JLin had a great game even in the loss at Denver. I'd say it was one of his top 5 games of the season. He was ultra aggressive all game taking to the hole and hitting open jumpers. He thoroughly outplayed Ty Lawson, blowing by him at will, using the high p-n-r. His D was solid on Lawson as well as his few impressive stops on AI.
My biggest question is why did JLin come out after just 4 minutes and 53 seconds in the 3rd? He just got blocked and had a foul but he only played 16 minutes in the first half. With not being on a front or back end of a back to back, JLin playing extremely well (aggressive, 1 TO, hitting open jumpers, only playing 25 minutes last game), and the Rockets up four, subbing him out early was truly a head scratcher.
My theory on this is a little different then most. I see it as sort of like the first few black quarterbacks in professional football, Marlin Briscoe and James Harris. People are not used to seeing an Asian point guard start in the NBA, just like they were not used to seeing a black QB starter back in the late 60's and early 70's, and it goes deeper than just this. Most people back then didn't believe an African American could be a good QB. They saw them only as good athletes but not having the mental make up to be the leader of a football team. Now similarly, for conscious, but probably more subconscious reasons, many can't see Jeremy as a very good or possibly great point guard. They underestimate his talent and don't seem to see what we, JLin followers, seem to see so clearly. That he is an all-star talent, that just needs to be unleashed and given ample opportunity.
This could explain some of the misuse and misjudgment of his talent. Look at this list:
Tommy Amaker: Jeremy Lin never started at point guard on a Harvard team over a 6ft 180 lbs Drew Housman
Keith Smart: Played Acie Law over Jeremy Lin
Mark Jackson, Jerry West: Chose Charles Jenkins over JLin
Rockets Org: Kept Johnny Flynn and cut Lin
Knicks: Played an old Mike Bibby over JLin and were on the verge of cutting him
McHale: Seeming under usage of JLin
So, what does this all mean? JLin has said it multiple times himself. He just has to be that much better than the next guy and he has to prove it over and over and over. I have no doubt that he will make the best of whatever situation he is in, and in the end his talent will overcome all of this other junk. I think if we're going to let this seemingly unfair treatment get to us as fans, we're the ones that will suffer. We as Jeremy Lin fans have to be strong and persevere and overcome the negativity just as well.
100% agree :)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate Jlin fan viewpoint and I see some familiar sentiments. But I disagree 99% of the comparison.
DeleteLike the post title because it can potentially get more hits with the SEO and the NFL is the undisputed #1 sport of "Americana" with the Super Bowl--so it will hold more relevancy with younger viewers. Maybe we'll get more new and diverse voices!!! So no big deal, but I favor the Jackie Robinson comparison much more.
Why inaccurate?
The NFL was a running league until the 2000s. The mid 1980s and 1990s, the passing game became favored in some teams. It wasn't until the 2ks that passing game became a majority strategy and therefore, the QBs became necessary to Super Bowl success.
|They saw them only as good athletes but not having the mental make up to be the leader of a football team.|
|People are not used to seeing an Asian point guard start in the NBA, just like they were not used to seeing a black QB starter back in the late 60's and early 70's, and it goes deeper than just this.|
Because the running game was dominant, RBs on offense were the real team leaders. For the media, yes, the white QBs probably had the appropriate cachet. For the most part, the celebrated RBs were all African American just by looking at the all decade team from the 1960s and 1970s
As for mental makeup that isn't the knock on Jeremy, it is his perceived physical abilities. I can guess what you are trying to say, comparing mental makeup and physical ability as perceived shortcomings but that is illogical to compare two different things even though I can "feel" the sentiment where you are trying to come from.
While a black QB starter was rare, teams were very well integrated, relatively, in contrast to 1960s and 1970s USA society. The OL, DL, skill positions, and the secondary were big time All-pros that were African American majority that had very similar upbringing and backgrounds due to the majority racial attitudes. They probably face similar hurdles to get to where they were at.
Therefore, it was certainly inevitable that the QB would reflect the team makeup on some teams if you had pipelines at all other positions becoming as integrated.
Jeremy Lin has no other person with the same background as him playing right now. No SG, SF, PF, or C in the NBA that has the background of Jeremy, right? Let's go past the superficial identity of diversity--skin color. There is no Harvard educated, upper middle class upbringing, and enduring racial slurs on the college basketball court that he can relate with.
A typical NBA Baller can share maybe 1 or 2 attributes, but not all 3.
Well, he can draw upon Christianity, so it was smart to have that identity. But he is very alone in the locker room otherwise. A black QB in the 60s and 70s, if benched solely for reasons besides athletic ability, was not alone in commiseration. He had mentors at other positions and in the locker room.
Wall of text TL;DR: Jackie Robinson more apt as comp for Jlin, not African American QBs.
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DeleteSo, the question is, whether Lin is under utilized because of out right racism or is it racial profiling. The two are similar but are different.
DeleteCase in point, when Hank Aaron was about to break Babe Ruth's HR record, he received lots of death threats. This is an act of racism.
Case in point, when there were a lack of black QBs in the NFL, this was probably more likely a result of racial profiling as blacks just didn't fit the QB mold.
So, if we rule out that McHell is a racist, and we rule out that McHell doesn't think Lin is not capable, then, what we have left with is Lin is under utilized because he doesn't fit McHell's point guard mold which racial profiling COULD play a hand in.
Well said, Jlinfan#1. So essentially what you are saying is Lin failed the Eye Test in so many levels because there was not one like him before in the NBA.
ReplyDeleteJudging from the many ignorant comments from opposing team's announcers ("deceptively fast", "there he is gambling again to steal", "he's number #3 as a steal leader?", etc.), there is some truth that most people don't expect a very athletic Asian-American NBA player.
Rather than appreciating his talent and athleticism, people seek to find any explanation (TO-prone, D'Antoni system, fluke, etc.) to validate their eyes are not failing them. People don't like to be wrong and they don't like to admit that he was prejudiced in so many levels.
But slowly but surely Lin is changing minds even with his steady, improved play as the floor general. Even with such low usage and minimized role playing behind the failing Harden the SG/PG experiment, he managed to contribute with his much improved defense and effective playmaking. Talent and hard work will slowly change people's mind. Even in darkness, our eyes would first be blinded by a strong light but they will finally see.
As you said, Lin can only persevere and he has shown much by working hard, not complaining, doing the right thing and continuing to improve under the ups and down of his current situation. Here's to all of us enjoying the journey and hopefully showing the same perseverance!
all this may very well change perception of jeremy but unless generations and generations of asian american pg's come after him, i don't think it will change perception of asians in general.
Deleteit took a long time (and a lot of black qb's) before we have a team designating a black qb (RG3) as it's franchise qb.
and it needs to happen as a grassroots level - more and more blacks are recruited to play qb in top colleges, and that definitely helps.
well said psalm. I also agree with Fighton. It will probably take a long time but there always has to be a first.
DeleteThe greater impact that Linsanity can bring is actually for the next generation of Asian-Americans (by changing the mind of their parents) than changing the perceptions of Asians in general.
DeleteMy cousin was watching the Linsanity phenomenon with skeptical eyes. He's an avid NBA fan but his only comment was, "He will break down because Asians bones and muscles are not built as strong as African-American and Caucasian". Even Asian-Americans believe in this stereotype and as a result, they don't encourage the children to pursue sports as career although the kids have the talent and determination.
Lin and his parents showed the way for many Asian-American parents. It's okay to pursue sports as long as you have a backup career as a fallback. It's becoming "cool". Lin's parents had to endure the well-intentioned mocking of their friends on why they encouraged Lin and his brothers to spend time playing basketball and not studying for SATs.
Yes, this change will be slow. But if Lin can break through to play well in the playoff or someday contend for championships, it will accelerate the process to changing minds and stereotypes.
BTW, I have the analysis showing Rockets is much better with Lin playing PG than Harden so I will post it on my blog soon with some charts when I have some spare time. I'm curious to what y'all think about it.
Should not every parent want their child to be good at athletics and get a degree from Harvard? I commend JLin's parents. They gave their children the resources, support, encouragement, and opportunity to succeed in America even in athletics.
DeleteThey are outliers because most immigrant parents dissuade career paths to arts, entertainment, and athletics for the degrees in business, health care, or engineering. It is an understandable strategy to maximize their children's career earnings in America. Think about it from JLin parents' perspective. Their kid has a Harvard degree, and makes millions of dollars putting a ball in hoop in his gym shorts.
JLin is great role model for Asian Americans. It is great to see Asian kids wearing his #7 Lin Knicks T-shirt. From an American sports/media perspective JLin is like Jackie Robinson (black baseball player), Doug Williams (black quarterback), Pope Benedict (Nazi Pope) and Eminem (white rapper) but unlike them he's an Asian point guard.
Wow, your cousin actually thought that? That's crazy. How sad and self-defeating.
DeleteThere's no question that there's average differences in the athletic advantages and disadvantages between different races, but bones and tissue breaking down isn't even close to one of them. Anybody can be strong, look at any strength sport. All races are represented.
Even the stuff that people think is obvious is not nearly as obvious as you think. Everyone thinks blacks have more fast twitch muscle fibers, but that's not the main reason they can usually jump higher. When you lift weights you are mostly enlarging your fast twitch muscle fibers and through dedicated practice the proportional cross section of your muscles can be just as fast twitch dominant. The real reason is that black dudes on average have longer limbs, which both gives greater mechanical advantage for jumping AND allows them to put the ball several inches closer to the hoop before even taking a jump. That's why some of them look so effortless when they dunk.
If you look at actual vertical jump measurements at the combine, plenty of non-blacks perform quite well. And the differences of a couple inches are easy to improve with training.
In my experience, Asians are very quick and have fast first steps, which is a big advantage in basketball. You look at someone like Bolt and we get intimidated by how fast he is over 100 meters, but if you see him in heats against, for example, a Chinese sprinter, the Chinese sprinter gets out faster and is ahead after 30 or more meters. That initial acceleration is far more important for team sports than Bolt's ending speed. Bolt wins because his length and narrow build makes him able to express force much more efficiently.
Fact is, for anything that uses pure anaerobic energy systems, any race has about the same ceiling because it's almost all pure muscular power and that's 100% trainable. A few years ago, they found that Olympic weightlifters were faster than sprinters over 30 meters.
Probably the biggest disadvantage for Asians on average would be height. I’ve known lots and lots of outstanding Asian players around my height, 5’ 11”, but that’s too short. It’s just a numbers game. As basketball in China gets more popular that’s a much bigger pool to draw from to find taller players. From what I understand, parts of China have local population with similar average heights to Americans, as well.
When I look at Lin's physique the thing I'm impressed with is his glute development. He has an ass like a black dude. The butt is the center of your athletic development, it allows you to accelerate, stop on a dime, and change direction instantly.
When I was a kid, I was very skilled, but I didn't excel. It was only after developing a system that allowed me be explosive enough to dunk that I was able to easily beat anyone off the dribble and get good looks any time I wanted. Lots and lots of people have skills.
That doesn't get you separation. Kids spend so much time gaining skills when what they should be doing is figuring out how to optimize first step and lateral speed and one-footed and two-footed running verticals. All four of those are different and each is absolutely necessary to reach the highest levels. I only trained two of the four and I was too old to really take advantage of it, sadly, but if you're a kid, focus on that. People are born with different floors but most people have approximately the same ceiling, athletically. If you can’t beat people in lateral races and jump higher off of one and two feet and beat people in 10 meter sprints, you’ll find that other people with worse skills will always beat you. And, also, no coaches will want you because you don’t have “upside”.
