Q&A with Jeremy Lin

[stl1622dc]

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/qa-jeremy-lin

HOUSTON - With training camp less than two weeks away, Rockets players are already back on the Toyota Center practice court, working to get ready for the upcoming season. To find out what they’ve been up to this offseason, Rockets.com’s Jason Friedman will sit down with each player over the days to come to discuss what they’re working on, what their goals are, and how they’ve been spending the summer both on and off the court. Taking his turn in the hot seat today is point guard Jeremy Lin. What follows is a transcript of their conversation. JCF: Believe it or not, I only want to talk to you about basketball. And I’d like to start the conversation by discussing the importance of pattern recognition in point guard play – or that of any other playmaker for that matter. I assume it goes without saying that the faster one is able to recognize defensive looks or subtle player movements and what they mean, it can only enhance one's ability to pick apart a defense, whether you're a point guard or a quarterback. What does that concept mean to you and how does it apply to your duties as a playmaker? JL: Especially being in a pick-and-roll league, the first thing you have to look for and recognize is figuring out what kind of coverage the defense is in. Now your strategy at that point changes based on the type of players you have around you – are they shooters, slashers or post-up players? – that can really change the equation, but it all starts with that initial recognition and the faster you can do so the better. That’s what I’ve got to get better at actually. JCF: Well I assume it’s just like anything else: regardless of whether you have a natural gift for recognizing certain types of patterns or not, you still need reps in order to get to where you want to be. As a young player, how do you make up for a lack of experience? JL: I’m going to make mistakes, I just have to be able to learn from them as quickly as possible. To learn faster, I watch film of myself and other good point guards, and then breaking down my mistakes and really analyzing them and seeing where I could have made better decisions. I think you definitely need your reps but how fast you learn I think is really up to the player in certain ways. Read More

[J-Wolf]

A humble and thoughtful person showing all around, despite JCF's best effort to stir up any controversy. Bravo, JLin!

[roxxy]

He keeps bringing up building the right culture. That is very interesting. In GSW I know they have a great culture, it's very brotherly, there like a family. Steph Cury & a lot of those guys are still really close to Lin. Likely in NY he didn't like the culture they had built because he continues to stress how important that is to him. I like it. A bad team culture can be a big part of why a team loses.

[Rocket_4_Life]

That was awesome. That actually had meat in it. I hope to see more interviews like this with the other players; and if Omer can be a better-than-advertised offensive player - what a great bonus! Maybe those workouts with CD are having an effect?

Nice read. I've been a Rockets fan for 30 years and can't ever remember being this excited for the start of the season.

[mike_lu]

If Omer can be 70% of Gortat on O and 130% of Gortat on D, he'll be a very solid anchor in the middle.

[Rocket_4_Life]

Originally Posted by mike_lu If Omer can be 70% of Gortat on O and 130% of Gortat on D, he'll be a very solid anchor in the middle.

Nice! Well said!

[J.R.]

...and then Chris Duhon and Raymond Felton

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

[mike_lu]

One of the reason why I feel Jeremy Lin has high upside and the ability to fulfill it is in his ability to focus on 'deliberate practice', as opposed to many other players who gets in a lot of general work, shooting and playing pick-up ball etc.

Check out the book 'Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin'. A summary is here.
http://www.drdouggreen.com/wp-conten...-Overrated.pdf

You can see it repeated in his interviews, workouts, shooting drills etc how this is incorporated. Things like having separate coaches for shooting, upper body, lower body etc, working on a shooting release speed faster than Ray Allen, shooting at 48-50% angle, now working on left hand, or learning a specific thing from Chris Duhon/Raymond Felton, losing weight and maintaining strength to strengthen his knee for a full season (less injuries), last season training at Sparta Sports to increase side speed by ~30% (if I recall properly), improving his ability to maintain balance after being hit in the lane, cutting down on turnovers on specific reads etc etc ...

the guy knows what he is doing and what he needs to do to get better. And he was still getting hours of training each day while in Asia, working on specific skills by bring his training coaches with him.

Jeremy Lin might not be as good for a full season as he was in the 8 -12 game stretch, but he is going to be a much better player than he was in 2011-12 overall. I'd also be surprised if going left and turnovers are as glaring a weakness this year as it was last year (not to say that an off-season training can turn weaknesses into immediate strength, but I think it will be clearly improved)

Can't wait for the season to start

[RockSC]

Good read. Hopefully his work ethics will help our young guys to compete and work hard.

[acshen]

What a well spoken guy.

[coachbadlee]

Nice to hear that about Omer.

[Arthurprescott2]

Can't wait for the season to start... Let's see if all his off-season work translates to a noticeable difference on the court.

[NL Rocket]

Nice interview, thanks for sharing. With regards to Omer, the guy is already better defensively than Gortat from what I've seen. He can handle his own against Dwight, that says a lot.

I am also very excited about this team, so glad we didn't bring back most of the guys from last year, we weren't going anywhere with that team. This group at least has potential to be a real team that in a few years from now have grown together and with the right players added (a veteran wing and veteran big or get lucky with a Zeller / Shabbaz / Wiggins / Noel), a deep championship run is very much possible. Let's hope Leslie understands this is the time to let youth develop and not worry about money or playoffs.

[Omron]

Lin = Student of Basketball

He's already penciled in as a future head coach in the league.

[stl1622dc]

Originally Posted by Omron Lin = Student of Basketball He's already penciled in as a future head coach in the league.

Seriously. He's watching film on Juan Carlos Navarro who only had 1 season in the NBA (2007-08) which was 3 years before Lin didn't get drafted. That's dedication to the craft.

[roxxy]

He get's it.

[BornTexan]

Isn't that common sense or basketball basics 101? People act like he's a genius just because common sense has been lost among too many.

[RV6]

Please don't post the whole Q & A.....that's two days in a row it's been done, we really need a reminder..

[iconoclastic]

I hope this article wakes up the LOF and LOH (and LOFH). Those are the reasons why Lin is a Houston Rocket, not the off-the-court stuff.

[Sherlockfever]

Originally Posted by iconoclastic I hope this article wakes up the LOF and LOH (and LOFH). Those are the reasons why Lin is a Houston Rocket, not the off-the-court stuff.

yes, I believe Lin is a legit PG. He is a bball player first and foremost, while the off-the-court stuffs are bonus.