Since we are all talking about Lin jokes, here is a rep gem from either a LoF or troll too gutless to post here and has to leave it as rep instead. "Benching Lin would be racist."
This website should have a scouting report on Jeremy Lin (as well as other players) so that the same comments need not be repeated. And the Lin reports can come in 3 flavors, LOH, LOF, and sane. This way, we may have the entire spectrum of opinions in a short read.
Back issues are very serious. They make it almost impossible to shoot a jumper well as you can't fully extend. Acceleration is very difficult, especially when you're doing something like dribbling a basketball (which requires you to remain low to the ground). Lateral movement also becomes very difficult as your body has to contort to maintain balance. And you can pretty much toss out any kind of vertical jumping, so good luck finishing. The importance of your core muscles and your back can not be understated. This is aside from issues of pain and flaring which can make even the simplest of tasks difficult. If you can't shoot and finish well due to pain/lack of extension, then you end up trying to adjust/tweak your game on the fly. This is a LOT harder than it sounds since you're fighting against 1000s of hours of ingrained muscle memory. I don't know enough about Lin's back issues to say how much of his recent slump is injury related versus however I wouldn't be surprised if it was seriously hampering his game. Look at Parsons early in the season when he had his back issues. He was literally shooting sub 20% from 3 point range, and had difficulty finishing at the rim (due to lack of extension). He was also slower on defense, and not nearly as effective on offense. His adjustment was to constantly pump-fake... remember the running jokes about it? Almost *every* shot was a pump fake. Dwight took almost TWO years to return to form after back surgery. It's just THAT hard to play well with serious back issues. Unfortunately back issues are not something that are easy to fix. You can't just immobilize the back like a fracture or sprain since we use the back muscles with almost every activity whether it's sitting, walking, running, turning, lifting, shooting... you name it. Anyway, this post kind of got super long... we'll see how Lin does as his back (hopefully) sorts itself out.
I understand what you are saying though I feel like you are missing my point. I KNOW a back injury makes you slower, unable to really jump, unable to really shoot, ect, but again... a back injury does not make you to the STUPID things that Lin consistently does. A back injury does not explain the following: - Driving blind into packed traffic - Picking up your dribble with no plan - Jumping up with the ball without a plan - Forcing an errant pass to avoid an up and down foul - Shooting without verifying foot positioning Those mistakes and often a singular sequence of mistakes, has nothing to do with a hurt back. I hurt my back before. Heck my dad, mom, and uncle have hurt their backs before in various ways and I know how painful things get, but it does not make you stupid. There has to be more than just injuries to explain why Lin has gone full r****d in his current slump.
Gawd i hope the Rockets win tonight. Lets hope Lin doesn't get completely demolished by Lance Stevenson out there.
Not sure I follow this. Parsons started out slow, but by the time he missed games due to his back, he was shooting 39%
We all know the back bone is connected to the brain bone which explains why Jeremy jumps to pass and gets lost on defense.
You are right, a back injury doesn't explain way these faults on Lin that he was doing before and continues to do even in his slump. But Lin WAS playing pretty darn well up until recently and his back trouble could explain why he's looked horrible of late. Paul George is having back trouble now. Didi you catch his stat line from Wednesdays game against the Bobcats? 2 pts on 0-9 shooting with 5 TO's in 34 minutes of play. Back trouble can definitely have an impact on a person's game, so please cut Lin some slack. After all, he is a Rocket and they need him to produce.
I'm just astounded at how well some people can tell the degree and nature of somebody's injury to attribute, with pin-point accuracy, the impact of said injuries on that person's play without having a diagnosis. Absolutely astounding.
If you bothered to read my earlier posts, you will know I am rooting for him to break out of his funk. However, to simply pin his issues on his back is wrong. Is it an issue? Yes. Is it the only issue? No. Much of Lin's issue is between his ears.
I really think a summary of the LOF, LOH, and objective scouting of Lin should be given, to spare us another 1,000 pages of repetition. Jeremy is now a known quantity. The LOF ("good jeremy") and LOH ("bad jeremy") positions bracket the range of Lin performances.
You don't get to decide what is worthy of a topic of discussion. Discuss the subject or leave the thread since this is obviously making you uncomfortable, nobody is making you read this.
