Saturday, March 17, 2012

Knicks @ Pacers Post Game

Jeremy was the best player on the court tonight. Nice to see him take over the 4th quarter like that. Oh wait, I thought Lin-sanity was over. Oh, I thought it was just the D'antoni system, tailor made for point guards to excel. Oh, look at the schedule, they're not playing great teams... Don't worry, the media will keep feeding you all of this. Yes, the schedule has lightened up a bit, but if everyone played this hard a week ago, they'd have at least a split during the 0-6 stretch.

So, as long as they're winning, things will be fine (think Shaq & Kobe) but if they're losing, not so good (Jason Kidd & Jimmy Jackson feud). You don't have to love your teammates or coach to play well.  Also, there is almost always jealousy and in-fighting going on in the NBA. It's just like any other business or family.

It's only one non blow out game, but I like Woodson's subbing patterns. He is limiting Melo and Amare's minutes together, especially in the 4th. I love this. It really helps their defense. Also, it helped Jeremy with Baron being out. There is something to be said for how the Laker's got rid of Fisher knowing he'd not be happy behind Ramon Sessions.

By the way, it looked like JLin got shorted two or three steals. However, he could've easily been charged for 4-5 TO's so I'll take it. I'd love to see the NBA add missed assists as a stat. How many missed layups do the Knicks average per game?

Oh, and 25 made out of his last 27 free throws. 93%! Doc must be happy.

39 comments:

  1. i think lin is missing 3-4 assists a game because they fail to make lay ups. also i think 2-3 TOs goes against him because his team mates are not catching his passes. chandler has been dropping a lot lately. i know he has a bummed hand but those are dunks from lin if he can catch those.

    also lin is getting to the free throw line more now, if teams can think they can get cheap shots on him and get away with it. good to see him knocking down those FTs.

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    1. They have deducted the dropping so what you see the number of TO is already a net figure.

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  2. Agreed. If the Knicks are smart, they should just get rid of Baron Davis to avoid the chemistry issue like the Lakers do. Oh well the Knicks just are not a well run franchise like the Lakers. I hope they at least do that this summer if Jeremy stays. A capable back up is enough, not some veteran with an ego.

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  3. I almost think they should give "half" an assist for a basket that leads to FTs.

    Jeremy would have had 12+ assists tonight if his forwards finished even half the layups he created (I'd say they finished a third of them).

    As for his "almost" TOs...whatever. He deserves the friendly scoring. These days, Jeremy often gets charged for TOs when Amare and Chandler (with his wrist injury) can't catch a simple pass.

    Sure, some of these are fast or a little off-target, but just as many are perfect feeds that bounce off Amare/Chandler's hands! It even happened once tonight.

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  4. Good signs for Lin in the Woodson era: Lin's outward confidence, about which Frazier commented several times. Lin had the coach's green light and the confidence to step up his scoring when the team needed it.

    With Davis's latest injury, with his age and injury history, Lin no longer has to look over his shoulder. Even if Davis outplays Lin from now on, Woodson has to limit Davis in order to protect him from further injury.

    I liked Lin's ball handling improvements. He showed a stronger left hand dribble, attacked the double-team traps, and maintained his dribble.

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  5. This was an incredibly promising game. The Pacers played extremely motivated to venge the humiliating defeat last night, and it was in Indy. The Knicks played very good team defense. And Lin showed that he could succeed in Woodson's system, with very Lin-like numbers: 19 pts, 6/10 fg, 7/8 ft, 7 reb, 6 ast, 2 to, 3 ast/to, 1 stl, 1 blk.

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    1. How true, laugh.... So many people kept repeating what others had said, that Lin can't play in a "conventional" system. I had never read or heard of the term *conventional* in sports, LOL (;-/). Too many retarded people acting as if they saw Lin play a lot in the past, as a *starting* PG in the NBA; Hahahaha, he just started this Feb 4th!

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    2. Oops! I mean to say: I had never read or heard the term *conventional* in sports SO MUCH.

      Where is the EDIT button.

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  6. Replies
    1. 2:17-2:22: After Hill shoved Lin down, Lin bounced right back up! I thought that sequence exemplified Lin's resiliency. You can't teach heart, and Lin has heart in spades.

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  7. anyone have video of lin vs granger argument in the 4th? after he was pushed by george hill for a foul call.

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  8. Lin looks good in this system... Linsanity is dead??? Yeah right, it's more Knicksanity, they beatin up on teams, everyone is contributing...

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  9. Jeremy Lin is a rock star. The Pacers had a sell out crowd. Even the Indiana announcers were taken aback when the crowd cheered Lin's shots going down. They weren't there to see Carmelo.

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    1. Yeah, but to be fair, most of Indiana fans cheering for JLin were Asian-Americans.

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    2. But Asian-Americans have the highest income per household.
      Fans with money.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_States

      When the Knicks play the Warriors next year, it will be close to a home game.

