Multiple sources are reporting that Ryan Anderson has won the NBA's Most Improved Player Award for the 2011-2012 season. Stay tuned for a statistical breakdown of the top finishers.
Boohoo. This shouldnt be surprising at all. The NBA is a business. They use these awards to market players and to create name recognition. Jeremy already is a name brand whether he wins this or not. Ryan Anderson in te other hand is still unknown so by givin him te award will help create marketing for nba talent.
Another aspect is contract details. Some players have in their contract money incentives of they win awards or championships so they may also find a way to give te award to players who will get the least payout for winning things like this.
Also let's be honest here. There are more people than you want to believe who hates the Jeremy Lin story. In a league dominated by dark skinned or rich whites humans, do you REALLY think they find pleasure in seeing a light skinned east Asian who has a Harvard degree and undrafted beat out lottery picks or marquee players like Kobe or dirk? Not at all. It makes the nba look bad and threatens the legitimacy of the nba system. The thought that a undrafted Asian from Harvard can come in and compete makes te nba system look bad so there will be insiders who want this story to go away. This is just like how any western media deals with all things Asian. They like to try a bit once in a while, but want it to go away. Like how they will only eat Asian food once in a while or watch an Asian movie once in a while like crouching tiger hidden dragon but then go back to their own ways.
NNM: I disagree. Lin making the NBA look like an honestly brokered meritocracy makes them look bad?
In NYC, what I see and hear from the sports media (eg, I listen to WFAN and ESPN radio a lot) is that absence makes the heart grow fonder. While not the Linsanity hype, which was Jordan-esque, the media has actually elevated Lin's status since March 24. The media, with a few exceptions, very much talk about Lin as a missing difference-maker and key cog for the team's future. Lin's a bigger star now in the media's portrayal than he was on March 24.
As expected, Jeremy's lack of playing time due to his injury cost him votes. Furthermore, there may be some validity in the argument that Lin does not represent an improved player candidate in the sense that he wasn't really a player at all last year while receiving almost no minutes - and only really started playing this season. However, it goes without saying that there are lots of people who dislike Jeremy for whatever reason (ethnicity, religion, intelligence, attention certainly among them).
Jeremy Lin is PUNKING all the racial.haters that said he could not possibly make, let alone star, in the.NBA. That includes every single team in the league INCLUDING the Knicks who would've cut him had Mike Dantoni gotten the D league replacements he wanted instead of Lin.
The NY media has 20-20 hindsight vision in discussing Lin. Of course, they didn't know he could be that good until he got thrown onto the NBA court and DOMINATED. Before he exploded, only we here at jeremylin.net correctly called his success before Linsanity happened.
NonAsians have no idea how Asians are routinely shut out of American life. What they don't realize is that Lin has had an EASIER time proving his worth than most of us "ordinary" Asians have had to do. Most of us struggle all our lives in a culture than rejects us even if we are born here.
Lin is my runaway winner for Most Improved. In my mind, nobody else comes close. I won't even try to explain the multitude of reasons why he'd have won that award were he any color but Asian.
K: You're making a different point than NNM. You're talking about what Lin had to prove to bust the bamboo (even if that bamboo is made in the USA) ceiling in the NBA. You're acknowledging that the NY media is talking up Lin now because of what he's proven. NNM isn't talking about media hindsight; he's making the different claim that the media is now actively trying to marginalize and downplay Lin. NNM is simply wrong. The sports media is talking better about Lin now than when he got hurt. The media has raised expectations for Lin when he returns to the court next season.
The NY media talks good about Lin because he busted up the bamboo ceiling and stuffed it down the throats of the racists who said he couldn't play. The guy dominated so much that writing incorrect garbage about how he can't play gets authors flamed even on non NY articles.
You write as if the NY media is setting standards for Lin by "raising expectations". WRONG. It's LIN who is raising expectations by his stellar play as a starter. The media doesn't get out on the court and dominate the way Lin does.
Nemo is 1000% correct about the media's dislike of Asian Americans. And outside NY, Jeremy Lin has more haters than he has fans.
Jeremy Lin is well on his way toward become the most HATED player in the NBA because he's Asian. Kris Humphries, Lebron James, and Metta World Peace will never experience the kind of vitriol Lin will get once he fulfills his incredible NBA potential. And through it all, Lin will exhibit the kind of class and game that would make him the NBA's most celebrated player were he any other color but Asian.
Eric, I don't know how old you are but I can sense you are quite inexperienced and naive about the world. Either that or you are scared to admit the truth. You can claim that Jeremy is loved by the media, but deep down do you truly feel that way... Or is that just what you WISH was true because you are scared?
K: I guess it depends on where you set your points of comparison. I'm referring to how the media's memes on Lin have evolved since mid-late March or the last games Lin played. I'm not comparing how the media are talking about him now compared to the talk during February's Linsanity.
The media talk about Lin now as though he's an injured veteran, established, border-line all-star PG, when that's not how they were talking about Lin the last time he played.
Eric, let me guess. You convinced yourself that the chink in the armor headline was a coincidence. People fail to realize the media is made up of normal people you grew up with, your neighbors, your classmates. The goofing around that you experienced in the classroom, at social events, etc also go on behind the scenes of the media rooms. These organizations are illegitimate. Use you common sense and don't be so easily fooled by words. Thank you
That is how they make their money. If you look at other pro-sports in America, they are race neutral, NFL football, MLB baseball, MLS soccer.
Football is making tons of money more than the NBA and dominates sports headlines even in the off season, and they don't need to play up race in order to do it. Just look at all the grieving after the death of Junior Seau, does it matter to any NFL fan that he was Samoan ?
I don’t know where to begin here. First of all, Jeremy Lin does not deserve to win the MIP award. I mean, you guys can say I am not a Jeremy Lin fan, but I could care less, because I know I am, but I am also a fair person. I mean, if Jeremy Lin ever go 0-15 with 11 turnovers, are you guys gonna say how Melo was ballhogging? I mean, I would say Jeremy Lin was playing horribly that game, and he should probably go and study the gametape and see where the defense outplayed him. Jeremy Lin just didn’t make an improvement as great and impact the game as much as Ryan Anderson, and other players. Jeremy Lin was 6th on the ballot. If he played more than 35 games (27 games with significant minutes, I am counting the Houston game), if he played in the 50s or high 40s, I think his chances will be much higher. If you guys want to talk about stats, Ryan Anderson also beats Jeremy Lin in most of the categories (higher win shares, offensive ratings, player efficiency rating). Jeremy Lin simply didn’t have a better season than Ryan Anderson. I can say that in the 27 games Jeremy played in, it was more exciting, better player, and if this award was presently on 27 games, Jeremy Lin would win, no doubt. Secondly, for people that say “seeing a light skinned east Asian who has a Harvard degree and undrafted beat out lottery picks”. Well this award is being voted by a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters, many of whom run blogs, websites, and they are not affiliated with ESPN nor the NBA in anyway. To say that they would rig an award just to see a white person win it, it is outrageous and ignorant. Remember, Ryan Anderson isn’t a highly-anticipated lottery pick, so he’s just as much of an underdog as Jeremy Lin. (well probably less). But I don’t know why are you guys so worried, Tracy McGrady won the award in 2000 after putting 70+games in 1999 and averaged 15 ppg, so why are you guys sound like Jeremy Lin wouldn’t win it next year? On the race issue. I mean, race does play an issue in the league, and in our society. People judge Jeremy Lin on the court, just like how people judge Black students at Yale or BYU. But I mean, you can only play the “race” card only so often. Here is the truth, the percentage of people that are truly racist is tiny, but those aren’t the people you were talking about. The “racists” people you are talking about are the people who joke about stuff like “chink in the armour” or “he’s got small eyes” and stuff like that. I mean, as an Asian myself and I play basketball, I embrace those comments, I laugh them off, because I know that only if you capture their attention, you would get comments like that. Would fans really “boo” or “make fun” of the Knick’s 15th player. The person who wrote “chink in the armour” probably didn’t know about the word as an ethnic slur, I never know that either growing up; but the fact that he works for ESPN and he should have easily google that before he posted shows the lack of responsibility by him. However, I don’t think you guys should get work up on the racism stuff, it will always be there. People make fun of EVERY race possible, I bet you can’t list 1 race where you don’t get make fun of, but that gets old real fast. All I am saying is that, Jeremy Lin didn’t win this award not because of some media bias (that does happen), or racist NBA executives or how the public deeply wants him to fail.
