Rockets vs Spurs Dec 10 7pm...Texans vs Pats MNF!!!! NSFW

[Durant Durant]

Im happy that our observations r correct. Coaching is what is holding Lin back. I hope they make adjustments when Harden comes back.

[phoenixx]

mchale said he wished he could have gotten that last play in regulation back. he wanted asik to set a pick, but i think lin waived it off. lin was also pretty down about messing up that play. next few games should be interesting regarding rotations.

[13th Man]

Yes everybody says bring Lin off the bench, but that doesn't solve anything unless you play Harden 24 mins and Lin 24 mins (hint: that's not going to happen). And yes we do run a system, and Harden plays in that system just fine. I think you have it reversed, in that they revert to giving the ball to Harden to "bail" them out when the offense isn't running smoothly. That's why some games our offense runs as smooth as butter and some games things go wrong in a hurry. Look at the start of every game, we always ATTEMPT to run our offense.

And yes Lin is a rhythm shooter. His numbers are higher off the dribble than spot ups, which is rare. That's why I said Lin needs to learn how to be a system player, first of which is to be a better spot up shooter, but also to know when to be aggressive and when to run the offense. Like I said in the other thread, Lin is damn near elite at running the PnR, particularly getting in the paint and keeping his defender on his hip, where he can find holes in the defense. This is completely different than when he gets the ball swung to him and he has to attack the weak side defense.

The problem isn't Harden at all. Harden is a great spot up shooter, great passer out of double teams, great PnR player, he's just an elite player offensively. They should compliment each other honestly, as Harden is much stronger going to his left and vice versa for Lin.

Excellent post! I think that they could still play together, maybe let Lin control the 1st half of the shot clock and if nothing develops, give the ball to Harden who is better at creating his own shot. It's obvious that both guys need to touch the ball so they have to find a balance.

[wasfan]

Nice to see Lin with that swagger again but uh... basically our offense became "give Lin the ball." What this game showed me was:

-Lin needs to learn how to play in a system. Harden is going to play big minutes and you can only stagger their minutes so much. It seems to me that when he's in a system offense and has to run specific plays/sets he just tends to overthink it and not look for his shot at all.
-The defense is atrocious. Missed rotations. Leaving people wide open. Some rotations we literally just had people watching an open man with the ball!
-Don't complain about this loss. The refs were literally giving us every call.

And give T.Jones some damn playing time man.

you know... that's what you're supposed to do when you have a quality point guard... give him the ball and let him run the play...

if anything, harden should learn the system and realize that dominating the ball works when you're the 6th man responsible to create your own shot, not when you're the starting 2 guard...

[zapatasblood]

Nice to see Lin with that swagger again but uh... basically our offense became "give Lin the ball." What this game showed me was:

-Lin needs to learn how to play in a system. Harden is going to play big minutes and you can only stagger their minutes so much. It seems to me that when he's in a system offense and has to run specific plays/sets he just tends to overthink it and not look for his shot at all.
-The defense is atrocious. Missed rotations. Leaving people wide open. Some rotations we literally just had people watching an open man with the ball!
-Don't complain about this loss. The refs were literally giving us every call.

And give T.Jones some damn playing time man.

you know... that's what you're supposed to do when you have a quality point guard... give him the ball and let him run the play...

if anything, harden should learn the system and realize that dominating the ball works when you're the 6th man responsible to create your own shot, not when you're the starting 2 guard...

Yeah Harden may be playing the 2 guard but he really is a PG. Once again Lin comes up short in talent when compared to Harden now and in the future. Lin is the one that needs to learn how to play with Harden and if he can't then move him.

[zapatasblood]

**** Can't believed I missed this game, damn finals.

Houston lost

[Tim Horton]

McHale will make adjustments. yeah

“We have to find a way to get Jeremy playing with the ball more, even playing with James,” McHale said. “We’ve got to make sure he’s able to do some things and have some strong-side, weak-side action where he is involved.”