DeleteI wish I could train Lin. Athletically, he's only elite at 1 of the 4 I mentioned, first step. I’ve seen video when he was younger where he could dunk two-handed easily off of one foot. I don’t know what happened to that. Maybe the rim was low. Anyway, he could be a super hero with the right training.
No, the rim wasn't just low. Now I remember he did that against freaking top 25 ranked UConn, in traffic, driving down the lane on a fast break, during the last minute of the game. So, his unilateral vertical has regressed for some reason. Since advantage in basketball is always gained through acceleration, its disappointing he lost that.
DeleteIf not me, I wish he'd track down experts in developing acceleration in each of these planes of motion. For example, pay the high jumper Stefan Holm to train him on running one-footed high jumps.
(While he's hiring people to train him, see if Steve Nash will work him out. I've seen his methods. His drilling is scientific, knowingly or not.)
@Michael Terry,
DeleteI am not an expert on those, but what you said about athleticism makes sense to me, good write up. However, I do think skill takes larger parts then what you said.
Here's Stefan Holm, 5'11", jumping over hurdles taller than he is:
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVZ3ZcorTF0
Think he might be able to train Lin to jump higher off of one foot? How much would that help on running one foot jumpers, floaters, fast break lay-ups, dunks? A lot.
I was disappointed Lin went to China last off-season. Off-season is your one chance to improve your athleticism. He took trainers, but it's just not the same as relaxed, full recovery training. Travel is hard on your body. Stress is hard on your body. He should have waited a few years to do that. I talked about Russell Wilson elsewhere. I guarantee his primary off-season focus is getting better and it will show.
@Brent,
DeleteConsider that every year there are a dozen 5'11' Mr. Basketballs in states across America like Wisconsin and Indiana and etc. These guys score 40 points a game for their high schools. They dribble and they shoot lights out.
And you never hear from them again.
Most of what people take to be skill is physical attributes. For example, it's hard for someone with small hands to really comprehend how much easier it is to handle the ball when you have big hands. Why was 6'1" John Stockton an unaccountably good ball handler? His hands were enormous. He could palm it casually like Jordan. Why was Jordan so good a ball handler. Enormous hands.
People who are extremely explosive with big hands appear to have amazing dribbling skills. I promise there's no amount of practice that could help you equal his in game "skills".
Some stuff takes skills, such as 3 point shots. But, as in the case of Mr. Indiana, if you aren't athletic enough, you will never get to show it off.
How did Jeremy Lin make it to the NBA. He doesn't have elite skills in dribbling and shooting. His dribbling is much better this year but not elite and that's not where he made his name. He made it because he has an elite first step and adequate height.
The China trip is probably the only area where I disagree with you, Michael Terry.
DeleteLin was just coming off that knee surgery and was getting back in shape. Plus, he trained at least 5 hours a day. That's pretty hard work - and ancient history at this point.
Back to Lin:
At the NBA level, Lin appears absolutely elite to me in two areas that can't really be measured: core muscle strength and body control.
Lin is power forward strong. He is almost impossible to post up, and he can bang against guys like Lebron James. Lin routinely rips the ball out of the hands of the NBA's best athletes, plus he'll drive to the hole and challenge the shotblockers head on. Lin is a true power guard, a guy who's like a bull in a china shop (or a china in a bull shop).
The other thing about Lin is his incredible hang time and body control. I'm almost starting to call Lin "Doctor J-eremy" because of his ability to hang in the air and make layups against NBA shotblockers the way Julius Erving used to. There are many athletes who are taller and jump higher than Lin, but they don't have Lin's body control in the air and thus cannot make the superstar plays at the rim that Lin makes every game.
Lin will never be a Slam Dunk contest participant, but that doesn't matter because he's so elite in strength, speed, and body control.
It's true that the knee injury was a major setback. It's possible that he did the best he could in recovering. Without being able to do a controlled test, it's hard to say definitively.
DeleteBut, I know that when I travel, my immune system gets suppressed. It's a lot of stress. Lin running all those camps is a lot of stress. Half of training is recovery, and it's harder to recover while under stress. It's not the route I would have taken if I were trying to maximize my recovery.
And the training facilities there will not probably be consistent or optimal across all the facilities he needed to use.
Plus, there's a wide variety in level of expertise among trainers. Maybe 10% of trainers achieve measurable and continuous improvements in athletic ability. We already know Lin improved substantially with Sparta. Why not train with them again. I am in no way affiliated with Sparta, but I follow their blog and they are a level above everything else out there right now. Trainers are not all the same. We know he can't jump as high this year as he could last year, so that's evidence.
Lin *is* strong. And we know much of that comes from his training with Sparta last year. According to what I’ve read of his baselines, he wasn’t always strong.
His hang time is specifically the one-footed and two-footed running vertical I’m talking about. His one-footed vertical, which is what we usually see, is good. It’s not elite though. It could be much better.
His body control in the air is because he’s a good natural athlete. I can’t imagine a simple, measureable program to improve it so I don’t really focus on it. Gymnastics and dance as a kid are good. In general, though, the higher you can jump, the more time you have for aerial gymnastics.
I say Lin COULD be a slam dunk champion. That’s my point. If I could build up to being able to do a flat-footed standing dunk at 5’11”, he can be doing 360 windmills. And with his basketball IQ, it would have a direct effect on his game.
Off-season is your best (or only maybe) chance to improve your power. During the season, your body is recuperating from endurance work (the games) constantly, so it doesn’t have the reserves to improve athleticism. But the gains you make in the off-season stay with you. Power is mostly about practicing and refining appropriate neural patterns and the time for that is an optimized off-season program.
To repeat, though, perhaps recovering from the knee injury makes this all moot. Maybe he really did the best he could. I know he worked as hard as he could, so that’s not an issue. What you do is more important than how hard you work though. Like I said, there’s 5 hours of drills and then there’s 5 hours of drills with Steve Nash, probably the highest skilled PG with the least athleticism in the league. You know Nash’s drills are high quality. Lots and lots of folks practice forever with little to know improvement because they’re practicing the wrong things.
Disagree all you like, though. I'm glad there's a lively discussion here on .net while we wait for jlin's next game. :)
DeleteI agree with M Terry on his athletic analysis re. Lin. Problem is the vertical is HARD to train along with everything else. I feel Lin should be doing some hard plyo training as well to improve his hops. But he may be doing it already in the summers for all we know....
DeleteLin used to jump noticeably higher in college or at least he had more confidence trying to dunk it even in traffic. I think his injury to his knees screwed him up a bit there. Also as you get older, you just lose vertical. Most normal people jump highest when they are 18 yrs old.
Squatting and power cleaning heavy weights puts a hard toll on an NBA body in the summer. We don't have to play 82 NBA games plus practice and travel by air and everything else that comes along with an NBA career....I assume that is what holds not only Lin but most NBA guys from noticeably improving their athleticism year to year.
I agree Lin would have also been better off staying in Northern California all summer long to train quietly and rest up and chill out in between training sessions, but I doubt he will ever do that.
I also agree with M Terry that athleticism matters WAY more than actual skills, meaning at a level where everyone can all decently dribble and shoot and pass and play decent basketball, the physical and athletic attributes matter more. The only "SKILL" that really makes a big difference at that level is shooting the ball lights out. You can be an average athlete and get away with it if you shoot lights out. Check out S. Novak...
All the dribbling tricks in the world don't matter if you cannot beat your man off the dribble. That's why Lin can get to the basket despite having a pretty simple set of skills and lack of dribbling tricks/ setups.
Great post Michael terry! I was thinking the same about why we haven't seen Jeremy dunk two handed in an NBA game yet. Perhaps he's lost some of his vertical or maybe he's just trying to save energy/ protect his knees.
DeleteIt sounds like a bias that says guys like JLin cannot lead.
ReplyDeleteEven with the team's skepticism, JLin's leadership by example is difficult to contain. When I imagine what the Rockets would look like with another PG, I don't see the same degree of 'buying in' .
Of course as Jeremy Lin fans, we know that he makes his teams better and helps them win.
ReplyDeleteBut let me play the devil's advocate from the perspective of a doubter. People expect an NBA PG to knock down open jumpers and not turn the ball over, those are the most basic things that a PG must do. Well, unfortunately, those are two of Lin's weaknesses, open catch and shoot jumpers, and turning the ball over. And when most people see those weaknesses, they can't get past that and look at the overall picture, because in their minds, if you can't do the basic things, then you can't do the advanced things either.
Of course, that is a huge mistake, but that's how a lot of people perceive him when they watch him. If Lin was good at catch and shoot jumpers, and if he had super tight handles, he wouldn't be in this situation. But this is what it is, and Lin needs a modern-thinking (not old school) coach to recognize the overall picture and realize that despite Lin's seemingly basic flaws, he helps the team when he is on the floor.
Lin's shooting and handles are not as bad as people exaggerate them to be. Lin just does not shoot enough shot to get warm up. Harden's and Parson's shootings are not that hot lately either. Ofcourse, if Jlin has Delfino or Novak kind of strokes, he would be unstoppable like one of the commentator said the other night.
DeleteI am not sure that making open jumpers and not turning the ball over are the most important and basic things for a nba PG.
DeleteI saw a lot of people justified Harden handling the ball a lot by saying offense should be run through its best player so Lin should learn to play off ball. In a way it's true. But it got me thinking which nba starting PG doesn't need the ball to be effective. Mario Chamlers maybe? Lol.
Lin knocks down open jumpers just fine. He is a poor spot up shooter, especially for 3 pointers. PGs are not expected to be great spot up 3 pointers. The fact that this is focused on is part of the bias. Kidd? Rondo? Wall? Etc? Lin is a great off-the-dribble shooter. He was 3rd in the NBA in shooting percentage off-the-dribble last year.
DeleteLin's ball handling has been superb this year. That problem has been fixed. Anyone who suggests otherwise is living in the past. He turns the ball over almost exclusively on charges and aggressive passes, the "best kind" of turnover. For a high IQ play maker, like Steve Nash, you take these turnovers every day of the week.
I've consistently argued that at the NBA level, there's no such thing as a "great shooter".
DeleteI see guys like Ray Allen going 1-10 in his prime, and I also see guys like Shaq going 7-7 at the line.
Lin gets roasted by critics because that's what the press does with Asian guys in ALL walks of life, but other NBA point guards are playing worse than Lin and are not getting the Asian bashing treatment.
For example, John Wall is probably the WORST shooter at the point guard position in the entire NBA. He shot 7% from 3 point range last season! I've only seen mild criticism of Wall for that horrible shooting, far less than the mounds of criticism heaped on Lin for Lin's vastly superior 3 point shooting.
It's not Lin's game that people are really debating here, it's the press response to Lin being Asian that people are responding to here!
Previously, African Americans were not trusted to be QB in the NFL b/c they were thought to lack the intelligent even though they had the athleticism. Jlin's case is the opposite. The NBA personnels know he has the smart coming from Harvard but they doubt he has the vision and the athleticism. He has showed it but they still refuse to believe it. Actually, floor general or field general such as Joe Montana biggest assets are intelligence, vision, and anticipation more than athletics. Joe Montana and Tom Brady were not first round picks b/c some coaches under value their intelligence. However, the good coaches/GM will see the intelligent aspect that's why there are good coaches/GM and bad ones.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree.
DeleteMcHell probably appreciate physical plays more than smart plays.
DeleteMight be guilty of stereotyping here but I can't imagine McHell in the QB role. He will throw tons of interceptions because he only trusts two players on his team. And, those two players will be injured from being over used.
Smh @ the willful ignorance of people. Blinded by prejudice, too invested to change their minds, too proud to learn, [too selfish to care about the damage to others.]
