinson. But I really hope they just use Free Agency no trades. We have a good core team.
Don't put your faith in the wrong place like this damn Rockets team or any other deity known to man. The perception is already set there. We can only hope Lin going to a better place
Eikki we learn in the toughest circumstances in life and thats where we see Gods strenght displayed in our lives. On the surface it might have seemed bad but deep down at the end it will help. In some ways I think this season showed Lin all his weaknesses and now he can work on those to become a more complete player.
I remember Rox won against OKC during regular season when Westbrook played and Rox actually won in playoffs game 4 and 5 ... but the reason they won is not PB played good but just Westbrook didn't play. PB and AB played good but this is not sensational or magical like some people talk about that.
Even though Westbrook wasn't playing after game #3, I attribute the Rockets win in game 4 & 5 more to luck. A team cannot win consistently on luck, although luck is needed too.
In this game #6, Lin played only 13 minutes and didn't play the entire 4th quarter, so they can't blame Lin for their loss.
Lin came in for Beverley with 3:24 left in the 3rd when the Rockets lead was 5 points. By the end of 3rd quarter, the Rockets trailed by 1 point. But guess what? Garcia, who was a starter tonight - and is a much better and seasoned player than Anderson - played with Lin for just 67 seconds before Anderson replaced Garcia (who you play with affects +/-).
Therefore, the Rox started the 4th trailing by just 1 point. From 5:30 to go in the 4th until 49 seconds left, the Rox were consistently trailing by between 13 to 15 points. They trailed by 14 points with just 49 seconds left.... The Thunder allowed Beverley to pad 2 more points with 49 seconds left and Parson to have another 3-point shot with 18 seconds left.
Beverley played 33 minutes but he had ZERO ASSIST !!!! (He was 4 for 11 shooting.... 8 points, 0 assist, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 to, 0 block).
Also. I really hope Lin traded to Dalls. Rox coaches and fans are much worse than Knicks' fans. At least Knicks' fans knew how to appreciate and support the point guard who led the team to playoffs.
Unotelly is a really cheap and convenient service. For $3.99 a month, you get to watch all the games with your LP package. It's really easy to set up and use.
Ok guys remember when Jlin was on the knicks and we were all saying "I hope Jlin get's traded to _______ team" or "I'm glad Jlin is getting traded to the Rockets"
Then look how Jlin was treated in Houston. How do we know that if Jlin gets traded again it will be a better situation for him?
Of course there's no certainty. However, I am absolutely disgusted with the Houston fanbase, moreso than any other. I have never witnessed worse fans, trolling their own players and wishing physical harm on him. It's beyond rational criticism. One can only hope for a better situation because at this point it's pretty much hit rock bottom.
I dislike the lack of teamwork between Harden and Lin, and I think it's Harden not moving off the ball. If you watch GSW, Curry, Thompson, Jack they all move. Jack has minor ISO tendencies, but he's no so damaging as Harden when he's not making it work.
I think the best place for him to be as far as fans goes is to be an diverse race population like California. Texas is not a good place for him to be in too many anti Asians there.
I remember being in a church retreat will the majority of the people I was with was Texans. There was like only 3 Asians to 200 Texans. I didn't get a very welcome vibe from them at all.
That's because Harden is trying real hard to be the SUPER STAR NBA Player. Which he's not, he still lacks the mentality of a NBA Super Star like Durant & LBJ. Who knows that they can't succeed and get to the promise land unless they trust their teammates, move off the ball, and play team ball.
Harden thinks he's a combo guard who has elite PG talent. He's an average to below average PG and a good SG.
Lin wouldn't fit with GSW, because they're all about the 3 ball as well.
Lin would need to be in a team that will build a team around him. A team that will use him as their main play maker.
I never wanted Lin in HOU but i'm not delusional in thinking that he'd be better on a different team next year either. The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Lin will get better. THis is the only he can control.
"Then look how Jlin was treated in Houston. How do we know that if Jlin gets traded again it will be a better situation for him?"
True, there's no guarantee. But it's pretty certain that with McHale (who views Lin as a scrub) and Harden (who is viewed as a "Kobe" by the team and himself) around, Lin (or any PG) will never be able to play a real PG position (being the initiator and distributor). And a good portion of the fanbase hates him (as a player). You're talking about an unselfish player who plays hard every game, plays hard on defense, finished the year 44% fg, 34% 3pt, 13.4 pts, 6.1 ast, 2.1 ast/to, why would you hate on that? So it's likely that a team who wants to trade for Lin would be a better situation for him.
"Ok guys remember when Jlin was on the knicks and we were all saying 'I hope Jlin get's traded to _______ team' or 'I'm glad Jlin is getting traded to the Rockets'"
No. I was never a fan of Lin going to the Rockets, I wanted the Knicks to sign him to a solid contract. Of course we all wished Woodson to feature Lin more, but Lin had it pretty good in NY: he was the undisputed best guard on a good team and had a loyal fanbase. I hate the stupid NBA salary cap rules that allowed Morey to exploit a loophole and made it very difficult for the Knicks to match (of course, Dolan still should have matched, even just based on business/marketing reasons, what a fool). I felt that Morey didn't actually want Lin, he was just screwing over the Knicks (thinking they would match), while appearing to Les that he was making a very strong attempt for Lin.
Lin needs to go to the Cali or any west coast teams because at least the fans will protect him. Houston was a big bust because Morey, Mchale and media conspired to fan disinformation on Lin and the fans eat it up. The fans were never supportive of Lin.
Mchale and Morey set up the dynamics in which Harden and Lin became rivals instead of teamates. That is the sad part of this dumb franchise is that they had the oppertunity to create a duo of epic proportion with Harden and Lin, just like Westbrook and Durant. Mchale and Morey chose instead to protect their own self interest by making every effort to prove Lin a failure instead.
It is true that Lin would most likely still face bad coaching else where, but in a better multi ethnic environment like Frisch, la, NY, Toronto, Chicago...Lin at least will be accepted by the home crowd for what he brings to the court and not made to appear a failure at every oppertunity. Damn it, Lin is a rookie starter! How many starters don't have ups and downs or inconsistencies?
For fans like solidz75 who is so caught up in the moment with their own negativity, I can only remind everyone that Lin started this year as a fluke, a D leaguer, a scrub, an overpaid hype and finally an average starting PG. with all the negativity, deliberate marginalization by the coaches, GM, home town media, ESPN, and ungrateful fans, Lin has improved...and like it or not, Lin still has a guaranteed $25 mil contract. Lin just needs to become a better shooter than Harden and wrestle the team away from his grasp. If he learns to post up and shoot lights out, take his 15-20 shots and put up 20-25 ppg, Lin will make use of his time in Houston for his own benifit and screw this franchise at the same time. Take the money to develop your own game Lin and forget trying to help this useless piece of trash club, and then come back to Houston a few years later and stick it to Mchale, Morey and these unappreciative fans.
Ety - yep, you can't USB plug Lin back into GSW now. He's too expensive for all the basketball moves that would have to happen. I agree with you about Harden's tendencies, and yep on his avg PG skills. Way too many TOs in clutch, and even 2 set of 2 misses on FTs last game and this.
But, on the 3s ... Lin has decent 3s stats. But on GSW, you see Curry scoot into the corner and make his 3s, and KT can get hot. Barnes was great this first series. So replacing Jack would give Curry more creative ways to receive. Jack had so many key TOs I was just wishing for Lin in his place, and then I started to see it in my mind's eye as I watched the games. Check it out ... if Lin were Jack, how would that look?
@Bob CF ... Lin will go down Doc's list, and if he gets even just the 3 improved, added with his floater, he's going to look like Curry pretty fast. And no one can doubt Curry is a force after this amazing 3rd Q runs. Next year will be fun! Enjoyed your posts this year.
I can definitely see your point of view if Jlin was in JJack's role. I'm just worried that if he was sent back to GSW and replaced JJack, that M.Jackson the coach will have the McHale type confidence in Jlin to the extent that Jlin will be mistreated again.
But if Jlin did get to play the PG role in GSW while Curry & Thompson played the wings, it would definitely open up the paint for Jlin drives and kick outs. Andrew Bogut would probably have a season high Career and Barnes would probably look like Sophmore of the year.
Ety, I've been listening to Jackson's post game interviews on the radio, and I think he's a straight talking guy who supports his players. He really had a good bit about the game where Curry lit up Denver in Q3, and he said he was almost going to bench Curry for good for a bad first half. When he pulled Curry, the reporters asked what Curry said. Jackson said something like ... you know, the Curry thing with half raised arm and "but coach!". Then Jackson said, "I had to put him back in because I needed him" and his affection in his voice was great.
So, I'm over the hump with Jacko. He holds his guys accountable, and his team is peaking now instead of collapsing.
Anyway, it's a fantasy and now every time I watch Jack, I see Lin and wish he were there and I can see the plays Jack is not making that Lin would. But yeah, Jack is more physically aggresive.
My top picks for Lin next year. This sucks he has to keep finding new teams but it has to be done for his growth and fans.
1. Lakers - may dominate and Lakers are suddenly primetime act again with either Pau or Howard staying in LA 2. Mavs - with Dirk will be a top 4 team in West 3. Jazz - may surprisingly be a top 5 team and more possibly 4. Orlando - fringe playoff team with Lin
My dream would be that Lin replaces Jack on GSW, but that is not possible. I would think Lin, Steph, Thompson, and Barnes with Bogut and Lee on the inside would be unbeatable. Keep your eye on these guys going forward. I dunno if GSW matched up well with Spurs, but that's going to be my series next week.
1. Denver Nuggets (trade with Ty Lawson) great coach, great team work, great home court, OK to good talent 2. Utah Jazz (trade with Mo Williams) great front court but questionable coach 3. Orlando Magic (trade with Jameer Nelson) good young talent and front court but questionable coach
I like your Denver Nuggets pick Rikki. Because they're not about the 3 ball in that team. It's all about ball movement and team ball. They also have a great coach.
But the Rockets won't be interested with Ty Lawson since Lawson isn't a great 3 point shooter. I'm not sure about Gallinari's contract, but the Rockets would probably be more interested in him. Maybe the Rockets can do a 3 team trade with another team, where Ty Lawson goes to the 3rd team, Jlin & Parsons goes to Denver, Gallinari goes to Rockets.
Pick #2 Utah Jazz is the ideal situation for Jlin. But yes you're right a questionable coach indeed. If that coach didn't even utilize their best young player Gordon Hayward the right way, then how do we expect the Coach to treat Jlin. Also the fan base their is iffy too, I'm not sure how Utah peeps like Asians.
The only ideal basketball situation for Lin in the NBA is on San Antonio while Duncan doesn't retire.
San Antonio is the only team in the entire NBA that truly plays team basketball. They pass to the open guy, make their cuts, and play great team defense (BAD individual defenders outside of Tim Duncan).
But see, I firmly believe that San Antonio is only good for Lin while Tim Duncan is coaching the team on the floor. The instant Duncan retires, it'll be Iso-Popovich and endless dumbass screamathons at Lin for not playing defense and not playing team basketball.
Lin should just continue to work on his game and play winning basketball. NBA superstars simply have more ability to outwork other players, and Lin has that trait all the way. Let the GMs and owners figure out how to deal with a WINNER like Lin.
@brent - as per Arena, the cost is still under price deliberation of sponsors. btw just some tidbits, Yao Ming's team Shanghai Sharks will hold an exhibition game vs one of our local professional basketball teams and Jeremy's friend, Jerome Jordan, is officially an import of the team Talk and Texters. he's the starting center.
I remember back in July when everyone on this board was jumping for joy that the Rockets signed Jeremy Lin. Thinking he would become the next best thing since Yao. Where is that joy now ?
What happens? He becomes a marginalized player, shut out from his own team, no support from local fans, referees let him get fouled hard without a whistle .... His situation is worse now, after leaving the Knicks.
ABC ... I'm good with this season. He had great stats, great finish except for this injury, and his knee is way better than that of Rose and Shump.
The Mchale, Haren drama was tiring, so that's what's gotta go. Watching GSW this past 2 weeks, I was surprised how little drama that team has. They play as a team, and nobody is so selfish it causes the team to lose. Jackson talked well of his players every interview.
So, a better set of star teammates, a better coach ... Lin's business team will know how to get this done.
The rockets signing Lin was a double edged sword. Yes, he got his chance during the regular season, but now that he is being marginalized, he can't easily be traded because of his contract. Teams think he would cost too much so it'll be hard for him to be moved to teams like LA.
Not everyone here was "jumping for joy" when Lin joined the Rockets.
Although I thought the Rockets situation would still be positive for Lin - at the time it appeared Lin would have undisputed freedom, control, and leadership of the team as Rockets PG on a young team with low expectations - I recognized the Knicks PG position, especially with the great potential of the G/F combo with Anthony, Kidd's mentorship, and Woodson's savvy handling, and over-all situation was tailor-made for Lin. Whatever personal drama may or may not have been there, the structural make-up of the Knicks served Lin.
When the Rockets gave Lin an offer he couldn't refuse and too rich for the Knicks to match, Lin lost the best setting in the NBA for him to grow into his stardom for the next 1-2 seasons.
That's not to say this was a lost season. Lin played the full season, established himself as a competent starting PG, and got his feet wet in the play-offs. Right now, Lin is essentially in the same place as he would have been had he finished out last season playing hurt and then limped his way through the Heat blow-out of the Knicks in the 1st round.
However, watching the less talented Felton succeed in what should have been Lin's position, it's easy to project that Lin would have better off with the Knicks.
I wasn't one of them. At the time, I was very disappointed that the Knicks didn't re-sign him. At the time, I viewed the Rockets as a cellar rebuilding team. I thought Lin would not play as well as last year because he wouldn't have as talented players around him compared to the Knicks. Lin is not a solo superstar player like Kobe, he is a team player PG who makes his teammates better.
Come on Lin has the best chance to grow where he can work on his weaknesses in the rockets. Harden is simply a shooter with no sense of moving the team. He will have the ball and hold on to it for the teammates to move. He can't make things happen.
Lin is going to be better with the experience this season. He will learn how to protect himself better in this league. It's good that the season ends now and he can start working without all those publicity. He can be himself again.
But I seriously doubt any team would actually take him and play him as a starter. I don't know of any team that would let him start after a marginal showing in the playoffs at best.
