Tuesday, January 17, 2012

JLin Back To The D-League

Knicks beat writer Tommy Dee just tweeted that Jeremy Lin has been sent to the NBDL.

39 comments:

  1. Great for JL. At least he will get to showcase his skills and get playing time. Since Knicks did not waive him, I guess they saw something in him.

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    1. That's a good point. If they thought he couldn't play, they would have just cut him and cleared a roster spot for someone else.

      He needs to play pure point for Erie. At Reno, he had to be a combo guard because they already had a top D-League PG playing heavy minutes. But that doesn't look like the case at Erie.

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  2. I have mixed feelings about this, but it's going to be great to see him play. Hopefully, he will sharpen his point guard skills.

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  3. Might be a good battle at point guard friday:

    http://www.nbadraft.net/players/jerome-randle

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  4. starting from the basics is always the way to do. Whether its a job or a sport. Happy to see he's going to refine, practice, and ease into a 1st class NBA point guard.

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  5. 5 Reasons Why going to the D League is gonna be awesome for Lin:

    http://shaquiechan.com/2012/01/17/erie-pa-the-dream-continues-here-for-lin/

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  6. Does a D-League player still count as a Knicks' roster spot, and salary cap ? If someone gets hurt before the playoffs (e.g. Bibby, Baron, Tony Douglas, etc.) can they call in JLin to play on the team ?

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    1. Yes and Yes. When Jordan Farmar was with the Lakers, he was sent to the D-League and played and then recalled and played a NBA game the same day.

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  7. Jlin will be in Los Angeles playing the D-Fenders next month. I'll try to go see him live if I can figure out how to buy tickets. I don't know what the deal is with the D-League, but they don't seem to care if anyone attends the games.

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  8. Will they broadcast the game on TV, anyone know????? Thanks!!!!!

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  9. all D League games can be streamed for free.

    http://www.nba.com/dleague/

    Pick the game and click on the red "Futurecast" button on the right

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  10. NYC Peace - depends on your local stations. In the SF Bay Area, Comcast SportNet (CSN) California broadcasts the Reno D-League team games. CSN California is the little brother to the main CSN Bay Area station which broadcasts the Giants / Warriors and also 49ers post game shows.

    As someone else pointed out, the games are also streamed online so even if you're local sports station doesn't broadcast the D-League games you should be able to watch via broadband at home.

    As far as JLin getting sent to the D-League, it's not the best of news, but at least he gets to play and develop further. Sorry to any Knicks fans that are here, but the best chance for JLin to play is if the Knicks continue to struggle and fall out of the playoff race. Despite the Knicks relatively poor record (6-7), they are tied for 7th in the Eastern Conference. As long as the Knicks are in playoff contention, most of the vets will play a lot.

    But if the Knicks fall out of the race in the next month or so, a player like Mike Bibby might get traded to a contender who needs a stable veteran presence. Honestly, the Knicks are kind of like the Warriors of the East. They have enough good players to be decent but not bad enough to get a high draft pick. The Knicks can choose to rebuild completely or try to fit in newer pieces.

    JLin and the other guy are young pieces. These two guys might not be super stars but they may be vital bench cogs for a playoff team in the future.

    If you look at the alternative, there is a even better potential situation. IF JLin can develop AND the Knicks can make the playoffs, JLin might get a shot in the playoffs (even if briefly). :)

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    1. WOW U REALLY ARE OPTIMISTIC, ITS RIDICULOUS. LMAO. OR MAYBE UR JUST A BIG JLIN FAN. I UNDERSTAND THAT U GUYS LIKE HIM ALOT BUT COME ON, BE REALISTIC. HE WILL GET A SHOT IN DA PLAYOFFS??? NO WAY. COACHES NORMALLY HAVE 7-8 PLAYER ROTATIONS IN THE PLAYOFFS AND UR TALKIN ABOUT A KID WHO CANT EVEN IN A GAME WHEN THEYRE DOWN BY 20 POINTS. I LIKE JLIN ALSO BUT U GUYS SOUND FOOLISH ON THESE POSTS MAN. THE D-LEAGUE IS THE BEST THING FOR HIM SO HE CAN IMPROVE HIS GAME INSTEAD OF WARMING UP THE BENCH BUT AS FAR AS HIM HAVING A ROLE ON THE KNICKS THIS YEAR, ITS NOT HAPPENING BUDDY. I HEARD SOMEWHERE THAT THE KNICKS WANNA KEEP HIM AROUND, AS THEY SEE HIM AS MAYBE BEING A BACKUP PG IN THE FUTURE, THEY WANT HIM TO LEARN FROM BARON DAVIS WHEN HE COMES BACK. YOU GOT ALL THESE GUYS COMIN OFF DA BOOKS NEXT YEAR (JEFFRIES, NOVAK, BIBBY, Bill WALKER, FIELDS), SO THERE WILL BE ROOM FOR HIM NEXT YEAR BUT RIGHT NOW THEY HAVE 2 MANY PLAYERS ON THAT BENCH. WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS BUT DONT COUNT ON HIM BEING A PART THIS YEAR. ONLY WAY IS A PLAYER GETS RELEASED OF INJURED..