ReplyDeleteStill, with his indomitable will, his faith and patience, I know JLin will prevail.
It's good of JLinfan#1 to 勸 fans to not be swept away by all the negativity. Good to have this board where fans can compare notes, find some solace, stay away fr CF.
[I do believe though that a healthy dose of anger/outrage is not necessarily bad.]
---
[For anyone attending Feb 2]
LNY Celebration @ Toyota Center
Rox vs Bobcats - 2/2/13
Thanks for the commentary JLinfan#1. It's a struggle to overcome so much negativity sometimes, but I'm glad for this community where we can enjoy watching Jeremy play together.
ReplyDeleteI'm learning a lot about the psychology of negative people throughout this entire experience, and believe it or not, I think I'm a better person for it. The reason is I see so much ugliness in the haters that I have learned to:
1. Tune it out
2. Do my best not to reflect or return this ugliness.
This doesn't mean that we suppress the anger, but that we actually don't get affected by it. It's something most of us have to learn.
And anyway, if we trust in God for our lives, then we should trust that Lin is also and still in His care. If Lin has faith, let us not be worriers in his place. Just support.
@JLF1:
DeletePart 1:
I like your QB metaphor more than the Jackie Robinson one ... this year, look at how Colin Kap came out of nowhere, and it took him awhile to establish his leadership (after being on the team 1.5 seasons). My African American friends still see adversity for those v athletic and successful Af Am QBs. We'll see with Kap, as a mixed race person. Go 9ers!
On JLin's journey, we see same things happen all the time in Corp America and society at large. You have similar things with women execs and equal pay.
Getting yelled at by your coach is the same as getting the "you're good with numbers, but not with people" line. I got that 3 times in my 20s when passed up for promotions with people who I had to help daily to do their jobs. When people use the same words in different levels in different organizations, you sort of know it's code for unspoken codes. I responded, somewhat in Khuang's spirit, by continuing with extraordinary force. But my style was Ninja - quiet. I went to business school, and made it to 5 boards by 31. Needless to say, I had similar experiences, from being the 'good minority' and hearing words spoken in board settings that you'd expect to hear in 1963, against African Americans, women, and Latinos. Imagine the Chink word when I wasn't in the room. 3 yrs into a board, one guy who was just a dummy with gray hair said to me ... “Really? I thought you were just a fresh college grad.”
So, that's to echo across the board that this is a common generations thing, from blue collar to the board. JLin is not supposed to be a lightning rod, but he is and yet, he's not the only one across occupations, races, situations, gender, etc. We are there with him, all of us.
jTeamW1, maybe the "dummy with gray hair" who thought you were a "college grad" was HITTING ON YOU.
DeleteI'm dead serious.
I as a youthful looking Asian man have been hit on by many other men, particularly older white men with gray hair. I'M SO SEXY (urk)!!!
Yikes!
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atQmVLYxEcw
ReplyDeletesorry off topic found this in youtube how a NBA STAR reacted,the bench him.....westbrook huh
Backstory.
DeleteLin and Harden
ReplyDelete[Super Guo]
Lin and Melo
[AJ Gersh/ Jake Sheldon]
Lennon McCartney composition? Good to see you again Via :-)?
DeleteHaha, hey lam :)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Deletehi lam..are you the Lam who is a Rockets athletic trainer? ;)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete[Wages of Win]
ReplyDeleteNBA Rankings Midseason blowout
[Those Rockets continue to make some real noise in the pack out west. Their youth and their improvement as the season goes along is going to continue to bear watching...]
[USA Today]
ReplyDeleteRoyce White, Rockets coming to terms on anxiety disorder
LOL
ReplyDeleteLakers #7
Rox Taxing January Schedule done
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePart 2:
ReplyDeleteTrying to sum it up from my point of view:
- my dad taught me racism is human nature, not a White Men in Power problem. He told me of the cruelty in his youth in China against the German immigrant mixed-raced kids. I still can sing the song he taught me in how his friends taunted the 'big nose' milk drinkers mixed race kids. It gives me understanding when I face racism, because I am singing the same song that tormented other kids who didn't deserve it. These kids made Tsingdao Beer - that's what diversity does for you. It's fueled me in understanding for a lifetime, but still, racism holds a society back for sure, as well as individuals. We need more Tsingtao Beers, for America's sake.
- JLin getting nasty body language or yells from coaches with 'tough love' is BS. That's just a consistent pressure to get in line because they don't 'feel like' he is in line. So, no, I don't agree with Khuang. My dad and uncle gave me tough love, and all it did was make us better as Khuang said he got from his mother and grandmother, and JLin's been made by McHale, but ... it also trains him to ignore his rightful place to focus on the journey. We all need both, to have a good life. A rightful place, supported by others. A journey of extraordinary value. That’s what JLin has today, but not a rightful place (except here, and in people’s hearts, virtually.) Khuang, you are now calling for JLin to have play time, and that's a rightful place. So, we do agree! :-)
- Power and economic reward is part and parcel of being accepted for real. Until then, they just want you to do the job. "Ridiculous" contract, JLin, ... it goes beyond Melo's reasons for saying what he did.
- Tough coach mentors do give you opportunity, though, because they need you in the 4th. Sometimes, they realize that too late, as we've seen at least twice this season. Therapists say that humans are the only animal that keep doing things that don't work, so McHale is human. A little too human to be a highly paid coach, though, making more that most people make in a lifetime. I hope he holds himself to a higher standard, that standard that a common man is held to.
- JLin's Christianity and Chinese culture bias him toward low keying it. Serving to lead. Etc. Western people fail to see that as Asian and Christian leadership - sacrifice, example.
"Most "of the time , big man can't coach . Compare McHale and Mark Jackson ..........
DeleteWow, full of wisdom.
DeleteI am going to save it to read it over.
Uh, I'd rather have Kevin McHale as Jeremy Lin's coach over Mark Jackson.
DeleteMark Jackson cut Lin for friggin CHARLES JENKINS!!!!
Mark Jackson is still a better coach.
Delete@Khuang - I agree on the tough coach thing. We all need to be challenged to be at our best.
DeleteDid you see how D'Antoni got on a player a couple of days ago, but then he ended that with a clap and something like "ok, let's go man, get back to work!" That man has a rightful place for his players. Can you imagine McHale giving Lin the green light to have the last shot anyway he wants (Toronto 2012)?
Anyway, I don't follow coaches, so does anyone know a coach who would want JLin to be paid well and have a rightful place? That's to key to remove doubt when he berates JLin on the sidelines. If we see that, the other players are seeing that. It's Lord of the Flies, if you know what I mean.
I dunno about d'Antoni, jteamW1.
DeleteHe is one of the nicest and most accommodating coaches in the NBA to his rotation players (fuggetaboutit if you're a bencher, like Lin was until injury to the Knicks struck), but he's managed to knock out Pau Gasol and turn Steve Nash into a bad version of Derek Fisher. Plus the Lakers are like 12th in the West, way worse than Lin's Rockets!
The hard truth is that Lin as an Asian is in uncharted territory with coaches. Frankly, most coaches wouldn't know what to do with Lin even if they liked him as a person. Plus, Lin's got superstar athleticism and that means most coaches are not going to understand what Lin brings to games.
No matter who the coach is, it's on Lin to force the action by his play. Even on this Rockets team, Lin has forced plenty of things into his favor.
Lost in the McHale bashing is that it took two full seasons for Goran Dragic to gain the level of oncourt trust that McHale currently has in Lin. I do believe that in the 2nd half of the season, Lin will dramatically step up his game as he did in Utah and Denver. Then McHale either plays Lin or gets fired. Simple.
KHuang, you're probably right until LA sorts it out. I just liked his style, in that criticism and then a "c'mon man, let's go get 'em". I hope you're right - lately, the experiments have all pointed to Lin In = Better team performance.
DeleteI wrote before that Jeremy Lin has to learn to become more of a NBA "showman".
ReplyDeleteOr, in the terms of Martin Luther King, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE but with BODY LANGUAGE.
When a ref makes a biased call against him, he tears his hair out and makes "Are you kidding me?" gestures. One of the biggest improvements in Lin's game this year is that he really does do this when NBA refs are deliberately cheating him. Notice how Lin is getting to the free throw line more and is VERY active in working the refs?
When his coach grabs him for an excessive asschewing, he nods his head overly vigorously if it's appropriate and points wildly on the court. If it's inappropriate, Lin shrugs his shoulders or lolls his head or slumps on the bench with a towel over his head. Lin has been doing the slumping thing, and now he has to do the excessive happiness bit to REALLY punk his coaches.
If a teammate refuses to play defense, Lin flails and jiggles and gestures at the double team engulfing him. If a teammate is refusing to pass him the ball, Lin waves crazily in the air and bounces up and down. Lin is getting results this way, especially out of James Harden.
When Lin hits a jumper, he does a shimmy or shake or some signature move. That lets everybody know that he can hit those shots, and opponents be damned bevause they're trying to stop Lin anyway! I think Lin needs to step up here, especially against guys like Deron Williams or Kobe Bryant or Chris Paul that are specifically out to get Lin.
In mt decades of combatting racism, I have found that PUBLICLY EMBARRASSING people works well. There are subtle but overt ways to punk racists so badly that they either have to remove themselves from the scene entirely or grudgingly comply.
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DeleteI agree with all this. Lin needs to play the game. Lin is really smart and I see that he's doing subtle things like drawing attention to when he's been fouled and etc. I think he's thinking about these things and I'm sure it'll all come together.
DeleteHe knew McHale would not be happy with him trying to win the Denver game at the end, but he did it anyway. Good.
Lin has WAY more power than McHale. McHale only has the power to screw up the season. The team needs Lin to get the play-offs. They don't need McHale.
Agree with Khuang and Agree with Michael Terry. Great posts.
DeleteI like this. 2 deep min in playoffs if McHale let's JLin play as MT says. And, JLin showing people when he approves and disapproves prevents the team from riding on top of the poor coaching would be great, if even on the court that he needs to be able to command to do his job. Off court, it's important for others to respect him, like Friedman, etc. so he has to signal.
DeleteKhuang, believe it or not, I wish I could have a beer with you so you can coach me :-)
This is what happens when you go back to a team that heartlessly cut you on - of all days - Christmas eve. I've come across some really lousy employers in my time, but they're models of sensitivity compared to Morey et al. (Not that I blame Lin considering he signed the contract thinking NY would match it.)
ReplyDeleteIt depresses me to no end that McHale is helming this team. The guy's a dumb jock turned failed GM turned floundering head coach. And there's a whole trail of evidence to support this assertion. The Denver game is just the latest proof if we'd needed any more.
Think about it: there are some immutably universal truths that only a moron of galactic proportions would fail to recognize, including:
1) The sun rises in the east
2) The earth is round
3) Toney Douglas is NOT a point guard
Was Kevin McHale the only person in the whole wide world who didn’t realize that arguably the biggest driver behind Linsanity was TD’s staggering incompetence at the point? Apparently so, because how else to explain his keeping Douglas on the court for so long in so crucial a stretch of the Denver game?
All said, though, McHale is just part of the problem. The Rockets as a franchise suck donkeys’ balls. And the suckage starts right at the top.
Les should’ve known better than to force Lin down his head coach’s throat.
Whatever induced Morey (and McHale) to draft Royce White? Here’s a newsflash for Mr MIT: mental illnesses are forever. In the entire history of mankind, how many people do we know were cured of their psychological disorders overnight?
At the very least, the Rockets would be looking at years of hand-holding White while having to game-plan around his unreliability. Not to mention, a disgruntled employee with mental issues is just a worker waiting to go postal. I worry for Lin’s safety.
