Is Jeremy Lin's race still a handicap? (rational responses only please)

What does race have to do with Basketball ability .... Or the ability to perform any job ?!?


His handicap is the fact that he needs to develop that off hand more ....

 

Yay more conspiracy theories.

 

Scientists in Yale U. recently showed that kids, even in very early age (less than one year old), like the people who look similar to them and dislike the people who look different from them. Racist, in my mind is too strong word to use here. However, it is no denial that race plays a role, some times very significant role, in many work places.

 

Given that many people CAN'T STAND any discussion of race or the introduction of the race card because it challenges their sincere belief that we have achieved an egalitarian society, I think we should clarify a few points:

1. There's a difference between a conventional racist (e.g., your garden variety KKK-type person) and someone who takes into account race as one of many factors when making decisions in life (i.e., pretty much ALL of us!).

If you're walking down a dark alley and there's someone in the area, there's many factors that you would enter your mental calculus to judge safety, including time of day, area of town, age of person, gender of person, RACE of person, person's attire, etc. Taking race into account, does not make you a traditional racist, it makes you normal.

2. Putting on my "'Matthew McConaughey in A Time to Kill' Hat" -- When Barack Obama was running for President in 2008 and there were significant numbers of white folks who said they weren't ready to vote for a black president even in 2008, it was easy for us to comprehend this situation because we all understand prejudice in the context of blacks.

So why can't we comprehend that prejudice can exist against Asian Americans as well? Jeremy Lin is the ONLY Asian American playing in the NBA right now. There's a prevailing stereotype that Asian Americans are not athletic, confident, and assertive. Lin is basically the Jackie Robinson of basketball. But when you even try to bring up the word race, some people go "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on there. What does race have to do with anything?"

With these two preface statements being made, it's hard to attribute with any certainty that race is the primary factor in McHale's treatment of Lin. Most minorities, having experienced prejudice their entire lives, would probably bet the house deed that race is a factor, while many white folks, never having experienced racial difficulties, would probably discount the influence of race.

My point is that we ALL take race into account when make decisions in life and it doesn't make us a racist (as we traditional define the term), so is there a possibility that McHale is taking Lin's race into account? Sure.

 

It's funny how all these "scientific studies" are brought up to make this case that McHale somehow does not like Lin....

Yet by the same logic, McHale would dislike players such as Beverley, Douglas, etc. more because he's white and they're black.

So why has there not been a single thread, except one made somewhat jokingly by Carl Herrera, regarding the curious case that the Rockets basically have a bunch of black players backing up those who are white than them? Greg Smith backs up Asik. Robinson backs up DMo. Anderson backs up Delfino who backs up Parsons. Douglas/Beverley backs up Lin.

 

same s****, different day. start over.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoy_en_la_revolucion/8529137575/" title="source-code-f1-804380 by *The last son of krypton*, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8388/8529137575_2334efa3cd_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="source-code-f1-804380"></a>

 

Lin himself has stated before, because he is Asian, he has to constantly 'prove himself' over and over again. its not enough to dominate a game once, but people will continue to doubt because it is that uncommon to find a 6ft3 200lb Asian Guard with 'deceptive' speed.

As far as Mchale, no. dont be silly. It may have something to do with the fact that he still views him as a rookie, relatively inexperienced, which he is, but nonetheless i would prefer him play Lin in the championship minutes, after all the Rockets organisation has made a far greater investment in Lin then it has Beverly or Brooks. But Beverleys defence did help get Houston back in the Dallas game. It only becomes an issue if they're losing, ala the Portland game where he got benched the entire OT. Hes still young, but I'd rather they let him ride it out, just because I think his ceiling is high, just needs to iron out the inconsistencies that ALL young players face. Not just Asian-American ones.

 

Following up on my last post, here's my argument why race may NOT be a factor:

Race is essentially used as a heuristic or a shortcut when you have little data points to go by. If you've never met a black person in your life, all you can go by is the portrayals in the media.

