Jeremy Lin - Superstar or Flash in the pan

[AgustusM]

I tend to think guys like this come back to earth and is overhyped because he is playing in NY (no way he gets all this hype if was doing exact same thing for Milwaukee)

On the "sure to be the next Chris Paul" side is the fact that the team I have rooted for the past 40 years, your Golden State Warriors simply cut him this year and letting go a desperately needed star is exactly the type of things the Warriors have been doing for most of my years following the team.

interested in less biased opinions on Mr Lin and his future.

[JediKooter]

I think the Rockets let him go too.

It could be one of those things like Tom Brady. Backed up Bledsoe for a while and then all of sudden he's a hall of famer.

[lighthousekeeper]

I was watching highlights from his last few starts and was shocked that he wasn't getting called for traveling.

[Daimyo]

I don't think anyone knows because either way it would be completely unprecedented.

Fivethirtyeight had a post about his run after the first four games. Only 41 players in the last 30 years have had a streak of four games at any point in their careers with 20+ points, 6+ assists, and 50+ FG% in four consecutive games and most of them were really, really good. Lin, of course, is the only one to do it in his first four starts.

Jeremy Lin Is No Fluke - NYTimes.com

[whomario]

Originally Posted by AgustusM

(no way he gets all this hype if was doing exact same thing for Milwaukee)

Brandon Jennings last year got it

[larrymcg421]

If I have to guess based on the small sample size, I would say leaning toward the superstar side, but not quite all the way there. Either way, it's a great story and to think we almost missed it due to the lockout.

[Chief Rum]

I think he's legit. From what I have seen, he has excellent ball and body control and a quick first step. I think eventually teams will decide his shot is less dangerous than his drive and will take a step back from him. If he continues to hit from outside, though, they will need to rethink that.

He will have issues on defense, I would guess, judging from most opinions of his athleticism. But frankly he seems to be a young, Asian Steve Nash, who, of course, won two MVPs running this system for D'Antoni. And Nash isn't blessed with all sorts of athleticism either.

He's probably not this good in the long run, but a borderline All Star, one of the top 5-7 PGs in the league? I can see that.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by whomario

Brandon Jennings last year got it

whomario is right. Jennings got all sorts of hype when he dropped 51.

He would have kept getting it, too, if he didn't prove to be a bit too inconsistent. He's actually been better this year, but now no one's paying attention.

[Matthean]

I'm still waiting to see how the team runs once they get healthy.

[EagleFan]

[DougW]

[spleen1015]

Coach K was on the Herd today and basically said it was a perfect storm situation. Lin fits perfectly into D'Antoni's system.

I hope he's for real and has a long Stockton like career.

[stevew]

He certainly has a chance to become the basketball Tebow.

[Lathum]

This should really be a poll

[mauchow]

8 turnovers and 4 missed free throws in a game they're losing by 5 with two minutes to go... not shooting well either.

and as I type that - they tie it up.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by stevew

He certainly has a chance to become the basketball Tebow.

As I stated in another thread, Lin is actually good. He's not getting credit that belongs to others.

[mauchow]

And a big 3 pointer... lol

[Young Drachma]

Who cares? He'd a badass right now out of Harvard. History will tell it, but it's a hell of a fun ride.

[mauchow]

And knicks win again - they were down as much as 13 in the 3rd quarter.... Lin with another big game - He made some big buckets down the stretch for sure. I think he might be something...

[rjolley]

I think he's in the right system for his abilities. He's a solid player that bounced around because he didn't fit well. I don't think he's a dominant point guard like Rose, Paul, D Williams, etc, but he's a solid guard who can be the answer in the system that the Knicks are running...a Nash clone, more or less. He's still got a lot to prove as he needs to do this for a long period of time, but for now, he's doing a great job on one of the biggest stages that's looking for just about anything to be excited about basketball-wise. So, love him or hate him, you'll hear a lot about Lin for the rest of the season.

Didn't Nash come from a non-basketball power school and bounce around a little before settling in as Phoenix's Great Canadian Baller?

[JPhillips]

Boy is there a ton of pressure on Carmelo.

[Apathetic Lurker]

I'd say he ends up being upper middle of the road type player

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

As I stated in another thread, Lin is actually good. He's not getting credit that belongs to others.

He also wasn't a five star recruit coming out of high school who was being recruited by every major college, wasn't on two college national championship teams and wasn't a first round draft pick.

[Young Drachma]

Steve Nash got a scholarship at Santa Clara the only school to offer him. But he was the 15th overall pick in his draft year. So no parallels there in the slightest.