You can call it bad luck or whatever, but general perception is Lin did not contribute at all in the playoffs.
While I wish he could go somewhere, Lin's best hope of a starting position is with the Rockets right now.
I know KHuang. Not pointing it out as if Lin is a bad shot, just playing gimped by injury and no set plays so he creates by himself off expiring shot clocks.
If I was Lin I'd be calling Rox/Harden's bs out in the media by now. But then again that's Lin for you.
Well said, @Etymology. @k.smith, sadly what we think does not matter. at the end, it is still the same group of ppl who ignore him years ago will decide.
If you just take stats at face value, Lin and a host of other players would be dropped from teams and you end up with Hardens, Kobes, Melos and stat padders.
I had posted a note last game that Mchale should look across the floor and see how Durant was lost without Westbrook that his ISO was killing the team. I also mentioned that in order for OKC to win Durant has to empower his teammates, make them feel responsible, make them own up to there inner potentials. The last 2 losses by OKC, Durant hogged the ball and scored close to 40 ppg but at a cost. Tonight, kmartin stepped up and made the difference.
Durant is a supper star, but that star was made shinier by Westbrook, the master of chaos. Without Westbrook, Durant went Harden ISO and brought his team down. Lin is also the master of chaos, but Morey and Mchale locked him away, frozen him out and made harden believe that Lin was a threat to him. It's too bad, but harden has been spoiled into a diva of epic porportion now. I hope that they do get cp3 in the off season, because Harden deserves to sulk in obscurity a bit.
I have missed many games this season and have had to watch most of the games retroactively.
However, I was glad I watched THIS game. I LOVED Lin's game!
I saw a young man FEARLESSLY step up on both ends, playing bonecrushing defense as a one man defensive trap and trying desperately to run an actual team offense. Lin put his injured body right into the line of fire and made PLAYS. On defense, he was absolutely unbelievable as an individual.
Now the Rockets? That's the WORST I've seen them play with Jeremy Lin. They simply GAVE UP when he was in the game. All of those loser Rockets teammates were begging him for the ball when he was in the game, but nobody was willing to cut to the ball or play defense because they were all conserving energy for offense. Even Francisco Garcia who I normally adore was LOAFING today besides Lin, and that really disappointed me.
Lin is such a great team player on both ends of the court that it actually HURT the team when he came in. Harden and Parsons get their clean passes and court space from Lin, and that leads to more selfish bricks and turnovers from those two SCRUBS. The bench players get all happy knowing that they can cherrypick off Lin's passes, so they stop defending and stop cutting and start BEGGING for Lin to feed their sorry loafing asses.
To me, Lin would've had a lot more points and assists and team stops if guys simply played their roles when he stepped on the court. Guys should be cutting and defending and passing HARDER with Lin in the game, not softer.
This game proved to me that Lin ABSOLUTELY can play with full playoff poise. I know that sounds weird in light of his bad boxscore, and I'll even let people fire trollish criticism at me because I know I am not in agreement with people. But Lin was the hero of this game to me, the only Rocket who had the POISE to keep playing team basketball when the going got rough.
I am completely happy with Lin's game and feel that he's got a GREAT future in the NBA. This guy is a WINNER!
I simply don't understand where you are seeing that the Rockets gave up with Lin on the floor?
Also calling Harden and Parsons scrubs is not true. You know this. Parsons had a great series and is arguably the series mvp for the rockets. He is also getting paid very little relatively compared to the other players.
This is game 6 of the playoffs, all of the players want to win. Sometimes the shots don't fall. Doesn't mean they don't want to win.
The Rockets were intense on defense with Beverley in the game because they were constantly watching him get beaten by Reggie Jackson.
When Lin entered the game, the Rockets relaxed because Lin was more than capable of staying with his man. This led to several easy passes that resulted in lightly contested OKC scores, and that's why the Rockets quickly lost the lead when Lin entered the game.
Harden got LIT UP today on defense, as did Parsons. I will forgive Kevin Durant just shooting over people for his 30, but I can't stomach Kevin Martin coming off the bench against Harden and Parsons and OUTSCORING HIS SEASON'S AVERAGE in one half! Add the turnovers and bricks and selfish play and it's UGLY.
I'll forgive Parsons play because he's a minimum contract player gunning for his new deal. I regard him as Steve Novak with a dribble, although Steve Novak is actually vastly superior to Parsons on defense and in team play. Still, that's not winning basketball when Parsons is being lit up and when he's selfishly gunning for shots even if he makes a few of them when the game isn't on the line.
Now Harden? His selfish play, bricks and turnovers, and zero defense are KILLING the Rockets. That's SCRUB play to me, when a leading man is playing so poorly that it's killing his own team.
Guys want to win, but that doesn't mean they want to HUSTLE. When Lin comes in the game, players can't stop cutting and banging and chasing guys around just because they expect Lin to cover for their leaky asses. If anything, those loafing players should be hustling HARDER when Lin's in because Lin will happily guys that hustle to get to spots!
Good points that you made.I agree with them expect on Parsons.
Parsons is vastly superior then Novak in just about every category except for 3pt shooting. Novak is one of the best in the league so that needs to be put into consideration.
Not sure if you know, but Parsons always guards the best player on the other team. He is the teams best defender. He guarded Dirk, Durant, Lebron, etc. Prior to this game Durant never shot about 50% against Houston. Novak is an extreme liability on defense. He is the Knicks worst defender by far.
Parsons was a better defender last year, but he never shot as much so carry a higher offensive load hurt his defense a little.
No way Novak can do the above. All he does is shot the 3, although he is good at it. Parsons is more versatile, he can pass better, cut to the basket, dunk and so forth.
He took some bad shots this game, but the majority were good open shots. After he had his hot streak in this game he didn't get the ball passed to him anymore in the 4th which I didn't like.
With all that being said I am hopeful that Lin will make the adjustments this offseason to become a much better player.
Parsons has been getting LIT UP all season by EVERYBODY he faces.
When a nobody like Wes Johnson can take the ball right at Parsons or a slow journeyman like Jared Dudley throw Parsons with a simple headfake en route to a double figure scoring quarter, that's BAD DEFENSE.
The problem with Parsons on defense is that he's always out of position. He's so busy thinking about offense that he's never in the right spot with the right stance. Parsons simply doesn't get STOPS.
Ironically, Steve Novak is a statistically ELITE defender. Because black NBA guys get so excited against Novak, they fire horrible shots against Novak that have no chance of going in. This was covered in a truehoop statistical analysis, and it corroborates my eye test that told me that Novak was actually an AVERAGE defender in the NBA at worst.
Novak also does something that Parsons does not do. Novak CUTS without the basketball, and that spaces the court. Parsons simply waits in a stationary spot or crowds his own teammates on the perimeter. This because Parsons has neither the body control nor elevation to attack the rim and shoot over people the way Jeremy Lin does.
Parsons has not gotten lit up by everybody he faces. Look at the numbers. Look at synergy stats for points per possession when chandler is not in.
Opposing teams score on avg 2.6 more points per game when Parsons is not on the floor. My point is, Parsons is not a bad defender, he guards the opposing teams scorers every time.
Novak is not an elite defender by any measurement. He is not quick enough, of course that is not his fault.
Parsons can absolutely cut without the basket, in fact he is better at it. Sometimes when he tries drive toward the rim with the ball he a TO.
As far as body control or elevation I think Lin is much better than Parsons. But Parsons can definitely shot the ball over people. He has done it the entire season.
@KHuang - I love your emphatic style that will's a change in point of view, and then I think about it and it is true.
Jlin fan ... consider some of what KHuang says as stylized truths, and then the framework may or may not sit. If it does, then the details don't matter, it's the wisdom of a true point of view and a decent framework. If it doesn't sit well, then sure your rebuttals are good.
For me, Parsons gets wild (out of control play) and selfish sometimes. He contributed to the OKC run this game by going for some shots he shouldn't have. To me, Lin makes physical mistakes, as does any player with a stat line. Parsons makes poor choices AND physical mistakes. Harden too.
Sorry Jlin fan, but you totally missed that truehoop statistical article on Novak.
He's ELITE in isolation defense, according to the numbers. That's why Lin won so many games with Novak on the court despite facing guys like Pau Gasol.
Now if you choose to willfully disregard the stats, we cannot discuss this further. Once a myth has been statistically DEBUNKED, I can only point to the numbers after I've stated my case.
When Parsons is not on the floor, his replacement is usually Carlos Delfino who's often getting scored on because McHale assigns him to defend a battleship power forward that Delfino can't guard. Also, Harden swings over to guard the SF and that results in SCRUBS like no fame no game PJ Tucker scoring 20+ against Harden while Parsons sits.
Parsons at 6'9" can jump shoot over people, but he can't drive the ball into the lane and take a hit and STILL score. This is why Parsons generally doesn't dribble drive for baskets in the lane. Parsons just can't take the hits on the ground or in the air, unlike Lin who gets bashed like he's an NFL player. Harden can't really take the hits either, and that's why Harden's shooting percentages are lower than Lin's.
Can't wait for to see how Jlin improves next season. I think shooting is his major weakness. Fortunately it is something that has a clear path for improvement via hard work.
The Parsons love is over the top, it's ridiculous. If he's a star player, like the media/homer fans say that he is, then he should be able to play both sides of the ball. He didn't do that this year. He cannot consistently create for himself or his teammates; most of his shots were assisted (before the season ended, I read a comment on CNM's site that said he was assisted on 75% of his shots...that's a lot). But this is also a reason why he's a good player. He plays off the ball and normally doesn't need the ball like Lin/Harden to score. His play compliments "superstar" players bc he is so effective w/o the ball.
When he plays within himself and doesn't try to play point forward, he's a good player.
No one says Parsons is a star player, at least not sensible people.
What do you mean by both sides of the ball? He contributes by playing defense and also offense by shooting to space the floor in addition to occasional cuts.
The reasons why Parsons is good, is that he fits this team style of offense so well and thats all the Rockets need. It is tailored made to his strengths.
You said it perfect when you say he compliments superstar players. Every team needs players like that.
As far as not creating his own shots, he doesn't have too. Harden almost always draws a double team when he drives into the lane. This leaves someone open and Parsons takes advantage.
Not very many players in the NBA can create their own shots on a consistent basis so I find this critique a bit unfair. He is a 2nd round pick and has played far beyond expectations.
@JLin Fan ... thanks. I sometimes just say what I think because so many people here write good things that I don't think I need to back up what I think because the stats are all out there, as are opinions. I tend to see the game flows more, which is why on this post game thread, I agreed with Bob CF Chan in that I too saw KD take that first game loss by being the only guy on offense. You could see the panic at one point when he realized he couldn't do it himself. I intuitively thought after 2 losses, this game would be different, and so as Bob CF and others pointed out, Kmart made the difference. I just wonder why McHale didn't know it before me, and plan for it. Maybe he did with the JLin insertion, but I'm not sure he managed the game flow too well.
That and the poor FT % by HOU that would have extended the lead and given them more strength to hold off the charge like last game. So, that's just from my gut.
I like it when KHuang steps up because he backs it up with facts if challenged. I don't have that bbiq and stats mind, so I don't try. I don't see half the things some of you guys see on this blog, and that's why I like reading the stuff here.
@KHuang ... I like what you say about Parson's not having the drive option to score And1s on contact. Now I see why he does that dump pump fake so much ... it's not fooling anyone. It's so stiff you know it's a fake. Not to harp on him, because he's a good role player - just saying he's not the 2nd option in my book.
Don't get defensive, I didn't say he sucked. I said he was a good player and you, yourself said he wasn't star player.
He's overrated by HOU fans because he's homegrown (top 5 SF) and he benefits from having guys like Harden/Lin (yes, even Lin draws double teams, shocking right?) on the court.
Like i've been saying all season, this system is perfect for him. He's gotten multiple opportunities to play through his mistakes and has 100% confidence/trust from the coach. If you're a real Lin fan, you know how important that trust is. Lin mentioned it multiple times during his time under D'antoni.
JLin fan, we have another case of "NBA speak" clouding my semantics.
That's when my decades of watching the NBA has me talking in the same terminology that NBA personnel use.
When I am talking about Parsons' inability to move without the basketball, I'm talking about his inability to go down low, seal his man off with a post up, and make power moves once he catches the ball. I'm also talking about Parson's inability to flex cut into the paint, which is a related maneuver. We've all seen Parsons either get knocked off his path or be unable to elevate over interior shotblockers.
Because Parsons cannot "cut" (inside), he hovers on the perimeter and messes up the Rockets's spacing. If Parsons were able to cut inside by taking the hits and elevating over opponents, then the Rockets perimeter would be far less crowded due to Parsons spending a good amount of time inside. It's Parsons who as a small forward should be in the corner, not Lin!
Both of you make good points. To K.smith, I wasn't getting defensive what made you think that?
I agree that Mchale doesn't trust Lin as much as he should. With all of that being said though I think it's good that Lin can learn to play off the ball and shoot sometimes. It forces him to get better at his weakness.
I feel bad that Lin got injured because most casual sport fans only watch the playoffs and all they can see is the few games he hasn't played well in. He has fantastic games in the regular season. I was at the game and when there times where Lin was in towards the end when the crowd start chanting "we want brooks".
Even so, I am excited to see his growth next season with a full training camp with the team. He can only get better from here on out.
Wow. The crowd started chanting, "we want Brooks"?
Did Brooks have a quad injury? My question is, why are HOU fans such idiots? He couldn't contain Jackson, that's why he went to the bench...unless the fans thought our issues were on offense and we needed his scoring?
It was a brief chant and it wasn't really loud but you could hear it. I'm sure they meant no disrespect.
Brooks had a good season with the rockets plus a run in the playoffs against the Lakers when he was on the Rockets previously. I think that is the main reason.
Completely agree. You can't have a discussion without some sort of pure hatred being spewed from their foaming mouth, eager to insult Lin at every turn. They will always find a reason to blame him. During the game, they were even blaming him for not rebounding...shows how much they're willing to go out of their way to hate on Lin. I hope Lin leaves houston cause it sure looks like a shitty town for sports.
I actually lurked on CF for awhile, maybe a solid month...I added every troll to my ignore list who spewed hatred and racist slurs at Lin to see get a feel of the numbers. I think I have about 100+ people on ignore, so that speaks to the volume of rabid foaming-at-the-mouth haters in that cesspit.