I believe the media has both racists and JLin supporters. The latter is growing more but racists will always be there (i.e. Stephen A Smith).
Notice how terms like "deceptively fast" are thrown around when Linsanity appeared but we don't hear that so much lately, especially after Jeremy addressed this as a slight to his ability during one of his press conferences. These were stereotypes of slow, non-athletic Asian-Americans that Jeremy obliterated. With consistent PG plays in his 25 games, most media has realized Jeremy Lin is a good if not great PG and here to stay in the NBA.
Anytime there is a pioneer in a sport or even a different person in a uniform culture of all white/yellow/black, people would not know what to do and often times they would make fun of things. Now the media knows that "fortune cookies", "kungfu-bowing", "chink in the armor" are not acceptable. I'm glad there were Asian-American organizations that came out and were outspoken against these demeaning racial overtones, however well-intentioned they might be. I believe the fired ESPN Mobile writer did not have ill-intention and was plainly ignorant. Jeremy Lin actually set up the lunch meeting without fanfare, forgive him, found that they have the common ground of Christian faith and put the whole things behind them.
I believe there are times that we need to speak up against any stereotypes and train people how to treat us. And I'm not just talking Asian-Americans, we should do the same for different race (i.e. any Caucasians prejudiced in Asian countries, any white/blacks made fun in Chinese churches, etc.).
I'm proud to see Jeremy Lin found the right balance to speak up against stereotypes of Asian-American ballers but also forgive those who wronged him. It's a credit to him and his parents.
NNM: I can only judge what the NY sports media are saying about Lin to their listening public. Are the same media people who are now praising Lin in public also simultaneously badmouthing Lin in private or even actively trying to sabotage his career? I guess such a conspiracy is possible - I just don't have that kind of insight. I can only say for certain that the public sentiment among Knicks fans and the memes from the NY sports media about Lin have been *increasingly* positive since March 24. It's like whatever questions they had about Lin's game when he was last on the court have somehow been answered in his favor since he's been hurt. Like I said, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Jeremy Lin is a star in NY and when he returns to the court, whether in the Heat series or next season, he's going to be greeted by Knicks fans as a hometown favorite.
jeremy is essentially a rookie this year. didn't get many minutes last year so it was hard to determine what the baseline is. in order to vote someone most improved, you need to know what the baseline is that he improved upon. jeremy didn't have that. if he had average merely 10min/gm last year then this wouldn't even be an argument at all.
now people have a good idea of what he can do TODAY and what his baseline is. if he averages significantly better than 15pt and 8 ast per game next year (a tall order), then he'd be a candidate.
Jeremy Lin is MIP, hands down, he stepped up as a leader and a play maker. The other guys with the exception of Andrew Bynum, are role players who simply got better at playing their specific role on the court. Of course it was unfortunate that Jeremy got injured, but before that he was the go-to guy on almost every Knick possession.
Who has improved the most ?
The reason why Lin wasn't playing heavy minutes last year .... as the coach said himself ... he wasn't good enough to be in the Warriors rotation. He wasn't playing at that level last year. But he improved tremendously in the offseason so now he can.
These awards are a joke .... Ryan Anderson ? The Orlando Magic jump shooter ? Has he shown he can do anything besides shoot the ball, is he a leader, defender, ball distributor ? Might as well just give the award to Steve Novak who is a better shooter.
I second that. The NBA is not a credible organization. It's run by crooks and businessmen who care more about their self interests and not who deserves what.
Ok, I will draw the line at MVP (even though Lin has played like an MVP on more than a few occasions.
My MVP is Tim Duncan. Only he could lead that Spurs team to contention. Duncan is doing more for his team on either end than any other player is.
Tim Duncan not being on the 2012 All Star team is as bogus as not voting Lin MIP. I watch Spurs games and Duncan is making all the plays. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili get all the credit, but neither player would even start in the NBA if it wasn't for Duncan facilitating them on both ends of the court.
Duncan is the most dominant big man I have ever seen, and I actually now rate him higher than even Kareem Abdul Jabbar who was my #1 all time center for years.
Tony Parker is the MVP of the NBA this year! Your comment about Ginobli and Parker is ludicrous! Parker is an amazing offensive player with unstoppable explosive moves, creative finishes at the rim, a floater to die for, and his outside shot has become a weapon.When Jeremy works in the off-season I betchoo he comes back with a lot of Tony Parker finishes in his repertoire. Tim Duncan is a joy to watch, always hasbeen, but Ginobli and Parker are great players on their own. I love watching the Spurs play.
There is a lot of articles asking if Jeremy Lin, Ersan Ilyasova or Andrew Bynum got robbed of MIP award.
No question in my mind that Jeremy Lin is the MIP,even based on the vague definition of the award (for "an up-and-coming player who has made a dramatic improvement from the previous season or seasons.) How much more dramatic can one player get from losing his jobs twice and almost 1 game way from getting fired from his 3rd job to having the most points EVERY in 5 games as a starter? And look how embarrassing the Knicks play without him now? I'd say Jeremy Lin is the most qualified.
But there is a reason why the definition is so vague. It makes fans argue who which player deserves it most and it gets more people to talk about NBA and less about NFL, MLB, NFL and about everything else.
The color of the NBA is neither black or white or brown or yellow. It's green. It's lush-green dollar bills or yuan/Euro/peso, you name it.
So don't worry so much about Jeremy Lin getting "snubbed" for MIP or best story or any other awards. He said it himself that he has to prove himself over and over again on the court. I decided to apply this lesson in my job, I'd have to prove myself over and over again to earn respect. Life is not fair so might as well be positive in giving our best. Just look how our Jeremy Lin kept doing positive things despite discrimination and disrespect and as a result drew more people towards him.
Jeremy Lin might not be NBA 2012 MIP but Time 100 Most Influential people is a much much bigger deal :) Wow, I still can't believe how far he has come since last year.
TIME Magazine's 100 Most influential people is a frigging joke. That list is just a slightly more highbrow version of People Magazine's "Most Beautiful People" or "Sexist Man Alive" list.
They are popularity contests with all the significance of voting for Prom Queen.
LOL to all the people pulling out the race card. The MIP award was voted by more than a hundred sports writers so it's not one entity that decided who should win it.
I think Jeremy didn't win this award because frankly, he's already won so many accolades. He's on the Time 100 Most Influential list for goodness sake. We all know why the media fell in love with the Jeremy Lin story. It's because he's the ultimate underdog. We all love the underdog and want him to win. Unfortunately, Lin's gone from underdog to over-publicized. He's been so over-publicized now that I think losing the MIP award is sort of a backlash against his popularity. They just wanted to give it to the small guy... Ryan Anderson who frankly statistically speaking deserved it anyway.
Did Ryan Anderson come in 2nd in 4th quarter PER? Did Ryan Anderson get cut by two teams? Did Ryan Anderson go from being a total benchwarmer to scoring more in his first starts than any player in modern NBA history? Did Ryan Anderson elevate the play of his team so much that his Magic team had the same post All-Star winning record that the Miami Heat did?
Ryan Anderson did none of those things, but Jeremy Lin did.
Today I learnt Jeremy Lin did not come in 2nd in 4th quarter PER. Lebron James did. I don't know where you got your numbers from...... http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/13850/lebron-continues-fourth-quarter-dominance
That list only includes players who played at least 1000 minutes during the season, whereas Lin only played 940. KHuang is referring to this article which states, "at the time he was shut down ... Lin's PER in fourth quarters was a whopping 33.5 ... behind only the Clippers' Chris Paul (37.2)."
"LOL to all the people pulling out the race card. The MIP award was voted by more than a hundred sports writers so it's not one entity that decided who should win it."
OK, so what race were the hundred or so sports writers ?
Is it like the Grammys or Oscar awards where White singers and actors get the most votes ?
I don`t understand why you believe so deeply that he didn`t win the award because of race. If he had a Lebron-like season, then race doesn`t matter at all. Maybe race was a reason, but his numbers weren`t exactly superb, in a 66 game standard. SEE MY POST!
I agree with you Kidd4Ever. it's no outrage that Ryan Anderson won the MIP award, just as it would have been no outrage if JLin had won. Many voters might have applied different requirements to arrive at a different conclusion. Frankly, voters might have felt that JLin had insufficient data from a previous season to compare to this season. Also, it could be argued that his incomplete season was a reasonable factor to consider. Look, being on the 100 most influential persons list and on SI magazine cover two weeks in a row are just amazing achievements in one year. I am an Asian-American by the way.
