As Jeremy tweeted after tonight's game against the Nets, "God is good during our ups and our downs!" And let me tell you, there were many downs before this huge huge up. First, Jeremy looked to be the first guard off the bench for the Warriors this coming season before they shockingly waived him after drafting Charles Jenkins in the 2nd round. What were they thinking? Where they listening to the Warriors TV broadcaster or other Bay Area reporters who had no respect for JLin's game and weren't even sure that he was a legit NBA backup. This was the one thing that owner Joe Lacob got right. Then, Jeremy gets picked up by the Rockets and gets waived again, the night before the NBA season begins. Can it get worse? Well, the Knicks pick him up and then hardly play him even though they have no legit pg. Then he gets sent down again to the D-League. Finally, due to just horrendous play by Bibby and Douglas, JLin gets his chance.
The rest is history, or should I say destiny. Coach D'Antoni should be thanking Jeremy Lin for saving his job as it looks like it was getting a bit dicey. I know that it was just the Nets, but don't they look like a different team with JLin running the show? Also, this game alone, made Jeremy Lin a rich man. As a free agent after this season, he'll have his pick of multi-million dollar offers. Now, Jeremy can just relax and play. He has earned his playing time and will no doubt get it. Can you see Jeremy leading this team to the playoffs? If he can, and they win a round in the Eastern Conference playoffs he can become the Asian Tim Tebow!
one great game is great news, but let's not count our chickens before they hatch.
ReplyDeletetotally fair JK. but at the same time, i think it's totally fair to utterly enjoy this after 1.5 loooooong years for Jeremy Lin fans and be hopeful for what COULD be next for our boy.
ReplyDeleteCan't really blame the Rockets for waiving Jeremy, as they had a full roster at the guard positions with Lowry, Flynn, Dragic and Rockets needing another big in Dalambert. If Flynn was not on that roster, Jeremy would have probably been kept.
ReplyDeleteOne great game won't ensure him millions, he needs to show he can do this on a consistent basis, and that's assuming D'Antoni will still give him minutes when Baron returns.
I hope at the least, he gets a qualifying offer which makes him a restricted free agent. If not millions, at least a chance to get a guaranteed contract for next season. Knicks could waive him again or just not resign, if he doesn't produce but at least what he's shown now other teams are watching. Warriors, Rockets, Lakers, Mavs...every team that was interested in him in the past would probably going for him again. Lakers would probably be on that last considering how dreadful they've looked without Steve Blake and need the same things that the Knicks need at PG.
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ReplyDeleteNets post game commentary: "Nets could not contain Lin"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.yesnetwork.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=20084259
JLinfan#1: We all have been with him through ups and downs so I totally agree with you. Lin reminds me of the Bible character Joseph in Genesis. God is good and worthy to be praised!
ReplyDeleteJK: One game is one game. However, this one game was built upon a long term perseverance and dedication. It's not about a one night success. It's about a future full of potential for a kid who has strong character, excellent ball mentality, a good team player, and works very hard to give his team more than 100%.
We are here to root for him because we all believe in him.
Good night, everybody. Now I can sleep with smiles! :)
Yes - I agree about not jumping too far ahead of ourselves. There are many players who can get career highs and then never do it again. Jeremy's job at this point is to PROVE he can contribute consistently. He doesn't need to produce what he did tonight every time. If he can handle the ball, make good passes and knock down some shots, Jeremy will have a long NBA career.
ReplyDeleteEven if Lin is still a little to green to stick at starting point, I think he can elevate the second team to greater scoring and better D.
DeleteI actually kind of think Lin and Douglas looked better playing team D than Lin and Shumpert (which really surprised me).
How Lin was able to contain Deron's driving this game was amazing.
Watching him navigate around screens and picks to stick with Williams was pretty amazing.
Shumpert is obviously a physically larger and more gifted athlete, but Lin seems to be more nimble (sudden change of direction and darting through the obstacles other team puts up to get Williams free).
One other thing I never noticed but announced from Maine Red Claws pointed out was how precise Lin's passing is (always putting ball on inside shoulder of recipient so they catch ball in stride and rhythm heading towards basket). Also how much more clean his lobs to Tyson are than others (even with defenders draped on him, look put it up there where just Tyson could go up and get it).
I think Lin will have finishing at basketball against teams with athletic bigs, but if he can keep other team guessing as to who he is going to do off that initial dribble drive move, I still think he can be very, very effective.
