Which players style of play does Lin remind you of?

Just because people think Lin can't average 18/8 doesn't mean they hate him. I for one doubt he would ever average that kind of numbers.

18/8? Those are all star PG numbers. Now tell me, when was the last time a PG averaged 18/8 while being the second or third option?! Mind you, those were Utah DWill's numbers --- not that easily achievable is it?

Don't mistake rationale with hate, no most people don't hate him.

 

Jeremy Lin has been playing FAR below his potential, and he has better numbers already than Rafer EVER did. Rafer shot over 40% from the field with the Rockets, NEVER. Jeremy is putting up a 14.6 PER, with tons of room to grow. If he gets his shooting from 3 up to 35%, and If you take out the growing pains early in the season, you are looking at a 17-18 PER PG, and maybe more. Let's not forget that he played over 30 games last year at a steady 20 PER. In short, he was a monster. He will be ok. He hasn't even started in a full 82 games yet.

On a side note...
Anyone look at Lowry's Per 36 numbers this year? Holy snikes..

19-7-6 with 2 steals and solid percentages for a point guard. Holy Darwin.

 

If by "very similar numbers" you mean ESPN's 3 simple numbers so far, i.e. career ppg, apg, rpg, yes, they are very similar.

Rafer: 10.1 4.8 2.8
Lin: 10.1 4.8 2.7

But do these 3 simple numbers accurately reflect a player's level? if so, Dragic's career numbers are: 8.7 3.7 2.2

Based only on these numbers, Lin is far better than Dragic. Is that the case? Not at all, because we all know Dragic is at least as good as Lin if not better. That's why the 3 simple numbers should not be used to compare players. More advanced stats are needed.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/linje01.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/alstora01.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/dragigo01.html

Below is the stats:

1. per game

MIN FG% 3P% FT% REB AST BLK STL TO PTS
Lin: 23.6 .437 .292 .802 2.7 4.8 0.3 1.5 2.5 10.1
Rafer: 28.9 .383 .354 .729 2.8 4.8 0.2 1.2 1.8 10.1
Dragic:20.3 .444 .361 .733 2.2 3.7 0.1 0.9 1.8 8.7

Since mins played greatly affect the 3 numbers, pts, rebs, asts you used to judge the two players. Below are mins adjusted:

2. per 36 min

FG% 3P% FT% REB AST BLK STL TO PTS
Lin: .437 .292 .802 4.2 7.3 0.5 2.3 3.8 15.5
Rafer: .383 .354 .729 3.5 5.9 0.2 1.5 2.2 12.6
Dragic: .444 .361 .733 3.9 6.5 0.2 1.5 3.2 15.3


If you compare advanced stats, i.e. PER, TS%, eFG%, TRB%, AST%, STL%, BLK% etc, Lin's numbers are far better than those of Rafers.

Judge from the above number, even if Lin does not improve in the future, Lin is already much better than Rafer in almost any category except for 3p% and TOs, which we all know are his weaknesses. Lin's defense is solid. I don't know about Rafer's defense so no judgement. Rafer's handle is obviously better than Lin's.

I understand you might have low expectations of Lin, as CheukLau mentioned, but comparing Lin to Rafer is just bit absurd.

Last, I believe the OP meant the player's play style that Lin reminds us of, not player's performance level. That's why all my above discussing is meaningless because stats/numbers have nothing to do with a players style.

 

According to his physical tests, Lin is as fast, if not a shade more so, than the likes of John Wall, Derrick Rose, and Kyrie Irving. Check out his BAM score: http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2012/03/life-in-the-fast-lane/

Physically-speaking, he's got what it takes to make it in the NBA. And I think we can all agree that his mental game is pretty solid already too. He just needs to develop as a player. The foundation is already there though.

B-b-b-but... how come he was never drafted, and how come he was never recruited?

Because he's Asian. That's the cold hard truth. The fact that someone with Lin's physical and mental abilities went overlooked is unbelievable, until you factor in his race. There's no other explanation.