To anyone who says that race doesn't matter is lying to themselves. I am professional psychologist and its a fact that race is probably the first detail humans use to judge another so it's quite silly and straight up obvious that they do not truly deep down eleven that race doesn't matter. They must have learn to pretend it doesn't matter as a defense mechanism
Uhm let's say if Jeremy Lin posted lebron like numbers , then if he doesn't win the MIP, we can conclude that race is invoved. People might not vote for Jeremy Lin or anyone else because they are ugly or smell bad, who knows. But my point is that his numbers in 66 games is not as good as other players
No one said race does not matter, but to say JLin did not get MIP due to his race is not fair or reasonable. For all I know, it may have been, but there is no way I can say that Ryan Anderson did not deserve to win on his very fine stats compared to his not so fine stats last year. I have to say I agree with Kidd4Ever on this point. I dont' think Kidd4Ever is saying he would be outraged had JLin been voted MIP. Basically, I can make strong arguments for both cases, but to accuse voters that they did not vote for JLin as MIP because of his race, well, I just do not think that's the case.
Wow, so many biased Asians here. Yea, of course there are racist people who dislike Jeremy due to his ethnicity but to feel that he's on his way to becoming the most hated NBA player for that reason as someone stated earlier is far-fetched. Most everyone I know, including non-Asians, admire and respect Jeremy because of his basketball skill, character, and integrity. Those I know who don't care for him just simply aren't fans of him as a basketball player, and not because he's Asian. As for the media, I've seen more sources praising him rather than bringing him down (Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, etc). It's just that the negative ones stand out more. This site seems to be full of people who are ready to pick out the negatives ones to represent the entire media.
Sometimes reading this site, I'm aware of how many people extend their own personal experiences onto Jeremy and feel like every wrong anyone does towards him is race based. I am also protective of Jeremy but I think it's silly to think that there's some sort of concerted agenda in the media or NBA to discriminate against him. There will always be ignorant racists like Mayweather and SAS out there spewing their venom, but they will be criticized by any person of integrity every time, Asian or non-Asian.
I'm Asian myself and despite personally experiencing racism, I don't feel that the whole non-Asian world is out to get me because of my racial make-up. I know how to stand up for myself but I don't let a few racist idiots cloud my life with a me-vs-them mentality. Based on what I've seen from Jeremy, I'm pretty sure he doesn't go through life with this attitude either.
Anyway, although Jeremy is my favorite basketball player, I feel fine with him not winning MIP. As others have said already, he didn't play in that many games this year. Also, I think most of us can agree that he was always a good player (although not as good as now) so I can't honestly say that he is the most improved this year. Going from being cut multiple times from teams in the past and then only becoming noticed this year does not mean he's automatically MIP. He's just finally seeing his rightful dues.
Since when did a player have to post "Lebron like numbers" to win MIP? Ryan Anderson sure didn't, yet he won the award?
Kidd4ever's claim that Lin's numbers were not as good as that of other players is one of the most INCORRECT things I've read here. Since when was a historically great scoring start "not as good"? What about the incredible PER in the 4th quarter? And the two win streaks and 0.600+ winning percentage they had with Lin vs far less than that without him? How are those numbers worse than that of the other MIP candidates?
And it's equally INCORRECT to exclude Lin because of his small sample size last year the way eb5attorney does. Nobody thought Lin could play last year even though the stats amply demonstrated that he was totally dominant when he stepped on the NBA court. If anything, the small sample size from last year should be HELPING Lin because he went from a noncontributor to the most important player on the Knicks as far as winning games goes.
It is RACE that caused Lin to be overlooked in the first place. It is RACE that causes people to discount his gigantic achievements so that whiter/blacker players can win awards over him by doing far less. It is RACE that causes people to think Lin does not deserve to be in the NBA even though he has been one of the best players in the entire league.
As is the case for most Asian American males, Lin is double penalized for being Asian. People look at him and say that he doesn't deserve to play, and then when he finally gets to play people say that he didn't play well and wasn't good enough in the first place.
That is why when I run into people in daily life who hold my Asian race against me, I make sure I punk them TWICE AS HARD.
Passively accepting that a player who produces the way Lin does would be wrong for ANY player of ANY color.
Lin isn't some mythological fantasy character that exists in a plane of imagination. Nor are Asian Americans like me who are old enough to be Lin's father able to pretend that a lifetime of racial combat never existed because nonAsians wish it so. Lin is an Asian American subject to the same GARBAGE that other Asian Americans like me face on a daily basis.
I am likely much older than most of the people on this board, and I've experienced enough racial combat in physical and social terms to scoff at other Asian Americans who think I'm some sort of freak. So when I see Lin going through the same kind of racial warfare, I know EXACTLY what he should be doing to combat it.
"Nobody thought Lin could play last year even though the stats amply demonstrated that he was totally dominant when he stepped on the NBA court."
I'm not sure I follow your logic. If the stats last year showed that he was already "dominant", then how does that make him most improved this year? To me, the NBA is finally giving him recognition going from last year into this year... but MIP?
Lin had a tiny sample size last year despite his Golden State team leading PER. This year, Lin had a much larger sample size simply because he was allowed to play. Even though Lin is basically the same Lin this year, his on court contribution rocketed from garbage time player to playing major minutes on a playoff team.
Of the 5 MIP candidates, only Jeremy Lin was a zero player. Even Nikola Pekovic, the guy I consider Lin's only competition, got some burn But Pekovic didn't do historic scoring in his first starts or lead the Wolves to two win streaks or come in 2nd in the entire NBA on 4th quarter PER or anything remotely close to that.
I'm sorry, but I still don't see how that's most improved. Maybe you are getting your semantics mixed up? As you say, Lin is basically the same Lin this year (although I still think he's better now). If they had an award to give to the player who had the most increased contribution to a team, then yeah.. Jeremy all the way.
As far as I'm concerned, the MIP goes to the player that demonstrates the most improvement from the previous season in terms of the most increased contribution to his team. That player is Jeremy Lin "all the way".
You are probably right that Lin is a better player now, especially now that he's no longer a rookie. However, I still think Lin would have been a fine backup for 5-15 minutes a game last year at either guard position and sometimes even backup sf in a 3 guard alignment. I base that on what he did, not on wishful thinking.
No player I have ever seen has done what Lin has done when increasing one's contribution to a team is being discussed. So I am in full agreement with you, and that's why Lin is my MIP.
Haha yes, if that was the meaning of MIP, then Jeremy is MIP. However, is there a set definition of what the MIP award actually entails? And are all the voters using the same definition/standards to vote? I honestly just took the word "improved" to literally mean improvement but I'm not sure if that is correct in this case.
Where in the MIP voting rules does it say that a player has to play a minimum number of games to win the award?
Where in the MIP voting does it say that a player has to put up a certain amount of production? Why does Lin have to put up Lebron numbers to win the award and Ryan Anderson does not?
Where in the MIP voting does it say a player has to play a certain number of games in the NBA so that people can get a "baseline" for him?
I say that "Most Improved" should actually go to the guy that actually improved the most - and that is LIN.
Edit: where in the MIP voting does it say a player has to play a certain number of games in his PREVIOUS season so.that people can get a "baseline" on him?
Khuang: what if Jeremy Lin goes 1-15 with 10 turnovers, are you still going to be defensive about him? Or are you going to say that he had a horrible game, and probably got picked apart by the offense. It seems that you are supporting him no matter, instead being fair and judgemental. And regarding my LeBron-like number statement, I said that “if Jeremy lin posted LeBron like numbers and does not win this award, then race play a majority role in the decision.” I didn’t say anything about whether Jeremy Lin needs to put up Lebron-like numbers to win this award, personally I think if he plays 50+ games and average 15 ppg, he’s probably going to be the favorite to win. However, in this case, he’s not. I agree with Kleenex and eb with their statements, race plays a huge part in everyone’s decision, but so does a lot of other things. Journalists might not vote for Andrew Bynum because of his maturity issues, or other factors. You said “incredible PER in the 4th quarter”, since when do people decide to look at such a specific stat. I know 4th quarter is important; and I can say that Lin is very clutch, but Jeremy Lin has a LOWER PER, so are you just going to ignore that stat? You say that Lin had a 0.6 winning percentages.. but are you forgetting about Steve Novak suddenly gets hot. But let’s compare their win shares/48 (per 48 minutes due to Lin’s limited minutes in his first few appearances) : Ryan Anderson: 0.219, and Jeremy Lin: 0.140, league average is 0.1. While they are both above average, but Anderson’s stat is definitely better. Please do not call me an Anderson fan or anything, because I am not. I am just stating my opinion, and possibly the opinion of many other people, including other Asians. Here are more of your reasons: Did Ryan Anderson come in 2nd in 4th quarter PER? “Nope, but he has a higher PER” Did Ryan Anderson get cut by two teams? “Nope, I give Jeremy Lin credit for enduring what he has gone through, that’s pretty tough. But honestly, I don’t think sportswriter gives a shit about that.” Did Ryan Anderson go from being a total benchwarmer to scoring more in his first starts than any player in modern NBA history? “Nope, but what if he write the history, but stops scoring afterwards? I know that’s not what Jeremy Lin did, but he obviously didn’t score ENOUGH baskets.” Did Ryan Anderson elevate the play of his team so much that his Magic team had the same post All-Star winning record that the Miami Heat did? “You are really digging for stats, but Orland has a better record + Anderson has a higher WS.” If Jeremy Lin keeps this up, something like 18ppg, and 8apg, and cuts down on his TOs, who’s to say he can’t win the MIP next year. Kevin Love just did that!