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    2. You think Lin will get to learn from Davis and be on the team next year? That is more optimistic than anything I have read so far, and I LIKE IT.
      Lin hopefully will get paid his $800,000. Feb 10 is coming soon. I am as optimistic as you are that the Knicks would want to keep Lin long term.

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  11. In a way, it's kind of like going full circle. Jeremy Lin had a chance to sign with the Mavs and play for their D-League team. Who knows, maybe he could be their 2nd unit point guard right now ?
    But he chose to play for Golden State, got kicked down to the D-League several times, got picked up and then dropped by the Rockets, and now plays for the Knicks' D-League team.

    Who knows ... maybe it wasn't really his choice to make, perhaps his agent recommended Golden State. Or more likely Lin's parents really wanted him to come home to the Bay Area. Asian parents usually have the final say in their son's life decisions :(
    That's just how it turned out.

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    1. "Jeremy Lin had a chance to sign with the Mavs and play for their D-League team. Who knows, maybe he could be their 2nd unit point guard right now?"

      It's easy to say that in hindsight. But at the time, Dallas wanted Lin to do 1-2 years of DL. Whereas with the Warriors, Lin looked like he would have a good chance to be the backup PG.

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    2. If Lin had signed with Dallas, he'd be in his 2nd year of dominating the D league and all of us would be arguing amongst each other whether he deserved a 10 day callup contract or not. Donnie Nelson told Lin that he was never going to step onto an NBA court in his first season.
      Instead Lin signed with the Warriors, a team that did play him before and after the D league. Now there is no doubt in any of our minds that Lin is an NBA player who simply needs more NBA minutes.
      Through everything, Lin remains an NBA constant in his excellent production despite limited minutes. Great players like Lin maintain their high standard of play no matter what situation they are put into.

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  12. Jeremy definitely has enough talent to compete in the NBA. The problem I see is that he doesn't have a wide range of skills.
    His only effective weapon on offense is power dribbling around the defender for a layup.

    He needs to develop his other weapons to score: The pull up jump shot, the fadeaway shot, up and under, and a post up game against smaller guards. The last one is important, because he can't dribble around smaller, faster guards. He needs to use his size and strength to his advantage.

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  13. I'm surprised that the Knicks sent Lin to DL while keeping him on the roster (and paying him NBA salaray). I have mixed feelings about that. It definitely is a good sign that the Knicks valued Lin enough to keep him on the roster for now. The downside is that Lin cannot be picked up by any other NBA team. And I still don't see any opportunities on the Knicks at PG. They will have Davis, Bibby, Shumpert, Douglas.

    I agree that Lin must play pure PG at Erie. It's good that Donald Sloan was signed by Atlanta, so Lin should be able to get all the PT at PG. I agree that Lin should use this time to really work on his PG skills and diversify his offensive weapons. Well, on the bright side, we can all watch the stream and not hope that he gets PT.

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  14. The sad part, He's still with the Knicks :(

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    1. The good part, He's still with the Knicks :)

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  15. I think the Knicks organization sees more upside in Jeremy Lin than the other guards. Baron Davis and Mike Bibby only have a few years left in his career. Tony Douglas, Fields, and Shumpert are jump shooters, sometimes they'll be on fire 5 for 7 from outside, but other times they will struggle with 2 for 10 shooting.

    It's funny when the only guard attacking the paint is your 3rd string PG, and he only comes in with 4 minutes left in the game. That must frustrate the hell out of any coach. "Why can't you starters do what that guy on the bench is doing ??"

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  17. The only thing holding JLin back is the lack of 3's. If he develops consistent 3's, then he'll be at least a 2nd stringer with the Knicks. If I were JLin, I would be shooting 10K balls from the 3 in practice everyday.

    With his tough defense, penetration, passing/assists, and (adding) 3pt threat, he'll be very very attractive to many teams.

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    1. Lin's 3-pointers actually looked good in D League last year and over the summer. As long as he continues to improve here, that should be sufficient given his other skills.

      I think he needs to do better at backing down smaller point guards, both in bringing up the ball up the court and at the offensive end (like Magic did and Kidd does so well). Right now, he relies on his dribbling and athleticism to blow by people, and that's fine with guys his size but makes it harder on himself if the opposing PG is much smaller.