For anyone who wants the game files to put on Youtube. Here it is!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://freesportsdownloads.com/basketball-sport-releasestv-rip/new-jersey-nets-vs-new-york-knicks-04-02-2012
thanks bro!
Deletevery nice praise from melo and tyson for lin
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msg.com/our-teams/knicks/knicks-postgame-win-vs-nets-24-1.82307
I used to live in Sacramento and I remember hearing a lot about Jeremy Lin when he was playing in Palo Alto. I was shocked when he received no D1 offers. I've been following him ever since and I just knew that he had the talent and will to compete in the NBA. This is a true underdog story. Though I do think that Asians should have great pride in Lin, I also feel that everybody that has ever felt like an underdog should feel proud as well. I honestly almost cried tears of joy because this guy seems like quite a humble guy, he never hung up his shoes and quit and now he finally gets some kind of recognition.
ReplyDeleteAlong the way I've always heard comments like, "He'll never be able to play against the best NCAA players." then "Oh he's a D-Leaguer at best." and "Anybody can do that in garbage time." NOW people are saying, "He's a backup at best, he'll never start" and when he starts people will say, "He'll never be a star." But you know what? I hope Lin shines and becomes a star, so that all of those ballers out there who have been overlooked because of some insignificant reason (whether it be race, height, weight, religion or whatever) are given a chance to play because they can simply PLAY!
Great post!
Delete+1
DeleteCan feel your emotions! Good post!
DeleteWe'll said!
Deletei too am man enough to admit that i was tearing up, because i could imagine all the hours and years of hard work confronting people's lack of belief as well as the blatant "pork fried rice"-type racial epithets, then culminating to one magical night at the garden. what a blessing and a great story indeed.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIIo6GNW70k&feature=player_embedded
ReplyDeletehis highlights on last night's game :)
Just watched the game on League Pass (I was cheap and got it on my mobile phone for $39.99). Amazing game from Lin. It was great to see the crowd, the announcers, and especially his teammates figuratively and literally embrace him. It was also cool to see him have fun and smile and get fired up.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is a lot of us thought that the Knicks was a dead-end for Jeremy, but in a lot of ways it was the perfect fit. A high-profile struggling team with an All-Star frontcourt and no backcourt. It looks like his particular skill set is exactly what can get the All-Stars playing like All-Stars again in the biggest sports media markets in the country. And it will be difficult to deny that he was the missing piece.
I have no reason to think that he can't continue his success. Yes, he will face better teams and may not always put up career numbers, but all he seems to do in his short career is improve his game. Even tonight the Nets' coach said that they threw different looks at him on PnR coverage and Lin still broke them down - especially late in the game.
And just the fact that teams will now have to pay attention to him means less attention to the Knicks' other star players. If the Knicks win, Jeremy wins.
Incredible night. Praise God.
Ya, it feels like the god does have a plan for Jeremy! Proud of him!
Deleteagree knick situation way better than expected it turns out, now if they can just keep winning w/ Jeremy contributing, that would be the story of the league and yet another underdog story in sports
Delete1) The Cardinals in baseball
2) The 49ers & Tim Tebow in football
3) Jeremy Lin & the Knicks in hoops??
how many wins will it take to get in the playoffs in the East? 15??
haha
TeeEEEbow teeeeeeBow!
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I disagree with that people had been saying was how Dantoni gave Jeremy no playing time. He definitely was getting more minutes this year than last and since his recall from the D league the trend in minutes has been rising. We have to give Dantoni some credit.
ReplyDeleteI have always been of the mindset that Lin's superb production would have earned him millions of dollars even if he had not played as many minutes as he did last night.
ReplyDeleteThough I am largely unmoved by his ethnicity despite/because of being Taiwanese myself, my only concern was that he get the same fair chance to (dis)prove his ability that any other player of any other ethnicity would have gotten. Lin has not and still may not get those chances. Even so, Jeremy Lin has utterly dominated every league he has stepped into including NBA garbage time which I consider to be a "separate" league from regular NBA rotation mimutes.
I am extremely hopeful for Lin not from an ethnic standpoint, but from a basketball one. I have long been dissatisfied with the talent evaluation of the NBA which is more focused on how a guy looks as opposed to how he plays. I often watch non NBA games and am.stunned when certain players are proclaimed to be NBA players when there are other players playing in the same game that look so much more NBA worthy to me. Since Lin is religious, I hope he becomes "St Lin", the patron saint of undiscovered NBA talent.