Jeremy Lin has not gone 1-15 with 10 TOs. That is a figment of your excessively active imagination.
Your 50 game number is an arbitrary fantasy figure that you made up out of thin air. The actual rules of the MIP don't put any number of the number of games played. So once again, your imagination is at work.
So Ryan Anderson has a win share and overall PER that is better than Lin's. The MIP award isn't about who's the better player, but who improved more. Besides, Lin went from essentially a zero contribution as a rookie (especially factoring in the DNPs) to the most major contributor on the Knicks. Ryan Anderson wasn't a DNP last year like Lin, which makes Lin's PER even less effective as a rookie.
Steve Novak's improved play is directly traceable to Lin. With Lin on the court, Novak improved his contribution so much that he himself became a Most Improved candidate. Lin couldn't do that last year for Novak in the NBA, though he did do that for Novak in the DLeague.
Remember that this is the MIP we are talking about, not MVP. All that matters is which player made the biggest jump in on court contribution. Ryan Anderson went from a occasional starter to a full time starter. Jeremy Lin went from being a total nobody to turning the Knicks season from a disaster to the playoffs. Lin's on court improvement is more than Anderson's.
This is probably the last time I am going to comment: 1. Every player will go 1-15, or have a bad night. Did you not read my "what if Jeremy Lin" sentence? I am asking how you would react to that? 2. My 50 game number is an arbitrary number, NO KIDDING! I wrote "personally I think if he plays 50+ games". Also, that's the number most of my friends believe he should have played, and continued at his current production rate to win the award. 3. Regarding to the whole MIP argument. I realize that we are coming from 2 completely different spectrum. You are saying Jeremy Lin went from a nobody to a good player, while Anderson went from mediocre to good. I think Jeremy Lin would win it had he played more. I really never want to argue about stats nor this award, I just feel that some people are ignorant to play the "race" card so quickly. I mean I understand that there are racist people, but there are haters for every successful person. So those things happen, and we can't let that to hinder every decision and use that to blame everything.
I really don't care about this flimsy award. Even as far as awards go, MVP, Finals MVP, DPOY, All-NBA, All-Defense are the ones I care about.
I'm much more annoyed Jeremy still gets disrespected as a defender. By every objective measure (defensive +/-, spg, bpg, etc.) Jeremy is at least a quality defender. Not to mention "WOW" moments like his EPIC SWAT on D-Rose. He blocked him TWICE actually (ripping the ball away on another drive).
And yet most every sports writer and NBA fan claims Jeremy is a sub-par or even awful defender. Huh? It's so ludicrously dumb.
As I've said before, Jeremy only did ONE bad thing on D -- overhelping and leaving a 3pt shooter open. But he's corrected that following Linsanity 1.0. And he fights through screens much better now that he no longer plays 40mpg. He'll be an elite defender going forward, but I doubt he'll get credit for it. Not for years anyway.
MIP should be like the poor man's version of the MVP. Its not all about stats, but how much more impact a player has on the team. Similarly for the sixth man award. Stats is one indicator of impact, but leadership and elevation of teammates' play are also factors. In a way, the list of factors is no exhaustive and is open ended. Judgement is always involved. Obviously, when exercising the judgment, race should not be one of the factors.
Who has increased his impact on a team more than he has last year? The clear choice is Lin.
Why did he not win it? It may be because these sport writers had a different view on what things that should be factored into the concept of improvement. They may have different conceptions of that concept. Improvement that is defined by reference to sample size, stats, or other factors. Unacceptable would be to factor in race.
Did they actually factor in race or did they weigh more heavily other more objective factors such as the sample size Lin?
But if they did weight other factors more heavily, is this because they truly feel improvement should be defined this way, or is it just manifestation of their racism?
I think it's better that JLin did not win the Most Improved Player Award. Like Kobe said, he had the skills and talent all along, it's just that he was overlooked by so many NBA teams and scouts. Moving forward, whenever an athlete comes out from no where, they're going to refer to him as the next Jeremy Lin of basketball.
True, JLin did not play a full season this year, but he hardly played last year. So no one can make the assessment of how much he really improved. Keith Smart may say JLin was not good enough to be a rotational player last year. But the Knicks were probably thinking the same thing before JLin had his breakout game on Feb 4.
The things that we do know about JLin last year is that he had: 1) good speed, which didn't change during Linsanity; 2) good vision, which he continues to have; and 3) high basketball I.Q., which he always had. Last year with the Warriors, JLin showed great anticipation on defense with an amazing steal/minutes ratio. He also had a good assist/turnover ratio. Looking at the way he played in the D-League in 2011, JLin showed he is one of a few guards in the league who can score in the paint in traffic, and get to the line. The Warriors overlooked all of those abilities, even though their biggest team weakness is getting to the foul line (I believe they're last in the NBA, and gotten worse after trading Monta).
Well done guys.. such a wonderful debate. Enjoy reading so much. Can someone please tell me what the crowd is chanting something like 'feedback'..sorry not sure what that is. I'm from Malaysia..very new to basketball. Thanks.
The NBA's Most Improved Player has shown itself to be just as much of a joke as its (snicker) Sportsmanship Award that was given to Jason "Wife Beater" Kidd.
The people who believe that Lin should have been awarded MIP - and especially the ones who claim that Lin's race played a role in his not winning it - should go back through the NBA annals and find a single example of any player winning MIP, MVP, ROY, SMY, DPY etc. after appearing in only 53% of the games, and getting more than garbage time minutes in 41% of the season. If so, you will find that it has never happened before. As a result, Jeremy Lin was not going to be the first, if for no reason other than there would have been no good reason to justify breaking long-established precedent by making Lin the first player to win a major award after playing in so few games. That is why calling it "meaningless" and "a joke" is so regrettable ... as if Ryan Anderson's going from a former #1 pick bust that the Nets gave up on after 2 seasons to putting up borderline all-star numbers in 61 starts this year is all some sort of sham that doesn't matter. Yes, we know that Jeremy Lin is better than Ryan Anderson and most of the other players in the NBA, and we all WISH that there was some way for the sports world to officially recognize it. But we should also recognize that it IS NOT the fault of the sportswriters that Jeremy Lin barely played this season until February 4 when it was 1/3 over. The sportswriters had to play with the bad hand that Mike D'Antoni left them, and as a result had no choice other than to exclude a person who played less than half the season from consideration just as they have had to do in the past.
Boohoo. This shouldnt be surprising at all. The NBA is a business. They use these awards to market players and to create name recognition. Jeremy already is a name brand whether he wins this or not. Ryan Anderson in te other hand is still unknown so by givin him te award will help create marketing for nba talent.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect is contract details. Some players have in their contract money incentives of they win awards or championships so they may also find a way to give te award to players who will get the least payout for winning things like this.
Also let's be honest here. There are more people than you want to believe who hates the Jeremy Lin story. In a league dominated by dark skinned or rich whites humans, do you REALLY think they find pleasure in seeing a light skinned east Asian who has a Harvard degree and undrafted beat out lottery picks or marquee players like Kobe or dirk? Not at all. It makes the nba look bad and threatens the legitimacy of the nba system. The thought that a undrafted Asian from Harvard can come in and compete makes te nba system look bad so there will be insiders who want this story to go away. This is just like how any western media deals with all things Asian. They like to try a bit once in a while, but want it to go away. Like how they will only eat Asian food once in a while or watch an Asian movie once in a while like crouching tiger hidden dragon but then go back to their own ways.
