99ers, overall awesome quality posting having witnessed the greatness of Olajuwon. 12-13rs, overall JLin fans that will cry foul because their idol didn't play the 4th quarter even though the Rockets won by 20.
I'm pretty sure Carmelo hated the whole Linsanity thing. Somehow I don't think Harden has that big of an ego. So, Jeremy is better off in Houston.
I think Lin's knee is a reasonable excuse for some of deficiencies this season. Lin had his surgery in early April. 6 months later in early Oct (pre-season) Lin would play for 15 minutes then sit out the rest of the game with a huge ice pack on his knee. The knee was sore as hell, and they didn't even let him play back to backs. I remember the coaches were hoping he'd be 100% when the season started. I was thinking then, if the knee is so bad 6 months after surgery, they expect him to be 100% 7 months after? No way, with the soreness he was experiencing at the 6 month mark, I was guessing it would take 9-12 months for him to be 100%. And in retrospect, I think that was about right. Around the time of the first Knicks game, around the 8 month mark, he seemed to get his straight line speed back. But my understanding of the meniscus of your knee is that you need it most for stopping, not accelerating (as long as its not so sore that it's causing swelling). At that point he still didn't have the spin moves and the sortta-Euro step that he used to have. I imagine that the knee felt great when running but maybe hurt a little when stopping, or landing from a jump. I remember as late as January that the coaches would mention that Lin's knee was still bothering him. That's the 9 month mark. During Linsanity, Lin was known to occasionally dunk the ball when alone on the fast break. When have you seen him do that this season? I saw him do it once, just recently. So he may really just be 100% recently. And he's still doesn't look as agile as he was. Though now that we're at the 12 month mark, I think he's probably healed about as much as he's going to. If he doesn't have all his agility back by now, perhaps this is all he'll ever have from this point on. He's compensated by becoming more crafty, making better PG decisions, passing better, and becoming a better spot up shooter. I'm hopeful that his stats will continue to improve.
It's not entirely an ego thing. Carmelo went to NY thinking that he'd be embraced as the hometown hero. Instead, everybody hated him and then later fell in love with some Asian kid from freaking Harvard. He's redeeming himself somewhat now. Looks like the Knicks may be favorites to be stomped by the Heat in the Eastern finals en route to their repeat.
I think considering how dismal his shooting was at the start of the season, his 3pt shot now is a miracle. Still streaky but being around 27% in Oct - Dec, to turning it back up to 34% now.....during the season? That's pretty incredible. He's no Steph Curry at this point but if he keeps that foot off that line and takes that shot with confidence, it'll win us games in the future.
If you notice when you compare Lin to Brooks, he just doesn't have that flair and confidence in his dribble that all of our PGs had. That feel that they are in complete control and they will always get the first step with the dribble and then cross you up making you look like a fool. I don't know but he's probably just too big or just too bad at dribbling to have that dribble that top PGs have. I don't think I have ever seen our past PGs dribble off their foot when going behind the back. I don't think I have ever seen Lin really break some ankles.
His crossover is a little bit telegraphed and awkward, but his acceleration is so fast that with good spacing/picks he has no trouble getting into the lane. Lin is no magician with the ball like CP3
Agreed. Or have heard much about sports injuries. Look, it took Chris Paul about a year to completely get back into pre-injury form from his knee injury. And guess what, Lin's knee injury happened on March 24 and he had surgery on it soon after (a week or so if memory serves). I have been since the beginning of this season been mentioning that Lin will probably not be 100% until a year from his surgery; and he's finally rounding into form and having all his old burst speed and floaters. These last couple of games he's been averaging roughly 20/8 and that's very much Linsanity numbers.
Agreed with this, as well as that his handle isn't the best; however, I DO think it's a major improvement from last year, so it's hopeful that he'll continue to work on all this during the off-season. Knocking on wood so hard that he doesn't get injured again, but I've been really impressed with the Rockets medical staff so I'm feeling good about his chances.
Parker, Kobe, Durant, LeBron, and Harden are also much better players than Lin and thus affect the game in ways that Lin cannot. That justifies their turnovers. Lin's aggressiveness is not so integral to the team that his high turnover rate can be justified. He needs to address it. Lin needs to improve that area of his game. Better handles, as mentioned by other posters, would be a start.
You guys are comparing MVP and league superstars to a guy that haven't even completed a season as a starting PG in this league. Lin's a good player, let's not get out of control. In 3-4 years, he might be one of the elite PG in the game but some of these arguments get a little out of control.
Wow, comparing an $8M a year player with future Hall of Famers? I can't tell if you're an LOF or LOH. So confused...