Uhhhh, I actually kinda agree with Clutchfans in this case!
Lin DID mess up the team chemistry - by being a GREAT TEAM PLAYER.
When Lin stepped on the court, his teammates stopped cutting and stopped defending. They were content to catch their breath while watching Lin hustle. So in a weird way, Lin was indeed responsible for the poor Rockets team chemistry when he entered the game!
Now had Lin's teammates simply continued HUSTLING when Lin entered the game, the Rockets could've easily won this game. Lin had completely stopped the Thunder on defense and the Rockets could've easily shredded the defense had they made their customary cuts.
I am no Lin hater, but I do agree that the chemistry was terrible when Lin entered the game. It wasn't truly Lin's fault that his teammates PLAYED DEAD, however.
very few are actual fans that will root for everyone on the team. Criticism is fine as long as they're valid, but these fans redefine hate. From what I've seen, Lin is the only one that gets hated on for no good reason. Those that call themselves "real rockets fans" are fooling themselves putting their join date on a pedestal.
It was always the problem that how those guy w/o ball react to the situations. I do not think it was Lin's problem, but yes, team stopped moving when Lin was on the court. same happened when Harden got the ball in the 3rd and 4th quarters.
I am definitely not a Rocket's Fan. I hate the way they play as a team. I only watch the Rockets because of Jlin.
I've always been a Lakers fan, but they just haven't looked the same for a couple of years now.
As far as the playoffs goes I'm looking forward watching the OKC vs. Memphis matchup. I would love Memphis to win the series and face the Spurs which would make for an epic Western Conference Finals match up.
On the East, I think Indiana & New York will be a good match up.
I visit ClutchFans as well and I don't think you guys should get all riled up from what their fans say. Fans for teams on team fansites often post overly emotional stuff and most of the time are completely oblivious to what's going on in the rest of the NBA. I'm a diehard Lakers fan and visit lakersground.net often.
lol, if you think ClutchFans hate Lin you should see the hate Pau Gasol gets on LakersGround. Even though without Pau noway the Lakers sniff a single champion after Shaq left. They also worship the ground Howard walks on kinda how ClutchFans worship Harden.
This is just how team fansites work. I look at view at them for pure entertainment value. Very rarely do I actually get insightful content from them.
I think we understand that, some people here still go to CF for "info". I tends to go there in the beginning of this season. A lot of hatred, some supporters, some who does not care and an impatient Admin (kind of). No matter how good the "info" you got from there, I just found it never outweighs the stupidity and hatred I found there to me.
@Albinoswordfish - I hang out at lakersground myself. I didn't know there are so much stuff about Jeremy there until last year, as well as sniping of Jeremy fans vs doubters/haters.
Gasol is making A LOT of money and is a veteran player. I can see why Laker fans are hard on him. I don't understand the hate HOU fans have for Lin though. His role is that of a role player, he's not a max contract guy, and this was his first full year of starting.
Lin would be a great fit in Detroit. The Pistons usually are a hardnosed team that plays hard even if they lack in talent, and Lin fits right into that even though he has more talent than your typical Piston star.
However, Phil Jackson is doing his "Star Search" thing for owner Tom Gores of Detroit. So no Lin in Detroit.
Patrick Beverly played 34 minutes and had ZERO assists. The prior game he had 1 total assist in 35 minutes. This is NOT starting PG material. His flaws: - foul machine that puts his team in the penalty at least one quarter a game - not a floor general. Low assists, doesn't set his teammates up - Worse shooting% than Lin - POOR defensive player. Torched by Westbrook in games 1 and 2, then by Reggie Jackson in games 5 and 6. - He grabs rebounds but the flip side of this is he leaves defensive assignments for offensive rebounds, leading to a lot of easy opponent fast breaks the other way
It is really striking that for a guy whose BEST games (with very small sample size) aren't even better than Jeremy Lin's average game after 82 games, people were already saying he was as good as Lin 2 months ago and that there was no drop-off.
This is as classic a case as it gets as evidence of confirmation bias, unconscious prejudice, and having the "eye" test override actual production or facts. Jeremy Lin has faced this bulls*** his entire career which is why he had to overcome so much being the only HS player of the year in his state ever to receive ZERO D1 offers, undrafted, cut twice.
Lin faces barriers that all Asian Americans face. It's racist that Asian Americans have to be so much better in college admissions, or for promotions, than peers just because of their race.
Those people are simple minded and also don't understand that correlation does not equal causation. Just because A happens while B is present, doesn't mean B caused A. No use in arguing or even acknowledging idiots like those.
He can't make NBA reads or defend 3rd string point guards like slow uncreative Reggie Jackson who can't really dribble and doesn't have good court vision. Contrast that to Lin who sets up teammates and utterly handcuffed the very limited Reggie Jackson.
Aaron Brooks is a guy I've expected more out of. On the other hand, he's strictly a ball control stats pushing point guard who cannot thrive in a non point guard centric offense.
Patrick Beverley and Aaron Brooks have been getting exposed ALL YEAR, and I'm one of the few fans here who's noticed it from the start.
@k.smith that's a good question. I would assume that they will have more set plays for players. McHale can't use the same excuse he's been making all season long of "We're all new, everyone's new, everyon's playing a new role this year, most players are rookies...etc. etc. etc."
"How can your starting PG have 1 asst in game 5 and 0 in game 6?"
Because that is the ideal PG that the Rockets coaches want. Stand behind the 3 pt line and create space for Harden. Why do you think Lin get benched in 4th quarters?
Those two guys actually did try to run some quasi flex offensive set plays, which often involved their handing the ball off to a teammate up high as the first pass. But those guys never saw the ball again afterwards unless it was a bailout situation.
The reason Bev and Brooks and Lin have poor passing numbers is because they're not involved in the passing after they hand the ball off as the first move of their plays.
" The reason Bev and Brooks and Lin have poor passing numbers is because they're not involved in the passing after they hand the ball off as the first move of their plays."
That being said, it's amazing how Jlin managed to avg. 6.1 assists/gm this whole season know this fact. Just amazing!
That's why I regard Lin as a super elite talent who is limited only because he gets fewer touches than all other starting point guards and most bench point guards!
Although it has been a frustrating season, I was happy to see Jeremy stay relatively healthy and get some playoff experience. Have a great summer and good luck, Jeremy. I'll be waiting for your return next season.
Meh, can't really get anything out of this game for Lin. He was playing with a bunch of players that he never really played with or had significant time on the court with. The offense with Lin and Anderson/Brooks/Smith seemed liked no one really knew what to do. Add to that Lin hasn't played in a week couldn't expect too much production.
Defensively he looked to be back to his normal self. With a full off-season for him without being hampered with knee surgery will truly pay dividends. I fully expect him to improve upon this season and take that next step to becoming an All-Star player.
Anyway season is over for Lin and the Rockets, now I get to watch my other favorite player Tony Allen battle KD/Martin
Memphis actually has a very good chance to beat OKC in the 2nd round now that WB is out. Unless KMartin & Jackson can continue to be a factor, I'm not sure how OKC is going to contain Mike Conley, Gasol, & Randolph.
Lin hustled and hustled, but I'm very disappointed in ALL of Lin's teammates including the starters.
They have to learn that the NBA is not a league where guys can take plays off just because "Golden Goose Lin" stepped into the game and is going to hand everybody their golden eggs so that selfish players can cherrypick for stats.
Had Lin's guys simply continued their hustle when Lin entered the game, they'd have gone on those trademark 20-2 runs of Lin's Houston tenure.
Me too! Without WB, I'm not sure OKC has enough to hang around a whole series. Ibaka and Perkins are not as good as Randolph and Gasol. Mike Conley is going to school Jackson. Mike Conley is going to play lock down "D" on KMartin. I think Tayshun Prince can more than hold his own against Durant. Plus they can make Durant try to beat them all by himself while everyone else is locked down.
@Etymology Even with Westbrook I think the Grizzlies would give OKC a lot of trouble simply because no one in the league can match Memphis's front court. Conley/Allen defensively is one of the best duos in the league which will shutdown Jackson and Martin.
The real X-factor is J. Bayless. When this guy gets going it's going to be tough for OKC to stop him. Should be a very tight series I think.
You're right, OKC w/ WB would still be a tough match vs. Grizzlies. But they would have a better chance with WB vs. no chance at all.
Conley/Allen is definitely the most underrated duos in the NBA.
Too bad Lin doesn't have an SG teammate that compliments him.
I really like J. Bayless. He's become a better PG since Portland an excellent 6th man coming off the bench.
Memphis has a lot of players who don't have egos. They also have playoff seasoned veterans and two past NBA championship veteran. They also have the defensive player of the year.
It doesn't look good for OKC.
It will probably be a Spurs vs. Memphis Western Conference Finals, which would probably be a game 7 series.
I absolutely love his game and have been raving about him since last year.
When he was coming out of college, I thought that he had an excellent chance to become a terrific high usage scoring combo point guard. I also liked his athleticism and defense.
I have been very unhappy with the poor treatment Jerryd Bayless gets in the NBA. I will always regard him as a starting NBA point guard who'd be right there with Lin, Wall, and Westbrook as one of the most dynamic players in the game. But Bayless is limited even more than Lin is, and I have never agreed with that.
Jeremy Lin averaged 13 points, 6 assists, 2 steals a game. Better than half the starting PG's. This even though Lin's usage was ranked 38th among PG's.
Lin put up at worst average numbers for a starting PG despite playing next to one of the biggest ball hogs in the league
He had a great season in a tough situation.
Myths to be dispelled next year: - Lin is not a good defensive player. Lin has been a great defensive player. He was Golden State's defensive specialist as a rookie. On the Knicks they had the #1 defense when he played and posted a 96 defensive rating for the year which is excellent. - Lin can't go left. Lin goes left FAR MORE than Felton, and Harden almost never goes right since he's left-handed. Lin's shot chart is also a lot more balanced than Melo's 2012 shot chat which was almost all from the right side - Lin is turnover prone. Lin dramatically dropped turnovers, putting up less than 3 a game over 82 games - Lin sat out bc he was selfish. Lin was NEVER medically cleared to play last year. It was clear even in November this year his knee wasn't fully back. He had the same injury as Arenas whose career was derailed from meniscus. Lin gutted it for multiple games this playoffs and got crucified for not playing well. Lose-lose from irrational haters. - Lin left NY by choice. Lin was never offered a contract from NY who first went after Nash, Kidd, Felton. Lin signed the only contract offered to him. NY didn't match. Houston upped their offer, Lin didn't do it, after NY stupidly publicly said they were matching.
There are so many lies and myths about Lin from people committed to hating on him. It's why he IS like Jackie Robinson in having to face so much hate and prejudice from a lot of people. He needs people to back him up and also dispel these lies and myths being spread.
"the difference between a good player and a great player" and "a blessing to be on the court". Lin has such great attitude ... and he's shooting for being a great player!
Lin showed flashes of his brilliance throughout the season this year and now he will have time to work on how he can muster this brilliance more often and more consistently. He is a worker and a thinker in addition to being a talented athlete. He will have a transformative summer, after which we will all see him ascend to the title of elite CONSISTENT player. It will happen.
My disappointment in Lin's game tonight is that coming off the bench as a 3rd guard was an opportunity to set aside his game-managing role as starting PG and fall back on his natural creative scoring, playmaking combo-guard game. In other words, Game 6 was Lin's chance to dial up Linsanity.
Instead, Lin tried to run the point. However, the Rockets by Game 6 were no longer the same team that started the series. Lin just seemed out of sync with his teammates on the offensive end. I would rather have seen Lin cover up his rustiness with aggression and play in creative iso attack mode and make plays off that rather than restrained set-up mode.
Here's what I wrote before the game:
Jeremy Lin has been cleared to play Game 6 against the Thunder. The intriguing development is that Kevin McHale will bring Lin off the bench.
I want to see how Lin does in the 3rd guard role because I believe it's the role he's naturally best suited to play. While Lin as-is is a quality starting PG with room to grow, his game is ready made for the dynamic, Swiss-army-knife, game-changing, combo-SG/PG, 3rd guard role typified by Manu Ginobili and Thunder-version James Harden. Lin is better when he takes the swashbuckling, dominating approach that comes with the 3rd guard role than when he restrains himself with the game-managing mindset that comes with starting PG. The few elite NBA 3rd guards are my favorite players to watch and Lin has the goods to join them.
Lin can do a lot of damage to the Thunder if he unleashes himself on the Westbrook-less Thunder guards. With his poor play in Game 1 and injury stoking his critics, I believe Lin will be more than eager to strike hard against the Thunder tonight with some throwback Linsanity.
I look forward to watching Lin tonight revive his Knick-version takeover aggressiveness, versatility, energy, playmaking, high basketball IQ, big-moment clutchness, and creative isolation scoring, and establish himself as an elite NBA 3rd guard.
Lin WAS a 3rd guard today - and it failed miserably.
That's because when Lin entered the game, guys just stood around on offense and loafed on defense. They all expected him to serve them stats on a golden platter, so they all caught a breather while Lin was hustling.
It doesn't matter if Lin is 1st guard or 3rd string D league guard. He can't do anything if teammates refuse to cut and defend.
If you're looking for a NY Knick compliment, Eric, it's that the veteran Knicks will still try to make their cuts and play defense when Lin's in the game. They may look to embarrass Lin for overshadowing them, but they still are smart enough to not completely let their personal HATRED of Lin overwhelm their self survival instinct of making their cuts and playing defense so that Lin can feed them in the right spots for their stat padding!
Irony - $80m Harden with stat of 7-22 is outplayed by $12m K Martin with 7-13. Martin knocks out his previous team from the playoffs. Morey not looking so good now.
That young rookie is a cold blooded basketball assassin, just like Lin. Unlike Harden or even Martin, Jeremy Lamb has the ability to play quality team basketball when the pressure is on.
I was hoping for an all-Jeremy backcourt. It DEFINITELY would've been better than this crappy Harden-Lin backcourt with Harden being ROASTED defensively while he bricks and turns over constantly.
Daryl Morey trading away Lamb for Harden was a major FAIL by itself. That move will haunt the Rockets for years to come, starting with this season.
Uhhh let's not go overboard here about Jeremy Lamb. The dude has hardly played in the NBA at all. So far he's been pretty bad. Not saying he won't be a good player but to say he would be more effective than a Lin-Harden backcourt is stretching it.