DeleteNNM: I disagree. Lin making the NBA look like an honestly brokered meritocracy makes them look bad?
DeleteIn NYC, what I see and hear from the sports media (eg, I listen to WFAN and ESPN radio a lot) is that absence makes the heart grow fonder. While not the Linsanity hype, which was Jordan-esque, the media has actually elevated Lin's status since March 24. The media, with a few exceptions, very much talk about Lin as a missing difference-maker and key cog for the team's future. Lin's a bigger star now in the media's portrayal than he was on March 24.
As expected, Jeremy's lack of playing time due to his injury cost him votes. Furthermore, there may be some validity in the argument that Lin does not represent an improved player candidate in the sense that he wasn't really a player at all last year while receiving almost no minutes - and only really started playing this season. However, it goes without saying that there are lots of people who dislike Jeremy for whatever reason (ethnicity, religion, intelligence, attention certainly among them).
DeleteNo Eric, Nemo is right.
DeleteJeremy Lin is PUNKING all the racial.haters that said he could not possibly make, let alone star, in the.NBA. That includes every single team in the league INCLUDING the Knicks who would've cut him had Mike Dantoni gotten the D league replacements he wanted instead of Lin.
The NY media has 20-20 hindsight vision in discussing Lin. Of course, they didn't know he could be that good until he got thrown onto the NBA court and DOMINATED. Before he exploded, only we here at jeremylin.net correctly called his success before Linsanity happened.
NonAsians have no idea how Asians are routinely shut out of American life. What they don't realize is that Lin has had an EASIER time proving his worth than most of us "ordinary" Asians have had to do. Most of us struggle all our lives in a culture than rejects us even if we are born here.
Lin is my runaway winner for Most Improved. In my mind, nobody else comes close. I won't even try to explain the multitude of reasons why he'd have won that award were he any color but Asian.
K: You're making a different point than NNM. You're talking about what Lin had to prove to bust the bamboo (even if that bamboo is made in the USA) ceiling in the NBA. You're acknowledging that the NY media is talking up Lin now because of what he's proven. NNM isn't talking about media hindsight; he's making the different claim that the media is now actively trying to marginalize and downplay Lin. NNM is simply wrong. The sports media is talking better about Lin now than when he got hurt. The media has raised expectations for Lin when he returns to the court next season.
DeleteNNM is MORE RIGHT THAN EVER.
DeleteThe NY media talks good about Lin because he busted up the bamboo ceiling and stuffed it down the throats of the racists who said he couldn't play. The guy dominated so much that writing incorrect garbage about how he can't play gets authors flamed even on non NY articles.
You write as if the NY media is setting standards for Lin by "raising expectations". WRONG. It's LIN who is raising expectations by his stellar play as a starter. The media doesn't get out on the court and dominate the way Lin does.
Nemo is 1000% correct about the media's dislike of Asian Americans. And outside NY, Jeremy Lin has more haters than he has fans.
Jeremy Lin is well on his way toward become the most HATED player in the NBA because he's Asian. Kris Humphries, Lebron James, and Metta World Peace will never experience the kind of vitriol Lin will get once he fulfills his incredible NBA potential. And through it all, Lin will exhibit the kind of class and game that would make him the NBA's most celebrated player were he any other color but Asian.
Eric, I don't know how old you are but I can sense you are quite inexperienced and naive about the world. Either that or you are scared to admit the truth. You can claim that Jeremy is loved by the media, but deep down do you truly feel that way... Or is that just what you WISH was true because you are scared?
DeleteK: I guess it depends on where you set your points of comparison. I'm referring to how the media's memes on Lin have evolved since mid-late March or the last games Lin played. I'm not comparing how the media are talking about him now compared to the talk during February's Linsanity.
DeleteThe media talk about Lin now as though he's an injured veteran, established, border-line all-star PG, when that's not how they were talking about Lin the last time he played.
Eric, let me guess. You convinced yourself that the chink in the armor headline was a coincidence. People fail to realize the media is made up of normal people you grew up with, your neighbors, your classmates. The goofing around that you experienced in the classroom, at social events, etc also go on behind the scenes of the media rooms. These organizations are illegitimate. Use you common sense and don't be so easily fooled by words. Thank you
DeleteThe NBA, where Race means EVERYTHING !!
DeleteThat is how they make their money. If you look at other pro-sports in America, they are race neutral, NFL football, MLB baseball, MLS soccer.
Football is making tons of money more than the NBA and dominates sports headlines even in the off season, and they don't need to play up race in order to do it. Just look at all the grieving after the death of Junior Seau, does it matter to any NFL fan that he was Samoan ?
I don’t know where to begin here. First of all, Jeremy Lin does not deserve to win the MIP award. I mean, you guys can say I am not a Jeremy Lin fan, but I could care less, because I know I am, but I am also a fair person. I mean, if Jeremy Lin ever go 0-15 with 11 turnovers, are you guys gonna say how Melo was ballhogging? I mean, I would say Jeremy Lin was playing horribly that game, and he should probably go and study the gametape and see where the defense outplayed him. Jeremy Lin just didn’t make an improvement as great and impact the game as much as Ryan Anderson, and other players. Jeremy Lin was 6th on the ballot. If he played more than 35 games (27 games with significant minutes, I am counting the Houston game), if he played in the 50s or high 40s, I think his chances will be much higher. If you guys want to talk about stats, Ryan Anderson also beats Jeremy Lin in most of the categories (higher win shares, offensive ratings, player efficiency rating). Jeremy Lin simply didn’t have a better season than Ryan Anderson. I can say that in the 27 games Jeremy played in, it was more exciting, better player, and if this award was presently on 27 games, Jeremy Lin would win, no doubt.
DeleteSecondly, for people that say “seeing a light skinned east Asian who has a Harvard degree and undrafted beat out lottery picks”. Well this award is being voted by a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters, many of whom run blogs, websites, and they are not affiliated with ESPN nor the NBA in anyway. To say that they would rig an award just to see a white person win it, it is outrageous and ignorant. Remember, Ryan Anderson isn’t a highly-anticipated lottery pick, so he’s just as much of an underdog as Jeremy Lin. (well probably less). But I don’t know why are you guys so worried, Tracy McGrady won the award in 2000 after putting 70+games in 1999 and averaged 15 ppg, so why are you guys sound like Jeremy Lin wouldn’t win it next year?
On the race issue. I mean, race does play an issue in the league, and in our society. People judge Jeremy Lin on the court, just like how people judge Black students at Yale or BYU. But I mean, you can only play the “race” card only so often. Here is the truth, the percentage of people that are truly racist is tiny, but those aren’t the people you were talking about. The “racists” people you are talking about are the people who joke about stuff like “chink in the armour” or “he’s got small eyes” and stuff like that. I mean, as an Asian myself and I play basketball, I embrace those comments, I laugh them off, because I know that only if you capture their attention, you would get comments like that. Would fans really “boo” or “make fun” of the Knick’s 15th player. The person who wrote “chink in the armour” probably didn’t know about the word as an ethnic slur, I never know that either growing up; but the fact that he works for ESPN and he should have easily google that before he posted shows the lack of responsibility by him. However, I don’t think you guys should get work up on the racism stuff, it will always be there. People make fun of EVERY race possible, I bet you can’t list 1 race where you don’t get make fun of, but that gets old real fast.
All I am saying is that, Jeremy Lin didn’t win this award not because of some media bias (that does happen), or racist NBA executives or how the public deeply wants him to fail.
I believe the media has both racists and JLin supporters. The latter is growing more but racists will always be there (i.e. Stephen A Smith).
DeleteNotice how terms like "deceptively fast" are thrown around when Linsanity appeared but we don't hear that so much lately, especially after Jeremy addressed this as a slight to his ability during one of his press conferences. These were stereotypes of slow, non-athletic Asian-Americans that Jeremy obliterated. With consistent PG plays in his 25 games, most media has realized Jeremy Lin is a good if not great PG and here to stay in the NBA.
Anytime there is a pioneer in a sport or even a different person in a uniform culture of all white/yellow/black, people would not know what to do and often times they would make fun of things. Now the media knows that "fortune cookies", "kungfu-bowing", "chink in the armor" are not acceptable. I'm glad there were Asian-American organizations that came out and were outspoken against these demeaning racial overtones, however well-intentioned they might be. I believe the fired ESPN Mobile writer did not have ill-intention and was plainly ignorant. Jeremy Lin actually set up the lunch meeting without fanfare, forgive him, found that they have the common ground of Christian faith and put the whole things behind them.
