[2014-15] Jeremy Lin as a Los Angeles Laker

If you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that the Lakers are deliberately tanking. So of course their coach is doing things conducive to losing, such as muzzling Jeremy Lin.

The tanking was so obvious that Clyde Frazier, Madison Square Gardens' superb commentator, called "shenanigans" when the Lakers were visiting the Knicks. Byron Scott was starting the bench, and benching the starters!

Clyde had a point. The Knicks are genuinely awful, while the Lakers have the talent to win far more games than they have to date.

Jack Nicholson loudly threatened to sell his seasons tickets. Byron-ball was utterly boring, and the constant losing was worse. So Jack spoke up. That got the attention of the Lakers' front office, believe me.

 

Cuban disagreed...

Harden is way way better than Lin... That's why Lin was benched...

Kobe wants to do it all... That's why Lin was benched...

Worse than the superstars doesn't mean he is worse than most of the starting PGs...

 

Can't you accept the idea that Byron just isn't a very good coach, or perhaps that he wanted players running his system because he needed a slow down/half court offense to cater to the only star he had on his team, or perhaps that he just likes his system better than that of D'Antoni's system?

Perhaps he is experimenting, because he has the luxury of doing so in a season where the Lakers are going to lose a lot of games, and they don't have really talented players. Perhaps one of his experiments is "what happens if we try running things through Lin?" Perhaps there will be other experiments to come, where Lin doesn't play a pivotal role.

It is possible to enjoy Lin's play without spouting conspiracy theories when things don't line up for him to play well. It is a team sport.

 

Exactly!

I think the difference (or one of the differences) is that Lin has convinced his teammates to cut. Instead of standing still while watching Kobe, they are moving into open spots, allowing Lin to make less risky passes.

 

finally some crazies has decides to come out of their hole

yall can see glimpse of insanity and annoyance in cf for 2 years when lin is here in the last few pages

lin is bad because the coach , the organization , the teammate , the town is marginalizing lin talent and holding him down

no one see the potential in lin and building team around him because of racist prejudice

oh what sweet nostalgia

 

The fact that someone famous said something on the way to his car to a TMZ reporter about his courtside seats has zero relationship to what the Lakers organization does. The more improbable the theory you are spouting, the greater the proof you need to supply. In this case, I would appreciate a recording of Mitch or Jim saying this to Byron.

Failing this, I'm going to go with the much more likely theories that
a) Byron is not all that good
b) Byron is experimenting with lineups

 

Maybe it's because both coach and player are getting used to each other, and the Lakers personnel is adapting to the playing time they are getting.

I actually don't mind the job Lin did for the Rockets. I recognize the positives and negatives that he brought to Houston. I have no ill will towards him. I wish him well for whatever he team plays for except when he's playing against the Rockets.

I just don't believe that some how Byron Scott was doing something harmful to the team on purpose merely to imprison Jeremy Lin.

 

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Kung Hei Fat Choi!

 

No, Byron Scott is tanking. He's also a rotten coach, of course, but since Kobe went down, there's no doubt that Scott's been trying to lose, primarily by limiting Lin.

Evidence A. Lin once had the presumption to take over a game by scoring 18 points and dishing 11 assists. Did Lin get praise for playing so well? Hell no. He was benched in crunch time that game (which the Lakers lost). Thereafter, until the ASB, the Lakers' primary playmaker was not Lin. A few games later, he was forced to the bench. It's clear that Lin was actually punished for playing well.

Evidence B. The Lakers "bench" routinely outscores the starters, in fewer minutes. For example, a few games ago against the Celtics, the starters scored 34 points; the bench crew scored 84 points. (By the way, Lin had 25 points that game. Not bad for a bench guy, right?) There's no doubt that Clyde Frazier was right, that the Lakers were starting their bench and benching their starters. Scott is tanking.

 

jeremy lin giving food and money to the homeless in LA. props to that dude.

 

Then there were those games where Lin didn't score or didn't make a basket from the field because Byron Scott paid a witch doctor in New Orleans to put a voodoo hex on Lin.

 

why is he driving an audi? Didn't he have a deal with volvo?

 

You're an idiot.

 

Of course the Lakers are tanking. Until they stuck Boozer back in the starting lineup it had an average NBA experience of 1.5 years. Their bench has been outscoring the starters on most games in fewer minutes.

But the conspiracy theory is just stupid. Here is a long winded, more plausible theory. A last chance life preserver of sanity, if you wish to grab it.

Lin was moved to the bench because he wasn't working well with Kobe. The fact that Kobe sucked and was pulling all the starters down with him was immaterial. He is the bankable star the Lakers were working with, and they needed someone to hand him the ball so he could chuck it in the direction of the basket. It actually made far more sense to put the more capable PG on the bench, because at least that way the bench could score more points when Kobe was out of the game.

By the time Kobe was done, it was clear there was no way the Lakers were going to win anything this year. So they are taking the opportunity to get their youngest players invaluable NBA experience in a year where they have no chance at the playoffs. This should speed up their development considerably. It is called planning for the future.

Meanwhile, Byron gets to experiment with lineups and players to see what kind of things will work. One of his experiments has been to let Lin run a pick and roll heavy offense toward the end of games with a lineup that spreads the floor. This has been so effective that he's letting them finish games.

They have been getting steadily better while doing this. Lin has been hitting something like an 8 to 1 assist to turnover ratio, in addition to averaging 17 points per game on under 30 minutes played. It's clearly good for him, and they've had a mini winning streak too. But they don't care about wins. This is a losing year and this is only one experiment. What Byron would really love is for Lin to be great in his offense rather than in the D'Antoni style offense. This isn't likely, but I expect it to be the next experiment Byron runs. This won't be because he wants to bury Lin, it will be because he wants to try something else and wins don't matter.

About the only thing I could see that would prevent this is if Lin absolutely goes off in the next few games with the same level of turnovers. I don't think this will happen, but the Lakers organization as a whole (including Byron) would be thrilled if it did happen. Why? Because they desperately need an all-star level player, and those are really hard to come by. So in a blown season, they give Lin a couple weeks and see what happens. What they probably expected was good but not all-star level. They might be getting something a little better than good, but they aren't yet getting something that will force them to change everything.

 

WTH is this?

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Jeremy Lin working out at the Mo Williams academy? Where is tinman to explain this? They look like a billionaire boy club balling outta control, and here we are on a forum getting all salty and shiet all day every day....in every way.

 

Jesus would drive an audi over a volvo

 

While a Volvo is naturally safer. I suppose safety is not the first concern when you are God. On the other hand, insurance is probably cheaper for the Volvo, and Jesus only has that carpenter income to work with...

 

I might have answer your quiz on Reddit ... it's over since Oct 8th, 2014.

 

answered.. damn im sleepless...

 

Audi is the official vehicle for God.