Why wouldn't Lin make All 1st Defense? He's the only PG in the league that is top 10 in rebounds, steals, and blocks. Not CP3, not DWill, not Curry, not Jrue Holiday. Only Lin.
He may deserve to be in, but realistically he needs to show it in some high publicity games and even playoff games to catch their attention. Reputation builds up slowly.
It's not always steals and blocks. I am pretty surprised he made it in the top 20 according to RAPM. Hopefully he keeps it up.
Remember also that the year Camby won DPOY his Nuggets team was dead last in almost every defensive catagory. Individual performance does not equal good team defense.
Another thing I found interesting: All those things require excellant athleticism to be good at - You can't just be intelligent to do those. Is Lin the most athletic PG in the league? Or is he one of them?
I don't think he's nearly as athletic has Holiday, Irving, Rondo, etc. But he's good at mental concentration (steals & blocks) and knowing where the ball is going to be (rebounds & steals).
They signed him to that contract expecting him to play a much larger role than he is now with harden. He's not going to put up numbers you can compare to other point guards who are the first or second option on their team. McHale even cam out and said they aren't going to use him like that so its really not surprising. Even then, he's young, averaging almost 13 and 6, is a pretty good defender, and is going to get better. It is not a bad deal.
I'm not sure about the overall athleticism, but I think he has better strength and acceleration than all those guys. He has size advantage over Irving and Rondo.
No, mostly because the award tends to go to superstars. Look at Kobe getting the award every year. Also, I am sorry.... but the best defensive player in the league is LeBron James. He can guard anyone on the floor. He actually guarded D. Rose and shut him down.
Jeremy Lin is underrated athletically. He has one of the quickest first steps in the NBA, has good body control and is strong with good size. There is more to being a good athlete than jumping high.