In Lin's case, we have lots of data points to go by. He's played as a starter for ~90 games so we have enough empirical evidence to understand his strengths and weaknesses. We know he can take over games sometimes when he wants to and he can also get into problems like driving into traffic and leaving his feet.

Given these data points, race should be less of a factor because there is no need for a prejudicial shortcut when we have evidence to base our decisions on.

 

You're making the mistake of thinking that we are prejudicial of all races equally. Race isn't that simple. How we think of blacks, Asians, Latinos, etc., differs based on context and life experiences.

I think the "non-black" nature of Houston's starting lineup is more of an anomaly. It used to be 40% black (Harden and Patterson). If anything, I think it gets at Morey's ability to find "Moneyball" players (i.e., those that are statistically good but don't pass the eye test). In the NBA, Moneyball players will likely be non-black!

 

I suspect Lin is injured.

 

Even if race is a factor, it has worked out pretty well for him. I think he may be a bit complacent after signing the contract, its only natural. Who wouldn't be when you were undrafted but still ended up with a starting spot and the best contract from that draft class. He just has to keep working, take care of his body and will be part of a championship core or have a chance to sign with one after this contract is done.

I think he has a high ceiling because of the extra scrutiny. He is either gonna rise to the challenge or fade away. As a Lin fan thats the reason why the next 2 years will be very interesting.

As for Mchale I see him as a LOH type person that likes Jeremy as a person but doesn't really believe in him talent wise and is probably sick of Lin fans and their constant badgering. He might still carry some bitterness of losing his prodigal son Gogi over a single niggle in his contract and having to welcome back with open arms a formerly cut player now being the second highest paid on the team.

I haven't heard Lin praise McHale like he did with D'antoni. So it probably cuts both ways, McHale not really high on Lin and Lin not really high on McHale.

 

:grin:

 

Gotta say, before we got Lin I never realized how racist asian people are. This stuff is amazing. We never saw it with Yao so this is all new to me. Seems to be something asian people (at least the ones that come to this board) really need to work on. Al Sharpton is embarassed by half these threads.

 

Derpity Derp Derp.

 

You reminded me of this meme and it seems to fit here...

 

Starts a race thread and asks for serious responses only......ok.

 

America hasn't dramatically changed in 6 years

Jeremy Lin is California's only HS Player of the year ever to receive zero sports scholarship offers. Harvard doesn't give sports scholarships

I don't know if it's racism but rather prejudice and confirmation bias, maybe even not intentionally malicious. The same factors that held Lin back for college offers still exist in society

Jeremy Lin faced this at every level. On Golden State his idiot coach buried him all year behind the worst player in the league Acie Law who doesn't even play anymore

People say he magically improved but it's more likely the kid could always play but people overlooked it

Confirmation bias means selectively remembering or highlighting to fit your predisposed bias. You forget all the good plays and remember only the bad plays or games to validate your own preconceived ideas

 

Lin's abilities are being doubted by McHale because right now he's an average starter in this league. He's our 4th best player at most. On our team, a PG should average 7 assists, not 6; and he's not a good shooter. He's averaging 32 minutes per game, so i don't know why everyone's saying McHale hates him.

Jeremy Lin is improving, and I do think he has a chance to be a good starter in this league ...but as far as I'm concerned, right now, he's just average. If he can continue to play like he has the past two months, he has a chance to finish the year strong.

None of this ...none of it, has anything to do with race.

 

<pre>
By Position GP MIN FGM-FGA FG% 3PM-3PA 3P% FTM-FTA FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
As Starting Guard 37 40.3 7.4-15.2 .485 1.0-2.3 .429 3.1-3.6 .852 0.9 2.7 3.5 9.1 0.1 1.4 1.8 4.1 18.8
</pre>

These are a numbers for a certain PG during his rookie year as a starter. Guess who he is. I will give you a hint. Some people thought that his team should have traded away Chris Paul.

I think if he were Asian and not black, some fans would still be hugging his nuts.