I believe there are times that we need to speak up against any stereotypes and train people how to treat us. And I'm not just talking Asian-Americans, we should do the same for different race (i.e. any Caucasians prejudiced in Asian countries, any white/blacks made fun in Chinese churches, etc.).
I'm proud to see Jeremy Lin found the right balance to speak up against stereotypes of Asian-American ballers but also forgive those who wronged him. It's a credit to him and his parents.
I agree Steven a smith is even an overt racist or an ignorant idiot.
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DeleteNNM: I can only judge what the NY sports media are saying about Lin to their listening public. Are the same media people who are now praising Lin in public also simultaneously badmouthing Lin in private or even actively trying to sabotage his career? I guess such a conspiracy is possible - I just don't have that kind of insight. I can only say for certain that the public sentiment among Knicks fans and the memes from the NY sports media about Lin have been *increasingly* positive since March 24. It's like whatever questions they had about Lin's game when he was last on the court have somehow been answered in his favor since he's been hurt. Like I said, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
DeleteJeremy Lin is a star in NY and when he returns to the court, whether in the Heat series or next season, he's going to be greeted by Knicks fans as a hometown favorite.
I actually don't have an issue with this if true.
ReplyDeletejeremy is essentially a rookie this year. didn't get many minutes last year so it was hard to determine what the baseline is. in order to vote someone most improved, you need to know what the baseline is that he improved upon. jeremy didn't have that. if he had average merely 10min/gm last year then this wouldn't even be an argument at all.
now people have a good idea of what he can do TODAY and what his baseline is. if he averages significantly better than 15pt and 8 ast per game next year (a tall order), then he'd be a candidate.
Jeremy Lin is MIP, hands down, he stepped up as a leader and a play maker. The other guys with the exception of Andrew Bynum, are role players who simply got better at playing their specific role on the court.
ReplyDeleteOf course it was unfortunate that Jeremy got injured, but before that he was the go-to guy on almost every Knick possession.
Who has improved the most ?
The reason why Lin wasn't playing heavy minutes last year .... as the coach said himself ... he wasn't good enough to be in the Warriors rotation. He wasn't playing at that level last year. But he improved tremendously in the offseason so now he can.
These awards are a joke .... Ryan Anderson ? The Orlando Magic jump shooter ? Has he shown he can do anything besides shoot the ball, is he a leader, defender, ball distributor ?
Might as well just give the award to Steve Novak who is a better shooter.
The "small" number of games Lin played is HUGE compared to the insignificant number of minutes he played as a rookie.
ReplyDeleteLin went from zero to hero in a way that no NBA player has ever done.
He's my ALL TIME MIP!
I second that. The NBA is not a credible organization. It's run by crooks and businessmen who care more about their self interests and not who deserves what.
DeleteJeremy is not only MIP in my book, but also MVP.
Ok, I will draw the line at MVP (even though Lin has played like an MVP on more than a few occasions.
DeleteMy MVP is Tim Duncan. Only he could lead that Spurs team to contention. Duncan is doing more for his team on either end than any other player is.
Tim Duncan not being on the 2012 All Star team is as bogus as not voting Lin MIP. I watch Spurs games and Duncan is making all the plays. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili get all the credit, but neither player would even start in the NBA if it wasn't for Duncan facilitating them on both ends of the court.
Duncan is the most dominant big man I have ever seen, and I actually now rate him higher than even Kareem Abdul Jabbar who was my #1 all time center for years.
Tony Parker is the MVP of the NBA this year! Your comment about Ginobli and Parker is ludicrous! Parker is an amazing offensive player with unstoppable explosive moves, creative finishes at the rim, a floater to die for, and his outside shot has become a weapon.When Jeremy works in the off-season I betchoo he comes back with a lot of Tony Parker finishes in his repertoire.
DeleteTim Duncan is a joy to watch, always hasbeen, but Ginobli and Parker are great players on their own. I love watching the Spurs play.
I am third to that, he is my MIP & MVP forever! ;)
DeleteThere is a lot of articles asking if Jeremy Lin, Ersan Ilyasova or Andrew Bynum got robbed of MIP award.
ReplyDeleteNo question in my mind that Jeremy Lin is the MIP,even based on the vague definition of the award (for "an up-and-coming player who has made a dramatic improvement from the previous season or seasons.) How much more dramatic can one player get from losing
his jobs twice and almost 1 game way from getting fired from his 3rd job to having the most points EVERY in 5 games as a starter? And look how embarrassing the Knicks play without him now? I'd say Jeremy Lin is the most qualified.
But there is a reason why the definition is so vague. It makes fans argue who which player deserves it most and it gets more people to talk about NBA and less about NFL, MLB, NFL and about everything else.
The color of the NBA is neither black or white or brown or yellow. It's green. It's lush-green dollar bills or yuan/Euro/peso, you name it.
So don't worry so much about Jeremy Lin getting "snubbed" for MIP or best story or any other awards. He said it himself that he has to prove himself over and over again on the court. I decided to apply this lesson in my job, I'd have to prove myself over and over again to earn respect. Life is not fair so might as well be positive in giving our best. Just look how our Jeremy Lin kept doing positive things despite discrimination and disrespect and as a result drew more people towards him.
Jeremy Lin might not be NBA 2012 MIP but Time 100 Most Influential people is a much much bigger deal :) Wow, I still can't believe how far he has come since last year.
#KEEPTHEFAITH#
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DeleteTIME Magazine's 100 Most influential people is a frigging joke. That list is just a slightly more highbrow version of People Magazine's "Most Beautiful People" or "Sexist Man Alive" list.
DeleteThey are popularity contests with all the significance of voting for Prom Queen.
LOL to all the people pulling out the race card. The MIP award was voted by more than a hundred sports writers so it's not one entity that decided who should win it.
ReplyDeleteI think Jeremy didn't win this award because frankly, he's already won so many accolades. He's on the Time 100 Most Influential list for goodness sake. We all know why the media fell in love with the Jeremy Lin story. It's because he's the ultimate underdog. We all love the underdog and want him to win. Unfortunately, Lin's gone from underdog to over-publicized. He's been so over-publicized now that I think losing the MIP award is sort of a backlash against his popularity. They just wanted to give it to the small guy... Ryan Anderson who frankly statistically speaking deserved it anyway.
Oh and btw, in a way I'm glad Jeremy didn't win it because hopefully this will add to the chip on his shoulder and push him to get better.
DeleteTotal BS.
DeleteDid Ryan Anderson come in 2nd in 4th quarter PER? Did Ryan Anderson get cut by two teams? Did Ryan Anderson go from being a total benchwarmer to scoring more in his first starts than any player in modern NBA history? Did Ryan Anderson elevate the play of his team so much that his Magic team had the same post All-Star winning record that the Miami Heat did?
Ryan Anderson did none of those things, but Jeremy Lin did.
Today I learnt Jeremy Lin did not come in 2nd in 4th quarter PER. Lebron James did. I don't know where you got your numbers from......
Deletehttp://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/13850/lebron-continues-fourth-quarter-dominance
That list only includes players who played at least 1000 minutes during the season, whereas Lin only played 940. KHuang is referring to this article which states, "at the time he was shut down ... Lin's PER in fourth quarters was a whopping 33.5 ... behind only the Clippers' Chris Paul (37.2)."
Delete"LOL to all the people pulling out the race card. The MIP award was voted by more than a hundred sports writers so it's not one entity that decided who should win it."
ReplyDeleteOK, so what race were the hundred or so sports writers ?
Is it like the Grammys or Oscar awards where White singers and actors get the most votes ?
I don`t understand why you believe so deeply that he didn`t win the award because of race. If he had a Lebron-like season, then race doesn`t matter at all. Maybe race was a reason, but his numbers weren`t exactly superb, in a 66 game standard.
DeleteSEE MY POST!
I agree with you Kidd4Ever. it's no outrage that Ryan Anderson won the MIP award, just as it would have been no outrage if JLin had won. Many voters might have applied different requirements to arrive at a different conclusion. Frankly, voters might have felt that JLin had insufficient data from a previous season to compare to this season. Also, it could be argued that his incomplete season was a reasonable factor to consider. Look, being on the 100 most influential persons list and on SI magazine cover two weeks in a row are just amazing achievements in one year. I am an Asian-American by the way.