 

I don't think that's hate at all. But the pure vitriol and venom with which they speak of Lin is what I refer to as hate! Are you telling me that you don't see the hate for Lin out there on even in this forum?
I know precisely well what 18/8 represents.. It represents Lin's run in his first year as a starter. I know how hard it is to achieve those numbers, but I believe that by the 3rd year of his contract he'll come close to it. Would I be surprised if he averaged 15 and 7 instead? No. He is playing second fiddle and perhaps he will be playing 3rd fiddle if we land another star, but to dismiss a hard working dude's ceiling completely after what he did and then to take away from the man what he earned for no good reason other than hate for his fans, that irks me.

 

In other words, completely different.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Lin goes to the Lakers to team with Howard when his contract is up

 

--By Rafer, I believe Clutch means the playing.
--Stats are makeup. Although Lin and Dragic stats are close, but I do believe they are playing in a different level. At least, Dragic is more experienced and skillful than Lin ATM. Just like Jrue Holiday, he didn't have great stats, but he was said to be one of the top PGs last year.

 

Corrected.

 

Lin doesn't have a particularly high basketball iq (I wish they'd just call it BQ, it's really nothing to do with intelligence, it's more to do with reads and reaction)

 

Just like I don't think Linsanity was solely due to him being Asian, I don't think him being Asian is what ultimately hurt his case with being drafted.

I think the Asian part probably played more of a role on how he was recruited in college but not how he was drafted, especially with how big market teams can benefit from Lin being on the team if he played well. Lin playing in the Ivy league hurt his chances and it was more because scouts didn't know if he had a sure position and saw him as a combo guard. Something similar happened with Jet Chang, but he only played Division II and probably had a language barrier.

I also don't know why Lin never developed a consistent 3 ball back in college, but I think if he had that as part of his game his chances would have been better in getting drafted.Him being Asian or specifically of Han Chinese descent and the Warriors owner knowing of him also probably helped him get the deal with the Warriors anyways.

However, looking at players like Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue who had at least at their own teams (Chinese club team/national team) as a platform and they also had size, it helped get them drafted.

Lin is just one of those rare exceptional cases that everything ended up working out for him, including him being able to pursue basketball into D1 which is even more rare for an Asian-American guard to do.

 

Disagree. His reads are super quick, often ahead of the camera even. You may be confusing his bball iq with his relatively underdeveloped skillset and too frequent for comfort lazy passing.

 

Skip-to-my-Lou is not a good comparison... I lived in South Florida during his best year with the Heat, when that Wade-led team made the 2nd round, and I always thought Rafer was a garbage streetballer getting lucky playing on a decent young team with Wade, Lamar Odom, and Caron Butler. He had fancy handles and no bball-IQ... the only thing in common with Lin is a poor jump-shot. Otherwise, your grasping for straws.

 

Lin, Rafer Alston? Really? I mean......C'mon man.

He's already a better player than Brick to my Lou ever was.

As long has he stops going under screens, continues to improve his YMCA handle and develops a serviceable 3PT shot I think he'll be a lesser Tony Parker with better court vision.

He has an almost elite first step, great size for his position, terrific court vision on the fast break, plays great 1-1 defense and is an above average rebounder. Those are skills/gifts that can't be taught.

His 3-4 glaring weaknesses (pathetic conditioning, almost embarrasing PnR defense, inconsistent ball handling & weak outside shot) can all be fixed/improved with time. That's if he doesn't decide to go on those self-promoting trips to Asia and works on his game in the offseason.

 

To add..and to quote what Jeremy had mentioned in his previous interviews, He said that in order to know his game you should watch him play..he is not a flashy player..he will not impress you in a 1 on 1 or 3 on 3 Basketball, which I think most of the teams he worked out for before had done for his "audition" piece..

 

Agreed. Why you disrespectin YMCA handles, though!

 

this illogical buttmad

 

First 20 games <> first full season

 

That's another thing, Donnie Nelson was the one who went after him for the summer league after watching him at the Portsmouth Invitational. Dallas has shown that they are willing to take chances on undrafted guards like Barea and Lin, but more on the development side.

I remember reading about Lin's only update at Portsmouth through Draftexpress:

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Portsmouth-Invitational-Tournament-Day-One-3430/

NBADraft.net, which usually is highly generous in their NBA comparisons had this for Lin:

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/jeremy-lin

NBA Comparison: Zabian Dowdell