[Young Drachma]

This inference that the hype is unwarranted is really dim. He's doing stuff no one has ever done bursting on the scene as a starter and it's fun to watch. He's leading his team and they are playing well. It's like watching the movie and asking halfway through about the sequel.

[cartman]

And tonight he drains a 3 with less than a second left to win the game.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

It doesn't hurt that he is doing all this in a city that has been starving for a team to root for in MSG for over a decade & stuck watching disappointments and jokes.

If he continues to be even a good player, D'Antoni owes him his career. He was damn close to being done. They started Lin just to see what he could do before they cut him so as not to guarantee his salary.

Nobody saw this coming. Nobody.

It's like watching a kid that stutters step into the spotlight and nail all four hours of Hamlet. Then Macbeth the following night.

[rjolley]

I think the comparisons to Magic, Paul, and the other point guards are dim as well. Lin is a solid guard who plays well in the system he's in. Is that a bad thing? No, not at all. Does that make him a potential All-Star? Yep, just like, in the same system, it made Steve Nash an All-Star. But it's been 6 games. After over a year in the league. Saying he's the next coming is a bit too much. Saying he's not a good player is not right either.

I hope he continues to play well. Hopefully the Knicks will become a good team again. The Bulls-Knicks battles from the Jordan days were always fun to watch.

[cartman]

Nash was also an all-star and 2nd/3rd team all-pro with the Mavs before going back to Phoenix.

[rjolley]

Was he? My bad, thought he wasn't until he got to Phoenix.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by rjolley

I think the comparisons to Magic, Paul, and the other point guards are dim as well. Lin is a solid guard who plays well in the system he's in. Is that a bad thing? No, not at all. Does that make him a potential All-Star? Yep, just like, in the same system, it made Steve Nash an All-Star. But it's been 6 games. After over a year in the league. Saying he's the next coming is a bit too much. Saying he's not a good player is not right either.

I haven't read one article proclaiming him the next anything and I've read lots of them. They might compare his game favorably, but if Magic Johnson says that the kid reminds him of Steve Nash in some ways -- and Earvin said it -- then I tend to take his word for it.

Everyone including Lin himself is horribly cautious about anointing him as anything and he 's been humble about it. The fact that it's turning casual fans into bandwagon fans and that Asians are excited to see "one of their own" do well doesn't equate to "everyone is hyping him up" because I don't see any evidence of that anywhere. It's getting a lot of ink, but that's New York for you. It's a basketball city and a pro sports city.

But the kid has game. He's not going to just disappear. I think that's pretty apparent. I'm not enshrining him in Springfield or anything, but at some point you have to say "damn, this isn't happening in a vacuum." Because it's not anymore.

[rjolley]

Yeah, we're saying the same thing. He's a good player who's doing well with the chance he's been given.

I like his game a lot and I hope he continues to do well.

[digamma]

With the exception of maybe Dark Could and wademoore, I probably watched Lin play more hoops prior to 10 days ago than anyone on the board. I was a huge fan of him when he was in college, but I didn't necessarily think he was an NBA player. But, as one of his teammates wrote this week, he always seemed to elevate his game against better competition. His best games in college were against UConn and Boston College.

Anyhow, watching him over the last week, I had forgotten two things. One, his first step is ridiculously good. He's quick. When he was in college, I wrote that off to hustle and being a little more athletic than the average Ivy League guard. But he is legit quick. Second, he is a really good shooter, particularly in the mid-range. That's a forgotten skill, but hugely valuable.

So, in the end, I come down where DC is. He's not going to just disappear. He may not keep up his current pace, but his skills are good enough to keep him around for a while. And for now, I'll enjoy the ride. It's pretty cool.

[RainMaker]

He's a good player who is in a perfect position. His game is just built for Dantoni's system and running high screens with Chandler is a plus. Still think he would ball for a lot of teams, but this is the ideal coach for his game.

[whomario]

actually the player i´d most compare him to is a smaller Manu Ginobili with his great first step, creativity around the basket, ability to keep their drible and excel in the Pick and Roll and sneaky shooting ability (both don´t really have a classic good jumpshot but both get the seperation they need to get it off comfortably). Also defensively both are pretty similar imo.

Imo he didn´t "bounce around before finding the right system". Chauncey Billups did that, Lin simply bounced around till someone was forced to play him. (i hope no one makes D´Antoni or the Knicks out as geniuses here, they only stumbled onto this because it was down to either him or the Garden Janitor at Point Guard ad aparently the Janitor missed the team bus)
That happens with undrafted players quite a bit, you are just way less enclined to give them a shot compared to other young players.

Not to say the system isn´t a good fit, just saying that this isn´t proof that he isn´t any good elsewhere.

