People kept saying Lin gave up the ball at mid-court, and they were so certain that McHale ordered that, and the good citizen Jeremy Lin swallowed his pride and obeyed the orders painfully. I got the chance to watch a crappy game from Rockets last night on NBATV again, against the Nuggets.
The game was played in Houston, and the visiting team showed a lot more energy and poise. The home team on the other hand, were just going through motions, Jeremy included. The bench showed more life, although that didn't result in anything noticeable on scoreboard.
Honestly, I didn't see Lin gave up the ball at mid-court in his short 24 mins. He didn't play terrible, but he played uninspired as a 路人甲. He did give up the ball at some point in many occasions, when he couldn't do anything with the ball. I was very surprised to notice, at least in last night's game, his handling got even worse. Ball-handling and shooting mechanism are two facets I criticized him a lot, because that's too crucial for a guard. Last night, his dribbling was so weak (no bounce, easy to be stripped), and a few times he lost dribble by himself either bouncing off his own foot or lost control. He couldn't beat defender off the dribble, and he couldn't launch and make quick jumper. Defenders are now just keeping him in the front and giving him enough distance to prevent his drive and dare him to shoot.
What could he do then? What would you do, if you were him? He GAVE UP the ball, because he couldn't do anything with it. People complained that Lin didn't get enough PnR, I absolutely agree. But PnR is there to help you create a shot. You are not a shooter, and players with sub-10 points a game don't get many plays designed for you to free you up for a shot. That's not ideal for Lin, but that's the hard cold reality in NBA. Rockets is very weak in interior, and Omar's energy needs to be spared as the ONLY rebounding force. Paterson is garbage anyway, and he doesn't know how to set a pick. Jeremy at his Linsanity height, was the ONLY scorer at Knicks, that's why multiple picks were set for him even in one possession. But with the minutes and ways he was playing, it couldn't be sustained.
Frankly, I don't like ISO ball, not at all. I didn't like the Steve Francis ISO, and I didn't even like the heavy ISO by LeBron at Cleveland or Kobe with Lakers. So, I don't like the Harden ISO either. However, if there is no ball movement, you want someone to create his own shot, I would still put the ball in Harden's hands, because I don't have other choices. If there are a few picks to be run, I will mainly run through Harden, because he's the best option.
Jeremy caught the whole league in surprise, but now the whole league is ready for his one speed and one direction hard drive, is he ready to counter that sit-back and pack-the-paint defense? When is he going to launch a decisive in-rhythem pull up jump shot? When is he going to use that 6'3 size to bump the defending small guards and pull a step back jumper?
Yes, Jeremy's strength is at court vision and setting up shots for teammates in a motion offense. But when the team is not moving, can he do something different to mobilize the team? Or he can only sit back and wait at the corner?
McHale is not a good coach, Rockets is not a contender, and Harden is a very good scorer but still a ballhog, but what can Jeremy do to contribute more than those 9 points 4 assists as the starting PG and 8 million man? Waiting to be traded to a contender like OKC? Then he would be the bench warmer. Waiting for the supposedly best-fit coach for him like coach D? He isn't a good coach either, and Lin would be run to ground quickly, before he can learn to fall properly, and use hesitation, direction and speed change to get more chances for himself and his teammates.
No, I am not happy that Lin only played 24 minutes last night. But I am more upset about his performance overall. When you only break out once or twice in every 6, 7 games, you are backup quality, no matter what system you are playing in, and it makes even worse if you are at a bad team. Obviously, Lin is in a deep slump, and he's still learning as a starter. But he'd better hurry up, for patience is a virtue nowadays, from both teammates and fans. Of course, it doesn't help either when you have "loyal" fans blaming everything on others, no matter how you play or whether the team wins.
Jeremy gave up the ball because he couldn't create a shot for himself without help.
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