To no one’s surprise, the Houston Rockets are out of the playoffs. The only two games they managed to win came after an injuries to Jeremy Lin and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook.
Lin came back for game six, but was limited to just 13 minutes and did not start.
A blog in Sportige called the series “a battle between bad coaching and selfish stars, the Thunder had Kevin Durant while the Rockets had James Harden.”
Coach Kevin McHale used Lin throughout much of the season as a shooting guard opposite Harden. That strategy didn’t exactly play to Lin’s strengths.
A heavy dose of Harden shooting might have worked better had McHale also allowed Lin to distribute the ball in a balanced attack. Instead, Lin is often seen on the court getting out of the way so that Harden could do his thing. That allowed Harden to get his points and his touches, but it didn’t help the Rockets win.
Sportige concludes Lin would be better off playing with another coach and another team.
What do you think? Did McHale use Lin correctly? Would Lin be better off with another team?