I am certainly glad he´s having this success and think he´ll be a starting calibre (or 6th man type) player,

[jbergey22]

Id say hes neither. I think he will end up being a very good backup point guard in that Ramon Sessions mold. He is already sort of proving to be kind of a defensive liability and once teams figure out how to best defend him I would expect a solid backup PG is his future.

[whomario]

I also need to say that the crowd reaction in Toronto was both awesome and terrifying, i sounded like a knicks homegame at the end.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by rjolley

I think he's in the right system for his abilities. He's a solid player that bounced around because he didn't fit well. I don't think he's a dominant point guard like Rose, Paul, D Williams, etc, but he's a solid guard who can be the answer in the system that the Knicks are running...a Nash clone, more or less. He's still got a lot to prove as he needs to do this for a long period of time, but for now, he's doing a great job on one of the biggest stages that's looking for just about anything to be excited about basketball-wise. So, love him or hate him, you'll hear a lot about Lin for the rest of the season.

Didn't Nash come from a non-basketball power school and bounce around a little before settling in as Phoenix's Great Canadian Baller?

I am not sure if Nash is a good comparison to be honest. Lin is a shoot first point guard and doesnt have anywhere close to the skill of Nash as a passer. I think people want to label him as a Nash clone simply because they played in similar offenses. Lin will be more effective as a scorer than he will a passer IMO.

[Butter]

Flash in the pan.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Flash in the pan.

Someone had to say it. Will you consider yourself right if he slows down from his pace of doing something that has never been done in the NBA before?

[lighthousekeeper]

Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Adam Morrisson is awesome.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Logan

Someone had to say it. Will you consider yourself right if he slows down from his pace of doing something that has never been done in the NBA before?

This.

I am already starting to feel bad for the kid. You can just tell he is just having the time of his life out there and has played very well and saved this Knicks team from complete disaster. Suddenly the expectations for him are unreasonable. From being an undrafted free agent being an average NBA point guard is an amazing feat should that be all he achieves from now on. People need to keep this in perspective. The bright lights of New York.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I just keep thinking about how Jose Constanza hit .423 for the Braves over a 22 game stretch last year. He finished up by going 6/37.

Anybody can get hot.

I think Lin is a decent to good player, but he isn't going to sustain this level of play over the long haul.

[Logan]

Of course he can't, it will literally be impossible for him to score at this rate once Carmelo comes back.

[spleen1015]

There's no way he can play like this day in and day out. But he could maintain enough to be a good starting PG in the NBA.

[Blackadar]

I haven't watched Lin play, so I can't say whether or not he'll be a flash in the pan or not. My guess is that he's a good fit for the system and will wind up being neither a superstar nor a bust, but an effective system player who can contribute as a starter.

One thing that makes me suggest caution are his excessive turnovers. He's averaging 5 turnovers per game and his Assist/TO ratio is pretty poor - 1.645. The top 15 PGs in the league have a ratio far better than that. Since that's such a crucial stat, it will be interesting to see how that changes once Mello and Amare come back.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

One thing that makes me suggest caution are his excessive turnovers. He's averaging 5 turnovers per game and his Assist/TO ratio is pretty poor - 1.645. The top 15 PGs in the league have a ratio far better than that. Since that's such a crucial stat, it will be interesting to see how that changes once Mello and Amare come back.

Not to be overly optimistic, but on his two main criticisms - turnovers and defense - I think it's important to mention that his NBA experience right now totals 577 minutes. This year, in these six games, he's going up against other starters for the first time in his career. You have to expect a bit of a learning curve. It's not to say those issues can't continue of course, but you have to put it in perspective.

As a Knick fan, I would put his "superstar" potential (on-court only) at about 10%, All-Star potential at 20%, reliable starting PG% at 30%, quality backup PG 30%, and flash in the pan 10%.

[spleen1015]

Did he have turnover issues in college?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Did he have turnover issues in college?

Looks like 90 TO's in 29 games his senior season, so about a 4.5 to 3.0 TO/A ratio there

Jeremy Lin Stats - Harvard Crimson - College Basketball

edit to add: I had no freakin clue, so I Googled

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Logan

Someone had to say it. Will you consider yourself right if he slows down from his pace of doing something that has never been done in the NBA before?

Depends on what you mean by "slows". If he continues to hit circus shot after circus shot, draining 3's at the buzzer, and keep his A/TO ratio above 1, then no, I will be wrong.

I would consider myself right if he is not a starter anymore within the next 2 years. Because I think at this point, they are liable to ride him as far as D'Antoni thinks he'll take them.