I also suspect the Rockets don’t particularly care one way or the other that Lin is a high-character kind of guy. After all, they went after Royce White even though he was known to be a thief and general trouble-maker in school. Then there’s the hiring of the ethically challenged Sampson as assistant coach.
Just a crummy organisation all round.
Les Alexander, as the owner of the Rockets, faces a real catch 22 in the NBA.
DeleteEvery time he signs a promising player or coach, that player bolts out of town at the first opportunity unless MAX dollars are thrown at that player or coach.
The result is that either Les Alexander has to overpay to keep players (i.e. Goran Dragic asking for a "RIDICULOUS" $10 million per year multiyear contract) or ends up with expensive coaches that try to run his organization without understanding that Houston is a city from which players are trying to escape (e.g. Adelman).
The result is that Les Alexander has become the NBA's biggest GAMBLER.
For example, Les knew that Houston was facing a real big man problem with the retirements of Yao and Mutombo. Chuck Hayes wanted out and got out, leaving Luis Scola as an athletically underwhelming big man. Since Les could not attract any quality big man to Houston, he grabbed as many underachieving big men as he could and hired a known big man coach (McHale) to whip them into shape. That failed not because McHale didn't try but because thise big men were just bad. The only salvageable big man from that bunch, Jordan Hill, bolted town as fast as he could.
Les took a major league gamble on Jeremy Lin, hoping he could become a budget All Star that nobody else would want. Les SUCCEEDED!
I can live with Les cobbling together a dysfunctional coaching staff if it means Jeremy Lin gets paid $25 million in a market where he was probably headed to play in Europe or China since no other NBA team was going to offer him a contract.
At the very least, fanforlife, is that we agree what's going on at the organization is a mental illness.
DeleteI followed Lin free agency closely last summer. I read almost every single article and followed almost every single forum so I do know this extremely well. I even read Torocan when he was a regular poster on http://forums.prosportsdaily.com (on knicks forum) as Lin fan. During one of the discussions he mentioned that he works in contract negotiation. He was shocked as the way Knicks handled Lin. I read most of his posts there because he was one of Lin few fans. The mod on that forum (names just a fan) don't like Lin. He/she is almost a clone of Clutch. Anyway, Knicks GM took a page out of the Cavaliers, and he thought he almost succeeded, until the final hour. You guys might want to read below here. I post the link and what GettinitDone wrote.
Deletehttp://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=24&p=32968427
Do you know what happened to Sasha Pavlovic a few years back? He showed promise in playoffs when Cavs made Finals (vs. Spurs), then he was a RFA in the summer and Cavs had his Bird rights and could offer him even more than full MLE, I believe. He was commanding around $7-8mil in the market, was viewed as a steal for a promising shooting guard.
Like the Knicks, Cavs did NOT offer him anything, told him to test market and like the Knicks, leaked reports through a team official they'd match any offer. Knowing the Cavs would match, NO team bothered to offer Pavlovic any contract. When training camp started, Pavlovic was still without a contract offer, the Cavs, knowing they had leverage, offered him $2mil per for 2-3 years I believe (which is way below his market value of $7-8mil, which is not even the full MLE of $5mil). Pavlovic refused but time rolled and season started with him without a contract/ jobless. I believe he finally succumbed to Cavs' lowball offer and signed in December because he had NO choice. It was the ONLY contract offered to him. The Cavs leveraged his restricted status to legally lowball him.
I believe the Knicks also wanted to "Pavlovic" Lin. Saying they'd match any offer when all along they had him at $2-3mil per, nothing more. The Knicks told Woody to publicly leak words they'd "absolutely" match then-reported Rockets' first offer, so as to make Rockets withdraw their offer, thinking, "what are we doing here... the Knicks are going to match ANY offer we make to this kid. We better stop this BS, and focus on other players we can realistically get."
But instead of withdrawing, the Rockets gave the Knicks their best shot. In some ways, Lin was lucky Rockets were not deterred and made a larger contract offer. Or he could realistically still be without a contract NOW.
-------------------------------------------
Also, for the record, Lin's camp did mentioned that Dallas and Toronto called at the beginning of the free agency. Whereas Knicks GM texted him a couple of hours later. If you guys want proof, I will dig up the link of the article. Dallas and Toronto told Lin's camp that there was no way that the Knicks wouldn't match, and his camp had to go on the offense to draw other teams. Unfortunately the only team bite was Hellston.
If Les didn't change it to 3 year 25m, Lin would still be a Knick today.
Before I head out of the house, I want to add a few more things. All Les talks about is Lin's celebrity status and able to draw other players. Cuban talks about Lin's abilities and his intelligence. I would prefer to work for an employer that respects my abilities than my fame. The thing is Les wanted Lin before Harden trade. Lin might be an after thought now that Morey will sell to him that they will be a contender for years to come with a good defensive guard (not name Lin) to play along Harden and add another all star player (Milsap, Smith,etc). Domestic avenues will increase (if they are contending every year) so Les will have his people crunch some numbers. Again, I have a very strong feeling Lin is going to be traded next year.
DeleteMorey even mentioned that if Lin were an unrestricted agent, he would gotten more money than what the Rockets paid him. I will dig up the link if you guys want that. I believe it was one of a radio interview.
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasha_Pavlovi%C4%87
Agree with the analysis by JLinfan#1. A few games ago I decided not to follow the Rockets anymore, just Lin's performance via boxscores, commentary on this site, and posted highlight links. I have personally found this much more satisfying. No disrespect to Rox fans, I am a diehard Warriors fan and get their games via Comcast. Too bad I can't transfer my League Pass because I hardly use it anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe thought I get from everyone's comments is that it is impressive how Jeremy handles his trials and tribulations. It will be interesting to see what happens after his NBA career ends. Whatever he chooses, religion, politics, business, he seems destined to do great things.
Jeremy Lin for POTUS & real world peace
DeleteWell, if Mchale isn't the coach then it would be Sampson and Sampson is worst than Mchale.
ReplyDeleteI would stick with Mchale than Sampson. Sampson doesn't believe in Jeremy at all even after the 38pt spurs game.
Yeah, some people did not think deep enough. 90% of teams just kept their assistant coaches as interim until the end of season if they fired a head coach midseason. So it's really a choice of McHale vs Sampson for now. And as bad as McHale is, he's still better than Sampson for Lin for sure.
DeleteAnyone with enough sense to fire McHale at this point would recognize he and Sampson are two sides of the same coin. Don't see Sampson taking over. It'd be Finch or someone else seen as philosophically up to meshing the skills of Harden and the cash cow Lin.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIn retrospect, it seems pretty clear to me now that McHale wants JLin to play the role of a defensive guard, ala Chalmers/Bradley, first and foremost. It's also apparent that McHale wants to utilize only a subset of JLin's ability to penetrate and collapse the defense as his way of a balance attack, and not as the primary ball handler and playmaker. If JLin can knock down the 3s consistently, it would have been a plus for McHale--perhaps that was McHale's only usuage for JLin initially. So by keeping JLin on the bench for 10 mins in the Denver game clarified why, but is that going to be the case again moving forward? During the season, JLin has also held back his frustration and said on occasion that he could do much more, and I now know what he meant: he's relegated to a defensive guard. If I'm not mistaken, I've also read/heard JLin saying at the beginning of the season that he's responsible for orchestrating the defense. If that was McHale's intention all along, I also now understand why he trips over every little defensive mishaps on JLin. On the other hand, putting that type of responsiblity on JLin's shoulder also says a lot on his ability to lead and fortify team defense.
DeleteI think McHale does know his players, their strengths and weaknesses. I think he knows that Harden lacks defense, and hence he has JLin pick up his slack. I think he knows JLin can be the primary playmaker, but he probably feels Harden can do just as well if not better. I think he knows JLin can score, but he probably feels Harden is a better scorer. We were left wondering why JLin hasn't been given more opportunity to be the primary playmaker after the 38 pt performance. But if McHale has already established JLin's role, it boils down to finding the right balance and McHale is obviously tilting towards one and not the other.
However, the 8 game losing streak has exposed McHale's approach. Harden was causing more problems than he was neutralizing and his role as the primary playmaker was not as superior as initially thought. So does McHale still think Harden is a better playmaker and tries to run every play through him? Who knows but since the tail end of the 8 game losing streak (skipping the Cats win), JLin has regained a lot of the playmkaing role and Harden has been stunted. We have also seen how things are flowing much better with JLin at the helm and he seems to have more of a pep in his step too. Just when I thought McHale has finally found the appropriate balance, he sat JLin. McHale apparently felt JLin wasn't doing enough on defense, but it definitely didn't justify sitting JLin for nearly a quarter since he has been the catalyst in recent wins. It was also understandle that the Rockets had their butt handed to them this season by the Nuggets and defensive breakdowns was one of the major reasons why.
In any case, I still think McHale made a poor decision sitting JLin, but I think McHale has somewhat changed the way he's using JLin. I don't think McHale will reduce JLin's role as a playmaker to just a defensive guard from this point forward, but he needs to do a better job with his rotations.
As for JLin, he just needs to shut McHale up. So based on the team the Roxs are playing, JLin should either be more offensive or defensive oriented--It's virtually impossible to play hard on both ends of the floor consistently in every game. In the next game against the Cats, I think JLin should just shut Kemba down just to shut McHale up.
Good analysis.
DeleteThanks dude.
DeleteI don't know whether McHell wants Lin to head the defense or whether Lin has no other option but to play hard nose defense because his teammates tank on defense.
DeleteMcHell does not hold any one else accountable for their defense mishaps except for Lin.
As the joke goes, if Harden gets burned on defense, Lin gets benched.
@Racha
DeleteI had the same feeling that coach primarily wants defense out of Harden's back court mate. I am still curious why defensive miscue is reason to pull JLin and not TD. I am also curious why coach allows Beard to 'lack' defense.
I think that JLin has shown he is effective on both ends of the floor and can do it consistently every game. I am sure JLin will play his usual effective D on the opposing PG.
Shutting down a scoring PG cannot be entirely achieved by the PG. It starts with the PG, but I think teammate co-operation is also required to shut down a scoring PG. Teammates will have to play their part e.g. big men needs to adjust to pick and rolls and to alter shots; the SF and SG needs to disturb the dribble penetration perhaps by positioning themselves near the corner of the key.
JLin has been playing his part on the Rockets. He slows down penetration against the quickest of guards. He has contested outside jumpers well. In fact, he does more than slowing his own man down. He also helps stop his teammate's assignments. I am quite confident JLin will continue to play his part against Kemba and Kemba's teammates. I just hope coach won't attribute JLin's teammates' miscues to JLin. Unfortunately, coach has imo done so in the past.
@Etane - agree about the equal accountability thing. Parson's very inept TO at end of 3rd case in point, not to mention Harden generally.
DeleteRacha - agreed with your assessment except early on, I don't think coaching staff thought it, because they built up TD (and I'm glad they did) to be defensive guru. In reality, JLin does a fine job, and it looks like lately, he's relied upon and given the green light (esp. that SuperHelp in Utah game).
I think for Denver game, the flow got away from McHale, b/c he saw Toney's great 2 steals, etc. and confirmation bias caused him to mis-think the normal rotations. Someone on CF listed all the plays during that crucial period that lost the game for them, before JLin was put back in. I was surprised it was at 9 min mark. I thought it was like before, in the 5 or 6 min mark. Lin had time, but others on the court did not step up. It's in the McHale, Denver thread.
When McHale said 'we took it on ourselves' it was probably not referring to JLin. On that same thread, someone posted the transcript. McHale was referring to a time when JLin was on the bench. So, I think he was upset, and not at JLin as far as 'taking it on ourselves'. In that thread, it seemed to refer to Parson's TO at the end or 3rd, and TD's 3 attempt, Harden b/c they were on the court. Check it out ... CF is now open to the public again.