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    3. So the heck what, eb5attorney?

      Kobe Bryant and Lebron James gets cheered for by a lot of African Americans in nonHeat arenas. Are you going to call out just the African Americans out for cheering on Kobe and Lebron in opposing arenas, especially since people of ALL ethnicities will cheer on those two players?

      Jeremy Lin's jersey is still the #1 selling jersey in the NBA. Are you going to call out all the nonAsians that buy Lin's stuff?

      Contrary to what you think, Lin appeals to a lot of nonAsians as well as Asians. Don't make the racial mistake of assuming that Lin gets cheered for in opposing arenas only by Asian fans.

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    4. RioFan, agree with what you say, but that has nothing to do with the point I was trying to make. If you look at the original post, it seemed to suggest Pacers fans were there to support JLin; that's just not the case -- that's the point I was trying to make.

      Also, KHuang, I don't doubt what you say; I agree with what you are saying. You are missing my point, which was that Pacers fans who were there were not there to support JLin. It was mostly Asian-American fans who probably were not even Pacers fans) supporting JLin. Nothing wrong with that. Linsanity would not have taken off without a lot of non-Asian-Americans, including Afro-Americans, supporting JLin.

      This will be my last post here, but I will continue to follow JLin's career and hope that it will be a long and productive one. For me, JLin sure makes watching Knicks more fun.

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    5. Oh eb5attorney, don't go anywhere. I enjoy your posts, and likely so do a lot of us here.

      Last summer, Indiana lost its home court to Chicago Bulls fans that came in and booed the Pacers. While that did anger the Pacers enough to nearly pull off the series despite overwhelming ref protection of Derrick Rose, Indiana has historically been a place where the crowd turns on its own fans.

      Lets not forget the 2002 World Championships where the US team led by NBA All stars got pummelled in Indiana. The crowd there booed the 6th place All Stars off the court.

      What I'm saying, eb5attorney, is that Indiana has historically turned on its own teams. While the huge throngs of Asians doubtlessly led the cheering, the Pacers "home" crowd has been known to cheer other teams and players.

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  10. I thought this was a gritty team effort, but when Indiana made that run in second half to get within one, it was Lin who delivered the big plays and big shots to reestablish comfortable lead.

    That may not be true every night (Lin said he and Melo were running a 1 3 pick and roll, but Indiana wasn't leaving Melo, so perhaps they were daring Lin to make the play, and he made them pay!), but hopefully Stat, Melo, and other teammates know that there are reliable options other than then (Lin!) in crunch time when a meaningful game is on the line.

    More than likely, if there is an opening for him to exploit, Lin will deliver!

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  11. Just got through watching the game on DVR. League Pass has been worth every penny. Great game for our hero.

    My wife had me take her to an art show at a museum of all things otherwise I would have watched live. My only gripe is that they always give the opponents' television feed. Sometimes it's fun to hear the other announcers show Lin respect, sometimes it's annoying to listen to them and I turn off the sound. Anyway, this has been off topic a little but is a good place for me to air this gripe. Thanks.

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  12. The Knicks play by play announcer Mike Breen always calls JLin 3 pt shot a bad shot. It's annoying to hear it every time. JLin been making some of those shots and he needs them to keep the defenses honest.

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    1. Lin's 3pt % is decent at 32.3%. That's an effective FG% of 48%. Does Breen realize that Lin's 3 pt % is better than Melo, Kobe, Westbrook, Wade, Monta, Parker, and Wall?

      And Lin usually takes 3 ptrs at opportune times, not just chucking up ill-advised 3's like Baron (who is only 22% from 3). They should just count those as turnovers.

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    2. RioFan I def agree with you. Lin seemed to have been getting a lot more criticism after missing his 3 pointers than everyone else. It ain't easy being yellow in the NBA.

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  13. Linspiration is still alive. Jlin is showing us that he can play under any system and be very successful. He is the personification of the American Dream.

    Jlin is all about combining an effective cerebral approach to basketball while playing with heart. First with the head, then with the heart. He studies the tape, studies the game, practices hard, and lets it all hang out on the court. His intuition is guiding him on the court; an intuition sharpened by his passion for basketball and the effort he puts into it.

    Jlin is moving beyond the 'chip on his shoulder' psychology that drove him earlier and is increasingly allowing his love for the game guide him. The NBA had better watch out. Linsanity is not over; it's just starting.

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  14. My honest assessment of the Knick announcers - they are genuinely thrilled that the Knicks have found an All-Star in Jlin (and he will be the starting guard in the east next year, a billion votes should do it) but their unconscious disbelief and uncontrolled discrimination that Jlin is doing what he does leads them to say dumb things at times.

    You don't really hear Clyde or Breen talk too much sh!t when Melo puts up a terrible low percentage Iso jumper with a hand in his face, but they do complain a lot when Melo slows down the offense and refuses to share. They do call Melo and STAT on that so we could give them a break.

