He's very quick when going to his right in a straightline and a creative dribbler , but it is apparent to me now (and which one ESPN analyst mentioned leading up to this game) that he is not very strong and secure with his ballhandling, especially going to his left and when face-guarded closely. That's why Baron had a little more success tonight (albeit he didn't have to face all of the full court pressure and double teams) , because he is a STRONGER ballhandler, and I think his experience would've been more beneficial to Knicks had they gave him more minutes in light of Lin's struggles. All in all, I think Lin can easily fix all of this (its nothing to do with lack of quickness or athleticism that has caused the TOs). But lets also not forget that he had to up against probably the most physically intimidating team and hottest team, on both ends of the floor, tonight that obviously came in the mindset of taking Lin out of the game and prove their might against the current media darling
he had a terrible game but people are quick to forget he's basically a rookie this year. rookies and even great players will have terrible nights. rubio's had some rough nights and people are not so quick to dismiss him.
For Rockets' sake, I hope they go back to the Melo ISO offense. Lin brings the ball up and hand it to Melo. Everybody out of the way. That's how we are going to get a lottery pick. I hope it's not too late now.
Once again, he's a 23 year old guy with a year of professional practice under his belt. He has much more experience than your average rookie baller. That's where the comparisons to LeBron's start in the NBA really falter, to the point where it's basically bullsh** to make that comparison at all. LeBron was 19 and fresh out of HS. Lin graduated college and had a year as a pro.
Environment is really important in development. For example, Asians and Indians who grew up in America are typically much taller than those who did not.
watched the game. lin. looked timid and lost. the silver lining is that Stat looks like he might be waking from his year slumber. he's still a shell of his former self
I really like the kid and know there are many factors however hes been turning it over for a while now.
I'm constantly surprised at most people's evaluations of Lin, especially those lamenting the Rockets ever cut him. He's been a good offensive weapon for NY and a big morale boost, but he's really not that great a player. He had a lot of success (except turnovers) against mostly soft competition. Now that he has people's attention and he faces some good defensive teams, I think we're seeing more of his true worth. He can distribute, but he can't take care of the ball. He can create his own shot and he can score, but not against a determined defense. His actual performance reminds me of or Aaron Brooks era, except that Aaron Brooks took better care of the ball. Brooks also did a bunch of our scoring and won us some games, even though his game was a little too one-dimensional. Come free agency, it'll be ridiculous if Lin actually gets a richer contract than Brooks does, because he is the same sort of player, but better. If Linsanity continues to the end of the season, it could force NY to make some irratinoal FA decisions.
Except Aaron Brooks was never a distributor, he was an undersized SG that put in 3 1/2 assists for his whole career. Even when he got over 35 mpg, he just barely broke the 5 assists mark. It didn't matter if he was playing against the Lakers or the Bobcats. He was still a 6 ft SG. I don't think it would be outrageous, if he got more than Aaron Brooks. Brooks made $900k-1 mil for most of his contract. That's cheaper than most NBA veterans.
With more games to his belt and the addition of Lin/Shump combo, They'll bounce back from this.... Not sure if they'll beat the Heats but a learning experience for sure...
The evaluation you quoted is completely off. Lins To% is on par with top guards with similar usage rate. His game has flaws just like everyone else, but comparing him with Aaron brooks is ridiculous. Heat did a good job defending, being the best perimeter defense team, I'm not surprised. But the bad performance is more on Lin himself. Ever since the lakers game teams started to double team him or even triple team him, he handled them just fine, especially the macs game against Shawn Marion and the help D, he completely destroyed them.