Just because Jeremy Lamb is buried on OKC's stacked bench doesn't mean that he has "played bad" in the NBA.
In Rockets preseason, he looked pretty good for a 19 year old rookie who's still growing into his body. In fact, Jeremy Lamb as the Rockets 6th man OUTPLAYED a guy who was the OKC 6th man - a guy by the name of JAMES HARDEN who was brutally bad against the Rockets that game.
When Harden has those frequent 5-10 turnover games where some journeyman nobody goes at him and scores 20+ on him while he shoots 5-20, that's a level of SUCKITUDE that Jeremy Lamb will likely never reach in the NBA.
There is a reason why the PGs are in. Golden age of prominence. It is because of the fact that defenses an double and play zone. Playoff ball is intense and scores go down dramatically because nothing is uncontested. It's like a football team that has no running game and lives by passing downfield. The defenses spread out and the defensive lines take ever wider runs at the pocket. You have to ram the ball down th ethroat of a defense in order to contract the defense and open passing lanes. The PNR is the new way to run an offense with strong shooting wing men on the side to take advantage of the kick out passes.
Had Mchale developed this attacking formation with Lin PNR down the gut of the defense with Harden and Parsons shooting easy 3s from either wing, the Rox would have won more than 50 games and really challenge for the west.
No, ramming PNR down the middle with Lin wouldn't help.
All season long, opponents have COLLAPSED on Lin when he crosses the 3 point line. They'll abandon Harden and Parsons to get back.
The way NBA teams beat this kind of scheme is to clog the perimeter, thus angling the point guard off to one side of the court where he can be help defended. In Lin's case, it would mean a high double team up top and a 3rd defender waiting to pick off the bailout pass. And that's exactly what opponents pulled on Lin earlier this season.
Also, NBA defenders are so big and quick that they can double Lin but scramble back to either steal the bailout pass or contest the perimeter jump shot.
That's why there is a quarterback and offensive schemes to take advantage of tendencies. No attack is ever perfect or unstoppable. That's why scoring percentages are kept. 50% is the benchmark for good success, but that means that the defense is also 50% effective. What is important is the fundamentals of the sets in use to maximize potentials of the team's possessions. Good coaches recognize the defensive tendencies and uses that to manufacture runs at the proper times to score.
Lin is a true quarterback that understands how to manipulate % and flow. People don't understand why poker is a sport when it appears to be all chance. In fact, it's similarity to sport exactly because of the similarity of the vararies of chance in every possession of plays. You can have the perfect play in place but if an defender screws up assignments and winds up in the wrong/ right place where he isn't suppose to be, then it turns into a turnover. Sports is about risk reward, percentages and performance... But all athletes are superstitous because they all need luck to be on their side to win.
This the inevitable evolution of the basketball game, that PGs will become the brains of the team. PGs need to be as mentally tough, agile, and and have a kind of psychic prescience to feel the defense. I know that I've felt that prescience before when in a split second I did something extraordinary. I'm sure all of you have too, but the great ones just do it on a regular basis while we mere mortals have just glimpses of that god like ability.
@Bob CF ... I get your point. Unfortunately, McHale has spent his career in the paint and cannot see flow. To him, it's banging over and over again. But he's a likable homespun guy.
As a mere mortal, I can only remember a handful of plays that you talk about, but I know they are rare for us because you not only have to see a split second ahead in space and time, with moving parts, but you have to physically execute with defenders also seeing ahead in time and space. That's why I love live action games with no time outs. With no time outs, you have no ability to reset your spirit, so you have to do it playing at speed, and you have to gather your teammates while all having our individual 1-1 contests.
A way to say more on that it to recall the All Star skills contest. Why with so many great players is it a crapshoot of high standard deviations? Because execution is even tough with a static course that has no future movement element, much less a defender of same world class.
So, flow and that sublime game Lin has is hard to find in guys like Bev or Harden or Parsons. Lin is going to be great, as KHuang keeps saying.
So to me, it's: - space (that creates time) - time (that creates space) - now, future - moving parts - smart defenders moving with you
How many times do we see it happen? In soccer, it's once in many games where you see brilliance. So the fun is to see it in your minds eye. In BBall, it's the alley oop poster.
To be a JLin fan, you see it many times a game, what is and could have been.
The season may not be as i have expected (uhm Linsanity2) but then I have seen how Jeremy is continuously evolving into becoming a great NBA player and how unbreakable his character and faith is despite every hardships and hate thrown in his way. So overall I am proud of what Jeremy accomplished this year.
As for the trade, personally if it is not with D'Antoni (who I am certain trust and know what LIN is capable of doing) I would rather he stay with Houston, at least he doesn't have to start over and build everything again. There is simply no guarantee. But then again, I believe (like Jeremy said) that GOD does not make any mistakes, he is giving what Lin needs and I am fine with that.
P.S. Not interested in buying preseason game tickets in Oct cause i am not sure I will actually see Lin play :)
Just a cruel twist of fate for Jeremy that the Rockets acquired Harden. If that trade had not happened we would have gotten a full season of Linsanity ball. Just a damn shame how it all turned out.
If someone has clutchfan,net's account, could you do me a favor? I really want to post this conversation https://twitter.com/DSMok1/status/322026316704649216 on the thread "PB earns the starter job" thread link to shut those haters up! appreciate it!
I think that a two faced guy like Daryl Morey can easily regard Lin as a starting point guard while also trying to prove to his boss Les Alexander that Morey didn't deserve all those screamings for cutting Lin last season.
Morey can blather in the papers all he wants. He doesn't even realize that Les Alexander is deliberately using Morey as a SMOKESCREEN. That's how the cunning and ruthless Les was able to rape Sacramento of their top 5 pick and best journeyman role player without anybody even trying to outbid Houston.
Not worth watching, Lin took a charge and they call it a block, he gets hit on his shots without getting any FT's. He hit a 3-pointer, made some nice passes to guys who couldn't convert, and played some solid D overall.
Jeremy I am so disappointed to see the season end so bad. You must be feeling so sad but I hope you stay strong and feel proud. You were everything I dreamed of when I was a boy.
You are the hero that I wished for when I was young and I was bullied by dumb ugly white trash loser for being smaller and not as successful in basketball.
But then you came to the NBA and it made me feel like I could win again with your beautiful playing. But you let me down. I feel like you let my whole country down also.
I know you are injured. I felt so sorry about that. But if you can not play 100% then why did you play? I feel like you cost your team this loss.
I know other people will hate me but I need to tell the truth. I hope you can come back healthy and stronger. Please fight to win again. Please make me feel proud.
Even it makes so mad and disappointed I still pray for you and I hope that you come back. You can make all of the haters shut up. Please rest and be well again. You can show everyone that you are a true winner. I will believe in you all my life.
Cheer up David Lao ... Lin definitely tried with all his abilities. He did not disappoint you or us - we are just disappointed and rightly so. It's our state of mind, and we manage the cause and effect. He to us is an abstraction, coming to us on TV. We don't know if his assignment was to D only, and he did that well. We just wanted him to score and win for us. That's our abstraction, our invention. His reality is full of things we don't know.
There will be more days ahead where you will walk around ecstatic, and he will not have done it to you ... you will be in that state. Go out tomorrow and tap into that, and then you can celebrate what Lin's journey is teaching us about all that is good.
Someone posted that first video before and I made a mistake to also post that one. I meant to post only the second video where he has a post game interview.
Ignore it Isa ... you got Lin coming to the Phillipines and you'll be a happy lady. I see the above and celebrate how Lin outplayed his buddy Steph, and I see Steph playing really well. Lin runs with the big dogs, and those fans are just drinking beer eating potato chips (see above) :-)
See you here by and by. Tonight was a-ok. Not perfect, but a great season and some good convo above by the good folks here.
sorry, clumsily posted the above here after i changed my comment. anyway, @isabelijane, you have a big event to look forward to, that is meeting Lin come this October. good for you. :)
Lin's bashing articles anger us Lin fans to no end, to the extent, I refuse to read of them any more...haven't been clicking clutchfans for the longest time i can recall...haha
@JoeTeam - yeah. I don't care if he doesn't play. I just want to see him in person
@livyrlife - I'm not really angered by how his haters graded him. haters don't have any basketball knowledge at all. all they want is for him to score 50+ every regular season and 100+ every playoffs and they will hail Jeremy as Hall of Famer. :)
since he will be healthy this offseason,finally he can spend more times with his shooting coach. He is not going to spend a month for the Asia trip, right?
aren't you guys glad that the bad dream ended.
ReplyDeleteUntil October. See ya!
I'm glad we can all relax and chill for awhile.
DeleteNext highrlight will be waiting for July 1st.
DeleteEtymology, Hope you stick around and comment more.
Delete@k.smith
Deletethanks, I hope you do too =)
Sometimes there's no point of me commenting as most of you guys are on point and very good basketball analysts ^^
Thus the curtain close for the Rockets. Thank you lord for putting Lin in a great situation, I will stop going to church
ReplyDeleteThere is always the plan
DeleteNobody would know what will happen. Every time facing like this situation, Lin will be stronger.
^^
Well guys, a long season has ending. Certainly a lot of growing pains, frustrations etc… But there is one thing we can be certain. God willing Lin is just going to come out better next season. He is a hard worker and I know he already has a list of every thing he needs to work on. This was just the test. Next one will be better. I just hope the Rockets keeps most of the players in the team. We just need a good PF but I think we can develop one in Terrence Jones and Robinson. But I really hope they just use Free Agency no trades. We have a good core team.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see Lin in the court again.
Don't put your faith in the wrong place like this damn Rockets team or any other deity known to man. The perception is already set there. We can only hope Lin going to a better place
DeleteA season of work. JLin came out a better player.
DeleteI am grateful for the lessons vicariously learned through JLin's trials and growth this year. Lessons of strength and integrity.
Thankful to God for this man's story of trust and faith in God who knows best and provides accordingly.
Eikki we learn in the toughest circumstances in life and thats where we see Gods strenght displayed in our lives. On the surface it might have seemed bad but deep down at the end it will help. In some ways I think this season showed Lin all his weaknesses and now he can work on those to become a more complete player.
DeleteI remember Rox won against OKC during regular season when Westbrook played and Rox actually won in playoffs game 4 and 5 ... but the reason they won is not PB played good but just Westbrook didn't play. PB and AB played good but this is not sensational or magical like some people talk about that.
ReplyDeleteEven though Westbrook wasn't playing after game #3, I attribute the Rockets win in game 4 & 5 more to luck. A team cannot win consistently on luck, although luck is needed too.
DeleteIn this game #6, Lin played only 13 minutes and didn't play the entire 4th quarter, so they can't blame Lin for their loss.
Lin came in for Beverley with 3:24 left in the 3rd when the Rockets lead was 5 points. By the end of 3rd quarter, the Rockets trailed by 1 point. But guess what? Garcia, who was a starter tonight - and is a much better and seasoned player than Anderson - played with Lin for just 67 seconds before Anderson replaced Garcia (who you play with affects +/-).
Therefore, the Rox started the 4th trailing by just 1 point. From 5:30 to go in the 4th until 49 seconds left, the Rox were consistently trailing by between 13 to 15 points. They trailed by 14 points with just 49 seconds left.... The Thunder allowed Beverley to pad 2 more points with 49 seconds left and Parson to have another 3-point shot with 18 seconds left.
Beverley played 33 minutes but he had ZERO ASSIST !!!! (He was 4 for 11 shooting.... 8 points, 0 assist, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 to, 0 block).
Also. I really hope Lin traded to Dalls. Rox coaches and fans are much worse than Knicks' fans. At least Knicks' fans knew how to appreciate and support the point guard who led the team to playoffs.
ReplyDeleteNo....no Dallas, I wanted to watch on LP.
DeleteWhy? I think Dallas is just so good for him. He can learn a lot under better coach and players.
DeleteIS LP not in Dallas because of a local TV deal?
DeleteNo LOL, it is just because I live in Dallas.
DeleteUnotelly is a really cheap and convenient service. For $3.99 a month, you get to watch all the games with your LP package. It's really easy to set up and use.
Delete"No....no Dallas, I wanted to watch on LP."
DeleteBrent, don't be so selfish, you can always move and find a new job. =p
Or you can use an out of state VPN for LP. =)
I know, I am just kidding. :P let's wait for those off season crazy news...
DeleteThe owner of the Mavericks has said that Lin is the wrong player for them.
DeleteOk guys remember when Jlin was on the knicks and we were all saying "I hope Jlin get's traded to _______ team" or "I'm glad Jlin is getting traded to the Rockets"
ReplyDeleteThen look how Jlin was treated in Houston. How do we know that if Jlin gets traded again it will be a better situation for him?
Of course there's no certainty. However, I am absolutely disgusted with the Houston fanbase, moreso than any other. I have never witnessed worse fans, trolling their own players and wishing physical harm on him. It's beyond rational criticism. One can only hope for a better situation because at this point it's pretty much hit rock bottom.
DeleteI dislike the lack of teamwork between Harden and Lin, and I think it's Harden not moving off the ball. If you watch GSW, Curry, Thompson, Jack they all move. Jack has minor ISO tendencies, but he's no so damaging as Harden when he's not making it work.
DeleteI think the best place for him to be as far as fans goes is to be an diverse race population like California. Texas is not a good place for him to be in too many anti Asians there.
DeleteI remember being in a church retreat will the majority of the people I was with was Texans. There was like only 3 Asians to 200 Texans. I didn't get a very welcome vibe from them at all.
@JoeTeam
DeleteThat's because Harden is trying real hard to be the SUPER STAR NBA Player. Which he's not, he still lacks the mentality of a NBA Super Star like Durant & LBJ. Who knows that they can't succeed and get to the promise land unless they trust their teammates, move off the ball, and play team ball.
Harden thinks he's a combo guard who has elite PG talent. He's an average to below average PG and a good SG.
Lin wouldn't fit with GSW, because they're all about the 3 ball as well.
Lin would need to be in a team that will build a team around him. A team that will use him as their main play maker.
I never wanted Lin in HOU but i'm not delusional in thinking that he'd be better on a different team next year either. The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
DeleteLin will get better. THis is the only he can control.
"Then look how Jlin was treated in Houston. How do we know that if Jlin gets traded again it will be a better situation for him?"