Over a decade ago, Wisconsin had Michael Finley who was declared to be NBA material and had a long stellar NBA career. However, he was not even the best player on his Wisconsin team. Finley played alongside Rashard Griffith who I thought should have been the #1 overall pick every year he played in college. He had the same body type as Greg Oden minus the injuries, plus Griffith had a refined post game and superb defensive instincts. I thought he was going to be the next great center, and was still is in EUROPE. Griffith never played in the NBA but has been an overseas marvel. My guess is that he can still play in the NBA despite being closer to 40 than 30.
I absolutely guarantee that Lin's former roommate Omar Samhan would be a fine NBA player, particularly playing alongside Lin as a minimum wage backup center.
Doesn't this quote from Lin just sum up who he is?:
ReplyDelete“I’m just thankful to be here right now for this team,” Lin said.
http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/34703206
If the Knicks waive Lin on Feb 10, there will be a fan mutiny like NY has never seen.
ReplyDeleteShould Lin become the starting pg for the Knicks for the rest of the season (highly likely), he ought to be the runaway winner for the "Most Improved Player' award.
There was a great interview with D'Antoni after the game last night. It seems like he wasn't sure about Lin's defense and that last night answered a lot of the questions he had about him.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msg.com/our-teams/knicks/dantoni-postgame-win-vs-nets-24-1.82321
Top 10 good things that came out from Lin's break-out performance:
ReplyDelete10. Maybe he finally has a bed to sleep tonight. (Lin, I live 15 mins from the Garden with an empty bedroom in a quiet neighborhood. Hit me up if you need an actual bed to crash.)
9. I didn't have to google to find his news this morning - it is literally everywhere.
8. I didn't have to wait for aman2k and others to post to see his highlights. Actually, if you have ESPN or local TV channels, you don't even need to own a computer to see.
7. Whether you are a fan of Lin or not, a fan of Knicks or not, the game was a pure entertainment whenever Lin was on the floor. Fast-pace, gutsy, purposeful. It was a good couple Saturday evening hours well-spent.
6. D'Antoni get to keep his job for a little longer. Heck, as much as we wish he had played Lin more earlier, he already gave Lin more chance than Keith Smart ever did, and his offense works well with Lin's style too.
5. Maybe I can find a Lin jersey at a store now. (Well, maybe I will wait for the guaranteed contract first)
4. Jeremy by Pearl Jam is a pretty good song. It sure looks like we will hear more of it at the Garden.
3. After a crowd-rousing Gladiator-like performance, there is no way the Knicks do not guarantee his contract now.
(Don't you wish the usually humble Lin would have said to the crowd during the post-game interview, "Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained? Is this why you are here?")
2. My wife no longer questions why I followed a guy who hardly played. She was impressed too.
1. Gosh, I feel vindicated after years of following Lin. Short of being prejudice, it is a human nature to feel more connected and root for people with common backgrounds. For those of us who follow Lin, whether because we are Asian, have Taiwan/ China heritage, from the Bay Area, Ivy Leaguers, devoted Christians, or just general underdogs struggling to get recognized, his performance finally proved that our support for him was much more substantial than a merely emotional connection. Lin for years has brought excitement to the game of basketball and helped teams win game with intangibles. We might have just been blessed to have taken noticed earlier.
PREACH IT BROTHER!!! I STAND WITH YOU.
DeleteI hear you, man. My wife too finally agree with me that JLin can play. For the last two years she thought I was nut following a player who was not even drafted. Thank JLin for a great game. I checked his stat everyday. I could not believe my eyes when I saw his pic on the front page of ESPN.com.
Delete"We tried to trap him, he beat our traps. We tried to stay back on him, and he threw up some Hail Marys and they went in," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "I guess he'll have a good day at church [Sunday]." (from his extended D-League stint, Lin seems to be much better making difficult curling pull up jumpers than stationary 3 pointers or even simple drive forward and pull up for jumper shots. NBA Draft.net profile says he has natural shooting instincts, and he just seems to shoot so much better off hard dribble than simple pull up jumper).
ReplyDeleteI didn't do a good job containing Jeremy Lin," said Williams, who scored just 11 of his 21 points after the first quarter. "There's so much focus on Carmelo and Amare and the other guys, and our game plan was to help off him. And he just started knocking down shots and got confidence and he was relentless taking it to the basket."