DeleteTo anyone who says that race doesn't matter is lying to themselves. I am professional psychologist and its a fact that race is probably the first detail humans use to judge another so it's quite silly and straight up obvious that they do not truly deep down eleven that race doesn't matter. They must have learn to pretend it doesn't matter as a defense mechanism
ReplyDeleteUhm let's say if Jeremy Lin posted lebron like numbers , then if he doesn't win the MIP, we can conclude that race is invoved. People might not vote for Jeremy Lin or anyone else because they are ugly or smell bad, who knows. But my point is that his numbers in 66 games is not as good as other players
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DeleteNo one said race does not matter, but to say JLin did not get MIP due to his race is not fair or reasonable. For all I know, it may have been, but there is no way I can say that Ryan Anderson did not deserve to win on his very fine stats compared to his not so fine stats last year. I have to say I agree with Kidd4Ever on this point. I dont' think Kidd4Ever is saying he would be outraged had JLin been voted MIP. Basically, I can make strong arguments for both cases, but to accuse voters that they did not vote for JLin as MIP because of his race, well, I just do not think that's the case.
DeleteWow, so many biased Asians here. Yea, of course there are racist people who dislike Jeremy due to his ethnicity but to feel that he's on his way to becoming the most hated NBA player for that reason as someone stated earlier is far-fetched. Most everyone I know, including non-Asians, admire and respect Jeremy because of his basketball skill, character, and integrity. Those I know who don't care for him just simply aren't fans of him as a basketball player, and not because he's Asian. As for the media, I've seen more sources praising him rather than bringing him down (Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, etc). It's just that the negative ones stand out more. This site seems to be full of people who are ready to pick out the negatives ones to represent the entire media.
DeleteSometimes reading this site, I'm aware of how many people extend their own personal experiences onto Jeremy and feel like every wrong anyone does towards him is race based. I am also protective of Jeremy but I think it's silly to think that there's some sort of concerted agenda in the media or NBA to discriminate against him. There will always be ignorant racists like Mayweather and SAS out there spewing their venom, but they will be criticized by any person of integrity every time, Asian or non-Asian.
I'm Asian myself and despite personally experiencing racism, I don't feel that the whole non-Asian world is out to get me because of my racial make-up. I know how to stand up for myself but I don't let a few racist idiots cloud my life with a me-vs-them mentality. Based on what I've seen from Jeremy, I'm pretty sure he doesn't go through life with this attitude either.
Anyway, although Jeremy is my favorite basketball player, I feel fine with him not winning MIP. As others have said already, he didn't play in that many games this year. Also, I think most of us can agree that he was always a good player (although not as good as now) so I can't honestly say that he is the most improved this year. Going from being cut multiple times from teams in the past and then only becoming noticed this year does not mean he's automatically MIP. He's just finally seeing his rightful dues.
Good to see you back, eb5attorney.
DeleteSince when did a player have to post "Lebron like numbers" to win MIP? Ryan Anderson sure didn't, yet he won the award?
Kidd4ever's claim that Lin's numbers were not as good as that of other players is one of the most INCORRECT things I've read here. Since when was a historically great scoring start "not as good"? What about the incredible PER in the 4th quarter? And the two win streaks and 0.600+ winning percentage they had with Lin vs far less than that without him? How are those numbers worse than that of the other MIP candidates?
And it's equally INCORRECT to exclude Lin because of his small sample size last year the way eb5attorney does. Nobody thought Lin could play last year even though the stats amply demonstrated that he was totally dominant when he stepped on the NBA court. If anything, the small sample size from last year should be HELPING Lin because he went from a noncontributor to the most important player on the Knicks as far as winning games goes.
It is RACE that caused Lin to be overlooked in the first place. It is RACE that causes people to discount his gigantic achievements so that whiter/blacker players can win awards over him by doing far less. It is RACE that causes people to think Lin does not deserve to be in the NBA even though he has been one of the best players in the entire league.
As is the case for most Asian American males, Lin is double penalized for being Asian. People look at him and say that he doesn't deserve to play, and then when he finally gets to play people say that he didn't play well and wasn't good enough in the first place.
That is why when I run into people in daily life who hold my Asian race against me, I make sure I punk them TWICE AS HARD.
Passively accepting that a player who produces the way Lin does would be wrong for ANY player of ANY color.
DeleteLin isn't some mythological fantasy character that exists in a plane of imagination. Nor are Asian Americans like me who are old enough to be Lin's father able to pretend that a lifetime of racial combat never existed because nonAsians wish it so. Lin is an Asian American subject to the same GARBAGE that other Asian Americans like me face on a daily basis.
I am likely much older than most of the people on this board, and I've experienced enough racial combat in physical and social terms to scoff at other Asian Americans who think I'm some sort of freak. So when I see Lin going through the same kind of racial warfare, I know EXACTLY what he should be doing to combat it.
"Nobody thought Lin could play last year even though the stats amply demonstrated that he was totally dominant when he stepped on the NBA court."
DeleteI'm not sure I follow your logic. If the stats last year showed that he was already "dominant", then how does that make him most improved this year? To me, the NBA is finally giving him recognition going from last year into this year... but MIP?
Lin had a tiny sample size last year despite his Golden State team leading PER.
DeleteThis year, Lin had a much larger sample size simply because he was allowed to play. Even though Lin is basically the same Lin this year, his on court contribution rocketed from garbage time player to playing major minutes on a playoff team.
Of the 5 MIP candidates, only Jeremy Lin was a zero player. Even Nikola Pekovic, the guy I consider Lin's only competition, got some burn But Pekovic didn't do historic scoring in his first starts or lead the Wolves to two win streaks or come in 2nd in the entire NBA on 4th quarter PER or anything remotely close to that.
I'm sorry, but I still don't see how that's most improved. Maybe you are getting your semantics mixed up? As you say, Lin is basically the same Lin this year (although I still think he's better now). If they had an award to give to the player who had the most increased contribution to a team, then yeah.. Jeremy all the way.
DeleteBelieve it or not, what you said.
DeleteAs far as I'm concerned, the MIP goes to the player that demonstrates the most improvement from the previous season in terms of the most increased contribution to his team. That player is Jeremy Lin "all the way".
You are probably right that Lin is a better player now, especially now that he's no longer a rookie. However, I still think Lin would have been a fine backup for 5-15 minutes a game last year at either guard position and sometimes even backup sf in a 3 guard alignment. I base that on what he did, not on wishful thinking.
No player I have ever seen has done what Lin has done when increasing one's contribution to a team is being discussed. So I am in full agreement with you, and that's why Lin is my MIP.
Haha yes, if that was the meaning of MIP, then Jeremy is MIP. However, is there a set definition of what the MIP award actually entails? And are all the voters using the same definition/standards to vote? I honestly just took the word "improved" to literally mean improvement but I'm not sure if that is correct in this case.
DeleteWhere in the MIP voting rules does it say that a player has to play a minimum number of games to win the award?
ReplyDeleteWhere in the MIP voting does it say that a player has to put up a certain amount of production? Why does Lin have to put up Lebron numbers to win the award and Ryan Anderson does not?
Where in the MIP voting does it say a player has to play a certain number of games in the NBA so that people can get a "baseline" for him?
I say that "Most Improved" should actually go to the guy that actually improved the most - and that is LIN.
Edit: where in the MIP voting does it say a player has to play a certain number of games in his PREVIOUS season so.that people can get a "baseline" on him?
DeleteKhuang: what if Jeremy Lin goes 1-15 with 10 turnovers, are you still going to be defensive about him? Or are you going to say that he had a horrible game, and probably got picked apart by the offense. It seems that you are supporting him no matter, instead being fair and judgemental.
DeleteAnd regarding my LeBron-like number statement, I said that “if Jeremy lin posted LeBron like numbers and does not win this award, then race play a majority role in the decision.” I didn’t say anything about whether Jeremy Lin needs to put up Lebron-like numbers to win this award, personally I think if he plays 50+ games and average 15 ppg, he’s probably going to be the favorite to win. However, in this case, he’s not. I agree with Kleenex and eb with their statements, race plays a huge part in everyone’s decision, but so does a lot of other things. Journalists might not vote for Andrew Bynum because of his maturity issues, or other factors.