Etane, nah I don't think the team is tanking on defense. Perhaps the Roxs need to get rid of Sampson and acquire a defensive minded coach like Thibodeau/Vogel. Also, I would like to see James Anderson play behind Harden for defensive purposes.
DeleteWilc, I think TD doesn't get pulled probably because McHale is trying to save face. If McHale pulled JLin because of defensive woes and TD is having the same issue, McHale would look foolish taking TD out and putting JLin back in--I can't think of any other reasons. As far as shutting down a player, it's probably more accurate to make it a hindrance rather than shutting down. There are certainly ways it can be achieved with 1-on-1 defense such as forcing the change of direction, forcing the player to the sideline, or forcing the player to a particular side. Perhaps trying to anticipate and prevent the opposing PG from making his move. Obviously, JLIn has to evaluate his abilities as a 1-on-1 defender and the opposing's PG's ball handling abilities in light of what the defensive goals are to determine where JLin is going to defend the ball. But you're right that 1-on-1 defense can only take you so far because you need to have team defense. If Asik can block shots, which he can, JLin can force the opposing PG to the middle into Asik. I think the biggest thing is how JLin funnels the opposing PG into compromising positions and forcing them to be less inclined to drive or whatever. If Asik is not in the game, JLin may want to fan out the opposing PG to the sideline to take away the driving option. JLin is already doing all of this so we'll see how the team plays defense overall on Saturday.
jTeamW1, I think TD has always been known to have solid on-the-ball defense even when he was with the Knicks. I think the coaching staff wants TD to provide that energy off the bench on the defensive end but JLin to initiate it as the starter. I agree that JLin's defense has been superb lately, I have no complaints whatsoever.
JLinfan#1, I'd like to add a few more to the list:
ReplyDelete1) Dallas. GM Donn Nelson wanted Lin to play an entire year in the D-league with no chance of a NBA callup. Had Lin signed with those guys, Lin likely would be starting his NBA rookie year NOW because he likely would have missed all of last season since the Mavs had virtually no training camp. It should amaze everybody that Donn Nelson thought Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones were better players than Jeremy Lin.
2) Every other NBA team than Dallas that could've signed Lin but didn't. I strongly believe that had Lin not been hunted down by Les Alexander, he would be out of the NBA entirely this season because the Knicks would not have offered him a contract AT ALL.
Nah, they would have offered a contract, but at the low end of the scale.
DeleteYes I agree they would have offered a low ball contract to get him cheap. I'm still glad that did not happen its not like he would be treated any better in NY. jlin will be fine he's learning, getting tons of minutes and I can promise you that his next contract will be with a team that HE wants based on HIS criteria. It won't be the rockets as they stand right now that's for sure.
DeleteThe timeline might be a little bit off. Mav offered to sign Lin the same time Lin decided to sign with GSW.
DeleteHad Lin stayed in the D league for a year, that year would have ended during the 2011-2012 season. So, this year would've been his second year in the NBA.
Nelson would have been a great mentor for Lin. Without Nelson, Lin probably wouldn't have been in the NBA at all. It was Nelson that invited Lin to training camp, and this gave other NBA teams a look at Lin for the first time.
It's too bad Lin decided to go to GSW instead of staying with Nelson. But, had he stayed, Linsanity would not have happened.
Last year, training camp was abbreviated because of the lockout and short season.
DeleteLin would not even have made the Mavs roster. He'd have been cut again, only that Dallas would've held his rights due to the 2nd no guaranteed year. So Lin would not have made the NBA last season.
It would be weird seeing Lin as a rookie this season. The question is which NBA team would Lin be a rookie on this year!
Well, whether Lin would have made or not made the Mav roster would be conjecture.
DeleteHad Lin signed with Mav, he would have spent the 2010-2011 season in the Mav D-league which is no different than what actually happened which is Jeremy signing with GSW and spent most of the season in the D-league.
So, 2011-2012 would've been his rookie season if indeed Lin is kept in the D-League for a whole year and not more than that as Nelson claimed.
(Actually, I didn't know about Nelson claimed to keep Lin in the D-league for a year.)
I read that Lin has said privately it was a mistake to sing with GS over the Mavs.
DeleteI think he said it was a mistake trying to sign with a team close to his home.
DeleteI totally disagree with Lin's assertion that signing with the Warriors was a mistake.
DeleteI'm so glad he went there and got to actually play NBA minutes, leading his team in PER and being like #2 in the NBA for steals and blocked shots per minutes and being around real NBA players.
Lin would've been the D league MVP for two seasons straight had he signed with Dallas, and this year he'd be competing against Stephon Marbury for the Chinese League championship.
To all jlin fans
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support to linsanity the movie.we all made it possible to see the film.cant wait.we are all in this together.proud to be a jlin fan!!!
Good commentary jlinfan#1 thank you for that. I've said many times on this forum that I really dislike the way the Rockets coaching staff has handled jlin. EVERYONE who wants to see can and does see the impartial treatment of jlin vs almost any other particularly harden and parsons.
ReplyDeleteMchale benching jlin during denver game was just one more mishandling of yet another PG by that coach and coaching staff. Even more I will say I do not believe McHale even likes jlin. He can say whatever he wants, and you all may not believe that but think of the people that like you vs those that do not but have to be around you at work.
Well, enough ranting I'm super sensative to it now. I will say this next year and a half can't come fast enough. A consolation is that if the Rockets organization think jlin will re-sign with them they are nuts. My hope is still that McHale and staff are replaced by a non rookie coach who will let jlin be the PG.
I will say that jlin's defense has improved tremendously this year! He has a few mental lapses but wow what a difference over last year, I like it. Man think of how good he will be once he gets a coach that really lets him play PG and starts scoring and getting assists like crazy while playing shut down defense!
It will happen dispite Mchale and company, its like the rising of the sun you can't stop it...just saying.
Cheers.
I don't really care if McHale likes Lin as a person. He doesn't respect him as a player, which is the only relevant issue.
DeleteHe does not respect him as a player for sure, but he also does not like him. Human nature is if you don't like someone you won't go out of your way for them. There's not much explanation McHale can give as to why he benched jlin almost the entire 3rd Q when he was playing really well. That loss is on the coaches and McHale and Sampson in particular.
Deletewell... sorry haters and non-believers,Jeremy Lin in sincerely LOVED
ReplyDelete*meant is sincerely LOVED
DeleteGreat picture thank you for sharing. That is why jlin is such a good level headed grounded person, his family love and support.
DeleteCheers
Oooohhhhh. So sweeeet. He definitely is loved by his family.second by fans.am one of them..Luv u J!
Deletewhen a legend recognizes you, it means he definitely saw something on you:
ReplyDeleteLin meets legend before Rockets-Jazz game — Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports that Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin, who ignited the NBA with his underdog story last season, met a true pioneer of the game before last night’s matchup with the Jazz in Salt Lake City:
Long before there was Jeremy Lin, there was Wat Misaka leaving footsteps for Lin to follow. For the first time on Monday, those paths intersected. The first Asian-American in the NBA met the latest, with Misaka arriving early at Energy Solutions Arena to exchange pleasantries before the game. “It was humbling,” Lin said. “He was before all of us. He broke a lot of stereotypes, a lot of barriers and racial stereotypes. You have to pay respect to the people who came before you.”
Misaka, 89, said he has followed Lin’s career since Lin played at Harvard, writing to him several times. A native of Ogden, Utah, Misaka was drafted by the Knicks, then of the BAA, in 1947, with New York making him the team’s first-ever draft pick after he had led Utah to the 1944 NCAA and 1947 NIT championships. “He’s kind of following in my footsteps and improving on them,” Misaka said. “I wrote him a note of encouragement when he was with (Golden State) back in the dark days when things didn’t look too good for him. He didn’t have all these fans at that time. He’s made a lot of progress since them. I think he’s in a lot better place now.”
- now where is Raymond Townsend? looking forward to him meeting up with Jeremy.
Here is the Asian-American PG who is proud of his heritage
ReplyDeleteGreat video! THanks!
Deletedoes anyone else notice that the offense flows beautifully when shuhow controls the ball? and that it stops dead when harden handles the rock? i mean, literally. if the beard doesn't score on a drive, that's a transition bucket for the other team practically every time. why do you think that is? oh, that's right, it's because harden isn't a point guard! i can understand putting toney douglas in for his versatility and dogged defense but houston's offense simply stopped producing. it felt like they were forcing up too many shots and not getting the ball in their natural rhythm during those extended minutes when shuhow was SITTING ON THE BENCH!!!! if mchale gets fired, i hope they fire sampson too. I hope they promote bickerstaff for the interim and hire phil jax or even avery johnson or someone.
ReplyDeleteNo no no, Avery Johnson is a Lin non-believer/hater, and his Nets were the first of Linsanity's victims. I suspect he'd be worse than Sampson in his treatment towards Lin. We also want to stay away from Keith Smart, and possibly Mark Jackson (cut Lin) and SVG. There was at least one more that I can't remember...
DeleteAny coach should be given the Jeremy Lin question up front.
DeleteIn fact, I'd use the Jeremy Lin question even on coaches who aren't applying for Lin's team. Depending on the answers, you can weed out tnhe bad coaches by getting a negative answer on Lin.
For example, Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown says that Lin is a backup at best and should not be starting in the NBA. That would, in my mind, automatically invalidate Brown as a choice for Houston coach (among other reasons why I think Brown should not be coaching in the NBA).
If McHale would just play Lin more minutes and have him initiate the offense more, I'd be totally OK wih more McHale.
Coach Karl will be my 1st option while Pop close 2nd
Deletebtw...i was just being sarcastic in the beginning...i know everyone in this forum know the coaches are effing this up.
ReplyDeleteOr short QBs.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Seattle and I'm a Seahawks fan. After I saw Russell Wilson play his first preseason game I went back and checked him out. I found out he broke the NCAA record for passer rating! WTF? How did he drop so low in the draft? Why was he not considered on the same level as Griffin and Luck?
Bias. People incorrectly think that being tall is critical to success as a QB. Why? Because, they say, 99/100 a short QB will fail in the NFL. How do they know that? They don't. Because hardly any short QBs ever make it to the NFL because of the bias!
In fact, after reading a coaching seminar by brilliant former Oregon and newly-minted Philly coach Chip Kelly, I realize where the bias came from. Chip Kelly mentions in his seminar that it's not being tall that matters, no QB throws over the line, contrary to what people think, QBs throw through passing lanes. What you look for in a QB is big hands.
Well, what do we know about Russell Wilson? He has the biggest hands in his draft class. So, it's true that tall QBs usually control the ball better, but that's because tall people usually have bigger hands. In this case, their bias fooled them.
But what's irritating is that Wilson had a body of work should have gone a really long ways to making people second guess themselves. From everything I could find of people who had coached, played with, or watched Wilson play, they were certain he'd be a star.
After reading up on him, I told everyone, including online, possibly in this very forum, that Russell Wilson would be the best QB from the draft and better than Luck and Giffin. Although some people will still argue that, Football Outsiders has Wilson as the best rookie QB this year, he went further than either of them in the play-offs, and he tied Peyton Manning's rookie QB TD record. I would bet a lot of money Wilson has the better career. And "no one" expected that. Even though it should have been predictable. Biases are just too hard to overcome.
