gortat has some trade value. scola being an amnesty pickup i assume its one year and he can can be let go. dudley is an ok player who can be traded for a pick (think the houston budinger trade to MIN) or some upside player/s down the line.

i assume if they want to tank they certainly have the means to do so very soon.

dragic was a familiar player for the fans (25 pt outburst in the spurs sweep in the ’10 playoffs). helps the fans get over nash somewhat. that coupled with the marshall pick. i kind of understand what they are doing.

the beasley signing on the other hand….

he is a really “balanced” player. does everything really well. nothing elite but is so solid across the board. solid defender. great passer. has a good handle. good shooter. since he is on the same contract as lin (with a 4th year)i was confused why houston didnt bring him back. hes a better player than lin (to be fair he backed up nash early in his career and has been in the league longer so his development curve was easier). he’s 26 so he is still young. his last 3 years (starting in houston after the trade) including this one show an upward progression if you look at the raw numbers and advanced stats.

i dont know if he will ever be an all-star. phoenix system (dantoni basically) will work for him. i like him alot

i always thought the narrative on lin being a terrible defender is overblown. he’s spotty. ball watches too much sometimes. and his pick and roll defense needs some work. though he has a good feel for isolation defense. while he over helps too much he has shown improvement from last year. i dont think he will ever be a shut down perimeter defender but i think if he keeps working he can be a somewhat above average point defensively.

his handle has improved and he seems to be progressing as a distributor. he still seems to be trying to figure out how he should score in this offense with harden. his jumper has been pretty bad. he still does a lot of silly lin things. him and asik combine for a few laugh out loud moments a game. but its entertaing and i think both will live up to their contracts (8m a year for both i believe).

as for TD.

TDDWTDD

BigBlueAL:
Yeah I didnt get it, TD was 2 for 10 from the field and couldnt cover Lillard just like Lin couldnt either yet they went with TD for the entire OT instead of Lin.

I just finished watching this game. That Rockets coach are as incompetent as they come.

Current Defensive Statistics from Synergy Sports, including the Portland game…

Points Per Possession Allowed

Jeremy Lin – 0.71 (50th in the NBA of ALL positions)
Toney Douglas – 0.87 (151st in the NBA of ALL positions)

Opponent FG%

Jeremy Lin – 34.4%
Toney Douglas – 42.5%

Opponent 3pt%

Jeremy Lin – 33.3%
Toney Douglas – 37.5%

Overall Opponent %Score

Jeremy Lin – 32.5%
Toney Douglas – 38.2%

jon abbey:
meanwhile in Lin-land, he was shuttling in and out down the stretch of a close game against Portland with um, Toney Douglas. Douglas has played over Lin for the entire OT, Lillard scored 27, which is his high total thus far.

yea i watched a bunch of the game. having TD “great” floaters (in more ways than one) in a tightly contested game in OT something really has to be questioned with the coaching staff. lin did an alright job on liliard throughout even that shot to go ahead in the 4th the defense want that bad. he was really close to a jump ball or at least a foul a close foul at the very worst. lillard is so good though. seriously. why does anyone think TD could guard him? lin also had some great passes that weren’t converted.

also lin puts up the weirdiest stat lines. if i dont watch the game and check the box score i would be surprised if he put up a line with 2 points. 15 assists. 12 tos. 9 blocks. 8 rb (all offensive). 7 sts. at least 12 missed shots. perfect from 3 somehow though. i guy can fill a box score with the best and worse of things. love him