    There is def a double standard with Lin, and it truly is amazing because the expectations are now so high with him that anything less than perfection is seen as Lin "regressing." It's totally absurd that the entire planet went from asking - "can Lin play in the NBA" to "why isn't Lin the second coming of Jerry West yesterday?" It's crazy, but I guess a good thing overall for our boy.

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    1. I agree with some of what you say, but I disagree with you that knowledgeable people expect JLin to be an All-Star level. They just expect him to be a solid player, so I don't see that JLin has too much to lose. They know he only played 20 some games, so there is no great expectation at all.

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    2. When John Starks first made the Knicks, nobody expected anything out of him.

      But once he became All Star good, people demanded he step up his game. Even though Starks has suffered a lot of criticism (especially for that 2-18 championship game against the Rockets), Starks performed well despite limited talent. Today Starks is a Knicks legend.

      Lin is extremely talented, even more than Starks. If he was a "no hoper", people would patronizingly pat him on the head instead of trying to tear it off with tripleteams. I myself expect Lin to play like an All Star, though I don't get on him when he doesn't.

      With great talent comes great scrutiny. Lin can handle it.

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    3. eb5 - i'm not talking about "knowledgeable basketball people" in my last point (i exaggerated in saying 'entire planet') - i really was referring to the NY media and the loud segment of knicks nation who hated on lin during the 6-game losing streak.

      When the Daily News surmised that Lin would be out of the starting lineup with the new coach, I fell out of my chair. Baron over Lin? With Baron shooting 29% on a gimpy leg and back?? No effing way. And now all that has died down with a Linsanity performance on the road vs. a pissed off Pacer team. Finally some of the stupid commentary has been shut the eff up.

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    5. Does this story remind you of Spider Man ? A humble kid becomes a super hero who fights against crime. At first people of New York City are in love with the masked vigilante known as Spider Man. But after a few bad turns, the media/newspaper empire turns against him, calling him a fraud.

      Jeremy Lin is Spiderman trying to save the city from doom, Steven A. Smith is J.J. Jameson, the super-cynical head of the Daily Bugle newspaper empire. But in the end, the good citizens of Manhattan shun the lies and negativity, and stand up for Spiderman.

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  15. "OJ was innocent.
    Jeremy Lin is a marginal NBA player at best because no ch--- can ever be good at basketball.
    Carmelo always played hard for coaches George Karl and D'Antoni, they hated Melo for no reason."
    -Stephen A "the racist" Smith

    By the way Lin's PER tops the Knicks at 21, all star level

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  16. What do you expect from Pacers announcers? It wasn't a big shove, but nevertheless, it was a shove. And he tripped because of that.

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  17. don't worry anonymous: We are not alone is having to deal with SA Smith. Media prople are calling him out also:

    See the New York Post article:

    http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/star_stuck_PbUUNM5QGww8RjQQ13nAjM

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    1. Sweet article! Way to go Phil!

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    2. "Not that Stephen A. Smith has to worry about his credibility — too late for that — but his recent, recidivist put-down spews against Jeremy Lin on 1050 ESPN Radio sounded designed to encourage us to believe what Smith says, rather than what we’ve seen. And I’m not quite ready for that. You?

      Smith has tried to over-simplify and reduce the Knicks’ latest Greek Tragedy as a mandate: Who should get the most shots, Lin or Carmelo Anthony?

      That’s the yardstick? Who gets the most shots?

      Lin, when allowed — and with Anthony out — made the Knicks a better team. And, not coincidentally, a winning team."

      Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/star_stuck_PbUUNM5QGww8RjQQ13nAjM#ixzz1pX5NjpPF

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  18. Thanks for the post. I can't stand Steven A Smith ...he is a true bigot. Steven A has basically been lying since the end of February as the author implies, and the only justification I can see for his lies are he can't stand the idea of an Asian basketball start in New York. At the end of February when Jeremy was still posting MVP numbers and the Knicks were winning, he said quote "Jeremy needs to give the ball up to Amare and Melo...He (Jeremy) needs to know his place....know your place", and then I turned off the radio in disgust. Can everyone please like this NY post article on facebook to show support for this author.Also, on a lighter note, here is a great blog on Jeremy:

    http://www.theknicksblog.com/2012/03/18/guest-post-why-lin-is-more-than-a-system-pg/

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    1. D'Antoni's system highlighted Lin's strengths, but it eventually also highlighted his weaknesses. Lin, so far, has had less freedom in Woodson's system, but that has also meant less pressure on Lin's weaknesses. At the same time, Lin's play-making strengths are still being utilized.

      The kind of all-around, more-tempered game Lin showed in Indianapolis is actually the adjustment Knicks fans, before the losing streak, were hoping to see from Lin when Anthony was reintegrated.

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  19. The continued sucess of Jeremy Lin will make SAS look like a rat.

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