32 replies to this topic

[Richards]

Player selection is in coach's hand and he will do what is best for the team. For is own success, future, and legacy as well.

To me, Bev's sample size is too small and it is huge decision to start him at critical time. He brings a lot of defensive energy but Lin play a good defense too.

 

I will only switch for either of two below.

- If Lin plays so poorly than Bev

- If Bev spot-up shooting is much better than Lin

[timetodienow1234567]

I think that the Lin Bev debate is closer than it should since Harden has the ball in his hands a lot. But I still like Lin better. Are you factoring in the fact that our bench is pretty good and Bev is playing against the other teams' bench? But even if they're as close as you think and 50/50, I still want Lin. The potential is there for him to be an all-star. That same potential isn't there for Beverley. You can't learn instinct. His ceiling is Derek Fisher and he's still lightyears away from that. Why would I give more time to Beverley when Lin has more potential. Why did Morey trade away Patterson?

[Mason Khamvilay]

I think their potential is similar

[Richards]

I think that Lin has higher ceiling. Most tend to forget that Lin played as a shooting guard in college.

He started playing PG role in NBA. Before this season, he only started a few (I think less than 30) and only played garbage times prior.

 

I believe Bev had more playing time than Lin at PG (not at Rockets).

[kevingan]

2016, there's no single thing that can be called "human nature"--it varies too much by context.  And even if it did exist in some simple fashion, it would not be helping you to pick a starting rotation either: it would have bigger fish to fry.

 

That said, I agree with Richards: Lin has a greater upside as a starting PG, because he's a) very intelligent; a deep student of the game; c) completely unselfish; d) strong and quick (not Beverly quick, but quick); e) gifted with exceptional court vision (say Hubie Brown and Magic Johnson); and f) has demonstrated a fierce will to win and a remarkable ability to find resourceful ways to rise to the occasion in crunch time.

 

He's still inconsistent: he's just finishing his first full year.  If the notion of "starter" versus "sixth man" means anything, Lin has more starter traits and Beverly has more sixth man traits.  Both are real assets--I wish you'd be happy that they're there and stop pitting them against each other!  Relax!  Enjoy! We don't have a real problem here!  Or so it seems to me.

[Mason Khamvilay]

I can see the logic there, Lin probably does have a higher ceiling. 

[kevingan]

Let's hope they both do, and break through their ceilings on the way to the championship!  Go Rockets!

[rocketrick]

Last night was indicative to me of which PG is the better: Lin or Beverly.

Beverly struggled for the better part of this game while Lin had some really good minutes.

And when we needed Beverly to step up the most, in the 4th quarter vs. Orlando, he withered at the vine in my opinion.

[Mason Khamvilay]

I've always thought Lin is the better pg, he just doesn't work as well with Harden as Bev does. I'm guessing the reason McHale plays most of Lin's minutes while Harden is on the floor because he wants Lin and Harden to figure out how to work together. We would be a better team if Lin was always on the floor while Harden rests, but McHale is thinking more towards the long term. I like how honest Lin is about his struggles with Harden here.

[rocketrick]

Watching the Rockets this season, it just doesn't seem as clear to me what some are saying about Harden and Beverly working better as a tandem than Harden and Lin. I think there are some games where it is clear that the Harden and Lin tandem are clicking and others where Harden and Beverly seem to be clicking.

I'm not so sure that maybe it just has more to do with matchups and substitutions (meaning Beverly is matched up against a bench guy while Harden may have a starter on him (or a bench guy) in the 2nd quarter when Harden and Beverly are our guards).

I'm OK with analytics and statistics, but I think sometimes you just have to go with experience and the game flow from a fans perspective (which is obviously subjective).

I see many more flashes of brilliance out of Lin this season overall than Beverly, that's just my subjective opinion watching from the stands.

[Mason Khamvilay]

Personally I feel like Lin defers to Harden too much somtimes, and like he said in the video he plays better when he's THE pg and not just A pg.

[rocketrick]

Your prior point that Coach McHale is giving the tandem of Lin and Harden as many minutes together as possible to help both figure out the best way to play off each other. Rather than playing them for the most part separate from each other as one rests on the bench.

That's the only way the tandem of Lin and Harden can come together and maximize their potential as our guards of the future.

[Mason Khamvilay]

Yeah, that's what I was saying. Funny thing is, that was my biggest criticism of McHale's coaching, but I see that he has a perfectly reasonable explanation for that too.