"We did a good job containing the stars on those teams and other guys stepped up and beat us," Williams said. "It seemed like they beat us to a lot of loose balls and rebounds that we should've had, especially with them playing three games in three nights." (echos Coach Eric Musselman's comment about how relentless Lin is going after lose balls and creating extra possessions for his team)
"We tried to give him different looks on our pick-and-roll coverage, and he just had a terrific game," Johnson said of Lin.
"This was a boxing match, they swung last and kind of knocked us out," Johnson
said.http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/new-jersey-nets/post/_/id/3684/on-saturday-night-lin-d-will
I have been heavily criticized for writing that Jeremy Lin should have been a lottery pick in 2010.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, is there a single lottery pick in the 2010 draft who is more capable of helping the Knicks than Lin is? The only one who could is John Wall, and even he has had an up and down NBA career.
Ironically the only drafted player who could help the Knicks WAS drafted by the Knicks. That is Landry Fields at #39 who has boasted proudly of tag teaming with Lin to tutor Amare Stoudemire in SAT testing. Kudos for the Knicks for grabbing Fields who just might be the best team player in that entire draft.
I wouldn't trade Lin off the Knicks for John Wall, Evan Turner, DeMarcus Cousins, Wes Johnson, or any other pick from that entire draft.
I like that picture of him very much! Roar, Jeremy, Roar!
ReplyDeleteI feel like there's great chemistry with JLin and the Knicks team. Back in GSW last year when I was watching, you could tell JLin wasn't "connected" with Stephan Curry or Monta Ellis or K Smart. You got this feeling that JLin was an outsider and those 2 wanted all the minutes to play, especially Ellis who was a showboat on the court and tried to do everything.
ReplyDeleteJlin was a team player, a leader, someone that tries really hard and is just the catalyst a team needs to do a lot, but he never got the chance.
Here in New York, we did bash DAntoni but you have to be honest that it’s "hard" for ANY coach to let this unknown undrafted 3rd string player with low stats from GSW and D-League experience go into a major game in major minutes with top NBA players when he didn’t know what Lin was capable of. However, you could tell that DAntoni was at his limit at that point. He was basically down to nothing, he had no other alternatives since Shumpert couldn't handle Williams and kept getting the ball stolen, Bibby couldn’t penetrate or even defend well, and Tony Douglas has proven to be absolutely hated as a PG and is much better as a SG. Therefore the ONLY one left was JLin, the mysterious ninja player who showed vast potential with his Triple Double in the first D-League game and loaded the stats sheet in the limited play times but more specifically he has huge assists in the limits minutes.
It was this player who they had not tried in crucial minutes, never given the trust to really play against a real team in real minutes but DAntoni felt with his gut instinct as he heard the crowd booing that he was going to just let it go, let the hesitation and fear go. He decided to put JLin in for a night, not ever removing him regardless of how good or bad he did(and he did have huge shooting issues at one point), but persisted in giving him the chance. JLin tried even harder, penetrated, shot from the perimeter, gave amazing assists and oops, got the crowd going with chants of "Je-re-mee" that helped lead the team to the most needed victory this season. At one point, JLin was the one given directions on where people needed to go and what they needed to do. Normally for someone who is a 3rd string backup PG with no guaranteed contract to tell a team what to do is almost unheard of. This is the most legendary underdog stories you will hear about and from this point on JLin's career has changed and will never be the same again. He has gotten the most attention ever from the media after an NBA game with all the questions asked about JLin and news articles all over talk about a "Lin Win". Not only that but his humble personality and never really taking credit for his success but thanking everyone else shows what a great person he is in general and got even the media on Lin’s defense. When Carmelo bowed to JLin, it was a playful respect for each other, when the team bombarded JLin after the game with hugs and congrats it was a defining moment that JLin should cherish forever. Although it was "only a win against the Nets", it felt like the Knicks had just won the playoffs. Starting now, the JLin Show has just begun.
Tim Tebow was raised in Asia by parents born in America.
DeleteJeremy Lin was raised in America by parents born in Asia.
So does that make Lin the "American Tebow" or does that make Tebow the "Asian Lin?"
:p
I was actually at church here in Taiwan when Jeremy made miracle. I was checking the box score every 30 sec or so on my phone and couldn't believe what I was seeing. God really is great.