DeleteTrue, there's no guarantee. But it's pretty certain that with McHale (who views Lin as a scrub) and Harden (who is viewed as a "Kobe" by the team and himself) around, Lin (or any PG) will never be able to play a real PG position (being the initiator and distributor). And a good portion of the fanbase hates him (as a player). You're talking about an unselfish player who plays hard every game, plays hard on defense, finished the year 44% fg, 34% 3pt, 13.4 pts, 6.1 ast, 2.1 ast/to, why would you hate on that? So it's likely that a team who wants to trade for Lin would be a better situation for him.
"Ok guys remember when Jlin was on the knicks and we were all saying 'I hope Jlin get's traded to _______ team' or 'I'm glad Jlin is getting traded to the Rockets'"
No. I was never a fan of Lin going to the Rockets, I wanted the Knicks to sign him to a solid contract. Of course we all wished Woodson to feature Lin more, but Lin had it pretty good in NY: he was the undisputed best guard on a good team and had a loyal fanbase. I hate the stupid NBA salary cap rules that allowed Morey to exploit a loophole and made it very difficult for the Knicks to match (of course, Dolan still should have matched, even just based on business/marketing reasons, what a fool). I felt that Morey didn't actually want Lin, he was just screwing over the Knicks (thinking they would match), while appearing to Les that he was making a very strong attempt for Lin.
(BTW, Lin wasn't traded to the Rockets).
Lin needs to go to the Cali or any west coast teams because at least the fans will protect him. Houston was a big bust because Morey, Mchale and media conspired to fan disinformation on Lin and the fans eat it up. The fans were never supportive of Lin.
DeleteMchale and Morey set up the dynamics in which Harden and Lin became rivals instead of teamates. That is the sad part of this dumb franchise is that they had the oppertunity to create a duo of epic proportion with Harden and Lin, just like Westbrook and Durant. Mchale and Morey chose instead to protect their own self interest by making every effort to prove Lin a failure instead.
It is true that Lin would most likely still face bad coaching else where, but in a better multi ethnic environment like Frisch, la, NY, Toronto, Chicago...Lin at least will be accepted by the home crowd for what he brings to the court and not made to appear a failure at every oppertunity. Damn it, Lin is a rookie starter! How many starters don't have ups and downs or inconsistencies?
For fans like solidz75 who is so caught up in the moment with their own negativity, I can only remind everyone that Lin started this year as a fluke, a D leaguer, a scrub, an overpaid hype and finally an average starting PG. with all the negativity, deliberate marginalization by the coaches, GM, home town media, ESPN, and ungrateful fans, Lin has improved...and like it or not, Lin still has a guaranteed $25 mil contract. Lin just needs to become a better shooter than Harden and wrestle the team away from his grasp. If he learns to post up and shoot lights out, take his 15-20 shots and put up 20-25 ppg, Lin will make use of his time in Houston for his own benifit and screw this franchise at the same time. Take the money to develop your own game Lin and forget trying to help this useless piece of trash club, and then come back to Houston a few years later and stick it to Mchale, Morey and these unappreciative fans.
Ety - yep, you can't USB plug Lin back into GSW now. He's too expensive for all the basketball moves that would have to happen. I agree with you about Harden's tendencies, and yep on his avg PG skills. Way too many TOs in clutch, and even 2 set of 2 misses on FTs last game and this.
DeleteBut, on the 3s ... Lin has decent 3s stats. But on GSW, you see Curry scoot into the corner and make his 3s, and KT can get hot. Barnes was great this first series. So replacing Jack would give Curry more creative ways to receive. Jack had so many key TOs I was just wishing for Lin in his place, and then I started to see it in my mind's eye as I watched the games. Check it out ... if Lin were Jack, how would that look?
But alas, it is not possible.
@Bob CF ... Lin will go down Doc's list, and if he gets even just the 3 improved, added with his floater, he's going to look like Curry pretty fast. And no one can doubt Curry is a force after this amazing 3rd Q runs. Next year will be fun! Enjoyed your posts this year.
Delete@JoeTeam
DeleteI can definitely see your point of view if Jlin was in JJack's role. I'm just worried that if he was sent back to GSW and replaced JJack, that M.Jackson the coach will have the McHale type confidence in Jlin to the extent that Jlin will be mistreated again.
But if Jlin did get to play the PG role in GSW while Curry & Thompson played the wings, it would definitely open up the paint for Jlin drives and kick outs. Andrew Bogut would probably have a season high Career and Barnes would probably look like Sophmore of the year.
Ety, I've been listening to Jackson's post game interviews on the radio, and I think he's a straight talking guy who supports his players. He really had a good bit about the game where Curry lit up Denver in Q3, and he said he was almost going to bench Curry for good for a bad first half. When he pulled Curry, the reporters asked what Curry said. Jackson said something like ... you know, the Curry thing with half raised arm and "but coach!". Then Jackson said, "I had to put him back in because I needed him" and his affection in his voice was great.
DeleteSo, I'm over the hump with Jacko. He holds his guys accountable, and his team is peaking now instead of collapsing.
Anyway, it's a fantasy and now every time I watch Jack, I see Lin and wish he were there and I can see the plays Jack is not making that Lin would. But yeah, Jack is more physically aggresive.
thanks JLin for this wonderful season... hoping for a better one next season and for you to succeed.
ReplyDeleteMy top picks for Lin next year. This sucks he has to keep finding new teams but it has to be done for his growth and fans.
ReplyDelete1. Lakers - may dominate and Lakers are suddenly primetime act again with either Pau or Howard staying in LA
2. Mavs - with Dirk will be a top 4 team in West
3. Jazz - may surprisingly be a top 5 team and more possibly
4. Orlando - fringe playoff team with Lin
My dream would be that Lin replaces Jack on GSW, but that is not possible. I would think Lin, Steph, Thompson, and Barnes with Bogut and Lee on the inside would be unbeatable. Keep your eye on these guys going forward. I dunno if GSW matched up well with Spurs, but that's going to be my series next week.
DeleteMore likely and it'll be v fun would be LAL.
My picks :
Delete1. Denver Nuggets (trade with Ty Lawson) great coach, great team work, great home court, OK to good talent
2. Utah Jazz (trade with Mo Williams) great front court but questionable coach
3. Orlando Magic (trade with Jameer Nelson) good young talent and front court but questionable coach
I like your Denver Nuggets pick Rikki. Because they're not about the 3 ball in that team. It's all about ball movement and team ball. They also have a great coach.
DeleteBut the Rockets won't be interested with Ty Lawson since Lawson isn't a great 3 point shooter. I'm not sure about Gallinari's contract, but the Rockets would probably be more interested in him. Maybe the Rockets can do a 3 team trade with another team, where Ty Lawson goes to the 3rd team, Jlin & Parsons goes to Denver, Gallinari goes to Rockets.
Pick #2 Utah Jazz is the ideal situation for Jlin. But yes you're right a questionable coach indeed. If that coach didn't even utilize their best young player Gordon Hayward the right way, then how do we expect the Coach to treat Jlin. Also the fan base their is iffy too, I'm not sure how Utah peeps like Asians.
DeleteThe only ideal basketball situation for Lin in the NBA is on San Antonio while Duncan doesn't retire.
DeleteSan Antonio is the only team in the entire NBA that truly plays team basketball. They pass to the open guy, make their cuts, and play great team defense (BAD individual defenders outside of Tim Duncan).
But see, I firmly believe that San Antonio is only good for Lin while Tim Duncan is coaching the team on the floor. The instant Duncan retires, it'll be Iso-Popovich and endless dumbass screamathons at Lin for not playing defense and not playing team basketball.
Lin should just continue to work on his game and play winning basketball. NBA superstars simply have more ability to outwork other players, and Lin has that trait all the way. Let the GMs and owners figure out how to deal with a WINNER like Lin.
stu,
DeleteCuban told SI that Lin is a wrong PG for the Mavericks.
All big market teams (Dallas is one of them) are only interested in an All-Star PG if they have cap space or if they can trade for such a player.
DeleteI hope they can do player trades much earlier so I can decide whether to buy an Asian preseason ticket or not.
ReplyDeleteHow much for the ticket there anyway?
Delete@brent - as per Arena, the cost is still under price deliberation of sponsors. btw just some tidbits, Yao Ming's team Shanghai Sharks will hold an exhibition game vs one of our local professional basketball teams and Jeremy's friend, Jerome Jordan, is officially an import of the team Talk and Texters. he's the starting center.
DeleteI see, too bad I can not go back to TW for the game.
DeleteI remember back in July when everyone on this board was jumping for joy that the Rockets signed Jeremy Lin. Thinking he would become the next best thing since Yao. Where is that joy now ?
ReplyDeleteWhat happens? He becomes a marginalized player, shut out from his own team, no support from local fans, referees let him get fouled hard without a whistle ....
His situation is worse now, after leaving the Knicks.
ABC ... I'm good with this season. He had great stats, great finish except for this injury, and his knee is way better than that of Rose and Shump.
DeleteThe Mchale, Haren drama was tiring, so that's what's gotta go. Watching GSW this past 2 weeks, I was surprised how little drama that team has. They play as a team, and nobody is so selfish it causes the team to lose. Jackson talked well of his players every interview.
So, a better set of star teammates, a better coach ... Lin's business team will know how to get this done.
The rockets signing Lin was a double edged sword. Yes, he got his chance during the regular season, but now that he is being marginalized, he can't easily be traded because of his contract. Teams think he would cost too much so it'll be hard for him to be moved to teams like LA.
DeleteNot everyone here was "jumping for joy" when Lin joined the Rockets.
DeleteAlthough I thought the Rockets situation would still be positive for Lin - at the time it appeared Lin would have undisputed freedom, control, and leadership of the team as Rockets PG on a young team with low expectations - I recognized the Knicks PG position, especially with the great potential of the G/F combo with Anthony, Kidd's mentorship, and Woodson's savvy handling, and over-all situation was tailor-made for Lin. Whatever personal drama may or may not have been there, the structural make-up of the Knicks served Lin.
When the Rockets gave Lin an offer he couldn't refuse and too rich for the Knicks to match, Lin lost the best setting in the NBA for him to grow into his stardom for the next 1-2 seasons.
That's not to say this was a lost season. Lin played the full season, established himself as a competent starting PG, and got his feet wet in the play-offs. Right now, Lin is essentially in the same place as he would have been had he finished out last season playing hurt and then limped his way through the Heat blow-out of the Knicks in the 1st round.
However, watching the less talented Felton succeed in what should have been Lin's position, it's easy to project that Lin would have better off with the Knicks.
I wasn't one of them. At the time, I was very disappointed that the Knicks didn't re-sign him. At the time, I viewed the Rockets as a cellar rebuilding team. I thought Lin would not play as well as last year because he wouldn't have as talented players around him compared to the Knicks. Lin is not a solo superstar player like Kobe, he is a team player PG who makes his teammates better.
DeleteCome on Lin has the best chance to grow where he can work on his weaknesses in the rockets. Harden is simply a shooter with no sense of moving the team. He will have the ball and hold on to it for the teammates to move. He can't make things happen.
DeleteLin is going to be better with the experience this season. He will learn how to protect himself better in this league. It's good that the season ends now and he can start working without all those publicity. He can be himself again.
See you next season.
Well I wish Lin can get traded.
ReplyDeleteBut I seriously doubt any team would actually take him and play him as a starter. I don't know of any team that would let him start after a marginal showing in the playoffs at best.
You can call it bad luck or whatever, but general perception is Lin did not contribute at all in the playoffs.
While I wish he could go somewhere, Lin's best hope of a starting position is with the Rockets right now.
6/24 shooting across 3 games...Lol not sure what to say.
DeleteIt's called "no help from loafing teammates", Kenoshi.
DeleteNo player in the NBA scores without help from the other 4 guys on the court. NO ONE.
I know KHuang. Not pointing it out as if Lin is a bad shot, just playing gimped by injury and no set plays so he creates by himself off expiring shot clocks.
DeleteIf I was Lin I'd be calling Rox/Harden's bs out in the media by now. But then again that's Lin for you.
Harden 15/44 across 6 games.
DeletePBev 8/24 across 6 games
DeleteCParson 16/40 across 6 game...btw these are 3 point shooting stats
DeleteIf Lin is as good as we think he is, then he'll be a starter on any team. If you truly are a good player, it will come out.
DeleteI know you know this, not trying to bust your balls.
I'm not worried. Despite being mistreated and under-utilized, you saw how Jlin still managed to have good stats this year.
DeleteYou saw the Jlin and WB stat comparison it's not that far apart.
Etymology, 16/40 is good? Are you implying otherwise?
DeleteWell said, @Etymology. @k.smith, sadly what we think does not matter. at the end, it is still the same group of ppl who ignore him years ago will decide.
DeleteJust sharing stats. Not necessarily saying it's bad or good, just making a comparison.
DeleteIf you just take stats at face value, Lin and a host of other players would be dropped from teams and you end up with Hardens, Kobes, Melos and stat padders.
DeleteLuckily, GMs and coaches aren't simpletons.
I had posted a note last game that Mchale should look across the floor and see how Durant was lost without Westbrook that his ISO was killing the team. I also mentioned that in order for OKC to win Durant has to empower his teammates, make them feel responsible, make them own up to there inner potentials. The last 2 losses by OKC, Durant hogged the ball and scored close to 40 ppg but at a cost. Tonight, kmartin stepped up and made the difference.
DeleteDurant is a supper star, but that star was made shinier by Westbrook, the master of chaos. Without Westbrook, Durant went Harden ISO and brought his team down. Lin is also the master of chaos, but Morey and Mchale locked him away, frozen him out and made harden believe that Lin was a threat to him. It's too bad, but harden has been spoiled into a diva of epic porportion now. I hope that they do get cp3 in the off season, because Harden deserves to sulk in obscurity a bit.
I have missed many games this season and have had to watch most of the games retroactively.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I was glad I watched THIS game. I LOVED Lin's game!
I saw a young man FEARLESSLY step up on both ends, playing bonecrushing defense as a one man defensive trap and trying desperately to run an actual team offense. Lin put his injured body right into the line of fire and made PLAYS. On defense, he was absolutely unbelievable as an individual.
Now the Rockets? That's the WORST I've seen them play with Jeremy Lin. They simply GAVE UP when he was in the game. All of those loser Rockets teammates were begging him for the ball when he was in the game, but nobody was willing to cut to the ball or play defense because they were all conserving energy for offense. Even Francisco Garcia who I normally adore was LOAFING today besides Lin, and that really disappointed me.
