[Ringer] Morey on Lin - Quickest First Step Measured

Did Jeremy Lin get overlooked by scouts despite winning a state title and being an excellent D1 career? - Yes.
Did Jeremy Lin have a successful basketball career despite these challenges? - Yes.

If Jeremy was not Asian, his path to the NBA would have been easier no doubt. That being said, I don't think the last few years and not being in the NBA would have played out differently. Personally, I didn't think he'd make it to the NBA after seeing him in-person at a college game but he worked on his game and proved me wrong.

 

Nice post. Had Lin had the confidence (and resilience/consistency that comes with it), he could've had a better career. That's probably what made him extra fascinating (and frustrating to his fans) to watch because he had the linsanity period where his confidence was through the roof and he had stellar games and finished them out magnificently.

KD may have such confidence issues (judging by his burner accounts) but he doesn't have to content with racism at least - something that probably made Lin really easy to rattle with during games (so much that he had to bring it up in the media). Also KD doesn't have to content with anyone on his own team challenging him.

It would've been interesting to see Lin run a Rockets team for a while before Harden got here. It's actually why I happened to look up this thread - some posters were complaining that Lin-Asik signing was the most miserable time for them to be fans of the team. I'm pretty sure that the team would've played unselfish, which has its fandom benefits as far as I'm concerned.

 

Unselfishly into the lottery. Hard pass on that. I am more than happy to have gotten Harden and skipped out on that.

 

the title of this thread is hilarious

 

I didn't say not to trade for Harden. And they played fun basketball during those years. Just wondering about potential out loud over here. Don't go making assumptions.

But if your hypothesis is that it's better to win than play fun basketball, then I can call it to question a little bit. If winning is the end-all purpose then for like average of 40+ years, a small team's fan base will be miserable - perhaps also blaming some dudes for a turnover (Lin) or choking (Harden) during playoffs for the rest of that player's career. We actually have some people on here who fit that profile.

 

The goal is always and will always be to win. You can have the most selfless team out there that makes all the right passes, but if they don't win then I don't care. None of that feels-good or tryhard means jack squat to me. Tear it al down. If we get a player and spamming ISO ball is the most efficient way to get a ring, I would much rather watch that than any of the RA-led teams.

 

Good old Jerry. Ironically for a Harvard grad his issue was he was DUMB on the court.