Nothing groundbreaking but a very good read. http://hoopspeak.com/2012/11/daryl-morey-and-houstons-big-freed-three/
The only thing I might question is the notion that Lin had some kind of 'glass ceiling' placed on him, as the author says in the last paragraph. Had Lin stayed in NY, nobody would have been questioning him, or claiming he didn't belong, or 'wasn't good enough'. All of that came about as a result of him signing a large deal and leaving New York. But overall, a good read. Oh and F comcast.
Not exactly, tho...He was being questioned and, really kind of trashed, even as he was helping the Knicks to more wins, when it looked like he would be a Knick forever... This is from an article from March of last year, after a Knicks win that Jeremy played a significant part in: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/judging_jeremy_never_ending_journey_jZAyjokqa5fMPDovPtrhoM Fact of the matter is, the kid is going to have his detractors....and worse....no matter what he does or where he does it. That's just the way it is.
I thought people had doubts when he was in NY. IMHO he would have been questioned but placed with a higher ceiling. The ceiling will be there.
I think if you look at Lin adn you look at Damian Llilard it is pretty interesting. Both were strong high school prospects. Went to small colleges because they didn't get many offers. The only difference is that Dame was drafted & Lin wasn't. Both have experienced a significant amount of hype during the first shot at meaninful NBA starting time. Now I just recently read an ESPN 5 on 5 and everybody had come to the conclusion that Dame was the real deal based on 3 NBA games. Just three. One of the same guys that said that also said that Lin still has a lot to prove after 28 NBA starts. That just boggles my mind the double standard. How is one player after 3 games the real deal & the other player after 28 starts unproven, on what planet is that logical. Now the question is, is it because Lin was undrafted (as the author alludes too). I don't know. My question is that if Lin were a top draft pick & was playing well would everybody be calling him the real deal or still saying he still has a lot to prove? If it is the latter then people have to wonder if his race plays a part in the discourse. Thoughts?
I'm sorry Roxxy, i think Llilard is already better than Jeremy Lin. I think Llillard is a special talent and will be ROY. Lin has a bright future, but i'd take Llillard in a second over Lin. In fact, i don;t think Lin is better than either of the two PGs we had on our roster last year. I hope one day he will be, but until his shooting improves, it's hard to say that he's better than Llillard, Dragic, or Lowry IMHO. Just being real. In today's NBA, your starting PG has to be able to shoot.
Good article. That is true about the NBA. Players that show flashes or hyped enough will get big money even though they are not worth a quarter of it. There has been so many players that are underpaid even though they bring so much to the team. Its always about the hype of the player and the flashes he shows on the court. Like DeMar Derozan, who is more of a flashy swingman got a big time extension even though his ceiling is more of an average player. Same thing with Jeff Green. Its always about the hope and the false belief that the player will one day become a big time player because of the hype and the flashes he does on the court even though many knew that it would not happen. Guys like Amare who's always been injured and more of a flashy dunker who rarely plays any defense gets pay big because of the hype around him. Its sad that no one cares about defense even though it is constantly preached. Great defensive players are always overlooked. Harden is a different example on this one. People are calling Morey a fool for paying Harden that much money when they don't even realized that he's only 23 years old and one of the main reasons why the Thunder got to the finals. Harden can score, create for others and handle the ball and be a great all around player. But instead of looking at that, people seem to be locked on that " Oh Harden sucks because he choked in the Finals" crap. They don't realized that Durant and Westbrook also didn't delivered but they all blamed Harden. People just don't understand that it was Harden's 3rd year in the league and he was a big part of the Thunder making it to the Finals. His performance in the finals can be accounted for because any young player can choke or get extremely nervous in the finals. Plus the Heat are a great defensive team and they did their homework on Harden because they knew how good he was. The thing with James is that many love to point out the little things but fail to look at the entire picture. I was also wrong before about James Harden because I didn't understand his game that well. Now I realized that people just expected so much out of him because of his accomplishment at only the 3rd year of his career. I failed to look at the fact that he help the Thunder made it to the finals, how he single handed destroyed the Mavs in the playoffs, made big time clutch shots against the powerful Spurs. For a 3rd year player, that's amazing. I mean, Tmac didn't even made it out of the first round his entire career but its ok for him to get the max contract. All of this is just base on the standards of the NBA today. It sucks that nobody cares whether guys like Amare, Eddy Curry, heck a lot of guys that played for the Knicks got paid big money but our guys like Lin who basically got paid the league starting PG average gets bashed for it. People failed to look at what Lin brings to the court and how his skills was the big part of Linsanity and just focus on that one game against the Heat. I mean comon, the Heat shuts everyone down but they expected an undrafted player who basically still a rookie to dominate against Lebron and co.
Fair enough. Thank you for being real But I totally disagree. OMG OMG OMG. On what planet is he better that anybody right now Damian has played in 3 games. Three. And this isn't me talking from the perspective of a Lin fan (which i am by the way) but just a realist. Damian has done very little in the NBA. Like how can anybody compare Damian to Lowry. Goodness gracious Lowry is playing like a superstar right now. Like don't get me wrong I think Damian is a great talent but to sit here and to just act like he is the real deal after THREE GAMES and then to say that Lin still has a a lot to prove -_- !!!!! Like Dragic has the same amount of starts to his name how in the **** is he more proven than Lin!! COME ON. Wow the double standards just kill me like LOL I am trying to keep my emotions in check while typing this but I just ... UGHH Like just scratch Lin how in the hell can you put Dame in the SAME SENTENCE as Kyle Lowry. Matter fact how is anybody putting Dragic in the same sentence as Kyle Lowry. Like I am not attacking you & please don't take it as such but OMG I have seen this everywhere on twitter & it just drives me out of my mind. UGHH!! Like are you are really big Damian Llillard fan or something like please just help me comprehend?!!
lin may end up being the better compliment to harden. they seem to already be playing well together and if this improves and we get some offensive cutters to the rim, our PnR will be pretty unstoppable.
Didn't mean to upset you. Completely agree that Lowry is an all-star. Should have left him out of the conversation. If we didn't have Harden right now, i'd still be bitter that we converted Lowry into a late lotto pick. As far as Llillard, you are right that there isn't much of a track record. I was just giving my opinion from having seen him live a few times now. I think he is a special player. One of those rare players who can get his own shot, can take care of the ball, and also has enough court vision and passing ability to get other players involved. The kid is a pure scorer with solid PG skills. Right now Lin can't shoot, and Llilard can. that's a big part of being a successful point guard in today's NBA. We'll compare stats at the end of the season. I'm confident Llilard's will be superior in most of the important categories, except maybe steals. I'm not a Lin hater or a Llilard fan, i just think Lin's got a lot of holes in his game, and i'm amazed at how few holes Llilard appears to have for being such a young player. He's gonna be special.
Thx, I never would have thought about Omer's screening ability to be a significant strength. Something to keep my eye on during games.