Friday, October 29, 2010
It was a historic night at The Oracle Arena in Oakland. A crowd of 17,408 was there to witness the first full Asian American ever to play in the NBA (Wat Misaka played three games in the BAA later becoming the NBA). After chants of "Put in Jeremy", "Put in Jeremy", Jeremy Lin was finally inserted with 2:32 left in the game and the Warriors leading 106-88. The crowd went wild as JLin tied up Brian Cook for a jump ball. With the Warriors gaining possession, Jeremy was credited with the first steal of his career with many more to come.
Fittingly, after the game, to celebrate Asian Heritage Night, there was entertainment by Sacramento's Capital Flow Dance Crew. Then, Jeremy answered questions posed by Warriors TV guy, Bob Fitzgerald. Over 2,000 tickets were sold through this promotion and most were still there to see and hear Jeremy. Jeremy really showed his appreciation to all of the fans and the Asian Community and gave praise to God for his incredible opportunity to play in the NBA.
So, a nice beginning to Jeremy Lin's career. After, not suiting up for the season opener, Jeremy admitted how humbling it was. Now, with Stephen Curry injuring his ankle again (not sure how serious it is), we hopefully will see Jeremy get more time on the court.
Curry's gonna miss at least Sunday's game. So don't be surprised if JL gets his first real game action (~10 minutes) on Sunday. Esp. since he saw the Lakers twice during preseason and did fine in his 18 mpg.
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin debut video:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVdUjxZj0-Q
http://twitter.com/ricbucher
ReplyDelete"One last Ws-Lin note: if you ever wondered where loyal support veers into embarrassing attachment, this might be it."
Fancam of Asian Heritage Night:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEhNKpj7qfA
http://www.examiner.com/sports-in-san-francisco/jeremy-lin-steals-the-show-at-warriors-asian-heritage-night
ReplyDelete“[Lin]’s been practicing very well,” Smart said during the postgame press conference. Smart was impressed with the way Lin handled himself on the floor but still recognized that it was a learning process for the rookie out of Harvard.
“He actually called a few plays to get the team settled. We’re slowly feeding him a baby spoon of NBA basketball.”
Sounds good. Doubt he'll get any serious run against the Lakers (even with Curry out), but at least he'll be active and probably get a couple more minutes. And it's good to know he's coming along now.
Smarts might just have Ellis play the whole game again like he did last time
ReplyDeleteLonger version of Asian Heritage Night Q&A with Jeremy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnpsJ7zGjDk
It seems like everyone wants to see this kid be successful in the NBA. Hopefully he does. He need to learn the game of the NBA faster.
ReplyDeleteMonte sat out about a dozen games in his rookie year before getting a few minutes. Lin will get his turn.
ReplyDeleteIt bothers me that on Asian Heritage night, the first ever NBA Asian American player only played 2 mins at the end of the game. I'm even more bother when reading that over 2,000 tixs were were sold to people with a strong interest in Asian Heritage and seeing Lin play. What do you guys think about that? Having to earn playing time as a rookie is understandable, but let's respect the audience as well. They are the ones who paid good money on a very special night. Let's see Lin play more and not just settle for a Q & A.
ReplyDeleteThe fans need to stop treating Jeremy as if he were some sort of special needs case... specifically, stop cheering him EVERY TIME he touches the ball. Cheering him when he gets of the bench to go into the game -- great -- but then back off and let him play. His fellow players -- if they don't already -- will start to resent him. Opponents will gear up that much harder to stop him. And, most important, Jeremy has got to hate it. The kid has been playing basketball for his whole life. And, he's also been playing point guard his whole life... those of you that think he needs some type of acclimation period for learning how to play point guard are just wrong. You are either a point guard or you are not. Jeremy is a point guard, because his college coach chose not to play him there is another matter. Playing point guard in the NBA is no different than playing it at any other level. Point guard is point guard. Handle the ball, don't turn it over, control the pace of the game, keep your teammates on the same page, call plays, release the ball when its appropriate, create shots for you teammates, score when appropriate, defend, rebound, and be a leader. Jeremy doesn't need to sit between two coaches every night to learn this. He already knows it. You will probably never know the real potential of Jeremy with this team anyway...because monte is too ball dominant and the rest of the guys aren't good enough shooters Guys like monte are like oil to real point guards... they foil the flow. Warriors will will win 35 games tops. opponents will start getting the ball out of Monte's hands and the rest of the crew just won't be able to carry the load.