So, what do we know about Lin. We know that he has possibly the fastest first step in the NBA and we know that the NBA is an athleticism driven league. We know he's tall and strong for a PG. We know he's been successful at every level. We know he broke the record for scoring in his first 5 games. We know he outplayed Wall at Summer League. We know he took a bunch of no-names to a state title over a bunch of D1 prospects. The fact that Lin will be a star is just as much a no-brainer as Wilson, but WE'RE the crazy ones. The mind boggles.
Michael Terry, could you scout Omar Samhan from me?
DeleteI have said all along that I believe Omar Samhan should be in the NBA. In fact, it was my following of Samhan that led me to Jeremy Lin.
I'm curious to what you would think of Samhan, who I feel is unappreciated much the same way Lin was but to a far lesser degree.
I will check him out.
DeleteGood post, fan#1.
ReplyDeleteHard to argue with that. and we as lin fans need to look at the big picture and and historical trend and understand his role, and temper our expectations accordingly.
what i am saying is - if what you're saying is true, jeremy will probably never be "properly utilized" for a long period of time over his career. it takes a long time, generations, and lots of similar players to break that perception. we've come a long way from james harris to RG3, the anointed franchise qb of redskins. but it took a lot of other black qb's prior because we got to RG3. (and a lot of black qb's that flopped).
we might see a little more asian american presence in the nbs in our generation, but it will be a while before they are seen as absolutely equal to their black peers, and it will take longer than jeremy lin's career to do that and certainly more than just jlin. even if jlin goes on to win multiple championships and voted into HOF, it still won't change things unless there are more asian PG's that come after him. Otherwise he'll just be viewed as outlier.
but no doubt, he's a pioneer.
Please, like me, like Bruce Lee, Shuhow was born in the Year of the Dragon. Nothing will stop him. ;)
Deleteoh you're totally right. nothing will stop him from doing what he wants to do.
Deletebut based on historical and sociological trend, it will take more just shuhow to change perceptions for good. but it will happen eventually.
InsideHoops.com
ReplyDeleteHighest Scoring #NBA Teams: Thunder 105.7 ppg, Rockets 105.0, Spurs 104.3, Nuggets 103.8, Heat 102.7, Lakers 102.2
Fan#1, good post. Although I am upset with Rox's coaches, I am happy with Jeremy's development, especially mentally. It seems the unorthodox substitution pattern is not bothering Jeremy as much. In the last couple games it seems like Jeremy just went out and played game regardless when or where he was put in. He did he best to help the team, and had fun.
ReplyDeletei just wanted to post another point as i'm reading articles criticizing shuhow for only averaging about 6 apg. shuhow would be averaging at least double that if the rest of the team would drain buckets at a higher percentage. it's not that he's not distributing the ball. they're not nailing the open looks for him to get credit on the assist. this also applies to other aspects of his game. he's often involved in many of the steals and forcing the other teams to turn the ball over, yet he only gets credit for a few of them. so no credit there. he usually takes less than 10 shots per game, so his scoring production is lower than volume shooters like parsons and harden. Heck, delfino gets more attempts at the basket because he's the perceived outside threat. Shuhow is an allstar, period.
ReplyDeleteI think Jeremy's faith keeps him grounded. He won't get bent out of shape by all the negative things and ups and downs that other athletes go through. By showing this kind of professionalism, he should have a pretty long and solid career in the NBA.
ReplyDeleteCrazy part of this is when we read about him in 30 years everyone see what we see now...
ReplyDeleteThe Rockets just didn't and don't understand what they have in Lin. Lin really hurt himself looking terrible in the pre-season and start of the NBA season. If I were an actual NBA GM in Morey's shoes, to be honest, I sadly have to admit that I probably wouldn't have gone all in on Lin either. If it didn't work, I would be laughed out of the league as a GM - I think that's what Morey was thinking and he believes in Lin MUCH MUCH less than I do.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's simply a coaching fail, but it's not working. Harden is a great player but the wrong person to play off Lin. They got Harden because they just didn't believe in Lin and nobody really understood that Harden/Lin would not mesh. And Lin may be the wrong guy to play off Harden. Again Harden can get his stats with Lin dominating the ball and offensive flow, but Harden won't get as many ppg and won't nearly get to the line as often. AND most importantly, Harden will look like a mid-level player in that role, not an 80 million all-star. Lin would absolutely become the star guard of the team.
And therein lies your problem as to why Lin won't get to shine on this team UNLESS Harden is injured or Les forces a trade for an all-star big man using Harden as the trade chip. But Morey would probably choose to resign before doing that even if Les tried to force it. Maybe Mchale would quit too (we wish...)
Lin will probably be traded or walk away when his contract is over, of that I am pretty certain UNLESS Mchale/Sampson are let go in the summer and the new coach changes how things work.
Lin is a lead guard type. Some posters here replied to me and said Lin needs to learn to play with other talent and learn to play off Harden / through Harden. Well that's not winning ball. Lin hits the open man, and sadly it's usually Parsons or Delfino because teams are covering Harden and Harden does not move without the ball very often these days. And when Lin drives, he hits open big men to Harden is just going to be standing around watching.
Lin has no problem playing with talent. Put Lin with Lebron or Kevin Durant or a healthy Dwight Howard or Lamarcus Aldridge, or Blake Griffin, David Lee - trust me, Lin will have NO PROBLEM and those guys will shine with Lin. Carmelo just didn't want Lin to shine and steal his thunder - it was not a personnel issue. You all saw Lin was still effective with Carmelo under the Woodson regime. Lin played fine those games even if he had to fight like crazy to still be effective.
Lin ideally needs to play with a Ray Allen, Klay Thompson, Kevin Martin type catch and shoot specialist. OR a team could get an Iman Shumpert, Tony Allen, Wes Mathews athletic type low usage 2 guard type guy to put next to Jlin.
2 high scoring guards in the backcourt is a formula for disaster. Brooklyn may have a winning record, but they won't do squat and they luckily have Lopez whereas the Rox have Asik for offense.
Lin does not do well with players like Harden, Montae Ellis, Kobe, Wade, Westbrook etc. because their talents overlap.
The problem with the latter is those guys appear much much better than Lin on the surface. What cannot be measured are Lin's intangibles and his ability to "turn it on." Even us Lin fans have no clue what Lin is capable of. Any coach and GM in their right mind will pick to go with the obvious talents over Lin's intangibles...
i'm sorry but i just can't agree with the argument that lin can't play or won't flourish with another high scoring guard.
Deleteif both guards are score first and always looking for their own shots than no, it won't work.
but although lin's scoring talents overlap that of harden, lin's ability to get other teammates involved and his traditional PG talent is way better than harden, and that's how they should play together on this team. lin can alternate between the pg/sg role depending on whether harden is on the court.
Agreed. I don't see how it's much different, offensively, from pairing Lebron James with Dwyane Wade. Lebron James was essentially a PG guard for most of the two first regular seasons at Miami. Both players are high usage, ball dominating players and they both put up numbers.
DeleteThis should be even easier because Lin doesn't need to take as many shots as Wade does. He just needs to handle the ball a little more to help everyone play well.
And he's been doing that! It's been working. We're complaining now simply because Lin was taken out of the game, not because there was bad play.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that Lin Harden Parsons can become the modern Run TMC (Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Chris Mullin).
DeleteThe interesting thing is that the Rockets have a worse roster than those Don Nelson Run TMC teams did, yet they win more. Golden State had vastly superior talent, including supersub Sarunas Marciulionis and Terry Teagle who was a very solid swingman. Golden State was also better up front, as they had Victor Alexander and a young Chris Gatling and a guy who looked exactly like "King Korn Karn" from the old Nintendo "Pro Wrestling" game.
Run TMC featured 3 high usage backcourt players that played great together. I wish Don Nelson had never broken them up, At least Don Nelson should've gotten Dikembe Mutombo with the 3rd pick as a real center instead of Billy Owens who was never going to be a center.
LOL I loved that Pro Wrestling game.
DeleteA winner is YOU!
Let me put a caveat on that. Yes, you can have 2 high scoring guards succeed, as in the Lebron and Wade example. However, then at most, generally speaking, you can only have 1 other guy get high points game to game. That's why sometimes Bosh gets 20ppg other times Bosch is considered a "B" player who scores 10 ppg and sulks when Chalmers is taking up the scoring load and now they got Ray Allen too. Lin has been treated and used as the "Bosh" of the team, and sometimes he is treated even worse than that. His limited minutes in games show he is still an afterthought, in comparison to the other starters on the team.
DeleteWhen I say Lin and Harden won't work, I am talking in the context of this particular Rockets team. You have not only Harden, but Parsons, PPAT, Morris, Delfino, and even TD, Asik, Smith that all want to score the ball. Granted, everyone on every team in every league across the world wants to score the ball...
Now Mchale/Rockets front office has clearly created a pecking order where Harden and Parsons are #1 and #2 on offense. The minutes per game and Mchale's subbing patterns paint a clear picture of that. They even get plays run for them. To date, Mchale/staff/Rockets Front Office don't really care whether or not Lin scores the ball or initiates plays all game long.
On a team like this, Lin cannot get his usage high enough where Harden is gonna get his, Parsons is still gonna get his, Delfino will shoot off the bench for 15PPG, and PPAT gets his 12-16 PPG scorer when the ball moves around, not to mention the other players on the team.
What's left for Lin? 10PPG and 6 asst and 2 stls. Nobody here seems ok with that. Let's be honest here because for many Lin fans, having Lin have the ball in his hands, is another way of saying that they want Lin to get better stats and make more breathtaking plays and lead the team because they think Lin can do better. That's what I want to. But what do you think will happen if Lin has the ball in his hands? Parson's or Harden's stats will go down whether or not the team is winning and whether or not Lin is kicking butt doing it.
Until PPAT shows he is a David West shooter, PPAT will be open time and time again. His PPG will go up when Lin has the ball while Hardens will go down the most because Parsons at least cuts smartly where Lin can dump the ball when Lin gets stuck. And Lin loves to try and pass to big men when he drives so bigs get more touches too - all at Harden's expense.
For any of you to say it will work to have 2 high scoring guards ON THIS ROCKETS TEAM where they want Harden and Parsons to be stars/studs, please tell me how Lin can shine too and get his without eating into Harden and Parson's stats, which is exactly what the Rockets do not want.
I am just talking about reality here...there's only 1 ball...
Let's look at Khuang's example - run TMC. Harden is your Mitch Richmond and Lin is your PG, your Hardaway. Let's be honest, who do more people know? Tim...who do most people think is better? Tim....Who had the ball in his hands all the time to bust out the UTEP 2 Step? Tim...but with the Rockets, it's backwards as they want Mitch Richmond to be the star guard with the ball in his hands and have Hardaway hide in the corner never to bust out his killer cross on folks and change the game...
The Rockets just didn't and don't understand what they have in Lin. Lin really hurt himself looking terrible in the pre-season and start of the NBA season. If I were an actual NBA GM in Morey's shoes, to be honest, I sadly have to admit that I probably wouldn't have gone all in on Lin either. If it didn't work, I would be laughed out of the league as a GM - I think that's what Morey was thinking and he believes in Lin MUCH MUCH less than I do.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's simply a coaching fail, but it's not working. Harden is a great player but the wrong person to play off Lin. They got Harden because they just didn't believe in Lin and nobody really understood that Harden/Lin would not mesh. And Lin may be the wrong guy to play off Harden. Again Harden can get his stats with Lin dominating the ball and offensive flow, but Harden won't get as many ppg and won't nearly get to the line as often. AND most importantly, Harden will look like a mid-level player in that role, not an 80 million all-star. Lin would absolutely become the star guard of the team.
And therein lies your problem as to why Lin won't get to shine on this team UNLESS Harden is injured or Les forces a trade for an all-star big man using Harden as the trade chip. But Morey would probably choose to resign before doing that even if Les tried to force it. Maybe Mchale would quit too (we wish...)