      A little showboating wouldn't hurt either, like dribbling between the legs and making some fancy moves after the whistle has blown, at least until he gets known around the league and people realize that he is an excellent athlete, not just a "smart" player. Frankly, lots of people rail on Lin's athleticism and handles because he never shows off and because of the way he looks (perhaps based on stereotypes, perhaps not), so these little things help. Acie Law made a (one-year) career at GS of showboating, screaming, and waving his arms. Even fundamentally sound players like Kidd and Nash make flashy plays. Don't doubt for a moment that appearances count. Look how much Stockton and Nash were on the bench in their early years, probably in part based on how they "looked." Lin faces arguably an even greater barrier given his unique background.

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  18. Good decision by the Knicks to send Lin down since MDA was not playing him. Lin can get playing time, stay fresh, and continue to work on various things. This is also good if the Knicks feel like they need more time to evaluate him.

    For Lin fans, this is good as well since D League games are all free on the internet and both streamed and archived. This is also helpful for other teams who want to get a look at him.

    Of course, ideally the Knicks would see his value and simply play him as backup or even starting PG at the NBA level and see how he does, but all in all, going down to the D League is not bad versus sitting on the bench or waiving him.

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  19. Can't wait for Friday game. Go JLin!!!! Thanks guys for the DLeague website.

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  20. there an iPhone apps for NBA D league that you can watch live game like league pass.

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  21. NBA D-League not only gives Jeremy a chance for some PT and improve, but it also gives him a chance to showcase in front of NBA scouts. Even with the Warriors, they said they were getting trade offers for Lin.

    Even if they keep him passed his guaranteed contract deadline, he can still get waived for another veteran come playoff time. They just have to obviously pay him. The other important deadline is the playoff eligibility deadline (which was around March last season) if Lin were to sign with a playoff team.

    Either way, being sent to the D-League at least shows the Knicks want to see what Lin can do on a consistent basis. If he performs well and the Knicks waive him, other teams will be interested.

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  22. devil's advocate: Just because Lin dominated in DL last year, does not make him immune to sophomore slump in DL.

    on the positive side: He has a buddy in Jerome Jordan along with him. Let's hope they become the best big man/little man combo in DL and earn their way back to NBA PT. Time to work on that pick and roll!

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  23. Coach Dantoni is already talking about bringing Jerome Jordan and Jeremy Lin back in one week.
    To me, Lin's only weakness is that he lacks a spin dribble. Instead of always trying to split the double team with his crossover dribble, Lin needs to be able to sometimes turn and reverse his direction away from defensive pressure. Similarly, Lin eventually will able to use his superior size to back a defender in, bump or seal the defender with his nondribbling shoulder, and shoot that deadly midrange floater. That move requires a half pivot off the spin dribble.
    I don't necessarily see Lin having to go to the Dleague to work on his spin dribbling. On the other hand, getting real gametime experience as the lead guard is great experience. I just wished Harvard had used him at pg a little more.
    What Lin really needs is an NBA mentor. Just as John Wall has Sam Cassell and Roy Hibbert has Tim Duncan and Spencer Hawes has Shawn Kemp, Lin needs an older retired PG to hang with. In my dreams, Lin would hook up with fellow Bay Area superstar Gary Payton who mentored Jason Kidd through high school and beyond.

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  24. "D'Antoni said C Jerome Jordan and G Jeremy Lin, assigned Tuesday to Erie of the NBA Development League, would probably return near the end of the month when Davis is back and the team will want to play 5-on-5 in practice" - ESPN

    www.shaquiechan.com

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    1. D'Antoni means that he wants Lin for practice squad. I highly doubt Lin will ever be on the Knicks active/12-man roster once Baron comes back.

      No one except the Knicks sees their practices. Every team's scouts/GM can see DL games.

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    2. Yeah, that's too bad he wasn't there for the D-league showcase, that's where all the NBA and European scouts go to see the prospects in action. Idk why but Lin seems to have regressed during his time with the knicks. When he was playing for the Reno Bighorns, he was knocking down jumpshots every night. Now he seems hesitant to shoot. Maybe because in limited time, he doesn't want to miss shots, so he always goes in for the higher percentage layup.

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  25. I wonder what the plan is for Jeremy Lin and Jerome Jordan. When Davis comes back, they won't have an active roster spot for either of them. Then the Knicks are trying to sign Kenyon Martin when he comes back to the NBA from China. If that happens, they'll need to cut someone from the roster.
    Around playoff time they need to trim the roster down to 14 players.
    Who's going to get cut ? Novak, Bill Walker ? There aren't enough spots on the roster as it is.

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  26. Here's a local article on the newest members of Erie Bayhawks. Sounds like JLin had a good practice session already:

    http://www.goerie.com/article/20120119/BASKETBALL05/301199923/BayHawks-get-talent-boost-from-Knicks

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