Lin is such a great team player on both ends of the court that it actually HURT the team when he came in. Harden and Parsons get their clean passes and court space from Lin, and that leads to more selfish bricks and turnovers from those two SCRUBS. The bench players get all happy knowing that they can cherrypick off Lin's passes, so they stop defending and stop cutting and start BEGGING for Lin to feed their sorry loafing asses.
To me, Lin would've had a lot more points and assists and team stops if guys simply played their roles when he stepped on the court. Guys should be cutting and defending and passing HARDER with Lin in the game, not softer.
This game proved to me that Lin ABSOLUTELY can play with full playoff poise. I know that sounds weird in light of his bad boxscore, and I'll even let people fire trollish criticism at me because I know I am not in agreement with people. But Lin was the hero of this game to me, the only Rocket who had the POISE to keep playing team basketball when the going got rough.
I am completely happy with Lin's game and feel that he's got a GREAT future in the NBA. This guy is a WINNER!
I think he already proved that he can play in the play-offs after the 2nd Game. Now it is just the time for via to dig the trading news? lol
Deletedude is this a memo to yourself? JEREMIAH lin DO NOT work on anything this summer! Just hire this guy to pump you up and nurse your injured man boob.
Delete7th grade troll, go somewhere else with your juvenile obsession with man boobs.
DeleteJust because Jason Collins came out as gay doesn't mean that all walks of society are as openly interested in man boobs as you are.
KHuang,
DeleteI simply don't understand where you are seeing that the Rockets gave up with Lin on the floor?
Also calling Harden and Parsons scrubs is not true. You know this. Parsons had a great series and is arguably the series mvp for the rockets. He is also getting paid very little relatively compared to the other players.
This is game 6 of the playoffs, all of the players want to win. Sometimes the shots don't fall. Doesn't mean they don't want to win.
Good post, JLin fan.
DeleteThe Rockets were intense on defense with Beverley in the game because they were constantly watching him get beaten by Reggie Jackson.
When Lin entered the game, the Rockets relaxed because Lin was more than capable of staying with his man. This led to several easy passes that resulted in lightly contested OKC scores, and that's why the Rockets quickly lost the lead when Lin entered the game.
Harden got LIT UP today on defense, as did Parsons. I will forgive Kevin Durant just shooting over people for his 30, but I can't stomach Kevin Martin coming off the bench against Harden and Parsons and OUTSCORING HIS SEASON'S AVERAGE in one half! Add the turnovers and bricks and selfish play and it's UGLY.
I'll forgive Parsons play because he's a minimum contract player gunning for his new deal. I regard him as Steve Novak with a dribble, although Steve Novak is actually vastly superior to Parsons on defense and in team play. Still, that's not winning basketball when Parsons is being lit up and when he's selfishly gunning for shots even if he makes a few of them when the game isn't on the line.
Now Harden? His selfish play, bricks and turnovers, and zero defense are KILLING the Rockets. That's SCRUB play to me, when a leading man is playing so poorly that it's killing his own team.
Guys want to win, but that doesn't mean they want to HUSTLE. When Lin comes in the game, players can't stop cutting and banging and chasing guys around just because they expect Lin to cover for their leaky asses. If anything, those loafing players should be hustling HARDER when Lin's in because Lin will happily guys that hustle to get to spots!
KHuang,
DeleteGood points that you made.I agree with them expect on Parsons.
Parsons is vastly superior then Novak in just about every category except for 3pt shooting. Novak is one of the best in the league so that needs to be put into consideration.
Not sure if you know, but Parsons always guards the best player on the other team. He is the teams best defender. He guarded Dirk, Durant, Lebron, etc. Prior to this game Durant never shot about 50% against Houston. Novak is an extreme liability on defense. He is the Knicks worst defender by far.
Parsons was a better defender last year, but he never shot as much so carry a higher offensive load hurt his defense a little.
No way Novak can do the above. All he does is shot the 3, although he is good at it. Parsons is more versatile, he can pass better, cut to the basket, dunk and so forth.
He took some bad shots this game, but the majority were good open shots. After he had his hot streak in this game he didn't get the ball passed to him anymore in the 4th which I didn't like.
With all that being said I am hopeful that Lin will make the adjustments this offseason to become a much better player.
Parsons has been getting LIT UP all season by EVERYBODY he faces.
DeleteWhen a nobody like Wes Johnson can take the ball right at Parsons or a slow journeyman like Jared Dudley throw Parsons with a simple headfake en route to a double figure scoring quarter, that's BAD DEFENSE.
The problem with Parsons on defense is that he's always out of position. He's so busy thinking about offense that he's never in the right spot with the right stance. Parsons simply doesn't get STOPS.
Ironically, Steve Novak is a statistically ELITE defender. Because black NBA guys get so excited against Novak, they fire horrible shots against Novak that have no chance of going in. This was covered in a truehoop statistical analysis, and it corroborates my eye test that told me that Novak was actually an AVERAGE defender in the NBA at worst.
Novak also does something that Parsons does not do. Novak CUTS without the basketball, and that spaces the court. Parsons simply waits in a stationary spot or crowds his own teammates on the perimeter. This because Parsons has neither the body control nor elevation to attack the rim and shoot over people the way Jeremy Lin does.
Khuang,
DeleteParsons has not gotten lit up by everybody he faces. Look at the numbers. Look at synergy stats for points per possession when chandler is not in.
Opposing teams score on avg 2.6 more points per game when Parsons is not on the floor. My point is, Parsons is not a bad defender, he guards the opposing teams scorers every time.
Novak is not an elite defender by any measurement. He is not quick enough, of course that is not his fault.
Parsons can absolutely cut without the basket, in fact he is better at it. Sometimes when he tries drive toward the rim with the ball he a TO.
As far as body control or elevation I think Lin is much better than Parsons. But Parsons can definitely shot the ball over people. He has done it the entire season.
I also wanted to add that I like Parsons a lot because it seems like Jlin and him are very close.
Delete@KHuang - I love your emphatic style that will's a change in point of view, and then I think about it and it is true.
DeleteJlin fan ... consider some of what KHuang says as stylized truths, and then the framework may or may not sit. If it does, then the details don't matter, it's the wisdom of a true point of view and a decent framework. If it doesn't sit well, then sure your rebuttals are good.
For me, Parsons gets wild (out of control play) and selfish sometimes. He contributed to the OKC run this game by going for some shots he shouldn't have. To me, Lin makes physical mistakes, as does any player with a stat line. Parsons makes poor choices AND physical mistakes. Harden too.
Sorry Jlin fan, but you totally missed that truehoop statistical article on Novak.
DeleteHe's ELITE in isolation defense, according to the numbers. That's why Lin won so many games with Novak on the court despite facing guys like Pau Gasol.
Now if you choose to willfully disregard the stats, we cannot discuss this further. Once a myth has been statistically DEBUNKED, I can only point to the numbers after I've stated my case.
When Parsons is not on the floor, his replacement is usually Carlos Delfino who's often getting scored on because McHale assigns him to defend a battleship power forward that Delfino can't guard. Also, Harden swings over to guard the SF and that results in SCRUBS like no fame no game PJ Tucker scoring 20+ against Harden while Parsons sits.
Parsons at 6'9" can jump shoot over people, but he can't drive the ball into the lane and take a hit and STILL score. This is why Parsons generally doesn't dribble drive for baskets in the lane. Parsons just can't take the hits on the ground or in the air, unlike Lin who gets bashed like he's an NFL player. Harden can't really take the hits either, and that's why Harden's shooting percentages are lower than Lin's.
JoeTeam,
DeleteGood points you brought up.
Can't wait for to see how Jlin improves next season. I think shooting is his major weakness. Fortunately it is something that has a clear path for improvement via hard work.
The Parsons love is over the top, it's ridiculous. If he's a star player, like the media/homer fans say that he is, then he should be able to play both sides of the ball. He didn't do that this year. He cannot consistently create for himself or his teammates; most of his shots were assisted (before the season ended, I read a comment on CNM's site that said he was assisted on 75% of his shots...that's a lot). But this is also a reason why he's a good player. He plays off the ball and normally doesn't need the ball like Lin/Harden to score. His play compliments "superstar" players bc he is so effective w/o the ball.
DeleteWhen he plays within himself and doesn't try to play point forward, he's a good player.
No one says Parsons is a star player, at least not sensible people.
DeleteWhat do you mean by both sides of the ball? He contributes by playing defense and also offense by shooting to space the floor in addition to occasional cuts.
The reasons why Parsons is good, is that he fits this team style of offense so well and thats all the Rockets need. It is tailored made to his strengths.
You said it perfect when you say he compliments superstar players. Every team needs players like that.
As far as not creating his own shots, he doesn't have too. Harden almost always draws a double team when he drives into the lane. This leaves someone open and Parsons takes advantage.
Not very many players in the NBA can create their own shots on a consistent basis so I find this critique a bit unfair. He is a 2nd round pick and has played far beyond expectations.
@JLin Fan ... thanks. I sometimes just say what I think because so many people here write good things that I don't think I need to back up what I think because the stats are all out there, as are opinions. I tend to see the game flows more, which is why on this post game thread, I agreed with Bob CF Chan in that I too saw KD take that first game loss by being the only guy on offense. You could see the panic at one point when he realized he couldn't do it himself. I intuitively thought after 2 losses, this game would be different, and so as Bob CF and others pointed out, Kmart made the difference. I just wonder why McHale didn't know it before me, and plan for it. Maybe he did with the JLin insertion, but I'm not sure he managed the game flow too well.
DeleteThat and the poor FT % by HOU that would have extended the lead and given them more strength to hold off the charge like last game. So, that's just from my gut.
I like it when KHuang steps up because he backs it up with facts if challenged. I don't have that bbiq and stats mind, so I don't try. I don't see half the things some of you guys see on this blog, and that's why I like reading the stuff here.
@KHuang ... I like what you say about Parson's not having the drive option to score And1s on contact. Now I see why he does that dump pump fake so much ... it's not fooling anyone. It's so stiff you know it's a fake. Not to harp on him, because he's a good role player - just saying he's not the 2nd option in my book.
dump=dumb
DeleteDon't get defensive, I didn't say he sucked. I said he was a good player and you, yourself said he wasn't star player.
DeleteHe's overrated by HOU fans because he's homegrown (top 5 SF) and he benefits from having guys like Harden/Lin (yes, even Lin draws double teams, shocking right?) on the court.
Like i've been saying all season, this system is perfect for him. He's gotten multiple opportunities to play through his mistakes and has 100% confidence/trust from the coach. If you're a real Lin fan, you know how important that trust is. Lin mentioned it multiple times during his time under D'antoni.
JLin fan, we have another case of "NBA speak" clouding my semantics.
DeleteThat's when my decades of watching the NBA has me talking in the same terminology that NBA personnel use.
When I am talking about Parsons' inability to move without the basketball, I'm talking about his inability to go down low, seal his man off with a post up, and make power moves once he catches the ball. I'm also talking about Parson's inability to flex cut into the paint, which is a related maneuver. We've all seen Parsons either get knocked off his path or be unable to elevate over interior shotblockers.
Because Parsons cannot "cut" (inside), he hovers on the perimeter and messes up the Rockets's spacing. If Parsons were able to cut inside by taking the hits and elevating over opponents, then the Rockets perimeter would be far less crowded due to Parsons spending a good amount of time inside. It's Parsons who as a small forward should be in the corner, not Lin!
KHuang just owned me. You have a point with HOU's perimeter/spacing issues. Could the same be said of Delfino?
Delete
DeleteBoth of you make good points. To K.smith, I wasn't getting defensive what made you think that?
I agree that Mchale doesn't trust Lin as much as he should. With all of that being said though I think it's good that Lin can learn to play off the ball and shoot sometimes. It forces him to get better at his weakness.
I feel bad that Lin got injured because most casual sport fans only watch the playoffs and all they can see is the few games he hasn't played well in. He has fantastic games in the regular season. I was at the game and when there times where Lin was in towards the end when the crowd start chanting "we want brooks".
Even so, I am excited to see his growth next season with a full training camp with the team. He can only get better from here on out.
Wow. The crowd started chanting, "we want Brooks"?
DeleteDid Brooks have a quad injury? My question is, why are HOU fans such idiots? He couldn't contain Jackson, that's why he went to the bench...unless the fans thought our issues were on offense and we needed his scoring?
Apologies for assuming on my end.
K.smith,
Deleteits cool man.
It was a brief chant and it wasn't really loud but you could hear it. I'm sure they meant no disrespect.
Brooks had a good season with the rockets plus a run in the playoffs against the Lakers when he was on the Rockets previously. I think that is the main reason.
LOH on CF: Lin fucked up our chemistry.
ReplyDeleteYeah, those Harden turnovers was because Lin was sitting on the bench and not cheering for harden.
I think Houston fans are worst than Knicks fans.
You don have to quote any thing from CF. Waste of time
Deletejust don't go there to provide click=money. haters would bash Lin no matter what.
DeleteCompletely agree. You can't have a discussion without some sort of pure hatred being spewed from their foaming mouth, eager to insult Lin at every turn. They will always find a reason to blame him. During the game, they were even blaming him for not rebounding...shows how much they're willing to go out of their way to hate on Lin. I hope Lin leaves houston cause it sure looks like a shitty town for sports.
DeleteThis might sound crazy, But I personally think there are not that many Haters as it appears, they are just louder.
DeleteI actually lurked on CF for awhile, maybe a solid month...I added every troll to my ignore list who spewed hatred and racist slurs at Lin to see get a feel of the numbers. I think I have about 100+ people on ignore, so that speaks to the volume of rabid foaming-at-the-mouth haters in that cesspit.
Deletechemistry? what chemistry is he talking about? there's no chemistry only nitpicking dislike on Jeremy lol
DeleteSo how many "Rockets fans" are there?
DeleteUhhhh, I actually kinda agree with Clutchfans in this case!
DeleteLin DID mess up the team chemistry - by being a GREAT TEAM PLAYER.
When Lin stepped on the court, his teammates stopped cutting and stopped defending. They were content to catch their breath while watching Lin hustle. So in a weird way, Lin was indeed responsible for the poor Rockets team chemistry when he entered the game!