[BaYBaller]

Nice to see Lin with that swagger again but uh... basically our offense became "give Lin the ball." What this game showed me was:

-Lin needs to learn how to play in a system. Harden is going to play big minutes and you can only stagger their minutes so much. It seems to me that when he's in a system offense and has to run specific plays/sets he just tends to overthink it and not look for his shot at all.
-The defense is atrocious. Missed rotations. Leaving people wide open. Some rotations we literally just had people watching an open man with the ball!
-Don't complain about this loss. The refs were literally giving us every call.

And give T.Jones some damn playing time man.

you know... that's what you're supposed to do when you have a quality point guard... give him the ball and let him run the play...

if anything, harden should learn the system and realize that dominating the ball works when you're the 6th man responsible to create your own shot, not when you're the starting 2 guard...

Yeah Harden may be playing the 2 guard but he really is a PG. Once again Lin comes up short in talent when compared to Harden now and in the future. Lin is the one that needs to learn how to play with Harden and if he can't then move him.

The point isn't Harden or Lin, the entire TEAM needs to learn how to run the offense better (or we have to get a new coaching staff if you don't believe in this oystem). We're not running a PG-dominant offense this year. We're doing a lot a of perimeter passing, dribble hand-offs, cross court passes, base lline cuts, etc. getting a lot of movement and trying to find a hole in the defense to attack or pass inside, and trying to move the defense side to side and attack the weak side. It's not just Harden or Lin. Last night Lin basically just ran high PnR to get his numbers, which is what he did in NY, which is why he put up the numbers that he did.

[Tim Horton]

i had a eureka moment over lunch. The best way to coach Harden/Lin is not to coach them at all. your first two games were magnificent for the backcourt. they were like meant for each other then the coaching staff came in and it all hit the fan. I'm not saying that the coaching let them do what they want to do, they have to have a bit of control but let Lin and Harden figure it out for themselves on the court. theyre both unselfish and can pass that being a PG is just second nature, the offense will figure itself out if they let them play.

[madbucky]

The best way to coach Harden/Lin is not to coach them at all. your first two games were magnificent for the backcourt. they were like meant for each other then the coaching staff came in and it all hit the fan. I'm not saying that the coaching let them do what they want to do, they have to have a bit of control but let Lin and Harden figure it out for themselves on the court. theyre both unselfish and can pass that being a PG is just second nature, the offense will figure itself out if they let them play.

Hmm, I like your thinking. I agree that both Harden and Lin have great instincts, and it seems like the coaches are killing them with their "system". Harden is only shooting 25% in iso this year compared to 45% last year!

The coaches should coach team defense and let Harden and Lin run the offense freely. Houston's offense is ranked #10 in the league (in terms of pts/100 possessions), whereas the defense is the 6th worst.
http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamst ... rder/false

[Tim Horton]

The best way to coach Harden/Lin is not to coach them at all. your first two games were magnificent for the backcourt. they were like meant for each other then the coaching staff came in and it all hit the fan. I'm not saying that the coaching let them do what they want to do, they have to have a bit of control but let Lin and Harden figure it out for themselves on the court. theyre both unselfish and can pass that being a PG is just second nature, the offense will figure itself out if they let them play.

Hmm, I like your thinking. I agree that both Harden and Lin have great instincts, and it seems like the coaches are killing them with their "system". Harden is only shooting 25% in iso this year compared to 45% last year!

The coaches should coach team defense and let Harden and Lin run the offense freely. Houston's offense is ranked #10 in the league (in terms of pts/100 possessions), whereas the defense is the 6th worst.
http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamst ... rder/false

thanks. also remember that Dantoni let Lin play with little coaching which led to Linsanity. Mchale should trust the backcourt. let them figure out who would spot-up, drive or take the 3.

[3gbrrrfkyt]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X0C9U4jP5Y[/youtube]