You said “incredible PER in the 4th quarter”, since when do people decide to look at such a specific stat. I know 4th quarter is important; and I can say that Lin is very clutch, but Jeremy Lin has a LOWER PER, so are you just going to ignore that stat? You say that Lin had a 0.6 winning percentages.. but are you forgetting about Steve Novak suddenly gets hot. But let’s compare their win shares/48 (per 48 minutes due to Lin’s limited minutes in his first few appearances) : Ryan Anderson: 0.219, and Jeremy Lin: 0.140, league average is 0.1. While they are both above average, but Anderson’s stat is definitely better. Please do not call me an Anderson fan or anything, because I am not. I am just stating my opinion, and possibly the opinion of many other people, including other Asians.
Here are more of your reasons:
Did Ryan Anderson come in 2nd in 4th quarter PER? “Nope, but he has a higher PER”
Did Ryan Anderson get cut by two teams? “Nope, I give Jeremy Lin credit for enduring what he has gone through, that’s pretty tough. But honestly, I don’t think sportswriter gives a shit about that.”
Did Ryan Anderson go from being a total benchwarmer to scoring more in his first starts than any player in modern NBA history? “Nope, but what if he write the history, but stops scoring afterwards? I know that’s not what Jeremy Lin did, but he obviously didn’t score ENOUGH baskets.”
Did Ryan Anderson elevate the play of his team so much that his Magic team had the same post All-Star winning record that the Miami Heat did? “You are really digging for stats, but Orland has a better record + Anderson has a higher WS.”
If Jeremy Lin keeps this up, something like 18ppg, and 8apg, and cuts down on his TOs, who’s to say he can’t win the MIP next year. Kevin Love just did that!
I'll start debunking you from the top.
DeleteJeremy Lin has not gone 1-15 with 10 TOs. That is a figment of your excessively active imagination.
Your 50 game number is an arbitrary fantasy figure that you made up out of thin air. The actual rules of the MIP don't put any number of the number of games played. So once again, your imagination is at work.
So Ryan Anderson has a win share and overall PER that is better than Lin's. The MIP award isn't about who's the better player, but who improved more. Besides, Lin went from essentially a zero contribution as a rookie (especially factoring in the DNPs) to the most major contributor on the Knicks. Ryan Anderson wasn't a DNP last year like Lin, which makes Lin's PER even less effective as a rookie.
Steve Novak's improved play is directly traceable to Lin. With Lin on the court, Novak improved his contribution so much that he himself became a Most Improved candidate. Lin couldn't do that last year for Novak in the NBA, though he did do that for Novak in the DLeague.
Remember that this is the MIP we are talking about, not MVP. All that matters is which player made the biggest jump in on court contribution. Ryan Anderson went from a occasional starter to a full time starter. Jeremy Lin went from being a total nobody to turning the Knicks season from a disaster to the playoffs. Lin's on court improvement is more than Anderson's.
This is probably the last time I am going to comment:
Delete1. Every player will go 1-15, or have a bad night. Did you not read my "what if Jeremy Lin" sentence? I am asking how you would react to that?
2. My 50 game number is an arbitrary number, NO KIDDING! I wrote "personally I think if he plays 50+ games". Also, that's the number most of my friends believe he should have played, and continued at his current production rate to win the award.
3. Regarding to the whole MIP argument. I realize that we are coming from 2 completely different spectrum. You are saying Jeremy Lin went from a nobody to a good player, while Anderson went from mediocre to good. I think Jeremy Lin would win it had he played more. I really never want to argue about stats nor this award, I just feel that some people are ignorant to play the "race" card so quickly. I mean I understand that there are racist people, but there are haters for every successful person. So those things happen, and we can't let that to hinder every decision and use that to blame everything.
That is a really good post, Kidd4ever. Well done.
DeletePlease stay. I enjoy your posts here, even if I usually disagree.
I really don't care about this flimsy award. Even as far as awards go, MVP, Finals MVP, DPOY, All-NBA, All-Defense are the ones I care about.
ReplyDeleteI'm much more annoyed Jeremy still gets disrespected as a defender. By every objective measure (defensive +/-, spg, bpg, etc.) Jeremy is at least a quality defender. Not to mention "WOW" moments like his EPIC SWAT on D-Rose. He blocked him TWICE actually (ripping the ball away on another drive).
And yet most every sports writer and NBA fan claims Jeremy is a sub-par or even awful defender. Huh? It's so ludicrously dumb.
As I've said before, Jeremy only did ONE bad thing on D -- overhelping and leaving a 3pt shooter open. But he's corrected that following Linsanity 1.0. And he fights through screens much better now that he no longer plays 40mpg. He'll be an elite defender going forward, but I doubt he'll get credit for it. Not for years anyway.
MIP should be like the poor man's version of the MVP. Its not all about stats, but how much more impact a player has on the team. Similarly for the sixth man award. Stats is one indicator of impact, but leadership and elevation of teammates' play are also factors. In a way, the list of factors is no exhaustive and is open ended. Judgement is always involved. Obviously, when exercising the judgment, race should not be one of the factors.
ReplyDeleteWho has increased his impact on a team more than he has last year? The clear choice is Lin.
Why did he not win it? It may be because these sport writers had a different view on what things that should be factored into the concept of improvement. They may have different conceptions of that concept. Improvement that is defined by reference to sample size, stats, or other factors. Unacceptable would be to factor in race.
Did they actually factor in race or did they weigh more heavily other more objective factors such as the sample size Lin?
But if they did weight other factors more heavily, is this because they truly feel improvement should be defined this way, or is it just manifestation of their racism?
I don't think Lin got a single vote. I don't think Lin played enough games to qualify for the award, hence his name wasn't on the ballot.
ReplyDeleteLin came 6th
Deletehttp://www.nba.com/2012/news/05/04/most-improved-player/?ls=iref:nbahpt1
I think it's better that JLin did not win the Most Improved Player Award. Like Kobe said, he had the skills and talent all along, it's just that he was overlooked by so many NBA teams and scouts. Moving forward, whenever an athlete comes out from no where, they're going to refer to him as the next Jeremy Lin of basketball.
ReplyDeleteTrue, JLin did not play a full season this year, but he hardly played last year. So no one can make the assessment of how much he really improved. Keith Smart may say JLin was not good enough to be a rotational player last year. But the Knicks were probably thinking the same thing before JLin had his breakout game on Feb 4.
The things that we do know about JLin last year is that he had: 1) good speed, which didn't change during Linsanity; 2) good vision, which he continues to have; and 3) high basketball I.Q., which he always had. Last year with the Warriors, JLin showed great anticipation on defense with an amazing steal/minutes ratio. He also had a good assist/turnover ratio. Looking at the way he played in the D-League in 2011, JLin showed he is one of a few guards in the league who can score in the paint in traffic, and get to the line. The Warriors overlooked all of those abilities, even though their biggest team weakness is getting to the foul line (I believe they're last in the NBA, and gotten worse after trading Monta).
Well done guys.. such a wonderful debate. Enjoy reading so much.
ReplyDeleteCan someone please tell me what the crowd is chanting something like 'feedback'..sorry not sure what that is.
I'm from Malaysia..very new to basketball.
Thanks.
I think the crowd was chanting 'DEFENSE' as in play better defense and don't allow the other team to score.
DeleteThe NBA's Most Improved Player has shown itself to be just as much of a joke as its (snicker) Sportsmanship Award that was given to Jason "Wife Beater" Kidd.
ReplyDeleteLOL.
Lin should have been awared MIP.
ReplyDeleteThe people who believe that Lin should have been awarded MIP - and especially the ones who claim that Lin's race played a role in his not winning it - should go back through the NBA annals and find a single example of any player winning MIP, MVP, ROY, SMY, DPY etc. after appearing in only 53% of the games, and getting more than garbage time minutes in 41% of the season. If so, you will find that it has never happened before. As a result, Jeremy Lin was not going to be the first, if for no reason other than there would have been no good reason to justify breaking long-established precedent by making Lin the first player to win a major award after playing in so few games. That is why calling it "meaningless" and "a joke" is so regrettable ... as if Ryan Anderson's going from a former #1 pick bust that the Nets gave up on after 2 seasons to putting up borderline all-star numbers in 61 starts this year is all some sort of sham that doesn't matter. Yes, we know that Jeremy Lin is better than Ryan Anderson and most of the other players in the NBA, and we all WISH that there was some way for the sports world to officially recognize it. But we should also recognize that it IS NOT the fault of the sportswriters that Jeremy Lin barely played this season until February 4 when it was 1/3 over. The sportswriters had to play with the bad hand that Mike D'Antoni left them, and as a result had no choice other than to exclude a person who played less than half the season from consideration just as they have had to do in the past.
ReplyDelete