Now had Lin's teammates simply continued HUSTLING when Lin entered the game, the Rockets could've easily won this game. Lin had completely stopped the Thunder on defense and the Rockets could've easily shredded the defense had they made their customary cuts.
I am no Lin hater, but I do agree that the chemistry was terrible when Lin entered the game. It wasn't truly Lin's fault that his teammates PLAYED DEAD, however.
Those brainless losers are not worth your time and energy. I avoid those hateful sites like doggy dooo doo.
Deletevery few are actual fans that will root for everyone on the team. Criticism is fine as long as they're valid, but these fans redefine hate. From what I've seen, Lin is the only one that gets hated on for no good reason. Those that call themselves "real rockets fans" are fooling themselves putting their join date on a pedestal.
DeleteIt was always the problem that how those guy w/o ball react to the situations. I do not think it was Lin's problem, but yes, team stopped moving when Lin was on the court. same happened when Harden got the ball in the 3rd and 4th quarters.
Delete@Brent Yen
DeleteI am definitely not a Rocket's Fan. I hate the way they play as a team. I only watch the Rockets because of Jlin.
I've always been a Lakers fan, but they just haven't looked the same for a couple of years now.
As far as the playoffs goes I'm looking forward watching the OKC vs. Memphis matchup. I would love Memphis to win the series and face the Spurs which would make for an epic Western Conference Finals match up.
On the East, I think Indiana & New York will be a good match up.
@Etymology, I am not Rox fan either, I just cheer the team that Jlin plays for. I stopped watching NBA until Lin was in NBA.
DeleteI visit ClutchFans as well and I don't think you guys should get all riled up from what their fans say. Fans for teams on team fansites often post overly emotional stuff and most of the time are completely oblivious to what's going on in the rest of the NBA. I'm a diehard Lakers fan and visit lakersground.net often.
Deletelol, if you think ClutchFans hate Lin you should see the hate Pau Gasol gets on LakersGround. Even though without Pau noway the Lakers sniff a single champion after Shaq left. They also worship the ground Howard walks on kinda how ClutchFans worship Harden.
This is just how team fansites work. I look at view at them for pure entertainment value. Very rarely do I actually get insightful content from them.
I think we understand that, some people here still go to CF for "info". I tends to go there in the beginning of this season. A lot of hatred, some supporters, some who does not care and an impatient Admin (kind of). No matter how good the "info" you got from there, I just found it never outweighs the stupidity and hatred I found there to me.
Delete@Albinoswordfish - I hang out at lakersground myself. I didn't know there are so much stuff about Jeremy there until last year, as well as sniping of Jeremy fans vs doubters/haters.
DeleteTo the untrained novice eye, it looks like the Rockets played HORRIBLY when Lin entered the game.
DeleteAnd they DID play horribly, even to the veteran eye!
Had Lin sat this one out, the Rockets may have won. That's not because Lin was playing poorly, it's because the Rockets have POOR CHEMISTRY with Lin.
The Rockets simply decide to take their cigarette break when Lin enters the game and covers for their loafing asses.
Well said.
Delete@IsabeliJane
DeleteHuh? They talk about Lin on Lakersground? I've never seen that.
Gasol is making A LOT of money and is a veteran player. I can see why Laker fans are hard on him. I don't understand the hate HOU fans have for Lin though. His role is that of a role player, he's not a max contract guy, and this was his first full year of starting.
Delete@k.smith
DeleteYes but these are the same fans that want to give Dwight Howard a $117 million/5 year contract.
@ccm1
DeleteHaha, if you put them all on your ignore list then the thread would only be a few posts long :)
@Albinoswordfish - yes they did, some old threads:
DeleteJEREMY LIN OF HARVARD
WHERE JEREMY LIN IS ADVANCED IN
JEREMY LIN EXPECTED LAKERS TO DRAFT HIM IN 2012
sorry the last bit should be "..draft him in 2010"
DeleteHope they make it happen http://lakerholics.net/?p=33231
ReplyDelete@KietChayrox - I'd rather he doesn't go to Lakers IF P. Jackson won't take the Lakers GM position.
DeleteI think if P.Jackson is the coach, Lin will be sitting at the end of the bench for a whole season until he runs out all other PGs.
DeleteI agree with Brent Yen.
DeleteLin would be a great fit in Detroit. The Pistons usually are a hardnosed team that plays hard even if they lack in talent, and Lin fits right into that even though he has more talent than your typical Piston star.
However, Phil Jackson is doing his "Star Search" thing for owner Tom Gores of Detroit. So no Lin in Detroit.
Patrick Beverly played 34 minutes and had ZERO assists.
ReplyDeleteThe prior game he had 1 total assist in 35 minutes.
This is NOT starting PG material. His flaws:
- foul machine that puts his team in the penalty at least one quarter a game
- not a floor general. Low assists, doesn't set his teammates up
- Worse shooting% than Lin
- POOR defensive player. Torched by Westbrook in games 1 and 2, then by Reggie Jackson in games 5 and 6.
- He grabs rebounds but the flip side of this is he leaves defensive assignments for offensive rebounds, leading to a lot of easy opponent fast breaks the other way
It is really striking that for a guy whose BEST games (with very small sample size) aren't even better than Jeremy Lin's average game after 82 games, people were already saying he was as good as Lin 2 months ago and that there was no drop-off.
This is as classic a case as it gets as evidence of confirmation bias, unconscious prejudice, and having the "eye" test override actual production or facts. Jeremy Lin has faced this bulls*** his entire career which is why he had to overcome so much being the only HS player of the year in his state ever to receive ZERO D1 offers, undrafted, cut twice.
Lin faces barriers that all Asian Americans face. It's racist that Asian Americans have to be so much better in college admissions, or for promotions, than peers just because of their race.
D was the big problem for PB and AB today. They were exposed. To his credit, he did playing hard.
DeleteThose people are simple minded and also don't understand that correlation does not equal causation. Just because A happens while B is present, doesn't mean B caused A. No use in arguing or even acknowledging idiots like those.
DeletePatrick Beverley is simply not NBA caliber.
DeleteHe can't make NBA reads or defend 3rd string point guards like slow uncreative Reggie Jackson who can't really dribble and doesn't have good court vision. Contrast that to Lin who sets up teammates and utterly handcuffed the very limited Reggie Jackson.
Aaron Brooks is a guy I've expected more out of. On the other hand, he's strictly a ball control stats pushing point guard who cannot thrive in a non point guard centric offense.
Patrick Beverley and Aaron Brooks have been getting exposed ALL YEAR, and I'm one of the few fans here who's noticed it from the start.
good post anonymous
Deletehope Jeremy has a good off season and come back stronger
I think the bigger issue is the system. Are they going to use this system moving forward?
DeleteHow can your starting PG have 1 asst in game 5 and 0 in game 6?
@k.smith that's a good question. I would assume that they will have more set plays for players. McHale can't use the same excuse he's been making all season long of "We're all new, everyone's new, everyon's playing a new role this year, most players are rookies...etc. etc. etc."
Delete"How can your starting PG have 1 asst in game 5 and 0 in game 6?"
DeleteBecause that is the ideal PG that the Rockets coaches want. Stand behind the 3 pt line and create space for Harden. Why do you think Lin get benched in 4th quarters?
I don't think Bev and Brooks are selfish players.
DeleteThose two guys actually did try to run some quasi flex offensive set plays, which often involved their handing the ball off to a teammate up high as the first pass. But those guys never saw the ball again afterwards unless it was a bailout situation.
The reason Bev and Brooks and Lin have poor passing numbers is because they're not involved in the passing after they hand the ball off as the first move of their plays.
Just to capitalize on your point Khuang:
Delete" The reason Bev and Brooks and Lin have poor passing numbers is because they're not involved in the passing after they hand the ball off as the first move of their plays."
That being said, it's amazing how Jlin managed to avg. 6.1 assists/gm this whole season know this fact. Just amazing!
Thanks, Etymology.
DeleteThat's why I regard Lin as a super elite talent who is limited only because he gets fewer touches than all other starting point guards and most bench point guards!
I knew those white trash, named members (sean/chad/jeremiah) were trolls.
ReplyDeletecalm down, just ignore them.
DeleteAlthough it has been a frustrating season, I was happy to see Jeremy stay relatively healthy and get some playoff experience. Have a great summer and good luck, Jeremy. I'll be waiting for your return next season.
ReplyDeleteMeh, can't really get anything out of this game for Lin. He was playing with a bunch of players that he never really played with or had significant time on the court with. The offense with Lin and Anderson/Brooks/Smith seemed liked no one really knew what to do. Add to that Lin hasn't played in a week couldn't expect too much production.
ReplyDeleteDefensively he looked to be back to his normal self. With a full off-season for him without being hampered with knee surgery will truly pay dividends. I fully expect him to improve upon this season and take that next step to becoming an All-Star player.
Anyway season is over for Lin and the Rockets, now I get to watch my other favorite player Tony Allen battle KD/Martin
Memphis actually has a very good chance to beat OKC in the 2nd round now that WB is out. Unless KMartin & Jackson can continue to be a factor, I'm not sure how OKC is going to contain Mike Conley, Gasol, & Randolph.
DeleteLin hustled and hustled, but I'm very disappointed in ALL of Lin's teammates including the starters.
DeleteThey have to learn that the NBA is not a league where guys can take plays off just because "Golden Goose Lin" stepped into the game and is going to hand everybody their golden eggs so that selfish players can cherrypick for stats.
Had Lin's guys simply continued their hustle when Lin entered the game, they'd have gone on those trademark 20-2 runs of Lin's Houston tenure.
Looking forward to that MEM/OKC matchup.
Delete@k.smith
DeleteMe too! Without WB, I'm not sure OKC has enough to hang around a whole series. Ibaka and Perkins are not as good as Randolph and Gasol. Mike Conley is going to school Jackson. Mike Conley is going to play lock down "D" on KMartin. I think Tayshun Prince can more than hold his own against Durant. Plus they can make Durant try to beat them all by himself while everyone else is locked down.
@Etymology
DeleteEven with Westbrook I think the Grizzlies would give OKC a lot of trouble simply because no one in the league can match Memphis's front court. Conley/Allen defensively is one of the best duos in the league which will shutdown Jackson and Martin.
The real X-factor is J. Bayless. When this guy gets going it's going to be tough for OKC to stop him. Should be a very tight series I think.
@Albinoswordfish
DeleteYou're right, OKC w/ WB would still be a tough match vs. Grizzlies. But they would have a better chance with WB vs. no chance at all.
Conley/Allen is definitely the most underrated duos in the NBA.
Too bad Lin doesn't have an SG teammate that compliments him.
I really like J. Bayless. He's become a better PG since Portland an excellent 6th man coming off the bench.
Memphis has a lot of players who don't have egos. They also have playoff seasoned veterans and two past NBA championship veteran. They also have the defensive player of the year.
It doesn't look good for OKC.
It will probably be a Spurs vs. Memphis Western Conference Finals, which would probably be a game 7 series.
Jerryd Bayless is a KILLER.
DeleteI absolutely love his game and have been raving about him since last year.
When he was coming out of college, I thought that he had an excellent chance to become a terrific high usage scoring combo point guard. I also liked his athleticism and defense.
I have been very unhappy with the poor treatment Jerryd Bayless gets in the NBA. I will always regard him as a starting NBA point guard who'd be right there with Lin, Wall, and Westbrook as one of the most dynamic players in the game. But Bayless is limited even more than Lin is, and I have never agreed with that.
Any good players for next seasons NBA draft?
ReplyDeleteJEREMY POSTGAME
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin averaged 13 points, 6 assists, 2 steals a game.
ReplyDeleteBetter than half the starting PG's. This even though Lin's usage was ranked 38th among PG's.
Lin put up at worst average numbers for a starting PG despite playing next to one of the biggest ball hogs in the league
He had a great season in a tough situation.
Myths to be dispelled next year:
- Lin is not a good defensive player. Lin has been a great defensive player. He was Golden State's defensive specialist as a rookie. On the Knicks they had the #1 defense when he played and posted a 96 defensive rating for the year which is excellent.
- Lin can't go left. Lin goes left FAR MORE than Felton, and Harden almost never goes right since he's left-handed. Lin's shot chart is also a lot more balanced than Melo's 2012 shot chat which was almost all from the right side
- Lin is turnover prone. Lin dramatically dropped turnovers, putting up less than 3 a game over 82 games
- Lin sat out bc he was selfish. Lin was NEVER medically cleared to play last year. It was clear even in November this year his knee wasn't fully back. He had the same injury as Arenas whose career was derailed from meniscus. Lin gutted it for multiple games this playoffs and got crucified for not playing well. Lose-lose from irrational haters.
- Lin left NY by choice. Lin was never offered a contract from NY who first went after Nash, Kidd, Felton. Lin signed the only contract offered to him. NY didn't match. Houston upped their offer, Lin didn't do it, after NY stupidly publicly said they were matching.
There are so many lies and myths about Lin from people committed to hating on him. It's why he IS like Jackie Robinson in having to face so much hate and prejudice from a lot of people. He needs people to back him up and also dispel these lies and myths being spread.
.
We're not worthy! We're not worthy!
DeleteEXCELLENT post.
Great post anonymous!
DeleteWow I pretty much agreed with everything, nice post.
Deletechest bump!
Deletegood stuff, thanks.
DeleteThumbs up!!! Anonymous.
DeleteAll the haters spew hatred and lies will go down the history as villains in Linsanity 2.0.
Lin will have the last laugh!
Excellent post! Thanks for taking the time to sum it up so nicely :)
Delete+1Million likes :P
DeleteLinspiracy exposed.. Good post
Delete"I think I'm as motivated now as I've ever been my whole life"
ReplyDeleteThe above is what Jeremy Lin said in his post game interview. Expect him to get much better over the off season.
I am really looking forward to what he can do this summer.
DeleteI love that attitude. He's going to come back better and stronger next year!
DeleteLin's gonna open lots of cans of WHOOP ASS opened on teammates that don't play as hard as he does.
DeleteI'm not a Kobe Bryant fan at all, but I do admire how Kobe is simply more intense about improving his game than all of his teammates are.
Lin and Bryant are equivalent in my eyes as far as being self motivated goes.
"the difference between a good player and a great player" and "a blessing to be on the court". Lin has such great attitude ... and he's shooting for being a great player!
