Is Larry Brown taken seriously as a judge of talent? LOL, when he first said that, I heard everyone joking: if LB doesn't like Lin, then Lin is for sure legit. He's good friends with Woodson, and Felton is his guy from Charlotte... so there's a personal interest there. Not saying LB is the only person who doubts Lin, or that he's necessarily wrong -- just that to say it publicly, there was a reason.
I'll just leave this here. "We don't expect him to be a franchise player." --Bulls GM Jerry Krause, on his first-round draft pick...in 1984
Athletically? Magic is arguably the greatest player to ever play this game. He is a basketball genius...
No one knows what Lin's upside will be. Scouts have done a poor job of evaluating him in the past and I have no reason to believe they will be any better now. On Larry Brown: He is a great coach, but horrible talent evaluator. He fell into a great team w/ Detroit and was gifted Allen Iverson the year before he became the Sixer's coach. If I remember correctly, he was also the coach when Detroit drafted Darko Milicic (top 5 bust of all time).
Seriously? His ceiling is Dragic? He's already as good as Dragic is but younger. He hasn't really played as much as Dragic but he has the potential to be a great PG in this league. He has the skills, the size and the toughness to succeed. We won't know how good he will be until we see him perform next season but I will tell you his ceiling is better than a Goran Dragic.
So yi,yao ming,and wang zhi can get drafted,but racism kept lin from being drafted at all? I see the lof are here early and already. In this day and age of scouting,how many all star types don't even get drafted? The last guy I can think of is brad miller. If scouts could find a guy with a humpback from tim buk tu who could hoop, they would waste a 2nd rd pick. We see it all the time.
Lin has the court vision, the size for a PG, a nice shooting stroke, and the fearlessness that can make him into an elite PG. Even though he isn't the athletic type like the Westbrook, Wall or Rose, his court vision and his quick first step makes up for it. His shooting stroke is good enough not to back off of him like you can with Rondo. He has the size where other PGs can abuse like they can with Aaron Brooks. He has all the tools that can make him an elite PG. The court vision, the size, the shooting stroke, the first step, fearlessness and fundamentals are the recipe you'll need in an elite PG. I don't understand why some of the doubters here are hating on him. Just be happy that the Rockets got a point guard that can get this team the media attention it deserves, and the PG that is not Aaron Brooks. Say what you want to say but I am much happier we have Jeremy Lin now instead of Aaron Brooks.
To be fair, I read that Lin thought the Lakers were going to draft him. They gave indications that they would that year. But didn't follow through - bad mistake in hindsight for them, they did need a PG... Donnie Nelson thought Lin was good, and that he made others better, but felt he needed a year of seasoning in the D-League before he was ready.
No.1 vs undrafted... Well Lin should have been drafted in the 2nd round at the very least. If he was a total undrafted scrub, he should not have been anywhere in the picture of John Wall.... <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/whVEiYap1F4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Ugh no edit button?! More complete vid <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PvkXmMcGfLo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
"The biggest thing to me is how everybody missed it," Bryant said before the All-Star Game, via the New York Post. "They all would be fired if I was owning a team. I hear this stuff, 'It came out of nowhere.' I think it's a load of [garbage]. You can't play that well and just come out of nowhere. There has to be something there and everybody missed it. So heads would roll [if I was owner]." And you know how much Kobe hands out compliments to other players. I'll take the opinion of one of the greatest players to ever play the game over a jock sniffer like I don't know...Stephen A. Smith.
Yeah, I noticed that too watching Knicks game last season. He forced some pass in traffic too much, granted, he made the pass, but generally because it's in traffice, it either could not be handled by receiving teammate, or knock away by a defender. Especially when the defense seems to be keying on him. Upside is, he has very good first step to usually escape with room to make a layup, he just got to put it up sometimes and be selfish, mix it up. Genuinely it seems that Lin gets more pleasure from handed out a good assist than himself scoring.
Here is what I saw last season watching the Knicks and Jeremy Lin. The following is what you got already with Lin: - Court vision (seems to see the floor very well, not so much when 2 & 3 defenders are keying on him like Miami heat did. IMHO, Lin's court vision is better than all the point guards the rockets has since the Yao era) - Quickness (he is very quick with the ball, and can cross over either side with ease with a nice first step) - He's bigger than he seems (he has the body to finish in the lane and get fouled) - He's clutch. (He seems to like the ball at the end of the game and seems dare I say it more calm and cool as clock expiring) - He's a great team mate. IMHO, too unselfish, making too many hard passes in traffic, most of the pass is catchable but fumbled away by teammate. I'm guessing teammate did not know that he would make the pass, after all these work going in traffic, so did not expect it at all). He genuinely seem more pump up for a good assist than a good shot. - He has good form in his shots and can only get better - He has the basketball IQ you want in a point guard. - He is a better defender than most give him credit for. That could be improve too. - Also he has the intangible quality that brings high energy to the team with his play, maybe the reason he's more pumped up for an assist is because teammate gets pump up for a dunk that he assisted. Lin is passionate, but needs to cool it down and slow it down a bit sometimes to better pace himself for the game. - He's a leader that leads by doing, not by saying. Here is his Upside as I can see: - He could improve on his play calling to reach Chris Paul or Deron Williams level, but probably would not reach Steve Nash or Magic Johnson level, the way these guys can control the game - Lin can put up 20+ points a night if that's what the team needs. If he improve on his outside shot more (to 3 point range), if ROX has a big man that can operate inside, it would be deadly. With a good outside shot, he could fake and then with his quick first step, go in for a foul or finish. -If Lin plays a full season with a team, his assist would go up more because of team chemistry. He already made all the good fundamental passes and see the court very well. Just need to jell with the team. In a word, he could evolved into a top 5 point guards.
I think he could become a top 5 point guard in the league. At worst he is a starting PG in the league. When people talk about Lin they seem to focus on his stats, in particular during the Linsanity run or his turnovers. In my opinion Lin's biggest attribute which is not mentioned nearly enough is how CLUTCH he is. He's a perfect fit for us because of this. The kid seems fearless out there and in the fourth quarter and closing moments of a game seems to embrace taking the big shots versus running from them. Again, maybe he'll just be a starting caliber PG for us or maybe he'll be one of the best in the league either way we have a guy that is not afraid when it matters most.
Lin has proven he can play with the big buys. He may not be an all-star but how many point guards in the league cause teams to adjust their game plan for him like Lin did last year. His bad games last season were because teams totally adjusted their defensive scheme to limit his effectiveness. He will be a top 10 PG in the league.