ReplyDeleteNo, that was not tear coming down when I watched the highlight.
Ability wise, Jeremy presented the total package that all of us die hard followers have known since the beginning. His incredible D, hustle play, basketball IQ, intensity, ability to penetrate, and of course to make teammates around him better were all on display. So that wasn't surprising, really.
I was mostly impressed by his mental toughness against all the negativity and more incredibly how fast he could learn from his mistakes. Everyone here probably has been trying hard to shake off that ugly memory from the Sac game, but he recovered and learned the lesson. Trotters marked him off because he turned the ball over the first time he faced against Celtics' D, and he learned from that and we haven't seen the same mistake again. In the previous games he was often a little shaky coming off the bench in the beginning, and last night he was just fine. Even with the temporary lost of touch around the rim? Whoever said he couldn't finish around the rim? That was the dagger to the nets! Turnover or foul prone? How about 1 TO in 36 min? We could even take it back a bit further to last year when all we asked for was for Jeremy to make his FTs? Remember that?
As for those jumpers that haven't fallen frequent enough?
Let’s just say for all those hard work he’s put in during the off season (check the video below), the shots will be falling soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLzrLXQIbwM
Nevertheless, my most profound gratification stems from how I (and I am sure many others) can reflect at least a couple tough stories from our career and portrait Lin as the man that has broken the unbreakable spell, done the unthinkable. How many people couldn’t aim high because we were being “rational?” If you had owned all historical recoard of Harvard basketball, and went undrafted, wouldn’t you have hung up those laces and gotten a “real job?” No, Jeremy went to the Vegas summer camp against John Wall, and then just to battle Aaron Miles AND Charlie Bell for a roster spot.
Even last year I projected his career as a serviceable combo guard off the bench, which would have made me incredibly proud already. Well, came last night’s miraculous performance.
God really is great.
Any chance of getting an updated banner of JLin Admin? :)
ReplyDelete"When we play 3-on-3, he [Jeremy Lin] kills. He's a problem. It wasn't just 1 guard. It was all the guards. Coach had to play him." - Tyson Chandler
ReplyDelete"I didn't do a good job containing Jeremy Lin" - Deron Williams
Proud of you bro, I never stopped believing in you. God gives and takes away. Press on in your journey, and hope there's plenty of Jesus AND the NBA.
P.S. Tommy Dee is the main guy at theknicksblog.com and not surprisingly he has not shown any excitement for Jeremy Lin before last night, but even he can't ignore what transpired, and I do like one observation he made in particular:
"One thing that gave me goosebumps. Who was the first player to jump off the bench towards the end of the game to hug Lin?
Toney Douglas"
Toney Douglas basically just lost his PG job (granted he's probably relieved that he can now go back to being a SG off the bench like last year) but he was the first to congratulate him and held onto him too.
The Knicks players and the Garden are absolutely pulling for Lin, and pretty soon it won't just be because he's Asian or just the underdog.
jeremy had a great game - other teams had no idea what to expect but now they do. teams are now going to put some attention on him and start putting some pressure on jeremy so there's going to be a learning curve. still, i think jeremy is going to do well on this knicks squad mainly because teams still need to focus on melo and amare. he's going to do well with penetration and hitting the open man. his shot still needs some work, especially those 3s.
ReplyDeletejeremy's going to be getting some major minutes now - even a start until baron returns.
Wait t you see the unveiling of his shooting stroke... If you want a hint...chek out those charity games he played in where he hit 4 and 6 3's in them. check out his day in life video.....A beautiful sound stroke!!! Don't believe those who ignorantly say he can't shoot!!! I saw it every day for 3 months in the off season... 65% from 3 in drill situations Only a matter of time!!!... As the minutes accumulate and he knows he's going to play consistent minutes....Start spreading the news New York hes gonna own the city....
ReplyDeletei want lin to be the next tebow. i'm sure the lord is using all his energy helping lin throw an orange ball in a circular metal hoop. just the way the lord is helping tebow's team kick a ball between two poles. this is great for christians all over the world. i wish tom brady were a christian. if he were, then god would help him throw a ball into a rectangular area successfully to a player with the same color shirt, and not a player with a different color shirt on. brady would win more if he prayed to the lord to help him not drop a ball and a guy with a different color shirt pick it up.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait til tomorrow to watch Knicks vs Jazz.
ReplyDelete