Lin will probably be traded or walk away when his contract is over, of that I am pretty certain UNLESS Mchale/Sampson are let go in the summer and the new coach changes how things work.
Lin is a lead guard type. Some posters here replied to me and said Lin needs to learn to play with other talent and learn to play off Harden / through Harden. Well that's not winning ball. Lin hits the open man, and sadly it's usually Parsons or Delfino because teams are covering Harden and Harden does not move without the ball very often these days. And when Lin drives, he hits open big men to Harden is just going to be standing around watching.
Lin has no problem playing with talent. Put Lin with Lebron or Kevin Durant or a healthy Dwight Howard or Lamarcus Aldridge, or Blake Griffin, David Lee - trust me, Lin will have NO PROBLEM and those guys will shine with Lin. Carmelo just didn't want Lin to shine and steal his thunder - it was not a personnel issue. You all saw Lin was still effective with Carmelo under the Woodson regime. Lin played fine those games even if he had to fight like crazy to still be effective.
Lin ideally needs to play with a Ray Allen, Klay Thompson, Kevin Martin type catch and shoot specialist. OR a team could get an Iman Shumpert, Tony Allen, Wes Mathews athletic type low usage 2 guard type guy to put next to Jlin.
2 high scoring guards in the backcourt is a formula for disaster. Brooklyn may have a winning record, but they won't do squat and they luckily have Lopez whereas the Rox have Asik for offense.
Lin does not do well with players like Harden, Montae Ellis, Kobe, Wade, Westbrook etc. because their talents overlap.
The problem with the latter is those guys appear much much better than Lin on the surface. What cannot be measured are Lin's intangibles and his ability to "turn it on." Even us Lin fans have no clue what Lin is capable of. Any coach and GM in their right mind will pick to go with the obvious talents over Lin's intangibles...
Good post.
DeleteThis is a great post and I've been waiting for JLinfan to speak up and say something the past few weeks. Agree with the entire post that Lin is hit by prejudice and jealousy over and over again. Bottom line though Lin is financially wealthy with 25 million guaranteed. Having said that, Lin needs to learn about business and he needs to leverage that contract into more control over his play time, his shots and his role on the team. He cannot be cut and he has to be played based on his contract. Lin seems to not realize this by playing the Good Asian sterotype of not causing a fuss or complaining or being selfish on the court. Lin needs to step out of this stereotype and be more willing to adapt to the NBA as a business. McHale and Sampson are nothing compared to Lin - they are expendable...Lin is tradeable but he should just tell coaches to play him and not disrespect him or he will go off on them and get them fired. Lin should get pissed like Rubio for coming out of the game and draw attention to it and he should be shooting more and getting his numbers up, forget assists...Rockets not winning championship with this team so Lin needs to focus on his numbers more and not about playing as a team. McHale is a terrible coach as I have said since day one on here where people like Khuang loved McHale and tried to tell me he was good coach - yeah shows how much Khuang knows about the game. Bottom line, Lin needs to step out of Asian Stereotype and treat the NBA as the business it is before he loses his opportunity again...injury, trade, worse coach comes in, anything...he has to make it happen now...not next year, not till he gets traded to lakers, cmon Lin stop wasting time and start playing with that I don't give a f(*& attitude like the Nets game (Linsanity game #1).
ReplyDeleteMike Nicce, I didn't even realize that there was an "Asian Stereotype" about Lin "not causing a fuss or complaining or being selfish on a basketball court".
DeleteAt the NBA level, Lin has been MORE AGGRESSIVE than any of the Asian athletes that came before him. That includes Yao Ming, Mengke Bateer, and Rex Walters. So I don't agree at all with your "Asian Stereotype"
And if you want Lin to just go off on his own regardless of his team, that's not as easy as you make it sound. The NBA is a TEAM GAME, so there is a balancing act between player wilfullness and team dynamics. Lin is a point guard, so he has to make sure everybody gets their opportunities too.
By the way, explain to me why McHale is such a failure since the team is over 0.500.
I know you think that I know absolutely nothing about basketball, and that's cool.
Khuang:
DeleteFirst off you were on here adnauseum a few months ago saying Lin had to fight somebody or he'll get run out of the league for being soft - didn't happen. Secondly, you said McHale is a great coach of point guards even though he's a big guy who never played position before. Third, you say Doc Scheppler was a bad coach - he's turned Lin into an AllSTar player with his drives and his mentallity to attack - not just his shooting coach. You definitely never played the game let alone know any semblance of the game.
Rockets over 500 cause Lin is great player...most losses come when he doesn't play much or doesn't play well...when he's benched the rockets usually lose unless the worst team in league like Charlotte. Rockets if coached by someone knows what they're doing would be in upper echelon of league because rockets have pieces, shooters, rebounders, defenders...they have nice mix of players....but the mindgames of Mchale and Sampson is not going to get to playoff levels....
Like I said, Lin needs to man up and start acting like he's running a business and not playing ball for Paly HS and think just play well and everything will be okay...nope it's business and politics in the NBA...He's got his money so now step up his influence and start managing the game as a business man....
The team is over 0.500 DESPITE McHale/Sampson, not because of them. Heck, half the people here on the board, and even a few from B/R, would probably have done a better coaching job than what the McHale duo has done.
DeleteLin is playing Asian Stereotype by:
Delete1. Not taking more shots (38 points in San Antonio)
2. Not complaining when coach yanks him out
3. Not going off for being benched for entire 4th Quarters
4. Not getting one techinical foul in his whole career
5. Not having his agent complain to morey and alexander
6. Saying things like he doesn't deserve to be an All Star (cmon don't say stupid things like that, people already don't want you there so no need to say that....if you think it, just stay quiet but to self denigrate yourself trying to look humble is too Asian)
7. Not dunking once this season...cmon get some flash and style in your game....dunk it on breakaways and get on ESPN highlights
8. Not taking more shots during games...yeah basketball is team game but when he gets in lane he needs to shoot the ball...not pass...let asik get off rebound if he misses not feed him and asik can't finish = no assist and nothing for lin but coming out in few minutes...might as well shoot the ball and get his numbers up.
Mike Nice, your posts are well intentioned but unrealistic. The only thing Lin can do is play like he does in the Spurs/Denver/Dallas ESPN game etc. and make it painfully obvious that he can play and that is not being fully utilized.
DeleteLin has to be true to who he is, he's not a fighter or some guy who is going to complain to the media, at least not at this time.
He can only do 1 thing as a ground breaker and that's to play better than his competition and show effectiveness in his limited time. He just has to be so good every time out and be consistently good and low and behold, even Mchale will finally figure it out and play him.
Sure if Lin looked the part, he'd probably already be playing 40 minutes and the Rox probably would have never traded for Harden in the first place and looked for an elite center or PF to go with Lin at all costs. But it is what is is, and all Lin can do is make it painfully obvious to everyone that he is a killer on the court who inexplicably is not getting the proper usage/minutes.
Mike Nice, I was playing nice with you.
DeleteBut you wanna FIGHT, so HERE I AM.
I'm gonna go right at you, just like you're going at me.
1) Kevin McHale beat Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, and now Jeremy Lin into being STELLAR point guards.
2) Lin STILL has occasional trouble shooting from outside and even from the free throw line. When he shoots well, he appears to be breaking every rule that Doc Scheppler laid out for him (put the ball at the center of his forehead, square his shoulders to the rim, etc.)
3) Lin is still getting bashed. In preseason, Robin Lopez utterly flattened him. However, Lin did bounce up just like he did against George Hill last season. Since Lin's teammates came to his aid against Lopez, Lin hasn't had to fight anybody. That day still may come, though I hope NEVER.
4) You want Lin to go rebel on his team, disobey his coaches, start being super selfish, start going crazy. Obviously, YOU'RE the one that has never dribbled a ball in his life. Even on the playground, only LOSERS play the way you suggest. What, you want Lin to turn into the next Nick Young by firing wildly at the rim whether there's a double team or not?
5) I DETEST your RACIST stereotypes of Asians as weak. I'll kick your butt, just like the other Asians here will.
You know what your biggest problem with is me, Mike Nice?
You think Lin is a PANSY who's supposedly playing nice just because he's Asian.
You couldn't be more wrong, both about Lin and Asians. So if you want to fight me some more, I as an Asian will happily take you on.
He's already done that yet he's still getting screwed by being benched. Jeremy has 3 options (we all know which one he should go with):
Delete1. Continue business as usual and just be happy he's in the NBA and making money and it's okay playing 28 min a game, getting benched for long stretches(entire 4th quarters)and averaging mediocre numbers 12 ppg, 6 asst.
2. Make some noise by sounding off on the benching and the questionable coaching (i.e. Gasol, Rubio, Westbrook) and make coaches a little more fearful for messing with JLIn. Right now coaches feel they can do anything to Lin and he won't say a thing and won't do anything. Lin has to be a threat and has to respond when publicly embarassed and disrespected like he has been. Continue to play his team game but with more minutes numbers go up to 14 ppg, 8 asst.
3. Awaken Linsanity and start going for his everytime he has chance. Stop passing unless he gets double teamed. STart scoring and playing like he has no fear or no conscious ala new jersey nets feb 2012. 20ppg, 5 asst, and all star level with some flying dunks, competitive tech fouls on black players (JR Smith, Deron Williams, guys who don't like lin).
Which would you advise Jeremy to shoot for? Cmon JLin - you only on this earth short time...don't waste your talent.
Good post, Mike Nice.
DeleteI know that we have our differences, but I actually agree more with you than you know.
Like you, I want Lin to maximize his talent. But I do feel Lin is already doing that. So I'll try to address your points.
1. Lin already averages 30+ minutes, I think about 32. I think that's pretty good from the standpoint that Lin is a first time full time NBA starter who's never played an entire season all the way through. Feel free to disagree with me, Mike Nice, but I'd rather Jeremy Lin play the minutes that he's playing and be in all 82 games than play 40 minutes and expose himself to injury.
2. I do feel that Lin is making noise against the benching and coaching. He's being aggressive, making plays on both ends of the court. Lin is maximizing his efficiency and efficacy, and I do believe that the Rockets coaches are noticing in a very grudging type of way.
3. I'd like Linsanity to happen too, but that also requires his teammates to cooperate. We can't keep having plays like that San Antonio play at the end of reulation where Omer Asik blocked off Lin's drive to the left and then Toney Douglas blocked off Lin's drive to the right.
In summary, I trust that Jeremy Lin knows best how to push for his own success.
Remember that Jeremy Lin, more than any other NBA player in today's game, has left a long and bloody list of coaching CORPSES behind him. He's COACH KILLAH!
Mike Nice, I have also been saying that I think Lin has a great deal of leverage. I know people think he does not get enough appreciation because of so and so, but I think because he is so "unique" -- the only Asian-American NBA player -- he has a great deal of leverage and power. He is lucky in some sense to be the first one in NBA, because next Asian-American NBA player will not get as many followers as him. Not only is he of Chinese/Taiwanese ancestry (billions of people = money for NBA) but he fits the well-educated and Christian market, so if the push comes to the shove, some teams are going to want him, especially since he's a bona-fide starting level NBA PG. Now, I believe his Christian belief may sometimes prevent him from expressing himself very honestly, so I hope he recognizes how much power and influence he yields and starts flexing his muscle, not just for himself but for future Asian-American NBA players to come (hopefully).
DeleteIf Lin was let's say a Thai-American or Vietnamese-American, he would not be as valuable to NBA because there are more Chinese than Thai or Vietnamese population, mainly because NBA wants to take off big time and make money from China.