DeleteLin showed flashes of his brilliance throughout the season this year and now he will have time to work on how he can muster this brilliance more often and more consistently. He is a worker and a thinker in addition to being a talented athlete. He will have a transformative summer, after which we will all see him ascend to the title of elite CONSISTENT player. It will happen.
DeleteMy disappointment in Lin's game tonight is that coming off the bench as a 3rd guard was an opportunity to set aside his game-managing role as starting PG and fall back on his natural creative scoring, playmaking combo-guard game. In other words, Game 6 was Lin's chance to dial up Linsanity.
ReplyDeleteInstead, Lin tried to run the point. However, the Rockets by Game 6 were no longer the same team that started the series. Lin just seemed out of sync with his teammates on the offensive end. I would rather have seen Lin cover up his rustiness with aggression and play in creative iso attack mode and make plays off that rather than restrained set-up mode.
Here's what I wrote before the game:
Jeremy Lin has been cleared to play Game 6 against the Thunder. The intriguing development is that Kevin McHale will bring Lin off the bench.
I want to see how Lin does in the 3rd guard role because I believe it's the role he's naturally best suited to play. While Lin as-is is a quality starting PG with room to grow, his game is ready made for the dynamic, Swiss-army-knife, game-changing, combo-SG/PG, 3rd guard role typified by Manu Ginobili and Thunder-version James Harden. Lin is better when he takes the swashbuckling, dominating approach that comes with the 3rd guard role than when he restrains himself with the game-managing mindset that comes with starting PG. The few elite NBA 3rd guards are my favorite players to watch and Lin has the goods to join them.
Lin can do a lot of damage to the Thunder if he unleashes himself on the Westbrook-less Thunder guards. With his poor play in Game 1 and injury stoking his critics, I believe Lin will be more than eager to strike hard against the Thunder tonight with some throwback Linsanity.
I look forward to watching Lin tonight revive his Knick-version takeover aggressiveness, versatility, energy, playmaking, high basketball IQ, big-moment clutchness, and creative isolation scoring, and establish himself as an elite NBA 3rd guard.
Lin WAS a 3rd guard today - and it failed miserably.
DeleteThat's because when Lin entered the game, guys just stood around on offense and loafed on defense. They all expected him to serve them stats on a golden platter, so they all caught a breather while Lin was hustling.
It doesn't matter if Lin is 1st guard or 3rd string D league guard. He can't do anything if teammates refuse to cut and defend.
If you're looking for a NY Knick compliment, Eric, it's that the veteran Knicks will still try to make their cuts and play defense when Lin's in the game. They may look to embarrass Lin for overshadowing them, but they still are smart enough to not completely let their personal HATRED of Lin overwhelm their self survival instinct of making their cuts and playing defense so that Lin can feed them in the right spots for their stat padding!
Where have you been or has NYK's success kept you away? Do you still have your blog?
DeleteIrony - $80m Harden with stat of 7-22 is outplayed by $12m K Martin with 7-13. Martin knocks out his previous team from the playoffs. Morey not looking so good now.
ReplyDeleteI'm dead serious that Houston misses JEREMY LAMB.
DeleteThat young rookie is a cold blooded basketball assassin, just like Lin. Unlike Harden or even Martin, Jeremy Lamb has the ability to play quality team basketball when the pressure is on.
I was hoping for an all-Jeremy backcourt. It DEFINITELY would've been better than this crappy Harden-Lin backcourt with Harden being ROASTED defensively while he bricks and turns over constantly.
Daryl Morey trading away Lamb for Harden was a major FAIL by itself. That move will haunt the Rockets for years to come, starting with this season.
Uhhh let's not go overboard here about Jeremy Lamb. The dude has hardly played in the NBA at all. So far he's been pretty bad. Not saying he won't be a good player but to say he would be more effective than a Lin-Harden backcourt is stretching it.
DeleteJust because Jeremy Lamb is buried on OKC's stacked bench doesn't mean that he has "played bad" in the NBA.
DeleteIn Rockets preseason, he looked pretty good for a 19 year old rookie who's still growing into his body. In fact, Jeremy Lamb as the Rockets 6th man OUTPLAYED a guy who was the OKC 6th man - a guy by the name of JAMES HARDEN who was brutally bad against the Rockets that game.
When Harden has those frequent 5-10 turnover games where some journeyman nobody goes at him and scores 20+ on him while he shoots 5-20, that's a level of SUCKITUDE that Jeremy Lamb will likely never reach in the NBA.
There is a reason why the PGs are in. Golden age of prominence. It is because of the fact that defenses an double and play zone. Playoff ball is intense and scores go down dramatically because nothing is uncontested. It's like a football team that has no running game and lives by passing downfield. The defenses spread out and the defensive lines take ever wider runs at the pocket. You have to ram the ball down th ethroat of a defense in order to contract the defense and open passing lanes. The PNR is the new way to run an offense with strong shooting wing men on the side to take advantage of the kick out passes.
ReplyDeleteHad Mchale developed this attacking formation with Lin PNR down the gut of the defense with Harden and Parsons shooting easy 3s from either wing, the Rox would have won more than 50 games and really challenge for the west.
No, ramming PNR down the middle with Lin wouldn't help.
DeleteAll season long, opponents have COLLAPSED on Lin when he crosses the 3 point line. They'll abandon Harden and Parsons to get back.
The way NBA teams beat this kind of scheme is to clog the perimeter, thus angling the point guard off to one side of the court where he can be help defended. In Lin's case, it would mean a high double team up top and a 3rd defender waiting to pick off the bailout pass. And that's exactly what opponents pulled on Lin earlier this season.
Also, NBA defenders are so big and quick that they can double Lin but scramble back to either steal the bailout pass or contest the perimeter jump shot.
DeleteThat's why there is a quarterback and offensive schemes to take advantage of tendencies. No attack is ever perfect or unstoppable. That's why scoring percentages are kept. 50% is the benchmark for good success, but that means that the defense is also 50% effective. What is important is the fundamentals of the sets in use to maximize potentials of the team's possessions. Good coaches recognize the defensive tendencies and uses that to manufacture runs at the proper times to score.
DeleteLin is a true quarterback that understands how to manipulate % and flow. People don't understand why poker is a sport when it appears to be all chance. In fact, it's similarity to sport exactly because of the similarity of the vararies of chance in every possession of plays. You can have the perfect play in place but if an defender screws up assignments and winds up in the wrong/ right place where he isn't suppose to be, then it turns into a turnover. Sports is about risk reward, percentages and performance... But all athletes are superstitous because they all need luck to be on their side to win.
This the inevitable evolution of the basketball game, that PGs will become the brains of the team. PGs need to be as mentally tough, agile, and and have a kind of psychic prescience to feel the defense. I know that I've felt that prescience before when in a split second I did something extraordinary. I'm sure all of you have too, but the great ones just do it on a regular basis while we mere mortals have just glimpses of that god like ability.
@Bob CF ... I get your point. Unfortunately, McHale has spent his career in the paint and cannot see flow. To him, it's banging over and over again. But he's a likable homespun guy.
DeleteAs a mere mortal, I can only remember a handful of plays that you talk about, but I know they are rare for us because you not only have to see a split second ahead in space and time, with moving parts, but you have to physically execute with defenders also seeing ahead in time and space. That's why I love live action games with no time outs. With no time outs, you have no ability to reset your spirit, so you have to do it playing at speed, and you have to gather your teammates while all having our individual 1-1 contests.
A way to say more on that it to recall the All Star skills contest. Why with so many great players is it a crapshoot of high standard deviations? Because execution is even tough with a static course that has no future movement element, much less a defender of same world class.
So, flow and that sublime game Lin has is hard to find in guys like Bev or Harden or Parsons. Lin is going to be great, as KHuang keeps saying.
So to me, it's:
- space (that creates time)
- time (that creates space)
- now, future
- moving parts
- smart defenders moving with you
How many times do we see it happen? In soccer, it's once in many games where you see brilliance. So the fun is to see it in your minds eye. In BBall, it's the alley oop poster.
To be a JLin fan, you see it many times a game, what is and could have been.
The season may not be as i have expected (uhm Linsanity2) but then I have seen how Jeremy is continuously evolving into becoming a great NBA player and how unbreakable his character and faith is despite every hardships and hate thrown in his way. So overall I am proud of what Jeremy accomplished this year.
ReplyDeleteAs for the trade, personally if it is not with D'Antoni (who I am certain trust and know what LIN is capable of doing) I would rather he stay with Houston, at least he doesn't have to start over and build everything again. There is simply no guarantee. But then again, I believe (like Jeremy said) that GOD does not make any mistakes, he is giving what Lin needs and I am fine with that.
P.S. Not interested in buying preseason game tickets in Oct cause i am not sure I will actually see Lin play :)
Just a cruel twist of fate for Jeremy that the Rockets acquired Harden. If that trade had not happened we would have gotten a full season of Linsanity ball. Just a damn shame how it all turned out.
ReplyDeleteIf someone has clutchfan,net's account, could you do me a favor?
ReplyDeleteI really want to post this conversation https://twitter.com/DSMok1/status/322026316704649216 on the thread "PB earns the starter job" thread link
to shut those haters up!
appreciate it!
Morey knows what he is doing.
DeleteI don't understand if they are praising the PB signing , why question about Lin's signing? nonsense~
I think that a two faced guy like Daryl Morey can easily regard Lin as a starting point guard while also trying to prove to his boss Les Alexander that Morey didn't deserve all those screamings for cutting Lin last season.
DeleteMorey can blather in the papers all he wants. He doesn't even realize that Les Alexander is deliberately using Morey as a SMOKESCREEN. That's how the cunning and ruthless Les was able to rape Sacramento of their top 5 pick and best journeyman role player without anybody even trying to outbid Houston.
@KHuang,
Delete+1
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete#1 hater releases Game 6 video footage:
DeleteGame 6 video footage
Not worth watching, Lin took a charge and they call it a block, he gets hit on his shots without getting any FT's. He hit a 3-pointer, made some nice passes to guys who couldn't convert, and played some solid D overall.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy thanks and appreciation to youz all. Thanks for a great season!
ReplyDeleteBack to Life
We'll still be around, but anyway, we should celebrate a good season for JLin and us.
see yah @JoeTeam!
DeleteJeremy I am so disappointed to see the season end so bad.
ReplyDeleteYou must be feeling so sad but I hope you stay strong and feel proud. You were everything I dreamed of when I was a boy.
You are the hero that I wished for when I was young and I was bullied by dumb ugly white trash loser for being smaller and not as successful in basketball.
But then you came to the NBA and it made me feel like I could win again with your beautiful playing. But you let me down. I feel like you let my whole country down also.
I know you are injured. I felt so sorry about that.
But if you can not play 100% then why did you play? I feel like you cost your team this loss.
I know other people will hate me but I need to tell the truth.
I hope you can come back healthy and stronger. Please fight to win again. Please make me feel proud.
Even it makes so mad and disappointed I still pray for you and I hope that you come back. You can make all of the haters shut up. Please rest and be well again. You can show everyone that you are a true winner. I will believe in you all my life.
Lin's not sad. He has fire burning within him. He will train hard over the off season. He's too busy to be "sad".
DeleteCheer up David Lao ... Lin definitely tried with all his abilities. He did not disappoint you or us - we are just disappointed and rightly so. It's our state of mind, and we manage the cause and effect. He to us is an abstraction, coming to us on TV. We don't know if his assignment was to D only, and he did that well. We just wanted him to score and win for us. That's our abstraction, our invention. His reality is full of things we don't know.
DeleteThere will be more days ahead where you will walk around ecstatic, and he will not have done it to you ... you will be in that state. Go out tomorrow and tap into that, and then you can celebrate what Lin's journey is teaching us about all that is good.
Guys thank you. I found a video that cheer me up and make me feel better.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX9gBA2x8a8
Love you Jeremy. You will always be a winner to me.
Dang, you got my 5 minutes you Troll. Good job. Now go and eat some potato chips and drink a beer.
DeleteI am so sorry I make a mistake I put the wrong video.
DeleteI am sorry it was nervous tonight. This is the correct video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CjJBvTWj6Q
It is the post game interview. It makes me feel better to see Jeremy when he is positive even in the most difficult time.
"David Lao", I don't buy it. Of course that first link was intended. Dude, find another hobby.
DeletePlease delete your earlier post if you're truly nervous and posted the wrong vid.
DeleteIf you can't do it, maybe the site admin can help you.
Wow David Lao I hope you catch fungus where the sun don't shine.
DeleteGuys I am sorry. Why are you hating on me still I said I made a mistake and I posted the correct video. This was a difficult night for me.
DeleteSomeone posted that first video before and I made a mistake to also post that one. I meant to post only the second video where he has a post game interview.
Deleteguys there's a fan voting for grading Rockets players. Jeremy's grade is:
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin: Grade his 2012-2013 season
C (44%, 77 Votes)
B (34%, 60 Votes)
A (9%, 15 Votes)
D (7%, 13 Votes)
F (6%, 10 Votes)
Total Voters: 175
yup he's the lowest :)
Ignore it Isa ... you got Lin coming to the Phillipines and you'll be a happy lady. I see the above and celebrate how Lin outplayed his buddy Steph, and I see Steph playing really well. Lin runs with the big dogs, and those fans are just drinking beer eating potato chips (see above) :-)
DeleteSee you here by and by. Tonight was a-ok. Not perfect, but a great season and some good convo above by the good folks here.
Please delete your earlier post if you're truly nervous and posted the wrong vid.
DeleteIf you can't do it, maybe the site admin can help you.
sorry, clumsily posted the above here after i changed my comment.
Deleteanyway, @isabelijane, you have a big event to look forward to, that is meeting Lin come this October. good for you. :)
Lin's bashing articles anger us Lin fans to no end, to the extent, I refuse to read of them any more...haven't been clicking clutchfans for the longest time i can recall...haha
@JoeTeam - yeah. I don't care if he doesn't play. I just want to see him in person
Delete@livyrlife - I'm not really angered by how his haters graded him. haters don't have any basketball knowledge at all. all they want is for him to score 50+ every regular season and 100+ every playoffs and they will hail Jeremy as Hall of Famer. :)
since he will be healthy this offseason,finally he can spend more times with his shooting coach. He is not going to spend a month for the Asia trip, right?
ReplyDelete