ReplyDeleteI don't see why fans should stop cheering whenever they want for Lin. If it makes opponents play him harder, GREAT- bring it on. If it makes his teammates resent him, that's speaking more negatively on how they are as a TEAM MEMBER not Lin. At least one thing will be clear, Lin has support from thousands of cheering and equally as important, PAYING, fans.
ReplyDeletewhen you cheer for him EVERY time he touches the ball... it's ridiculous and embarrassing. the coaches and the fans need to let him play and react to him as if he were any other player. you don't cheer other players for catching or dribbling a basketball do you?... so why cheer him for that? ...
ReplyDeleteBecause we want to. The End.
ReplyDeleteI recall reading about how much racism and derogatory terms opposing college fans shouted and directed at Lin throughout his college years playing for Harvard. If Anonymous wants to talk about how fans are acting "...riciculous and embarrassing...", he should consider that instead of being embarassed by shouts of cheers and support. Personally, I would cheer for Lin every time he was on the court, because he's a good player who overcame adversity and is now the first Asian American in the NBA.
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin and the Warriors organization knew full well that Lin was going to have a huge following. If Lin nor the coaches can't handle the pressure of fans "CHEERING" for him, then they don't deserve to be in the type of positions that they are. Lin said he had 3 counter offers that were HIGHER than what the Warriors offered, but he chose to play for his hometown team.
ReplyDeleteThe last time the Warriors and their fans had something to cheer for, they were waving "I BELIEVE" flags. Blaming the fans is a cop out because fans will be fans. Now Lin can take the fan support and help him grow as a player or he can crumble and realize that he's not NBA material.
the fan support needs to show sophistication...
ReplyDeleteno player ... jeremy included... wants to be cheered for dribbling a basketball and while that might not be what you are cheering for that's what it looks like. cheer when he does good things. don't treat him like a dork or a novelty and its more likely that his coaches want either.
have you seen tonights game... he makes plays that you can cheer about.
anon you are so right. reminds me of when they used to cheer kareem abdul jabaar for dribbling. the guy was a professional basketball player, he was taught to dribble at ucla. he should know how to dribble. and so does jeremy!
ReplyDeleteFans will be fans, to blame the fans is like telling them to shut up and watch the game. Just like when fans start yelling "REFS YOU SUCK" "OVERRATED" "AIIIIRBALLL"....that's just part of the attention players are going to get.
ReplyDeleteIf Jeremy Lin didn't want the attention of the Asian fans, he shouldn't have signed with the Warriors. He shouldn't have went to Taiwan, sign a deal with Nike, and be under the attention of being the "First Taiwanese-American" in the NBA.
Heck there are even fans who argue over his ethnicity "Taiwanese vs Chinese"....again fans will be fans. Jeremy Lin and the Warriors knew full well what they were getting into and frankly I think Jeremy will strive under that type of support. It will also work both ways.We'll see what happens when he goes to cities with not a significant Asian population and continues to hear racial slurs and stereotypical Asian jokes shouted at him.
Jeremy Lin is Chinese. the taiwanese idiots, stop trying to claim you fools are another ethnicity. You are Chinese too. So get over it.
ReplyDeleteJeremy Lin will never reach the status of Yao Ming, or even Yi JianLian. Jeremy Lin is nothing more than a back up for the back ups. He'll never be a starter in this league.
ReplyDelete