His defense last season isn't as tie as he is right now, particularly, when the game toward the end . When I said intensity, it wasn't like I said he didn't have the tool last season, but he just could sustain his level of defend throughout the game.
He was one average defender with Knicks, not terrible. It's the duo of Lin and Amar'e which is terrible. Amar'e is one of the worst defender in the NBA. BTW, When you have to play the role of primary play-maker night in night out, it's fine to play average defense. Just take a look at Harden. His play has been below average so far on the D end.
Well, as an excuse, he's never played starter's minutes before and probably averaged like 5 minutes a game prior to NY. lol. And to my memory, his end of the game defense was excellent, i.e., the Jennings smothering, etc. But no doubt, he is playing better d this year. Don't know many better on D.
His defense has definitely improved but his 1-on-1 defense was good last year. It was. I along with several other posters commented during pre-season that his defense is going to win us some games and it has definitely contributed greatly this year.
To be honest, when you're chucking 3s and long 2s (and lots of them out of your possessions), and making the easier passes for long 2s and 3s, and not doing as much (deep) penetration, it is easier to keep to TOs down. Calderon is one example. Felton is a prime one.
Probably you never saw his defense on Jennings last year <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VRmfwKxqe4Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Part of the reason why Lin's D was average in NY was because of three things. First because of the media attention opposing PGs were always on there A game when playing against him. About 4 PG's admitted as such publicly to the media. Second Lin really struggled adjusting to the pace of the NBA in his first starts which makes sense this happens to a lot of players who are just starting out. This was also a big reason as to why he was so incredible turnover prone & was such a poor transition player. Third, Lin had to carry a really huge load in NY on the offensive end. Doing that, while trying to be an above average defender isn't easy at all. Finally, Lin's conditioning was not very good last year because he never anticipated being a starter, a big reason as to why he got hurt. I wasn't surprised that he is playing D like he is now. In GSW he had a reputation of being a solid defender. In the D-league & in harvard they would always have him guard the opposing teams best scorer. Even in NY despite his reputation for being a poor defender him & Tyson Chandler still had one of the best defensive rating of any 2 man combination in the NBA & Lin was second to Ricky Rubio in terms of RBS for guards (rebounds, blocks, steals). I do think he improved on his D fundamentals this off season but for the most part what I am seeing now from him on the defensive end isn't a surprise.
I think Lin's status must have been increasing like crazy in that Knicks locker room. That's why Melo wanted him out. I remember SAS said something like, "Jeremy was getting a little cocky. He keeps referring to this 'we' need to figure it out. It's like, who are you? You're the new guy! You're supposed to figure it out!" That was SAS around July just before the announcement of whether or not Lin's offer sheet would be matched by the Knicks. If SAS said it, it must have came from the mouths of Melo.