To internet warriors: If you guys really want to go at each other, I will get some boxing gloves and a ring ready for a 3 rounds of boxing or UFC if you wish. I will even agree to tape the fight, so we all can see who wins. :)
Deletesounds good to me, eb5attorney.
DeleteThe problem is that I am used to physically fighting with NO RULES.
UFC has too many rules for me, so I'm not a MMA fan.
Okay, I will ref the fight and arrange for the taping. I will also start taking wagers on the fight. :)
DeleteNo eb5attorney, you do not want to referee a fight I am in.
DeleteI'd go after you too.
In the fights I've been in, rules meant nothing to me or my attackers.
Will have a mad dog ready for you.
Deleteeb5attorney, do you watch professional combat events?
DeleteYou and I are close in age, so we remember the days of the big basketball brawls in the 80s. Those brawls, including the modern day Malice at the Palace, were much more real than the UFC ever was.
Did you remember the one time Bill Cartwright dunked over Charles Barkley in a Knicks Sixers game and knocked Barkley out of the game? That was the only time I ever saw Barkley get knocked out. Barkley did get pummeled by Shaq in that nasty Orlando vs Suns fight, though.
To clarify eb5attorney, I actually would NOT attack you if you were the ref just because I know you sorta and like you definitely.
DeleteIt's just been that when I've been attacked, it was by people looking to do real damage and not score points. So a "referee" is often swept into the fray on the street as well.
Khuang: "In summary, I trust that Jeremy Lin knows best how to push for his own success.
DeleteRemember that Jeremy Lin, more than any other NBA player in today's game, has left a long and bloody list of coaching CORPSES behind him. He's COACH KILLAH!"
No, you got it wrong. Lin doens't know best as he needs McHell to constantly pound him into the ground and mold him into the point guard that Lin can only aspire to be.
I don't see why McHale has to ground and pound Lin at this point.
DeleteLin doesn't have any weaknesses that need major correction.
Remember Etane, I was Ok with McHale as a developmental coach for not just Lin but other players. But now that Lin is fully formed and polished, McHale needs to adjust his tactics or BE FIRED.
I love boxing until too much corruption. I also loved George Gervin, the iceman. I even remember Jack Sigma and Wes Unseld. My favorite player was James Worthy. The guy was smooth and precise. Beautiful to watch.
Delete@Mike Nice, If i recall...I don't think Lin ever said he doesn't deserve to be an all-star. He said something like "I'm not even thinking about the all-star, that's the furthest thing from my mind right now." The quote later became he doesn't deserve to be an all-star. That's all media for you.
ReplyDeleteHe said he has not been playing on the level to get into All-Star Game, or something very similar to this. I specifically remember listening to him on this, and even posted that LIn himself does not think he is playing at an All-Star level (about several weeks ago).
DeleteTo moderator,
ReplyDeleteWhy is it I can't post anything from my iphone or ipad? Can't even sign in?
Does anybody else have this problem?
Only works with desktop or laptop.
I reply as using google email. works fine on my iphone!
Deletei tried it first with samsung then with iphone, some days it's good. Manny days, it just doesn't work.
DeleteYou are on blogger. You have to have another browser page open, signed into Blogger. I haven't tried it, and it works on mobile.
DeleteMchale as a former ancient Celtic is as stubborn as a mule, plus some other adjectives which I've already mentioned in the past. I felt the Rox needed to go on a ten game losing streak before you see a significant change in Mchale's mindset. I guess the seven game losing streak wasn't long enough. Maybe Mchale will need a 20 game losing streak before he finally rearranges the Rubiks cube of a headcase that he has on. But by that time i'm afraid Mchale won't get a chance to finish that Rubiks cube puzzle. When he does he will finally see yellow (um hum, cough, cough!)
ReplyDeleteOh, Les Alexander has the situation completely under control.
DeleteMcHale indeed is as stubborn as a mule, and that's why Les Alexander has buffered McHale by having not just Chris Finch as an "assistant coach" but various other personnel that are there specifically to provide basketball balance.
McHale is a superstar former player who believes in superstar ball. That said, Jeremy Lin is earning the right to be called a superstar.
Jeremy Lin is doing GREAT.
LOL Jeremy will be fine.
Delete@KHuang:
DeleteWhere do you get all the information KHuang? You say that Les has the situation under control - you said something similar about McHale some time ago...
Khuang also said that the Houston FO is reading this forum. I suspect Khuang is McHell. It all makes sense!
DeleteI WISH I was Kevin McHale.
DeleteBelieve me, I don't want to look like McHale. But I'd love to coach Jeremy Lin. I'd play him 35 minutes a night, post him up against smaller guards, run a high post Adolph Rupp offense, and scream at the entire team to defend. I'd probably not win as many games as McHale does, by the way.
My info? Well, the Rockets are over 0.500 - WAY better than they should have been in this rebuilding year. Les hasn't fired anybody yet. Chris Finch is tagged as the next Rockets head coach. Jeremy Lin is playing his 30+ minutes on most nights.
I actually agree here. It could be worse.
DeleteLooking at James Harden’s defense
ReplyDeleteIt's arguable whether Harden plays like an All Star. But, he does play like every game is an All Star game.
DeleteHa, ha, good one. Very witty.
DeleteLol I expect there will be request from the Rockets or NBA to take down that article soon
DeleteHarden simply does not have the foot speed to be an elite defender in the mold of a Lebron or young Kobe, Wade. No to mention his coach held him zero accountability, that's why he doesn't even put on the effort.
DeleteJames Harden, Kyrie Irving. These guys should be called offensive stars than all stars.
Delete13:10
ReplyDeleteDreamShake G+ Hangout discusses JLin, Royce White, others
disagree with alt of their assessments, one of them states Lin tries to play hero ball, and jacks up shots was one of the main reasons we lost in Denver ...i stop listening after that
Delete[Space City Scoop]
ReplyDeleteWhich Playoff Seed Would Be Best For Houston Rockets?
[NotJLin]
ReplyDeleteShaqtin' A Fool
Feb 1
love shagtin' a fool. thanx via
Delete:)
DeleteJLIN Foundation @jlinfoundation
ReplyDelete@jlin7 We can't wait for the inaugural launch party of Jeremy Lin's Foundation to support Houston charities on Feb.14! #MakingADifference
11:54 AM - 1 Feb 13
This is a great comparison, and sadly I think it's still applicable to today's black quarterback. I know there have been a ton of comparisons with Lin and Tim Tebow, but I actually see more similarities with Cam Newton, the way people doubt him despite constant evidence to the contrary. Most pundits expected Cam to struggle greatly as a rookie, but he immediately put up over 400 yards passing in his first game. The pundits were shocked (as I was) but they dismissed it saying "Ok, that was Arizona. Let's see what he does against the defending champs Green Bay and a really good sophisticated defense." Then he puts up another 400, and then all of the sudden they decide GB's defense wasn't that good or complex after all. Like all rookies he had good games and bad games since then, but it was pretty clear that the dude could play. Yet even after a solid first two years with some spectacular games mixed in, somehow some people seem convinced he will be a bust.
ReplyDeleteI sort of agree, although I doubt Cam was subjected to as much racist taunts as Lin, mainly because Lin happens to be the first, whereas Cam was surrounded by other black players.
Delete1. That's not a gang sign.
ReplyDeleteHe kinda looks like Spiderman.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Jubilee Project
ReplyDelete1:03 JLin
The Last Pick
Just like most people could not believe that a Black man can ever be President of the United States ... So, when are we going to get our first Asian-American President ??
ReplyDeleteMaybe Jeremy can run for office after his bball career.
DeleteWhich side?
DeleteIf Lin enters the Hall of Fame as a Rocket, maybe the latter.
DeleteHad Lin stayed in NY, maybe the former.
Actually, if Lin is like most people in the Bay Area where he grew up, probably the former.
When Asian population grows to more than 15% and when 90% or more Asian Americans will vote for one candidate. I personally think Asian Americans should vote Republican for greater influence in politics.
DeleteAs to Black man, strictly speaking, Obama is bi-racial. I think it's dumb to consider him Black, although I understand the historical reason for this. He's really black and white. Arguably, his white mom and grandparents probably had more influence on him than his Nigerian dad whom he did not see often.
DeleteRep. Mike Honda: Obama is First Asian-American President
DeleteThere is a hot topic discussion at ESPN regarding does Lakers need Kobe be a PG facilitator since they already have Steve Nash. Why waste the resource.
ReplyDeleteWe have the same situation in Rockets too. JH or JL who are going to be the PG that dominate the ball.
Haha. interesting to see how both team dealt with it. What will be the result by end of season.
IMO, one men can not do everything at all bc human energize resource is limited . So,we better segregated the role. You see, Kobe is great. He can do it at 1 to 3 games but not the 4th game @ Phx 4th Qtr. He just simple was running out of the gas and Steve Nash just stand ed there to watch the win slip away.
LA Hot Button: Kobe Bryant's Best Role?
Deletehttp://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=8902828
Best player for each position in Lakers,
DeletePG: Kobe Bryant.
SG: Kobe Bryant.
SF: Kobe Bryant.
PF: Kobe Bryant.
C: Kobe Bryant.
I have faith on Kobe. He is BB God. haha. Continue play like this Laker will capture Rockets on play off run.
Jeremy Lin #7 and Colin Kaepernick #7 ...yeah but so is Melo awww....Elway was also #7
ReplyDeleteA lot of great athletes wear/wore #7
Can anybody think of anymore ?
Ryota Miyagi from "SLAM DUNK(manga)"
DeleteLucky #7, God's number, etc...
DeleteSpeaking of Slam Dunk...
[Alvin Lim/ TheMoneygreat]
~ Slam Dunk - inspired
VANZ of Creation [Taiwan]
~ [Bonus]
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2013/jan/04/good-advice/?print=1
ReplyDeleteI think Lin should become friends with Russell Wilson. Same age and Wilson is also a big Christian. Both underdog stories, both fierce competitors going places. And, I think Wilson would be a good influence. The way he prepares and how he approaches success is legendary.
do you guys think Chris Paul will be out for All star game?
ReplyDeletetoo early for Bobcats preview, but Lin talks Kemba matchup.. from college basketball until NBA, Jeremy and Kemba played against each other many times.
ReplyDeleteEn Fuego Hoops @EnFuegoHoops
ReplyDelete#HoopNuggets Scott Machado Signs In NBA D-League With Houston Rockets' Affiliate http://ow.ly/2uCKC1
4:49 PM - 1 Feb 13
Lin's favorite Lunar New Year memories
ReplyDeleteHouston RocketsVerified
ReplyDelete@HoustonRockets
The Rockets have re-assigned Terrence Jones to D-League partner Rio Grande Valley. Jones has averaged 19.1p/9.8r in 12 starts with RGV.
1:52 PM - 1 Feb 13
Beware Bismack Biyombo Blocks: A Houston Rockets-Charlotte Bobcats Preview
ReplyDeleteRockets hovering around .500 as All-Star Game approaches
DeleteA Younger Jeremy Lin...
ReplyDeleteCynics...
ReplyDeleteSportsCenter @SportsCenter
Why We Love Sports: 6-year-old fan wants to marry J.J. Watt (http://youtu.be/938Scds6fZA ), @JJWatt stages pretend wedding » http://yfrog.com/ebxq0mj
1:15 PM - 31 Jan 13 ·
Jxx Lxxxx Bxxxxx Jx @Lx_xxx_
@SportsCenter @JJWatt they got that idea from the kid crying about Jeremy Lin going to the Rockets, staged...
7:05 PM - 31 Jan 13
JLin post practice 2/1/13
ReplyDelete